Week 10: Aunt Katy Boot Camp

Okay, so this week was a bit challenging, as I had family in town, various ridiculous crises at work and it was ridunculously hot!!! Here's how it went down...

Sun: was down in Akron for the weekend and went for a recovery run with my sister Margret after hitting it for 12 miles on Sat. It was a good leisurely run in cute lakeside hood. Stuffed my belly with awesome Indonesian and Dutch food whilst there. Cranked it out to Toledo late in the evening, plus one niece, 14 y/o Ally, who was enrolled in Aunt Katy Bootcamp for one week.

Monday: off from exercise but various crises at the lab. Brought Ally into the lab and then we went to lunch and a movie- G Force. Not porn. It was the Guinea Pig movie. Then we hit the Greek deli for dinner. Walked a mile or so around the hood. Crashed HARD that night!

Tuesday: So since Ally is 14, she sleeps until 10:30 and then requires an hr of inline time to catch up with what shit has gone down overnight. I use this time to got to the lab and deal with more crap. Upon returning home about noon, gather up the kid and we are gonna hit the train for 3.3 miles prior to personal trainer session. Despite my threats to be ready to run 2 miles, that wasnt to be, so Ally adopted the run-walk approach of run 3 min/walk 2 min. I did it for a mile with her, and then I just had to ditch her and get in a loop and a half of running while she walked the loop. Caught up to her again, and we got the run walk back on for the last 1.3. Personal trainer was pretty damn funny as Ally said she hadnt used those muscles in forever. Another mile there on the treadmill. She passed out hard that evening, after computer time to tell everyone how much I sucked. She did not like the push ups or plate pushes.

Wed: We are running again, this time along the river. Ally was dogging it this day and was crying a bit that she couldnt do it. Her attitude quickly changed when the bare-chested high school cross country team came running past us. She perked up and picked up the pace. We did run-walk again and she did a good job there. 3.5 miles there.

Thursday: We are running and doing personal trainer today again. We are doing projects around the house first and only get to do 1.5 miles prior to personal trainer. We get a good clip on though at PT. Another 1 mile on the treadmill. Then we went to teh farmers market and I wailed on her sore arm since there was a VW bug. Sorry kid that's the rule. She did not enjoy that.

Friday: This should be an off day but since the heat of Hades is a comin', we decided to hit the trail for 13.1 miles (I run it, se bikes it). It was damn hot in the late afternoon, and especially out on the prairie. Whatever I did, I need to keep doing it as I was running a 9:30/9:45 clip with only 4 1-minute walking intervals over the entire 13 miles. I felt great. I have now completed a half marathon and minimal aches and pains. I can definitely do this, barring any injuries or burnout. We celebrated with Chili Cheese Dogs and beer (me anyways).

Sat: off. My mom and sister come in for a visit and to pick the kid up so just walking a mile in the hood after having a burrito.

So the tally: 2+1+4.3+3.5+2.5+13.1+1=27.4miles!

This week will be tricky as I am traveling to San Diego for a conference and I need to get in a 14 miler over the weekend. Wish me luck on this one.

Week 9: HOW many more miles do I have to run?!!

Okay, so when we left off, I was limping around from my last long run in my crappy shoes, and I had just dropped a bundle on my new shoes...

the changes are astounding. Knee pain is virtually gone, shins are back baby and calves have been worked over thoroughly. Of course, some of this happened via a thorough beating from my masseuse. Once a month I get a massage due to some severe neck tension problems I've developed over the last year. My regular dude wasnt there this past week, so I went with a young woman who was strong as an ox and put the beat down on my muscles. I was cringing in, well in pain, but it was working all the crap out from the prior days long Sat run- so it was all worth it in the end. She did some insane neck stretches on my too that scared me but again, kinda worked things out for me. I am going with this woman again after an excessively long run.

So I got my massage and cleaned out my old crappy apartment and moved the last load of stuff on Sunday. So no running. Supposedly that was a rest day, but you be the judge. I was done by 8pm I think. The good news is that I hit the store and scored some new spanky running gear so I can thro out some of the cotton tank tops that are getting quite skanky. My new look rocks. I am even running in pink shirts!

Monday I took the new shoes for a test drive and I dropped back into 9:30 territory immediately. 5 miles.

Tuesday I ran outside again- 3.5 miles. Then hit PT session for 30, with another 1 mil or so.

Wed: Off. I had some faculty function and so I ate Indian fud instead. Good call for me.

Thursday: Made up for my Wed off by running 4 miles, then PT for 30 min. Maybe 1 more mile during PT.

Friday OFF. went home after work (5pm!!!) and ate chicken wings and drank beer. I think I was in bed by 10pm, I was so whipped.

Sat. Got up. Not feeling the running love. Gotta get my arse in gear though as I need to drive 2 hrs to Cleveland to pick up my niece for her weeklong visit to Ohio. Finally get out the door by 10:30 and nail the 12 miles. Felt great. Ran my meadow run again to give the joints a break again and twas a good strategery! I ran up this bluff (real slow like) to check out the monument for the battlefield from the 1790s that I was running on. The overlook was phenomenal! There was some wedding going on over in the corner by the swampy lake and a blue heron was chilling on its banks. I dod my walk-run with 12-14 minutes of running to one minute of walk, except for 60 minutes in when I took 3 min to walk and chow down on a powerbar and chug a lug some water.

Got back to the house, stretched and snoozed after cleaning up. It was all good, except I was feeling really dehydrated. I drank a 40 oz diet soda on the way down to Cleveland and didnt have to pit stop for 4 hrs. Dehydrated much?

So tally

5+5.5+5.0+12miles=27.5 miles.

Getting there folks. I have now surpasses in one week what I need to run in one day.

Week 8: UPGRADES!

okay, so we left off last week with me thinking my damn shoes were bricks and I had to do something about it ASAP. So I waited until AFTER yet another long run (this Saturday's run) and another night of wtf! knee and calf pain to go and get some expert opinions on my shoes. Turns out they do, indeed, suck. They are high quality shoes, just the wrong shoes for me.

Here's the lowdown:

I have flat feet (apparently you can find this out for yourself by stepping in water barefooted and looking at your footprint. And the uber-stabilizing shoes I had are completely wrong for that! Then they asked me to walk barefooted for a little while and turns out I do NOT over-pronate. All this combined pretty much means that the shoe I was in was causing my problems, not solving them. I ended up with saucony hurricanes, and dropped 135$ in the process!!! HOLY SHIT! Well after running in them once, and not shuffling or flailing even once, I dont care what they freaking cost. And to boot, I went from a 10+ min mile to a 9:30 today. Awesome!

And I am in the entirely wrong field of employment. I got a referral for a nutritionalist seeing as my eating is all out of whack. I'm hungry, I'm tired, etc. So the clinic called me back (Diabetes and Nutritional Therapy) and I find out insurance likely wont cover it (I expected that) but the rates are 52$

not for a hr

not for 30 min

FOR 15 MINUTES!

yes, they require a mandatory 60 min first session for 208$ per hour.

Books at the library and stuff on the internets are free, I decided.

So the recap on the week:

Sun: off

Monday: 3.3 miles

Tuesday: 3 miles + personal trainer + 1 mi

Wed: 4.5 miles

Thurs: personal trainer + 1 mi

Friday: O-F-F! Drank beer and had take out Chinese. Was passe out cold by 9pm.

Sat: Had a fantastic 11 mi run through Fallen Timbers Battlefield (from the War of 1812). I decided to off-road it to help out my severely aching knee and ran on grass trails and pea gravel. It was really beautiful (through the meadow in bloom with all sorts of birds flying by) and very relaxing. Before I knew it, I had knocked off 8 miles! Then brought it home for 11, showered, SCARFED FUD and passed out for an hour. It was a very good workout.

Tally: 3.3+3+1+4.5+1+11=23.8!

The Goal is Revealed

okay, just a quick post on a funny conversation with the lady at the check in desk at the YMCA I go to. Her name is Roz and she is a really nice black lady that loves to talk about things in general. I like her. She puts me in a good mood. Like today- she asked why I was putting in longer hours as of late. I told her about the marathon training. Immediately she says, "you know Oprah ran one of those". Then the cat was out of the bag.

You see I read in my one training book about the marathon goal of just being faster than Oprah, and I immediately adopted that mantra. No preachy self-righteous ninny is gonna beat my sarcastic-know-it-all ass. So here's the problem- freaking Oprah trained with a running coach for like 12 months and then he ran with her and she finished in 4:30 apparently. That is a damn good time. That is a 10 min mile, guys, which is my goal. I now fear The Oprah.

Anyway, Roz started laughing something fierce when I told her the goal, and she told me she would mention it in her next e mail to Oprah. Apparently Roz emails Oprah weekly to let her know what's going on. She doesnt know if anyone from the show reads it, but Oprah is Roz's email friend. So we both got a good laugh and as it stands, Roz will narc me out to Oprah tonight.

Week 7: Rules of Engagement

okay so last I left off, the ipod was dead, my legs were tired and i have like 3 more months of this to go.

AWESOME

So this week was really tough. My body just bonked on me midweek and I had to skip one shorter run in lieu of a nap. I think the move, the driving, the biking, personal training and the lab, etc was doing me in. And I dod some reading on the NY Times Run Well Blog and I think I am definitely undergoing a protein bonk. Tonight's dinner: big effing HAMBURGER!

Anyway, this week it is all about re-introducing myself to my calf muscles. Holy crap wtf did I do to them to deserve this? So I think it's my new shoes. I havent effectively broken these in beyond a 9 mile run. They are essentially a newer model of my other pair, which I rotate into the week's activities. I dont have the big problems with my old shoes.

So quick back-story. I run like an idiot. I have a left leg that flails around and whacks the right calf when I am getting tired. Graveel et al make fun of me, but screw them since I am faster thean them on the long runs. So the Gazelle sports guy a few yrs back gave me this shoe that is supposed to correct this problem- and it did very well. I am now thinking that since blowing out the knee, having the reconstruction and now REALLY having strengthened the muscles up, I might not need these crazy super stabilizing shoes, that they might actually be causing a few problems, like the stomping, since they are kinda clunky and rigid. So FINALLY, I have a weekend here in town in Toh-lee-d'oh! and so I will be heading out to a new running store to get a second opinion.

Shoes aside, I kicked some ass on Sunday mountain biking with a non-hungover Jenn, and Leanne- both of whom rocked. My legs felt great, even after the 8.5 mil I ran the night before.

Drove home and could barely walk after the 3hrs drive.

The recap on the week:

Sun: Mtn biking 7 mi

Mon: Off

Tuesday: 5 mi + 30 min personal trainer (another 1mi run)

Wed: no running. PASS OUT

Thursday: 2 mi + 30 min personal trainer (another 1mi at 6.5 min/mile sprints)

Fri: off, but lots of friggin yardwork

Sat: 9 mi run. rescued a toad on the second lap of Reeds Lake. Yay me

Here's the clincher. After running 9 mi, drove home right after catching a ghetto shower in the restroom. I just wanted to get home, and since I was way behind in my schedule due to visiting friends in town, I was too late to do my EGR high school locker room visit. Aside from be a smelly mess, and tired, hungry and thirsty, my legs were seizing up as I was driving. What a retard. Got home at 9pm and popped 4 ibuprofen and was D-O-N-E. Unfortunately insomnia kicked in and ruined a perfectly good Sat night crash.

Totals:

Run=5mi+1mi+2mi+1mi+9mi=18mi

Bike: 7mi

Totally flogged. Trying to kick these miles up to 25 this week, so we'll see if I hold up! No biking for a few weeks though since I'll be sticking around here...

Week 6: Death by Sweat- RIP ipod Shuffle

Okay, so where the heck did we leave off. I guess it was last Saturday. I had a really good long run over the 4th holiday and caught up on some much needed rest. This is really very important for me since I have figured out that with my fat ass I have a lot of potential energy and can run till the cows come home if I keep my mind occupied. That's why I like to find all these new runs along the River AND why I wear an ipod. I've been meaning to re-load my ipod with some swanky new muzak though, especially some techo tunes like what my friend Rich has previously given me (sound track from Run Lola Run- try it out, but substitute Kate for Lola). I've gotten kinda bored from a lot of the music on the pod, except for some fun stuff my friend Steve gave me (Pirates of the Caribbean and flight of the bumblebee) and of course, some BLue Oyster Cult "Dont fear the Reaper"...okay quick side story about that song. I was as mile 15.1 on the 25k last year when that song came on. NOt the freaking song you want to hear while finishing up your race!...

Anyway, here's my advice to you all re: technology- it is not designed to be drenched in sweat. I was doing a lovely make-up run on Monday (for a missed Sun run) and I was cranking it out when the damn thing went whirwhirwhir and all of a sudden Daughtry went all Barry White like and died a painfull death. Buh Bye ipod. Since the new ipod shuffle gen 3 is a waste of money (apparently its very sensitive to sweat) AND it talks to you (this fact creeps me the frig out), I forked over the cash for a new 45$ 2nd generation shuffle. Now I have to figure out where the least sweaty part of my body is to clip it to...all of you can shut up now.

So the rest of the week was about learning to run without distractions, and it was decent. I am trying to focus on the breathing and the heel toe, and this was the week to do it!

So for the week:

Sun : off

Mon: 4 mi

Tues: 30 min weights w my trainer; 4.5 mile run + 1.0 during training

Wed: 4.5 mi

Thurs: 30 min weights + running w my trainer- 1.0 mi

Friday: OFF

Sat: 8.5 mi around Reeds Lake in the sunshine- 2 laps, one on my own, one with Jenn.

some great critters spotted around Reeds including a snapping turtle, a muskrat and some mother duck and her ducklings all lined up on a log. I rewarded myself with sushi and margaritas at carrie and Dave's in the evening and then PASSED out on the couch at 10:30.

So the total: 4+5.5+4.5+1.+8.5=23.5mi

just think, if I ran another 5k, that's what I would need to run to complete one damn marathon. In one day.

I am screwed.

Week 5- Movin Movin Movin

Okay, so this week was one of those weeks that just hands you your ass all gift-wrapped with a bow on it.

You see I was moving from an apt into a nice little house this week, and I hadnt really done much packing. I hired movers since all my strong guy friends are back in Michigan, but you still have to pack all the shit for them to move. And apparently I have a lot of shit.

So Sunday was my off day, since I was quite flogged from running and biking and driving in one day. Try running 6.2, biking 7.5 and driving 180mi in the span of 12 hours and you tell me how you feel. SHITE. That's one descriptor. I used Sunday as a opportunity to pack my car up full and bring a load over to the house.

Monday was much of the same sentiment. I was non-functional in the lab by 2pm, so, being the boss, I went home and took a 2 hr-ling nap. It was exactly what the Dr. ordered (and I am a Dr, not just on tv)

Tuesday my personal trainer cancelled, which was fine, since I was still not very functional, due in part to not getting any sleep for a few days (stress in KTE= wicked insomnia- a new fun fact about your friend Kate). But I decided I needed to run, so I put the hammer down on 4 miles at a good 9.5 min/mi. My lungs are still full of garbage, and this is getting really old, man.

Wed I moved and while the movers moved big stuff and a lot of boxes, this did not mean I was sitting back eating bonbons. I filled my car up again with little stuff again and supervised the move. I started at 5:30am and ended at 4am the next morning (again too wired to sleep). So you kow this is going to be bad...

Thursday I took the day off from work to move in. Well I was moving furniture around all day on my own, wedging stuff with my thigh and knee, which was a bad freaking move as I heard the most major POP from my right knee. WAAAAAY louder than the normal protests. This worried me quite a bit, since my knees were already very shagged out from the move. But I went to my training session, and despite the tiredness, cranked out pullups like crazy and did dips with vigor. But I decided to bail on the make-up run, seeing as I bailed on the Wed run.

Friday was supposed to be off, but screw it! Slept in, moved more furniture around, unpacked boxes and hit the trail to test my aching knees out. They were starting to hurt. Wobbly 0.3 miles ensued and then I tore it up for 4 mi to my surprise! Knees are fine folks. I rewarded myself with beer and fireworks that night, sitting with my neighbors outside doing both. Here's the thing about my neighbors that I met last night. I felt like I was in a scene from the movie Cocoon, but scene from before when they swim in the pool of youth. It ws 30 minutes of repeating everything they said 1 minute ago, "what"s, "ehh"s and "what's your name again". One was so hard of hearing they thought I actually lived with Sid Vicious, my significant other. The punk rock icon of the 80s apparently is alive and well in suburban Perryburg, Ohio, according to these guys.

Sat was a long run, and I was finally starting to feel like I was catching up on my rest. Boy it feels sooooo lazy to me when I do that, but screw it and my critics. I napped not only in the morning before I ran, but also in the afternoon after I ran. So I ran a new run this time, from my new house over across the bridge and the debris from last night's fireworks. Then I hit the Toepath for a few miles along the River, then up to the River Road and then stopped at a Nature preserve for 5 minutes to check out the park. Upon return, it was cool since the Fort Meigs on the other side of the River was shooting off their cannon and doing 21 gun salutes. I had a bird's eye view of that and I completely forgot the fact that my last mile was all uphill at a fairly ridiculous angle! So I clocked in 8.0 miles + some nature hiking. That run was, gasp, enjoyable and I completely forgot about my breathing. What this taught me is the importance of rest. Missing one run will not kill me. 8 hrs of sleep and a nap is priceless man!

Tally for the week:

0+0+4+0+0+3.5+8.0=15.5

A lot less than last week's 20+, but that 8 miler was at such a comfortable clip, I could have run for another hour without a problem. Note to self: REST!