Food Journal THIS

After a long day, sometimes I like to make a cake to celebrate just how long and ass-bad that day has been. Case in point: yesterday. Call it emotional eating, I call it delicious defiance. When life gives you lemons, make yellow cake.

Since I've been journaling everything I eat as part of my personal training, I have never eaten yellow cake with chocolate frosting right before I curl up in bed for 7-8 hours. Yesterday changed all that. Cake + milk + Thursday night shows=the perfect antidote to a crazy day.

Look at these guys

The finishers!

Dad finished the half in 3:05 - just 5 minutes off his stretch goal of 3 hours. He did negative splits, starting with 14- to 15-minute miles, and finishing with 11- to 13-minute miles. I'm so proud of his effort on the course. I tweeted our progress and notable music choices throughout the race; it's fun to read those and kinda re-live our experience. Mile 6: Electric Slide. Mile 7: "Elvis," performing Don't. Mile 8: DJ at the Edgecliff playing Working Day and Night by Michael Jackson (p.s. I flippin' loved this and had to contain myself. Will add it to my running playlist). Mile 8.5: I'll Be There by the Jackson Five. 

Dan finished the full in 3:50, and looked strong as I saw him running down the final stretch. Come to think of it, I think this was his 5th Flying Pig! He's curled up on the sofa now, watching the Reds game. And by watching I mean napping.

more highlights to come...

The Highlight of Dad's half marathon

Forget the finish line, Mile 7 with The King rates as Dad's favorite part of the race, in spite of the uphill. He's already asked me to make a 4 x 6 of this picture. Don't be surprised if this shows up in the Ohio Wesleyan alumni magazine.

Who was that blue streak?

In case you can't identify that blur of black, blue and yellow, that's Gina @ mile 3. Oh yeah, she passed us. Go on, girl!

He's Ready

Dad at the start. He was so nervous, but managed to give me a thumbs-up and a smile before we crossed the start line. No turning back; we were on our way.  I love this picture.

Dan takes a page out of Grandpa's book

Dan set out his breakfast for tomorrow. When I was a kid, my Grandpa Faulkner would do this every night. Seeing how neatly my 31-year-old husband placed the cereal box, bowl and spoon on the counter produced a rush of memories about Grandpa and simultaneously cracked me up.

Still Life with Rolls

Only 79 centavos @ kroger

The 10K Roundup

Mark caught my "kick" in the final stretch - and by kick I mean lead feet. Let's just say today's 10K was a learning experience. When I tweeted that I was wondering if I should eat this morning, I chose about 4 Sport Beans and that was it. Should have had a GU or a bar. Lesson learned. I was about 1.5 miles in when all I wanted to do was walk. My splits are as follows. I'm posting this as a reminder to myself to #1: eat before the race and #2: don't go out too fast.:

Mile 1: 8:08 (Definitely went out too fast; this mile includes the Taylor-Southgate bridge)
Mile 2: 7:40 (Seriously, why did I think I could hold this pace?)
Mile 3: 7:55 (Pushed up the Licking River Bridge even though I wanted to walk)
Mile 4: 9:14 (Walked up part of the CWB Bridge feeling lightheaded & a touch nauseous)
Mile 5: 8:37 (Barely remember this, just remember walking some up the hill on Main)
Mile 6: 7:59 (A nice downhill & flat section of the course)
Last .2: 1:32 (Mark snapped the fuzzy pic above...kinda captures how I was feeling at that point)
Final Time: 51:09...As I crossed the finish line, the announcer said GRETCHEN..........Muh-HAN

Jackie was at the finish and waved to me, giving me a knowing look about name pronunciation. Update: I found a great video that Jackie made of today's events.

All in all, this was a fun race and a beautiful morning. I bumped into Kelly at the finish line, and we wandered around for a while. She said the announcer called her Kelly Mathew. Beautiful. The Mah- names never disappoint in public address situations.

Can I just say that seeing Denise Austin at the start was awesome? I eagerly joined in her warm-up stretches, but Dan was a little too cool for Denise. It was all a front; I know he loves Denise.

Since I didn't eat until after the race, I didn't have any coffee this morning. Classify this as mistake #3 today. I took a great nap once I got home, but ever since then, I've been cringing under the cloud of the worst caffeine withdrawal headache I've ever had.

For now, it's Derby time. The other first-weekend-in-May tradition for me. Instead of mint juleps & Kentucky Browns, it will be water and pasta. I'm still on the hook for 13 miles tomorrow with Dad.

Kellogg's Snacks brings the celebs

Ernie handing out snacks

Moses' post-mile anguish

Moses after the kids 1 mile run

LOVE her

Omg Denise Austin is kicking off the 10 k!!!

Following this interview, Jonathan Hawgood called her a "pepperpot." He might be a 90-year old trapped in the body of a 30- or 40-something.

And So Flying Pig Weekend Begins...

This was Dan last night taking a brief ice bath after an even briefer run. He's got a new pair of Mizunos and has been registered for the full marathon since January. Will he do it? We shall see...I think the look on his face says it all. Fun fact: this photo captures the first time our bathtub has been used since we've lived in the condo.

Moi, I am running the 10K this morning at 8:00, then walking the half with Dad tomorrow. Rain is expected both days, so I'm prepared to be drenched all weekend.

More updates as the weekend wears on.

Dan Lowers Himself into an Ice Bath

My Two Running Dads

This is the story of my two dads...I read somewhere once that you'll have many parents throughout life, in addition to your biological mother and father. At this point in my life, i can easily identify 10-15 different parental figures, including my two "running dads."

There's Richard, aka real dad, who is gearing up for the Pig half marathon. This will be his furthest distance covered in a race to date and it's only 2 weeks away from today. I convinced him to come downtown to practice the Eden Park hills, so we walked about 6 miles of the course yesterday morning. Dad is a great walk/run companion; we talk about our family, enjoy the scenery and when I suggest we cover the whole Eden Park loop (Woodburn to MLK and back down Gilbert), Dad is willing to keep going. It shouldn't surprise me, but he randomly tosses in a quote from Pee Wee's Big Adventure, which in retrospect, cracks my shit up.

Well, Buenas dias!

It's good for us to have this time together. In my nuclear family, Dad and I are cut from the same cloth. On the surface, we share a common addiction to race-finishing euphoria and obscure movie quotes, but on a deeper level, walking together is our time to reconnect as daughter and father. Rad said to me the other day that some of his best talks with his kids are on walks. And how.

My neighbor, Mark, became my running partner and de facto dad almost 5 years ago while we were living at the Renaissance. That running partnership survived my move with Dan to PP@L, then Mark & Kathy's move to PP@L. We run together 2-3 times a week and usually catch up on the latest from work, family and downtown living. There have been runs, though, when Mark has listened to some of my most difficult issues and offered his advice. Mark is the same age as my dad, but I must say his pace belies all that. Lately, I'm lucky if I can keep up with Mark. That's why he's in Boston right now, (hopefully) resting up before the Boston Marathon tomorrow. I think it will be his 4th or 5th Boston, so I'm sending lots of good thoughts to Mark (and Linda and Mark S.) on the eve of Patriots Day. One of these days, I hope to follow in his footsteps - not just with respect to running, but also in his commitment to his family, community involvement and leadership at work. Mark's a good egg.

Illinois Half Marathon recap

My Top 10 Favorite things about this weekend's race:

10. Expo Deals: Though I never visited Body 'n Sole when I lived in C-U, I was glad they were at the expo offering 20% off of everything. I picked up some Asics arm warmers and a pair of Mizuno shorts with a full size, zippered pocket - a.k.a. the Holy Grail. Those items, plus two flavors of GU and a pack of Sport Beans for under $35.

9. Crowd support along the course made me happy. C-U residents came out to support runners early on a Saturday morning. Students seemed to crawl out of the woodwork as the race wore on.

8. Kinetic Medal: it's awesome - the little person in the "O" spins around.

7. The Photog at mile 12 who took my picture, high-fived me and told me to "Finish Strong!" Outstanding.

6. Running past landmarks like the Alma Mater, Merry Ann's Diner, The White Horse Inn, and my old apartment in Urbana.

5. Pre-gun music selections. Among them: Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones...finally, something other than Start Me Up.

4. I like flat courses and I cannot lie. Illinois, you make Cincinnati look like the Andes, Alps and Rockies combined.

3. My updated iPod Playlist: I usually don't replay songs when I'm running, but I hit repeat on Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) by Gnarls Barkley. It came on right when the course narrowed onto a Nature Preserve path, with all the runners crowding and hustling in a formation of organized chaos. Plus, the helicopter overhead made me feel like we really were all running from a natural disaster. Oddly, it charged me up and gave me a boost.

2. OMG King's Hawaiian Rolls - soft doesn't even begin to describe them. At first, I saw them and was all, "Why are there rolls betwixt the Nature Valley bars and Papa John's pizza?" One taste of a lightly sweet dinner roll and I'm convinced that they are the most perfect, delicious food in the world following a long run. Hands down.

1. Finishing on the 50 yard line at Memorial Stadium - I was struggling in miles 10 and 11, but when I saw the Stadium, I knew I was close and started getting excited to finish the race. It's hard to fully explain, but running that last mile through the crowd, down the tunnel and onto the field put many things in perspective. Dan and Vicki were already on the field cheering for me, I ran the length of the field - along the sidelines where I used to stand for home U of I games. The course did a 180 turn and I saw myself on the jumbotron as I crossed the finish line.

I felt so satisfied at having come all this way - metaphorically and literally - and my eyes filled with tears. I shuffled to the end zone and laid down on the orange turf. Everything seemed more vibrant than usual. In my head, I told myself repeatedly, "This is why you run, this is what you live for."

My Medal

Race start from our hotel

Saturday morning & the race started right outside our door.

On campus at U of I

Dan & I braced ourselves against the East Central Illinois winds and walked around the Quad. He got this picture of me with the Alma Mater right after a group of prospective freshmen moved on from the statue.

My bib for Tomorrow

Dan at the Expo

OMG lunch

Somehow, I forgot how much food they give you at Courier. No wonder I always wanted to go there when Mom and Dad came to visit.

Courier Cafe Milkshakes

Courier Cafe - Our first stop in Champaign-Urbana

Oiling up in Veedersburg

Our quick trip to Champaign got derailed when the oil light came on. Pulling off the highway at Veedersburg, IN, we stopped at the first gas station we could find. It was about a mile off the highway and completely deserted. And not just deserted in a "nobody was stopping there" way - literally deserted like the owners had just up and left the complex. Weirder still was that it used to be a combination gas station-batting cages-mini golf compound. All overgrown and apparently vandalized. Fortunately, we had oil in the trunk, so Dan poured in some oil and we got back on 74. Creepy. But what do you expect from a town with a name like Veedersburg.

Spring in the River Valley

I didn't take this photo - I found it online

This morning's run was on the Loveland bike trail - flat, scenic, and about 10 degrees colder than the rest of Cincinnati. Vicki lent me her arm warmers, so I was prepped to run with just those, but needed a jacket on top of them. 

Running along the path, I focused on the growth along its edges. I had to look this up, but found out that it was henbit - green weeds with purple flowers everywhere. My two favorite colors lining my path. When I wasn't concentrating on the henbit, the ground ivy extending down the bank to the river looked soft enough to roll around in. 

Fox on the run

In chronicling the highlights of the past month, I completely overlooked one mega event from last week - I saw a fox on a run. Yeah, yeah, it doesn't sound like that much, but living in an urban area, I have never seen a fox just darting around on his velvety little feet. What makes it even more Nat Geo-worthy is that the fox crossed my path in Friendship Park right along the river,  just east of downtown. Usually when I spot wildlife it's in the 'burbs - deer in Taylor Mill, wild turkeys in Indian Hill, etc. 

So, Mark and I were running a week ago last Thursday, heading back to the building after turning around in Friendship Park. Even though it was dark out, I could see a big cat with pointy ears sitting at the top of the path a short distance ahead. It spotted us and darted across the path, retreating to the woods by the river, and I could see it's long nose and the white tip of its tail. Mark was saying something and I totally interrupted him with, "That's a fox!" The fox ran through the shrubs for a few yards, then stopped to look back at us. I tried to point him out to Mark, who couldn't see him in the dark. 

It's a minor thing, but I love seeing animals while I'm out running. Seeing that fox totally made my day. When I got up that morning, I was tired and in a bad mood. Even running wasn't doing much for my morale. Once I saw that fox, though, and watched him run off, it reminded me why I get up and out the door at 6:00 a.m. These are the experiences that make running so special to me. Even though I feel like I spend the majority of my life indoors these days, it's my time outdoors that rejuvenates me. It reminds me of being a kid and being curious - exploring & inspecting everything around me. There are days when I wish I could go back to that, and running helps me get a little closer.

What a Day for a Run

The Month in Workouts

The day after my last real post, this little guy was born. That is my nephew, Avery. I think I will always associate his birth with Urban Active because I was at the gym when I found out that he had been born. I opened my locker after my workout on February 27th and saw that my brother had called me - three times. It wasn't long until I got in touch with Derek and learned that Avery had arrived early that morning. I love this picture; I think he looks like a little angel. An angel straight from heaven. What did you do, just drop right down from heaven? You're gonna send him to Arizona State.

Aside from the new nephew, highlights from the past month are as follows:

-OMG Hammies Feb. 27: Even before I left the gym that morning, my hamstrings were killing me. Reflecting back on that day, I remember doing some hamstring curls, squats...the usual stuff. What really got me, though, were the last two exercises of the day. First, jump squats. Ouchie. Then, one-legged "deadlifts" (for lack of a better term) where i balanced on one leg, holding weights in my hands and bent at the waist, bringing the weights to the floor and back up, using my other leg as a lever. O...M...G...I felt my hamstrings for 4 days after that. No joke. Which brings me to...

-Mason Brutality on Feb 28: The group run was scheduled for Mason. The Mahans were late. 20 minutes late. Okay, no big whoop. As Dan and I trotted off along the course, the sign at Mason Jr. High said, "7:20 19 degrees." Hm.

The first few steps felt like my hamstrings were going to snap, but they seemed to loosen up around 2.5 miles. With temps in the teens and nothing to block the relentless wind, running through flat, suburban Mason felt like running along Lake Michigan in Chicago in January. Thinking I was going to run 12 that morning, I packed a Gu, but ended up taking it at around 5 miles. About 6 miles into the run, I stopped at the Jr. High to use the restroom. Bad idea. My hamstrings revolted. I tried to stretch them, but they felt like I had just run a marathon. I ventured out to add on, knowing I would never make 12. I did a mile out, then turned around and ran back for a total of 8. That was enough. After dodging ice patches all morning it was time for coffee and dry clothes. Post-run breakfast was at IHoP, effectively alleviating some of the morning's abuse.

-Knee probs: Following my OMG Hammies issues in late February, the knee probs showed up around the first week of March. After a 5-mile run in Amberley with the group, my knees were screaming. I told Trainer Doug about the knee pain, and he noticed that my knees turn in - especially my right knee when doing lunges. This isn't entirely news to me but I'm not sure how to correct it. So, I've been running shorter, slower, and icing post-run.

-6-mile run in Sarasota: Ah, the Sarasota lifestyle. Get up, walk to get Starbucks, walk back to the resort. Walk, walk, walk. I was a little bummed that we didn't have the Sarasota half marathon to look forward to this year, so I made a point to get out and revisit some parts of the course on my own.

On St. Patrick's Day, I got up early and got out the door around 6:45. It was in the 50s (read: perfect running weather) and still dark out, but I felt perfectly safe running on my own, since most of the area's seniors are up and about at that time of the morning. I ran from our resort on Lido Key to St. Armand's Circle, then to the Ringling Causeway. I saw a few herons along the way, admired the hibiscus and listened to the tide. It was awesome. I lingered on the causeway to take in the sunrise, and was punished by my knees shortly thereafter. Running through the pain seemed to work, and I made it back to the resort by 8:30, woke up Dan, and we walked to Starbucks and back. Chalk up another 2 miles for the day. The highlight of our trip, for sure.

-The Bomb Bars: Sometimes when we go on vacation, we load up on bars. These often replace meals, as we're generally so busy we forget to eat. Blueberry Crisp Clif constituted several lunches for me while in Florida. I can't be bothered to hunt down lunch when I'm reading "The Shack" on the beach. And when we stumbled upon a Whole Foods in Sarasota, I bought an Odwalla Almond Sweet and Salty bar. To sum up, Blueberry Clif and Odwalla Almond are the bomb(s).

-Westchester run 3/22: Returning from short-sleeve weather in Florida AND a week of navigating by the iPhone, our run in Westchester slapped us upside the head. First, it was in the 30s. Second, the Mahans were late (AGAIN) due to getting lost somewhere in Butler-Warren Ohio. The iPhone map was no help. After moments of "intense fellowship" in the car (as Dr. Wiley would say), we found the start (Caribou Coffee) and i sent Dan off to run. It would have been great to sit at Caribou all morning, relaxing and drinking coffee, but I managed to get outside and do 5. Dan was going to do 18, but cut it down to 14.

-One training session a week: Per my UA agreement, I'm on my own for one workout a week now. I'm adjusting.

-Heart Mini: I did the 5K, Dan did the 15K. It rained on us both. Brunch afterwards was delish. It was one of my slowest 5Ks in recent memory, but whatevs. Pics from brunch follow:

Kathy flipping pancakes & Dan eyes the casserole I baked

Boston-Bound Crew

The Illinois Half is just 2 weeks away. Since I slacked on registering, I am now enrolled in a lottery to get registered for the half. If I don't get chosen, I'll run the 5K. The racing season has begun and I'm looking forward to Illinois.

St. Patty's Day lunch in Clearwater, FL

The Week in Workouts

Friday, February 20: Derek's birthday. Turned in the past 3 weeks of my food journal. Doug immediately exclaims, "PEANUT M&Ms???!" sigh. 

Sunday, February 22: Run to Mammoth Coffee in Newport, crossing the Purple People Bridge pre-dawn in the blowing snow. Ran about 4.2 miles and returned to Mammoth Coffee as the barista was unlocking the door. About an hour post-run, Jody and I chatted over hot coffee with our teeth still chattering from the freezing winds outside. Ready for Spring.

Tuesday, February 24: Mom's birthday. Ran outside with Mark. A perfect winter morning - dark, cold, calm. One of those mornings where we caught our breath at the turnaround and saw each exhale disappear in a white puff. Okay, winter running is still pretty cool.

Wednesday, February 25: Urban Active workout - I felt like I was going to pass out doing squats on the Smith Machine. Turns out I should eat something before I work out.

Thursday, February 26: With a revised playlist on my iPod*, I run 4.5 on the treadmill, maintaining an 8:00 pace for the majority. Feeling good, but need to ramp up in order to be ready for the Illinois Half. Printed my 6-week training program today, even though there is less than 6 weeks until the race.

Tomorrow: Another UA workout, and another birthday. Looking forward to meeting my new nephew very soon.

*new songs added to "On the Go 8" running playlist:

B.O.B. - Outkast

Crazy in Love - Beyonce

4 Minutes - Madonna

Get Me Bodied - Beyonce

Independent Woman Part 1 - Destiny's Child

Easily half of my running playlist involves Beyonce. I heart you, Beyonce, for your up-tempo girly jams. If only I could do the "Crazy in Love" booty shake while I'm running. Uh oh uh oh uh oh... 

This is Why He's Krek

Breakfast of Krekeler:
A steaming plate of Mac n' cheese, 2 pcs dry whole-grain toast, grande hot tea.

When you run a 50K on Saturday, then head out with the group for a hilly 9 miles on Sunday, you can eat whatever you damn well please at 9:30 a.m. This is all part of Krek's M.O.

Dave silently reminds us that he is part machine whenever he qualifies for Boston - again, completes another ultra or runs the toughest legs of Hood to Coast sans complaints. He runs so much he gets holes in his socks. Bring on the carbs for Krek, he's just going to burn through them like so much fuel.

Today is 80s day and nobody told me

I'm wondering if there was some announcement about this, but is today some kind of 80's Music Extravaganza? First I thought it was just at Urban Active, but no. I'll explain...

Enter Urban Active, roughly 5:20. Proceed to women's locker room, where the usual smooth grooves instrumental jazz is playing. Fill up locker, proceed to gym for training session. Doug and I got started and the first thing i noticed - the Go-Gos on Urban Active Vision (or whatever they call their TV feed).

Moving upstairs, UA Vision was drowned out by the 5:45 Spinning class. As I did my sets of squats, abs, chest presses, yadda yadda, I heard the following:
Money for Nothing, Dire Straits
Sweet Dreams, Eurythmics
Jump, Van Halen

Typically, 80's music is not what I choose to listen to when I work out. Yeah, it's fun and all, it makes me laugh sometimes, but I feel like I OD-ed on it when I was a kid listening to Z93 on my Panasonic boom box all day everyday.

The 80's Spinning soundtrack continued with the worst selection yet: Every Rose Has it's Thorn. How can anyone even work out to that song? It's a total downer! Plus, Bret Michaels is so overexposed right now.

At that point, Doug had me doing 30-second intervals of abs (bicycles - alternating back and forth). Between sets, I explained that I might not be able to complete the training session if I had to listen to Poison.

The song ended, and so did today's training session. I hopped on a nearby elliptical for a few minutes of cardio. And so the 80's streak continued...
Push It, Salt n' Pepa
We Built this City, Starship

Even though I would never include these songs on a workout mix, they both took me back to junior high. As a 7th-grade cheerleader, I did a dance routine to "Push It" and I remember one of the 8th grade girls being worried because the song had "some language in it." Those were the words she used; I remember because she sounded like an adult when she said it. Which I always wondered about - "language." Was she talking about the "push it" part or the "gonna get pissed" part? I never found out.

And We Built this City took me straight to Timberwolf, 1986. That was my first concert, Starship, and Derek, Tauni, Mom and I went on a summer night. I say that because it was the quintessential summer night - I remember the sun setting and everything before the concert. The funny thing was, Mom would only pony up for one concert shirt, insisting that Derek and I would "share" it. It was gray and hot pink, and sized to fit Derek, who hogged it. I maybe wore it once. I wonder if they still have that shirt...

Anyway, my reveries aside, the next song almost knocked me off the fricking machine.
Cherry Pie, Warrant

As an adult listening to the lyrics, I wonder what I ever found redeeming about this song. And, it conjured another Timberwolf memory - Warrant, Trixter and Firehouse. AKA the "Blood, Sweat and Beers" tour. Good God - that probably was in 1990, maybe 91. So, not technically "80s." That was the concert when Kelly caught a Nike "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" t-shirt from the lead singer of Trixter. Which she displayed with her concert ticket on her bedroom wall for weeks after. I was jealous.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, this little gem came on:
Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money

Ugh, I really hate this song. It always reminds me of junior high, when Paradise City was big. My friends and I would always sing, "Take me down to paradise city..." and one of my (sorta) friends always sang, "Take me home to-night..." in a really high voice, like it was a really pretty song. I always wondered if she just never knew what we were singing and tried to keep up.

That was it, I had to get away from the 80s soundtrack.

Walking back downstairs, I managed to get away from the spinning class, but "Private Eyes" by Hall and Oates was on Urban Active Vision. Which made me think that John Oates always reminded me of my Uncle Bill when he had a mustache.

Back to the smooth grooves of the locker room.

I get in the car - "Wild Wild West" was on the radio - i shit you not.

Driving home, I'm flipping the channels, and one station has "In Cars" and an0ther has "You Spin Me Right Round."

The other day when everyone was snowed in, Mark Mallory appeared on TV and declared it Family Day in Cincinnati. Reflecting on all the 80s music I heard, I wondered if there had been some huge declaration about Friday, January 30th being 80s day and I missed it. What if everyone was in on it - Urban Active, all the radio stations, my neighbors, etc. - and I had no idea? Like a Twilight Zone episode.

It was unreal. After re-reading this post, I realize how many crazy associations 80s music brings up for me. Not always bad, but I get lost in these weird memories, reliving things that are kinda funny, but pretty inconsequential.

And it's only 7:24, which means that I still have another 12-16 hours to go.

Newport in the Snow

Not that this was a safe thing to do, but I took a picture of the roads coming off of Taylor-Southgate bridge.

Typical January

No 5:30 workout this morning.
Only 45 days until we go to Florida.

Sunday, by the numbers

Temperature: 12

# of runners in the group: 20

# of shirts / jackets: 4

pairs of gloves: 2

Miles completed: 6

Tardy for the Party

I took this photo for posterity - my first official training session. The date, time and temp are all here - and, incidentally, the temperature dropped to 10 by the time I got to Urban Active. In June or July, I'll probably look back at this picture and laugh. 

Truth be told, waking up at 5:00 sucked. I had everything laid out and ready to go, but I still ended up making it to the gym by the skin of my teeth. What should have been a five-minute drive doubled to ten as I hit every red light between here and Bellevue. Even though I pulled some illegal maneuvers, I still didn't make it in early. I walked into UA at 5:30 on the dot. So, no time to warm up, only time to throw my stuff in a locker and get started. 

Squats, lateral raises, ab work, leg extensions, push-ups...30 minutes flew by, with very little down time between sets. At one point, I looked at the clock and commented that the time was flying by; I only had 10 minutes left. Doug retorted, "Yeah, we started kinda late, too." Youch. 

So, after wrapping up, Doug and I rescheduled Friday's session for Saturday and I hopped on the elliptical for about 15 minutes. By 6:30, I was completely finished working out for the day. 

Skip to Thursday morning - Mark and I ran outside in 20-something degrees. Him: ready to go 6 or 7. Me: stopping every five minutes to stretch my calves. 24 hours after my first real workout, I find that all that balancing on the bosu ball is shredding my calves. It was good to get back outside with my running pal, though. Mark was merciful enough to keep the pace manageable for me and I cut out after about 3 miles.

Friday morning=sleeping in until about 6:30, which was nice.

This morning=up at 7:00 to make sure I had time to get dressed, eat something and print my food journal for my 8:30 session. Even with Dan in tow, I managed to get to UA at about 8:15, enough time to throw stuff in a locker and warm up for about 10 minutes. I also gave Doug my food journal from the past week. He said he'd get back to me on that after taking a closer look at it. After glancing at it, he immediately noticed the buffalo wings and spinach dip from Wednesday night and mucho Mexican for lunch yesterday. With more time, he'll surely see my spinach salad lunches and healthy snacks. Bring me the feedback - bring it.

This morning's session was similar to Wednesday's session - more balancing, squats, arms, plank, etc. Followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical. It would have been nice to get in the sauna for a while, but Dan wanted to get back home to buy Opening Day tickets.

Tomorrow, we're running with the group in Blue Ash. 7:00 a.m. - another early morning. The lows are going to be in the teens, which means double the socks, double the shirts, double the gloves, hat, headband. Guess I should do some laundry tonight. More on that tomorrow.

Evaluation with Doug

What to say about my 9:00 evaluation with Doug? That I already kick ace and don't need a trainer? Not quite...

My evaluation went well. I'm in okay shape. But I want to be in better shape. There are definitely areas to work on. Like when I was balancing on the Bosu ball, lifting weights to shoulder level in front of me while squatting. That was pretty challenging. 

So I figure my workout routine will look something like this:

Sunday - run with the group

Monday - off

Tuesday - run 

Wednesday - trainer

Thursday - run 

Friday - trainer

Saturday - off (or easy run)

Dan and I are talking about running the Illinois half marathon in April in beautiful Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. We just need to commit to it, get a hotel, take Friday off of work, etc.

Yesterday, I got an email from the Heart Mini, which is about two weeks prior to the Illinois half. Needless to say, it's go time if I want to run well at either event. 

January, February and March are going to be all about the early mornings. We'll see how I do with a 5:00 wake up call...more on that Wednesday.

New for '09

Tonight was my first meeting with an Urban Active trainer, Kevin. My appointment last week got postponed because I abruptly came down with a case of the Seed Virus, complete with stuffy head, sneezing, aches, fatigue, the shakes, etc. After a few days rotating Nyquil / Dayquil, I'm back at 90%.

So I've been looking forward to working out seriously for the past month and now it's time. For really real. My ace is going to be worked over the next 12 months. I paid and everything. 

After chatting with Kevin about my fitness goals, assessing my body fat % and BMI (which I won't post here), I settled on a 60-session plan and swiped the Visa. This commitment actually intimidates me, which doesn't make sense, because I truly want to work out and get in shape. For some reason, assigning a credit card to the process makes it seem so much more matrimonial.

So, once the bizness was settled, Kevin gave me my first assignment. He handed me two 5-pound plates and told me to walk around the track like I was late for work, with "good arm motion." I complied without hesitation, but as a seasoned runner, I felt like a tool after the first lap. The gym was packed with post-holiday exercisers and I caught a glimpse of myself in the windows: pink shirt, black shorts, hair pulled back in clips (because I just got my hair done and it's not long enough to completely pull back)...I looked like a mallwalker busting around the track with these plates in hand, getting passed by joggers. 

"The journey of a million miles begins with a single step," i reminded myself, and completed about 4 more laps.

After that, I balanced on the Bosu ball, doing a series of bicep curls and overhead presses, first with weights, then with bands. While balancing on the Bosu ball, I focused on the monitor outside Cardio Cinema showing Baby Mama - good one. If not for the money i just dropped on training, I probably would have gone and watched it again. 

Next, down to the floor for plank on the Bosu ball. That was followed by lunges swinging a 15-lb. kettle ball between my legs and up to chin height. Various permutations of kettle ball, step, bands and lunging ensued.

Finally, it was core time - transverse abdominals. The ab work was challenging: straight-leg lifts, flutter kicks, etc. At one point, I remembered the trip to Florida we have coming up in March and used that as my motivation. I also made the mistake of telling Kevin about that.

"I like to finish up by giving you a choice," he said. "100 or 1 1/2 minutes. I won't tell you what." Silence... 

"Or you can challenge yourself by doing both."

By this point, I have something to prove. Okay, I'll take the challenge and do both. It turned out to be 100 flutter kicks and 1 1/2 minutes in plank. I made it through 70 flutter kicks and took a break, then finished with the remaining 30 (according to the rules established ahead of time, this was entirely permissible). Then I did the 1 1/2 minutes in plank on the Bosu ball, repeating part of a horoscope I read to myself a few weeks ago: You are a mountain of strength and have already overcome much.

And that was the end of my first training session of '09. It was awesome to have some structure and a coach again. I know I'm a sucker for positive reinforcement, and I really want to believe I'm doing something unique and significant by holding the plank for over a minute. But in my brain, I know it's really not a huge accomplishment. Hearing Kevin say, "Great!" or "Awesome" or high-fiving between sets truly convinces me, if only for a second, that I'm doing something special. Like maybe I'm the baddest-ass client he's trained all day. Because nothing screams badass like a 30-something mallwalker hustling around an indoor track. 

One thing that Kevin said tonight really stuck with me after I got home. That was, "food journal." Yikes. I got home and immediately went for the Club Crackers, and remembered that I will eventually have to answer to all of my pre-meal or between-meal transgressions. I like to think I eat healthily all the time, but then I decide I deserve another Dunkin' Donuts Munchkin. As I heated up some leftover chicken and mashed potatoes, I had a handful of pistachios and a small glass of orange juice. As I was snacking, i wondered if I should count out the pistachios to determine exactly how many i was eating. Hmmm no. Then, since we had two containers of blueberries, I decided to make impromptu blueberry crisp. It was a Cooking Light recipe, so that has to count for something, I figure. Proper Food Journaling begins tomorrow.

Next training session starts Saturday morning at 9:00, titled "Evaluation With Doug."