Day 8

Frustration is setting in. I took a break from running because my shins couldn't take anymore pounding. This morning I went to the gym, intent on continuing my training. First round was great. I walked for 3 minutes and jogged for 4. I was huffing and puffing, but I managed to jog the entire 4 minutes with minimal pain. Yay! Time for round 2. I walk for 3 minutes and then I start jogging again. This time, I'm huffing and puffing like I'm a smoker and my chest is getting tight. WTH?!? My shins start twinging a little but it's not so bad that I can't press through. I get to the 3 minute mark and hit a wall. BAM! My legs wouldn't let me continue. I slow it down and walk so that I can catch my breath. I'm disappointed as hell. I don't know if it's a mental block but I can't seem to get to that 4 minute mark on a consistent basis.

I continue to walk and then decide to walk 2 minutes and jog 2 minutes. I figured that's better than nothing. I do this for 2 cycles and then I can't take it anymore. I hop off the tread at the 30 minute mark and go to the recumbent bike for 10 minutes. My legs are like jello and they are screaming!

Even though my race training didn't go the way I wanted to, I did have a great cardio workout. I finished off with abs and much needed stretching. I won't be running tomorrow cause I want give my shins a rest. I'll be back on Sunday.

The Great Gatsby

I've just finished reading "The Great Gatsby." One of my goals for 2009 was to read a great American novel. I chose "The Great Gatsby" because suprisingly, I never read it in high school. It was a suprisingly a short book - only 180 pages. But it took me two weeks to read it. It was hard for me to get entrenched in the book at the beginning due to the writing style of F. Scott Fitzgerald. But I pressed on and started to really enjoy reading it.

I couldn't get over the vanity and shallowness of some of the main characters - Tom, Daisy, Jordan and Gatsby. I felt pity for Nick as he seemed completely out of his element. I don't feel sorrow for Gatsby because I don't believe his love for Daisy was true. I think she was an obsession, an object that he wanted to possess. I enjoyed the book and I am happy that I chose it as my first American novel to read for 2009.

My next selection is "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. Another novel that I didn't have the pleasure of reading in high school. I'll probably start reading "Of Mice and Men" in March. Right now I need to start the VCA Good-Trash Reading Movement. I've received the first two books in the Casteel series in the mail so I need to get cracking. I haven't read VCA since I was a teen so it will be interesting reading her novels as an adult.

Winter decides to make an appearance

Right now it's snowing. We haven't had any measurable amount of snow all winter. Personally, I was hoping that we wouldn't get any snow during month of January. I was so close! Four days shy. Oh well, can't win them all. We're supposed to get 1-3 inches. That's not much compared to some areas in the country but for the DMV, that's a lot. We (collective) do not know how to drive in the snow. We don't know how to drive in rain, sleet, drizzle, bright sunshine. So needless to say, the afternoon rush hour commute is going to be horrendous.

Right now the snow is looking nice and pretty. I''m looking at it from my office at work. The cars on the street below are already struggling. It's only been snowing for 40 minutes. And i t's not a heavy snow! Sheesh!

Tonight the snow is supposed to change over to sleet and freezing rain. Good times. That should be interesting. Hopefully school will be closed tomorrow so I can have a snow day at home. Keeping fingers crossed. :-)

Slip Up

Today I don't know what was going on with me but I was letting little, tinny, insignificant things piss me off. One of my goals is to not sweat the small stuff. But today, that goal went out the window. I guess I was in a mood - maybe - and things were just getting to me. I went to the gym thinking a vigorous cardio session will help shake off whatever's bugging me. Did it work? Nope. Maybe a little but not enough. I'm still annoyed. I'm in my own little world because I don't want to snap at anyone. Hopefully things will be better in the morning.

Day 7 - Continued

I went to the gym tonight. It was packed. All of the treadmills were being used so I got on the stair climber for 15 minutes. Luckily a treadmill became free and I hopped right on it. I walked for 3 minutes and then kicked it up to start jogging for 4. And then the burn set in. Like this morning, my calf muscles were on FIRE! I could only take it for two minutes and then I had to slow it back down. The burn continued while I was walking. So after 15 minutes, I hopped off the Tread and got on the bike. I don't know what the heck is going on. I didn't have this problem Saturday. What's the deal? I need to find out because I'm not going to make any progress if this continues. *sigh*

Day 7 - Feel the Burn!!

Today is the beginning of week 3 training. And the training kicks it up a notch. A big notch! Even though the last 2 weeks I haven't been consistent with the training, I decided to go ahead and move on to week 3 training. Today I woke up at 4am to go to the gym. I am determined to get into the habit of going in the morning to 1. Beat the evening crowds and 2. Get it out of the way. Before walking out the door, I look at my training sheet and gasp. It says: "Walk 3 minutes, run 4 minutes. Try repeating this 4 times. Whaaaat! What happened to walking 4 minutes and running 3 minutes? They totally skipped over that! Okay, I can do this I tell myself as I'm walking out the door.

I hop on the treadmill and decide to skip the warm (bad idea) and walk for 3 minutes. I then crank up the treadmill to 4.5 and get my jogging on. So far, so good. I look at the timer and 2 minutes have passed. I'm thinking, this is easy. What was I worried about? Then I hit the 3 minute mark. And the burn set in. My calves were on fire! But I tough it out and after 4 minutes, I slowed the treadmill down and went back to walking. The burn continues and it doesn't seem like it's going to subside. So I pause the treadmill and stretch out my calf muscles. I resume walking and after another 3 minutes, I start jogging again. This time it's not easy and I'm grimacing the entire time. After 2 minutes, I slow it down and walk. After another couple of minutes, I get off the treadmill.

I don't know what was going on today but I could not muster through. The burn was too much for me to bear. Maybe I need to do calf exercises to build them up. I decide to weight train afterwards and I made sure to include calf raises.

I'm going to head back to the gym tonight and give it the old college try. Let's hope I'm successful.

Taste of Spring

Today Mother Nature is teasing us. It is 53 degrees and sunny. After weeks of bitingly cold weather where we were in the teen's during the day and had single digit temps at night, today we get a taste of spring. I curse you Mother Nature! Tomorrow it will be back in the low 30s. Damn! It was nice while it lasted.