Gym bunny.

I made it to the gym!  It's been a long month, resting up and taking time after my car accident.  In retrospect, the husband believes that the reason the driver's side window was gone was that my noggin smashed into it (I was knocked unconscious during the accident and kind of blurry after I woke up).  While nothing was broken, the bruising on my head was magnificent, and I have had occasional dizziness since then.  The husband was worried about me going and doing cardio, so we held off until tonight.

30 challenging minutes on an elliptical with no dizziness = success!  Just look:

ALSO, congrats to KQB on New Sights' 200th post!

gym rat

Well, I joined a gym. The staff know I run, and run a lot and have (jokingly, I hope) threatened to pull me off the treadmills. BUT, they have a different movie everyday that plays on a wall in a CINEMA (I kid you not) with rows and rows of cardio equipment in it! At first, I thought it was kind of lame, but as the threat of an 18- to 20-miler on a treadmill looms (along with the forecast), maybe running while watching “The Dark Knight,” or ANYTHING is the way to go. Today, I did about three miles at a tempo-y pace (6.6 MPH, or 9:05), then swam some 12-14 laps (I gather that’s something like fifth of a mile?). I have a (free!) appointment with a very beefy and blonde trainer on Monday morning; I will wait for his advice to start a lifting program.

My RoadID arrived and is lovely and red. I strapped it on my wrist this morning as I headed for the towpath. Not that it was visible under the layers (nor was I ever unconscious, so…win?). For once, I planned effectively for the temperature (tights under old man pants, wicking tee, compression mock, windbreaker, hat, gloves, trail shoes) and kept warm (and upright) without overheating. I opted for six miles instead of twelve (and gladly so! There were some massive paw prints in the snow that I only noticed on the way back. I would not have been able to outrun a beast of such size at the end of a longer run).

I’ve been reading ChiRunning, by Danny Dreyer, and tried working today on posture, and I ’m pretty sure that was the fastest six miles I’ve ever run (threat of a beastie, notwithstanding). I implore you, read the book! I find most books on running theory or training spout the same advice over and over again (which is great if you haven’t heard it before), but I think ChiRunning might just (or could just) revolutionize how we run. The rest of my reading list includes a book on treadmill training from the library, and another on weight training for runners (the latter of which I so far like).

So it’s been going really well. I’ve been nailing 30-32 miles per week (half indoor, half outdoor- better than I expected to be able to do this winter), and am now adding cross-training and lifting. My weight went down a couple of pounds, but hasn’t dropped like I thought it would with more consistent mileage. I will bring this up with the beefcake, too.

Update: the BUSATS guys have my money and I’m definitely in the raffle, so keep your fingers crossed that I get that number (which I will take as a sign that I am destined to do it)!

Favorite Trails 3: Smithsonian to Zoo (D.C)

Time of Day: 11:00 a.m.
Approximate distance: 4.42 miles
Time: 47:56
Temperature: 64 degrees
Running buddy: Johnny from CRC



Today my pal Johnny and I met at the Mall entrance to the Smithsonian metro for a pre-football run. We had planned on just running the Mall, but decided to meander off toward the Lincoln Memorial and see where our whimsy took us. The weather stayed balmy as we picked up Rock Creek by the Kennedy Center and followed it all the way to the zoo, stopping at the side furthest away from the panda exhibit. Several other winter runners scooted past us going the opposite way. Surprisingly, there was one dude decked out in full black CWX gear. He must have been quite warm given the temperature! We took a cooldown walk through the zoo, stopping to admire ostriches and orangutans along the way. We continued walking to the Cleveland Park metro stop, where we happily chomped our way through California Tortilla burritos.

I'm thankful for the warm weather (which occurs so often that it's no longer unseasonable) and good running buddies. I often worry about running buddies becoming irritated with my slowness and think that this worrying affects the first ten minutes of any buddy run. After the first ten minutes, my muscles have usually warmed up and I'm usually settled into conversation, and the rest of the run turns out much better than expected. I've been lucky with Cambridge running buddies and blogidarity ones--James and Sam are both good running buddies, and I bet that Wendy, Liz, and run.happy must be too!

good morning

Today I set off on a 20-minute run around 8:30 a.m., armed with a bandanna, Pearl Izumi tights, and a new Underarmour hoodie. Yesterday's 38-minute run (so far this break I've been tracking minutes rather than miles) had been an exercise in what not to do, aka eat spaghetti too soon before running), and I laced up my shoes with the expectation that I'd feel that sluggish again. The difference in mood hit me as fast as the cold air stung my hands and Fergie's voice boomed through my headphones.

Bounding along like a My Little Pony, I scooted through empty Arlington neighborhoods onto the W&OD. I thought of my VA blogidarity buddies, with whom I'd run these trails before, and vowed to say "good morning" to at least one person on the trail that day. I said "good morning" to an ipod and hat-bedecked lady and she just looked surprised in return. Five minutes later, a cheery old man biked toward me, waved and said "happy new year!"