Holiday cheer from the threshold of Hell

Happy holidays! I hope that any and all readers had a very merry Christmas. Mine was very nice, spent with both my family and the support staff's family. I actually found some neat presents for my parents this year, and I was happy to be able to surprise them. For example, my poor dad is used to getting bbq spatulas and coffee makers, so he was very surprised to get kayak accessories instead. It made me so happy to see that he was happy with it!

I also received some great fitness gifts, for which I really have to thank my family and support staff. The first I opened up was Wii Fit from my parents. "Pretty cool," I thought. Then I tried it out, and it's much more than just "pretty cool." The yoga and strength training sections are like workout videos, except that the platform senses your motions and center of gravity and it tells you how to readjust your positioning for the proper movement. Very, very, very cool. I'll be working on flexibility and strengthening my core for better posture with this.

My parents also got me a calf-stretcher, which is very useful for me, since my calves are always tight. It gives an even better range of motion than standing on a stair-step. I definitely recommend one if you have trouble with tight calves.Then there was the support staff's gift: a bike trainer - a stand that you prop the back wheel on that provides resistance so you can ride indoors as a stationary bike. I had been wanting one of these for a long time because I want to even out my running and biking, and now it's hooked up to my old Diamondback just waiting for me to ride! I've already done about 40 minutes of cycling on it, even though I haven't moved it to its permanent spot by the treadmill. The support staff will probably help me with that when he comes over to help install a speedometer to go with it.

I made use of all of these fitness gifts this week, so I didn't feel too badly about slacking off with my already minimal runs. I ended up only doing one mile all of last week. I've been reading about running, though, in Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. I like this book, although my running intensity has never been anything like the competitive collegiate track atmosphere that it describes. The book points out that recreational runners don't truly understand the mindset and training of a competitive miler, which actually made me feel slightly offended. In fact, I thought to myself, "Ok, Quentin Cassidy (the protagonist) may run over 100 miles a week and be existing in a state of perpetual exhaustion, but he's never known the pain of running with menstrual cramps."

Famous last words.

Was I trying to jinx myself? (This is where I come to the part of my post in which I describe how I decended to the threshold of Hell this weekend.) It seems that I did jinx myself. I was getting ready Sunday to go into Manhattan to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center with my cousin, her husband, and my sister, when I started to feel some cramps. I prepared myself somewhat in case the inevitable came around, and began on my merry way. I drove an hour to my cousin's house, which is about 25 miles from New York, and we took a bus into the city from there. The bus ride should have taken about an hour, but it was a beautiful day, and everyone else and their cousin also decided to go to the city, so the ride took 2 hours. During the course of this (bumpy stop-and-go) ride, the inevitable did come around. I was uncomfotable with cramps, but I figured that it was no big deal and I could handle it. Until we pulled into the Port Authority and took the escalator down into crowded stuffiness and I knew that I was going to throw up.

Maybe it was just that time of the month, maybe it was the bus ride, maybe it was not eating anything for several hours beforehand, maybe it was a lot of things, but when I found myself running along the New York sidewalks to keep up with the group while stripping off winter gear because I was desparately hot and realizing, on top of that, that the cramps were so bad that even standing upright and extending each leg to walk was unbearable, I think I had Quentin Cassidy topped. And then, when I threw up in a trash can on the sidewalk in the middle of New York City, I was truly at the threshold of Hell.

But I returned, and I can try to use the memory of it to help me with my running. Mainly, I have never, ever, felt such pain or had such an overwhelming sense of misery than I did leaning over the trash can knowing that I was a 2-hour, motion-sick-filled bus ride from my cousin's house and an hour's drive home from there. It was far worse than any of the cramps I've had while running, so maybe I'll remember and be hardened in future runs. Of course, I hope never to experience that feeling again, but maybe I'll remember that I did, indeed, return in one piece. In fact, I actually ended the night by drinking eggnog and eating cookies. Ah, to be well again!

Thank God for health and happiness, for so many new fitness opportunities, for my cousin and her husband, for my very supportive support staff, and for a merry Christmas this year (notwithstanding the whole Hell incident)!

I'm feeling much better and had a great 1.5 mile run on the treadmill this morning. I warmed up by walking and doing a few minutes on the bike, and I felt pretty good. Much better than I did last Tuesday when I only did a mile. Here's to more good training days this holiday week!

Good weekend

I may not have any medals to show off for running achievements (I would have gotten one at a race in June, but I had to leave to go to a wedding before the awards ceremony started), but I can now display a trophy for best Halloween costume!

The support staff and I were Gilligan and Maryanne from Gilligan's Island. Some friends of ours have a big party every year, and since we were colossal disappointments last year when we showed up without costumes, we decided to be more festive this year. We put together our outfits with some clothes we already had, with the addition of a sailor hat and a red shirt. I was afraid that I wasn't distinctive enough, so we also made life preservers that said "S.S. MINNOW". We had a good time, got a lot of compliments on the costumes, and I won a t-shirt and a snazzy trophy of a skeleton holding its head.

The day before Halloween, I got my bone scan. I'm itching to find out the results, which should be sent to my doctor today or tomorrow, but I won't hear anything until I meet with the doctor during my appointment on the 10th. 8 days and counting...

Yesterday was a good end to the weekend. The support staff and I celebrated our 29 month "anniversary". We ended up helping my parents rake leaves for most of the time that we hung out, which is not the most romantic activity, but it was a special day nonetheless. It was also the day of the New York City Marathon, which I got pretty excited about. I tuned in to the tv coverage when the runners were in the last 5 or 10K of the race and watched the re-cap from the rest. I was so excited to see an American win 1st for the men! I was rooting for Ryan Hall, mainly because I felt bad that the cover of last month's Runner's World said: "He's special. But will he ever win?" I kind of wanted to see him win just because of that, but I was not disappointed to see Meb Keflezighi on the podium instead. I have to say, though, my favorite part of watching the marathon was a commentator discussing the slowing pace of the women's race: "Something must be wrong. They're running a 5:50 mile. That's pedestrian." Pedestrian? If that's pedestrian, I probably classify as tortoise! It just goes to show how awesome those marathoners are. :-)

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Almost Halloween

Halloween is almost here, and I'm going to be doing some shopping today to get the final materials for the paired costumes that the support staff and I will be wearing this year. I'm very excited about it: we're going to be Gilligan and Maryanne from Gilligan's Island. I already have my costume set, but he still needs a red shirt with a white collar, and I'm going to look for two white Styrofoam rings to make circular life preservers that say S.S. MINNOW. It's going to be awesome.

I do have to remember to keep up with my ab exercises, though. My Maryanne costume requires showing my midriff, so I need to do all I can to get that area as un-flabby as possible. (Translation: stop eating junk food -- especially while not exercising! I'll have to hold off for a while on the hot cocoa with Marshmallow Peeps.)

I'm also going to look for new shoes for work while I'm shopping. The one's I've been wearing are old, have 2" heels, and are probably contributing very much to my shin pain. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get flats with cushy soles instead. :-( Oh well. I know that it's for the best, even if they will make me look short and frumpy. I'll just have to keep up with those ab exercises and try and find a time to go bike riding when it's not snowing out or being otherwise poor bike-riding weather.

Summer running

Miles: 3.2
Pace: 10:55

The weather has been warm and dry for a while now, and I'm enjoying it so much! It was perfect beach weather this weekend. I even went boogie-boarding in the ocean for the first time. I had been sitting on the beach under an umbrella reading Christopher McDougall's Born to Run (more about how much I like the book in another post), and the umbrella kept blowing away. I got so frustrated with it that I took it down, and I didn't want to sit and bake in the sun, so I figured that my other option was to get wet. I waded out into the numbing water while my favorite support staff took to the waves with a boogie board. After a while, he asked if I wanted to try, so I did, and I had a great time. I liked being out farther in the water and rolling over the waves, and then being swept along toward the shore with them when they were just right. I'll have to work on my skills for next time, but I definitely enjoyed myself and I am happy that I tried something new.
I went for a run on Friday evening after getting to the shore house and ran a route I had run two years ago, which was about 3.2 miles. I pressed the wrong button on the stopwatch, so I don't have a time for that, but it was a great run because of all of the people I got to see. I seemed to have been out at the universal dog-walking time, so everyone was out and about with their puppies, big and small. One dog was huge and white, and I'm not entirely sure that it wasn't a polar bear. I came back from the run to a full house: more people had arrived for the 4th of July festivities, bringing the total to about 15, and I was introduced to some whom I had never met before. Unfortunately, they will always remember me as the girl who apologized for being sweaty and gross.
On Saturday, the support staff and I went for a bike ride, which was approximately 3.5 miles, although I can hardly consider that a workout. The bike trail I usually ride on is flat, but it seems hardcore in comparison to the level roads by the beach.
We had to come home yesterday - much to my disappointment - although I stocked up on fudge and clam chowder to ease the pain of parting, and I'm enjoying summer at home now, too. Tonight I went for a run on the road before it got too dark, and I found it very peaceful and relaxing. I took a route I've never taken before, and it had a great view over the valley and to the ridge beyond. The route took me by an old dairy farm which still has some cows, horses, and chickens, and the scenery was just perfect. I was a little afraid that I wasn't visible enough to cars, since the road curved in several places and did not have a shoulder, but I made it through safely and feeling very well. Some of he hills were tough, but I feel that they gave enough of a challenge to make it a very good run. I didn't know how far I was running, and it turns out that it was 3.2 miles. I guess that distance is getting to be my standard easy run now. I think that I am becoming acclimated to the weather, and I look forward to doing a lot of summer running this season.