diane4394's Journal

70th 5K in 37:06

Nov 27 2009 15:44

Two weeks ago I did 2 5K's (one on the 11th & one on the 14th) , then missed running last week completely. After the 5K on the 14th, I went & got an H1N1 vaccination. Later that day I felt pretty puny, but felt okay the next day. I thought I was, but understand now that I haven't felt good in weeks (and not just because of the shot). I've been so busy I've hardly made it into the gym and have "made do" with lots of Pilates & a few beach walks. I was hoping to get in for a run Wednesday but was much too busy getting things organized for Thanksgiving dinner.

DD arrived with her husband & dogs (freak-out time for the cats). Dinner was great, and we really enjoyed their brief visit. They stayed long enough to watch the shuttle come in, but there was no sonic boom at our house today.

After DD left I hauled myself in to do some running. I managed to average 5.0 mph & kept going for 4.0 miles. I was full of energy when I got home. HOORAY!

68th 5K

Nov 11 2009 17:56

Very strange having a day off in the middle of the week. (But I'm so glad we get to observe Veteran's Day now!)

I woke up with a headache today, but figured it wouldn't hurt to hit the gym. The gym was packed; I asked the owner & she said it was actually a little light for a weekday morning. I warmed up but was not breathing well, or running well. It's been such a long time since I've had the chance to do a midweek 5K, I really did not want to waste it. (I just DO NOT want to give up any of the conditioning I have worked so hard to achieve...) I was on one of the regular treadmills and I figured nobody would care if I spent a long time on it. I had only done 1.5 miles in 19:10, so when the best treadmill became available I decided to switch. (By that time most of the treadmills were empty anyway) I did the last 1.6 miles in 20 minutes, then cooled down for 6 minutes (to make a total of 45 minutes). About the time I got done, the headache came & jumped on me again.

By the time I went home & cleaned up and it still hadn't gotten any better. I called the chiropractor, and they had an opening. I've been going every 3 weeks for the last couple of years, but I just haven't gotten in since life got so crazy 3 months ago. I'm going to try to get in there about once a month. (Everything was out!)

We have gotten zero rainfall from T.S. Ida, but the waves washed bunches of the baby turtles back in.

I made a great salad & DH grilled some chicken, so we'll have a great, tasty dinner.

chilly beach walk

Nov 08 2009 08:46

Last week I did the 66th 5K in 39:21 on Sunday, and the 67th yesterday (in 38:27) Both were very hard, probably because I only managed one 20-minute session on the elliptical in between. I must get back to midweek runs (or at least some gym time!) This week that will not be an issue since we have Wednesday off for Veteran's Day (awesome!) It will be interesting having a day off smack in the middle of the week.

This morning I decided to go see the beach since I haven't been down there in weeks. I got there just minutes after sunrise; it's impressive how far South the sun's position has shifted. It was low tide; there were clouds and a lot of wind. All of the turtle nests are gone; I need to find out how many hatched this year. There were a couple of surfers in wet suits who didn't seem to be doing very well in the rough surf.The water was so cold it made my toes numb; that water won't support any hurricanes, but we might get the system out of the Gulf of Mexico later on in the week. We need the rain, so I hope we do.

not even lurking

Oct 27 2009 19:16

I've been so busy I haven't even checked in for more than a week. Friday I spent 11 hours at work; 3.5 getting grades done & the rest of the time CLEANING, and sorting...working really hard. I was up & down on the stools & counters all day. Some of that equipment is really heavy & I've been hauling it all over to make everything more workable. For the first time I have my desk clean, the lab prep table clean, the counters, shelves, & cupboards sorted in the back toom. I am down to 3 chaotic boxes, then the lab prep room will be DONE. I've still got most of the drawers & cabinets to get into out in the room, but that can wait for a little while. Saturday I was tired and sore, so I took it easy.

Sunday I went to the gym & ran the 65th 5K before anybody else even came near a treadmill. I kept it over 5.0 and finished in 36:24. The neighbors came over for a very pleasant cookout, and the weekend was gone.

Still no time to waste. Things to do...

64th 5K

Oct 18 2009 12:22

Life is still out of control, but shows signs of improving. Most days I get home around 4:30, and bring work home with me. I have one assignment to grade for everybody, then grades are due next Friday. My hope is that if I work really hard this year, the next 5 years will be relatively easy.

I just discovered that I never logged the 63rd 5K anywhere except my kitchen calendar. I haven't been getting much exercise, only 5 times this month so far. (runs away screaming) Still maintaining below 129.

The first cool weather has come in, and the whole town seemed to be sleeping in this morning. The gym was empty. That was a good thing, because I needed the best treadmill. I did 5K in 37:30, then started to cool down. Instead of quitting at 40 minutes I decided to see how long it would take me to get to 4 miles (in 48:30). It wasn't a great pace, but I figured I had done well enough for one day. Even if it's just 20 minutes of Pilates, I've GOT to get back in the groove of exercising 4x/week!

62nd 5K & the out of control life

Oct 03 2009 15:00

The last month has been a blur. I packed Mom off to DS in Tx, and she's had serious health issues since getting there. (Remember I had her in the hospital in the middle of August). I know that DS is giving her superlative care, so I am just giving as much moral support as I can. There's finally a contract on Mom's house (for 1/3 the value it had 2 years ago) but we're all just ready to be rid of it. Last weekend I spent 2.5 days looking for Dad's death certificate so the sale can go forward (Imagine my relief when it finally turned up Sunday morning) DD moved back in, and we've had to rearrange things so she can have her room back. (she arrived with a 4-month-old kitten, so there are big adjustments going on among the 3 cats & the newbie) There was the workshop in Georgia in the middle of the month, I'm still getting my feet under me with the 3 new teaching preps, and still haven't got the lab prep room sorted out. Don't get me wrong; the new teaching assignment is "died and gone to heaven" stuff. It's just taking time to get it all done. I can see the progress I have made and keep telling myself it will be awesome when I get it all done.

I did a 5K last week, and while I entered it in my exercise logs, I never did an entry about it. I've been logging in to CC about twice a week, reading your journals & running away again. My statistics for this month are appalling; 8 workouts the entire month! Fortunately, I had some surplus workouts in previous months, so I only have a real deficit of 3 workouts to get myself back on target.

On a more cheerful note, in spite of the lack of exercise (and calorie logging)...I'm at 127.5. I guess this truly is maintenance. It does make me feel better that I was able to walk into the gym on those 3 weekends and run 5K's without significant other exercise throughout most weeks. I haven't been to the gym since last Saturday & managed to knock the 5K out in 35:20. (an improvement of 45 seconds) I was at 6.0 mph in less than a minute, and kept it there while I finished the first mile in 10:20. Then I tried to keep it at or above 5.0 for the rest of the run (but caved a few times and took it down to 4.8). After I cooled down I went to the grocery store. When I arrived home, I was FULL of energy. I love feeling like this. Now I know I must, must, MUST start carving time out for midweek runs again. I haven't felt this energetic in the last month. How many times have I said, "Going to the gym makes me feel better?"

The last couple of weeks people at work have been asking me how much weight I've lost. I've told them that I haven't lost anything additional since last May, but it finally occurred to me what they are picking up on; I've given all my size 12 (and above) clothes away and am running around in size 8's most of the time. The clothes fit me so much better that they think I've lost more weight. (tee hee)

Here's hoping that life slows down just a wee bit & I get things taken care of!

60th 5K

Sep 12 2009 13:56

That's 300 km, so I am approaching the 200 mile mark for the 5K's. Since that's two for this week, I guess I'll cut myself a little slack on the fact that I only managed to exercise 3 times this week (I try to hit 4x per week, but life just hasn't cooperated lately).

This week was open house & next week I have a big workshop to do.

faster mile

Sep 07 2009 12:24

The gym was open until noon, so everybody packed in.

30 minutes on the elliptical, Then on the treadmill... 15:17 doing 1.3 miles (So that is just over 5.4 mph for the short run). I wasn't trying to do my fastest mile, just trying to keep it over 5.2 at all times.

Have a good Labor Day, everyone!

58th & 59th 5K's

Sep 06 2009 09:35

Last week was so busy I never logged anything. In that time I did the following:

Sunday: ran a 5K in 37:21 (just logged that in for the 30th a little while ago)

Monday: (1.) work (2.) took DM to the Dr., who cleared her to fly

Tuesday: (1.) work (2.) drove DM to the airport in one of our Biblically-bad rainstorms. The airport was between storms, so she flew off on-time. (but it took 4 hours in my little car)

Wed-Fri: 10-hour days (teaching for 6 hours; then trying to create order out of chaos in the store-room) Each day I can see progress, but this has been a very hard thing to do. People look at the room and say "What a mess! Do you need help?" They don't realize I've already done 80% of the work! Now I am to the point that I am actually letting people help, so we should be done soon

Saturday: ran a 5K in 36:38 After the first minute I would not allow myself to go below 5.0 mph. If 5.0 mph is to become my "recovery" rate, I've got to start living there and pushing above 6.0 a lot more often. This week I was very glad to hear separate reports about new studies (on public radio) that have found running does not necessarily lead to arthritis or joint damage. (So maybe I can keep doing this for a couple of decades...)

Started the week at 130 (grrr) , ended it at 128.5. I'll feel better about it when I am back to 127 (or below)

5K anniversary

Aug 23 2009 19:31

Last week was the week that wouldn't die. I put in 40 hours in four days, had a union meeting on Saturday. The school was open, so could have gone in to work on the room some more today. Considering DH's mental state and DM's issues, I only stayed for half of the Saturday meeting and did NOT go in today. I will go in early tomorrow to find things I need to start the day.

Yesterday was the anniversary of my first complete 5K, so I knew I needed to do one today. 57th 5K in 38:01. The gym was fairly empty today, but the best treadmill was in use. So I started out on the elliptical, spending 13 minutes doing 0.8 miles. Then my favorite treadmill became available and I jumped over to it. In all, I did 3.75 miles in 47 minutes; running an additional 5 minutes. I went as high as 5.6 and stayed above 5.0 for at least 20 minutes. With the cool-down, I spent 60 minutes working hard in the gym.

I've got to settle down so I can get up early tomorrow & hit the school year running.