The weekend tends to go by quickly and I cherish the time at home away from work. Don't get me wrong--I am enjoying work so far. I am overwhelmed what this week will bring with being the lead teacher in a new class. 12 of the children are boys. 7 are girls. Three have special needs. I don't have a regular assistant. I barely have a family educator right now. I am not complaining and doing the best I can do with the resources I have. My theme this fall is "one step at a time." I am trying not to dwell deeply into the future, but rather day by day.
Monday = Ran 5 miles
I ran with my friend and we ran mostly through my neighborhood. It was a hard early morning. I woke up just before 5 AM and checked the cast list for Newsies. I was disappointed to not see Hailey's name on the cast list. I felt very sad. Running helped me process through it and face the day. It turned out to be a pretty good day and fun celebrating Hailey's birthday.
Tuesday = Rest
I had not slept very well Sunday night and I decided to take Tuesday off.
Wednesday = Swam about 1500 yards
I was a little slower and more tired. I still made it there and did my best. It turned out to be a long but really good day.
Thursday = Ran 3 miles
It was an emotional run again and I woke up and found out that my Grandma passed away. I was once again processing emotions as I ran.
Friday = Rest
My plan was to do weights and run after work but that did not happen. We still had a lot of work to do and I could not leave my co-workers with the extra work. I think I will need to try and get my exercise in on Friday mornings and not be dependent on being able to do so after work.
Saturday = Ran 5 1/2 miles
I ran with my friend again and we did more hills. It was a good way to start the day. My plan was to go to the gym and do weights and ride the bike. My sister called and I was on the phone for awhile. I honestly did not feel up to going and doing more exercise than I already did. I some stretching at home.
I am ending my week here and switching to having my weeks start on Sunday. It's been a long time since I have done this but it makes sense since I am now following Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training...although I have not signed up for the half marathon yet.
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Pre Training Week #3 of #4
I am grateful I have been able to establish this routine and have another week of exercise. I am a little nervous about when preschool starts up and that my stress level will escalate. But my motto this fall has been, "One step at a time."
Monday = Ran 5.35 miles with my friend. Our average pace was around 9:40. I really missed running with her! We could not make it work last year with our schedules.
Tuesday = Ran 3.01 miles alone with an average pace of around 9:45. Really hard to get up. Manages to push myself out of bed.
Wednesday = Swam 1600 yards! I was thrilled I increased my yardage and I felt much faster compared to other times I have swam with my friends.
Thursday = Group Ride. Super hard to get up. I felt really spacey and out of it. Even during the class I felt like I was not pushing myself and spacing out so much. I felt like I didn't get as much out of the workout as I could of. It took me a long time to feel awake.
Friday = Ran with 4.03 miles with my friend with an average pace of around 9:40. We did some hills as well. Felt more awake compared to Thursday. I had a conference in Rickreall all day. Thankfully we were done by 3:45. I stopped at the gym before going home and did about a half hour of weights.
Saturday = Track Run. 4 x 400 with a recovery lap. I can't remember the last time I ran at the South Salem High School track. I really missed it and want to incorporate running laps here this fall and winter. Not sure I can make it work during the week and worry about running by myself there in the dark. Weekends seems to work pretty well.
Sunday = Rest!
Monday = Ran 5.35 miles with my friend. Our average pace was around 9:40. I really missed running with her! We could not make it work last year with our schedules.
Tuesday = Ran 3.01 miles alone with an average pace of around 9:45. Really hard to get up. Manages to push myself out of bed.
Wednesday = Swam 1600 yards! I was thrilled I increased my yardage and I felt much faster compared to other times I have swam with my friends.
Thursday = Group Ride. Super hard to get up. I felt really spacey and out of it. Even during the class I felt like I was not pushing myself and spacing out so much. I felt like I didn't get as much out of the workout as I could of. It took me a long time to feel awake.
Friday = Ran with 4.03 miles with my friend with an average pace of around 9:40. We did some hills as well. Felt more awake compared to Thursday. I had a conference in Rickreall all day. Thankfully we were done by 3:45. I stopped at the gym before going home and did about a half hour of weights.
Saturday = Track Run. 4 x 400 with a recovery lap. I can't remember the last time I ran at the South Salem High School track. I really missed it and want to incorporate running laps here this fall and winter. Not sure I can make it work during the week and worry about running by myself there in the dark. Weekends seems to work pretty well.
Sunday = Rest!
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Pre Training Week #2 of #4
Man, I miss the summer. This first week is so hard. The emotional stress is the hardest. But we will get there. I keep telling myself, "one step at a time."
Monday = Ran intervals at Wendy Kroger Park and stretching at the park. I did one loop fast paced followed by a recovery lap four times. I did a short warm up and short cool down. Best Labor Day EVER at the fair. So sad to see the summer go.
Tuesday = Ran 3 miles with a pace of around 9:30. Annual first day of school run.
Wednesday = Swam 1500 yards with friends.
Thursday = Weights for about 25 minutes and 5K pacing run on the treadmill. I still dislike the treadmill but it was not so bad.
Friday = Ran with a friend and her baby and dog (she's amazing!) I went 4 miles and pace was slightly slower (considerably so). It was a fun run.
Saturday = I wanted to do a ride with SBC but ended up deciding not to go. The weather was not great and I probably would have been in rain part of the time. I woke up feeling overwhelmed again and slightly anxious. The kids felt that way too so it was probably a good thing I stayed home. I ended up going to the gym in the early evening and riding the stationary bike for 35 minutes and then doing about 25 minutes of weights. It was a great workout. I have been consistently working out and cutting back on sugar and fatty foods. I am a little surprised my weight stays stagnant. I lost maybe a pound the past month. Today I was back up again. I am also really hormonal and I think my weight goes up when that happens. I am going to continue to track it but I don't expect major results. I have been this weight for the past 10 years--I don't see that changing much. Except going up if I eat a lot of junk.
Sunday = Rest!
Monday = Ran intervals at Wendy Kroger Park and stretching at the park. I did one loop fast paced followed by a recovery lap four times. I did a short warm up and short cool down. Best Labor Day EVER at the fair. So sad to see the summer go.
Tuesday = Ran 3 miles with a pace of around 9:30. Annual first day of school run.
Wednesday = Swam 1500 yards with friends.
Thursday = Weights for about 25 minutes and 5K pacing run on the treadmill. I still dislike the treadmill but it was not so bad.
Friday = Ran with a friend and her baby and dog (she's amazing!) I went 4 miles and pace was slightly slower (considerably so). It was a fun run.
Saturday = I wanted to do a ride with SBC but ended up deciding not to go. The weather was not great and I probably would have been in rain part of the time. I woke up feeling overwhelmed again and slightly anxious. The kids felt that way too so it was probably a good thing I stayed home. I ended up going to the gym in the early evening and riding the stationary bike for 35 minutes and then doing about 25 minutes of weights. It was a great workout. I have been consistently working out and cutting back on sugar and fatty foods. I am a little surprised my weight stays stagnant. I lost maybe a pound the past month. Today I was back up again. I am also really hormonal and I think my weight goes up when that happens. I am going to continue to track it but I don't expect major results. I have been this weight for the past 10 years--I don't see that changing much. Except going up if I eat a lot of junk.
Sunday = Rest!
Saturday, September 7, 2019
Pretraining Week #1 of 4
My exercise goal this summer was to ride Orange Mango more. I successfully did. I did five long rides with Salem Bicycle Club...possibly six if I can go on Saturday. I did three rides with Rob and one of those included the kids. I did at least two (maybe three?) rides by myself to the gym or around the neighborhood. I can officially clip in and out at intersections without a minor panic attack. I can (most of the time) conquer a safe left hand turn. I still can't go down hills at full speed. I still ride the brakes way more than I should, but I did make progress. I can successfully put air in all the tires of every single bike we own. I can lube all the chains. I have not had to change any flat this summer (finally the kids are not as hard on their bikes!) and I still do not have strong confidence in this. I do know what to do and I could probably figure it out. Biking to work does not sound as daunting. I really love being on my bike which was my number one goal.
My running is improving. I was running slow for the past few weeks due to a summer cold I caught from Hailey. It lingered for so long and I am actually still feel remnants of it at times. Although it might be fall allergies. I swam at least once a week not counting hours of playing with the kids in the pool. I wanted to do weights more than I actually did. I tried to shoot for once a week but it was more like once every other week...and sometimes even less than that. I don't really have a good excuse because there were weights at the pool gym I could have used...but didn't. I played hockey more at the beginning of the summer, but I realized I don't really enjoy it. I don't get the drive and excitement from it like everyone else. I honestly would choose going for a run over playing hockey.
My one regret is Rob and I did not play pickleball. Our racket was broken at the beginning of the summer and it took until a few weeks ago to get a new one. I suppose we could play this last week and maybe we should. We could always go to one of the parks with courts this fall and play. Sometimes I have a lot of anxiety about trying new things. It takes me a long time to warm up to them and even enjoy them. It took me YEARS to get comfortable on my road bike.
My next goal is to run the Holiday Half Marathon in Eugene. I would like to be under two hours again. I have not run it in several years. Fall is my favorite time of the year to run and also when I am the most motivated. I will build my mileage very slow because I don't want to suffer an overuse injury again. I mapped out a whole training plan that will officially start September 2. I am going to try to do short run on Monday, Spin on Tuesday, Swimming on Wednesday, regular run on Thursday, Intervals and maybe weights on Friday, and long run on Saturday or Sunday. I might switch Tuesday and Thursday depending on my running friend's schedule. This is a rough plan. Things always change week to week.
Monday = Ran 3.19 miles with an average pace of 9:44. Mile 2 was 9:16. I am really working on pacing and being able to do negative splits.
Tuesday = Intervals = about 20 minutes...2 minute run, 2 minute walk 3-4 times with a warm up and cool down. I really wanted to do intervals in the park because it works out really well. The park is super close and the path is a little less than a track. However, there was a weird guy circling the park at 6:30 AM on a bike with an unleashed dog. If there would have been other people there, I would not have cared. It was just him and me. He really was simply circling--not on a workout or anything. I did not trust him. So I ran up and down our street doing 2 minutes fast and then walk/jog 2 minutes. It worked OK. I am going to need to figure out how and when to do intervals. The park is ideal but I can't do them in the dark. That park is not safe enough. I could do Sunnyslope Park or the treadmill at the Courthouse. I can also do the South Salem track which I might do occasionally.
Wednesday = Swam 1500 yards. I did NOT want to get up this morning. I was trying to talk myself out of not getting up. Which is why I did not get to the pool until closer to 5:30 and I could do not do my friends workout with her. I was impressed I got to the pool anyway because I had zero motivation! It is going to take me a little bit to get back into early morning workouts. I am pretty good at talking myself into not getting up.
Thursday = Ran 5 miles and hiked/creek walked 2.3 miles
Last night was pretty interesting. Around 2:30 I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw lightning flashes. A storm started to settle in and at one point thunder shook the whole house. Rob and I were pretty much awake. He put on the TV to help us fall back asleep. It took a LONG time for me to fall asleep. My body was relaxed but I could not fall asleep. Once I did fall asleep I kept waking up repeatedly and not sleeping well. So I slept in until 8:30. I tried to talk myself out of running and I almost succeeded. I really did not have any good excuse not to run. So I did five miles and it was not easy. My abs hurt almost the whole time since I started up ab workouts again. I did not have much energy and I simply felt depleted. I actually felt the best the final mile. It used to take me a mile to warm and then two miles and now I feel like it's 3 1/2 to 4 before I am finally warmed up.
One thing on Derek's bucket list this summer was to follow Pringle Creek as far as we could from Judson Middle School. I love his passion for exploration and it was something he was excited about. I was a little worried about the water...what kinds of bacteria are growing in the creek? I was also concerned about blackberry bushes, poison oak, and people thinking we are super strange. Surprisingly it was clear almost the whole way and easy to walk through. Derek's flip flops kept breaking and I wish he would have worn shoes like I did. I was not crazy about him going barefoot...there could have been glass on the bottom of the creek.
Once we passed the final bridge and crossed under a fence out of Woodmansee Park, we were basically in people's backyards. I was a little familiar with where we were because I went running there years ago and got tangled in a bunch of blackberry bushes. We almost got out at someone's backyard bridge, but then Derek said he could see Idylwood Street and I knew there was a bridge there. I told Derek to be quiet because I heard dogs and we were basically in someone's yard....although the creek is city property, right? Anyway a guy saw us and said, "What are you doing in the creek?" I said, "We're just going for a creek walk." He said, "People don't want you back there. I have guard dogs." I kindly said, "We're really sorry. We're getting out right now." We exited right out and he walked away. I can understand his concern because we did see items homeless people probably left behind. It is a really easy place to hide.
Derek was so excited we could do it today. I have a few scratches from blackberry bushes. Hopefully neither one of us gets poison oak. It was very cool to see a part of our neighborhood we have never seen before...and it's only a mile from our house.
Friday - Biked approximately 20 miles and a half hour of weights
Rob took the kids to Portland all day. My plan to was to bike to where I will be working this year in West Salem and see how long it takes me. I was going to try to take back roads whenever possible and avoid some of the busier roads. Then I was going to take the bike paths through the three parks. I was not prepared for all the HILLS. There were SO many. It was a pretty intense workout at times. I was able to get up all the hills and even stand up on the bike (something I really struggled to do on Orange Mango but can do it on the bikes at the gym). I could bike in clips the whole time. I had no problems with the traffic but I did get off the bike and do crosswalks on some of the busier roads. I only had one close call with pedestrians blocking the path. That was in Riverfront Park. I could not get through and I had to yell, "On your left!" twice. I felt bad because it was a special needs gentlemen.
I got home and decided to go do weights at the gym because I wasn't sure when else I was going to do them. I didn't really want to do them tomorrow. Then I was SO hungry. All I had eaten all day was a big bagel with cream cheese and gu gel. I went to Panera Bread and a pretty hefty lunch including a half off cookie and I drank Mountain Dew. I have not had it awhile. Then I felt depleted and border line sick. I felt better after I drank water and laid around. I took a 45 minute nap. I feel better now. But man, I pushed myself hard today.
Saturday - Ran 3.43 miles with an average pace of around 9:30
Sunday = Rest!
My running is improving. I was running slow for the past few weeks due to a summer cold I caught from Hailey. It lingered for so long and I am actually still feel remnants of it at times. Although it might be fall allergies. I swam at least once a week not counting hours of playing with the kids in the pool. I wanted to do weights more than I actually did. I tried to shoot for once a week but it was more like once every other week...and sometimes even less than that. I don't really have a good excuse because there were weights at the pool gym I could have used...but didn't. I played hockey more at the beginning of the summer, but I realized I don't really enjoy it. I don't get the drive and excitement from it like everyone else. I honestly would choose going for a run over playing hockey.
My one regret is Rob and I did not play pickleball. Our racket was broken at the beginning of the summer and it took until a few weeks ago to get a new one. I suppose we could play this last week and maybe we should. We could always go to one of the parks with courts this fall and play. Sometimes I have a lot of anxiety about trying new things. It takes me a long time to warm up to them and even enjoy them. It took me YEARS to get comfortable on my road bike.
My next goal is to run the Holiday Half Marathon in Eugene. I would like to be under two hours again. I have not run it in several years. Fall is my favorite time of the year to run and also when I am the most motivated. I will build my mileage very slow because I don't want to suffer an overuse injury again. I mapped out a whole training plan that will officially start September 2. I am going to try to do short run on Monday, Spin on Tuesday, Swimming on Wednesday, regular run on Thursday, Intervals and maybe weights on Friday, and long run on Saturday or Sunday. I might switch Tuesday and Thursday depending on my running friend's schedule. This is a rough plan. Things always change week to week.
Monday = Ran 3.19 miles with an average pace of 9:44. Mile 2 was 9:16. I am really working on pacing and being able to do negative splits.
Tuesday = Intervals = about 20 minutes...2 minute run, 2 minute walk 3-4 times with a warm up and cool down. I really wanted to do intervals in the park because it works out really well. The park is super close and the path is a little less than a track. However, there was a weird guy circling the park at 6:30 AM on a bike with an unleashed dog. If there would have been other people there, I would not have cared. It was just him and me. He really was simply circling--not on a workout or anything. I did not trust him. So I ran up and down our street doing 2 minutes fast and then walk/jog 2 minutes. It worked OK. I am going to need to figure out how and when to do intervals. The park is ideal but I can't do them in the dark. That park is not safe enough. I could do Sunnyslope Park or the treadmill at the Courthouse. I can also do the South Salem track which I might do occasionally.
Wednesday = Swam 1500 yards. I did NOT want to get up this morning. I was trying to talk myself out of not getting up. Which is why I did not get to the pool until closer to 5:30 and I could do not do my friends workout with her. I was impressed I got to the pool anyway because I had zero motivation! It is going to take me a little bit to get back into early morning workouts. I am pretty good at talking myself into not getting up.
Thursday = Ran 5 miles and hiked/creek walked 2.3 miles
Last night was pretty interesting. Around 2:30 I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw lightning flashes. A storm started to settle in and at one point thunder shook the whole house. Rob and I were pretty much awake. He put on the TV to help us fall back asleep. It took a LONG time for me to fall asleep. My body was relaxed but I could not fall asleep. Once I did fall asleep I kept waking up repeatedly and not sleeping well. So I slept in until 8:30. I tried to talk myself out of running and I almost succeeded. I really did not have any good excuse not to run. So I did five miles and it was not easy. My abs hurt almost the whole time since I started up ab workouts again. I did not have much energy and I simply felt depleted. I actually felt the best the final mile. It used to take me a mile to warm and then two miles and now I feel like it's 3 1/2 to 4 before I am finally warmed up.
One thing on Derek's bucket list this summer was to follow Pringle Creek as far as we could from Judson Middle School. I love his passion for exploration and it was something he was excited about. I was a little worried about the water...what kinds of bacteria are growing in the creek? I was also concerned about blackberry bushes, poison oak, and people thinking we are super strange. Surprisingly it was clear almost the whole way and easy to walk through. Derek's flip flops kept breaking and I wish he would have worn shoes like I did. I was not crazy about him going barefoot...there could have been glass on the bottom of the creek.
Once we passed the final bridge and crossed under a fence out of Woodmansee Park, we were basically in people's backyards. I was a little familiar with where we were because I went running there years ago and got tangled in a bunch of blackberry bushes. We almost got out at someone's backyard bridge, but then Derek said he could see Idylwood Street and I knew there was a bridge there. I told Derek to be quiet because I heard dogs and we were basically in someone's yard....although the creek is city property, right? Anyway a guy saw us and said, "What are you doing in the creek?" I said, "We're just going for a creek walk." He said, "People don't want you back there. I have guard dogs." I kindly said, "We're really sorry. We're getting out right now." We exited right out and he walked away. I can understand his concern because we did see items homeless people probably left behind. It is a really easy place to hide.
Derek was so excited we could do it today. I have a few scratches from blackberry bushes. Hopefully neither one of us gets poison oak. It was very cool to see a part of our neighborhood we have never seen before...and it's only a mile from our house.
Friday - Biked approximately 20 miles and a half hour of weights
Rob took the kids to Portland all day. My plan to was to bike to where I will be working this year in West Salem and see how long it takes me. I was going to try to take back roads whenever possible and avoid some of the busier roads. Then I was going to take the bike paths through the three parks. I was not prepared for all the HILLS. There were SO many. It was a pretty intense workout at times. I was able to get up all the hills and even stand up on the bike (something I really struggled to do on Orange Mango but can do it on the bikes at the gym). I could bike in clips the whole time. I had no problems with the traffic but I did get off the bike and do crosswalks on some of the busier roads. I only had one close call with pedestrians blocking the path. That was in Riverfront Park. I could not get through and I had to yell, "On your left!" twice. I felt bad because it was a special needs gentlemen.
I got home and decided to go do weights at the gym because I wasn't sure when else I was going to do them. I didn't really want to do them tomorrow. Then I was SO hungry. All I had eaten all day was a big bagel with cream cheese and gu gel. I went to Panera Bread and a pretty hefty lunch including a half off cookie and I drank Mountain Dew. I have not had it awhile. Then I felt depleted and border line sick. I felt better after I drank water and laid around. I took a 45 minute nap. I feel better now. But man, I pushed myself hard today.
Saturday - Ran 3.43 miles with an average pace of around 9:30
Sunday = Rest!
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