Gardening

So, according to my Hal Higdon training plan, I was supposed to Swim for 30 minutes and Run for 60 minutes today. I was going to trade a bike for the run, since I messed up last week and ran instead of biked for 60 minutes.

However, I got carried away with my gardening and was too exhausted to do all those things. So, I switched my strength day (supposed to be tomorrow) for today and the stuff I was supposed to do today I will do tomorrow. Very confusing I know.

As you can see by my lovely picture, I have been working on my address sign garden. I moved all of those rocks that line the garden, minus the giant one in the middle of the circle. All of the rocks were underneath my deck, which is down a hill from this garden. I had to move these rocks in 3 wheel barrel loads. It was exhausting.

Then, I moved 6 loads of pine straw out of my driveway garden to the bottom of our backyard hill. I had to go up a large hill, then down the backyard hill to do this.

Oh yeah, I also pulled a dead lilac bush out of one of the front gardens. It was an epic battle of Deeann vs. Nature. I won! The offending dead bush is in the fire pit!

I also planted Calla lilies where the lilac bush once was.

I watered the backyard. Greg is working on re-seeding 1/3 of our acre yard. Since he is in Scotland, it is up to me to make sure it is properly hydrated. So, I worked on moving the sprinkler often, and hand watering the odd areas.

I also weeded my gardens in preparation for mulching on Wednesday.

Oh yeah, I also moved wood from one wood 5 foot tall crib to another. We had a bunch cut wood against the house, and it needed to be moved so the mice have one less location to work their way into our house from!

With all of this, I didn't have the energy to workout. I thought for a moment about going for a bike ride, but the winds picked up again. We are having a cold front move through the area. We were supposed to get some rain, but only got a few sprinkles. The drought continues!

By the way... 7 more days until the Triathlon!

60 Min Run

I had a big day planned, so I had to get my run in first thing in the morning. Those of you who know me, know that I am NOT a morning person. Add a run to the mix, and it isn't pretty. Luckily, Greg wasn't here to share the "fun."

I woke up, fed the dog, and hit the pavement for my run. I didn't realize how windy it was outside. There were 20-25mph gust coming from the north. My biggest hill is while I'm heading north. This is also 1/4 mile into the beginning of my run. NOT fun!

Add in the fact that I didn't eat breakfast, nor did I have my coffee. Just plain BAD! I ran about :30 seconds slower on my mile. UGH!

I toughed it out though and did the entire 60 minutes. It felt so good once I was finished. One big workout behind me and it was off to my busy day. Tomorrow should be better with a long bike, a swim and some gardening thrown in for good measure. Plus, there will be storms tomorrow! Great for the weather geek in me :)

Swim 30, Run 30

There was so much to do today. We had the plumber come out and Greg had to head to the airport. There just wasn't time to hit the pool during their lap swim hours.

So, I decided to substitute a bike for the swim. I need to ride the bike more, as I've been reminded by a few people now. I rode 33 good minutes. I went back to that hill again, to get ready for some of the Austin, TX hills. It felt good, and I discovered new higher gears on my bike. I'm getting more comfortable with the bike. It's a good thing.

I came home and got Skeeter. He needed a good run too. Boy, is he out of shape. I kicked his butt on the run. We was so far behind me. I ran it the same 5K about 5 minutes slower due to him. It was good though. We both needed the run, and I just wanted to hit the trail.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I'm having lunch with my best friend, Lael. Then, I think I'll get in my gardens again. They need just a bit more love. It will be a great day!

45 min Run

I did a nice and easy 45 minute run today. I'm sad though, because I've slowed down to my pace from 3 weeks ago. Being sick didn't do me any favors.

It's good to be back in the swing of things. We'll see if I can keep this up all week.

30 Swim 60 Run

I'm not so sure about pool times, plus I need more bike time. So, I switched biking for running. I remembered some good hills I could try to get ride up to help prepare for that HORRIBLE hill on the triathlon. It was a good 35 min ride, but there were a ton of cars in my quite little neighborhood I ride in. What gives? Oh, St Olaf University has graduation today. Dang visitors!

I made it home, recovered my headphones from Greg. He had just said that his were beginning to hurt his ears, so I had him try mine out. He liked them, so now a few more pairs are winging their way to our house via Amazon! Yeah!! I love these Panasonic headphone. They are so light and sound pretty good too.

Anyway, the run. I ran for 60 minutes today! Yeah me!!!!! The first 3 miles were pretty good. I can just feel that I have better form. I was bouncing pretty well. Strange I know, but it just feels better now.

The last 2.5 miles were tough. I really wanted to get the full 60 minutes in though. For the last 5 minutes, my arms started to tingle a bit, as did my face. I know that feeling... not good. So I slowed it down just a bit. I made sure I was breathing deeply. It went much better then. I got all 60 minutes in.

Now, I'm beat. It feels good, but tired. Kari just reminded me that tapering in just around the corner. That corner is 1 week away, and I can't wait. However, it's pretty cool to see that I can do this stuff now :)

55 min Run

Could I actually run for 55 minutes today? Has this nasty cold sucked all the life out of me? Did I wait too long, and is it now too hot out?

So many questions, and only one way to get an answer. Just go out and run!

Run I did. The first mile seemed to go well. I just loaded 2 new songs that really helped me move. May I recommend "I Run for Life" by Melissa Etheridge and "Say Hey (I Love You)" by All Rebel Rockers. Plus, I re-worked my running play list to bring some old favorites forward. Very motivating.

Things were going well, and I thought I had the 55 minutes in the bag. 2 miles hit and so did this massive brick wall. UGH! All the exhaustion from my cold was bubbling up. Doubt was surfacing. The heat was getting to me. Thoughts of running to the hospital (my 2 mile + point) were running through my head.

I thought, I'll stop at a 5K. That would be then end of my route anyway. My plan was to go that far, then turn around and run for 10 minutes and head back home again.

At 2.5 miles, I started to feel disappointed in myself. I started to try to talk myself back into this 55 minute thing. It helped that the next .5 miles were all down hill.

At 3 miles, I realized I could do the whole 55 minutes! Or so I thought. At 5K, I turned back around to head out for another 20 minutes. See, this was a slow run with my 5K being 35 minutes.

At 4 miles, the wall hit me again. However, this time I was 1 mile from home. I had to run home now. No turning back :)

So, I ran 5 miles in 55 minutes! Yeah me! It was slow, but it is done!! I think I now have the upper hand on this cold. I'm still congested, but I can breathe! Yeah me!!!

Slow workout

Well, I'm not completely well, but much better than before. So, I hit the road this morning for an easy workout. I figure I shouldn't push it too hard, but I needed to do something.

I went for an easy 30 min bike ride, then got Skeeter and we went for a 15 min run. The ride was tough at first. I felt like I had weights attached to my legs. About 15 minutes in, things started moving much better. I didn't have the energy to really ride hard, but I did ride almost 6 miles.

Skeeter was so excited to go for a run that he hit his head on the coffee table. You think that would teach him to calm down, but once he left the door, he was a bouncing ball of excitement again. He did a great job running! We went to the end of the path, then turned back for home. I set him loose on the way back and he was never more than 5 feet from me. I think we'll try this again tomorrow :)

WINDY!!!

I am still sick today. I'm better than yesterday, but I feel so weak. When I stand up, I'm light headed for a little bit. I figure these are bad things when it comes to working out. So, day 3 of my sick leave from workouts. ugh! I think tomorrow I will be ready for a work out, or I'll go nuts!

Today was a crazy windy day. We are having winds gusting to 45 knots. I was out watering my new plants, and to get some sun. I thought about mowing, when I heard a crack and snap. A tree down our hill snapped in 2. It was at that time that I realized I shouldn't be out there much longer. The winds have been like this since about 11 last night. Hopefully, it will be less windy tomorrow so that I can do for an easy bike ride. I need all the help I can get right now.

Sick Day

Ugh! I haven't had a cold for an entire year. Today, it all caught up with me. I have a cold. It's only getting worse as the day progresses. It's full blown now. UGH!

I could go on and on about how it feels, but you all know how it feels. It feels bad! Like your head is going to explode, only you won't hear it, because you're ears are clogged. You can't scream out when it happens either, because your throat is so sore leaving your voice horse. You wouldn't even know what happened anyway, because your brain is moving so slowly.

Needless to say, I didn't lift weights today. I'm off the wagon again.

Swim 30, Run 45

OK, I'm trying to get back on track. I took Friday and Saturday off. I was wiped out on Friday from class, and Saturday was a long travel day back home. My body was exhausted, so I took the rest. I've been so busy for the last month and a half, and now things seem to be evening out.

On to the work out! I've given up on the Carleton College pools. They've let me down too many times now. So, off I went to Faribault to hit the pool. It was me and 3 old guys. I felt like an Olympian in the pool! Don't get me wrong, they were doing great. However, I was smokin' them! It's my mental pay back for the blind man passing me on the 5K's in Northfield.

My good friend Kari has been swimming like a maniac lately. Very unlike last year, when she procrastinated on getting in the pool. Now, she's swimming 2000 yds or better. I couldn't let her out do me in the pool! It's the one event I can do! So, I decided to swim 2000 yds today. It took me 40 minutes and it felt AMAZING!!! Take that Kennedy :D

I drove home and hit the hospital trail. There really isn't a good trail in Faribault, so I ran the safe route at home. Since I didn't work out yesterday, I felt like I needed to continue to push myself. So, I ran for 50 minutes. It was a really good pace too. Just over 10 minute miles. How did this happen? Who am I? You guys must be a bit confused to if you just joined the blog and only read last years entries. I'm loving what my body can do now!

Weigh in day tomorrow. I'm close to what is a big milestone for me. I'll let you know what it is tomorrow, if I make it.

Switched again!

Things are goofy here with the pools, but what's new for me? So, I brought Saturday's work out to today (50 min run), moved today to Friday and rest on Saturday. I will hopefully be free to swim between noon and 2pm tomorrow.

Yesterday, I got a running map from the base gym. It looked a bit confusing, but I thought I could figure it out. So, I headed out on the 2.6 mile course, thinking I could either do it twice or add more along the way. 3 minutes into the run, I had no idea where I was going. I turned to early, but did meet up with the path. Then, I ended up on the back side of the flight line, along narrow sidewalks, that disappeared so that I had to run on a narrow 2 lane road. Luckily it was a 25mph speed limit.

I was NOT going to do this twice, if I was even on the path I thought I was. I really think I screwed up somehow. Anyway, I found a nice path that was paved specifically for runners. What luck! It went down between the flying squadrons, by the Engineers then out to the front gate. The gate here has the coolest planes out front! A bunch of C-130s, helicopters, and other various aircraft. "Highway to the Danger Zone" was playing just then, so I was very motivated.

Then, it was time for the turn up to my room. It was about 1/2 - 3/4 miles. It doesn't sound too bad, does it? It was in the upper 80s, sunny and humid. I was really slowing down. Then, I realized that work around base was ending, and I was on one of the main roads out. All those Special Operations guys could see sad sorry me running. Not cool! Did I tell you that I think I run very ugly. I do! Anyway, that was enough motivation to get going and not dilly dally too much. The pain ended 52 minutes later. I don't know how far I went, but it was over.

1 hour later and I'm still sweating. My Minnesota body is boiling down here. Why did I think heat training was a good idea? I know it was good, but right now that's tough to remember.

Bike 30, Strength

I'm still in FL for a school, which is GREAT! We are learning so much, but we are also getting out early. Great for my mind and body.

Kait and I hit the gym together. We went to the second gym here on base, which was much better than yesterday's thrown together gym. The cardio equipment was hard to find, because it was upstairs and there were no signs to indicate that there was a hidden stairway. I finally found it, after wandering around the racquetball courts for a bit.

I hit the bike for 50 minutes today. The computer says I rode for 15.5 miles. I don't think so, but it sounds good. I used the calorie burning routine, which had some good hills. It was great! I ending up dripping sweat on the floor. I haven't done that in years. It was cool!

Then, I hit the nautilus machines. I worked my arms and back today. I forgot how weak I was. I really need to do more of this stuff.

40 min Run

OK, it's been too many days since I've update my blog. In my defense, I've been busy. On Mother's Day, Greg and I ran a 5K for the Susan G. Koeman Race for the Cure at the Mall of America. It was amazing! I ran it in 31:50... about 5-6 minutes faster than last year! I know it's slow, but oh so much better than last year.

Greg finished in 34:30, which is amazing for a guy who really just started running only 1 month ago. I'm so proud of him, that words cannot even begin to describe how I feel. I actually squealed like a little girl when I saw him approach the finish line. He's my hero!

Yesterday was a travel day for me. I'm at a school in FL. I'll be here for the rest of the week, so I get more heat training time in. Yeah!

So today, I ran inside on a treadmill. It was 3pm and very humid. Too much for me after a whole day of class. I ran for 40 minutes at a 10 minute mile pace. It felt good. I was very tired, and knew I pushed myself, but I did it. Most of you probably think a 10 minute mile is pitiful, but again I bring you back to 1 year ago on my blog. This is BIG!

It's amazing what your body can do when you've lost 64 pounds :). Oh, DO NOT tell me who won the Biggest Looser either. I was a dinner with Kait and couldn't watch it. But I did tape it and will check it out on Saturday.

45 min Run

Today was a scheduled rest day, but I decided to move Saturday's run to today. I have the Breast Cancer 5K on Sunday at the Mall of America. So, I figure I'd rest up for it.

The rain was moving into our area, so after a wonderful lunch with Greg and his parents, I hit the path. I ran a good 45 minutes. There were times when I was slow. I was far behind the pace I wanted at my 2 mile point, so I picked it up. I think I may have run under 10 min for the 3rd mile. Pretty cool!

During the run, I came to realize my husband is right. I need new running shoes. I got these shoes 1 year ago. It's time. I can feel the runs in my feet now and I'm getting minor shin splints too. Both are signs of needing new shoes. We are now heading to the running store tomorrow. Nothing like a new pair of shoes!

More catching up...

I've been without my laptop since Monday. It is tough to be without it, but I do have other means to be on-line. It did make me lazy in my blogging though.

So, here's what I've been up to...

Sunday: I was recovering from Saturday's Hurricane Season Kick-off Party. No workout :(

Monday: I swam for 30 minutes and ran for 45 minutes. It felt so good, but was still VERY hot in Mississippi. I ending up running with my swimsuit and bike shorts on. No, t-shirt to protect others from the site of my rolls. Well, the rolls are fewer, and I realized the chances of seeing someone I knew in the neighborhood I was running in were small. So, off I went in my skin tight outfit. Wow, what a change!

Tuesday: I was flying and driving home all day long. No workout again.

Wednesday: I figure that I needed a good bike ride and run. So, I rode for 45 minutes on my bike and ran for 30 minutes. There was a strong SW wind, so it did slow me down, but it felt good. It is amazing how jello-like my legs felt during the first 1/4 mile of the run. It doesn't change.

Thursday: I went for a great walk with my neighbor. There are trails in the St Olaf College farm fields. It was pretty cool! Skeeter and her dog Lulu loved it. I also did an hour of power yoga. I figure I needed to do some strength training. I've been skipping that for weeks now. My knees were feeling it all yesterday, which made me realize that I need to strengthen myself. So, yoga it is!

40 min Run

It was in the 80s at 10am here! What is a Minnesotan supposed to do around here? Go running, that's what!

I thought today was a 45 min run day, but now I see on my calendar it was only 40min. With the flight line as my course today, I thought I'd go longer. Or, in reality... I decided that 22.5 minutes out I would see how I felt. Well, at 22.5min out I still felt good. So, I kept running around the flight line.

I did the ENTIRE flight line today. A complete circle! About 4.5 miles in 50 minutes. It was a good time for me. Yeah me!! I love the flight line!

Catch up

I'm currently in Mississippi, ready to work for the Hurricane Hunters. It's my drill weekend, but I'm here early for a little extra work.

So, I'm training in the heat! We got in on Wednesday and I went for a good 45 minute run (only scheduled for a 30 min run). It felt like I was running in molasses. It was tough. This heat and humidity thing was kicking my butt! I'm so glad I went though. I felt so much better afterwards.

On Thursday, I was scheduled for a 30 min swim and 20 min run. I headed to the Natitorium just off base. It was 2:00pm, and I was the only person in the pool. It was fabulous!!! They had about a dozen lanes too. I love that place! So, I swam 1400 yds in my 30 minutes.

After rinsing off, I went back to base for my run. As many of my followers may know (all 2 of you), my favorite place to run is around the flight line. Off I went... into that molasses again. It was harder than I expected. Now, this is all a different "harder" than last year. I just mean it isn't as free flowing as up home. It took more effort than I expected. Anyway, I ran for 30 minutes after my swim.

Today is my rest day. It feels strange not to be running, but good at the same time. I've been pushing myself a bit harder, and need to take a quick break. I'm scheduled for a 45 min run tomorrow, and figure I'll do it at my favorite place... the flight line (insert Top Gun music here).