Curses!

I'm pretty sure I've sprained my ankle running. So, I'm going to take a week off and try some other forms of exercise. (grrr) For example, I've already reloaded Deus Ex onto my computer, and I suppose I'll try something like a bike at the gym. Woe is me...In other news: Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli from Heroes) just keeps gettin' hotter, drinking enough sake will make you laugh all night, and hockey is very complicated. "Details at eleven..."

Where does the time go?

Happy Late Thanksgiving to everyone!It's been a busy week here. But I know, I know, all you want to hear about is my most excellent 5K Turkey Trot. I beat my time! And this is saying alot as much of the race was uphill and all of it out of doors. Drumroll please....30 1/2 minutes! Yeah! I was hoping for better, but I'll take it! It was pretty depressing getting passed up by small children with balloons tied to their backs, people pushing strollers and a man dressed like a giant banana, but how many people can say they got up early on Thanksgiving Day to go run a race? Feels pretty good, I must say. The banana - I have no explanation for that one.

Sorry...

...I wasn't back sooner, I'm still tired from my weekend in L.A. Disneyland was wonderful. A good time was had by all. (Hi R & X!) And I even bought new sound and video cards while I was down, so my puter is talking to me again. It's kinda weird actually. I think I'm gonna play Half-Life all over again (for the 12th time). But for now I'm going out for a training run. Turkey Trot is coming up! Gobble gobble. (Oh, and I did hurt myself last week, but it's all better now - just tried to do too much too soon - thanks for all the concerned e mails!)

It is entirely possible that I may have fractured my foot in a record-breaking run Tues night, but the jury is still out. More on that later...I'll be back on Monday, Nov 20th.

Today, I was a Warrior

Today, I was a warrior. I didn't wake up meaning to do all the things I did this day, but somehow, here I am. First I got up really early and went to the gym with my new shoes. It was fabulous. I ran 2.1 miles at my slowest time BUT I did it without stopping to walk. Neat. And I'm sure I could have gone farther, but I was already late for work. Then, of course, I went to work. After that, I went to Target and bought a snazzy orange yoga mat. THEN, I went to the gym AGAIN and did a very intense 50 minute upper body workout despite the fact that I have discovered my weightlifting gloves MISSING! (sadness and tears abound) THEN, get this, I went to my first yoga class ever. I rolled out my orange mat and prepared for a gentle, soothing session of stretching. It was neither gentle nor soothing. And I'm pretty sure that was because of the following reasons: 1) there was a giganta fan blowing on me which was freezing my pah-toot-tee off and 2) my arms were/are complete jelly (reference the upper body work-out) and 3) yoga is hard. At the midpoint I just gave up and decided to nap, and I could have done it if it hadn't been for the chemical smell of my el cheapo orange mat. I finally put my shoes back on and crawled out of the place. Perhaps tomorrow or this weekend or (hopefully never), I'll regret trying to do too much in one day, but right now, it feels pretty good. And I'll forge on because I have to clean house, cook dinner, and watch Heroes before falling asleep while reading a marathon training book. One guy laughed as I was walking out of the yoga class. As if I was a complete wuss for bailing. Smarmy fellow that he was, he couldn't have known that today I was a warrior.

Shoe of the Week - Issue #28

As I mentioned yesterday, I got new running shoes. I tried on tons of different brands, and I honestly disregarded my strong desire for a good-looking shoe. After all, who cares what your shoes look like when you're in the middle of a race? But I got lucky because I think these look kinda cool. These are the Ladie's, Trance 5 by Brooks. Apparently, they've come out with a Trance 6 already, but I didn't know that. So I'll be sporting last season's shoe. Oh the shame :) Anyway, I can't wait until my right shin and right Achilles stop hurting so I can take them out. Perhaps then, I'll give you an update and a rating. Keep a look-out for my old running shoes in the future. Happy shoe-hunting!

Quick & Dirty Update

So, it's been 68 days (and counting) without a smoke. Pretty crazy. And I've been remiss in my blogging because I've gotten all swept up in this running "thing" since the Half-Marathon - it was the Trail of Two Cities in Fresno by the way (Irene). My running partner in crime, Mrs. Z and I have already signed up for the upcoming Turkey Trot and are probably going to sign up for a 2-mile midnight run New Year's Eve in Sacramento. I was so proud of myself because I beat my best time on the treadmill the other night - 31 minutes for 5k BUT THEN this morning we went out-of-doors again and somehow I ended up on the side of the trail with horrible abdominal pain and sissy tears. After the pain subsided, I was able to keep going, but I was pretty mad at myself nonetheless. After all that (and a hearty breakfast) I decided to go shoe shopping. Don't get too excited, it wasn't THAT kind of shoe shopping. It was for some super awesome running shoes (more on those later). While I was at the running store, I signed up for the local running club. So I'm pretty excited, because I have NO idea how to train for running at all or how to work it in with the weightlifting stuff, so I think the club will be pretty helpful. And I think that for the rest of what's left of this year, I'll remain somewhat unorganized about reporting the work-outs/training stuff, but in 2007, I'm gonna log everything and hopefully report back here with # of miles run per week, # of weight days, etc....And maybe we'll see what it all does to the body fat. Also, today I broke a nail and am sooooo mad. So I'd like to add 2 more items to my Christmas wish list:
1. My missing nail
2. The Garmin Forerunner 305 (pictured)...I neeeeed it!

So Sore

My shins!!!! And...MY SHINS!!!!!

Game Day!

Yeah! I just finished my first ever race. Just to re-cap: It was a half marathon, but I did it with a relay team. I took the 1st 3.1 miles, T-mack took the middle 5, and Mrs. Z took the final 5. Even though I was completely thrown by my lack of outdoor running experience, the cold, dark air, the violent headache I got half-way through that made me think I was stroking out, the fact that sooo many people were passing me up, and my complete ineptitude at running while drinking water from a paper cup, I'm hooked. I mean, they gave us bags of swag, several buddies were there, and I beat my own time! It's not impressive at all, but it was around 32 minutes. Oh, and I got a medal. Sweet. So thank goodness I haven't suffered a stroke, although all my friends are specialists in stroke rehab and I'm sure I'd recover quickly...and thank goodness no one kidnapped me off the trail and the nice people with the paper cups didn't poison me. Where else would you accept such an offering? Think about it. I know I do.
On another note! P is back! We missed you. Glad to know you're alright. I'll respond to your riddle one way or another soon, I need another crack at it, I'm afraid. As P says, "...toodles for now..."