Yeesh

This blog is really not going anywhere because I'm realizing I have absolutely nothing to say about exercise. So, I'm going to put it in "hide" mode, in a few days" and I'll resurrect it if I ever feel like I have anything worth saying.

Still getting out, still flunking Marathon 101

Writing on a calendar is a good thing, I've decided. I used to keep track of my workouts on a calendar and hadn't bothered, this time around, because I figured we were following the group workouts and didn't need to write down what we'd accomplished. But, now I'm reminded of why I used to write things down. It's nice to look at your calendar and say, "Hey, look what we did, this week!"

Not that we're doing that great, but we're still getting out. I'm now reading Slow Fat Triathlete and enjoying it. I'm not planning to become a triathlete and neither is my husband, but it's a fun, inspiring read like The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women. More on that when I finish. How are you doing?

Newest, Latest, Greatest Stuff

We're still having off days, now and then (the heat and humidity have arrived, doggone it) but things are going well. I decided to return to my old method of writing down what we do each day. I just happened to have an extra monthly calendar that was empty, so it's been turned into our exercise calendar.

On Sunday, for X-training, hubby and I took turns on the recumbent bike while watching the movie Australia (which we both loved -- I can't figure out why everyone hated it). The recumbent bike's seat is not perfect. I think maybe it needs to be tilted at an angle to keep pressure off your tailbone. Both of us have had a little trouble with our toes going numb, after a while. So, on Sunday I peddled 30 minutes and then took a break while hubby peddled 30 minutes. Then, I got on again for another 30 and hubby took a second turn when I finished. It worked really well. We got in an hour of exercise and didn't have too much trouble with numb toes.

On Monday, we visited the Fleet Feet store in Jackson. Finally, a place where the staff is friendly! It's a small store, but they're getting set to move to a bigger place and, even in that tiny little store they had tons of items we weren't able to find in the sports superstores in the area. I bought a water bottle with a removable handle and zippered compartment (for sport beans to use on the long days -- I can't get myself to try Gu) and a little belt to hold my keys because most of my shorts don't have pockets. I also bought a pair of pocketed shorts that have the compression shorts built in -- very nice. And, hubby got one of those rolling things to help you stretch better -- can't remember what it's called.

When we got home, we walked about 4.5 miles with some intervals included in that distance. Yesterday, I was too tired to walk so we just did 30 minutes of biking, each. This time, we watched a couple of episodes of Northern Exposure. Love that show.

My Amazon order with the other books about Marathon training hasn't arrived, so I've been stalking the postman. Also, I liked the training schedule in The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women better than ours, so I took it to the library and xeroxed the pages with the training schedule, so I can hang them on the fridge. Between the xeroxed calendar and a calendar that shows what we've actually done, we should be able to track our progress a little better.

How are you doing?

Finished the book!

I absolutely loved The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women (hope I got that title right . . . it always throws me). It was very good and we liked the training schedule, so I'm off to the library to copy it and stick it on my fridge, in a bit.

This week has been much better. The sun is out, but it's not miserably hot (yet). Yesterday was a rest day if I were to go strictly by the Non-Runner's schedule, but we took Monday off and stuck Monday's walk on Tuesday. Today, we'll be on track with a 4-mile walk/run. Hubby is having knee trouble and I'm trying to get him to stretch more. He likes to get water, do some really pitiful, half-hearted stretches and then zip to the car. I almost have to physically restrain him. You should have heard the whining when I made him do more stretching, yesterday. But, I need my partner to not fall apart, ya know!

How is everyone doing?

Nothing to report

Last week was a very bad week for both of us, although it's nice outside and I'm planning to go for a very long walk, this afternoon (after I pick up the kiddo from school). Need to get back in the game. Because of rain and migraines, I stuck to the recumbent bike and I don't believe we made it to the park even once. On Saturday, I was laid up with a horrid migraine and when I finally got it under control, we went shopping.

And, on that note, I recently acquired the book at left: The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women. It's hilarious. I highly recommend it, just as a fun read, but author Dawn Dais also includes her marathon and half-marathon training schedules. They could not possibly be more different from our training schedule and serve to back up my concern that our training schedule is far too easy -- no wonder we can't make it through those long Saturday walks, anymore. We're just not pushing ourselves enough, the rest of the week.

Anyway, I think it's a fun book and well worth the money. I may buy a more serious marathon training book, soon. If so, I'll let you know what I think. I have a specific title in mind. I'm about halfway through this book.

Not the bestest best Saturday

We opted to walk in the park because both hubby and I decided walking past loose dogs and through downtown, where there are people lurking around doing nothing at all, was a little on the nerve-wracking side. Also, so many people in our marathon training group are way ahead of us that the social aspect is negligible and neither of us felt bad not joining the group. So, we mapped out our 9 miles' worth and headed to the military park.

The pros:

The park is on federal property, patrolled and governed by leash laws.
You can loop around several times and take bathroom/water breaks at the museum.
There's very little traffic and there are no bums hanging around.
There are plenty of walkers and a well-defined walking path.

The cons:

Sometimes people ignore the walking path and park on it or drive over it, although we hear the cars coming and have plenty of space to move aside.
It's very, very easy to just quit and hop into the car before you're done with your full mileage if you return to the parking lot.

As it turned out, the return to the parking lot after that second loop (about 6 1/2 miles) was good. We stopped far short of our 9 miles, but would have had to, regardless. This way, at least we had a car handy. Every now and then, I puff up for unknown reasons. My fingers and hands were swollen and burning. And, just as we returned to the car my eyes began to itch and burn. I was having a fierce allergy attack, so it was nice to be able to go straight home to pop a couple of benadryl.

Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry to get home that we didn't bother to stretch and we're pretty sore. So, not the best big Saturday walk for us. We're content, though. Hubby and I have agreed that whether or not we ever manage a marathon or even a half-marathon, joining the group is serving its purpose. We really needed the motivation to work out regularly. We didn't miss a single day, this week, and we're enjoying the time together. That's what counts, right?

Such a bad blogger

After last week's stomach virus, I decided I needed to see if I could do a long walk in the park (on Thursday). I set out to walk the 6-mile loop and added a little extra stretch that I believe amounted to a little less than a half mile -- but I'm not certain. At any rate, I survived and even ran about 12 minutes worth but had a lot of trouble on the hills. I think I was still just a bit tapped out from the virus.


Friday, I decided I was going to enjoy that day off, and I did.


Saturday, our group walk/run is now at 7am, since it's getting hot. We arrived at about 6:45 and I was in stunningly good humor for a night owl. We did cut off the last stretch because we hadn't acquired any gels or gummy electrolytes, etc., and I still didn't want to overdo. But, I'd guess we walked about 7 miles, with some minor intervals. I chose not to use the timer, but just run as far as I could comfortably run -- something I've done in the past that worked well for me. I think my husband was bemused. He wanted to walk the full 9 miles, but he simply won't walk without me.


The worst thing about the group walks is that now we're heading into the downtown area. Ugh. Not only are we going through neighborhoods that are subject to leash laws but totally unenforced, leading to picking up the occasional flea-ridden buddy and sometimes having to pass a fierce dog (our fearless leader calls 911 if she sees a loose dog that is threatening) but we also end up walking or running past . . . well, the downtown bums. It's not exactly where I want to be and the group is so far ahead of us that we feel a wee bit alone out there, but we didn't have any problems. Still, I think I'll eventually ditch the group and do my running in the park. We'll see.


So far, so good. I don't know if we'll be ready for a half marathon (and the husband says he'll be just returning from Germany . . . yes, without me, damn it) so we might not make it, but again . . . we'll see as we get a bit closer to the actual date. I think we're doing okay. There are a lot of people who were already running and slowed down to do the program right. They've zoomed on ahead. It's just a wee bit depressing, but I do think it's nice to be back to running a little, even if we're way behind most. And, the husband is really trimming up. We still have a long way to go, but it's nice to see his belly slimming down. That huge belly was really worrying.


How are you doing??