success!!

The impossible happened!! The official times haven't been posted yet, but I know my raw time was under two hours... crazy, crazy day. I hit a great rhythm at around mile 4 and was able to ride that through mile 11. The last 2.1 miles were a total mind game... I almost convinced myself to walk it the rest of the way, but I knew that if I pushed through the pain I would meet my goal time. In the last mile, I tried to focus on "Violent Pornography" blaring through my headphones, and this quote:

"Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never pushed through the obstruction." -William James

Thank goodness I didn't give up on myself! :)

My Love's a Revolver

Spin class today kicked soooo much ass. I LOVE Wednesday 5:30pm class because Bill is an incredible motivator and he always has the best music. 2/3 of the way through class, he played this remix of Madonna's "Revolver" and I felt the way I feel in the end of a Bikram yoga class- totally at peace and utterly unstoppable. 

I'll just get it out there- spin class is very sexy to me. They dim the lights and crank up the noise and everyone's in there checking everyone out in the giant mirror in the front of the room. It always makes me feel like I'm in some steamy, spandex-y dance club. Kind of erotic- especially when we're riding in third position... it's a standing climb with your hands on the very ends of the handlebars and your hips stretched waaaay back with your bottom hovering just over the seat. Most of your weight is in your legs and your hands only lightly touch the handlebars for balance. When I'm in third position, I feel like I could ride my stationary bike right over any insecurity or self-perceived flaw I might have. All my anxiety is gone. All my inadequacies are gone. I feel the solidness of my core and my burning, pumping legs and my palms just grazing the PVC-dipped bars and I think, "DAMN, girl!"

>1 pull-up in 2012!

3 mile run this morning, followed by a solid half hour of stretching. I had wanted to run 4 miles, but I was having a really hard time distracting myself. There were no handsome dudes or attractive ladies to check out and there was nothing interesting on television. I tried to watch coverage of Kim Jong Il's death, but it sucks trying to focus on a subtitled news report on a television halfway across the room. So after ~30 minutes of running, I found a quiet place to listen to my weird classical music and zen out. I did the usual stretches and focused a lot on my right hip because it was extra achey on my run yesterday and clicked a bit on my run this morning. Pigeon- I'm telling you... do it. 


I wish I had a foam roller though. It was a major staple for Coast Guard Women's Rugby. On the first morning workout after every game, we'd head up to CDR Shumway's and he'd have us do light cardio for 15-20 minutes and foam roll/stretch for the rest of the workout. We'd roll out our hammies, quads, glutes, calves, backs, and hips and it was wonderous. Some of the more jacked gals would also roll out their shoulders/arm muscles but I never had any arm muscles to speak of, and foam rolling my upper body always felt like a weird bone massage. Icky.


I think one of my fitness resolutions for the New Year will be to (finally) improve on my upper body strength. With the exception of what I absolutely HAD to do to pass the Physical Fitness Exam twice a year, I shied away from upper body work. Severely. Most of the time, I was too embarrassed to practice push-ups or lift weights even when I was the only person in the gym! It's funny how self consciousness can be such a barrier to self improvement. But anyway, in 2012, I would like to be able to do a pull up. Even if it's just one! 

Single-hand pull-ups may be my fitness goal for 2022.

the longest run of my life, closely followed by the longest run of my life

So 14 miles happened on Friday. I got out of work a bit early, dashed home to throw together a playlist (highlights: David Gueta's "Titanium" (feat. Sia) and Jay-Z & Kanye "N****s in Paris"), and I hit the road, nervous for the adventure to come. It wasn't a mind game until about the 10th mile. My hips started aching, my knees felt like they were swelling up, and the arches of my feet were SOO stiff. It got worse and worse from there, but the silver lining is that I never felt like I was breathing hard. Which probably means I was running slower than shit, but HEY- it's something!

Side note- when "Paradise"- Coldplay started playing ~3/4 of the way through my run, I felt totally euphoric and like everything was going to be alright. It took my mind off the aches and pains and I felt really proud of myself for this 14-mile run (which was a real milestone for me) and for what I have yet to accomplish. 

Saturday and Sunday were a bust. I was in New Orleans eating and drinking all those calories back. Highlights- bread pudding pancakes at The Ruby Slipper Cafe in Mid City and braised lamb shank with grits at The Irish House. Incredible!! It's no wonder that I haven't lost any weight since I started this eating plan- I mean TRAINING PLAN. 

But anyway, today was the start of Week 8! With Christmas being right around the corner, I figured that I probably wasn't going to do much working out after Thursday or Friday sooooo I made an interesting (read- STUPID) change to my work out plan... and did my long run today. FIFTEEN MILES! OUCH! The first five miles were terrific. I felt loose and I was able to find a really comfortable rhythm but, of course, that nice feeling was not meant to last. Today's aches and pains were the same as Friday's but they set in a lot harder, although again I didn't feel like I was working hard, cardiovascularly. Does this mean that I need to replace some spin workouts/runs with weight training? Help! I don't want my legs to pop off in the middle of this marathon! 

day of rest!

Ahh... I've been waiting all week for this day. The day my feet, knees, calves, quads, hamstrings, core, and BRAIN gets to recover from all the mess I put myself through since my last day off (last week Tuesday). The day that my "workout plan" says STRETCH and that's it! No spin class, no weight lifting, no running, just resting and recovering.  And maybe some Ben & Jerry's.

Sometimes it's hard for me to take a day off from working out. I'll get out of work and think "You know what? I feel fine today, and today is a perfectly good day to train so why waste it!" but Hal Higdon has a lot to say about the benefits of rest and I figure he probably knows better than I do. Ed Eyestone of Runner's World Magazine says that a rest day is as crucial to his training as a long run. Does that mean I'm off the hook for tomorrow's 14-miler????!!

Back to the subject of stretching, behold- one of the best tricks I learned from Chris G at Synergy Yoga.

The Pigeon Pose

*cooo... cooo...*

It can be difficult and painful at first- but once you're able to relax into this pose, it works wonders for hip/glute tightness! I like to listen to classical music while I'm stretching because it makes me feel like a beautiful, graceful ballerina (or maybe it's because I get so damn tired of Ke$ha and Lil' Wayne by the end of a workout). Last week, I listened to Claude Debussy's "Menuett" as I stretched each hip flexor and I'm telling you- it totally transported me. Duuude...

And for the days when I'm feeling EXTRA fancy...

But gosh- that looks like way too much work for this rest day. And you can't devour a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby with your arms all twisted up like that!