Great Day

BIG snowstorm, today was the snow romp!

7 Sixteens

Today was another beautiful winter day with crystal clear blue skies. The temperature was into the 40s, and I contemplated taking my bike out, but in the end I decided I need the time on my feet right now, so I mapped out a 7 mile walk from home.
        ✓        New New Balance 883 “straight last” sneakers
        ✓        2 pairs socks, over toes gooped up in anti-blister goop
        ✓        Almond butter, jelly & banana sandwich
        ✓        Full water bottle
        ✓        Hat and gloves
        ✓        Telephone
        ✓        Fully charged iPod and headphones to be worn under hat

No wonder it takes me so long to get ready for these winter excursions! I finally got out there fully equipped and I rocked it. My time was 15.5 minutes per mile. I must admit that training to walk a half marathon is proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but after today’s miles, my legs were tired, my knees were weary, and my feet were a little sore. It’s also mentally challenging to go out for solo two-hour walk. I’m not sure why, but it’s much easier to be solo on my bike than on foot. I was looking for a way to challenge myself and I believe I have found it!

The Olympics

I LOVE the Olympics. DH and I will watch any Olympic event. While we certainly enjoy watching certain events more than others, we both appreciate the athleticism and guts of every athlete in every event. From 8 pm until we call it quits, the TV is tuned to NBC. As always, the Vancouver Olympics is filled with wonderful stories of fascinating people. How can you not be inspired by Lindsay Vonn, Shaun White, Shen and Zhao, and Petra Majdic (Majdic won the bronze in a nordic skiing sprint after falling off a 3 ft. enbankment during a training run. She was then diagnosed with 4 fractured ribs).

I am inspired by these athletes and their dedication. Every Olympic athlete spends a gazillion hours preparing for their event. Lindsay Vonn spends 6-8 hours a day in the gym preparing for a race that is over in less than 2 minutes. And at the heart of their preparation is cross training. That's how they get strong, build endurance, avoid injury and have fun! Check out this video and then think about what you are going to do today to get strong, build endurnace, avoid injury and have fun!

The Extra Mile

Rx Fins

Last year, I had a seriously inflamed right shoulder. I rested it, and when that didn’t help, I rested it some more, It got worse and I finally went to see the doctor. A shot of cortisone and 3 weeks later, I was a new woman. It was like it never happened and I was back in the pool. Well, once again I have an inflamed shoulder, this time the left one. I started some heavy dosing of Advil and it has gotten much better. I decided to see the doctor anyway, and he didn’t see any real limitation in range of motion, so he sees no reason to shoot my shoulder full of cortisone. No restrictions, I can do as much as I can including swimming, but we did talk about swimming being “bad,” especially for women who have to take more strokes to cover the same distance. Basically the doctor told me to wear fins! So I will try swimming next week, with fins to reduce the number of strokes. An Rx for fins-- I’m gonna be a rock star!

Body Parts Part 2

The snowstorm on Wednesday brought just enough snow for some snowplay. On Friday I got out on cross country skiis, for a short tour. Then yesterday I went out on my snowshoes. After about 90 minutes of pushing through the snow covered trails, I realized I was exhausted! It was hard work. My knees were feeling stiff and weary last night, and although they felt better this morning, my shoulder was sore. I’m not sure what I did (if I did anything), but I decided that any activity involving poles was probably not a good idea. So I went out for a fast walk on the paved roads, wearing my new sneakers, without my orthotics, and 2 pairs of socks. My big toe was hurting, but I don’t think it was any worse than when I wear the orthotics. But my toes seemed happy.... no blisters!

Time on My Feet

I have a couple of girlfriends that are amazing athletes and triathletes. One of them had surgery in November to remove a benign brain tumor!. She is doing GREAT! She has a few restrictions-- she can’t drive for another 3 months because she had a seizure (that’s the law in NY) and her balance is off a bit so she’s not secure on her bike. She has been focusing on her running through the winter. She has also decided to focus on helping others live a fit life by forming Team MissFit. Team MissFit is about getting out there, whether you have never run or are a competitive triathlete, setting goals, and supporting each other as we all work toward those goals. We have “meetups” at various venues as we swim, walk, run, ride, eat, drink and yak through the 2010 season. We communicate with each other via Facebook. I must admit that I have been a bit of a slacker the last 2 weeks, so when I saw the message of Friday-- “The Track 11:00 am Saturday, No snow, No excuses!” I knew I had to make it happen. So after the Masters Swim workout from 8:00-9:30, I was at the track at 11:00 (I actually had to use a blow dryer, something I never do, but I didn’t want to have a wet head). It was COLD and WINDY. Only 3 of us showed up. We managed to run about 3 miles, but it took at least half of that to get warmed up. I have been spending a good amount of time walking miles and miles this winter, and I have gotten good at staying warm, but Saturday was not working for me. After I got home and took a shower, I had a rash all over my upper thighs. This is the 2nd or 3rd time in my life I have had this happen. It is cold urticaria, an allergy to the cold. My legs were not adequately protected with only regular old-fashioned sweatpants, especially on a windy day. It gradually faded as I warmed up, but it was a reminder to dress for the weather. So what did I do on Sunday. I overdressed. My goal on Sunday was to walk for 2 hours. I wasn’t concerned about my speed. I want to get used to the time on my feet. The weather dudes kept talking about the wind, so I made sure I was dressed for it. I knew I was overdressed in the first 10 minutes, but luckily I was walking in the direction of the park’s visitor center. I was able to take off 1 layer and throw it in my car. But not the long johns! Those stayed. I then walked for 2 hours on another beautiful winter day. I didn’t push the pace, but I made sure I moved fast enough to stay warm. After all the time on my feet over the two days, I was happy to put my feet up and watch the Saints defeat the Colts.