Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Rain drops are falling....

Well, pretty much everywhere.

I was working at home today and thought I'd sneak out for a lunch time run in between rain showers. I peeked out the door and it wasn't coming down, so I leashed up Bam and headed out. We had gone about 1-1/2 miles when the rain came. I think that Bam was about as thrilled as I was, but we were troopers and kept on chugging. It was actually *kind-of* nice because there was no one out there. Very quiet. As we hit the turn around point the rain stopped and it was perfect running temperature. Not too warm, not too cool. We made it 5 miles, but barely. I think my poor girl is slowing down. The last 1/4 mile or so she was really lagging behind. Maybe 5 miles is getting to be too much. That makes me sad. :-(

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Thought of the day

Treadmill running sux.

That's all, thank you and have a nice day.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

A bit of spirit at last

For the first time in many years, we put up a Christmas tree! We usually travel to Illinois to visit my family and it just hasn't seemed worth the effort. I've done garland or a wreath before to get the smell of the tree but it just wasn't the same. So we broke down and got the whole tree this year. It's a nice little noble fir and smells wonderful. I only have a few decorations, but at least I have lights! It's almost as pretty with just the lights, but I put on the few decorations anyway. I don't have and haven't found a topper I like just yet, so it does look like somethings missing a bit, but it's still pretty. And it's putting me more in the spirit of the season. Now I just need to get on the ball with my shopping. Note to self....try to keep up the spirit in the midst of the shopping chaos. Uh, huh, good luck with that one. ;-)

Sunday, December 09, 2007

That could have started off better....

I rode my bike over to Tina's early this morning. We were heading over the bridge to join up with a women's riding group for their 15 mile beginners ride. It was chilly and my face was stiff with cold when I got to Tina's. I'm not too sure about this winter outdoor exercise. I think I'm a fair weather exerciser. :-) We loaded Ruby up on the rack next to Tina's bike and headed out.

We thought we were going to be late and miss the ride, but we made it there with about 10 minutes to spare. After parking along the road side where we thought we saw some women riders gathering, we unloaded our bikes and started to prep ourselves for the ride. Right off the bat we had trouble....Tina forgot her helmet. Doh! We decided to get our bikes ready and then head over. Next item on the list...tire check. Tina was pumping up her tires and I stopped to check mine......and my rear tire was completely flat. What?!?! It was fine when I got to Tina's house, but at some point it went completely flat before we got to the ride. I decided I'd just pump it up and see if it held. So we rode over to the organizer, but it was a no-go without a helmet. But Tina and I could follow along, we just couldn't 'officially' be with the group. I was a little worried about T riding without a helmet, but we decided to give it a go. At this point, I rode back to T's car to get my bike computer and realized my back tire seemed to be leaking and going flat again. So I yelled back to the group (okay, there were 3 other people besides us, so 'group' might not be the right word) that I was going to change the tube. I think the ride leader was getting a little disgusted with us, so T told them to go ahead and we'd do the ride on our own. It was a pretty simple out and back, so I didn't think we'd be getting lost.

Now, I know *how* to change a tire, but it never seems to work out as easy as it should. I must've looked inept because a guy that looked like a pro asked me if I needed help and proceeded to change the tube fairly quickly and painlessly. I *really* need to have a day where I just practice changing the tube. I thanked him profusely and we finally headed out. As we rode off, Tina thought she heard the guy's friend ask him "is she going riding without a helmet?" This seemed to set a theme for the day as it appeared that a lot of folks were giving T weird looks. We decided it was either the missing helmet, or they were admiring how hot Ruby is. :-D

The ride itself was supposed to be a short ride with 'gentle' rollers. They seemed more like hills to me, but then I'm still a newbie rider. The ride leader had told us to make sure and stop at all the stop signs, so we clipped out at each one and made a full stop. We made it to the turn around and were looking for a bathroom and discussing how we should have brought money for the bakery when a 'local' overheard us. He offered to buy us a latte, which we declined but secretly wanted to accept, and then told us about some additional routes that we could check out the next time we came out. He was *really* admiring our bikes and even offered to watch them for us while we used the restroom, but since I didn't have to go I stayed while T went. Good thing because the guy's daughter showed up and off he went. We think he was scamming a way to get 2 new bikes...1 for him and 1 for his daughter. Hahahahahaha!

We rode all 15 miles, although I don't remember our time. It was really just about getting out there on the bikes and that we did. It was a little cool, but we managed. We're talking about doing the Cinderella ride in April, which is a metric century (65 miles). It's technically a fun ride, not a race, so I don't have to feel like I need to ride my socks off. We'll see if we get in, as it's very popular and sells out every year. And that's getting close to the start of Tri season. Man, I gotta start looking at dates for events for next year! :-)

Friday, December 07, 2007

Lost it?

Have I lost it? Already? I haven't run since the trail run last Saturday. Just been doing gym workouts and spinning on the bike trainer. So I decided I needed to hit the treadmill tonight. I know...boooooring! But it gets dark so early that I can't get a run in after work otherwise. And I'm afraid I'm losing my running legs. Looks like I was right. I don't know if I was just having an off day or what. Let's hope so. I got in a little more than 3 miles and had to jump off that treadmill. I just couldn't stand to be up there any more. It's not like I was exhausted, but I just couldn't make myself keep going. Sigh. I can't wait for those longer days. C'mon spring and summer!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Spinning

Since it's pretty much dark when I get up for work, and dark when I get home from work, Jeff bought me a used bicycle trainer so I could 'ride' during the winter. Tonight was the first night I made my sorry butt get up there and pedal. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but I didn't have the resistance turned up too high either. I really want to get Ruby out on the road, but no way I'm risking it in the dark. That will have to wait until this weekend, but the trainer may be a nice break from running for a while. We'll see how it goes.....as usual.

On a sad note, my grandma's friend lost her battle with leukemia this week. She hadn't been doing well, pretty sick from both the disease and the chemo/radiation, so although it's a sad occasion, in some ways it's a relief. Another name on the "running in memory of" list. I wish that list would stop growing. Sigh.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Woodside Trail

Glutton for punishment that I am, I signed up for the Woodside Trail run. It was yesterday. I'm still wiped out.

I had originally signed up for the 17k (temporary insanity is my plea), but our day was filling up with required activities, so I *had* to cut it back to the 10k. Thank goodness for that!

I don't know why I can't seem to remember that I do NOT like this trail. While it's not too far away, and the trail is certainly very beautiful, it's hell to run it. The first part is down, down, down for maybe 1.5k. It's never a good sign when the run starts off down hill. What goes down must come up. And up did I go. And up, and up. Oh, here's the elevation guide:



Um, so yea, see how you get to go down the hill for about 1.5k, then the next 5-6k is ALLLLL uphill. That's why I hate this trail. I don't mind the hills *as much* when it's more rolling hills. Up a bit, then get rewarded by going down the hill for a bit. So, I'm making a mental note not to run this trail again. Hopefully I'll remember.

This was my last scheduled run for the season, so hopefully I can stay in shape. With the holidays fast approaching, and the lack of sunlight hours, it's getting hard to find time for everything. Maybe now that I don't have any runs scheduled I can get in some time on my Ruby. I need to get that $$/mile cost down. :-)