Back to the Gym...Again

This weekend I had two workouts which were barely worth logging. I went to the gym with Andy on Saturday and figured out that the Anytime Fitness where we currently signed up was robbing us so we decided to transfer to the one out by Andy. Anyhow, Andy is a bit of a newbie at the whole gym thing so I promised him I would shorten my workout a bit. I ended up running for a half hour which equalled a little less than 3 miles. We signed up for the "orientation personal training" sessions for Monday since we both had work off.

I'm not entirely sure that I needed the extra one on one orientation to the gym. The only thing that I really got out of it was my body fat percentage. Which I guess was "average" even though I don't feel I fit in that category.

Some scary news on the old knee. My knee is hurting quite a bit to go downstairs again. I think this has to do with some lunges that the trainer had me do. Hopefully it's just a fluke and it goes away. I know there are like 8 months until Twin Cities Marathon, but it still frightens me a bit.

Wishing I Had Toenails

You really never know how much you will miss something until it is gone. Take for instance, my toenails. Sure, at a balmy 20 degrees, you don't notice the missing hard surface from your toe. But it is quite different at -22. I didn't realize that my toenails provided a barrier for coldness to reach my tender toes until now. Now is when my toes hurt. Now is when I appreciate the toenail.

Anyways, I haven't gotten a lot of running done lately. Been spending some much needed time with Andy. I'm thinking we may head to the gym this weekend though...probably be a good thing.

Cold

I've been off the past few days and it is a day like this http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=536460&catid=2 that I wish I were at home! My car would barely start and it is only a year old! And I have to go to a meeting over on another part of campus today, which means I have to wait for our "campus connector" outside. AND I've been at Andy's house with no time to do laundry for almost a week now and had no clean Cuddle Duds to wear. Therefore I am ill prepared for this mess.

Cherish Every Moment

Friday after work I received a call from Andy saying that his brother had died in a snowmobile accident. He was 22. For the short time that I was starting to get to know him, he always had a smile on his face. Even this summer when we were roofing in sweltering heat. He was there to help his brother. We don't have enough people like him around and it is amazing to read about all of the lives that he touched. I ask you today to cherish every moment that you have with your family members. You never know when they will be gone.

New Gym Partner and Ugly Toe Stories

Workout: Run 4 miles- 45 minutes, 100 side crunches, 50 leg lift crunches, 2/15 abductors, 2/15 adductors

I woke up this morning and looked at the news to see the weather as I usually do. The temperature read -2 in the bottom of the screen and the weather guy was going through his report. It is only in Minnesota that a weather guy would introduce a -15 degree windchill by saying "Today, the windchill isn't so bad at -15 but you will still need to bundle up." I think I'll be writing more on my hatred for Minnesota winters in my non-running blog...but figured I'd just give you all a taste of how much I despise it!

Yesterday's workout went well. Ran a little over 4 miles in my alotted 45 minutes then hopped through the very crowded weightlifting area.

Good news...Tonight...I will be enrolling Andy at Anytime Fitness along with me! Woohoo! It took some convincing, but I think it will be alot of fun. That AND he told me he would run a 5k this summer with me. Mainly because he saw that my dad did it with me last summer. His words were, "If your dad can do it, I think I can pull it off."

One more post marathon update: My 2nd big toenail has finally fallen off. I lost the right a month ago and now the left has fallen off. I've done some reading on this...and it sounds like I may have a fun future with my large toenails in store for me. It appears that they frequently don't grow back in properly among other people's stories- thus resulting in a doctor's visit where they have to tear it back off. Seriously...I hope that doesn't happen to me. I also discovered that the gross dark color that appeared under my nail after my marathon was blood. I also found information that says I should have popped the blood out ASAP in order to save my nail. Nice that I found that out AFTERWARDS.

My friendly word of advice- Make sure your toes have plenty of room in your shoes before you set out to run 26.2 miles!

Two more for the log

Monday's Workout: 5 mile run, 15 minute bike, 3 sets of 15 Abductors, 2 sets of 15 adductors, 150 crunches

Tuesday's Workout: 4 mile run, 3-15 Chest Presses, 1-10,2-5 Shoulder lift

Yes, I'm still creeping along here. Monday's workout left me feeling pretty good. I think I've discovered a small little token to why my runs feel so difficult lately. I absolutely refuse to see the treadmill at a pace slower than 6.0. It seems that my mind still thinks that I should be running even higher than 6.0. But my body isn't quite ready for that yet after that long break. I think I could run a heck of a lot longer if I just slowed the pace down but for some reason I find myself resisting the darn down arrow on the treadmill. Hopefully it will at least push my speed up a little faster.

A new twist to throw a wrench in the whole process of trying to up my mileage...my gym has now programmed our treadmills to stop at 45 minutes. Well...some of them. Monday I hit a treadmill that only went up to 45 and was quite agitated. I know...I know...it is peak gym season and I really should be respectable to the people who need to use the treadmill. But, in my argument, I am paying good money to use that gym and I think I should be able to get my full workout in. Half an hour on the treadmill (as they post) is NOT a good workout to me. Yes...I do weight lifting and use the gym in other ways...but in addition to a solid hour of cardio. And the elipticals have been nearly impossible to snag since the start of January. Yesterday I found a treadmill that actually went up to 60 minutes but then I actually felt bad because they gym was really crowded and hopped off after 40.

I really wish January would end. I'm more than happy to see that people are actually working out--BUT at the same time...I know that more than half of them won't stick to it. Maybe we'll see a miracle winter in Minnesota--one where it ends early--and I can actually take to the roads and trails again. Highly unlikely. I know that there are some Northern readers who do run outside and I admire them greatly. I just can't stand running in those negative temps or even near zero temps. Yuck. And even when it is in the high 20's this week...I have little motivation to step on the sheet of ice that covers our sidewalks and trails.

Tonight's goal is to run 5-6 miles. We'll see...depending on whether the gym is busy or not.





I leave you with a Christmas picture of Andy, Duke, and myself.

Creeping Back Up

Slowly but surely...I'm creeping back up there. I actually made it to the gym more than once this week...amazing! Next week...I'm aiming for 5 days of headaches at the packed gym. I hate January.

Anyway, I ran 5 miles on New Year's Eve. While I was sipping on my Mike's Hard Lemonade that night, a fellow non-running friend asked me "So what'd you run today?" It felt kind of funny saying "I've now worked back up to 5 miles". I don't know how in the world I managed to make all of my base mileage slip away from me...but I did it. Hopefully I can build back up quickly while battling the "temporary gym users".

Oh which also leads me to a great debate. My gym membership is up on the 11th. I have been a member at Anytime Fitness for exactly 18 months now. I was eagerly waiting for the day that I was no longer obligated to that gym...but now...I'm thinking I may return. I realized that most of the other fancier gyms will require me to pay an "installation fee" and that is something I definetly do not want to do. Actually, if I had it my way, I'd just have a gym membership for the winter so that I can run outside in the summer!!

Anyways, Happy New Year everyone!!! Have fun at your crowded gyms!