Juicy?

Sun - 4 mi and Gym

Weekly Mileage - 14 mi

Felt kinda tight today. Two days in a row of the increased mileage could be having a bit of an effect. No pain really, just feelin' tight and a little aggravated on both knees. Intense rolling session so that could be it too. Day off completely tomorrow. See how things feel. I'm about to hit a point where things could go downhill really fast and sudden if I don't listen to my body. I'm mere weeks away from decent mileage. It's not time to screw it up now.

So time for a little of my non-running related commentary. I was at the mall today and as I was in line at Starbucks I noticed a woman walk by in a full on juicy sweatsuit. First, don't even get me stared on spending that much money on a SWEATSUIT, but my main pet peeve is those damn pants. It's not specifically juicy either, but ANY pants, shorts, or bottom covering clothing that has words on the ass. There's almost always a little wedge action going on with sweatpants, and normally that's not such a huge deal. But it does become a big deal when the words JUICY are on your butt, and spectators can only see JUCY. When your ass swallows whole letters, it becomes a problem. And specifically to Juicy, I just don't think that word should be anywhere near a butt. I just don't think it's a good combination. Who wants to define their butt as juicy. I don't see that as being sexy. I kinda see it as being, woah, maybe lay off the bean burritos.

Apologies for excessive use of ass and butt in this post.

Getting Excited.

Fri - Off
Sat - 4 miles at Mission Bay

Big day today. Got to raise it up to 4 miles. This means I'm only one mile away from a "legitimate run". I also had the added bonus of running with Lyndsey (It's been so long since I've run with anyone. Kinda pointless to meet up for a 3 mile run). Once I hit the 5 mile mark it may be worth it to hit up some group runs.

I was at Mission Bay to watch the 15K at the bright and early time of 7am (mandating a 5:30 am wake up call. There's something about the difference between getting up when there is a 5 as the first digit as opposed to a 6 that just makes it so much harder.) It was great to see some of my friends have good races, and also just good to be in that runners environment. I've mentioned in blogs before how happy I am to finally be back in a running environment again. Having friends that run and can relate to my gripes and joys in running related topics is something I have been missing since college. Running took a back seat during my three years in law school, and as I slowly make the return to health and fitness I'm enjoying that running is becoming such a big factor in my life again. I also enjoy that being a runner is the norm again. In law school when I'd go for an 8 mile run people would be shocked! Awed! Amazed! Running as VERY solitary for me in law school. Every run was by myself. I didn't really talk about running to anyone and It wasn't until I got injured and lost it that I realized how important it was. So now to be talking about it on a daily basis, I feel a little more me again. I'll be honest, I often felt a little lost in law school. Wasn't really sure what I was doing, my confidence level was all over the place, and I never got too comfortable in my own skin. I really enjoyed my law school/San Francisco experience, but I think I was missing something. I had almost joined a running team up there and decided I "didn't have the time." I regret that decision now.

The point of all that rambling above is that being at that race surrounded by people that share my passion energized me. I still feel on the outskirts of it all and can hardly wait for my first race where I can step up to a starting line with confidence. I can hardly wait to hammer through those miles, pushing myself to the edge of my mental and physical strength. And I can hardly wait to finish the race and go out with my fellow runners to analyze every little neurotic detail of the course, conditions, and other runners.

I maintain my mantra of being patient, but I can't help smiling in anticipation.

Staying at 20 minutes

Mon – Yoga
Tues – Gym + 2.5 mi

Sometimes I feel like I am a juggler and my life consists of the spheres I precariously attempt to keep from falling to the ground. Some are bigger than others, and when they fly effortlessly, the others seem easier to manage. Sometimes everything goes smoothly, and I feel I can juggle it all effortlessly and endlessly. Sometimes I feel I'm lucky if I can just keep one ball in the air. They change sizes and shape as my priorities in life shift. Some even disappear entirely for periods of my life. Inevitably, running is always one of the biggest, as I feel if I have that going well I can handle almost anything else. Besides my family, Running has been the one constant passion in my life, and I sometimes wonder how a career or any of my other spheres ever has a chance to compete with that. Its difficult to be patient and hold myself back when I know that just a few more miles upon a few more miles will make the circus act of life a little more easy.

Run felt pretty good today. I'm actually more impressed with how things are feeling now as I make my periodic trips to the coffee machine. Things are definitely improving, I just have to remember that small improvements do not equal immediately being able to jack up the mileage. When I did PT work last spring in SF, I was doing strength work for months before I even was able to get through a decent length run. I believe I have more base strength to work with right now, but I can't get overzealous and risk having to start this build-up all over again. Patience Patience Patience.

What do your shoes say about you?

Tues – Run 3 mi and Gym

Wed – Swim 45 mins

I thought the run went well yesterday, as I felt pretty strong throughout. Again I'm having no problems on the right side, and I'd put the left at 90% throughout: no pain, but not as strong as I'd like. But towards the end of work and into the evening, things on the left side were feeling a little aggravated. I don't want to do the yo-yo routine I keep falling into of building up then stopping completely, so any aggravation at all is a sign to slow things down now. It's still early in the new strength routine I started, so it could just be a matter of my body not quite being ready for 3 miles. Patience is very difficult for me, and I feel like just because I've been doing the strength work, results should be instantaneous, even though I'm smarter than that and know it takes time for strength work to kick in. Depending on how things feel the rest of they day, I’m either going to shorten the run tomorrow, or scratch it completely if things are the same as last night.

I made it 4 laps this morning using my new 3 strokes/1 breath routine. I think I'm getting a little faster as well (not because I'm actively swimming faster, but because I think I'm struggling less than I use to).

Gym Commentary: I find one of the easiest ways to categorize someone at the gym is to just look at their shoes. I'd say most normal people wear your typical running shoe. That's pretty much what you'd expect. Just to let you know, this is what various shoes tell me:

Basketball Shoes – I am in High School or College. I come to the gym to get "big." Tonight I am going out with my friends and we are going to get soooo wasted. Awesome.
Bike Shoes – I am a hardcore biker. And even though these are impossible to walk in, I am still going to do leg presses with them on. So everyone knows I am a biker. And hardcore. Look at my calves.
Sandals – I am a tool. (Note: I have never seen anyone in the gym wearing sandals who was deserving of any respect. No exceptions*. Do not wear sandals to the gym. And no it doesn't help to wear both socks and sandals. And yes, this is a huge pet peeve.)
Pumas (or other designer sneakers) – I'm not going to lift anything heavy or else I might sweat, and that's not good for my Juicy sweatpants. I will be spending most of my time in the stretching room doing ab work in just my sports bra. My boobs are huge. And fake.
Solid White New Balance – I am a 70-year-old man. (No other possible interpretations).
Converse sneakers - I don't take this seriously, but I'm still going to life some weights so my girlfriend won't leave me for one of those guys in the basketball shoes. I'm listening to Emo on my ipod right now. I'm deep.

So I guess the moral of the story is, if you aren't wearing something which could be classified as a "running shoe" and you cross my field of vision at the gym, know that I am totally judging you.

*Ok, only exception is if you are going straight to Yoga class and leaving straight afterwards. Don't decide you are going to lift some weights last minute. Just don't do it.

Yoga Commentary from the Unenlightened.

Last night Lyndsey took me to a Yoga class, something I've been meaning to do to get some added strength and especially flexibility, but just haven't gotten around to doing. She once again took care of me by bringing me a yoga mat. Everytime I try something new with Lyndsey I am grossly underprepared and everytime she's managed to save my ass (goggles? Why do I need goggles to learn to swim?).

My feelings on Yoga are somewhat mixed. I enjoy the stretching, strength, and mental concentration, and I also see how it is something you must practice and really treat as a discipline rather than just a gym class. I like focusing on a pose and attempting to quiet my ever-racing mind, a near impossibility, of various to-do lists, stresses, and plans.

However, I think part of me will never be able to fully embrace Yoga because, quite frankly, I'm not a very spiritual person. I'm not talking about religion, because I believe that one can be non-religious and entirely spiritual (and vice-versa). But I have never in my adult life considered myself to be spiritual. I have known plenty of people that I would put in that category, people who seem to understand and co-exist with energy, forces and emotions outside of the fact and fiction scientific world to which I am tethered. I gravitate towards things that are explainable by science, physics, etc., even if it takes a much smarter individual to understand these theories. I do not identify with things which are not at least subject to explanation (perhaps this dates back to the discovery that Santa was not real. I learned my lesson in believing in something that defied rationalization!). I need to know why, or at least know that there is some rationalization, even if it hasn’t been fully explained. It's why my pet peeve is when someone tells me everything is going to be all right, but then doesn't back it up with any sort of reasoning. I can't accept that things will just work out. I need evidence. I need a memo outlining the justifications. With citations. I cannot just have faith that things will be okay. And I know plenty of people that live and breathe in the world of scientific fact that I would consider to be very spiritual people, thus I'm not designating a line between spiritual and scientific, though that's may be how I'm coming across (probably because my lack of identifying with the spiritual in the first place results in me not truly understanding what it means to be spiritual). I think that some people are more in touch with themselves emotionally than others, and it is through this connection and openness that they can experience a more spiritual existence. I am still working on making that emotional connection with myself, something which I assume comes easier to those who are able to be more in touch with their spiritual nature. Thus, I believe the spiritual nature of Yoga shall, at least for now, elude me.

For now, yoga acts to stretch and strengthen my body, and temper the reasoning and constant analysis running through my mind. It calms me and forces my brain to slow down, but I don't know that I'll ever reach the sort of higher enlightenment that some people seem to find through their practice. And that is acceptable to me, I just believe that I will always have an unintentional self imposed limit on what I can attain from the practice.

Part of my original purpose in this soliloquy was to apologize in advance for my commentary on any Yoga experiences I may share. I understand the spiritual importance that many gain from such practice, and while I may never attain such a level of proficiency, I do respect it. That being said, I cannot fight my innate tendency to comment on the appearance and behavior of those around me, as well as my own personal deprecation for considering myself a strong runner yet not being able to hold downward dog for more than 2 minutes without crumbling into child's pose (aka curling up on the floor and crying). So tune in next time for some reflections on a Non-Yogi, infiltrating a Yogi world.

However, for now I have rambled on for far longer than anyone truly signed on for when they clicked the link over to read my blog (most likely on accident). Additionally, this has strayed quite far from my training into the realms of personal exploration and philosophy. Apologies and I promise to attempt brevity in my future. Unless I'm actually funny.

Trifecta

Pool – 60+ minutes
Gym – going after work
Running – attempting 10 mins after work

The subtle differences between men and women continuously amuse me. I recently cut my hair, and every woman I talk to has a response in the same ball park: excited, omgosh how cute, you cut your hair!!!! etc. There is no question that they noticed and they are sure of the fact that yes, indeed, my hair is shorter than when we last encountered each other. With men, the response is completely different. The ones that do notice (or comment, to be fair, most men might notice but choose not to comment, whereas women tend to be more likely to comment) are a little unsure how to proceed. They study me for a second, trying to figure out what is different. They know something is different. Then, very slowly, with an inquisitive face, most ask the same question…"Did you…cut…your hair?" And when I inform them I did indeed cut my hair, their faces light up and I can see how proud they are that they figured it out! This whole process cracks me up. I know some people cut their hair and you don't really notice all that much of a difference. However, I just went from long straight hair to looking like a Koosh Ball. It's noticeable.

Alright back to the purpose for this little soapbox I maintain every day. Today looks to be a nice trifecta: I was in the pool this morning for a long time but it was mostly working on drills and technique as opposed to getting in a real cardio session. I'm going to hit up the gym after work today since my PT appointment was moved earlier tomorrow and I just haven't gotten to the point of getting out of bed before 6 am. Then I'm rolling out to the injury trail for 10 mins, give or take. The knee has been feeling okay since the "run" (note: must at least hit 2 miles before I can refer to it as a "run.") on Saturday. The on and off aching while at my desk has dissipated, and it seems to me as the weakness/pain is now almost solely occurring DURING activity, which is a change from before, but one I'm rather happy about as I can assess whether or not to keep running when I have immediate feedback from my knee. It doesn't do me much good when it aches 6 hours later. Great! Let me hop in my time machine and tell Past Julie that she's janking up her knee. Anyhoo, I have no idea what this all means, but I'm taking it as a good thing. If the pain is changing, then I'm doing something, and if the pain isn't getting worse, or is even getting better, then I'm probably doing something right.

And looks like today isn't nearly as long of an essay.