Christmas running

I managed to get 2 miles in on Sunday before my flight. 2 miles on Christmas Eve and then took Christmas and my mom's birthday off. 2 miles on Thursday, 4 miles on Friday and I meant to run today but didn't get to it. Hopefully I can get another four miles in tomorrow before my flight, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't.

12/23/07 - 2 miles
12/24/07 - 1.8 (?) miles (in Seattle with a wicked hill)
12/27/07 - 2 miles (same wicked hill, different attack)
12/28/07 - 4 miles (added another hill and an extra couple of miles)

Those miles aren't going to run themselves

The thing that I constantly have to remind myself is that no matter how much I dread the run, no matter how long I postpone the putting on of shoes and sports bra and getting the iPod charged, I always feel better after running. Exercise is a free form of therapy for me, so I need to use it.

Since my boyfriend unceremoniously dumped me on Monday, December 17th, I've decided that I need a goal to get me out of the house and back in shape. Also, I have a little black dog who needs her exercise.

So, here I am again. Not sure what I'm going to aim for this time, maybe I won't have a marathon at the end. Maybe I'll just train for the fun of it. I don't know. I just know I want to look better in 4 months than the day I got left by that dude.

Hiatus

So, I'm putting this little guy on hiatus. I won't be doing much training for the foreseeable future as I have to get my ass in gear with my career, and time is limited in my life at the moment. When I get my life sorted out, I promise I'll come back here and bore you with training details of the utmost importance.

Lame ass

I ran 1.75 miles today, walked .25. I haven't run in a while so it was not very pleasant, but not deadly either. I did it because I just know I'm going to stuff myself at El Cholo tonight.

Lunch walk

I'm having trouble getting my ass out of the kitchen on the weekdays. Something about the change in the weather has me cooking up a storm, but doing nothing in the way of working out, so today I took a walk at lunch. I might try running at lunch tomorrow. The only problem with that plan is the lack of a post run shower, so I'll have to see how it goes.

(Recap for Week 39 of 2007 - Jog 2 miles, Walk 6 miles)

Thursday, 10/04/07 - Walk 2.14 miles

Eating crow

The last time I posted here I was bragging about how I was totally going to train for LA 2008. I guess my brain shorted out because it has been probably about 2 weeks since I've gone on a run. And boy has my mood suffered for it.

It's a combination of laziness, wanting to cook in the evening and did I mention laziness?

I've sort of started up again, but one run does not a habit make. I'll try and recap the last couple of weeks in the next few hours, but I'm off to pick up my car from the shop and that's a two mile walk right there, so... yeah, maybe I am back in the saddle.

Here's the big recap - thrilling.

Sunday, 9/9/07 - Jog 3 miles

(Recap for Week 36 of 2007 - Jog 10 miles)

Wednesday, 9/12/07 - Jog 2 miles
Thursday, 9/13/07 - Jog 2 miles
Friday, 9/14/07 - Walk 2 miles
Saturday, 9/15/07 - Jog 2 miles

(Recap for Week 37 of 2007 - Jog 6 miles, Walk 2 miles)

Wednesday, 9/19/07 - Walk 2.5 miles
Thursday, 9/20/07 - Walk 2 miles

(Recap for Week 38 of 2007 - Walk 4.5 miles)

Friday, 9/28/07 - Walk 4 miles
Saturday, 9/29/07 - Walk 2 miles, Jog 2 miles

The heat wave is finally over

It might just be because the weather is finally starting to cool down and I've lost enough weight to sort of fit into the jeans I bought during marathon training 2 years ago, but I'm seriously feeling good these days. And call me crazy, but I might be up for the 2008 LA Marathon. I have to map out how I'm going to train and write and still be a functioning member of society, but I think I might be ready to do it again. Time will tell.

Thursday 8/30/07 - Jog 3 miles, walk 1 mile
Friday 8/31/07 - Jog 2.3 miles
Saturday 9/1/07 - Walk 2 miles

(Recap for week 35 of 2007 - Jog 9.4, walk 5.7)

Sunday 9/2/07 - Nada
Monday 9/3/07 - Nada
Tuesday 9/4/07 - Jog 2 miles
Wednesday 9/5/07 - Nada
Thursday 9/6/07 - Nada
Friday 9/7/07 - Jog 2 miles
Saturday 9/8/07 - Jog 3 miles

Today is Thursday, but it's my Friday

I love Labor Day. It makes me sad that summer is over, but I look forward to it all summer because it means summer is over and school will be starting soon, and I'll get a new wardrobe and people will stop being so damned lazy and get back to work making the roads less clogged at noon.

I am not actually going back to school, but I love the idea of the changing seasons. Even though in Los Angeles, the changing seasons are only marked by a few degrees difference.

I guess I don't really know how to explain why I love Labor Day so much. Maybe it's because I'm a pinko commie who thinks the Unions did some good things in the industrialization of our country. Right now, I think the Unions don't know what they're supposed to be doing except making sure their members have health insurance.

Monday 8/27/07 - 2.7 miles walk
Tuesday 8/28/07 - 2 miles run/jog
Wednesday 8/29/07 - 2 miles run/jog

I've been stepping up my speed a little bit, I still can't claim to truly run the whole 2 miles, but there is definitely more time spent at top speed.

This exercise thing just never ends

I hate that I wish I could get to a point where I don't have to exercise. Ever. Again. I hate it because it makes me a lazy layabout, which is exactly what I am.

Wednesday 8/22/07 - 2 mile jog
Thursday 8/23/07 - 2 mile walk
Friday 8/24/07 - Nada
Saturday 8/25/07 - 1 mile jog, 1 mile walk
Sunday 8/26/07 - 4 mile walk

(Recap for Week 34 of 2007 - 5 miles jog, 11 miles walk)

Technical Difficulties

It started out badly when I couldn't find my headphones and had to use a pair that only works on one side. Then after my two mile run I reached into my pocket to discover that my key had fallen out somewhere along the way. So I walked the route over again, and miraculously I found it. In the parking lot of a gas station. I'm tired.

Tuesday 8/21/07 - 2 mile jog, 2 mile walk

Still kicking a cold-thingy

I still don't feel very good, and that is being made worse by the depression I'm sinking into because of the lack of good exercise. Yuck.

Saturday 8/18/07 - 1.3 mile walk
(Recap for week 33 of 2007 - 5.3 miles walked)

Monday 8/20/07 - 2 mile walk

Christ Almighty

I keep forgetting to update this fucker. I'm on the verge of being sick so I'm grumpy as the dickens.

Tuesday 8/7/07 - 2 mile jog
Wednesday 8/8/07 - 1 mile walk (approx.)
Thursday 8/9/07 - Nada
Friday 8/10/07 - 2 mile run/jog on the beach (soooo, awesome)
Saturday 8/11/07 - Nada
Sunday 8/12/07 - Nada

(Recap for Week 32 of 2007 - 6 miles jogged, 1 mile walked)

Monday 8/13/07 - 2 mile walk
Tuesday 8/14/07 - 2 mile walk

Working off that risotto

I ate and drank way too much over the weekend, and Sunday was too wrecked to run. It was a nice little message from my aging body. I'm off to Oregon tomorrow for more drinking and over eating, so yay! My weight might go up but my will is firm, it will not stay there.

Sunday - 8/5/07 - 2 mile walk
(Recap for week 31 of 2007 - 11 miles jogged, 7.25 walked)

Monday - 8/6/07 -2 mile jog

Rode hard, put away wet

I'm so tired. I can't stay out drinking until 3:00AM any more, and that doesn't bother me in the slightest. I don't feel good.

Thursday 8/2/07 - 2 mile walk
Friday 8/3/07 - 3 mile jog, 1 mile walk
Saturday 8/4/07 - 2 mile jog

What it sounds like in my head

• You should just put on your sports bras.
• I think I'll just sit down-
  
• Just do it.
• But I just want to eat a bowl of rice.
  
• Look at the dog, she wants to go on a walk.
• PUT ON YOUR SPORTS BRAS.
  
• Wow, these really smell.
• They're fine.
  
• I'm just going to sit down-
• PUT ON YOUR SHOES.
• FUCK OFF.
• YOU ARE FAT, GO FOR A WALK.
• BE NICE.
• Fine, you aren't fat, but you'll feel fat if you just sit there on the couch while those hot dancers do their dances.
• FINE.
• FINE.

So yeah, I have a mean person living inside of me. A drill sergeant person.

Tuesday 8/1/07 - Jog 1 mile (maybe?) Walk 1 mile (around there?)
Wednesday 8/2/07 - Jog 3 miles (WOOO!) Walk 1 mile (so smug, so totally smug)

Run Down

I figure if I'm so hungry that I eat my sack lunch at 10:45am, something is amiss with my diet. I started adding protein to my morning meal by having veggie sausage links with my toaster waffles, but I'm still famished by 10:30. Now, of course, I'll be hungry again at 3pm. I have to figure out a way to get this in control because if there's one thing I know about myself, it's that a Hungry Tamara is a Grumpy and Mean Tamara.

Monday 7/30/07 - Jog 2 miles, walk 1/4 mile (or thereabouts)

Showdown - Pasta vs. Evening Run

Yeah, the Pasta won. I was kind of a lump this weekend, but did some gardening on the balcony and washed the dog, so it didn't feel like a total waste.

Thursday 7/26/07 - Jog 2 miles
Friday 7/27/07 - Nada
Saturday 7/28/07 - Runyon Canyon
Sunday 7/29/07 - Nada
(Recap for Week 30 of 2007 - 4 miles jogged, 6 miles walked, Runyon hike)

Psychosomatic

It's been a not so good week workout wise. I ran on Monday and then Tuesday I almost didn't put my workout clothes on because I was being a baby and felt a little soreness in my throat, but I did it. Then Wednesday, I felt, well, like I would poop my pants if I jogged, so I just walked it. I hope tonight I can get a two mile run in, but my mind is making shit up and I don't know what it wants with me.

Monday 7/23/07 - Jog 2 miles, walk 2 miles
Tuesday 7/24/07 - Walk 2 miles
Wednesday 7/25/07 - Walk 2 miles

The Hard Side

I lost another pound this week. And here's where I sound like a bad suburban mom comic - If you find it, don't tell it where I am. I can't help it. I am lame.

Allie and I did the hard side up Runyon Canyon. The hard side is on the right as you go in and it is much steeper, had rickety wooden steps and dogs barreling down full speed at you. It's exciting and terrifying and really fucking hard. I happen to love it, that is, when I'm not sure I'm going to stumble to my death because of a wave of vertigo.

Friday, 7/20/07 - Jog 2 miles, walk 2 miles
Saturday 7/21/07 - walk 2 miles
Sunday 7/22/07 - Runyon Canyon and walk 4 miles

Dancing into the floor

I watch too much TV. So You Think You Can Dance has filled my brain with phrases like backwards assisted arabesque, and dancing into the floor and your musicality is lacking. Except for backwards assisted arabesque, that's how I felt on my Senior Citizen Walk last night. I did the normal one mile of walk and then started to run and it felt horrible. My underwear was bugging me (ladies, avoid the thong on a jog is all I'm saying), my arms felt like they were put on wrong, my feet felt heavy and I could not get into the groove. After a 1/2 mile or so of that I said Fuck It and knowing I would be completing my promise to myself of at least walking 2 miles I stopped. Tonight I try again.

Thursday - 7/19/07 - .5 miles jog, 2 miles walk

High

It's been a long time since I've felt it, but yesterday I got a nice whiff of perfectly awesome endorphins and it felt glorious. I now bow down to the running gods and say, AMEN.

Wednesday - 7/18/07 - Run 2.5 miles, walk 1.5 miles

My abusive relationship with the scale

On Monday I decided to take the evening off and not go on a walk or a run. It had been a while since I just sat my ass down on the couch instead of struggling into the sports bra and it felt glorious. Then I couldn't get to sleep. Then when I finally got up in the morning the scale taunted me by saying I gained a pound. I weigh myself every morning. I know it's not really productive, and the human body fluctuates a lot throughout the week but I do it. And yesterday I was pissed. Then I put on my magic outfit and got two compliments about how skinny I looked. It makes no sense. Anyway, because I remembered how awesome it was to fit into every pair of jeans I owned, I went for a run. This morning, the scale told me I had lost two pounds. So, obviously I need to stop stepping on the scale, but I am compelled to. It's my best motivation.

Monday 7/17/07 - Nada
Tuesday 7/18/07 - Jog 2 miles, Walk 2 miles

Lazy Scab

I hurt some kind of hip or butt muscle and I'm not really sure how, but I refused to let it stop me from going on my senior citizen walks. I call them that because I feel really old when I'm lacing up my sneakers to go on an evening walk after dinner. It's exactly what my Grandpa would do and it's one my childhood regrets that I usually refused to go with him, not knowing he'd be gone from my life too soon. Oh, that was maudlin, sorry.

Saturday, 7/14/07 - walk 2 miles
Sunday, 7/15/07 - Hike Runyon canyon and walk 3 miles

Catch up

I neglect this thing because I'm not really training for anything, just trying to lose a little weight and now I feel like I might be fudging some of the numbers.

Monday 7/2/07 - Walk 3 miles
Tuesday 7/3/07 - Walk 4 miles
Wednesday 7/4/07 - ? I'm pretty sure I didn't get any exercise because National Holiday, hello
Thursday 7/5/07 - Walk 3 miles Jog 1 mile
Friday 7/6/07 - Walk 4 miles (maybe?)

Saturday 7/7/07 - Walk 2 miles Jog 2 miles
Sunday 7/8/07 - Walk 3 miles
Monday 7/9/07 - Walk 3 miles
Tuesday 7/10/07 - Walk 2 miles Jog 2 miles
Wednesday 7/11/07 - Walk 3 miles
Thursday 7/12/07 - Walk 1.8 miles Jog 2.2 miles
Friday 7/13/07 - Walk 1.8 miles Jog 2.2 miles

So, you can see I've been pushing in a little jogging with all of the walking and I make a point to get out there every damned day even if it's just to walk. So far not much change in the weight department, probably due to my fucked up metabolism, but it keeps me off the couch and the food out of my mouth, so there's that.

Runyon Canyon kicked my ass and shit on my dog's foot

June 9 - Jog - two miles
June 16 - Walk - 3 miles
June 30 - Walk - 3 miles
July 1 - Walk - Runyon Canyon and 3 miles

I haven't been doing much lately, but I decided if nothing else I'd at least try to get off my ass and take my dog for a long walk in the evening. It's pretty easy to listen to a book on tape when you aren't wheezing and preparing to die.

Here I am, again

I started running again. Partially because I stepped on the scale last weekend after eating a donut two days in a row and realized something had to be done, and partially because I have a dog who loves to run.

I don't know if I'm going to work towards anything organized, like say, a marathon, so for now this space will be just a repository for me to keep track of my runs. It definitely keeps me honest if I come to this space and see I haven't run for a while.

Saturday, 6/3/07 - Two mile walk with Allie and Lula
Sunday, 6/4/07 - Two mile jog with Lula
Wednesday, 6/6/07 - Two mile run/jog/walk with Lula

I'm not keeping track of my times, at least for now. Just my approximate distances and the level of intensity. That might change in a few weeks. We'll just have to wait and see.

Weeks 3 and 4 of 52: Recap

I only managed to get one run in during week 3, and this week I only got two runs in. So for the year so far, I'm six runs behind in my goal to do 30 minutes 3 times a week. Actually, for me, that's not that bad. So I'll take it.

Week 1 and 2 of 52: Recap

So the first two weeks of the new year, and already I've slacked. I ran three times in the two weeks, missing my goal by three runs. Oh well. It's been a nice change not to feel the added pressure of making all my miles and eating exactly perfectly, but I definitely do feel the difference in my body and my stress levels. Experimenting with my routine always opens my eyes to what goes into making me a happy, healthy human. Unfortunately for lazy old me, I really need to get at least three workouts in a week or I'm pretty miserable. The trickiest part is realizing that the misery during the workout is short-lived, whereas the misery of not working out lasts all week.

My back has been killing me recently and I think it's the extra weight I put on over the holidays plus the money stress that I seem to carry in my shoulders that's bringing me down. Then as I was getting dressed just a few minutes ago to go on a hike, I think I twisted a little wrong and I have a big ache in the middle of my back. I hate being 30.

Training Hiatus

So, I guess it's kind of obvious I'm not training anymore. I was beating myself up for not getting better and not being faster and not being as focused as I was last year. It made me really not enjoy my runs and so I just up and stopped running.

I made a resolution this year to be good to my body by doing at least 30 minutes of excersize 3 times a week. And yesterday I went on my first run since last month. It felt good to just go and not worry about distance. I felt good to listen to my music and get my heart pumping. And most of all it felt good to push just a little farther, but know that at any point I could stop and turn around. I was running because I felt like it and it's been a long time since I've done that.

I might not journal much over here for the next couple of months, except to keep a record of my resolution. That is most certainly a really boring read, so don't feel bad if you don't want to check in over here. If I get the notion to start marathon training again, I'll surely keep you posted, but there isn't going to be an LA Marathon for me this year.