Rest Week...Thank GOD!

My last rest week was a week early thanks to my canoeing vacation. (Not only that, I spent said rest week paddling HARD - 128 miles in 4.5 days in a fully loaded camping canoe.) After that and then four build weeks, I NEED a rest.

However, the FINAL icing on the "take me out 'cause I'm DONE" cake was the weather this weekend. I had my long bike and long run before I got my rest and I intended to go out strong. Unfortunately MOTHER NATURE intended to beat me the hell up. (Yes, I'm taking the weather personally now.)

I watched all week as the forecast for the weekend just got worse and worse. Saturday morning we were under a high wind warning with gale-force gusts expected. I decided the earlier I got out there the better and stuck to the IMLP run loop - not as tough training as doing the Tinman route but a hell of a lot safer and would allow me to bail out if necessary.

The first loop (each is about 12 miles) was okay - I was still getting my bike legs under me. It was windy, cloudy, and cold but nothing I couldn't handle. (Aside from not being able to feel my feet.) I started my second loop, hoping to get into my groove, and was feeling good when shortly after the turnaround to head back to the start, it began to HAIL. For REAL. Stinging your face hail. I was really hoping it would pass through, but when it showed no signs of stopping six miles later when I got close to home, I gave up and headed indoors for the rest of my ride. I was NOT pleased. Grrr.

The next day, it was eight miles on my feet of more of the same. I can run in worse weather than I can bike in, so I stayed outdoors, but once again it was in the 30s with hail and even worse wind than the day before.

So yeah, not feeling guilty about the sub-six hour training week I have. (And anyway, it goes right back up to more volume than ever next week.)

Behind Schedule

Last night's Karate class was non-stop sparring. Between having run earlier AND it being in the eighties - tough. Took a nasty hook from Dr. Z that had me seeing stars. Boy am I out of practice!

The frustration continued this morning when I went for a three mile tempo run and it took an incredible 26:05. Did I have, like, concrete in my shoes or something? I decided to cheer myself up by looking at what I was doing last year at this time and was greeted by FOUR mile tempo runs in 32:30 or so. FUCK. Excuse my language, but rather than being ahead of last year, I'm majorly behind.

I know everything will work out and I've been in running slumps before, but God DAMN.

On a positive note, paddling the last seven miles of the Round the Mountain race tonight. At least I'll feel a bit more prepared for it this way.

Tomorrow - Pretty much a day off except for what will no doubt be a low-key Karate class (since we had sparring yesterday). I may run an easy two miles as punishment for my slow performance today. Haven't decided yet.

Paddle-Free Weekend :-(

Saturday I went for my long run as planned, even giving up a hike with JewishMom, Dr. Z and a few others. I ran six miles in 53:52, making me very happy as I haven't run that far since last fall. It felt pretty damn good too.

Sunday Dr. Z and I were SUPPOSED to take our new canoe out on the water and get six miles in, but the weather decided otherwise. Despite it being APRIL, it was in the TWENTIES with wind gusts up to 30 MPH. It was simply to unsafe to go out. Unfortunately that means only a couple casual paddles before the first race of the year on Sunday. What the hell.

Today I did an easy four miles in 25:43. Well, it would have been easy if the wind hadn't been blowing for the THIRD RUN IN A ROW. ARGH! Headwind the entire way back and not a light one either. Man. I just keep telling myself that all this wind training is making my legs stronger.

Tonight I should FINALLY be able to attend a Karate class. I'm looking forward to it!

Tomorrow is a tempo run and a light paddle.

Sorry So Long...

...since I've posted. It's not that it hasn't been busy, I just haven't been doing very well in the world of sports lately so I didn't feel much like posting.

Anyway, the Fun Run was last night. I had an okay pace (8:10) going - not great, but it was hot and I wasn't feeling well, when I had to make a pit stop around mile three. Amazingly enough, making a detour at the Athletic Center did NOT have me coming in last. In fact, about half a dozen people came in AFTER me. I still had a terrible time at 4.5 miles in 38:40 though. Ugh. I have GOT to get my GI problems under control for running.

Sensei looked at my kata on Wednesday and I screwed up Annaku. Dammit. Not the actual kata - my footwork was just shit. In any case, no new stripes for me. I'm still a Brown 2 even though I got my belt eight freakin' months ago. (Not to mention that brown belt is the hardest belt because you're expected to always volunteer, teach, run warmup, etc. Why couldn't I have been stuck at purple belt or something?)

On a positive note, I managed to nearly match my 5K PR on Sunday despite humid conditions. Having Dr. Z along roaddogging definitely helped. I also found out that my supposed 5K route is closer to 3.2 miles and my time at the 5K marker was 24:00. I may break 24 before the season ends yet. (My original goal was to break 25.)

No canoe news. We've missed the last few races so that I could go to footraces instead. (Not that there's a lot of canoe races midsummer for some strange reason.) This weekend is no exception - we're skipping Saturday's Saranac Flatwater Challenge so that I can do the Dippykill Froggy Five - a five mile trail race in Warrensburg. I'll miss part of the Ironman but should still catch most of it.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

We're into Day Four of a heat wave here in Lake Placid. It's absolutely killing my running. Saturday I could barely eek out two miles at a slow 8:45 pace.

Sunday was the Madrid Canoe Regatta. As usual, Dr. Z and I had to be up at the crack of dawn. The howling winds made for a tough as hell race but we managed to come in second, beat by those machines in the other Wenonah. They have GOT to stop coming to the same races we do! LOL!

Yesterday I ran and managed to tie Fridays 5K tempo time at 24:43. I seem stuck there for the time being, but am happy considering the heat and humidity. I was at least lucky enough to get out there while it was overcast.

Karate was pretty low-key due to the heat. We mainly worked forms. I got a real good review of all three brown belt katas with Senseis Sixpack and OldSchool.

Today's run was a total damn washout. I made my 8:15 splits the first two miles, but then totally bonked out and had to runwalk the rest of the way back, making for a sucktastic time of 37:08. I hydrated well beforehand, but I think the heat got to me anyway. It was 85 and not only is the entire route in the sun, there was no wind to cool me off. What the hell. I'm so glad it's cooling off tomorrow.

In the meantime, the first Sundowner is tonight. Yay! Tomorrow is my rest day, so nothing there except Karate.

Getting Antsy

Tuesday on the treadmill went really well. I was able to run for 2.5 miles at 6.0 and even upped it to 6.5 briefly. Unfortunately I was paying for it yesterday and still a bit today. My shins are acting up a bit. Luckily yesterday was my rest day anyway. I do want to try again today - we'll see how it goes.

Bicycling is going fairly well. I went on Tuesday and am supposed to go today, but with it rainy and 40 degrees, I'm not too sure that's going to happen.

Thank God it's supposed to clear up tomorrow! This week of cold, rainy weather has SUCKED for getting out there and exercising.

Not Much New

Still out of commission as far as running, hiking and karate go. Sensei is back and from what I saw (I went and watched), he's STILL stuck on bunkai even after his trip to Florida. Dr. Z kept saying he was doing a lot of kobudo training while he was there and that would be his new "phase," but only the black belts got to pick up a bo. And that was only the last fifteen or so minutes of class. I'm going to continue "auditing" through my injury, but if this is what we're going back to, I'm looking for a new school the minute I'm better.

Biking is going fairly well. I'm very comfortable on the bike and am just learning when to shift gears. It's not as cardio-intense as running...yet. I'm sure part of it is I have to build up my puny quads.

Canoeing is going okay. Dr. Z and I did the 'Round the Mountain route on Sunday. It did not go as well as planned. Neither of us were in as good shape as we thought. We did two laps around the lake instead of one last night, so that's a good start in building up our endurance. We were 40 seconds off our PR, unfortunately.

Today is my day off. (Unfortunately - it's absolutely GORGEOUS outside.) I'll watch Karate tonight and see if Sensei actually does something BESIDES bunkai.

Injured. Again. Sigh.

Well, after last week's awesomeness, there has been nothing but heartache in the world of sports.

Saturday's race did not go as planned. We did beat out a good many rec canoes, but came in third (last) in our class. In addition our time was TWO MINUTES OVER last year's, and that's with a lot of upgrades to the boats. Dr. Z and I consoled ourselves with the fact that even the boys college team only had an 11-minute-mile pace. Must have been the conditions.

That was followed by an absolute breakdown of my leg during Monday's run. The weather was perfect and I was in the middle of a breakthrough, so I was on a a PR-busting pace when I noticed that my lower right leg was bothering me even more than usual. I could feel that calf muscle really tightening up, either from the pain or trying to compensate. I was trying to run through it when at mile 3.5 my calf muscle SPASMED and wouldn't unclench. I had to limp the rest of the way home.

Needless to say, I haven't been running or doing Karate since. I have an appointment at Sports Medicine today to see why I have that sore spot on my tibia that caused the muscle spasm to begin with. I'm really afraid it's a stress fracture. In addition, although I was amazingly lucky to get in a mere two days after calling (their usual wait time is 2 MONTHS) it's with a doctor that screwed up Dr. Z's treatment when he injured his back. I'm now afraid this guy isn't going to be any help. We'll see.

Then on Tuesday we had a terrible wind on our canoe route and posted a nearly season-worst time.

Talk about one of those weeks that makes you just want to become a couch potato.

Nasty Ice

Running didn't go that great last night. I'm still eeking out a ten-minute mile for a 5K distance. I think what got me was having McDonald's for lunch. Evidently I haven't learned from The Great Post-Race Popcorn Hurl of 2007.

Went skating this morning. The ice was terrible. All pebbly and no glide whatsoever. It's been worse, but what gets me is that on cold days like this, all they have to do to fix it is flood the Oval and it's fixed in an hour. The reason ORDA didn't do it? The guys where too busy TEARING UP THE BASKETBALL COURT FLOOR. What the fuck EVER.

Anyhoodle, I have Karate tonight. Anyone want to bet that Sensei WON'T spend 90% of the class on bunkai? Yeah, didn't think so.

I was hoping to skate tomorrow, but found out they'll be closed in the morning and am not sure that I'll be able to make the 4-6 timeslot. We'll see.

Okay, I'm done bitching now. Man, I DO need to go on vacation.

Sucktastic!

Okay, okay. I'll start off with a positive item. I went running yesterday and managed to knock nearly a minute off my horrendous 31:28 time despite extremely sore legs. I came in at 30:31. Yay! It also looks like warm-enough-weather is staying for a little while so I should be able to get a little winter training in.

Ah, one more good thing: Last night's kid class required almost no instruction since Sensei was basically letting the very lightly-attended pre-Christmas kid's class play games. I still got some good bo training in afterwards.

Now, the suckalicious items.

1.) On Saturday I found out that MomTook is most likely moving to Florida in the spring because of a job Geritol has been offered down there. Added to the recent blowup with Dr. Z and the moving-away of CrazySis, I'm feeling abandoned.

2.) During class yesterday Dr. Z said he wanted to speak with me after class. I spent an hour with my hopes up on finally having some news on his situation. Turns out he just found out his youngest son is having a baby and he needed someone to talk to about it. I'm like, "way to use me, dude."

3.) This morning, I have my annual performance review and instead of getting "Above Average," which is what I've received for the past three years, I get only "Average." Not only does this make me feel like shit, it directly affects my raise and bonus for next year. So much for making headway on that second mortgage.

Merry fucking Christmas to me, eh wot?

Heh...

...the first two titles I picked for this entry (Almost Friday and And So it Goes) popped up in the autofill, which means I had used them before. Man am I losing my creativity.

Went running yesterday for the first time in over a month. Took a ridiculous 31:30 to run 5K, but I'm so out of shape I shouldn't be surprised. I'm also paying for it today - boy are my legs sore! I'm going out again today though - have to take advantage of this weather while I can. (Not that it's even above freezing, but around here we consider upper-20s a heat spell this time of year.) If it were going to be this warm regularly I'd ease back into running and take today off, but I don't dare.

Speedskating is going well. James told me I'm picking it up very fast. Another regular (can't remember her name) told me that my short, powerful build actually makes me better-suited to short track, which I had never considered. Something to think about, anyway.

Karate is meh. I'm getting sick of having to teach, never sparring anymore, and all the refocusing on bunkai, which I thought we had finally gotten away from at least a bit. I'm also sick of looking at FakeDaughter's three stripes while I have none. Not that Sensei ever seems to want to promote me. I mean, seriously. He always seems to put up as many obstacles as possible and then grudgingly gives me a belt long after it's due. The only reason I'm as far as I am is because of Dr. Z.

Not much else to talk about. Work's been exceedingly quiet this week, which isn't surprising this time of year. Next week will be even deader, but I'm only working Monday. (More just to use up my vacation time I will otherwise lose than to actually go anywhere.)

I Am Blue (Ba da dee dah dee dah)

Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately. It's just that nothing much has been happening and I haven't really felt much like writing.

I was hoping to get my brown belt last night, but of COURSE that didn't happen despite me stating to Sensei that I was indeed back for good now. His excuse is that his printer (for the certificate) is giving him problems. Again. I've had belts delayed before for the same exact reason. It's like, just give me the damn belt and we'll worry about the certificate later. It ESPECIALLY irks when FakeDaughter has THREE FUCKING STRIPES. In TWO MONTHS. I'm sorry, I don't CARE that she's been going four nights a week. That's fucking RIDICULOUS. If everything else in my life were going fine, I wouldn't really care, but this is just like the icing on the suck cake that is my life lately.

Anyway, I'm going to help out with the kid's class today, not just for brownie points but because it's the only other day this week I can go. I have a blind date tomorrow (more on that in a sec), I assume Thursday's class will be cancelled, and Fridays are no longer happening.

And yes, tomorrow is a blind date with one of MomTook's coworker's brothers. I've seen his picture and he looks pretty nice, so there's going to be an after-work get-together at the local watering hole. I must be desperate to agree to a blind date basically set up by my mother. Should be interesting to see how it goes.

In Media Res

Yes, everything's still up in the air. With Sensei out last night, no brown belt nor resolution on the FakeDaughter issue. Dr. Z and I had another very tough discussion where we clarified things further, but still no resolution on that either.

And finally, the tub. I thought it was going to be a one-day job, but not so much. I got your in media fucking res right here:



I will say that as distracting as construction is, it's exactly that. Distracting me and taking my mind off of all the shit that's going on.

So, yeah. Everything's to be continued. Argh.

A No Good, Very Bad (Mon)day

Ugh.

Well, good things first. Yesterday was beautiful as promised and I managed to put away the hose and lawnmower for the year and take out about half the screens. I was surprised at how much more light comes through after taking out the screens and washing the windows. Dinner with JewishMom was also very nice. We had barely seen each other all summer and it was good to catch up. In addition, the Sox and Pats both won. The Packer lost, but you can't get them all, I suppose.

Today, however, has SUCKED. First off, it's been gray and drizzly ALL DAMN DAY. Secondly, my run, which I thought was going well, ended up being a terrible 27:19 5K. Then to top it all off, Sensei sent a note around noon saying he wasn't going to be there for the adult class tonight. There's yet another couple days I have to wait for my brown belt test while fucking FakeDaughter fucking smirks at the purple belts who are a HELL of a lot better than her.

So...yeah. Sucktitious Monday here, folks. God, I can't wait for it to be over.

Next up: Whether Kermit the Kontractor shows up tomorrow and my tub actually gets fixed after being broken for a YEAR.