It's Saturday, the weather is gorgeous, I have a sunburn and I just don't care! What a brilliant day!!
Officially, I'm still in rest mode, but I'm a little wiped out from our garage sale this morning, and the 3.5 mile walk with Finny this afternoon. I'm so bushed right now that I'm posting this from my iPhone, rather than walk the 25 feet to the study and the computer!
My calves are feeling so much better with the rest I've had. I'm going to try some short distances tomorrow to get back in the swing of things. I'm a little afraid of entropy setting in!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Off Topic
Since today is a rest day (my calves feel better after a full day of icing, thankyouverymuch!), I thought I'd share a slightly off topic story with you. It has been a relevatory day in a lot of different ways.
My father, Robert Keniston, is one of my heroes for this race. He has been gone since July of 2007, but I still feel his gentle presence all around me.
My dad was a carpenter. An avid woodworker. He built many pieces of furniture for our house, built our back deck and shed, and had set up quite a comprehensive woodworking shop in the basement. When he passed away, we were at a loss as to what to do with the large power tools he had amassed. We let it go for a while.
When we decided to renovate the house, these large, cumbersome tools (5'x3' table saw, radial arm saw, router, miter saw) became an issue, as they were occupying valuable real estate. We were hemming and hawing and not sure what to do - carpentry was what DEFINED my father, and to sell or give away these items would be to lose a very tangible remnant of him.
But this week we sucked it up. I put an ad on craigslist for the four large tools. Within three minutes we had four inquiries. Within twelve hours, three of the four items were negotiated and spoken for by one buyer, Danny. We had some trepidation about the process - craigslist has gotten some pretty negative attention lately, and we'd never dealt with an online sale before.
Danny came tonight with his father-in-law, Gene, to pick up the tools. I met him in the driveway, and we started chatting. Danny is renovating the second floor of his home. He spoke glowingly of all the things he had planned. He was supremely polite and wonderful and funny. I couldn't figure out why Danny wouldn't get out of his truck until Gene got out of HIS truck and came over and got Danny's wheelchair out of the back of the truck.
There was a momentary flash of awkwardness - both Mom and I were thinking, "how is he going to get down the basement steps to see the tools?"
We needn't have worried. After Gene had gotten him down the basement steps, he proceeded to masterfully take apart the table saw from his wheelchair, and Gene & my fiance carried it upstairs.
We threw in the cabinets that Dad had built for the miter saw and router for free. Plus extra blades and tripod rollers to feed wood into the table saw.
As they drove away, Mom and I looked at each other, and I was not surprised at all that both of us were a little misty eyed. Part of Dad was gone, but we were both thinking, "here's a good man, who is going to use Dad's tools to build his family's home."
It's exactly what Dad would have wanted. And I totally think Dad set it up.
Because that's just how superstitious I am. Sometimes I can't see my hand in front of my face, but I sure do know when Dad works his gentle magic.
My father, Robert Keniston, is one of my heroes for this race. He has been gone since July of 2007, but I still feel his gentle presence all around me.
My dad was a carpenter. An avid woodworker. He built many pieces of furniture for our house, built our back deck and shed, and had set up quite a comprehensive woodworking shop in the basement. When he passed away, we were at a loss as to what to do with the large power tools he had amassed. We let it go for a while.
When we decided to renovate the house, these large, cumbersome tools (5'x3' table saw, radial arm saw, router, miter saw) became an issue, as they were occupying valuable real estate. We were hemming and hawing and not sure what to do - carpentry was what DEFINED my father, and to sell or give away these items would be to lose a very tangible remnant of him.
But this week we sucked it up. I put an ad on craigslist for the four large tools. Within three minutes we had four inquiries. Within twelve hours, three of the four items were negotiated and spoken for by one buyer, Danny. We had some trepidation about the process - craigslist has gotten some pretty negative attention lately, and we'd never dealt with an online sale before.
Danny came tonight with his father-in-law, Gene, to pick up the tools. I met him in the driveway, and we started chatting. Danny is renovating the second floor of his home. He spoke glowingly of all the things he had planned. He was supremely polite and wonderful and funny. I couldn't figure out why Danny wouldn't get out of his truck until Gene got out of HIS truck and came over and got Danny's wheelchair out of the back of the truck.
There was a momentary flash of awkwardness - both Mom and I were thinking, "how is he going to get down the basement steps to see the tools?"
We needn't have worried. After Gene had gotten him down the basement steps, he proceeded to masterfully take apart the table saw from his wheelchair, and Gene & my fiance carried it upstairs.
We threw in the cabinets that Dad had built for the miter saw and router for free. Plus extra blades and tripod rollers to feed wood into the table saw.
As they drove away, Mom and I looked at each other, and I was not surprised at all that both of us were a little misty eyed. Part of Dad was gone, but we were both thinking, "here's a good man, who is going to use Dad's tools to build his family's home."
It's exactly what Dad would have wanted. And I totally think Dad set it up.
Because that's just how superstitious I am. Sometimes I can't see my hand in front of my face, but I sure do know when Dad works his gentle magic.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Slight Variation in Plans
Remember those pesky injured calves?
I emailed my race mentor and the running coaches about my concerns about my calves seizing up every time I jog more than 2.5 minutes, and here's what Meg, one of the running coaches for TNT, had to say:
Hi Deirdre –
Dan and I spoke this morning about the cramps you have been experiencing in your calves. At this point, we are going to recommend that you take the rest of this week off to rest your body, and ice the area a couple of times a day for 20 minutes at a time. A bag of frozen peas is great to have on hand, as it can conform to the part of your body that is inflamed (just ice with them – don’t eat!)
Next week, limit your first couple of runs to 2 miles each. That’s 2 miles on Tuesday, and then 2 miles on Thursday, icing and stretching after each run. Next Saturday (May 2) you can increase your run to 3 miles, and we’ll see how you feel.
You’ll still have plenty of time to work on your mileage after you rest your legs. It’s much better for you to take some time off now, and allow your body to rest, than having to deal with the pain every time you go out to run, and chance dealing with the pain on race day, which is not the goal here.
If you absolutely must exercise, non-weight bearing exercise, such as swimming, aqua-jogging, or the elliptical machine are all okay to use.
Please keep Dan or I posted (or let Gabi know and she will let us know) on how you are feeling. We are here to help, and our goal is to get you to the start line of your event, healthy and ready to run!
I am SO happy to be part of a team that is this supportive! Am I a bit anxious about losing any training ground I've gained so far by laying back a bit while my calves heal up? Sure, but I have such excellent support and help in Dan, Gabi and Meg. They'll make sure I'm in fighting form by race day.
So, for today, I'm icing up my calves, and I'll be icing them for the rest of the week. Friday, I'll hop on the elliptical and get 2-3miles clocked in. Same thing Saturday. By next Tuesday, I'll hop the treadmill again and see how it goes!
In other news: Big huge round of applause to our fearless TNT leader Robyn, who is headed to Nashville this weekend to run the Country Music Marathon. Robyn has raised over $4200 for the LLS to go towards research and patient services! Robyn was one of the first smiling faces I saw in the informational meeting I attended. She described going from non-runner to marathon runner for the LLS, and her positive energy and support is an inspiration to me!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Glutton for Punishment
Well now I've gone and done it!! I signed up to run the GHI Workforce Challenge in downtown Albany on May 21st! My company is fielding a team and I just turned in my registration form.
On the surface, it may seem like a silly idea, but really, it's perfect! It will be a good training run for the Freihofer! The distance is similar, the field size is similar (okay, it's co-ed, but that's no problem), and it follows roughly the same course as the Freihofer! PERFECT! And nine days later, I'll run the Freihofer, having already familiarized myself with the route!
I'm starting to get pretty excited....
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pardon the hissy fit
My calves are not as cute
Ok. I'm over it. Pardon the hissy fit of last Saturday. I was really disappointed with my performance, cramps and all. Tonight's run was better, although I am still bedeviled by calf cramps.
This week, the running time ramps up while the walking time diminishes. I really appreciate the extra running time - it's easier to hang in there once the "groove" is established after the 2.5min mark or so.
As I said, the cramps were present, but they weren't as much of a factor as they were on Saturday. I'm going to email Dan the running coach to ask him what I can do to prevent them. Hopefully he'll have some good suggestions.
As for stats, today I'm maintaining my best times from last week. I'm hoping I can crack the 2.6mi mark this week, but that all depends on the calves.
Stats:
Total time: 30:00
total distance: 2.22 miles
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)