| New Charles River Run Results |
[Jun. 28th, 2009|06:13 pm] |
I ran today, even though I still am not 100% better. It was a hard run for me, it was cool but very humid and I was sweaty. I was also coughing and my heart rate was way up. I wore the monitor and was up around 185 when I was running the last half of the race. I had to stop and walk, maybe walked 3-5 minutes.
This year:
600 177/207 F1829 38:23 36:52 28 F 2193 Boston
Last year:
484 141/191 F1829 34:35 11:08 Jane Rosen 27 F 1724 Boston MA (and that was a gun start, chip finish, so it's high)
Certainly no PR, but I finished the race and given that I've been sick for about a month and this is my first run in a while, I'm happy. I want my lungs back at 100%!!! If I didn't walk, I might have finished about the same as last year. This means that I'm a faster runner, and that I'll be able to do better in the future when I'm healthy.
It's good to know that I can run even though I don't feel perfect. I needed to prove that to myself, I think. I think I'm well enough to get back to running most nights. =) Enjoy the long summer evenings while they last!
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| Michael Pollan |
[Jun. 24th, 2009|02:27 pm] |
Bought In Defense of Food and Omnivore's Dilemma in addition to a certain new VNV nation album.
Everything I've read so far is very true, and I'm so happy that for the most part I don't eat the "western" diet.
There is so much of the supermarket that I avoid... having Jeff here and buying him food is interesting because I get to see some parts of the store that I have never been to. So many things in boxes, amazing how I don't mind living without them.
I cooked greens tastily last night, in peanut sauce with garlic scapes. There was napa cabbage, kale, chard, and tatsoi. They were big, now they are small and happily sitting in 1/4 of their volume in the fridge. I like how the cabbage adds a lighter green and crunch to even the most overcooked of leafies. I justify the overcookage because I put in cous cous to soak up some liquid and it cooked until that was hydrated.
I'm ready for the next round of farm share! I love having so many GOOD greens and promise of more every week... it's a challenge to finish the whole share and not waste any!
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| nooo race today for meee |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|06:59 pm] |
Because I got sick again, and running 5.2 miles wouldn't be so good. *sigh* That's two races I couldn't run that I was registered for. =(
I showed Jeff my lovely old coat that I adored in college, my first adult coat. We got it in Paris in 1998 or 1999 and I wore it and loved it for years. We tried it on, and it fit us perfectly!
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| EA Active |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|12:38 am] |
I saw it at Costco. I bought it. Now I need to find time to test it out and see how good it is. First look looks pretty nifty, definitely another option for late night workouts or I don't wanna go outside days.
Sad moment testing out game while wearing pajama bottoms/panties and a normal bra, and having to hold my belly skin and boobs with both arms during the running parts. I guess that's why I wear compression clothing for activities. November is coming... |
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| My bathtub grew! |
[Jun. 5th, 2009|12:01 am] |
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Like, a lot. I dismissed the tub as being way too small when we bought this place 5 years ago. I got into the tub for the first time since then today and it seems to have grown. A lot. My bath was very enjoyable; the tub was very spacious. Tea lights float in the tub! =D |
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| Longest run evar |
[May. 20th, 2009|12:28 pm] |
5.9 miles according to sparkpeople. Probably burned around 900 calories. I don't know why the Sparkpeople map-based calculator says it's 550 calories, running for me according to HRM burns something like 800/hour, thinking the Sparkpeople map calculator is broken. It wasn't the best of runs, I started out feeling kinda shitty, got a cramp in my stomach, kept going, and going, and going, determined to reach my destination. I did. I touched the BU bridge. It felt like success. And then I ran home. I didn't walk one step. Legs were kinda sore, they surely feel well used today, but nothing is overtly painful. I think rest today, run 4ish tomorrow...
1:18:00ish. Woot! |
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| Thoughts about Surgery |
[Apr. 19th, 2009|05:15 pm] |
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I've been thinking more about how my surgery is going to work out, sparked by one of my close friends who said that he would come and take care of me after my surgery. He is one of my favorite people to be around, and I feel like he would know how to handle me when I'm in pain. I imagine that he'll come for the first week, and then Jeff will come for the 2nd-5th weeks out. Current plan is to do it in early Novemberish, hopefully be whole enough to go to NYC for Thanksgiving. I usually take a week off around Thanksgiving anyway, so add my year's worth of sick days to that (12 days) and some of my vacation days, and I think I'll have a good 3 weeks off from lab without having to take a leave of absence. I could either work very gently after thanksgiving (month out from surgery) or take off more time and work from home, hopefully writing my thesis. I need to look at races later in the year, because I want to run a long race before getting cut up and not being able to run for a long time. I should be back, better than ever, for the Race of Ireland 2010 in March. |
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| Something new while running! |
[Apr. 17th, 2009|11:55 am] |
My iPod did not want to play while I was running yesterday, so instead of aborting run due to boredom, I decided to go anyway, and see where I ended up. 3.5ish miles later, I've determined that running without music isn't that bad. I still prefer the audio book or the music because I want to know what happens next in my story, but I won't not run a race because headphones aren't allowed.
Also, I ran more than 3 miles, 2 days in a row, and I feel fine. I could run again today (I would like to run again today) but instead I'll be biking up some substantial hills to get to my friend's garden. Tis the season to plant radishes and carrots! =)
I'm thinking that a longer run this weekend would be nice.
I'm not counting calories, just running and eating the way I feel like. I hope my weight stays stable or goes down. I've been more hungry than usual lately... and eating unfamiliar higher calorie foods. But on the plus side, burning about 500 calories per run, and a few bike commuting too. |
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| More races! |
[Apr. 13th, 2009|05:19 pm] |
(At least, I signed up for them.)
Due to construction, the races that I ran last year that were 4.2 miles long are now 5.2 miles long! I signed up for two 5.2's, and one 4.2, I guess they go back to the usual route after construction is done?
I guess this answers the question of whether I will be running longer distances! I've got a race at the end of May, and it's a long one! I should be happily running 10K's by the end of the summer, no doubt! =)
This makes me want to sign up for the longer New Charles River Run 7.2 miler too...
In other running news, running while listening to audiobooks is actually pretty good. I'm going to try it again tonight, and enjoy the further adventures of Sookie in Vampireland. =) |
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| Spring!!!! |
[Mar. 18th, 2009|11:23 pm] |
I was watching the weather forecast with much anticipation of a Very Nice Day To Run Outside, and my day finally arrived. 50+ degrees! Springy! I took off work early and took a run on the Esplenade. I ran the usual 5Kish loop (nike+ said it was a bit longer) in about 40 minutes. The first few steps were so great, running, in the spring, the joy of being able to run! I was just so very happy to be able to run, and to know that it wasn't just sprinting a little, it was to be a run of several miles. Me! Running miles! It's still something pretty new for me.
Out on the Esplenade, there were lots of people enjoying the weather. Mostly runners, some bikers, and a few folks with their dogs. I was thinking how Boston is such a great city for fitness, and that I'd never really discovered the joys of going out on the Esplenade until I started biking and running. Now I can't imagine life without it. I can't imagine not equating "what a beautiful day" with "let's go outside and run/bike". I am so much happier for doing this, because before I wouldn't really take the initiative to go out and enjoy myself.
For some reason I've been extra hungry these past two weeks. Current hypothesis is that it's from being active and having muscle damage healing from the skiing and the race. I'm not sure how to eat to compensate... I've been having more, and more protein and my weight doesn't seem to have gone up, I guess that's good. Last week I didn't exercise much, just biking to and from work when my legs were very sore from the skiing. Note to self: 8 hours of skiing is a lot.
One of my friends is organizing a day trip to Killington for $60 next weekend and I don't think I can resist. I've been spending a lot of money recently on enjoying myself, but I'm also feeling happy and excited about life. I'm really looking forward to the outside running season, and I'm hoping to leave work "early" so I can make outdoor runs more often. I just realized that I could do some 3 mile runs on week nights and then a longer run on Saturday or Sunday. I want to gradually increase my distance... who knows how far I'll go by the summer! |
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| Tastiness of a vegan nature, preserved for posterity! |
[Mar. 18th, 2009|12:54 pm] |
Chinese 5 Spice Tofu
-4 tbsp Sushi Chef brand Teriyaki sauce
-1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
-4 cloves garlic, crushed
-1/2 tsp hot cock sauce
-1 tsp Penzey's chinese 5 spice powder
Mix marinate together in a cup and then add to 2 bricks of extra firm tofu, cubed (Whole Foods 365 Organic = really good). Tightly cover container and toss. Toss a few times to make sure all side of the tofu are equally exposed to the deliciousness.
Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil in nonstick pan, add tofu, leave alone until one side is brown, hurriedly toss tofu around to expose another side of each cube, add some water to deglaze.
Beans and Greens v. 2.0
-1.25 pounds chard (white stem), stem sliced, leaves chopped into 1 inch pieces.
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 oxheart carrot, sliced into flat slivers
-1 can black beans, rinsed
-1 can stripey beans, rinsed
-1 cup soybeans, frozen
-1 cup corn, frozen
Sautee onion in olive oil, add carrot and chard stem. Add chard and soybeans, cover. Add corn. Add beans. Nom.
If I had some cubed red pepper, I would have tossed it in near the end for some red color. I love how the corn is yellow and the soybeans are bright green... such a pretty dish! |
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| This is not the playlist you are looking for... |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|02:18 pm] |
Ran the ras na hEireann 5K today!
I was planning to run with the VNV nation hour long megamix because that's my usual race music, but I don't think I ended up running to that. It was VNV, but sounded more like Advance and Follow. I remember running the hardest hilliest part of the race to Cold and that was pretty awesome. I might have stopped and walked if not for that. Instead, I was thinking "Hmm, Ronan sounds like he's a Dom..." And then happy uplifting track that sounds kinda irish comes on and that was perfect music to finish to. Hilly course, ran it three times so far. Always forget how hard it is at the end. Mile 2.5-2.8 were hardest, I think. And the first mile. Oy.
The weather was beautiful. Perfect, wonderful. Happy people wearing green, running! I wish I had pictures.
Currently sipping some hot tea and nibbling some good dark chocolate. Mmm. Life is good.
My iPod said 34 minutes, PR for course is 33:09. Let's see what the chip says!
Results are in!
3379 862/1067 F1829 36:18 33:33 10:48 28 F 3895 Boston MA
Oh, and finish medal is great, it not only is a medal, but it opens bottles. |
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| Question for those of you who work at home |
[Mar. 10th, 2009|03:18 pm] |
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I have a friend who is looking for home employment... I know I've seen some people on my friends list who work from home... any tips/websites he should look at? |
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| ... that I might fly? |
[Feb. 26th, 2009|02:57 pm] |
I think I have a new obsession: learning how to use areal silks. AKA that awesome stuff that you see at Cirque de Soleil.
Boston has a trapeze school, but it's not accessible by public transit.
It's something I've always wanted to do, and I saw some recent performances by people who had only a year or two of experience... and now I want to learn!
Stuff like this and rock climbing really make me want to lift weights and get strong!
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| How things change |
[Feb. 22nd, 2009|08:11 pm] |
It's been quite the week in terms of work hours. 3 10 hour days, 1 12 hour day, 1 9 hour day and 2 8 hour days. That's a 67 hour week. Woot. Am good grad student nao?
So I've not had time to cook much recently. I was able to get to Haymarket and get a supply of veggies, and I have meat in the freezer if I need it and a 3 month supply of grains if I need them. In the far distant past, I would have had a large thing of beans and corn and cheese for my "healthy but fast" dinner. It would have had something like 600 calories. Now I am making steamed broccoli and squash with some cheese and beans. It should be much better.
I'm trying to keep my calories pretty low because I'm not getting to the gym as much as I crave and my 30 minutes of cycling a day don't really burn that many calories. I find that I need to save lots of calories for chocolate because sometimes when writing and thinking chocolate is the only thing that will do.
I saw people running today and I wanted so badly to get off my bike and join them. When this grant is done, I'm going to treat myself to a loooong run outside listening to Beethoven's 9th... Hopefully I'll also be able to get to the gym and do the 20 minute hill program on the treadmill that I discovered last week. |
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| I made a post today that I want to preserve... |
[Feb. 13th, 2009|11:56 am] |
I spend a lot of my time writing replies to people in the weight loss communities I'm a member of. I hope that some of this time makes a difference in someone's life... then it's worth it.
I typed out something today that I feel captures the spirit of why some people succeed at weight loss. They make it priority #1 and don't let anything come between it and them. ( quote under here )
In other news, I woke up today with my right middle finger tender, stiff, and swollen at the proximal interphalangeal joint. Current hypothesis is that I did something to it in my sleep. Fortunately, I can still hold a pipette just fine, as demonstrated by having already set up 2 real time plates before noon. =D
Onwards, science! |
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| I feel smaller today. |
[Feb. 11th, 2009|11:23 am] |
I am kinda looking forward to going to the gym tonight and seeing how much I weigh. I have a feeling it's less than before. Given that a weekend of skiing burns quite a lot of calories, I can only hope that calories burned = lighter me.
Kinda sore from climbing still. Mmm. |
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| I also love climbing! |
[Feb. 10th, 2009|02:43 pm] |
And I love Ladies Night at the climbing gym. Went on a whim last night and had some really good climbs!
I climbed my first 5.7 without cheating, and it was a long one, and I felt like I really pushed myself past what I thought I could do. I kept wanting to give up and fall off, but I tried things that I didn't think I could do, and I was pleasantly surprised that I can attach myself to the wall and hold most of my weight with one hand (if the grip is good).
I love how strong climbing makes me feel, and it makes me want to lift weights more to get stronger. I also really liked the environment at my climbing gym, because everyone was about my age and my kind of person (IE college/grad student/young professionals who like being active and being outdoors).
I think I want to make a habit of going there on ladies night! It was only $13 for rental and admission, what could beat that? |
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| I love skiing! |
[Feb. 9th, 2009|02:29 pm] |
This weekend's ski trip was awesome! We skied 3 days at Sunday River (Friday from 3-6:30, Saturday from 12-5ish, and Sunday from 12-4). I started out slowly on easy green trails, and was pretty shaky and not comfortable going fast... thus turning often and trying to remember how to get back into the rhythm. After a few easier runs, we tried harder greens and then decided to take a blue. And it was fine. They were grooming the trails as we were skiing (yay night skiing!) so we got to go down this blue that had just been groomed and it was the best run I've ever had. The snow was perfect, my turns were confident, and everything just worked so well! We only stopped on Friday night because it was too cold. =(
Saturday brought ideal temperatures and our first ski clinic. Other than randomly falling down at inappropriate times (IE skiing the hard stuff fine, and slipping on the flattest part while going very slowly then failing to get the ski off the boot...) it was a good lesson. And then I did fall at the very same place I fell 4 years ago and twisted my knee. I don't know what happened. I hate traversing stuff. I want to go down the damn mountain, not across a trail where people are skiing really fast and are going to run into me. Were it not the first run of the day, I would have just gone down that and found a way to get to my destination from the lift at the bottom of that trail.
So I learned that I can ski blues now... I don't get all trembly when I see a steep slope... I just look at it and ski down it, because it looks a lot less steep when you're cutting across it. I'm learning how to turn more smoothly, and I think I figured out how to keep the ski that doens't have my weight on it in control (you push it forward a little). Remember this for next trip.
Sunday was icy. Saturday night was extremely warm, and things were melting. Snow was falling off the roof of our condo all night, and I was the only one who stayed asleep thanks to my blindfold and earplugs! Awesome. All but two lifts were closed as we were getting out to ski, and lines were pretty long, but we persevered and our favorite lift opened a few hours into the day. There was some very interesting snow to be had. Depending on elevation and ski traffic, we had sheets of ice, ice with snow on top, snow with ice on top, slush, crunchy ice pellets, and a bit of packed powder. I feel so much better about skiing on ice now. I think that last trip I learned how to skid down things that I don't want to turn on, and that skidding doesn't mean that I'm out of control. Here, I learned that I can turn on ice, and that it's not as bad as I think. I also worked on skiing on some slightly lumpy terrain, and am wanting to find a shallow grade trail with small moguls on it to practice on. I feel like I can turn where I want to, and going between moguls might be something I can do. I also think I can do medium blues, and I want to expose myself to a variety of trails. It feels like I've really lost some of the paralyzing fear I had of sking down high things, and I want to enjoy it!
There was much tasty food too, discovered that beef+scallions+teriyaki+5 spice powder+poblano peppers makes tasty. And also that I can get capsaicin burns from working with poblano peppers. I have yet to find a hot chocolate powder that I like. I tried some ghiradelli stuff this time, and it was way too sweet. I think I have to stick with my Schokinag chocolate-chip based mix for now, the extra dark and triple chocolate are really the best I've ever had... and the calories are acceptable in context of skiing. I shoulda tried just valhrona cocoa powder and milk and maybe a bit of sugar.
Now I'm plotting ways to get onto the slopes one more time this season. Must... ski... more!!! |
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