Running link of the week: Gmaps Pedometer. Can’t use it on my desktop like Route Ruler, but it moves around the map so I don’t have the pesky problem of zooming in close enough to see the details of my route, but far enough out to get the whole route in one picture.
I went on a shopping spree at Target. One of those trips where you’re supposed to get, say, shampoo and conditioner, but you end up with a shoe rack and socks and underwear and a bunch of other stuff, before you even get to the shampoo and conditioner. Hypothetically speaking, of course. I’ve become a C9 junkie. I stocked up on new gear. I was thinking I should not be re-wearing my gear so much, and I didn’t want to have to do laundry quite so often.
You know how running shorts have those liners in them? Kinda like guys’ swim trunks? I learned that you’re not supposed to wear underwear with them. Those are the underwear. Who knew? I only have one pair of them and don’t anticipate another shopping spree in the near future. But I’m [TMI] phasing cotton underwear out of my wardrobe [/TMI], so draw’s aren’t so much a problem for me at the moment.
Tried on some spandex, b/c i only have the one pair, which are heavy duty compression shorts. They’ve been so damn hot to wear under other shorts, I’ve been going without them. I can still feel my butt bouncing around, but it doesn’t hurt back there like it used to. I still wanted another pair, though, and these ones made for running were definitely lighter/cooler than the ones I have. I wasn’t thrilled that they were so short. Usually I avoid anything kind of shorts cutting much above my knee, because of this persistent thigh jiggle. Especially spandex, because they just cut into my thigh. But these ones didn’t do that, and the shorter running shorts I got didn’t look half bad, either. In fact, if I were just that un-self-conscious, I could wear just the spandex to run in. But I ain’t there yet. And might not ever be, no matter how skinny (or not) I may be.
My 2.5-mile Tuesday run was the first time out with the heart rate monitor. It didn’t start up correctly right away. i probably should have tested it before I left the house. So I ran about a minute, shifting the electrodes a bit, before I got readings that looked right. Towards the end, as I got sweatier, it felt like it was sliding down, and as I was trying to slide it back up, it came unstrapped. This thing rides around your ribcage, so I’ve got my shirt half hiked up and I’m trying to reattach it and it’s beeping at me and fortunately I was all alone on the trail. All-in-all, it worked and fit fine, though.
The electrode thingy transmits your heart rate wirelessly to the wristwatch unit. If you bring the wristwatch unit in close proximity to the electrode thingy, it toggles the display between the time of day, the length of your workout, and your heart rate. I had a little too much fun with that. It’s very Star Trek.
Normally Wednesday would be a cross-training day, but I wanted to get some miles in instead. No big deal, right? Only three miles. Until I got to Thursday. My knees were already protesting. I was only supposed to do two miles. I figured it was such a short distance, I’d go out a little harder than usual and get it over with. Except that I missed my turn and ended up having to go around a lake that I normally would have just passed by on the near side. Turned my easy two miles into 3.2, towards the end of which I was dragging ass on account of having started out so hard in the first place. Plus it was a little warmer than it has been. Ugh. Usually I’m rejuvenated when I come back from a run, but I was just plain pooped after that one.
It also occurred to me that maybe I should stick to running three days a week (and continue to cross-train one day a week), but just go a little longer on each day, instead of doing two to three miles on consecutive days. Like, i ran 13.5 miles this week. I know when you get up to higher weekly mileage, a third of your total mileage should be on your Sunday long run. But if you only run three days a week…. I really ought to wait until after a day’s rest when my knees don’t ache before I make hasty decisions.
Speaking of hasty decisions, my plan to go to bed at a decent hour on Saturday night so I could get up early on Sunday because it was supposed to be super hot totally failed. I stayed up way too late. I got up at noon and at that point I had to go run right then, or it wasn’t gonna happen today, because I had to work this afternoon and even if it was cooler, I wasn’t gonna go do my 5 miles at 11:00 at night. So I did it, in the heat of the day. Didn’t feel too great, but it certainly felt like the problem was the heat (and probably some dehydration), and not that I just couldn’t run 5 miles. My heart rate was a little higher than usual, but well within my target range, although I had to consciously slow down to get it down towards the end. And I made it back with about 15 minutes in which to shower, dress, and get food together before I went to work.
I wore the running shorts with the built in underwear for the first time. Fantastic choice, given the heat. Shorter shorts, not too many layers. I’m-a have to get me some more of those. Going with just the sports bra added yet another set of stripes to my already fucked up tan lines. The only consistent tan stripes I have are on my wrist where my watch goes, and on my feet where the Birkenstocks go.
I heard Dr. Joy Browne say one day that every person she’d ever known who went through some sort of personal/mental/spiritual makeover had physical fitness as a huge component of it. I can see how that makes sense. I’ve never been an individual sport kind of person, as I prefer my exercise to be fun and being on a team makes it fun for me, but I am sort of starting to get how the sense of personal accomplishment and the confidence it brings is addictive.
But I’m not so hardcore as to be wearing t-shirts sporting “Pain is weakness leaving the body” or anything.
