Grumpiness

A very slight sinus infection, I think. Nothing bad, but I am regretfully concluding that I should NOT go to boxing! So frustrating - but if I take today off, there is a better chance I won't get really sick, so I must do it.

On a brighter note, I have a lead on a cheap road bike that might be what I've been looking for to take to Cayman. The bike I have there I bought used on Craigslist, it's not bad but it's really just a size too small (local former pro cyclist did a bit of fitting for me and agrees with diagnosis) - bad for back and knees, and I've had my eye out for something that might work a little better without setting me back too many dollars. Going to look at the bike in question at 4; will try it out on trainer indoors, as it is snowing outside. Am prepared to purchase on the spot if it fits - I love my Specialized Roubaix, and I think this is close enough that I should seize the moment. You don't see that many used 49cm road bikes, they are mostly much larger.

Run

It seemed wintry when I finally made myself get out the door, but really it's beautiful running weather. Just down to the boat basin and back, as I have a demanding day ahead. Lower calves rather stiff, stopped and stretched them out at the turnaround. Nice tailwind on way home!

40:00, c. 4 miles

Catch-up

Thanksgiving is an extremely taxing holiday! Glad to be home, now just striving to get on top of huge quantity of work. Was pleased with my Philadelphia Turkey Trot run on Thursday (5 miles, 43:33, 8:43/mi. pace, 18/56 in age group and 217/555 in race as a whole); had a very lovely run along the industrial waterfront in Baltimore on Saturday (c. 6 miles). If I can do enough work tonight, I may have time to run tomorrow morning....

Run!

Yesterday was one of those lethally overpacked days that one feels lucky merely to have survived! Today was still a bit chaotic, and I unfortunately had to skip boxing class in order to get some work stuff finished up, but Lauren is in town and we had a lovely five-mile run along the river just after dark. Tomorrow the overland Thanksgiving odyssey begins - I am especially looking forward to the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning in Fairmount Park.

47:40, c. 5 miles

Long run!

The most beautiful running weather - high forties, sunny. Very happy now to be back up to a true 2+-hour 12-mile long run - that is how it should be.

2:03, c. 12 miles

Box!

OK, that's just a great class! I have to do more boxing - like many other things in life, it's something you encounter as part of an instrumental goal (in this case fitness) and then get sucked into finding interesting, complex and worthy of further exploration...

1hr box

Run!

Nothing like a good run at a good clip with a great friend, on a beautiful and FREEZING morning in NYC, to make one feel that all is right with the world! In fact all is not right with the world even in the narrowest sense - C. is having SCIATICA (word second only to LUMBAGO for conjuring up nineteenth-century painful ailments), and rather than doing the whole park loop (we started at 86th St. on the west side), we cut across the reservoir from 90th St. Call it 4 miles, 38:00. It was a great little run!

Box!

Gosh, that is a challenging workout. I think I am going to go Thursday this week too...

1hr boxing conditioning

Short run

Toronto trip was full of nice things, but more tiring than anything in living memory! Just ran to the boat basin - got a long day still to come. Strange foggy sunny day in NYC - the apartment blocks on the NJ side of the Hudson peered out of the clouds like heavenly spires...

40min, c. 4 miles

Run!

Yesterday was tiring, and I got very dehydrated during travels - felt awful when I woke up this morning, but another couple hours in bed were helpful, as were water, extra-strength Excedrin and a granola bar. Initially seemed inconceivable that I could even get out of bed; then I thought perhaps I'd just go with B. to the hotel fitness center; but the restorative properties of the granola bar were such that I reverted to original plan of BEAUTIFUL OUTDOOR RUN! Highly worthwhile. I saw the Canadian Malting Co. building and turned around just past a sort of triumphal arch. Nice way to see a bit of a city on a short visit!

1hr run, c. 5.5 miles (lots of lights on Yonge St., lost some time waiting around there)

Yoga!

Great yoga class. Now I need to get organized to get out of here. Glad to have had a very good week of exercise in preparation for consuming large amounts of steak, champagne and cake in Toronto this weekend...

1hr yoga

Kettlebell!

That was great - my ideal class. Nine exercises with kettlebell (squat and raise, lunge and twist, front swing, side-to-side, couple abs ones called down-and-up and in-and-out, etc. etc.). Rounds at 30 seconds, 20, 15, 10, 30, with rest commensurate with work interval. 20 minutes work, about 30 minutes with warmup and practicing.

Will go to 8:45 yoga also, then to the airport - flying to Toronto for a wedding.

WNRC

That was good - not sure of exact distance, but call it 5.4 WARM miles, c. 53:30.

Yoga!

I got up early, but subjective fatigue made me decide to skip the early morning fitness class: it was definitely the right call, I am still feeling a bit weary. Went to yoga just now, it was good; and tonight is Wednesday Night Run Club, always a bit of a scene (check out the great WNRC piece in today's paper, complete with mention of B.'s marathon relay team!).

1hr yoga

Yoga!

Yesterday I had a good work day, and today I had a good day of exercise. Am trying to ignore election-related things (I voted by mail some weeks ago) and resettle into normal life!

1hr slow flow yoga

Spin!

Great Skype workout with Lauren.

3 x (4 x (3min work, 1min rest)): first set seated in easy gear, second set standing in hard gear, third set seated in hard gear

1hr total

Commando fitness!

Hmmm, that class is more precisely to my taste than the punching and kicking one! We had six exercises, which we did on a Tabata-type protocol:

6 x (8 x 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest), 1min set rest = 30min total

Can't remember them all, but included scorpion pushups, crocodile pushups, double lunges, butterfly situps (recreational zoology!), one other thing and a frog-hop variant that brought the proceedings to a distinctly evil close.

Combat fitness!

That is a great class, though I do not at all have the skills to do a really good job with it. On alternate days the 6:30 class is more like just a regular fitness workout, more my speed! I made it to Cayman successfully yesterday, unfortunately we're then leaving on Thursday to go to Toronto for the weekend, so I have to make the most of quiet time here...

:50 kicking, punching, etc.

Yoga!

OK, that was beneficial. Now I need to get organized and pack. Have booked a car to take me to the airport for 5:15 tomorrow morning - time change is making me anxious, usually I use my iPod touch as my main alarm but I think I'd better find another one that I change manually in advance and set!

1.5hr yoga

'Long' run!

It will not be appropriate to be celebratory when the whole region is still so devastated, but Central Park reopened this morning and I just had a most lovely run: over to the north end of the park and around the entire loop. High 40s, sunny and rather windy: pretty much the perfect running weather, in my book. Have a car booked to the airport for tomorrow morning and am hoping that trip will go smoothly!

1:22, c. 8 miles

Yoga!

O. and I had a mini-boot camp yesterday in the park, but we were both feeling a bit under the weather and I realized we should just cut it short - log it as 30 minutes including warmup.

I realized last night that stress levels remain through the roof, so it was my priority today to go to LOCAL YOGA! (I really want a long run too, but I had a sore throat yesterday and this morning that I thought I had better respect - it has now gone away, so that's good. Stress depresses the immune system...)

Great yoga class, anyway: truly beneficial. I think tomorrow I will run AND do yoga. Fingers crossed for smooth travel Sunday - gas shortages may make it harder than usual to get a cab to the airport (the car service I sometimes take isn't accepting bookings), so I will have to leave significant extra time to be on the safe side. Since I leave at 5:45am even when things are normal (for 8:45 international flight from JFK), I fear this may mean 5am!...

.5 mini-boot camp (Thurs.)
1.5hr yoga (Fri.)