Happy Pi Day

Happy Pi Day!

I have pie.

On Wednesday, I had a fun class. It was a class that was full of regulars and we adjusted some of the regular aerial yoga moves into low aerial. It was fun and challenging. I also finally figured out a move that has had me baffled for a couple of years.

Friday, I picked up the stepdaughter to be (SDTB) and we went to aerial yoga. It was a full class with lots of different faces and personalities and experiences. I am still not a fan of the leg warm ups. It feels like the hardest part of the class, the part where I sweat the most. It is also the part where my pants got super slippery and I slid out of my plank. I just laid on the floor and giggled at myself. Such a simple move and I slipped right out of it. While I was on the floor, I also realized how comfortable I was in the studio. In the past, I would have died from embarrassment and Friday, I really could have cared less. That is such a blessing to find such a safe place where I can exist.

Saturday, SDTB and I had a 5k in honor of Pi Day. We both received an individual pie, nice V-neck tech shirts. I had warned her the night before that there might be a hill or two after looking at the course online. The weather was one of those days where you weren’t sure if it was going to rain and the temperature made it difficult to figure what to wear. We both went in with goals.

There weren’t a couple of hills. There was 4 big hills. Big. Hills. And then a few other rolling rises. It was hard. People walked hills. People got sick from the effort. I ran, albeit, slowly up the hills. My left foot and knee niggled a little bit but after the first hill, it went away. Detachment had to happen quickly because my brain was very loud about how impossible this course was and how walking was ok. It reminded me that I hadn’t trained at all. I had brought music with me this time around. When things got hard, I started singing the lyrics. Anything to drown out my brain. And by the time I hit the second hill, I started feeling more confident. I knew I wasn’t going to win any awards but I knew I was going to finish. Seeing all the people being beaten by the hills as I slogged up them, I felt good.

The last hill took us right to the finish line. I didn’t see my SDTB except once in a turn around. She was a full minute ahead of me. She took second in her age group and got a medal. I found some speed out of somewhere and got up that hill and sprinted thru the finish gate. We waited around for the results and the medals. My time was 32:17 and I was 20 out of 36. The run seemed to be middle sized with 400ish people. It was more than two minutes faster than my last 5k. I can only imagine what my time would have been without the hills.

This morning I went to the gym. It was an easy run. The pace was nice and slow and comfortable. I looked at it as a recovery run. Some people ran next to me for a bit taking off at speedy speeds. Now don’t think I didn’t sweat, because I did. I’m a sweat-er. I was really glad to get some time in on the treadmill. I like running outside but there is something nice about the treadmill with easy access to amenities. And not need to be quiet because the rest of the house is sleeping.

No great revelations this time around. Just enjoying my time on the fitness journey. I’m happy to be able to do all this Bechet’s and myalgia. I wonder what the future holds.

Here are a few shots of my dragon and dog.

I caught her sleeping like this

 The dog watched Castle with me Saturday night.

 The dragon was not as impressed with the acting styles of Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic

A Hunt for Gu and a Foggy Path

Last week, I was rather inactive. It felt strange, but my body needed a rest week. The trip we had planned for Chicago just didn’t happen. I have to say it sort of made me happy because that meant I could get a long run in. I would really like to get my HM time under 2:30:00. I’ve got nearly 30 min to shave off.

One problem was since I didn’t plan on running, I had no GU. I plan on doing some fasted runs, but my long runs are not those runs, or at least not yet. Neither of the running stores were on my way home and I had a time crunch to get to a dinner on time. I went to the GU website and searched for dealers and I was in luck! A bicycle store a few blocks from my house was listed. After work I ran over there and they told me “nope.” As a stream of foul curses flowed thru my head, I asked cheerfully if they knew where I could find some. “Well, there is the vitamin store that sells all sorts of things. They probably have it. Oh, but they’re closed.” More curses.
My phone was my savior sort of and I found a store that seemed to be mostly bikes but seemed to support triathlon athletes too. Once again, GU promised to be there. Off I went. My phone refused to call them, yay technology, but my need for my little gummies urged me on. The store had bike stuff all over their branded van, windows, and hanging from the walls and ceilings. My heart sank. Owner came over and I asked dejectedly if they had fuels. He said, “Of course, but we just have blueberry pomegranate and raspberry flavors.” Not my favorite but I grabbed some fistfuls. He asked where I normally went and I told him the local running company and he told me he carried all the same things. I nodded. We briefly bonded over our dogs and then I ran for my car.

The dinner was wonderful. Many people I hadn’t seen in awhile were there. There is something comforting about catching up with people. I was glad I was able to make it. I was also glad my waist did not expand like Violet Beauregarde with all the wonderful food and desserts (my weakness). It also gave me extra motivation to hit the pavement in the morning. I also had a new route that used the local walking/bike paths. I couldn’t wait to give it a try but first “carb-loading.”

Saturday morning was glorious and foggy. Dog woke me up around six. It felt late. The sun was practically up. The weather was wonderful with nearly no breeze, mid-40’s. I went out with a light long sleeve tech shirt but still went with the fleece pants. I like warm legs. I wanted to take pictures of the scenery but my phone is rather fussy with Runkeeper running. I ran down to a local path and we were early enough that there weren’t a lot of people (with dogs). There was still heavy fog giving the whole run a misty, mysterious look.

The mileage came pretty easy. I was building my speed with each mile. I feel like I could have brought my average pace under 13:00. The GU I hunted so hard for did their job. I felt loose. There were moments of “why do I do this?” and “gee, I’m really far from home.”

The first three miles flew by. It didn’t feel like I had gone that far. I felt some elation knowing this time last year that this would have been a very foreign concept. The trail miles went by quickly as well. There were other runners cloaked in the fog too. Everyone said, “hello” and went on their way. The dog enjoyed the new path aside from the other dogs intruding on her. Some dog passings went better than others.

I had to cut it short. A friend had mentioned she might want to do 3 miles with me. The last thing I wanted was to be too tired for her. This 13 miler seemed doable but another three on top of that with a short distance runner, that would be too much. Better to cut it short.

The dog and I ended with 10.17 miles. I still ended up freezing twenty minutes later. Maybe I need a space blanket to keep warm after long or hard runs. I felt tired but good. I think I might have been able to beat last week’s time. 

My friend had had a long Friday and I let her sleep. The mileage will always be there. Sleep is fleeting.

I have a new race on my schedule. I still may end up with one in January but I will be running a race to raise money for heart disease research sure mid-February. I am also looking at a Pi run 3/14. Get it? Run for pie? Seems good. In the meantime, coffee from my local roaster, Valentines.