Cross Train Flotilla

This morning I got up and headed off to the gym on my bike (Stefaan has the day off so I didn't have to worry about the boys clobbering each other while I was gone). It was a really bright and sunny, crisp fall morning and it felt good to get out in the fresh air after not being out much the last two days.

At the gym I got to work on an elliptical machine, doing 40 minutes on one of the programs. Things were going fine and I was working hard, sweating, when I suddenly felt kind of nauseous. I was at 38 minutes, so I just slowed the machine down and finished. It was kind of weird but it went away, so I biked home. I was thinking maybe I had taken in too much water during the workout.

On the way home, I had to stop for the very first time ever at the bridge over the Leuven canal that goes up and down to let boats go through. The bridge was lifted and there was a whole flotilla of yachts going by! It was a pretty sight.

This afternoon we are all going to take a little hike in the woods called "Zoet Water", where there is a natural water spring. You can fill your own bottles - the boys are really psyched about it. And then afterwards they will get treated to a waffle, pancake or whatever at one of the cafés there! I imagine this is the real attraction!

Early Morning Run

Okay, I am a morning person but NOT an early morning person. I was really dreading doing what for me is an early run: leaving before 8 am. You see, Florian and I had piano lessons at 10 am. So it was either get up and run 40 minutes before showering, eating and going to piano...OR showering, eating, going to piano and then coming home and still having a run to do later in the day. So yes, for all you people who run at much earlier times, it probably doesn't seem too bad, but for me it was a challenge. But with the time change last weekend, it was light out, and it wasn't too hard to get awake. I got out and got started at a real easy pace, since my left leg was aching from the hip joint down to the knee. Which is weird because yesterday it was my right knee that was achy.

I imagine there are evil little "pain pixies" that move around your body and poke, stab and generally harrass you to try to get you to not run. They are lazy and would much rather have you spend 40 minutes slumped on the couch than run. To me they resemble the ugly little pixies in one of the Harry Potter movies, and their main goal in life is to get you to blow off your run. If you ignore them and simply keep running, even if it is at a slow and easy pace, eventually the pain pixies will give up and let you get on with your run. Or maybe they won't, but they won't bother you as much as at the beginning of your run. Because after all, they are LAZY. And you can beat them by simply being persistant.

So I beat the pain pixies this morning and ended up doing 5.7 km. Ha! Take that, pixies!

Herfstvakantie

Yes, it's fall vacation week here in Belgium and all the kids have a whole week off school! It sure is nice to have some down time with the boys and not have to get up and rush out the door for a few days. The only thing that is tough with school vacations is getting all my workouts in. In the past this usually fell in the water, but now, with January looming just around the corner (11 weeks to go) I really can't afford to let that happen. The other thing with school vacations is that I tend to get a lot less biking in (especially if the weather is bad, like this morning, pouring down rain).

So I sat down this morning and plotted out a modified training plan for this week, switching around some things (the gym is closed on Thursday for All Saint's Day, a national holiday, so I'll do my speed workout on Friday). I also looked at my strength workouts and changed those some, as I have hit the five week mark and it's time to do that. Then I did the "new" strength workout (it's not really new, I just rearranged the exercises some) and got that out of the way. Always nice to get things out of the way early!

Hope everyone has a great week!

500+ K!

Yep, today I passed the 500 kilometer mark in total distance run this year! Wow...that is kind of mind boggling. I also ran a total of 20.7 kilometers this week, which got me thinking that that is what I will have to do in one day on January 12. It actually seems feasible...in spite of the fact that my run did not go as well as usual today.

I kept thinking all week that we had to run 9 loops, but then I realized late last night that we only had to do 8. So that was a nice surprise. But unfortunately, I was not as well prepared as usual for my run. First of all, we went to Stefaan's cousin Veronique's poetry performance last night, and didn't get home til 11, and we were both ravenous (because we had eaten such an early dinner because we had to leave on time) so we each had a piece of pizza the boys had left over from their meal. So I went to bed too late and with food in my stomach, which I usually don't do. Then, one of my boys got sick in the middle of the night (too much pizza?) so my sleep was broken up. So I woke up feeling groggy.

Thankfully it is a beautiful, bright and sunny fall day, that sure helps. So we headed off to the lake and started running and it just felt so hard today... my legs were achy, but the biggest problem was my foggy head and my bloated stomach. I just didn't feel right. The third loop is always the toughest and it was extra hard, and then we started in on the fourth and it was still hard, and that's when I started thinking that this was good practice for Disney. Because at Disney, I am going to be jet lagged, my digestion will probably be a little bit mixed up, and we will have to get up at such an early hour - just like today, I probably won't be as well prepared as I am on an ideal day at home. Realizing this made it easier to just put up with how I felt and get on with my run. Once we finished the fifth loop and we only had three to go, it seemed better mentally even though physically it was still uncomfortable. I just kept thinking that it was good practice, good practice, good practice... All in all, our time was still quite okay (especially since I had to stop twice to get stones out of my shoe!): we ran the 11.2 km in 1 hour and 13 minutes. So I felt good about that. But I was glad when we were done!

Congratulations to Mom and Christy for the great job they did in their 5K yesterday - they both improved their personal records! Way to go!

Copycat

Our workshop went great, but I was so jazzed after Linda left (and I had had a cup of coffee at about 5 pm which is way later than I normally ever have coffee) that I absolutely could not get to sleep. I had one of those nights where you feel like you just spent the whole night awake, tossing and turning in your bed. Except when the alarm finally goes off, by then, yes, you are in a deep sleep and getting up is dreadful!

I had some errands to do downtown this morning and got some extra biking in, so I decided to let myself be inspired by Jenny (yeah, okay, I'm shamelessly copying her, but she does have great ideas!) and substitute my usual elliptical cross training at the gym with a nice relaxing yoga workout at home this afternoon. I did the 45 minute chakra sun salutations CD by Anodea Judith (from her Chakra Balancing kit), which I love. I felt much more relaxed but also more energized when I was done. Just the little boost I needed!

While writing up the next workshop we're doing in November, I discovered that natural honey's two main ingredients, fructose and glucose, are what are highly recommended for a good sports drink (Jenny has a book all about sports nutrition and she and I were discussing sports drinks last week). In one of the articles about honey I was using as a reference, they mentioned that many endurance athletes use honey as fuel...so I got to thinking, couldn't I come up with my own concoction to use as a sports drink? I'm thinking along the lines of some brewed tea (herbal but stimulating), citrus juice (orange and/or lemon), honey, a pinch of salt...anybody else ever try this and have tips? I'll keep you posted on what I figure out.

Did she or didn't she?

I did! I had a lot of inner debate going on, but at the end of the day, I decided just to do it, so instead of feeling lousy about NOT doing it, I would feel better that I did. I did my strength exercises right before we had to leave for the boys' badminton (which is when I swim), so that I would be kind of hot and sweaty already and the water wouldn't feel so cold. Then I made a deal with myself that if it was really cold and felt terrible, that I would only have to do 20 laps.

So I kept thinking, 20 laps, that's not so bad. And actually once I got in, the water didn't feel too cold (our neighborhood swimming pool is known as the coldest one in town!) - I think it was worse in my imagination! So I set out to do 20 (alternating 3 breaststroke and 1 crawl) and when I had done them, I had only been swimming for about 15 minutes, and I thought that was pretty dumb to go through the whole changing thing for only 15 minutes, so I decided just to keep going til I had done 25 minutes, which meant at the end I did a total of 28 laps and some pool walking. And I still had time to treat myself to a hot chocolate in the café before the boys were done with badminton!

Today, I got to the gym right about 9 am to do my speed workout, which was 6 times 2 minutes at a fast tempo, plus 2 minutes at a slower pace. My right hip was really sore, I don't know why (it still is) but it didn't seem to interfere with my running, so the workout was okay. My Mp3 player was actually more annoying as it is still skipping around on songs...what to do? But I managed to do 3.7 km in 25 minutes even while fiddling around with it trying to get it to play some music!

Tonight we have the last workshop in the October series...but we are already busy planning for the one in November, which is only three weeks away! Time sure flies by...

Another Busy Day

Cold, cold, cold this morning and another busy day ahead! The plan is to do strength exercises and swim - but I am not sure I can bring myself to get in that cold water! I also have to clean and cook for the workshop tomorrow and meet with Linda in half an hour from now, take my boys to badminton this evening, etc, etc. I am definitely holding my thoughts about keeping promises to myself and keeping the end in mind in the front of my consciousness...it is a struggle but I know what the right thing to do is: stick to my plan and just do it! What a cliffhanger! Tune in same time tomorrow to find out what happened... And have a great day!

Jack Frost has arrived!

Congratulations to Nancy for finishing her first half marathon in 2:59:31! That is a great accomplishment and very inspiring for all of us who still have to face those 13 miles for the very first time!

Here in Belgium, winter has started - the grass was covered with frost this morning and we definitely needed our heavy coats, hats, scarves, and gloves on the bike. I had to do 40 minutes of running, and it was tough at first to get going in the cold! Thankfully it was clear and sunny which certainly helped, but my legs felt like stumps and I had a hard time getting into a rhythm. But I just kept on plugging along and ended up doing 5.84 km:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/belgium/leuven/669122107

In spite of the fact that I didn't manage to post yesterday, I did get my strength workout in later in the day, and I was so glad I did. Not because I love it so much (I don't!), but because it is so important to keep promises to ourselves. I was thinking about it as I was running today: keeping my promise yesterday to do the strength workout made me feel better about myself and made it easier to keep my promise to run this morning. It really does have a cumulative effect!

Take a Break from the Lake

Today we only had to do 5 loops around the lake (7 km) since it was an easier schedule this week. We decided to take a break from our usual long run haunt and just run through the neighborhood. Since we are pretty consistent pace-wise we figured it would be easy to plot a route that would be about that length and then check it on Map My Run afterwards. So we ended up running this route:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/belgium/leuven/354090690

Total time was 48 minutes, distance 7.5 km - perfect!

Had a lovely birthday weekend, spoiled by my four guys! What more can a 41-year-old girl ask for?

Finally Friday

Whew! It's been a busy week! Our workshop last night went very well...but I was so wide awake after Linda left at 11:30 that I couldn't just crawl right into bed, so I puttered around, clearing things up, etc.

This morning I went to the gym to do 40 minutes on the elliptical and some strength training. I didn't really feel like going but once I got there it felt good to be back as I hadn't been in all week. My Mp3 is still acting up...hmmm. What to do? Maybe I'll just have to get myself a new one for my birthday!

Good luck Jenny and Nancy with your races tomorrow!

What goes up must come down!

No, I did not fall again today! I'm referring to hill repeats! Luckily for me, this week's training was an easier week, which coincided nicely with being busy with workshops. And so instead of having to go to the gym for a speed workout on the treadmill, I had to do 30 minutes with hill repeats. Even luckier, it was not raining out (I did get drenched coming back from dropping the boys at school but then it cleared up) and our neighborhood has plenty of hills! So I first looked at the map of the neighborhood just to get a plan for how I could run so as to incorporate as many hills as possible. When I got that firmly settled in my head I put my shoes on and off I went! In 30 minutes I ran 4.47 km; here's the route I did: http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/belgium/leuven/416789893

I actually like running up hills, it's the running down that makes me nervous. Especially, being prone to falling (I take after Mom!), and running down slick sidewalks covered in wet leaves and treacherous moss...but you can't go up unless you come down afterwards. So I went...but very carefully and at an easy pace.

Unfortunately my Mp3 player seems to be having some problems...the most recent songs I put on it seem to skip and then I get a message on the screen that says formatting error and then it refuses to play the song at all. I have no idea what the problem could be, something I did wrong loading the new songs, is the player simply getting worn out by too many hours of sweaty runs? I have no idea...if anyone has any thoughts on this please let me know. I hate to buy a new one, but I am starting to think that might be my best option.

By the way, here is Linda's Carrot and Ginger Soup recipe:

2 lbs carrots
2 onions
2 T peeled and grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
1 T olive oil
8 c. chicken stock
4 T raisins
1/4 cream (optional)
fresh chopped parsley, as a garnish

Cut two of the carrots in small dice and set aside. Slice the rest of the carrots and the onions and sautee in a large soup pot in the olive oil over a low heat along with the ginger until soft; add 6 cups of the stock and simmer until the vegetables are soft. In a smaller saucepan, bring the remaining carrots, the raisins and 2 cups of stock to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Puree the contents of the large soup pot with an immersion mixer or food processor, and then add the carrots and raisins from the smaller pot. Remove from heat, add cream if desired and garnish with fresh parsley.

Ginger is great in the winter, it really warms you up - and this soup is delicious, full of good stuff that's good for your body - enjoy!

I'll post the other recipes soon!

Workshop Day

Our first session of our workshop went really well! Everything went smoothly, the participants were interested and seemed to really enjoy it, and we finished pretty much right on time. This one was about immunity and what you can do to improve it through food, herbs, aromatherapy, and meditation. We prepared and served four dishes:

- Carrot-Ginger soup
- Coleslaw with Horseradish, Honey and Yogurt dressing
- Sweet Potatoes baked with Garlic and Herbs
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin bread with Walnuts and Raisins
and we accompanied all this with a delicious winter tea that Linda concocted: all of it very good for the immune system! If anyone is interested I could post the recipes.

We were both so pleased - and so much more relaxed now that we have done this before, that we were able to enjoy it ourselves more. Tomorrow night and next week Thursday we do the same workshop again (for slightly bigger groups); then we do a different one altogether twice in November.

Needless to say, the workshop this morning meant I have not yet gotten my strength workout in; I plan to do it later this afternoon. At the moment my head is still a bit fizzy from the workshop and it will do me good to focus on something else!

Watch that Curb!

Linda and I have our first workshop tomorrow morning so today I have a lot of preparation to do. So I got my run out of the way first thing, running the following route around the neighborhood (5.3 km) in 35 minutes:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/belgium/leuven/1090974805

When I was nearly home, I was crossing a street and nearly fell flat on my face when my toe caught the curb - it was a scary moment, because I barely got my balance back and very narrowly missed hitting my face on a metal railing just in front of me. If I would have hit it, I think I would have (at the very least) chipped my front teeth and had a fat lip - that sure would have looked lovely for the workshop!

I was fine (but very cautious) for the rest of the way - at least the weather is still good enough to run outside. That saved me about half an hour (as opposed to going to the gym). Now I'm off to clean, cook, set up, and practice my part of the workshop.

Week 4 Begins

Wow, we are already on week four of training - and just three months to go! Keep up the great work and the commitment, everyone, and we will make it!

Just a quick post this morning as I have a gazillion things to do today... Dropped the boys at school and came right home and got my strength exercises in (toyed with the idea of postponing them til this afternoon for about 2 seconds and then decided it would be a thousand times better to simply get them out of the way immediately). With one modification: I did not do plank because (don't laugh) I have rug burn on both my lower arms just past my elbow (ouch). It actually took me awhile to figure out what it was from! Anyway, going to have to figure something out for that little problem...

Have a great week everyone!

Our longest run ever!

It was a very chilly but crisp and sunny morning as we got started doing our planned 9 loops around the lake - the longest run we have done so far! This translates to 12.6 km - my longest run up til now was the Ladies Run in May which was 11 km (which I did in 1 hour, 17 minutes). I did not feel worried about being able to complete it; Stefaan was a bit worried because he had been in Portugal for work last week and and didn't get any running in, and felt quite stiff.

So we got off to a slow and easy start, did one loop and then walked a minute. Then we did the remaining 8 loops in sets of two. Today we were testing out the Sharkies Jenny sent to me; they are little gummies to use instead of sports drink. After 3 loops we tried them, but I was very fumbly getting them out of the package and then we had to chew them, and they were sticking to our teeth. I was afraid to start running again while still chewing - afraid I might choke (didn't your mother ever tell you to not to run and eat at the same time?) - so it meant our little walk breaks were a bit longer than usual. But anyway, they were tasty; so we just kept on trucking around the lake. By the end we were definitely feeling it in our legs and my right shoulder was starting to ache, but we kept on going at our same pace and finished in a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes! We were quite pleased by this time, and I think at this point, we certainly feel that our absolute longest run around the lake (13x in mid December) will definitely be possible to do. NOT something I could have conceived of in January 2006 as a total beginner!

I finally made it to our local running store yesterday (Running Center here in Leuven) and got some really good socks, some tape to put over that spot on my left foot that always blisters and a new water belt with those smaller bottles. Nice to know: they carry the same orthotics that we got from Darla this summer at Foot Solutions! (Sorry Mom, I didn't think to look at how much they cost - will check next time!)

More Motivation!

The immediate consequences of our choices are often less important than the long term impact these decisions will have on our lives.
- Daily OM (www.dailyom.com)

Another spot-on quote from the Daily OM! In other words, skipping a workout just because you're busy or tired or whatever might make sense if you only consider your immediate, current situation, but when you also take the long term into account (for example your ability four months from now to complete a half marathon without being picked up by the slacker bus), you are forced to face the music: it does matter in the long term, and at the end of the journey, you aren't going to remember the days when you were busy or tired and got your workout in anyway (or not) - all you will be aware of is if you reach your goal (or not).

Like Stephen Covey says in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: "Begin with the end in mind." The more you can keep that vision of the end result you want, your goal, alive in your mind, the easier it will be to make the right choices day by day that will contribute to reaching that goal.

This morning I biked to the gym and did my 40 minute elliptical workout. It was a bit harder than last week, I could definitely feel my tiredness, but it was okay. I did the strength exercises that have to be done at a gym (lat pulley, leg press and lying down chest press), and then I raced home to finish the translation that was due at 3 pm. Now that I have finished that and sent it in, and after I post this on the blog, I am going to go downstairs and do the last few strength exercises that I didn't get in this morning (because of my deadline)! Talk about keeping the end (my rear end?) in mind! Have a great weekend!

Another Hectic Day

Reading Mark's blog this morning made me feel simultaneously scared and excited. It's fascinating, especially for those of us who are working towards our own challenging distance (it doesn't even have to be a full marathon!) For anyone who is interested in Mark's first hand, detailed account of his Chicago marathon, go to his blog via this link:
http://mark.fastrunningblog.com/blog-Chicago-Marathon/10-07-2007.html

I got my swimming in yesterday, did 34 laps this time in 30 minutes (I was swimming more crawl laps, so that made me a bit faster).

Today is another hectic day, got a lot to do, Linda coming this afternoon for our last pow-wow before our workshops next week...so I raced over to the gym on my bike this morning to get my speed workout done. I had to do 8x 1 min + 2 min recovery. I could feel I am more tired than usual (late nights and not sleeping well with Stefaan out of town), so the fastest I managed to do was 11.5 for one interval, the rest were between 10 and 11. But I kept all but one of the rest intervals to an easy jog, not a walk, so I did manage to do 3.7 km in 25 minutes. Then I raced back home (only 12° out today, brrr!) and now have got to go get a bunch of stuff done.

Motivational Mood

Outside influences have little power to impact our resolve when we draw strength from within rather than from sources without. You will find all of the motivation you need within yourself today as you make your way down your unique path.
- Daily OM (www.dailyom.com)

This was part of my Daily OM today, and I thought it was healthy food for thought! I am busy working with my groups today, and finding it so interesting to see how each person struggles with totally different obstacles - but the fact remains that everyone does have obstacles! So we all do have a unique path, unique problems and unique strengths, and it is up to us to move forward given our own circumstances and goals. So it makes sense to look for our own motivation from within as well. Easier said than done? Perhaps...but it is definitely something to keep in mind.

So, today will be a bit hectic, but I am determined to get my workouts in. I find that missing workouts is something that has a very demoralizing effect on my mindset: it chips away at my resolve and makes it easier to give up later on. You start fooling yourself that it really doesn't make a difference. But it does! So I am going to clean the lunch dishes and then do my strength exercises. Then I will swim as usual this afternoon, hectic or not (and in spite of the fact that I could really use that hour to work on a translation I accepted that is due on Friday), and this will further strengthen my resolve and my inner motivation.

So...what motivates YOU?

Easy Run

I talked to Dad yesterday and got the full story on the Chicago marathon - I couldn't believe it. This morning there was even a story in our local paper (see right). My heart goes out to the family of the man who died. Now that I fully understand the conditions they had to run in, I am even more in awe of Mark's accomplishment, and relieved that he was able to finish without any major health problems. He probably benefited from all his training in Florida's humidity.

I had my 40 minute easy run this morning, and easy it was. I am really starting to get more and more comfortable with the running. It always used to be such a struggle, but lately it seems easier and even enjoyable. Strange. Perhaps it has to do with the additional training I am doing aside from running, or simply just getting better at it over the longer term, who knows? I do know that it is a good feeling. When I came back I mapped the run and I was kind of surprised at how long it was: 5.79 km. I was thinking maybe it was right around 5, certainly not nearly 6.
Here's the link: http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/belgium/leuven/683413050

That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but our power to do it is increased.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

1000 Hits

I just happened to check my little visitor counter at the bottom of this page and it says 1000 exactly! Wow! Thanks to everyone who takes the time to come and have a look at what I've been up to...your interest means a lot to me!

I was on the phone a lot yesterday afternoon and evening and so I never managed to get my yoga in last night - unless you call being curled up on the couch between two of my boys and watching Expeditie Robinson (the Flemish version of Survivor) a yoga pose! So my plan is to do it this afternoon, which should be fine. I already did my strength exercises this morning. I really have to get those out of the way first thing or it is so easy for them to get lost in the shuffle!

My muscles actually feel quite okay after our run yesterday...only my abs are sore. One thing that I regularly do for sore muscles is take a juniper bath. Juniper is excellent for sore muscles, it releases excess water and stimulates blood flow. You can easily find bath products with juniper in them, or you can even more easily make your own. I make mine by putting a handful of sea salt in an empty jar with a lid, and then adding 5 drops of juniper essential oil (make sure you use good quality natural oils, not synthetic), and then a few drops of another essential oil for a better aroma (juniper by itself can be kind of overpowering) and other additional effects. Lavender, bergamot, geranium, and ylang-ylang are some of my favorites. Put the lid on and shake well, and then add to your hot bath when it gets about half full. Stir a little bit with your hand so the salt dissolves. While you are doing this you are already breathing in the essential oils and getting their benefits! Get in, enjoy and relax for at least 15 minutes!

Mark's Results

Mark's finishing time for the Chicago marathon: 03:35:08 (net) @ Finish (unofficial). Pace 8:12. I heard from Joy that they were having a heat wave up in Illinois, so it must have been a tough course with those temperatures. What a great accomplishment - we are very proud of you, Mark!

Go Mark Go!

Today is Mark's big day - the Chicago marathon, where he is hoping to run a qualifying time for Boston. Wow. As we ran around the lake this morning our thoughts were definitely with the challenge he'll be facing in a few hours. Later today we'll be watching our email for updates...I'll post his times here later this evening.

The equivalent to a full marathon around our lake would be 30 loops. That is a sobering thought. It sure makes the seven we had to do today seem manageable! We did our run (9.8 km) in 67 minutes. We started out with a real easy pace, about 9 minutes per loop. Unfortunately at one point I actually got a stone in my shoe and had to SIT DOWN on a bench and TAKE OFF MY SHOE to get it out. Geez! That kind of threw our time off, but oh well, I was very happy with how we felt afterwards - we both felt up to doing a couple more loops if we had to (but we didn't so we very happily headed home)!

I was also trying out using sports drink for the first time. In theory I hate the idea of sports drink: you go out and work so hard to burn calories, why the heck do you want to be taking in extra calories in the form of sugar water? It seems to me it kind of defeats the purpose! I'd much rather eat something nice after my run! But my two running gurus told me that for any run that will go longer than an hour, you need to refuel with sports drink or gels to replenish carbs, electrolytes and minerals. The refueling should start about a half hour into your run. They also told me to start trying out some different brands because some can be hard on your stomach and make you feel nauseous. So by way of experiment, I tried Extran Cranberry drink today. Looking at the label it is mostly sugars, vitamin C, potassium, and salt. I started drinking it after we had gone three loops, and it tasted okay and didn't upset my stomach. Cool. For a 330 ml bottle you are getting about 200 calories, so it's basically like drinking regular soda. Ugh. But I did notice that I felt perky after our run, my stomach was fine, and I didn't feel hungry at all when we got home. So all in all, it was a successful trial run!

Friday Fun Day!

Had a good 40 minute workout on the elliptical this morning, and then moved on to my strength workout. today I did the lat pulley first and then the leg press right after that, and then I was done with machines and only had exercises with dumbbells left to go: chest press, stationary lunges (I am still too wobbly for the regular ones!), something for shoulders (but I forget the name, bent over something), and then the one for triceps where you lift and lower the dumbbell behind your head (what's that called???). Obviously all this working out is not helping my memory much, is it? Oh well. Then I was finally done with those and could go lay down on the mat for the two ab exercises. But the crunch with the medicine ball is a killer! My neck still aches! I am looking forward to my rest day tomorrow!

Last night I was re-reading some parts of Make the Connection, the book that Oprah wrote with Bob Greene in 1996, especially the bits about her first half marathon. I love the part where she says: "I never experienced what it felt like to be in control of your body, to train it and have it respond. It was a great feeling. I felt like an athlete."

After that Oprah signs up to run a full marathon. After doing it she says: "Running a marathon is a metaphor for life, I think. It has its obstacles, moments when you feel like giving up, when you're tired, overwhelmed. But you keep going. Finally, you can see the finish line. The purpose is clear."

That's all we have to do...just keep going! Mark is going to do great on Sunday and we are all going to beat that bus on January 12th!

What a Relief!

My swimming workout went like clockwork yesterday, I swam for 30 minutes and did 32 laps, alternating breaststroke and crawl like last week. I was really tired in the evening after we came home and had dinner, so I left my oldest on his own downstairs to watch the latest episode of LOST, crawled in bed and fell right asleep!

This morning I was anxious to find out how the running was going to feel, so after making the round trip to school twice on my bike (Gillis forgot his swimming gear), I got right off to the gym to figure it out. Well, it was quite a relief when I got on the treadmill and my ankle felt fine! Yay! So I did my speed workout as planned: 7x 1 min at speed plus 2 min recovery. I ended up doing 3.3 km in 23 minutes; the highest speed I got up to was 12 km/hr in one segment (when "Walkie Talkie Man" came on my Mp3!)

I am starting to get sympathy nerves for Mark - he is going to be running the Chicago Marathon this Sunday! He has worked really hard and I know he is going to do very well. Stefaan and I will be thinking of him when we do our lake loops on Sunday morning! Good luck, Mark!

Wet Wednesday

Well, it just started pouring out...and in one hour I have to bike up to school to pick up the boys. Ugh. Poor Florian had a school excursion for biology class to a local forest today, he'll be soaked plus he has his long bike ride home. Oh well...at least it was dry when we all left this morning and it's not cold out.

When I got back I did my strength workout first. It was either that or clean up the kitchen, which was even less appealing. The workout went fine, I was a bit cautious on the calf raise but my ankle seems okay. This afternoon I will swim and then we will see how the running goes tomorrow.

So now it's time at last to clean up the kitchen (can't put it off any longer!), make some soup and get lunch going, so the boys have something hot to eat when they get home from this drizzly day!

Easy Run but not so Fun

Last week it was Jenny's turn, so I guess this week it's my turn...to have a run turn into a real struggle because of some physical problem. I biked up to the gym to do my easy run of 35 minutes on the treadmill. It was warmer than last week (14° C) but I didn't want to run outside because it was misty, raining lightly and I hate that insecure feeling I get when it's wet out like I am going to trip or fall flat on my face or sprain my ankle on the slick and slippery sidewalks (although I am aware that I do need to get some workouts in on pavement to be ready for that in the half).

So I got started running and noticed right away the inside of my left ankle was hurting, rather sharply. I kept going, thinking maybe it would work itself out, but it seemed to just hurt more and radiate up the front of my shin as I kept running and increased my tempo a little bit. So I backed off, took more frequent walk breaks and kept the running segments to a very slow tempo. While walking it didn't bother me at all, but whenever I picked the pace up to a run, it started again. I was so bummed! I figured the most important goal was to get the 35 minutes in, even if I had to do it slowly. I ended up doing 4.4 kilometers, which actually wasn't too bad, but I had been hoping to do about 5 like last week. Oh well.

I hope it's nothing serious - hopefully just some inflammation. I took ibuprofen and am icing it as I type this! I'll be really happy if I can do my speed workout on Thursday.

Week 2

Only 15 weeks to go...which means 45 strength training sessions, 15 easy runs, 15 swims, 15 speed workouts, 30 yoga sessions, 15 cross training sessions, and 15 long runs. Oh yeah...and 15 rest days. I think I am going to need them!

Today I didn't get any biking in because the boys are all off school but I got my strength training in after breakfast and practicing piano...and then we went to the Ikea for the cheapie breakfast (1,50 euros and an early lunch for us!) and just poking around. Looked like a lot of other moms and kids were doing the same! Still pouring down rain now so we will be having a quiet relaxing afternoon at home. The boys are playing Legos and dying for me to finish my blog so they can have some time on the computer!

Hope everyone has a good week!