January 5, 2009

Back in the swing of things

It's so true that five minutes after you return to work after a vacation, it's as if no time had passed at all! Well, it was nice to catch up with everyone again today, but I'm glad I got in a decent trainer ride in the morning since the day ended up being pretty stressful.

I am running low on things to watch these days as I am awaiting a Netflix and there hasn't been much on TV lately. And I am biking a lot more than I was a few weeks ago. So today it was "30 Rock" and a behind-the-scenes look at "Real World" in advance of the new (Brooklyn!) season starting this week. It was actually pretty interesting and I look forward to finishing it probably tomorrow. My Achilles was a bit achy but thankfully not very painful and it didn't bother me too much walking around today. I think I am almost ready to try running but need a couple more days.

I was anticipating a huge post-New Year's resolution crowd at the gym tonight, but it wasn't too bad. I only had to wait a couple of minutes for a bike and it was just the usual suspects in the weights area.

This day has gone quickly but somehow felt long. Good night!

Posted by becky at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2009

Quiet day

It's been a long time since I had nearly two weeks off from work, and I definitely woke up today with that "last day of vacation" nervous feeling. I'm sure it will feel like no time passed once the work week starts, but we all know how it is. In any case, my Achilles has been feeling less sore each day, but my big test each morning is how it feels when I walk down the stairs. It was still a bit painful today, so I knew my decision to bike was probably a good one.

I had started watching "27 Dresses" on the bike yesterday, and the beauty of DVR is that I was able to finish it today. It was entertaining but definitely predictable. I also watched a couple of "30 Rock" episodes--I am such a big fan of the show right now. I think I might even watch a couple on hulu.com if they have them. As for my Achilles, it didn't bother me too much, although I am aware that this is the type of injury that does warm up. But I'm comparing each day to the one before it and it isn't getting worse.

Matt did a bunch of "landscaping" work outside today (mostly raking and bagging the leaves that we have neglected on our lawn for far too long) and I was inside making a pot roast that hopefully came out well (we will try it soon). It was a nice 45-degree day, my favorite kind of day for a run, and I kept wishing I could go for even a short one but I forced myself to chill out (and did another easy half-hour on the bike since I was so antsy).

I hope everyone has a good return to work, whether it is post-weekend or post-vacation!

Posted by becky at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 3, 2009

Trainer ride: weekend edition

I don't have too much to say about this morning's trainer ride other than my Achilles felt a little better than it did the day before. Matt slept in so I managed to get in about 90 minutes on the bike before he woke up. None of it was super hard but I did do hill intervals for about an hour of that. I watched "Dexter" and then caught the beginning of "27 Dresses," which has been on my "cheesy movies to watch on the bike" list for some time. I hope it is on again sometime so I can finish it!

Matt and I took a walk to the movies to see "The Wrestler" this afternoon but it was sold out. So we ended up just hanging out in Bethesda for a bit and then walking back home--probably almost 4 miles of walking in total. But it was very pleasant on the first leg of the walk when the sun was out; coming back I was a little cold. We are going to try and catch the movie tomorrow instead.

Posted by becky at 6:09 PM | Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

Morning in the gym

In the almost three years that I've been struggling with injuries, I have had good days and bad days in terms of dealing with things. Today was a not-so-good one. I am tired of feeling a pang of jealousy when I pass a runner in my car and tired of having to plan my cross-training workouts so carefully because I can't just go out and run and be done with it. I hate sounding so petty because I know that I should be grateful that I have access to a gym and the ability to cross train, etc. etc...but sometimes you have those days and you can't do anything about it.

I waited to go to the gym until Matt left for work so we could both drive up to Bethesda together. I did about 25 minutes on the elliptical and stopped sort of abruptly because although my Achilles wasn't bothering me, my knee was and I don't want to do anything to inflame that spot. The elliptical isn't great because it forces you to be at a certain angle and I think that is the problem. So I switched to the spin bike, which wasn't great for my Achilles but didn't hurt my knee. (I was almost ready to get in the pool as a total last resort, but I didn't have my bathing suit.) I lowered the seat so that my calves didn't have to do as much work and that helped, but I was definitely limited in how hard I could work so it wasn't the best workout in the world.

I spent the next hour or so doing abs and then lifting because I knew I would not want to come back to the gym this afternoon. I was there for quite awhile in total but I accomplished what I had set out to and my mood was slightly better when I left.

I went to Matt's office to pick something up and had lunch while I was there too since he had just gone to get food. Then I came home to pick up around the house and attempt to fix a broken towel bar in the bathroom, but that was unsuccessful. This afternoon I did a little shopping to prolong the "vacation" that is soon coming to an end.

Happy weekend to all!

Posted by becky at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2009

Happy 2009

I hope everyone had a nice New Year's Eve and was able to sleep in like I did! We went to bed around 1:30 am, which isn't too late for most people but is quite late for me. Our friends Liz and Teague stayed over at our place so I had a partner for my slow and short run this morning. (Thanks to Liz for slowing down for me!) It was quite cold and windy and my toes stayed pretty much frozen until we were finished. We did my ritzy neighborhood loop that I've been doing lately because it is flat and short. However, I forgot to start my watch when we started running so I'm not quite sure how long we were running.

My Achilles has been feeling better just walking around but I didn't know how it would feel today. It really didn't bother me during the run, which was great, but it has been sore ever since. I am still trying to figure out why it seemed to heal before but now has returned so I am taking it day by day and will cross train tomorrow.

I intended to make it to the gym later in the day today, but I fell asleep reading for about two hours! I guess I didn't sleep in as much as I should have. I didn't feel like leaving so I just went downstairs to bike for a bit. Luckily there was a "Made" marathon on MTV and that kept me occupied. My Achilles was sore but didn't bother me too much.

Tonight we are just hanging out and I will certainly be enjoying my final day off tomorrow!

Posted by becky at 9:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2008

Last workout(s) of the year

Well, this wasn't quite the running year I would have liked, but I can't complain about anything else. My new job is great, our house is great, and everything else is going pretty well. Although I may not have done as many miles as previous years, I think I only missed four days of working out (Saturday through Tuesday after my knee surgery) and some of those days were doubles.

Matt went to work this morning--he walked despite the howling wind and dropping temperatures--and I got to sleep in because I don't return to work until Monday. My Achilles wasn't feeling too bad but I biked because I had done that short run yesterday. I had a few DVR'd shows to catch up on anyway--the new spinoff of "The Hills" started on Monday so of course I am already hooked. My bike felt a little creaky compared to the spin bike I had been using the past few days but aside from that everything was fine.

Most of the ret of the day was consumed with errands that took too long because of all the people getting ready for New Year's Eve and then household tasks. I baked some dessert for tonight (we are going to dinner with friends and then coming back here) and got things in ship shape around here. Then of course I went to the gym--it was so cold on the short walk from the car to the gym that it took 30 minutes on the bike to literally warm up! And I know that my friends and fam in NYC/Boston have it much worse. Tonight will be a cold one for the midnight run in Central Park, and I think it was about 60 degrees last year.

Happy New Year to all!

Posted by becky at 7:05 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2008

Heading back home

We are sitting in the airport waiting for our flight back to D.C. We've had a nice time in Florida but as always, I am looking forward to getting back home. This morning was surprisingly cloudy (but it got better later on) and I was glad since I did a short run, just an out and back along one of the roads in the resort. Even though it meant being passed by several different people (all men, I think) I made sure to go slowly and think about my form. My Achilles was a little sore when I was done (I ran just 30 minutes) but not too uncomfortable on the whole. I ran back to the gym and rode the spin bike for about an hour. I think my legs were tired because I didn't feel too peppy. But all in all it was a decent effort.

Since we had to head to the airport by mid-day, our crew hung out at the pool rather than the beach today. We got in a couple of hours of sun and then came back to pack up. I'm sure I'm the only one of our group who isn't too disappointed to be going back to cooler climes!

Posted by becky at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)