A Cougher's Guide to Exercise

My cold has morphed into a lovely hacking cough. Lay down? Cough all night long (thank God for Nyquil Cough). Try to run (as in take in deep breaths of cold air)? Someone get me to a hospital.

A brief hiatus from running thanks to the cough. But don't worry, I'm fitting in other exercise. Kettlebells was okay, and only left me lying on the floor gasping for breath six times. The scheduled for the rest of the week:

1) Tonight, I'll bowl without drinking beer. That means I'll maybe actually burn a couple of calories. Unfortunately, without the beer, my bowling will probably suck even more so than it usually does.

2) Friday, I'll try to get on my trainer for a little bit and then let Jillian bitch slap me around for a while. My massive bruise from my mishap in getting off my trainer on Sunday is almost healed, so I think I'm ready for another go.

3) Saturday, I'm headed to Mall of America for some Christmas shopping. That's at least a couple of miles of walking, while carrying heavy bags. Let's just ignore the fact that I'll probably be drinking wine with lunch and dinner that day.

Hopefully by Sunday the cough will be gone and I can get back outside for a run. At this rate, December may be an even lower mileage month than November.

This Rest Day Brought to You By . . .

Sore throat. Fever. Stuffy head. Take your pick. I started feeling sick Sunday evening, but thought it was allergies from the dust storm created during my Christmas decorating efforts. By 9:00 Sunday night, it was clear that it was not an allergy attack. Thanks to the wonder that is Tylenol PM, I got a great night's sleep Sunday night and woke up feeling like crap Monday morning. Yesterday was actually the rest day. I'm feeling better already today and am planning on going to kettlebells tonight. The thought of working out in a warm gym is more appealing than taking my sore throat and stuffed up head out to the cold outdoors for a run.

In other news, what the hell happened to the month of November? I checked out the running log last night for my monthly stats and the running numbers were a bit disappointing. Plus side: three races (a 10 miler and two 5K's). The mileage was low, but not terrible considering I took an 8 day hiatus to get Sophie over the piggy flu. The big news from the month of November? 16 cross training sessions. That's got to be some sort of world record, right?

Race Report - Anoka Jingle Bell 5K

I finished out my 2009 racing year this morning with the Anoka Jingle Bell 5K. I've done this race a couple of times before and really like it. It's at my old high school (which I graduated from just a couple of years ago, of course), most of the race is on a paved trail along the Rum River, and it's just the right size - not too big, not too small. I set my current PR (24:45) at this race last year and was hoping for a new PR this morning.

Sophie and I were at my mom's after Thanksgiving, so instead of driving 70 miles to Anoka, I left her house at 9:20 and was at Anoka High School by 9:25. Registeration, bathroom, and about 8 minutes of easy jogging for a warmup and I was ready. I remembered my Garmin this weekend and was hoping a visual reminder of my pace would keep me moving.

What is up with race amnesia? I did not remember this course as hilly at all. And then we turned onto the path along the river and started with the rolling hills. I felt like I managed the hills well and ran the first mile strong at about 7:45. I started feeling it the second mile. This is an out and back course, so I felt a surge once we hit the turnaround point and I knew we were on the way back. But I still managed to slow down a bit in that second mile. The third mile, I was done. Less than a quarter mile from the finish, I walked. Seriously. Just stopped running and walked. When I realized what I was doing, I got my ass moving again. Ran up one final hill and saw the finish. Crossed the line at 25:28. So much for a new PR . . . but for my second 5K in less than a week, not too bad.

It's been a fun year of races. I'm looking forward to running some easy base miles in December and the first part of January, and then ramping up the runs for marathon training. 2010, here I come!

Race Report - Turkey Trot 5K

Sunday morning, I pulled on my turkey socks, yanked Sophie out of bed while it was still dark, and headed down to St. Paul for the Turkey Trot. This race as been my kick off to the holiday season for the last five years or so, and I was especially excited for it this year because the weather was awesome - capri weather!

We had to stop and pick up Mac on the way to the race. He wasn't up yet, so we had to wake him up and wait for him to get ready. So we were a little late. Note to Mac: no more karoke the night before a race. Thankfully the kid's race went a little long and we had time to get our bibs and use the bathroom before the race started.

With all the rushing in the morning to get Sophie out of the house, I sort of forgot my Garmin. Or any other timekeeping device. So I ran the race without any sense of time. Since I don't have mile splits to give you, I'll give you my "feel" splits. Mile one: I hate 5k's. Mile two: I think I'm having a heart attack. Mile three: That must have been awfully slow because I feel lik I can breathe again. Mile three point one: 25:35. Forty-ish seconds slower than my halloween race a couple of weeks ago. Apparently I need a cape on to run fast.

After the race, I had a chance to observed a few "What Not to Wear: Race Edition" samples. For the guys: just say no to super short (like peekaboo I see your penis short) with the polo shirt tucked in. And for the ladies: even if you are a teeny, tiny little lady in your late fifties, super tight tights and a sports bra that looks like a regular bra? Please, oh please, put a shirt on.

I'm hoping to get caught up on all of your blogs . . . jamming a week's worth of work into three days is making it difficult! On the upside, so happy to have a short week.

Thursday Secrets

Here's my bullet point confessional for the week:

• I am so far behind on my laundry, Sophie had to wear jammies that are four inches too short to bed tonight. I'm not sure what either of us are going to wear tomorrow. It will probably be either dirty or nonmatching.
• Hershey's Dark Chocolate chips? Delicious. Those same dark chocolate chips melted over cheesecake and topped with whipped cream? Therapy.
• I've been a tad impatient at work this week. I may have busted out the lines "Half of zero is zero" and "Real life is not like TV, and this courtroom is not at all like Law and Order" at least once a day.
• I'm on a bowling team. I started with some of my golf girls on Thursday nights in September. I am a terrible bowler. My team should probably fire me.

Things to make up for my week's worth of sins? I've either run, done a strength workout, or rode my bike on the trainer every day this week. Today I also walked to and from lunch. I've got a date with Billy Blanks tomorrow night for a little boot camp, yoga on Saturday, and a 5K race Sunday. Oh, and all that laundry piled up and waiting for me.

Dear Jillian, Thanks for the Sore Abs

With my shut in status last week, I hit the workout videos pretty hard. After spending Friday night with Billy Blanks, power yoga Sunday, and doing as many rounds of the 30 Day Shred as I could handle, I decided I needed another video to spice things up. I stopped at Target and picked up Jillian's No More Trouble Zones Video.

All in all, I thought it was a good strength workout. It didn't get my heart pumping as much as the 30 Day Shred, but it's a longer video, so that's probably a good thing. Hello heart attack. What I really like about this video is the feature that allows you to select individual circuits. So you can do the whole thing (approximately 55 minutes total once you add warm up/cool down), or do one or more individual 5ish minute circuits. So last night, after spending an hour on my bike trainer, I added two core circuits. Abs? Burning.

In running news, I'm getting back on track. The weather was beautiful over the weekend, so I was able to get out with Sophie in the jogging stroller. And this afternoon, I may have breached a few rules of courtroom etiquette in order to bust out of there fast enough after my three and a half hour hearing to get a run in before I had to pick Sophie up. I do have priorities.

Oh Failure

Why is it that when I can't seem to get out to run, I also happen to completely pig out? A week of the flu (Sophie, not me) plus my husband working insane hours because of deer season apparently equals gain 100 pounds. The saddest part is that while I've been stuck in the house, we have been having the best weather we've had for at least the last month. And we probably won't see such nice weather again for 6 months. Sob.

Okay, pity party over. I'm going to call it a taper for my 5K next Sunday. Sophie is doing much better and is able to go back to daycare tomorrow. That means I'll be back to work and back to running. Thank God, because, you know what? I really like to run.