Currently: Love/hate

While this is a bit late, the topic of love (and its opposite) seems timely with Valentine's Day just past us and all.  Despite the fact that I usually feel quite bah-humbug about the 14th and all the clichés that go along with it, I also often find that we celebrate something around mid-February.  Last year, for instance, we signed a mountain of paperwork to close the deal on our house and went out to celebrate that event - it was actually the 15th, but everyone still assumed that we were out for V-day.  Speaking of home ownership, this year, we felt like celebrating something since we wrapped up the last of our 2013 home improvement projects!  Woo-hoo!  And please interpret the 'we' in that statement as loosely as you will - Michael began what seemed to be a simple kitchen painting project back in the summer, but stripping the previous paint and then sanding and then painting and then sanding again became less than "simple".  We finally decided that we just wanted the job finished, so we followed up a colleague's recommendation and hired a guy who finished up the kitchen and also painted the bathrooms.  Done and done!  So, heading out on Friday night to drink a toast to the end of home improvement projects (for now) was a logical move.  We also drank to the fact that we would NOT be embarking on any major projects in 2014.  Shew!  I realize that some people love the challenge and gain a sense of satisfaction when they complete a major home project, but we have learned, over the past 10 months or so, that we are not fixer-upper-types.  I would much rather spend my Saturday outside, away from our house, hiking, biking, running, doing something, almost anything other than staying at home, working on the house.  (General maintenance is something quite different, and Michael tries very hard to keep a tidy house despite the challenges that I present to those efforts of his on a daily basis!)

Now - for the love: well, I wish that I could say that I'm feeling the love in all things swim/bike/run and life in general, but that is probably not the case.  However, I do feel that I've met my goal to be more consistent in February.  I am slowly logging in more hours, at least in the pool and on the bike, and the elliptical and I have become friendly, even though we're not "in love"!  I have yet to try out aqua jogging, but that may very well be in my future once my aqua jogging shoes arrive this week.  I know, I know, aqua jogging shoes?  Apparently they are amazing.  I'm not expecting miracles, but if aqua jogging will allow me to keep up my running fitness, then I will take it!

But back to what I *am* doing - on the bike and in the pool.  I had my first lactate threshold 'test' on Friday and that was a terrible experience!  Only 20 minutes of the test but I seriously dreaded the experience all day long.  Once I started the actual test, the suffering passed by fairly quickly and my max heart rate completely surprised me.  I'm a bit depressed because it's a good wake-up call for me - I just do NOT like to push it on the bike!  I now, unfortunately, know that I could/should be working a lot harder.  And in the pool?  I'm also still feeling slow, but I just hit a new personal distance record of 3300 meters on Saturday.

Running and I are currently on a hiatus, thanks to a bit of quad tendonitis - not nearly as common as other types of tendonitis, as far as I can tell from the Internets.  So, that is a big "hate" at the moment - I feel like a jilted lover or something and I want to yell "Why don't you love me like I love you?".  Okay, that's rather silly, and I'm trying to be patient and deal with this situation like a grown-up.  And I'm also trying to look at the big picture and not panic.

So, that's a good motto for the moment: Be an adult and don't panic.
We'll see where that takes me!

Hiking La Jolla Canyon

So, back in February - a long time ago, or so it seems - Michael and I took advantage of a gorgeous Saturday and hiked La Jolla Canyon.  We had the added bonus of a long weekend, so it really felt like a getaway to head to the west side and enjoy the scenery!  La Jolla Canyon seemed a bit redundant, since I had just been on the same trails in November for the 30k trail race, but I wanted to actually enjoy and experience the trails, rather than focus on my footing and whether I could finish or not.  We, obviously, revised our hike and just did the La Jolla Canyon loop which was perfect for the day, especially since we'd had a late night and did not start out very early on Saturday morning.  

When we arrived, we parked on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to avoid the parking fee.  There were tons of other cars parked along the highway, so we knew that we would hardly be alone on the trails.  Still, we quickly separated from a large group and found ourselves mainly alone, which was great.  Despite rains earlier in the week, the trail felt dry, and because of the sunny skies and warmer temperatures, it seemed like an early spring day.  We hiked up and up for a bit and then the trail evened out - I really had forgotten what a great trail it is, and maybe it wasn't so great running, but hiking - it is in great condition and is a nice loop that takes you back into the canyon.

Eventually we connected with the La Jolla Valley trail which gave our legs a break as we strolled along the valley and took in the view of a bunch of satellites on a hill in the distance.  I am always amazed when I go on a hike in the LA area - it seems that you'll be in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly something pops up that serves as a reminder that you're not far from an urban landscape.  The Angeles mountains, in particular, are full of such signs, although many of them are now in decay, demonstrating our failed attempt to 'tame' that rugged landscape. 

 A few early wildflowers.

On the return down - it suddenly seemed like the hike had been too short.  We did cut off part of it, partly because we realized that we'd hiked it before - back in 2010 when we hike Pt. Mugu.  Funny that it was a warmer day in February than we had back in July of that year.  

 On the hike, we enjoyed lots of crazy plants that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book!

Before we ended our La Jolla Canyon experience, we walked across the highway and enjoyed the coast, watching a group of dolphins play for a bit.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of this coastline!

And that was our La Jolla Canyon hike!  I must say that I probably enjoyed the hike quite a bit more than the trail run - as I said before, it was nice to take it all in rather than focus on the push, push, push of a race, even if it is a slow race.  We don't get to the west side as often as we should, and this served as a good reminder to get out there!

"Progress" report

Happy Leap Year day!

Last week, apparently, whatever I wrote about my so-called progress for the month or year went into a black hole.  This wouldn't be such a terrible thing, except that since then, I've turned into a major sloth.  I probably would have given myself a B last week, but would now say that my monthly average is more like a C.  And, while in some circles a C is perfectly respectful, I still remember the one or two C's that I rightfully earned/deserved, and it does not make me feel better about myself.

As an adult, however, I think that I'll take a more laissez-faire attitude about grading myself.  After all, who really gives himself/herself "life" grades?!  Obviously I'm weird.  Or a teacher (which equals weird).

I also should have anticipated a bit of a slump at this point.  I went away for a three-day weekend which was fun (sort of?) but very exhausting, and the piles of papers (essays, quizzes and tests, oh my!) have overwhelmed me.  So, most physical activity has taken the back seat to the impulse that I really need to get my life shit together.  Now that I feel somewhat more in control of the piles of grading, I should be able to refocus and think about this whole 'training' thing.  This is particularly true because I just took five days totally off exercise, except for walking and standing and pacing, and my body feels pretty rested and not sore for the first time since January!  So, the goal for March - crank up the training!

But, back to February...  The month pretty much kicked my ass which I anticipated, but somehow the knowledge that it was going to be hard did not help me too much.  I took on another class for the semester, our life has been busy and I like to make excuses.  So, I missed plenty of scheduled workouts and my double workout days are probably still in the single digits for the month.  However, I would like to focus on the positive, and there were quite a few of those moments, fortunately.

First of all, I did manage a few 'bricks' for the month - one bike-to-run that kicked my ass but felt great when I had finished, and a few swim-to-run.  The swim-to-run really means nothing because that is not a common transition, but at the very least it makes me feel that I'm focusing on different skills and not just one or the other.  Also, I hoped to get in at least one 'long' run, anything over 7 miles or so for me, and the Mt. Wilson practice run definitely fulfilled that goal.  While my biking enthusiasm wanes on a regular basis and I often forgo the weekday ride for a spinning class, I did get in the saddle a few times on the weekends.  My last weekend ride, 2 Saturdays past, was pretty great - I did, for myself, a fairly serious climb, hitting almost 3,000 feet within 8 miles or so as I rode a very small portion of the Angeles Crest Highway. I'm slowly inching my way up that road - maybe one day I'll be able to bike the entire length?!  Finally, my last goal for the month was to volunteer at an event, and I dutifully handed out water at the Pasadena "Rock 'n Roll" Half Marathon.  It was quite fun to be a volunteer and gave me a new perspective on races.

I did fall short in plenty of ways, but I'm excited that March begins tomorrow!  I do hope that I can sharpen my focus and put in more miles on the bike and complete 2-4 (nice range) bike-run bricks.  Also, I'll be taking swim lessons for a few weeks which should force me to push myself more in the pool and work on technique and speed, hopefully!

At this point, my first race of the year isn't until April - I just signed up for a duathlon.  I admit that I am missing the monthly road or trail race, but there is some reasoning behind the lack of racing.  First of all, our lives are kind of crazy these days, and throwing in a race or two would just amp up the craziness to a level that would not be helpful or healthy.  It isn't just my life that I'm considering, but two adults who are trying to juggle different priorities.  The second reason that I've put off signing up for lots of running races is that I do want to focus on the Wildflower Tri.  I've enjoyed good health this year, unlike the two months last year when I couldn't run at all because of a weird foot injury, and I consider myself fortunate.  With that in mind, I don't want to overdo it (whatever "it" is) as I train for a tri but also run to my heart's content.  So, the running to my heart's content has been pretty much shut down as I try to amp up other skills (at which I pretty much suck).

It has definitely put into question my so-called runner's "identity" as I'm not running very much these days.  My hope is, however, that I'll be healthy for Wildflower and for the big prize this summer, the Boulder race (which I'm not thinking about, not at all, no, no, no!).

Shew, that was a lot of navel-contemplating for me, but hopefully it will help me kick things into gear tomorrow!

February's not-so-low nadir

Okay, if this week is really the low point of my month, I can't complain about life! I am, however, feeling unfocused, unproductive and very stale in my classes. I've hit the point in the year with my AP class when I start to cram material into my students' brains rather than letting them absorb concepts such as verisimilitude and bildungsroman. Also, I start to count the days, and when I feel under-the-weather, like this week, I stress even more about the possibility of missing class.

So far, I am staying more or less healthy, thanks to the occasional anti-decongestant that keeps my head from exploding. I even managed a short and lame run at the gimnasio yesterday - the first time I'd run since my awesome (in my world) 10-k. After that event, my left foot swelled up and I had difficulty even walking without pain for a few days. I feared a stress fracture, took days off, and now the foot seems to be properly functioning. Haven't I suffered enough and done enough PT for the next five or ten years?!

But life *has* been busy. Somehow I ended up with after-hours work events Tuesday, Wednesday and tonight. Some of these took the form of sporting events (go team go!), but they still take time and energy. Last week, Michael and I managed to watch a few movies during the week, but there has been none of that these days!

Finally, I think that Michael and I "celebrated" our lamest V-Day ever. We've never fully embraced or indulged in the so-called holiday, but some years we do acknowledge its existence. This year, I made fried rice for us (with leftover rice, of course) and went to bed on the earlier side. I already used the adjective lame, but I'll say it again: LAME.

On the positive side, I tried to totally "nerd out" this week - saw Mike Brown, the author of "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming". I had heard him interviewed on NPR, and he was/is very funny. He is also a total nerd - amazingly so. I think that he tried to lecture to a lower-level intelligence such as mine, and I could follow, but this was all right before lunch, so I felt a bit distracted. Still, I had to chalk this up to being one of those great learning opportunities thanks to work.

Also, we are gearing up for a three-day weekend! It is supposed to rain tomorrow and Saturday, but if the Weather Channel is correct, the sun should shine on Sunday and Monday. We have dinner plans tomorrow at one of our favorite places in LA, plus I will be learning about swimming on Saturday and Sunday, and I plan to fit in a longish bike ride.

Swim, bike, run?