Monday, February 21, 2005

Running Around

The good news is that I got my run in today before the skies opened in deluge. The weatherman has been totally and preposterously WRONG the last week or so. We never got the snow that was threatened, for example, and it was almost 60 degrees today.

One more outing of 30 secs running and 1.5 minutes walking. Then I'll add ten seconds to the run and substract ten from the walk. The plan is to change the ratio gradually and in very modest increments, until I get to 2 minutes running, one minute walking. So far things are going okay.

I am having to exercise significant discipline to not speed up the process. I WANT to run longer and further. But I am also determined to not reinjure myself.

Also, given the continuing exacerbation of my bunions, I'm questioning whether I should be planning to run really long distances. In the grand scheme of things, I'd much rather run for 40 more years than run a marathon, have to have surgery, have it be problematic, and not be able to run at all. We'll see. I'm not going to even THINK about distance training beyond 10 miles until the Galloway program starts up again in May.

In case anyone hasn't noticed, let me just state once more for the record: for me, running is the best mood maintaining medication there is. I am feeling so much better, overall, after just 6 runs, that it's truly astonishing.

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Friday, February 18, 2005

Le Geek, C'est Chic

In anticipation of the day when I own an iPod shuffle, I've created a playlist of pop and rock music, between 1:30 and 2:40 minutes long, that I can use for running. The idea is that I'll run for a minute at the beginning of each song and then walk for the rest of it.

Now it needs to be said that, at the moment, I'm still sticking to my run 30 seconds/walk a minute and half schedule, in an attempt to be moderate as I return to this practice. And, needless to say, I DO NOT currently own the iPod shuffle (although I have one on order at Amazon with a projected delivery of late March).

The current list has 3 hours of material in it, which is more than enough to keep me from getting bored in my current training regime. Later, as my training improves, I can widen my selection of tunes to include those that are, say, up to 3:30 minutes long (and increase the length of my 'run' segment). I have enough of those to get me through an entire marathon.

But here's the best part. First I created a Smart Playlist to fit the criteria mentioned above (no jazz, world music, classical, etc.). Then I randomized the list order and created a regular playlist from it. Then at the beginning I placed "Gonna Fly Now" (the original Rocky theme), which is almost four and a half minutes, and at the end I placed "Eye of the Tiger," which clocks in at four minutes. So the beauty of the deal is, when I get the mythical shuffle, I can start at the beginning and get a dose of inspiration ~ then switch to shuffle mode for the meat of the workout ~ then, when I'm finishing up my run, I can switch back to regular play and quickly navigate to the last track for a wow finish.

Heh. Bookended by corny Rocky tracks.

Can't wait.

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Thursday, February 17, 2005

"TV's Craig Ferguson"

Okay, I have to confess. I find Craig Ferguson, the new Late Late Show host, very amusing. I saw his 'audition' show, when they were looking for a replacement, and said to myself, "They'd be idiots not to hire him."

Scottish accent, larger than life features, and a genuinely goofy sense of humor. He is perfectly prepared to be silly. He's much better off-script (his monolog writers are not particularly keen), when he's just rattling on.

I know I shouldn't be staying up this late. But the guy is entertaining as hell.

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Wednesday, February 16, 2005

The New Desk

new desk

The new desk has arrived.

It's got somewhat less surface area, and A LOT less storage. Since the whole point was to make things look better, I've been frantically trying to minimize and clear surfaces. What it does have, which was a huge selling point, is a pullout keyboard shelf. Oh, how I love this ergonomically correct feature!

But now I've got two huge filing cabinets, full of stuff, that used to be the 'legs' of my desk. I've started going through them and tossing things out. And I must tackle the Closet/Archives of Doom if I'm to make room in there for these two filing cabinets. The domino effect is very, very real (hmm, suddenly I want pizza... it's dinnertime and my fridge is empty).

It's exhausting, and the rest of my living room and kitchen are in chaos again. I also re-arranged my living-room furniture and am trying to decide if I like the new configuration.

As you can see, the walls are bare-ish too. I've promised myself to get rid of virtually all the posters and reproductions in my place (I may keep the Matisse collage snail in my bedroom, because I love it so) and replace them all with original artwork, either my own or others'. To the right you can see one of my new additions ~ three photographs from various travels.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Valentine's Day

miniature roses

May you love and be loved.

Is it "better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all"?
Unequivocally, yes.

Which isn't to say that it doesn't also suck.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Run 1

Okay, not really much of a run. More like three miles of mildly accelerated stroll.

But I had my running gear on, new shoes and all. And I ran for 30 seconds of every two minutes. Which ended up giving me an overall speed of about 4 miles an hour, but who's counting?

The weather was lovely, the foot twinges minor. I plan to maintain this very gentle pace for at least the next week.

On the downside: in a fit of virtue, I arrived home and decided that while I was still warmed up, I should do some stretching. I put my workout tape in the VCR and did some stretching (I'm so stiff it's pathetic). Then, when I went to eject the tape ~ NO!

It wouldn't eject. Little VCR motor made sad, sad noises. Then silence.

Unplugging, shaking, prying, cursing ~ nothing seems to make a difference. My VCR is DOA. Now, mind you, I've had the thing since 1991, and it wasn't even very expensive back then, so I can't complain. And since I acquired a cheap DVD player recently, I suppose all is not lost. I just have to find a stretching DVD that I like.

Oh well. Hard to be too upset.
I got to RUN! And the weather was nice.

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Friday, February 11, 2005

New Shoes

There may be a few ankle twinges yet, but I bought some new shoes (these are Asics).

I'm going to start out tomorrow, slowly, gently. Thirty seconds of running for two minutes of walking. Gently, slowly.

I can hardly wait.

oboyoboyoboyoboyoboy!!!!

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Saturday, February 05, 2005

The Ballad of Ikea Dismay, Part II: The Stinky Bed

Oy.

After my bedframe saga, I thought it was all over. I sank with gratitude into the comfort of my top-of-the-Ikea-line Sultan Forestad all-foam mattress. And it sure did feel good.

Unfortunately, it didn't smell good. It had a weird "musty-moldy overlaid with plasticky chemical disinfectant" odor. I thought to myself: must be what comes of being shrinkwrapped for a long period of time. I will air it out extensively, and it will be fine.

Which I've been doing now for five days (and we're talking windows wide open to the January chill all day, every day). The smell has diminished a little bit, but not by much. Not enough to keep my throat from becoming scratchy in allergic reaction and my eyes from becoming gummy. Normally, I don't consider myself particularly chemically sensitive, but this thing is making me miserable.

Today, I threw in the towel, called Ikea again and said: come take it away. Bring me another one, and if it doesn't stink, I'll happily keep it. If it does, I want my money back.

Oh, are those folks at College Park gonna love me. NOT.

Any recommendations for a good quality foam mattress that doesn't cost an arm and leg?

And doesn't stink?

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