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May 13, 2000

Can't sleep any more. I ought to since we didn't go to be til 5 AM because Paul was trying to finish crochetting his blanket for his mother, but I am too hyper. 5K is today!
posted by Astrophe 9:21 AM

May 12, 2000

I slept deep, woke up feeling better. I may have solved my cramping problem -- not enough stretching. Last night I did one hour of yoga while watching a movie with Paul, and I feel much less tight. I'll try it again after the next few walks and see if the extended stretching helps with these calf cramps. 10 min of stretching doesn't look like enough.
posted by Astrophe 9:36 AM

Mmmm. Stretching. Makes me think of warm sun on my back and a soft kitty to hug.

Hey! Where'd that cat come from?

In retrospect, though, I'm thinking that my headaches are not so much the cause of my training, but partly hormonal and partly stress. I'm quite lucky that so far, nothing has happened to impede the progress of my training.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 11:12 AM

93 deg F with a humidity of 47%. On my chart for heat humidity index? That gets a nice perceived temperature of 104 deg, and a white color block which means "extreme caution."

No surprise why the gym and outside feels hotter than hell. IT IS! I do not look forward to training this summer at ALL. Bleah.
posted by Astrophe 2:07 PM

May 11, 2000

Wow. I've been hanging out on the CyberDiet Walk Talk board today, helping to generate lots of traffic. And I mentioned that if I make it through this marathon, I want to do it again, for the Leukemia Society Team-in-Training. For my aunt JoAnn, who lost her battle with leukemia in September of 1999.

Well, right after I posted that, Astrophe sent me an e-mail telling me that if she made it through the first one, she'd be happy to do it again, and asked if I just wanted to keep cybertraining.

Maybe it's because I've got a headache, or maybe it's my level of fatigue.. but that touched me. Thank you so much.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 3:21 PM

training walk eleven
Guest Walking Buddy: K
Minutes: 59
Mileage: 3.0
Total mileage: 22.1

I DID IT!

I DID INTERVALS!

Granted, my fast pace wasn't much faster than my medium pace, but I definitely got more steps in. And I used better arm form when I remembered (which was quite frequently, actually).

I also stopped to take a look at a monument that's on the side of 155. As it turned out, it marked the place where the last Native American massacre of English took place in Dover in 1724.

And then, I got on the road again.. and decided to take a look at my legs, since I had been standing in tall grass.

Good call -- I had picked up a tick.

Well, at least I know what the thing says now. Learn something new every day!
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 7:37 PM

I gotta have a snack and then leave for gym in 30 minutes. But while I waited for Paul to come home and bring back my car, I walked around my street loop. It's 0.6 miles. I wanted to see if I would get those annoying calf cramps.

Yep, in BOTH legs now!

This is starting to bother me a lot. I have to read more about common problems with joggers/walkers and try to figure it out. I started out slow, then faster, then cramped so slow again. My average was 2.7 MPH around the loop. Maybe I ought to just start gimpy and after a longer while speed up? Do I not give me enough time to warm up? Is it the calf strength training that's aggravating me? Will it wear off? Adrith is getting headaches. What's she doing different than me? Is assorted vague pain expected at first?

I don't need to stress over this with a 5k around the corner. So do I treadmill intervals or do elliptical intervals tonight? Will Friday rest be enough? Do I skip weights Saturday morning because of the race and do them Sunday instead? Do them anyway? What's a good reasonable expectation to finish the 5k? 60 min? 45? Argh!
posted by Astrophe 7:50 PM

Training Day 11

  • Focus: Intervals for 60 min
  • Actual Duration: 15 + 35 + 20
  • Where:gym and outside
  • Average speed: ??
  • Distance ??
  • Calories:??
  • Rating: 3-5

It's a mixed bag today. I walked 15 min before Paul got home around the neighborhood, went to gym and did 35, then came back and made Paul go out with me for another 20. The gym was AWFUL! The AC still isn't fixed, the puddles are gone but it's still pretty steamy. After a few days of broken AC, it stunk really bad and it was very stuffy since the windows do not open. I got a cardio machine near a fan, which helped, but then somebody farted! It was NOT a pleasant thing. Quite a few people were disturbed by that one. I gave up and packed it in and decided a night walk might be a better way to finish out the workout, so I got Paul to come with me and we went. It was much cooler in the night air even though there wasn't any breeze, and we chatted and looked at all the lawns for ideas for our own yards. So I guess a miserable workout was saved in the end!


posted by Astrophe 10:26 PM

May 10, 2000

I'm contemplating joining a gym, just so that I'm ensured a place where I can get some mileage in even in 90-degree weather. If the price is right, that is..
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 8:59 AM

Arrrrghhhh. I am soooo sore! All over! I want to nap it all away! No shower tonight. Bath. With lots of epsom salts! Ugh!
posted by Astrophe 2:40 PM

May 9, 2000

Waiting for my print job to print, I've been contemplating CyberDiet's (hereinafter referred to as CD) agreement to help us. It's a very good thing for a few different reasons:

CD has excellent exposure -- thousands of hits a day -- which with featured articles could translate into more traffic for us. And more traffic means the potential for more funds raised online -- it would be wonderful if we could save on postage by having a larger online campaign.

It keeps us honest and accountable in yet another way -- thousands of people could be checking up on our progress! How terrible would it be to have to say "Sorry, we just can't do this"? Yet more motivation to make these lifestyle changes.

And, we get to share our experiences with others who may be considering something of this nature, and training as exercise program. It's all about sharing -- giving help and advice to others. Whee!
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 9:08 AM

Ugly weather out. I hope it goes away, or hurries up and then goes away because I can't get to gym if it pours hard. The road I have to take FLOODS when it rains. :P I better start looking at doing at least weights at home and some yoga even if I don't get the training walk in. Blaaaah! :p
posted by Astrophe 5:03 PM

training walk number ten
Guest Walking Buddy: K
Minutes: 31
Mileage: 1.5 miles
Total mileage: 19.1 miles

Just wrote up this fantastic entry, and it disappeared. So this is all you get tonight. I'll write more tomorrow, when my entries aren't being eaten..
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 9:12 PM

Training Day 10

  • Focus: Constant Speed
  • Duration: 40 minutes
  • Where: Gym on the treadmill and elliptical cross trainer
  • Average speed: ??
  • Distance 2.8?
  • Calories:300?
  • Rating: 4

Ok, this time I warmed up on the elliptical trainer first to make sure that darn calf would be ready to go. And go it did -- I started cramping up again! What the heck!? I stretch, I warm-up, what's going on? Did I not stretch enough? Is it my socks or shoes? Grrrr.... I will figure this out! Apart from the crampy calf, it went fine and I did weights.

It stopped raining, but the roads were flooded, and the gym roof sprung a leak so there were buckets and puddles all over the cardio room upstairs. Dreary day.

Oh, and the guy next to me kept looking at every woman's butt that went by. Ok, it happens, people ogle. But if you can't be good, at least be discreet! Now pick up your eyeballs of the floor, sir. Thank you. Geesh!
posted by Astrophe 9:31 PM

May 8, 2000

Just updating the links to the left and correcting my mileage numbers. I'm actually up to 17.6 miles instead of 16.1 miles.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 2:42 PM

Small freakout: CyberDiet is going to help us! Yay!
posted by Astrophe 3:28 PM

May 7, 2000

Biking yesterday was stellar! Trying to make up my mind what to eat before I head to gym for the next marathon training walk...
posted by Astrophe 9:20 AM

Blogger was swallowing my posts yesterday.. so let's try to see if there's more of the same today.

Training walk number eight
Guest walking buddy: Joe, K; walked Long Sands Beach in York, ME
Minutes: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Mileage: 2.5
Total mileage: 16.1

It was a great day yesterday and a fantastic walk. It was cool but not cold, and thanks to the SPF45, I didn't get too badly of a burn -- just slightly crispy on the facial region. It was high-tide or pretty close to it, and the rocks whispered to us as the waves broke and the water rushed back to the ocean.

I'm thinking that we should do more of the training walks in places like that.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 9:49 AM

Training Day 9

  • Focus:Go Long
  • Duration: 50 min
  • Where: Gym on the treadmill and elliptical cross trainer
  • Average speed: ??
  • Distance 3.??
  • Calories:441
  • Rating: 5

I'm paying for skimping on stretches. The bike ride yesterday was an awesome 3 hrs of trails, but I didn't stretch, I simply crashed. Today when I went to walk on the treadmill, I felt all tight and crampy and quit after about 15 minutes. My calves were soooo wound up! Argh! I stretched for a bit and finished the rest of the time on a cross trainer. Evil session, evil cramps. Ugh.

Moral of the story: stretch, dang it, STRETCH!


posted by Astrophe 5:57 PM

training walk number nine
Guest Walking Buddy: I went solo today.
Minutes: 30
Mileage: 1.5
Total mileage: 17.6

LESSON NUMBER 1: Check the forecast! If I had, I would have known that the weather was going to be hot and sticky today, and I would have gone walking this morning.. while it was still a little cool.

LESSON NUMBER 2: Check the forecast! If I had, I would have known whether or not it was supposed to be thunderstorming, and would have known whether or not to be concerned that there were dark clouds above my head. I thought I was going to get hit by lightning; in reality, the clouds were getting dark just because it's getting dark out.

The walk, overall, though a little short was very nice. I sped up once I realized that there was a black cloud over my head, but there was a slight breeze and the blooming trees/bushes/plants all smelled wonderful.

The bugs I could do without, though.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 8:18 PM

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