Aug 13 2010

Review: Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown

Category: New York Marathon, reviews, running — GeekGirl @ 2:05 pm

Long before I became an official runner girl, I was a yoga girl. I did yoga for a few years and got in really good shape.  Of course, running took over (I ran in high school, so I missed it!) and I forgot about/could no longer afford yoga. I still know all of the different poses and understand in general the way that it works. For the most part, I like yoga for a good stretch in between my runs and still try to commit to it a few times a week* by doing some free podcasts in the privacy of my own home.

When I ordered How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (review coming this weekend, hopefully), I needed about $5 more to get my free shipping. I started hunting around for Yoga DVD’s and stumbled across Jillian Michael’s Yoga Meltdown. It was only $8.99 so I figured I’d give it a shot. If I hated it, I’d give it to my mom or my sister.

I own 30 Day Shred and think it’s one of the better workout videos out there. I had to stop doing it because it was really hard on my knees. I’ll probably do it again after marathon training when I have the time to find modifications to the workouts.

Here’s a clip of Yoga Meltdown:

First and foremost, this is NOT yoga in the traditional sense. Michaels does some of the poses, but flows through everything or adds movement to it to make it aerobic. There really isn’t much of the spiritual aspect of yoga, either. So overall what did I think?

I really, really liked it. It was a great 30 minute workout that I could barely make it through. I was sweating and working hard.

There are 2 different levels. Easy and hard. (I’m not sure if those are the exact names of the levels.) She starts you off with some warm ups and then moves on to the harder stuff. I knew I was working hard, but this morning my entire stomach area is sore and my arms feel like they’re about to fall off.

My final verdict? If you can get the video for under $10 go for it.

=======

Today’s Run: 4.3 miles | 45:00 | 10:??
This was a hill workout. Since Florida is pancake flat, I went to the gym to do it. This workout almost freaking killed me. It was HARD. Here’s what went down:

2.0 miles @ 22:00 warm up
8 x :60 – :70 @ 6-7.5% incline  w/1:00 – 2:00 recoveries depending on how much I was dying.
.5 mile cool down

My cool down should have been 10 minutes longer, but I just couldn’t run anymore. I was exhausted. I seriously cannot believe how difficult this workout was for me. I was throwing sweat everywhere and even let out a couple of grunts.

Whatever! I have no shame!

* That’s been a whole lot of fail lately!

Aug 10 2010

I Hate Evening Runs

Category: New York Marathon, running — GeekGirl @ 8:45 pm

Those of you that follow along on Twitter know that I didn’t get to run this morning. After a bunch of debating this morning I finally decided to head out around 6ish. I made it out 1 minute and the entire sky lit up. I promptly turned around since I promised my mom that I will not run when there is lightning.

As I do anytime I want to run in the evening, I talked myself out of it the minute I got home. I made guacamole and ate some chips that I should not have eaten. Then I started feeling guilty so I put on my gear and headed out. It was pouring but no lighting.

I felt fat, slow, and sluggish. I also felt like I was going to throw up thanks to the guacamole and chips. I promised myself that I could turn around at 15 minutes if I didn’t feel any better. I eventually warmed up to my run, but never felt anything but awkward. I just don’t feel at ease in the evening. I’m sure if I ran more in the evening this wouldn’t be the case. Oddly, I ran way faster than I do in the morning. Now I’m semi-tired, but awake. This will not bode well for my insomnia. Oh well. I got it done.
=======
Today’s Run: 5.6 miles | 58:?? | 10:20 (I’m too lazy to pull the info off my Forerunner. I do know that my pace was 10:20, though because I looked.)

Aug 08 2010

Completed: Week 3 NYCM Training

Category: Life, New York Marathon, running — GeekGirl @ 5:55 pm

Look what I got in the mail Friday. Woohoo. I can’t believe that I’m going to be making my return to the marathon in one of my favorite cities in the US.

So. Training. It happened this week and went fine. The only thing I can complain about is that I did 0 cross training. That’s not good and will improve. I promise!

I won’t go over the details again since I’ve been detailing the single runs which I like better. I ran a total of 5 runs which came to 30.4 miles. I want more, but that’s 9 more miles than I ran last week and I don’t want to overtrain or anything.

Next week is a “rest” week. It will look a bit like this:

M – XT
T –  4.5-5 EZ
W – 8 x hills :60 – :90
Th – 4.5 – 5 EZ
F – XT
Sat – 90 minute Progression Run
Sun – 40 – 50 Recovery/Rest
Projected Total ==> 25 – 30ish

I’m supposed to run on the lower end of the mileage since it’s a rest week. I’m just going to play it by ear, though. I don’t want to be a number whore, but I’d like at least 30. The week after that I’m going to hit 35 – 40. Hmmm…Maybe I should rest then. I’ll have to ponder this.

Anyway, I’m feeling good and slowly starting to feel like I’m getting in shape. I wish my mileage was higher, but whatever.

=======

Today’s Run: 4 miles | 43:38 | 10:55
Boring ass recovery run at the gym. Absolutely nothing to report here. I didn’t even have music since my iPod  decided not to work. (Maybe because I left it in the hot car for 3 days.)

Aug 07 2010

How I Felt Upon Hearing the Prop 8 Ruling

Category: New York Marathon, running — GeekGirl @ 8:13 pm

340x

Elmo and NPH sum it up perfectly here. Congrats to my California (and nationwide – because this is huge) homies!

=========

Today’s Run: 12 miles | Way to Slow!!!
I’m not displaying my time because it is embarrassing. Fortunately, it lines up for me to run the time I want in New York. There’s no way to get around it. It’s freaking hot here. 83 at 5:30 AM with humidity at 90%+. It sucks. However, I got it done and that’ s all that matters.

Lots of fun stuff to write about over the next few days. Wheeeeee!!!!

Aug 06 2010

Updating Links and Other Bloggy Related Stuff

Category: Life, webstuff/blog — GeekGirl @ 2:18 am

In anticipation of my 7th year of blogging, I’ll be giving my blog a face lift. In addition, I’m going to be making a better effort to deliver more consistent content and trying to grow the blog. It’s been 7 years! I should have more readers. The content will remain the same for the most part. I just want to add more lifestyle/pictures and stuff. No biggie.

With that said, if you read or follow along and have a blog please let me know in the comments. I would love to add your link to my list AND start reading you!

Aug 05 2010

At Least He’s Not A Thirsty Jerk

Category: pictures — GeekGirl @ 7:13 pm

photo

I have no idea why Gio is upside down. I could flip it in Photoshop, but meh…He still looks super cute!

The past couple of weeks, Gio has been peeing all over the place. At first, I thought he was just being a jerk and needed a bit of retraining. It happens, right? One night I decided to keep him in the bedroom with me so I could catch him when he woke up for his late night pee session. Imagine my surprise when I caught him not only peeing in my room, but managed to pick him up and he continued to pee. Seriously. Picture that. Me holding a peeing Italian Greyhound.

At that point, I realized that Gio might be sick. (In addition, he was drinking tons of water.) I took a sample of Gio pee to the vet and he has a urinary tract infection and some crystals in his pee. He’s on antibiotics for 2 weeks (no booze for him!) and the vet wants me to stop feeding him that hippie ass holistic food with the Native American and wolf on the package. (I thought it was good for him!)

Anyway, my sister and I had a conversation prior to his diagnosis. I told my sister that I was afraid he wouldn’t be sick and I’d have to deal with the fact that Gio is just a thirsty jerk. The general consensus of my family is that’s what the issue was…until they found out he was, indeed, sick.

========

Today’s Run: 4.5 miles | 48:22 | 10:46 pace
My legs were tired from yesterday’s hill run. I wanted to do 5-6, but just didn’t feel like adding that .5 miles. Whatever.

Yesterday’s Run: 4.4 miles | 48:00 | 10:55 pace
This was a hill w/out. Here’s how it played out:
20 minute warmup
6 x :60 -:70 hill @ 6-7% incline
13 minute cooldown @1.5% incline (whoops)

This run felt great! I was a bit worried about doing a hill workout on the treadmill, but I didn’t fly off the back of it or anything.  I wish I would’ve got a longer cool down just for hte mileage, but I had to get out of there. I can’t hang out on the treadmill for too long.

Aug 03 2010

Freedom and August Stuff

Category: Life, New York Marathon, Project GeekGirl, planet finance, running — GeekGirl @ 7:11 pm

I turned in my final paper Sunday evening. With that, I’m out of school for the next month. I also worked my last Saturday at the running store last week. I will have Saturday and Sunday off this week for the first time in around a year. Wow. All this extra time is mind-blowing for me. Of course I have a ton of stuff that I would like to get done over the next month. The number one thing is cleaning/organizing. I have so much clutter. Over the next month I’m going to get rid of as much as I can. I’m just sick of looking at it. Here are some of the things that I’d like to accomplish this month:

  • Clean out closets
  • Get a dresser/chest of drawers
  • Clean living room furniture (Might do this myself)
  • Get my bike fixed
  • List my books on Half.com
  • Clean out bathroom
  • Reorganize kitchen
  • Shred all extra papers and reorganize all my papers

I’ve got a lot to do, but I think it’ll make me feel a bit better to have a nice clean, organized home.  I also have a few financial things that I’d like to take care of this month:

  • Get my finances back in order. – I stopped using my budget a couple of months ago and hadn’t updated my Networth since April. Bleh. So not like me.
  • Pay off Hospital Bill #1 – I think it’s only $200. I have to call and check
  • Consolidate a few of my accounts. They’re getting entirely out of hand.
  • 10 No Spend Days – These are hard for me because I’m not organized and tend to go to the grocery store every day.  I waste a lot of money doing this.
  • Workout a plan to start tackling my student loan debt and Hospital Bill #2
  • Shop for flights to New York for the  marathon. I’ll be staying with my friend RTB so I just need to pay for the flight and make sure I have cash for miscellaneous fun stuff.
  • I also have a couple of super-secret income generating projects that I’ll be working on this month. More deets on those as soon as I figure them out.

Of course, the usual stuff is still in place. Hit all my runs. Stretch, ice, crosstrain. All that good stuff. I also want to relax and read at least 1 good book. I miss reading books for the heck of it.

What are you up to this month?

============

Today’s Run: 5.5 miles | 57:34 | 10:28 pace
This run was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. When I stepped out this morning I thought it was semi-cooler. It might have been in  my head, though. Once I made it to the beach, the wind picked up and it started pouring. That in turn made the temperature drop and I had a great run. It’s nice to see that I can run faster that I have been. As long as I stay consistent this summer I should be fine when I get to New York.

Did you run today? How was it?

Aug 01 2010

Completed: Week 2 NYCM Training

Category: New York Marathon, running — GeekGirl @ 5:08 pm

Generally speaking this week went pretty well. I missed a couple of runs though I think it was for the better. Here’s how things went down:

M – REST
T – 5.0 miles
W – 1.6 ==> I went to do a steady state 25 minute run at the gym but had serious issues with my hamstrings. My back was hurting too. I completely freaked out and went home to stretch instead.
Th – 5.0 miles
F – REST
S – 10.01 miles. They were extremely slow, but I got them done and felt fine doing it. Go me!
Sun – Off. Tummy issues. Bleh
Total – 21 or so miles.

This week was a bit lower than I wanted. I really expected to clear at least 30 miles, but you know what? Shit happens. I’ve still got 14 more weeks of training. I really need to get serious though if I’m going to pull this off. So here’s what I’m planning for this week:

M –  Yoga/Weights / 20 – 30 minute Recovery (Optional)
T – 5 – 6 miles EZ
W – Hill Workout 6 – 8 x 60 – 90 seconds uphill
Th –  5 – 6 miles EZ
F – Yoga / 20 -30 min (Optional)
S – 12 -14 miles Long
Sun – 3-4 miles Recovery  / Yoga
Total – Approx. 30 -36 miles

This week will be a stretch for me, so I will have to play things safe. Fortunately, next week is a recovery week. Lots of stretching, recovery, sleeping, and fueling. I bought a pair of compression sleeves to aide recovery. I’ll let you know how those workout, too. Notice that I’m adding a lot of yoga and/or weight training. I suck at crosstraining, so I want to make sure that I get in plenty of it.

Food / Hydration goals are pretty simple. I want to eat nice and clean. No booze during the week and no eating crap. I’ve been eating far less crap since I bought How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I LOVE this book and will be doing a nice big review sometime next week. Hydration I’ve been doing fine on lately. No issues really but I need to keep it up.

Rest and recovery wise I need to work on getting quality sleep. I have big dark circles under my eyes. Not sure how to tackle that one. But, it’s an ongoing process so we’ll see.

With that, onward!

Jul 29 2010

An Open Letter to the Racist on the Bike This Morning

Category: rants — GeekGirl @ 8:38 pm

Dear Racist Asshole on Bike:

I’ve had a shitty, shitty week. My dog is sick, my paycheck was lost in the mail, my boss is correcting ridiculous grammar things, I had to bail on my speed workout because I thought I was injured, I’m worried and lost about my future, I need to write 2 papers by Tuesday and have not even sat down to figure out what I need. You know. Normal first world problems.

This morning I bounced out of bed determined to dominate this day and take care of all of my problems.  First things first? Go on a nice – hopefully pain free run.

I set out on my run and my hamstrings and back felt much better. Yay stretching! I was breathing ok, it was hot but I wasn’t overwhelmed I felt like I was conquering this day.  I even brought water with me. I was pwning this day!

Until I ran into you.

I thought nothing about you riding your bike towards me. This is the main route to the beach and lots of people ride their bikes along there. You’re wearing a workshirt and look kind of miserable. Yeah. I’d be miserable to if I had to rely on a bike to get around in South Florida in the summer. Whatever.

As you go by me you say, “You need to turn around”. I was confused. Maybe there was an accident or something on the beach. Thanks guy. Then you say it:

“You need to turn around. A1A (the beach) is only for white people”.

Wow. You seriously went there you piece of shit?  You see me, minding my own fucking business in my neighborhood and all you can think to tell me is that I don’t belong there.

FUCK YOU!!!  You piece of fucking trash.

Of course, I didn’t say anything. Why? I’m a single woman running at the crack of dawn by herself. The street is well traveled and there seems to be others around, but really. I can’t risk anything here. Further, it makes me almost cry.

I continue on my run. I see the sunrise. A guy tells me to be sure to enjoy the view while I’m working hard. The old guy I always see gives me a “Go get ‘em, Tiger!”.  I run the last 2 miles with one of the women I help at the running store.

Despite the racist bullshit that fell out of your douchey fucking mouth, I had a good run.

GeekGirl – 1   Racist Cockbib – 0

As some have stated I shouldn’t have let this get to me. You know what? Anytime that you are reminded that you are in the minority and perhaps not always wanted around it’s going to bug the shit out of you. Particularly in YOUR neighborhood and on YOUR beach. I’ve run these streets for years. These are MY streets.

But you know what bugs me the most? I. Felt. Powerless. I felt like the lowest rung on the ladder. You  would not have said this to man. Black, white, green, red. You would not have said it. You probably would not have said it to a particular type of black woman. Instead, you said it to the 115 lb rather timid looking woman running alone at 6:30 in the morning.

You, sir, are a coward. A pathetic, weak, POWERLESS coward. Riding your bike at 6:30 in the morning with your work uniform* on tells me everything I need to know about you.

It was when I realized this that I felt ok about it. Some people must try to show their power in any way they possibly can. If this is what it took for you to feel better about your pathetic life then good for you, because in the long run I still have more power than you. I am educated, gainfully employed, and privileged  enough to own a car and live in a great neighborhood. A neighborhood where I have never felt uneasy, scared, or powerless prior to you. (Even with the huge number of homeless peeps!)I have free time and am able to go for runs, bike rides, and just hang out. I travel and basically do what I want.

Now, with that said Racist Guy on Bike, keep in mind that I am upwardly mobile. Who knows where I will end up in this crazy thing that we call life. And I NEVER – I mean NEVER -forget a face. Period.

Truly Yours (Not Really Douchebag!),

GeekGirl

PS – Everyone hopes you fall off your fucking bike or it gets stolen or something. I have to agree here.

PSS – I can NEVER tell my mom, dad, or sister about this because they’ve always hated this side of town. Too urban for all of them. My dad will be threatening to follow me around in the car and my mom will want me to come over to her place to run.

* Note –  I point out his work shirt to make the point that he is not out riding for exercise. This isn’t like up north or a place with great mass transit. If you’re biking here in this neighborhood, wearing a work shirt your life isn’t going so great. I DO NOT have issues with blue collar guys or people on bikes.

Jul 27 2010

Mini-Meltdown

Category: New York Marathon, planet finance — GeekGirl @ 8:27 pm

I bank with Schwab. Though they have a branch or something downtown, I still have to mail in my deposits. In general, I have no problem with this, but lately it’s been causing me a bit of grief. The latest grief? I think my deposit got lost in the mail. Usually if I get my check in the mail on Saturday, it posts on Monday. Well, it’s Tuesday evening and it hasn’t posted. I called and they said they don’t have anything.

After the initial panic I rationally transferred over the necessary amount from my ING account. Hopefully, it will post tomorrow. Here’s the thing though. My boss is going out of town on Thursday. So, if I don’t tell him by tomorrow I might not be able to replace the check. So, do I suck it up and go ahead and have him put a stop-payment on it? I’m not hurting for cash or anything. But it might be 2-3 weeks before he’s back in town. Can I wait that long? Honestly? Yes.

Add to this the fact that I’m having anxiety about my “future”. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Due to some issues I’m limited in things, but for the most part I have NO idea what I want to do. I just know what I don’t want to do. That’s remain in the tech industry. Though, in all honesty it hasn’t been bad to me. So…sigh. I have no idea.

I also want to move, but because I’m not sure what I want to do is it wise for me to buy here. And what happens if I lose my job or can’t find work? Then what? Will I be homeless? I don’t want to be a homeless lady.

And…now I can’t breathe again. . .

This is what’s coursing through my little head all day and night. I don’t know what to do. Right now, I’m drinking wine. Not sure how that will help, but I had to do something. (Though I think I’m just obsessing. It might be time for me to take  a step back.)

========

Today’s Run:   5 miles | 55:33 | 10:58 or so
Decent run. I meant to go about 5.3, but I got super hot at the end and walked the rest in. No biggie. I got the time I needed and I think walking that little bit was a great cool down. There was really no reason to push or anything. I just felt like I could go any further.

Off topic – Fort Lauderdale stinks. It was hot and still this morning. No airflow or anything and everything smelled like bumjuice. Yes. Bumjuice. You don’t even want to know what that smells like.

« Previous Page — Next Page »