Hi There!!

 

Yeah, so it's a little nice here. Just a tad cooler than Texas, just a tad.

Went for a GREAT 45-minute run/walk this morning. Bit of a struggle to keep the HR down with the inclines along the path, but well worth it for 52 degrees and amazing wide open spaces at 6:30! After a great breakfast, we took a little hike up a smaller mountain, then took the gondola up to the top of Aspen Mountain. The view is spectacular, to put it mildly.

Later tonight, Ashcroft and then dinner, and then tomorrow we'll try to hit the Maroon Bells and Independence Pass before we head back to Denver for wedding weekend fun. Peace out!

Partner in Crime

I loves teh Internets! As discussed below, I've just started the LHR training thang, and am constantly trying to figure out the missing part of the equation in regards to getting the weight under control. But today, I think I may have found another avenue that will keep me accountable, that will keep me motivated, that will keep me, let's face it, HONEST! And that, friends and naybers, is a Training Partner! More details to come... I've got a couple of revisions to make to a couple of hairy spreadsheets and a proposal doc before I head to bed, and I also need to hit the streets for a 40-minute run now that the temps have cooled down to 90 degrees now.

More later, pinky promise!!!

EDITED TO ADD:
I did NOT go outside to run yesterday. By the time I finished with what I needed to finish, it was 10:30 and STILL 90 degrees out. Hub was adamant that I not go out into the dark and heat to run at that hour. Elder Child was passed out in the playroom where the treadmill is, so I didn't want to bother him, and I couldn't handle a 15-minute drive to the gym for 40 minutes of SLOW running. So I bailed. I am a chucker loser and a slacker, I admit it. BUT!!! (she adds somewhat victoriously) I did NOT have a bowl, or even a cup, or even a spoon of the praline caramel ice cream in the freezer instead. So, I'm not a complete slack-ass, just a partial one.

AvonWalk Slideshow

on Google Picasa:



Captions should be showing. Enjoy!

Day 1 LHR

Today was the first day of the LHR training, and this is how it went:

Run time: 31:53:02
Total mileage: 2.5 miles
Pace/mile: 12:45/mile
calories burned: 288
Average HR: 137
Peak HR: 145

Time in
Sheesh. That's slow, even slower than my prep runs on Monday and Tuesday (those were half-hour runs of 2.75 miles, for an average pace of 10:54. But I realized this morning that my heartrate was well above my LHR high end of 142, as I had a bit of a struggle to stay under that several times today. I did manage to stay within the HR range of 120-142 for 29 minutes, though, with only 1 minute above the range. I slowed to a walk almost instantly when I heard the watch alarm go off, and I only started to run again when it came down to about 135.

It's been hot when I go out, but not nearly as humid as I'm used to by this time of the year, so I think that's helped keep the effort down. I'm looking forward to trying this when I start traveling again, too -- we'll give it a test when we go to Denver next weekend. It will be interesting to see how it translates to the treadmill, too. Right now, the plan is to keep to half-hour-ish runs this week, with a long run of 90 minutes on Sunday, and then bump up the daily runs to 45 minutes next week and an hour the following week. After that, I'll keep up hour-long runs 5X a week with a long run on Sunday. With that approach, we'll let the mileage be what it will be, and worry just about keeping the HR steady and improving the engine.

So that's all. Gotta go - I'll be posting the slideshow from last weekend tonight so everyone can see it, but first I've got to send the email to my donors and honorees.

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

So, I have no events scheduled. Not just in the next month, or three months, or six months. I. have. no. events. scheduled. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Which is something that makes the common folks who share my house very, very nervous. See, 'cause if I don't have anything to train for, then that means, pretty simply, that I have no reason to train. And we can't have that. Because the week I took off to recover from my little weekend stroll nearly killed me. And those in my house. I was crabby, cranky and pretty much a pain to be around. If not for the garage sale tasks, I'd have made everyone else crabby, cranky and pretty much a pain to be around too, just by osmosis.

So we have to have a goal for the training. We have to have a Raison d'être or we just pretty much make everyone nuts. And the goal for the training, for at least the next three months, probably for the rest of the year, is....

(insert drumroll, in case you can't guess by the headline)

Base training, using LHR (that's low heart rate) training. Building the aerobic base and teaching the old body to be an effective aerobic machine. Also, building base for next spring, in which I re-attempt the Love the Half marathon madness, hopefully with much faster times. Also, building swimming endurance for the triathlons next summer, in which I will progress to an Olympic distance by the end of the year. Also, spending a lot more time with the pushup, the pull-up, and the crunch (gawd, I HATE the crunch -- a fact well-attested to by my waistline).

So, that's it. There ya go. We've done some unofficial LHR runs yesterday and today, which were mostly unofficial b/c the Suunto T1 did not arrive until our friendly UPS guy brought it by this afternoon (last year's model -- score! "brick" color AKA burnt orange -- double score!!). So tomorrow, we begin in earnest, with a target range of 120-142. Look for more stats like total time running/mileage (just for comparison's sake)/avg HR, etc. This place may start to look like a running blog again. Go figure.

Peace out, folks! It's past dinner time and the boys are hungry -- gotta rustle up something to eat!

At the Finish!

IMG_7534, originally uploaded by ccervant_99.

This is the official photo of us at the end of this weekend's 39.3 mile AvonWalk for Breast Cancer. Many more to come, once I get the rest of the photos from Alicia's camera.

By the Numbers

3200 -- participants in this year's San Francisco Avon Walk
7.2 million -- dollars raised by these participants (yours truly included)
39.3 -- miles walked
15:25 -- hours total on the routes over two days
60 -- pounds our new friend lost in the past year training for this; we met her while stretching and we stuck together throughout the whole route
2 -- times we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge
10 -- times we saw "Elmo Man" -- a man holding a stuffed Elmo doll -- on the course supporting his wife
1,006,000 -- dollars raised by ONE volunteer for this and other previous breast cancer walks
20 -- HOT San Jose police officers in PINK shirts on bicycles riding alongside us; there may have been fewer, there may have been more, but they were all adorable!!
1000 -- tents in Walker's Village Saturday night
14 -- stops in Port-a-Potties along the route
10 -- box trucks transporting our gear to and from the start and the village
8 -- members of Team Penny we saw -- may have been more we didn't see -- Penny is the mom of the sweetest 17-year-old boy you ever met. She lost her battle with breast cancer 2 years ago.
270 -- photographs I took in the past three days -- doesn't count what my buddy has on her camera

It was a blast, folks. And I tell you what, walking 26.2 miles is hella lot harder than running the same distance. You spend more time total on your feet, and it takes a ton more steps to reach the same destination. I spoke with many runners who felt the same way. On a marathon day, at my slowest pace, I would have been done in 5 hours and change. We were just finishing up mile 14 by that time. Granted we took more and longer breaks, and many times had to wait at stoplights and such, but the toll on my body was greater this weekend than on any marathon course I've done. I have so much respect for these walkers, and they come in all sizes, ages and physical abilities.

And the city of San Francisco -- WOW. Great vistas, magnificent scenery, wonderfully supportive crowds. the weather was PERFECT! I did get a little more sun yesterday than Saturday, and my lips are sunburned (!!), but besides that, it couldn't have been better walking weather. We were never nasty sweaty, although those portable showers were a blessing Saturday night. It was just glorious!

Probably the only negative was the hills -- the front of my right leg and my right knee are not real happy with me. That flared up on me after a particularly nasty set of rollers about mile 7-9 yesterday; I iced it and wrapped it during the lunch break, but it was still progressing from twinge to pain by the time we finished up. It feels better today after elevation and more ice, but I will definitely be visiting my therapist Tuesday morning. But since I know the problem is not structural, I didn't have any doubts about finishing. I was a little slower on the downhills than I was Saturday, but it was all good in the end.

It's still wicked early here, and I have a little bit of work to finish up before a deadline before I can fully relax and spend the rest of the day enjoying what time we have left here in San Fran. Peace out folks! Many, many photos to come!!

Almost "GO" time!

so, this is it.

We're checked in with the airline.
We're packed (mostly -- need to find the battery charger for the camera).
Fundraising goal, as of about 10 minutes ago, is at 100%! Wahooo!
We're loaded with BodyGlide, sunscreen, and PINK, PINK, PINK!

Those of you who know me know that I'm the original anti-pink chick. I think I've only ever owned two items of clothing that are pink, and one of them I sloshed paint on last year so it went bye-bye. The other is more of a melon-color and really more orangey-fuschia. So for me to wear pink? It's a big deal.

But, folks, this IS a big deal. I've said all along that I've been fortunate to not be directly touched by breast cancer. But, that's not true. The friends and family that have come together to support me have done so because THEY'VE been touched by breast cancer. And that affects them and in turn, it affects me. It affects us all. As we've been preparing for this, as I've done more research, and read the memorials, I've become acutely aware of how hideous this disease is. It strikes women in the prime of their lives, and it affects the heart and soul of a family, whether it steals their mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, or daughters. And so I will gladly and proudly wear pink, for this event, and probably afterward, too. I will continue to crusade even after the walk this weekend, after the blisters have healed, after the muscles are recovered, after the tears are dried. It's too important not to.

Peace out folks! I'm not taking the computer with me, so I won't be blogging, but I'll see you on the other side. Thanks for all your support along the way!!

home now

for a while, it seems. lots to catch up on around the homestead, and some actual work every now and again. still getting kicked out for showings twice a day, too, which is becoming more and more a PITA since there is no actual SALE coming out of it. mostly, though, I'm enjoying being home and sleeping in my bed and spending time with all three of my boys and those two insane cats.

Biggest item on the to-do list this week is packing and last-minute prep for the AvonWalk this weekend. Physically, we're ready, I think. Fundraising-wise, I'm at 93%, with a verbal commitment from my brother that should get me to goal. And I still have a couple of last-minute pleas to get out to some folks from the project that committed but haven't actually paid up yet. So I'm good to go there. For now, it's pretty well done but the doing, I guess.

I will probably not be blogging for a couple of days while I get a foothold on what needs to be done around here to get ready for the move (sell the house... ahem). I have already imported about 500 photos from both cameras taken over the last three months and need to go through those and post the choice ones to flickr and here. That was high on the list, and I'm glad to have the memory free for this weekend's trip. I'm sad that I didn't do more photography when I was in NYC, but I just didn't have the time/energy to do it while trying to log 40+ hours in the workweek and not keel over from exhaustion.

More to come, but probably not for a while. I have a lot of stuff to filter through about what comes next after AvonWalk, but for now, I need to get through it, give thanks that I am able to do it, and most of all, enjoy the experience. Later will come soon enough, methinks.

Peace out, folks.

One more

One more night in a hotel.
One more trip out to New Jersey to the airport.
One more wait at the gate, checking to see if I've been upgraded.

Yes, folks, I'm headed home from this project in NYC for good tomorrow afternoon. With some good fortune from the travel gods, I will be home in less than 24 hours. I've learned a lot on this project, and I've met a ton of folks, some of whom I am looking forward to working with again and who are true, deep-down, salt-of-the-earth, Good People. Others, meh. Whatever the case may be, let it be said that I gave 110% every stinking day of this project, because I did, even when it was brutal, and trust me, there were days that it surpassed brutal and went into insane.

As of right now, this moment, I don't have another traveling gig set up. I have a couple of leads on some internal projects that I can work on from home. Yes, that will be good. And even a little bit of what we call "bench time" would be welcome, no matter the impact on next quarter's bonus. I think I need it after the past 51 weeks.

For right now, though, at this very moment, there is only one thing left for me to do before I leave this fine city (love to visit, would NEVER want to live here), and that involves my running shoes, a gravel path, and a little sunset over the city. Central Park, as far as I'm concerned, is the best part of this little metro area, and I will miss it, to be sure.

So for now, one more run in the Park. I'll catch you on the other side, back in Tejas, where I belong!!