solar squirrel

I’ve slacked so much these past few months on my blog I just decided to make a post that covers the majority of what has been going on lately.  My running has slowly been getting better - not nearly where I was 2 years ago before the IT Band injury - but definitely getting there.  I’ve managed to lose about 10 lbs., too, thanks in part to running again and in part to my 2 days a week with Larry my personal torturer.  I haven’t been this small for a while and it’s GREAT!  My clothes are all loose and I’m feeling awesome during my training.  I just hope I can keep it up once winter comes.  (I think I will).

Quick break to just say that Dr. TIM KEYES IS THE BEST!!!  If it weren’t for going to him and getting ART (Active Release Technique) on my IT band who knows the shape I would be in right now.  Probably the fattest I’ve ever been and incredibly out of shape.  If you are having issues with your IT Band and you haven’t tried ART I highly recommend that you do!  I took 8 months off of running and thanks to Tim I am confident in saying that I am BACK!

Racing these past few months hasn’t been very consistent.  I ended up doing the Pirate Tri (sprint) at Lake Metroparks.  I realized that I just don’t want to spend the ridiculous amts. of $$ triathlons typically cost.  I may do Portage Lakes, but unless a triathlon is less than $50 chances are I probably won’t be doing it.  This past Thursday I did the Twilight Trail 8k sans my original ‘Two Trail Freaks’ team mate, Elizabeth.  Instead I ran on a team with Bridget and we decided to call ourselves ‘2 Slow 4 Elizabeth’ since - in reality I really am too slow to be on a team with her!!  Plus, that name is just hilarious.  I was less than 2 minutes slower than the last time I did the race.  I had a time of 38:42 this year.  In 2008 I had a 37:01.  I guess that’s not all that bad considering I took so long off of running and I felt pretty good during the race and had enough energy at the end to pass the two girls who were in front of me.  I really can’t wait to be back into better shape and be faster and have endurance.  It’s just going to take time, though…I’m just SO THANKFUL that I’m able to run again!!!

Today I ran the longest I’ve done in well over a year:  18 miles.  And it was HOTTTTTTT!!!  I ran with Bridget and Addy (Addy for the first 6 - she was in the Bob stroller while we pushed).  Let me just state for the record that I was a sweaty disgusting MESS!  I CANNOT believe how much sweat poured off of me today!  We are talking dripping off and drenched clothes.  I brought my insulated container filled with a gallon of ice water plus a water bottle filled with gatorade AND I DRANK ALL OF IT!!!  Yes - the entire gallon container and my water bottle!  And I was STILL thirsty afterwords!  Bridget and me ran together for almost the entire time and then when we got to 14 I just decided I wanted to be done so I picked it up a little.  I think my last 2 miles were the fastest of the entire 18, mainly due to the sheer fact that I just wanted to be done running and get out of my soaked, nasty clothes!  I’m definitely excited to have completed 18, though.  Because running is so mental this is a nice next step for me after so long without running.  I’m confident now that I am a runner again!

We are building a deck in the backyard.  It is coming along nicely and I can’t wait to have it completed and ready for lounging!  We’re planning on also getting a hot tub which I’ve pretty much wanted my whole life.  I am so excited for this winter to come now!  Running in the winter is just SOOOOO cold, and now after I’m done running I can look forward to sitting in a luxurious spa!  I think it will really help me stick with my running over the winter.  Oh, and PS:  If you run with me over the winter you are also more than welcome to come back to my place afterwords and go in with me!

Photo from Will and Kate’s wedding.  Brian had two dates because Sharon didn’t have a date and Todd was in Poland for work.  Lucky guy!!!

Me, Brian, and Sharon at Will and Kate's Wedding

Some progress shots of the deck.  Here is one of the earliest before we excavated half of the yard and drilled all of the post holes.  BTW, if you have rocks in your yard good luck using a power auger.  Doesn’t work very well and you have to do it the old fashioned way with a manual post hole digger.

2-person auger for drilling post holes

It was pretty neat when they delivered the stuff for the deck.  This guy brought a lift to haul the stuff down the driveway!  Awesome!

Getting materials delivered

It’s crazy how much we had to dig out!  Todd took the sledgehammer to two of the concrete stairs leading off the back porch.

Progress shot of holes and excavation

Holes dug and posts in place with concrete drying

Posts in, working on the beams then the joists!

Shot showing joists nailed together

Nailing the joists together with those stupid plates was terrible!  If we knew then what we know now we would have ordered different types of materials.  It takes forever to nail all the nails into those plates and it’s so annoying!  Me and Todd both got blisters from hammering so many freakin nails!

You’ll have to stay tuned for pictures of the finished deck…

I’ve been trying to post on Sundays since it seems like the day that I have time and don’t mind sitting down in front of the computer.  I just realized that I don’t have anything really exciting to write about - but here’s a recap of the high’s (and low’s) of the week:

• Thursday:  Went to see Dr. Keyes and he told me that my knee was feeling really good and that I should go ahead and start increasing my running / training.  This was news that was skeptically received by me since I’m going on a full year of being injured, but it was exciting nonetheless! 
• Friday:  Went out with Brittany for dinner and drinks sort of as a ‘last single girls night out’ since she’s getting married in 2 weeks.  Had a great time - went to Lola’s for the first time (for dinner - I”ve been there for drinks before) and had an AWESOME meal.  We finished the evening at this Chocolate Bar where we both ordered ice cream concoctions larger than our heads, justifying it by stating that we would just burn it off during our personal training session the next day.
• Saturday:  At 9 am I had my weekly hour-long personal training session with Larry - a.k.a. my personal torturer.  He decided to have us do a pyramid of sprints with arm exercises in between. (Among some other fun torture exercises).  I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest and Brittany sort of turned white and almost barfed.  We were both DRENCHED with sweat when we were done, but of course that didn’t stop us from going to get breakfast!  The rest of the day Saturday I hung out with my mom and sisters and we made dinner and watched The Brave Little Toaster and sung along with the songs and argued about which appliance was who.  It was fun.  For the record I am not the freakin’ vacuum cleaner!  And Gretchen is DEFINITELY the blankey.
• Sunday:  Today Todd and I met Steve and Bridget at Boston Store for an easy 9 mile run.  They brought Addy in the Bob stroller and we took turns pushing her while we ran.  I found that for some strange reason my IT band didn’t act up as much while I was pushing the stroller and the only thing I can think is that it has to do with me not flailing my arm as much.  (Since I was holding onto the stroller it kept that side of my body more stable).  So - open invitation for anyone who has a running stroller:  I’ll run with you and push!  (Disclaimer:  must be flat terrain).  It was a good time and we managed to maintain a pace a lot faster than 10-min miles, which was the goal (I think we were at 9:40??)When Todd and I got home we were welcomed with a super nice surprise! (Not!!!)  Our 110 Gallon Reef Tank had decided to start leaking again (Todd sealed the leak when we first got the tank…) and Todd ended up spending about 6 hours (he’s still working right now) removing ALL of the fragile corals, live rock, snails, invertabrates, and fish to other temporary storage locations as well as draining the tank.  It is seriously my worst nightmare.  At least it was a slow leak and it happened on a Sunday when we were both home and had the time to figure out several temporary storage spots and get everyone moved safely.  I would say we had about 45-50 different animals total in that tank, possibly more.  Worth several thousands of dollars, by the way.  (No, that is NOT an exaggeration.)  Not a great end to a weekend, but it could have been so much worse.  I just feel terrible - it is going to be SO MUCH work to get things back to where they were with the tank.  I am pretty sure we will sell the leaky one, which we bought for $800.  (Obviously, we will sell it to someone who doesn’t want to use it for water).  If you know anyone who wants a really pretty tank and stand for super cheap let me know! 

Here’s a quick recap of the workouts this week:

Monday - Bike 20 miles
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Bike 1 hour (Lifetime Spin Class)
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Run 4 miles (7:49 pace)
Saturday - 1 hour personal training
Sunday - 9 miles easy run (9:40 pace I think)

I’m planning on swimming tomorrow pm.  BRIAN IF YOU ARE READING THIS LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING!!  WE’RE GONNA DO A MARATHON LADDER IF SO!

Well another week has gone by…nothing really new to report.  I’ve been continuing to work on getting more workouts in and working on getting my fitness level back.  Yesterday was the Blossom Time Run…2 years ago I ran it in 35:55 (6:50 pace) and I don’t think I can run 1 mile that fast now.  Obviously I didn’t do it, but instead opted to meet Bridget for an easy 8 miles on the towpath.  It was nice and I think I’m really going to enjoy getting back in shape with her!  Of course the IT band was super tight afterwords, but I think the run was good - we had a 10 min pace, which was perfect for loosening everything up and getting the kinks worked out.  I am going to attempt a slow run at least once per week moving forward.

Today I was planning on riding in Peninsula w/ CTC but there was a crazy storm right when they were scheduled to start so Todd and me opted to just stay home and work on cleaning.  We might go later tonight but I think it’s supposed to storm again.  Boo.  (Riding in the rain and in storms is not safe…as it is I’m clumsy on the bike and I don’t need to risk hurting or killing myself).

Here’s a quick recap of the week:

Mon:  swim - super lame…probably only managed to do 1000 yards (Brian let’s do a ladder next time!)
Tue: Rest
Wed: 1 hour spin class
Thurs: 5 mile run in am (8:18 pace)
Fri: rest
Sat: 1 hour personal training
Sun: 8 miles easy (10 min pace)

The run on Thursday felt really good.  I decided not to look at my pace but instead just run a pace that felt like I was just bordering on getting out of my comfort zone (anaerobic threshold).  This is good because I’m not that far off from where I used to be (8-min pace used to be right where discomfort started).  I know that in order to get my running fitness back I have to - duh - run - but it’s SO FRUSTRATING when after every run my IT band is so stiff!  I’m gonna just go with it, though.  I see Dr. Keyes again on Friday, so we’ll see how things go until then.

I was totally planning on doing the Twinsburg Duathlon - but I just went to register and realized that it’s $60!!  (I need to purchase the USAT 1-day membership).  I don’t know if I can pay that much…not because I don’t have $60, but because it’s just the principal of paying $60 for such a short race. (2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run).  Bridget mentioned this yesterday while we were running and I didn’t realize it was so $$.

We’ll see.

So it’s almost June and my fitness goals for 2010 haven’t really materialized.  It’s been a slow start to getting back into running and getting over my almost year-long IT band injury.  About a month and a half ago I finally decided to try ART (Active Release Technique) w/ Dr. Tim who has performed near miracles on several of my running friends.  I figured that I had nothing to lose and made an apt.  He told me that after only a few sessions with him I should be nearly pain-free.  This didn’t sound possible - but amazingly after only 3 sessions with him I am back to running nearly pain-free.  Unfortunately last week I decided to try some speed / tempo work and the pain came back after my first 2 miles.  I must have been pushing it too hard and honestly the towpath isn’t really the best place to do speed work since there are a lot of uneven spots and it’s hard to navigate through them.  I did 1/2 mile as a warmup and then was going to do 3 ‘tempo’ miles of around 7-min pace. (With rest in between of course).  I guess this was way too aggressive of a goal because I almost died the first mile (6:50 pace) and then only a little bit into the 2nd mile I started to feel pain.  ARGH! I ended up with a 7:10 pace for my 2nd mile and then decided to just run a comfortable (8:35 pace) back home.  What this taught me:

1.  I need to be ULTRA CONSERVATIVE with any attempts at ’speed’ training

2.  I need to get back to see Tim so that I can work out whatever kinks I’ve still got

3.  I need to realize that it’s been almost a year of being injured and I’m not going to just spring back to where I was…This is probably the most difficult thing to deal with…knowing that I’m MONTHS out from being in the shape that I used to be in and not being able to visualize the end result of the slow road to fitness recovery.

In addition to trying to get back into running I’ve also been working out with a personal trainer every Saturday for an hour.  I do ‘buddy’ sessions w/ Brittany and our trainer, Larry - a.k.a. my personal torturer.  I don’t know where he comes up with the torturous things he has us do…but they are INSANE.  With the exception of last week EVERY session leaves me 100% exhausted and feeling like I was just taking part in a Fight Club scene.  He’ll show us what we’re going to do and we just look at each other like ‘are you kidding me??!!  We have to do 20 of those???!!!!!  I can’t even imagine doing 1 or 2!!!’  It’s good, though, and I can tell that it is definitely complementary to my running and biking (and swimming when I make it - I KNOW BRIAN I NEED TO GET TO THE POOL!!!)

Lucky for me I have several running pals who are willing to run with me (shout out to Martini Mike) and are helping me get back.  Running alone is not for me and I am someone who really needs a companion - which is what has made getting back into running shape so difficult for me.  (Most of my SERC friends are just way too fast).  Plus I have a fear of going out for a run and then having knee pain and having to walk back…which I wouldn’t want to make someone put up with.

So that’s where I am.  I’ve been trying to get to the gym during lunch but that hasn’t happened for several months now due to insane work loads and the inability to even take a lunch.  I have seen that this has started to take a toll on me mentally and I am going to make an effort to start hitting the gym again and take a lunch break.  Fitness is a huge part of being healthy and without your health you DON’T HAVE ANYTHING.  I refuse to go down the same path that happened when I was working at Aclara - which I believe ultimately is what caused my IT band injury.

Last week was the official end to my MBA experience at Case.  The diploma ceremony was very nice and the weather was gorgeous.  I’m glad that I went.  Afterwords we had a nice dinner at home with my family and Todd re-enacted giving me my diploma so that my grandma could see it (she couldn’t make it to the diploma ceremony).  Todd put on his old cap and gown and hood to present mine to me - it was hilarious!!!  (Sorry - I’m not posting the pictures!!)

The weather today is awesome and Todd and I just got back from a bike ride to Peninsula and back.  (Of course this wasn’t enough exercise for Todd and he had to go back out for a run…such a show-off!!)  I am too sore to run after yesterdays personal training/torture session so I didn’t go with him.

I need to get better at tracking my workouts so here is this week’s recap:

Mon- Spin Class @ LT - 1 hour
Tue - speed/tempo (ran 3.5 miles - had ITB pain )
Wed - rest (badmitton playing in the back yard w/ Todd)
Thurs - rest
Fri - 6.5 mile run ~8:35 pace
Sat - 1 hour personal training session
Sun - bike ~20 miles

This week I’m probably going to hit the pool at least once because I really need to work on my swimming - plus it’s just a great recovery activity.  I’m looking forward to doing some  outdoor swimming this summer at LT also.  Brian - if you are reading this let me know if you are going to hit the Highland Heights pool because I’ll plan on meeting you there a few times too!!

I AM planning on doing the Twinsburg duathlon on 6/6 which should be an easy entry into this year’s race season.  Let’s hope my IT band holds up!

PV modules

A majority of my new job has been focused around solar PV (photovoltaics).  As such, we decided it made since for the VP of Renewable Energy Technologies to attend some solar installation training to become more technically savvy.  I looked around for a good long while in search of a course that was 1) affordable 2) close and 3) had good credentials - IREC accredited and taught by NABCEP Certified installers.

I looked at Boots on the Roof but honestly, it was just too expensive (would have had to fly there and the price was over $3k).  There were a few local options at the community colleges, but their instructors weren’t NABCEP Certified nor did they have IREC accreditation.  I’m one of those people who insists on getting what they pay for (even if it wasn’t my money) so I did quite a bit of research.  I ended up choosing to attend Infinite Solar in PA.  The course was advertised as a 5-day entry level course.  While I wouldn’t really consider myself ‘entry’ level, I figured this course would be perfect for me because it would allow me to get the hands-on experience I was looking for.  Because the course was in Philly, I asked my good friend Chris if I could stay with him and his fiancee.  Of course he said yes and the planning began! So this meant I could drive AND wouldn’t have to pay extra for a hotel.  Double win. [NOTE: Due to a co-worker's concern I have decided to remove the sentences that used to be here.]

So…the week before Easter I was headed to Philly.  Chris planned out for me the most efficient routes for getting to Philly from Akron as well as my daily drive to the school.  It was soooo nice to have someone local to help with that kind of stuff.  I left for Philly Sat afternoon and stayed Sat to Sat.  We had a blast - Chris and Cathy showed me around Philly and we did a ton of really fun stuff including lots of AWESOME food and beer consumption.  (Hence my facebook status updates w/ beer and food pictures).  It would have been way more fun if I didn’t have to wake up at 6am every day, but we decided that I would just have to come back this summer.

Now onto the course discussion.  I guess when I read ‘entry-level’ I didn’t really think about it -  i.e. anyone - even if you didn’t finish high school - could possibly be one of the students.  The math portion of the class was beyond embarrassing.  Having spent over 6 years as an embedded software engineer I came to forget that not everyone has things like Ohm’s law memorized or that current times voltage = Watts (power).  Those things are just like second nature to me - kind of like driving or putting on my shoes.  I forget that maybe some people haven’t had to think about that since middle school.  Ok, so I’ll give you that.  Maybe you didn’t work on medical imaging equipment where you had to think about the kV and mA that were selected by the user in order to get the desired power settings for you CT scan.  Got it.  But there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO BASIC ALGEBRA.  We spent a good 20 min discussing the fact that if V=IR, it also magically means that I=V/R.  And there were people that didn’t get this!!!!!!  WTF!!????!!!!!  How can you get through life not understanding basic algebra??!!!  I seriously use algebra at LEAST once a week!!!  This course was a lesson for me in many ways…some of which had nothing to do with solar installation.  So I was beyond baffled by the fact that people didn’t understand how to do basic calculations.  Also - there was this guy that I think must have been mentally disabled sitting next to me.  He was asking THE DUMBEST questions…every time he talked I had to think about something sad so that I wouldn’t die laughing.  It got to the point where the instructor would look at me when he started to ask a question - like we both had this understanding that this guy was just a whack-o - and it would make me have to try even harder not to laugh.  He was asking things that were totally unrelated to the course.  I swear I thought he was going to ask if aliens existed next.  Just completely random stuff.

All in all the course was good, and I did learn some things that I didn’t know like info relating to the NEC (National Electric Code) and safety stuff.  The installations were very good and we got to install on an indoor roof as well as a standing seam roof, a ballasted system, and a pole-mount system.  Any question I had was able to be answered with a non-biased response.  I also networked with one of the instructors and he is interested in possibly coming on board as a technical consultant for Carbon Vision.

Pole Mounted system with micro-inverters

Rear view of pans used for ballasted flat roof system

PV installed on the indoor shingled roof

S-5 clips mounted to standing seam roof

I’m sure the pictures are probably boring to most people - but it was really neat to get exposure to so many different types of installations.  I’ve already used what I learned about mounting systems to talk with an engineer working on a mounting solution for a corrugated roof on a system that is in planning right now.

Bad news about the week was that I didn’t get any good training in.  I made the mistake of doing a run on the treadmill Friday and now my IT band is not happy with me.  Argh.  Lifetime has an outdoor run club that meets for the first time next week that I’m planning on going to and I’m going to start doing Solon track workouts on Tue evenings.  I am determined to get over this dumb injury!

Last week (Sunday) I ran the Youngstown Half Marathon.  Good news:  my IT Band held up (I used my compression strap)  This is really great because this is a pretty hilly course and the best test for the IT band is to run down hills.  Bad news:  My time was basically horrible.  The past two years I’ve had a little over an 8-min pace:  2008 2009.  This year I was over a 9-min pace (1:58:49).  Considering this is the farthest distance I’ve ran since July I guess I should be happy I was even able to finish!  It’s just frustrating to have to start over again.  But running is something you typically have to work at in order to do well.  I gained weight, too, so it’s not just being out of shape, but also being heavier and having less muscle mass.

I’m working on getting rid of the flab though, and I’ve already seen a difference in the way my clothes are fitting.  (For a while there I couldn’t wear some of my dress pants for fear the seams would rip apart when I sat down - I am not exaggerating - I had visions of meeting with a client and having my fat explode out of my pants!!!!!)  In addition to running I’ve been getting to the gym more regularly during lunch hours and recently joined Lifetime Fitness.  Janet was raving about it and it’s literally right down the street from my office so I checked it out a few weeks ago during my lunch break.  I was so impressed I decided to sign up right then and there!  The place is HUGE and they have classes during lunch - including a really sweet cycling studio.  I also plan on using the outdoor pool in the summer to swim laps during lunch.  I CAN’T WAIT!  It’s great to look forward to going to the gym.  For a while I didn’t go to the gym (Bally’s) because it was just too dirty and disgusting - and forget about using the pool unless you want to get chlorine burns.  Sick.  I could only go during lunch because I knew it would be tolerable and less crowded.  Bye-bye Bally.

So for the past two weeks I’ve been doing pretty well with my workouts.  The IT band started to act up when I did my tempo run, but after a few min of slowing down it went away.  I think it’s just going to be something I have to deal with for a while.

Work is going great and life in general is pretty good.  Sometimes I don’t want to think about how great everything is going because I’m scared it’s going to go away…but it’s all in how you perceive things I guess.  I could dwell on the negatives or look for the bad in things, but life is so much more enjoyable when I focus on what is going well.  So for now I’m going to keep thinking that everything is awesome, try not to judge others, and live life to it’s fullest!

At seven miles, today was the highest mileage I’ve completed in a while.  Todd was going x-country skiing so I figured I might as well get my lazy butt out and try a run.  Sand Run metropark is our backyard, so I decided that was my best bet since the towpath is too snowy and I hate running on the road.  I cut over to the Sand Run multi-purpose trail via the road so that the terrain would be easier than if I took the buckeye trail.

The multi-purpose trail was still covered in snow, which made it pretty slippery to run on - but it was fairly even snow cover and I was able to run comfortably.  I wore my miracle compression strap on my IT Band.  I love it.  It allows me to train while still recovering.  I really think the reason it has taken me so long to recover is because for the longest time I refused to run or do any physical activity with my legs at all.  This was a bad move.  What I should have done was continue to cross train and include very short, slow runs to keep the blood flow and muscles active.

My pace was super slow - around 9:15 - but I felt comfortable and I figured part of the reason I was going so slow was due to the slippery factor of the snow.  My last half mile was on the road and that was closer to 8:20 pace but was at the same effort.  During my run someone said ‘Hi Amie’ to me but I was zoned out concentrating on my running gait and didn’t recognize who it was.  That’s the thing:  I think I have retrained myself on how to run since the IT band injury.  I take much quicker, shorter steps now as well as focus on keeping my legs from bowing in.  I imagine this controlled form will slowly deteriorate if I run to the point of exhaustion which is why I’m trying to keep my running slower until I can build up a better base.  I need to get ready for track workouts again!  I can’t wait!

The seven miles were pretty much pain-free.  Maybe had a few seconds of 1 on a scale from 1-10, but still felt good.

Another week has gone by and things are starting off well for 2010.  I managed to run twice last week which is more than I’ve done in several months.  Both times were really slow on the treadmill - but I was running a very controlled gait and concentrating on not allowing my left leg to invert.  (The cause of my IT band problems stems from a crooked left leg).  I applied for individual health insurance and I’m considered ‘high-risk’ because of my IT band problems.  I wanted to just strangle the woman on the phone when she was telling me about why the rate that I received was more than $100 more than I was quoted.  Basically it’s because I am considered a high risk to them all because of my IT band.  Are you kidding me?!  I asked her - well if I”m the highest risk category, then what the heck is someone with cancer, AIDS, heart disease, etc?  She laughed and told me that they would just have denied someone like that.  Nice.  Gotta love health insurance.  Anthem can bite me.  The only way you can fight the system is to just try as best you can to stay healthy and take car of yourself.  Once you are sick there is nothing that you can do and the system won’t go out of their way to assist you in any way.

Here’s my weekly breakdown:

Mon:  Ran 3 miles on treadmill (9:17 pace for first 1/2 mile, then 8:27 pace for the rest).  Foam roller.

Tue:  I can’t remember what I did…I think I did the elliptical for 35 min and then did foam roller.
Wed: Netflix streaming workout videos w/ Katy and Gret.  Bootcamp then abs, thighs, glutes, and torture.  Aprox. 1:20 min total.

Thurs: Ran 3 miles on Treadmill.  9:07 pace for first 1/2 mile then 8:23 pace for the rest.  Foam roller.  Wore IT band brace thing - felt really good.  I think I’ll wear this more often whenever I increase the miles or speed.

Fri:  Slacked
Sat: Trainer ride (50 min).  Foam roller.
Sun:  Not sure if I’m going to get motivated to do anything…we’ll see.

This week I’m going to shoot for 3 days of running.  I’m going to up the mileage to 4 miles for one of the days and keep it at 3 miles the other 2.  That sounds SO LAME but I am determined to take it slow.  Also - these miles are probably going to be on the treadmill, so they sort of don’t even count…but I need a controlled environment.

In other news we bought a salt-water reef tank yesterday.  We took both Todd’s car and mine to the guy’s house who was selling it.  In my car we filled up buckets and garbage bins with the salt water that we siphoned from the tank.  In Todd’s we put the tank inside and the tank base on his roof.  The reason we brought the water is because we could then re-use it for the live rock and the fish (blue tang) that came with the tank.  It took most of the day yesterday.  Here are a few shots of the process:

Containers for the water in my trunk

It was really weird - we had a hose running from inside the guys house (inside of the tank) sucking the water into buckets / containers in my car.

Todd's car w/ the tank base on top

Tank inside Todd's car

Todd putting the live rock and the blue tang in temporary bucket

I’m really excited to get it up and running.  It’s about 150 gallons, so not quite as large as our freshwater tank.  We plan on making it a reef tank - so it’s going to take a lot of $$ to get it going.  (Live rock is EXPENSIVE!!!) I can’t wait to get some really cool shrimp and clown fish and neat corals.  We’re probably going to have to be selective when it comes to the animals that we get (i.e. purchasing tank-bread) since a lot of the fishing/harvesting practices are bad for the environment.  I’m hoping to learn how to breed / grow the coral.  The pieces are called ‘frags’.  It’s SUCH A NEAT HOBBY!!!  I’m also going to have to figure out how to offset the electricity that we’re going to be using since this will require more lighting and unfortunately there aren’t any really good energy efficient (LED) versions of the lights that we need.  If you’re interested in following the process with us I’ve put together tags and categories under ‘reef tank’.

Quick post to say that the new year is already off to a good start as far as training.  The IT band continues to be troublesome, but I’ve been doing cycling on the trainer, elliptical and spinning class at Bally’s and instant streaming Netflix workout DVD’s.  The week ended nicely with a ~2 hour indoor training ride with CTC at Twinsburg Rec. center yesterday am.  GREAT time indeed!

Mon: attempted to run on treadmill - got in .4 miles then knee pain.  Continued to get in 3 miles - pain never went above a 5 on a pain scale from 0-10.  Then did stretching and foam roller.

Tue: Trainer ride; foam roller

Wed: 30 min elliptical; foam roller in afternoon.  In pm went to Katy’s for our weekly Netflix streaming DVD workout sessions.  Did 10 min abs; 10 min thighs; 10 min glutes; 10 min stretch.  Then did hip exercises for IT band.

Thurs: Trainer ride; foam roller

Fri: Rest

Sat: Trainer ride

Sun:  Gonna do 45 min Netflix DVD later today.  (Awesome for total body).

I think I”m going to join the FF and BA triathlon group this year.  I was already checking out potential races, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself…we’ll keep things moving along w/ the knee and hopefully get it healed once and for all.  Stay tuned!

Yesterday am I got up early (5:30 am!!) to volunteer for the towpath marathon.  I figured the least I could do was go out and cheer on some peeps who were doing it since I couldn’t run it.

We had a BLAST!  Our aid station was about 1.5 miles from Boston store so we all met in the parking lot and walked on the towpath to get to our spot.  There were tables, water, heed, and pretty much nothing else.  It was hillarious because we were contemplating how to mix the heed - which seriously was NOT going well.  The guys decided to pour it back and forth into the buckets and then Frank went looking for a stick in the woods to use (we didn’t use it - Janet did a sprint back to Boston store on a bike to get items we needed).

The real fun started when the runners started coming through.  Frank was CRACKING ME UP!!!  He kept telling the runners these detailed descriptions of heed: ‘this is Heed, it’s a sports drink, but it’s not gatorade…’ and going on and on about it.  Like they care!!  I told him to just tell them it was gatorade!!!  hahahaaa.  OMG and Athena was telling people they were tigers, grrrr!  Then I had an idea to tell people they were hot and to some of the (hotter) guys I would say ‘let’s go hott stuff!!’  ahahahaaa.  Just the silly banter back and forth was way entertaining.  It made up for the fact that we were seriously in the middle of nowhere on the towpath and we were freezing to death!

Now the breakthrough.  I ran 4 miles last week, so I figured I would try 6 yesterday.  I would run whatever pace was comfortable - this is typically around 8:30 lately.  Last week I got pain at 2.9 miles, but I’ve been working on my stride and form.  I notice that if I shorten and quicken my stride it seems to help, so that’s what I did.

8:29 - no pain
8:29 - no pain
8:09 - no pain
8:04 - still no pain!
8:03 - no pain still!!!
8:19 - got nervous - but there wasn’t ANY pain at all!!!!!!!!

I am SO excited about this.  Part of this was mental, too, since I knew I was getting a massage afterwords so I didn’t care if I did experience pain - since it would get massaged and loosened up.  (I have a new hookup for massages - since Maryellen is in massage school!!!)

I’m not sure what to do for Columbus.  I’m thinking walk / run?  I don’t want to run the whole thing for fear that I will overdo it.  At the same time I want it to be a good day of training - so maybe run the first 8 and then speed walk the last 5?  Advice from my professional running friends?