solar squirrel

First Place woman (Janet) and 3rd Age Group (me)

Yesterday was exactly a year since doing my last triathlon.  I did the Munroe Falls sprint triathlon last year as one of my last races before succumbing to my IT band injury.  It’s fitting then that I’m using it (hopefully) as my entry back into the running / triathlon scene and as a CLOSURE to my IT band problems.

On Friday I went to see Dr. Keyes for my last scheduled ART session.  He told me the IT band was doing great - no more scar tissue and nice and loosened up.  Unfortunately I’ve developed a new problem - when I try to fully extend my knee there is discomfort and pain.  He told me this was likely my meniscus.  Argh!  How did my meniscus get messed up?  Possibly just from the jolt into running again without having tons of scar tissue - he said it may be irritated due to the new way I’m running (sans scar tissue and ITB issues).  The good news is that he said it should go away and that it’s not severe.  He did this thing where he straitened my leg and then pushed it to either side and asked me if it hurt.  Well, it felt uncomfortable, but not super painful…  So anyway - IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY FAMILIARITY WITH MENISCUS ISSUES CAN YOU SEND ME SOME INFO?  Tim said to work on strengthening my hips/legs, which I’m working on doing, but it’s just soooooooo frustrating!  I want to finally be pain and injury-free!!!!

Onto the race.  This one is nice because it’s only about 20 min from where we live.  I love LOCAL races!!  Got there early and had plenty of time to setup.  While getting my things setup in transition, someone said hi to me that I didn’t recognize - she told me her name was Suzanne and she reads my blog!  I was so flattered that someone I don’t know reads my rambles and complaints about training.  I told her I would try to keep my blog more updated since now I know there is one extra person reading!

It was HOT and I didn’t see many people wearing a wetsuit.  I saw Adam and was chatting with him and he corrected me when I accidentally thought he was wearing one.  What he was wearing is apparently a SPEED suit.  Sheesh…I’ve been out of the scene for so long I don’t even know what type of gear people are wearing!!!  I opted not to wear the wetsuit (I was going to ask Janet what she was doing, but I couldn’t find her).  I don’t really think it mattered either way.  The swim was over so fast and I just kept getting kicked and punched (accidentally) by people.  I thought that sticking to the side ropes would be a good idea - BAD MISTAKE - people who are afraid of the swim apparently also stay by the ropes to hold onto them and then cause you to have to try to get around them.  So the swim wasn’t a great performance, but I definitely felt like I could have done better if it weren’t for getting stuck behind so many people in the log jam.

Coming out of the swim I felt good and was ready to get on the bike.  Uneventful transition except for the fact that I accidentally ran the wrong way out of transition and had to go back around.  (ooops!)  The bike was fine - the windy road out of the park is annoying because I am not good on turns and so I couldn’t really build up any speed.  I already had looked at the course online so I knew exactly where to go.  It was a big rectangle with 2 loops.  Some rolling hills, but not too bad.  Looking at the results compared to last year I did better (mph) this year.  T2 was good - didn’t take off my bike gloves (which I like because then I can use them to wipe the sweat off of my face during the run) and DID remember to start my watch for the run!  The run was the toughest part and I sure can tell I’m not quite in running-shape.  I just kept thinking to myself thank goodness this is only a 5k or I would DIE!!!!  I am SO HAPPY with my run, though!!!  Way slower than most sprint triathlons I’ve done, but I ran the whole thing and felt strong the entire time.  (AND NO KNEE PAIN!)

This race was just what I needed to give me the added confidence and boost to keep me training.  They also told me I was 3rd in my age group which was SUPER AWESOME!!!  (I hope it wasn’t a mistake!)

Swim (400 yards):  8:01
T1:  2:04
Bike:  37:01 (19.5 MPH)
T2:  (not sure - have to subtract from overall run time)
Run:  watch said 7:40 pace; T2+run = 25:42 / 8:01 pace
Total:  1:12:50

Here’s a link to the results:  http://champracing.org/files/2010SUMMITRI2.HTM

Just a quick post to recap my week of trying to get back to being fit and a quick side note:

Has anyone else noticed a strange increase in the number of people holding cardboard signs standing on the side of the road (typically at an intersection where there is a stop light) begging for money / assistance?  Well, in Akron, where I live, I can tell you there has been an EXPONENTIAL INCREASE in people who are begging on the side of the road.  I’m not sure I believe most of them, though.  The one day I was driving in Cuyahoga Falls and I saw a younger girl and then about 1/2 mile later on the same road a younger guy.  Seriously?  They were probably around 19 - 22 at the oldest.  Dude!!!  You are young and strong!!!  Go get a job as a server or landscaper!  The money is great and it’s fun work!!  Then there are the more pathetic-looking one’s who stand down by where we live in the valley.  There are 2 or 3 different people who stand in the same place at the intersection where Merriman crosses with Portage Path.  The one guy does look pretty pathetic - but he looks strong - like he could definitely do some type of manual labor job if he was REALLY desperate.  The thing is - I don’t think these people actually WANT a job.  I think that they are just happy standing on the side of the road with their crumply cardboard sign and waiting for someone to give them money.  Argh…I don’t like to give them money, though, even though I feel bad for them.  I want to help them find a job or give them food or talk to them or listen, but I don’t know if it makes sense to give them money. 

Here’s something else:  have you noticed that they are only there in the spring / summer?  I have.  I don’t ever remember seeing them in the winter - or on any crappy-weather day for that matter.  I don’t know…I just thought I would put the statement out there and see if this was happening anywhere else other than by me.

Here’s a recap of the week’s training:

Monday: Bike 1 hour
Tuesday: Rest (gonna get to the track not this Tue but next!!!)
Wednesday: Bike 1 hour
Thursday: Run ~7 miles on trails 9:30 pace
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 1 hour workout w/ Larry the torturer
Sunday: 10 mile easy run w/ Bridget, Addy, and Steve

Going to hit the pool this week!!!!!!!

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!

I’m still in the ramp-up stages of getting back in shape.  After my realization that I actually *can* do a half marathon with the IT band injury still healing I’ve decided that I should probably get into a more routine workout schedule.  In order to keep myself on track I’ve also been looking around trying to figure out what races I’m going to do this year.  Here’s a few that I’m considering:

Sunday April 25 - University of Akron Sprint Triathlon

Sunday May 16 - Cleveland Half Marathon (Yea, I know I vowed never to do it again after they ran out of water at the water stops the one year…but I’m going to do it with my friend B so it will be fun…plus then I won’t feel guilty going to the post-race party)

Sunday June 6 - Twinsburg Duathlon (Sprint)

Sunday June 20 - Maumee Bay Olympic Triathlon

Sunday August 8 - Greater Cleveland Olympic Triathlon

Sunday September 12 - Akron Marathon (Relay? I hope so!  Not sure if my fast lady friends will want to give it a go again this year - I can’t do it by myself!!)

Sunday September 25 - Revolution3 Half Iron Man (Yikes!!!  When I looked at the price of this one I almost passed out!!  At least it includes 2 Cedar Point tickets.  If I do this one, I’m going to DEFINITELY need the Red Bull and Vodka for afterwords!!)

What is everyone else doing?  Am I missing something fun that others are going to do?  I’ll put up a 2010 Race page soon - but wanted to get this post up.  (My internet at home has been horrible lately!  It goes out all the time!!!)

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!

I love that the days are getting longer and the birds are singing in the morning.  I am sooooo excited for this spring and summer - this will be the first time in several years that I can actually ENJOY the longer days and the nice weather.  (No more school + job I love = HAPPY AMIE)

I’ve slowly started getting back into a more regular workout routine.  This past week I managed to hit the gym (lame disgusting Bally’s) 2 times and get up to Mayfield for swimming with my pal Brian R. plus run with some of my great friends this am.  I think I did somewhere around 9 miles with them.  They ran more, but I decided that it was in my IT band’s best interest not to go any further.  It didn’t hurt - but I could tell that it still wasn’t quite right.  I wore my compression strap just to be safe.  I’m not sure how long I should continue to wear it.  I figure I’ll wear it anytime I do speed work or longer distances than I’m used to.  9 miles today was more than I’ve done in quite a while (at least several months).  It did feel good, though and I can definitely tell that I’m out of shape!  Running up the hill at N. Chagrin res. I could barely keep up with Laura - who by the way is several months PREGNANT!!!  Sheesh…talk about humbling.  But it’s all relative and I’m just SO THANKFUL that I have the ability to run…and walk…and breathe!

Tomorrow I’ll likely swim and then try for at least 2 days of running at Bally’s on the dreadmill.

Todd’s been spending almost all of his spare time working on our reef tank.  It has become so beautiful - its our own mini-ecosystem.  Today we got two more fish:  a Falco Hawkfish and a Firefish Goby.  I LOVE the Hawkfish - it is SOOOOOO cute!  Here is a picture that Todd took -

Falco Hawkfish

Firefish Goby

It’s really fun to watch them and see how they interact and change.  I think we’re up to about 25 different types of coral too - plus an anemone and mushrooms.

I’m excited for another blog I’m probably going to start, too.  It’s going to be a blog about different local (Akron and Cleveland area) restaurants and opinions on the food, atmosphere, service, vibe, etc.  Due to my incredible appetite and love of food I think this will be a really fun project.  It’s not going to just be me, though - there will be 3 other ladies involved in the project.  We all will add our own interpretation and area of expertise.  I’m still trying to narrow down the domain name and how we’re going to organize the blog, but hopefully it will come to fruition soon!

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.