I've always had a bit of a struggle with my left leg, running-wise. I wear my left shoes out long before my right. My left hip is always more annoyed at me than my right when I'm working hard. At times, I've joked that my left knee is my "health scale" and if it starts to hurt, I probably need to lose some weight. Also, my left shins and calf muscles occasionally just freak out as well. When I'm on it, I do the work to keep these imbalances in check (ART, Yoga, stretching, and functional strength).
Late last year, it got a bit out of control and I really started to struggle with a recurrent left leg issue that was possibly hamstring tendonosis, glute insertion inflammation, and/or SI joint inflammation. During this flare-up, I was slow, in more pain than I'd like, and I definitely took longer to seek solutions than I should have.
First -- ART. It works so well for me. I highly recommend trying it out.
The downside? It's a temporary solution. It fixes me, but it doesn't fix me long term. My ART professional is super knowledgeable, so he recommended lots of strength, rolling, and stretching exercises that I obviously needed. But I still found it hard to make the time and effort to do the stuff that was prescribed. And so, I was going back when things flared back up. It was a maintenance solution with a little bit of slow improvement, but not a magic bullet, for sure.
Second -- Yoga. I finally started to get back into a semi-regular practice and once I got a few workouts on the books, I noticed that my leg started to be better. (This compounded with the ART to get me into a better spot.)
Third -- Functional Strength: Side lunges. Front & back lunges with leg extensions. Clamshells. Squat-cross. Burpees. Jump rope. Skips. Leg Swings. Reasonable speed work that doesn't hurt. Making time for this stuff other than the speed is difficult for me.
Fourth -- TV/Movie Stretching. I think this is the biggest reason why I've been managing my leg so much better this Summer than I have since when I really messed it up last Fall. Frankly, it's part of the stretching that my ART professional recommended. I'd just neglected what I should be doing until I found a way to incorporate it into my night-time media consumption.
Thanks to my shoulder dislocation, I did not have a choice re: adding some quality time with shoulder/arm workouts. I experimented with weights, but after getting strong enough to max out my rotator cuff with 2.5 and 5 lb weights and my larger arm stuff with 10 lbs, I decided I didn't want to buy heavier weights. Instead, I ordered a set of resistance bands and started a habit of doing my shoulder/arm workouts to stabilize my shoulder at least 2X per week at night (although in a perfect world, 4X would be wonderful). This had a bonus of allowing me to justify some media consumption that I otherwise might have felt guilty about.
STRETCHING WITH THE RESISTANCE BANDS IS AMAZING! I hadn't planned this at all when I ordered the bands, but now, every night when I finish the shoulder/arm stuff (and some nights when I'm too lazy to do it), I add in some great stretching that the bands enable. The big ones I've been doing almost every night include seated twists seeking a bind on either side and standing bow-pose (or dancer's pose), but with a switch between which hand(s)/arm(s) holds/pulls/anchors the leg. The end result has been *much* looser hip flexors, loosening of my transverse hip movement, and very surprisingly to me, much better hamstrings & glutes, which has translated to decreased pain and a slowly increasing ability to get faster without pain.
So, there you go. My anecdotal evidence is that the foregoing makes *my* hip/hamstring/glute issues much more manageable. And this early 40s lady has been able to get faster and improve her running fitness by doing the stuff above.
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
September 2, 2018
December 6, 2017
Leg Update
My ART session on Monday was amazing. I felt so much better after leaving the therapist's office.
I'm definitely kicking myself for not trying to get some professional help with this bum leg earlier. I discussed my issues with the therapist and he had several suggestions as well as observations.
As I'd self-diagnosed, I had serious soreness in my glute and at the site of my hamstring insertion. After confirming this, he went to work and evaluated what else might be going on and how he might be able to help.
The first thing he noted was that my outer left quad (vastus lateralus) was quite tight. Because it hadn't been sore (and the back of my leg had been), I hadn't noticed this. We talked about actively stretching my quads and how tight quads and hip flexors are a classic cause of glute malfunction, which can cause hamstrings to compensate, and viola... Interestingly, he didn't say, "this is definitely what's going on with you," but rather, he just spoke in generalized terms about things that can happen to people and how that *might* be what was going on with me.
This whole conversation was happening while he was stretching, manipulating and releasing my leg, which felt wonderful.
Also, much to my surprise, he didn't say, "You definitely should not run." Instead, he acknowledged that there were some serious differences in the textures of my hamstrings and glutes (e.g. left is much worse off than right), but said that whether I can run, and how much, and how hard, really depends on how I respond to treatment and how I feel and what my goals are.
We discussed the Kaiser half, and he didn't flinch when I told him that in a perfect world, I'd like to try to recover with lots of yoga and slowly work my way up to 30 miles a week, starting to return to long runs in the next 3 or so weeks. I know it's not guaranteed that I'll be able to do so, and I'm definitely ready to downgrade to the Kaiser 5K if necessary, but I liked his general openness to the idea that it could be possible.
He convinced me to order some new torture devices to up my rolling game and recommended some ART-like movements I could do on my own once I get a good pressure release location with the knobs on the Beasties.
I'm definitely kicking myself for not trying to get some professional help with this bum leg earlier. I discussed my issues with the therapist and he had several suggestions as well as observations.
As I'd self-diagnosed, I had serious soreness in my glute and at the site of my hamstring insertion. After confirming this, he went to work and evaluated what else might be going on and how he might be able to help.
The first thing he noted was that my outer left quad (vastus lateralus) was quite tight. Because it hadn't been sore (and the back of my leg had been), I hadn't noticed this. We talked about actively stretching my quads and how tight quads and hip flexors are a classic cause of glute malfunction, which can cause hamstrings to compensate, and viola... Interestingly, he didn't say, "this is definitely what's going on with you," but rather, he just spoke in generalized terms about things that can happen to people and how that *might* be what was going on with me.
This whole conversation was happening while he was stretching, manipulating and releasing my leg, which felt wonderful.
Also, much to my surprise, he didn't say, "You definitely should not run." Instead, he acknowledged that there were some serious differences in the textures of my hamstrings and glutes (e.g. left is much worse off than right), but said that whether I can run, and how much, and how hard, really depends on how I respond to treatment and how I feel and what my goals are.
We discussed the Kaiser half, and he didn't flinch when I told him that in a perfect world, I'd like to try to recover with lots of yoga and slowly work my way up to 30 miles a week, starting to return to long runs in the next 3 or so weeks. I know it's not guaranteed that I'll be able to do so, and I'm definitely ready to downgrade to the Kaiser 5K if necessary, but I liked his general openness to the idea that it could be possible.
He convinced me to order some new torture devices to up my rolling game and recommended some ART-like movements I could do on my own once I get a good pressure release location with the knobs on the Beasties.
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| Beasties, by Rumble Roller. |
He also spent at least 10 minutes working on my SI joint and having me go through ranges of motion while he worked on getting me to release. I have had sciatica in the past (always on my left leg), but I hadn't had any symptoms during this leg issue, so it hadn't occurred to me that my SI joint may be implicated as well.
Essentially, he said that my entire upper left leg seemed to be a bit grumpy and that it's really quite hard to start picking apart the original cause of something when there are that many factors at play. The goal is to just get all of the various parts to calm down and work nicely with each other as much as possible. So that's what I'm trying to do.
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Oh, and I realized my shoes were old.
Note the aggressive wear on the left heel...
Yeah, my gait is *not* very even.
New shoes are en route.
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I felt so good after the session that I made plans to head out for an easy 30 minute run the next day. However, upon waking, I decided to chill out and see how my leg felt after just some walking and stretching and rolling. Realistically, it felt like I should keep myself low-key and *ease* back into things in the face of feeling better. Today, I joined the track group, did all of the drills, but just jogged the warmup lap, the cooldown lap, and interspersed a few jogged 400s with his recommended lateral lunges, runner lunges, and glute bridges between them. I also did a nice long pigeon pose at the end. My leg feels okay, like it is getting better.
I've got one more ART session next Monday, and then, hopefully, I can keep up the rolling and lunges and manage to slowly increase the distance and speed without maiming myself until January when I can go back for more ART.
Wish me luck.
Update 2: Holy crap. 50ish total lateral lunges with no weights, simply touching a line on the outside of each lunging leg in sets of 10 between jogging at the track on Wed, resulted in seriously sore medial hamstrings on Thursday (but I was able to do a nice easy 3 mile run without too much pain). Friday, now and it's even worse -- every walking step reminds me of those lunges and that I'm sore. Obviously, my ART therapist's recommendation was well-informed. It's clear that I have some serious weakness in the muscles that support this motion (I can do 50 front or back lunges with 5 lb weights on each side and not have much soreness at all).
Update 2: Holy crap. 50ish total lateral lunges with no weights, simply touching a line on the outside of each lunging leg in sets of 10 between jogging at the track on Wed, resulted in seriously sore medial hamstrings on Thursday (but I was able to do a nice easy 3 mile run without too much pain). Friday, now and it's even worse -- every walking step reminds me of those lunges and that I'm sore. Obviously, my ART therapist's recommendation was well-informed. It's clear that I have some serious weakness in the muscles that support this motion (I can do 50 front or back lunges with 5 lb weights on each side and not have much soreness at all).
December 3, 2017
The Slow Road Back
Instead of packing and unpacking and scrambling to figure out laundry, logistics, food, transport, etc., we've been living a very easy home-bound home-cooked healthy life for the last 4 months. Sure, there have been drive-away overnights for work or family, but nothing that's really thrown any sort of wrench into our plans. And certainly nothing requiring a flight.
It's been gloriously easy and relaxing.
E has been taking advantage and dropping minutes off his 5K PR every time we run one. He's been working out regularly, alternating calisthenics and running, and coupled with our healthy home-cooked meal regimen, he has lost 12-13 pounds. I, on the other hand, despite eating roughly the same diet, and working out probably twice as much time, have only lost 6-7 pounds and haven't come close to setting any PRs on anything... Ah, testosterone. Such an unfair performance enhancing chemical...
Anyways, I wanted to record what my slow road back to fitness has looked like since we got back from our Sabbatical, in terms of races.
Peachtree 10K 12:30/mile pace (hot & humid)
Wharf 2 Wharf 11:30/mile pace (cool & humid)
Race to the end of Summer 10K 11:21/mile pace (warm and humid)
Rock 'n Roll San Jose 10K 10:47 pace (cool & dry)
Crissy Field Park Run October 5K 10:22/mile pace
Crissy Field Park Run November 5K 9:55/mile pace
Turkey Trot 10K 11:08/mile pace (2m40s walking due to cramps)
Unfortunately, I have been suffering from a pulled glute/hamstring. I really aggravated it at the November Crissy Field Park Run, and it definitely slowed me down on the Turkey Trot. Since Thanksgiving, I've been doing nothing but easy slow runs (I jogged in the 13 min/mile range while watching my friends run fast at track club last week) and lots of rolling and stretching.
This left me the night before our CIM relay with 7.2 miles to go and no idea of what would be possible. The CIM relay had a couple of things going for it -- my section looked like it had a net elevation drop of about 175 feet over 7.2 miles (garmin says 286 ft of loss and 101 of elevation gain). I am a better downhill runner than flat or uphill runner. Also, it looked like it would be 45F for the whole race, which is right in my sweet spot -- I can run in a t-shirt and shorts at this temperature and let my very hot operating temperature keep me pleasantly functional and warm. Cardiovascularly, I was feeling fit. But, in hindsight, my leg had been bothering me and getting worse on hard efforts since at least SJRNR if not before.
My goal was to keep it below 10:47/mile, which I thought I should be able to do so long as my leg held up. Of course, I had sweetheart visions of coming in sub 10:30/mile or even having a miracle day where my leg didn't hurt and I could keep it below 10:00/mile.
Folks -- I can now confirm that my left leg is officially messed up. I had been in denial and was excited to wake on Sunday and test it out. After getting dressed, it felt better than it had in at least a month, possibly 2. I did some mild stretching and then made my way to the start. Mile 1 was a nice easy downhill of reigning it in at 10:12, but I could already feel it starting to tighten. And that's what it continued to do over the rest of the course. I finished my relay leg at an average 10:47/mile for a Garmin distance of 7.3 miles (vs. the 7.2 if I'd hit the tangents). But it hurt. And 7.3 miles shouldn't hurt.
Back at her house after my leg, my sister was shocked to see that I couldn't even get my fingers to within 2 inches of my toes when I tried to do some straight leg stretching towards my left foot after the race -- nothing like family who know how historically flexible you've been to remind you just how bad off you are. I also had some nasty chafing on my right bicep under my t-shirt sleeve cut-off that stung like hell in the shower, likely from pumping my opposite arm across my chest/bodyline to try to compensate for my lame left leg.
I'm bummed about my leg. But, reality is a thing. So, I'm going to accept that if I want to actually heal and be able to run any faster, I need to maintain my cardio while also taking time to do some massage, yoga, time off running, and possibly PT to fix my left leg. I even found an ART specialist to see me tomorrow, so that should be painful, but good...
In the spirit of this, I thought about early registering for the Oakland Running Festival Half Marathon (thanks Jen for the discount). This is because I suspect my plans for the Kaiser Half have a strong possibility of needing to be scrapped to fix my leg, and I'm thinking the smart play is to try to heal up and convert down to the 5K. But, I decided I'm better off playing it by feel. I do hope to complete an early spring half marathon. Just not sure where. So wish me luck.
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One of many slough views from the Capitol Corridor Amtrak
between San Jose and Sacramento.
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E has been taking advantage and dropping minutes off his 5K PR every time we run one. He's been working out regularly, alternating calisthenics and running, and coupled with our healthy home-cooked meal regimen, he has lost 12-13 pounds. I, on the other hand, despite eating roughly the same diet, and working out probably twice as much time, have only lost 6-7 pounds and haven't come close to setting any PRs on anything... Ah, testosterone. Such an unfair performance enhancing chemical...
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The gorgeous Sacramento train station with its mural
celebrating Sacramento and the Big 4 and the role of Railroads in
California's history.
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Peachtree 10K 12:30/mile pace (hot & humid)
Wharf 2 Wharf 11:30/mile pace (cool & humid)
Race to the end of Summer 10K 11:21/mile pace (warm and humid)
Rock 'n Roll San Jose 10K 10:47 pace (cool & dry)
Crissy Field Park Run October 5K 10:22/mile pace
Crissy Field Park Run November 5K 9:55/mile pace
Turkey Trot 10K 11:08/mile pace (2m40s walking due to cramps)
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| Vacaville (literally, cow-town) from the train, as advertised. |
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| Wholesome Murals in Sac-town. |
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Brother-in-law drove me to the sunrise start
(we saw an awesome super moon, but no pics)
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My goal was to keep it below 10:47/mile, which I thought I should be able to do so long as my leg held up. Of course, I had sweetheart visions of coming in sub 10:30/mile or even having a miracle day where my leg didn't hurt and I could keep it below 10:00/mile.
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@RunSRA knows how to put on a race --
check out that line of porta-potties at the start!
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Folks -- I can now confirm that my left leg is officially messed up. I had been in denial and was excited to wake on Sunday and test it out. After getting dressed, it felt better than it had in at least a month, possibly 2. I did some mild stretching and then made my way to the start. Mile 1 was a nice easy downhill of reigning it in at 10:12, but I could already feel it starting to tighten. And that's what it continued to do over the rest of the course. I finished my relay leg at an average 10:47/mile for a Garmin distance of 7.3 miles (vs. the 7.2 if I'd hit the tangents). But it hurt. And 7.3 miles shouldn't hurt.
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At the start, look to the left,
pace groups for every 5-10 minute finishing time. Impressive.
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Sometimes, our tortoise flips herself.
She struggles for a while but can't right herself.
In the wild she would die.
We flip her back over.
But, seriously.
We are all doing better than our tortoise at life.
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In the spirit of this, I thought about early registering for the Oakland Running Festival Half Marathon (thanks Jen for the discount). This is because I suspect my plans for the Kaiser Half have a strong possibility of needing to be scrapped to fix my leg, and I'm thinking the smart play is to try to heal up and convert down to the 5K. But, I decided I'm better off playing it by feel. I do hope to complete an early spring half marathon. Just not sure where. So wish me luck.
October 15, 2017
Smoke
The California wildfires last week were shocking. I have family in the area. Thankfully, their home and they were not affected by the fires. But they easily could have been.
I took Monday as an easy day post race and walked 1 mile. Tuesday, I was surprised to realize my legs felt tighter than expected from the race and I decided to take a second down day, walking 4 miles to and from downtown in lieu of a real workout.
Wednesday, track club was canceled to allow for recovery (almost all members had raced on the weekend). I woke to the news of the fires and relief at the updates confirming that my family was safe. For lunch, most of the members of my track club and I went to a local winery and then to lunch to celebrate 2 birthdays and several successful races. On the drive back into town, I was amazed at how smoky it was. I immediately had flashbacks to our smoggy visit to Shanghai.
I remembered how crappy I felt after a day of sightseeing in the smog and I vowed not to run until the air quality had returned to the gloriously awesome levels that we regularly enjoy in the bay area.
So yeah, no running Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. The poor air quality each day brought home the reality of the suffering of those experiencing the fires in a way that was very uncomfortably real. I've always known that fires were common in California, and terrible, but not being able to see to the end of the streets in our neighborhood was overwhelming and depressing. I can't imagine how those who lost their homes must feel.
Friday, I did motivate enough to go do a yoga class (my yoga studio has some heated classes and in connection with the heat, they have a filtration system), which kicked my butt in a good way. In hindsight I should have gone on all of the days I couldn't run, but I'm still in a love/hate relationship with yoga right now, so once a week is acceptable progress.
Saturday AM, I woke to blue skies and joyfully headed out for 6 easy miles. It's so nice to have returned to a level of fitness where I can just go out and do 6 miles. Sure, they were relatively slow (11:52/mile), but it wasn't a struggle at all and didn't require much mental effort to push myself through it without stopping (except for water fountains).
Sunday, in contrast, was a workout failure. I jogged to the trailhead as my planned warmup of a little over 1 mile. Then, I attempted to do 2 intervals at 9:39/mile for 1.3 miles each with E. We started out a bit fast, but at around 0.5 miles there is a bridge over the train tracks. The elevation change slowed my average pace quite a bit and by the time I crested the apex, I needed to recover a full minute from my average pace to hit the target time. I was breathing hard and it was clear to me that I couldn't recover that time and sustain the required pace for 1.3 miles (which was super disappointing, but what can you do?). So, I yelled ahead to E to let him know I'd changed the plan and would only be doing 0.75 mile intervals. They were consistent -- 9:58/mile and 9:57/mile with 4ish minutes of walking recovery between them. From there I jog-walked home. By effort it was a very solid workout. But, in terms of performance, it was not.
Sunday afternoon, I met up with 2 awesome local runners at the hippest bar I've been to in ages. It was fun to chat and catch up and hang out with people who normally only see me at my sweatiest. From there, E and I met for dinner with dear friends in Oakland that we hadn't seen in at least a 15 months.
And just like that, another week has passed. Certainly, time seems to fly much faster now than it did during the sabbatical. Work and taxes and general life overhead doesn't stand out or make the time stretch the way that new and unique experiences do (often with frustration). On the other hand, I have successfully strung a few months of good workout consistency and healthy food at home, which I definitely didn't do during the sabbatical, so that's an obvious upside.
I took Monday as an easy day post race and walked 1 mile. Tuesday, I was surprised to realize my legs felt tighter than expected from the race and I decided to take a second down day, walking 4 miles to and from downtown in lieu of a real workout.
Wednesday, track club was canceled to allow for recovery (almost all members had raced on the weekend). I woke to the news of the fires and relief at the updates confirming that my family was safe. For lunch, most of the members of my track club and I went to a local winery and then to lunch to celebrate 2 birthdays and several successful races. On the drive back into town, I was amazed at how smoky it was. I immediately had flashbacks to our smoggy visit to Shanghai.
I remembered how crappy I felt after a day of sightseeing in the smog and I vowed not to run until the air quality had returned to the gloriously awesome levels that we regularly enjoy in the bay area.
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| Tomato gifts went into pico de gallo for halibut tacos (also a gift from our fisherman friend) |
Friday, I did motivate enough to go do a yoga class (my yoga studio has some heated classes and in connection with the heat, they have a filtration system), which kicked my butt in a good way. In hindsight I should have gone on all of the days I couldn't run, but I'm still in a love/hate relationship with yoga right now, so once a week is acceptable progress.
Saturday AM, I woke to blue skies and joyfully headed out for 6 easy miles. It's so nice to have returned to a level of fitness where I can just go out and do 6 miles. Sure, they were relatively slow (11:52/mile), but it wasn't a struggle at all and didn't require much mental effort to push myself through it without stopping (except for water fountains).
Sunday, in contrast, was a workout failure. I jogged to the trailhead as my planned warmup of a little over 1 mile. Then, I attempted to do 2 intervals at 9:39/mile for 1.3 miles each with E. We started out a bit fast, but at around 0.5 miles there is a bridge over the train tracks. The elevation change slowed my average pace quite a bit and by the time I crested the apex, I needed to recover a full minute from my average pace to hit the target time. I was breathing hard and it was clear to me that I couldn't recover that time and sustain the required pace for 1.3 miles (which was super disappointing, but what can you do?). So, I yelled ahead to E to let him know I'd changed the plan and would only be doing 0.75 mile intervals. They were consistent -- 9:58/mile and 9:57/mile with 4ish minutes of walking recovery between them. From there I jog-walked home. By effort it was a very solid workout. But, in terms of performance, it was not.
Sunday afternoon, I met up with 2 awesome local runners at the hippest bar I've been to in ages. It was fun to chat and catch up and hang out with people who normally only see me at my sweatiest. From there, E and I met for dinner with dear friends in Oakland that we hadn't seen in at least a 15 months.
And just like that, another week has passed. Certainly, time seems to fly much faster now than it did during the sabbatical. Work and taxes and general life overhead doesn't stand out or make the time stretch the way that new and unique experiences do (often with frustration). On the other hand, I have successfully strung a few months of good workout consistency and healthy food at home, which I definitely didn't do during the sabbatical, so that's an obvious upside.
September 24, 2017
Falafel Fail (SJRNR week -2)
Last week I was moderately successful with a baba ganoush experiment (I modified the recipe to make it too garlicky -- but it was still delicious). So, I decided to try the falafel recipe from the same site.
Falafel is one of my favorite foods. I try not to have them more often than once every couple of weeks because they are fried. But the comments on this recipe indicated that some people had successfully baked these falafel and they were delicious. I took the advice from one of the commenters and added some eggs so that they would stick together without the deep-frying and decided to give it a go.
I'd hoped I could just put them onto the cookie sheet but the texture, even with the eggs, made me suspect they would fall apart without some additional structure in place, so I decided to try using muffin tins. Once I'd packed the tins, I poured a drip of canola oil over the top of each falafel to see if I could get just a slight hint of oven-fried deliciousness.
Turns out, while the tops were cooked perfectly with this approach (400F 'til starting to brown, followed by 90 seconds of broiling), the bottoms stuck to the muffin tin, so I extracted a bunch of partially destroyed falafel at the end of the cooking cycle.
Hah! I had a brilliant idea. I'd put all of the leftover bits that stuck to the tins *back* into the oven and make a couple of twice baked falafel.
I put the muffin tin (not really a tin, as it was silicone, in a metal supporting rack) into the oven and started plating our dinner.
2 minutes later, I smelled fire.
E knows the drill (I set a kitchen fire on a not infrequent basis), so he immediately opened the kitchen door and turned the hood on high while I grabbed the on-fire muffin tin with silicone hand protectors and walked it outside. We're a well-oiled kitchen fire extinguishing machine at this point, thankfully.
See, I'd forgotten that I'd put the oven on broil for the last few seconds of the full set of falafel. It had stayed on while I'd removed them all and re-constructed my brilliant twice-baked plan. AND, all the small drizzles of oil were left on the muffin tin, both in the cups and on the top surface. I'm not sure exactly how hot it got, but the flash point of canola oil is 600F. Also, I've since learned that apparently silicone cookware should not go under the broiler. Either way, there was a full on fire that took several minutes to burn itself out -- leaving behind white ash that clearly came from the silicone. We did not eat any of the twice baked (and then charred in a chemical fire) falafel.
I think I'm going to leave falafel to the professionals. After all this, it still didn't taste as good as when it's fried. I have some frozen falafel leftovers, and if they hold up and reheat well, I *may* reconsider trying again (with pre-greased metal muffin tins), but it may be a while before I work up the gumption.
In running/fitness news, it was a good week. I slept longer than usual and was hungrier than normal for much of the week, which is typically an indicator that I've got some big fitness gains around the corner (fingers crossed).
M: Finally made it back to the yoga studio. It destroyed me. I walked 1.5 miles there, did the 1 hour plus warm yoga high effort class, and left a sweaty, shaking mess, whereafter I walked the 1.5 miles home in shock at just how difficult yoga can be. I bruised my arm doing crow pose, so I've been walking around with a nice blue mark that's still with me today. Bonus, the core work was enough that I woke myself in the night on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by simply rolling over and recruiting muscles like upper abs and obliques that were taxed beyond anything they are remotely used to.
T: 0.06 walk;
4 @ 11:56;
10 X 30s/90s paces (9:06; 8:50; 8:33; 9:17; 9:31; 9:47; 8:07; 8:41; 7:31; 8:08);
0.65 jog @ 12:42;
0.69 walk home from lunch
W: One of the best track workouts I've had in the last several years. Not because of the pacing (still very slow). But just because it felt so good to run hard and beat the recommended BAA paces easily on every interval.
1.01 w/u @ 12:17;
0.4 drills w/u lap (9:22; 8:04: 7:13);
2 X 600; 600; 800 (t/p: 3:18/9:01; 3:20/9:04; 4:35/9:19; 3:23/9:05; 3:23/9:08; 4:35/9:16);
0.96 jog & walk c/d
Th: 3 @ 12:04;
1.66 walk
F: Exhausted. Rest Day.
Sa: 1.52 jog @ 12:37;
1 mile @ 9:58;
5:10 walk R/I;
0.27 @ 10:17;
4+ min jog;
13 X 30s/90s (Paces: 8:31; 8:40; 8:19; 8:40; 9:07; 9:31; 7:59; 8:09; 8:06; 8:17; 8:42; 9:22; 8:31)
Su: 7 miles "long" @ 12:07 (including water fountain stops and a walk break to turn on headphones/audiobook)
0.15 walk c/d
Weekly Mileage: 31.86. Most of it running. Average paces, targeted high effort paces, and mass all still slowly decreasing. Definitely feeling like it's been several weeks of consistent effort and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can manage to do at SJRNR.
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| You only soak the garbanzo beans, you don't cook them! |
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| Falafel mix, ready to cook. |
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| Not the perfect browned results I was hoping for. |
Hah! I had a brilliant idea. I'd put all of the leftover bits that stuck to the tins *back* into the oven and make a couple of twice baked falafel.
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Did you know that Silicone bake-ware can catch fire?
(Note the oil spatter)
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2 minutes later, I smelled fire.
E knows the drill (I set a kitchen fire on a not infrequent basis), so he immediately opened the kitchen door and turned the hood on high while I grabbed the on-fire muffin tin with silicone hand protectors and walked it outside. We're a well-oiled kitchen fire extinguishing machine at this point, thankfully.
See, I'd forgotten that I'd put the oven on broil for the last few seconds of the full set of falafel. It had stayed on while I'd removed them all and re-constructed my brilliant twice-baked plan. AND, all the small drizzles of oil were left on the muffin tin, both in the cups and on the top surface. I'm not sure exactly how hot it got, but the flash point of canola oil is 600F. Also, I've since learned that apparently silicone cookware should not go under the broiler. Either way, there was a full on fire that took several minutes to burn itself out -- leaving behind white ash that clearly came from the silicone. We did not eat any of the twice baked (and then charred in a chemical fire) falafel.
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| Dinner was good, though. |
In running/fitness news, it was a good week. I slept longer than usual and was hungrier than normal for much of the week, which is typically an indicator that I've got some big fitness gains around the corner (fingers crossed).
M: Finally made it back to the yoga studio. It destroyed me. I walked 1.5 miles there, did the 1 hour plus warm yoga high effort class, and left a sweaty, shaking mess, whereafter I walked the 1.5 miles home in shock at just how difficult yoga can be. I bruised my arm doing crow pose, so I've been walking around with a nice blue mark that's still with me today. Bonus, the core work was enough that I woke myself in the night on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by simply rolling over and recruiting muscles like upper abs and obliques that were taxed beyond anything they are remotely used to.
T: 0.06 walk;
4 @ 11:56;
10 X 30s/90s paces (9:06; 8:50; 8:33; 9:17; 9:31; 9:47; 8:07; 8:41; 7:31; 8:08);
0.65 jog @ 12:42;
0.69 walk home from lunch
W: One of the best track workouts I've had in the last several years. Not because of the pacing (still very slow). But just because it felt so good to run hard and beat the recommended BAA paces easily on every interval.
1.01 w/u @ 12:17;
0.4 drills w/u lap (9:22; 8:04: 7:13);
2 X 600; 600; 800 (t/p: 3:18/9:01; 3:20/9:04; 4:35/9:19; 3:23/9:05; 3:23/9:08; 4:35/9:16);
0.96 jog & walk c/d
Th: 3 @ 12:04;
1.66 walk
F: Exhausted. Rest Day.
Sa: 1.52 jog @ 12:37;
1 mile @ 9:58;
5:10 walk R/I;
0.27 @ 10:17;
4+ min jog;
13 X 30s/90s (Paces: 8:31; 8:40; 8:19; 8:40; 9:07; 9:31; 7:59; 8:09; 8:06; 8:17; 8:42; 9:22; 8:31)
Su: 7 miles "long" @ 12:07 (including water fountain stops and a walk break to turn on headphones/audiobook)
0.15 walk c/d
Weekly Mileage: 31.86. Most of it running. Average paces, targeted high effort paces, and mass all still slowly decreasing. Definitely feeling like it's been several weeks of consistent effort and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can manage to do at SJRNR.
April 25, 2016
Progress and Loss
Hello from beautiful Austin.
Last week was a solid execution of the super easy 10K training plan I devised (even if the 10K is now officially on hold). Total mileage of 31.64. Quite a bit of walking, but two separate speed workouts (10X400 and 5X400), and two runs longer than 6 miles as well as some shorter efforts.
For core, I walked to the yoga studio on Thursday, and was shocked and saddened to learn of Prince's death from the yoga instructor before class. Like many folks my age, Prince's music was a major influence in my life. Purple Rain was my every day workout album for my first season as a college gymnast, and I've probably spent more time running to Prince songs than those from any other musician. Like many, I can't really believe it's true.
Now that I've gone to yoga 3 times in 4 weeks, I'm starting to feel like my body is remembering how to (sort of) be a yogi. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing on this path and focusing more on yoga over the next few weeks and our sabbatical year.
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| Essentially the view from our hotel (but from a nearby bridge) |
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| Why Hello! |
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| View back toward downtown from the dam end of ladybird lake. |
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| One of many picturesque bridges on the trails around the lake. |
For core, I walked to the yoga studio on Thursday, and was shocked and saddened to learn of Prince's death from the yoga instructor before class. Like many folks my age, Prince's music was a major influence in my life. Purple Rain was my every day workout album for my first season as a college gymnast, and I've probably spent more time running to Prince songs than those from any other musician. Like many, I can't really believe it's true.
Now that I've gone to yoga 3 times in 4 weeks, I'm starting to feel like my body is remembering how to (sort of) be a yogi. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing on this path and focusing more on yoga over the next few weeks and our sabbatical year.
March 13, 2016
Best Training Ever
So, E and I are celebrating a big anniversary in Mexico.
As you might imagine, since we've arrived, restraint on the food and alcohol side of things has not been very forthcoming.
This week's workouts were okay, if sparse. The most notable workout was 7.25 miles -- 2 easy jog to and from the track each way plus 3+ miles of intervals at much faster than McMillan recommended paces for my target race time (I just could not slow down any more... my effort level felt much too easy, so I just went with the faster paces). Yesterday, I had a luxurious yoga session followed by a decent speed workout on the treadmill where I hit the McMillan paces exactly. So now I've got today's workout to figure out to close out the week.
I know I should try to do something approximating a medium length run as my last opportunity for a long run before the race, but I'm guessing it's not gonna happen on the treadmill in the heat and humidity. Instead, I'll likely do something short and speedy to get over the 20 mile mark for the week.
I think I've convinced myself that vacation is a great way to start a long taper. I figure I'll clean up my diet next week, fit in some easy race-week runs, and see how that plan works out for me on race day!
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| The view from our hotel room does not suck. |
This week's workouts were okay, if sparse. The most notable workout was 7.25 miles -- 2 easy jog to and from the track each way plus 3+ miles of intervals at much faster than McMillan recommended paces for my target race time (I just could not slow down any more... my effort level felt much too easy, so I just went with the faster paces). Yesterday, I had a luxurious yoga session followed by a decent speed workout on the treadmill where I hit the McMillan paces exactly. So now I've got today's workout to figure out to close out the week.
I know I should try to do something approximating a medium length run as my last opportunity for a long run before the race, but I'm guessing it's not gonna happen on the treadmill in the heat and humidity. Instead, I'll likely do something short and speedy to get over the 20 mile mark for the week.
I think I've convinced myself that vacation is a great way to start a long taper. I figure I'll clean up my diet next week, fit in some easy race-week runs, and see how that plan works out for me on race day!
November 30, 2015
Soup #3, and Still Healing
Soup #3 is one of my default go-to options: Lentil Soup.
Lentil Soup Recipe:
1 cup chopped onions (I used red 'cause I had one half cut, but ordinarily, I'd use yellow)
4 cloves garlic
1 chile
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup yellow lentils
6 cups water/broth
(1 Cup leftover roasted carrot soup)
cumin (2 T?)
turmeric (1 T?)
lemon juice (1/4 C?)
white vinegar (splash)
1. Sautee first group of ingredients 'til onions are translucent, stirring constantly.
2. Add 2nd group of ingredients, stir, bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover with a lid, and set kitchen timer for 35 minutes.
3. At 35 minutes, taste. If more cooking time could be used, add time and continue to simmer, otherwise, move to step 4 after turning off the heat.
4. Blend all ingredients with a stick blender until smooth. Taste. Add leftover soup if you are planning to add it and re-puree. Taste.
5. Based on taste test from #4, add ingredients from last group to taste.
6. Let soup cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm. Enjoy!
On the workout front, the ankle is slowly but surely healing. Last week the mileage totaled 16.76 including a very exciting 3.06 miles of jog/walking with my sister-in-law. I can jog. My ankle can handle the load. I can't jump without extreme pain (thanks to tabatas, I know this), and I'm apprehensive on uneven terrain -- so we'll see where I end up with the planned 8 mile trail run with the bay area running folks this weekend...
Today, starting a new week where I have 75% mobility, I did 3 tabata workouts, with the jumping modified (because my ankle still can't jump). I also did 15 minutes on the elliptical on level 9 (1.06 miles) and 15 minutes on the treadmill including 2 X 0.25 @ 10 min/mile 2% incline with incline walking heartrate recovery. Overall, the workout felt like a good effort, and I feel comfortable that I'm headed in the right direction. The next big test will be yoga... Wish me luck.
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| Yellow Lentil Soup |
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| Course 2: The last cherry tomatoes & sauteed shishitos from the garden. |
1 cup chopped onions (I used red 'cause I had one half cut, but ordinarily, I'd use yellow)
4 cloves garlic
1 chile
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup yellow lentils
6 cups water/broth
(1 Cup leftover roasted carrot soup)
cumin (2 T?)
turmeric (1 T?)
lemon juice (1/4 C?)
white vinegar (splash)
1. Sautee first group of ingredients 'til onions are translucent, stirring constantly.
2. Add 2nd group of ingredients, stir, bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover with a lid, and set kitchen timer for 35 minutes.
3. At 35 minutes, taste. If more cooking time could be used, add time and continue to simmer, otherwise, move to step 4 after turning off the heat.
4. Blend all ingredients with a stick blender until smooth. Taste. Add leftover soup if you are planning to add it and re-puree. Taste.
5. Based on taste test from #4, add ingredients from last group to taste.
6. Let soup cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm. Enjoy!
On the workout front, the ankle is slowly but surely healing. Last week the mileage totaled 16.76 including a very exciting 3.06 miles of jog/walking with my sister-in-law. I can jog. My ankle can handle the load. I can't jump without extreme pain (thanks to tabatas, I know this), and I'm apprehensive on uneven terrain -- so we'll see where I end up with the planned 8 mile trail run with the bay area running folks this weekend...
Today, starting a new week where I have 75% mobility, I did 3 tabata workouts, with the jumping modified (because my ankle still can't jump). I also did 15 minutes on the elliptical on level 9 (1.06 miles) and 15 minutes on the treadmill including 2 X 0.25 @ 10 min/mile 2% incline with incline walking heartrate recovery. Overall, the workout felt like a good effort, and I feel comfortable that I'm headed in the right direction. The next big test will be yoga... Wish me luck.
November 10, 2015
Starting from (essentially) Scratch
Thanks to some poor toe management decisions coupled with tons of travel, work (and if I'm honest, general laziness) I've had the mellowest several weeks of fitness effort in years.
While I've generally averaged ~20 miles/week for the last decade or so, the last 5 weeks totaled 58 miles. Less than 12 miles/week. Most of it walking, often as a tourist (so stopping and gawking and not getting much in the way of cardio).
Yes, I've experimented with some alternative fitness options, but truly, fitness has been low on my priority list. So, I'm looking forward to getting back to my regularly scheduled 20 miles per week, while cringing at how annoying it is to rebuild fitness when you've lost it.
You know what? When you've been light on mileage, even after years of regular effort, it's actually hard to get moving again.
Last week, I totaled 11.46 miles, running 1 mile by myself and another 3 miler with E and doing the rest walking. I was so sore after the 3 miler (and lazy with being at home after so much travel) that I scrapped my Sunday run and slept in before brunch with the inlaws.
Because, of course, E's parents visited, and there was much food and wine debauchery, which contributed to my laziness.
After perfect weather in SF, we retreated home to a pub dinner on Saturday while watching college ball (Alabama won, so E's dad was happy. Cal lost, so I was sad).
Sunday, we shared a stereotypical "we are actually home" weekend treat of farmer's market, ramen, a lazy unplanned afternoon including a visit to the De Saisset Museum followed by winetasting at Pichetti and finally a light vegetarian dinner of farmer's market bounty with an oldie-but-goody from the wine cellar.
Monday, E's parents enjoyed the rainy day while we worked before we met up at a local steakhouse for our final meal together, complete with the second wine-cellar raid, a *delicious* 1999 Tignanello (the inlaws ordered the A. Rafanelli when it ran out, which was also awesome).
And now, it's the middle of the week. I've yet to run. But I have plans for several easy "just get 'em done" miles this week and I've purchased a new 12 class card at the local yoga studio and signed up for a class on Friday. I've also committed to a local trail run with friends in a few weeks, a 15K in January, and a half marathon in March. I'm hoping I can fit in a few 7 minute workouts. And, I'm even looking at the track and weekend run schedule for my local running group with an eye towards when I can get back in the habit. So there's some momentum. It's building. So let's hope I can move back towards (and past) my 20 mile per week average sooner rather than later.
Happy running and fitness to all!
While I've generally averaged ~20 miles/week for the last decade or so, the last 5 weeks totaled 58 miles. Less than 12 miles/week. Most of it walking, often as a tourist (so stopping and gawking and not getting much in the way of cardio).
Yes, I've experimented with some alternative fitness options, but truly, fitness has been low on my priority list. So, I'm looking forward to getting back to my regularly scheduled 20 miles per week, while cringing at how annoying it is to rebuild fitness when you've lost it.
You know what? When you've been light on mileage, even after years of regular effort, it's actually hard to get moving again.
Last week, I totaled 11.46 miles, running 1 mile by myself and another 3 miler with E and doing the rest walking. I was so sore after the 3 miler (and lazy with being at home after so much travel) that I scrapped my Sunday run and slept in before brunch with the inlaws.
Because, of course, E's parents visited, and there was much food and wine debauchery, which contributed to my laziness.
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| A beautiful day in San Francisco with E's parents. Couldn't ask for better weather. |
Sunday, we shared a stereotypical "we are actually home" weekend treat of farmer's market, ramen, a lazy unplanned afternoon including a visit to the De Saisset Museum followed by winetasting at Pichetti and finally a light vegetarian dinner of farmer's market bounty with an oldie-but-goody from the wine cellar.
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| First Raid of the Wine Cellar. |
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| 2nd Raid of the Wine Cellar. Plus Ice Cream Pie with Whipped Cream. Heaven. |
Happy running and fitness to all!
January 27, 2014
When Did Time Speed Up?
How is it possible that 2014 is almost 1/12 done? Every time I see them, my nieces and nephews confirm that they age at light speed - they are becoming adults, incrementally, before my very eyes. Also, apparently, I've been running my own law firm for almost 4 years now. WTF?
In other news, last week was gone in a quick blink, but typical.
I helped a client close a HUGE deal that will be announced this week. It was fun, but also super stressful and like all big time-sucking-and-stress-inducing deals, I'm glad it's behind me (and that we were able to find an acceptable compromise -- I actually got a thank you email from opposing counsel regarding my responsiveness and reasonableness, which was a pleasant surprise).
The running was good on the scale of recent running. 32.49 miles total including approximately 7 miles of walking, the majority running at an easy pace, a great 8X400 workout at sub 8/mile for each interval, and, because I hadn't registered, I skipped the planned 10K on Sunday in lieu of an 11 miler broken into 3 w/u easy to the park, 5 easy with the local nascient running group (low 11 pace), and 3 c/d easy solo back home. It was my first 11 mile run since the Zoom Point Pinole Half, so that's something to celebrate. Also, I felt like I needed to get in one more double digit run before showing up at Kaiser SF next Sunday, so I'm pleased that it worked out.
I finally made it to the new local Yoga studio today. I did the "Hour of Power" (you heard).
Yikes. Apparently, my 2 years of Bikram didn't maintain as much core and arm strength as I'd thought. Or, perhaps, the weight gain makes it harder for my arms and core to do their job. No matter what the explanation, I was glad this class was only an hour and I'm fairly certain I'm going to be quite sore tomorrow. At multiple points in the class, I was shaking. As in, my muscles thought they couldn't hold the pose and my brain was forcing them to do so, but the body was fairly certain the brain was an idiot. Mind you, this wasn't an advanced class. If nothing else, I confirmed that it's probably a good thing that I'm deviating from a pure Bikram/recumbant bike/walking cross-training regimen to something a little more strength-demanding.
I sent my niece the boxed set of Harry Potter for her birthday and she agreed to re-read the first 2 and go through the whole set, *if* I read them with her. How could I refuse? Making a calendar appointment to go pick up book one from the library this week...
And finally, on Saturday, after a Friday night of reliving our youth with friends in the Mission (we had no reservations, walked aimlessly, stood in many lines and, once in one of the bars, did *shots* -- I haven't done a shot in at least 10 years!), and the next day's obligatory sleeping in and a short run by me, we walked to a lovely lunch of oysters etc. at Waterbar.
What we didn't know was that we'd sat for lunch in time to view the 10th Annual Walk For Life.
All in all, it was fairly anti-climactic. No yelling. No fetus photos. Just thousands of folks exercising their 1st amendment rights, peaceably marching with signs, most of which were clear but not inflammatory, many of them carrying church banners from parts of California that most of the SF folks didn't recognize (Yolo, Butte, Sutter, Kern, Kings, Yuba, Modesto/Fresno [okay, those two are likely recognized]). It was obvious that many of the folks were much more excited about being in San Francisco than they were about being in the walk, which made me proud that SF just let them come and do their thing and didn't really react to them at all.
Our (flamingly gay African American) server stopped by and asked, "Are you enjoying the show???"
E responded, in typical fashion, "I just want to troll so badly... 'Menstruation is Murder' or 'Gay Marriage Stops Abortion' but I just can't help but thinking that they are barking up the wrong tree, and so earnestly, it's kind of sad..." Our server smiled, agreed that they were probably preaching to the wrong choir, and went about his day. As did the rest of the city.
In light of the realities of conflicted political and religious views and the events they cause in the rest of the world, this display of peaceful speech made me more proud to be an American than just about anything I've ever experienced.
Peace. Love. Free Speech. Democracy. Equal Protection. All *very* good things. We can agree to disagree about the rest over a nice delicious lunch with a beautiful view.
In other news, last week was gone in a quick blink, but typical.
I helped a client close a HUGE deal that will be announced this week. It was fun, but also super stressful and like all big time-sucking-and-stress-inducing deals, I'm glad it's behind me (and that we were able to find an acceptable compromise -- I actually got a thank you email from opposing counsel regarding my responsiveness and reasonableness, which was a pleasant surprise).
The running was good on the scale of recent running. 32.49 miles total including approximately 7 miles of walking, the majority running at an easy pace, a great 8X400 workout at sub 8/mile for each interval, and, because I hadn't registered, I skipped the planned 10K on Sunday in lieu of an 11 miler broken into 3 w/u easy to the park, 5 easy with the local nascient running group (low 11 pace), and 3 c/d easy solo back home. It was my first 11 mile run since the Zoom Point Pinole Half, so that's something to celebrate. Also, I felt like I needed to get in one more double digit run before showing up at Kaiser SF next Sunday, so I'm pleased that it worked out.
I finally made it to the new local Yoga studio today. I did the "Hour of Power" (you heard).
Yikes. Apparently, my 2 years of Bikram didn't maintain as much core and arm strength as I'd thought. Or, perhaps, the weight gain makes it harder for my arms and core to do their job. No matter what the explanation, I was glad this class was only an hour and I'm fairly certain I'm going to be quite sore tomorrow. At multiple points in the class, I was shaking. As in, my muscles thought they couldn't hold the pose and my brain was forcing them to do so, but the body was fairly certain the brain was an idiot. Mind you, this wasn't an advanced class. If nothing else, I confirmed that it's probably a good thing that I'm deviating from a pure Bikram/recumbant bike/walking cross-training regimen to something a little more strength-demanding.
I sent my niece the boxed set of Harry Potter for her birthday and she agreed to re-read the first 2 and go through the whole set, *if* I read them with her. How could I refuse? Making a calendar appointment to go pick up book one from the library this week...
And finally, on Saturday, after a Friday night of reliving our youth with friends in the Mission (we had no reservations, walked aimlessly, stood in many lines and, once in one of the bars, did *shots* -- I haven't done a shot in at least 10 years!), and the next day's obligatory sleeping in and a short run by me, we walked to a lovely lunch of oysters etc. at Waterbar.
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| The view from Waterbar. |
What we didn't know was that we'd sat for lunch in time to view the 10th Annual Walk For Life.
All in all, it was fairly anti-climactic. No yelling. No fetus photos. Just thousands of folks exercising their 1st amendment rights, peaceably marching with signs, most of which were clear but not inflammatory, many of them carrying church banners from parts of California that most of the SF folks didn't recognize (Yolo, Butte, Sutter, Kern, Kings, Yuba, Modesto/Fresno [okay, those two are likely recognized]). It was obvious that many of the folks were much more excited about being in San Francisco than they were about being in the walk, which made me proud that SF just let them come and do their thing and didn't really react to them at all.
Our (flamingly gay African American) server stopped by and asked, "Are you enjoying the show???"
E responded, in typical fashion, "I just want to troll so badly... 'Menstruation is Murder' or 'Gay Marriage Stops Abortion' but I just can't help but thinking that they are barking up the wrong tree, and so earnestly, it's kind of sad..." Our server smiled, agreed that they were probably preaching to the wrong choir, and went about his day. As did the rest of the city.
In light of the realities of conflicted political and religious views and the events they cause in the rest of the world, this display of peaceful speech made me more proud to be an American than just about anything I've ever experienced.
Peace. Love. Free Speech. Democracy. Equal Protection. All *very* good things. We can agree to disagree about the rest over a nice delicious lunch with a beautiful view.
January 6, 2014
2014 Goals
It's that time of year again and my goals this year fall into several categories:
1. Space. When it comes to space, physically, I'm pretty good. I don't generally succumb to clutter and I regularly purge physical things (although, truth be told, right now, due to holiday gifts, I have an abundance of cardboard boxes in our living room that need to be dealt with). While spatially, I may be good, temporally, I'm terrible. I used to compare myself against my mother and congratulate myself, but as I've aged, I've realized that even my *very* laid back father was actually a work-a-holic and dedicated socialite who regularly over-booked his time, so, other than my lovely husband who taught me to build in "do-nothing" days on vacation, I have no good role models on this very important topic and my continuum is skewed heavily to the over-extended time side. I regularly let my time become so crowded that everything I want to do only fits if *everything* goes *exactly* according to plan (side note, this makes me very intolerant of others who have loser definitions of time and inconvenience me). When the inevitable happens and everything doesn't fit, I triage. And I do it well. But, the needs in an emergency are very different than the needs one could address by being thoughtful with foresight. I've realized that by neglecting to intentionally build in enough buffer space for life, which *never* goes completely according to plan, I'm partially responsible for all of these emergencies that make me triage anxiously while my blood boils. So, my very hard to quantify goal for 2014 is to maintain enough temporal space that emergencies only happen when they are *relatively* unavoidable. Note -- startups operate in full-on emergency-all-the-time mode, so professionally, I can't completely control for this one. But I can admit that it exists and structure my personal life accordingly, which is something I haven't done in the past. I'm not sure how to quantify this one, but I think I'll be able to be honest with myself about whether I'm successful or not come year-end.
2. Yoga. It was with a sad heart that I read the Vanity Fair piece on Bikram being sued for rape and sexual harassment. Given that I already have a love-hate relationship with Bikram Yoga, this article pushed me over the edge (even if all of the allegations are false, the tone of many in the Bikram community who were interviewed had a high ick factor). So, my 2014 goal is to find a new studio where I take an average of one class a week. I am happy to learn that there is a hot yoga studio nearby that only heats to 90F instead of 105-108F. The class I took in Barcelona was only heated to around 90F, as have been other classes I've taken in SF, ATL, my hometown, and more -- and 90F is just so much more doable than the Bikram-prescribed super-heat. In the mid-100s around 60 minutes is where I really start to devolve into a serious mental struggle not to storm out of the room in annoyance -- yes, no doubt that mental discipline to stay in the room has value, but it's so unpleasant that it means it's hard for me to motivate to attend and I end up dreading and/or finding reasons to skip my yoga practice. So I'm looking forward to finding a class I can commit to without such a huge mental conflict. Also, E and I agreed to do 1 healthy day a week during 2014 where we do a minimum of 30 minutes of yoga together, eat only vegetarian food, and consume no alcohol.
3. Running. Oh boy. I've got a 10-miler, a 10K, and 2 half marathons on the calendar between now and the end of March. I just wrote up a training schedule that is reasonable for the distances but not *that* demanding and I'm looking forward to trying to stick to it. Overall, with running, I think my goal this year is to run with joy. Again, with the impossible to quantify goals! But, seriously. I enjoyed hiking on the Queen Charlotte Track so much that if I had time to hike every day instead of running, I honestly think I'd prefer to do that. This was a huge revelation to me. I *like* running. But I don't *love* it the way many in the running community do. It's functional for me. It fits (see #1 -- because I'm bad about allocating time, running has been very pragmatic for me in terms of fitting in workouts for the last decade of my life). I'm very goal oriented, so signing up for races and following training plans means that the runs have importance and will likely get done, unless it's serious triage time. But the true *joy* of running for me has been few and far between in the last several years -- I do know that I get much joy from running with friends (yay track day and long runs with friends!) and running at paces that aren't pushed while listening to audiobooks, so I'm going to try to maximize those activities along with any and all other running activities that make me feel happy to be alive.
4. Books. As I mentioned, audiobooks became such a part of my life this year that they are no longer eligible for goal-setting, they're like my version of television. So, I think I'd like to have a goal of reading *all* of the book-club books this year (again, back to #1, I was unable to read one of the assigned books this year because work and life spiraled out of control and something had to give, so it was my book club book -- I hosted the club and had to ask silly questions about how the book ended). On top of that, I think aiming for 24 books read total is a good idea. In 2013 I hit 21, so I think I should be able to do 24 without too much unreasonable effort. Plus, I want to be someone who *reads* books. Yes, audiobooks are awesome, and I sincerely enjoy them, as evidenced by their complete insertion into my daily life and my removal of them from the goals. However, my experiment whereby I listened to and then read The Great Gatsby (for book club) definitely confirmed for me that I lose quite a bit when I just listen to the audiobook. The mental effort and reward for me is *much* higher when I actually read (and turn the page for that matter, as I don't have an e-book-reader).
5. Garden. Historically, I've never included the Garden in my goals, it's my hobby, and I've always found a way to fit it in somewhere. But in the interests of #1 -- I'm trying to be honest with myself about what takes time in my life and what I'd like to accomplish, so I'm adding it this year. I'd like to get my seedlings started before the end of the first week of February. Normally, I just do this, but this year it will be a bit more complicated because all of the heat mats for the seedlings are currently deployed under Guito's cage. (I should probably buy him better heat sources and take the mats back for the garden.) I'd also like to do the following:
a) Get the winter garden cleared out and covered with plastic before the end of February so weeds don't grow.
b) Turn the soil, add compost and other amendments, and fully prep the beds for planting before the first of May.
c) Get seedlings in the ground ASAP after the last frost as the weather permits.
d) Get the tomato cages and staking for beans, squash, etc. all done before June.
e) Be home for the majority of the harvest season so we can enjoy the bounty of the Garden.
6. Professional/Financial. For the record, ever since I was a teenager, I've had goals in these areas but I've never felt the need to share them -- they've just taken first priority over everything else in my life except my family/friends (and, sometimes, if I'm honest, they've even beat those out). So, I've almost always met them. This year, my professional/financial goal is to recognize that my life is at a point today where it's okay if I miss a professional or financial goal if I have to do so to meet one of the goals above. And the big goal is to {gasp} let go enough to let that happen. I suspect this is actually the hardest goal I'm setting for 2014.
1. Space. When it comes to space, physically, I'm pretty good. I don't generally succumb to clutter and I regularly purge physical things (although, truth be told, right now, due to holiday gifts, I have an abundance of cardboard boxes in our living room that need to be dealt with). While spatially, I may be good, temporally, I'm terrible. I used to compare myself against my mother and congratulate myself, but as I've aged, I've realized that even my *very* laid back father was actually a work-a-holic and dedicated socialite who regularly over-booked his time, so, other than my lovely husband who taught me to build in "do-nothing" days on vacation, I have no good role models on this very important topic and my continuum is skewed heavily to the over-extended time side. I regularly let my time become so crowded that everything I want to do only fits if *everything* goes *exactly* according to plan (side note, this makes me very intolerant of others who have loser definitions of time and inconvenience me). When the inevitable happens and everything doesn't fit, I triage. And I do it well. But, the needs in an emergency are very different than the needs one could address by being thoughtful with foresight. I've realized that by neglecting to intentionally build in enough buffer space for life, which *never* goes completely according to plan, I'm partially responsible for all of these emergencies that make me triage anxiously while my blood boils. So, my very hard to quantify goal for 2014 is to maintain enough temporal space that emergencies only happen when they are *relatively* unavoidable. Note -- startups operate in full-on emergency-all-the-time mode, so professionally, I can't completely control for this one. But I can admit that it exists and structure my personal life accordingly, which is something I haven't done in the past. I'm not sure how to quantify this one, but I think I'll be able to be honest with myself about whether I'm successful or not come year-end.
2. Yoga. It was with a sad heart that I read the Vanity Fair piece on Bikram being sued for rape and sexual harassment. Given that I already have a love-hate relationship with Bikram Yoga, this article pushed me over the edge (even if all of the allegations are false, the tone of many in the Bikram community who were interviewed had a high ick factor). So, my 2014 goal is to find a new studio where I take an average of one class a week. I am happy to learn that there is a hot yoga studio nearby that only heats to 90F instead of 105-108F. The class I took in Barcelona was only heated to around 90F, as have been other classes I've taken in SF, ATL, my hometown, and more -- and 90F is just so much more doable than the Bikram-prescribed super-heat. In the mid-100s around 60 minutes is where I really start to devolve into a serious mental struggle not to storm out of the room in annoyance -- yes, no doubt that mental discipline to stay in the room has value, but it's so unpleasant that it means it's hard for me to motivate to attend and I end up dreading and/or finding reasons to skip my yoga practice. So I'm looking forward to finding a class I can commit to without such a huge mental conflict. Also, E and I agreed to do 1 healthy day a week during 2014 where we do a minimum of 30 minutes of yoga together, eat only vegetarian food, and consume no alcohol.
3. Running. Oh boy. I've got a 10-miler, a 10K, and 2 half marathons on the calendar between now and the end of March. I just wrote up a training schedule that is reasonable for the distances but not *that* demanding and I'm looking forward to trying to stick to it. Overall, with running, I think my goal this year is to run with joy. Again, with the impossible to quantify goals! But, seriously. I enjoyed hiking on the Queen Charlotte Track so much that if I had time to hike every day instead of running, I honestly think I'd prefer to do that. This was a huge revelation to me. I *like* running. But I don't *love* it the way many in the running community do. It's functional for me. It fits (see #1 -- because I'm bad about allocating time, running has been very pragmatic for me in terms of fitting in workouts for the last decade of my life). I'm very goal oriented, so signing up for races and following training plans means that the runs have importance and will likely get done, unless it's serious triage time. But the true *joy* of running for me has been few and far between in the last several years -- I do know that I get much joy from running with friends (yay track day and long runs with friends!) and running at paces that aren't pushed while listening to audiobooks, so I'm going to try to maximize those activities along with any and all other running activities that make me feel happy to be alive.
4. Books. As I mentioned, audiobooks became such a part of my life this year that they are no longer eligible for goal-setting, they're like my version of television. So, I think I'd like to have a goal of reading *all* of the book-club books this year (again, back to #1, I was unable to read one of the assigned books this year because work and life spiraled out of control and something had to give, so it was my book club book -- I hosted the club and had to ask silly questions about how the book ended). On top of that, I think aiming for 24 books read total is a good idea. In 2013 I hit 21, so I think I should be able to do 24 without too much unreasonable effort. Plus, I want to be someone who *reads* books. Yes, audiobooks are awesome, and I sincerely enjoy them, as evidenced by their complete insertion into my daily life and my removal of them from the goals. However, my experiment whereby I listened to and then read The Great Gatsby (for book club) definitely confirmed for me that I lose quite a bit when I just listen to the audiobook. The mental effort and reward for me is *much* higher when I actually read (and turn the page for that matter, as I don't have an e-book-reader).
5. Garden. Historically, I've never included the Garden in my goals, it's my hobby, and I've always found a way to fit it in somewhere. But in the interests of #1 -- I'm trying to be honest with myself about what takes time in my life and what I'd like to accomplish, so I'm adding it this year. I'd like to get my seedlings started before the end of the first week of February. Normally, I just do this, but this year it will be a bit more complicated because all of the heat mats for the seedlings are currently deployed under Guito's cage. (I should probably buy him better heat sources and take the mats back for the garden.) I'd also like to do the following:
a) Get the winter garden cleared out and covered with plastic before the end of February so weeds don't grow.
b) Turn the soil, add compost and other amendments, and fully prep the beds for planting before the first of May.
c) Get seedlings in the ground ASAP after the last frost as the weather permits.
d) Get the tomato cages and staking for beans, squash, etc. all done before June.
e) Be home for the majority of the harvest season so we can enjoy the bounty of the Garden.
6. Professional/Financial. For the record, ever since I was a teenager, I've had goals in these areas but I've never felt the need to share them -- they've just taken first priority over everything else in my life except my family/friends (and, sometimes, if I'm honest, they've even beat those out). So, I've almost always met them. This year, my professional/financial goal is to recognize that my life is at a point today where it's okay if I miss a professional or financial goal if I have to do so to meet one of the goals above. And the big goal is to {gasp} let go enough to let that happen. I suspect this is actually the hardest goal I'm setting for 2014.
December 1, 2013
Baby Steps
Welcome back from the Holiday, Y'all. In a wonderfully surprising
development, despite 6 days in the delicious land of pork, lard, and
fried, I only brought 1 lb. of the South back with me. The
previous record low has to be at the lowest 4 lbs -- so this is a PR. It may be my
only fitness related PR this year, so I'll take it.
Given that I indulged as much as I did, this is kind of amazing. I mean, we had a HUGE Thanksgiving afternoon of food and wine (*AND* the first bloody mary I've ever actually enjoyed -- my Dad was a big bloody man, so I was pleased to finally understand. Apparently, for me, it just needs to be *ridiculously* spicy and it has to have a pickle, then I'll love it and sip it with care much longer than everyone else in the room, which is a great side benefit of its own). The other notable indulgences on the short trip included all of E's family/Southern food awesomeness including E's Mom's meaty spaghetti, E's mom's ground beef and risotto stuffed peppers, a lunch of a meat sandwich and potato chips (seriously -- no vegetables at all), spanakopita/pimento cheese/salmon mouse tartlette/etc. hors d'ouevres with wine or champagne before various meals, gratuitous bacon (of course), sausages (for dinner), japanese everything at a deliciously authentic ramen++ lunch out with the family, a true Southern "vegetable plate" laden with fried okra, fried sunchokes, broiled broccoli, mac and cheese, and collard greens cooked with ham, a fancy burger bar joint lunch with friends and fried pickles (Seriously -- I LOVE me some fried pickles), a true Southern breakfast of egg-in-a-hole with roasted tomato preserves and a side of cheese grits (in a sacrilegious but much appreciated deviation, they offered sauteed kale as an option in lieu of a biscuit or potatoes -- but the biscuit is apparently the best in ATL, so choose at your own peril), plus lots of delicious wine, beer, and, in a late night jet-lag hunger random kitchen raid, half a bag of Inca Corn Nuts.
You see what I'm saying? This PR is a veritable miracle. Go me.
After the eating orgy and the hard, hilly, and cold (but slow) effort at the ATL Thanksgiving 5K, I was inspired to try to pull together my end of year and early 2014 running/fitness goals.
Turns out, they are fairly simple. Today, I did a very easy 5.5 miles at 10:35/mile, another 0.5 mile walking cooldown and closed out a week of 16 miles total.
If I increase that "long run" by approximately 1 mile/week (on average), I'll be ready for the Foster City 10 mile race in January. So I think I'll go ahead and sign up for it. This should keep me honest in my running workouts over the holidays, which I need -- particularly since our Christmas/New Year's travel involves hiking, and without a running goal, I'd run the risk of writing off entirely too much time without a run at all.
After that, I'm thinking I'll do the Kaiser Half and the Oakland Half Marathon (which claims to have coupon codes for Cyber Monday -- so check it out if you're thinking of joining the fun).
My big fitness focus for the next three months is going to be on my diet/overall caloric balance, flexibility, and building up my average mileage per week without getting injured. This likely means that my paces may take the hit or at least may not drop, but I'm hopeful that this means I'll build a decent mileage base without injury and lose some weight before trying to push on pacing (as, when I try to run hard and I'm on the heavier side, I'm more likely to pull something -- see my SJ RNR dnf). I am happy to note that both the Foster City run and the Kaiser half have much less elevation change than the ATL 5K, so at least I can comfort myself that if nothing else, I'm already prepared for the hills...this is an anomaly for me, but one that is much appreciated.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to spectating at CIM for inspiration next weekend and getting back in the Bikram studio and working towards multiple sessions per week while I'm in town over the next few months. Ideally I'll get in tomorrow, but, realistically, it's the first true day back after the holiday, so if work doesn't allow it, then definitely sometime this week. There, I said it. Now it has to happen.
Given that I indulged as much as I did, this is kind of amazing. I mean, we had a HUGE Thanksgiving afternoon of food and wine (*AND* the first bloody mary I've ever actually enjoyed -- my Dad was a big bloody man, so I was pleased to finally understand. Apparently, for me, it just needs to be *ridiculously* spicy and it has to have a pickle, then I'll love it and sip it with care much longer than everyone else in the room, which is a great side benefit of its own). The other notable indulgences on the short trip included all of E's family/Southern food awesomeness including E's Mom's meaty spaghetti, E's mom's ground beef and risotto stuffed peppers, a lunch of a meat sandwich and potato chips (seriously -- no vegetables at all), spanakopita/pimento cheese/salmon mouse tartlette/etc. hors d'ouevres with wine or champagne before various meals, gratuitous bacon (of course), sausages (for dinner), japanese everything at a deliciously authentic ramen++ lunch out with the family, a true Southern "vegetable plate" laden with fried okra, fried sunchokes, broiled broccoli, mac and cheese, and collard greens cooked with ham, a fancy burger bar joint lunch with friends and fried pickles (Seriously -- I LOVE me some fried pickles), a true Southern breakfast of egg-in-a-hole with roasted tomato preserves and a side of cheese grits (in a sacrilegious but much appreciated deviation, they offered sauteed kale as an option in lieu of a biscuit or potatoes -- but the biscuit is apparently the best in ATL, so choose at your own peril), plus lots of delicious wine, beer, and, in a late night jet-lag hunger random kitchen raid, half a bag of Inca Corn Nuts.
You see what I'm saying? This PR is a veritable miracle. Go me.
After the eating orgy and the hard, hilly, and cold (but slow) effort at the ATL Thanksgiving 5K, I was inspired to try to pull together my end of year and early 2014 running/fitness goals.
Turns out, they are fairly simple. Today, I did a very easy 5.5 miles at 10:35/mile, another 0.5 mile walking cooldown and closed out a week of 16 miles total.
If I increase that "long run" by approximately 1 mile/week (on average), I'll be ready for the Foster City 10 mile race in January. So I think I'll go ahead and sign up for it. This should keep me honest in my running workouts over the holidays, which I need -- particularly since our Christmas/New Year's travel involves hiking, and without a running goal, I'd run the risk of writing off entirely too much time without a run at all.
After that, I'm thinking I'll do the Kaiser Half and the Oakland Half Marathon (which claims to have coupon codes for Cyber Monday -- so check it out if you're thinking of joining the fun).
My big fitness focus for the next three months is going to be on my diet/overall caloric balance, flexibility, and building up my average mileage per week without getting injured. This likely means that my paces may take the hit or at least may not drop, but I'm hopeful that this means I'll build a decent mileage base without injury and lose some weight before trying to push on pacing (as, when I try to run hard and I'm on the heavier side, I'm more likely to pull something -- see my SJ RNR dnf). I am happy to note that both the Foster City run and the Kaiser half have much less elevation change than the ATL 5K, so at least I can comfort myself that if nothing else, I'm already prepared for the hills...this is an anomaly for me, but one that is much appreciated.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to spectating at CIM for inspiration next weekend and getting back in the Bikram studio and working towards multiple sessions per week while I'm in town over the next few months. Ideally I'll get in tomorrow, but, realistically, it's the first true day back after the holiday, so if work doesn't allow it, then definitely sometime this week. There, I said it. Now it has to happen.
October 29, 2013
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig
We're home for a brief stop. Friends visiting from DC. A surprise birthday party for an old friend. Laundry and gardening, work, and general home-town life. Also, it is fall. It is cooler, the morning is dark when I wake, and the leaves have all fallen on our street.
Last week, despite a complete lack of effort to hit any mileage goal on my part, I managed to put 19.6 miles-ish on my feet (including 3.5 miles of biking and an hour of gardening, which I counted as 1 mile Running Equivalent). Other than the track workout, there was nothing to write home about other than a Bikram class, which put me at 5/10 classes on this 10 class card. If I try really hard, I *may* actually use all of the classes on this card before it expires... that would be a new experience.
I have no races on the calendar, but, thanks to laziness and the awesomeness that is Spanish food, quite a few pounds on the scale that need to disappear. So, for the first time in a long time, I find myself actually being much more disciplined about my diet than my mileage.
In the 9 days since we've been state-side I've lost 6 pounds -- turns out, diet discipline is way more important than work-out discipline when it comes to managing weight. I'm a natural born eater. I can eat an extra 1,000 calories without blinking, *and* if you ask me to do a workout that burns 1,000 calories, you can guarantee I'd come home from it hungry and ready to replace the loss.
I'd love to say I'm just going to stay this disciplined food course 'til I hit the illusory goal I keep in the back of my brain as the "ideal to start training for a BQ" weight, but of course, that's crazy. There's just life in general with all of its awesome food, plus the trip to China, where I plan to eat anything and everything delicious that crosses my path, plus all of the holiday travel and parties. So, instead, I'll be honest with myself -- now that I'm back below my personal red line and within striking distance of reasonable, I'll probably trend back up towards the red line and will be resuming the disciplined approach in early January, along with the rest of the first world.
Today, I hit up the Bikram room again. As always, it was a struggle and I desperately wanted to go outside for some cool fresh air for every single minute from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. I am a heat wuss. Bikram is such a mental workout for me. Yes, it's a great physical workout. But, truly, the mental struggle to stay in that hot room is a new and difficult battle I wage with myself in every class. Today, it was close, but I stayed in the room. Next time... who knows.
For much of this year, E and I have been spending one night a week in SF when we're in town. His company has an office here he needs to make appearances at, and I have more clients here than down the peninsula these days. The best part of these weekly visits is the date night dinners and the views from the hotels (see above and below).
Tonight, we got to take an old friend out for his birthday dinner at Fringale. Oh, man. This is a perfect example of why San Francisco's restaurant scene is so amazing. It reminded me of so many bistros in France. No reservations. We showed up around 7 and were seated to enjoy a delicious 2.5 hour meal with amazing service and overly delicious food, wine, coffee, and cheese. (As you can see, my meal discipline is not even strong enough to deal with SF, much less the true international temptations, although, in all honesty, French food is much easier to enjoy in moderation than many other options...)
Going forward, without a race on the calendar, I'm completely free to alternate Bikram, walking, hiking, running, biking, and any other activities that make sense for me. For example, I'm running in SF along a street with many stoplights to a breakfast meeting tomorrow. I'll give myself 45 minutes to go 3 miles. I'll call it a fartlek or intervals and I'll push it on the non-trivial hills. I love that I have the freedom to do this -- that I don't have an assigned workout -- that all I have to do tomorrow is transport myself between meetings and do my best to be disciplined and healthy. At the end of the day, after running to breakfast and walking between my other meetings, I'll likely hit 5+ miles. It will be a great day and I feel privileged to have it on my agenda.
It's good to be home.
October 21, 2013
RNR Recovery and Amsterdam
I've been super lazy on the workout front ever since I bailed on the San Jose Rock 'n Roll Half.
How Lazy? Well, let's just say I did Bikram the day after, and then didn't do a single workout until arriving in Amsterdam the AM of 10/12, whereupon I commenced my standard travel cross-training regimen of personal physical transit coupled with all the good local beer, wine, and food that my belly can handle.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city full of canals and bikes. (Also, it is a direct flight from SFO and a good, fun weekend layover city if you're headed to Barcelona).
It's such a bike-friendly city that our hotel had bikes for free use. We took full advantage and it was awesome. I did much walking, biking, and sight-seeing, but no running in Amsterdam. So, despite several miles of non-running self-propelled transport, and some bikram, I completed my first run-free week in quite some time. (Also, I was ridiculously relaxed. I'm hoping these two facts are unrelated.)
How Lazy? Well, let's just say I did Bikram the day after, and then didn't do a single workout until arriving in Amsterdam the AM of 10/12, whereupon I commenced my standard travel cross-training regimen of personal physical transit coupled with all the good local beer, wine, and food that my belly can handle.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city full of canals and bikes. (Also, it is a direct flight from SFO and a good, fun weekend layover city if you're headed to Barcelona).
It's such a bike-friendly city that our hotel had bikes for free use. We took full advantage and it was awesome. I did much walking, biking, and sight-seeing, but no running in Amsterdam. So, despite several miles of non-running self-propelled transport, and some bikram, I completed my first run-free week in quite some time. (Also, I was ridiculously relaxed. I'm hoping these two facts are unrelated.)
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| Typical Intersection with bike and walk lights |
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| Rijksmuseum |
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| One of too many canals to name |
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| Gorgeous street night view. |
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| Self-explanatory. |
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| Night bike and canal view. |
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| Royal Palace |
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| One of many ridiculous red light district views. |
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| Red light district part 2. |
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| Transitioning out of the red light district... |
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| A fashion alley to make @Arvay proud... |
October 17, 2013
Barcelona: A Short Story
On our last full day in Barcelona, after an awesome Bikram Class, I went in search of delicious goodies to take with us on our next travel leg. Since it treated us so well last time, I originally planned to go to to the Boqueria, or Mercat St. Josep:
And while I love food markets in general, my real goal was to re-create the scene below, only with me doing the selection of meat instead of E.
Because we'd already seen the Boqueria, and there are so many markets in Barcelona, I decided to walk to one that was well-reviewed, less touristy, and closer to our hotel: The Mercat de Sant Antoni.
It was a lovely walk.
Unfortunately, despite checking the website and concluding I should be able to get there during operating hours, my plan had a flaw:
Even with the disappointment, this story has a happy ending. The supermarket near our hotel had several displays like the one below, plus aisles upon aisles of preserved awesomeness and a bakery and a butcher ready to slice anything and everything I might desire. Did I mention I love this country?
In keeping with tradition, we will have amazing sandwiches on our travel leg out of Spain.
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| The Entrance to the Boqueria on La Rambla |
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| One of the many awesome preserved meat vendors. |
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| Fruits |
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| Escargots (en Catalan) -- one of the examples of how Catalan sometimes makes more sense than Spanish to me. I do *not* know the word for snail off the top of my head in Spanish, but I do in French, and it's pretty close to the Catalan. |
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| So many delicious olives! |
And while I love food markets in general, my real goal was to re-create the scene below, only with me doing the selection of meat instead of E.
Because we'd already seen the Boqueria, and there are so many markets in Barcelona, I decided to walk to one that was well-reviewed, less touristy, and closer to our hotel: The Mercat de Sant Antoni.
It was a lovely walk.
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| Tortoise Sculpture Under Naked Children |
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| Typical intersection -- love the trees, ironwork, architecture and pedestrian and bike-friendliness of this city. |
Unfortunately, despite checking the website and concluding I should be able to get there during operating hours, my plan had a flaw:
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| Not what I wanted to see... |
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| Looks like a gorgeous market that will be even better when the reconstruction is finished. |
Even with the disappointment, this story has a happy ending. The supermarket near our hotel had several displays like the one below, plus aisles upon aisles of preserved awesomeness and a bakery and a butcher ready to slice anything and everything I might desire. Did I mention I love this country?
In keeping with tradition, we will have amazing sandwiches on our travel leg out of Spain.
The End.
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