Slow & Steady Wins the Race :-)

It was National Running Day and I did not run.  :-(  30 minutes on the bike trainer before work.  There are TOO MANY THINGS TO DO before next Friday.  Before next Tuesday really, when all of my finals are due and I have to do a presentation.  While I am so excited to go to Leavenworth this weekend, it would probably be better (stress-wise!) if we didn't.  

Taught my last class of the quarter tonight!  We'll wait for the course evals to determine its success level.  Now (just!) 24 huge final projects to grade.  

TOO MUCH STUFF TO DO!

Had a huge training today we've been prepping for for about 2 months, it went... okay.  Horrible day overall though, TOO MUCH STRESS! 

Now off to Leavenworth!

It's my birthday (the big 2-9!) so I decided I deserved to run.  :-)  Lovely lovely LOVELY 5 miles through the most adorable town of Leavenworth you've ever seen.  Beautiful blue sky, warm morning (turned out to be 80 degrees!) and beautiful river / mountain / goat views.  Then went on the wine walk, ate some delicious brats and pretzels, and played some games.  Best day ever. 

On the way back from Leavenworth there was a sign for Deception Falls, and since I'm still riding the "I get to do whatever I want since its my birthday weekend", I told J to stop!  Quick .5 mile (or less!) hike to some rushing roaring waterfalls.  Continued on down the road until we saw a sign for Wallace Falls.... and we stopped!  Although this place is in the middle of nowhere about 10,000 other people had decided to come here, indicating it must be one of the best hikes in Washington?  Lovely 4 mile hike to and from a series of waterfalls - it was quite hilly and kind of strenuous - annoying because it was so beautiful, but so fun!  I definitely want to go back (on a quieter day!) and hike the whole thing. 

Then came home to some dinner and bowling with my dad.  Best weekend ever!

43 minutes on the bike trainer before work while watching The Bachelorette.  It makes my ITB tight.

My ankle felt pretty good!  A few twinges, my ITB was making itself known around 2.  Ran super slow and super careful, TT around 32.  

What shoes / how many shoes do I need to live for 8 weeks?? :-)  This is the hardest part of packing. 

Such a lovely run at BPA with Lisa.  Pushed the BOB on the way back - man those hills were killer.  I swear I was going slower than walkers at some points and it was soooo hard!  I am out of shape.  Neither of us brought our Garmins (fail) so total guess.  Ran to the bathroom and back (.75 miles?) then the normal BPA loop (3.75?) then I ran down to Jiffy Lube to meet Justin (.75?).  

Then went to a delicious dinner at Red Robin with Lisa, Denali, & Justin.  Denali is the most precious adorable child in the world. 

DON'T MOVE TO DALLAS LISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

35 mins on the bike trainer before work, while watching 16 and Pregnant of course!

Happy 30th birthday Justin!
10 lovely miles around the neighborhood this morning, first few with Cooper.  Slow, total time 1:42:23.
Now off to Singapore for 8 weeks! I'll see you all after my first run in 90 degree 90% humidity Singapore! An adventure!

Hello from Singapore!  First of all, a 20 hour flight is no joke.  Second of all, its HOT.  Scratch that, its HUMID.  So ridiculously humid.  So ridiculously terribly humid that you are dripping sweat the instant you are outside.  So this morning's run was hard.  I wanted to stop after 2 but ended up doing 5.42, miraculously, which took a full hour to do.  

PS - If you haven't already, you must read The Hunger Games.  Read it on the way here and am now obsessed.  Reminded me of The Giver.

AM - 20 minutes of yoga/strength stuff.

PM - 15 minutes of cycling and 30 minutes of ellipticalling at a very tiny pretty hot no tv gym.  I was hoping for more!  Did you know that the networks (like ABC) and hulu don't let you watch when you're outside the US?  BS!  This is going to be an enlightening no-TV summer.  I'm sure it will be good for me... but a little mindless TV would be appreciated right about now!

Its 7:16pm and I'm exhausted again.  After waking up repeatedly from 3am on (since I went to bed at 8pm last night) I must try and stay up later, but I'm soo tired....  I also feel EXTREMELY sluggish after working out - usually it energizes me but walking back from the gym just felt exhausting.  I don't know if it is the humidity, the travel, the weird / bad sleep, probably a combo. 

Woke again around 4:30am (after sleeping very poorly after 1am) and waited until it started to get light around 7am to head out.  My stomach was growling the whole time - I have got to get some bananas or granola bars or something for my room!  The campus is very hilly, walked up one of the huge hills, stopped to take a few photos, but even with those excuses I was still VERY slow.  My times are now around 11-12 minute miles!  Went immediately to the canteen for breakfast afterwards despite being slightly embarrassed by the sweat pouring off of me - it didn't matter - I was too hungry to wait! 

TT: 60 minutes  AP: That's got to be around 11:55!

Today we're sightseeing - excited to see more of Singapore and to get a bus transporting us directly there! :-)

PS - Both my ankle and my ITB felt really good today!! :-)

This is a day-off from running, but to save time I ran to the gym and back (thus the 1 mile).  35 minutes on the bike while I finished A Quiet Storm (not bad, quick read), then ran back.  Then joined Tina for "part" of the Insanity Asylum fit test (I have no idea how Asylum differs from regular Insanity).  It was hard and I barely did much.  Had a delicious dinner (the first meal I thought was great) at Canteen 2.  Today felt great - I finally felt normal - slept a normal 11-7 night last night, went to work all day, worked out, good day.  Set up my first teacher interview for Friday - excited for that!

It was too early to run (4pm) and I had just eaten a bunch of peanut butter because I was starving.  I ran one mile, felt super nauseous, threw up a bit, and that's that. 

4.2 miles this morning (7am) before a super busy day.  Ran to the track and back, on the track did 4 400's with a 400 of recovery between each.

Splits: 2:09, 2:08, 2:05, 2:02

This was SO hard, and those splits aren't that great!  Its amazing how much slower I am here with the heat and humidity.

TT: 41:30  AP: 9:50 or something (I'm guessing)

Off to do 2 teacher interviews (hopefully I find them on the maze metro!), then to MOM to get my visa, then to a reception on the USS Tortuga. 

1 mile running to and from the gym.  Rode the bike 30 minutes while I read A Separate Peace.  Now off to explore Singapore!  I hate how you can't stop sweating after taking a freaking cold-as-it-can-get shower.  I can't even put sunscreen on because its too sweaty.  Gross. 

Best day yet!  Great night's sleep, woke up and went for a 7.5 mile run (yes it was the hardest thing ever and no I can't believe I ran 10 miles easy one week ago).  Two laps around campus, was able to run up the big hill both times (the one I walked earlier in the week) so I think that is some improvement.  Sun kept coming out and making it excrutiating hot (didn't get out until 8am so didn't finish until 9:30am, too late).  

Then went to Palau Ubin and cycled all around the island (probably 10 miles?  Not very fast but some hill climbing which got the heart rate up).  My first time mountain biking, just a little off roading but it was fun!  Saw MONKEYS!!!!!  They are scarier in the wild. 

TT: 1:20:48  AP: 10:48

A cardio trifecta.  1 mile running to and from the gym.  20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes bike.  Had to lie and say I did bring a towel to the gym (I was doing laundry while was there) as I was out of compliance with the "No shirt, no shoes, no towel, no entry" rule at the gym!  Whoops...

After my lovely 6am meeting with the project team back home, headed out for a run at 7am.  Did the loop the opposite way - mistake.  That giant hill I've referred to before no longer has the mini-break in the middle and it was extremely long and difficult.  I wore my heart rate monitor just for fun.  I don't really know what my typical heart rate is, but it was 80 when I started, an average of 144 during the run, and it topped out at 168 at the top of that hill.  That seems rather high!  My speed is improving the very tiniest bit.

TT: 50:40  AP: 10:08   AHR: 144

7am.  Convinced Gitt to do the Jurong Lake 5k with me in July (she doesn't run!) so I forced her to get up with me and took her to the track. :-)  Walked there, and she did about 20 minutes of jog/walk so I was really proud of her!  I think she will be able to do it no problem.

HR was 75 before I left.  I need to figure out what it is before I get out of bed.

I did almost a 2 mile warm-up, then 3 400's, a 400 of recovery after the first and an 800 of recovery after the 2nd.  While I ran these faster than last week, I couldn't do the 4th one and I had to walk after 3.5 (after the 3rd 400) for a bit because I was about to have a heart attack.  Then I ran home to round it out at 4 miles.

TT: 37:29  AP: 9:22 (look at that!)  AHR: 152

Splits (HR): 1:58 (164), 1:56 (169), 1:59 (173)

I don't think its good for me for it to go over 170.  I think I may need to walk the recovery lap when I do these.

The nice thing about here is there are no lunches to be made, no animals to be taken care of (though I miss my pets horribly!), and its pointless to dry/fix your hair.  Plus you take cold showers so there's no lingering in the shower!  So I can get ready for work in only 15-20 minutes!

PS - According to Runner's World my max heart rate is 188. 

PM Workout - Did about half of a 50+ minute Speed and Agility Insanity video with Tina.  Everything crawling on the ground made me want to die so I didn't do all of that, but all of the rest. 

AM Workout - Total fail.  Ran to the gym and back... only the gym was closed.  Apparently they open at 8:30am.  Thought about going for a swim but since I didn't have the stuff, once I got home I just started working / getting ready instead.

PM Workout - Walked to the gym and back (plus walked a ton at the bird park) - did 35 minutes on the bike while reading Molokai.  Finished A Separate Peace earlier in the day (my 3rd book in 2 weeks!).  It was okay, a classic, so its to be expected I don't love it, I'm not smart enough to love classics!  Undid all the good I did by having a Cadbury Black Forest McFlurry at McDonald's.  I've been eyeing that since we got here so I finally caved.  It was everything I dreamed of and more.  I don't really know what a Black Forest is supposed to taste like but it was absolutely delightful.  

100 lunges on the walk back from the gym (30-30-20-20).  Will probably feel that tomorrow!  My calves are so sore from Insanity yesterday (and all the jumping).

7:30am.  Felt like I was going to die, running here is so hard.  Now afterwards I feel kind of like I'm going to throw up.  I need to get some electrolyte tablets or something to put in my water I think.  Got a better pre-run reading on my heart rate - 60 bpm.  Still need to do it before I get out of bed though.

TD: 8.36 miles  TT: 1:30:00  AP: 10:46  AHR: 145 bpm

Splits (HR): 11:31 (126), 11:00 (142), 10:41 (143), 10:32 (146), 10:31 (151), 10:51 (151), 10:45 (152), 10:25 (154)

Now off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the weekend! 

Ran in a new country today: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!  Now I have run in the US, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, and on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean.  We were warned a lot about the safety of KL (as the locals say) but mostly you need to be extremely concerned about traffic.  I'm thankful we all made it home without being hit by a car!  So I found a loop that seemed safe and that didn't require ever crossing traffic so I did that like 5 times.  Tried to find the marathon (which was today) but no luck.  They are weird in Malaysia and Singapore and close the races more than a month before, so pretty much all the races while we are here are closed already.  On the one hand, I would have struggled majorly to complete a half marathon at this stage in my adjustment to the heat/humidity, but on the other hand, I was really really wishing I was running it!!!

7am.  5.1 miles at the track - 2 mile warm-up, then 6 400's with a 400 break in between.  .5 mile walking cool-down home with Gitt.  Slower splits this week but able to do 6 instead of 3, which is a success.

TT: 48:50   AP: 9:35   AHR: 143

400 Splits: 2:14 (146), 2:09 (152), 2:09 (156), 2:05 (156), 2:03 (162), 1:59 (166)

I've gotten FIVE people to sign up for the 5k here, and only one of them has ever done a running race before!!! :-)

PS - I totally just changed my mind and signed up for the Singapore Half Marathon on July 23. :-)  I better get training!

I'm so tired.  Today was a long day.  On the bus by 7am and back home at 6pm, a long 11 hour day, then went and ran 5 miles.  On the plus side, it was the coolest it has been since I got here (stormy today) which made this run feel great. 

TD: 5 miles   TT: 49:08   AP: 9:49  AHR: 134 (maybe this is a mistake? although it was about 10 degrees cooler than normal and I didn't feel like I was suffocating)

Splits: Unknown (satellite problems), 10:16 (132), 9:43 (136), 9:54 (141), 9:32 (140) 

Most of the 50 minute Insanity Vertical Plyo workout with Tina.  It was insane.