Monday, May 31, 2010

Day 124

So this morning I oozed out of bed into my running clothes and out the door (not without noticing a new acrid odour), and two minutes later, I was back. The air was smoky from forest fires. It didn't seem prudent nor fun to run.

I biked 1:20 to/from errands, and then ran for 45 min in the evening. The air quality had improved a lot. I felt a bit tired but breathing was fine and I seemed to be moving at a fair clip with a 4-2 pattern of breathing. I didn't have a garmin but I looked at my watch at the 2 mile mark and it was 18:15ish. My legs felt a bit heavy, not sore, just guarded or something, which could be from Saturday's 5K.

Then sit ups--just 10 of them, but with the medicine ball. I've found what seems to be a good alignment but, oh, the burn.

I've also resumed pushups, just 2 at a time umpteen times a day.

And my husband rescued a good bench for me (it was outside an apartment building but good quality and in good shape) so I will be able to do a greater variety of exercises with that.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Day 123

60 minute jog with the dog, situps, pushups, and a lot of spectating about 300M from the finish line.

My husband ran the 1/2 marathon in 1:53--I'm very proud of him.
I saw some friends on the course too--unfortunately, I missed a few people. Within the 1:45/3:45- 2:15/4:15 range, it was packed. That was the definite bulge of the race.

I watched much of the race; I was there for the first elites finishing in 2:10 or so and while jogging with my dog I ended up seeing the last finisher, a woman walking in about 7:30ish (not really sure)....the crews were packing stuff up and then there was this woman with knee braces or compression socks or something of that nature (I can't quite remember) and a police car with flashing lights behind her. The last finisher.

I also saw Rick Ball, the amputee runner who has a few world records--he busted another one! Sub-3 hr marathon!

I also saw a few marathoners who were royally cramping up, could barely stand--they were so close to the finish but such a struggle.

So it was a pretty inspirational day.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Day 122

Slowest 5K ever! but not by much, and it was hot, and I didn't feel like pushing myself too much. It wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be, but still pretty packed. I got boxed in a few times, probably because I conveniently allowed myself to get boxed in so that I could slowly drift behind someone else for a bit. LOL. But pace wasn't consistent, there were people (ok, lots of high school boys) stopping to walk and then bolting, and then I was catching some people, and other people were passing me--the whole race was like the first 2K of the other 5Ks I've done in terms of everybody trying to settle into a pace. It was pretty cool in a way. I couldn't focus on anyone, so I just soaked up the atmos and crowd and looked around and so forth. It was quite a difference from honing in on a few runners and only them. I was in a bit of discomfort--it was hot--but I wasn't going as hard as I usually do, and the crowd was amazing, so I was smiling a lot and on some level I enjoyed it. The best part was the end, of course, but I was still kind of fresh and had a decent kick. I started to really pick it up around 300 m to go or so, and then again after 100m, and then I thought, wow, I still have another gear, just springiness, so that was great to really bound the last bit although it felt horrible once I stopped. LOL.

I was glad I'd dressed for the occasion, at any rate! The cheetah/leopard(?) print running skirt came out again, and after seeing that the temp was 25C and sunny, I decided to pin my bib to my sports bra and go without a shirt. I felt a little stupid because I seemed to be the only one, but after sweating in the starting corral for 10 min before the race (my warmup, lol), I decided that I had been wise. The 100 rep situps came in handy, I guess--thank goodness I've lost the pudge/muffin top action I had earlier in the year! I don't think I scarred anyone. This was the first time I've run without a shirt and I really liked it. And thus a monster was born....

Anyway, 23:35, but 9/514 in my age group. LOL. So now I'm thinking, hey, I could do this next year and really honestly train and try to place in my AG. I have done in 2/3 of my 5Ks this year (the third didn't record times so I don't know), but I guess I'd assumed that I'd have no chance in heck of doing it today. But since it was actually so close it's a nice goal for next year.

Meanwhile, I've been pondering a crazy idea for the fall--there will be a set of evening races on Sept 4th. I was going to do the 1/2 but my husband has talked about doing the full and I have sometimes often complained in the past that all marathon races are in the morning, so freaking early, plus it gets hotter and hotter as it goes on, why do they have marathons in the morning, it makes no sense! So now that someone's rigged up an evening marathon here (don't even have to travel!) I should try it out. We probably won't be here Sept 2011; this might be my only chance.

Training would be pretty much the same as for a 1/2 for the first bit, so I don't have to decide right away. For the past 10 weeks, I've averaged just under 400 minutes/week, which is probably just above 40 miles/week...not the best mileage, but not the worst. I could get up to 60 miles/week again. Hmm, will see. Meanwhile, I have 5 weeks of real speed reps, fast and with full recoveries--my favourite workout! It'll be interesting to see how I do at Emilie's Run after that--might sharpen me up. But I don't really care! My ultimate main goal will be Winterman 2011 full--a 1/2 or full early this fall is an excuse to bump up mileage over the summer, and then I'll have a good base for 6 months of prep for Winterman.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Day 121

The 5K is tomorrow. It might be a bit chaotic, even with the bib colour-coding/corrals. I heard that strollers are allowed. There was nothing posted prohibiting dogs so of course there will be a few dogs too, and maybe livestock. It might end up looking like a typical third-world city street. Throw in some fruit, some plastic tarps, a few motorcycle 'cabs' garnished with Christmas lights, cigarettes...

I've had good luck with races for which I had low expectations.

I don't feel pumped, I've been strangely sluggish these past few days. I'd like to believe that I've been safeguarding my energy stores for tomorrow's event.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Day 119

Oh, man, don't remember what I did on Sunday and Monday, and too lazy to look it up, but Tuesday and today were definitely rest days--what perfect timing, two days of mid-30sC, and an excuse not to run because I'm 'tapering'. yes, that's right! For whatever reason, I've been feeling pretty tired, so tapering's right up my alley.

I suppose I should run tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'm sipping a jackfruit/ground cherry/pineapple/papaya/rum concoction. We've been experimenting with fruit and the blender tonight.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Day 115

Fri: 25 minute jog. sort of stiff, sort of sore
Sat: 52 minute jog--the same route as earlier in the week (the bridges) plus a bit more. I was still kind of tired and my legs are still feeling heavy. Perhaps diving into "the bridges" route 3 days in a row wasn't the smartest move, as there are a few steep uphills and downhills, but it was a badly-needed change of pace. And I still have a week to recover.

I'm pleased about another aspect though: fat reduction. I got soft last year, couldn't do much muscularly near the end of the gluten challenge, so my weight gain from 115-118ish to 130-133ish lbs was mostly fat/water retention. It took a while for things to start budging, especially since my appetite, rendered voracious due to malabsorption, took a while to settle down, but things are much more reasonable now. My husband is trying to tone up too so we've been trying to eat healthier, walk after supper, etc. Anyway, I got down to 127-130ish and hovered there for maybe two months while I increased my workouts. A couple or so weeks ago, I decided that I would reduce portions a bit (not eat until I was stuffed anymore, basically), and see if I could keep activities up and maybe lose a bit more flab and maybe a bit of weight in the process. I didn't want to focus on the weight, but it has made a difference being heavier. I have a much stronger core now but running still feels sort of logey. Well, a couple of weeks of evening walks and so forth seems to be the key: I'm now in the 122-125 range. My pants still don't all fit--most still don't--but I've been targeting hip flexors and quads/glutes too so maybe some pants will never fit again. And maybe I will never get back down to 115, but if I stay at 125 or whatever, it had better be because I'm strong!
So maybe I'm a bit tired because I've been losing weight, but I'm assuming that it's mostly flab that had to go.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Day 113

I took a break from the international food fair today.

55 minutes in the morning with the dog--we did the usual loop and then a bit extra.

The forecast thunderstorms did not happen, so my evening run was kind of hot and sunny (26C). However, I did speedwork!

6X 2 min hard, 2 min easy. Lazy, I know, but, oh, I have excuses!

The intervals were a bit sluggish: @ 7:09, 7:12, 6:53, 7:00, 7:04, 7:08/mile. Slow but that happens. I'm feeling pretty tired and a bit run down (could be the reduced iron supplement dosage, too--it's been a few weeks and perhaps I should go back to what I was doing before because I felt better and my iron stores were still low so no danger of overdosing. lol). I think I'll do one last light bit of speedwork early next week and that will be that.

I've gotten much more consistent with pushups, 4-5ish times a day--I can still do only a couple or so proper ones at a time, though! baby steps...

Sit ups, I've cut from 100 to 15...with a 8lb medicine ball. I was getting tired of all that counting. I'm still trying to find the best way to hold the ball--right now I'm holding it a bit above my head with elbows bent. That seems to target the areas I want to target but it still feels like I have to get used to it. After the 15, which are pretty hard, I do 20 without the ball just because.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Day 112

Training has been going not so well or really well, depending on the target:

Running, not so good. Didn't go to speedwork, didn't do any speedwork.
Eating at the international food festival, however, seems to be my forte. I have been very consistent with that. It's gotten to the point where some of the vendors/chefs recognize us and give us discounts or freebies.

I did run for 44 minutes this morning, though, same loop as yesterday. I guess I'll be doing that for the next while unless I feel really tired. It's a nice change.

I've had a bunch of dumb dog owner incidents recently--loose dogs on the rec path almost every day this week--but, ah, it's been too sunny and hot to gripe. Next time, though, I'm hoping that circumstances will be ripe for us to continue running with the loose dog alongside us, kind of a ride into the sunset "so this jog is what you've really wanted all along, bud, eh?" Meanwhile the owner gets to run too and hopefully catch his or her dog.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Day 111...oooo

47 minute jog in the morning--we "did the bridges". I'm getting tired of doing the same 30-40 min out and back in the morning--there's construction after a couple of miles so I can't go further. That's my main source of annoyance. They've been working on it for awhile now and I'd thought that they would have it done by the tulip festival but, nope.
The bridges route is hillier (bridgier?) but it was time to get back into it. It was a good run.

No evening run, no speedwork. I got derailed by yardwork and the international food festival (again). Maybe tomorrow. Honestly, I'm kind of consumed by non-running matters these days, I guess. Turns out that the run club scheduled workout tomorrow would probably be a good workout for me at this point, 500M repeats, but will I show up? LOL

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 110

Sat evening: 30 min
Sun: 30 min, plus hiking, and the usual walking. I'm mentioning the walking because we've had family stay with us this past weekend and it's been eye-opening how much much more people walk here (downtown) than there (suburbs). I think we tired them out a bit but they had fun; thankfully they're considerably more fit and healthy than the average person their age; they work out and maintain a healthy weight and diet but they also live in a car-centric place and so they don't walk the couple of miles a day or so that people downtown tend to do just getting around. That makes a big difference.

Monday morning: 30 min. The calf knot seems to be finally gone! I'm not sure what caused it, but I didn't want to do any more VO2 max workouts with it. I figure I might attempt 5X 3 min tonight or tomorrow, and again later in the week, and then a shorter workout next week, and then that's it for VO2 max for a while, I think. I was considering doing some more before Emilie's run to sharpen up for that, but now I'm thinking that I can't keep up the VO2 max workouts for much longer. I'm getting tired from them and increased mileage in general, but I want to keep the mileage! Best hammer a couple more VO2max workouts before NCM 5K (too bad that I didn't work up to 4-5 min reps, oh, well, maybe next time), then switch to faster shorter reps with longer recoveries (these are considerably easier for me) to begin a training cycle for my next race, a fall 1/2. This will give me at least 3 months to prepare. I'll still do Emilie's run but it won't be something that dictates training anymore, beyond a few easy days beforehand.

At any rate, it feels nice to be training almost like normal again!

Oh, and this week's trough will be the international festival nearby--we've already eaten there three times in the last three days! no joke! We've eaten Brazilian, Filipino, Mexican, Polish, Ukrainian, Peruvian, Thai, Turkish...I've lost track. Unfortunately, yesterday, the Peruvians had run out of their corn/condensed milk cookies, but they said that they would have more today. The festival goes on until the 24th.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Day 108

I've been running, just haven't had much internet time:

Wed: 70 min, two runs
Thurs: 60 min, two runs
Fri: 60 min, two runs
Sat: 80 min, one run, and possibly more tonight.

I've been slowly loosening up a calf knot. eating is fine now, thank goodness, because we'll have visitors this weekend and I have to be able to eat.

I'm a bit tired, one more tough-ish week and then an easy week and then NCM 5K!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day 104

20 minutes this morning and probably nothing this evening. I need an easy day.
But things are good. The swelling has gone down and I can eat normally. Plus I talked with my nurse practitioner today and she said that my ferritin has gone up from 11 or 14 or something around there to 37. That's still on the low end but higher than any previous results.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 103

No run this morning, I'm dealing with a swollen something in my neck just below and behind my ears; I guess I'm still a bit lymphy. I woke up and I couldn't eat or drink because it hurt too much to swallow stuff down, even little sips. This happens every so often and never lasts much more than a day. Now it's getting better and I can sip liquids but I'm so hungry I'm not really hungry anymore.

once this happened to me the day of a long run. I had a bit of trouble drinking before it but figured the problem would go away. It didn't but stubbornness and good weather kept me going for about 21 miles, and then I was STARVING. I'd burned through approx 2000 calories without refueling. The post clinic was closed so I went to a pharmacy and asked for antibiotics or something. The pharmacy was, no, you need a doctor for that. I told him I was STARVING. He looked at me like I was nuts. I was so vexed, I wanted to go off on a tirade about how Western culture is so used to placating emotions and misinterpreted urges by robotically cramming down copious amounts of empty calories so nobody is hungry, just lonely or bored, but I AM REALLY STARVING. Respect that! But I controlled myself. I went to the post clinic the next day because the thing wasn't quite gone and I was still failing to get enough nourishment down to fight the hunger, and the doctor had problems understanding my issue too but he gave me antibiotics and the issue went away quickly. Usually I don't bother with antibiotics but that time I was STARVING. They didn't understand. With the long term gut issue I had back then, I was almost always hungry anyway, but STARVING was a whole new level.

I'm not used to being hungry like that anymore! As my digestive system recovers, I've noticed that my portions have been gradually shrinking; my system is getting used to needing less. My husband and I have gotten so used to serving each other the same sized portions that I have to remind myself that, no, I don't have to eat that much anymore.

But now I'm hungry and I want to eat something soon.

I also feel a bit odd today because I got a message from my nurse to phone her back. She'd phoned while I was in TX. I tried phoning back but she's off today. It might just be a paperwork issue. LOL

Will see if I eat and/or run later on and update accordingly.

update: 40 min jog with the dog--hopefully it'll get core temp revved up a bit so that the swelling will go down! I can drink now but haven't tried eating yet. 100 sit ups, some pushups...trying to get more consistent with those.

update update: 10 min jogging to my parents' house--thank goodness I can eat now! we went out for sushi. :)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Day 102

30ish minutes jogging yesterday, stiff after being in planes and dealing with Continental's crap. Usually it's best to announce gate changes before boarding is complete, right? Fortunately, most of the plane wasn't told either so they had to wait for us. Nice of them! And then the plane had mechanical problems...

The funny thing was, when I was waiting for the plane at the original gate, I noticed that the people also waiting at that gate seemed somewhat different from most of the people in that place:

mother dealing with her children in a reasonable and effective fashion using multi-syllable words instead of the same old empty repeated threat or bribe (unlike the woman who was watching the children kicking the back of my seat on the previous flight)
Orthodox priest
fit lady who looked like she was in the process of male to female-reassignment. She looked like she was near the end, actually, but it's hard to disguise the thicker rib cage and thinner hips of male puberty when wearing lycra. She was more toned than 99% of the people wearing lycra in that place, so props to her. Or maybe she was dealing with a different endocrine balance. I'm curious about these issues (have been ever since I was told that women don't have visible adam's apples, but I do!)
fit young lady not exposing too much skin
no visible tramp stamps--I like seeing good tattoos, but the poor little blurry butterfly/amphibian/dolphin/?? clinging onto the bulge of dimply flesh squished up from underneath low-rise pants really breaks my heart
no threadbare sweats or doughy people poured into their clothes
old fit people
no weirdly grey complexions

Ok, I hate us vs them stereotypes but after a couple of hours walking around people in that airport, I noticed a slight difference in this bunch and figured that we all headed to the same place and not SC or wherever.

And then I overheard someone asking about the Ottawa flight--I actually had asked if a previous flight being boarded was for Ottawa--no, Omaha. So I figured that the Ottawa flight was delayed because it was still displayed at that gate and the gate attendant didn't correct me. And then I heard her say to someone else a short time later, oh, Ottawa? what? Gate A10. So I went to the shuttle bus and then, gradually, was rejoined by the rest of that same crowd!

I slept lots last night and got up around 9 and headed out about twenty minutes later. My dog forced me out...he hasn't run all week and was pretty anxious to go. But it was cold out! I had to wear a hat and gloves and layers. After a while, I saw slight flurries even! It was a bit abrupt to go from wringing out the sweat in my tank top and short-shorts to that! The wind was monstrous.

A good run, though. I was tired but it felt good to run. I actually brought the Garmin again to check the distance of the route: 1:20/ 8.54 miles. Ok, the route was actually 7.6ish miles but I kept coasting to get to 80 minutes. LOL

Then 100 full sit ups for the very first time in my life! I'm still dealing with push up issues and some soreness and swelling in my armpits/chest/shoulders, but the sit ups are going well.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Day 100!

Somehow I forgot to post this yesterday.

I woke up feeling a bit swollen and sore: lymph glands. Had some wheat slipped past my teeth or was I fighting something else? Not sure, but I jogged around for about 20 minutes outside. It felt too hot. I retreated to the fitness room, cranked the aircon down to 62 degrees, and hopped on the TM. After a 5 minute warm up, I started my VO2max intervals.

Fortunately, my legs felt better than the rest of me. I managed the first 3 minute interval and decided that the rest could be 3 minutes as well, as opposed to 2.5 minutes like last time.

The recovery/jog interval was very boring, though, so I shortened it to 2 minutes. This was a bit premature: my legs felt a bit lactic-acidy heavy during the next interval. My next break was 2.5 minutes--boring, but more reasonable. My legs were still a little burnt, though, and I was beginning to contemplate doing 4 intervals instead of the planned 5. Another 3 minutes of faster running, another 2.5 minutes of jogging, and I was geared up for the fourth and final.

Paradoxically, I felt really strong mentally during my intervals. No counting down or up, no covering the timer with a towel and trying to be somewhere else--I was fully in the exercise for perhaps the first true and honest time. It's uncomfortable, ENJOY IT. Feel how much more goes into going faster. Feel the momentum. Feel the hum of jacked up metabolism. Feel the discomfort. Feel the progress. Feel it, feel it, feel it. It was a revelation of sorts. There was a mirror and I was smiling. Maybe mostly grimacing, but it was good to acknowledge that I was stronger and under more duress.

Anyway, the fourth interval went by quickly and then I started jogging to cool off...but, wait! At least do a little bit, maybe two minutes for a fifth interval, just to see? The thought of doing another interval was onerous; I had to start it quickly. Two minutes' recovery, and I was off again.

Drawback of tricking myself: I wasn't fully committed and thus it started to get rather hard and I played mind games for the last minute and a half.

Benefit of tricking myself: once I got past a minute and a half, I felt triumphant. Tired, desperate for distraction, but happy.

I'm hoping to get up to 4 minute intervals for VO2 max before Emilie's Run...I think that will be good enough for the time being.

Total run: an hour.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Day 99

I didn't make it to the zoo today. This wasn't the original plan, especially since I felt a bit sluggish and it felt a bit more humid and hot out there even though I started almost an hour earlier today...but once I started rolling, it seemed like a good time to aim for the zoo.

The riverwalk path stops after a while, but the route continues to the zoo--I think it eventually rejoins the river and this is the part I'm curious about. I stopped with the path yesterday; today I went up, crossed the street, and took a few minutes to get out of a dead end path and through a park and into another couple of dead ends...finally, I was on another path, a really nice one beside a golf course. That turned into a somewhat ratty bike path behind a commercial street, and then that ended at Mulberry Street. Yes, I remember the name!

Turns out that I was on the right path, but should have turned left onto Mulberry for a bit...well, I'll take a look at one of the maps on the route next time I attempt this. I might try on Friday and do speedwork on Thursday because a long run after tempo or intervals often feels really good...will see how I feel tomorrow. I really want to see the rest of the route because I think it'll be nicer than the last part I ran. It wasn't bad or nasty, just not as good as the part right beside the river.

I chafed a bit today probably because it was more humid. It's still drier than back home, though--running in 25ishC here felt like running in 17C or so there.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Day 98

I jogged for 70 minutes this morning, nice easy run on the riverwalk. I didn't make it all the way to the end but I think this will be my goal for this trip. I'm not sure how long it is, though! I will have to wake up earlier and start when it's cooler when I attempt it; I wanted to wake up earlier today but I didn't sleep well. I'm surprised that my run was as good as it was. I started off tired and stiff but loosened up. It helps that there are at least a couple of water fountains on the route (I've been carrying a water bottle too) and the air is a lot drier here. And there is a lot of shade. Though it's hotter than home, I feel more comfortable. No chafing, either!

I'm enjoying the riverwalk. Some of it is by restaurants and hotels and this gets pretty packed in the evening, but other parts remain pretty empty. And there's hardly anyone at all in the morning, mostly landscape workers and other joggers. The vegetation is gorgeous, lots of sub-tropical plants, magnolia trees, eucalyptus, some water gardens, some flowers, especially honeysuckle which is blooming now. It's lovely running in perfume! It doesn't smell the same as my perfumed runs in Florida, but it inspires a similar feeling of being on a lovelier plane. And the non-vascular parts of the path are yet organic as well--the path has straight sections, but also many gentle curves and dips and rises, and it has texture. It's mostly concrete, but a lot of it has inlays or patterns, and there is some stone of varying roughness, some grates, some pebbles. My shoes are pretty thin so I can feel the variety. It's mesmerizing and sometimes surprisingly harder running on art. A little ridge of grout or concrete sets off a flurry of sensation. I will be sad to return home to miles of asphalt; I'd forgotten how boring that is. Back to the riverwalk: there's art beside and above too, tilework, some sculpture, most memorably the suspended fish below the I-35 underpass. Going under a major highway like that can be very dismal, but someone had the vision to put a school of fish sculptures under there which somehow masks the shadows and the drone and whine of cars overhead. The city of San Antonio has done a really good job with the riverwalk. I wish that the NCC back home could have a look...some things they do really well, but there's always room for improvement. I think the underpass under the Queensway needs some floating fish!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 97

Saturday: ran 80 minutes with my husband and the dog. A good run although we had a pretty upsetting incident: some guy in a truck yelling a load of insults at us. He launched them out of the blue. We were standing waiting for a light; we were dirty and sweaty and in short-shorts and with our muscly mutt. he's not your typical 'nice' lab or golden or whatever purebred although typically much better behaved :) We got him from a pound after some degenerate starved him and supposedly cut his ears off with scissors among other abuses; now he's filled out and very glossy, either gorgeous or scary depending on who you talk to, but either way, we're not the type of people this guy was screaming about. Now it seems pretty funny, and it's pretty clear that this guy was dealing with wayward DNA and/or neurotransmitters. But at the time, it was upsetting and I wanted him to ram his truck into some inanimate object and snuff out his overactive amygdala. Nobody needs that sort of crap.

But, thank goodness for the golden rule of shitty people: I rarely encounter the same one twice and, in my fortunately limited experience, the rare time I have, they weren't shitty the second time.

Sunday: no run, traveling to San Antonio!

Today: ran for one hour and 36 minutes: I jogged for an hour then did an interval workout on the TM: 6X 2.5 min VO2max, 2 min recovery jogs. I'm really pleased with this--I ate a bit of wheat accidentally yesterday and had aches in the evening (didn't help I was crammed in the very last row on my last flight, very uncomfortable) and diarrhea this morning.

Fortunately, I seem to be fine now...I maybe could have done my VO2 max intervals a bit faster, say 8.7-8 mph instead of 8.6, but they felt solid enough and I was thrilled to do as much as I did. It was really pleasant jogging along the riverwalk,it was shady and still sort of cool, and the hotel exercise room, though it didn't look promising at first glance, turned out to be wonderful. They have a couple of fancy and solid TMs (dunno the brand, but the display monitor (with TV option) is newer than any other I've seen before), and a very good air-con system. I entered the room and it felt COOL. Too many exercise places have temps hovering around 20C--way too hot for running. This one was at 65F, had a good fan, and controls so I could have dropped the temperature even further. I'm not sure how much I'll be using the exercise room; since it's so nice, I'm toying with the idea of doing some speedwork on Wednesday as well as Friday, making use of the TM while I have it. Will see how I feel.

Meanwhile, I'm going to be eating well this week. Just had a good lunch at a good Mexican restaurant, lengua (beef tongue) and a margarita to celebrate my arrival.