Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Looking so cute/ In your little MRSA suit

I cannot take credit for that clever couplet, but I was the recipient.  But I needed more PPE today: I think I got a little drop of peracetic acid above the glove line...whatever it was, it got me pumped up, along with the little annoyances of daily life, which were a little more annoying today than usual.

So I squeezed out a fairly decent workout after I walked the dogs:

Tempo run on the TM, 20 (ok, 19--that's when the last video ended) minutes.
Leg day with this year's max on the deadlifts (I'm still like ten pounds shy of last year's, I think).
1 small gluten-free pizza for supper.  This is also a worthy exercise: my appetite has been sort of feeble.

onwards and upwards!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Perfect summer weather!

High of only 19 C today!  Such a luxury!  My energy has been low, but once we got out this morning and I felt that cool weather, it was on.  We started jogging once we got to the 45 mph road and its mostly generous shoulder--I don't want to run the puppy on asphalt just yet--and we ducked into the forest kept going for two solid hours.  (and then I blasted through yard work and shoulder exercises.  PUMPED)

The run was just super.  Yeah, I was tired, because I'm out of shape, but I got into the zone.  No heat, no horses, and very few passerby, which was great.  The puppy is still very easily distracted, the footing is poor, and I'm still getting used to running with two dogs.  It's more tiring, I think, although I know I'm actually unfit.   But the weather will be great all week, and it's going to get better--I just have to get out there.  The job is a bit of an issue because I'm actually stuck with normal hours for the first time in years, 9-5:30.  Gosh, this eats up so much of the daylight, and there are too few streetlamps (like, none along some roads) and too many pitfalls here.  I have maybe an hour in the morning, and an hour in the afternoon, which is better than nothing, but it's easier to tire dogs out given one larger chunk.

Fortunately, the hours are just temporary.  In a few weeks, I should be back to my usual ghoulish schedule, with a nice big chunk of daytime for outside endeavours.  The downside is that I've been learning Spanish from some of the 1st shift staff, and nobody on 2nd speaks Spanish as far as I've heard, and I still have so much much more to learn.  Duolingo has been great too, but it doesn't target as quickly the stuff that's useful for me*.  No me gusta limpiar mi casa.

Anyway, it's exciting running again, especially with a new additional companion.  I also hope the increased symmetry will actually improve my form.  Unfortunately, my leash arm goes into T-Rex mode when I'm running, but with two T-Rex arms, I'm not leaving enough space for my ribs to expand.  Just a small adjustment, though.

There is also a mental block of sorts that is gradually approaching: I presently weigh about 3.5 pounds more than the dogs combined, and the puppy is still growing.   They won't recognize the threshold, but I can't shake the thought of an impending mutiny, even though either of them is strong enough to drag me on their own NOW (of course, they don't know this!)  Meanwhile, I'm trying to recharge my appetite and/or sneak in the cals somehow--I've dropped over ten pounds during the past few weeks.  Sure felt the lost gains during shoulder presses today!  :(

But at least I now have two tired dogs and some measure of improved fitness, and winter* is coming!

*ok, I was just thinking, hey, Duolingo isn't as whimsical as Rosetta Stone because it's not asking me to learn the word for "elephant"--and, BAM, today, el elefante.  I don't know why the elephant irks me so much, especially SINCE I was once in a loose elephant (five of them) situation in a foreign country, and I couldn't understand why the police were not letting me pass until I found one who could speak English.  If anyone needs to know the local word for elephant, it's apparently me--but I'd rather learn "Where is the toilet?" and "What time does this close?" and "Does this have wheat in it?"

**down here, just a long fall. 

Monday, October 13, 2014

!

Yesterday, the temps went back down and so we jogged for 1hr45 or so (total time 2:45).  My first long run in a long time, but I hung in there.  The old dog's first long run in even a longer time, but he hung in there.  The puppy's first long run ever, but she hung in there. 

It was actually pretty relaxing.

There was a little bit of an incident with horses.  Part of that forest has mixed-use trails allowing equines, which is cool, except some horses like to see you close to the trail, others like you way off the trail--and I always choose option #2 because that's been the norm most other places I've been, plus I want to stay well out of kicking range. 

Unfortunately, that was not what the horses wished last time, and it took a bit of coaxing from the riders to get them to go past me.  Nobody bolted, though! 

Although, it would be best, if a horse is going to be all like ooooohhhh 2spooky4me, then that horse stays home.  Because, honestly, that forest is tame as fffff: no bears, no cougars, no wolves, no feral pigs, but there are a lot of birds and rodents and little things that go boo, not to mention kids and dogs.  There is also a massive conservation area just a few miles away reserved strictly for equestrian activities.

But sharing is caring, not scaring, and so my realistic option #1 is to avoid the trails that allow horses.

Today, we had two walks because I have "normal" work days this week, daylight before and after, and then I did shoulder exercises.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

!!!

More of the same, short on sleep, short on time, short on energy (but still walking and running the dogs) but it's been ok.  Until today.

It started with an interesting trip to the dump with dog #1: I was ditching some junk and so I had to go further within the dump, past a large heap of scrap metal (where I got rid of some wire fencing) and up onto a wide open large hill (possibly landfill) alongside a backhoe pushing about a pile of scrap timber and so forth (where I got rid of a couple of pallets).  It was really cool.  I have to the dump every so often because I don't have garbage pickup, but this was the first time I'd gone deep, and it reminded me of being out West.  No trees, just grass and dirt.  It was a nice change, plus it gave me a greater appreciation for the car's 4 wheel drive and so forth: it was a bit of a technical climb up sand and gravel.  LOL

The guy working at the weigh house didn't charge me for the pallets, so I donated the money--according to a poster on the recycling dumpster, one of the employees has cancer.

Unfortunately, the dump couldn't take my old paint (I'll have to go to the annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection event later this year).  The previous house owner left behind umpteen cans of paint, and some of it isn't useful either for touch-ups or for primer, plus the spray cans were dried out.  So I thought.

On the way over, I quickly came to the conclusion that I had to open the car windows.  This stuff has been sitting in my garage for over a year, and I never smelled it there, but once I got it in the car--phew.  I think I'll leave it outside from now on!  Because, man, wow, I have not been doing my household any favours.  I can't believe I've been working out in that!

I cancelled my next errand because I didn't want to bake dog #1 any further, plus it was getting a bit warm.  But I set out for errand #3: walk dog #2 to the farmers' market, roughly 3 miles there, 3 miles back.

It was warmer when we started, but ok.  We got to town, hung out a bit, and I bought my stuff, including 3 pounds of ground pasture-raised lamb, which I'm totally pumped about because I love lamb but didn't think anybody local sold it (I'm fussy about how the animals are treated) PLUS mustard greens.  I love mustard greens.

On the way back, however, it was too warm.  I got a headache (the paint issue didn't help). Fortunately, I brought water for the dog, but I didn't think to check the weather; I didn't think we had any especially warm days left.  I felt horrible for bringing her.

Once I got home, I found out it was 31 C.

DAFUQ

It's OCTOBER.

Whatever, I can't start this now.  At least tomorrow will be much cooler.  Summer is limping away.   Plus, the early starts at work are over, at least for the time being, so I will feel more myself and, consequently, make this blog more about RUNNING.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

~

I have run yesterday and today, albeit for just 5 or so minutes amid 90ish minute walks with the dogs.  Part of our route goes on a dirt road, and this is a better surface for growing puppy joints.  Also, I'm lazy.

Even though the weather has been mostly great--a few warm days, but not too bad.  Tomorrow is supposed to go up to 30 :(  but the temps will drop back down in a matter of hours, not weeks.

Oh, and I did leg exercises this week, just squats and deadlifts.  I'm pretty worn out (even dropped out of a race in Nov, although the race director is giving me a week to change my mind), and walking the dogs tired me out further...but when I got home, I turned up the music and got into the right sort of zone.

I should do clamshells now, that being one of my two must-do exercises.  OK!