spacekadet

For some time now, Tim and I have been brainstorming a website that's full of easy-to-use nutrition and fitness tools. We finally put our brains into action and launched SmarterFitter.com.

Here's a list of tools we've created so far:

• Food/Calorie Database - just how scary is that Big Mac?
• RunLog - log your runs and walks by clicking around the nifty Google map
• Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator - it really doesn't mean that much, but it was a quick and easy calculator to get the ball rolling

If you have any suggestions, ideas, whatever, leave a comment or can contact us at smarterfitter@gmail.com. The goal is to eventually start making money with this thing. Freedom!

Posted by monica at 03:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just returned from running the 24th Annual Schlotzsky's 5k Bun Run. I finished in 27:30.

My time was 57 seconds slower than last year, but given that I'm not running 5 days a week like I used to, and I've had an injury, I feel pretty good. And my ankle didn't hurt. Am I finally healed? Overall it was a good time. I love a races. Good energy, good exercise, and good shwag (bagels, powerade, bananas, cookies, and potato chips; how anyone could eat a bag of potato chips after running 5ks is beyond me, but people were doing it!).

Today was also the London Marathon. The BBC has an entertaining as-it-happened commentary, including this snippet about celebrity runner, Jade Goody:

0932: Distressingly Jade Goody, of Big Brother fame, has just revealed to Sue Barker the most she has run is half-an-hour on a treadmill in training. She revealed her training regime involved eating Chinese and Indian food as well as boozing. Her biggest concern is that her toenails will fall off!

Posted by monica at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I went to Texas Sports & Family Medicine to have my ankle prodded and examined by Dr. Hutchens. For a doctor's visit, it was pretty damn pleasant. Mostly because I didn't have to wait. I mean, that's the worst part right? (The possible exception being the wait for a prostate exam... lucky for me I know nothing of that, alas, we women have our own doctoral demons to tend to.)

Sports Medicine practices are interesting places, in a good way: patients are treated like athletes. By that I don't mean we were fed gatorade and given VIP access to clubs and bimbos. But it's nice to be spoken to like a runner rather than a person who runs.

Dr. Hutchens was great, and very receptive to my need to get back on track as soon as possible. He recommended taking a few weeks off from running (depressing, but expected advice), and to instead focus on my biking and resistance training. After Thanksgiving, I'll start running again and see how that goes. Fingers are crossed. He reckons I have plenty of time to train for the half marathon, and I shouldn't lose much momentum if I keep up my cardiovascular fitness with other activities.

In other news, I am 122 lbs, 5'1, with a resting pulse of 64.
I had my first ever X-ray.
And was out of the office and back to work 45 minutes.

Insurance is sweet.

Posted by monica at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I while back I blogged about some persistent ankle troubles that plagued my running. Last March I added some ankle support insoles to my gym shoes and the problem seemed to disappear.

Yesterday I hit the gym for some strength training. I typically do some cardio afterwards, and decided to jog on the treadmill. I don't normally run on Saturdays, but I was in the mood. Anyway, I'm really sad because my ankle started to hurt and it didn't go away when I stopped running. It's barely noticeable at the moment, but I can sense that there's something there. Sigh.

This morning, I had to really force myself to NOT go on my long slow distance run. I even put on my running clothes, and added some new podcasts to my Shuffle. Luckily, I came to my senses before causing any more damage to my tender ankle.

I did go for a bike ride, which was nice, but not what I had mentally prepared for. I found myself missing the oxygen fix and exertion of a good long run.

Oh the price of addiction!

So I read up on injuries in Galloway's Book on Running. Learned about RICE - rest, ice, compression, and elevation - for injury treatment. So, I'll be taking it easy the next couple of days. It's a bummer because tomorrow was to begin week one of my 12 week half marathon training. But I have some alternates in mind, including a bike ride and a camping trip next weekend. And I'm already ahead of the game. With any luck I'll only need a few days off.

Anyway, my roommate and her boyfriend are making out on the couch and I can hear their sloppy kisses. Can I close my door without spoiling their mood? Do they even know I'm here? Will it end after the commercial break? Is that ESPN they're watching??

Posted by monica at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

5.25 miles | 61 minutes | Early AM
1.5 mi warm-up
30 minute tempo
1.5 mi cool down

I kicked the ass of today's run. It was hard. Those tempo runs are elusive buggers!

People sometimes asking me, "What's a Tempo Run?" Since he can say it better than I can, I'll quote Hal Higden:

This is a continuous run with a buildup in the middle to near 10-K race pace. A Tempo Run of 40 to 60 minutes would begin with 10-20 minutes easy running, build to 20-30 minutes near the middle, then 5-10 minutes easy toward the end. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout. Hold that peak only for a minute or two. I consider Tempo Runs to be the "Thinking Runner's Workout. A Tempo Run can be as hard or easy as you want to make it, and it has nothing to do with how long (in time) you run or how far. In fact, the times prescribed for Tempo Runs serve mainly as rough guidelines. Feel free to improvise. Improvisation is the heart of doing a Tempo Run correctly.

My peak speed was 7 mph.

Sounds: NPR's Most E-Mailed Stories and KCRW's Good Food, during which I learned about the history of candy corn, and more than I ever needed to know about palm sugar.

Post-Run Fuel: one big bowl of millet rice flakes with skim milk, topped with bananas, strawberries, and honey! Mmmmm, and coffffeeee.

Posted by monica at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I registered for the 3M Half Marathon today. It's on January 29, 2006. I'm a little scared, but more than anything, really psyched that I'm actually doing it.

I use my Sundays for long, slow runs. A couple months back, I started with 60 minutes of running, and almost every week since, have added a little time to each of my runs. Two weeks ago I crossed the 100 minute mark. It was around that time that I started wondering, "How long will I keep this up for? When will I stop adding minutes? And what's my goal with all this?" (I mean, what else is there to think about?) Then naturally I started thinking of all the things I could do if I just kept it up as I've been doing.

For a long time I used to think it would be cool to be able to run a marathon, hike the Appalachian Trail, or ride a bike across America. I'm starting to realize that I can do all these things, it's just matter of actually doing them. These aren't dreams or fantasies; they are goals and ambitions.

So tomorrow I exit the phase in which I run for the sake of running and enter the phase in which I train for the Half Marathon (a feat whose name deserves to be a proper noun!). I haven't figured out a fixed training schedule, but I like what I saw on Hal Higdon's website. His half marathon training is similar to my current routine, and I like his attitude:

Be consistent with your training, and the overall details won't matter.

In other words, global structure, but local flexibility. Or something like that. It means I don't need to freak out if I have to work late and miss a run, or end up blowing my running wad on a long bike ride. Extra run, extra rest, it all evens out.

And speaking of biking, I predict a lot of cross training in these coming months. The weather is great and Texas is a HUGE place with lots of biking and camping potential.

Fun times ahead! Ahoy!

Posted by monica at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)