Training Log: Rock’n’Roll USA Half Marathon (Week 3)

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Coco

Hopefully this will be my last “training log” post summarizing a week where I hardly did any training for the Rock’n’Roll USA Half Marathon (Washington, D.C., March 17, 2012).

My “excuse” this week was a business trip to London. Yes, I did select my hotel based in part on it’s decent gym, but it was hard to get up for an o’dark-thirty workout when my body thought it was the middle of the night!

Monday (Travel Day)
I arrived in London mid-morning, with only a few hours of dozing to count for sleep. The guy in the seat behind me was very tall, and I could not recline my seat at all. After I checked in to my hotel I did scope out the hotel gym, but I had an afternoon business meeting to get ready for.

Tuesday (Hotel TM)
Treadmill: 45 min, 6K
I spent the first 1K warming up (walking and running) and then ran 5K, first at 6.0 mph, then at 6.3 mph. I felt better than I did last week, but not “better.” The rest of the day I felt “tight” in my ITB/hip/glute area.

Wednesday (Hotel Elliptical)
Elliptical: 30 min
Weights: 15 min quick routine
I cranked up my iPod and cranked out a decent elliptical workout–I broke a sweat and everything! Then I squeezed in a quick weights workout covering the essentials (deadlifts, military presses, push-ups, lunges, bicep curls, plie squats, French presses).

Thursday (Zzzzz)
I forgot to set my alarm and woke up just in time to get ready for my conference meetings. A conference call back to the U.S. and dinner plans meant I could not hit the gym later. Oh, well. Sleep happens!

Friday (Hotel TM)
Treadmill: 1 mile warm-up (12:30); 4 mile run (37:40); walking cool down
I woke up before the two alarms I had set, and decided to hit the gym early. It was totally dark when I got off the hotel elevator on the basement level–I used the glow of my iPod Nano to light the way to the gym. (They do take energy conservation seriously!)

Saturday (Home Sweet Home Run)
Just an easy neighborhood run with Tiger Lilly. She did great. Sometimes my ITB(?) felt really tight; sometimes it didn’t.

Garmin Data:
Total Distance: 4.34 miles
Total Time: 42:12
Avg. Pace: 9:44 min/mile
Split Times: 9:54, 9:45; 9:39; 9:45

Sunday (Bike Path)
I felt good after Saturday’s run and was itching for a run on the bikepath, so I brought my running clothes with me to church and changed in my car. I kept myself to 6 miles since it was my third running day in a row. Today my “issue” was definitely more in my glute than my ITB, and wasn’t too annoying.

Garmin Data:
Total Distance: 6.05 miles
Total Time: 55:00
Avg. Pace: 9:07 min/mile
Split Times: 9:09, 9:09; 9:19; 8:57; 9:05; 9:00

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Being Blunt–The British Language Edition

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Coco

Although I was seriously confused by some of the “features” of my hotel room, for the most part I’ve been struck by how straight-forward things are here in London, and find some British language usage to be humorously blunt.

At breakfast, the waitress will ask you if you want “white” or “brown” toast. One morning I ordered “wheat” toast and she confirmed that I wanted “brown.”

At the train station and other large public places, the exit is marked with “way out” signs. Somehow that seems more direct!

Some restrooms have cutesy signange that can be difficult to decipher, but these public restrooms took a more clinical approach.

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It’s fun to visit a city where they technically speak the same language, but I can notice many subtle differences!

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Three Things Thursday (The Confounded Edition)

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Coco

I am on a business trip, staying at a lovely boutique hotel in London. I’m used to things being different when I travel, but three things about my hotel room really confounded me.

When I saw how small the lift was, I told the bellhop that I could take my bags up myself. Maybe if I’d let him escort me he would have shown me how to turn the lights on! I flipped every switch in my room before I gave up and found a housekeeper to help me.


I could blame my jet lag, but I don’t think that I ever would have figured out that you have to put your room key card into this device by the master switch before any lights or electrical outlets will work!

Being a fan of strong coffee, I was happy to see this Nespresso machine in the mini-bar area.

Although there was a card with step-by-step directions, the card did not show where the water reservoir is. After pouring water into the wrong place two times, I finally found it. (Thank goodness for a generous supply of towels!)

I didn’t think twice when the waiter brought me a book of matches with my dinner bill. After all, this is Europe where people still smoke, right?


Luckily I took advantage of the slow lift ride back up to my room to take a closer look.

I noticed that the front of the “matchbook” says “Herbal Seedsticks”–each “matchstick” has a seed embedded in it. The directions say to poke the seedsticks into a container filled with “compost” and water generously with a fine spray.

Have you ever been confounded by your hotel accommodations?

Would you have figured out the light switch?

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Wordless Wednesday (The London Edition)

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Coco

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Carved In Stone

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Coco

You know the sentiment–you can change your mind or revise your plans because “it’s not carved in stone.” But recently we learned that even being carved in stone doesn’t make something unchangeable.

In early 2011, a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was finalized and dedicated in Washington, D.C. There has been some controversy over the words carved into the base of the statue of Dr. King. The words paraphrase a quote, and some think the paraphrasing changes the meaning and makes Dr. King look “arrogant.”

(source)

On the eve of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior ordered the National Park Service to come up with a plan to fix the inscription. Even words that literally are carved in stone can be changed.

A recent story in the New York Times might make some people think that their weight problems are carved in stone. In “The Fat Trap” (New York Times, December 28, 2011), author Tara Parker-Pope reports on the problem that even “motivated” people have maintaining any significant weight loss. The article discusses a recent study that has been interpreted as providing scientific evidence that “once we become fat, most of us, despite our best efforts, will probably stay fat.”

There very well may be physiological reactions to weight loss. Hormonal responses may slow our metabolism and/or increase our appetite in a misguided fight for survival. But that doesn’t carve that number on the scale into stone, and I hope that “The Fat Trap” and other articles like it don’t make people give up on losing weight and adopting healthier lifestyles.

I was overweight for as long as I can remember. I lost weight briefly during college and several times after that, but not by making healthy food choices or committing to an exercise program, so the weight always came back on quickly.  It wasn’t until I had graduated from law school even heavier than I’d started that I finally got serious about taking care of myself.

My experience agrees with “The Fat Trap” in one respect–losing 40+ pounds was much easier than figuring out how to keep it off. But I stuck with it, learned to make permanent changes to my diet, worked to make exercise part of my daily routine, and adopted healthier coping mechanisms than stress eating. Now, more than 10 years after reaching my “goal” weight, I am happily, healthily still fitting into my skinny jeans.

Being overweight for 30-plus years didn’t carve my weight issues into stone. While it took hard work, trial and error, and dusting myself off after numerous stumbles, I was able to sand blast them away.

Posted in Fitness, Food, Life, Venting | Tagged | 4 Comments