Running in the Cold

December around here is usually cold-ish and dreary, so I am loving our recent spell of bright, sunny, sub-35 degree days. It's the perfect winter running weather as far as I'm concerned. No grumbling about getting soaked. No worries about slipping on muddy trails, twisting an ankle on slick, unstable ground or wiping out while running down a wet, steep sidewalk (all of which I've done). Just toss on some layers and go. I'm trying to store up enough Vitamin D and cheefulness to get me through the dark season without turning into a total crab. Fingers crossed!

My kids are faster than I am

And I'm okay with that.

We began our 4th of July early this year. Up around 5.30, left the house at 6.15 for a 5K that started at 7.30. Perfect running weather: cool and sunny. Nice flat course.

I started the race with the girls a few rows ahead of me in the crowd. Pretty quickly, they were gone from sight. I didn't see them again until I crossed the finish line; they were off to the side, snorking up food and cheering me on.

The 14-year-old beat the 17-year-old by 10 seconds. They placed 48th and 51st in a total field of 1000 runners.

And they beat me by more than 5 minutes.

FIVE MINUTES.

Really, I'm okay with it. I mean, I'm 40 years older than my younger daughter. It's pretty understandable that I'm slower than my kids. Right?

In my heart of hearts, however, I am muttering, "I would have totally mopped the floor with you two when I was a teenager." The beauty of that thought is that we'll never know, because I ran sprints and not distance as a teenager.

Anyway, I'm celebrating my kids' fast feet and their commitment to training. And one day, when their kids beat them in a race, I hope to be around to remind them, "You can be okay with this."

Joint Compression Releases Serotonin, or Why My Dog Is So Happy

Emma. She's a happy dog.

Don't worry. This isn't one of those sappy "What I Learned From My Dog" posts. Just the facts, here.

Our golden retriever is nine, maybe ten years old. We've had her for about nine months now, and the thing that most intrigues me about her is her full-on embrace of everything: food, humans, the kitties, sleeping, riding in the car, sniffing at random objects, and most especially chasing balls.

Ribbon yarn ball--yummy

This ball used to be round and bouncy.
Kind of like my butt twenty years ago...

She is obsessed with balls of all sorts. Tennis balls. Soccer balls. Yarn balls. Beach balls. She carries them around. She sleeps with them. She drops them at our feet and gives us the NO ONE HAS PLAYED WITH ME IN DAYS look. She drags them out from under couches.

So what does this have to do with exercise? Everything. My senior citizen of a canine chases, lunges, leaps completely off the ground in pursuit of a ball. She is totally focused. She jumps into the air with her whole body, then crashes back down on all four legs. As long as my throwing arm holds out--an hour is our record--she is willing to chase and capture.

I see this wonderful old dog slamming into the earth from a mighty leap, and my brain yells at me, "Joint compression releases serotonin." Serotonin is believed by many researchers to play a major role in mood regulation. I suffer from bouts of major depression. Serotonin is a big deal for me.

So I run, compressing my joints with each footfall. My dog chases and leaps. When I want to cut a run short, or slow my pace to a crawl, I think of my happy old dog and her willingness to run and leap and give life her best shot.

On The Benefits of Following Directions

So it's been almost four weeks since I started training with the PortlandFit running club. This past Saturday, I ran five miles for the first time in many, many years. Like, decades. Parts of it were slow and ugly, but I didn't do the things I most feared: stop and walk; vomit; cry. I had kick left at the end and a smile on my face.

I've re-learned a few things about myself in this short time. In no particular order:

1. I like someone else telling me what to do, if they know more than I do. And the coaches at PortlandFit definitely know more than I do about running. The online training schedule orders me around during the week; there's no thinking involved on my part (although there is occasionally procrastination...).

2. I like the sense of accomplishment that comes from follow-through. This, more than anything else, has kept me on track with the three solo runs during the week. My daily life is so scattered and unpredictable. Every day's schedule, no matter how nicely worked out on paper the night before, is one second away from being demolished by kids, elderly animals, laundry, carpool emergencies, client deadlines, and writer's block. If I knock out the run early in the day, everything else is easier to deal with.

3. I like running in a group, even though I consider myself an introvert, a loner, and an anti-social menopausal broad. The energy of everyone else keeps me going.

4. Finally, I like how running makes me feel: happy. And that alone is enough to keep me going for five miles.

Portland Fit to the Rescue!

Wow. Bronchitis, more bronchitis, several disgusting viruses, another bout of bronchial grossness, and before you know it, months have passed and you're staring at your thighs thinking WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?

Well, things are about to return to normal. I'm finally back in my running shoes, thanks mostly to the wonderful people at Portland Fit, motto: "No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch." Given how many days I've spent on the couch, coughing my head off, this is the sort of realistic approach I need right now.

The 2013 program is just getting started. Today was my first day running with this enormous group of runners and walkers of all ages (oldest: 83!) and abilities, from sub-8 minute miles to...well, to the rest of us, including a huge group of plus-10 minute milers. That's me, for now, and I'm just happy to be moving again.

Most people are training for half- or full marathons. HA! I just want to increase my speed in the 5K and run a couple of 10K races this year. 5K will always be my favorite, but I'm curious to see how my ankles hold out at a longer distance.

I ran for a while today with a woman who is 58. She started running when she was 55 and gave herself a goal of running 60 races before she turns 60. Here's the wild part: half of those races have to be marathons. She's more than halfway to her goal--go, Karen! I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines. Or from the couch.

If you're in the Portland area, you can still join Portland Fit for 2013. Click the link above and get started.

My run today: 3.3 miles in about 30 minutes. I accidentally hit my stopwatch button at about 27.00, so it's a guess.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Team DesCamp has bronchitis and has been suffering OH HOW I SUFFER for more than a week. Also the dog is suffering because: no long walks. Good thing she enjoys chasing a ball thrown out into the back forty. Bad thing the rest of the family is so busy with work/school/sports that the dog is dependent on me for entertainment.

Weight lifting workouts consist mostly of lifting tissues to my nose. Running has been replaced with being dragged up and down the trails by an impatient dog.

Next week: Back on the track of world domination!

Monday, September 10, 2012: In Which Team DesCamp Whines

Sudden onset last night of sore throat, sneezing, coughing, body aches. Dog needs to be walked. Looming copywriting deadline demands attention and focus. Focus is in short supply, as are inspiration, creativity, and grasp of grammar and punctuation.

Today's workout: throwing the ball for Dog, if she's lucky, lifting endless cups of tea, and throwing together something resembling dinner for those hungry teenage girls and their dad.

End of August!

So these posts are pretty boring, huh? I run, I lift weights, I get a new doggie and find out that her idea of a walk is actually a really swift jog-trot and that I need to be wearing my running shoes when I walk her.

Anyway, this is Emma. She's terrific and goofy and loves to eat and snuggle. Typical golden retriever. She's got dog toys scattered all over the downstairs and she's only been with us for six hours. I think it's love!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Yes, I have been AWOL from posting, but not from working out. Several days of weights and running at the end of last week. Then we headed over to Central Oregon for a short family vacation at Black Butte Ranch. My workouts were...relaxed, which is certainly NOT code for "non-existent." Biking, canoeing, hanging by the pool, and one single, solitary, gorgeous evening run combined with tons of sunshine to make a perfect vacation.

Arrived home late Wednesday night, lifted weights Thursday, and am planning a 5K jog with Kat tonight.

Tomorrow we meet a new doggie! Our old golden retriever, Sunny, died three months ago, and we have a very large dog-sized hole in this home. The new doggie, Emma, is around 9 years old and very active--loves to hike and run and chase balls and jump in and out of streams. We'll have to see how she does around the cats but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she's the one for us.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Swim team is so great. I love driving carpool, because the track is just sitting there staring at me while the kids are in the pool and HELLO why would I not run? Okay, sometimes I sit and read and put off running as long as possible. But not today, Zurg! Today I was awesome!

a) 1 mile easy (10 minute pace, if you're timing, which of course I was)

b) 11 repeats up and down the stadium stairs (a total of 1056 steps and about 7 minutes, if you're counting, which of course I was)

c) 1/4 mile medium-hard (8 minute pace)

d) 1 minute walk

Repeat c & d for a total of 1 mile medium-hard

e) And end with another 1056 steps

I know it's only 2 miles total and then the stair running, but it is a hell of a workout and I felt so great afterward.

Tomorrow: grunge garage weights and then a few more hours of blackberry cane eradication. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

YAY. Back to normal. 25 minutes of garage grunge weights, then two and a half hours wrestling with the blackberry vines that continually threaten to take over the back yard. Squat, cut, drag vine up the slope and toss on pile. Insert swear word as needed when thorns puncture gloves. Repeat forever.

I feel fabulous this afternoon. Yet another reminder that there is nothing wrong with me that a few hours of hard physical labor can't fix.

Friday, August 10 2012 and etc.

Friday: Ugh.
Saturday, August 11: 40 minutes of weights.
Sunday, August 12: Double Ugh. Planned to run a 5K lope around the neighborhood, but this stomach-whatever-grossness shoved running off the calendar. What the heck? It's not flu season, body.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Cool and cloudy again this morning, about 60 degrees at the track. I had a very easy, elegant, straightforward speedwork sort of thing planned, which I took from Kara Goucher's "Running For Women," page 215.

It's such a simple workout that there's no way to mess it up I only messed it up a little bit: 1 mile warm up, 2 X 1/4 mile hard/easy, then (this is where I went off script) 3 X 100 yards hard/easy, then a very slow 1/4 mile, then I think I did another hard segment and then I sort of jogged randomly and then I was just lurching around out there. TIME TO QUIT, my brain said, and so I did.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

...and on this date in history 25 years ago, the mercury hit 103 degrees here, a groomsman fainted, several ex-sweeties showed up (invited) at the church, and we got married.

Let's hear it for grunge lifting in the garage: I knocked off 30 minutes of intense weights this morning before getting Kat up for swim team. I swear lifting makes me faster when I run; it certainly makes it easier to run. Grateful that my body still works so well.

Tomorrow: speed work at the track. I might be thinking about running a 10K. And I might not.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Now that Kat is healthy again, we're back in the swim team carpool routine. I sat around for a while this morning, alternately glaring at the track and reading Tina Fey's "Bossypants", and then I dragged my butt onto the track for an easy 2 miles. I attribute the copious amounts of sweat produced to the humidity rather than my exertion, which was medium-hard, at best.

Felt really good to run on the track again, instead of up and down these dang hills. I wonder why I resist it so much? I know exactly what will happen--the first lap is like WHY? and then around Lap 3 I'm thinking WTF AM I DOING THIS FOR? and then I'm thinking WILL ANYONE NOTICE IF I QUIT? and then after that I settle into being happy. I was really, really happy at the end of the run today. Still feeling happy.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Crazy humid today. Not as hot as yesterday, though.

Lifted hard for 40 minutes. Fun!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Blergh.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

It's supposed to hit 97 degrees today, our first truly hot day, so my plan was to roll out of bed early and run 5K.

Instead, I dragged out of bed around 10.00, moaning and whining: sore throat, ear ache, sniffles. I put in 35 minutes up and down the neighborhood hills and trails, VERY SLOWLY, and feel a little better.

Women's Olympic marathon race is tomorrow. Go Kara!

Friday, August 3, 2012

My parents were married on August 3, 1942. Dad died a few weeks after their 59th wedding anniversary, Mom six years later. I felt adrift for a while afterward, as if my feet didn't stay on the ground. Something about being without parents, even as an adult, is unsettling for me.

Today's workout: 30 minutes of weights in the garage, a tiny bit of weed-pulling, an afternoon of hanging out with poor sick Kat watching Season 1 of Downton Abbey and replays of Thursday's Olympic highlights.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

So. Looks as if this will be my rest day. Kat has been running a fever of 103.2 since last night. I showered at 6.00, not knowing if I would be leaving for the emergency room/urgent care clinic at any moment. Instead, after a long time on the phone with the advice nurse, we're heading in for a late afternoon appointment.

I was really looking forward to tonight's run with Julia, but Kevin is out late tonight and I'm not leaving a feverish kid home alone. We'll try to do it this weekend, instead. Kat heard us talking about it and was all, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I ruined your run."

"Stop it, you silly cheese," Julia said. "It's not like you got sick on purpose."

It's a beautiful August day--cool this morning, warming up right now. Perfect running weather! I'll be back out there tomorrow.