Get out! - Reboot

Hello internet! It's been a while (three years and a bit to be more accurate), and boy have I been busy! Since I last posted here I've done a lot of traveling and produced a tiny human. Mini Ryzzie is now of an age where I can actually sit down and record some of the goings on here now and again.

Cross Training

I've also been working on getting more fit in general by doing the Kayla Itsines BBG workout. This is a HIIT workout that is 30 minutes long and you do it 3 times per week. Kayla includes plenty of photos and descriptions of her workouts in her guides, and encourages users to track their progress with selfies.  I find that the selfies are really good motivation because you don't feel like you look different after only a few weeks, but you really do!

Running

For my run workout I'm doing the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk method.  I have to be really careful because of my Tibialis posterior tendinitis, and this really enables me to do that. I also went to my local Road Runner Sports and had the full assessment done on my stride so I could get shoes that suit my needs. The video capture enabled us to determine what was triggering my tendinitis, so now I'm able to compensate with my stride while running to prevent further aggravation. I ended up with some custom insoles (which I do like) and some Women's ASICS GEL-DS Trainer 20. I call them my safety shoes, as they are highlighter yellow. Mini Ryzzie really enjoys our Saturday morning runs along the sand, and I do too.

Upcoming Foot Races

The latest get out fad that's going on is training for a half marathon....or three actually:

1. Disneyland Half Marathon
2. Big Sur Half Marathon
3. Star Wars Half Marathon

Biking

I'll be honest, I'm not getting in the saddle as much as I was before Mini Ryzzie came along. She's big enough to ride in the trailer now at nearly 2 years old, but it's not the same. I like to ride on designated paths with her in the trailer, so I can't just hop on my bike with Kitty and ride wherever we like, but we're getting there. Mini Ryzzie is VERY excited about "Bie"(her word for bike) and can't wait to hop on her Novara Zipper. Her legs just aren't quite long enough to touch the floor! I have a work trip to Georgia later this year, and I'm looking to brush up on my mountain biking skills so I can make good use of their large bike park!

Upcoming Triathlons

I've had my eye on these races for a while:

1. Bonelli Olympic Distance Triathlon (Not registered yet)
2. Tinsel Triathlon (This is a great first timer race, I'm hoping to get my mom to do it!)

I think that's all the updates for now, Just wanted to bring the internet back up to speed, then I can really get going!

Absentee Ryzzie?? Nah just busy Ryzzie....

Yah sorry about that...no I haven't been on any epic adventures.  Sometimes life gets in the way!  I've been extra dilligent about riding to work lately, which was totally ruined this week because I've had a stomach ache all week!  Chris and I watched a couple documentaries last night Forks Over Knives (2011) and Killer at Large (2008).

Riding my bike more has been great.  I needed to do some maintenance the other day because it started making a funny noise...this turned into a massive If You Give a Mouse a Cookie situation (one of my favorite books from childhood because it is a cute example of a real life problem of getting distracted while trying to complete a task that I am constantly falling prey to).  I ended up re-truing the wheel because it was wobbly.  Then it was still making the noise so Chris replaced the axel, cones and bearings.  Yet the noise persisted.  Turned out one of the spokes (this one has gone loose before) had gotten loose...even though I just tightened them up.

Meanwhile I was riding Chris's bike to work, which is slightly too big for me.  Boy did that little bit of size make the world of difference, that was a tough ride!  Well after I fixed the noise the wheel got out of true again...so I get to go back to that (plus it's not round anymore either) so I'll make it work!  It's like a giant tangle of yarn, and I can sit for hours and untangle that mess.  Tonight will be a good night, maybe Chris will BBQ for us.

Unfortunately, even though the weather has been absolutely ideal for a good ride, I have been having a tummy ache for the last few days.  I feel a lot better today, must have gotten whatever was bothering me out of my system...so to speak ha ha ha!  Originally I was hoping that Chad would be able to join us for a ride with a bike club in his area (I think he'd enjoy having fellow cyclists to enthuse with and learn from), but I think he's going to be studying this weekend (per his FB post).  We'll ask anyway...it's just the morning right (and Scouting is just one night a week....right?)?

Ultimately I'm hoping to meet up with a cycling group in my area that I can ride with regularly on something a little more trying than my 10 mile round trip commute.  I need a challenge.  I love doing triathlons, I really do, but I think my tendonitis is really going to hold me back from progressing at any reasonable pace towards doing anything other than sprint triathlons with a 5k run portion.  After 5k it starts to act up big time, and that's with Vibrams as my shoes.  If I try regular running shoes I give it a quarter of a mile before I'm in tears with pain.

I'm looking forward to a post from my favorite Yogi in training, Wednesday, and I've also passed out an invite to my former program leader (she's just graduated from work!) who is a Marathoness (Marathoner seems too masculine!) with a passion for getting her feet on the pavement.  Hopefully she'll accept the invite.  She gave me my copy of Born to Run, which I absolutely loved reading, it was completely inspiring, and the reason I'm still running!

Back on the wagon...of P90X & Triathlons

So a friend of mine has coerced me into doing P90X again.  Actually a couple of them have.  Dane shared the secret to putting up with Tony's annoying nicknames and innane jokes.  What is this secret you say?  I shall tell you:

Memorize the workouts, then put the T.V. on mute.

Sheer simple genius....right?  Yeeeeesssss.  Kayla has asked that a few people join her in doing the exercises, like some kind of support group.  If you have never watched P90X (there are some out there who have been mere bystanders to this torture session, and know exactly what I mean by watched) then I bid you to do so, so you understand that the dedication is not to being able to do it physically, no. 

The dedication comes in when you have to willingly subject yourself to Tony's self centered innanity (is that even a word??? I guess it is now!) for an hour+ a day.  Every day.  It's harder than you might think.

So today, when I get home from work, I'm going to turn on my computer and do it.  I swear!

Speaking of work, I haven't ridden to work in like a week, and even then the week before last I drove a few days because I had to borrow things from coworkers, or it was rainy or windy.  (I know I know...I live in Los Angeles and I'm whining about the wind and rain, I just feel like a cat those days and just want to hide!)  Today has a slight chance of rain, and I'm just too freaking tired to put up with it, after my friend's wedding this weekend.  Tomorrow I shall ride, and either first thing in the AM or when I get home tomorrow I shall again subject myself to the P90Xification.

I also need to get back into my morning run.  I used to get up every day and stumble out of the house for a run in the morning.  Then I got tendonitis in my foot, and couldn't run for almost 2 years.  While that's always going to be there, the Vibrams seem to really help keep the pain at bay.  Riding the bike all over the place has really helped with my asthma too.  I noticed when I finally did the Tinsel Triathlon again this year, that my athsma was never a factor in my slow running like it always used to be, this time it was just that my legs felt like lead.

One thing at a time though.  I'll keep biking, and I'll get my overall fitness up with Tony & Kayla before I start adding the runs in more than once a week with Nick.

Lastly I've been motivated to keep up with my blog once more.  I feel like there are lots and lots of things that I wish I could do regularly, and there just simply aren't enough hours in the day.  I'd like to post a regular recipe up here once per week, and call it Sunday Dinner.  I'll have to invent some other things for me to post regularly about, like...an assignment!

Enough of that, I have a real job to keep up with.

Not running very well today.

So yesterday, since I arrived home a little late, we opted to go for a run following a much needed trip to the market.  Kiefer has been working on timed miles, and got down to the 7min range.  Good job Kiefer (maybe he will write a post about it)!!

Myself, meanwhile, has been suffering from an acute case of ankle blister since last week's dancing the night away.  So I started out running fine....got down the whole block before my asthma even kicked in, so that was definitely an improvement.  Eventually, though it did kick in (for some reason running is the #1 aggravator) so I had to go back to run/walking.  As much as I love interval training, you would think that after running off and on for 2 years I would be able to run better/longer than this.  Even when i ran very very regularly I couldn't keep running for an entire mile without feeling like I was breathing through a straw.

This is MORE frustrating, because I can push myself REALLY hard in the pool and it won't bother me, or REALLY hard on a bike, and still no issues, but as soon as I go to run I feel like I'm going to die.

Well, despite that, I'm used to dealing with it, so I powered on...until my foot started hurting.  See my blister was bothering me, so I started placing my foot funny when I ran (toe striking), and the bottom of my foot was telling me "oh HEEEEEEEEEECK NO!"  So ultimately I ended up walking the majority of the mile.  I know, I'll get there eventually.

No P90X last night or the night before, but tonight it's back on!  Then afterwards a nice quiet dinner with my kitty men, and some reading.  Gotta exercise the brain!