The Valiant Return of Yours Truly & The Weekly Weigh-In

A Disclaimer
Remember 7th grade English class when, on the first day, the teacher told you to pull out a piece of lined paper and pen and just start writing? It didn't matter what it was about; just write whatever popped into your head. This "stream of consciousness" exercise wasn't meant to churn out anything of great 7th grade literary significance, it was just to get your pen moving. I guess some great writers do this all the time. Whatever. I thought A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man was the most overrated piece of crap ever. I don't think I made it past page 10. But I digress. What I'm trying to say is, when I had to do this exercise, it usually went something like "um...I really think it's been a long day, I can't wait to go to soccer practice tonight, I like my new shoes..." And my point is that you can expect this blog entry to be very much like that. It's been so long that I've written on here, and there's SO much I want to write about, and I have no idea how I'm going to structer it all. Expect lots of rambling, run-on sentences and thoughts that might be good on their own, but are no way related to each other.

Whew. With that out of the way, let the rambling begin! I have my hookah, a very forgettable bottle of sauvignon blanc and a lot to get out there.

The Weekly Weigh-In
Welp, I skipped last week because I knew I wouldn't like what the little jerk-face scale would tell me. When I mustered up the courage this morning, I found it wasn't as bad as I thought. 140.0. I thought it would be much higher. That means that during the 10 day extravaganza that was Estrogenfest 2010, I only gained back 2.5 lbs. Now, I know that a month ago the scale told me 140 and I was freaking out because my initial weigh-in was 145 and that meant that I'd only lost 5 lbs in however many weeks and blah blah blah. I have a different perspective about 140 now. It's not that I'm happy with it - I'll be back on the proverbial horse tomorrow. I've got a running agenda to get back into, a freezer full of Lean Cuisines, and a competition to win (more on that in a bit).

But, here's why I'm ok with gaining 2.5 lbs in 10 days: Every single calorie consumed - and that means every mai tai, potato chip, bacon-wrapped, cream chesse filled jalepeno popper, glass of wine, cocktail, starch, carb, and sugar - was taken in with love and joy. It's one thing to have a 3rd glass of wine on a Tuesday night because I'm feeling sorry for myself or to eat french fries for dinner because cooking for one has gotten too depressing. It's another thing to be with a group of lovely ladies eating good food and drinking good wine and not running the next day because it's more important to get home, pick them up, and do it all again. In short, those 2.5 lbs were in every single way worth it.

Friendly Familial Competition
Right before The Ladies came swooping in, my lovely Grami Jane sent me a message on Facebook suggesting that, since 135 was our mutual ideal weight, we go ahead and see who can't get there first. At the time, I had whittled myself down to 137.5 and she confessed to be hanging out at 139. I haven't spoken with her since we discussed the terms of our little rivalry, but I think it's safe to say that I better get on the ball if I want to win.

Honestly, though, look at that lovely lady -

That's Grami in between her 2 favorite granddaughters at Little Brother's wedding in June. Isn't she perfect just the way she is?

*Side Note - this is about where the unmemorable wine just became too blagh for me to handle and I've switched to Malibu & Diet. Holly bought me a bottle that we were supposed to dip into while she was here in loving memory of our days in London. Unfortunately, we ran out of time while she was here. Fortunately, it's helping the "stream of consiousness" rambling that this entry is characterized by. Go Rum!

Running
Oh, right! THAT'S what this blog is all about. So, I guess I'll ramble about running a bit. Except that it's hard to do that when I haven't been running. Hardly at all. Here's how it's been on hiatus: I've run 10 miles every Sunday, hiked to Maunawili Falls once, and done the surfing thing every weekend. I'm really, REALLY hoping that this is one of those situations where I hit it this week and my body is like "YEAH!!! Go Ash! Thanks for the nice little break, I'm ready to do whatever you want me to!" Hey, it could happen right? Either I'm going to be amazing, or I'm going to hate the next week or two while my body gets back into it. I can say, however, that 10 miles anymore does NOT suck like it once did. In fact, I might almost be able to say that running 10 miles is no biggie (even hungover! ha!) And shoot, I still have 4 months and 12 days until this Marathon goes down, so I'm still waaaay ahead of the power curve. Now, there will come a day very soon when that whole "I have TONS of time" fallback will no longer work. But for now I can honestly say that I'm not worried about being unprepared come race day.

While we're on the topic, here's my tentative schedule for the week:

Monday - XTrain. Beautiful Tif brought me a copy of "Ab Ripper" one of those P90X things or something. My goal is to do that tomorrow morning before work to get back on the track to hard core, and then do some pansy cardio at the gym (pansy cardio includes stationary bikes, elipticals, stair steppers, and the like) in the afternoon.

Tuesday - Dun Dun DUUUUN! Dreaded Tuesday Track Day. 8x800, all faster than 3:30 with a 2 min. recovery, sandwiched by a mile warm up and cool down. Can she do it after 3 weeks off the track? Stay tuned...

Wednesday - Whatever comes my way. 6-8 easy miles most likely.

Thursday - Hill day. If there is a measure of fitness gained/lost it's this day. We'll see how it goes.

Friday - This used to be a complete rest day, but since Saturday a.m. surfing has usurped Saturday a.m. running, I need to fill Friday with some time of running so I don't have too many rest days. Maybe a nice little yog with the dogs after work and before my Friday night date with Don Draper and wine? ;) Any suggestions would be good.

Saturday - My new favorite reason to wake up at 5 a.m. on Saturday. Makes me wonder how I survived with my surfboard in storage in Utah for so long. Also makes me wonder if maybe Sally the Surfboard doesn't need a friend....hmmmm ;)

Sunday - 13.1 miles next week. I'm doing half. Go me. But I hear the first half of a marathon is the easy half...

Ok, well. I guess that's just enough rambling. The rum is telling me stop writing and go paint or something. I shall leave you with this, lovely blog followers. It's the official theme song of Estrogenfest 2010 and evidently has no music video but no matter. It's a darn catchy tune and conveniently comes on the radio out here once every 20 minutes.


(I also LOVE how this broad has thighs that make mine look skinny. You go girl. Own it)

The Weekly Weigh-In

It boggles my mind how an inanimate object can have such a strong effect on me. Stupid scale. Who are you to judge me? You just sit there, unused, on the bathroom floor all week waiting and plotting how you will next destroy my already very fragile ego and feelings of self-worth. You, scale, are an asshole.

Nevertheless, after weeks of you beating me down, damaging me psycologically, and interfering with my quality of life, I finally managed to get your stupid little numbers to head in the other direction. I weighed in this week at 137.5. TAKE THAT STUPID SCALE!!! I OWN YOU! You're not so tough after all! You can be conquered!!!

So...that's how my weigh-in went on Sunday. I started writing this yesterday, but it didn't get done so I apologize for it being late. But, on a happy note, one of the main reasons my blog has been lacking the past few days is because I have good friends. Let me explain..

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
Sunday night I didn't write this because my friends Desiree and Rose from KCC came over and we had an impromptu ladies night in with pizza and wine and "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (Lisbeth Salandar is the most badass female to have been written into existence in a long, long time) It was great.

And I didn't finish writing this last night because I had to clean my house in preparation for not one, not two, but THREE (*girlie squeals of delight*) lady friends coming to visit me from the mainland for like 2 weeks almost. I'm soooo excited. It's beyond important - it's essential - to get some good girlie bonding in on a regular basis. I could go on and on and on about my friends. They are absolutely wonderful. Maybe I should start highlighting a friend every week. Hmmm...blog fodder ideas...

Here We Go Again


How does this keep happening?! This really is a mystery to me. I've put some miles in in my life, and I've NEVER had blisters like I've been getting since I started training. I took care of the shoe situation, and my form is FAR from ideal but it's always been that way so that can't be it. Socks maybe? Inserts in my shoes? Something needs to get remedied quick, because, really...they HURT and I don't want my training to be effected anymore! GAAAAHHHHH!!!

Just so you know, that particular beauty was conjured up on my 12-miler on Sunday. My friend Rob from work met up with me so I had a running buddy. It was great to not have to spend an hour and 45 minutes plugging along by myself. Rob is another friend who helped me out this weekend, because I'm not sure if I would have made it out the door if I didn't have someone waiting for me. (I also like Rob because he has a thick midwestern accent and has a very Mexican last name, even though he's from, like, Fargo and is definitely a whitey).

The Finest Things
Do you know what really the best part was of my domination over the scale last week? I still drank wine! All.Week.Long. Ok, ok...so maybe I'd shed pounds faster if my caloric intake was reduced consdierably by cutting out the vino but really, is a life without wine a life I want to live? Nope.

And just for fun, here's what I made myself for dinner last night:


That there fish is OPAH!!!! (Every time you read Opah, you have to read it in a really loud, really Greek voice - OPAH!!!) It was pretty tasty. The OPAH! cheap at the grocery store, so I picked some up on sunday. I very, very loosely used the recipe that you can find here. It really was amazing. Went great with a nice Zin, but I bet some Ouzo would have been great, too. OPAH!!!

Some Random Mind Ramblings

Compression Socks
Never been on my radar before. Last week, though, I got the latest issue of Runner's World in the mail and there was a whole article on them and reviews and everything. They're being heralded as miraculous woven pieces of amazingness that have descended from heaven. They supposedly aid in recover time, make you run faster, cure all the aches and pains in your feet, and fix all your cirulation problems. I'm not lying. Evidently, these are miracle socks. And at around $50 a pair, they darn well better be.

I'm considering investing in a pair of these wonder socks, becasue as always, I'm skeptical and would like to do my own trial. I suppose $50 to solve all my running problems is a bargain, but on the other hand, if the socks don't live up to the hype, then it's a whole lotta wasted mulah. It's not like I can return sweaty, used running socks!



Anyone out there ever used these? (Besides any diabetics or pilots that may be reading this) Has anyone heard any other miracles that they can perform? Let me know because my interest is piqued...

Night Sweats
Get your mind out of the gutter, kids. I have an issue. Several times in the last couple weeks I have woken up in the middle of the night absolutely drenched in sweat. Like, soak through my t-shirt and saturate the sheets. Gross, right? I know. Other oddities: it's not hot in my room (in fact, it's the coolest room in the house), and I haven't been sick so it's not like I'm feverish or anything. What on earth does this mean? Is there something wrong with me? Am I normal? Does this have anything to do with my increased consumption of H2O due to my increased mileage? Gah. Maybe this is TMI for my loyal little readership, but if any of you have an insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

That's all I got for now. I was going to keep going and keep rambling, but I really just want to go eat lunch. So, lovely readership until we meet again...

From The Top To The Bottom (& Not Even Mad About It)

Tuesday
It was glorious. It was perfect. It was overcast, and sometimes it sprinkled a little bit. The Army fat boys were out there toiling away and I relished every time I flew by them (a little mean, I know, but my competitive edge took over. I don't care who you are - it's fun to pass people and you know it.)

After a 1 mile warm-up, yours truly ran 8x800 ALL UNDER OR RIGHT AT 3:30!!! No lie, it was epic. And amazing. And it got me thinking to myself, "Self, you always tear up the track when you take a week off of it. Maybe you should only do your dreaded 800s every other week?" Well, I think that was a pretty darn good plan. So, I'm going to need to start adventuring to other types of speed workouts to fill in my gaps every other Tuesday. I was so thrilled with myself for my little epiphany. Then I did a 1 mile cool-down. All in all, that means that I ran 6 miles and 4 of them at a 7:00/mile pace. Booyah. (Granted, there was a 2 minute rest between each 800, but nevermind that). I made the track my b*tch.

And then there was today...

Wednesday
My planned 7-8 miler quickly dissolved into a nice 30 minute yog. But you know what? I'm not even mad about it. I had a grueling workout yesterday and I dominated, so I know that it's not for lack of physical ability that I crapped out today. It was hot! And my foot started cramping really bad! And I didn't have to take it!....really, it doesn't matter.

Now, this is a revelation in and of itself. A month ago, I'd be sitting here pouting because I had failed, FAILED I tell you! Because really, if I have that much trouble with 7 miles, how can I possibly run 26.2?! This would inevitably lead to a downward spiral of self-degradation and loathing. But something occured to me after my crappy week last week -

I still have 5 months to train!!!

If I only had 3, I bet I could still get myself to at least the point where I know I could finish the stupid race. Furthermore, it's important to listen to my body. Yesterday my bod said "Run like the wind, Ash! You are the fastest woman alive!!!" Today it said, "FU!!! Cut it out, go eat some trail mix, and run up a big hill tomorrow"

And both times, I said, "Ok, bod. You've done me well so far." And I want to make sure it continues to do so ;)

The Weekly Weigh-In & Why God Loves Us and Wants Us to Be Happy

I am convinced that, had carbonation been around 2,000 years ago, Jesus' first miracle would have been turning water to champagne instead of wine. Now, wine is fine - better than fine, it's marvelous! But, nothing is as celebratory as a glass of bubbly.

Fact: there are approximately 58 million bubbles in every bottle of champagne.

That's a lot of bubbly happiness! And I needed some happiness today. Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that I was in a foul, wretched mood this morning when I woke up. Between dogs keeping me up all night, not running all week and not running this morning (I can't even blog about running today, because I haven't hardly all week!), it being my anniversary and not having a hubby to celebrate it with or for that matter, be amicable with, to tell you the truth - it was craptastic.

Plus...the scale scowled and sneered at me this morning - 141.0. GAAAAHHH! That's a gain of almost a pound! That means I've only lost 4 lbs in the past 2ish months. FML. I am officially in a training funk. I wanted to curl up with a gallon of Ben & Jerry's and order a pizza and cry.

But then, some things happened and turned my frown upside down. Consider the following:

-Darling MuM telling me not to worry about not running my 12 miler today. As a 5-time marathon vet, she assured me that today holds absolutely NO bearing on what's going to go down on Dec. 12.

-Triple, Grande, Non-Fat, Vanilla Latte from Starbucks

-My weekly dose of church, where I chatted with my gal Desiree and she asked me if I would like some company while I sit around feeling sorry for myself on the beach all day. Of course, I said yes!

-Chandon Blanc de Noir on the beach

*Sighs contentedly* I am MUCH better now. So much better since there is another bottle of bubbly with my name on it chilling on my lanai right now. And hookah. Bad for the lungs and the training, good for the soul!

So, in the end, my day has made a complete u-turn and I'm so thankful for friends, family, champagne, hookah, the beach, sunflowers, and that grumpy guy I married (for the 2nd time!) last year today. The odds that he'll ever read this are slim to none, but just in case:

Happy Anniversary Billy Haas. I really do love and miss you. Keep being safe and come home to me soon. Drinking champagne with you is still better than drinking champagne with anyone else.

Slow Motion's Better Than No Motion

Here are the facts, boys and girls:
If you want to become a runner then you need to know that (for the most part) running is better than walking and walking is better than nothing.

I have been told several times in the past few months that people "wish" they could be runners. Well, I am here to say, "Wish no more, my friends!!" Running is simple - you put one foot in front of the other for an extended period of time. And that's it.

You don't need to go all crazy in the beginning, you can start by walking and sprinkling in little bits of jogging - no, scratch that - running. We run, we don't jog. Unless you pronounce it with a soft j as in yogging. Then it's ok, because I hear it's this new thing people are doing.

Anyway, step 1 is to get off your couch and get out the door and walk/run. When used to live and run in beautiful Utah with beautiful MuM, we would most of the time determine before set out if we were going to have a Run/Run/Run/Run or a Run/Walk/Run/Walk/Run or a Walk/Walk/Walk/Walk. Because if we felt like crap, and we didn't feel like running, then we didn't. But we also knew (and know) that moving your body, even if it's slower than you'd like, is better than not moving it at all. Ya dig?

As your body gets used to it, you'll find that somedays you'll feel great and will run and run and run and walk less and less. Natch, there will still be days when you feel like doing nothing, but the important thing when you're starting out (or getting back into it) is to just get a move-on.

Have a Plan, (Wo)Man!
I did some research for any newbies that might be reading out there, and everything I've found says to begin with the walk/run method. Here's some examples:

From Runner's World

From About.com

And, of course, The Couch to 5K Training Plan

With a plan, everything is possible. The key is to start slow and ease yourself into it so your body doesn't absolutely rebel the idea of moving after being stagnant.

Look, if Homer can do it - so can you!


Now go get some shoes and get out the door!

Apologies! And the Weekly Weigh-In

Greetings All!

Sorry I was so lack-luster this week. I think I just needed to recharge a bit and that meant doing nothing whenever possible - including not blogging about running. That does not mean, however, that I have not been running. I have had several very good runs since my failure on the track last tuesday. Here's what I've been up to:

Wednesday
I ran 6 miles - 3 with the dogs and then I dropped them off at the house and ran 3 more. I suppose I shouldn't let you all know this, since I know people from work read this and I stayed home sick from work on Wednesday. But the truth is, I've always had remarkably good runs while I was sick, and so I decided to give it a go. True to my suspicions, my 3 miles after I dropped off the dogs averaged 7:50. I got caught up on a lot of sleep and was back to work on Thursday feeling a little better. I actually still feel not quite 100%, but I feel much better than I did on Wednesday. I puked and it was gross. Moving on...

Thursday
I was supposed to do a hill workout with a coworker, but he wussed out. So, I ran again with the dogs when I got home from work. As I remember, I only did a 5K, but I made sure to get a big hill in there, so it wasn't a complete waste.

Friday
Sweet, sweet day off. It was an easy day at work, and there was no running. It was good for my soul. AS a matter of fact, this whole weekend has been ;)

Saturday
My usual Saturday morning 3 miler with the dogs, followed by 3 miles on my own. It was not quite so comfy, but I still ran my 2nd 3 miles averaging around 8 minutes/mile so I'm happy with that. I also went and saw "Eclipse" and let me tell you - it was EPIC!!! If you dare judge me for liking Twilight, we're going to have issues. It's really not as lame as it sounds!

Sunday
Are you ready for this?! I ran 10 8:00 minute miles! And I didn't almost die! To be completely honest, it wasn't the most pleasant experience by the time I was done, but it certainly wasn't as bad as LSD runs in the past. It was faster than my last 10 miler and I felt way better. I was very proud of myself, really. It was another one of those moments when I felt like I was actually making forward progress with my training.

The Weekly Weigh-In
So....after all that running, Ashleigh weighs:

140.2

EXACTLY the same as last Sunday. WTF? I think this is because I was bad with my diet this past week. So, kids, you heard it here first. In order to re-kickstart my diet and get the ball rolling again your truly is going to *gasp* not drink my wine this week :( It's sad, and it will be unpleasant, but if that's what I need to do to push the scale downward, then that's what I'm gonna do. Now, I don't plan on this being a forever thing. We'll start with this week and see how it goes, and if it makes any considerable difference. I'll keep you posted!

At least now I have a diet partner to share my woes with - my little Gwen got taken to the Vet on Friday and was told she was a little too chubby, so I've put her on a diet as well. So far, not a lot of success with that, since she just sneaks Brando's food when I'm not looking. But I am determined to have each of us lose 5 more lbs and keep it off. We can do it. We have girl power.

In Conclusion...
Thank you all for bearing with me (or the lack of me) this week. I promise to be more diligent in the weeks to come. I have a lot of clever ideas brewing in the back of my mind that I can't wait to share with you. I'm doing well with my training and keeping my miles where they should be. It was great to run in my new shoes this week and not worry about blisters. What a hard learned lesson that was!

Anyway, lovelies, I'm getting sleepy, so I'm off to bed with a book and my dogs. Until tomorrow....