February SUMMARY

I was not online the last day of February so I need to write this as addition to actual post:

February mileage: 253k (158miles)
Mileage total (2010): 541k
Mileage by weeks:
1-7 107k
8-14 100.5k
15-21 44.5k ITBand 20 Feb
22-28 1k


Others:
Walking: 57k
Bike: indoor: 6.5h outdoor:70.5k
Volleyball: 14h
Weights: 7x
Push Ups Challenge: 1st Week total 100


Original post ----------------------------------------------

Quote of the day: "The lazier a man is, the more he plans to do tomorrow."

Nothing much going on running-wise. I did not bike or run today, I am too lazy. It is weekend, come on...
I spent this morning and part of the afternoon in class (blah!!!) and then the rest of the day looking for company contacts since I need to find a summer internship. I want to do it in the US, which will be pretty hard to find I think. If you know about something (anything), let me know!


Well, no miracle happened last night. I slept through the hockey game and I am glad I did because I would be really upset during first 2 thirds and then way too nervous and excited for the last one. So it is better this way. Now shake it off and let's kick Finish ass (let's hope they are crashed after yesterday's semifinals- 5 goals in 6 minutes...who wouldn't be crashed?!?)
And our bobsleigh...they remind me of "Cool runnings" movie:) But what do your expect- one 400m runner, one weightlifter, one businessman and I do not know the last one. But they are ok, nothing broken, only the sleigh is slightly totaled:)

I love it but I have to get rid of it...and...NOBODY is sleeping in Slovakia tonight!

Quote of the day: "The advantages? Exercise, no parking problems, gas prices, it's fun. An automobile is expensive. You have to find a place to park and it's not fun. So why not ride a bicycle? I recommend it."

I have always loved biking (some neighbors might however disagree because when I was a kid and my father taught me how to ride a bike without those small side wheels to support me, I was really scared and I screamed as if he was trying to kill me (which at the moment I thought he was:)) and couple of our neighbors came to see what was going on and questioned my parents what they were doing with me:)) but I started to enjoy it even more last summer when I could not run and I biked a lot- I used my bike to get to work, which meant that I did minimum 40miles a day. I wanted to bring my bike with me to France but it has not worked out, and therefore one of the first things I did here was that I have bought a bike.
I am very glad I did, because there are so many nice places. Everytime I go out on a bike, I find new paths and some cool neighborhoods.
Therefore I am sorry that I must sell my bike in 4 weeks. I will not be here next year (I am going to LA, yay!)and I have road bike, mountain bike and trail bike in Slovakia, plus my father has his bikes and therefore there is no reason to keep this one. I need to sell it before vacation and the only way to be 100% sure that I really sell it by then is doing it through this "old sporting goods sale" at the end of March. It is breaking my heart! I will be left without my road bike for whole 2 months. Of course I have the second bike here (I know, I am crazy...who would bring two(!) bikes to business school campus???) but it is a very old and too-small-for-me bike and I can not enjoy long rides on it.
But I still have 4 weeks, right? In the meanwhile, I am going to explore this wonderful area as much as possible!

Enough crying! My today's work-out stats: I did around 35k today (on bike of course) and then went to the gym (legs, abs, few triceps and biceps exercises (5 pull-ups, hm, I am weak))

Now, I need to go to bed, because I need to get up at 3:30am to watch hockey semi-finals (wouldn't it be great if Slovakia beat Canada for finals in their own country? I am not too optimistic about that but I can dream, right?).
Or maybe I will just sleep through the game because so much excitement is not good for my heart and (in)sanity.

On and off

Quote of the day: "I don't think I have enough mileage on me to really complain of any injuries yet." (pretty funny)


I have "worked out" for 1 hour today and I should not have done that!!! I did 1 hour long run/walk shuffle (like 1 min run, 7 min walk or something similar, I have not kept track really). I probably covered 1k by running. It was ok but now my knee hurts a little. I guess that I will just not run at all for couple days, just do bike if that feels good. And do this : http://hundredpushups.com/index.html


Slovakia beat reigning Olympic champions from Sweden 4:3 and we are in hockey semi-finals!!! Canada, get ready for us!!!

UCLA here I come!!!

I have just received an email that I am taken for an exchange program with UCLA MBA for next year!!!!! I'm so excited! I had to tell someone so I am posting it here!!!!

No workout today...my knee felt little weird today.

Tour de France

Quote of the day: "What was supposed to be a summer of fun on the bike turned into a year, then two years. It certainly wasn't a calculated plan to have a career as a cyclist." ---- I am maybe getting there doing my own version of le Tour de France :)

Of course I do not cover 3600k as real Tourers but still, I am exploring and enjoying French countryside. I managed to fix my bike yesterday so off I went today. Weather was not that great, it has rained like 3 times in that hour and a half I was out and wind was pretty strong. But still I have enjoyed it a lot. It is much better than biking in my room, although I enjoy biking on a trainer while watching a movie, but it get sooo hot when biking inside.
I cover approximately 30k. I know, it is not that great but I went exploring and therefore pretty slowly.
Then I went to the gym and did few legs exercises.
And because I am soooo bored (I know, I should be studying but I HATE school (well, at least this school:() and I just cannot force myself to studying...I know that eventually I will have to start if I do not want to fail, which is very easy here, easier that I would like...), therefore I did another 30min on a trainer in the evening.

Now I am off to take a shower and sleep because I need to get up early to watch Olympics, namely ice hockey as we kiss some Norwegian ass!!!! Slovenskooooo, Slovenskoooo!!!!

Am I skilled or what?

Quote of the day:

(I know this is not a quote but I still find it inspirational.LOL)

No running but I did my 17k power walk to get a new inner tube for my bike. It was pretty good, I kept average 8:08min/km pace.
Then I wanted to go biking but....
The stupid thing! It took me almost 30 minutes to get my rear wheel back and since I am not the most patient person out there, I was getting more and more nervous and it was not helping of course...I am sure that a more skilled biker can do it in few seconds (well, I can do it in few seconds on my old bike) but it is pretty hard to install it using only your 2 hands without having a bike fixed in place. I wished I had at least 3 hands. But I succeeded at the end and.....I realized that my front derailleur is screwed. No idea what happened there but I spend another hour trying to figure out what's going on. I think that I did eventually but it is hard to say without trying it on road. Tomorrow...
There is something wrong with the rear one but that must wait because I had enough bike-fixing for today.

Am I just awesome or what? :)

But unfortunately it is too dark for biking now so I will hook it up on a trainer again and do an hour or so.

Week in numbers

Running: 44,5k
Bike: 3,5 hours
Volley: 1h
Weights: 1x
walking: 35k


I keep adding new activities (but unfortunately I might need to remove some other ones...)

Grrrrr

Quote of the day: "Cross Country - Finally a practical use for golf courses."

Today is one of "those" days...
Since I cannot run, I have decided to take my bike (that has been hooked up on my trainer for past couple months) and go out to explore the French countryside.
But it seems that it is not my destiny to do any kind of sports (no running because of ITBS, no volleyball because of f*** up floor, and now biking...).
My tires were not hard enough for road biking so I had to inflate them a little bit. But man, I hate Presta valves!!! On one hand, they are great for easy inflation with hand pump, but they are so fragile. As I was inflating my rear tire, the stupid valve cup just broke off!!!! And of course, I did not have any spare tire tubes. My second bike is more like a used-for-shopping-and-might-break-any-moment bike, so no biking today!!! Sport Gods, you won!
But be aware, I am going to buy a tire tube tomorrow and then you will see...

I was so bored and could not stand feeling depressed, eating peanut butter and staring at the monitor on my laptop anymore, therefore I went for a power walk- you know, brisk walk when you swing your arms...
I did around 15k, it took me exactly 2 hours. I will stick to this (and biking) for couple days.

And I figured that since I am not going to run a very high mileage (and therefore do not have to eat that much in order not to fall apart) for couple weeks, I will try to loose some weight, like 4-5 pounds. Well, eating half a jar of peanut butter in 30 minutes is not a good start, but I promise, I am on starting tomorrow!

Yeap, it is happening...

Quote of the day: "The trouble with running is that by the time you realize you are not in shape for it, it is too far to walk back."

So my IT Band problem is back. But (unfortunately) I am smart enough now to stop running immediately after the first signs of problem have appeared. (I have used "unfortunately" because I am becoming ITB expert due to my year-long-lasting ITB problem, and if I had not had this problem, I would not become smart enough..well, hope you get it).

Anyway, I am going to be smart this time and really try to get back to PAIN-FREE running asap by not trying to run too soon or through pain. I know it will take some time off running but I will make it this time.

So no run today. I went for a long walk (20k to a big grocery store to get some peanut butter imported from the US because European peanut butters are just disgusting. I decided to try a new brand because although I love Skippy pb, it is ridiculously expensive- one tiny jar costs 3.71 Euros! I got Mississippi Belle and I must say it is pretty good. I might stick to that one.) and then did hour and a half hours on a bike (while watching a movie-Game plan). Felt good.


I might sound ok, but I am not! I am frustrated and pissed!!!!

Stupid stupid stupid

Quote of the day: "It is difficult to train for a race; but it is even more difficult to not be able to train for a race."

My pride or conscience or whatever it is kicked in and I ran 17,5k this morning and then went to lift weights.
I went slowly and felt good, no pain or anything.

But now it is evening and my old knee pain/IT band problem seems to be back!!!!
I am so stupid, why did I run so much?!? I am sure it is because of that!
But I stretched and did (almost) everything they told me to so why is it back?!?

Maybe it is not an IT band, maybe it is something different and I should really go to see a doctor and figure out what's wrong. But doctors are sooo expensive here!
Maybe it will disappear tomorrow. I doubt it but I can hope, right?

So no running this weekend, only biking. I hope the weather will be nice so I can go biking outside, not on my trainer in my dorm room....

Crepes

Quote of the day: "Losing is nature's way of telling you that you suck."

I felt little tired today again and my knee did not felt that great but I still went to running practice (I am sticking to that name, although it has far from being a real running practice). But I did not do a workout, I slowly ran 11k. And I am glad, because they did the same workout as past 4 weeks and it is getting on my nerves!!!!! I know that there is not much to do here, but come on, the same thing for 5 weeks in a row??? And I am sure that we will stick to it for few coming weeks...
I wanted to do weights afterwards but it was reserved for weight lifting class so they did not let me in. I did 30min on bike instead.
And then I went to the creperie with some running friends and I got the awesomest crepes: one with cheese, champions and tomatoes and as a desert one with hot white chocolate. Yummy!!!

Another day off

Quote of the day: "26.2 miles, strength, endurance, finish line, no sweat. Yeah..I run like a girl"

Took another day off running. I was already dressed up and ready to go when I suddenly "remembered/realized" that my knee does not feel very good so I decided not to go. I know it is kinda weird but I do not want to force it because I do not want to end up not running. And...weather was horrible and I think that I might be getting anemic (I eat only crap here!!!!).
I have been thinking.....why am I running every day and 60 miles a week??? I do not plan on racing any real races and trying to win. I am running just for fun! So when and why did I get to the point that I have a bad conscious when I miss a run?
I should think about it and get it straight in my mind.

Anyway, I did biking. I did 30minutes but then my knee started to bother me a little so I stopped.
But I guess 30min on a bike is better than nothing but still feeling guilty (because honestly, I did not run today because of my laziness and bad weather, not because of hurting knee).

Meh

Quote of the day: "Run Hard...And eat all the carbs you want"

Day off from running today. I figured I need some rest after running almost 70k in past 3 days.

I went for a school practice though and ran 1k but then my right quad and shin started to bother me so then I decided to take it easy.
I xtrained instead and did 1 hour on a bike while watching Bruce Willis saving the world (again) in Surrogates.

This has been going on for more weeks now but I have realized only now: I feel like a crap on Tuesdays and it is so because: I do my long run Sunday and feel dead for the rest of a day, then Monday I usually feel good (better) and hammer my recovery easy run and then go to volleyball practice which lasts until 11pm, which means that I do not rest enough and everything adds up and just blows on Tuesdays...I better chance something.

Today the Germans kicked our ass...but we still get a silver medal. Yeah!

Easy 15

Quote of the day: "Sprinting is sex, Distance is love"

My right calf and shins are little sore from past weekend and I woke up so hungry this morning that I ate 3 mini-bagettes for breakfast. My eating habits are not great in general, for example my lunch today were 2 more mini-bagettes without anything and chocolate worth 1100 kcal (ok, it was two chocolate bars...).

Weather is back to cloudy but surprisingly I did not have hard time going for a run.
I felt sluggish at the beginning but then the chocolate calories kicked in and I felt pretty good. I did 15k @ 5flat pace. Slower than last Monday but I felt sore last Monday so I took it easier today.
My quads feel little tired though.

I am off to volleyball practice and I have feeling that it will be brutal today because our coach is back and I am sure he has already heard all about our lack of motivation past week while he was on a skiing trip.

Week in numbers

Running: 100k
Bike: 5-6k
Volley: 6hours
Weights: 2x

Longest run since November

Quote of the day: If running feels good, you didn’t push hard enough. It’s supposed to hurt like hell.

I felt great this morning, even after yesterdays adventure race.
My shins were little sore but other than that I felt I have not been doing anything yesterday. Which is good on one hand, but it means that I didn't push hard enough (well, it was a team race, so we had to stick together:).

Weather was gorgeous today- sunny, although chilly. And I was really looking forward to my run this time. I planned on doing 25k (maybe 20k if I feel that I need to recover from yesterday), but I had hard time stopping since I wanted to enjoy the weather. I did 30k @ 5:09pace (8:14/mile), which is not that bad and I felt very good. I was actually surprised because it felt I was going much slower.
I am little sore now, but for me it is normal after long run. It will be gone tomorrow.
Some thoughts: If I run 30k at 5:09 pace (8:14mm), it is only 9s (or 14 for counting in miles) off my marathon pace, which many people say is not a good idea because I do nor recover properly but I am used to run my runs at 8mm from Brown and I do not see a reason why I should try to run slower on my easy long runs. I guess this means that I should increase my marathon pace next time:)
Also, I do not drink or eat anything during my long runs. I know that a lot of people bring gels or power bars with them for longer runs. But I am just not used to that. I wonder whether bringing water or a snack might have a positive effect on my running...


I have the shape of our planet!!!! Because of the time zones, all Olympics live broadcasts are during the night and early morning!!! Grrrr. Hate it. I cannot stay up all night and do not go to school in the morning because I want to watch Slovak biatlonists kick major German ass. Although I am not hiding that I am glad I have not seen how the Canadian women kicked our ass in hockey (18-0).

Prologue Raid Central 2010

Quote of the day: Runners just do it - they run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.

What a day! Running through the woods all day freezing my ass off...
Today was my first adventure race ever. It was awesome (although really cold, I started with 3 cloths layers and ended with 5 and our water in bottles got frozen), I am really sorry I cannot participate on the 5-days long adventure race in April...

Our team was definitely one of the best teams and if we did not get lost we might have finished in top 5. I am frustrated but I will get over it eventually.

We were teams of 4 people from different schools and I did it with some guys from Paris Arts et Metiers (or something like that).
First race: 9k run. We and other 3 teams started really fast but eventually slowed down then we saw that the others were far behind. We finished this part as the 3rd team and 1st team with a girl in a team (yeahhhhh!).
But next race was orientation course where we got a map and a compass and were supposed to get to 17 check points. Unfortunately, they did not indicate where we were and we had real problems. We left in a wrong direction and it took us 45min to get to the first check point. We managed to get to all of them within set limit of 2 hours but 45min was too much and most team got ahead of us.
Next was run and bike- 12k divided into 3 "sprint" parts. That was even crazier than just running because there was snow and the forest paths were slippery and full of roots and rocks that we could not see under snow...real adrenalin! But we did pretty well because one of the guys is a competitive mountain biker and we -the others- are not bad either.
Then there was shooting, but not from rifles as we though but from these funny things that you had to blow into it. I scored 0 (which added to our misery).

We finished strong but we were all miserable that we got lost....We really were one of the best teams (in spite of having a girl-me-in our team, yeahhhh).

I feel pretty good, only my shin muscles are sore, weird. Otherwise not sore at all. I probably did not push myself enough:)

What's happening to me?!?

Quote of a day: "There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people."

I did not have time to post yesterday's running "progress". I did weights and ran 7k. I was planning to do more, but things somehow did not work out as I wanted to.

Today: easy 8.5k run, nothing else because I have a short adventure race tomorrow. I am little scared, because it has been off and on snowing past few days and I am not sure how I am going to handle mountain bike part in these conditions. Hope I will not kill myself.

I am becoming a real volleyball player and I am ashamed of it: I have decided to go on a volleyball trip to Barcelona instead of running a trail race/or Paris marathon in April. What's happening to me?!?
But I am going to look up some races that I can do in April.

Getting ready for Saturday

Quote of a day: “I over-train! So, I can over-eat!!!”

Crazy weather today- snow, sun, rain, sun, snow...
I squeezed in only 6k run today because I had less than 1 hour between 2 classes to run, take shower and eat lunch.
But 6k is ok, I should taper a little for Saturday- my very first adventure race. It is one-day race only though, but it requires running, mountain bike, more running and shooting. Should be fun.

I am off to 4-hour long volleyball practice...

Same old mutual destruction

Quote of a day: "Running is my Brownie Sundae"

Tuesday and the same interval workout as past 2 weeks- 6 x 2 loops (cca330-350m 1 loop) w/ 1 loop jog. The only thing changing is my pace!
I have felt like a crap all day today and I was considering asking our coach to let me do long easy run. But that would be like quitting, right?
I warmed up, did some stretching and drills (veeeery slowly) and then started the intervals with one guy (who says that "we are in almost the same shape and therefore we mutually destroy each other doing these intervals". But I think it is good!).
First interval was pretty slow to see where we are, since it has been snowing and we were not sure whether it is safe enough and not slippery.
We did 2:40, 2:31, 2:29, 2:27 together, which is faster than last week and the week before and then I did the last two alone in 2:25 and 2:24. I am proud of myself. This was a very good workout (according to my standards) and quite difficult because I had to force myself to run (and enjoy it).
I hit the gym afterwards although it was reserved to rugby players during that hour. They kinda looked at me weirdly because, well, I was a girl among like 20 rugby players during their gym hours...Nobody kicked me out though. It was not that bad because they were slowly leaving and by the end there were only 4 and later only 2 of us there. I did some exercises for legs, back, triceps and biceps.

Today was a I-did-a-good-job-and-feel-good-about-myself day!

I have not realized...

Quote of a day: "My social life doesn't get in the way of my training."

I am glad I took it very slowly yesterday because I felt like I was flying today!
I had a minor back-side-of-a-knee problem this morning and I had to stretch it out. People looked at me as if I were crazy because I did this during my Accounting class. But come on, you have to work with what you got.

I went for an easy 15k run this afternoon. Well, easy. It felt awesome, my legs were light and I was in a pretty good mood. As I sad I was flying and I have not realized that I was running at 4:50-something pace until approx 8k in and then my pride kicked in and I did not want to slow down.
I felt really good, it did not seem/feel too fast. I finished 15k at 4:53 pace.

And omg, my legs are starting to kill me now! My quads are getting sore and I have problems to sit down and stand up. Well, that's what I get when I do stupid stuff and try to be a bad-ass.

Off to volleyball practice now, maybe I will loosen up (but I am skeptical about that one...).

Week in numbers

Running: 107k (67miles)
Bike: 80min
Volley: 7 hours
Weights: 2x

"Some people don't have the guts for distance racing. The polite term for them is sprinters."

I was tired this morning but I did not have to force myself to go out and run, I was glad to go for a run. My plan was 28k on flat surface. I knew that this was not possible because no matter where I go, there are hills everywhere...
I went really really slowly, like 5:45 pace but it was fastest I could do after yesterday.
First 15k was ok, but then my moral dropped (I was starting to be tired, cold, thinking about my broken 5+ year-long relationship, hungry, tired, thirsty, tired) and I was considering heading back to my room. But I forced myself to do at least 25k.
Therefore I headed further from campus because I knew that even if I decide to head back, I will still have to do run longer to get back.
At 23k my moral was back to normal, and I even got a glimpse of a sun...
At approximately 25k I met this older man who asked me for directions. Well, good choice...But I did my best. Apparently, he went for 2-hour long run but got lost. And since the weather was not that great he has not met any runners or bikers, so now was at 3:30. And still had at least 12k to go...(if my directions and calculations were right.) He really looked miserable. He told me he was cold, hungry and his knee was hurting like hell. I would give him some food or a ride but I did not have any. I hope he had found his way back.

I ended up doing 27k. Not bad.

"Hills are speedwork in disguise"

Rain is back and never in my life have I been as dirty as today...
Went for a longish hilly trail run this afternoon and it started to rain! I had still 15k to go, so I just continued and rain was getting harder and harder. Which means that the trails were getting muddier and muddier. By the time I finished my run, I had mud everywhere and I looked like I have been swimming in mud...I guess that's what all people I met in my dorm were thinking.
Other than that, my 23k hilly run was good, I felt great, hills were not killing me, which means I am getting used to them and that I am getting stronger (and faster).

Btw: I had my new NB trail sneakers and they were awesome. I did not slip almost at all. But they are pretty heavy and hard, I would not want to run in them on road.

VO2max

I woke up pretty early today which was good cos I had to get in a run before lunch because I was supposed to have 7.5 hour long class today afternoon, wow. It was really warm today, which is awesome! Because I did not run yesterday I decided to do a workout. I warmed up 2k and then did 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 min hard with 1 min jog between. I do not know my pace, I went as I felt. But it was good, hard at the end. Then I continued running and did 18k total. I felt awesome. So awesome that I have decided to go to the gym right afterwards where I diid some back extensions, crunches, abductors and adductors exercises (these are my two favorite!!!), bench press, and something for calves and quads. And after all this...I am surprised that I did not fall asleep during my afternoon class.

Day off

I took a day off today...did not go running or biking. I had a volleyball match, but did not play much, only one set.
I feel good, not tired. One day off should do me good.

Keeping it short

It's too late so just important details:
ran 13,5k very easy cos I felt pretty tired.
4 hours of volleyball practice this evening. It was pretty good, I feel like I was working!

Time to sleep now.

Out of the adventure race

I had my first Strategy class today and I am going to have the final exam on April 27, which is the date of my adventure race that I have been looking forward to since I had found about it:(
Our final exam period is at the end of May so I do not get it...Why that date?!?
And apparently any kind of sport event (including adventure race) is not a good enough excuse at business school for taking the exam earlier or later. That sucks!!!!

But I suppose there will be other adventure races in the future. And money I do not spend on this race I will use for a volleyball trip to Ibiza!!!(not sure whether it will be enough though...)

I got in a pretty good workout today. We did the same internal workout as past Tuesday- 6x 2 loops (cca 700m total) w/ 1 loop jog recovery.
I had better splits than past week: 2:43, 2:41, 2:34, 2:34, 2:31, 2:27 (vs 2:40, 44, 41, 36 and 35 last week).
Then I went to the gym to do some legs weight lifting and realized that our school gym is the creepiest place ever (no wonder people call it The Prison) and all the equipment is so old and used that it is probably not very good for you to use it unless you want to have serious joint problems in the future. However, I did few exercises and went home (I was alone there first but then rugby guys started to come in and I had no reason to stay there. You know, you cannot compare them with cute volleyball players...).

I even got in a 50min bike workout in the evening while watching this stupid Slovak show online (it is becoming a soap opera and characters are so naive, I sometimes can't stand them, but I do not have TV, so better than nothing).

My legs feel good, although a bit tired.

Cannot help it

Real school started today...It sucks, but I know I cannot have holiday forever.

I went for 13.5k run this afternoon but I felt like crap. Because I have eaten 2 baguettes with salmon, cheese and radishes and 3 bananas with peanut butter before my run. I just cannot help it. Food it too good.
Right afterwards I biked for 30min in my room while watching Grounded for life. I cannot help that one neither. That show is sooo stupid and crazy, but I kinda enjoy it.

My legs are sore. I wish I had bath tub so I could "dive" in and relax and maybe get ice bath.

I am off for volleyball practice. I should not be too hard since we have another Coupe de France match this Thursday.