I'm SO Fucking Happy!

Why? Because I RAN 1:15 today. Outside. All running. Nothing hurt while I was doing it and nothing hurts now.

Let me back up. Yesterday was a frenzy of activity. I started out by going to my local Farmer's Market (it will only go another 2 weeks, how sad) for flowers and tomatoes. They sell tuberose stems there, and I bought some last week, and those were almost toast, so I wanted new ones. There was a time when I would buy tuberose bulbs and start them indoors in spring and have 2 large pots on my patio during the summer, perfuming everything! They smell like Hawaii to me--in fact, tuberose blooms are used in some of the better leis made there.

Problem was, I didn't have any cash left, since I used my last $20 to tip the guys who trimmed the huge tree on the south side of my property. They only charged me $400 for what could easily have cost $600 or more from other tree services, so I gave them my last $20 in cash.

But I thought, hey, don't I have something filled with coins? YES!!! I never carry around change, so when I get some, I put it into a container, and I dumped it on the floor and it yielded about $16 in quarters, and then I took it up to $18 with some nickels and dimes. That should be plenty enough for tomatoes and flowers! It turned out to be more than adequate, and I ended up buying more tomatoes than I perhaps should have, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Illinois-grown hand-picked tomatoes, so I will just eat like 2 a day this week, no worries!

Next, I went to Home Depot for various miscellaneous things (you know how that goes), but mostly to get replacement light bulbs for the track lights (yes, my house is old). A nice salesperson helped show me which CFL's would work in them, and I have to say the light from them is awesome! I will eventually replace all the incandescent bulbs when they go with the CFL's. In 2008 when I did a lot of interior remodeling, I did as much replacement of incandescent bulbs as I could. I think the only ones I have left are some outdoor lamps on the house itself, and my 2 nice chandeliers.

I also ended up buying some mums. I bought two (my Mom absolutely loved them) and will plant them soon enough. I used to grow mums, but they can be fickle as perennials, so we'll just have to see how these go. I got a few other things and looked at some kitchen cabinets while I was there. I don't plan on redoing my kitchen until maybe 2 years from now, and then I will probably move!

Next I went to do my weekly grocery shopping. I finished all this and was on my bike (MTB) at 10AM. It was pretty chilly, but it felt great to be outdoors. I only rode for an hour, as that was all I needed to do, as I'm chillin' on my biking through CheaterMan. I had located a gel seat pad cover that I bought years ago but had never used and slapped it on Clipless Fuck and boy did it feel good to ride on that! It made me realize that typically I have a Desoto neoprene seat cover on the saddle of my Griffen, but I don't have one on LGL or Skull Kingdom. That may be one reason my ischial bursae got upset with me--less padding.

After biking, I suited up to go hike and maybe run at Greene Valley. I was just so happy to get to that big fucking hill! I hadn't been there since last fall, and remembered how fit I was back then and hoping I could get it back! The plan was to just hike up and down for 1:15, but after hiking up the first time (at a 14:40 pace, which is respectable for that thing), I decided to try running down gently, and it was a go! So I hiked up twice more and ran down twice more, and it was great! I did feel my left glute/hamstring being slightly upset at me, and of course my shins weren't exactly digging it, either. I was laughing at myself at going from total flatness the last 4 weeks to this!

After my hill adventure, I went to 2 stores to try out mattresses and was snuffed, but did get a large standing fan that will help keep me cool once I get my treadmill. I got it at Sears, and the guy who helped me was awesome, because they had put all the fans away since it has become cold!

Finally, I made my biannual pilgrimage to my local Oriental Mart to stock up on canned and dry goods for cooking Chinese, which I love to do during the winter so I can freeze up a bunch of toppers for rice. Speaking of rice, I finally got a rice cooker! It is a cheap model, but should be just fine for my needs, assuming it works properly--haven't tried it yet. So I bought some actual bagged rice--jasmine and brown--and will give it a go next weekend.

I was pretty tired after all that, but did my additional stretching and icing of my left ischial bursa, had some steak and salad for dinner plus a spring roll, and called it a night.

When I awoke this morning, I felt strangely different. I didn't notice anything niggling in my left hip/glute/hamstring area! I did my morning stretching, set up my new printer/fax/scanner/copier (my old one was fine except scanner wasn't good enough quality to submit expense reports for work), then packed to run at Greene Valley, but also indoors at the Y if I needed to resort to treadmill, elliptical or water running, and I was going to swim a little anyway.

The plan was to run for 1:15, but I'd be happy if I could full out run for just :45 with no pain. I took 12 oz. of defizzed Coke left over from NothingMan IV and drove to the base of the big hill at Greene Valley. I started running, and while my run fitness is low right now, I could run, and I kept telling myself to just relax, because when I am having a muscular issue or actual injury, I think about it so much that it makes me alter my gait. So I just tried to relax, and as I was in a place that I really like, I started getting into it. Now, I did need to stop every 5 minutes or so because it was hard for me to slow down enough to run continuously, but I was running. And I was digging on the scenery--the wildflowers still blooming, the trees turning colors and the blue sky and everything! I love running there because it's crushed limestone over dirt, so it's nice and soft.

I noticed the fronts of my ankles were a bit sore from yesterday's hill adventure, and I laughed at myself what a dumbass for going from nothing to all that, but I was fine! I just kept plugging along at a relaxed pace (I haven't figured out yet what pace I was running), and got :17 out and was fine, then :30, then I figured I could do the whole 1:15 plan running, and I did! And nothing hurt at all! I was so ecstatic when I finished, if anyone could have seen me I almost cried! I realize that I do love running, if nothing more than for these little adventures to here and there that are nice places to run. I wish I had time to drive to this place all the time because it is so nice to run there, but I guess having different places to run at different times of the year is nice, too. I didn't care that wind was blasting my face--the sun was out and I was fine!

I stretched almost :10 at my car before heading to the Y to swim. When I got there, the water was nice and cool, and I swam just 1200 yards, but it felt great! On my way home, I stopped at a friend's house who lives right near the T intersection close to my house so I could borrow his garage broom to sweep up the glass at the intersection that's been bugging me for the last week or so. It won't hurt my car tires, but I don't like riding over it on a bike. Al came with me and we chatted--I swept and he manned the dustpan--and we got it all and then kept chatting for about an hour about this and that.

Finally I headed home and ate some lunch and then went back out for another odyssey. I call it an odyssey when I have to run a bunch of errands all at once, which is the only way I like to do it because otherwise it is a waste of gas and time. First, I went to Dick's to try out the treadmill that I think I want. They had it, and I decided I wanted it, but I would only buy it there if they beat the price of the OEM online with delivery and setup. Turns out they would, but then they didn't have any in stock. So I asked them to call another store, and it turns out their inventory software is crappy and they can't actually tell unless they go and physically look. The second store they called has it and will send it to MY store, but I will need to follow up to make sure the transfer happens. In this day and age, it entertains me that a big chain store can't get its shit together and use REAL software (like stuff my company sells he he) that will update all this crap real time. Anyway, it should be at MY store in 2 weeks and then I will have it delivered the following week. YAY!!!

Next I headed to one store to try mattresses only to find they didn't have any (only online), then I went on to find the next one but couldn't find the store (no big deal, and hey I'm getting an iPhone soon so I guess that won't happen anymore, right), but I did decide to stop at the craft store and found some cool skull stuff, then I saw the sign for the store that had gone missing and went in and tried out some mattresses, although there was only one that I liked. But I didn't buy a mattress just yet, since I'm not done finding that perfect one at the perfect price.

I was in the vicinity of Radio Shack, and I had a gift card with unused money on it, so I went in to acquire accessories for my soon-to-be iPhone. I got a pink shell case and car charger. Yeah!

When I got home (around 4:30), I realized that I had a serious PANCAKE FAIL this weekend. I have a Swedish pancake mix, and I really wanted to have some of those after a run, but I had too many other things to do and I get impatient when I'm starving after running, so we'll just have to try that out next weekend when I don't have to run around so much! Well, I WILL run around, but it will be just to RUN!

I am SO FUCKING HAPPY!!! I was able to run, and it will all come back. Turns out, my hamstrings (both sides, but left way worse than right) were so tight, and I think that is what caused my bursitis. So how is this being fixed? By doing a DIFFERENT HAMSTRING STRETCH. None of the typical standing ones were doing the trick, apparently. Nor were any of these. The one that IS working now is this one. I suppose it's partly because it totally isolates the one side, and if you don't do that, your other side "helps" it. Anyway, I'm stretching it for 3-5' 3x a day, and in just 3 days, well, I'm able to run 1:15. How great is that?

I am going to remain optimistic that I have licked this thing but ramp up my running conservatively. Once again I am reminded that I need to switch up my stretching protocol a little on a yearly basis, but in the process I learned that I have been taking great care of myself, so all to the good!

I am now exhausted from all the "running around" I did this weekend. I'm looking forward to next Saturday, where I will bike and run and then sit around and watch Ironman Hawaii! It's like a high holy day to me, and I hope the coverage is good!

Train HARD and HEALTHY!