Debby: making my life craptastic

I'm getting a little sick of this pesky girl named Debby. 

She blew in on Sunday and has been wreaking havoc ever since.

Talk about havoc.

 It's rained and rained and rained. 

Chloe surveying the damage

The drive home today across Tampa Bay was intense. I got my arm workout keeping my car from blowing off the bridge. 

Officials later closed the bridge due to high winds and water coming over the edge. Smart decision, folks. I'm just glad you waited until I made it across ... or am I?

Maybe some of the worst news with this storm? Instead of just a craptastic gym day, it's a craptastic gym week.

Hot up in this joint

This getting more sleep thing is really pretty awesome.

My Monday rocked. Tuesday was pretty sweet, too. We’re now at the midpoint of the week, and I’m feelin’ fine! This is groundbreaking to someone who is continually sleep-deprived.

Even though today included rain, I didn’t let it get me down – even if it meant a trip to the craptastic gym. This sleeping-enough thing is powerful, powerful stuff, people!

It was just me in the craptastic gym this time (as it should be – surely I'm the only one stupid enough to keep using it), so I picked the non-stopping treadmill, acted like the fan hog and pointed the fan directly at me, and ran for 25 minutes. I was planning on running longer, but ... 

After my run, I became even more of a fan hog. 

I was trying to do speed work and longer distance runs during my “off-season,” but I’ve decided that’s what training season is all about. Now, I just want to maintain my fitness level and have the base to begin half marathon training in August.

I’m not fast by any means, but this is faster than when I began training last year. Yikes. Talk about super slow-mo.

So, if I can maintain this “speed” and up the mileage by August 14, I’ll be a happy turtle.

Day 27 (Oct. 9)

After last week's Best. Run. Ever., I was excited to tackle 8 miles this week for our long run.

Problem: I didn't go to the group run, which is always so much better than running by myself. I think it could have been rained out; I'm not sure. I woke up and received a weather report from a reliable source (my boyfriend) that it was raining in Tampa. I live in Clearwater, which is about a 12-minute drive to Tampa. I debated, but I finally decided it wasn't worth the drive with such a high possibility of the run being rained out anyway.

But, since I was already awake, and it wasn't raining in Clearwater, I decided to run my 8 miles here. In my neighborhood, we have a 2.8-mile sidewalk loop, which is nice in some ways and daunting in others. I like not being far from home at any point in my run. But, I don't like the idea of needing to run around the same route almost three times to get in my mileage.

My legs still felt fatigued, but I was determined to get my long run in to stay on track with my training schedule.

It was overcast, but not nearly as cool as last week. Boo! And, the run wasn't nearly as smooth as last week. I didn't feel great from the start, but I stuck it out ... for awhile. At almost 3 miles, it started sprinkling. I decided to head back just in case the rain got harder (advantage: loop). Smart decision on my part. By the time I got home, it was pouring.

So, I started thinking about my options. I could: (a). wait for the rain to stop to finish my run, (b). hit the treadmill in the craptastic gym, or (c). give up and call it a day. I opted for (b). Surprised, right? I know that I go on and on about the craptasticness of this gym, but it seemed like the best option. I thought that if the fan was fixed, and I could find an old "Beverly Hills 90210" episode on TV, it might even be fun.

I got all psyched to run while watching the drama unfold between Kelly and Brenda or Donna and David or Brandon and Steve. And there is always the wonderful possibility of catching one of three episodes Dean Cain appeared as Rick. Problem: both of the treadmills were in use. Argh! There's never anyone in the gym (for good reason), but I guess the rain brought everyone there.

So, I'm now down to option (a) or (c). I went for option (c). I feel like I gave the run a valiant effort. But, at this point, I was frustrated. Considering it's still raining three hours later as I'm typing this, (a) wasn't going to work either.

Instead of an 8-mile run, I did a 3-mile run. Not exactly the same. Now, I'm not sure what I do ... do I try to run 8 miles on Monday? I don't even know if I have the time to fit it in on a weekday. Do I want to run 8 miles Monday, and then do a speed workout on Tuesday? Is that too much? Do I need a rest day after a long run? Is it OK to miss that long of a run? Ahh! Pesky rain brought on all kinds of questions.

Day 20 (Sept. 22)

A thunderstorm rolled into the area about 4:30 p.m. I thought it was the typical Florida afternoon storm, and I thought the rain would clear long before our training group's 6:30 p.m. run. I thought wrong.


When I left work about 5:50 p.m., it was still raining. After walking to my car and trying my best to avoid the rivers and lakes that formed in what used to be streets and parking lots, I started toward our group meeting place. I figured the rain could clear. If not, our coach has indoor lesson plans. This is when things started going downhill.


Traffic was a nightmare (as it usually is when it rains). I finally got to my exit, and traffic was backed up on the exit ramp almost to the interstate. I figured there must be a wreck at the bottom of the ramp. I figured wrong.


While waiting on the ramp, I noticed a raging river. Problem: no river is usually there. I noticed this raging river flowing along the ramp and wondered where it was going. I found my answer at the bottom of the ramp: the road I needed to take to get to our training group.


After watching other cars drive into the deep water, I thought I'd give it a shot. I didn't really have any other options ... unless I wanted to wait for the water to go down. I'm not patient, so this wasn't going to work for me. Thank goodness I have an SUV, so I made it through. Problem #2: the next intersection was the same ... maybe worse. At this point, I made the decision to just go home. But, I still had to get through the water. After turning left through more deep water (off of the flooded road), I thought my troubles were over. I was wrong yet again.


The road I was now on was clear for a bit ... then I hit more water. This was definitely the deepest water I encountered. Cars were stalled. Some were just waiting it out. Eek. Since I knew I wasn't waiting, I had to make the decision to go through this deep water or turn around and go through the other two sections of water that I went through to get here. As mentioned, since I'm not patient, I really didn't feel like going back into the traffic mess I just managed to free myself from. I waited and watched other cars try to make it through. Most cars failed. But, trucks, SUVs and vans seem to be able to make it. Having a smaller SUV, I was still nervous, but I gave it a shot. It's a strange feeling driving through deep water and a bit unnerving to look around you and just see water. But, thankfully, I made it. And, thankfully, the rest of my trip did not involve flooded roadways.


When I finally made it home, I decided to run (must have been the adrenaline from the flooded roads adventure). But, since it was still sprinkling and lightning some, I decided to hit the treadmill.


I haven't used a treadmill in my training, and now I remember why.


I did find an Ashton-free "Two and a Half Men" on TV in the condo gym (I use this term very loosely), so that rocked. (Side note: I love Charlie Sheen and all his craziness. I watched the first episode of "Two and a Half Men" starring Ashton Kutcher, and I thought it sucked. Ashton seemed so dull and unfunny. Maybe I'm biased, though.)


Other than the superb viewing option, I liked nothing else about this experience.


I needed to do a 10-minute warm up, 15 minutes hard and a 20-minute recovery/cool down/normal pace run. The 10-minute warm up felt like it lasted hours. Even with Charlie, it was still boring. Ugh. I started in on my 15-minute hard interval, and it went really smoothly.


Until this:



The pesky safety key. I understand its use and realize this could be a good thing. Could. Not in my case.


Despite the air conditioned room and a fan, I sweat. A lot. I think I sweat more inside than I do outside. One of the many times I was wiping sweat off of my forehead, I hit the string to the dreaded safety key. And, I went from running at my fast pace to a dead stop. Argh! I was just getting in a groove, too. I started running again, but I lost all my data on the treadmill, and I had to estimate how much time I had remaining in my interval.


The rest of the run went smoothly. Until I hit the blasted safety key again. Argh. But, I got the run in. Despite being extremely boring (and that dang safety key), it went well.


I felt the sweatiest I've ever been when I finished, so I took a picture to document it. Hmm. Massive amounts of sweat don't really come across in photos. I think I look pleasantly dewy here. Not drenched in sweat like I was.

Also, you can see the crappiness of the gym in this photo. That is all of the equipment (aside from one treadmill that was beside me). And, this gym feels like a kitchen with the linoleum and cabinets, but at least I have it. I guess I shouldn't complain. I tried to get the TV with Charlie in the picture, but I missed it. Darn.

Day 19 (Sept. 20)

Oh, the dreaded three-minute speed intervals!

We started out with a 10-minute warm up. Easy enough. That, I can handle. Then, the workout really begins. We had to do four, three-minute hard intervals with three-minute recovery jogs in between each.

I managed to do all four of the hard intervals (struggling mightily during that dreaded fourth one). After the fourth interval, I walked the three minutes instead of jogging. I needed more recovery than a jog allows. But, after walking those three minutes, I ran the remaining time for a total of 45 minutes.

Typical of most every Florida afternoon, there were thunderstorms in the area. It wasn't raining where we train, but there were dark clouds and rain in the distance ... and lightning! Lightning is a great fear of mine. Yikes! I scream like a girl and run if it gets too close. I was on the verge of screaming and sprinting inside, but after two strikes (that honestly probably weren't that close), it stopped. Whew. I'm glad I didn't have to blow people away with my speed. I'm at my fastest when lightning is near.

Day 8

After our group run rainout on Tuesday, I thought I'd get some running in later Tuesday when I got home (Florida rain is so spotty that I thought even if it was pouring at our group run location maybe it wasn't at home ... wrong). Then, I thought, "Oh! I'll just wake up early and run on Wednesday morning." Um, yeah. Didn't happen. Mornings are not my thing. Evening was out since I play beach volleyball on Wednesday night. So, I came to our group run on Thursday not having run since Sunday. And, it was OK.

We upped our usual 40-minute run to 45 minutes. I didn't run the entire time. I hit my what-is-becoming-typical 2.5-mile wall. Then, I did some walking-running intervals. I ended up walking a total of seven minutes, which I'm OK with ... I guess.  I'd really like to run the entire time during these early training runs. I'm just worried that it'll never come together for me. 

I need to get in a 30-minute progressive run today (each 10 minutes is progressively faster). Since I woke up late (as mentioned, mornings aren't my thing), I think I'll do it this evening when the big, scary sun sets. 

Our Sunday morning group run is set at 4 miles again ... maybe I can run the entire distance. And, maybe not.

Day 7

Tuesday’s run: rained out. But, never fear, our coach had rainy day lesson plans (yes, he used to be a PE teacher). He went into details about our training schedules, nutrition and rest days (since we had one yesterday).

I also learned that I’m an idiot. OK, I knew I was, but I just got further proof of this fact. I thought all of the energy gels were generically called “goos.” Wrong. They are called “energy gels” or just “gels.” There is a brand, GU, pronounced “goo” (which I thought was pronounced “gee-you”). So, excuse me for being an idiot. And, just ignore most of this post (but, even if I’m an idiot, I still think “Goo review” makes a better title than “Gel review”).

Besides me being an idiot, I learned that rest days are good (and help prevent injury), we’re adding speed work to our training in September, and we’ll need to start fuelling ourselves (with energy gels, sport beans or something else I don’t know of yet) during our longer runs.