Day off!

We are in that time period when the last official day off I had was New year's Day and the next one isn't until the end of May. It's too long!  anything becomes an excuse to take a day off.  We are getting a new mattress and delivery is a three hour window? Perfect!  The bedroom is all scrubbed down and ready. It was so nice out that i worked in the yard, went out shopping a bit and even had a nap in the sunshine. This bright eyed one joined me. 

Spring has sprung

The new red witch hazel in the front yard is blooming. And we had some pretty cold sustained temperatures for around here and to singed tips. 

The Legs

A 3 mile run on legs which are not used to running. My calves feel all worked but my knee felt pretty good. I'm having to relearn some running self care. 

Grab n Go

Yes, this is what i grabbed quickly for lunch at work. What is that hideousness? A spicy lentil and brown rice lunch. The spicy lentil stew was leftover from a bigger batch and I froze single serve portions. The brown rice was also leftover from something else and I'd scooped the extra cooked rice into a container and thrown it into the freezer.  Reheat and instant easy and cheap lunch.

Sucess!

1 - Maple Leaf Reservoir Park

Picture 2 - Ship Canal Bridge

Picture 1: 2.5 Mile run and i was ever so happy to be running a typical loop. If I were running normally, i'd be sick of this loop but now I'm thrilled to get out there even if it was raining and cold. 

Picture 2: Mom taking a photo with my iphone. Which button do I push? The camera icon on the screen. 

Picture 3 - Space Needle view

Picture 3: Great table at Ivar's Salmon House for Mom's 81st B-day.  It's about the only restaurant where i don't want to eat anything as, of course, the vegetarian dish has mushrooms and i'm not paying for chicken nor is there a hamburger but the halibut fish and chips were tasty and mom was happy.  

Success! 

Bike Lane

Roosevelt looking north from NE 80th St.

I got out on my bike this morning before
the rain/chunky rain started. It was 35 degrees so i bundled. There was no wind and I was riding just an easy, short ride so this was fine. It was my first time really climbing a hill with my knee and that was no problem. I was keeping it easy though. But it was also my first time trying out the new dedicated bike lane on Roosevelt going north from 75th. VERY
nice!  Normally i'd ride up another street which has no bike lane but is wider. I typically think traffic is less on that road but it does go faster. Easy cruising up Roosevelt although as tends to be typical for shifting road striping, there is a death valley just in the middle of the lane.  Death Valley is the gap between panels of pavement and can grab your wheel if you are not careful.  It is also too bad that the bike lane section south of this area is currently blocked by a long term construction project (ie Light Rail station in Roosevelt district) and the transition from 11th Ave to 75th to Roosevelt isn't easy. (Day 189)

Lurking

You just never know when something Ogre related will show up! I have this insanely bright orange yarn that I was going to use for some kids' orange hats but decided it was just such a hideous orange that it should be something even better like orange ogre arm warmers!  woohoo! i'm making up the pattern (and the sizing) and misjudged how long it would stretch.  Sooo...i'll frog it a bit (ie unravel) and make it longer.  And of course, then i'll need to knit a matching one. 

A little bit of spring

At least this forced non-running time was coming at the worst time for nasty weather. We've had so much rain and wind and some snow/ice although nothing compared to the rest of the country. Spring is showing though. It is just light now in the morning and when home from work.  The crocuses are up in the yard and the Russian kale has made it through the frost. 

The test run

Basically it was nice to be out in the early stillness of the morning. the Olympics have a lot of snow on them.  And the mile run felt like i expected it to after 6 weeks off.  It was hard and the knee hurt some. It still amazes me that I stuck with running. It really is a hard thing at first. 

The Widget

Biking has actually been fun in my 6 weeks of running down time. It really helps that we have a roller trainer that is on a sled which better mimics outside riding.  No kidding. There is a huge difference.  I do use my old, old Garmin 305 with a cadence sensor to monitor time spent on the trainer. The cadence sensor is really valuable but i also like the illusion of speed.  Meaning, I like to see that if I'm riding harder, my speed goes up on my watch just like when you ride outside. 

I noticed that the little magnetic widget which goes on the wheel had slipped out of place last week.  The readings on the watch were wonky.  I moved the widget back.  Still no luck so i replaced the battery.  It seemed to work.  Then the ride yesterday morning I had very strange readings again and realized i had 2 of these widgets on teh back wheel.  Oops. I tried taking one off. That didn't work.  Added it back in adn still strange readings.  Ok, i will try re-synching the garmin with the cadence sensor to get it to read correctly.  It really does show the cadence correctly but it is discouraging to have the readings be 2.5 miles per hour when I am working hard on a tempo ride! 

The couch is tempting

I'm going to try running this week. A particular movement which the doc had pegged as a good indicator of healing elicits no pain. It's been hard to maintain the biking focus. I'm ready to run.  

The forest view

No trail running yet. The view out the backyard will have to do. And the weather was so awful this weekend, that a nice long training ride to a movie (the entire movie) was just fine. 

Last Race!

K working hard for another PR in the 2 mile series. The weather cooperated and it was great race conditions. It was such great conditions that I rode my bike over to the park and had my first outside workout in what seems like forever. Ok, it's only been a week but it has felt like longer.  I'd not been planning on doing this series again next year (end of 2014) but with the knee disruption, I will have to and i can't wait!

The new gym!

I don't actually belong to a gym. Between dumbbells at home, running, my bike on a trainer and the barre class, i don't really need to either.  However, my work building is in the process of opening a gym on site which will be free to tenants. FREE! I went to the open house to sign the waiver and check it out. I would probably not use any of the equipment except the treadmills when it is snowy or icy at my hour but the shower access is really nice. During the winter, i would love to run more during the day at my lunch time. 

Bruised

Uh oops. I fell off the roller trainer this morning. It was bound to happen. I landed on the wine rack and actually that was good!  And I've realized I've changed. I'm aiming for 5 days of bike riding this week with a couple strength training sessions.  I remember when I was just a bike commuter and just starting to run. I aimed for bike commuting three times a week once or twice and achieved it and was SO tired.  Five days on the bike plus the strength work (and one of those bike workouts was a quality workout) and I feel like I am barely working out.  It's amazing

Satisfied

This is what York looks like lately after a good romp. I had a lovely workout on the bike this morning. It's taken a few weeks to build up biking to where I can do a workout and it felt great. Yes, I'm counting down until I will test running again but meanwhile I had a happy, relaxed feeling all day at work. That's better!

Light Rain

HA! And yet I am really pining for running. Another week and a half until i will give the knee the run test. 

Polite Snow

It snowed on a weekend when we didn't need to go anywhere and by the time we were leaving for work the next day it was almost all gone. I still felt the need to drag out my boots to walk down the hill. The thought of falling on my knee while walking on the slick slushy stuff is too much to think about! 

Snow!

The Raspberries a beastie track. 

Really the perfect antidote for a runner who is currently a non-runner is to fling a few inches of snow at her. There is no way I could get in a running workout so I happily went to the trainer. Even better, the snow was pretty much all gone by the time we needed to commute to work.  

Skyr after the milk has set. Strain and eat!

Reality hits

Scalding the milk for Skyr

Orchestra Pit

And I was grumpy about a couple more weeks of no running.  I just couldn't bear to go to the pool for some pool running/swimming so grumpily put my bike on the trainer for 30 minutes. What helped get rid of the grumpies? Well the workout did help. I also made skyr and we went to the ballet.  It was a full orchestra for Tchaikovsky' Sleeping Beauty. It was a also a full crowd and when we'd gotten out of the show, we had a couple inches of snow on the ground. Yay! 

The verdict

Broke kneecap. And I'm very lucky I didn't do any other damage.  

All of the cold

But none of the snow.  Brr! The Olympic mountains made me feel colder every time i saw them.  I chose to run my short little run after work when it was warmer at 30 degrees.

Seattle Party!

Seattle Public Library crowd reflections.

On Madison looking across 4th.

The Seahawks Parade was downtown today just a block from my work. I finally got a call from the MRI place that the MRI had been approved and there was an appointment open. Sure! I can navigate through the estimated 3/4 of a million people to walk the half mile to the appointment. I stopped by the library to pick up a book and marvel at the crowds well before the parade was supposed to begin. 

The appointment was quick and easy and interesting. I've never had an MRI before. I will call tomorrow to schedule the follow up appointment with the doc. My unlearned diagnosis which the MRI tech confirmed: i bashed my kneecap good!  

The parade!

Walking back to work, I got stuck by that crowd. The parade was quite delayed and hadn't come through yet. It was just too much to wade through so I was stuck for over an hour and happily stopped to enjoy the scene.  And it was just too cold to stand out side so i went into the library and had a great view and was comfortably warm.  

AS much as the people in the library wanted to cheer and holler for the team, the idea of being in the library was too much. We were all to well trained to be quiet within the library so it was a quiet but very cheerful group.  The librarians were quite supportive too.  

what an experience!  

Sucess!

I've not been neglecting strength work. The 10 pound weights are too light! Time to up them. 

Rest Day

And well earned. The whole city was in a party mood with the Seahawks win at the Super Bowl. Last week i approached 6 hours of training time. When running my usual 35 miles per week, I typically have 7 hours of training adding in strength work. If I run trails or run more, I can have more.  To do almost 6 hours with cross training when I'm only just re-aquainted with my bike and trying out pool swimming is pretty solid and made me feel more normal.  Resting is much easier with a black cat who appreciates a good lap.  

Yay Seattle!

I'll admit that I was off at Green Lake running at the start of the Super Bowl game and then spend the rest of the time cooking and baking. I had the lake to myself for another test run. I ran 2.6 miles and felt like I hadn't run in years. It's been three weeks. How does that happen so quickly!? It is time to find out if i can run or cannot. My knee started to bother after a mile so i walked a bit and headed back to the car and resumed running after a bit. It didn't hurt any more so I guess that is progress. 

The Thrill of the PR

K raced his first track race today in the 2-mile series. It seems like just another race until you are checking in with that clerk and facing 8 laps of a track. Then the nerves can hit. For me, a track race feels more mentally challenging because there are just no excuses.  You have to run your race, run smart and take a chance.  K did that and was rewarded with a huge PR (20 seconds) and a new mile PR. Amazing! It was really fun watching the heat and cheering for everyone who was giving it their all. I knew K was running well and that made me a bit emotionally teary. It was a thrill!