Garmin Connect - yoga

Garmin Connect - RW yoga. I don't really like it - she talks too quickly. But you can't argue w/ burning 200 calories and feeling stretched.

Nick Bottoni Tournament

Garmin Connect - My first time at the tourney and it was swell, though I just could NOT stay out of the way sometimes. One girl ran into me and the ball bounced off me twice. It was crazy. Turns out there weren't enough teams for the boys tourney on Saturday so it was jut today. Bath girls won the title over Addison. And one of the semi-finals was Addison1 vs Addison2. All the games were really good. I was struck by the difference in play between the Corning United team vs the others, especially Bath. The CU team seemed to be playing dump-and-chase, sort of like hockey. The other teams were much more adept at looking for someone to receive a pass, and better touch passing as well. At one point they did a really nice pass back-and-forth to get around a defense, and there was some nice triangle play also. How do you teach that to young kids? It was really impressive, considering.

I was the only ref not wearing pants - didn't get the memo! I wore a new pair of NB sneakers I picked up just a couple hours earlier since all I had otherwise was my black outdoor turf shoes. I didn't do much moving so I could have gotten away with the outdoor ones, but I didn't know. At the end of the match we stayed to help clean up and the concession stand let the leftover hot dogs & pizza go for free.

Since this was a fundraiser, I was shocked that there is no website promoting it. Not even a Facebook page! Someone mentioned that there's a tournament listing site, but no one was sure whether or not this tournament was listed. I mentioned via email that I'd be happy to help with that. I also noticed they had fancy trophies - wonder how much they were & where they got them. At any rate, one meeting in the books for SCHSSA (Steuben County High School Soccer Association). They really need to change that name; nothing in it references who we are: referees & officials.

day 7.1 - Monday - 20min run, 1 min walk, 9 min run

Another hard day of running. I'm definitely connecting the dots to lack of sleep at this point as I was up until 1230am doing the closing for work. I did sleep in, but in general, I didn't get enough rest 2 nights in a row.

I ran at the Y on the track and my lower legs were painful / sore right away. I'm going to try to incorporate more of a warm-up routine so that hopefully it will stop happening. I'm running and refereeing tomorrow so I might have to take Wednesday off. Annie leaves on Saturday so fitting everything in could be a problem. Next week will be even worse as we're traveling to VA, but in any case, I think it's close to the point where I need to take off a week.

Day 6.1 - afternoon @ the Y

Rough beginning to the night with Brennan, so I slept in - slept through my watch alarm, actually. I'm glad I did as the rest of the day was light enough that I was able to fit a run into the afternoon. It ended up being a longer than usual lunch, but it was worth it. I wore my new Starter insulating tights which were great on the way out due to the headwind - wore my Army jacket, too. On the way back I didn't need the hat and gloves and my breathing definitely was easier. It definitely seems that I'm breathing 3 in and 3 out which used to be my race pace. My weight isn't great as I was down to 223 yesterday but back up to 225 this morning. I am continuing to eat better, though: leftovers for dinner (not fast food or frozen pizza), bagel w/ cottage cheese & yogurt for breakfast, Kashi bar for post-race recovery, and salad for lunch. I hadn't planned on the salad, but I had to go to Applebee's to see if they'd sponsor the league and since I was waiting, thought I'd look like a supporter, too.

The issue I'm finding is the Saucony Grid Hurricane 7's. They felt lumpy right at the edge of the heel before the arch - maybe it's because I've been wearing shoes instead of my orthotics? At any rate, it's the second week for them and I recall the first week wasn't so good so they may become my grass-cutting sneakers if things don't improve.

Day 5.5 Friday Afternoon

Not a great run - a lot on my mind and the baby kept me awake until 2am - hence, no morning run. Turns out when I went to the Y around lunch, I didn't have my tights and although it was windy, the clothes I had were too warm otherwise so I ended up running on the track. There weren't a lot of people there, but they kept getting in my way which really screwed up my rhythm. But I did the run and feel good about it. I didn't refuel very well - chicken wing and meat lovers pizza. Too much fat, but I was obviously not well prepared for the afternoon. Hopefully I can run on Saturday morning and get back to normal.

I used my NB 1224's again, this time without the RRS cush insoles and I had no problems. Started getting wicked tired around the 22 min mark but otherwise, not significant to report. I spent quite a few minutes stretching and even remembered my heel raises afterwards. My shoulder is feeling better since I started stretching / rotating it on occasion, too.

4.3 - Great Day

Wow - it's amazing how much better I feel & run when I get enough sleep. Little B only woke up once in the night at 2am and let us all get some much needed rest. I woke up before my alarm and was ready to go.

I was up to 224 lbs this morning, but considering I had to take all day off yesterday to be with Alli and her broken arm, not really surprising. It is still quite cold these days and I was glad to be in the gym. Today was 9 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking and I ran less than a 10 minute / mile pace. Not much less - we're talking 9:50 or so, but still better than my normal time. My shins didn't hurt and the only thing that bugged me was my right hip, but the track direction was clockwise instead of counter-clockwise so that's probably it. I cannot wait until spring when I can run outside. I need it to as my runs will start being longer so I need to start earlier in order to get back to the house to get the kids ready for school. The Boilermaker (15K) is just 4 months away :-)

3.3 - Afternoon run at the YMCA

Long couple of days this week with the database issue at work, so still a bit off schedule. Today I ran at 4pm instead of in the morning. It was nice enough that I could have run outside, but I chose to stick w/ the YMCA track. The place was a madhouse w/ kids, but I still got a good workout in - 5x 5 min run, 1 min walk. The last minute I sprinted, breathing in every two steps. It was quite the rush :-) I probably shouldn't have done that, but it felt good. I used the NB1224's again and they were great. Walk tomorrow and then run Friday & Saturday.

Down to 225!

Yesterday I didn't go to the gym for my 30 minute walk, but did several 10-min at work instead. Today, for the first time in probably a year, I weigh less than 225. Sure, by only .2 lbs, but I'll take it.

Little B had a rough night and I didn't get much sleep, but I did my programmed run today: 4min run, 1 walk, repeat 6 times. I was tired but motivated because my new sneakers finally arrived. I tried the Under Armour Renevant and was not impressed. It felt okay to put on, but not exceptional. And after 20 minutes or so, I realized that part of the lacing was actually chafing my toes. I thought about trying them again until I took them off and one of my heels was similarly irritated. Best to stick with New Balance, Brooks, and Saucony. I'm returning the UA if I can. Unless someone out there wants to try them - they're size 10.5 D.