Bridge To Nowhere

It’s been a busy week! So busy that I haven’t had much time to write, think, or accomplish planned workouts.  I have worked out, just not exactly on a functional Army 10 Miler training schedule. Most of my running was done with the stroller – it’s that or no run a lot of the time!

Monday I came back from an overnight business trip and took my 1-year old for a 4-mile run in the stroller. It is getting dark really quickly in the evening!

Tuesday I did a mediocre gym workout on the exercise bike, as I detailed in my Day In the Life post.

Wednesday was a rest day.

Thursday I managed to get to a barre class at lunchtime. Great workout!

Friday I was working all day – morning/noon/night – since I had a full work day and then worked a concert in the evening. I did my regular noon Pilates class and then at 6pm I snuck out for what was going to be a quick run. My favorite Security guard laughed at me as I procrastinated by the door of the building, fussing with my Flip Belt, my Garmin, my shoelaces.

Finally, I was out the door and it was a gorgeous evening. A little more hot and humid than I expected, not having seen daylight since early that morning walking to my car.

There are so many great things about running in Washington, DC. Like seeing rowing teams practice on the river:

And the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial peeking through into my view:

And the cool statues that you barely notice if you’re driving in a car:

And seeing tons of people running, biking, and workout out outside. Like this guy doing pushups on the stairs:

And all the people playing volleyball, rec football, and softball in the shadows of the monuments:

So I was running and I had no plan. I had my Garmin to know how far I was going, and wanted to get in at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise. So I ran along the river, cut around by the Lincoln Memorial, and then my route was largely dictated by whether I had the walk signal. This meant that I ended up with a really random route.

I found myself on the Roosevelt Bridge. It wasn’t a really great sidewalk, and the cars were creepily close to me.

But I had a pretty nice view.

My problem was this: I thought I might be able to finish out my run by going across the bridge, somehow crossing to the other side, and running on the other side of the bridge and cutting over to my building. But the sidewalk led to nowhere.

I needed to be on THAT SIDEWALK OVER THERE:

Or at the very least ON THAT PATH DOWN THERE:

I knew that my side of the bridge didn’t easily get me to where I needed to go – and I was out of time. I had to be on Concert Duty at 7pm and all the earlier procrastinating meant that I had to dash back to my office quickly at this point. So I just turned around, ran back on the same side of the bridge, and then had to cut through some grass and down a hill.

But there was no path on this side of the street either, and rush hour traffic was flying down the Rock Creek Parkway – no way to cross to the nice path. I slipped under the bridge on this narrow path.

I eventually found my way back. It was only a 3-mile run, but with stoplights and figuring out how to get from here to there, it took longer than the 28:22 running minutes my Garmin clocked. That last mile was the fastest, though, dashing back to work!

Mile 1 = 9:27/mile

Mile 2 = 9:31/mile

Mile 3 = 9:21/mile

As I mentioned, it was hotter and humider (yes that’s a word now, I just made it up) that I had expected so now cleaning up for work also took longer than planned. I can’t work a formal concert like this!

Through some magical powers, I managed to transform myself into a non-smelly, non-sweaty Concert Duty Manager and all was well. Not such a great hair day, but I can’t have it all – I set the bar low and settled for not-stinky.

I got home after 11:30pm and had a very early morning workout to get to. More on that tomorrow!

Garmin 10 vs. Nike+ app

The past two days, I have been rocking the morning workouts – go me! It feels so great to get the workout done and out of the way, without the pressure to fit something in after kids go to bed when I’m really exhausted and just want to sit down and relax.

This week, Eat Pray Run, DC, blogged about 5 steps to turning a night owl into a morning runner. These suggestions really resonated with me – hellllo, #2! I’m the worst at just going.to.bed (as evidenced by this post being written at 11:40pm the night before a 14-hour workday).

Yesterday morning I felt so new. I wore my new shoes and gave my new Garmin 10 a whirl. I’ve been ogling running watches for a long time and fully intended to get something while training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in April. In fact, this was the exact watch I almost bought the week before the race.

I didn’t end up buying one back then since I decided to get something that could also handle cycling for the triathlon training, but after doing research on triathlon-style Garmin watches, I’ve decided that I really can’t splurge like that when I also need to buy a bike. So I went with the running-only watch since it does what I want it to do for running.

PLUS: IT HAD ME AT PURPLE.

I ran my Nike+ app on my phone to compare. The two devices were not in sync for the distance. I didn’t pause at any intersections or when I adjusted my watch once so the time and pace are a little inflated.

The shoes – wow they were really, well – ORANGE in the box, but on my feet they were more like a fun splash of color. I loved them overall, they feel so different from my old Asics. They are way lighter but still pretty cushiony and supportive in most areas. However, after mile 3 I developed some pretty bad toe/foot pain. It could be related to my Morton’s Neuroma – I’m not sure if it was the shoe.

This morning I was just snoozing my 6am alarm when F, my 17-month-old cutiehappyboy, decided it was a great time to wake up and scream loudly. He shares a room with his 3.5 year old brother, so i scooped him up, made him some breakfast, and took him in the jogging stroller for a little run. We only did 2.25 miles because I had to get to a meeting, but the foot was just starting to act up.

Nike+ and the Garmin were pretty in sync today. Someone please tell me to stop running my app and obsessively comparing the GPS accuracy of both devices. I cannot stop with stuff like this (obsessive much?).

Off to bed so I can get up early and workout, Eat Pray Run’s #2 is haunting me. Go…to…bed!

Race day attire: top half is ready!

It better be warm enough to wear my new shirt on Sunday! Our local Fleet Feet Sports had a Nike Women’s Half Marathon party last week and I decided I needed a new shirt for the race. I love black shirts for running (yes, even in the summer) since they go with any bottom, and frankly I look better in black. Better concealment of the postpartum belly. Now I just need to figure out the best bottoms – will it be cool and I’ll want my running capris on? Or shorts? Or my favorite running skirt, which I love but it’s getting a bit too big (yay).

Tomorrow the Nike “Expotique” opens in Georgetown and I’m going to pick up my race packet.  I’m going to try not to get too swept up into the craze and buy anything else. I have to remind myself of these things in order to keep my wallet shut:

1. It’s not my first half marathon (I think I’ve done 4 or 5? I’ll have to count someday!)

2. I’ve done two marathons and didn’t pony up money for race items – not even for the Marine Corps Marathon, and they had tons of merch!

3. I’m sure I’ll want a memento from the triathlon, and I have a feeling the sprint won’t be my last Tri.

4. If I bought stuff specific to every race I’d be broke.

The one thing I might buy tomorrow is the Nike+ GPS watch. I’m still torn between that and the Garmin 10 but I want one of them on my wrist for Sunday’s race. I do not want to be messing with my phone during the race, I’ve had bad luck with phone apps for my long runs recently.

Early Mother’s Day present to myself, perhaps?