The Racing Bug

The other day at the gym I hopped on the treadmill to try my hand at running once again. I had limited time before my spin class and I hadn’t tried running for a few weeks. I’m happy to report that I was finally able to break that 1 mile threshold and run 1.15 miles. Not much, I know. But I’m starting over from scratch. I’ve been starting slow–running 1 mile with lots of walk breaks to get my legs used to running again. I was happy that I was able to run over a mile without ANY walk breaks, no pain and I wasn’t sore the next day! This is promising!

After the run I went to Spin class and had a good time–and thankfully, it was the regular teacher that I enjoy! The class was a lot of seated climbs mixed in with a few standing climbs.

Gym Stats:
Time: 1:33
Calories Burned: 692

When I got home, Michael was making us dinner. I had a huge salad of green leaf lettuce with olive oil and a balsamic vinegar that was infused with pomegranate. It was tasty!

Our dinner was “throw everything together” kind of meal but it worked. He cooked some big pasta noodles and seasoned them with a little olive oil, pepper and herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary), sprinkled a little shredded white cheddar on top and then added cooked scallops and shrimp.

The dinner was good. The low calorie count in the scallops and shrimp balanced out the high calorie count in the pasta. It’s funny–trying to eat “cheap” AND healthy is often difficult because pasta is so cheap yet not the most ideal meal.

I was so happy that the run was a success. I have several running goals for 2012. First, I want to run another 5k. My first race was a 5k and I did horribly. I really want a re-do! Not only that, I would like to be back to consistently running 5 miles at a time so that I can run on vacations and run at lunchtime. Not having the running fitness built up to be able to do those two things right now makes me sad. I miss it. I miss running. I miss having the OPTION to run when other workouts aren’t available to me.

The 5k I’m thinking about doing is the 4th of July race on Sauvie’s Island. It’s a flat trail, scenic, with strawberry shortcake at the finish line! Sign me up!

As for biking, my goal is to continue spin class through the rest of the winter and as soon as spring comes I’m going to return to commuting to work by bike at least once a week. I want to do a short riding event–around 40 miles–in the spring and then start training for my first full century. The one I’ve picked is the Covered Bridge Century! How scenic would it be to ride a bike through this:

I’m definitely getting the racing bug again. I miss the feeling, the camaraderie, I miss the excitement. Editing my book and reading the parts I wrote about my running adventures really made me miss it. It’s time!

Finally, If you are interested in reading this series, check out “Diary of a Diabetic Chef: Chef begins his journey with diabetes” about a chef here in Portland. His first post was an interesting read (and reminded me a lot of my story). I am really looking forward to reading his progress as he tries to lose 60 pounds to cure his diabetes.

QUESTION: Are you already planning your races for the summer? Which ones are you doing?