Its a Beautiful Day!

Oddly, I woke up this morning at about 7am, after going to bed at 2am again. There was something inside me that said, you know you are flying to Oakland today, and unless you get your 3 mile run in today, you will have to do it tomorrow and your long run (this week is 7miles) will end up happening on Sun- which is another flight day. So get it done, Noelle!

Well I fought that thought for another 30 mins and didn't actually get out of bed till 7:30am- thinking, 'but I've only had 5.5hrs of sleep! shouldn't I rest?' While that was a fair argument, when I said "oddly, I woke up" I mean it. It was odd that I wasn't feeling so exhausted in the morning that I couldn't function. Instead it was like auto pilot to pull on my gear, including my sweatshirt and go out into the 35 degree morning and jog to the "gym". I got inside and took off my jacket and began to do the treadmill.

After I queued up my iPod to do a basic workout, the screen froze and I had to hop off the treadmill. Now this is starting to happen more frequently- which I don't think is a good sign. My iPod is a used 2nd generation Nano with 2GB of memory. I don't know if its age is why it keeps freezing up or what- but so far, as long as i can reboot- which I learned how to do online- I have been ok. It hasn't been too much of a distraction and hasn't taken too long to fix.

So I get on the treadmill and by the first 10 mins I was bored already. I thought about something my friend Tiffany had said about jogging outside in OR- how beautiful it is and how nice it is to warm up outside. She and Hirono did it together when they were training for the Portland Marathon. (Yes- apparently Hirono is famous for pulling her friends in to do marathons with her. Tiffany still says she was tricked into doing it and is working on forgiving Hirono. Cupcakes and dinners at Paley's have helped. *wink*)

I looked outside and even though it looked cold, the sun was shining and it seemed to be calling me out. So I took a towel and wrapped it around my neck, Rocky-style, put my sweatshirt back on and zipped it up with the hood on, and ventured outside.

It immediately struck me that outside was 35 degrees and not the 70 degree "gym", so I started to jog. Its amazing how motivating cold air is to actually MOVING your ass. So I jogged some and then I walked and then I jogged and then I walked. And I looked around. I took a path around Orenco station- near the hotel and behind New Seasons and looked at houses. The frost on the roofs and grass. The beautiful red colored vines that had been stripped of their foliage in the winter weather, but were still so vibrant and bare.

At one point, during the song, "Beautiful Day" by U2, I could hear the birds chirping so loudly through my headphones, that I just took off my headphones and listened to myself breathe and the birds sing. It was a beautiful morning. I passed by some people and we said 'Good morning' and finally made it back to the hotel 3.19 miles later.

I went into the hotel lobby and tried to enjoy their complimentary "continental breakfast". Which included Orange & cranberry juice, miso soup, a hard boiled egg, a slice of toast and some Siracha. Oh and a banana for the road. By this time it was 8am so I went back to the room to shower, check out and go to work.

Oh, I go walking... after midnight...

Yes, Its not just a great Patsy Cline song, it was me tonight.

I had a wonderful dinner at Paley's Place in NW Portland tonight with two former colleagues and great friends. Our reservations were at 6:30p and I didn't get back to the hotel (totally stuffed on amazing food- crab, oysters, Kobe beef, creme brule!) till after 10pm and then I had to try to digest before I could even walk!

I put on my running gear at about 11pm and jogged outside to the "gym" (remember- a treadmill, exercise bike and stair master). It was about 30 degrees outside, which is great motivation to jog to the gym. Once I got inside, I stretched a little and hopped on the treadmill. Then I called my husband to say goodnight and was fortunate enough to talk to him for about 15 mins of my 3.5 mile an hour walk (which has my pace at about 17:20min/ mile).

I tell ya- there is nothing quite so boring as spending more than an hour on a treadmill- especially when you are full. So I just kept it to walking tonight. I was glad when the first mile was absorbed in a phone call. Even more pleased when I turned the treadmill TV on to OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) and got to see half of the "HistoryMakers" with Eartha Kitt. Her last recorded interview. That was an enjoyable 35 mins (2 more miles).

Then it was midnight. Suddenly all the ads changed from Diapers and groceries to ads for "phone hook-ups", "love lines", "chat with hott girls" and other sorts of lonely TV that it made me wonder who else was up and what they were doing. Certainly not all on treadmills, I hope!

Regardless, it was less than 30 mins more to finish my 4.19 miles tonight. And so ends another late night of marathon training on the road. I can't wait to see how I will squeeze my 3 miles in tomorrow, between checking out of the hotel (goodbye little "gym"), going to work, and driving to the airport to fly to OAK on an 8:40p plane? Oh well, I am sure it will all be made clear when I need to know. I am definitely gaining some more faith in the fact that whatever is supposed to happen... will. As it regards to my training. As it regards to my life. God Bless us all!

Travel and 24 hr gyms

I am in Portland today. Its been raining on and off. I am here for business and woke up at 5am to get on the plane this morning. By all accounts I should be wiped out exhausted. But there is a part of me that is really committed to this training thing! After all, now that i know I will be going to Omaha for the majority of March (and missing the Pasadena half-marathon on 3/23, too!) I have to make sure I can include this training as part of my life- no matter what.

So even though I had a girl's night out, relaxing with friends at a spa, replete with a massage and sushi for dinner (which I INHALED I was so hungry! I guess the calorie consumption is catching up with me now that I am going longer distances, like my 10K on Sat!), I still felt the need to suit up and go to the "gym" at the hotel. I put that word in quotes since it is a room that has a treadmill, a StairMaster and an exercise bike- that's it. But it does the trick.

I updated my Facebook status to say I was on my way to do three miles and grabbed my iPod. Honestly, I know the biggest factor with my motivation is getting to see my little mini-me avatar dance around after I record the mileage- which won't happen unless I do the work. But for some reason, the screen saver isn't working! It keeps going to a blank page! I have to get this fixed because I have just figured out how to capture her in a pic and add her to my blog! Its like she's a little Pixie or a sprite who's photo should not be snapped or she will disappear. That's what seems to have happened.

I haven't have the avatar work properly since Valentine's day! I came back from the gym and tried to upload my 3.1 miles tonight (which btw- I was panting so hard on the three run songs I did I kept pulling my iPod off the front of the treadmill. Tomorrow I will use the armband!) So I am trying to uninstall and reinstall her tonight. I will figure it out. I don't think I will really want to do it or be quite so enthused without her.

Big Milestone for today- I completed a goal of 50 miles in 4 weeks- and did it within 3.25 weeks! Next goal- starting tomorrow is to do 75 miles in 4 weeks! Then I get another medal on the Nike+ site- which is almost as good as my avatar screen saver... but not quite.