I've been published

Well sort of. It depends on the definition of published I suppose. I didn't get paid for it but still someone put my work on their site, right? LOL 

The Moon Joggers team asked for guest bloggers for their website and I decided to write one for them. You can read it here. My name is spelled wrong in the article. I have no idea how that happened. I'm pretty sure I spelled my name correctly when I submitted the article. I've asked them to correct and I'm sure once they get my message they will. There are so many Moon Joggers though that it may take a while to get through all their emails. :)

In case you have trouble with the link here is the article (with my name spelled correctly)

Connections

 

My uncle and godfather worked for a NASA subcontractor back in the day. His work included work on the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) that took the astronauts from their capsule to the moon. If you saw the movie “Apollo 13” with Tom Hanks you will recall that the astronauts were running out of oxygen due to an overloaded CO2 thing-a-mabob (not to be confused with “Thing-a-majig”, please) and a fix had to be improvised. There is a scene where Ed Harris dumps a load of ‘stuff’ on the table and tells the engineers something like, “This is what they have in the spaceship, make it work”. My uncle was one of the engineers in the room; in real life, not the movie J I’ve always been proud of my ‘connection’ to the moon and space has always fascinated me. I could never be an astronaut though because I am claustrophobic and heights don’t thrill me either. Joining Moon Joggers lets me travel to the moon and make connections with the many folks who are on this mission with me.

Moon Joggers also lets me engage my other fascination – people. I’m not what most folks would consider an extrovert – although as I get older my shyness has faded by degrees – but I love people. Running has introduced me to many people and adventures that I’m sure I wouldn’t have had otherwise. While running – or talking about running – the walls come down and suddenly I’m telling relative strangers things that my close friends and family may not know yet – or had to wait a long time to find out. And just like that ‘strangers’ become friends. Our common bond – walking and running – creates a connection like no other.

If you are new to running and walking – take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to connect with others who share your new hobby addiction. It might be the Moon that brought us together but it’s the people that will keep us here.

I’m relatively new to running (2008) and the only thing I’m an expert on is me. And that’s my advice to everyone in this group– new or experienced. Become an expert on yourself. Learn what works for you. Listen to others, ask for help, and maybe even try things that other suggest. But don’t expect everyone else’s solutions to make sense for you. If someone else’s plan, pace, nutrition trick, favorite gear, etc. doesn’t work for you it’s because the solution for you is something else. Keep trying and you’ll find it.

Connect with others but in the end compare yourself only to you. Compete only with yourself.

My name is Paula Tansey. I live in Media, Pennsylvania with my husband Dave. I’m a happy dork whose goal in life is to finish and have fun and to try to make a difference while I’m at it. If you’d like to follow my progress in running and life visit my blog at http://keepsmilingkeepmoving.blogspot.com/

2013 Pay It Forward

The first five people to comment on this post will receive from me, sometime in the next calendar year, a surprise gift! There will likely be no warning and it will happen whenever the mood strikes me. The catch? Those five people must make the same offer in their blog or other social media outlet. If you are one of the five, please send me a private email to walkerpmt@verizon.net with your address so surprises are easier to coordinate!

If you are also my Facebook friend, please only play this game here or there not both. This gives me a chance to connect with more people. 

Training Week #4; Dec 31 - Jan 6

In case you are wondering (and even if you are not) I write my summaries soon after comleting each workout. I don't look at my garmin details until I load them on Sundays. I'm finding it interesting to see if the details match how I felt.

Monday - 36 minute ladder workout with YAYOG. It consisted of push ups, one legged dead lifts, swimmers, and squats with a twist to each side before coming back up.

Tuesday - Happy New Year. I ran 5 miles today. I wanted to make sure I took it easy today. This is supposed to be a recovery day and my previous Tuesdays - although I felt ok- I think were faster than they should have been. I spent most of the run with a friend I haven't seen since November. Due to injury she needed to walk more than we usually do but that was fine by me. We got to catch up and kept my pace down. Caroline wanted to do 4 today and I wanted to do 5 so I left her near the end (others had taken up with her by then) so I could get my five done. That last mile and a half felt really good. I was relaxed and comfortable. I pushed the pace in the last mile- as evidenced by my breathing - but the rest of me was fine with it. Garmin Stats

Wednesday - Yoga class today. I'll be doing this at least for the next four weeks. By then the sunset may have shifted enough to do more bike riding on Wednesday nights.

This was my third ever yoga class. In the first one I was totally lost. It was not really a beginner class and I didn't know what the instructor was talking about most of the time. The second time I tried too hard and was very sore the next day. I actually hurt. So tonight I tried to find balance between doing the poses as best I could without going too far. I feel better than I did immediately after the other class. Tomorrow will be the real test. I'll let you know.

Thursday - I made a decision to modify my Thursday workout just a little to help with my Moon Jogger challenge. Instead of just 60 minutes every Thursday, I'm going to make it a minimum of 60 minutes or 5 miles whichever happens last. On a good day - no walk breaks - I can do 5 miles in 60 minutes. On days I'm feeling like a slug ( or somewhere in between ) I'll keep going to 5 miles even if it takes longer than an hour.

Tonight was a hill workout night. I decided to run a warm up route of approximately 3 miles ending up at the 8th street hill. Then run 1 minute run up-30 second walk down intervals up the hill. Once I got to the top walk back down and repeat the intervals three times. Then finish off the time/miles running home.

I wanted to keep an easy pace on the warm up route but didn't know if I wanted to do a specific run/walk interval. I had an idea to use heart rate instead. That didn't work real well though. When the HR got too high I switched to walk and the reading went blank then started going all over the place. It might be that it was too early in the run. The device probably needs time to smooth out the readings. So forget that. Instead I used my breathing as the barometer to keep my pace even and not too hard. I ran the rest of the way except for a longer than expected traffic light crossing at State and Providence.

So at the hill I stopped myself and the watch long enough to set up my Gymboss to the desired interval. The only flaw in my plan is that in one minute I was 3/4 up the hill already! So I bagged the interval idea and decided to just run up and walk down 5 times. Garmin details

Saturday Saturday was a bust although I get credit for going out and for being smart enough to go home when it became obvious I should. You can read about it here. The Garmin details are all goofy because I came home and forgot to turn it off. Then it picked up again when I was at RCSP on Sunday.

Sunday I was looking forward to a bike ride today. The forecast was for 40's and Sunny. However, we had a suprise snow shower over night and the roads were still snowy, wet and in some places icy when I wanted to go out. So I opted for a hike at Ridley Creek State Park for the alotted time instead. The park was gorgeous on such a sunny, snowy day. I even ran a little bit on the trails. Garmin Stats. I only had a little bit of nausea today and by the time the hike was over I felt great. I'm still not sleeping great but that happens sometimes and could be totally unrelated to not feeling well.

So week 4 of the first 6 week segment is done! I feel awesome. I don't feel like this was a tedious or boring or a struggle really. I think the variety is helping a lot. I may have to break down and get a indoor trainer for the bike. If these snow squalls are going to be common this winter it's going to eat into my bike time and I'm afraid I won't be ready to start really training for the century ride if I don't put in the time now.

Some days will be harder than others ....

... and some days it's just isn't going to happen.

Today was one of those days. I haven't been feeling well since last Sunday (12/30). Some kind of bug is hanging out in the background of my existence. I get nauseous after eating breakfast in the mornings and throughout the day I feel achy. But I also have periods of high energy during the day. Sleep has been fitful though. :(  All in all not enough to make me miss work, or workouts but enough to be annoying.

This morning I was planning to meet a group at Pennypack Park. I was really looking foward to it. I've never run there before. At 5 a.m. after tossing and turning for about an hour, I turned the alarm off and decided to skip trying to get to the park. I slept off and on until 8:30 and finally got up. I put on my running clothes and went down for breakfast.

At 10 I headed out for a run around Media. I was grateful that this was a drop back week. 5 miles between my 9 last week and 10 for next week. I set my timer for the usual 3 and 1's and off I went. I still didn't feel good. My stomache was still bothering me. Typically the nausea passes after about 20 minutes. I decided to take it slow and just try to grind out the miles. It was only 5 afterall (I told myself). I made it to a little more than 2 and went home. I was beginning to sweat and not in a excercise kind of way.

I had plans for today - painting the trim in the bathroom for one - but I think I'm going to bag all of them and be grateful that if this crud is going to hit me it has arrived on the weekend when I can afford to be a slug on the couch.

Tomorrow the weather is forecasted for close to 40 and more sunshine (it's gorgeous today in the mid 30's). I was hoping to take advantage of that and ride my bike to my dad's house in Devon. I'm minding the house for them while they are away. Roundtrip is about 18 miles and would fit perfectly into my planned 100 minutes. But I am going to have to hold off any decision on that until tomorrow. Right now, it would not happen.

Happy New Year

I began 2013 with what I hope is a new tradition. For the second year in a row I met with friends at the Collegville Diner along the Perkiomen Trail. We ran or walked for an hour and then had breakfast at the diner. A few ran longer but we all ended up at the diner eventually.

I was glad that Dave joined us for breakfast this year! He is just as much a part of the team. Supporting all of us through many of our races.

I had five miles on my schedule today. I did most of the first 4 with Caroline B. doing - as she called them - "Caroline intervals". Her knee has been giving her fits so more or less we ran till it hurt and walked until it felt better. I was happy to spend time with her. I haven't seen her since the November. I hope her knee recovers soon so we can continue to put in some miles together. We are both signed up for Moon Joggers. Caroline was doing 4 total so toward then end when others had joined up with us, I ran off to get my 5 in and not be late for breakfast.

It was a beautiful, if cloudy, day on the trail. Last year the sun was so bright we were able to take a group shadow picture. This year we dodged snow and puddles. For some reason I expected the snow to be gone. We didn't quite need trax for this run but we may before the winter is over. One can only hope :) I enjoy a good snow run.

So it's a new year and lots of folks are making resolutions. I generaly don't anymore. Being a first-born-type-A person it will only lead to frustration with myself if I don't keep them. Having said that, someone asked this morning "What are your running resoutions for 2013?" My reply "To keep runing fun".  Given the fitness goals I've set for myself this year that will be an important thought to keep in mind. Over the course of the next 365 days I have plans to:

- run my 5th full marathon (my first in two years)
- complete a 100 mile bike ride
- follow the bike ride with a half marathon the next day
- run or walk 1000 miles as part of the Moon Joggers team

That ought to keep me busy and out of trouble. Maybe ;). I guess this is the year of "I have nothing to lose by trying".