Where's Waldo?

So, it's not like I haven't been running or keeping up with this divine physique I've been granted. It's just that runs on the 'mill aren't all that interesting. Really, go try one. I'll wait.

Done? Good. See, there's nothing all that interesting to say about it. You get on the belt, ramp up to your cruising speed and stay there until your time runs out. Other than "this sucks" there's not a whole helluva lot to say.

I've been experimenting with my runs to find the right way, for me, to work on inclines and speed while Seattle gets over it's darkness and cold problems. I think I may have hit on a good pattern, but I might need to extend my time another 5 minutes. I'm doing a 5-minute warmup followed by 3 minutes hard and two minutes easy. So for my speed intervals I'm doing 6 mph for the warmup, then 6.5/6, 7.0/6, 7.5/6, 7.0/6, 6.5/6. For the hills I go 6 mph for the warmup at 0 inlcine, then 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 3/0, 2/0. It's worked out nicely so far.

I've been doing the spin class on Tuesdays, and that's a mutha. It hurts while you're doing it and the hurt just keeps on coming the next day when you go to sit down. Whoever designed bicycle seats was a sadist, and I can't believe that cyclists haven't come up with a better solution by now.

I've also added a weights regimen following my runs. I'm not too intense about it. I only do one set of a few exercises. I don't want to bulk up or anything; I just want to have a little bit of strength. Allegedly, that's the sort of thing that helps you out while running. We shall see. I do somehow manage to crank out 100 abdomen exercises: 40 regular crunches, 20 to the right obliques, 20 to the left obliques, and 20 leg lifts to hit the lower abs. I'm not the least bit ashamed to say that I'm ridiculously proud of myself. They're not all great crunches, but they're close enough for government work.

I think this weekend is supposed to be nice(ish). The temperature at least. I don't know what kind of moisture will be in the air - probably rain (sigh) and definitely not snow (boo!). Maybe if it's clear, dry and not too cold I'll go outside this weekend. Otherwise I guess I'll be inside running on the wheel.

Xmas is coming up soon. The weatherman is saying we're going to have temps in the 40s or 50s on Xmas day. That means no snow :( I was looking forward to another snowpocalypse like we had last year, but I guess not. We're not even going to get the flakes that fall and melt a foot above the ground like we had for our first Xmas here. Very disappointing.