Piling on the miles

I'm knitting this fabulous sweater, Aidez, out of that bulky weight yarn I wasn't sure what to do with.  On my Rav projects page I'm calling it the Aidez of uncertainty because I don't know if I have enough yarn. It knits up fast though, that's for sure. Faster, if I spent more of my time knitting and less of my time ripping out all the stuff in my enormous frog pond. I've got the back and part of the left front done. I'm also a little worried that it won't be the right size. It looks so small and scrunched together....

The back of Aidez, partially done. This photo is not up to date.But it's pretty, no?

Anyway, I want to tell you about the frogging project, and I'd like to tell you about my long neglected Tiong Bahru, but what I'm going to do is talk about running.

See, I signed up for this thing. It's called Pile on the Miles, and it's organized by Monica of Run Eat Repeat. You sign up, set a mileage goal for the month of November, and can get prizes for commenting and updating your progress.

I set my goal kind of high. Like, really high.

100 miles.

Yeah, I said I would run 100 miles in November. I did the math; it's totally possible on my three day a week schedule. I'm working my way up to a 15 mile long run during the same period, so that helps. And I'll probably do a few miles of walking, too, since I'm going to lay off the elliptical for cross training and just do incline walking. (Incline walking is brutal! I was walking at a 12.5% incline today and I was drenched.)

Oh yeah, my knee has been bugging me. It feels crunchy or something - I don't even know. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes not.  But I'm doing everything I can for it short of actually not using it. I'd been doing elliptical instead of running because of it, but it actually seems to get worse after the elliptical. I guess that plan didn't work. Current plan involves supplements, ice when I need it, and hoping. So we'll see how this goes.

Anyway, I'm kicking this thing off on Thursday morning with a five mile run, and following that up with eleven fine miles on Saturday. Assuming my knee doesn't fall out or something.

Even if you're not a runner and just want some incentive to get out and walk more this month, sign up! There are about 700 people signed up right now, with goals ranging from 20 miles to 200 miles. It's not about being the fastest or the best, it's about giving yourself a challenge and some motivation.

I can do this. So can you.

Rippit, Rippit Good, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Frog Pond.

I switched over my wardrobe from winter to summer (which mostly involves putting away the shorts and pulling out the sweaters - most of it stays the same), and finally had to deal with the problem of my sweaters.

You see, I have about a half dozen handknit sweaters which are... too big. Not too big by a little, but too big by a lot. I don't want to give them to goodwill, so I had to get up the courage and start a frog pond.



In the frog pond we have:

My very first sweater ever. Made of a very wooly wool I bought at a flea market in Wisconsin.


My Wicked cardigan. Knit out of Cascade 220. This is a pattern I would actually knit up again, and very well may.


The Quincy hat, which is not really a good look for me and cashmere is a horrible thing to waste.


The Amelia cardigan, which I like and put a lot of work into, but now that the arms fit, the body is a bit saggy. Made of Cascade Lana d'Oro.


Frosting. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it's too messy for a gift, and too itchy for my poor sensitive skin. Made of Cascade Cloud 9.


These will join my Bulky Mini-Cardi, which got frogged last week. The Arucania Nature Cotton may get a second life...


Narrowly avoiding the frog pond are my Tangled Yoke Cardigan and my Eris cardigan. I don't think the yarn of either will stand up to frogging. Besides, I love my Tangled Yoke. Eris was never really a success, but it is warm. Both will be okay for curling up in around the house.

Letting go is hard, but there will suddenly be a lot more a lot more yarn in my stash.

Expectations v. Reality

*This post has neither photos nor knitting. But I promise the next one will have both!*

So it turns out that posting my weekly exercise schedule on here was actually really really motivating. Here's what I said I would do last week:

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 45-60 minutes of running, with speedwork
Wednesday - weight training (45 minutes)
Thursday - 4-5 miles easy run
Friday - rest or weight training or bootcamp class
Saturday - long run, 6-8 miles
Sunday - weight training, 30 minutes elliptical

And here's what I actually did:


Monday - Rest! No running or gym anyway.
Tuesday - Ran for 4.62 miles/52 minutes. 1.5 miles to the track, 5x200 with 200 rest, 1.5 miles home or so. I have no idea what I'm doing for speedwork. 58 degrees out!
Wednesday - Did my weight training circuit and had time to follow it up with 28 minutes of elliptical (the "fat burner" program on the AMT, mostly because it's programmed to last 28 minutes) at a fairly moderate intensity.
Thursday - Ran 4 miles/46 minutes. It was 30 degrees out. I couldn't feel my thighs.
Friday - Had kind of intended to get to the gym, but with my rest option instead.
Saturday - Air quality was unhealthy, so my run date was cancelled. I went and did weights/elliptical instead. More intensely than Wednesday. Maybe because I saw my trainer there.
Sunday - Air quality was still unhealthy, so I did 7 miles/76.5 minutes on the elliptical. 30 minutes on a regular elliptical, the rest on the AMT (which has a more "run-y" motion).

And here's what I intend to do this week:


Monday - Rest. Already executing that fairly successfully.
Tuesday -45-60 minutes of running, with hill repeats on the only hill in town.
Wednesday - Weight training (45 minutes)
Thursday - 4-5 miles easy run
Friday - Rest or weight training or bootcamp class
Saturday - Long run, 8-10 miles
Sunday - Weight training, 30 minutes elliptical

I realize this is a bit dull. I'll try to think of ways to liven it up in the future.