1/22/06: A Treadmill Run in A-Town (Austin, that is!)

I went to Austin this past weekend to get away from Houston and clear my head after a stressful two weeks of pre-and post-marathon running. I had a great time, and stayed with a friend that is quite fitness-minded, although I think he tends to obsess over weighing himself too much. I recently got him to take up running, and we actually have very similar paces so I figured we would put in some miles around Town Lake and the really pretty 10 mile loop that circles it right by downtown Austin.

We didn’t get to because he has asthma and the cold weather of the weekend was killing him. I was disappointed, but I supported him anyhow and we ended up putting in some miles at his gym, Gold’s Gym. For the most part, it has better amineties then 24 Hour Fitness, although I think it’s mostly because we went to the largest Gold’s in Austin. While we were there, I did a little bit of arm weights (I have a really weak upper body!) and some core work. He also showed me a few static machines I could do to work on my legs, since I know I need to strength them and push through my hamstring issues.

We also talked about ‘dieting’ related to being/living healthy. Although I felt like I ate bad when I was there in Austin, I weighed myself and am still sitting 3 pounds lighter then I was after the Half. We ate vegetarian/vegan (vegan is pretty new to me still) and I was pretty happy about it, although I didn’t feel good overall on my way back home and now it turns out I have a low-grade cold brewing:(. (Must have been all the fun I had or something!) I did promise my friend (Chris) that although I didn’t believe in the word ‘dieting,’ I was certainly going to be more conscious of what is going into my body this year. Although I eat ‘alright,’ I want to start eating healthier. I want to stay away from the processed foods, eat more veggies and start cooking more, even if it takes time. Damn, it’s just sooo….hard. If I could eat a salad and soup everyday, I would be happy:).

Anyhow, I have done some reading since I have gotten back home about my hamstring ordeal…and I think the best things I can do right now is focus on the correct stretching, lots of rolling and using the Stick (yeah Cassie for the suggestions!), and put the strength training on hold until my leg feels better and I can focus more on my gait. I think I have decided I am going to go in for the 2nd step of gait analysis at Koala since I have the money right now and maybe get a serious massage after that to work out any kinks from hitting the weights again. Things will be looking up soon, I just need to get moving again and I think I will be happy.

The STATS:

3 miles
32.30 total running

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: a/c