We only have one more week of 2009, where did it go? Hopefully it was a good year for you and you’ve begun reflecting on 2009 and looking forward to 2010. That is the topic for another post, this is just a look back at the week that was.

It started out really well, since I didn’t have to go to work! Monday was nice and relaxing. Vegging out and catching up on e-mail and other stuff on the computer. I did make it to the gym and the elliptical and weight machines. It is a different feel in the middle of the day. It is really funny to see the old women and some men dressed up in nice clothes but lifting weights or using the elliptical. 30 minutes and 2.9 miles.

Tuesday I hit the pool and did 10 x 50 yards with 45 seconds in between. I found this swimming workout for beginner triathletes. I’m still not planning on doing a tri, but I thought it would give me some motivation and something to actually focus on in the pool, instead of just swimming.  I also found this 9 Good Reasons Why You Should Get in the Pool.  I actually started feeling sick on Tuesday, mostly just sinus related.  So I didn’t do anything else until repeating the swim workout on Saturday.  Unless of course you count shoveling at least 3 times for the 9.8 official inches of snow we got that doesn’t really count the icy mix that ended the Christmas storm covering 3 or 4 days.  So I got quite a workout! Not being up and down on my feet all day has really helped my foot heal.

We had a great Christmas by ourselves.  While it is nice not to have the stress of travelling, it is really weird and hard not to be with family on Christmas.  Thanks to Skype we were able to video chat with some of the family and that made it better.

Previous Posts

I finished my Best of 2007 series with a look at National Performances and my Top 5 Articles.  Foto Friday was all of my race “hardware” and numbers from 2007.   In 2008, I discussed Running and Meditation.  In the 2008 Best of Series  I displayed my favorite race number: TC 1 Mile race number.  Foto Friday was of the Best Foto from 2008.

Happy Trails!

Have I mentioned that I really miss running?

The beauty of working for a school is winter break! Two weeks without work!!  Which started on Friday!

Throughout the past week I didn’t make it to the gym except on Saturday for 30 minutes on the elliptical and the weight machines.  I’m pretty much getting anxious to run again and ready to cut off my foot!  Though I don’t think that will help the process much.   I haven’t written any Best of 2009 posts yet and the year is almost over.  Maybe I’ll do it in January, or maybe I won’t do it at all.

Best of 2007

• Personal Race Performance
• Race Event

It was this week in 2007 that I switched sites from Run Central Indiana to Team Cross Runs.  I really liked the concept of RCI and was sad that no one wanted to continue its work.   Foto Friday was of snow covered leaves at Mounds.

My first running video was a Snowcast at Powderhorn Park.  The next chapter of the Sacred Art of Running was Running Prayers. Yummy cookies were featured in this Foto Friday. 

The Sunday before Thanksgiving my grandfather passed away due to injuries sustained during a fall.  Suffering from Alzheimer’s and missing his wife of 52 years his body is now restored.  He now can dance again with Grandma and rejoice in the presence of their Savior.  About two weeks later we flew to Cleveland for his memorial service and spending time with family.  Never a fun reason to travel home, it was still great to see family.

The week after Thanksgiving I went to the gym a few times to workout.  I swam, lifted, and did the elliptical machine. Nothing major but an attempt to get back into the rhythm of working out.  The trip to Ohio messed up my rhythm and it wasn’t until this past weekend that I made it back to the gym.  Unless you count the 20 minutes of shoveling I did after we got  4-5 inches of snow I didn’t work out at all!  It felt good to go back to the gym.  On Saturday I lifted and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and Sunday swam 400 yards and did some running in place.  We also got our Christmas tree.

My foot continues to ebb and flow of not hurting or hurting.  We decided that after the new year if it isn’t better I’ll go back to the doctor.  All of my physical therapy helped, but also took all the money from our deductible.  We don’t pay for anything until we hit a certain amount and then we pay for a large amount.  Driving around and seeing all the people out running really makes me want to get out on the road again.  Not too mention I miss my running friends.

Looking back…

My first Foto Friday was from a trip to Boone, NC during peak leaf season. A guest review of the 2007 Monster Mash Dash and the St Jude Marathon led to my training analysis, part 3.  Not to mention a sad Foto Friday of my watch and an upside down biker.  As the weather changes these 9 Winter Running tips don’t change.

Last year I ran the 2008 Giving Thanks 5k.  You might recall I was reading about the sacred act of running and wrote about contemplation and reasons for running.  I also found a thank you video for those who supported my fundraising for Team World Vision.  My 52nd Foto Friday was of Chris at a port-a-potty!

This week was a little disappointing as far as the foot goes.  It had felt really good for a few days and then started hurting again.  I had hoped to run on it at least once this weekend and start back up.  I kept putting it off since it had started hurting.  I have been wearing my strassburg sock still at night.

We had a great Thanksgiving with friends and my sister.  I didn’t eat tooo much.  We also pulled out our Wii and starting using it again, including playing with the Wii Fit Plus.  Which adds some more games and fun with a “calorie burning edge” to it!

On Sunday I had some downtime because Christy was called into work again so I decided to stop putting it off and hit the gym.

I thought if I could get the first time out of the way I might be able to get into the habit of it.  We shall see.  I brought my swim suit, but did some weights – using every machine available so a fairly well  rounded workout. A lot of shoulder and upper body and then legs and hips.  I did a warm-up jog around the YWCA’s 1/6 mile indoor track.  I did 2 laps at an easy pace and it wasn’t pain free. I didn’t have lingering pain but very frustrating.   After lifting I did the elliptical machine for 15 minutes.  I’m not a huge fan of the elliptical but I knew that it wouldn’t have any impact on my foot.

So it looks like I’ll be cross-training for a few more weeks, bummer. It has been really frustrating though since the weather has been perfect for running and the group runs have been on my favorite trails.

Past Highlights include a look back at the inventor of Gatorade and honoring his passing. Also a guest review of the Harpeth Hills Flying Marathon and the Drumstick Dash in Indianapolis.  Next was a look at the 2nd training cycle from 2007 – for the Bears of the Blue River 10k.  Last year I wrote about spirituality and running.  Foto Friday was of snow covered leaves.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Product Review: Strassburg Sock (teamcrossworld.com)
• Wii Fit Plus now available (crunchgear.com)

Without working out.  But another week being sick.  I actually started feeling worse this week, developing a cough mid-week that still has me down.  After a few late nights and stressful days at work my body was run down and  enjoyed taking a sick day on Friday.  Hopefully I’ll start feeling better soon.  It has been really frustrating because the weather has been so nice and perfect for running but I’ve been stuck inside healing up my foot and my sinus/cough issues.

On the foot front, things are feeling pretty good.  I bought a pair of neutral shoes to test out my experiment of switching running shoes.  So far, in the walking around category, my foot has enjoyed a more neutral approach.  We’ll see.  Maybe I’ll go to a store and do a treadmill test before I start running again.

Past Highlights

In my ongoing look at other blogs I talked about Steve Runner’s blog. It is almost all just show notes.  In 2007, I ran the DINO Series – Fort Harrison race.  I miss running the DINO races and their excellent race director Brian.  I also did an in-depth review of the three training cylces from 2007, the first talks about my slow comeback from injury.

Last year I did an in-depth review of Running – the Sacred Art reviewing the book chapter by chapter.  The first in the eight part series was Foundations of a Spiritual Runner.  You will probably want to skip this Foto Friday picture of Nathan without his shirt on, eating a hot dog.  By the way, Nathan moved, got married, and forgot how to update his blog, or something like that! But then maybe a 2:51 marathoner has other things to worry about.