Weekend: Degas, park, Korean food, and basketball.

This was our first weekend home in two weeks, so some of it was spent doing those awful household chores that take too much time for a weekday. But we got in a lot of fun, too:

- The Degas exhibit at Newcombe art gallery (I'll post my favorites later).

- An afternoon in Audubon Park, mostly spent working on my crocheting...

Our shadows...because finally we had SUN.

- This crocheting in particular. I finished this 16" doll while at the park.

In granny panties.

- Then I spent some time reading and drinking my coffee. I'm reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It's just ok. Nothing to write home about. 

More sun.

- Saturday night we watched a short WWII documentary and ate Korean food. This was actually my first time trying Korean food, if you can believe it! I liked our entree - spicy pork and squid on rice - but the kimchi side did not impress. I know kimchi is very on-trend right now, but I guess it's an acquired taste. The spicy marinade somehow seems dry to me, and the flavor is too alkaline, if that makes sense. I mean kind of like mole: the sauce for mole always tastes too alkaline to me, as well. I promise I'm not a picky eater... but the kimchi just didn't do it for me. 

- And while we finished the documentary, I made the doll a little dress. 

Sunday, we slept in a little, and went to church. Later that afternoon, we went to a Pelicans game - the first I've ever been to. We had a season ticket package when they were the Hornets, but I kind of stopped following them recently. I barely knew anyone on the team. For shame.

After the game we visited David's parents to "teach them their phones" as David said; it was good to catch up since it had been a few weeks. We reset their phones to "accessible" which basically makes all the fonts larger, by the way, and that solved most of their problems!

So, full weekend, but nice to spend it at home after being out of town for two weekends.

What's your favorite at-home weekend activity?
How do you feel about Korean food?
Do you have to teach your older relatives their devices?

10k test

My plan for Saturday was to run a 5-mile test run with my Garmin, at a pace that didn't feel extremely easy, without stopping. This was to give me an idea of how I should pace myself at the Crescent City Classic next Saturday, so I won't zoom out of the gate and end up throwing up somewhere on Esplanade Avenue.

It was an incredibly beautiful day Saturday, sunny and so crisp that I actually wore long sleeves to run (Friday night we had to turn the heat on in the living room. On March 27th! That's the latest we've ever used the heat while living here! Or it was until we turned it on Saturday night...the 28th.).

I turned my Garmin on and saw my last recorded run - November 27th. That was last Thanksgiving, at the quite-painful Turkey Day race. That 305 certainly is a trusty little machine: it's been off four months, and it came on with a nearly-full battery and found a satellite right away.
I haven't run on the levee in months, because I've been running such short distances (it's about a mile and a half to get to the levee; I'd just have to turn right back around for 3 miles, my max distance so far). With my whopping 5 mile run planned, I thought today would be a good day to run up onto the Fly (the area on the river behind Audubon Zoo) and continue briefly onto the levee. So with that in mind, I headed around Audubon Park.

What a lovely sight: sun AND a paved road! 

I didn't look at my Garmin while running, but I kept my pace at "uncomfortably easy" - not exactly a tempo run, but conversation would have been short and choppy. Nothing bothered me except for that same awareness of both hips. But my plans to run the levee were foiled: a train track cuts right across the entrance and exit to the Fly, and a train was stopped dead right at the point where you can exit the Fly, either to continue on the levee, or to head back to the park. Now, it wasn't blocking my way to the levee, but the train was  long, and at a complete halt, and I didn't want to stop on my pace test. I knew there was a good chance of it still being there when I turned around on the levee and came back, and I'd have to stop. So instead I turned around and headed back the way I came.

Doing that added quite a bit to my run, so I went over 5 miles, but my run-without-stopping was only five. I ran into a friend just as my Garmin beeped for mile 5, so we stopped and talked for a minute before I continued home. Interestingly, I was EXACTLY at 6.2 when I got home! So I am quite confident, now, that I can finish the 10k race next week!

Anyway. Let's talk about pace. It was much faster than I first thought. I was basing my previous pace off my time gone from the house running (since I wasn't wearing a watch), but since that included walk breaks, it wasn't very helpful. I was thinking close to ten minute pace, but it's more like eight. My splits today were: 8:06, 7:43, 7:43, 7:46, 7:31(short break), 7:27. It took me a few minutes to warm up, so I will make sure to warm up first on race day, and perhaps push it a little more? I'm sure 7:30s wouldn't be a stretch. I could definitely have gone faster, but no lie - I was certainly working. Crazy how fast you lose it! But also crazy that you can get it back. I'm not worried about speed right now. I'm more worried on keeping both legs attached and functioning.

It's been a long road

Do you know what this is?

It's a steamroller.

And this is a half-paved street outside of my house! It's finally happening: a road. The paving process will take a few more days, but I think they will actually finish in March!

Speaking of long roads, my hip is progressing along nicely. I had to cancel my final two PT sessions because my PT's schedule changed, and it didn't fit my work schedule. But really, at this point it was just fine-tuning, and most of it I can do at home. I will miss some of the balance equipment, though.

My hip hasn't really been bothering me, for which I'm grateful. I have some stiffness and pain after periods of immobility, and it aches after a running increase (like when I jumped up to 2 miles, it hurt later in the day). It doesn't hurt while walking or running, and feels much better once it is warmed up and stretched. Anytime I notice pain increase from running, I just take a day off, and it feels better in about 24 hours. This isn't really problematic, since I'm doing a lot of alternating days, anyway. I dropped my home PT to just once a day several weeks ago, but try not to skip a session. I had to skip some while traveling simply because of tight quarters and schedules, and I definitely noticed a difference - my leg felt tight and weak.

The Crescent City Classic is in one week, and I think I will survive. I plan to do five miles this weekend to see how I feel. I might actually clean the cobwebs off the old Garmin to get a feel for my pace. I think for 6 miles we're looking at something between nine and ten minutes. THE HORROR. If my hip doesn't kill me, my embarrassment will. 

Just a few more days...

...Until we have streets again! I was incredibly excited to return home from a weekend away and discover SIDEWALKS to our house. We haven't had sidewalks in months! And now? Yesterday they sprayed the primer for the asphalt! In two shakes we'll have a real street again!

All primed: and the emptiest I've ever seen my street.

The last block of the street still hasn't been started, but at least my block does, indeed, seem to be meeting the vague "March" deadline for completion.

So, this weekend. I mentioned that we were in Atlanta. I should probably also mention that we flew out on Thursday, not Friday.
Because Friday there was a man with a machete and wasp spray attacking TSA agents in the security line at the New Orleans airport! In case you missed the story, the police officer on duty in the area shot him (one TSA agent was grazed by a bullet, the only other injury). The suspect died the next day at the hospital - I suspect from refusing certain care, as he was a Jehovah's Witness. Police later found bombs and explosives in his luggage and car.

Pretty scary close to home - but I'm glad no one else was injured!
Side note: TSA agent's aren't armed?! Why did I think they were? I guess it makes sense not to arm them, and use police presence instead, but I swear I've seen TSA with a taser or something. Methinks my mind is playing tricks on me. I would make a terrible Sherlock Holmes (except I'm sure I'd look adorable in a deer-stalker. Who doesn't?).

In a few minutes, I am probably going for a short run, but I am making sure I keep a close eye on both hips. After my recent fall, I noticed that the left side of my pelvis seemed to be achey, so even though the right side has the bad bruise, I am sure I absorbed impact to both hips. I also majorly slacked off on my hip strengthening for the three days I was traveling, since there was not a lot of room to do it, and I'm doubling up on that for the rest of the week. You can never have too much hip strengthening!

*Edit* Went for run, both hips are fine, skinned knee is furious with me for sweating on it.

I am too clumsy to run.

We spent the weekend with friends in Atlanta, and since our gracious hostess lives just a short, pleasant jaunt from Piedmont Park, David and I went running there during our stay. I love staying with this particular friend: she has access to Piedmont Park for running (and once, a race located there) AND, since she doesn't drink coffee, David and I always treat ourselves by having Starbucks (just around the corner) every morning during our visits. I do occasionally enjoy a good, strong Starbucks!

On the second day of our stay, David and I were running to the park when I stepped on a loose piece of side walk and went flying! I landed on my right side, skinning right elbow, outside of right knee, and of course - landing squarely on my post-op hip. I also braced with my left hand, which is skinned in a lovely scalloped pattern. My godchild told me it looked like pepperoni. I'm kind of annoyed that my hip got the brunt of the fall, but it certainly figures. I'm too clumsy to run.
Jim at 50 after 40 ALSO fell on his hurt hip this weekend, so at least I'm in good company.