Day 64 - 6.85 miles (109.14 total)

Back to the gym.  I was still pretty wiped out from all the Zombie Walking and staying out too late for midnight movies and friends' parties.  Did 2.85 miles on the elliptical, then settled in for another 4 miles on the recumbent elliptical bike, bringing me to 6.85 miles and a grand total of 109.14 miles!  WooHoo!

Day 62 - Zombie walking for 2.29 miles

Today was the Richmond Zombie Walk.  I walked for 2.29 miles: from Kroger in Carytown down to the Byrd Theater, then back up to Kroger, then walked back down to New York Deli for my friend Phil D's book reading, then back up to Kroger and over to my parked car.  Holy CRAP is was cold today!  Viciously cold.  But, I'm now at 102.29 miles!

2011 Richmond Zombie Walk by Gamma Man, on Flickr

Day 61 - Highs and Lows

Well, today was a day of highs and lows.

The high came this morning when I jogged 6.41 miles on the elliptical, bringing me to a grand total of 100 MILES!!!  I was so excited I took a picture:

My excitement, however, was tempered when I got home.  Phil Pollard, someone I know, someone who just turned 44 yesterday, almost died this morning.  I didn't know him well, but from what I knew of him, he was an all around nice guy.  He had been in a band with some of my friends, was a volunteer at WRIR.  I wished him happy birthday on Facebook yesterday before my radio show.  Later on that morning he acknowledged my birthday wishes with a "like."  And within a few hours he had suffered cardiac arrest and was in ICU.  And now today he is almost gone.  But even though he didn't know me that well, I take comfort in the fact that he knew that I wished him happy birthday yesterday.

Days 55 & 57 (93.59 miles total)

Day 55 - Saturday - I kinda wiped myself out last week going such a long distance on Monday.  And then I went and saw a band play Tuesday night, so I was up late and didn't go to the gym on Wednesday.  And then I saw another band play Friday night, so I was up late again.  But I went back on Saturday and walked/jogged/ran for 7.73 miles on the elliptical.  I was trying to get to 7.75, but I was also trying to get home before Mark went to his meeting.  Alas, I didn't succeed in either attempt.  So 7.73 miles it was, for a total of 87.89 miles.

Day 57 - Monday - We got back to our regular routine today.  Only about 45 minutes at the gym, so I pushed for my "double" distance of 5.70 and made it just in time.  93.59 miles.  That's the equivalent of running from Richmond to Warrenton, VA.  (Or, more realistically for me, the equivalent of running to IKEA in Dale City and then running around the store for about 10 more miles.)  That means I only have to go 6.41 miles next time to pass 100 miles!  WhooHoo!  I wonder if I'll have enough time to go that far at the gym next time.  Stay tuned!

Days 48 & 50 (80.16 miles total)

Day 48 - Saturday - Zumba with Dawn!

Day 50 - Monday - Elliptical with Enzo!  Well, not really with Enzo, but his music selections were an integral part of my morning.  As usual, I was using the elliptical machine and streaming WRIR on my phone.  But I was not really FEELING the exercise that morning.  I did 2.85 miles, but I was getting tired of the elliptical.  So I switched over to the seated elliptical where Mark's usually exercising.  I figured I'd go another 2.85 miles there and then maybe go home.  I pushed the 2.85 to 3 miles because the music was energetic enough and because, since I was sitting down, I could actually check my email and stuff WHILE I was exercising.  I know, it's lame, but at least it kept me on the machine.  I can't remember what distance I was at.  I think around 4 miles.  And I was thinking of leaving.  And then, dammit, Enzo played "No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire.  That song is packed with so much energy that it was like it was physically impossible for me to stop.  In fact, I had to pick up the pace and push as hard as I could to try to keep tempo with the  music.  I ended up going another full mile, finishing at 5 miles on the seated elliptical.

So thank you to Enzo and Arcade Fire for helping me cover 7.85 miles on Monday, for a grand total of 80.16 miles!!!

Day 47 - 72.31 miles total

Wednesday - Elliptical - 5.7 miles!  I was wiped out when I was done, but I got my double-distance in, which brought me to 66 miles total.)

Friday - Elliptical - 4 miles!  I couldn't quite bring myself to the double-distance this morning.  So I went out this evening and walked for another 2.31 miles, bringing me to 6.31 for today, and a GRAND TOTAL of 72.31 miles!

Day 43 - 60.3 miles and a bit of frustration

I did not go to the gym last Thursday or Friday.  But I did walk down to Gallery 5 on Friday night for the First Fridays Carnival of Five Fires.  Got to watch some AWESOME fire artists and hear music play.  Mark met me down there after work, so I just rode back home with him when the show was over.  The walk down added another 1.6 miles to my week, which brings me to 55.55 miles!

Saturday and Sunday were a wash.  A big lazy wash.  Well, ok, not entirely lazy.  I had a flea market on Sunday, so I got to schlep totes of craft supplies from house to car to setup to car to house again.

Monday - Day 43!  Monday we do a good job of getting back in the groove of things.  As usual for Mondays, we were pressed for time.  And the leg that I injured last year was a little twingy this weekend.  So I spent a good chunk of time on the recumbent elliptical: 3 miles.  But I started to feel like that machines was actually putting MORE stress on my calves than I thought it would.  So I switched over to the regular elliptical and covered another 1.75 miles before we had to leave.  Which now makes my grand total 60.3 miles!  Yay!

And then we come to the latter part of my day. . . Zumba class . . . which didn't happen for me.  I went over to the gym 30 minutes early, but there were no tickets left for the class.  I asked the guy behind the counter to double check, since last week the tickets weren't printing out for the class even though none had been printed.  But he seemed to think the class was filled already.  So, with no class to Zumba in, I went home.  It's pretty frustrating to me because even though the class is really popular and fills up all the time, most of the girls in the class are skinny college students.  I mean skinny.  And they'd probably just go to a different class if this one was full.  But I can't go to a different class.  I need this one.  This is the class that works for me.  I can't just do Boot Camp when Zumba is full.  I need this class.  Some of the people in the last class were talking to each other instead of paying attention to the moves.  It was like it was more of a social event than an exercise class for them.  So why bother going?  If you want to chat with your friends, that's fine, but please don't use Zumba class to do it.  I need this class.

Day 38 (53.95 miles total)

But I can't forget Day 36.5.  Monday night I went to Zumba class.  YES!  This is the instructor I had the first time, and I like her class so much better than the Thursday class I went to last time.  The music was good.  The movements were dancey.  The only problem was that tickets weren't printing for the class (which means there was no way to sign up for it), so it was seriously overcrowded.  But I'd take a crowded Monday Zumba over a Thursday Zumba any day.

Ok, on to today!  I know I skipped a walking session yesterday, so I wanted to try to double-up today (2.85/day x 2).  Luckily, Mark didn't have to head off to work quite so early, so we were able to spend almost an hour at the gym this morning.  Which meant I was able to do a solid 5.70 miles today!  WooHoo!  I can't say I wasn't tired.  I was REALLY tired.  And getting through that last mile was really hard.  I just kept counting off 1-2-3-4 in my head because I knew "4" would get me to the next hundredth of a mile.

Today's distance puts me at 53.95 miles, which means I could be in Spotsylvania by now!

Day 36 (48.25 miles total!)

Clearly I'm going to be doing a lot of distance recalculating, but I'll save that for another day.

Lat week I went to the gym on Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday), and ellipticalled (for lack of a better word) for 3.10 miles, which put me at 44.10 miles.  I skipped Wednesday because I was a dork and wanted to skip Wednesday.  Thursday I skipped walking because I was going to Zumba in the evening and I didn't want to overdo it.  And let me tell you, that Zumba class SUCKED.  It was really more like club dancing than Zumba.  I barely broke a sweat.  And there was no chicha or reggaeton or salsa music in the mix.  Instead we had Beyonce.  Very disappointing.

Anyway, I was so let down by that class that I didn't even want to go back to the gym for a few days.

So, flash forward to Monday.  We went to the gym, and I listened to a Enzo's tribute to Moldy Cheese Day on WRIR while I walked.  ("Hold Your Head Up," although a bit slow at times, is a remarkably inspirational song for the gym, by the way.)  Thanks to the cheesefest and the fact that Mark wanted to stay a little longer than I expected, I was able to go 4.15 miles today!  (I probably could have gone further, but I've been alternating the intensity on the machine a bit.  I'll do the first 2.85 miles at a solid jog pace, and then ramp up the difficulty level until Mark's ready to leave, which means everything after 2.85 miles is harder, but much slower.  More like climbing than jogging.)

So let's see. . . 44.10 miles + 4.15 miles today = 48.25 miles!  WooHoo!  That means I've essentially walked from Richmond to Williamsburg!  I think that's something for which I can hold my head up!