Thursday, August 24, 2006
This morning I did the longest run ever—30 minutes—since I started running regularly, usually before weight training workouts. I did some running a few times last year but stopped since I still didn't have enough strength in my quadriceps to prevent the patellofemoral pain with which I had been diagnosed some time ago. Now, however, I seem to have worked up that strength to the point that neither running nor any other physical activity causes a problem, and the running is helping me continue to gain strength in that area, so I am pleased. My runs nowadays are not the traditional running outside, they're simply running or jogging in place inside the apartment. This is so untraditional that I feel some people probably have strong feelings against it or would make fun of me for it, but it actually works for me on many levels. I have a controlled airspace (no car exhaust or cigarette smoke), controlled temperature, I can break for water or a light snack at any time, I don't have to worry about angry dogs or strange people, and I can stop any time I want and I'm instantly at home. Also, if I ever happen to accidentally injure myself (like I did in April), I know I won't be lying in the gutter where someone can accidentally run over me in a car or worse—mud can get on my clothes. When I first started this running, I always wore my shoes with orthotics, but now most of the time I run in place without shoes or socks which I believe helps to strengthen my foot arches which provide the support that helps prevent my knee pain. So far so good. Pretty much all these runs were undocumented, but I'll start being better about that now. Morning run: 30 minutes. Weight training: tricep kickback, crunch, leg lift. A nectarine for breakfast. Today was staff development day. It took me an hour to get to Laurel Heights by Muni. Cindy had us take the Myers-Briggs personality test about a week ago and we found out the results today. I had hoped I passed even though I didn't study for it, and as it turns out, we all passed. In a nutshell, Myers-Briggs is the categorization of individuals into seemingly arbitrary category types for the purpose of helping people understand each others' behaviors, values, motivations, desires, and so forth. Susan Calcagno moderated the discussion, and I believe we all enjoyed the event and gained some insight into the process. Cindy provided lunch—sandwiches and pasta salad from A.G. Ferrari. Today I gave Joel an advanced copy of a book about making wedding cakes that Patrick had gotten for free from work. It might have been a nice gift for Tina, but Patrick thought she was so far ahead of the book that he convinced me that it wasn't really good for her. Joel seemed to really enjoy it, and I hope he bakes a fabulous wedding cake and brings it into work for all of us to eat. Grocery shopping. Washed the car. Dinner at home by myself: turkey burgers, fries. Shopped online on eBay, uploaded photos. I didn't know that Microsoft Virtual PC for Windows is now free. (Thanks, IEBlog!) Interesting. Late snack: yogurt.