July 28, 2015

First speed work in over eight months!

Yesterday was a cross training day, and I was thinking about taking the kids to the rec center to swim while I did a deep water run. I remembered that Noah had recently asked me to teach him to play tennis, so I figured I could do that instead and count it as my cross training for the day.

We grabbed some rackets and a ball, and then Noah, Eli, and I drove to a nearby park that has tennis courts. I hadn't played tennis since high school, so I had a hard time even remembering how to play! But we had a lot of fun just hitting the ball back and forth, and seeing how long we could keep it in play. It was a great workout--I was a little worried about my stress fracture, because of all the changes in direction, but I didn't have any trouble with it.

It was super humid, so we only stayed for about 40 minutes, but the kids loved it and said they wanted to come back again.

Yesterday evening, the kids and I walked (with Joey) to my parents' house. Joey loves to play in the lake, so we bring him over there sometimes to get his fix. I can't get over what a good dog he is! As soon as we get to their house, I let him off leash, and he's like a rocket straight for the lake. He doesn't have any interest in running away, and he just likes to be wherever we are. He played in the lake for a while, and then Eli was going to clean him off with the hose before we left.

It was SO cute. I thought Joey would run from the spray, but he did just he opposite. He chased after it and tried to eat the water coming out!




I was nervous about my run this morning, because I haven't done speed work in SO LONG. I think the last time I actually ran my best was at a Thanksgiving 10K last year. On the schedule today was 8 x 600's at roughly-5K pace. I don't have a clue what my current 5K pace is, but if I had to guess, I would think 9:00-9:30 ish. Mentally, this was odd for me--to run speed work (600's) at a 9:15 pace? I'm used to doing speed work in the low 7:00's or even high 6:00's when I was in good shape. But, I'm basically starting all over from scratch, so I decided to try it before I declared it "too easy".

I learned that it definitely wasn't too easy. Instead of doing 600 meters (0.37 miles), I chose to go by time instead--3:00 running, and then walking 1:30 to recover between intervals. I figured it would be roughly the same distance, but it would be easier to keep track of. I walked a couple of minutes to warm up, and then set the treadmill at 6.5 mph (a 9:13/mi pace) and ran for three minutes. It was much tougher than I expected! I think if I was to run my hardest right now, I might be able to pull off a sub-9:00 mile, and just barely finish without dying.

I continued the 3:00/1:30 intervals, at 6.5 mph and 3.0 mph respectively. After 8 intervals, I felt good. I felt like I had worked hard, but not too hard, which is what the goal was. The Hansons plan has a specific window for speed work, and it's slower than what typical plans call for. If nothing else, running at a faster pace helped me to see where my fitness level is right now.




Yesterday, Jerry, the kids, and I walked up to the store. When we paid, Jerry used his debit card, and it was declined. That was really odd, because I knew we had money in our account. The cashier ran it through twice, and both times it said declined. I felt a little panicked when we got home, and I looked up our account online. Nothing looked too unusual, other than a few authorization holds that were pending and I had no idea what they were (but again, not that unusual).

Today, Jerry called the bank to find out what was going on, and it turns out that while we were in New York, someone stole Jerry's debit card info, and yesterday, they had a little shopping spree in New York.  There was only ONE spot that we used the debit card while we were gone (we used cash everywhere else), so we know exactly where it was. It infuriates me that someone did that! I know it happens to people fairly often these days, but that's the first time we ever had an issue like that.

The bank flagged the card and froze our account when they saw some charges for hundreds of dollars in NY. We won't be responsible for those charges, but now we need new debit cards because we can't use ours. The cards take 14 days to get here, so we'll just have to start using cash only for a while--that's going to be hard to get used to, because I very rarely carry cash with me.

So, anyway, it's kind of a mess right now, but hopefully the bank will get it all sorted out soon. I found it pretty funny that a couple of the charges on the card were $60 for Burger King and $50 for Wendy's--who spends that much money on fast food in one day?! I also had to laugh at the irony... I was in NY to learn about financial security, and while I was there, my bank account info was hacked ;)

14 comments:

  1. That's horrible about your debit card. At least the bank flagged it and it was caught easily. It could have been much worse. Do you mind saying where it was that the info was stolen?

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  2. I'm so sorry about your debit card! I try and stick to cash as often as possible for that very reason. I always feel safer not using my debit, but sometimes, no matter how safe you are, things can still happen. I hope it all gets sorted out quickly!

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  3. My bank put a hold on my card after we moved from Wyoming to Colorado, like a month after. Even though our address was updated, it happened anyways. Mostly because we spent more than normal that particular day. I got a call from the 1-800 number for my bank asking if I was the one putting the charges through about 30 seconds after we left the store. The rep on the other end explained what happened and was very apologetic about it all. Luckily they didn't cancel my card, just a hold until they could confirm. After that I always call when we are headed out of town so they know if there are charges during certain days, it is most likely me.

    I am sure glad they caught yours. What a nightmare!

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  4. Ugh! Sorry about the debit card. It is strange that your bank didn't contact you immediately. When my card was hacked last year, the bank texted me 5 minutes after the first suspicious purchase (there were actually 2 purchases, but the first was for $7 to a charity, so it didn't set off any alarms) and we were able to shut the cards down immediately.

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  5. Sorry your cards got stolen like that. A few years back a similar thing happened to me, although they got my info online somehow as I'm in the UK and the transactions were in the US. Someone used my card to buy about $1500 worth of flights. It was about 2 weeks before Christmas and of course my cards had to be stopped and I couldn't buy the things I needed for Christmas. My bank increased my overdraft in the meantime to help me out but it was really inconvenient.

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  6. Glad to hear that your speed work felt good. I've been struggling with some hip flexor issues lately and have been nervous about adding speed work back in to my schedule. It's a great feeling when our bodies perform how we want them to, but sooo frustrating when an injury sneaks up!! Also, glad you guys caught those charges before something major! My sister had someone steal her info once and purchased expense airline tickets to Japan!! Luckily it was suspicious enough to warrant a call from her bank! Hope your mess is straightened out quickly!

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  7. Getting your card info stolen like that is the worst! I had it happen to a credit card and then my debit card within two months of each other. Needless to say, I switched to cash for about six months. I have since started using my cards again, but I really think I should switch back to cash only just to feel safe again and prevent it happening again.

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  8. Don't worry...your cards will come in less than 14 days. I got mine in about 5 days last time this happened. Best to use a credit card when traveling so your debit checking account is not hit.

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  9. I'm glad the speed work went well! Sucks about your debit cards... that is so frustrating! And fast food, really?!? Hopefully it won't take that long to get your cards... you'd think they'd expedite them for an identity theft situation!

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  10. So sorry your card info was stolen! I promise not all of NYC is bad! (Unscrupulous people are everywhere.)

    When that happened to me, my bank gave me a new card at a local branch so I didn't have to wait -- it was really efficient.

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  11. Wow, they stole your debit card info so they could invite all their friends to Burger King... Stealing aside, there are bigger/better goals in life! Very lame.

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  12. Do you know how the card was stolen? Like was it someone actually writing down the info? Or was it when you swiped the card and their system was hacked?

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  13. When my bosses card number was stolen it was actually workers who stole it and they were charging $50-$100 at fast food places. They found out they were getting cash back in addition to their $10 meal. It's crazy!

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  14. Wow, that IS ironic! I'm glad the bank caught it and you don't have to be responsible for it. Back in 2000 (long before identity theft was a "thing"), someone managed to steal my debit card number (we assume they cloned the card) and then used it to take $170 from two ATMs. It was the most AWFUL experience...the bank accused ME of lying, or loaning my card to a friend, and they refused to give me the money back! It was 3 months of pure hell--all over a measly $170!! My husband had had the account since he was 16, and yet they treated us like thieves!! I only got the money back after I contacted the FDIC. Once I got it back (after meeting with a Vice President at their downtown headquarters), I closed the account and refused to do business with them ever again...to this day, that's why I grumble if I have to set foot in "Comerica" Park. :p

    Anyway, I also wanted to say that I'm happy that you got your speedwork in and I LOVED the video of Joey and the hose--hysterical!!!

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