Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Hallowe'en!
I had to tire out the dog, somewhat. We jogged 9.78 miles. It was gorgeous out there, sunny and not too windy, and about 8C. Doesn't get much better than that. Now I guess I have to shower, carve a pumpkin, dress up, hand out candy, and then try not to stay out too late.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
insomnia
Another short sleep, like 4 hrs. I think I'm just stressed/easily excitable. Anyway, I ended up plowing through a chapter of my anatomy course before falling asleep, so it wasn't entirely fruitless.
It sure hurt to get up this morning, though. After work, I jogged with the dog, about 6.56 miles. We took it very slowly, and surprisingly, I felt fine. No stiffness, nor soreness...I think had I attempted to go faster than 10 or 11 or whatever min/mile, I might have felt something, but I kept it easy and loosened up.
More studying, more procrastination....I'm hoping to knock out an assignment today and then go to yoga and then straight to bed.
It sure hurt to get up this morning, though. After work, I jogged with the dog, about 6.56 miles. We took it very slowly, and surprisingly, I felt fine. No stiffness, nor soreness...I think had I attempted to go faster than 10 or 11 or whatever min/mile, I might have felt something, but I kept it easy and loosened up.
More studying, more procrastination....I'm hoping to knock out an assignment today and then go to yoga and then straight to bed.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Happy Hallowe'en
Well, preparations have come early this year! I'm working on a zombie costume, and it'll be 100% natural. Ok, I'm really short on sleep. Again. These past 3 nights have all been in the 4-5 hour/night range, and though I got to nap yesterday and today, that wasn't quite enough. Fortunately, work will be pretty darn light for the next while, so I can catch up.
So, Monday and Tuesday were very light running days, a few miles here and there with the dog, and jogging to work. Total, 8ish miles for the two days, I guess.
Today was 19.2 miles. First, 10.33ish miles with the dog--crazy weather! There was that melting snow smell too (snow + pollutants, I believe) that brings me back to my childhood, all those clammy hours in the schoolyard. Anyway, the dog and I got out after my morning job before all the snow melted, and jogged for almost a couple of hours. The path by the river was already clear.
Evening was speedwork, about 8.87 miles total. Today was 'tough', 4-6-8-6-4 min at 10K pace. Now, I have done just 3 10Ks, and none of them particularly well, and I was feeling sort of dull and unmotivated again (at least in terms of thinking) so I went with the flow of 'comfortably hard'.
4 min @ 7:17/mile
6 min @ 7:13
8 min @ 6:57
6 min @ 6:49
4 min @ 6:36
I was mostly on my own for these; nobody else near my pace. It was dark and windy. I was tired. All this actually helped: it was going to be somewhat miserable no matter what, and the inevitability got me into that robot mode where I accept the discomfort and just crank out whatever. I'm pleased with what I did tonight.
Next up: a few days of easy jogging and then the last monster run. And THEN the spa!!
So, Monday and Tuesday were very light running days, a few miles here and there with the dog, and jogging to work. Total, 8ish miles for the two days, I guess.
Today was 19.2 miles. First, 10.33ish miles with the dog--crazy weather! There was that melting snow smell too (snow + pollutants, I believe) that brings me back to my childhood, all those clammy hours in the schoolyard. Anyway, the dog and I got out after my morning job before all the snow melted, and jogged for almost a couple of hours. The path by the river was already clear.
Evening was speedwork, about 8.87 miles total. Today was 'tough', 4-6-8-6-4 min at 10K pace. Now, I have done just 3 10Ks, and none of them particularly well, and I was feeling sort of dull and unmotivated again (at least in terms of thinking) so I went with the flow of 'comfortably hard'.
4 min @ 7:17/mile
6 min @ 7:13
8 min @ 6:57
6 min @ 6:49
4 min @ 6:36
I was mostly on my own for these; nobody else near my pace. It was dark and windy. I was tired. All this actually helped: it was going to be somewhat miserable no matter what, and the inevitability got me into that robot mode where I accept the discomfort and just crank out whatever. I'm pleased with what I did tonight.
Next up: a few days of easy jogging and then the last monster run. And THEN the spa!!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
tired
I ran about 8 miles, 1 mile to the meeting place, and then 3.5 out and 3.5 back...ish. Not really sure. I wasn't wearing my Garmin because I felt somewhat tired from yesterday's run and short sleep.
Plus, I needed to take it somewhat easy because we went ziplining this afternoon. Well, that wouldn't have been too strenuous, but there were also obstacles, walking on wires, swinging things, etc, etc...I got pretty tired out and didn't finish the course. Did the Tarzan rope, enjoyed it, and figured I might as well end it on a high note.
It was a good day, but I'm beat. Just have to get through two heavy work days, and then I can relax more.
Oh, and this is my last tough week of training. Only 4 weeks until the marathon. Holy crap. Well, after the Tarzan rope, it should be a cakewalk. LOL
Plus, I needed to take it somewhat easy because we went ziplining this afternoon. Well, that wouldn't have been too strenuous, but there were also obstacles, walking on wires, swinging things, etc, etc...I got pretty tired out and didn't finish the course. Did the Tarzan rope, enjoyed it, and figured I might as well end it on a high note.
It was a good day, but I'm beat. Just have to get through two heavy work days, and then I can relax more.
Oh, and this is my last tough week of training. Only 4 weeks until the marathon. Holy crap. Well, after the Tarzan rope, it should be a cakewalk. LOL
Chafed!
Yep, I have under-upper-arm chafing, mainly because I ran in sodden clothes for upwards of two hours. Plus, I overdressed slightly, so I was probably sweating too. It was hard to tell.
At any rate, I ran over to a friend's house, and then ran with her and a few others for a while. The drizzle was slight at first, and it got heavier, to rain, then to pouring rain...didn't quite get to the downpour stage, but pretty close. Likewise, my mood shifted from annoyed, to miserable, to giddy, to numb. Eventually, there were just the two of us left, and we were achieving the hoped-for faster finish because we just wanted to go home already.
So, I ran in total 15.79 miles, including getting there and back. I didn't take any water or gels. Went home, jumped in the shower, and felt no different at first. LOL
At any rate, I've been having a bit of a science crisis, the regular ole thing about matter being primarily composed of space. I think I went through this in high school too: OMG, nothing's really solid! well, fortunately, I've also had to read about the adhesive qualities of water....after today's drenching, I definitely felt more cohesive. LOL
At any rate, I ran over to a friend's house, and then ran with her and a few others for a while. The drizzle was slight at first, and it got heavier, to rain, then to pouring rain...didn't quite get to the downpour stage, but pretty close. Likewise, my mood shifted from annoyed, to miserable, to giddy, to numb. Eventually, there were just the two of us left, and we were achieving the hoped-for faster finish because we just wanted to go home already.
So, I ran in total 15.79 miles, including getting there and back. I didn't take any water or gels. Went home, jumped in the shower, and felt no different at first. LOL
At any rate, I've been having a bit of a science crisis, the regular ole thing about matter being primarily composed of space. I think I went through this in high school too: OMG, nothing's really solid! well, fortunately, I've also had to read about the adhesive qualities of water....after today's drenching, I definitely felt more cohesive. LOL
Friday, October 24, 2008
Speedwork
The dog got two walks and no run today. I'm nearing the point of 'oh, this didn't use to hurt before', little glitches here and there. I stretch, take the stick to it, and something else crops up. I am getting pretty tired!
So I saved my energy for speedwork. Was very sluggish jogging over and doing the warm up drills, but I eased into the intervals. 2 min intervals at 5K pace, measured in miles:
.27/@7:24/mile
.27/@7:24
.28/@7:08
.25/@ 8:00 (did someone drop a doughnut???!)
.29/@6:53
.28/@7:08
.29/@6:53
.31/@6:27
.31/@6:27
.32/@6:15
It was ok. I got into that tired dull state of mind where I could just keep plugging away because caring and complaining were too fatiguing. Near the end, I freshened up and was trying to do one complete lap around the section we were running around, and the last one was successful! runningmap.com pegs it at .34 of a mile...
Total run/jogged: 8.58 miles. So I'm pretty much at my mileage goal for this week, 50 miles, but there's still a longish run tomorrow with some friends. oh, well!
So I saved my energy for speedwork. Was very sluggish jogging over and doing the warm up drills, but I eased into the intervals. 2 min intervals at 5K pace, measured in miles:
.27/@7:24/mile
.27/@7:24
.28/@7:08
.25/@ 8:00 (did someone drop a doughnut???!)
.29/@6:53
.28/@7:08
.29/@6:53
.31/@6:27
.31/@6:27
.32/@6:15
It was ok. I got into that tired dull state of mind where I could just keep plugging away because caring and complaining were too fatiguing. Near the end, I freshened up and was trying to do one complete lap around the section we were running around, and the last one was successful! runningmap.com pegs it at .34 of a mile...
Total run/jogged: 8.58 miles. So I'm pretty much at my mileage goal for this week, 50 miles, but there's still a longish run tomorrow with some friends. oh, well!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, no running, just grazing. The army marches on its stomach
Not one step. Not even to work. I had just the morning job today, and will walk with the dog and do yoga this afternoon. The rest of the day will be devoted to studying.
And eating. I went to the grocery store and bought more things to graze on (apart from the dried fruit I've been eating), including bananas, pickled herring, pomegranates, bean salad, bagels, and hummus. It looks like I'm replacing popcorn with corn chips and hummus. alright, then.
And there were two churros. Were. See, there's a bakery I usually walk by on my way home from the morning job, and lately I've been hitting the skor caramel/granola bars there pretty hard...I gave it a miss today but thus broke the cardinal rule of grocery shopping and started off hungry. Churros are not ideal, but now that I know that they aren't particularly good there anyway, I can pass them up next time. Hopefully. I think I'll give up and keep going to the bakery instead. The skor caramel/granola bars there aren't deep-fried, at least.
At any rate, I'm happy to not run today. I've been pushing it pretty closely lately. There's a little more that feels stiff and sore when I start out most times; I've been more diligent about stretching and yoga and I think that's holding most of it at bay. I've definitely noticed an improvement in my fitness recently, despite the increased fatigue, which is really encouraging...but at this point it's almost too encouraging, because my body's also much closer to the edge.
And eating. I went to the grocery store and bought more things to graze on (apart from the dried fruit I've been eating), including bananas, pickled herring, pomegranates, bean salad, bagels, and hummus. It looks like I'm replacing popcorn with corn chips and hummus. alright, then.
And there were two churros. Were. See, there's a bakery I usually walk by on my way home from the morning job, and lately I've been hitting the skor caramel/granola bars there pretty hard...I gave it a miss today but thus broke the cardinal rule of grocery shopping and started off hungry. Churros are not ideal, but now that I know that they aren't particularly good there anyway, I can pass them up next time. Hopefully. I think I'll give up and keep going to the bakery instead. The skor caramel/granola bars there aren't deep-fried, at least.
At any rate, I'm happy to not run today. I've been pushing it pretty closely lately. There's a little more that feels stiff and sore when I start out most times; I've been more diligent about stretching and yoga and I think that's holding most of it at bay. I've definitely noticed an improvement in my fitness recently, despite the increased fatigue, which is really encouraging...but at this point it's almost too encouraging, because my body's also much closer to the edge.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday/Wednesday
Tuesday, no running, except about 2 miles total to jobs. EHHHHH.
Wednesday, jogged with dog 7.6 miles. He was good and then we finished our run, started walking home, and he decided to ignore me. Nothing major, not even much pulling, but I was starting to get annoyed with the marking, and telling him not to mark (something in heat must have passed by because he was attempting pretty much one continuous dribble of pee along the Canal path, lol), so I put the Gentle Leader on him. I carry that thing every run, but usually don't use it....about once every few weeks or so, though, he needs a Gentle Reminder that it's MY run. Apart from that, though, it was a good run. I worked on more form issues. I'm trying to be more efficient. I'm lazy.
Speedwork tonight. First, studying.
But, lately, nothing has been sinking in. This marathon training, and recent short sleep--again--have messed up my brains. I'd thought that I'd balanced my intake of caffeine at work well, but the last two days have been ghastly. I think it's more adrenaline than caffeine, anyway. At any rate, I cannot continue to stay up until 3 or whatever, and then get up 4 hrs later. Not enough sleep. Another problem is hunger--I eat a lot at work, but by the time I get home, I'm hungry again. I need to smarten up and just have milk or Ovaltine, not the full-on late night fridge raid. Who eats hummus and bagels after midnight?
Anyway, if I drink less tea at work, and eat less afterwards, I might be able to sleep more; thus I'll feel less stiff/tired and less cognitively-impaired.
The nice thing about being somewhat sleep-deprived, though, is that I somehow get a new perspective on creative concerns--IE, what to be for Halloween? I might not bother, but I feel like I'm already halfway to looking like Amy Winehouse. This would not have occured to me if I'd been in a more normal frame of mind.
will write more after speedwork.
ok, speedwork done, bringing my daily total to 18.32 miles. Anyway, I think I've hit upon gold...let me explain. My deepest set burning running ambition is not just to get 'fast', whatever that means, but to get 'fast' and run fast...in costume. On and off, I've been pondering the possibilities. Amy Winehouse running a marathon would be something. By the time I get "fast", though---if---there will be someone else on the pop chop block. I hope Amy's straightened herself out by then. She really has an amazing voice. Anyway, oh, yeah, speedwork--
Well, just as I'm doing a mini digestive system detox (cut out a few things, and added more fruit and real cranberry juice and green tea), I've been pondering an emotional detox too. I've been really negative in general, I think--for me, at any rate. Too much whining. Much of it has to do with Matt's deployment. I'm handling it ok, but not well. This is a sucky period, several months in but still not even halfway. Plus, there are my job issues, but I've taken steps recently, and things have recently become better.
Anyway, the gastro-intestinal thing made my Monday and Tuesday evening shifts interesting, and I'm feeling somewhat drained because of it. Edit: to clarify, I wasn't among the inflicted, not directly. Anyway, I decided that I just had to dig in and do the workout, no whining---I would spare Gazelles #1 and #2. They're pretty tough, but they deserve better. LOL
The workout was 6X 6min. I started quickly, before I had time to think or whine about it, and ended up in a group of the faster people in the run club, who were running slower than usual because of races this weekend. Still, it was a bit unnerving, but I hung in there. Actually, it wasn't hard to hang in there, for some reason. I was talking a bit with them too, and hearing them take the pace relatively effortlessly kind of sunk into my head the idea that, no, this wasn't hard after all, really.
.83/@7:16
.84/@7:09??? (forgot to hit the lap button--.95 miles in 8 min, 2min of which were rest. Conveniently, all of my rest intervals were .11, so I figure I ran .84)
.85/@7:05
.87/@6:54
.85/@7:00 (the people I was with didn't do this repeat--I was on my own. Just ran what it felt like before. not bad)
.9/@6:39 (ended up linking up with Gazelle #1)
So, a pretty decent workout. It was amazing how not terrible the intervals over 7:00/mile felt, actually. This is good. I've been trying to convince myself that, in light of my recent 1/2 marathon, that 7s are actually not scary at all, even when they're on the low side. I still have a mental ceiling about 6s...
At any rate, I've run most of the miles I wanted to run this week, already, and I'll be well over at this rate...I might take tomorrow off and just walk the dog. Definitely, I should head over for another yin yoga class too.
Wednesday, jogged with dog 7.6 miles. He was good and then we finished our run, started walking home, and he decided to ignore me. Nothing major, not even much pulling, but I was starting to get annoyed with the marking, and telling him not to mark (something in heat must have passed by because he was attempting pretty much one continuous dribble of pee along the Canal path, lol), so I put the Gentle Leader on him. I carry that thing every run, but usually don't use it....about once every few weeks or so, though, he needs a Gentle Reminder that it's MY run. Apart from that, though, it was a good run. I worked on more form issues. I'm trying to be more efficient. I'm lazy.
Speedwork tonight. First, studying.
But, lately, nothing has been sinking in. This marathon training, and recent short sleep--again--have messed up my brains. I'd thought that I'd balanced my intake of caffeine at work well, but the last two days have been ghastly. I think it's more adrenaline than caffeine, anyway. At any rate, I cannot continue to stay up until 3 or whatever, and then get up 4 hrs later. Not enough sleep. Another problem is hunger--I eat a lot at work, but by the time I get home, I'm hungry again. I need to smarten up and just have milk or Ovaltine, not the full-on late night fridge raid. Who eats hummus and bagels after midnight?
Anyway, if I drink less tea at work, and eat less afterwards, I might be able to sleep more; thus I'll feel less stiff/tired and less cognitively-impaired.
The nice thing about being somewhat sleep-deprived, though, is that I somehow get a new perspective on creative concerns--IE, what to be for Halloween? I might not bother, but I feel like I'm already halfway to looking like Amy Winehouse. This would not have occured to me if I'd been in a more normal frame of mind.
will write more after speedwork.
ok, speedwork done, bringing my daily total to 18.32 miles. Anyway, I think I've hit upon gold...let me explain. My deepest set burning running ambition is not just to get 'fast', whatever that means, but to get 'fast' and run fast...in costume. On and off, I've been pondering the possibilities. Amy Winehouse running a marathon would be something. By the time I get "fast", though---if---there will be someone else on the pop chop block. I hope Amy's straightened herself out by then. She really has an amazing voice. Anyway, oh, yeah, speedwork--
Well, just as I'm doing a mini digestive system detox (cut out a few things, and added more fruit and real cranberry juice and green tea), I've been pondering an emotional detox too. I've been really negative in general, I think--for me, at any rate. Too much whining. Much of it has to do with Matt's deployment. I'm handling it ok, but not well. This is a sucky period, several months in but still not even halfway. Plus, there are my job issues, but I've taken steps recently, and things have recently become better.
Anyway, the gastro-intestinal thing made my Monday and Tuesday evening shifts interesting, and I'm feeling somewhat drained because of it. Edit: to clarify, I wasn't among the inflicted, not directly. Anyway, I decided that I just had to dig in and do the workout, no whining---I would spare Gazelles #1 and #2. They're pretty tough, but they deserve better. LOL
The workout was 6X 6min. I started quickly, before I had time to think or whine about it, and ended up in a group of the faster people in the run club, who were running slower than usual because of races this weekend. Still, it was a bit unnerving, but I hung in there. Actually, it wasn't hard to hang in there, for some reason. I was talking a bit with them too, and hearing them take the pace relatively effortlessly kind of sunk into my head the idea that, no, this wasn't hard after all, really.
.83/@7:16
.84/@7:09??? (forgot to hit the lap button--.95 miles in 8 min, 2min of which were rest. Conveniently, all of my rest intervals were .11, so I figure I ran .84)
.85/@7:05
.87/@6:54
.85/@7:00 (the people I was with didn't do this repeat--I was on my own. Just ran what it felt like before. not bad)
.9/@6:39 (ended up linking up with Gazelle #1)
So, a pretty decent workout. It was amazing how not terrible the intervals over 7:00/mile felt, actually. This is good. I've been trying to convince myself that, in light of my recent 1/2 marathon, that 7s are actually not scary at all, even when they're on the low side. I still have a mental ceiling about 6s...
At any rate, I've run most of the miles I wanted to run this week, already, and I'll be well over at this rate...I might take tomorrow off and just walk the dog. Definitely, I should head over for another yin yoga class too.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Full of beans
Well, walks don't cut it for my dog, lol....2 days without running and he's totally in my biz, glued to my hip, tumoresque, and MANIC, so we jogged around for 5ish miles. It was not entirely relaxing because there was a great disparity between his level of energy and mine, but I did get blood going, at least. There wasn't much that was tight, surprisingly. I was just tired.
It really helped going to yin yoga last night. Some of the poses were pretty agonizing, but I walked out of there feeling totally new. So, I'll do some more tonight...I usually do at least 1/2 in the poses while studying, but I really need to focus on the yoga itself, and the deep breathing, and so forth, to reap the full benefits. However, sitting in the poses while studying is better than nothing, I guess.
Anyway, famous last words: I doubt we'll run tomorrow. I have a couple of errands to do between jobs.
It really helped going to yin yoga last night. Some of the poses were pretty agonizing, but I walked out of there feeling totally new. So, I'll do some more tonight...I usually do at least 1/2 in the poses while studying, but I really need to focus on the yoga itself, and the deep breathing, and so forth, to reap the full benefits. However, sitting in the poses while studying is better than nothing, I guess.
Anyway, famous last words: I doubt we'll run tomorrow. I have a couple of errands to do between jobs.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
follow the leader
Well, I was of two minds (one vacuous, lol) about running this morning with the group. I wouldn't have considered it at all, except that I left gazelle #1 alone in the wilderness last Sunday and felt a little guilty about that. LOL. Plus, the route looked neat.
I slept a LOT and got up, didn't feel stiff, so it was on.
The pace was faster than expected, because we ended up behind somebody even faster, but he knew an even better route, a really interesting route, and so I had to keep up. It wasn't hard to, anyway, because we were running on this litle dirt path by the river, sometimes through tall grasses, behind buildings, etc, etc...I'd never been there before and it was exhilirating. I really miss running on that sort of surface--it wasn't a paved or even un-paved bike path, it was a true running trail. Single track. It was totally primeval....lol....well, not really. Pretend there was an apocalypse, though, and infrastructure collapsed, and survivors had to scramble through re-emerging nature amid crumbling concrete and rusted rebar and so forth...well, this is the sort of thing we'd be hustling on, this small path engineered by foot traffic.
It was so much fun. I didn't really know where I was...yeah, I vaguely knew which way to get back home, but I didn't really know how far I was going, how fast--all I had to do was follow. And it felt surprisingly easy. We were going right around 8:00/mile, and it was fine....for about 13-14 K, and then we were on boring roads again and suddenly my quads had had enough.
I elected not to do the loop around the Farm; instead, I jogged back along the Canal. Counting running to the meeting spot, I ran about 14.67 miles, which puts me close to 60K these past 2 days. I should feel worse than I do, but I think all these miles are starting to build up and stuff is finally getting less hard. Not speedwork--I'm definitely getting sluggish with that--but just miles and miles in general.
It was a big confidence boost, too. We were going faster than my marathon pace. So, when I'm get to the tired point, I will have no excuse to go slower. LOL
Yoga tonight, and I doubt I'll run Monday or Tuesday: heavy work days, both of them.
I slept a LOT and got up, didn't feel stiff, so it was on.
The pace was faster than expected, because we ended up behind somebody even faster, but he knew an even better route, a really interesting route, and so I had to keep up. It wasn't hard to, anyway, because we were running on this litle dirt path by the river, sometimes through tall grasses, behind buildings, etc, etc...I'd never been there before and it was exhilirating. I really miss running on that sort of surface--it wasn't a paved or even un-paved bike path, it was a true running trail. Single track. It was totally primeval....lol....well, not really. Pretend there was an apocalypse, though, and infrastructure collapsed, and survivors had to scramble through re-emerging nature amid crumbling concrete and rusted rebar and so forth...well, this is the sort of thing we'd be hustling on, this small path engineered by foot traffic.
It was so much fun. I didn't really know where I was...yeah, I vaguely knew which way to get back home, but I didn't really know how far I was going, how fast--all I had to do was follow. And it felt surprisingly easy. We were going right around 8:00/mile, and it was fine....for about 13-14 K, and then we were on boring roads again and suddenly my quads had had enough.
I elected not to do the loop around the Farm; instead, I jogged back along the Canal. Counting running to the meeting spot, I ran about 14.67 miles, which puts me close to 60K these past 2 days. I should feel worse than I do, but I think all these miles are starting to build up and stuff is finally getting less hard. Not speedwork--I'm definitely getting sluggish with that--but just miles and miles in general.
It was a big confidence boost, too. We were going faster than my marathon pace. So, when I'm get to the tired point, I will have no excuse to go slower. LOL
Yoga tonight, and I doubt I'll run Monday or Tuesday: heavy work days, both of them.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Coasting on good weather and good conversation
So I decided that, instead of being a total slug today, I'd accompany someone else for the first bit of her monster 30ish K run. 10 or so miles wouldn't hurt.
Getting up for an 8 am start did...I'm used to that the morning after the evening shift, but it still isn't pleasant. I drank some juice, pulled on some clothes, and left. Fortunately, I grabbed a gel at the last minute. Just in case. Why? I'll sometimes run 2hrs without eating or drinking anything, and feel fine.
Well, some higher power had a surprise for me in store. First, I felt cool. Shorts and long sleeves and gloves. I jogged over to the meeting point, and then we set off, and it was wonderful. Very peaceful. The leaves were so vibrant. There was frost, too, by the river, which was all sparkly and so on....ok, poetry escapes me, but the scene could have been in a snow globe without the snow or the shaking-up. And the pace was relaxing, the conversation interesting...well, we coasted to the point where I would have turned off to go home, and I didn't want to go.
There was no reason to, really.
There was an optional turning off point later on, for 25K. I still didn't want to go. What was 5K more? I ate my gel just in case, and my friend offered me some water, which I accepted. Very nice of her. I was totally unprepared...heck, I was wearing Nike Frees. However, I wasn't worried. I've long exceeded the recommended 'for easy runs 3-6 miles long' guidance or whatever it is. My regular running shoes tend to be pretty light and skimpy, too.
Near the end, I was starting to feel tired, and my quads were starting to feel sore. I will have to stretch them out more tonight. Other than that, it was a great run and I can't believe how quickly the 3+ hrs passed. I jogged home and figured out that, in total, I'd run 22.03 miles. A slight hair over the 10 miles I'd figured on. This bumps up my weekly mileage obscenely. Yes, obscenely. I was doubtful that I'd get over 70 miles/week during this training, and I'm now over 80. This is artificial, this is something I'm not going to do weeks on end, or even next week or anytime before 2009, I figure, but it's still something. geez. I miss my husband that much!
Now I'm partaking of the last bag of (victory) popcorn.
Getting up for an 8 am start did...I'm used to that the morning after the evening shift, but it still isn't pleasant. I drank some juice, pulled on some clothes, and left. Fortunately, I grabbed a gel at the last minute. Just in case. Why? I'll sometimes run 2hrs without eating or drinking anything, and feel fine.
Well, some higher power had a surprise for me in store. First, I felt cool. Shorts and long sleeves and gloves. I jogged over to the meeting point, and then we set off, and it was wonderful. Very peaceful. The leaves were so vibrant. There was frost, too, by the river, which was all sparkly and so on....ok, poetry escapes me, but the scene could have been in a snow globe without the snow or the shaking-up. And the pace was relaxing, the conversation interesting...well, we coasted to the point where I would have turned off to go home, and I didn't want to go.
There was no reason to, really.
There was an optional turning off point later on, for 25K. I still didn't want to go. What was 5K more? I ate my gel just in case, and my friend offered me some water, which I accepted. Very nice of her. I was totally unprepared...heck, I was wearing Nike Frees. However, I wasn't worried. I've long exceeded the recommended 'for easy runs 3-6 miles long' guidance or whatever it is. My regular running shoes tend to be pretty light and skimpy, too.
Near the end, I was starting to feel tired, and my quads were starting to feel sore. I will have to stretch them out more tonight. Other than that, it was a great run and I can't believe how quickly the 3+ hrs passed. I jogged home and figured out that, in total, I'd run 22.03 miles. A slight hair over the 10 miles I'd figured on. This bumps up my weekly mileage obscenely. Yes, obscenely. I was doubtful that I'd get over 70 miles/week during this training, and I'm now over 80. This is artificial, this is something I'm not going to do weeks on end, or even next week or anytime before 2009, I figure, but it's still something. geez. I miss my husband that much!
Now I'm partaking of the last bag of (victory) popcorn.
Friday, October 17, 2008
zoning out
Today was a good run.
Actually, getting to work was a mini run (again), but I'm trying not to count that, as painful as it is to tear myself out of bed that early. The job itself is fine, I just wish I could sleep in more. ah, well.
And then, after that job, came the real run. The dog and I jogged for 8.02 miles. It was a proper jog, leisurely and languid. I felt a little pressed for time, as I wanted a nap before my evening job, but I managed to keep things easy. I tinkered with my form a bit, as I usually do, trying to loosen things up here and there, and adjust things, and see how much bang I can get for my buck. IE, if picking up my feet slighly more quickly seems worth the effort, I'll experiment with that for a while, and then I'll concentrate on my hips, the tilt of my pelvis, or pushing off from the hip flexors, or maybe I'll concentrate on keeping my ankles loose, but not too loose, and keeping my footstrike soft, but not too soft, and then it's time to check out what my arms are doing, etc, etc, and I'm working on eradicating this weird head tilt I sometimes get, too. Stuff like that is usually good for several miles' worth of attention.
It was a very productive run today.
Actually, getting to work was a mini run (again), but I'm trying not to count that, as painful as it is to tear myself out of bed that early. The job itself is fine, I just wish I could sleep in more. ah, well.
And then, after that job, came the real run. The dog and I jogged for 8.02 miles. It was a proper jog, leisurely and languid. I felt a little pressed for time, as I wanted a nap before my evening job, but I managed to keep things easy. I tinkered with my form a bit, as I usually do, trying to loosen things up here and there, and adjust things, and see how much bang I can get for my buck. IE, if picking up my feet slighly more quickly seems worth the effort, I'll experiment with that for a while, and then I'll concentrate on my hips, the tilt of my pelvis, or pushing off from the hip flexors, or maybe I'll concentrate on keeping my ankles loose, but not too loose, and keeping my footstrike soft, but not too soft, and then it's time to check out what my arms are doing, etc, etc, and I'm working on eradicating this weird head tilt I sometimes get, too. Stuff like that is usually good for several miles' worth of attention.
It was a very productive run today.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Slacking
Today is an easy day. Usually we jog about 4-10 miles on such a day.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get to sleep last night; fortunately, I had just my morning job. I felt sort of off, though, and definitely stiff during the physio (I'm not a physiotherapist or anything, but leading exercises is part of my morning job, which actually helps me out as much as them, I think). I felt sluggish in general.
Got home and grabbed the dog. I decided on a 6ish mile loop, and we set off...sort of. There was someone hawking something that wasn't readily explainable or understandable, some sort of insurance; she was approaching the porch as we exited the house. I asked my dog to sit and he quickly plunked his butt down. She continued to advance, but I warned her apologetically that he was not friendly with visitors and she stopped. He's obedient, but he really doesn't like strangers on our property (out on the street or wherever is fine), and whatever she was selling didn't seem 100% legit either. I didn't want to waste either my time or hers. She just stood there and I waited for her to leave for a few seconds, and then told her that I wasn't the owner of the house anyway. At that she left.
I'm not sure what it was about her, whether it was the lack of some sort of insignia that I recognized, or the randomness of the encounter, but I got a bad vibe. It probably bounced off her from my dog, though. LOL
Anyway, we trotted off and jogged for about 3 miles. I was stiff from yesterday, but the stretching and stick had helped. I wasn't as tight above the knee. After about three miles, I stopped to let him go poop (we're getting better at dealing with the Phantom Feces), and then I started up again, for maybe 10 metres. I wasn't injured or especially sore, but I didn't feel like running any more. I've already run 52 miles this week including today's run, good grief. This is one of my highest-mileage weeks. Tomorrow and Saturday will be easy runs, though, so I'm through the worst of it, and Sunday's long run won't be very long, either.
Anyway, we walked the rest of the way home. We dealt a bit with the leaf aversion issue, too--by the Canal, there were a few parts that were totally blanketed by leaves, so he had to walk on them. He's gotten much better about not bumping into me, but he's still fussy about walking on leaves.
I was still feeling kind of blah, and then my heart was lifted by a glorious sight: they've finally opened up the walkway between the Canal and the NAC parking garage or whatever it is...all summer long, we've had to jog into the road and around construction. I've been waiting for them to fix the issue and take the barricades down. It was a pretty small detour, but annoying because there isn't much space, some of the cars go pretty quickly there, and periodically there is a gala or something and picking my way through the well-heeled makes me feel so uncouth.
Strangely enough, as we returned home, we met someone else coming down the street, my great-aunt. Instead of some sketchy insurance, she offered to give us some flowering plants for the rock garden out front. Much better!
Unfortunately, I couldn't get to sleep last night; fortunately, I had just my morning job. I felt sort of off, though, and definitely stiff during the physio (I'm not a physiotherapist or anything, but leading exercises is part of my morning job, which actually helps me out as much as them, I think). I felt sluggish in general.
Got home and grabbed the dog. I decided on a 6ish mile loop, and we set off...sort of. There was someone hawking something that wasn't readily explainable or understandable, some sort of insurance; she was approaching the porch as we exited the house. I asked my dog to sit and he quickly plunked his butt down. She continued to advance, but I warned her apologetically that he was not friendly with visitors and she stopped. He's obedient, but he really doesn't like strangers on our property (out on the street or wherever is fine), and whatever she was selling didn't seem 100% legit either. I didn't want to waste either my time or hers. She just stood there and I waited for her to leave for a few seconds, and then told her that I wasn't the owner of the house anyway. At that she left.
I'm not sure what it was about her, whether it was the lack of some sort of insignia that I recognized, or the randomness of the encounter, but I got a bad vibe. It probably bounced off her from my dog, though. LOL
Anyway, we trotted off and jogged for about 3 miles. I was stiff from yesterday, but the stretching and stick had helped. I wasn't as tight above the knee. After about three miles, I stopped to let him go poop (we're getting better at dealing with the Phantom Feces), and then I started up again, for maybe 10 metres. I wasn't injured or especially sore, but I didn't feel like running any more. I've already run 52 miles this week including today's run, good grief. This is one of my highest-mileage weeks. Tomorrow and Saturday will be easy runs, though, so I'm through the worst of it, and Sunday's long run won't be very long, either.
Anyway, we walked the rest of the way home. We dealt a bit with the leaf aversion issue, too--by the Canal, there were a few parts that were totally blanketed by leaves, so he had to walk on them. He's gotten much better about not bumping into me, but he's still fussy about walking on leaves.
I was still feeling kind of blah, and then my heart was lifted by a glorious sight: they've finally opened up the walkway between the Canal and the NAC parking garage or whatever it is...all summer long, we've had to jog into the road and around construction. I've been waiting for them to fix the issue and take the barricades down. It was a pretty small detour, but annoying because there isn't much space, some of the cars go pretty quickly there, and periodically there is a gala or something and picking my way through the well-heeled makes me feel so uncouth.
Strangely enough, as we returned home, we met someone else coming down the street, my great-aunt. Instead of some sketchy insurance, she offered to give us some flowering plants for the rock garden out front. Much better!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
It's getting to that point~
Nothing major, just, well...
I have chronic digestive issues which are or aren't helped (depending on how you look at it) by my favourite snack/study food ever: popcorn. I've had to make other long-term alterations to my diet these past few years and I've been pretty consistent with those, but I have a hard time tearing myself away from those fluffy little puffy strumpets of delight. However, limiting quantity and/or frequency seems to work. Sometimes I have to eliminate it altogether until things simmer down, but I've been doing pretty well. I think I eased off medication in April or May thereabouts, which was a big deal. The heat of summer is another trigger, and I'm happy that I made it through unaided.
However, I've been slipping up recently: more studying = more popcorn. And this additional popcorn has been colluding with other triggers, more stress, more running, and more stress. This has been creeping up this past week or so, but kind of really became apparent at tonight's speedwork session.
Soooo....it's getting to that point in training where I give up popcorn. I've done this the last few times I've trained for something important, and it helped, I think. I have about 1/3 of a bag of SmartFood left, and maybe one more downstairs, and then that's it for a while. I'll have to switch to something else, because I need to graze....I think I will go to Herb&Spice and buy some dried fruit or something wholesome. Or maybe I can get some dried seaweed somewhere.
Anyway, today I ran 15.18ish miles, not counting the .5 of a mile jogging to work this morning. I'm not counting that one because it sprung from poor planning/procrastination, etc. I should be properly chastised for it. LOL
After work, I jogged about 6 miles with the dog, to loosen up mainly. And that worked. I got some kinks out and felt better by the end of the run. Most of my runs seem to be recovery runs of this nature, actually. Nowadays, I'm especially working on my right quad, which is a little tight just above the knee in front. There's always some little thing slightly off, and it shifts around, so I'm not worried. Just have to stretch/yoga/roll regularly. I'm in a modified Hero Pose right now. Having a laptop permits simultaneous typing and torture, which is really quite convenient.
Then it was speedwork, and thank goodness for Gazelles 1 and 2 (I was definitely #3 this night)....it was a strangely tough workout and I really felt like quitting. Especially at one point. But they hauled my arse about the Hill with a minimum of mocking, and I'm very grateful to them.
2X1200M
5:07/@6:51/mile
4:57@6:38/mile (this one was too fast, in retrospect...)
3X800M (it was actually a bit longer, but close enough to not fuss about six-seven seconds less/mile. oops, I did look it up anyway...busted!)
3:22@6:44/mile
3:44@7:28/mile
3:25@6:50/mile
4X400
1:33@6:14/mile
1:32@6:10/mile
1:32@6:10/mile
1:34@6:18/mile (probably slowed down by Usain Bolt-ish victory celebration, lol)
Guess which one nearly had me crapping my pants? I started off with the others, and then there was a tremor in the force, and I felt it prudent to walk for a bit.
But, no. The same sort of thing had cut short a sprint workout a couple of weeks ago or so, and I felt sort of like a failure afterwards.
Instead of walking and FAILING, I kept going as fast as I could bear. The discomfort did not abate during the repeat, but after the rest interval, I felt pretty much back to normal. Thank goodness. I'm proud that I got through it without quitting; I wish my times/paces had been more consistent, but one can't have everything.
The problem sort of re-emerged during the 400M intervals, but it was ok. I was pretty tired at this point, so they probably wouldn't have been much faster, if at all, anyway.
Tomorrow will definitely be an easy day of running, and yin yoga in the evening. Meanwhile, I have gotten out of that Hero Pose--slowly!--that's the worst one for me, I think, which probably means that it's the most beneficial one. Kind of like the most tasty things, like popcorn, being the least beneficial. Funny how life works like that.
I have chronic digestive issues which are or aren't helped (depending on how you look at it) by my favourite snack/study food ever: popcorn. I've had to make other long-term alterations to my diet these past few years and I've been pretty consistent with those, but I have a hard time tearing myself away from those fluffy little puffy strumpets of delight. However, limiting quantity and/or frequency seems to work. Sometimes I have to eliminate it altogether until things simmer down, but I've been doing pretty well. I think I eased off medication in April or May thereabouts, which was a big deal. The heat of summer is another trigger, and I'm happy that I made it through unaided.
However, I've been slipping up recently: more studying = more popcorn. And this additional popcorn has been colluding with other triggers, more stress, more running, and more stress. This has been creeping up this past week or so, but kind of really became apparent at tonight's speedwork session.
Soooo....it's getting to that point in training where I give up popcorn. I've done this the last few times I've trained for something important, and it helped, I think. I have about 1/3 of a bag of SmartFood left, and maybe one more downstairs, and then that's it for a while. I'll have to switch to something else, because I need to graze....I think I will go to Herb&Spice and buy some dried fruit or something wholesome. Or maybe I can get some dried seaweed somewhere.
Anyway, today I ran 15.18ish miles, not counting the .5 of a mile jogging to work this morning. I'm not counting that one because it sprung from poor planning/procrastination, etc. I should be properly chastised for it. LOL
After work, I jogged about 6 miles with the dog, to loosen up mainly. And that worked. I got some kinks out and felt better by the end of the run. Most of my runs seem to be recovery runs of this nature, actually. Nowadays, I'm especially working on my right quad, which is a little tight just above the knee in front. There's always some little thing slightly off, and it shifts around, so I'm not worried. Just have to stretch/yoga/roll regularly. I'm in a modified Hero Pose right now. Having a laptop permits simultaneous typing and torture, which is really quite convenient.
Then it was speedwork, and thank goodness for Gazelles 1 and 2 (I was definitely #3 this night)....it was a strangely tough workout and I really felt like quitting. Especially at one point. But they hauled my arse about the Hill with a minimum of mocking, and I'm very grateful to them.
2X1200M
5:07/@6:51/mile
4:57@6:38/mile (this one was too fast, in retrospect...)
3X800M (it was actually a bit longer, but close enough to not fuss about six-seven seconds less/mile. oops, I did look it up anyway...busted!)
3:22@6:44/mile
3:44@7:28/mile
3:25@6:50/mile
4X400
1:33@6:14/mile
1:32@6:10/mile
1:32@6:10/mile
1:34@6:18/mile (probably slowed down by Usain Bolt-ish victory celebration, lol)
Guess which one nearly had me crapping my pants? I started off with the others, and then there was a tremor in the force, and I felt it prudent to walk for a bit.
But, no. The same sort of thing had cut short a sprint workout a couple of weeks ago or so, and I felt sort of like a failure afterwards.
Instead of walking and FAILING, I kept going as fast as I could bear. The discomfort did not abate during the repeat, but after the rest interval, I felt pretty much back to normal. Thank goodness. I'm proud that I got through it without quitting; I wish my times/paces had been more consistent, but one can't have everything.
The problem sort of re-emerged during the 400M intervals, but it was ok. I was pretty tired at this point, so they probably wouldn't have been much faster, if at all, anyway.
Tomorrow will definitely be an easy day of running, and yin yoga in the evening. Meanwhile, I have gotten out of that Hero Pose--slowly!--that's the worst one for me, I think, which probably means that it's the most beneficial one. Kind of like the most tasty things, like popcorn, being the least beneficial. Funny how life works like that.
rest day
Sort of...
I jogged to work again, lol, and probably walked an additional 4 miles. This isn't out of the ordinary: I usually walk a few miles a day to/from work, errands, etc. I'm only mentioning it now because I want to write about something other than the election. Whoops...
Anyway, I feel ok from yesterday, just a little stiff. Will take the stick to my legs before I go to sleep (soon!) So, I think I'll be good for the usual two-run Wednesday. will see.
My biggest problem right now is shoes. As in new shoes, as in in time for the marathon. Yes, I'm still waffling about that. This would be so simple, especially since my ex-local running store has a really nifty website....but they're in the US and I'm in Canada. However, this would be still be simple, except that the shoes I want are New Balance and New Balance has a chokehold on importation, so I have to cough up the extra $70 or whatever no matter what. uh. So, plan B is to buy the shoes in Philly and walk/run around in them for a few days...this is simple too, but what if they don't have my size at the local running store there? So, plan C is to order the shoes online and have them shipped to my father-in-law's....and why am I not jumping on this? Well, I'd hate to inconvenience my FIL and step-MIL any more; they're already letting me stay with them before the marathon. And breaking in new shoes a few days before a marathon is a little half-baked and I don't want them to know that I'm half-baked, or my ideas, at any rate. LOL.
Seriously, though, the first pair of those shoes were like clouds from the get-go, so I think plan C could work. Plan D is ask my step-MIL to mail the shoes to me, but I don't want to waste her time like that. Plan E is to bend over and give NB the extra $70 or whatever. Honestly, that's pretty much a 2nd set of shoes!!
I jogged to work again, lol, and probably walked an additional 4 miles. This isn't out of the ordinary: I usually walk a few miles a day to/from work, errands, etc. I'm only mentioning it now because I want to write about something other than the election. Whoops...
Anyway, I feel ok from yesterday, just a little stiff. Will take the stick to my legs before I go to sleep (soon!) So, I think I'll be good for the usual two-run Wednesday. will see.
My biggest problem right now is shoes. As in new shoes, as in in time for the marathon. Yes, I'm still waffling about that. This would be so simple, especially since my ex-local running store has a really nifty website....but they're in the US and I'm in Canada. However, this would be still be simple, except that the shoes I want are New Balance and New Balance has a chokehold on importation, so I have to cough up the extra $70 or whatever no matter what. uh. So, plan B is to buy the shoes in Philly and walk/run around in them for a few days...this is simple too, but what if they don't have my size at the local running store there? So, plan C is to order the shoes online and have them shipped to my father-in-law's....and why am I not jumping on this? Well, I'd hate to inconvenience my FIL and step-MIL any more; they're already letting me stay with them before the marathon. And breaking in new shoes a few days before a marathon is a little half-baked and I don't want them to know that I'm half-baked, or my ideas, at any rate. LOL.
Seriously, though, the first pair of those shoes were like clouds from the get-go, so I think plan C could work. Plan D is ask my step-MIL to mail the shoes to me, but I don't want to waste her time like that. Plan E is to bend over and give NB the extra $70 or whatever. Honestly, that's pretty much a 2nd set of shoes!!
Monday, October 13, 2008
2nd last killer long run
I think there must be some amazing renovations going on now, at the cellular and tissue level, because I totally tore the house down today. Man!
I knew I wasn't going to be in for a picnic....yesterday's run was fun, but it also took a fair bit out of me. 12 miles on low sleep, and about 5 of them were a bit faster than my marathon pace...so, not really fast on their own, but fast enough considering all other factors. Still, it was a great day to run, and then I ate and napped a lot.
And then, today, the big day. After work, I ate a...well, something! I can't remember. It was so long ago. And then the dog and I headed out. It's a bit warm and clammy for my taste, but it was ok for us. He had a few pit stops, but was mostly not a butt. We ended up doing about 10.3 miles, and then I popped him in the house, knocked back a gel, a banana, and some soda (not the most efficient way to fuel, but I hate carrying stuff and if I have to go back into the house because of the dog anyway...ehhh...), and headed back out asap. It was another mile and a bit to the Canal, and then the fun began. No dog, no lights, almost none of the usual stuff that slows me down, except for tourists.
We were supposed to do 15K slower than race pace and then 15 at race pace. Well, I'd sort of screwed that pooch already, being a couple of miles tardy, and I was pretty tired. My legs were stiff.
I told myself something like "Hey, man, you can move your butt for nine miles at 8:20ish/mile. It's not a tempo run. It's not a 1/2 marathon. It's going to be easy. Hey, it's only 3 miles...three times..." Notice that I cut off that last .3ish of a mile. Oh, well.
So, I started, and I struggled with finding the right pace. Too fast, too slow, too fast, too slow...I never fell into the groove. My legs hurt, but uniformly all over, so that didn't bother me. I just couldn't get into the swing of 8:2X a mile. It averaged out well, but I was usually travelling around 8:00/mile or well over. Fortunately, all this fussing about made things go pretty quickly, and then suddenly I had just 4 miles to go. I was tired, so I decided to just run and end it. It ended up being a bit faster than desired, but that's ok. Great, in fact---this run seemed to be mostly about confidence, and I did better than I'd expected.
My MP miles:
8:29,
8:23,
8:24,
8:22,
8:23,
8:19,
8:13,
8:15,
8:08
I need 8:26/mile to qualify for Boston.
And then I jogged/walked a bit, and then there was a mile left to go home, and I'd had enough of running. It was 21.1 miles by that point. And, hey, I'm going to count it too, for a total of 22.1. That last mile took forever. It was especially hard because some people had set out garbage for tomorrow, and there were a few sofas out there. Tempting!
So, yeah, I think I pushed myself a bit over the edge today, but that's good once in a while. Now work, my little cellular minions!
I knew I wasn't going to be in for a picnic....yesterday's run was fun, but it also took a fair bit out of me. 12 miles on low sleep, and about 5 of them were a bit faster than my marathon pace...so, not really fast on their own, but fast enough considering all other factors. Still, it was a great day to run, and then I ate and napped a lot.
And then, today, the big day. After work, I ate a...well, something! I can't remember. It was so long ago. And then the dog and I headed out. It's a bit warm and clammy for my taste, but it was ok for us. He had a few pit stops, but was mostly not a butt. We ended up doing about 10.3 miles, and then I popped him in the house, knocked back a gel, a banana, and some soda (not the most efficient way to fuel, but I hate carrying stuff and if I have to go back into the house because of the dog anyway...ehhh...), and headed back out asap. It was another mile and a bit to the Canal, and then the fun began. No dog, no lights, almost none of the usual stuff that slows me down, except for tourists.
We were supposed to do 15K slower than race pace and then 15 at race pace. Well, I'd sort of screwed that pooch already, being a couple of miles tardy, and I was pretty tired. My legs were stiff.
I told myself something like "Hey, man, you can move your butt for nine miles at 8:20ish/mile. It's not a tempo run. It's not a 1/2 marathon. It's going to be easy. Hey, it's only 3 miles...three times..." Notice that I cut off that last .3ish of a mile. Oh, well.
So, I started, and I struggled with finding the right pace. Too fast, too slow, too fast, too slow...I never fell into the groove. My legs hurt, but uniformly all over, so that didn't bother me. I just couldn't get into the swing of 8:2X a mile. It averaged out well, but I was usually travelling around 8:00/mile or well over. Fortunately, all this fussing about made things go pretty quickly, and then suddenly I had just 4 miles to go. I was tired, so I decided to just run and end it. It ended up being a bit faster than desired, but that's ok. Great, in fact---this run seemed to be mostly about confidence, and I did better than I'd expected.
My MP miles:
8:29,
8:23,
8:24,
8:22,
8:23,
8:19,
8:13,
8:15,
8:08
I need 8:26/mile to qualify for Boston.
And then I jogged/walked a bit, and then there was a mile left to go home, and I'd had enough of running. It was 21.1 miles by that point. And, hey, I'm going to count it too, for a total of 22.1. That last mile took forever. It was especially hard because some people had set out garbage for tomorrow, and there were a few sofas out there. Tempting!
So, yeah, I think I pushed myself a bit over the edge today, but that's good once in a while. Now work, my little cellular minions!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
SUNDAY
I got about 5.5 hrs of sleep...didn't feel like getting up. Not sure what it was about work that revved me up so that I didn't fall asleep until close to 3. I've stopped drinking their coffee, and I switched to my own green tea, and nothing exciting happened either...in fact, I felt lethargic pretty much the whole shift. And then 11 pm rolled around and suddenly I was wide awake. It might be the air in there. Or lack of. Anyway, I wanted to sleep in. Since we were going to the cottage later in the morning, though, I knew that if I didn't get up and run with the group, I wouldn't run at all. Which would be ok, but I'd already decided that Tuesday would be a rest day, and not Sunday, lol. So I scraped myself off the bed at the last possible minute. I drank a cup of soymilk, that was all I had time for.
I knew I wouldn't do the long-long run, and I felt bad leaving one of my marathon buddies to do it all on his own. Neo-gazelle #1 was away too. I was actually going to run maybe 10K easy, but the weather was great and somehow I got more energy and I ended up hanging with Neo-gazelle #2 for about five miles, which were faster than my marathon pace but it felt fine. Very encouraging, especially after my tempo run attempt yesterday. Then I left him and went back home. 12.09 miles in total.
I will attempt the long run tomorrow. It's supposed to be 30K, with 15K at race pace. I'm a little freaked out, mainly because I'm not really feeling what race pace is supposed to feel like. 8:20ish a mile??? That just doesn't fit in with anything. Either I run more quickly or more slowly. 1/2 marathon pace is something I don't have to think about, same with speedwork...but I've been pretty poor at pacing for marathons (and 10ks, lol)....this time should be a little easier because the pace is perhaps a little conservative, so I can relax a little more. I guess I just have to coast around and see how my breathing and everything else feels when I'm moving at around 8:20/mile. And then remember on race day that all the excitement will jack that up, anyway, so I have to move more slowly than it feels like I should. Lesson #434 learnt the hard way.
At any rate, I'm going to try to be more consistent with my workouts. I've been good until this week, but it seems like I'm starting to mix things up, cut things short here, do more there, run faster one day because it feels good, and then slog through the next tough workout, if not cut it short....not good.
I knew I wouldn't do the long-long run, and I felt bad leaving one of my marathon buddies to do it all on his own. Neo-gazelle #1 was away too. I was actually going to run maybe 10K easy, but the weather was great and somehow I got more energy and I ended up hanging with Neo-gazelle #2 for about five miles, which were faster than my marathon pace but it felt fine. Very encouraging, especially after my tempo run attempt yesterday. Then I left him and went back home. 12.09 miles in total.
I will attempt the long run tomorrow. It's supposed to be 30K, with 15K at race pace. I'm a little freaked out, mainly because I'm not really feeling what race pace is supposed to feel like. 8:20ish a mile??? That just doesn't fit in with anything. Either I run more quickly or more slowly. 1/2 marathon pace is something I don't have to think about, same with speedwork...but I've been pretty poor at pacing for marathons (and 10ks, lol)....this time should be a little easier because the pace is perhaps a little conservative, so I can relax a little more. I guess I just have to coast around and see how my breathing and everything else feels when I'm moving at around 8:20/mile. And then remember on race day that all the excitement will jack that up, anyway, so I have to move more slowly than it feels like I should. Lesson #434 learnt the hard way.
At any rate, I'm going to try to be more consistent with my workouts. I've been good until this week, but it seems like I'm starting to mix things up, cut things short here, do more there, run faster one day because it feels good, and then slog through the next tough workout, if not cut it short....not good.
SATURDAY
I ran 9.72. Several miles of jogging, then an aborted tempo run, then several more miles of jogging.
The tempo run was supposed to be on Friday, but I felt too rushed for it then. Yes, tempo runs are 'rushed', but I like to take my time easing into them. So I postponed it a day, figuring that I'd probably not get enough sleep on Saturday to do my long run on Sunday, thus postponing that to Monday....thus, there would be an easy day between the tempo run and the long run, as originally planned, and all this would still leave enough recovery time to get a good stab at Wednesday's speedwork.
Well, I coasted for a while, then started the tempo portion, and my legs were suddenly stiff. I could move, but not much faster than my recent 1/2 marathon, and it felt much worse. Last Wednesday's workout had been pretty tough, and still somewhat a tempo workout already, so I figured to cut the run short and save myself for the long run.
It was a nice day for running, at any rate.
The tempo run was supposed to be on Friday, but I felt too rushed for it then. Yes, tempo runs are 'rushed', but I like to take my time easing into them. So I postponed it a day, figuring that I'd probably not get enough sleep on Saturday to do my long run on Sunday, thus postponing that to Monday....thus, there would be an easy day between the tempo run and the long run, as originally planned, and all this would still leave enough recovery time to get a good stab at Wednesday's speedwork.
Well, I coasted for a while, then started the tempo portion, and my legs were suddenly stiff. I could move, but not much faster than my recent 1/2 marathon, and it felt much worse. Last Wednesday's workout had been pretty tough, and still somewhat a tempo workout already, so I figured to cut the run short and save myself for the long run.
It was a nice day for running, at any rate.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Another lovely day
Unfortunately, I actually had to work, haha, so my run got squeezed in between shifts. The dog and I jogged 5.9 miles and it was pretty much uneventful.
Oh, wait, it's all coming back to me...
We were barrelling down this steep hill--really booting it. Ok, usually I jog pretty slowly, and I'm lazy too, but I have my moments under 100M and/or duress (I also dominated Chinese skipping at school...I'm springy for short select bursts. LOL) Anyway, we're ripping for fun, and we see two old people walking towards us, and then one of them yells, as she sees me coming, one of those freakingly idiotic tourist questions further 'improved' by the timing (yeah, ignore the people walking around and ask the runner who's already pretty much gone):
"Is there a way to the top?"
About 10M later, I yell out 'yeah' kind of over my shoulder, as best I could, and keep going.
Ok, maybe it wasn't such a stupid question, and I guess they figured I knew where I was going. And I suppose they could have also figured out that
1. I must have come from somewhere above.
2. They must have come from somewhere above, too, unless they were born and raised right beside the Canal.
3. There are signs of habitation above.
4. There is a ROAD going up, which they were on.
It reminded me of jogging on Mont-Royal...there are flat patches on the Olmstead path, but I can't think of any stretches except for the loop on top where you'd be hard pressed to determine whether you were going up or down, overall....and yet people would stop me to ask me whether they were headed up or down. Do aliens plunk people down randomly on the mountain?
So I had a quick giggle over these poor hapless tourists, and then we continued jogging. And I thought about how I often had no clue where the heck I was going in various places, countries, continents, and how fun that was usually. They missed out. Maybe they hadn't heard me, though, and got to discover the way up themselves.
Oh, yeah, I jogged .5 of a mile to work this morning, and I'm counting that too. lol
I GET TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW!
Oh, wait, it's all coming back to me...
We were barrelling down this steep hill--really booting it. Ok, usually I jog pretty slowly, and I'm lazy too, but I have my moments under 100M and/or duress (I also dominated Chinese skipping at school...I'm springy for short select bursts. LOL) Anyway, we're ripping for fun, and we see two old people walking towards us, and then one of them yells, as she sees me coming, one of those freakingly idiotic tourist questions further 'improved' by the timing (yeah, ignore the people walking around and ask the runner who's already pretty much gone):
"Is there a way to the top?"
About 10M later, I yell out 'yeah' kind of over my shoulder, as best I could, and keep going.
Ok, maybe it wasn't such a stupid question, and I guess they figured I knew where I was going. And I suppose they could have also figured out that
1. I must have come from somewhere above.
2. They must have come from somewhere above, too, unless they were born and raised right beside the Canal.
3. There are signs of habitation above.
4. There is a ROAD going up, which they were on.
It reminded me of jogging on Mont-Royal...there are flat patches on the Olmstead path, but I can't think of any stretches except for the loop on top where you'd be hard pressed to determine whether you were going up or down, overall....and yet people would stop me to ask me whether they were headed up or down. Do aliens plunk people down randomly on the mountain?
So I had a quick giggle over these poor hapless tourists, and then we continued jogging. And I thought about how I often had no clue where the heck I was going in various places, countries, continents, and how fun that was usually. They missed out. Maybe they hadn't heard me, though, and got to discover the way up themselves.
Oh, yeah, I jogged .5 of a mile to work this morning, and I'm counting that too. lol
I GET TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
lovely weather
Man, it's so nice out there! I'm so glad I'm working only 26 hrs this week (well, not counting 16 of the hours I worked on Sun-Mon, lol...but next week should be really only 26 hrs!)...anyway, it's been great having more time to relax and enjoy the weather. It really is near perfect. I don't have to shield myself from it; I can become hollow and let the weather within. If that makes sense. I fit in better, basically. It's a nice feeling.
The dog and I jogged about 8.25 miles today. I was a bit stiff from yesterday, but it was still a relaxing run.
The dog and I jogged about 8.25 miles today. I was a bit stiff from yesterday, but it was still a relaxing run.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
drafting
btw~
I had a look at some photos of the army 1/2...the official race photos were sort of blah, but someone went out and took a few thousand of them on the course just for fun, I guess. Really nice of him!
Anyway, I looked, and found myself, and had to laugh.
After seeing that, I think I owe the good race result more to DRAFTING than to my own personal improvement (in terms of fitness/running/racing...I seem to have the DRAFTING part down pat).
Funnily enough, though, it felt like I had tons of room during the race. It honestly didn't feel that cramped. The photos make me feel claustrophobic, but it definitely didn't feel like that during the race. It also didn't feel windy at that point, compared to earlier in the race...those guys blocked it pretty well. LOL
http://flickr.com/photos/30816183@N06/2888897441
http://flickr.com/photos/30816183@N06/2889730538/in/photostream/
I had a look at some photos of the army 1/2...the official race photos were sort of blah, but someone went out and took a few thousand of them on the course just for fun, I guess. Really nice of him!
Anyway, I looked, and found myself, and had to laugh.
After seeing that, I think I owe the good race result more to DRAFTING than to my own personal improvement (in terms of fitness/running/racing...I seem to have the DRAFTING part down pat).
Funnily enough, though, it felt like I had tons of room during the race. It honestly didn't feel that cramped. The photos make me feel claustrophobic, but it definitely didn't feel like that during the race. It also didn't feel windy at that point, compared to earlier in the race...those guys blocked it pretty well. LOL
http://flickr.com/photos/30816183@N06/2888897441
http://flickr.com/photos/30816183@N06/2889730538/in/photostream/
a good running day
Well, I think I'm bouncing back. I'm definitely less stressed.
This morning was a great time to run. After my job, I grabbed the dog and we just coasted along. We did have to deal with a recently-cropped up seasonal issue--turns out that the same dog who will happily roll around/plunge his head in/dig up piles of leaves will not step on them when they are on the sidewalk. So he's been running into me an awful lot recently, from the side...he used to do it now and then, maybe once or twice a week, so it took me a while to realize that I was getting POed because it's jumped up to 4-5 times a run, at least. And then I had to figure out why he was doing it. I think it's the leaves. I've been watching.
So I dealt out some harsh words--well, a harsh tone, at any rate--and he got better at dropping behind me when there isn't room, rather than crashing into me. He's a solid boy and doesn't realize his own mass and strength. He's not a big dog, really, but I've seen some 50-pounders that looked to be all leg and hair....not this one. There was one time that we were playing fetch in a grassy dewy field, and he was running towards me and couldn't stop. I saw true panic in his eyes as he tried to veer off to the side, but it wasn't enough and he slammed into me sideways. How I managed to stay on my feet, I don't know, but my shins hurt for a few days afterwards.
This bumping me in the side thing isn't half as bad, but still annoying.
Anyway, we still had a good run, apart from the above and, oh, the Phantom Feces. This is another issue we've been dealing with, and he's been really good these past few days, and then the Phantom visited us again after about 5 or so miles. What happens is that the dog stops, and apparently has to go poo, but nothing comes out. Meanwhile, he's surrepticiously sniffing. So, for a while, I wouldn't let him decide when to stop, and then I'd stop about a minute later someplace which looked to be boring, so that he could drop the kids off without getting distracted. Today, though, there was no poop at all. It's a big mystery.
He's also been pretty smelly all of a sudden....I'm not sure if this all is connected....
Anyway, apart from that, it was a great run. We jogged for about 9.29 miles. Perfect weather, sunny, not too windy or hot or anything.
I went home, ate, studied, napped...love not working as much! anyway, this evening was speedwork.
Thank goodness my fellow Philly hopefuls were there too, because I don't think I would have gotten through that without a couple of other runners at the same pace. I guess I'm still tired, and then it got dark and drizzly, which was nice, but also made it harder to keep the pace.
3X 3000M
13:27
13:27
13:31 (it was getting kind of slick at that point).
A good workout. It felt tougher than that pace should feel like, but I still have to catch up on sleep, and I wouldn't be surprised if the toll of marathon training will make the last few tough weeks even tougher. Just got to get through it.
Anyway, I ran 10.43 miles in the evening, so 19.72 miles in total today. Wednesdays are sometimes tougher than my long run days, but it's been working out well training-wise.
This morning was a great time to run. After my job, I grabbed the dog and we just coasted along. We did have to deal with a recently-cropped up seasonal issue--turns out that the same dog who will happily roll around/plunge his head in/dig up piles of leaves will not step on them when they are on the sidewalk. So he's been running into me an awful lot recently, from the side...he used to do it now and then, maybe once or twice a week, so it took me a while to realize that I was getting POed because it's jumped up to 4-5 times a run, at least. And then I had to figure out why he was doing it. I think it's the leaves. I've been watching.
So I dealt out some harsh words--well, a harsh tone, at any rate--and he got better at dropping behind me when there isn't room, rather than crashing into me. He's a solid boy and doesn't realize his own mass and strength. He's not a big dog, really, but I've seen some 50-pounders that looked to be all leg and hair....not this one. There was one time that we were playing fetch in a grassy dewy field, and he was running towards me and couldn't stop. I saw true panic in his eyes as he tried to veer off to the side, but it wasn't enough and he slammed into me sideways. How I managed to stay on my feet, I don't know, but my shins hurt for a few days afterwards.
This bumping me in the side thing isn't half as bad, but still annoying.
Anyway, we still had a good run, apart from the above and, oh, the Phantom Feces. This is another issue we've been dealing with, and he's been really good these past few days, and then the Phantom visited us again after about 5 or so miles. What happens is that the dog stops, and apparently has to go poo, but nothing comes out. Meanwhile, he's surrepticiously sniffing. So, for a while, I wouldn't let him decide when to stop, and then I'd stop about a minute later someplace which looked to be boring, so that he could drop the kids off without getting distracted. Today, though, there was no poop at all. It's a big mystery.
He's also been pretty smelly all of a sudden....I'm not sure if this all is connected....
Anyway, apart from that, it was a great run. We jogged for about 9.29 miles. Perfect weather, sunny, not too windy or hot or anything.
I went home, ate, studied, napped...love not working as much! anyway, this evening was speedwork.
Thank goodness my fellow Philly hopefuls were there too, because I don't think I would have gotten through that without a couple of other runners at the same pace. I guess I'm still tired, and then it got dark and drizzly, which was nice, but also made it harder to keep the pace.
3X 3000M
13:27
13:27
13:31 (it was getting kind of slick at that point).
A good workout. It felt tougher than that pace should feel like, but I still have to catch up on sleep, and I wouldn't be surprised if the toll of marathon training will make the last few tough weeks even tougher. Just got to get through it.
Anyway, I ran 10.43 miles in the evening, so 19.72 miles in total today. Wednesdays are sometimes tougher than my long run days, but it's been working out well training-wise.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
recovery
Well, I didn't get enough sleep last night, like 5-6 hrs, but I had a great day and I feel a lot more relaxed about my upcoming schedule, mainly because it's a lot more relaxed too.
Anyway, I also ran with the dog. I was feeling ok, just tired, so we took it easy. I did my ole 25 min run, 5 min walk, but for just about 2 hrs (earlier in the summer, I did this for 3-4 hrs whenever I wanted to trot around for a while without getting too uncomfortable). Total distance covered, about 11 miles.
It was really nice. The sun was out and the grass was still green...it gave me flashbacks to Colorado Springs in the fall, to this park I used to run around. At the time, I was coming back from a long injury-related break from running, so it was a struggle. I think I spent a lot of time staring at that grass and imagining myself collapsing on it. But, NO, because it was also sprinkled with goose poop. Such was some of the grass today by the river; that, and the clear air and sun, brought back the memories. However, my lungs weren't burning this time.
I didn't really think about much in particular. It was more about feeling different things loosen up and so forth. The dog was very good this time and we just kept going. Then I went to a movie, and then to yoga. It was a lovely day.
Anyway, I also ran with the dog. I was feeling ok, just tired, so we took it easy. I did my ole 25 min run, 5 min walk, but for just about 2 hrs (earlier in the summer, I did this for 3-4 hrs whenever I wanted to trot around for a while without getting too uncomfortable). Total distance covered, about 11 miles.
It was really nice. The sun was out and the grass was still green...it gave me flashbacks to Colorado Springs in the fall, to this park I used to run around. At the time, I was coming back from a long injury-related break from running, so it was a struggle. I think I spent a lot of time staring at that grass and imagining myself collapsing on it. But, NO, because it was also sprinkled with goose poop. Such was some of the grass today by the river; that, and the clear air and sun, brought back the memories. However, my lungs weren't burning this time.
I didn't really think about much in particular. It was more about feeling different things loosen up and so forth. The dog was very good this time and we just kept going. Then I went to a movie, and then to yoga. It was a lovely day.
What have I been doing?
...apart from pruning my schedule?
It's been nuts! I don't even remember what I ran on Sat and Sunday. And I spent most of today thinking it was Tuesday, which it is now...just capped off a, dunno, 10 day work week with a day hectic enough to kick off some serious adrenaline.
And it was NICE! I was buzzing. It's been a while since I've felt like that.
See, I worked my morning job, then came home to eat a bit of brunch, a banana and some bread. Not a lot of time. Then it was off to the hospital for a follow up appointment (had eye surgery a few months ago)...they've done away with the bus route I used to take, but no biggie. I looked up another bus.
Then the appointment took forever and I realized once I got back to the bus stop and looked at the schedule that, wow, I wasn't going to be able to make it home in time to go to my afternoon/evening job. So I figured out an alternative way to get to work...thereupon some deliberation. I needed scrubs. Some of the residents are confused enough already, and if I showed up in street clothes, they might mistake me for a relative, or worse. one woman in particular periodically needs calming down that, no, burglars aren't burgling in her room. Anyway, they had scrubs in the hospital, which I had ironically been tempted by on my way to my appointment (such pretty colours!), but I knew I wouldn't have enough time to go back and get that hot lime green number I'd been eyeing.
Plan B, hop out of the bus at the Rideau Centre and go to Giant Tiger. This was the only other place I knew of which had scrubs.
Well, traffic eroded my time cushion, and this wasn't going to happen either.
Plan C, ride the bus towards work, and dash into another Giant Tiger nearby. I'd been there before--no scrubs--but they might have a largish t-shirt which could do. I guessed at the stop and dashed up some street or another--fortunately I wasn't too far off. Another defense for the urban grid system!
I went in there, and, lo and behold, there WERE scrubs on the pyjama rack. Didn't match, but there were some extra-small pants--VERY important because those suckers start riding pretty low when they're small and don't have a drawstring--and a small top. Size doesn't matter so much for the top; they're all too large on me. Except for the cute women's sized scrubs at the hospital in the cheerful colours, maybe...but I digress....
Got to the cash and the cashier was trying sooo hard to go that extra mile with her job. Got someone ahead of me to wait while a loaf of bread was exchanged, etc, etc...and she tenderly folded up my newly-purchased scrubs. How could I fault that?
I thanked her, and walked out of the store calmly, then bolted. Got to work one minute late. Caught up with the woman I was replacing, then changed, and WHOA, I'd done it. It was a rush. I needed some food, though; the cook gave me some, and I knocked back some tea, and got cracking.
And, yeah, the new colour (powder blue, really not me) threw some people off. I got a few lectures about being new, as in, me being new, not just my clothes. Only one such 'discussion' ticked me off, though. It was from a woman who was admonishing me for putting the wrong nightie on her. I reminded her that that was the one she had handed to me. !!! But she kept saying I was making all sorts of mistakes because I was new. Ok, please, I hope I'm snuffed out before I fail to recognize someone who has seen parts of me that I haven't. Usually that doesn't get under my skin, though--it's pretty thick. This woman has been grating on my nerves these past few days, though, mainly because she's terribly fussy about cushions. I'm not sure if this is a British quirk, but I've worked with three aged British ladies recently, and all three of them have been fastidious about cushions, and nobody else. None of the other residents are. I'm not talking about having cushions--very important! I'm talking about plumping them up a certain way every 5 milliseconds and lining them up just so, and having multiple cushions that have to go in a certain order, and are invariably not in that order when I'm directed to them. Which begs the question: are the residents actually able to manipulate these down-filled torture devices themselves, or are they toying with me? Oh, and those two cushions that are identical really aren't identical so don't try to cut corners that way and disrupt the entire cosmos, including planets that haven't yet been created. All this becomes a 5-10 minute endless ordeal sometimes, although I'm honing escape strategies. I am accustomed to putting down cushions or offering cushions as a matter of course, and actually the other two British ladies didn't/don't irk me as much mainly because they remember my name and we had/have decent conversations that didn't revolve around what the other girl (oftentimes me) did yesterday with the cushions and how I'm a bit thick because I'm new.
Note to self: remember the name of the person who plumps up my cushions when I'm dottering. Or I might wake up with one on my face.
Phew! I try to refrain about talking about patients, especially on my running blog, but this was so cracked, I had to get it out. And, yes, I'm an awful person, but all this will nurture a bit of healthy guilt, so that I can tolerate her all the more patiently next time. I must say, though, that there is some sort of blessed homeostatis at work in that place--when someone is totally off their nut, someone else usually gets back from outer space all of a sudden. Someone who is being totally unreasonable is often followed by someone who is suddenly and unusually angelic.
Anyway, it was nice to have a day go like that, wired and swiftly. It was like how I used to be in Seoul--I'd leave the house at 6 or so, and not come back until 10 or 11...I'd duck into various places for my meals, and nap on the subway between my jobs. It caught up with me after a while, but it was pretty exhilirating sometimes.
Running--uh--put me down for 2 miles. Feels like 20. I was getting lazy with the stairs, but I was good and sparing with the elevator this evening.
Anyway, I have pruned my schedule. :D Job A stays the same, Job B has temporarily been suspended (and conveniently resumes after my marathon--and I actualy had no hand in this), which means I can sleep in on Saturdays if need be. Job C will have reduced shifts. I worked the weekend to help my manager out, and then I asked her about working less for the next while. And I guess I'll conveniently ignore or postpone a possible Job D...at any rate, I'm really pumped about all this.
Gotta get to bed somehow...still have to work tomorrow morning...
It's been nuts! I don't even remember what I ran on Sat and Sunday. And I spent most of today thinking it was Tuesday, which it is now...just capped off a, dunno, 10 day work week with a day hectic enough to kick off some serious adrenaline.
And it was NICE! I was buzzing. It's been a while since I've felt like that.
See, I worked my morning job, then came home to eat a bit of brunch, a banana and some bread. Not a lot of time. Then it was off to the hospital for a follow up appointment (had eye surgery a few months ago)...they've done away with the bus route I used to take, but no biggie. I looked up another bus.
Then the appointment took forever and I realized once I got back to the bus stop and looked at the schedule that, wow, I wasn't going to be able to make it home in time to go to my afternoon/evening job. So I figured out an alternative way to get to work...thereupon some deliberation. I needed scrubs. Some of the residents are confused enough already, and if I showed up in street clothes, they might mistake me for a relative, or worse. one woman in particular periodically needs calming down that, no, burglars aren't burgling in her room. Anyway, they had scrubs in the hospital, which I had ironically been tempted by on my way to my appointment (such pretty colours!), but I knew I wouldn't have enough time to go back and get that hot lime green number I'd been eyeing.
Plan B, hop out of the bus at the Rideau Centre and go to Giant Tiger. This was the only other place I knew of which had scrubs.
Well, traffic eroded my time cushion, and this wasn't going to happen either.
Plan C, ride the bus towards work, and dash into another Giant Tiger nearby. I'd been there before--no scrubs--but they might have a largish t-shirt which could do. I guessed at the stop and dashed up some street or another--fortunately I wasn't too far off. Another defense for the urban grid system!
I went in there, and, lo and behold, there WERE scrubs on the pyjama rack. Didn't match, but there were some extra-small pants--VERY important because those suckers start riding pretty low when they're small and don't have a drawstring--and a small top. Size doesn't matter so much for the top; they're all too large on me. Except for the cute women's sized scrubs at the hospital in the cheerful colours, maybe...but I digress....
Got to the cash and the cashier was trying sooo hard to go that extra mile with her job. Got someone ahead of me to wait while a loaf of bread was exchanged, etc, etc...and she tenderly folded up my newly-purchased scrubs. How could I fault that?
I thanked her, and walked out of the store calmly, then bolted. Got to work one minute late. Caught up with the woman I was replacing, then changed, and WHOA, I'd done it. It was a rush. I needed some food, though; the cook gave me some, and I knocked back some tea, and got cracking.
And, yeah, the new colour (powder blue, really not me) threw some people off. I got a few lectures about being new, as in, me being new, not just my clothes. Only one such 'discussion' ticked me off, though. It was from a woman who was admonishing me for putting the wrong nightie on her. I reminded her that that was the one she had handed to me. !!! But she kept saying I was making all sorts of mistakes because I was new. Ok, please, I hope I'm snuffed out before I fail to recognize someone who has seen parts of me that I haven't. Usually that doesn't get under my skin, though--it's pretty thick. This woman has been grating on my nerves these past few days, though, mainly because she's terribly fussy about cushions. I'm not sure if this is a British quirk, but I've worked with three aged British ladies recently, and all three of them have been fastidious about cushions, and nobody else. None of the other residents are. I'm not talking about having cushions--very important! I'm talking about plumping them up a certain way every 5 milliseconds and lining them up just so, and having multiple cushions that have to go in a certain order, and are invariably not in that order when I'm directed to them. Which begs the question: are the residents actually able to manipulate these down-filled torture devices themselves, or are they toying with me? Oh, and those two cushions that are identical really aren't identical so don't try to cut corners that way and disrupt the entire cosmos, including planets that haven't yet been created. All this becomes a 5-10 minute endless ordeal sometimes, although I'm honing escape strategies. I am accustomed to putting down cushions or offering cushions as a matter of course, and actually the other two British ladies didn't/don't irk me as much mainly because they remember my name and we had/have decent conversations that didn't revolve around what the other girl (oftentimes me) did yesterday with the cushions and how I'm a bit thick because I'm new.
Note to self: remember the name of the person who plumps up my cushions when I'm dottering. Or I might wake up with one on my face.
Phew! I try to refrain about talking about patients, especially on my running blog, but this was so cracked, I had to get it out. And, yes, I'm an awful person, but all this will nurture a bit of healthy guilt, so that I can tolerate her all the more patiently next time. I must say, though, that there is some sort of blessed homeostatis at work in that place--when someone is totally off their nut, someone else usually gets back from outer space all of a sudden. Someone who is being totally unreasonable is often followed by someone who is suddenly and unusually angelic.
Anyway, it was nice to have a day go like that, wired and swiftly. It was like how I used to be in Seoul--I'd leave the house at 6 or so, and not come back until 10 or 11...I'd duck into various places for my meals, and nap on the subway between my jobs. It caught up with me after a while, but it was pretty exhilirating sometimes.
Running--uh--put me down for 2 miles. Feels like 20. I was getting lazy with the stairs, but I was good and sparing with the elevator this evening.
Anyway, I have pruned my schedule. :D Job A stays the same, Job B has temporarily been suspended (and conveniently resumes after my marathon--and I actualy had no hand in this), which means I can sleep in on Saturdays if need be. Job C will have reduced shifts. I worked the weekend to help my manager out, and then I asked her about working less for the next while. And I guess I'll conveniently ignore or postpone a possible Job D...at any rate, I'm really pumped about all this.
Gotta get to bed somehow...still have to work tomorrow morning...
Friday, October 3, 2008
Too much on my plate!
Ok, let's see....yesterday (Thursday), I worked in the morning and an evening shift, and jogged with the dog in between for five-ish miles.
Today, I had only the morning job...although I had taken the day completely off but there was a mix up and I found out on Wednesday that they were hard up for a replacement. Ordinarily, I would just tell them to suck it up (but politely), but I like the clients and would have felt bad about them getting their day mucked up. Anyway, I have reconfirmed that I will be gone for a week in November, and that's that. Leaving the country ~
So, I didn't get to sleep in, which I really needed. I felt cruddy and worried that my cold was returning. However, after the shift, I felt better, so I grabbed the dog and we jogged for 8.68 miles. nice.
And then I ate, studied, napped....and then got up for speedwork. It did not go well. It was 200M repeats, 2X (5X 200M). Usually 200M repeats are my favourite, but a combo of factors made me quit after the 6th repeat.
41 seconds
40s
40s
40s
40s
These were fine. And then the break, 4 minutes, and I got cold...
45s.
I felt like crap. Actually felt like I was going to crap my pants, but things seized up in general and it was wrong. It wasn't the usual sort of speedwork pain.
I'm short on sleep.
Conversely, I had been napping--probably needed more time to wake up and get things moving.
I was underdressed--often I am, but the long waits in between sprints chilled me.
I've just gotten over a cold, knock wood.
Even though my run this morning was easy, and certainly not longer than other runs I've done on speedwork days, maybe it was still too much considering my somewhat drained state these days.
So, I'll go about things differently next time I do sprints. I'll be working next Friday evening, though, and I don't know after that. Maybe my body is tired of doing sprints, anyway. Last 2 times I trained for a marathon, I did short speedwork for the first bit, and then moved to longer intervals. This time it has been different, doing both every week...maybe that's not the best option for me. Will see how it goes.
And I really have to cut back on things in general. Workwise, that is. This marathon is going to happen no matter what, and so are my courses. I'm essentially working overtime with the jobs I have and, on the one hand, it's been great getting some experience in the field I'm studying towards, and I like the work conditions in general, moving around a lot and juggling things and so forth. But I'm starting to get really bored where I'm at....sometimes it gets crazy, but it's the same old crazy and I'm not learning much more anymore. Having said that, I've probably jinxed myself. We'll see how exciting my next shifts will be.
Anyway, speedwork, including running there, and back, and all: 7ish miles.
Today, I had only the morning job...although I had taken the day completely off but there was a mix up and I found out on Wednesday that they were hard up for a replacement. Ordinarily, I would just tell them to suck it up (but politely), but I like the clients and would have felt bad about them getting their day mucked up. Anyway, I have reconfirmed that I will be gone for a week in November, and that's that. Leaving the country ~
So, I didn't get to sleep in, which I really needed. I felt cruddy and worried that my cold was returning. However, after the shift, I felt better, so I grabbed the dog and we jogged for 8.68 miles. nice.
And then I ate, studied, napped....and then got up for speedwork. It did not go well. It was 200M repeats, 2X (5X 200M). Usually 200M repeats are my favourite, but a combo of factors made me quit after the 6th repeat.
41 seconds
40s
40s
40s
40s
These were fine. And then the break, 4 minutes, and I got cold...
45s.
I felt like crap. Actually felt like I was going to crap my pants, but things seized up in general and it was wrong. It wasn't the usual sort of speedwork pain.
I'm short on sleep.
Conversely, I had been napping--probably needed more time to wake up and get things moving.
I was underdressed--often I am, but the long waits in between sprints chilled me.
I've just gotten over a cold, knock wood.
Even though my run this morning was easy, and certainly not longer than other runs I've done on speedwork days, maybe it was still too much considering my somewhat drained state these days.
So, I'll go about things differently next time I do sprints. I'll be working next Friday evening, though, and I don't know after that. Maybe my body is tired of doing sprints, anyway. Last 2 times I trained for a marathon, I did short speedwork for the first bit, and then moved to longer intervals. This time it has been different, doing both every week...maybe that's not the best option for me. Will see how it goes.
And I really have to cut back on things in general. Workwise, that is. This marathon is going to happen no matter what, and so are my courses. I'm essentially working overtime with the jobs I have and, on the one hand, it's been great getting some experience in the field I'm studying towards, and I like the work conditions in general, moving around a lot and juggling things and so forth. But I'm starting to get really bored where I'm at....sometimes it gets crazy, but it's the same old crazy and I'm not learning much more anymore. Having said that, I've probably jinxed myself. We'll see how exciting my next shifts will be.
Anyway, speedwork, including running there, and back, and all: 7ish miles.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
debating Wednesday
Sadly, the cheering throngs outside the NAC weren't for us...
Anyway, today was a light work day and so a double-header: 6.05ish miles with the dog in the morning (it was a nice jog) and approx 9.51 miles in the evening with speedwork and jogging before/after/within. Now I'm in a modified smiling cow pose on my floor. It's so much healthier having a laptop.
Anyway, speedwork was ok. It was nice and cool, maybe a little too windy for my taste, but ok. The loops we did were somewhat hilly (it was The Hill, after all) and while I seem to have kicked my cold, I'm still a little tired. Conveniently, I heard that we were to do 4-5 repeats, and not 4-6. I would have liked to do the last one, and I was sad to learn of it while others were already halfway through it. And I can see Russia from my house too. LOL
5 min repeats:
.73/mile
.73
.71
.73
.70
Good enough for now. I really have to get psyched up for the last bit of this marathon training. I'm getting tired, mainly of having to shower so much, ha, and then running that good 1/2 has maybe lifted my confidence too high ("heck, I can jog this thing!"). It's time to get serious. I'm not training for a marathon. I know I could jog a marathon tomorrow. I'm training to qualify for Boston. And, yeah, maybe I could do that tomorrow, or next week, but I need to build up a good buffer in case I eat a cruddy cheesesteak the night before or trip over a frat boy by Dexter. Or drink too much beer in Manayunk. Or something.
It's going to be a good race and I have to give it my best, not only then, but until then too.
Anyway, today was a light work day and so a double-header: 6.05ish miles with the dog in the morning (it was a nice jog) and approx 9.51 miles in the evening with speedwork and jogging before/after/within. Now I'm in a modified smiling cow pose on my floor. It's so much healthier having a laptop.
Anyway, speedwork was ok. It was nice and cool, maybe a little too windy for my taste, but ok. The loops we did were somewhat hilly (it was The Hill, after all) and while I seem to have kicked my cold, I'm still a little tired. Conveniently, I heard that we were to do 4-5 repeats, and not 4-6. I would have liked to do the last one, and I was sad to learn of it while others were already halfway through it. And I can see Russia from my house too. LOL
5 min repeats:
.73/mile
.73
.71
.73
.70
Good enough for now. I really have to get psyched up for the last bit of this marathon training. I'm getting tired, mainly of having to shower so much, ha, and then running that good 1/2 has maybe lifted my confidence too high ("heck, I can jog this thing!"). It's time to get serious. I'm not training for a marathon. I know I could jog a marathon tomorrow. I'm training to qualify for Boston. And, yeah, maybe I could do that tomorrow, or next week, but I need to build up a good buffer in case I eat a cruddy cheesesteak the night before or trip over a frat boy by Dexter. Or drink too much beer in Manayunk. Or something.
It's going to be a good race and I have to give it my best, not only then, but until then too.
Rest day, but not for raccoons.
I have almost gotten rid of my cold completely. There was a fair bit of gunk in my throat and sinuses when I woke up, though, so after my morning shift, I chowed down, took the dog for a walk, studied a bit, and put the rest of my theoretical running time towards extending my nap. Nearly two hours total! Did me good.
Although, it's also perhaps why I'm kind of wired now, or maybe it's all that tea I was drinking at work. It seems that I'm drinking it more out of boredom than fatigue, though, so I might bring some green tea from home.
Anyhow, I have walked a fair bit today, probably 3.5 miles....and then I got home and let the dog out and it was so light! The sky was so light, I could see a fair bit of detail in my backyard, and it was almost like daylight. It was a little trippy.
So, despite the late hour, after eleven, I took the dog for another walk. He liked it. There's more to smell at that hour, I think. It was nice to be out with everything so quiet.
I looked up the moon phase on www.wunderground.com....I thought for sure it would be a full moon, but it's in fact a sliver. Guess that was an awful lot of light pollution, or perhaps some solar storms.
Well, anyway, tomorrow is speedwork and I might run the dog in the morning as well, depending on how I feel. Helps me loosen up for the speedwork later on too.
Although, it's also perhaps why I'm kind of wired now, or maybe it's all that tea I was drinking at work. It seems that I'm drinking it more out of boredom than fatigue, though, so I might bring some green tea from home.
Anyhow, I have walked a fair bit today, probably 3.5 miles....and then I got home and let the dog out and it was so light! The sky was so light, I could see a fair bit of detail in my backyard, and it was almost like daylight. It was a little trippy.
So, despite the late hour, after eleven, I took the dog for another walk. He liked it. There's more to smell at that hour, I think. It was nice to be out with everything so quiet.
I looked up the moon phase on www.wunderground.com....I thought for sure it would be a full moon, but it's in fact a sliver. Guess that was an awful lot of light pollution, or perhaps some solar storms.
Well, anyway, tomorrow is speedwork and I might run the dog in the morning as well, depending on how I feel. Helps me loosen up for the speedwork later on too.
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