It's not often that I can remember almost exactly what I was doing about the same time a year before, but this year- like last year- I spent most of yesterday at the Sugar Maple Music Festival.
Polka!
Yesterday morning while I was running, I started thinking about all the similarities and differences between this year and last.
This year I slept in and was glad I didn't have to run 20 miles because it was hot.
Last year I didn't do much strength training
This year- Tuesday, in fact- I'm planning to try for a new 1-rep max on the bench press (115lbs. That's a 35lb plate on each side. Light weight, baby!) and did 3 sets of 2 reps at 150lbs on the deadlift last Thursday.
Last year I spent most of the day reading a murder mystery (A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley)
This year I spent most of the day reading a murder mystery (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Both are great books but certainly very different.
Last year Daniel didn't have a beard! Wow, I forgot what that looked like!
This year he has been fully integrated into society.
Last year, after the 20 mile run and the music festival, we went to see a friend's band play a late night show. I was like deliriously tired in that picture. And I'd planned to do a 5-mile recovery run the next morning. That didn't happen.
This year we got that out of the way the week before. I'm also not doing a 5-mile run this year, but I am planning to hit up a yoga class in the afternoon.
Last year we went to a wedding the day after. Wow, that was a lot of stuff in one weekend.
This year we still see almost all the people in this picture on a regular basis. And one- second from left- is due with her first baby in October!
It just doesn't seem that long ago!
What has stayed constant in your life since last year? What has changed? What do you think this time next year will bring?
In Madison, you have learn to cram a year's worth of fun in four months. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. So far I've:
I've attended a 3-way birthday party,
Gone to my first Mallard's game
Learned there's a reason I've never eaten a mulberry before (Holy stems, Batman. My hands are still a little purple)
and that I enjoy my healthy CSA veggies best in gooey pasta form
Watched the sun set from Observatory Hill
and the Rhythm and Booms fireworks from across the lake
And traveled to Dubuque where I won my weight in catfish at the slot machines.
Thankfully not true on that last one. We visited crazy 300lb dino-catfish at the Aquarium of the Mississippi.
As a side note, I hadn't gone to see the fireworks in a couple years, and I'm glad that they are still making advances in fancy explosion science and technology. My favorite was the smileys.
The one thing I haven't managed to do yet is get re-conditioned to running in warm weather. I ran on Saturday morning when it 77, and I was sure it had to be 107. After a water stop and a walk for a minute in the shade break (yes, I'm not too proud to admit it) I was happy I wasn't trying to crank out a 20-miler like I would have been last summer. Yesterday wasn't soooo bad, but man, SWEAT. Hopefully I'll get a little better conditioned so I don't die when I try to run when I'm back in Florida in another month.
Hope you are having a fun summer so far and had a relaxing 3-day weekend.
So I totally saw another runner get dive bombed by a blackbird yesterday. I didn't have my camera with me, and I couldn't find a picture of an actual bird on runner attack, so you'll have to use your imagination a bit.
It was sort of like this, except the guy I saw was by a lake, not waiting for a subway, wishing he'd sprung for the fried rice rather than the white because, really, it was only $0.57 more.
Or this, except the guy I saw was running, not frantically trying to make a casting call for extras on the Jersey Shore the day his car broke down.
Or like this, except the guy I saw was human, not a bird. I'm thinking that blackbird is about to get it.
On a totally different note, Madison- liberal, animal hugging, organic loving, CSA eating, Prius driving Madison- is planning euthanize 350 Canada geese that are taking over and pooping on four city parks.
I can totally see how it's going to go down. Gov. Scott Walker will come on TV to give us the announcement.
"Good people of Wisconsin, it has come to my attention that there are far too many geese in Madison. Did you know animals only pay for 63% of the cost of their health insurance. Unacceptable! I took my pugapoo to the park last week and stepped in goose poop. Disgusting! Something must be done!"
"Now I know that you're going to get all up in arms about this. Just like you always do. I can never get a freakin' break around here. But this time I've come up with the perfect solution."
"This resolution gives the Department of Natural Resources the power to euthanize the geese by force feeding them."
"You just grab the head, and cram the food down their throat. It's waaaaayyyyy easier than spreading around a bunch of poison."
"We will give one free fois gras dinner to every business that commits to relocating to Wisconsin. It's a win-win for everyone. I don't know how this plan could not work!"
Ever been attacked by a bird and/or other animal while running or seen someone on the wrong end of a bird beak? Or- if you are tech savvy vampire who avoids sunlight at all costs- do you play Angry Birds?
People who don't do a long workout on the weekend don't really know what it's like. They make guilt-inducing statements like, "You should try to get out more often on the weekends," and don't understand why I'd say that it was hard for me to get going early on Saturday mornings. People who don't do long runs just get up, maybe exercise a bit, eat breakfast, and they are ready to go. I'd have to get up, drink coffee and wake up, run for a few hours, come home, shower, try to eat something, and then I'm ready to go. It's hard to do all that before 9am. Plus when I was done I was tired. I wanted to take a nap in the sunshine, not go shovel dirt around in a garden, walk around in the heat, canoe up a river, or haul my lazy self around town on a bike.
In short, doing a long run was my weekend. It- and it's after effects- controlled everything. And in some ways I miss that because now that I'm not doing them a huge chunk of my "normal life" is missing. The first time I truly was ready to start my Saturday at 9am, I just sat on the couch, paralyzed as to how to handle the huge amount of time that lay before me. Should I clean? Run errands? Practice the piano? So many options and so much energy with which to do them. But on the other hand, doing long runs is a point of honor. On Monday you can swap stories with your runner friends about how far you went or how hot (or cold!) it was or if you hit your goal paces. Not doing that feels kind of lazy and lame.
But I'm trying to embrace the positive aspects of short running. Yesterday, Daniel and I biked a bit of Ride the Drive. It was going on through downtown, and since it was fairly cool out, we decided to bike to church (which is downtown) rather than try to drive, and then we biked over to Tex Tubb's on the East Side for lunch. I Google-maped it after the fact, and it was about a 12 mile round trip.
Red bikes go faster.
This would never never never have happened after a 15-miler. At least not without a lot of grumbling. But I'm glad it did. It was fun. It was different. I got to see the city in a way that I wouldn't normally. Only once a year can you cruise down the Wash' mostly car-free. I'm sure I'll go back to doing long runs again sometime, but for now I'm trying to embrace the laziness new opportunities that present themselves.
Ever had to make a big change to your schedule that you were unsure about only to discover unexpected benefits? Want to share any tips for balancing long runs and the rest of your life on the weekend? Think I'm just making excuses for being a slacker? Think doing long runs is only for crazy people?
I'm participating in Sarah'ssummer virtual retreat (If you're not, think about it), and the theme of this week is inside/out - what practices/habits can you cultivate to feel your best. Having come back from vacation and then spent a busy day at work yesterday, I was thinking about the best of both worlds. Vacation is a combination of novel and relaxing. I usually get more sleep than usual, but I tend to eat a lot more and exercise a lot less. Work is not alway so exciting and there are nights when I stay up waaaayyy too late for my early wake up, but I tend to eat healthier, be more active, and keep up with other activities I enjoy like playing the piano. So if I could merge all the best of vacation with all the best of regular life, what would I end up with? Here are the 9 things I consider essential components of an ideal day in the life of Chelsea.
1. Daily exercise - I get very crabby, very quickly when I sit around all day. I'm like that pet that you thought you could leave in its cage while you were at work. When you come home, I will chew your shoes, destroy two houseplants, and then use my tiny claws to cling to your head until you let me out for a walk. As a side note, I've found that not just running but switching things up and doing yoga and lifting weights several times a week makes me look and feel my best.
2. Daily devotion - While I don't feel physically uncomfortable if I don't spend time praying and reading God's word, I feel... disconnected. Starting my day with gratitude, learning from individuals who show good (and bad!) character through adversity and having an outlet to share my worries helps me focus on what is truly important in life.
3. Daily fruit and vegetables - To me a meal is not complete unless it contains at least one serving of produce.
Sorry, Ragu, you do not count.
4. Daily music - Yes, 7 million Chinese 5-year-olds are better than me at the piano, but only 3 million are better than me at the first 20 measures of "I heard it Through the Grapevine". Whether it's an hour or simply 10 minutes before I have to run out the door, I'm happier when I make music part of my day.
5. Daily desert - But not as much as what is still hiding in a sack under your kid's bed leftover from Easter (and last Halloween if you're lucky).
And not for breakfast. Ummm, can I trade the candy
corn for some strawberry jam?
6. Daily novelty - Sometimes my life is busy and exciting. Sometimes I feel like day after day is the same and I have nothing at all interesting to say. Even if all I do is go to the sensory deprivation gym and sit at my desk at work and make Excel tables all day, I want to keep my eyes open for something new/interesting/novel. It's that or use drugs.
7. Daily caffeine - This is where the drugs come in. Now stop giving me a condescending look and pass me a Diet Mt. Dew.
I love you, too.
8. Daily (enough) sleep - On vacation, I could easily do 8-9 hours. I think if I could sleep as much as I wanted every night, my body would naturally fluctuate between 7 and 9 hours. In real life, I think never going below 6 and sticking some 9s in on the weekend to balance things out is pretty good.
9. Daily unstructured family time - I'm the kind of person who likes to schedule everything, but it never feels right to interrupt a good conversation (or Futurama episode) because it's "time" to read 1.5 pages of April's The Atlantic before I zonk out for the night. I feel better when I get everything done before the evening so I can just relax and enjoy Daniel's company without feeling like I "should" be getting other things done.
So how about you? Are you participating in the virtual retreat? What do you consider essential components to your life?
Because we wanted to squeeze just a little more vacation out of our vacation, Daniel and I traveled to Chicago this weekend to sing at the Midwest Sacred Harp Convention. For those of you who don't know what Sacred Harp singing is- and I would have counted myself in this group this time last year- you get together with a bunch of other people and sit around and sing old-timey hymns in four part harmony. Pitches in the scale are given shapes (which is why this style is also called shape note singing) so you sing through the song using the shapes first and then using the words. Each person takes a turn selecting a song and leading it. Here's Daniel leading. I didn't lead anything.
The thing that makes Sacred Harp "interesting" (the preferred pejorative) is that it is about singing to God, not performing for humans. Therefore, the most prized qualities of a Sacred Harp singer are loudness and enthusiasm not finesse or intonation. I think it's best described as a combination of church choir and marching band. The other fun thing about the songs in the Sacred Harp hymnal is that they are almost all about death- eminent or otherwise. Click here for a more through "official" description of what Sacred Harp singing is all about.
Here's a good example of a song being done by a Chicago group in 2007.
Although Sacred Harp singing is popular in the south, the whole thing feels very "Midwest-y" to me. This prompted me to think about a few ways the Midwest is very different from where I grew up- Florida.
1.Beards - Beards are not a big thing in Florida, but men in the Midwest seem to pride themselves on having impressive facial hair. And while I thought that growing a beard was about keeping your face warm in the winter, evidently even your facial hair needs special protection from the elements.
2.Potluck - If you were going to have a large group lunch when I was growing up, it would be pizza. Or if you had the audacity to ask people to bring food, they would all show up with Publix rotisserie chicken and chocolate chip cookies. Not so in the Midwest. Someone made a huge dish of barbecued ribs for lunch - two days in a row. And- defying stereotype- every potluck I've ever been to has had plenty of salads and vegetarian options.
But yeah, sometimes people make some weird/nasty stuff.
Credit: Toothpaste for Dinner.
Even that might be too spicy for the people from St. Paul.
3.Events at places that look like Hogwarts - Watch out, UF, The University of Chicago will give your lovely vine clad halls a run for their money.
I got in a nice run through the campus yesterday morning and checked out all the pretty Gothic style buildings. Not a place I'd like to go to school, though. UC is infamous as The Place Fun Comes to Die.
4. Perception of temperature - Yesterday in Chicago it was rainy with a high temperature of 64, which was universally pronounced as being far too hot. Note that the average high in Orlando in January is 72.
5. Central air conditioning - Okay, so a big part of the last one is that everything in Florida is air conditioned. I think they even passed an amendment to the state constitution that requires chicken coops to be air conditioned. But people, please, 64- with or without AC- is not hot.
So what are the quirks of the place you live? Got any hobbies that are hard to explain to your friends? Going to a BratFest or other sausage-related event this Memorial Day weekend? Have a special serviceman/woman you are remembering*? Hope you are sleeping in!
My family will remember my cousin Chris who was killed in Iraq 2007.
If you can't read it, the three "construction season" rules on the lower left are 1.Drink water, 2.Clean up your sweat and 3. Wear shoes. I can attest that the first two are important because the gym does not have air conditioning. It's not soooo bad in the morning, but by the afternoon the place is a sauna. You could charge $15 an hour and call it Bikram's weight training. We're talking so much sweat that you can slide around on the floor. Which, although I've never actually seen anyone come in barefoot, explains the importance of rule #3.
Two other exciting developments from gymland are:
1. They got new towels!!! At the UW gym, you can buy a towel one time and then swap it out after you take a shower, but as you can imagine these are some of the smallest, roughest, dingiest towels you've ever seen. You can't even wrap one of the old ones around your torso while you walk to the shower. You just have to hold it up in front of you and not get too bent out of shape because you are about to take a shower with eight grandmas (Hi, 6:30am senior fitness class) anyway. BUT the new towels are still relatively soft and white and are long enough to wrap around your entire body. Feels just a little bit more like I'm working out at a gym and not a minimum security prison.
2. I did a 150lb deadlift. Three singles, actually. And PS, I'm up to three reps at 105 on the bench press. Not that I'm trying to brag... :)
Back to signs of spring- our cherry tree is blooming! I heart you, cherry tree.
And because spring is all about new beginnings, I want to say congrats to Jamie on hers.
1. My legs, arms, and hands. May 11 was the first time in 2011 that I ran in Madison in a t-shirt and shorts without mittens. It wasn't all that long ago I was dressed like this to go out on an easy 6-miler.
2. Green stuff on trees and the ground. I heard they are called "leaves" and "plants", respectively. Monday I was washing my hair after my run and thought I'd given an hitchhiking caterpillar a ride home on my head, but fortunately it was only a chunk of oak pollen the size (and texture, yikes!) of a caterpillar.
3. A crow fly off carrying a dead mouse/rat/baby squirrel (cue The Circle of Life). Reminds me of the squirrels we used to see at Florida that could jump from a trash can to a tree carrying a discarded piece of pizza.
Stronger than they look.
4. My brother-in-law's wife's "twin". My brother also has a twin that I see from time to time, but his twin needs to lose about 50lbs. A, your twin appears to be in pretty good shape.
5. An old Chinese woman carrying a fishing pole try to run down a goose on the sidewalk with her bike. Surf 'n turf?
How can anyone say running is boring? What's the most interesting thing you've seen on a run lately?
A couple weeks ago, Michael from WhyMarathon e-mailed me to ask if I'd be willing to exchange a link to the WM site for a free shirt. While most of the blog world feels that freebies are sooooooo 2008, my blog is stuck back in 2008, so I said, "Heck yeah. And can you explain how to put a link to your site on my blog? In the blogroll? Okay, gotcha."
Sure enough I got the shirt in the mail a few later.
It's pretty nice but big enough on me to be a dress. I actually put it on with a tights and a belt to take a funny picture, but honestly it was embarrassing to both me and the good people at WhyMarathon so I ditched the idea. Even though I can't wear it, I did pass on the shirt to someone who will put it to good use.
So why WhyMarathon? What's that all about? I did go check out the site before I agreed to link to them. I wanted to make sure that the answer wasn't, "Because it's a great warm-up for knocking over the all-night Taco Bell." The WhyMarathon film crew travels around to races and asks finishers- from the winners to first timers- why they do what they do. The 1.5-ish minute responses looked like they were going to be very Motivational and Inspirational. That made me nervous. I'm not really into the whole "power of the human spirit" thing. I think people who do too much introspection should get a second job, and the last three times I cried all involved banging a body part into furniture during late-night trips to the bathroom. However, I know plenty of other people who are into that kind of thing, so I thought I'd put the link out there for them.
But when I started to write this review, I thought, "You know, I really should actually watch a few of the videos." Just for research purposes of course. A few videos later and I was hooked. The 1.5 minute length is perfect. It's long to feel like you've gotten to "know" the person in the video but short enough to be ADD and watch a whole bunch of different videos in a row. I went from the woman who won a marathon 4 months after giving birth to the 18-year old guy who finished his 1st marathon sub 2:40 to the doctor who ran in honor of a patient suffering from ALS to the guy who was REALLY REALLY REALLY excited that he just finished Boston. About 5 videos in I realized that I'd watched 5 videos (I was planning to watch like... 2), and that even though they were Inspirational and Motivational, they were genuine and not saccharine. Watching a couple of these would definitely get you pumped up for a big race or even a though workout. My only complaint is that they don't have many interviews with women. However, they are actively interviewing people at races so ladies, if you see the WM film crew, stop and do an interview. We've gotta represent.
I have not been compensated in any way for my review (other than a shirt that I gave away because it didn't fit), but I honestly think the site is a neat idea*. It's Inspirational and Motivational for those of you who like that sort of thing, and it's interesting from an oral history perspective for those of you who will never admit to crying for a reason other than almost losing a toe to the dresser.
*If anyone with $$$ out there is listening, I'm not opposed to being compensated for... nearly anything that won't get me divorced or fired from my job. This ugly blog layout is not going to change itself!
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For further proof that I met the internet devil at the cross-roads at midnight see my interview here about running in Wisconsin. I should note that I actually have no desire to run a race with Daniel. I just couldn't come up with any other answer to that question. Who would I run a race with? Jesus? Probably would be against me trying to pass blind people. Kara Goucher? Probably couldn't run as slow as me even if we had run a race while she was actively in labor with her son. Usain Bolt? I don't really like chicken McNuggets. So sorry, D, you got thrown under the bus for that one.
I have a yin yoga DVD that's 70-minutes of hard core hip stretching. You hold the poses for several minutes each. It's intense, and I feel like it helps my recovery after a long run, but... it's kind of boring after you do it a few times. So yesterday I turned it on with the volume on just high enough that I knew when to change the poses and did the routine while reading a book and drinking a Diet Mt. Dew. I actually liked it a lot better that way.
I'm also trying to ignore the fact that the weather has gone all winter on us again. That rain I was complaining about on Wednesday? That turned out to be a mini ice storm. And yesterday there was the following exchange at the computer science welcome weekend pizza party I crashed:
Prospective Student: So is there anything bad about Wisconsin? Me: Um... the fact that it's snowing on March 26...
Despite the fact that it was 10 degrees with the wind chill when I left for my long run yesterday, it went really well. I upped the intensity by running 10 minutes easy and then picking up the pace for 20 minutes and repeating until I was done. I finished 12 miles (including the long hill up to my apartment complex) in 1:47:27, which was an 8:57min/mile overall pace and may be the fastest I've ever done a long run. All the "fast" portions were done between 8:30 and 8:40 min/mile pace.
The weather should be much less craptacular for the next week. We're climbing back up to highs in the 40s (and 50s!!!), and there's not too much rain on the horizon. I'm excited for next Saturday when I'll be running the Black Earth 10-miler for the first time. Should be a beautiful day.
Time to get off the computer and get ready for church. Hope you have a relaxing Sunday!
Snow, thunder snow, wintry mix, sleet, freezing rain, and just plain old rain- the kind we're getting right now. It seems like there's always some kind of precipitation going on up here. Fortunately this is a gym morning (tomorrow I get to decide if high 30s is too cold to run in the rain), and it was slightly windy but dry for my interval run yesterday. It wasn't the greatest run in the world, but I'm feeling better about my paces now that I know that 1km is 0.62mi, not 0.65mi, which is what I was running. I did 8mi total with 1k, 2k, 1k, 1k fast. My splits for the 1k were just above the 1k paces shown on McMillan so I'm thinking the extra seconds were due to the 0.03mi extra I ran. Or at least I'm going to just keep telling myself that :).
As of 4:45 when I went home yesterday, a big project at work was heading out the door. I had the dreads about going back yesterday after my long weekend in Chillsville, but it was actually a non-stressful and productive day.
We did go back to Bach around the Clock on Saturday, and I got a picture of Daniel's* radio debut:
Bach cello suites arranged for electric guitar was well received. We also got to hear a few other talented pianists and a classical guitarist while we were there.
The "make your own takeout" theme of the week continues with Saturday night's dinner, my favorite looks-disgusting-tastes-delicious Indian dish, palak paneer. It follows the rule that if you put enough cheese/barbecue sauce/catsup/ranch dressing/seasoning (in this case) on anything, it will taste good. Spinach + yogurt + paneer cheese + spice pack from Indian grocery = tasty.
Last night we actually followed a recipe from an old Cooking Light for shrimp pad Thai. It wasn't Chopstix, but I also didn't have to wait for 2 hours to get it.
And finally, another non-take out slow cooker winner, from Real Simple- Sunday's dinner- creamy chicken and biscuits dumplings. Easy, tasty, and with plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight.
And sadly it's time for me to see if I can get my raincoat to stretch over my jacket and my backpack so I don't get soaked going to and from the gym and work. It's really coming down... sad face.
It's the weekend. I'm still sleepy and have been kind of a bum all day. I did rally a bit on Thursday morning- when I stared writing this post yesterday the "whew" was about how much better I felt after a good night's sleep- but it was still a drag to get up at normal time this morning to squeeze in a long run first thing.
Don't want to be like this guy- even if he's lucky
enough to be at the beach.
The good news is that the run went well. It wasn't freezing, and I didn't fear being blown away by crazy March wind.
We are finally starting to see signs of spring. A lot of the snow has melted, and the birds are back, including the surly geese. I already saw one go after a woman on the bike path yesterday. This was only my second double digit run of 2011 (I think) but I felt strong the whole way. I tried running 10 minutes easy then 20 minutes harder and finished in 1:50 - a little slower than I would have liked, but I guess I'm still recovering from the DST and last week's race combo.
One last thing- I wanted to give some food link love to last month's Real Simple (which has recipes from the magazine online here). Whatever you want to say about the rest of the magazine, the recipes are almost always truly simple and tasty. Last month the feature was my favorite "I don't want anything but taking off my shoes to stand between me and eating dinner when I get home" appliance: the slow cooker. One "bad" thing about many slow cooker recipes is that you actually have to cook everything before you slow cook it. This probably makes things taste better, but it often defeats the purpose. Both recipes we tried out (plus the others in the issue) were assemble + on. Now I'm laughing because true to the "feed me now" nature of these dishes, I only got a picture of one before it was devoured; however, I assure you the chipole beef tacos (which we actually made with the other 1/2 of the pork roast we bought for the stir fry dish) were taste tested and approved.
Raise your hand if you are still having a hard time adjusting to the time change. Every part of me from my brain down feels tired. This week at work has been super busy getting ready to send out materials for a big meeting we have in the beginning of April, and I've been busy the last two evenings* so as soon as I get home it's time to turn around and do it all over again. We have a furlough day on Friday, which means one less day to get everything done at work, but man, I could really use an extra day of sleep past 4:30am.
But- there have been good things going on outside of work. Yesterday we had an impromptu dinner out at Hubbard to celebrate Daniel being offered a summer intern position at the Google office in Madison, and - as it turned out- Pi Day. Hubbard makes delicious pies and the restaurant was slammed because they were offering a special $3.14/slice price. We had to take our slices (one key lime, one mint Oreo) to go because we were late to a meeting, but I can confirm that my half of the mint Oreo slice was delicious even a day later (and I'm sure key lime will be the same way tonight).
My motivation to exercise has been low since the race. I ended up taking Monday completely off except for some stretching, but yesterday I had a good upper body lifting workout despite feeling like I was going to fall asleep on my feet.** I rocked the assisted pull-up machine, working up to a set of a few with only 10lbs offset, so I think I'm ready to start doing some less than full range pull-ups on the regular bar. I rearranged my lifting schedule for the next few weeks, and I need to update that on my weight training page. This morning I'm going to go out in the dark again (why did we have to go back on DST so early????????????) for an easy run of undetermined length.
I want to start posting about cooking again- we've made some good stuff out last month's Real Simple- and about the fun spring clothes I bought last weekend (thanks, Mom and Mom M.), but I only have so much brain power and it seems my body is hording it for use between 8 and 5.
*Ugh- it took my almost an hour to get home yesterday because the bus is on recess schedule for spring break and I missed the last one before it went on the every 45 min schedule after my piano lesson and I had to walk all the way home from the music building. Bascom hill 2x in one week is at least 1x too many.
**or on the reverse fly machine, which I actually saw someone do once
Subtitled: After this I'm going to take a nap. Or I would if it weren't already 4:15pm.
I was excited about doing this race because it's my first test of fitness after a long winter on the treadmill, ice skating around campus, and having long runs restricted to less than an hour and a half so I didn't die of exposure. Also- despite the mega hill at the very beginning and end of the course - this race has been good to me. You can read past race reports here and here.
Daniel and I got up at 6 new time this morning because we had to be downtown to do set-up at church at 7am. I came dressed in my running gear and had a good warm-up lugging things around, setting up folding chairs, stuffing bulletins, etc. I snarfed down a bagel at 8am when the pastor showed up with them. We're probably technically not supposed to eat until all the work is done, but I wanted to have as much time to digest as I could before the start of the race. We finished with everything by 9am and I headed out to the race start while Daniel stayed for the service.
I met up with Jamie, Kerri, and Linda (who make me wish my first name started with an I or an M) where we took pictures (well, I didn't take any pictures but I hope to snag some from them). We chatted, wished each other good luck, and headed for the starting line. I got up pretty close to the front. Not the very front, but I decided to be gutsy and let myself be in the position where I'm the one being passed, not the one dodging slow people for the first mile. It was fairly cold in the wind, and I didn't regret wearing tights, three tops, a pair of gloves and a pair of mittens.
The race starts with a slight downhill, turns, and you hit the first big hill. Up, up, up, then down, then up up again and a long down hill. This is the easy way over the hill and I hit the first mile at 8:00. Unfortunately this and the second mile are the only splits I know because I accidentally set my GPS to record only the time and not the distance or pace. The second and third miles are flat and familiar territory for me. I hit mile marker 2 at 15:17 and the 5k turn around at 23:54. At that point I started looking for the other gals. I missed Jamie, but I saw Linda and Kerri both going strong. I was still feeling good and my goal was not to push too hard before hitting the hill again. We crossed mile 5 and it was up up up again. This is the hard, steep way. You feel like you're only doing slightly better running than walking. But then you get to come down down down the other side. You turn another corner and there's the last .2 miles on a straight way. This is the only part of the race I was disappointed with. I really should have started my kick to the end as soon as I saw the finish line. In the past I'd had problems starting my final kick too early and nearly blowing chunks up right before the finish line. But I'm in better shape now, and I need to work on pushing harder from farther back and gutting it out to the finish line.
In the end my time was 48:07 (coulda woulda shoulda on those 8 seconds). Even that wouldn't have been a PR, but I would have liked to see 47:XX again. I think part of the problem was that I couldn't see a clock as I was coming down the last straight away. Seeing it tick toward 48min might have inspired me to push it out a little harder. In any case, it was a course PR by 1:23min from last year and- if my fatigue is a good indicator- a hard effort from me. I have some longer distance runs on my schedule for the rest of the spring, but I'm feeling motivated to scope out more 10ks for the rest of the year. It really is my favorite distance.
Yesterday was my last "real run" of the week before the race Sunday, and sadly it was on the treadmill again. We got about 6 unexpected inches of snow Tuesday night, and it was still snowing pretty hard by the time I caught the bus on Wednesday morning. Fortunately it warmed up a lot, and the sidewalks and roads are clear again. For now*. We are forecast for rain/snow on Saturday, but hopefully the course won't be too icy. Can I say it again? I'm sick of winter!
So is this guy- for sure.
But running has been good. Monday I ran 6x400m (outside!) in 1:43, 1:46, 1:39, 1:47, 1:40 and 1:47. I went back and forth over the same stretch of ground, and, although it looks totally flat, you can see from my splits that there was definitely an easy way and a hard way. Tuesday I did weights but backed off any really heavy lifting, and yesterday was 8mi fairly easy on the gym treadmill. I'm back at the gym this morning for more higher rep, lower weight upper body work and maybe an easy 2 or 3 miles depending on my time. I'll rest tomorrow with maybe some easy yoga, 4mi easy on Saturday, and ready to run fast (and hopefully not slip and roll down Observatory Hill) Sunday.
*And hopefully our snow clearing public employees are not going to go on strike.
My run this morning was so bad that I'd like to submit this blog post as a monograph to The Annals of Horrible Runs.
First off, winter needs to end. Like yesterday. It rained yesterday and snowed last night so it was super icy. But not in the giant chunks of ice covering the sidewalk kind of icy. It was the invisible, every single inch of pavement is suddenly slick kind of icy. And despite the air temperature being above freezing, the wind coming off the lake was brutal. I under-dressed a bit after having over dressed on Thursday, and it was a huge mistake. My hands were freezing the whole time. If sticking your hands in ice water is an accurate prediction of how long you can stand labor with out an epidural, I'm confirmed good at 1.5 hours. The only thing that got me through 9 miles was the knowledge that I probably ate about 9 miles worth calories of chips and salsa Friday night. I guess I should be sensitive to people who can't run at all right now for whatever reason. I mean- at least I got out there, right? No. Not this run.
At least this next week is looking warmer and drier. It'll be interesting to see how my race goes next weekend since I have no endurance base. I've only completed one double digit run since the end of November/beginning of December. Yikes. Not much I can do about it now.
Hope you're having a good Saturday. I'm going to go kick back and be lazy until time to make dinner.
