A local forum I post on often has "Ten on Tuesday" posts, where the posters list pretty much the first 10 things that pop into their heads. I'm sitting here killing time and watching DVRed Army Wives b/c J's poker night is going on upstairs, so I decided to have Ten on Tuesday riiiight here. So here goes...
1. I managed to get a good solid 5 mile run in this evening WITHOUT getting rained on! Considering the craptastic rainy weather we've had since about 3am today, this is a miracle.
2. One day shy of two months left in my twenties...yikes!
3. And I'm plotting to ask my mom and dad to get me the new Verizon iPhone for my birthday. Yeah, I'm asking my parents to buy their kid a new cell phone for her birthday. Her 30th birthday. Don't hate, appreciate!
4. J and I NEED to get going on getting the family room painted...real bad. Its depressing, how much I hate the current paint color.
5. On that note, we need to get on getting our veggie garden planted and flowerbed mulching done. Oh, and staining the deck.
6. I'm so excited to get the veggie garden done-buying fresh, organic produce at the store is expensive and growing it myself is way better.
7. And the farmer's markets will be starting up soon, so whatever I don't have the room or expertise to grow myself I can buy at the market. Along with yummy cheese and meat :D
8. We need to get back into the routine of walking the Terrible Twosome every day (or almost every day). We started slacking off this winter, once we realized they didn't HAVE to be walked that often anymore.
9. I need to get Eddie's right rear leg checked out-he definitely tweaked it wrestling with Georgie yesterday and limped for a few minutes after, but I think I've caught him limping on and off for the last week or so. I might just be paranoid, but either way I want to make sure my wee man is okay :(
10. Getting my hairs did on Thursday! Cut and color, here I come :D
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Close calls...
Omg figured out how to keep this from being one long paragraph! YAY!
...we had one today.
By "we", I mean the crapton of people both in my training group and otherwise who needed to get their run on this morning. You see, the meteorologists here in lovely Central Ohio have been predicting nothing but high winds and heavy rain for us, starting last night and continuing through late tonight. The thought of this made me want to puke, as I hate running in heavy rain even more than running in the cold.
However, what did we get?
A brief spurt of heavy rain last night, some wind and rain during the night...and besides that, not a whole lot. The odd sprinkle here and there, but we actually saw the SUN for roughly the first half of todays 12 mile run and for that, I am so grateful. Mother Nature actually came through this morning...hopefully she keeps it up in a few weeks for my half marathon!
This morning's run actually went pretty well. I was only supposed to do 11 miles but was feeling pretty good so I decided to do the extra mile with the rest of my group. Today was a progressive run, meaning starting around mile 6 we gradually increased our pace and finished miles 9 and 10 at around 8:45/mile pace. My legs were heavy at first so I was kind of worried about how things would go but thankfully I was able to shake the sludge out and kick it into gear :) Plus, I haven't heard a peep out of my right calf/shin in a couple of weeks so hooray!
As excited as I am about my upcoming race, I think at this point I'm even more excited for the break I'm taking from training. As in, not planning on training for a fall race. I'm not taking a break from running or anything silly like that, but I need to shift my focus-to rounding out my fitness abilities a little more with biking and swimming, and to actually putting some sort of strength training program in place. Plus, I signed up to be a coach for the 10 min/mile group through my training group for a handful of local races this summer/fall/winter so that'll give me something to look forward to as well as an opportunity to NOT focus in setting new PRs.
Overall, though, the biggest reason is that training for a certain time goal can be freaking exhausting. Needing to hit certain paces during speedwork and on shorter runs, making sure to get your mileage in each week without overtraining, fueling properly, resting enough but not too much, etc. It can get old after a while...for me and for J. He tries to be patient and supportive, but its hard when your perspective is different. He's not a runner and never has been, which is fine by me...but its hard for him to understand why I'm up and out the door by 7:30am every Saturday morning instead of sleeping in with him, and why I've been putting myself through punishing speed workouts every Wednesday night instead of coming home to spend time with him. And its hard to explain. J feels like I'm choosing running over him, but I feel like I'm trying to keep balance between things I enjoy. But I know that while I'm chasing this sub 1:50 HM goal, its going to be more difficult to really balance and really enjoy everything that I'm trying to balance and enjoy. So after this HM, its time to take a break and run for the hell of it...whether I run a sub 1:50 or not.
But that's enough of that. Now, time to enjoy this lovely lazy Saturday afternoon with the Terrible Twosome :)
...we had one today.
By "we", I mean the crapton of people both in my training group and otherwise who needed to get their run on this morning. You see, the meteorologists here in lovely Central Ohio have been predicting nothing but high winds and heavy rain for us, starting last night and continuing through late tonight. The thought of this made me want to puke, as I hate running in heavy rain even more than running in the cold.
However, what did we get?
A brief spurt of heavy rain last night, some wind and rain during the night...and besides that, not a whole lot. The odd sprinkle here and there, but we actually saw the SUN for roughly the first half of todays 12 mile run and for that, I am so grateful. Mother Nature actually came through this morning...hopefully she keeps it up in a few weeks for my half marathon!
This morning's run actually went pretty well. I was only supposed to do 11 miles but was feeling pretty good so I decided to do the extra mile with the rest of my group. Today was a progressive run, meaning starting around mile 6 we gradually increased our pace and finished miles 9 and 10 at around 8:45/mile pace. My legs were heavy at first so I was kind of worried about how things would go but thankfully I was able to shake the sludge out and kick it into gear :) Plus, I haven't heard a peep out of my right calf/shin in a couple of weeks so hooray!
As excited as I am about my upcoming race, I think at this point I'm even more excited for the break I'm taking from training. As in, not planning on training for a fall race. I'm not taking a break from running or anything silly like that, but I need to shift my focus-to rounding out my fitness abilities a little more with biking and swimming, and to actually putting some sort of strength training program in place. Plus, I signed up to be a coach for the 10 min/mile group through my training group for a handful of local races this summer/fall/winter so that'll give me something to look forward to as well as an opportunity to NOT focus in setting new PRs.
Overall, though, the biggest reason is that training for a certain time goal can be freaking exhausting. Needing to hit certain paces during speedwork and on shorter runs, making sure to get your mileage in each week without overtraining, fueling properly, resting enough but not too much, etc. It can get old after a while...for me and for J. He tries to be patient and supportive, but its hard when your perspective is different. He's not a runner and never has been, which is fine by me...but its hard for him to understand why I'm up and out the door by 7:30am every Saturday morning instead of sleeping in with him, and why I've been putting myself through punishing speed workouts every Wednesday night instead of coming home to spend time with him. And its hard to explain. J feels like I'm choosing running over him, but I feel like I'm trying to keep balance between things I enjoy. But I know that while I'm chasing this sub 1:50 HM goal, its going to be more difficult to really balance and really enjoy everything that I'm trying to balance and enjoy. So after this HM, its time to take a break and run for the hell of it...whether I run a sub 1:50 or not.
But that's enough of that. Now, time to enjoy this lovely lazy Saturday afternoon with the Terrible Twosome :)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Judgement
There are judges (as in, "Your Honor" judges). Judgment calls. Using your best judgment. And a theme that I've seen brought up in more than one forum that I frequent...people who judge others. AKA Judgy Mc Judgersons. Now, don't tell me you NEVER judge others about anything. That's a load of BS and we all know it. We judge based on superficial, "outside" characteristics-hair, clothing, weight, car, where someone lives, what we read, etc. We judge based on more personal, "inside" characteristics-political/religious beliefs (though for some religions, this could also be considered an outside characteristic based on required clothing items), sexual orientation, what childrearing decisions people make (aka the Mommy Wars), where we grew up, etc. Some judge others within the same "group" as them-people at church, or the gym, or school, or work, or who share the same hobby as you (running is the example I'm going to use). I fully admit to people watching at the gym and raising my eyebrows at certain things-usually either the guys who think they're hot shit because they drop their weights on the ground after a deadlife and make a noise that causes half the gym to jump out of their skin, or girls that come in clearly to be seen and not to work out. (Please note-yes, I go to the gym after work and do not wash my makeup off beforehand. Those who do something similar are not who I'm talking about. Those who clearly have not come straight from work but rather put on a bunch of makeup just to work out at 9am are who I'm talking about.). From a running standpoint, I've encountered those who have very specific criteria for who and who is not a "real runner" and judge the hell out of anyone they deem NOT a "real runner". (Views on what makes/doesn't make a "real runner" and whatthefuck a "real runner" is anyway will be a topic for another day). For example, you're not a "real runner" if you: haven't completed a marathon (without walking), or can't maintain a certain pace, or don't own a Garmin or other GPS watch, or prefer to wear cotton t shirts to "tech" shirts. Some may find this ridiculous (personally, I do), and some may agree. The more I think about it, the more I find myself asking "Why?" Why do we feel the need to judge others? To feel better about ourselves? To feel like we understand someone better, even when that someone is a perfect stranger? Because we were raised with preconceived notions about certain groups of people? Human nature? I don't know, but I don't like it. Ideas, anyone? And OMFG what is UP with this formatting issue?! I swear, this was not one long paragraph when I started it! Sorry :(
Saturday, April 2, 2011
5 weeks to go!
Zomg, sorry for the huge runon paragraph. I swear when I typed this post there were paragraphs, but I've edited twice and its still not cooperating! >:( ('til race day) and I'm slowly but surely getting excited. There's a lot to get through before then-more speedwork and two long runs (11 and 12 miles), one cutback week (next Saturday, 5 miles), and then taper time after the 12 miler. Which is a run that I'm still trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to get done, since the day I'm supposed to do it is the same day as my cousin's bridal shower. In Cincinnati. And the next day is Easter. So right now its looking like I'm going to be joining the early crowd at running group this morning, and crossing my fingers that my mom doesn't want to leave before 10am :$ This past week, training looked like THIS: Sunday-rest Monday-3 miles easy Tuesday-5 miles at a pace faster than easy, but not goal pace Weds-Speedwork. 8x800 Yasso 800 style, with 1 mile each warm up and cooldown. I still can't believe I survived all 8. Thurs-spin class Fri-4 miles easy Sat-10 miles mostly easy, with picking up the pace for the last 2-3 miles. My shin has been pretty well behaved, and my calf discomfort tolerable (without ibuprofen) to nonexistent (with ibuprofen). Yeah, I've been popping a couple of ibuprofen before long runs to manage the discomfort...at this point, its so mild that doing this keeps it at bay completely during the run, and it doesn't come back once the ibuprofen has worn off. Even during speedwork on Weds, the discomfort minus ibuprofen was pretty minor and nowhere near what it was for a couple of weeks so hopefully I can keep this managed through the race. In other news...lets see here. Well, there's not much. Things have been blessedly quiet around here, which is never a bad thing. Especially since springtime means yard work and house projects...yay? I'd better enjoy this quiet time while I have it! :) And yeah...Grey's Anatomy? No more musical episodes, please. I just watched Thursday's ep (thank you DVR) and, uh, that was weird. Please, stop the madness.
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