Drunk Pumpkin

AKA one more funny search term. I love using these because I don’t have to come up with something on my own.  YAY laziness. And you should google image “Drunk Pumpkin”.  Seriously.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
Muhammad Ali, former American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion

This quote certainly does not speak to laziness though. Nor did my run this morning.  But first the rest of the weekend?

Saturday friend came to visit and we did go for a 4 miler and I had done some core before leaving (of which I am STILL sore.  Note to self: taking 6 weeks off of core work is not a good idea.  And I must have been really using my arms to help me during my track workout because they are sore too).  It was nice and not to fast but not to slow.  And it was nice and sunny out.  A beautiful fall day.  Later we went out that night to a sports place that I had been dying to go to.  The best part of being in a new city is that you get to explore places.  There are still so many places that I want to go to!

 

It’s nice to get all dolled up too.  Don’t get me wrong: I love my jeans and a t-shirt but putting on a fancy dress is amazing too

We stayed out wayyyyyy late and I had to call the person I was going to go running with when my alarm went off the next morning to see if we could push our running plans from 0900 to later that afternoon.  But we ended up just rescheduling them.  Which is just as well because I had some errands to run and a good book to catch up with.  And the weather was cloudy and blahhh.  A perfect day for some tea and a warm blanket.

Since I got so little sleep on Saturday I went to bed embarrassingly early Sunday night.  And man I slept HARD.  I think the fact that it was rainy out and extremely cool and NOT humid helped a lot.  It was still a shock when my alarm went off this morning at 0530 though.  I definitely did not wake up feeling refreshed at all.  I’m thinking that when I get off work today that I’m going to have to at least TRY and nap. 

But my run did not reflect that in the slightest.  In the back of my mind I thought that my body would do a forced recovery day like they did after the hills of last week.  Mostly because my body is SORE at the moment.  I think I can feel every single muscle in my body.  For real.  Not 100% sure why but I’m guessing it’s the combo of  no core work in 6 weeks + hard track workout + being out really late Saturday + inactivity on Sunday.  I’m leaning toward my Saturday night because it’s the one thing that was out of normal. But who knows. It’s interesting because I wasn’t that sore yesterday.  Maybe I shouldn’t have taken that rest day 😉

But the run ended up being SO not recovery.

• 1st loop: 4.1 @ 8:09
• 2nd loop: 4.1 @ 8:00
• 3rd loop:    4.1 @ 7:56
• Total:               12.3 @ 8:02

Definitely a very surprising run indeed.  It kind of came out of left field.  Even though it felt good and fast and ON during it.  It’s like all the stars were aligned. And maybe they were because it was 0530 and dark. 

Yay google images

And yes, all three loops were my path loop.  It wasn’t really all that boring and I did it that way because I felt safer. 

The weather was pretty nice for running too: 52*, 90% humidity, some rain. Luckily the rain was only drizzle, with the exception of a 5 minute spurt, and it wasn’t raining when I stepped out the door.  Given how my eyes were stinging from lack of sleep I might have just gone back inside! Especially since the temperature felt sooooo cold.  It was 20* warmer on Friday for my run!

But it wasn’t as cold as one of the guys on the path thought it was: he was in SNOW PANTS and SKI GLOVES. I thought I was overdressed in a long sleeve and shorts hahah! I mean, I do wear ski gloves in winter but it’s definitely nowhere near cold enough yet. And hopefully it won’t be any time in the near future.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.Muhammad Ali, former American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion

In the near future, however, I intend on doing a tune-up speed workout either tomorrow or Wednesday.  I’m thinking that I’ll have to head back to the track again as I know that once I’m actually there I’ll go fast.  There’s just too much doubt when I do something on the roads.  But we’ll see.  I guess it depends on how sore my body is in the morning (I still cannot get over how sore I am!).  Any type of speed work this week would likely just be mental as the race is on MONDAY. Exciting.

Until then I have to get through some work.  The rainy weather + sleepiness + sore body = me not wanting to move.  Luckily the work I have today is to start (and hopefully get a lot of work done on) the monthly report.  AKA sit at my desk.  My body could probably use movement to not stiffen up but I’m being lazy.  Don’t judge 🙂

I Just Took The MCAT

Well not the *real* one but rather Full Length Test Numero Uno.  For my course we have to take 5 full lengths before our actual test and the first was today.  On the holiday weekend.  Fun, right? MmmmmHmmmm that’s what I thought.

Even funner? The fact that when I was driving to my friend’s house (where I was taking the test because my house is NOT conductive to quiet and focused-ness and all the libraries, testing centers etc are closed for the holiday weekend) a deer came bounding out into the road.  Damn near hit me.  Luckily I have cat like reflexes.  Too bad that those reflexes caused me to jump the curb and blow my front tire.

Oh well.  As my friend put it when I finally got to her house “better the tire than the damage that deer would have done to your car”.  Amen. But obviously NOT the way I wanted to spend my precious moments trying to calm my test taking anxiety.  Especially since I had been out late the night before picking a friend up at the train station and then grabbing some food to play catch up.  *LeSigh*. Luckily I had a spare and everything turned out okay. My nerves were frayed but okay.

Including the test.  I didn’t do as well as I want to for, say, the real thing but overall I was really happy with my performance.  While taking the test sucked hardcore it was good to get some real feedback to confirm my strengths and weaknesses and where to go from there.

But after taking a 5.5 hour test (and yes I did take the entire time) I’m giving myself the rest of the day off.  Hopefully I can relax a bit and catch up on some summer FUN reading.

Now onto running.

Or lack thereof.

You see, as astonished with how much I ran in June (and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get any satisfaction from it) it was way scary to see the numbers.  So after tallying the numbers on Wednesday night I decided to take some time off of running.

And by “time off” I mean 2 days because I’ll likely jump into a run pretty soon today because I’m so tense from the test, as well as tense from not having my release the past 2 days.

But, while I guess this is a chance for me to recoup, I feel really agitated.  I suppose this is like a withdrawal period? Who knows.  I do know that it’s not as though I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs.  There is studying to be done. I don’t really think I’m getting more done as I’m distracted so everything is taking way longer.

I’m also thinking of doing a race tomorrow for the 4th. It’s a 5 miler so it’ll be interesting to see if my legs have those fast-twitch capabilities anymore.  Last year I did this same race without any speed training post-marathon so anything can happen I guess.

I haven’t committed yet because there’s a chance I might being going up to my friend’s lake house for the night (and coming back Sunday night for a Monday morning appt.) but I still haven’t nailed out the details.  So if I do go I obviously wouldn’t be able to do the race.  Since I currently do not have a way to get there it’s looking like the race will happen and I’ll just go to cookouts and then into Boston for fireworks with some friends.

Soooooooooo that’s all I got.  My brain is FRIED so apologies on a scatterbrained post. Happy 4th of July weekend all 😀

Giveaway from ErikaH

And I’ll leave you with the song that was in my head for the entire 5.5 hours of my MCAT practice test.

Intervals? Check. Running? Nope.

Jeez Louise! Thanks so much everyone for your support in that tough race Sunday.  If you missed it (and trust me it wasn’t anything I want to relive ha) you can find the Eastern States 20 Miler race report here.  It was amazing to read all your kind words about the ordeal that was every single mile of that course. I feel so loved and supported by all of you 🙂

The rest of Sunday included tutoring statistics, which was an ordeal as I was trying to keep my throbbing leg elevated and yet trying to help a bunch of kids around a table.  Sunday did not include a good night of sleeping.  I think that the physical stress of the race + all the emotional stuff really was interfering with my sleep as I slept terribly.  I woke up at 00:56, 1:33, 03:22 and finally 05:31.  I just laid in bed for a half hour and then got up to study for my exam Monday morning blah.

That night, and every night for that matter, I’ve also been plagued with nosebleeds.  Like everytime I blow my nose (because allergies make me congested) I blow the clot and BAM massive nosebleed. If anyone has a good trick to get this to stop I’d be you biggest fan. For real.

Anyway.  Monday morning came and I don’t think I could have run a step if I tried.  It wasn’t that my muscles were sore.  I’ve never actually been really sore after a long run ever *knockonwood* but rather my tendons and ligaments and skin were sore.  I don’t really know the best way to explain it but it just felt that my leg was so being stretched out, likely from the inflammation.  So running? Yeah, out of the question. I honestly don’t think I could have run if I had tried.

I did some stretching throughout the day and some corework because I had been slacking on that the past few days and I didn’t really notice that the rest day was helping me.  I’m not exactly an instant gratification gal, I can wait forever for things.  But with my running and injury (and Lacey considers shin splints an injury even though I don’t so that’s where the terminology comes from) I do want instant results. I want my body to say “oh you skipped your 0700 run so by 0800 you’ll be okay”.  Ummm I know in my brain that’s not how it works but still.

I wore my compression socks to bed (which I have been since FOREVER) and in the morning I wasn’t as stiff and I could WALK.  Yes, walking was difficult on Monday. Just as I felt every step in the race on Sunday I could feel every step I walked on Monday.  So I was very happy. I even entertained the thought of ditching my arc trainer plans in favor of running.

I quickly nixed that.  See? I’m not entirely dumb.  Plus I had already written out my XT workout for the day and there’s something AWESOME about executing what’s written down on paper.

But today is Tuesday. So it wasn’t just a plug and chug XT session.  I had intervals to do on the plan so intervals were going to be carried out.  Come hell or high water (and with all the rain and flooding high water might just in fact be a possibility ha).

I ended up on the arc trainer (blahhhhh) and used the “hill intervals” program.  I figured that a typical interval running session takes about 2 hours so I did the following:

• 30 minutes, manual, resistance = 25 (out of 100)
• 60 minutes, hill interval, level = 5 (out of 10)
• 30 minutes, manual, resistance = 30 (out of 100)

All in all I guess it was an okay session.  I periodically checked my HR during the whole two hours and it was consistently between 140 and 160, which if you believe the whole Max HR = 220-age then I was around 70-80% of my max. I tried to keep the “strides/minute” around 140-150 because I think I read somewhere that’s a good place to have them.  The numbers really don’t mean much to me.

But arc trainer (or bike or elliptical) miles =/= running miles so I’m not quite sure how this workout fits in.  Yes it was a way for me to keep active today but as far as *training* goes, I’m not quite sure it qualifies. Also, on the arc trainer (not so much the elliptical though) it takes me FOREVER to go a mile.  I don’t know if I’m working the machine right or not butttt in 2 hours I only went about 6.5 miles (the same time running would yield me AT LEAST 12-14 depending on type of run and the same time on the elliptical gets me about 13 or so).  I think it’s the machine and the way it’s designed.  I mean, I guess it terms of fitness the only important thing is that my HR was up, right?

Interestingly I’ve had a toenail that’s been on the verge of falling off for awhile now.  It started with a blister that formed around the whole toenail so it’s been prime to pop off.  I’ve run countless times on it: intervals, tempos, LRs and standard recovery stuff.  And yet it still was hanging on.  Literally by a shard of skin (gross I know).  Wouldn’t you know that the way the arc trainer grips my shoes that the damn thing fell off today? It’s my first missing toenail ever.  And it’s from XT-ing.  Go figure haha.

Also interesting? The calorie count readout on the machine.  Now I’m not by any means obsessed with calories or anything like that but I found it interesting that the readout said I burned 1600 calories over those 2 hours. It was a machine where you get to input your weight so it’s not skewing it thinking I’m a big burly man but still…1600? I find it hard to believe that my workout was the energy expenditure equivalent of a 16 mile run.  Certainly didn’t feel that way. Anyone have any thoughts on it? Just curious because it struck me as odd and there’s only so much “real thinking” one can do over two hours of the elliptical. haha.

As for tomorrow I really am itching to get out on the roads.  The forecast is looking somewhat optimistic.  The heavy rain that has plagued us for the past 48 hours is hopefully going to clear out tonight.  Sure some roads are definitely going to be flooded but I’m sure I’ll manage.  If I don’t get to running then I have no idea what I’m going to do workout wise. So if anyone has any good workouts for the elliptical or the bike (there’s even one spin bike in the gym) I want it! And please email it to me and rather than putting it in the comments section. It helps me immensely to have it in my email rather than here 🙂

Oh well. I’m in dire need of some homework time. LOST is on tonight and I get to watch it with the girlies. It’s become a Tuesday night tradition 🙂 Although I don’ t think ANYTHING could top last week’s.  Richard Alpert = hot. We’re rewatching it before the new one because it was just that good!

Birthday Round 1

Tequila shots were prolly a bad idea. In fact, it’s 1500 right now and I can still feel the burn in my esophagus.

But part one of the birthday celebrations went well.  It was a little lackluster but I think it’s because I had really really high expectations and of course nothing can ever compare to the “perfect” night.

My friends and I pre-gamed before going out dancing at the local (read: sketchy) bar.  I definitely had a blast dancing away!  However all the drinking definitely left me feeling a little out of it as I hadn’t drunk enough to be drunk but I definitely wasn’t sober.  I think that the fact that I A) wasn’t well hydrated (oops) and B) hadn’t eaten a lot prior to drinking (double oops) left me feeling in a lightheaded state. But I still had lots of fun 🙂

So that coupled with the fact that I could feel my legs being slow and fatigued while dancing led me to *gasp* take a rest day.  Definitely LONG overdue.  But my stupid body wouldn’t let me enjoy the extra two hours of sleep that I wanted to take advantage of.  Boo! But it did feel really nice to be able to lay in bed with my quilt wrapped around me and listen to the wind that I was NOT out in haha.

All this lack of sleep + running lots + partying lots finally caught up to me today and I was soooo out of it (I even skipped one of my classes *gasp*. The only reason I didn’t skip more was because I had to physically turn things in. Boo!)  I’m definitely not hungover (record secure!) but I’m out of it enough that my Spanish prof totally called me out on it in class today as I wasn’t able to participate with the usual enthusiasm that I give.  And of course my friend next to me goes (in Spanish) “Too much tequila last night” haha.  But with this prof it wasn’t really all that awkward.  But still slightly embarrassing to be called out.

And I was no out of it that I *almost* didn’t respond when Hot Spanish TA said hi to me in the hallway as I was waiting for one of my classes.  Nothing special but still, it was a little boost this morning 🙂

So not much running today (well none actually) but I’m gearing up for my 23k run tmrw. The weather forecast looks horrendous as Hurricane Ida will be blessing us with her presence but I think I can do it.  What better present to myself that a long run in a Nor’Easter? I’m so bamf that I’ll rock it hahaha.

Off to go privately tutor a kid in statistics.  He contacted me earlier this week and despite my school having a really good — and FREE — tutoring program (of which I am a part of in both stats and physics) he wants to pay me. So between yesterday, today and Sunday I’m tutoring him for 4 hours total and he already wrote me a $100 check for my time.  Holllllleeeerrrrrrr.  So I better go earn that cash!

And then: Birthday Round 2 haha

Thursday = almost end of the week

So I’m going to put up a sorry excuse for a post. BUT

A) It’s a rest day today.  A little disappointing because I know I run faster the day after a speed session like yesterday’s.

B) I’ve been swamped with work and meetings all morning and afternoon

C) I’m getting ready to go out on Thirsty Thursday again and make some bad life decisions

I do have an exam tmrw morning which keeps making me waffle back and forth between going out and staying in and getting some sleep.  I already know that I’m still going to get up early and run before the exam and only having 3-4 hours of sleep? It’ll be interesting to say the least.

I think it’ll wake me up and keep me from being groggy, like I would be if I rolled out of bed and went to class.  Plus sleep is always the most important in the days leading up to the big event, right? The exam is in Spanish so I’m not terribly worried because I know the material really well. But I am worried about making these Thursday nights out a trend haha.

But if I get to see Hot-Spanish-TA tonight it will be well worth it. Send me courage vibes to dance/talk! 😉

And, so as to not create withdrawal, here is the next installment of the Facts of Life (and oh man I nearly just peed myself reading today’s!)

41. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

42. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

43. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.

44. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

45. While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.

Rest for the body, not for the mind

Rest day for this chica.  And good thing.  I am bloody exhausted!

I decided (very spontaneously) last night to go out with my friends to the local bar that all the seniors go to on Thursday nights.  I hadn’t been yet this semester (!) because I have three classes on Friday and always at least one of them had something important due or a big test. But today? Nada.  I mean, I had work to do but nothing major and (my exact words): “I can afford to be a little brain dead this Friday.  Who knows when it’ll happen again?”

And it was soooooo much fun.  Totally out of character for me to go but it was awesome just to cut loose and dance.  I’m definitely not a dancer — my “peeps” are Scandinavian, aka we don’t dance — but I was rockin’ out. Time just flew by and before I knew it, it was last call (which is pretty early but hey, it’s a college town in the middle of nowhere).  I ended up in bed by 0200 and asleep by 0300.  Definitely glad that I didn’t have to get up at 0600 for my run!

Another highlight of the night: Hot-Spanish-TA was there. And before anyone asks, I am too much of a middle school girl to do anything but stare.  Seriously.  I am lame.  But I know he saw and recognized me because we did smile and acknowledge each other. Eeeeeeeek! Hopefully this is progress. omgiamsolame.

Lame also because I have the feeling that I’m going to crash and burn tonight. Even though I didn’t get up to run, I still had 3 classes, the first being at 0930.  So I got about 5 hours of sleep.  My body likes 9.  Problem? Yes. So I will likely pass out wicked early unless I get a second wind, which you never know.

And lame because this is going to be a make-it-work weekend.  Lots and lots to do! But the stuff I have to do is important and interesting which makes it okay.  There’s absolutely nothing worse than busy work.

So, yeah, not much going on in my world today.  Which is fine by me.  Makes for a lame post.  (And, while bamf was the word of the day a while ago, it seems that lame is today’s.  And my favorite expression with lame? “Covered in lame sauce” which I tell my 11 year old sister that all the time, to which she just smirks and says that I am too haha!)

Just a random note (to imply that I’m not lame and because I noticed it this morning when getting dressed — although the fact that I was thinking about it may be lame haha): I am going through a period of dressing really really nicely.  I mean, I definitely do show up to class in my gym clothes (prolly more times than I’d like to admit) BUT the days where I have the time to shower in the morning and/or are not doing a second workout/jazz class in the afternoon, I’ve been wearing my super nice clothes.  Not, like, my nice professional clothes or anything but a step or two up from jeans and a t-shirt.  It may or may not have to do with the fact that I never know when I’m going to run into Hot-Spanish-TA but hey, whatever 🙂

Check out this link which I found on a thread on RWOL.  It creates anagrams of your name.  Most of them come out kind of dirty haha. Here’s mine (with my full name, first, middle & last): LL ‘N’ HORNY ‘N’ MY YANK. Heh.

And yet another installment of The Facts of Life:

21. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

22. My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.

23. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

24. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

25. I love the sense of camaraderie when a n entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers! [Such a Masshole thing to do! haha]

21. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

22. My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.

23. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

24. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

25. I love the sense of camaraderie when a n entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

Lazy Day

Lucky for me I’m still on October break.  Which means another day of R&R.  Well kind of, between all my marathon tv sessions and sleeping I need to do some work but whatever, lounging around was totally worth it.

This morning when I woke up it was all icky and gross, so happy that it didn’t happen yesterday for the 10k.  That would have been a major bummer.  I had a doctor appt this morning so I had to battle the blah-ness.  It was quick chilly too! I wish I could have stayed in bed longer, I was bushed last night that even with 9 hours of sleep I was jarred awake by the alarm.  Ew.

Doctor appts always take forever and a day so I left my building at 0830 and didn’t get back until 1200! Granted it was a 30 minute drive each way and I had to get some lab work done but, ugh, annoying.  So the perfect way to destress from that aggravation? A run of course.

By the time I hit the roads it was close to 1230 and the steady rain had become practically non-existent.  Score! I set out for the “typical” 5 mile route I have.  Quotes because when was the last time I ran only 5 miles?! The weather was pretty tricky today, the further away from my school I got the harder the rain came down.  I was happy when I reached my turn-around point in the loop and the rain eased up.  By the time I got back to campus the sun was shining and I felt good enough (and fast enough) to add an extra 1.2 miles. The extra 1.2 miles also got me to run past the hot TAs house a second time.  Gosh, since when did blue eyes and a Spanish accent turn me into a middle school girl?! (At least I think blue eyes, I’m not crazy stalker-ish — yet heh)

MAJOR EDIT: So I started this post pre-dinner but got hungry early and headed down to the dining hall with it half finished.  Kind of glad I had an early dinner because I SAW HOT SPANISH TA. For real.  He was sitting alone but he looked like he was just finishing up when I got there so I said hi but then moved on somewhat awkwardly.  I am way to much of a middle school girl lately to actually engage in conversation.  Plus he was doing work and I didn’t want to interrupt.  BUT it kind of made my night.

So another 10k in the books! Today’s wasn’t nearly as speedy as yesterday’s BUT I ran it in 52 minutes and 42 seconds making it exactly an 830 pace.  Woot! Very speedy for me on any day really but especially so after a race.  So I’m very happy about that.  I think it harks back to what I say after every speed workout: fast running begets fast running.  I’m not saying that I should ditch the easy paces but it’s fun to run fast for a few days. Hopefully this sticks around for a little bit longer.

The fall weather, however, (heh that rhymed) is not.  The overnight low is going to be low 30*s.  Ouch. Not cold enough for underarmour or tights or anything but still cold enough that I know I’m not going to want to get out of bed.

Hmmm…..I know I had more to say but I’m seriously all dazed from the TA sighting at dinner.  So I’ll end it here with a have a great Tuesday night y’all!

P.S. Sperly’s having a giveaway! And so is Jess! Standard disclaimer applies: Do not enter because I want it 🙂

And if you stuck with the post here’s some of my fav pics I stole from Lacey of the 10k

YAY we are here on the Commons

Enjoying the post-race freebies

Done and smiling. Check out those hot nails too haha

Good news? Bad news?

Just got back from the medical center with some good news: *probably* not the flu. Or at least if it is, it hasn’t progressed to that bad of a stage.  If I feel this bad and it isn’t the worst yet I’m really not looking forward to this weekend.  But the doc did a strep test and checked me out for pneumonia.  The doc said just to continue to rest and drink lots of fluids and if it got worse to go to the ER this weekend and if I still felt bad on Tuesday that I should come in to get blood work done.  So I guess it’s good news? Most likely not the flu but who knows what it really is and even if it is the flu there’s nothing I can do to treat it.  Prolly just a regular virus.  Yuck.

I honestly tried to sleep in this morning.  I even took a TylenolPM last night — and I despise taking any medication for any reason so this was a big deal.  Still I slept until only 0700. Bummer. But then, me being me, I said to myself “hey I can still get in a short run”. Ummmm yeah, really? After all the crying I did because I was so miserable yesterday?

Well, my friends, I did go out for a short jaunt.  And by short I mean incredibly short because I was so breathless by the end of 1.5 miles, which in hindsight makes me superman that I could go that far.  I ended up with 3 because it was shorter to just turn around than continue my loop.  The breathless thing was really annoying because my lungs are clear and I don’t have asthma.  Guess it’s just my muscles being so fatigued that they don’t want to help me breath in my running. After that I decided to skip doing any core. Also annoying? That the weather was damn near perfect for running.  I hate feeling like I “wasted” good running weather even if it’s for my own good.

The rest of my day has been pretty lax, which I obviously need.  One of my classes was canceled but unfortunately it was number 2 out of 3 so I couldn’t start my day late or end it early! Annoying.  I was able to also catch up on L&O: SVU and The Office.  Both episodes were so good but so different from each other that it was weird watching them back-to-back.  SVU was wicked intense, I swear that show has really evolved over the years and turned away from just the plot and developed the characters.  Love it.  And The Office was frickin’ hilarious as always.  Doubly so when it’s a DOUBLE EPISODE.

I’m actually looking forward to this weekend despite the fact that it’s October break and 99.99% of the campus has left.  It’s like a ghost town.  But it will give me a chance to sleep lots, watch T.V-on-DVD marathons, read so *good* books (and trashy mags).  I’m also hoping to take a trip to the grocery store and target but that will depend on how much I feel like driving.   Tired + driving =/= good idea.

Ok so I need to insert some more running talk before I get back to the tabloids I have waiting for me (haha): some awesome people racing this holiday weekend (including yours truly on Monday) but Matt and NACN are running Chicago, Katerina‘s running a 10k,  and Lacey‘s running the Tufts 10k with me! As well as these fine folks from RWOL: kmh, suepm, metal, runningalison, arcticblast and chapelheel.  Let’s cross our fingers for some great weather and kick ass races!

P.S. Sarah is having a great giveaway. And the standard I want it so don’t enter rule applies 😛

P.P.S. I think I forgot to mention this when it happened but I actually WON a giveaway from Christina and I recieved it today.  Woot.  What a great way to make a girl feel better!

Odds and ends

A quick note before I delve into more of my ramblings.  I want to apologize to Sarah for pretty basically attacking her alma matter in a comment I made on one of her posts without intending to.  I was clearly expressing bias and my surprise (and type without thinking statement) was because of everything you said in your defense of Williams (ie: all the good stuff). I shouldn’t have made a blanket statement when all I was drawing on were my sister and her cronies and their attitudes.  Every place in the world is a mix of good and bad and I shouldn’t have assumed that what I saw was representative of everyone. Sorry! and hopefully you won’t hate me forever!

A Marathoner commented yesterday that I seem to do daily runs ranging from 9-13 miles.  At first I was taken aback (like NO I mix things up and do too have distinction between long runs and weekday runs!) but then I realized: he’s right.  I’ve been pushing for the sake of pushing and getting high miles in.  Part of it is because I can but part of it is so mental.  I’ve gotten to the point where shorter runs just don’t do it for me anymore; when did a 5 miler become not good enough? I’ve also gotten used to being able to brag to ppl that I do a daily 8,9,10-er.  Man, I think I need to chill out!

Good thing today is a rest day!

I have such a hard time taking rest days.  I just want to run run run! So luckily today was a jammed packed day: 3 classes in the morning with a GeoPhysics field trip lab in the afternoon; which by the way was AWESOME.  Hopefully I can get some pictures uploaded soon (have to wait for them to be put up on facebook).  But the basic gist is that we were trying to figure out the composition of materials in a field near my school.  We banged a sledgehammer into the ground and recorded how long it took for our sensors to pick up the propogated wave.  Tmrw in class we’re going to analyze the data and try to figure out how deep the bedrock is.  Yes, I am a physics nerd and this was soooooo much fun heh.

Addressing the questions about the potential marathon: unfortunately nothing really happened on Friday like I had hoped *sadface*.  So to unveil some of the mystery here’s the deal: My friend’s dad is running a marathon (I’m going to leave some mystery and not tell you which one) which his company is paying for.  There was (and still is) a good chance that I can get the company to bring me along — my friend hasn’t had time yet to talk with her dad.  Which would be frickin sweet.  The catch is that I would be helping to pace him to a sub-4 I have no problem doing this because A) I wouldn’t be paying for the trip 100% and B) the marathon itself would be amazing.  If the whole company thing doesn’t work out, my friend has hinted that her and her boyfriend would help out considerably financially as it’s in a vacation-y spot and a great trip.  Again, to reiterate: nothing concrete and nothing for me to pin hopes up on yet but that’s what’s going on at the moment.

As another note about marathons, Lacey asked which marathon my friend did; it was the Portland ME one (not sure if it has a more specific name than that…) and I still am soooo proud of her!

And another note (but not about marathons) from a few days ago: yes I do eat instant raw oats.  Not quite sure why, but when I’m making them I pour the packet into my coffee mug while I wait for the water to boil.  More often than not by the time the water boils I need another package because it’s already half gone! It’s not something that I can say I looooove and look forward to eating but it just happens heh.  Very weird I know.

And I want to leave you with this, which I read on Tay’s blog this morning.  It’s from her g’ma and I thought it was really nice to read. It’s called “Rules to Live By”:

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

4. When you say, ‘I love you,’ mean it.

6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

7. Believe in love at first sight.

8. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15. Say ‘bless you’ when you hear someone sneeze..

16. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

18. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice

21. Spend some time alone.

Time to get in gear and hit the weights

No running today.  Katerina asked yesterday when my last rest day was, and I think it was last Monday. As in 10 days ago.  Normally I take rest days when I can “fit” them in because usually my body doesn’t give me the tired signals (or I’m just really bad at reading them).  But I think some of the lethargy I’m feeling is due to fatigue.  Maybe not all but definitely some. And thanks for all the don’t-worry-about-it comments.  In my head I know that but it’s still hard for my heart to comprehend. So a rest day it is.

That’s not to say I’m not going to do anything today.  I got to “sleep in” before my AM class (a rare treat) and I hit up the weights afterward.  I’ve been seriously neglecting strength, specifically lifting, for a very long time.  The last time I was on a regular lifting schedule was during the first half of my marathon training. MONTHS ago.  I did a little bit of circuit work over the summer but nothing serious.  I was just being a mileage junkie and using the hour or so of lifting time to get in extra miles.

I did my normal weights routine:

Legs:

• Lunges          3 X 15 (each leg) with 10 lbs using a BOSU ball
• Calf Raisers 3 X 30
• Squats           3 X 15

Arms (all 3 X 15):

• Tricep Kickbacks 17.5lbs
• Shoulder Press     17.5 lbs
• Bicep Curl               20 lbs
• Dumbbell Row      20 lbs
• Bench Press            25 lbs

Abs (3 X :45 on :15 off) and Back (3 X 15)

• Planks
• Row
• Bicycle

With a 10 minute jogging warm up and down the whole thing took me just about an hour.  And I attacked this stuff with a vengance.  I really don’t think I’ve been in the weight room in about 5 or so weeks. Ouch for tmrw maybe?

Hopefully getting there today means that I can get into a routine where I’m hitting up the gym at least 2 times a week.  It’s interesting because if you had asked me last fall about lifting and such I would have told you that I couldn’t see how runners didn’t get to the gym a few times a week to lift.  And here I am lately practically running the opposite direction of the gym.

On the work front, I was able to get a ton of it done last night. I did 4 straight hours of work.  Granted I haven’t even started anything due early next week / making a dent in long term stuff but I’m happy with my level of productivity.  I just put my head down and put my nose on the grindstone I guess.  Doubt I’ll get anywhere near that amount of work done tonight as I have my shift at the ER tonight for my internship. Since it’ll be Thursday night I’m hoping for some action.  I mean, I DON’T want ppl to be hurt or anything but I want my time there to be worthwhile (esp since I’m missing AppleFest heh) so I want interesting stuff that makes good learning points – and good material for my paper I have to write.

Oh EW. So in my dorm the window screens are too big for the windows so they bow out a bit.  I’ve already killed 3 huge ass flies this semester and there are two more now just stareing at me and flying around and being annoying.  Gross, I pay how much for this school and they can’t give me protection from flies?! Geez!

Oh that note, I’m going to be late for a lunch date and then I’m off to the hospital.  Happy Thursday and it’s almost Friday. And Lacey has informed me that the humidity is supposed to break soon. YAY 🙂