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August 31, 2004

Not a Fan of Dallas

I really don't like Dallas. I really dislike this location within Dallas but I think that regardless it wouldn't be one of my favorite places. The people here are really nice but the weather is hot and humid and it has got to be the worst place I have ever been from a running standpoint. All the roads have no sidewalk and no shoulder and the drivers are insane. I swear they play chicken with you and they try to make you think that they're going to run you over.

That aside, last night I had a passable 5 mile run (easy day) and this morning I ran 10 miles somehow without getting run over. I felt fine although I dislike running on pavement 100% of the time. I think that tonight after work I'm going with another girl on the project to check out a park that seems pretty close to here - if we could drive over there and run life would be so much better. The hotel where we're staying is really close to DFW airport which I think makes things a lot worse but I got pretty far from there this morning and I didn't see anything better.

Not much else to report. Getting up at 4:00 yesterday has made me feel pretty tired even today, although last night I slept for a little over 8 hours, so that will make the week kind of tough but it's Tuesday already and I'm hoping the rest of the week will go by quickly since this weekend is a four day weekend! Can't wait for that. I was technically supposed to do a speed workout today, as an aside, but I'm going to do it tomorrow. I may start doing all my workouts on Wednesdays instead of Tuesday. It'll just depend on how easily I can get used to the travel.

Posted by barb at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2004

Dallas

Well now I am in Dallas for the week which is nice, albeit humid and warm, so far.

I did not really have a very good weekend of running so this will be a brief update because there is not much good news to report. Saturday, I did a 6 x 1 mile workout in absymally slow times. I felt tired and my legs were dead - it was hard to run 7:30 pace. Sunday was even worse, but I suffered through about 10 miles, bringing me to 65 miles for the week and almost 300 miles for the month of August which is a lifetime best by about 40 miles. I've not run yet today, and I am tired from getting up at 4:10 am to catch at 6:15 am flight, but I'm planning on an easy 3 or 4 miles later this evening, just to shake my legs out.

This week will be a very easy one, with mileage under 50 for the week as my current projection. I'm racing next Monday which should be fun if I start feeling better.

At this point in my marathon training I am pretty concerned about actually being able to run it, since my longest run so far is 16 miles and I don't know when I'll run 20. It's not the end of the world if I don't run the marathon, or if I run it really slow, but it is also not ideal.

More to come later tonight or tomorrow, hopefully things will start looking up from a running standpoint (the non-running world is great!).

Posted by barb at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2004

Am I in Denver?

This is so confusing. I come back from the east coast where it is supposed to be humid and rainy.... to Denver where it is supposed to be dry and sunny... and it is humind and rainy! And 50 degrees! So I think that I'm in Denver but I can't be sure.

I slept for 9 hours last night (traveling is tiring) and got up this morning and ran 8 miles. Normally this would be a decent run but since I've been running like a crazy person lately I feel like a slacker. I am OK with that for now though. The run was fine, I started out pretty slow but running in the rain was a lot of fun.

This living half at altitude and half at sea level will be an interesting experiment. I am really not sure what will happen to my body. I guess I'll find out!

The rest of the week should be pretty standard, the only challenges will be getting up early tomorrow morning after a late night tonight (Prince concert) and then trying to run a long run Sunday morning after this crazy wedding on Saturday night.

I'm flying to Dallas very early Monday morning so I am going to need to make a point of it to run Monday after work, which shouldn't be too hard although I am sharing a car with people from work so I need to make them take me back to the hotel to get running stuff before it gets dark. So far I really don't mind the travel except that I never see M. and that when I have early flights on Mondays I am going to need to set limits on work to get my easy run in.

Not such a big deal though. I am excited to go back to the East Coast soon!

Posted by barb at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2004

Home, James!

We now draw to the conclusion of my first week as a road warrior. Here are the things that I like about being on the road:
1. Sea Level
2. Making more money
3. Not having to do errands or clean my apartment during the week
4. Working Monday through Thursday
5. My new job

Here are the things I hate about traveling:
1. Not seeing M. for days at a time (this is the worst one)
2. Feeling like I am losing my altitude conditioning
3. Getting accustomed to the time change on Thursday morning, when I know I am about to leave
4. Eating out all the time at New Jersey restaurants. I miss Chipotle and Wahoos!
5. Not knowing the good running routes around here – but I think this will get better over time.

Anyway I found a pretty good run this morning, while I was exploring and locating the Starbucks. I planned on running 8 or 9 miles just because of time constraints – had to pack and wanted to go to Starbucks and stuff – but I was having a good time so I went out for a little over 54 minutes, which gave me a 12 mile run. Came back in just under 50 minutes and I was pleased with that.

I am very happy with the fact that right now running 12 miles is no big deal. It is weird though, I feel like a slacker if I run for less than an hour in any given day, except for my easy day once a week. That will probably have to change at some point when I don’t have time to run for 90 minutes a day (or when the weather is awful) but for now I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.

I’m flying back at 5:00 pm today, arriving in Denver around 7:00 pm, and then I’m planning on having a drink with an old friend and then having more drinks with a few girlfriends. Should be a good night, I am very excited to get back. I have a workout on Saturday so tomorrow I’d like to run an easy 7-9 miles so that I can actually run well in the workout. Then Sunday I’ve got 12-20 miles on the schedule and I’d like to run as close to 20 miles as I can!

Posted by barb at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2004

Finally, Some Rest

My plan yesterday was to leave work, go to the mall, and then go to bed early. Instead, I skipped the mall step and went back to my hotel immediately where I passed out at 8:30 pm (which if you think about it is 6:30 pm at home so my body’s schedule is completely screwed up). Traveling is so weird. Basically all I do here so far is sleep, eat, work, and run. I guess it’s not too different from what I do at home except that I don’t leave work until around 7:00 or 7:30 and when I am exhausted that means I have very little time to do anything at all after work. I feel kind of bad about it because I just think I should be exploring more of the area, but frankly I am doing a lot of that when I run, so maybe I’m just more productive that way.

Anyway sleeping for nine hours was exactly what I needed. To be honest I still feel kind of tired today but I am feeling a lot better. In addition, I accomplished almost everything I had hoped to do last night, this morning. When I got up I ran to the mall and around it for a warm up. It is a big mall! It is so funny how the middle of New Jersey has better anchor stores than most malls in Colorado. There is a Macy’s and a Bloomingdales. So that is kind of exciting but also bad. I really shouldn’t get into shopping here or I will be broke.

So that was the warm up – when I do workouts by myself I generally do a pretty extended warm up, and today was no different. It was probably about 30 minutes of running before I even started doing strides. After running around the mall for a while, I found a nice quiet road that was perfect for the workout of 4:00 repeats at 10k pace. I decided to do a 4:00 jogging recovery just so that each repeat would be about a mile and I would get more distance. I also decided to do the first few at a comfortable pace and make the last one hurt. So that is what I did. With the warm up and approximately a 20 minute cool down, I ended up with 10 miles again today. That is kind of boring but I figured I’d rather just keep running and not worry about it right now since this week has been kind of hard for me and it’s been a big break in my routine. To be honest if I can get through this week with mileage in the mid-50s I’ll be really happy.

I had been considering doing another short run tonight, like 3-4 miles, which is still possible – it would be a good way to pick up dinner – but I’ll see how I feel. I miss home and I feel like I should be leaving today, although I am not, so I may just chill out. I think I’m still getting adjusted to working again!

Posted by barb at 08:09 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2004

Thoughts on Jersey

One thing that is particularly delightful about working on the East Coast is that when I wake up at 5:30 am here, it is like waking up at 3:30 am at home. Let me just say that is damned early. In general when I have to wake up before 6:00 I want to punch someone. This morning I really wanted to punch someone! I didn’t sleep all that well (new hotel, Olympics on TV, etc.) but now I actually don’t feel too bad. And I haven’t even had a Starbucks fix! Of course that will have to change if there is actually a Starbucks in Fairfield.

Anyway this morning I was supposed to do a 10k pace workout (it is basically like a 1k repeat workout) but for some reason the day after I travel I always feel like crap. That could of course have something to do with running a hard 16 mile run two days ago as well but what do I know. So I made an executive decision to postpone the workout until tomorrow morning and just run around and explore today. I think it was a good decision, in retrospect.

So here are a few things I have found out about New Jersey. First, there are about 5 million highways. You literally cannot run for more than about 10 minutes in any direction without running into one. Second, mosquitoes don’t care if it is 6:00 am, they are out in droves. Third, counter to what I had always thought about New Jersey, it is really pretty here! There are all kinds of nice rivers and trees and stuff. Now if I can just find some trails I’ll be really happy.

So this morning I believe I ran about 10 miles – 1 hour and 29 minutes. My body feels weird right now though. Sometimes I think that when I do a really long run, like on Sunday, my metabolism just shuts off or something. Like I’ll eat and I feel like whatever I eat stays in my stomach for three days, it is awful. However, after running this morning, I made myself eat some oatmeal at the hotel because it was free. I tried to eat some eggs because I think they are good for me but I just hate them.

So tomorrow morning I will be doing the workout I was supposed to do today. Tonight after work my plan is to explore the mall near here a little bit, then go to bed really early.

Posted by barb at 08:37 AM | Comments (1)

August 23, 2004

On the Road Again

I am composing this entry as I sit on an airplane on my way to Newark, New Jersey. Woo hoo! At this rate I should get Premier status on United in four to five weeks. That is kind of exciting. I woke up at 5:30 this morning, ran an easy four miles, took a shower, and drove to the airport. I definitely got to the gate early this morning, but found a faster way to the airport which is nice. I don’t know if I like the Monday morning flights as much as the Sunday ones – leaving on Monday seems a little more stressful. But we’ll see what they want me to do.

I haven’t updated the blog since Friday, I believe. As I think I wrote last week, I didn’t expect to run more than around 60 miles last week – however, somehow I ended up with 74 miles (I think), which is the same as last week and equal to my highest mileage ever. Don’t really know how that happened except that I started the week easier and did have a very short day (four miles last Monday as well), and then poured it on late in the week concluding with a real long run for once.

On Friday morning, before I last updated, I ran 8 miles and felt great. That was all I had planned for the day, but after reading Alison’s post about the Olympic action (Thanks for posting that!) I went home and watched the men’s 10,000 meter run. That was amazing. Not only was it shown in its entirety, but it was commercial-free! Wow, that was great. I think that as distance runners we should probably all make an effort to contact NBC and tell them how much we appreciate that kind of coverage, which is so rare for distance running. It was such a great race. I had heard so much about Bekele but since it is difficult to catch track action had never actually seen him run before. His grace and smoothness – it is obvious that he was born to run – are just amazing to watch.

So I was so inspired by the race that I went for a second run around 5:00 pm on Friday, just an easy four miles. That gave me 12 for the day and by the end of the day on Friday I had 50 miles for the week. Saturday morning I headed up to practice at 7:30 am and I was exhausted from not sleeping enough (went to see Garden State on Friday night at 10:00, which was pretty funny). We were doing a 6 mile tempo run which I felt that I should be able to run in about 42 minutes (7 minute pace). However, I started at about 7:20 pace and although I kept trying to pick it up, just couldn’t. I was pretty disappointed about this especially since I have been feeling fit lately but I chalked it up to lots of mileage, not much recovery, and sleep deprivation. We’re all entitled to bad workouts sometimes.

Saturday ended up being probably about a 9 mile day with warm up and cool down included. After practice, M. met me in Boulder and we went for a hike up the second Flatiron which was really nice. It’s been such a wet summer along the front range (and I guess especially in Boulder) that it was really pretty, and very green. It was a really good hike, a good distance (maybe 4 miles total), with some awesome views. You could see all the way to downtown Denver, which is about 30 miles away.

Saturday night I was determined not to go out, so I went to bed over at M.’s around 9:30 because I had to get up at 6:00 to meet a friend from RRB for a long run. We planned to run 18 miles and I think we actually only ran 16 – we ran for 2 hours and 16 minutes, and I can believe pretty easily that we ran 8:30 pace, but I’d be surprised if we ran any faster than that. That was actually fine with me, I would have struggled to run any farther. It was a very good run – C. lives in North Boulder in a great location where you can run to the Boulder Reservoir, all around it, and back and only run on pavement for about 5 minutes.

So to conclude the report on last week, 74 miles and feeling good. That will be my last week over 70 miles for quite some time, I believe, and I’ll try to maintain around 60 this week and then next week drop for an easy week and a small taper for the 10k on Labor Day weekend (this has been the subject of some drama because last year the race was on Saturday, which would work really well for our schedules, and this year it looks like the course has changed and the race will be on Monday).

Now that I am here, the only thing to add is that I've got a workout at 10k pace tomorrow morning which should be cool. Lots of country roads around here.

Posted by barb at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2004

One Other Note

On racing. I was thinking again this morning about how excited I am to race. It has been such a long time and I feel like I am in excellent shape so I really am hoping for the best!

I don't really know what to expect, especially at sea level, but I think that breaking 42:00 for the 10k is very reasonable and even conservative. That would be exciting!

I also received a flyer today about the Tufts 10K for Women, which was my goal race last year. For those in the Boston area, this is a great race that I would recommend really highly. I would certainly do it again if it wasn't the day after my marathon.

Posted by barb at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

Still Feeling Good

I had a great run this morning. I ran 8 miles from my apartment and finished about 4 minutes faster than usual, somehow. I don't need to be over at M.'s house until 7:30 tonight so I am thinking about doing a short run this evening as well. The weather is great for urnning right now, not too hot at all. This has been the strangest summer, it's always cold! Which is good when you want to run but not good at all if you want to go to the pool.

I have just been feeling efficient, relaxed, and generally happy on my runs, which is nice.

However I am a bit stressed as I am trying to plan a trip out to New Jersey for next week and an hour ago, the fares were $300, while they are $500 now. I guess that isn't a huge difference in the larger scheme of things but I just don't understand it. I am also kind of troubled by my Monday situation, as I dont think I will have a chance to run that day unless I can get done with work and be anti-social, which I may just have to do. I am also definitely thinking that I'll be adjusting my schedule every week to make Monday my easy/rest day because it will absolutely be the hardest day to fit running into my schedule.

I think tonight we're going to go see Garden State, which looks like it should be good, and we are also going to try to watch the girls gymnastics (taped from last night because we both went out). The Olympics are getting very exciting, I hear that the men's 10,000 m final is today/tonight!

Looks like it will be a good and busy weekend. I am still tentatively planning on running 16-22 miles on Sunday with a few people, following a long tempo run on Saturday, so by the end of the weekend I will probably be pretty tired and will probably have run close to 70 miles somehow, in spite of myself!

Posted by barb at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2004

A Really Good Run

I am so excited about my running today! It is a good feeling especially since I have been feeling decent lately but not like I am running all that well to be honest. However, after today, I really think that running more mileage over the past two weeks has been a good idea. I was starving when I woke up around 8:30 this morning (I know it is a really rough life right now) so I went and got coffee and breakfast, and finished the book I've been reading. I started running at 11:15 and decided to do my normal 12-miler from my house, where I run to this YMCA that I believe is 6 miles away and back. Since I've done this run several times, I know approximately where I normally am at different points along the route, and at the first point I was about a minute ahead of normal. I ended up finishing the run about 4 minutes faster than normal and I really just felt like it was easy.

I am also beginning to think that I'll probably run around 60 miles this week which makes me feel good and like I'm not turning into a slacker just because I technically work now. I should have an easy week soon but I think I'm going to plan it for the week before Labor Day so that I can taper for the 10k I'm running. I was thinking this morning about how long it's been since I've raced - the last race I did was in mid-June - so I am getting kind of excited about it!

That is the news for now.

Posted by barb at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2004

Back in Denver

Being back in Denver, and at altitude, is nice. I finished orientation around 3:00 pm EST yesterday, got a ride from a friend to the airport, and luckily was able to catch a 4:25 pm flight back to Denver on standby. Since my flight wasn't scheduled to leave until almost 8:00 pm, this was SO GREAT. It was especially awesome because I had thought the 4:25 flight was full and was pretty sure I'd be spending four hours in the airport... and for anyone who's ever spent a lot of time in Dulles, that is not a very happy prospect!

The flight was slightly delayed but we were still on the ground around 6:35 pm MST. This was so great! I was originally supposed to land at 10:00 pm!! One of the things I am liking about the travel so far is that I feel like I'm finally getting to a point where I have positive adrenaline in the airport rather than negative. Meaning that it is exciting to try to make a flight instead of terrifying.

The flight from Dulles to Denver is a little over three hours which is moderately tedious but not too bad. I spoke with the person responsible for sending me to my first project today and it looks like I may need to get used to flying to the east coast - it is probable that I'll start working in New Jersey within a few weeks. I don't really know how I feel about that - the other possibility is in California, working for a guy I interviewed with and really liked, so that is also a good option and a shorter flight. However, I love the east coast so I think New Jersey could be pretty cool. I have yet to determine if New Jersey means Newark (yuck) or somewhere nice, however.

On Sunday I bought myself a going-to-work present, Reading Lolita in Tehran. I would really like to plug it here - I am almost finished with it already and would recommend it really highly. It is really thoughtful, interesting, and poignant, as well as being just a good read.

And yes I actually run too...

This morning I woke up, got coffee and read my book (see above), stubbed my little toe so hard that I am wondering if I broke it - seriously - and went for a run. I went down to my old high school stomping grounds again since I was on the way to my mom's house and although I had planned to run 7-8 miles, ran 11. It was really fun and I did some exploring of new trails, including about 12 minutes of running in sand which I hate. But I figure these things make me a better runner in the long haul, right?

It was a good run and I didn't feel like I suffered from being at sea level for two days. I am kind of dreading trying to run long runs and workouts on the weekends when I'm spending over 50% of my time at sea level, but for now I just can't worry about it, and I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing until I have to stop. In other news I am planning on running a 10k up in Fort Collins (when I get a faster internet connection I'll try to find the race on the internet) the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. This should be fun, it's been a while since I've raced and Fort Collins is really flat. Darren seems to think I can run about 40:00 - if so I will be really excited, although I don't think that I'll really make it. My all time 10k PR is 40:55, so I would honestly be happy with something under 42:00 right now. Not that I won't try to break my PR but it may be a bit optimistic.

Anyway that is the news for right now. I am actually sitting here halfway dressed after finally showering, then I'll be off to the grocery store in a few minutes to pick up ingredients for either Lasagne Bolognese or a chicken stir fry (most likely the stir fry as I am feeling lazy). M. is coming over for dinner and we will probably watch some Olympics.

Nice to be home!

Posted by barb at 03:24 PM | Comments (2)

August 17, 2004

Sea Level

Let me just say how much I love running at sea level. I love, love, love running at sea level! It is SO GREAT. You can just keep running forever! I also really like Virginia. It is so pretty here and there are so many trees which is very different from home. My only regret is that I didn't get a car and have more time here to explore and find some dirt trails. However, even in this area - which if you know Denver is kind of like the Tech Center (an area in the burbs with a bunch of office buildings and chains and stuff) - there are all these nice asphalt trails through the woods.

However, I did discover that today is Trash Day here and that smells bad. Also it is hard to run in Fairfax without running on a highway-like road for a while. But overall this morning I had a great run. Since Tuesday is a workout day for RRB, I did the scheduled workout which was a fartlek on my own. At sea level this was not so bad! I made it a very long warmup and cool down so I ran about 10 miles. One other benefit of this area is that there's a Starbucks about a 2 minute walk from my hotel so I put my Starbucks Card in my pocket with my room key and stopped there on the way back from the run. Since I am on Eastern time here, getting up at 6:00 am feels like 4:00 am to my body, and I am still kind of sleepy. So the Starbucks is NICE.

That is about all the news. I am on an 8:00 flight tonight back to Denver but I am hoping to catch an earlier one on standby. Then I should be at home for the rest of the week!

Posted by barb at 06:48 AM | Comments (2)

August 16, 2004

Back to Work

Well I have re-entered the working world. I am officially working for IBM now and I am half a day through new hire orientation.

So although a lot has been happening this will be a short entry and I will not be creating any REAL entries probably until Wednesday, although if I have a lot of time at some point I will try to do something meaningful.

First of all last week was a really good week which I finished with 74 miles, another all-time high. I know that now that I'm working again this will be rare and I am okay with that, but I am really glad I've been able to do it. I feel really good, actually, although today I am exhausted from traveling last night (my flight got into Washington Dulles at midnight). This morning I only ran 4 miles and I am considering going for another run later but I may just opt for sleep and hope to get up early and do a quality workout tomorrow.

That is most of the news. This weekend my goal will be to run 18 miles on Sunday, because I really think that I need to be focusing on real marathon training. Outside of that I hope to take the week pretty easy and run in the low 50's for mileage.

Posted by barb at 12:19 PM | Comments (1)

August 13, 2004

A Better Day

Fridays are always good days. Hoo boy, I was having kind of a rough one yesterday, but I am lots better. I don't think my stepmom is mad at me any more and I napped yesterday and got a good night's sleep last night which is also really nice! So yesterday afternoon, after my nap, I ran 8 miles. I was frankly amazed at how good I felt considering that it's been a long, hard week, and I had already run 6 miles in the morning. So that went really well (I continue to LOVE my new shoes) and that brought me to a total of 48 miles for the week as of the end of the day yesterday.

M. and I went to dinner at a local restaurant called Tiramisu last night, which was a lot of fun. They have a guy who sings Frank Sinatra music on Thursday nights - he is great. We had a really nice dinner and for the first time, due to a new law that allows this, ordered a bottle of wine and took our leftover wine home. That was so cool. It's really nice to be able to order a bottle but only drink as much as you want. I think they did it to cut down on drunk driving - whatever the reason, it's a nice thing to be able to do.

At dinner - and this is actually somewhat running-related - we made a bet that we will both eat healthier. We have periodic bets that are fun because they end up being a win-win, due to the prizes being nice for both of us. The prize for this bet is that the winner gets taken up to the mountains for two nights by the loser. Not such a bad deal. So we each have different things to work on as far as eating better and my side of the bargain includes eating dessert only 3 times a week (yes this is a significant change) and only drinking booze twice a week (also a significant change from recent behavior although I really am not in general much of a drinker). I also want to eat more fruit and veggies and stuff because it's just generally good for me.

So that was last night. This morning I got up around 7:30, ran 7 miles by myself and then met my friend Matthew for a 4 mile run. So today I've banked 11 miles which brings me to 59 miles (in 5 days, WOW!!) for the week. That means that if I only run 11 miles over the next two days I will meet my 70-mile goal. I frankly believe that I'll run at least 73 miles this week because tomorrow should be a 10-mile day and on Sunday I would be surprised if I ran less than 4 miles. So that is great. Of course this morning I was thinking that if I ran a really long run on Sunday I could get close to 85-90 miles for the week but that would be insane. So I won't be doing that.

I am returning to the working world on Monday - well actually technically Sunday night, when I fly to Virginia - so my high mileage fun will have to end and I'll probably return to 55-65 miles per week. I am really glad that I went for it with regard to the mileage over my time off, it has been fun seeing what my body can do and seeing how it reacts to higher mileage. Which, in a word, is well. However, I don't know how I would sustain 70+ mpw and work and have a social life. Even now while I'm not working I am struggling to get everything done and run this much. I still need to get a new picture frame and REALLY need to get my car washed today while I am still unemployed. And later today I am going for a bike ride with one of my girlfriends. It is truly exhausting. And in other news we will be watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight which should be very cool!

Posted by barb at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2004

Tired

I am so tired right now.

Let's see, what has been happening... Ran 10 miles yesterday. I felt like crap at first but then I had a really good time exploring different trails and stuff. My shoes were toasted as well and I put on a pair of new ones this morning which felt SO GOOD. I had been planning on doing a long run this morning which didn't happen because I overslept, so I ran 6 this morning and plan on running another 6-8 this afternoon. After a nap hopefully.

I really can't think of anything else to write at this time. I am kind of fried and just got yelled at by my stepmom and my little sister's best friend for reasons I can't really understand, so the sooner I can go to bed, the better.

Posted by barb at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2004

Things that are Bad

So I learned of a couple of things that are bad yesterday. First and foremost, don't eat a big Wahoo's burrito, smothered with cheese and yummy sauce, at 2:00 pm the day when you have to run half miles at 5:15 pm. That is VERY BAD. Secondly, if you want to feel great while you are running half miles as fast as you can, don't run 5 miles in the morning. This one I am frankly less concerned about because I didn't feel all that bad and all of my half miles were from 2:58 to 3:09, which is faster than I ran 800m repeats on the track several weeks ago. So I actually feel really good about yesterday's workout especially considering the mitigating factors. I definitely came as close as I had in a long time to booting during a workout, which is of course non-ideal, but it happens.

So to sum up I ran an additional 7 miles yesterday afternoon/evening, which gives me a total of 12 miles for yesterday. I am really pleased with that. I feel pretty good this morning although I have not run yet today. The weather has taken a turn for the cool/colder, so I didn't need to get up and run early, and thus decided that I could hang out and read instead of running. Right now I am at my mom's house and we put some homemade heath bar brownies in the oven a few minutes ago. M. is having a BBQ tonight so I will be bringing them.

I am hoping to run 10-11 miles this afternon, just at an easy recovery pace. Then tomorrow the plan is to run 12-16 miles as a midweek long run (and based on travel plans on Sunday, may be THE long run of the week).

I can't believe I'll be starting work in less than a week! Unemployment has been awesome, I hope things will be kind of mellow for the first couple of weeks.

Posted by barb at 11:40 AM | Comments (1)

August 10, 2004

High Mileage...

Is starting to agree with me. As I wrote yesterday, I ran 12 miles. I did go in the pool briefly in the afternoon to soothe my tired feet a little bit, which was nice. I had contemplated running a double yesterday but my legs really didn't feel like it and the only point of that would have been to build a bunch of miles in the bank and exhaust myself and possibly get injured. So that seemed like a bad idea.

Instead of running yesterday afternoon, after going to the pool, I watched '13 Going on 30', and then took a shower and went to dinner at Lola, one of our favorite restaurants, with M. and another couple. It was SO GOOD, I had banana-crusted snapper. It was nice to eat something really healthy for a change and it made me think I should do it more often! Of course I probably killed most of the healthy points of the dinner by drinking a margarita and a half. I think I am over margaritas, they are way too sweet.

This morning I was too hungry when I woke up to run, so I went to the coffee shop, got coffee and breakfast, and hung out reading for a while. I have practice at 5:15 today, which will be 800's, but I knew that last week it kind of screwed me up to have a low mileage day early in the week. Since I know that in order to run 70 miles in a week, I have to average 10 miles a day, running 7 miles on Tuesday seems bad. Especially since Tuesday is generally a hard day, I kind of figure that a hard day may as well be a day when I run some real mileage.

Given all of those thoughts that went through my brain this morning while I was reading, I decided to do a 4-5 mile run this morning. I went home, got changed (about 30 minutes after eating which I thought could be bad but ended up being all right), and started running. Now here is why I titled today's entry like I did - I felt great! I was really surprised. Since I ran 12 miles yesterday and stuff, and didn't sleep terribly well last night, and just expected to feel bad, it was a really nice surprise. It also just felt easy, which was really nice. So I ended up running 5 miles and I am feeling great about that as I will probably run about another 7 miles this afternoon at practice and then will be well on my way to another 70 mile week.

That is the news for now, hopefully I'll have a chance to write an entry tomorrow as well.

Posted by barb at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2004

A Big, Long Update

Well since I am no longer employed right now I have no internet access at my apartment. Thus, it has been 5 days since I have written in the blog.

First things first - I did run 70 miles last week!! I am pretty excited about that. Now I ran 70 and not a mile more, and by Sunday morning when I ran the last 8 miles, I was pretty tired. I didn't do a real long run this past week - which is bad - but I did do two 12 mile runs and I am getting to the point where running 12 miles isn't a big deal.

So this is how the rest of the week went in a nutshell:
Friday, 9 miles (two runs due to time constraints)
Saturday, 9 miles (tempo workout with RRB at Boulder Resevoir)
Sunday 8 miles (easy run before going to golf tournament)

And today:
12 miles, Highline Canal, 1 hr 44 min (that works out to approximately 8:40 pace which I am pretty happy with).

I hadn't been sleeping very well but last night I slept from 10:30 pm to 9:00 am today, that was good. I still feel kind of tired - possibly slept too much or something - but I feel better. The run this morning was really nice, it was in the mid-70s and sunny. That was a good thing since I was lazy and didn't start running until around 10:45. Then I went and lifted weights for a few minutes, took a steam, and now I am at my mom's checking email and doing all the stuff I can't do without internet.

So this week, depending on how I feel, I'm shooting for approximately 70 miles again. I start my new job next Monday and sometime on Sunday (TBD at this point) I'll be getting on a plane to Fairfax, Virginia.

That is all the news. I might write another entry in a bit today but do expect entries to be sporadic through next Wednesday.

Posted by barb at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2004

Venting

Since this is my blog, and since I am one of the founding members of Alison's group of blogs, I have decided to write an entirely non-running-related entry.

So I got paid through yesterday for my old job. However, I am sitting at my desk, at work, right now. This sucks. I am totally annoyed. I did agree to do this - I have a skillset that no one else on the project has, and they are kind of spinning their wheels when I'm not here. And I'm not required to be here all that much - I'll be here a little less than two hours today - which I shouldn't complain about. They also want me to come in for a little while next Tuesday and next Thursday. After that I'll be done for good.

But still I am technically unemployed and I'm at work. That in itself just kind of bugs. I am leaving in a few minutes to go up to Boulder, hang out, read my book, maybe take a short hike, and meet M and others for a concert. Tomorrow should be a nice easy day. I want to go to the pool (and NOT work!).

Posted by barb at 02:48 PM | Comments (3)

Slept In

Today I knew I wanted to run about 12 miles. I also knew that I wanted to go and get coffee from one of my favorite places. I knew that if I really wanted to do both, I should get up at 6:00 am. That didn't happen.

I woke up a little before 8:00, putzed around for half an hour, and started running. I thought I would feel kind of crappy just due to running 13 miles yesterday in a double. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt pretty good after warming up for 10 minutes or so. I ran what has become my usual Thursday mid-long route, and added on a little bit, to make a 12 mile run. Yesterday I thought that I'd be hard pressed to actually run 70 miles this week but after yesterday and today things are looking up again - I've run 44 miles so far this week and it's only Thursday. Unless I become a total slacker I think I should be able to do this. Oddly, I actually feel really good - my legs feel better than they had for a few weeks and even though I don't feel like I'm running very fast a lot of the time, I keep finishing my runs in times that I'm pretty happy with.

Now if I can only get motivated to take a shower, get dressed, and go out in search of breakfast and somewhere to read my book, I'll be pretty happy!

Posted by barb at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2004

Second Run

Although I wasn't sure if I was going to do a second run today or not, I decided to go for it at around 5:45 pm. It has been pretty pleasant summer weather here over the last few days, and today was milder than yesterday. I ran 4 miles at what I thought would be a very easy, shakeout pace. However, based on several landmarks that I have in the area to gauge my pace, I ran faster than expected. I also felt a lot better than I expected so I am really pleased!

As another note I finally got around to adding up my mileage for July, which was 254 miles, another record. I am really happy with that and considering everything I feel really good. Tonight I am planning on picking up some Thai food, relaxing, cleaning my apartment some more, and going to bed early and getting a good night's rest.

Posted by barb at 06:39 PM | Comments (0)

Unemployment is Great

I love being unemployed. I only wish I could stay unemployed for longer and somehow keep getting paid! Yesterday I actually went in to work for a little bit and got taken to lunch, so that was nice. I drove to Boulder and missed a 2:00 chiropractor appointment so I rescheduled it for 3:45. I am generally not a fan of chiropractors but mine is really great, I trust him and frankly enjoy hanging out and chatting with him! I had been feeling that my hips were a little bit off, so I think it was a good idea to go in. I would also like to get a massage while I'm unemployed but we'll see if I feel like I can spend the money.

It was about 90 degrees when I got to practice yesterday. We had a 1k repeat workout, which we were supposed to do at 10k pace. Since I am so bad at pacing I had no idea what I should do for them but I ran them all at about 4:00 which I think is approximately 6:30 mile pace? I'll look it up. I have a new approach at the workouts now which is helping a lot. Basically I start at the back of the pack and work my way up so that I am not going out too fast. The group tends to run really fast at the beginning of all the repeats and then slow down, which just isn't something I am good at or really enjoy. I think that my new approach is helping me run a lot more consistently and faster in the long run.

So the workout wasn't bad in spite of the heat. We did a very short cool down, so I believe I only ran 7 miles yesterday. If I am really going to run 70 miles this week I am going to need to pick up the mileage a bit. However, I've decided that running crazy (not that 70 mpw is that crazy, because it's really not) mileage isn't so important that I am going to do it even if I feel crappy.

After the workout my stomach kind of bugged me but I pushed through and went to this awesome little Mexican restaurant with M, his roommate, and his brother. Got a good night's sleep and woke up around 7:30 for a morning run. I ran 9 miles this morning and depending on how I feel later, and how hot it is and stuff, I may try for an easy 4 mile run this evening. Other than that I'm just enjoying hanging out, reading (I am reading The American by Henry James), and not working!

As a note, I am probably going to run a 5k in about three weeks. The CU Kickoff Classic 5k is on Labor Day every year and it is a really fun little race and a good way to support the CU cross country team.

Off to hang out with my mom and my dog, and then possibly to the pool...

Posted by barb at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)

August 02, 2004

Unemployed

I am almost officially unemployed now. It is so great. Today I woke up at 7:30, drove to Boulder, ran the Tank Run (made famous by Chris Lear's book), hung out, shopped, etc., etc. The run was good. It is much warmer here than it was in L.A. The run this morning was slightly over 12 miles. Since this is my crazy high mileage week I'm trying to start off with a good run that will make the week easier towards the end. The last two miles of the run were tough, I was thirsty and hungry. I am planning on buying a fuel belt of some kind tomorrow to make the rest of my long runs easier.

The Tank Run is all on dirt which was so much nicer. I feel that running on concrete (hard concrete at that) all weekend made my legs hurt. And Boulder is so great - after I hung out and shopped I went to a nice shady spot on Boulder Creek and stood around for between 5 and 10 minutes with my legs in the water. It felt great. The water isn't nearly as cold there as in Gore Creek but I believe it still has therapeutic value.

As far as the weekend goes, from a running standpoint, it was fine. Nothing very remarkable - before we left for California, on Thursday morning, I ran 11 miles. Friday morning, I ran 10 miles along the beach. The hotel was on Redondo Beach and I ran north past Manhattan Beach which was pretty. The beach is really nice in the morning, there are a ton of surfers. The wedding we went to was Friday evening. It was a gorgeous wedding - they had it at the La Venta Inn - and the views were incredible. It was a very classy affair and the size was perfect because the bride and groom were able to talk to everyone. Everyone there was incredibly nice and I really enjoyed meeting all of them (I didn't know anyone there but M). On Friday night at the wedding I got really toasted, and felt that a day off was a good idea since it had been several weeks, so Saturday I didn't run. I did aqua-jog in the hotel pool for 25 minutes but other than that I just enjoyed the vacation. It was such a great weekend!

I think that is about all for now. I've got a workout tomorrow evening and it is possible that I'll do a short run in the morning, but I'm not sure. I'm going to see the Bare Naked Ladies (Bare Naked/Barenaked?? Not sure) in concert tonight with M and some other people so I'm not sure when I'll be getting up. But I am off the sauce for a week or two after my weekend of depravity so I shouldn't be feeling bad tomorrow.

Posted by barb at 03:15 PM | Comments (1)

August 01, 2004

Back from California

I will write a much longer entry tomorrow... but I'm back from the long weekend in California. It was great, running at sea level is nice, running on concrete is not, it's nice to be home!

Last week I believe I ran approximately 53 miles in six days - took Saturday off - wanted to do an easier week because this starting tomorrow is my period of unemployment. While I'm unemployed I would like to run as much as I can within reason - like around 70 mpw. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway I will write lots more tomorrow.... but this is a start!

Posted by barb at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)