« November 2004 | Main | January 2005 »

December 30, 2004

Christmas, Mexico, Running, Etc.

I got back from Mexico yesterday late in the afternoon and I have not blogged for quite some time and I do not have a lot of patience for sitting at my computer today because it is a really nice day in Colorado so I am itching to go for a run and I am also itching to start doing all the stuff I need to do today, just errands and whatnot.

Anyway Mexico was fabulous. We had a great time and although I was apprehensive about going with 15 of Matt's family members it turned out to be absolutely fine. His family is so nice and I think that his stepmom was really happy to have another female there - Matt has three brothers and no sisters. Spending Christmas on a beach was kind of strange but we were so happy to leave Colorado because it was so cold last week. We were excited to get back after five days though, just because it is nice here.

Here is the running breakdown:
Thursday (Denver): 6 miles. 8 degree weather, felt pretty good but ran slow and my legs kind of felt frozen in spite of wearing two pairs of pants. The one thing I hate about running in cold weather is the feeling that the muscles in my legs are frozen.

Friday: Travel day, no running. Yeeks, I hate taking days off but it just did not work out to get a run in. It was a fun day and Puerto Vallarta is beautiful. We had a bonfire on the beach which was so much fun.

Saturday, Christmas: 4 mile run with family members. Good times :)

Sunday: 6 mile run down the road and back. I ran this pretty fast as I was chasing other runners. I caught them all, it was sweet!

Monday: 5 mile run down the road and back. Nothing exciting about this run.

Tuesday: 4 mile run down the road and back. I was feeling kind of tired and it was hot but it was fine.

Wednesday: 6 mile run down the road and back. Planned to run 5 miles, Mexican stomach problems made me think I would only run 2 miles, but then felt better and made it 6. Travel day back home to Colorado.

Other exercise included playing in the waves and walking on the beach :) Which is not too bad. I definitely recommend doing Christmas on the beach although it is a very busy time in Mexico. The weather was perfect though, if you can get up by 8:30 or so it is really nice.

Today I am planning to run 6-10 miles, just depending on how I feel. Next week I would like to start doing workouts again but in my mind this week is just kind of a throwaway - I'm running enough to stay active, not put on weight, and not get out of shape. I ran 38 miles last week and this week I think I'll get around 40. After new year's Matt and I are both planning on not boozing until the Super Bowl which I think will be good for both of us.

I am off to catch up on blogs and go for a run!

Posted by barb at 8:58 AM | Comments (3)

December 22, 2004

Woo Hoo (Kind Of)

I am kind of very excited today. But kind of not. I am excited because I am going home later. I am kind of not excited because later is 12 hours away right now. I wanted to get on an earlier flight but unfortunately they are all overbooked. WAH! At least I have a great seat on my flight. And it will be FREEZING COLD in Denver so it is not too bad to be here. Like seriously cold. Tomorrow the high is 7 degrees and the low is -14 or something crazy. So I may be running on the treadmill tomorrow.

Today I ran among the bums (and luckily no scary old men) in Santa Monica. I think I ran almost to Malibu so that was kind of cool. It was kind of foggy this morning so it was prettier when the sun rose. I have been told by my stepmom that there is no smog in LA in the winter, it is just in the summer. So I have been seeing actual fog, not smog. Good to know!

So I ran for 82 minutes today which I am calling 9 miles but which I am virtually certain was probably 10 miles. I just run faster down here because it is at sea level and the footing is good and it is flat. Better to underestimate than overestimate mileage, though, in my opinion.

I will try to update tomorrow but if not it will be 12/30 when we get back from fabulous Mexico! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Posted by barb at 9:50 AM | Comments (5)

December 21, 2004

Going Home Tomorrow!

I am so excited to go home tomorrow I cannot even describe it. This week has not been too bad so far but I am so sick of traveling. Last night I went to sleep about 10:00 and I woke up this morning at 5:30 which really did not seem too early since it is Pacific Time. I ran the other direction down the beach which took me through Venice Beach. I confirmed with my friend Matt this morning that Venice Beach is quite shady. I probably saw 25 homeless people most of whom seemed to want to chat with me. In addition to that (and this is just bizarre), I saw an older man walking his little white dog in a sweat shirt and tighty whitey underwear. And nothing else. It was really quite disgusting and for a while I seriously wondered if I had not fallen asleep again somehow and was having a bad dream!

Anyway the run was fine. Running in LA is very dull so on the way back I did five or six 60-second pickups to make the time go by. I ran for 72 minutes which I am calling 8 miles but I think it is probably slightly more, like 8.5 or so, because I think I was running faster than 9:00 pace.

Tonight I am hoping to do another workout like some lifting or biking or something, but we will see when I get back - I am carpooling so I do not have a ton of control over my schedule. I would like to go and buy one more Christmas present tonight if I can make it to a mall or something as well.

I would like to say that I will run a good longer run tomorrow but truthfully I probably will not, it is too boring. We shall see. I hope everyone has a fantastic Tuesday!

Posted by barb at 9:04 AM | Comments (1)

December 20, 2004

Weekend

I do not believe that I have updated since Friday morning. Wow, it seems like it has been a while. So Friday I felt darned fine and ran 10 miles around Wash Park and the neighborhood. It was a really nice weekend in Denver from a weather standpoint - yesterday it was 60 degrees out! Saturday morning I ran 7 miles on one of the prettier streets in Denver, there are big, beautiful houses all over. There's a nice dirt path down the middle of the street. I felt like I could have run more but wanted to get home and I actually ran kind of a lot this week in spite of taking Monday off. Sunday morning I got up and ran 6 miles around City Park. It was fun but it was one of those days when the wind is swirling so I was running into the wind about 75% of the time.

I flew to Los Angeles last night kind of late, so here I am in California. I was so upset about it that I cannot even explain. I slept almost the whole way on the plane because I took a little pink pill in the hope that it would help me stop freaking out and then got to the hotel and slept for about 6 more hours. I ran 5 miles this morning out on the beach in Santa Monica in the middle of the smog.

So last week turned out to be a good running week - somehow I managed to not reinjure my knee and to run about 54 miles. This week I will do my best but I am flying to Mexico on Friday for 5 days so it will be a light week or two.

I will be updating for the next two or three days and then I will be incommunicado. I hope everyone has a great pre-Christmas week!

Posted by barb at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)

December 17, 2004

Good Knee!

Well as we know, some bloggers talk to their body parts. I am writing this entry in homage to my knee which did not hurt one bit yesterday. I planned to run like 4 or 5 miles but I felt so good that I ran 9! It was such a cool run. I went down to one of my old high school runs at the Cherry Creek Resevoir and while I was running around in the wetlands preserve I saw seven deer. They are such beautiful animals. Of course then I could hear guns on the rifle range and practically convinced myself to become a vegetarian again. That was short-lived. But it was a great run and I hope that I will feel good again today. Matt gave me an awesome deep tissue massage on my leg last night, I really think he could have a career as a physical therapist.

Also yesterday I biked kind of hard for 10 minutes, lifted weights, and then after a few hours of shopping (and finishing my Christmas shopping - hooray!) went to a one hour power yoga class. I love having time off, I just work out all the time. Matt and I were joking around last night that I could go on that Big Loser reality show, just because I love working out so much that it would be fun.

Anyway that was yesterday. Today I need to listen to a diversity in the workplace conference call or something, or else I will be in trouble, which sucks because my friend is graduating from law school today and I can't go to his graduation. Oh well. Then I am planning to run around noon - basically, again, as much as is prudent with the delicate knee situation. So we'll see how it goes.

In other news we are leaving for Christmas in Mexico in exactly one week! I am very excited. Hopefully I will run a little more down there this time, but if not, life is short.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Posted by barb at 8:56 AM | Comments (1)

December 16, 2004

Good Barb!

Well I am feeling so much better right now. I have not had any adult beverages since last Friday and I have been sleeping 8 hours a night for the past two nights. In fact last night I passed out on my couch at 10:00 and had to drag myself to my bed!

My knee situation is troubling me however. I had hoped to run 10-12 miles today and I know that won't happen. Yesterday I did two 4 mile runs. My knee hurt by the end of both. I was really disappointed because I felt GREAT except for the knee. But these things happen.... I have been obsessively massaging and stretching it so I think it will feel better soon. Tonight I might have to make Matt give me a deep tissue massage. Oh that is great, I believe he is making dinner and now I will really put him to work!

Anyway so I am very excited about my second 4 mile run last night. My friend S. and I had been trying to go for a run together for about two months, pretty much since we met. At first I was injured and then of course I am never home, so scheduling has been a challenge. But last night we finally went and it was great! We are about the same pace and we can definitely push each other a little bit. Even though my schedule is still insane I hope we can run together more. I am so accustomed to running alone that it doesn't really bother me but it was so nice to run with someone else and to push the pace a bit.

So today the plan is to roller my knee a lot, run as much as I feel is prudent, and then lift weights, swim, and/or go to a yoga class. I think a yoga class is a virtual certainty. The swimming and lifting may not happen. I also need to finish up my Christmas shopping. I am having a seriously traumatic situation with Matt's present. I wanted to get him a Sony Play Station 2. However, they appear to be backordered into eternity so now I don't know what to do. I think I might just ask him if he wants to wait for one of if he wants an X Box or something. I have no idea. Eeks! And Christmas is less than ten days away!

I should also mention, since my brother Scott reads my blog faithfully, that I had a fabulous dinner with him last night at our favorite place, the Cherry Cricket. They have amazing burgers and a great atmosphere. Scott is taking his last final exam of his first semester of college today and I am so proud of him, he is doing great! I will have to try to post a picture of his new kitty, Miss Piggy, who is absolutely adorable.

Anyway that is the news for the day, I hope all the bloggers are having great days!

Posted by barb at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2004

Bad Barb!

I was such a slacker this weekend, it is embarrassing. I did feel like hooey but it was due to my own excess which is so bad! Boys and girls, you should not drink alcoholic beverages.

That is all I have to say about that. However New York is fabulous and we had a great time in spite of feeling terrible!

From a running standpoint - ran 5 miles on Friday and 3 miles on Sunday. Yesterday (Monday) did not run. This morning, Tuesday, I ran 14.3 miles in an act of penance and because I felt mostly better. I hope that this week will be a much better week for me from a running standpoint unless I have to fly to California tomorrow morning - I should find out about that later today, hopefully.

Anyway that is the news and hopefully I will write more soon and I am off now to try to catch up on the weekends of my fellow bloggers although I am on a spastic internet connection.

Have a great week everyone!

Posted by barb at 3:40 PM | Comments (1)

December 9, 2004

Last day in Jersey!

Well that is not technically true. I am not leaving Jersey until tomorrow morning but this is my last day on site at my crazy project. Woo hoo!

Yesterday I ran 7 miles at lunchtime, felt kind of like crap due to the long day on Tuesday. I completed the run in approximately my normal time so I was not running too slow, which is good. I also discovered a random trail through the woods in the town of North Caldwell - that was very exciting! Although I planned to get up this morning and run, I could not sleep very well last night so I am going to do the same run again today at lunchtime and see how far this trail goes. I would like to run 8-10 miles today but we'll see how I feel. It is significantly cooler today than it was yesterday but it is also less windy which makes for more pleasant conditions overall, I hate running in the wind.

This week has been kind of uninteresting as far as training goes. I did notice how much better my IT band is now, as opposed to when I was injured, when I rolled around on the foam roller yesterday. It barely hurts now, and two months ago it was pretty excruciating. So that is definitely good news.

I hope to run about 50 miles this week and next week I would really like to focus on both running a decent amount and doing some more cross training, including skiing (yay!) and some yoga. I would also like to start doing some snowshoeing, one of my favorite wintertime activities (second to skiing of course). My dog is at her happiest romping around in the snow.

That is the news. I am picking Matt up at the airport six hours from now and I am really excited about that! I think we will have a great weekend in New York and although he is skeptical I really think he will run a 10k PR on Sunday in our race.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Posted by barb at 8:03 AM | Comments (1)

December 8, 2004

Slacker!

I am such a blog slacker. I am a semi-slacker when it comes to running as well. So I have been busy this week, it is my last week in Jersey and for once I actually have some work to do. So that has been kind of nice, I was so busy yesterday I literally did not have time to blog! I am so sad to be leaving New York, but I am not sad to be leaving this crazy project. It has been so much better this week because I am actually working normal hours and have a life and stuff, but I know that if I had stayed here it would be miserable. I have a few free tickets on United so I will just have to come visit!

Anyway on Monday I stayed with the conviction that discretion was the better part of valor for the day and went to the hotel and slept. I was asleep by 8:00 and got up at 6:00 am yesterday to run. I ran 11 miles in about 95 minutes in the morning, which was nice. Running here is so easy. It was a fairly easy pace and I felt good. Then I went to work and afterwards I drove to Hoboken to pick up the train into the city. Because of my previous towing experience, I decided to park in a place where I knew I had never gotten towed but that is pretty far from the station. So I decided to do a second run for the day just trotting around Hoboken and New York. I ended up running about 4 miles last night for a total of 15 for the day. Yes the second run was total junk but I am counting it.

I got back around 10:30 but I did not sleep too well so I just slept until 7:30 and I will run either at lunchtime or after work or possibly both, depending on what I decide to do tonight. I kind of want to go back to the city but I would really prefer to find the PATH station at Journal Square in Jersey City, because the parking situation in Hoboken frightens me now.

Anyway I hope to run maybe 6-10 miles for the day, and then want to get up early and run tomorrow. Matt is flying in tomorrow evening, and I am so excited about that! We have lots of plans for the weekend and it is a fantastic time to be in New York right now what with Christmas right around the corner.

That is the news for now, more tomorrow!

Posted by barb at 6:50 AM | Comments (0)

December 6, 2004

Sleepy

I am so tired right now. I think I slept for maybe 4 hours as a combination of overnight and on the plane time. That was probably not the brightest idea I ever had. So I am thinking today may be a rest day = no running, no working out, no nothing.

Here is a brief update on what happened over the weekend:
Friday, ran 4 miles in the morning and then skied for 4 hours
Saturday, ran 8 miles
Sunday, ran 6 miles

It was pretty uneventful from a running standpoint. I did not feel all that great Saturday or Sunday which is why I am not too upset about taking a day off, I think my body might need one.

In other news I just signed up for a 10k on Sunday but I think I will just jog it with Matt, so we will just do it for fun.

I will write something more interesting tomorrow but for now that's all she wrote!

Posted by barb at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)

December 2, 2004

Bully!

So Bully is my new fun exclamation. It appears to make even less sense than Woo Hoo, unless you are an obsessive fan of the Family Guy, which I am. This is a cartoon that is SO FUNNY, my brother and I love it. In fact a lot of people love it so it was cancelled a few years ago and it is coming back. Anyway there is this episode, one of my favorites, in which the turn-of-the-century strongmen Finnius and Barnaby, two of the more random characters, say Bully. You would probably have to watch it but it is so funny, and now I definitely think that 'Bully!' should be reintroduced into the popular lexicon.

Anyway yesterday I procrastinated with the running for quite a while and ended up starting my run at 5:15 pm, when it was dark out. That was stupid but what can I say, sometimes I am uninspired. I kept thinking I would stop soon but I just kept going for a long time and ended up running probably a bit over 8 miles just around Wash Park and this ritzy neighborhood near me. It was incredibly slow (finished in 81 minutes, which is partly why I think it was longer than 8 miles), due to footing and stuff. I almost fell on my face, but only once, so I am considering it to be a success.

Afterwards I really wanted to go in the steam room at my gym so I went over there, biked for 10 minutes while reading a trashy magazine, and then lifted weights. Then I steamed for a long time, it felt so good! The air is so dry here especially when it is very cold out so my skin feels way better now. I am proud of myself for actually lifting, I should do it more but once a week or so is better than nothing.

Today I have an appointment at 1:00 but I will go for a run after that, then I am going to a party with my stepmom. Tomorrow I will get up early and run, then ski for about 4 hours. I am very excited to ski, it should be some really fun cross training!

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

December 1, 2004

Two Runs, and Some News

Yesterday I did end up running twice. I ran 6 miles in the morning up Boulder Canyon and back, it was absolutely beautiful. It was actually pretty sunny and the contrast between the snow and the creek was so pretty. The footing on the path was really bad but it was so nice that I just kept going. It was just one of those runs where you are just happy to be alive.

My second run was at practice, wihch was also fun. During the day yesterday it got very pleasant, especially in the sun, but by the time we met at 4:30 the sun had almost gone down and it was cold again. I have been doing much better than normal with the cold so far this winter but at that point I was kind of annoyed with it, and sick of being cold, and really wanted to take a hot shower. Once we got going it was not so bad and I think we ran about 7 miles, with the 6 x 2:30 at 5k/10k pace. The workout itself felt pretty good, nice and short. The altitude does not bother me much when I am doing short stuff. So going to practice was fun and my stomach was definitely jacked up last night but I feel fine now and my legs do not even feel all that tired. I have not run yet today, I am going to lunch with a friend in a bit and I need to eat light so that I can run in an hour or two afterwards. I would like to lift weights as well today but who knows.

So here is the news. I am getting off my project in Jersey, my last week will be next week. I am excited to have some down time in December and to be at home, it has been so great. Hopefully I will not get laid off but this will be such a good thing for me. I am so much happier when I am home. This also means I may get somewhat re-acclimated to the altitude and will hopefully go to practice on a semi-regular basis again for a while!

Woo hoo! Good times in Colorado!

Posted by barb at 10:19 AM | Comments (4)