Hard Work - Barb's Blog: December 2005 Archives

« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »

December 30, 2005

Impulse Buying, and Almost Done Running for 2005

Well, in the spirit of rest and rejuvenation for 2006, I may be finished with running for the year. I didn't run yesterday. I didn't run today (I ellipticalled again at a higher intensity, 65 minutes, lifted legs afterwards). I did plan to run, and I may run this weekend while I am in the mountains without an elliptical machine, and I may not. I have my snowshoes so I may just do that or possibly venture to somewhere to rent cross country skis.

I don't really know what to say about 2005 from a year in review type of standpoint, so I may not say much. I would say that the running highlight of the year was definitely my half marathon in May. I also had a good couple of 4 mile races. I'll put together some goals for 2006 maybe Monday or Tuesday and post them shortly thereafter.

Now I am finishing up some work before we go to the mountains for New Year's. Matt is boarding tomorrow but I don't think I'm going to go. I think he will have plenty of people to go besides me. I may go on Sunday if everyone doesn't get too wasted and hung over - if not I will snowshoe. I am not too sure when we are coming home. I am hoping Sunday, but it will depend on traffic and weather conditions.

Now on to impulse buying. I saw this treadmill online and it seems so cheap. I am sure it's not a gym quality treadmill but I don't think I really need that quality of a treadmill. I just want one for those times when I'm at home and I don't feel like running outside or going to the gym but I want to work out. I don't know if it's a good idea to buy one without doing exhaustive research but the sale ends tomorrow! Hmm, decisions, decisions. It just seems so cool to be watching TV at home, decide I rather run than sit on the couch, and run right then and there, while still watching TV!

Anyway this is most likely my last blog entry of 2005. Happy New Year to everyone!!! I wish everyone a fast, fun, and healthy 2006.

Posted by barb at 1:53 PM | Comments (3)

December 29, 2005

I do not understand shopping.

Here is what I don't understand. Why are sizes all so jacked up now? I don't think it's like this for mens' clothes but all the sizes keep getting bigger for the most part, and otherwise they are totally inconsistent. For example, when I weighed less several years ago I was a size 4 in J. Crew clothes. Now the size 2 is big on me. And trust me I am just not that skinny. On the other hand a size 2 at the Gap fits perfectly! Speaking of which I got a nice pair of chocolate brown corduroys at the Gap today which are cute. However, in addition to the corduroys that are brown, I am wearing a green shirt and blue shoes. Which I did not notice until this manager came over and chatted with me. And not only are the shoes blue, they are my skater kid shoes. Maybe I am too old to own these any more but I really do like them! And luckily if there is a time to dress like a schlub it is definitely this week when I see one or two other people if I am lucky.

Well, enough about that. So far today I have:
- Walked the dog at 7:00 am
- Walked to work at 7:20 am
- Ellipticalled for 65 minutes
- Lifted shoulders
- Walked home
- Walked the dog again
- Walked back to work

That sounds like an absurd amount of walking. In case you missed it with all the walking I did elliptical. I think I'll bold that part. I am planning to run with the dog after work. However it is really windy and if there is one weather condition I hate more than any other, it is wind. If I don't run, I will walk with the dog. She was in quite the mood on our lunchtime walk. She is a big idiot sometimes and tries to chase cars. She did that today. She also barked at some random guy that was walking by us. You can just tell when she has that maniacal gleam in her eye that it will be a tough walk.

That is the news. We are going to a basketball game tonight. It should be fun although the dog woke me up at 5:30 this morning so I will not be too chipper unfortunately. I hope everyone is having a nice day!

Posted by barb at 2:47 PM | Comments (5)

December 28, 2005

Elite Running

Both Alison's and Audrey's entries today got me to thinking about this site, this blog, and why I am here. It seems kind of inappropriate, frankly, for me to be on an elite running web site. I have never even come close to being an elite runner. When I think about my running goals, the biggest one is just to break 20:00 for the 5k again, and to break 40:00 for the 10k for the first time. I'd need to be 5 or 10 minutes faster, depending on the distance, to be elite. However, I like it here. And maybe having a blog with a bunch of other, faster runners, will help me to be a better runner. And maybe someday when we win the lottery and I can devote all my time to training I can run an 18:00 5k!

Anyway speaking of training. Yesterday I ellipticalled for 65 minutes and then ate a big burrito. Then my stomach felt like it weighed about 700 pounds, so I ran 3 miles very very slowly on the treadmill. Then we went to my mom's house for dinner and our Hannukah celebration, and we brought my/my mom's crazy dog home. This morning I walked her. Then at lunchtime I ran home, picked her up, ran with her, dropped her off, and ran some more. I ended up with 7 miles for today, plus lifting, and running up some stairs. My stomach still feels weird today but hopefully it'll be normal soon.

When I get home today I will take the dog out, cook dinner, walk the dog, and then hopefully go to bed very early because I am tired!

Posted by barb at 1:36 PM | Comments (5)

December 27, 2005

The weekend in review

Wow, I cannot believe how much we did over the holiday weekend, and how many presents we got. It is truly absurd the amount of presents that you can receive when you have four sets of parents. The spoils of divorce, I guess. Here is the day by day view:

Saturday:
After we got up to Fort Collins on Friday night, we slept at Matt's dad and stepmom's house. Saturday morning Matt, Matt's dad D., and I went for a 4 mile run. It was nice. It was colder than Matt expected so he wore his dad's Fairbeault Falcons (the high school his dad went to) bright green outfit. That was amusing. The rest of the day we stuffed our faces, opened presents, played in a family poker tournament, and hung out with family. It was fun. Saturday night we drove to Matt's mom's house (which is about 30 minutes south of his dad's) so that we could sleep in a bed.

Sunday:
Woke up around 8:30, hung out, and then I went for a nice run around 9:30 (6 miles). Matt's mom made breakfast and we did not stuff ourselves which was a nice change. Then we opened more presents, hung out, drove home, packed a little more stufff and picked up gifts, and drove to my dad and stepmom's house. My parents really knocked themselves out with the gifts this year, which was really nice. They gave us a ton of stuff and I love all of it. A kind of funny gift was one I found in the refridgerator in the garage - they gave me a box of goat cheese. Which is awesome. I am obsessed with goat cheese! We hung out, my brother and Matt ganged up on me and made fun of me which is always fun for them, we watched our family's favorite film (The Birdcage), and went to bed.

Monday:
Monday we woke up at my parents' house, had breakfast, hung out for a bit, and then I made Matt drop me off on the Highline Canal trail at one street crossing and pick me up at another about 6 miles away, during which time he went to Best Buy to pick up accessories for his new video game machine. I did a mini tempo run type of thing - I do not know what to call it - where I warmed up for 6 minutes, to the first mile marker, and did 6 timed miles (8:18, 7:58, 7:57, 7:49, 7:18), and then cooled down for 5 minutes. I was happy about running negative splits and I will do this workout more as I prepare for Cherry Blossom.

Tuesday:
Today I have not run/worked out yet but I will be going somewhat soon for a lunchtime run/elliptical/lift. It is really quiet at work today which is nice. Then tonight we are going to my mom's house for a little Hannukah celebration. I am exhausted just writing about the past 3-4 days! Hopefully I will get some decent running in this week. Last week was not bad but I was not too pleased with my mileage. I hope to be over 40 miles/week soon.

Posted by barb at 8:47 AM | Comments (1)

December 23, 2005

tired, quiet day

It is so quiet here. I think there are five people on my floor today. But it has been kind of nice. I am really exhausted for some reason today, so I am enjoying not having to talk to a lot of people.

My workout today was a 5 mile run followed by 35 minutes on the elliptical. I finished the book I'd been reading so that was nice. During my run I was almost run over by five cars, no exaggeration. Apparently the Christmas spirit has endowed people with more of an entitlement complex than normal and they have decided that stopping for pedestrians who have a walk sign is unnecessary. That was irritating.

I am leaving soon and hopefully I can take a nap at some point, I could really fall asleep at any moment. I hope everyone has a great hoilday weekend!

Posted by barb at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2005

Good week so far

So far this has been a good running week for me. I've got a very different frame of reference right now - i.e. 40 miles is a good week, 30 miles is a bad week - so in that frame this week should be all right. The weather has definitely helped, it's much more pleasant to run in moderate temperatures. In fact today it was in the 50's when I ran at lunch time and I was in shorts, it felt nice although my legs are very dry. So it may have felt nice but it certainly wasn't nice to look at! I ran a route that I don't normally do - to City Park, around, and back - and it was a pleasant 7 miles (I had to add on as I got back in 59 minutes and thought I should run for 63 minutes). I thought about cross training but there were no good magazines and I was starving. So I lifted for about 3 minutes, sat in the steam room for a while to help my revolting skin, and showered. I almost got Arby's for lunch - one of the few fast food products that I like - but decided that a sandwich was a better idea. Matt and I are going out for a nice dinner tonight so I didn't want to spoil my appetite by eating a bunch of crappy food. After work we are opening our pressies from each other - just our own Christmas - and then having a nice dinner.

I am tired already and our ridiculously busy weekend of family time has not even started, so I am planning to sleep a good amount tonight. Then I will do it again tomorrow, and we will go to Fort Collins for Family A's Christmas celebration. On Saturday night we will drive to Family B's, spend the night, and spend a half day at Family B's. Then we will drive to Family C's for Christmas number four, the afternoon of Christmas. Then we will sleep for a full day.

I think I will be blogging tomorrow, but in case I get lazy, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy Holidays to all the bloggers, and whoever is reading.

Posted by barb at 2:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2005

December 20, 2005

heat wave

It was a balmy 26 degrees when I ran this morning! I could not believe it. It felt positively balmy just to run while it was over 20 degrees. I got back just in time to watch the weather and I guess the highs will be in the mid to high 50's through the weekend which is positively rocking. Who cares about a white Christmas when it has been in the teens all the damn time.

Anyhoo, it was also extremely dark this morning. I've been running at lunchtime all the time so I didn't realize how short the days have been getting. Luckily I have a party for the winter solstice this Wednesday which means that on this Thursday the days will be getting longer again! I don't mind running in the dark although it does make me feel like I am still asleep. Which is kind of bad. So I ran 8 miles (my normal Wash Park loop) this morning and it was very pleasant. It seems like a lot of people are taking time off this week so it was pretty quiet, and there weren't that many runners either.

Last night I planned to run but Matt said that he really wanted to spend time with me, and he really did not want me trotting around in the dark, so I said that was okay. I told him though that now I have torun on Christmas to make sure and get in 6 days of running and he said that was fine. We should have some free time on Christmas and we are staying at Matt's mom's house the night before, so I will let them have some quality mother-son time and run. I personally love running on Christmas - since I love running and I love Christmas it seems right to do something I really enjoy on Christmas. Yes, I am sick and twisted.

Anyhoo. I managed to get up at 6:00 today, run, and still get into work around 8:00 which is excellent and means that I can leave right at 5:00. Tonight we are planning to go to a yoga class with our favorite instructor. Then tomorrow I have a dinner party and Matt has a Nuggets game, Thursday is our 'Christmas' so we are opening our presents and going to a nice dinner, and Friday we will start the Christmas festivities. It will be a fun and busy week, and the good news is that I think next week will be much more peaceful and quiet, which is definitely a good thing.

I should also mention that I borrowed Life at These Speeds from our neighbor and just started reading it. I like it so far (literally the five pages I've read). I already prefer it over Once a Runner but that's partly because I think OAR is so overrated. Sacrilege I know.

Posted by barb at 8:37 AM | Comments (2)

December 19, 2005

Weekend

I really should write in my blog more over the weekend, because every Monday entry sounds the same to me.

Thankfully we did not go to the mountains this weekend. On Friday night we went to see the Chronicles of Narnia which was a good movie but it was not my favorite. I would probably recommend it if you loved the book when you were a kid. Saturday morning I drove down to Wash Park and ran 7 miles. It was nice. It was very cold (15 degrees or so) but it was snowing the whole time which was pretty. The snow on top of the existing ice was kind of treacherous and I almost fell once but I was able to keep my balance somehow. I bet it looked kind of funny. After that I had coffee, went to the gym and lifted, took a shower, and went to get my hair colored and cut. I was really sick of my hair - it is very fine so when it's long it is very limp and lifeless - so she cut around 5 inches off. Now it is short and cute. I love it! It fits in a tiny ponytail.

Saturday night we went to a Christmas dinner party. It was fun, and it was nice to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while. It was not too wild and crazy, but we didn't get to sleep until around 1:00. I wanted to run a decent amount on Sunday but since we had plans at 10:30, and almost all day, so I ran 5 miles. It was cold again. I don't think it went over 25 degrees all weekend. I guess we haven't had that bad of a winter for a few years, so we are due for one. Apparently January is going to be really cold too.

Today I slept in so I am cross training/lifting at lunchtime and then running outside after work and before a happy hour that we're going to attend. It's shaping up to be another busy week!

Posted by barb at 9:45 AM | Comments (1)

December 16, 2005

I love daytime television

It is so sad. Just talk shows and NFL shows on ESPN. Sometimes I go to the gym just to see them. In fact sometimes i run inside instead of outside because of the TV choices! However today I ran inside because it was really cold. I think the high today was 28 degrees or so and when I walked to work this morning it was 10 degrees, which is darned cold. So today I ran 5 miles on the nice warm treadmill in the nice warm gym. It was not a lot but I was feeling an easy day. I also lifted shoulders and chest, I am huge! Hee hee. This cold weather is great for my lifting, because when I actually go to the gym, I lift.

Yesterday I actually did cross train after work (45 min on the elliptical) so that was a good day for me. And this weekend we do not have to go to our stupid house in the mountains (yes I am a terrible ungrateful brat, because I actually can go to the mountains whenever I want, I do realize), which is awesome. I can actually run. It will be really cold but I am braving the elements!

Posted by barb at 4:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2005

8 miles and good times with blogging games

Today I ran 8 miles outside. I was very proud of this accomplishment. It has been hard for me to get outside for my runs lately because I am lazy and I enjoy day time television. Andthe gym is a block away from my office. But today I was inspred by the lack of wind and the nice sunshine, so I went to the gym, changed into tights and a heavy shirt, and ran. I have to say how obsessed I am with my Sugoi running clothes. I love them. They have these awesome hoodies for women that are the best. They have the hood for your head, the sleeves turn into little mitten-like things, and they even have a soft area on the sleeve to wipe your nose. If I was faster Sugoi should sponsor me, I love their stuff so much!

Anyway that was nice. I went back to the g ym after I finished running and walked on the treadmill for 5 minutes just to cool down, then stretched, then came back to work. And ate the lunch I brought from home which makes me very proud, I never do that. It was good. I need to do it more often. I saved like $6!

And now here is the blogging game. The rules are basically that you must state five random facts about yourself. Then you are supposed to tell 5 people to do it, but I am not going to do that part. Everyone I know, already knows about it! Here we go:

1. Before I started running I was a decent (maybe a 4.5 rating) tennis player. I really liked it and used to fantasize about playing in the US Open. However my high school is a huge tennis dynasty and the girls' team is 130 girls. It kind of turned me off so once I started running I switched to track.

2. Outside of stress fractures (only one), I have never broken a bone.

3. I have wanted to live in the same Denver neighborhood for 11 years. In that time the prices in the area have gone from a median of around $200,000 to a median of around $450000. If I could have bought a house when I was 16, I would be so pleased with myself right now!

4. I am completely tone deaf but I think I would give up a finger to have a really good voice. Then I would want to be in a band and sing and also play drums. When I was in 5th grade I went to gifted and talented kids' camp and I still think that I had drum playing potential from playing there. Sometimes when I am particularly bored by myself I think about taking voice lessons and/or drum lessons. I do believe that there are several famous singers who do not have particularly good voices.

5. If I could move anywhere I would move to London. It would be my ultimate dream to be an expat, anglophile novelist in the tradition of Henry James. However, if that isn't going to happen, I'd like to move to an island in the Caribbean and be a beach bum/waitress/Caribbean novelist.

Wow those are pretty random. I think it was fun and I would recommend giving it a go!

Posted by barb at 2:31 PM | Comments (2)

December 14, 2005

I swallowed my gum

I know my chiropractor would yell at me for chewing gum in the first place, much less chewing gum while running, but I did and today I did pay for it a little bit. Swallowing gum is so gross. I hate when it's in that spot in your throat where it is almost choking you and you just know you have to swallow. Yuck. It made my stomach feel weird.

Anyway yesterday I did not get out for a run. I am a big fat slacker! Today I ran 6 miles on the treadmill with a pace ranging from 9:05 to 7:19. It is good for me to run on the treadmill sometimes so I do speed work, but not all the time. So I need to work on that. After I ran, I ellipticalled for 25 minutes. Now I am starving. I had a jamba juice and a power bar for lunch. I am trying to eat more bananas because potassium supposedly helps you retain hydration which would be nice. I feel like I drink piles of water and I am still dehydrated which is so annoying!

I think that tomorrow I can do a double workout because we are possibly going to the movies, and my work/gym are a block from a movie theater. So that would be good. We blissfully have no plans tonight or tomorrow night so tonight I am cooking a nice stir fry I believe. I would like to say that while the beef is marinating I will go for a run, but who am I kidding!

Posted by barb at 4:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

Hooray for the Cherry Blossoms!

I am so excited. I neglected to mention yesterday that Matt and I signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race. I can't wait to go to DC for the first time, to see friends and family, and to run fast! It will be a good time.

Today, I am tired from my cold but I am feeling better. I ellipticalled for 65 minutes at lunch time. When I get home I will go run 3-4 miles, just to say that I did. Hopefully it will be fun. It was really windy before and I am hoping that it won't be windy any more by the time I run. Tonight I am going to a girls cookie baking and decorating party. No boys allowed! They have cooties, and they would eat all of our cookies. Before I go, Matt is cooking dinner for me. He left work at 2:30 today because they were having a holiday party so this afternoon he was my stay at home boyfriend! It was awesome. I made him pick up a prescription for me. I think outside of that he had a very nice work-free afternoon. Tomorrow night we have no plans which is fantastic.

Posted by barb at 4:15 PM | Comments (1)

December 12, 2005

Shorts Weather

What a nice day for a run. I procrastinated until 3:00 to go for a run (basically a late lunch break, as has been my habit lately) and I am really glad that I did. It was so nice out and I was totally comfortable in shorts. I had a good time, and a good run. I also saw some random guy who I see every now and again at the park who has an eye patch. I don't care what anyone else says, having an eye patch is sweet! I hope it's not culturally insensitive to admire someone's eye patch. I feel terrible for him if he has a medical condition that necessitates it and he thinks it is humiliating or something. I think it is cool.

Anyhoo, I ran 5 miles. Good times. I am feeling better but just about everything I do gives me a headache, and I had to bust out a sweet farmer's blow or two.

This morning, I got up at 6:15 and went to the gym to cross train. I did 50 minutes on the elliptical and lifted arms. After running I lifted legs. I love how my legs look when I am lifting twice a week. They are super jacked.

Matt is picking me up after work and we are going to his mom's house and helping her decorate her tree. Actually I am going to lay on her couch while they decorate, as my illness is making me tired and I did not get the decorating gene. It must skip several generations at a time because I don't think my mother or my grandmother had it, although my grandmother may have had the 'I like paying other people to decorate for me' gene.

Adios!

Posted by barb at 4:35 PM | Comments (1)

December 11, 2005

Skiing, running, and sleeping

That pretty much describes the weekend. Matty and I caught a little cold bug on the way to or from New York, so to those of you who think we have a wild and crazy social life, you should have seen us last night! Matt went to sleep at 7:00 and I watched Friends episodes in bed until I went to sleep at 9:00. Very exciting ;)

This is the weekend in running:
Friday - 6 miles, Cheeseman Park run from downtown. Felt good, nice warm day which was enjoyable. It's always harder to run outside after a few days on the treadmill but I enjoyed it.
Saturday - 3 miles running in the mountains. I had yet another meltdown about the ski house just because it annoys me, and it did not help that I was running in zero degree temperatures. Yuck. Then we skied at Vail from 9:00 to 1:30. It was cold there and I was feeling a little sick already so I kept shivering but the snow was really nice. Vail always grooms a lot of runs nicely so Matt had a much better time on his new snowboard (it helped to get it waxed too). We drove back to Denver in the afternoon and almost immediately laid on the couch for a long time!
Sunday - Still felt kind of crappy (in spite of sleeping for 10 hours) but I really wanted to run. I drove down to my favorite coffee shop by Wash Park and ran 7 miles from there. It was only in the 20s when I started but warmed up nicely, and the sun was out. They were getting ready to have a race there and lots of people showed up in Santa hats and whatnot which was cute. The run kind of wore me out but I felt good enough to go to lunch and run errands.

Now I am watching my favorite show (Grey's Anatomy), Matt is off doing a sleep study to see if he has sleep apnea. So I am all alone! Oh well. I did wrap on of his Christmas gifts which was nice. I am the worst wrapper ever but for me this was pretty much a masterpiece.

We were talking about being sick earlier and I thought our discussion might resonate with several other bloggers. My frind C. and I don't like admitting that we are sick and our boyfriends were asking why. Basically I said that it was because if you admit you're sick, it sounds insane to go work out - and we want to work out! Sick and twisted I know, but I bet a few others can relate.

Have a nice week everyone!

Posted by barb at 4:14 PM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2005

Non-creative day

I have been staring at this screen for several minutes and I have to say that I've got nothing! Nothing exciting or creative or particularly fun to say. So I am just going to talk about my workouts!

Yesterday:
Ran in the afternoon. My stomach was very jacked up. I run-walked 4 miles (3 miles of running) before I almost hurled. So then I ellipticalled for 30 minutes.
Today:
7 miles on the treadmill in the morning. Felt good although my stomach is not quite right. It has warmed up a lot this afternoon - now it's in the 20's - so tomorrow I think I can run outside. Yay! I am leaving work in 7 minutes, and then I am going to elliptial for 45 minutes, and then lift weights.

Tonight we are going to a holiday party. I am tired and I will not know too many people so we will be going for about 30 minutes, and then we will go home, which makes me happy! Tomorrow I think we are going to the mountains although Matt is feeling a little bit sick in which case we would not go. I do not care too much either way. If we do go, we are coming home Saturday night. That will be good. We have lots to do.

That is the news for today!

Posted by barb at 4:29 PM | Comments (0)

December 7, 2005

Other athletic abilities

So I have always felt that I am like a decent middle of the pack runner at best, and I know that I will never be an elite runner and maybe at best I could run like an 18:00 5k. Which would be really cool. Although first I would have to break 20:00 for the first time in seven years. Jeez it seems so long ago when I put it that way!

Anyway, I have practiced yoga on and off for maybe the last four years, and I definitely have more natural talent for yoga than I do for running. A few years ago I was going to yoga four times a week and I saw a lot of progress and felt really good and stuff. However the classes are 90 minutes long so it is really time consuming especially if one does enjoy running as well. I've been going about once a week for the last month or two now, and last night I went and just had a really good class in spite of the fact that I hadn't gone for two weeks or so. I was able to do the standing forehead to knee pose in its complete, or deepest, form on one side which I hadn't done for several years. So I was feeling good about it and after class apparently my instructor agreed and said that I should train to teach yoga. I was flattered by it and I have always wanted to teach yoga so I think that if I have time to do it, I will consider it pretty seriously.

Anyway after yoga I did some Christmas shopping and went to Whole Foods since we had no groceries. Now we have milk, cereal, and macaroni and cheese and what more do we really need. This morning I slept in since walking to the gym (or running) when it is below zero didn't sound like fun. I am going to lunch with my stepmom and we have a play tonight so I think I will be doing the mid-afternoon treadmill run. Which is great because I love Ellen and I will get to watch her show!

Posted by barb at 9:12 AM | Comments (3)

December 6, 2005

Playing Catch-Up

I definitely feel that this week all I am doing is trying to catch up on my life, without getting ahead at all. We are getting into the time where we have one or two holiday parties every week (actually next week I personally have four), and we have all those things that we would have done over the weekend that we didn't. I think I am down to my underwear I don't like and I know I am reusing sports bras at this point. I am so gross! In fact this morning I showered for the first time in about 84 hours. The strange thing about that was that I didn't really feel all that disgusting. But it was a good thing to do.

So it is really cold here now. I feel bad, we were telling Betsy all weekend how nice the weather is here and then we get back and it's terrible! It's really not like this very often, I promise! Today the high was about 19 degrees early in the morning and tonight it will be down to -5. Tomorrow the high is about 9 degrees and the low is -8. Now generally I will run outside down to between zero and 10 degrees but I don't run outside when it's below zero because my legs freeze even if I wear two pairs of pants. Right now it is snowing and it is looking quite pretty! I do have to say that this hardly ever happens. Last winter I remember about one week that was very cold. So hopefully we're just getting it out of the way early.

Anyway I am feeling very long winded today. This morning I got up at 6:05 and walked down to the gym. I ran 7 miles on the treadmill while I listened to my favorite morning show and watched the Today show. It was not too exciting. I think that I would like to attempt a speed workout later on this week. I also need to start doing real long runs again in order to get ready for Cherry Blossom. I think I will need to get up to about 13 miles for my long run before April. I also want to do some 10 mile runs where I go uptempo either in the middle or the end of the run. Running negative splits in my last two races was so pleasant that I'd like to do it again for C.B. And frankly running 7:00 pace, at sea level, on a somewhat hilly course was not that hard this past weekend so I'm thinking my goal of 70 minutes for C.B. is doable if I keep training.

So that is cool. I also lifted legs for 20 seconds or so this morning. I am considering going back to the gym at lunchtime, doing the elliptical so I can watch a trashy celebrity news show (I am obsessed and there is so much celebrity news going on right now), and then lifting arms which is something I have been neglecting.

I also want to point out the New York Times' list of the 10 best books of 2005, in case you are looking for gift ideas for yourself or someone else. I have asked for a few of them. I read On Beauty early this year and it was good but I don't know if I liked it as much as I liked Zadie Smith's first novel, White Teeth.

On the front of Christmas shopping I made some good progress this morning. I still need to buy gifts for my stepdad, my brother, and I need to buy Matt's big present - I've already bught him a few little things. I'm trying to decide between getting him something I know he wants that would not be surprising and something I think he needs that would be surprising. Decisions, decisions.

Posted by barb at 10:08 AM | Comments (3)

December 5, 2005

Brutal Monday

This has been a rough day so far. Let me give you a play by play:
12:30 am EST (10:30 pm MST) - go to bed in New York
3:45 am EST (1:45 am MST) - fall asleep in New York
4:30 am EST (2:30 am MST) - alarm goes off. Get up, go to LaGuardia Airport.
6:00 am EST (4:00 am MST) - flight to Denver takes off
8:05 am MST - land in Denver
8:45 am MST - Matt's car will not start. Get jumped by random guy in parking lot. Thanks, random guy!
9:30 am MST - arrive at work after leaving ID badge and primary credit card in Matt's car.
9:30-5:30 MST - Work
5:20 pm MST - want to pass out

I am so freaking tired. Luckily this ridiculously long day is almost over. I am contemplating my workout situation although right now I think my workout situation for today will be either sitting on the couch or running a very easy 3-4 miles. It is supposed to be very cold here tonight and even worse tomorrow and Wednesday (the low for both days is 8 degrees). But it is Denver so it will most likely change soon.

I will write more about our trip to New York tomorrow when my head is more in the game. I hope everyone has a nice week!

Posted by barb at 5:12 PM | Comments (3)

December 4, 2005

New York

So New York is fun. We ran the race on Saturday and I ran 28:40 which is a lot slower than the TT, but I still feel okay about it. I've been running almost every day so that is nice. Today it was nice and snowy, so that was fun. It is colder than we expected which is too bad, but we've still spent a decent amount of time outside.

I am typing on Betsy's apple computer, which I never use, and I keep erasing everything, and can't figure out how to undo, so I am going to stop while I've gotten something down.

I will write lots more tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Posted by barb at 4:11 PM | Comments (1)

Hard Work - Barb's Blog

Good things come from hard work.