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January 31, 2006

Sleepy Tuesday

I can't really believe it's Tuesday already. I don't know why - I guess sleep walking through a day and a half makes it go by faster. I am not sure as to why I am so tired today, but I really am. Maybe Saturday night's lack of sleep is still haunting me. Wow, does that sound dramatic. I didn't mean for it to be quite that way.

Anyway, I was tired today. I went to the gym and took one look at the treadmills, the new People magazine that I found on the rack, and decided to elliptical instead of running. It was nice. I did it for 65 minutes while reading and then did five weight lifting exercises (shoulder machine, chest machine, lat pull down, leg press, and adductor machine). Not too shabby for an old babe. I am planning to run, do yoga, or swim after work, but honestly I will have to see how I feel. If I don't feel any better than I do now, I know another workout is not in my future.

Yesterday I met Matt at the park at 6:00ish for his long run. We did between 5 and 5.5 miles and Matt did great. He said he felt good and it was possibly his best run ever, so that was nice. Then we took my car in so that it could get its brake pads replaced today, and went to Costco, my new favorite place. We got large quantities of several things. How exciting, I just love Costco!

I should also mention that I found a bike on Saturday. I don't think I mentioned it before. I found several that fit me pretty well when I went to this big store in town, and one of them was a Serotta Fierte (I think). It's a steel frame with nice components and the fit was good. I spent more on it than I would have liked but for this brand, which is hand made in New York state, I feel like it was a pretty solid bargain. I test rode three bikes on Saturday and I definitely felt pretty hard core when I did that because it was moderately cold and really windy. I am really excited to ride the bike now but it may be a while if it continues to be this windy.

That is about all the news that is fit to print. In general I feel like my training is going okay. This is a tough time of year for me - winter (and the obligation to go to the mountains) seems like it will stretch on for such a long time. I know I always feel better about running, and everything else, by May, so I think right now it's time to tough it out.

Posted by barb at 01:41 PM | Comments (2)

January 30, 2006

Busy Day

I have been meaning to post all day and the day has just been very busy and hectic. Of course one aspect of this might be the fact that the 30 minute meeting I had scheduled turned into a 2 hour meeting! It was a good, productive day.

This past week was a good week in fact. I ran every day last week (my weeks run Monday-Sunday). That was sweet! It had been a long time. I don't plan on doing it every week, but it's nice to do occasionally to make me feel like a real runner. I got over 40 miles which is good too. Sometime this summer I want to get up to 50 again but I am not too disappointed with 40ish, considering that it's cold and whatnot, and I am a busy lady.

Here is the weekend in workouts:
Saturday: 7 mile run with 3 half mile pickups and strides. I was going to go to Boulder but the brake light came on when I started my car so that was not meant to be. I am taking it in to get the brake pads replaced tonight.
Sunday: 6 mile run, high winds. This was some seriously bad wind. But I actually didn't feel too terrible. The good news for me was that the wind was steady, not gusting, which is easier for me personally to deal with, and I was just feeling good in general which made everything less annoying.

Also, our adventure making sushi with our friends on Saturday night was lots of fun although my stomach still feels seriously jacked up.

I have not run yet as I had to sleep in this morning (Saturday night was a very late night and we were still recovering), and I had lunch with a friend. However, Matt ditched his long run yesterday due to stomach issues so we are running 5 miles together tonight. I am due for a nice easy day and it's always fun to run with Matt. So I am looking forward to it!

Posted by barb at 04:29 PM | Comments (2)

January 27, 2006

Friday!!!!

Woo hoo, I love Fridays!! It is so exciting to have a whole weekend ahead of you, during which you can do whatever you want! I often miss college but one of the things I enjoy about being a young professional is that on evenings and weekends I don't have anything I need to do for work/school. Of course hopefully that will change in June, but that would be cool. I never thought of English stuff (reading, papers, etc.) to be like work since I enjoyed them. Yes I know I was a big geek.

Today was a light day, but I did want to run a bit just so that I could say I had a seven day running week for the first time in a few months. I ran 3 miles REALLY SLOW on the treadmill over lunch, then ellipticalled for 35 minutes, and then lifted legs for about 5 secods. Which was good because I ran back afterwards and immediately had to meet with my boss for a bit. I stil think that even though I have had a few light days this week I will get over 40 miles, so that is definitely good.

After work I am either going to happy hour or going to look at bikes. We will see which item takes priority. Luckily if I skip bikes today I will go tomorrow morning after I go run with C. and the group that M. (my PT) is coaching. I have to say that my legs were not feeling great today so I really hope they feel better for tomorrow's workout.

I am so excited to do Matt's long run with him on Sunday. It is totally awesome that he is running Cherry Blossom. I hope he has a great experience with it! And we really can't wait to visit DC. I hope it's a nice year for cherry blossoms.

Posted by barb at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2006

Beating the Wind

Apparently it is supposed to be super windy today. When I watched the news at 7:30 they said wind was the big story of the day, blah blah, yuck. Luckily for once I got myself out of bed at 6:00 to run, and the wind was not a problem at all. I ran 7 miles. I felt that today was a recovery day so I ran really slow - basically as slow as I wanted. That was nice. I have decided that I need to have a more solid distinction between workout days and recovery days, so that on my workout/quality days I will go faster, and on my recovery days, I will go slower. Brilliant, I know.

I am also contemplating heart rate training. I have a Timex heart rate monitor but I think it's a piece of crap and does not work too well. So I might ask for a Polar HRM for my birthday. We'll see... who knows if I would use it.

I dragged Matt out to look at a bike last night at my brother's old store. It was a good price, although it was a no name manufacturer and the fit was not correct. So the search will continue this weekend. The guy I talked to there was really nice and gave me some ideas as to where they have people that are really good bike fit types. I imagine I will end up needing a women's specific frame, so I need to go to a place with a larger selection to check a few of those out. It is amazing how light road bikes are. The guy said the one I was looking at weighed about 18 pounds. They are so tiny! It is weird compared to a mountain bike.

I am definitely excited to have a bike. And in fact I will be disappointed if I have to go to dinner instead of swimming, but I will deal. So this triathlon thing might be fun!

Here is my running schedule for the rest of the week. The thing I am excited about is that I think I will actually run all seven days this week!!
Friday: short run; cross train; lift
Saturday: speed workout in Boulder (8x500m)
Sunday: Help Matt do his 5-6 mile long run, possibly add on

Hooray for running every day!!

Posted by barb at 11:08 AM | Comments (3)

January 25, 2006

short, quick run

I had lots of meetings today so I did a short (5 mile), quick (42:31) run. It was nice - the temperature was about 50 degrees, there was only a slight breeze, it was sunny, and most of the snow from last week's storm was melted. That is probably all I'll do for today. I am still kind of tired, although I believe I slept a lot last night. And I have to go look at road bikes after work! Which is sweet. I also plan to take Matt to dinner unless he has to do homework for his physics class. That is always fun. It is really nice of him to go look at bikes with me, which I am sure is not that much fun for him.

Yesterday I went to a power yoga class. I hadn't been to yoga in a month or so, and I hadn't been to this type of yoga class in a year or so. It was freaking hard! Needless to say I quite enjoyed it. The instructor was much better than the ones I had previously - she conducted the class at a more manageable pace for someone that doesn't do it all the time. My hips were super tight and I think I loosened them up a bit. I also got to do a back bend (I believe they call it the wheel pose), and a hand stand, and those are fun! My butt is really sore today from doing all kinds of weird stuff. The only thing I don't like about this class is it does not feel terribly authentic. You are doing all kinds of poses and then all of a sudden the instructor screams 'CRUNCHES!!!' and you have to start doing normal American stomach crunches. Maybe I'm just bitter because I hate crunches, though.

Due to muscle soreness and time constraints I did not lift at all. However, tomorrow I believe I will be running early (6:00 am-ish) and swimming in the evening, and swimming is kind of like lifting. Although I just got an email about a work dinner so I may have to skip swimming for the week. I would like to get in the habit of swimming, though!

Posted by barb at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2006

Monday and Tuesday Runs

Nothing too exciting to report today. I ran 6 miles on the treadmill yesterday, as planned, in 52 minutes. Then I did four lifting exercises (two upper body and two lower body). This morning I got up at 6:00 and ran 8 miles. I didn't feel like I was running all that slow, but my time was slow mostly due to ice and darkness. I think I saw Jupiter. At least on the news last night they said that early in the morning you would be able to see it, and there was a very bright star type of thing near the moon.

I am tired now. I did not sleep particularly well. However I hope to eat a light lunch, which will help me stay awake, and get lots of work done after my morning meeting. Tonight Matt has class so I think that I will be going to yoga, and finishing up our laundry.

It is supposed to be warmer than it has been recently today so that should be nice!

Posted by barb at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2006

Fun with Lists

I really enjoy having list entries in my blog. They get lots of comments (and I learn cool information, like how tall everyone is!) and I think they are fun to write.

Here is another list, which demonstrates that I am a big brat. This list is why I hate skiing and going to the mountains in the winter:
1. It is really really cold. On Saturday when we went skiing it was about 10-15 degrees. My toes were frozen and numb, my fingers were cold, my legs were cold, and basically it was really unpleasant.
2. I have to hang out in a house with random people I do not know. Two people brought guests to our house this weekend. I know I am an introvert but I hate new people. Especially loud ones!
3. It is cold inside as well as outside. The house in the mountains is so expensive to heat that we keep it around 60 degrees which is freezing.
4. I don't like waiting in line. I have lived here for so long that I remember what lift lines used to be like before the days of the $350 season pass. They used to be much, much shorter.
5. Skiing is boring. I have been skiing since I was 4. I have gotten slightly better so far this season but who cares.
6. It interferes with my running/workout schedule. I only ran 5 days last week because I skipped Monday (sports bra situation), and Saturday (freezing weather, skiing). I hate missing two days in a week. Frankly I hate missing one day but that is excusable while 2 is ridiculous.
7. Obviously the house in the mountains is bad luck because we watched the Broncos game there and they stunk it up.
8. I keep losing things there. I lost my favorite sunglasses there somehow.
9. Driving there puts lots of miles on my car. It used to be a low mileage car. Now it is going to become a high mileage car.
10. When you go out in the mountains it sucks because it is freezing and everything is really expensive. This one is not a big deal but I thought 10 would be a nice round number.

So that is basically why my weekend sucked in a nutshell. I hate skiing. I hate the mountains in the winter. I hate running 5 days in a week when I am healthy.

The good news - on Sunday I ran 6 miles. It was about 5 degrees out when I left for the run but once I got into the sun it didn't feel that bad. I found a run there that I don't dislike. It was nice except that for about 4 minutes in each direction I was basically running on the shoulder of a highway which isn't fun. I tried my Yaktrax. They are really cool. I hope I didn't damage them too much by running on pavement for maybe 5-10 minutes of the run. Because I had a meltdown about the mountains I don't have to go this coming weekend, or the one after. I might go up to Boulder and do a workout with my old group this weekend since I will be around, and that would be fun!

Today I only brought gym clothes and I am leaving for an early workout in about 25 minutes. I am planning 5-6 miles on the treadmill and then lifting. It should be nice.

Posted by barb at 09:09 AM | Comments (4)

January 20, 2006

Low Center of Gravity

I have always been really short. I topped out at 5'1" when I was around 14 years old, and that made me a little sad, because I always wished I was a little bit taller. Not much, just maybe two or three inches, and all in the legs. However, here are a few benefits of being short:
1. Low center of gravity (hence the title) - When you have a low center of gravity, you are better at skiing, and you can keep your balance a bit more easily. For example, when I slid on a patch of black ice this morning during my run, I was able to stay upright.
2. As a girl, you can date almost any guy because they are all taller than you. Speaking of dating people, check out Matt's new blog. His blog is not ostensibly about anything, which is kind of cool. Although my blog is supposedly about running, but realistically it's about everything.
3. You don't bump your head very often. This isn't really a benefit. It's just what tall people say to make short people feel better about being short!
4. You can sit in the back seat of most cars without problems.
5. As a girl everyone thinks you're adorable!

That is about enough of that. I got my lazy butt out of bed before 7:00 for once this morning. Frankly I did not sleep very well. Matt did not go to bed until late and I could hear him watching American Idol for a long time. Then I was not sleeping very soundly and he was snoring like he is wont to do. So later on today I may be feeling a bit wretched, but right now I am not doing too badly. My run was nice but pretty slow - there was still a lot of snow all over the roads and sidewalks. It was pretty cold but I was fine in my warmest running outfit. My foot is still feeling good.

Matt is picking me up after work today and we're driving to the mountains, I believe. I think we are skiing at Vail tomorrow with our friend M. so that should be a good time. Hopefully I will get some running in. M. and I are also going to do some triathlon planning, so we are excited about that. And of course the most important event of the weekend is the AFC Championship Game!! Go Broncos!!!

Posted by barb at 08:53 AM | Comments (7)

January 19, 2006

Snow!!!

It had not snowed in Denver for several weeks, but today that changed drastically. When I left for work it was snowing a bit and I brought cold weather running clothes with me, and by lunchtime it had been snowing for about 5 hours. It was so pretty and I was really excited to go out and trot around. I had no idea that it had snowed as much as three inches outside of downtown but that was exactly what I found! I should have brought my Yaktrax, but I just had no idea. The snow was pretty light and there wasn't any ice underneath so I didn't really need them, which was good. I ran 8 miles today and had a nice time. On the way back a group of older guys was passing me and we started chatting - so I just hung out and ran back with them, as they were going in the same direction. They were nice. I guess they run every day at lunchtime and do speed workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If my schedule works out I might go meet them again sometimes. Their easy pace is definitely faster than mine and it's always nice to have company and to run a little bit faster than you normally would. I guess they ran the Colorado Relay (kind of like the Hood to Coast/Reach the Beach type of concept, except it goes from Idaho Springs to Glenwood Springs or something and reaches maybe 11,000 feet) this past year and their team name was the Pickled Prostates. Which is gross but kind of funny! Anyway that was fun, it is always nice to meet some new running friends.

This afternoon has been rife with meetings (in fact I missed one while I was running but I only got the invite 2 minutes before it started), and now I am just getting caught up with stuff before I attempt to walk home in the muck. Tomorrow we are driving to the mountains so hopefully things will clear up a bit!

Posted by barb at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2006

Nice out

It was 60 degrees today when I ran. That was nice. Raving wind of course, but what else would you expect. I ran 5 miles. I went to lunch with a manager here so I had to fit in a short workout or no workout (so I chose short). My legs were tired but I did two workouts yesterday so I was not too worried about that.

Now I am off to meet Matt and some friends for dinner before the Nuggets game. It should be a fun night! I hope all is well.

Posted by barb at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2006

Good News

Well, I do not have PF. How is that for good news? I am a pretty big fan of it. I had a suspicion that it might not be PF, just because it never hurt any more in the morning than any other time (in fact, if anything, it hurt less in the morning than at other times), and because it really was not all that bad. It didn’t stop me from running, it just made me reduce my mileage. Basically, according to Mark (my PT), when I didn’t wear my orthotics for about a month my calves got really tight which in turn made my foot tight. He did a deep tissue massage and put e-stim on me and today I am feeling good. We also had a nice chat. He is a really cool guy – he used to be a very good (very good as in won the World Championship in the marathon in the early 90s) runner, he is an owner of Boulder’s best running store, coaches, and still runs. And he is really nice and fun to talk to. He convinced me that I should start with the group he coaches, and then he will run with me any time and help me get faster. How cool would that be? I wish I could be finished with the damned ski house so I could start with this. His group meets Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 8:00 am, which will work out great as soon as I’m around on the weekends. I think if I worked with him and did what he said I could really improve both my half marathon and marathon times.

Speaking of which I think I’ve come up with a goal time for Cherry Blossom. I like having tiered goals, so my conservative goal is a 10 mile PR. I need to beat 1:14.43 to accomplish this. This should be easy as my 10 mile race PR comes from a very hilly race that is at altitude. This is a fairly flat race at sea level. My aggressive goal is sub-70 minutes. I think I can accomplish this goal but it will not be easy. After talking to Mark I think I know what I need to do, however. If I dedicate the time to it, and if I can actually manage to do some timed runs either on a track or on the highline canal trail in this wind, I think I will be okay. We shall see!

Anyhoo, I ran 8 miles today. Actually I think I ran more like 8.5 miles. I ran to a spot in Wash Park, from downtown, and made it there in 36:45. I think it used to take me more like 41:00 to reach this spot. So that was cool. I was running with the wind at my back on the entire way out and with the wind in my face on the entire way back. That was unpleasant. This wind is driving me nuts. I think I’ve had one outdoor run in the last 3 weeks that was not windy. I did run a negative split by about 60 seconds on the way back. I feel like my actual pace on the way back was 8:30 but my perceived pace (with wind resistance) was more like 7:30 or 8:00 pace. Like blondie I am small and the wind can really push me around. My foot felt fine.

Tonight Matt is starting a physics class at CU Denver, which goes from 7:00 to 8:50, so I may drop him off, go to the gym and cross train/lift, and then pick him up. And speaking of school, I have officially finished my application so hopefully this summer I will be starting a program to get a Master’s Degree in English Literature. That would be sweet! I still have a few things to do (pay the application fee for example), but I am mostly done. Wish me luck!

Posted by barb at 02:13 PM | Comments (3)

January 16, 2006

Broncomania!!!!!

Hoo boy, what a game on Saturday. I was so excited when the Broncos won. And then when the Steelers won yesterday, and assured us home field for the AFC championship game, I was even more excited!! Matt and I almost bought tickets to this coming weekend's game but a computer glitch prevented us from getting them (and spending the money on them so maybe that was not a bad thing). It is so awesome that the Broncos are in the hunt again, it has been a long time since we have had such a good team.

I had a busy weekend, and since we didn't go to the mountains, I ran more than I have for weeks. I actually went over 40 miles for the first time since November. So that is kind of nice. Also, I found my shoe! After work, I checked in a trash can about a block away and there it was. It was not covered in anything disgusting, and my orthotic was intact, so I was ecstatic, and I feel very lucky. And I just called the place that puts on my tires and they are going to give me a new wheel lock key so I can get my brake pads replaced. Now all I need to do is find a good Audi mechanic so I can stop getting gouged at the dealership (the dealership in Denver is a lot more expensive even than the one in Boulder). So I am not feeling all that bad about my Friday the 13th ordeal now.

Here is what I did as far as running this weekend:
Saturday - 7 miles, very easy pace. I didn't plan to run this much but the run I wanted to do was 7 miles so I just went with it. My foot felt fine so that was great. I didn't make it to look at bikes on Saturday but I think I'll get there soon. We did have a few people over to watch the game so that was fun. We made chili and I ate 5 cookies! I love cookies.
Sunday - 12 miles with friends from RRB at the Boulder Resevoir. I had to get up at 6:00 am to meet them at 6:50 so that was somewhat brutal, but the run was really nice. I ran the whole time with my friend C. and this lady T. who I didn't really know but who is nice (and very chatty, so that helped the run to go by fast!). My foot felt 100%. I really think that running on dirt makes a huge difference (the run was about 98% on dirt). I hadn't run over 8 miles in a long time but I felt fine from that perspective too, so that was good. And I feel fine now but today I am not going to run very much at all (3-4 miles at the most).

Today I have my PT appointment (I saw my physical therapist while we were running yesterday, so that was funny). It is going to hurt like a son of a gun. But I made Matt work on my calf last night (which also hurt) to make today a little less painful. My calves are still getting incredibly tight so I need to ask M. about that. I stretch them all the time but maybe he can adjust my orthotics or something.

Also, we booked our tickets to DC last night. We got a great deal ($239/person on United where we both have premier status, to National as opposed to Dulles). The flights had been $350 each until this weekend. We've had great luck booking flights recently. I can't wait to see DC, and to see my cousin who I haven't seen in ages, my friend J. who I haven't seen in 3 years, and many others. I also hope to run fast!

I can't think of anything else that is happening right now. My workout plans for today are as follows: 3-4 miles running; 25 minutes elliptical; lift. It has gotten cold all of a sudden, after an awesome and unseasonable weekend, so I just brought treadmill clothes. The surface is nice anyway, and for that short of a run it's easier to run inside than to run around downtown. I hope everyone has a great week, and GO BRONCOS!!!!!

Posted by barb at 08:53 AM | Comments (1)

January 13, 2006

Expensive Day

This has been an expensive day so far. I appear to have jinxed myself by saying that my spending was under control so far this month! It is going nuts today, and not on fun stuff like clothes but on crappy stuff. I am not a big fan of today so far in fact. But it is Friday and I think it can only get better!

The first bad thing is that my car is now out of warranty and I brought it in for an oil change and some other stuff last night. It turns out that it needs new brake pads and rotors (I don't know if that part is correct) and when thingsa are out of warranty, and you are used to spending $0 on car maintenance, it gives you a bit of sticker shock! However this was a long time coming so I can't be too upset about it.

On the other hand, the fact that I lost my right running shoe, and its orthotic, this morning made my day even more expensive. I am so annoyed by myself. You know when something bad happens and you can only blame yourself? This is one of those situations. I put my shoes in my too small workout bag this morning and by the time I got to the gym only one shoe had stayed in the bag. I have retraced all of my steps and I have not found my shoe. I am still hoping that it will turn up, and I do need new shoes anyway, but the fact that my orthotic is gone and I'll have to get it rebuilt when I go to the PT on Monday, definitely sucks!

Oh well. Luckily I wore sensible shoes today, and I live a seven minute run from work. So I ran to home in one running shoe and one Airwalk shoe, changed at home, and did the rest of my run in one new shoe and one old shoe. I ran 5 miles at a decent pace today and stopped at the library on the way back to the gym to pick up a few books. I got two books I've been wanting to read. They are at the perfect level of mental stimulation for ellipticalling. When I got back to the gym I ellipticalled for 25 minutes, just for fun.

So that was my fabulous Friday the 13th so far. I hope everyone else is having a better day than I am!

Posted by barb at 03:01 PM | Comments (5)

January 12, 2006

January weather, for a day

Today actually felt like January. I think the high was in the low 40s, which is not terribly balmy, but isn't bad either. However that combined with the wind and the fact that the weekend will be a lot nicer put me on the treadmill today for a short run (4 miles) and on the elliptical (35 minutes at lunch time, 35 minutes planned in about an hour). I also lifted - two exercises, which is pretty standard lately. I felt good. The treadmill is nice to my foot. Which I am finally admitting is truly an injury, so I am going to my physical therapist on Monday. I also found a way to massage it on my chair at work which is good. I don't know why I didn't go see M. (my PT) sooner. It was stupid of me. He always fixes everything and I could have avoided my month of foot pain. But at least I am going now. I hope it won't cost too much as I just spent $200 on a dress to wear for weddings, a pair of pink chinos, and an off white cable knit sweater. I think that's a pretty good deal though! Luckily I am generally under my normal spending habits for the month and I think that even with this indiscretion I will still be under. Good job me. The dress is cute anyway and I have been wanting to get a strapless dress (even though I have ridiculous sports bra tan lines all year long). It will be adorable aside from that fact!

Tonight we just have to drop my car off at the dealer so that it can get an oil change and so that they can check out a weird noise I've heard a few times when I start it. I am looking forward to getting that stuff over with. This weekend should be blissfully quiet, which I am really looking forward to as well. Also, since I almost always run all by myself, I am thrilled to drive to Boulder on Sunday morning for an early (I'll start at 6:50) run with a few friends from RRB. I think it will be nice!

That is about all the news for this Thursday afternoon. Have a good day readers/fellow bloggers!

Posted by barb at 04:10 PM | Comments (1)

January 11, 2006

More errands

There really might be something to this running while doing errands. It makes me feel doubly productive - not only did I go for a run, but during that run I accomplished something I didn't otherwise have time to do! It is great. That being said, I would not be eager to do this exact errand run again. A large box with a heavy snowshoeing book and a pair of Yaxtrax is cumbersome and isn't enjoyable to carry. Thankfully I only had to run with the large box for about 16 minutes.

I am pretty fired up about both purchases. It will be awesome to find some good snowshoeing trails in Summit County on the days I am not coerced by friends to ski (i.e. when we are not going to Vail or Beaver Creek I must be coerced, and sometimes they just can't do it. I know, I am an unabashed snob. If you grew up skiing here you would be too). Also, I think it will help my body to handle the snowy roads up in the mountains better now that I have YakTrax! I have not taken them out of their packaging yet but they look cool and eminently useful. I can't wait to wear them. But I will have to wait until next weekend. Luckily I am getting picked up from work today so I don't have to carry the large box home.

The errand-run was part of a 7 miler. I felt good and went fast in spite of the fact that it was incredibly windy today. I ran for 1:04 but I'm pretty sure I ran closer to 7.5 miles than 7. I went really far down this path. We are having such a windy winter. The run was not too scenic, outside of going by the site of Saturday's playoff game, and I wouldn't do it again unless I had something to pick up at REI. But you can't love them all.

That is all the exercise for me today. Carrying the box around was enough lifting, and I didn't want to be a slacker from a work standpoint and stay at the gym for too long doing the elliptical or something. Tonight we are going to watch a CU basketball game which should be fun. No one ever goes so they are so cute and quiet. In spite of the fact that I slept for 8.5 hours last night, I am feeling drowsy, so I may sleep through part of it! I swear I am still catching up on sleep from the holidays. They wrecked me! Hopefully by next week I will be feeling high-energy again.

Posted by barb at 03:27 PM | Comments (1)

January 10, 2006

Ronald McDonald on a Horse

This is the sight that greeted me as I left the office to go for my run today. How strange is that. At first RMD is funny looking and made me giggle but after a while he is kind of frightening! Now you might wonder what he was doing on a horse in the first place. My guess is that they were having the National Western stock show and rodeo parade today because there were many other people and beauty queens on horses roaming the streets. So that was weird. However it got me all fired up for going to the stock show/rodeo next Thursday! It should be a good time. They have awesome food there, like fried corn dogs, and fried twinkies, and fried onion rings... sense a theme? Good and good for you basically. No wonder half the country will have diabetes in 20 years. But it is good once in a great while.

Anyhoo, I ran 8 miles today. Yesterday I planned to run but when I got home my phone kept ringing so I chatted with friends instead. I am okay with it but not thrilled. At least this is not a going to the mountains kind of weekend. I am planning a real long run this Sunday - that should be good. For the last month my 'long run' has been 8 miles.

Today I cannot lie, I did not feel 100%. In fact for the first 3 miles of my run I thought I might pass out. For the last 5 miles I felt better than that, but still just really tired. God knows why since I didn't work out much at all yesterday. I didn't eat much last night so that could explain it to a point. I hope I'll feel better tomorrow!

When I got back to the gym I really knocked myself out and did three (yes, three) lifting exercises. I just love how my arms and legs look right now so it's easy to lift! Finally I have found consistency in this area. I am very proud. I hope it will last at least through the winter.

The other news of today is that I too am thinking about jumping on the triathlon bandwagon. I would like to continue to vary my workouts, run less, do other stuff more, etc., so it kind of makes sense. Also, I have a good friend who is into triathlons (actually two of them, but one of them lives here) and she wants someone to do them with. I know swimming will be my weakness as I suck at it but I think I could be a decent cyclist. I am all excited about looking for a road bike so I might make Matt go with me this weekend. Right now I am thinking I will do a half ironman with her in August. I know this sounds like I'm jumping into it kind of casually but I'm pretty sure I could finish one tomorrow if I really had to. Since our goal is to finish, if I train I think it will be fun! It is also the weekend before a wedding we're both invited to so it'll be fun to do our half ironman and party it up at the wedding the next weekend.

I hope everyone is having a nice day. I am off to forage for a snack!

Posted by barb at 03:29 PM | Comments (3)

January 09, 2006

The weekend in running (and not running)

What a lame weekend I just had from an exercise/running perspective. Thank heavens I am staying in Denver this coming weekend, and I will actually be able to run. I could have run more this weekend. However the ice, snow, and hills did not seem like fun running conditions to me. Anyway here is the weekend:

Saturday:
No running. Bad, bad, bad barb. Skied a full day (10:00 to 3:30) at Vail, so at least that was good. It was just me and Matt who decided to go to Vail which was great - we hadn't skied together (without hangers-on) all season. Not that this was a long time as it was only my third day. We tooled all around the mountain in the morning, went to lunch and shared a delicious pizza, and then split up for about 90 minutes so I could ski bumps and Matt could board in the back bowls. During that time I skied 4 bump runs (although one was groomed so it was just a nice, long, somewhat steep cruiser). I did enjoy that. I feel like such a whiner when I talk about skiing but it is a skilled activity (not so much an exercise activity like running) that I've done for 22 years. It gets very old. Not to mention the fact of the drain the ski house is monetarily, and the toll it is taking on my running. That is all the whining about skiing, which I realize I am lucky to do every weekend, that I will indulge in today.

Sunday: Got up in the mountains and ran 5 miles (50 minutes). Snowpack on top of ice. Hilly. Tried to run down the main road for a minute to get on a different road, as we are in a small neighborhood that gets dull, but some idiot in his snow plow truck kept getting in my way so I couldn't. I'll try this the next time we go up there since it would be nice to run on flatter terrain given the slippery conditions. However, I will have yaktrax the next time we go up there. I also shoveled the deck. I love shoveling! It is a good arm workout for me since I am a wuss. Matt had wanted to board yesterday, so I was ready to go ski when I got back, but since his pager for work went off the night before and kept him up for several hours he didn't feel like it and we drove home. Then we watched football for a long time. I am sad about the Bengals' loss (sorry Beth) and I do think they would have won if Palmer hadn't gotten injured (sorry again Beth).

On another football thought - I love football more than 95% of women most likely - I think the Broncos are getting pretty underrated. Everyone is so obsessed with just about everyone else in the AFC. Now don't get me wrong. I am really scared about our game against the Patriots on Saturday, and I like the Patriots so I won't even be that sad if they beat us. But we did go 13-3 in the regular season, Invesco is still a tough place to play, although not as tough as the old Mile High, and I think the team will be fired up. That said the Broncos generally play poorly at night so I am not getting my hopes up. I would just love for the Broncos to get some real acclaim for an excellent season, and to surprise everyone on Saturday.

That is the end of my football rant.

Here is my working out so far today: 65 minutes on the elliptical at lunchtime. I am meeting a friend for dinner but I will run 3-6 miles beforehand, just nice and slow. As long as it doesn't seem really cold after work, I'll be running outside. I am feeling pretty good, and much less exhausted than last week. I hope everyone has a nice week!

Posted by barb at 03:11 PM | Comments (2)

January 06, 2006

Oh why do you torture me, western wind?

I do not know if what I was dealing with today was a western wind. It came from the west. Hmm. Anyway it reminds me of a cool poem:

Western wind, when wilt thou blow
The small rain down can rain
Christ, if my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again!

I think that's pretty accurate. I'll check it later. Isn't that pretty? Yeah, well, the wind that was in my face for half of my run today was not pretty. In fact it sucked. At one point I yelled at it, I just got so sick of it. It didn't seem to help. But I ran 7 miles, which is nice. My mileage is experiencing a bit of a recovery this week. So is my lifting! I did two exercises again today! Hopefully I will not start busting out of my shirts. My legs felt good on the run, which was nice. It was so warm (65 degrees or so).

I am still feeling really tired and not the best in general, but I do feel better today than I have for several days. I think if I sleep a decent amount all weekend I should feel like a normal human again on Monday. So far the plan is to ski Saturday (after running) and possibly Sunday (also after running). Then we might stay in the mountains Sunday night and drive straight to work on Monday morning. We probably wouldn't have to leave until around 6:30 am which is not that bad at all! Sadly my YakTrax and my snowshoeing book have not yet arrived, so I will have to slip and slide around for the last time this weekend.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Happy trails!

Posted by barb at 02:22 PM | Comments (3)

January 05, 2006

Errand Running

Inspired by Alison's butter run yesterday, I had an REI run today. I am a big fan of the capability to order stuff online at rei.com, and then instead of paying for shipping, picking up my order at the REI store. It is so cool! I love shopping online for stuff but I hate paying for shipping, because I am cheap. So this is awesome. My stuff is so sweet too. I got a Prana hoodie to wear around, and Patagonia (patagucci) yoga pants. Now I will look like all the cool girls at yoga class, yippee!

I actually did a 5 mile loop before heading to REI, which is about 1.5 miles from the gym, so I ran a total of 8 miles. I got some weird side stitch type of pains on the way back from REI which I thought might be attributed to carrying the package, but they went away so at the end of the run I was feeling pretty good.

Now this is mean of me, but there is this lady at the gym sometimes that I can't stand. She talks to everyone, and just constantly talks about herself and (I believe) makes up stories. I am sure she is a lonely person, and that is sad, but she drives me nuts. I don't want to talk to anyone in the locker room unless I know them. I want to get in and get out. The other thing is that she does not seem to take a hint and I hate to be rude so I basically try to avoid her when I see her. Now you can all say how mean and anti-social I am, and I agree. But I was so happy when she had already engaged another victim today!

Matt is picking me up from work in about 10 minutes. I am still feeling kind of under the weather and the thought of walking home was just horrifying, so when he offered I accepted. It just made my day! So overall it's been a good one. Now we are going to try to jump start his car so we can take it to the mechanic's, and then go to dinner. I think it will be a fun night.

I don't think I had mentioned this but yesterday I did not run - I ellipticalled for 50 minutes and then did two weight lifting exercises. Yes I know I am a hard core babe. I did increase the weights in both exercises, so that I will be JACKED!

And I also forgot to give myself props for thinking that Texas was going to win the national championship game. I was really worried I would sound like an idiot for that prediction for a while, but they pulled it out. What an exciting game! That is what a national championship game should be like.

Posted by barb at 04:44 PM | Comments (1)

January 04, 2006

Feeling Better about 10 Miles

So for a while I was worrying about Cherry Blossom. It is less than four months away, and I hadn't run very much in the last several months, and had been nursing a sore foot. However yesterday I had a very pleasant 8 mile run, which made me think that I will probably at least be able to finish. So that is a nice feeling! Don't get me wrong, my legs felt dead after my run, but I think that is more due to exhaustion and possibly iron deficiency than the taxing nature of running 8 miles.

I am really getting into the routine of running at lunchtime. I love it! I get to sleep more, get to work early, and have a nice break during the day. And then if I have time/the inclination, I can still do a second workout after work. If/when I start doing doubles again this will have to change (and in the summer I much prefer running in the morning) but for now it's working out really well. And I love having the gym a block away from work. I should mention that yesterday I also did the lat pull down after running. I like doing one lifting exercise a day. It is about as much as I can possibly enjoy! And then I figure over a week's time I actually get 1-2 good lifting days in.

I am still not feeling too chipper today - I just haven't been sleeping well, and I've not been in bed for 8 hours anyway - but I am planning a decent run and a little bit of time lifting or ellipticalling today. Tonight I'm cooking dinner with a friend and we're watching football while Matt goes to the basketball game. It should be nice and hopefully I will be in my bed by 10:00. Which would be awesome. I will probably update again after my run today.

I guess I should mention something about grad school, I got a lot of comments asking for more information. I am almost finished (outside of getting my recommendations) with my application to the program for a Master's Degree in English at CU Denver. I am within walking distance of the school now, and I am still young and without responsibilities, so I think it's a good time to do something like this. When I graduated from college I planned to work for two years and then go get my doctorate so this has always been in the plan - just slightly delayed and I am biting off a smaller piece to start. Hopefully I will get in!

Posted by barb at 08:46 AM | Comments (2)

January 03, 2006

2005 in Review, 2006 Looking Ahead

I am going to follow the trend that others (notably, as far as I have seen so far, Audrey, Meghan, Beth, and Blondie)have set and recap how I did in 2005 and how I hope to do in 2006.

2005 in Review:
-Overall a good but uneven year. I ran a lot less in 2005 than I did in 2004. However, I lifted, crosstrained, and did yoga more than I did in 2004 which was definitely a good thing.
- I ran a half marathon PR. This was awesome. I hope to run the same race again, which was a great experience, this year.
- I ran a 4 mile post-college PR, not counting my 4 mile split in a 10k at sea level. This was good but surprising. It made me think that maybe low mileage was not that bad of a thing.
- I ran a couple of fun 10k's.
- I was part of a high-placing relay team for a half ironman triathlon. It was fun to compete on a team again and I think I did well for my team.
- I lost my running log due to a PC change, so I don't know how many miles I ran in 2005. I am trying to be okay with that!
- I started doing yoga again. It made my body and mind feel good.
- I quit RRB, my running group. I wish I didn't have to do this but at the time it made sense, since I traveled for work and never showed up.
- I made a commitment to apply to grad school and finished about 75% of my application.
- I committed to a house in the mountains for 6 months even though I didn't want to. I didn't tell Matt that I didn't want to do it until we were committed. This was a bad idea and something I shouldn't do again. It would have been fine if I was upfront and said I was doing it because I knew Matt wanted to do it, but it was bad not to mention it until we committed.
- I got two new jobs. I am in a better place for me now, and make more money.

Looking Ahead, 2006:
- This has been on my goals for three years, but I want to break 20:00 for a 5k again. I did it when I was 19, but haven't done it since. I know it is in my system somewhere.
- Run a 10 mile PR at Cherry Blossom in April.
- Run a fall marathon (this one is a maybe, depending on if I can afford to go to a race).
- Run the Fort Collins Half Marathon again and beat my time from 2005.
- Visit Boston, preferably for the Tufts 10k, and beat my 2003 time.
- Rejoin RRB, my running group, if possible. If I do this, it will be after the mountain house is finished.
- Continue to cross train several days a week.
- Go to yoga at least once a week.
- Complete my application for grad school and submit it. Hopefully start school in the summer.
- Learn to be happy regardless of external circumstances and things outside of my control.
- Buy property.

That is a good start, I believe. I don't want to over-commit, I'd rather shoot for something achievable this year. I hope to have a good year.

Posted by barb at 09:04 AM | Comments (6)

Weekend Running

I am trying to have a positive attitude in the blog today, because there is no reason why I shouldn't. For some reason I am feeling a little bit grouchy today though. I think it was walking to work in a stiff wind. Blast!! (as Stewie would say on the Family Guy)

Anyway here is what happened from an exercise standpoint over the long weekend:

Friday - elliptical
Saturday - 2 hours of snowshoeing to finish out 2005. This was fun but not scenic, so this morning along with the Yaktrax I have been meaning to purchase for two months, I bought a snowshoeing book so that I will find more scenic places to go.
Sunday - 6 miles, Wash Park. This was nice. It was very windy but I was at Wash Park, which I love, so it was all good. Nice way to start the year in running.
Monday - 5 miles, 3.5 with Matt, 1.5 alone. I don't know what was up but it was HARD to run 9:30 pace. Like really hard. Hopefully I will feel better today!

God knows I have no idea as to what happens technically with this site (THANK YOU Alison), but the interface is different and I love it! The font size where I am typing is so much smaller which is great. I am about to write an additional entry with goals for 2006, so stay tuned.

Posted by barb at 08:53 AM | Comments (1)