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April 27, 2006

I am so embarrassed!

Well, yesterday something kind of mortifying happened. I was riding my bike with my friend M. and we came to a stop sign. I thought all the cars would stop for us, what with us being in the cross walk basically, so I almost stopped and was going to start going again when some idiot decided he didn't need to stop for us at his stop sign. So I couldn't clip out and I toppled over! How embarrassing. Luckily I don't have any injuries from my fall. My left elbow is a little sore, but that's about it - except my wounded pride. I have been told that everyone does this once, but still!

Anyway yesterday I ran 5 miles in the morning, very easy (I was tired after doing a double on Tuesday - 7 miles in the morning and 4 miles after work). Then the biking amounted to about 21 miles. I felt really good during the biking except for my crash. I haven't done anything yet today - my plan is to run from the new house after the inspection's finished, which I am very excited about. I'd like to run a somewhat decent amount, maybe 7 or 8 miles. It is an area where I run pretty often but it'll be fun to get the perspective of running from the new house to see what it's like. I think it will be sweet!

I finally signed up for this weekend's race, so it's nice to be ready to go on that. Betsy was telling me this morning that the half marathon qualifying time for NYCM was actually softenened so now I want to make that time this year - it's only 1:37. I can definitely do that if I find a good half to run.

Posted by barb at 9:26 AM | Comments (5)

April 25, 2006

house updates, and running too

It was so cold yesterday. And I feel bad for everyone on the east coast, because yesterday was really damp and it felt so much colder (which is rare here, but not out there). It was cold enough (combined of course with the dreadful spring wind) that I wussed out on running. Which is what it is. I hadn't taken a day off in a week and I had ellipticalled so I didn't feel too guilty, but as you can see I did feel a little bit guilty!

Today it is still cold but it's much calmer. So I woke up early and actually motivated myself out of my bed and into the cold for 7 miles. It is really good to get back into the habit of running in the morning. I have found that I really enjoy running with music in the morning - I kind of drift off with it and the miles go by very quickly. Also, it is nice to be out and about when everything's quiet and there aren't too many cars around. I have to go to the post office today, as I did not go yesterday, so the plan is for another run or workout of some sort. I would like to bike but it is cold!

Speaking of running. As I often do. A few more details about the new house since a few people asked. The running from the new house will be totally awesome. It's pretty close to where I used to live before I moved in with Matt. It's .75 miles from Denver's best park, and there's also a dirt track at the south end of the park. It's always really windy at the track but at least it's there! I am also excited about exploring the neighborhood and coming up with new runs I didn't know about before. There are some great options, so I can't wait! Also, although I won't be able to walk to work anymore, it will be easy to bike and they are opening a light rail in the area this November, so when the time comes I will be able to use that as well. It should be sweet!

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I am racing a 5 mile race on Sunday. It should be fun, it's a race I do almost every year. If the stars align properly it would be sweet to run it at sub-7:00 pace, but I'm not sure I can. We shall see!! The race is not a big goal race or anything, so if I don't make my goal, it's not a big deal.

Also, I am wondering about something. Matt and I were goofing around last night and a domain with both our names in it is available. We are thinking about buying it - can anyone explain to me if it would be a ton of work to put a site on it? When we get the domain should we get it hosted or something? Just curious.

Posted by barb at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)

April 24, 2006

house excitement

Well this weekend was quiet from a running perspective, because it was all about house stuff. We are now under contract for the house we wanted so we are really excited!

So Saturday I had a good tempo run. Yesterday the plan was running and biking but our day got really busy, so I just ran 5 miles in the morning. I could have gone biking later but it would have required cancelling some plans, not eating lunch, and riding in increasingly bad conditions. Yesterday was a weird day. It was 85 degrees at noon and about 45 degrees at 7:00 pm. What the heck. And today it is freezing (the high is 40 degrees) and it will most likely snow.

Today so far I have ellipticalled for 65 minutes. Not only is it cold, but it is very windy, so I was not motivated to run this morning but ellipticalling sounded fun. I wouldn't exactly say that it was a picnic but it was a nice way to spend my time. I am thinking I will run (and pick up a package at the post office) in the afternoon sometime. I hope the wind calms down.

So that is all the exciting news. Sadly the weather's bad so we won't be going to volleyball tonight - it was supposed to be our first day. But it will be nice to relax a bit!

Posted by barb at 10:15 AM | Comments (4)

April 22, 2006

tempo run, house offer

Well it's been an exciting few days. Yesterday was not terribly exciting from a running perspective - 4 easy miles. However we did go look at eight houses and that was fun! We decided we really loved the first one we saw on Wednesday but it was good to get some perspective and see other stuff.

So this morning we met our agent and signed the offer - crazy! So excited. I cannot contain myself. Luckily I ran hard after that so I am not as hyper as I was. The house is in a very desirable area so we may not have the only offer, but hopefully since we were first, we'll get it. We should know by Monday, I believe.

Speaking of running hard. Matt and I were going to run 6 miles today on the Highline Canal trail. Instead, Matt's stomach hurt, so I ran 2 miles with him and four miles by myself (he ran the two miles back so he ended up with just under 4 miles). I decided I might as well run hard. I did the last four miles in 7:53, 7:26, 7:06, and 6:52. At the end I was tired but it didn't feel like race pace so much. So maybe biking is helping me get a bit faster? It was beautiful out and by the end it was a little warm, but not too bad at all. What a great morning! Now, I just ate some leftover pasta, and we are going to go out and shop for groceries. Not too exciting but that's okay. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Posted by barb at 1:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2006

cold and windy

So things went from delightful summer-like conditions to being cold and windy very quickly. It's supposed to be warmer today but the last few days have been not the most pleasant. Luckily except for today I've been running in the morning when the wind isn't as bad.

We went to look at one house last night - the other one we were going to look at went under contract. I really like the house we saw and I don't think it'll be on the market for long but we have to look at a few more to see if we still like it the most. Hopefully we can go tomorrow. I don't know what's more stressful - selling or buying!

In the area of workouts I still haven't been running much - 6 on Tuesday and 5 yesterday. However, yesterday I also ellipticalled for 65 minutes, so I feel good about it. This weekend will be spent in house-looking mode but I would still like to get out on my bike for a longer ride (I hope I can get my computer installed) and I'd like to do a nice long trail run as well. We'll see - if it doesn't work out this weekend I should have some time in May to do a lot outside. What a crazy summer this will be - our entire summer is almost completely booked already.

I am planning maybe 7 miles of running today. Tonight we are going to a play and then tomorrow I really want to go look at more houses. Friday's usually my short, easy day so that should work.

That is the news from Colorado!

Posted by barb at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

hooray for biking, and down with wind

These are my primary thoughts today. I had a lot of fun on my bike ride yesterday even though it was somewhat windy. I think I went about 14 miles. Earlier in the day I had run 5 miles and ellipticalled for 25 minutes. So that was a good day. Then Matt and I celebrated the end of Lent with french fries. Although Matt is going on the Sonoma Diet soon, so he will be giving them up again! I will be kinda sorta going on the diet. I like what I like for breakfast, so that won't change, but I am going to eat less dessert and stuff that is really bad for me - I have been on a junk food tear for a while and I do need to eat better.

So that was nice yesterday, when the weather was good. Today it's about 50 out and very windy. I got up and ran 6 miles before work. The wind wasn't too bad, just annoying. Now it is really bad. I am very happy that I am done running for today. It was really cold this morning (well, relatively) which was weird - I was back to pants.

We are supposed to go to a baseball game tonight, which will be cold. I think I am going to go for a few innings and then be done with it before I turn into a windburned popsicle. I am trying to bike about twice a week now so hopefully I can get out this weekend, or maybe even before then, depending on the weather.

Now I must give a shout out to the awesome runners I was cheering for yesterday - all of you guys ran so well!

Way to go Bridget, Becky, Cathy, Bob, Kristan... and anyone I forgot!!! You guys are rock stars!!!

Also, since Alan Culpepper lives about 20 miles from me, way to go Alan!! You are a total rock star. Five Americans in the top ten, amazing! And while I am at it, way to go Emily Le Van (a Bowdoin alum)!! Go you bears!

Posted by barb at 1:04 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2006

Good luck to the marathoners, and some good news

How excting - everyone started running the Boston Marathon about 9 minutes ago by my watch. If I were more savvy on the whole internet race watching thing I am sure I would be obsessing over it, but I'm not so I will just have to wait and see how everyone does. It sounds like the weather has taken a turn for the better so that is great news. I hope everyone runs really fast!!

This weekend was quite eventful. I ran 11 miles, biked a little over 20 miles, celebrated Easter and Passover, and started drinking again. Just two days early actually. Luckily I think that is pretty close! Friday was such an awesome day that as I was sitting on the patio of a delightful restaurant with Matt and some of our friends, I could not resist the call of a Mojito. It was very delicious!

So Saturday took a turn for the worse from a weather standpoint but I still trained a good amount. I met my brother at 8:30 for a bike ride. I am so much more confident clipping in and out now so that is nice, I don't have to drive down to the park any more. Unfortunately as he was trying to install my bike computer he broke the items that are supposed to hold it on, so I cannot yet obsessively track my biking mileage, cadence, and speed. But that is okay. I think I rode over 20 miles because I rode 3 miles each way to and from the park and then we rode for an hour in the park. Then after I rode home Matt and I drove to the gym and I went on a 5 mile run from there. It was my first semi-brick workout which is cool. It did not feel too weird or anything although I was glad not to run any further.

Sunday morning I expected my legs to feel like garbage but actually they felt all right. Towards the end of my run I did some pickups (one song hard, one song easy). That felt good and I think it might be an effective way to make myself do speed workouts.

Now here is the good news. Matt's condo has been on the market for about two weeks and yesterday we received an offer for it. Matt is putting together the counter offer right now so it should be under contract within a few days if everything goes as planned. It definitely happened much more quickly than we expected which is really nice. We need to crank up our house search now, but that is the fun part!

That is the news for today. I will be running in an hour or so, and then biking for an hour after work. I love having two sports!

Posted by barb at 10:09 AM | Comments (1)

April 14, 2006

woo hoo!!

I was reading some archived entries yesterday and realized I had not busted out a Woo Hoo entry for a while. So here it is - everyone say it with me, a big "WOO HOO!!!!"

That was fun, wasn't it?

Anyway, here are the reasons to celebrate:
1. It's Friday!!
2. I am leaving work in about 5 minutes!
3. I kicked butt this week and did all my work and then some.
4. This is going to be a beautiful weekend.
5. It has been so nice out that I have already started developing a rockin' farmer's tan.
6. My bike is good to go for this weekend.
7. I am meeting my brother for a ride tomorrow morning, and he is going to install my bike computer so that I can start obsessively tracking my bike mileage and speed.
8. A lot of runners I know (the other bloggers and my friend Cathy) are going to run super fast on Monday!!

So that is sweet. Today I ran 7 miles. I had to walk back and forth from work twice and I also have to walk to the post office to pick up some test shoes from Nike. So I will probably be going about 4 miles today from the walking, which brings the total on-my-feet mileage to 11. So that is cool. And that is if I don't go for a run with Matt after work, which he may want to do. No wonder I have quads of steel!

In other news I have been feeling like I need a massage. Also, I am going to sign up for a race which is 5 miles, the last weekend in April. It's a good fast course although I never run particularly well there. I am very excited because it's a big race and they are finally going to chip timing, which is awesome. Can you tell I enjoy accuracy in training and racing? It seems to be a theme today.

Now I am off to go to the post office and then convince Matt that we need to go find a patio with some delicious cool drinks! I hope everyone has a nice weekend, a happy Easter, and if you are running, a very fast and delightful Boston Marathon!

Posted by barb at 2:52 PM | Comments (1)

April 13, 2006

hot!!

It is so awesome outside right now. It's about 80 degrees with a light breeze. I can't believe it. It is very uncharacteristic for April. Hopefully it doesn't mean that May will be disastrously cold!

So, I need to start running in the morning. 80 degrees is too hot for me to run at lunchtime, although it is bearable. I have been very tired this week and have prioritized sleep over morning running but next week that will have to change. I know I can do it. And once I get used to it, it is easier. So that will be good.

Anyway today I ran 8 miles at lunchtime. It was good. I felt like I was going really slow at first, but I picked it up later in the run and came in at about 71 minutes. Tonight we are having friends over for dinner and I need to take my bike into the shop (it's missing an important screw - the one that holds the seat in place) before that. We are making a halibut dish that I think will be pretty tasty. I hope they bring a good dessert - once again my tapeworm is acting very hungry lately.

This weekend will be busy. If I can get my bike fixed tonight, I think I want to ride with my friend M. after work tomorrow and then do a trail run on Saturday. We are doing a few family things for Easter/Passover on Sunday but two of our four sets of parents will be out of town so it'll actually be pretty relaxed from that perspective. I am very excited for Lent (and my self-imposed ban on alcoholic beverages) to be over. Not that I drink a lot, because I don't at all, but it will be nice when I can have a glass of wine once or twice a week.

By the way, yesterday I didn't feel like running, so I didn't. I ellipticalled for 70 minutes and lifted. I finally figured out how to use the new leg press machine at the gym. It still isn't my favorite but it's much better than it was.

Now I am back to the grind!

Posted by barb at 2:29 PM | Comments (4)

April 12, 2006

run, bike, run, sleep

So I really enjoy biking so far. It is so fun! I am really glad to have another fun activity for myself this summer, even if I don't do much racing.

Speaking of which somehow I didn't see Beth's comment the other day until now... but the answer as to which tri's I plan to do this year is basically that I don't know. My friend M. wants to do a half ironman in Boulder on 8/13 but I don't know if she will be recovered from her current injury before then. If she's not I may just do one sprint and one olympic distance triathlon. We will see! I feel really bad for her. She has chondromalaisa and patellar tendonitis in both knees. Which definitely sucks.

So, running and the like. Monday I just ran 5 miles. I didn't have time for anything else. I am working a lot right now which is tough on my workout schedule. I did go fast so that was nice. Yesterday (Tuesday) I ran 4 miles in early afternoon and then biked 17 miles with my friend B. after work, up in Boulder. It was much more challenging what with the hills and whatnot, and it was very windy in Boulder yesterday. But he said I did well and he coached me on my shifting and the like. So that was really helpful.

Today I am heading out for a run after my next meeting. It will not be a terrifically long run, I am exhausted today (lack of sleep, not physical exhaustion). Then I am meeting Matt after work and we are going to a play. Luckily the play should be over by 9:30 so I can go to sleep by 10:00. I have not been getting nearly enough sleep lately!

Posted by barb at 1:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2006

I love biking!

How weird. I was reading Beth's blog this morning, and although she bought her bike about two months after I did, we both did our first rides yesterday. Biking is really fun. I think I have been wanting a second activity for when I am burnt out on running, when I need to do something different, when I am injured, or whatever. I think biking will be good to give my feet a rest when they get sore and tight, although I do think that it's harder on the knees than I expected. However, that could be because I am clueless about gears and stuff. Even though my ride yesterday was really flat I didn't really change the gears much and I think it would help my knees if I did, even on slight uphills.

So yesterday was a fun workout-filled day. I love that! I went to the park and ran 6 miles. Then I had coffee and some breakfast, and water, and then I met M. for our ride. We rode 16 miles in a little over an hour. Crazy, huh? And she kept saying how she felt bad that we had to go slow because she is injured. To me, that is not slow at all! We did a loop that is a little over 2 miles many times so it was not too action packed but I really enjoyed it, and it was a beautiful day. By the afternoon it was about 80 degrees out but in the morning it was nice and maybe in the low 60s. This is the best spring weather in Colorado I can remember. Usually April is miserable, so I am excited!

Today is shaping up to be a busy work and social day, so I am trying to fit my workout in either at lunchtime or right after work. I have been in the habit of taking Mondays off but I didn't run much last week and don't really feel like I need a day off, and the weather is awesome. So I will run! How exciting, I love the first nice days of spring when everyone wants to be outside all the time.

Posted by barb at 8:47 AM | Comments (5)

April 9, 2006

run/bike

This morning I am doing my second official triathlon training workout, I believe (I think I did a swim/run a while ago). I am off to run in a minute or two, then I am having breakfast/coffee, and then I am meeting my friend M. for a short bike ride. I am so excited to ride my new bike!! It has just been sitting in the garage waiting for the weather to improve. Matt is boarding today - he just left - and picking our stuff up from the house in the mountains. So I will use this opportunity to work out all day of course.

Anyway Friday and yesterday I ran 7 miles (each day). Yesterday morning was nice although I think I did underdress a bit.

Also in Saturday news Matty and I bought ipod shuffles. We are very excited! I can't wait to use mine on my run this morning. It will be a great complement to my other ipod. Additionally, yesterday we went out to celebrate our two year anniversary. Time flies when you're having fun!

Speaking of fun, I hope everyone's having lots of fun this weekend :)

Posted by barb at 8:05 AM | Comments (2)

April 7, 2006

rain, and mixed feelings about training

It's raining!!! This is so exciting. It never rains here. I love it when it does. It is very dark out which, if it happened three times a week, would get old, but of course it hardly ever happens. Now if we could only get some fog. I remember a few times at Bowdoin getting really excited when it was foggy and people thought I was nuts. I also got really excited when it rained and I couldn't believe it could rain so hard for more than 30 minutes, and it would go on for days. I miss Maine. I just don't miss below zero temperatures for many months. I do miss going running when it's pouring rain.

So I was thinking about Maine, and running, and rain this morning and I started missing trail running. Although there weren't loads of trails in Brunswick or anything, we did have a nice trail we could run whenever we wanted. It was called the Town Commons. We also had a state park about 8 miles away. Now I have a park that is 2.75 miles around, and I have trails in Boulder. So the debate for me is that i don't know if I want to pay money and drive to Boulder twice a week to run with RRB, or M., or whoever, when I am a hippie liberal and don't like driving very often and what I really want to do is more trail running. Does that make any sense? I certainly don't know but what I mean is do I want to focus my Boulder running time on training with a group or on trail running. Or do I want to do both and feel like a bad hippie liberal for driving a 50 mile round trip three times a week sometimes.

So speaking of obsessing about running, yesterday I didn't run. I ellipticalled at a moderate to high level of intensity for 65 minutes. I don't really know why. I guess there was a good magazine and I felt like taking a day off. Today I will run, but I might treadmill it just because of the wind. The weather is supposed to improve quite a bit for the weekend so I do plan to run outside quite a bit over the weekend. I also want Matt to get the parts for his bike rack (he has the foundation basically but not the parts that allow you to put bikes on the car) so we can do some mountain biking either on Sunday or next weekend, depending on whether or not the trails dry out. That will be fun.

Posted by barb at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

April 6, 2006

where to begin

I don't know if other bloggers have this problem but once I don't blog for several days it seems unsurmountable and then I don't know where to start with everything. And then it becomes more daunting to write an entry at all, so I put it off and then all of a sudden I'm really screwed. Maybe this is why people stop their blogs - not necessarily because they want to, but because they get overwhelmed.

Anyway here goes. I am finally back in Denver. We got back Tuesday night after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Okay, well there was not much gnashing but I did burst into tears in two separate airports and a cab in between. I hate United. They are such lying bastards. This fiasco cost me lots of money since I'm still contracting until the middle of the month which is annoying, although it did allow me another run near our friend K's house in Virginia, so that was nice. There are some very cool houses there and the scenery is nice. It is not as windy there as it is here, but it is still irritating.

So, we did everything in DC that we wanted to do. I was definitely done with the mall/national monument area after one day. Maybe it's just the current administration but I had no desire to see the White House. We also amazingly saw everyone that we planned to see. It was great to see everyone and I really enjoyed meeting my cousin's kids. They are super cute. It was also fun to meet my cousin's wife (who I guess is my cousin-in-law), she is so nice.

Outside of the race I didn't run very much there - 3.5 miles on Saturday, 11 miles on Sunday (no cool down), total rest day on Monday, and 6 miles on Tuesday. I am so exhausted that I'm thinking this week will be a recovery week also. Hell, I did run a PR somehow, I think I deserve it, and in any case the weather's still miserable. Yesterday after work, enjoying the later sunset but not enjoying the ridiculous wind, I ran 6 miles. I ran through an area we are thinking about looking for houses in as well as around Wash Park. I didn't want to do laps around the park because the wind was so bad that I knew if I got back to my car I'd stay there. I did see a house I'd really liked that was on the market for about 30 seconds. Luckily I didn't feel that we missed it because it was about $150,000 out of our price range.

Speaking of selling Matt's house, we are having our third showing this afternoon. So that is cool. We also had an open house this weekend while we were gone and that was nice too. Although apparently a homeless person tried to come to the open house, which is sad but kind of funny too. Although I am a bleeding heart liberal and feel really bad for homeless people it will be nice not to be their neighbors any more. I do feel that it's priced correctly because we've had more showings than I expected, which is good. I just emailed our agent because we have six neighborhoods on the list of places we want to look, and we want to narrow it down to two neighborhoods by the time we're looking with the intention of making an offer.

I don't know if I mentioned this before but I really enjoyed Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. It was good, and a short read. I'm still working on Madame Bovary but I think I'm almost done. I did start the political book but I was trying to read it on the elliptical which was probably not the best place to do that.

So overall I feel good about Cherry Blossom. I didn't run as fast as I wanted, but I prepared miserably both in the short term and the long term - no speed work, less running than I should have done, and running 16 miles a week before. So given that I think I'm in okay shape. I feel a bit aimless now because I don't really have any goal races for a while. I'm still undecided about running a marathon this year. It's too windy to start biking a lot, although I am planning to go this weekend if the weather's decent.

Today and tomorrow it's supposed to be very windy. I agree with Blondie that this is one of the windiest springs that I can remember, so maybe it really is abnormally windy this year. I am done with the wind for now so after a meeting I'm going to the gym to watch mindless TV and run on the treadmill. I might do that tomorrow as well since tomorrow it's supposed to be quite cold as well.

Beth mentioned trying to live our lives as adventures rather than something to be tolerated. This really struck a nerve with me. I haven't really been happy since October. I was waiting for ski season to be over, and then I was waiting for us to finish getting the condo ready, and now I'm waiting for April to be over because it started on a bad note with our aborted return home, and then in May I'll just be waiting for my birthday trip. This is a sad way to live. I don't know if I'm depressed - it certainly could be - or if I'm just having a hard time, but as hard as I try I can't seem to get out of this cycle. But it could be a long sad life if I don't snap out of it, and we only get one try. So I'm trying this week to get some rest, and to re-energize, so that I can enjoy this month even if it did start out badly. I guess one thing I am trying to do is start saying no a bit. Audrey mentioned to me that my social life is kind of ridiculous (she said it in an admiring way but it is really exhausting) and I basically often do things I don't want to do just because we're invited to them. This Friday (tomorrow) we're invited to a birthday party and I am just exhausted from this week, so we're just not going to go. Or else Matt will just go. That will be good. I'd rather skip the party than feel like I wasted another night doing something I didn't have the energy to do.

Sorry for the big self-pitying rant. If you've made it this far, good for you, and thanks for listening!!

Posted by barb at 12:41 PM | Comments (3)

April 3, 2006

10 Mile PR, Stuck in DC

Good and bad news to report in this fairly short entry.

I was going to title this entry 'How to prepare 100% incorrectly and still PR', but so much else has happened that maybe I'll write that entry later.

Anyway I ran 1:12.32 at Cherry Blossom which is a PR by over two minutes. So that is great! We've had a fantastic time in DC, although I am highly unimpressed by the Metro and the United people at Reagan. We have seen a ton of people - I didn't realize before we came how many people we knew here - and hung out a lot with our friend K. who is really great to hang out with, and a fantastic and gracious hostess.

We have done a lot of sight seeing which is fun too. I'm glad we were able to do that, although my day before the race was not as restful as it should have been.

The bad news is that our flight was delayed by over four hours and I was pretty sure it would be cancelled so instead of being home, we're still here. I feel awful because I won't be going into work tomorrow, since I'm still here, but I think we did the best we could and I think we made the right decision.

I will write lots more about the weekend but I think those are the basics!

Posted by barb at 7:57 PM | Comments (3)