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December 27, 2006

more snow and many running locations

Well I have been one busy runner over the past few days. And sadly little of my busy time has been spent running! That is okay though. I have decided this is as good a week as any for a cutback week. Why? Well, recovery is good. And eating lots of cookies while recovering is good, as I am sure it will make me feel really speedy and well fueled next week, right?!?!? Ha, just kidding. I'm really not so neurotic that I can't have a cutback week. But I'm not going to gain 80 pounds this week, am I? AM I???? Just kidding again.

So last Friday I did not run. It was very sad. It was really just a timing problem - I spent the morning before work shoveling, then took an hour and a half to get in because my shoveling effort was somewhat ineffective, and then got home right when it was getting dark. So I could have run but I decided against it. For some reason it is much easier to run in the dark and cold in the morning than in the evening.

Here is the rest of the weekend:
Saturday - worked out like a crazy person. 1:53 running in really slippery, snow packed conditions. I think I ran about 12 miles but it is hard to say. The snow was kind of like sand, so I was slipping around and every two steps felt like one and a half because I kept sliding backwards. And I have this weird thing where I kept scratching the inside of my right ankle with my left Yaktrak. Which isn't too bad once or twice but I think I did it seven or eight times - ouch! After the run Matt and I went to the gym. I ellipticalled for 45 minutes and decided that the elliptical is the cause of my foot problems earlier this year. My foot felt fine for 2 hours of running but started to hurt after about 30 minutes on the elliptical. That is kind of bad because I enjoy ellipticalling but I like swimming more and it is way better for me.

Sunday - 8 or 9 miles (1:22). Same crappy conditions, but it was a nice run - very sunny. It is very quiet on the streets on Christmas Eve! After the run we headed up to Fort Collins (about an hour north). We hung with Matt's dad and stepmom, ate lots of food, and then opened gifts with his brothers.

Monday - This was so strange. I got up at 7:00 because we had an unforgiving schedule for the day and ran about 5 miles. It was freaking cold!! Usually it is in the mid-twenties when I run at that time, but it was zero out when I ran. Luckily I did not look at the temperature until I was finished, or I don't know if I would have gone! I had two hats on and two pairs of gloves so the only thing that got cold was my face. After the run we drove to Longmont (Matt's mom), Centennial (my mom and stepdad), and then Castle Rock (my dad and stepmom) for the rest of the festivities. We had a great time and got a lot of wonderful gifts - Thank you, everyone!! - and ate more food.

Tuesday - I got up early, got barked at because apparently when I have a hood on I am really scary, and ran 6 miles in my dad's neighborhood. His neighborhood is great for running - very hilly. Basically I ran uphill for 3 miles, and then turned around and ran downhill for 3. It was great. And strangely warm!

Wednesday - I ran 4 miles with my parents' doberman this morning. She is a spaz in the snow. So that was kind of a short run but I am heading to the gym at lunchtime to get a few more miles in.

That is about all for now! Oh, and with the whole more snow thing in the title, yes it is going to snow again tomorrow. They are not giving specific amounts but I have heard it could be up to a foot. Come on Mother Nature, spread the wealth a little!

Posted by barb at 9:16 AM | Comments (1)

December 22, 2006

it's finally stopped!

Wow, this has been quite a storm. It will be nice to have a white Christmas, but frankly it would have been nice to have a bit less snow. We had about two feet of accumulation with drifts up to three or four feet. I really should take a few pictures, but needless to say it's been a big one! DIA has been closed for 2 1/2 days, my car is still stuck in the garage, and it is quite a winter wonderland.

Here is the good news - I actually ran yesterday! Woo hoo! I really didn't think it would happen. But we went out to our friend M.'s house to pick her up and walk around for a bit, and I wore my Yak Trax, because they are the best invention ever, and wore running clothes, so on the way back I went for a nice easy four miles. There is a road through Wash Park and it was actually plowed, which is great! I have also shoveled for probably about three hours over the past three days which is a pretty solid upper body workout.

And now for the bad news - I don't know if I'll be able to run today. I am so sad!! Yesterday was supposed to be my easy day. Today was supposed to be a decent run type of day. I hate the weather sometimes! It is possible I will have time although I am waiting to have one meeting before I get a ride home from a coworker. Then depending on what time it is, either I'll be able to run or I won't. I guess I can't freak out about it too much if I can't, but really it would be unfortunate. The trouble is that the melty stuff will freeze over when it gets dark, and some of Matt's family may be coming over at 6:00, so if I don't run or go to the gym early I won't be able to. I really need a treadmill or a bike trainer! It would really be good for my mental stability. And my fitness.

Anyway that is about all. It has been very pretty and it was fun to be snowed in but it is nice to be out and about in the world today. I am feeling a little behind with all the holiday stuff just because yesterday and Wednesday were kind of lost as far as errands and stuff go, but I think I can catch up tomorrow. It should be nice to have a three day weekend - I do not know when I will update next, so Happy Holidays!!

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

December 20, 2006

snow, snow, and more snow!

As most everyone has seen in the national news today, we are in the middle of a huge winter storm in Colorado right now. How much fun is this!?! Really fun, if you ask me. It has been kind of insane so far. It started snowing around 4:00 am apparently. I ran at 6:05 and it was snowing the whole time but it hadn't accumulated too much, the only trouble was that I got snow in my eyes when I ran north. Going south it was totally fine. Anyway I got 8 miles in which is good, because I think tomorrow I will either be running in snowshoes or running around my house! Which, as I pointed out to Matt, is why we totally need a bike trainer or a treadmill or an elliptical machine. Because you never know when you might be snowed in, and what if you can't run or go to the gym?

Anyway that is what's happening this week. I ran an easy 7 miles yesterday morning, which was fine too. I kind of ran up tempo for the second lap of the park (about 20 minutes or so) but I would have to say it was a fairly half-hearted tempo run. Hopefully the snow will clear out this weekend so I can drive up to Boulder for a Saturday workout, and complete a long run around here.

Also, I think I may have found a half marathon for early 2007! So that is exciting. There is a half in Fort Collins that I always thought was in the fall, but it turns out it's in April! Sweet. It looks like the first six miles or so are challenging but the last seven are flat/downhill. All I really need for Chicago is a 1:45 which should be fairly easy, but who knows.

That is all, I am going to try to put together a list of books for B. at some point today but I may be distracted!

Posted by barb at 1:33 PM | Comments (1)

December 18, 2006

typical holiday weekend

This past weekend was a very typical weekend for me during the holidays. It kind of went like this:
1. Eat
2. Sleep
3. Run
4. Shop

There was also a hair cut and color thrown in there, but that was pretty much it. As far as running goes, I had a short and easy 5 miler on Friday morning (I think i wrote about that last week), an 8 miler that was supposed to be at a good effort on Saturday morning, and 12 miles Sunday morning. I cannot believe how bad I felt on Saturday, and consequently, how good I felt on Sunday! I do not think my run on Saturday was any faster than 9:00 pace, and it felt like a death march. But Sunday I was flying through all 12 miles! I felt great. Which is nice because my long runs have been decidedly short for the last 6 months. Which I think is okay since I haven't done much racing over a 10k.

Speaking of which, this brings me to an interesting problem. We have very few half marathons in Colorado at which I could conceivably PR. The one where I got my current PR has been turned into a 15 mile race (at least that's what it was in 2006), and there really aren't many other good courses. So do I travel to one next year? I think I'd like to as long as it wouldn't bankrupt me. B. wants me to come for the Brooklyn half, and I'd really like to, although it may be a bad time to travel from a money perspective. I'd love to do something in New England in 2007 but once again that is not a cheap endeavor. And a bunch of people from my team are going to Austin in February but I have a wedding in Seattle that weekend. So I am sure it'll work itself out, but I am all fired up to run a half and I want to run a fast one.

That is about all right now. I overslept today so I will be running 6 miles or so after work, just a nice easy recovery run. As far as the next two weeks go, I'm just going to try to run as much as I can while not irritating my family members over the holidays!

Posted by barb at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2006

sleep really isn't overrated

I have never been one of those people who breezily says that I can sleep when I'm dead. Maybe I can, but realistically if I don't sleep for about 8 hours a night I am an overly emotional, sleep-deprived mess. And frankly that has been me almost all week! However, last night I was in bed by 9:00 and slept until 6:15 so I am doing much better. Hooray! I could still stand to sleep for about 10 more hours but that is what weekends are for, right?

So this has been a good, albeit unexciting, running week. I did swim twice, which is fun. I am getting much better - in a running context I would think of it as an improvement from a 14 minute mile to a 12 minute mile - but I'll take it. It is really rewarding to make big improvements. I did try a workout the other day, inspired of course by Beth, but I am definitely not ready to do much in the way of workouts. I did find I can swim 100 yards in barely under two minutes, but I do not think that is too smoking. It is fun anyway.

After Wednesday's update I swam once for about 30 minutes (20 laps, including breaks) and these are my runs:
- Thursday - 8 miles in the morning. Not a particularly exciting run, but it was good and it did prove to me that I can run long and get to my new work location by about 8:20. That is great news!
- Friday - easy 5 miles, kind of a rest day. I already took one of these on Monday but I figure this is just a bit of a cutback week, and I am planning on having a decent weekend as far as mileage and quality goes. I would also like to get on the bike (the indoor version) sometime this weekend. Just because I am not necessarily a triathlete yet, but it seems like I am really healthy and feel good when I am running, biking, and swimming.

This weekend my schedule won't allow going to RRB, which is sad, but I am planning on doing one quality and one quantity run and also finishing up all my Christmas tasks - or at least all my shopping. I am almost done but I've been almost done for weeks and I really want to put it to bed. We also have one party, one dinner thing, and Matt is hosting a little Survivor get together on Sunday which I imagine will have logistical implications for me even though I am totally not into Survivor. Hopefully I can ignore the actual show and get some reading done!

Posted by barb at 1:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2006

busy week

Holy moses it has been a busy week since I last wrote in here. I think I wrote in the blog a week ago at least, but who knows! Anyway since I last wrote I went to New York, started a different job, ran 7 times, including a 10k, swam once, and basically did not sleep nearly enough. But it was so much fun! I love New York. I really love the Upper West Side, B.'s new neighborhood! We did have a few hiccups - mainly, I misdirected us almost to Queens on the subway once, and getting kicked out of a restaurant after not getting the hint that they needed to turn our table. Whoops!

But the good news is that I did run a 44:38 10k on Sunday. I really have no clue as to how this happened. I did not feel like I was in great shape after the turkey trot, and in New York I do not get my normal sleeping and eating done, but for some reason I felt great. I did experience the delight of everyone starting in the completely wrong pace group, which was moderately annoying, so I really think I could have beat my Bolder Boulder time without that (my first mile was an 8:01!!), so that is totally cool!

That is all the news I have time for now. I am off to swim (after running 7 miles this morning) and then to see a chick flick with some friends.

Coming soon to this blog - B. has asked for a list of must read books. I did this once for her years ago and I am going to come up with a great new list soon, and publish it here!

Posted by barb at 4:58 PM | Comments (1)

December 6, 2006

on the way to new york, and why i'm running a lot

This will be somewhat quick as I am in the middle of packing for a trip to New York. Which is going to be so much fun! We are visiting Betsy, seeing some sights, and of course running a race, three of my favorite things to do.

Anyway here is the week in running so far:
Monday - 7 mile run followed by 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. My legs were definitely tired after Sunday's long run but I didn't have any aches and pains, which is great.
Tuesday - 8 mile run in the morning. It was cold out but it felt great.
Wednesday - 6 or 6.5 mile run in the morning. I did not sleep very well last night and it was cold but I felt good and had a nice run. I was very glad to get my run in because today has been so busy - if I hadn't done it at 6:00 am I never would have run.

And in Monday's entry Meghan commented and asked me what I'm training for, which is a reasonable question since I am running about 50 miles per week, not just for the fun of it. Okay, it is probably 80% for the fun of it. And 20% the combination of several goals for 2007, which are as follows:
- Run a good half marathon in 2007. I don't know which one yet, as there are few good half marathons in Colorado as far as I know.
- Complete one sprint, one Olympic, and one Half Ironman distance triathlon. This of course entails buying a wet suit. But I will get on that very soon! I am planning to do a series in Boulder, so everyone will be really fast but I do not mind as my goal is simply to finish them. And of course to have fun.
- Run the Chicago Marathon and BQ. I am pretty sure this is a conservative goal but I just want to run this with my friend C. (who is about a 3:34 marathoner) and qualify, so that we can go to Boston next year, watch the OTs, and then run. Which will be so much fun!

That is about all for now. I will be updating Sunday or Monday night with a race report, which I assume will go like this: 'The race was fun. It was cold!' Stay tuned to see if my clairvoyance is accurate.

Posted by barb at 3:18 PM | Comments (2)

December 4, 2006

snowy weekend

Winter definitely arrived with a bang here. November was really mild and all of a sudden now it is snowing every three days! I really do not mind the snow - and in fact running while it is snowing is one of my favorite things - although driving in a snowstorm is certainly not the best. And although it has been cold (like in the 20s during the day) it is much more mild than this time last year. So I am thankful for that - I like running in the cold down to about 10 degrees, and anything lower than that freezes my legs.

Anyway here is the last few days in running:
- Friday - 4 miles easy. It was a bit cold but really nice and quiet out there. I did have a sunglasses malfunction - basically one of the pins came out - which was sad but I think I'll be able to get them fixed.
- Saturday - RRB workout in Boulder. This was kind of crazy. So I am about 30 miles from Boulder. When I left my house, it was cold but only flurrying a tiny bit. By the time I was 5 miles from Boulder, the highway was icy and snowy and it was like a blizzard! I was a little concerned about driving home but it turns out it was kind of a morning storm. Anyway we ended up doing a modified workout - instead of 800's on the track, which was covered, we did 3:00 pickups on a paved trail. It was fun and it ended up being pretty easy just because there were a lot of slick spots. No one wanted to crash - okay, I did have one crash even though I'd have preferred not to - so we decided we'd rather run slightly easy than fall and break something. Luckily with my fall I landed on my left shoulder and hip, and they both feel fine.
Sunday - we had a 10 mile run on the schedule. I really want to keep to the schedule whenever possible, so I did it. Not that a 10 mile run is a big deal, but I've had a tendency to talk myself out of doing long runs by myself, especially if Matt isn't doing anything. But we both seemed to survive :) I had a great run, mostly on roads just because the dirt path in the park was snowpacked so it was just as hard a surface as the roads anyway. So I ran 10 in about 90 minutes. I do find that the day after a long run I am always starving, and today is no different - so far I have had my normal breakfast plus two big gingerbread man cookies and I am wondering how I am going to get through my run before lunch. But I think I will manage.

That is about all. I thought about running this morning, but then I figured that it will be much warmer in a few minutes! We have 6-7 miles on the schedule today and I am aiming for 7 miles but we'll see how I feel. Matt has a beer event tonight so I may do some swimming if I am feeling extra motivated. However, laying on the couch reading sounds like so much more fun! We will see which instinct wins out.

Posted by barb at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)