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February 27, 2007

I can see trails again!

Oh I am so happy. The snow we've had on the ground since mid-December has finally melted, and I can see and actually run on trails instead of snow pack. Sweet! And let me just say how good this has been for my schedule - I can actually run 9:00 pace now instead of 10:00 pace. Which, on an 8 mile run, saves 8 minutes. And that is a lot, my friends. It is like time to get coffee in the morning and still get to work early kind of time!

Anyway I am really tired right now but this has been a great week so far. And this past weekend was a great weekend of training - a hard, but fun workout on Saturday morning that left me pretty sore, followed by a 10 mile Sunday morning run. I felt kind of slow but realistically not bad at all.

Yesterday I ran 6.5 miles (an extra half mile was spent trying to find more lunch places, somewhat successfully) at lunchtime, then 30 minutes biking plus lifting after work. This morning I ran a really nice 8 miles. I was planning 7 but felt so good I just kept going. It is supposedly really nice out today - I am not sure, having been inside since 8:00 am, but I am about to get out there and see, which is great too.

Hooray for Tuesdays! I hope all are having great weeks.

Posted by barb at 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2007

the fun just never ends

I am such a bad blogger these days. I blame my busy, busy, busy schedule!!

So let's see what is up. I have been in three states over the past week - Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota. So yes I am a busy girl. I love Seattle. I love the weather there, I love how there are many neighborhoods that you would not see the likes of anywhere else, I love the running there. And I don't think I even ran in the best places, since I was just tooling around in Queen Anne and didn't find any great parks or anything. I did get a ton of hill running in which is great as most of my runs at home are pretty flat. So that was a good time. We did a bit of a family vacation for my stepsister's wedding which was really fun. I did not get a long run in last weekend, so I'll have to make up for that this weekend.

Anyway, that was Friday to Sunday. Monday was a holiday, and a very timely one since I had about 8,000 things to do. Including running 8 miles and going biking. I don't think I had been out on my road bike since November, just due to cold weather and snow on every possible surface. There were a few snowy portions on the ride but it was not bad at all. I biked for a little over an hour (meaning like an hour and five minutes) and went 17 miles. Which is not bad considering my long break. It was really nice to get out on the bike and it made me really look forward to this spring and summer.

Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:00 am to run before my flight to Minnesota, and I am really glad I did because I would not have had time to run at any other time during the day. It was somewhat brutal at the time but it did prepare me to wake up at 6:00 Central time all the rest of the week to get workouts in. It was in the 40s there which felt like a heat wave compared to our last visit. I actually overdressed on my Wednesday morning run so I was definitely plenty warm. Thursday morning I turned on the TV to check the weather and since the windchill was under 10 degrees I just ran on the treadmill. That turned out to be just fine because I got home early enough to go for a second run, outside, in shorts and a short sleeved shirt. That was really a delightful way to welcome myself back home.

I am not going to rehash the last week and a half in my workouts, because that would be pretty dull, but I will say that I have run 36 miles so far this week and done 8 workouts. I have been a cross training/double running machine! Go me. I do just love working out.

I am meeting with my coach today after work, and then Matt and I are having dinner at a place we've never tried in Boulder. It should be really nice. Tomorrow I am going to practice, then baking some stuff for a baby shower, and then attending said shower in Northern Colorado (really it is pretty much Wyoming, that's how far it is). Sunday I need to do my long run, work on a paper rewrite for my class, do laundry, and do some cleaning. There is not much relaxing in my future but I am just relieved that I'll be spending the next 10 days in Colorado!

Posted by barb at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2007

great weekend; cold again

I am so sad that I did not write anything immediately following XC Nationals, but oh well - I was so busy! Anyway the meet was totally awesome. It was so cool to see all of my running idols up close, running with each other. Boulder is such a great running town and it was really nice to see such huge crowds at the meet. The weather could hardly have been better, I think it was in the high 40s and sunny. Of course running conditions on the course were incredibly muddy, but I guess that is what one would expect considering that most of the golf course still had at least 6 inches of snow, so the ground was wet.

Anyway, so awesome. What a great thing to be able to see. I headed to the meet Saturday after a 10 mile run on a trail pretty close to the course. It was snowy in spots but really nice. One tunnel under a busy road, which is usually full of water, was iced over. I don't think I'd ever seen that!

Here are the last few days in my running life:
- Sunday - two 4 mile runs (one social, one just for a bit more mileage). It was so incredibly nice out, my second run was in 60 degree weather. Hooray!
- Monday - 6 miles in the morning, 60 minutes biking and lifting after work. I was kind of tired so I took my run very easy. The biking was nice and I got a ton of reading done.
- Tuesday (today) - 8 miles in the morning. It is getting colder again - I think it was 12 degrees out during my run. Right now it is snowing, I think we are supposed to get a few inches tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be really cold, so I am just going to have to wear many layers in the morning as it's my only time to run.

It has been an incredibly busy week so far, and it is showing no signs of slowing down, but I think I will make it! We are heading to Seattle Friday morning, so it should be fun to trot around there for a few days. I've been there a few times but I don't think I've ever run there. How exciting!

Posted by barb at 6:54 PM | Comments (0)

February 8, 2007

Fog?! In Denver?!

This winter has been so strange. This morning it was foggy when I ran (and drove to work, which was the annoying part). It was so cool! It is never, ever foggy here. I mean literally, once at year at the most. Anyway it was really pretty. I could not decide how far to run this morning, but I ended up with 8 miles. It was colder than yesterday but not bad at all. I love Denver! All I needed was a trip to Minnesota to remind me of how mild our climate generally is. Except of course for the whole -18 degrees thing last week, but that was an anomaly :)

I am really exhausted right now but since I was good and ran this morning, I have time to cross train, so off to the gym I will go. I think I am just going to do some biking and lift a bit. Tomorrow I should have time for a lunchtime swim, so I'm looking forward to that. And our dog sitting gig for this weekend was cancelled, which totally sucks for our dog-owning friends - one of them is really sick, so they can't go on their trip - but will definitely free up my schedule. I am really excited to see XC Nationals, so hopefully the weather will cooperate for the runners (and of course the spectators!).

I am definitely worn out from travel and class this week. I have so much going on and while I enjoy school, I think I will be happy when I'm done. So at one class a semester, it looks like I'll have my degree in about six years ;)

Posted by barb at 4:43 PM | Comments (0)

February 7, 2007

back from the frozen north

And boy am I glad to be back! It is really cold in Minnesota. Happily, we stayed at a hotel with a decent fitness room - two nice, newish treadmills, a TV with a working remote, etc., etc. It did get extremely hot and stuffy in there but I will take that any day over running in -16 degree temperatures! Of course I missed delightful 60 degree temperatures in Denver, but luckily it is still nice and warm here.

So let's see, what has been up in the world of running. I hate to say that there has not been a lot - traveling takes a lot of time that could otherwise be used for cross training :)
- Sunday - I ran 5 miles with a friend and 6 miles by myself a little bit later. It was a beautiful day - I could have worn shorts during my second run! I flew to Minnesota that evening (literally the entire second half of the Super Bowl).
- Monday - 6 miles on the hotel treadmill. I felt pretty good, but not so good that I wanted to add on when the treadmill hit an hour and stopped.
- Tuesday - 6.5 miles on the hotel treadmill. See above :)
- Wednesday - glad to be back, 7 miles at home in blissfully warm 30 degree weather. Which, for 6:00 am, is really quite warm. The trails are melting although they are still pretty icy in spots. What a great run, and generally a great day to be alive.

Now here is my challenge - getting up to run tomorrow morning after my class tonight. I really think I can do it. It would really help my schedule a lot and it would allow me to possibly get a double workout in tomorrow, which I would really like! The good news is that when I was in Minnesota, in Central Time, I got used to getting up at 5:00 am my time. So I should be in good shape!

That is about all of the news. I am not running at nationals this weekend, which I think is good as I do not want to come in last :) However, I do hope to spectate!

Posted by barb at 2:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2007

Holy 50 Degrees!!!

This is so awesome. I could have run in shorts and a short sleeved shirt today!! Of course I overdressed and so I rolled up my pants into shorts, but whatever. It is gorgeous. It is amazing the impact on everyone's mood, to have a really nice day. It was very cold earlier in the week (Friday morning was a record -18) so this is really wonderful. I know it is pretty cold on the east coast right now, so hopefully our mild weather will make it there soon.

I had a very nice, mild run today. I ran 5 miles with my brother's girlfriend L. and that was fun - it's always great to have a running partner. Then I hung out, drank water, and cleaned the house, and around noon I headed out for 6 more awesome miles. Oh it was so nice!! I loved every minute of it.

Now I am getting ready for a work trip to Minneapolis, where the high today is -1. Oh well, I can't always time my trips perfectly. Hopefully the hotel will have a decent treadmill! I do think I am somewhat tough but below zero temperatures with humidity are just too much for me.

Let's see, what else is up? I am working on my first paper for school. It's only one page so while it should be easy, it is giving me a lot to think about. I have one draft written, but I'm not crazy about my draft so I may work on it some more while I'm on the plane tonight.

The rest of this week was pretty good for running. Yesterday I ran 7 miles in nice temperatures. Friday I had to run on the treadmill as it was very cold and windy, so I ran until I couldn't stand it any more, otherwise known as 8 miles. After that I did a little biking and lifting. Thursday we were having a bit of a snowstorm so I ran 6 miles after work. Tuesday and Wednesday I ran outside in the morning, 8 miles and 7 miles respectively, I believe.

So now I am off to pick up some lunch, then I will be doing laundry, packing, and heading to the frozen north! Wish me luck (and no frost bite!!).

Posted by barb at 1:55 PM | Comments (3)