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October 24, 2007

How do single dog parents do it?

So this week I am a single puppy parent. And let me tell you, it is rough on my running schedule! Luckily our girl sleeps for eight hours a night without waking me up to go to the bathroom, so that really helps. However, I do not know how I am going to run tomorrow morning (Matt left this morning) when Bodie wants me to stay and play with her! I may pawn her off on a friend after work and run then instead. I tell you what, it is a hard life.

Anyway running is going well. It was really cold on Sunday, and I do not think I was quite prepared for winter (under 30 degrees) running conditions. No, I did not like it one bit. It had been raining all night and switched to snow around 6:00 a.m. (or so I am guessing), so the conditions were really wet and just icky. You know most days I just cannot wait to run and I have a great time, but then there are other times when I am glad when my run is over. Luckily I got home and made pancakes which really helped. I find a nice food fantasy can get me through a tough run when the conditions are bad. And those pancakes were delicious! I wonder why people make pancakes out of the mix when making them from scratch takes five extra minutes, and they are far more delicious.

I also ordered my bike trainer on Sunday which was very exciting, as I was spurred on by the fact that the weather was cruddy and it will be so fun (okay, for the first three times or so that I use the thing) to bike while watching TV and movies!

So with my whole marathon debacle, I think I may have decided that I am done with marathons for a year or so. I was thinking about doing the Rock and Roll marathon in Phoenix in January as my friend N. is doing the half and it sounded fun and flat. I think I have decided, however, that I am also going to run the half there! Half marathons are so much fun, and so much less painful than full marathons.

Posted by barb at 8:13 AM | Comments (2)

October 19, 2007

Why I've been MIA

So I really have been incommunicado since my post-Chicago entry. And it is really not because I’m bitter about Chicago or anything!! Frankly I have just been ridiculously busy. I have been working of course, and I got a puppy last Thursday (one of these days I’ll figure out how to post pictures), and I have been traveling a ton. Of course I flew to Montana to pick up the puppy because I am a yuppie. She is so cute. I am sure Alison will appreciate her name – Bowdoin. Her nick name is Bodie though as that seems to roll off the tongue much more easily. Anyway although she is very cute she is also very time consuming and does not seem to enjoy it when I hang out and write blog entries instead of playing with her. I was also in Boston this past Sunday (10/14) through yesterday for a training class. And let me just tell you that I fell in love with Boston!! I had spent some time there in the past and I have always liked Boston but this trip just blew my mind. First off the weather was amazing. It was in the 60’s during the day and the 40’s at night which is just perfect. Second, although my hotel was in an awkward location (meaning in the convergence of like 17 busy streets), it was right on the river and I had a lovely view. I also really enjoyed watching all the teams practice for the Head of the Charles which is this Sunday.

I had some awesome runs in Boston as well. It was kind of nice that I didn’t finish the marathon as I did not feel that I had to run really easy or short. So that worked out well. I will go ahead and give a brief overview of my runs for this week…

Monday – 8 miles in Boston (I flew in Sunday night). On this run I ran to the Public Garden and around and back, alternating sides of the river. I love the Public Garden so it was fun. I didn’t realize how far it would be but you know sea level is really nice when the humidity isn’t too crazy!

Tuesday – 8 miles, ran to Fresh Pond and around and back. I never would have attempted this but I had read in Audrey’s old blog (and also in Parker’s) about races there and it didn’t look that far so I figured I’d check it out. It was so nice! The leaves were just starting to turn and the sunrise was beautiful. Once again I didn’t mean to run this far but I didn’t want to quit a quarter of the way around the pond!

Wednesday – 6 miles around Cambridge. I took this day to run through Harvard Square and up Mass Ave for a long time. It was fun to see all the different areas, and of course I just love the Harvard area.

Thursday – I didn’t have training and was just gearing up to head home, so I took the extra time to run about 11 miles. I ran to Fresh Pond, around it twice, and back. This time I played around in the little paths off the main artery and it was nice. This day was very warm but foggy which I just love – it is never foggy in Denver. I felt really good. And decided that I want to move to Boston!

Friday – Today I ran an easy 4 miles as we just don’t want to go too crazy with the training right now.

That is about all the news. I am planning on heading to practice tomorrow for the first time since Chicago. It should be fun, I am excited to see all my running friends. I am also hoping to get on my bike, or order my bike trainer, this weekend as I am really missing biking but soon it will be too cold to bike outside on a regular basis. And of course we will be playing with Bodie which will be a ton of fun! I hope all is going well for my virtual friends.

I should also go ahead and mention that I am really not bitter about Chicago, even after all this time to stew about it. It was a fun weekend. You can't control the weather. I didn't get injured which is the best possible news! I am still undecided about when I may attempt another marathon. I'm just having fun running right now!

Posted by barb at 4:38 PM | Comments (1)

October 9, 2007

Chicago - the short version

Well, the short story about Chicago can be summed up in three letters: DNF. Before you say how sorry you are, I am actually quite okay with this result. I didn't end up in the hospital or anything and my legs feel fine two days after the fact, so that is great!! I ran about 21 miles (slightly under, maybe 20.7 or so), and my pace was on at 7:51 at least through about mile 16. After that I think I dropped to 8:00 flat as an average and I could feel the wheels coming off. The first 12 miles were in the shade, so the heat was not that bad, but after that we were in the sun and it was pretty miserable. My DNF was more of a calculated decision than a medical emergency, as I saw that I would not be making my 3:30 goal and my 3:40 BQ was in jeopardy. At that point I decided I didn't have anything to prove in finishing, and I didn't want to run a 4-hour marathon and possibly get injured. So I quit! Yes, I am a big quitter. However, I have to say I feel just fine about my decision, especially given how good my legs feel two days after the fact.

Now I am contemplating what to do with my season. I see a few options:
1. Run Philadelphia Marathon (November - bad timing as Matt is out of town so I would have to find someone to take care of the puppy we are getting this week)
2. Run Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon (better timing, shorter flight, low probability of bad weather)
3. Forget the marathon and say I have had a great year!

I am not sure what I will do. I do feel that I was in 3:25 shape as the 7:45-7:50 miles felt very easy except for the heat. And I do want to qualify for Boston. And I did not beat up my legs too badly since I stopped at 21. So I will of course keep my blog updated with all of my thoughts.

I do want to mention how impressed I am by Bridget. The amount of mental toughness it took to finish that marathon, especially less than 10 minutes off her goal, is just incredible.

Posted by barb at 8:54 AM | Comments (6)

October 4, 2007

Three Days to Go!!

Three more days until the marathon, and I am feeling good, albeit nervous and achy. I have so much energy when I’m not running and biking all the time! It is just ridiculous. I feel like I am bouncing off the walls most of the time. Probably because I am. I have always said that if I didn’t work out all the time I would be really irritating since I have a naturally ridiculous amount of energy. My dad also has this energy level so I am convinced it is genetic. When he first met my stepmom, he drove her insane with his constant bouncing and pacing about. I think I would also drive everyone insane if I didn’t run a lot. Right now I am just driving myself insane obsessing over my potential injuries, my race strategy, my travel schedule (why oh why did I decide to fly out Saturday?!), where in heaven’s name the expo is, etc., etc., etc.

Anyway I am so excited to get this marathon out of the way and not run another for a while. The half marathon is such a nice, normal, does not destroy your body kind of distance. But I had to run a freaking marathon. Oh well. Hopefully it will go well in spite of all of my worries and insecurities. And hopefully I will not destroy my body. I guess that is my biggest hope/fear right now. I just scheduled a massage in Boulder, where they actually know how to beat the tar out of people. I seriously cannot find a good therapist in Denver. If you know one, let me know. I like a therapist who will really beat the tar out of me and make all my aches and pains go away. I think this is especially important after a marathon when one is likely to feel some pretty serious knots afterwards. Oh I am so excited!

So this week has been very mellow from a training perspective. I’ll end up with 60 miles for the week, including the marathon. This morning’s 6 mile run was my last ‘real’ run before the race – tomorrow will be an easy 4 miles and Saturday an easy 3 miles. I’ve thought about taking one of those days off but I tend to feel more stiff if I do take a day off than if I don’t. So that is the plan.

I don’t know when I’ll update this next, but it shouldn’t be any later than Tuesday morning. Wish me luck! Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments. It is one of the best aspects of having a blog!

Posted by barb at 3:43 PM | Comments (3)

October 1, 2007

T Minus Six Days

Well, the Chicago Marathon is in six days. Oh I am so nervous!! I really do feel prepared, but I think I am hitting the point in the taper where every time I run I feel a new ache or pain and become convinced that I will DNF because of some horrible injury that I was not aware of until now. I was at a meeting with our coach yesterday wherein he described this exact syndrome, but I am still freaking out. However, I am also very excited. It has been a long year of training for me, that including picking up a new sport, completing three races in said new sport, and still trying to run enough to complete a half marathon and marathon. Holy cats! When you put it all together it sounds a bit crazy to my non-running or tri-ing friends. And I am definitely ready for a break. I feel like I have hovered on the edge of injury and sickness for several months now, and as long as I can keep on the healthy side through Sunday I will take some much needed rest and probably take a few weeks off from running.

This weekend was a nice one for running although I dealt with some serious wind on my Saturday run. We were up in the mountains for a sweet free weekend at a B&B, so I did some high altitude running. I was actually following a lot of the course for the Estes Park Marathon, and boy I will tell you what, I would not like to run a marathon at 7500 feet of elevation! Especially in a driving wind. It is funny because on our hike Saturday morning Matt and I were talking about how I am obsessed with running. I do not know if the other bloggers in our group feel this way, but if I don’t run first thing in the morning I think about running all day until I run. And I love running in almost all conditions except extreme heat and extreme wind. So of course we were chatting about this and when I left for my run there was a howling wind! It was not too bad except when I was running westbound, so it turned into a fine 10 mile run. Yesterday I ran 8 as kind of a commuting run from near downtown Boulder to my coach’s house for our pre-race meeting. It was nice, I love running in Boulder. I then caught a ride to the park and ride and took the bus home. This took an eternity but I felt good about not driving home, then driving back to Boulder, and then back again. It probably saved me about $6.00 in gas and saved a lot of guilt in my brain about destroying the environment for my own convenience or whatever.

This week will be very light from a training perspective so my primary goal is to not go insane or overdo cross training or anything. I’ll probably bike easy twice and lift once, just since my body is used to doing some cross training. We leave for Chicago on Saturday morning which is very exciting!

Posted by barb at 9:01 AM | Comments (1)