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November 30, 2005

Still busy

I was not nearly as productive as I should have been today and it is going to come back to haunt me tomorrow when I am sleepwalking through the day. I ran with Alison today and was definitely feeling the effects of last night's track workout. My legs were dead and I was very tired. It was not the best run in the world and we also got kicked out of a cemetary because there is "no jogging allowed" in there. (Oddly, at the cemetary across the street, recreational activities are just fine.) Anyway, I don't think I was the best running partner today but it was definitely good not to be by myself so I wasn't constantly thinking about how bad I felt!

As usual, I worked at home during the day. I quickly biked and lifted before MIT track practice and then helped out with (distance) starts and baton passes, once I got trained on the "right" way to do those things. I tried a few starts and was hopeless. I'm just too uncoordinated and it's better for me just to start the way I feel comfortable. Not that I'm doing any track races in the near future. Anyway, it was a pretty low-key practice but I'm glad I went.

Back to work!

Posted by becky at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2005

Bare bones blog

It's getting to that point in the semester where I feel like I'm rushing everything I need to do, including my daily blog entries. So I apologize for being less eloquent than usual (if I ever am eloquent, that is.) This morning Alison met me at my place so she could accompany me on my whole pre-workout run. Since we're both helping out local track teams, we compared notes--it was very enlightening. It was already in the 50s in the morning and quite humid. As you might imagine, I was not thrilled. But it wasn't too bad.

Fast forward through classes from 8am-3pm...I got in a VERY brief nap when I came home (about 30 minutes) and then left to go to track. Mary was doing a regular run tonight so we timed it such that she would run me up to the track. I don't really like the run up there so I was very glad to have her company. Track was sparsely attended for some reason but I had a good group to run with so I didn't care. Our workout was short (I think he is keeping things short until Jan.) but we were supposed to run pretty hard: 400, 600, 800, 600, 400, 200, 200. I tried really hard to get my legs moving and turning over quickly--not my strongpoint. It was over quickly but now I am really sore! My pace on my jog home was glacial. I am going to be feeling it for sure tomorrow!

Posted by becky at 9:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2005

Fun at Fresh Pond

I met Alison and Janel, who was heading back to Baltimore tonight, for a run this morning. We decided to run to Fresh Pond and around it, since none of us (especially Janel) had done that for awhile. Today was one of those days where the pace was a tad fast but I felt close enough to comfortable that I didn't want to be the one to ask if we could slow down. Other than that it was pretty uneventful and I'm in a hurry to finish things up and go to bed, so that's all I'll say about the run. Oh yeah, and the back of my knee felt all right but my groin/hip is tight and sore again. It's true, I have been neglecting my foam roller--I need to give it some more love.

I did work for most of the afternoon. Matt surprised me (he doesn't usually come home until later on Mondays) and came in to find me in the middle of a nap! We caught each other up on our days (obviously I didn't have that much to report on) and then I went to MIT to lift and go to practice. The gym was predictably crowded with all the students returning from Thanksgiving break. It made me dread February when everyone comes back after Winter Break. But I got what I needed to done and then basically watched track practice and shouted encouraging things to the distance runners I knew until I had to leave. It's hard to figure out what my coaching role should be in track since there is so much going on at once and the distance runners are on their own doing tempo runs and distance runs most of the time. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I had a group meeting back at school tonight and then I came home bearing burrittos since it was already almost 8:30. Now I'm tying up some loose ends before beginning another busy Tuesday...

Posted by becky at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2005

Kind of blah

I stayed up too late last night--not doing work, but reading an article about Roe v. Wade in the New Yorker. I was surprised to remember a lot of the case references from the public health law class (Audrey and) I took last spring. That was probably one of the most useful classes I've taken since I've been back in school--maybe not useful for my career, but in terms of me feeling like I can contribute to the public discourse about controversial health-related legal cases like Roe v. Wade. Anyway, it was a very good article and of course a long one, as most NYer articles are. So I didn't get my butt out of bed until about 9 and got a late start to the day. My leg felt better so I decided to go for a shortish run. Part of the run went along the Charles and I was surprised that on a relatively mild, sunny morning, it wasn't more crowded on the path. I don't mind having it all to myself though!

I still felt tired like I did yesterday while running, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I definitely noticed the fact that it was probably 10 degrees warmer today than it was yesterday. I was warm in shorts and a long sleeve :) Of course, the few people I did see running were super bundled up!

I read the newspaper for awhile after I got back and showered, ate, etc. so it was nearly noon when I started working. I was productive for about 4 hours though! (Good for me--I have trouble concentrating for longer stretches than that!) I went to the gym in the late afternoon and biked and lifted. I haven't been there on the weekend in quite awhile and I felt like it was a completely different crowd than is usually there during the week. After the gym, I stopped at the mall to pick something up from Best Buy and see if there was anywhere to get a pair of dress shoes for a wedding we have next weekend (didn't find anything.) Now I'm keeping myself awake/occupied before I have to go pick up Matt from the train station!

Posted by becky at 8:32 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2005

Glad to have company

It was pretty cold out this morning, even by my standards. My friend Janel who's still in town post-Thanksgiving, Alison and I made a plan to meet for a run at 7:30 this morning. I thought I was going to be late getting to the meeting spot and picking up the pace did not feel too pleasant, both because my legs were kind of tired and because I felt like I was sucking in freezing cold air. I definitely warmed up once we got going, but my legs were never too springy. In fact, I could tell that I was favoring my left leg a bit--my "bad" leg that has actually been pretty good the past few months. This back-of-the-knee thing didn't bother me the past couple of days, but it was back today, even more so when I stopped running. Our route was not particularly hilly--we went around the Mystic Lakes, which was really pretty--so I'm not sure what's bothering my leg so much. All in all, I didn't feel great but it was fun to do a longish run with those guys and it was especially nice to be back home on the early side!

I iced the back of my knee when I got home but I think sitting around all day makes it stiffen up. But all my work requires sitting at my computer, so what can I do? At least I was pretty productive. I got a lot of work done (while taking sporadic breaks to check Foot Locker qualifying results) and then was thinking of going to the gym and lifting but fell asleep for a lot longer than I had intended. After my extended nap, I made myself a piece of salmon (Matt is still in NY) and then went to the movies with Alison and P. We saw Shopgirl which was decent. I didn't love it (nor did I love the "novella" that it is based on) but it was well-acted.

Now I am going to try to do an hour or so more of work before I fall asleep!

Posted by becky at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

November 25, 2005

Cold and sunny

Alison and I didn't plan to meet until 9am today so we could both catch up on sleep. Of course, I still didn't leave myself enough time and was rushing around right before I had to leave anyway. It was cold enough for tights again and I grabbed a pair that I should have gotten rid of --or at least hid--last year because they feel like they are falling down all the time. It was really bothering me on the run up to meet Alison and then I kind of forgot about it. I should label them or something so I remember next time...

I was glad to note that my legs weren't at all sore from yesterday, probably because I had almost 24 hours to rest, and I was a little tired but nothing too crazy. I had this idea to explore a not-so-scenic part of Somerville because I've always hoped I would come across some cool bike path or something and I would rather explore that area with company than without. It wasn't the greatest idea because it turned out to be just a noisy, busy sidewalk until we got to the Mystic River bike path, which itself often goes along a noisy, busy highway. But hey, at least we had good conversation to keep us occupied. I was cold off and on during the run (the wind made it feel much colder and the sun made it feel much warmer) but for some reason my hands were painfully cold (I wore gloves) when I got home and my fingers were non-functional for a good 20 minutes. Weird.

This afternoon I finished up something I had been working on and then took Matt to the train station so he could catch a train to New York. He decided to go hang out with his family for the weekend since we saw mine for Thanksgiving. Normally I would have gone too, but I had been looking forward to spending this weekend making a dent in my huge pile of work. I sort of wanted to lift and bike today, since horror of horrors I only did on Mon. and Wed. this week, but the gym had weird holiday hours today and I had also told my grandparents I would go over there for an early dinner. Plus I'm trying to be more flexible about my workout habits. (I haven't been too successful so far because although I am okay with skipping something I had planned occasionally, I still think about the fact that I'm skipping it way too much.)

But I had fun at my grandparents' (as always) and came home with leftovers (as always) so it worked out fine. Now I'm home trying to be productive again. If I am good, I will reward myself with an HBO On Demand movie!

Posted by becky at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2005

Thankful for a nice chilly race day!

Of course, I'm thankful for a lot more than that--mainly my family and friends. But in running news, I was glad that at least the weather was chilly this morning for the race. Of course, I could have done without the rain, but I didn't really mind. Actually, I didn't sleep very well because my cold migrated into my nose last night and I kept waking up to blow my nose and cough. I wasn't even sure running this morning was the best idea, but I figured I could always just jog off the course and back home if I felt really crappy. Plus, I was meeting a friend there and didn't want to wuss out. So interestingly, I was very calm running up there and even waiting on the starting line. I actually ran into the aforementioned friend, Janel, on my run up to the start. That was fortuitous because she and I warmed up together and she offered her car for me to stow my clothes in. (It was above 35, so I was of course wearing shorts.) Janel is a native of Somerville (although she lives in Baltimore now) and has run in just about every incarnation of this race since it started several years ago. While we were doing strides and waiting on the starting line, we checked out the competition (well, I did since I recognize many of the top local runners) and noted that this race gets more and more competitive every year.

I've done this race before but I didn't live here yet, so it was weird running somewhere I often do, but with so many people around! Since I wasn't feeling so hot, I stuck myself behind someone who seemed to be running comfortably hard like I was. I followed her through the mile in 6:30, which felt fine but made me a little nervous since I figured the best I could hope for today was to average just over 7 minute pace. Anyway, the next mile was almost all uphill and I did slow down some and let that woman out of my sights a little too much. I did pass several guys though! After the second mile had passed, I did a reality check and reminded myself that I was half done already! (This I couldn't believe.) I knew Matt would be waiting right near the 3 mile mark and that inspired me a little. I think I picked up my pace the last mile but I'm not certain since I don't remember my 3 mile split right now but I remember thinking it was about a minute PR! I finished in about 27 minutes even (no chips in this race though) which was definitely a PR and most importantly a confidence booster that I do have it in me to run races closer to the pace I train at the track. :) Plus, I wasn't even feeling that great! I do hope that I can get even more confidence to race closer to 6:30 pace or even under, but we'll see. For today it was a nice accomplishment.

Later in the afternoon, Matt and I drove to our family friends' house in Marblehead where I have spent all but 2 Thanksgivings (last year being one of them.) My parents, grandma and sister came from NY and of course my other (local) grandparents were there too. It was the usual day of socializing, eating, etc. I wasn't feeling so great because of my cold, but I managed to have fun, of course! My family and I were going to go to the movies tonight but decided we were too tired. So Matt and I came home and watched The Apprentice instead. It was a long day but a good one!

P.S. I can't believe Nick and Jessica broke up for real! Gotta go read the gossip on that one :)

Posted by becky at 11:08 PM | Comments (2)

November 23, 2005

Breaking out the tights

I let myself sleep in this morning since I had no classes and wasn't feeling so great because of my cold. I do have a lot of work to do over the next several days but having some extra free time will help. I was freezing when I got out of bed and checked the weather to see that it was 31 degrees and it was already 8:45. So I decided to wear tights for the first time this season. And I was glad I did! I was pretty cold the whole time, actually, especially when the wind was blowing which I felt like was every second. My legs weren't too tired from the track but my body was. My sore throat is gone and predictably my cold has moved into my head and a little bit in my chest. I had to stop and blow my nose a few times on the run, but I didn't feel any of the achiness I felt yesterday. Still, I didn't go very far because I wanted to give my body time to recover from track since I have the Thanksgiving race tomorrow. Although I'm trying to think of it as more of a tempo run, especially since I'm not feeling my best :)

Since I rarely race, I get very nervous every time I do. I have run this one before but it was before I lived here and I didn't know where we were going. I just printed out the map for Matt because it goes within a quarter mile of our apartment! It's basically a route that I incorporate into runs at least twice a week. It's just that I psych myself out and never seem to be able to run as fast as I do in workouts. I have to remember: I'm doing this because it's supposed to be FUN! I'll try my best to have fun, then.

I didn't get as much reading done as I had hoped today, in between cleaning, napping (why am I so tired??) and going to lift in the late afternoon. Matt's going out with some friends tonight but I am being a big dork and staying in to finish what I didn't get done today! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Posted by becky at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2005

Sore throat

I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I kept waking up and hearing it raining during the night, so I was dreading going outside, even for my short pre-track run. Luckily I had made plans to meet Alison so that got me moving. I was curious to hear some of Alison's thoughts on yesterday's NCAA meet when she was there, so that pretty much occupied most of our conversation! I thought what happened in the team race was interesting and proved that rankings really don't mean anything especially in a race with SO MANY talented athletes. I felt a little bad for Duke just because they had so many seniors hoping to go out with a bang, but they still had a great season and no one can take that away from them.

Anyway, my throat didn't bother me too much during the run, but I had that sort of body ache feeling that let me know that I am getting a cold. When I got home I took an 8-hour Tylenol sample that I had left over from the marathon. I don't usually take drugs but I had many hours of class and a test in front of me! The Tylenol lasted probably for about 5 or 6 hours. Definitely not 8! I was really sleepy all day--the cold rain didn't help--and rushed home so that I could take an hourlong nap before track. I'm glad I did, but waking up and getting ready to head outside again was not fun.

Luckily it wasn't really raining much on my jog there or home, but it was super windy. Even I was cold! I was glad to have the indoor track to run on tonight. We did 8x600 at 3K-5K pace, one of those workouts that seems easy on paper but really isn't. (At least for me.) Since I wasn't feeling that well, I knew I'd have to work harder to hit the times I wanted to, and that was definitely true. The dryness in the track got to me since I was already feeling a little heaviness in my chest, and I was really glad to be done after the last one. I would like to run somewhat decently at Thursday's race so I'm going to take it super easy tomorrow and sleep a lot and hope to miraculously cure my cold. We'll see what happens!

Posted by becky at 10:12 PM | Comments (2)

November 21, 2005

So much to do and so little time

Even though I was supposed to be studying today, I had to "watch" the live coverage of NCAAs and that was a really fun distraction. I don't have time to write about what I thought of the races tonight as I have a paper to finish and a quiz to finish studying for, so I hope to remember to write about it tomorrow!

As for running, the back of my knee felt better when I woke up and fine on my run, which was only about an hour. It was sore again after that and especially after sitting all day. I'm a little worried but I hope it's just strained and not anything serious. I want to be able to race the turkey trot on Thursday since it's been so long since I did a short race. I also felt pretty tired on my run, not sure why--probably just one of those days.

Tonight I lifted a bit and then joined Matt at his business school class Thanksgiving dinner. It was okay--I was so hungry that I probably would have eaten anything at that point! After that I went to the MIT XC banquet celebrating the end of the season. I definitely felt a little like an outsider since I ended up joining the coaching staff pretty late in the game, but I'm glad I went.

OK, time to finish up my work and go to bed. Tomorrow's 8am class is going to be UGLY.

Posted by becky at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2005

Productive Sunday

First off, here's a shout out to my running partner Wynne who ran a PR in perfect Philadelphia weather conditions today!! Whoo-hoo! Hopefully we'll both be on the starting line in Boston.

I knew I wouldn't be able to wake up too early today after not going to sleep until 1am last night, but I wanted to be as productive as possible, so I set my alarm for 8. Of course I didn't actually get out the door for my run until 9, but I tried. It was great weather today; sunny and in the 50s. I have gotten used to wearing my sunglasses now on runs and I love not having to squint! I tried to explore a little today but ended up near the highway a little confused about how to get under it. I figured it all out and (eventually) ended up by the river near MIT. It was windier down there as usual, but as soon as I turned away from the water and back towards my place things were better. I still have some stiffness in my hip from last week's fall, but it's definitely healing. (Mary saw my gash today and said it looked like I had had surgery!)

When I got back from my run I felt like the back of my left knee was tight. I'm always worried about that area since I had popliteal tendonitis, a very painful injury, a couple of years ago. It generally comes from tight hamstrings and I admittedly have not been so great with the foam roller recently. I iced it too and hope it won't turn into anything major.

I worked on a paper for a few hours today and then I quickly ran up to Davis Square to pick up my number for my club's turkey trot on Thursday. I coordinated with Mary so that she did the first part of her run accompanying me to the number pickup. I haven't seen her in about a week so it was good to catch up.

I pretty much finished the paper I'm working on now so I'm all freed up to study all day tomorrow for a test I have on Tuesday. Great! I know I'm going to be distracted tomorrow waiting for NCAA XC results. I can't wait to see what happens. If Duke runs the way they've been all season, they should be a lock for the title, but you can never count Stanford out and both Michigan and ND have a ton of talent too! You just never know...

Posted by becky at 9:46 PM | Comments (1)

November 19, 2005

A nice run and a late night

A couple of weeks ago, one of the girls I met on the MIT XC team told me about her plan to run a marathon this spring instead of running track, and I told her I would be happy to join her on some long runs. She's just starting to train now and only had a 12 mile run to do this morning. I was tempted to do a little more but I'm reminding myself that having a few weeks of lower mileage is probably a good thing before ramping up again for Boston. (I'm almost sure I am going to do it. Or at least train for it and potentially opt out if the weather forecast sucks.) So anyway, I met L. and another girl from the team at MIT this morning for a run. I told them I would lead the way so they could run somewhere new for them.

My goal was to get us to the Mystic Lakes in Medford/Winchester and run around there a little, but by the time we got in view of the water it was time to head back. Still, I created a nice loop for us--it was mostly flat with a few hills toward the end. We were moving along at a pretty good pace and the weather was perfect (for me): very sunny with hardly any wind and probably in the high 30s during the run. I felt relaxed and my bruise and cut continues to improve.

Today I was supposed to start writing a paper but I found myself bogged down in the research phase. I was not nearly as productive as I had hoped. We left here at about 6:30 to go to a Vietnamese place downtown with two other couples who go to school with Matt. I don't really like Vietnamese food (cilantro alert) but Matt does so I have to give in sometimes! After dinner, we walked a few blocks to a nearby hotel where Sloan's "Fall Ball" was taking place. I wasn't sure how much fun it would be, but it was a very nice time. The best part was the dessert bar. They had all sorts of things (marshmallows, pretzels, fruit) to dip in white and milk chocolate fondue, plus lots of other goodies. The dancing and company was fun too, but dessert can make or break my night!

It's too late for me to be awake right now so off I go. Good luck to Wynne and any other Philly marathoners out there!

Posted by becky at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2005

Chilly!

Today was definitely the coldest morning of the fall so far. Almost cold enough for tights...but not yet. Tomorrow I might need them, though, since the temp is supposed to drop tonight...and then get back to 60 for the beginning of the week, never fear! :) So anyway, I brought my iPod with me for company today since I had a good jacket pocket to put it in. I haven't run with it for awhile because I've been lucky enough to have a lot of company lately! So it was nice for a change. I did one of my Tufts/Davis Square loops that I could practically do with my eyes closed, so nothing exciting there. I was glad to note that my hip/side injury feels a little better today, which could be due to some new antibiotic ointment that I bought yesterday.

I had a long day today after that, complicated somewhat by the fact that I broke one of our side headlights parallel parking behind a huge truck that had an equally huge bumper. Sigh. We're not keeping our car much longer and it already has a dent in it, but I don't want to get a ticket for having a broken light. Other than that drama, I basically sat on my butt in class for 4 hours in the morning and 1.5 in the afternoon. I miss my no Friday classes days! After class I went to get a manicure and pedicure (we have a business school ball tomorrow night) and then to visit my grandparents for a little while. I hope I cheered them up because they are pretty down right now about an ill friend.

We're staying in tonight to do work and relax. I love nerdy nights!

Posted by becky at 8:31 PM | Comments (1)

November 17, 2005

New variation on an old route

I didn't sleep all that well last night because when Matt came home from his usual Wed. night b-school event, I woke up with a start covered in sweat. Even the sheets were soaked--I have no idea what I was dreaming or why I was so hot, but it was very disconcerting. Once I changed out of my wet clothes I felt a lot better, but I was tossing and turning for a bit. I'm always worried about my wound and bruise on my hip, which wakes me from time to time. It definitely looks a little better, but it's still very uncomfortable. If it isn't better next week, I will go to Harvard's walk-in clinic and have someone take a look at it. I get very nervous about going to the doctor so I've been putting it off!

So I was sleepy when I headed out the door this morning at 6am, but I was glad to feel that the temperature and humidity had both dropped a lot and it really felt like fall again! I ran toward the river because it didn't seem too windy and out toward Watertown (but not quite TO Watertown) and looped back on a new, quiet road I found that divides one part of Mt. Auburn Cemetery from another. I was running a little late so I was definitely going faster on the last part. It was one of those nice, refreshing runs for a change.

I also ran a little bit on the treadmill in the afternoon just to get my legs moving after sitting all day. Then I briefly lifted. Oops, gotta run, a friend is over to work on a project!

Posted by becky at 6:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2005

My aching legs

Even though my track workout was short last night, it's been a few weeks since I had lactic acid buildup like that and I was very sore this morning. Not to mention stiff. It was good that I had told Wynne I'd run to her house to pick her up for a last run before she heads off to Philly for her marathon this weekend (perfect weather forecast by the way) because that was my motivation to get out of bed! I felt like my legs were creaking when I ran up the first few hills in the morning to get up to her place...but I felt slightly better once we started running together.

Then I just started to feel tired and I think both of us were sort of subconsciously picking up the pace, Wynne because she feels good and me because I felt Wynne doing it! Eventually we said to each other, "Are we hauling?" and both admitted that it would be nice to slow down a bit. I was still pretty beat by the time I got home, though. I didn't have classes today so I had time to take a little nap, which helped. When I wasn't napping or cleaning, I was doing work. I wasn't particularly productive though and it's going to be a looong weekend of spending time in front of my computer.

Later in the afternoon, I went to the gym to bike and lift and then went over to MIT practice up at the indoor track. My help was specifically requested today as the whole team (minus the XC people who are still on their recovery week) was doing an obstacle course involving hurdle jumping, high and long jumping, rope climbing and a little bit of running (200 meters). It was total chaos because no one new which station to go to next, etc., but it was fun, too. I don't feel like I helped out a whole lot, but I did what I was asked!

I picked up some Mexican food for dinner and now I'm giving myself an hour and a half to get some stuff done before I have to be in bed!

Posted by becky at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2005

Kicking off indoor track season

It was certainly not cold or winter-like today for the beginning of my running club's indoor track season. It was a little rainy, though, which made it nice to have somewhere lit and dry to run. But before I describe tonight's run, I'll back up to the morning, when I did a short run with Alison. Or rather, she ran part of my run with me and continued on her way. Since she is heading to NY for the rest of the week, it was good to catch up with her before she leaves.

The rest of my day was classes as usual for a Tuesday. I got a decent amount of sleep last night and was surprised to feel sleepy again in my research methods class. I do everything I can to keep myself awake (doodle, eat, drink water, etc.) but the subject matter is deadly boring! On the bus ride on the way home from school, I was talking with a classmate of mine who ran at Princeton. Another girl overheard us and said she was also a former collegiate runner and is looking for training partners while she's in med school. We exchanged emails and hopefully can get some long runs in together this winter. It's so funny how many people in health and medicine are avid (and competitive) runners.

When I got home from school I had just enough time for a quick nap and a snack and then it was time to run up to the Tufts indoor track. I went a new way to the track that I learned from Alison and it was nice for a change of pace. I thought it was a lot colder than it was and wore too many clothes on my warmup so I was burning when I got there. (What else is new?) Our workout was just a quickie to "get us used to the indoor track"--just 1,000, 2x600 and another 1,000, all at 2 mile race pace. I stuck as close to possible to the women I usually ran with in the fall and felt okay. It was a good workout to do as I'm coming back from the marathon since it was short and quick--just to get my legs moving. I remembered that I like running around the indoor track because I feel fast, but that it is so tight on the turns that it makes my legs sore.

My cool down run home was uneventful and it seems I just missed a downpour. It is already almost bedtime now and I feel like I just finished dinner.

One other note: Asics is discontinuing my shoes, the Gel-Evolution!! I knew it would happen because not many stores carry them. Anyone got a favorite motion control shoe?

Posted by becky at 9:31 PM | Comments (1)

November 14, 2005

Springlike fall run

This morning I met Mary for a run before she left for another weeklong trip for work--but this one is in NYC, so at least she can see her family while she's there too. I ran over to her place (maybe a half mile) and then we did an out and back run toward Fresh Pond and getting into Belmont for a mile or so. It was so warm out. It could have easily been a sports bra day, but I didn't want to tuck my shirt into my shorts because it would rub against my wound incurred by falling the other day. It seems like it's healing, but my hipbone is very bruised so that plays into it too. I'm lucky I didn't do any real damage since I fell pretty hard.

I had big plans to be very productive today, but I was reading some really boring stuff and found myself getting drowsy so I had to take a little nap. Later in the afternoon, I went to the gym and lifted (and biked briefly) and then up to the indoor track for the first official day of winter track practice at MIT. I met a lot of new people and got a taste of what the practices will be like. Most of the distance runners are taking time off between seasons right now, but a couple of the girls I knew from XC were there. I tagged along with the middle distance/distance group for a serious weight lifting session. A lot of the lifts were new to me so I tried a few out and I will definitely be sore tomorrow. It was fun, but practice took a long time and now I have a lot to do so I'm a bit stressed. It's so hard to balance everything, but I certainly enjoy the challenge!

Posted by becky at 8:44 PM | Comments (1)

November 13, 2005

Just an easy day (for real)

After my fall yesterday, Matt suggested that I take a day off today and go to the gym instead. But sitting hurts more than standing so I didn't want to bike, and the thought of getting my wound wet in the pool didn't appeal to me either. I promised I would do a short, easy run, and it wasn't at all hard to stick to that plan. My neck is probably the most sore from falling awkwardly, but my hip, side and knee all hurt too. Nothing hurts acutely, I was just very tight and sore throughout the run. I was glad to get back. (And a note on the weather today: last night was cold. This morning was mild. I'm tired of all these changes!)

Since I didn't do a stitch of work yesterday, I had a lot to do today. I read and worked on stuff for the majority of the day, then did some grocery shopping and made hamburgers for dinner. I had my usual feelings of guilt about not working out a second time, but I didn't think even lifting would be smart for all my weird muscle soreness. I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy as I continue to recover...and I'm trying.

I'm not sure how it got to be almost 8:30, but I'm going to go read one more article before it's time for the HBO Sunday shows.

Posted by becky at 8:15 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2005

A bit of a spill

I'm up way too late to do this story justice, but when Wynne and I were about 40 minutes into our run this morning, I tripped over something (my own two feet), went flying and ended up landing on my hip on the street, badly scraping my (other) knee in the process. The worst part was that I must have landed exactly on top of something sticking out the vest that I had tucked into my water belt--like one of those little plastic things that you use to make the bottom of jackets tighter (I don't know how to better explain it)--so that basically cut a little hole into my side. It stopped bleeding quickly so I don't think it's too serious, but it hurts a lot and I know it will be worse when I wake up tomorrow. I did end up finishing the run and wrapped it in gauze and Neosporin-type stuff as soon as I got home. I'm so squeamish that I don't really want to change the bandage! Yuck. I just hope I didn't really bruise my hipbone; it's hard to tell right now.

So that was an exciting start to the day. I met Audrey later on at Franklin Park for the NCAA D1 regionals. Obviously an exciting destination for me since I am such a college XC fan, but it was even better because it was Audrey's first time watching an XC meet! I was glad to have introduced her to the experience. The women's race wasn't super-exciting but the finish was surprising since BC, who were not even nationally ranked beat my dark horse NCAA podium prediction, Columbia, for the first automatic bid to nationals. Wow! I love how anything can happen in November during cross country season.

Tonight we went to my grandparents' for dinner so Matt's sister could get a chance to see them and then we met some friends out in Harvard Square. I'm up way past my bedtime which does not bode well for being productive during the day tomorrow!

Posted by becky at 8:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2005

A bit cold

It was a lot colder than I realized this morning and I wasn't dressed that well for my run. Actually, I think it was really just the wind--my ears started hurting me after about a mile and didn't really get much better. My noise was also running and I remembered how I am supposed to like running in the cold :) Don't worry, I still do, but not when it's windy and I'm not wearing enough clothes!

I also felt very tired today. I don't know if I could still be recovering from the marathon or what, but I was definitely dragging. I did not go very far and started wondering if I will ever feel like running for more than an hour again. (I'm planning to do a [short] long run tomorrow with Wynne, so I hope that this feeling is temporary!)

The rest of my day was pretty busy. A friend of mine from school came over to work on a project from about 11-4, and Matt's sister arrived for the weekend during that time too. My college roommate drove in from the 'burbs just before 5 and we went to dinner (with Matt and his sister too) at an Indian place near our apartment. We had to be quick because we were headed to the Cornell-Harvard hockey game at Harvard tonight--an annual event!

The game was really fun. We only saw a couple of people we knew (surprising) but Cornell won, 4-3! It's always fun because the number of Cornell fans greatly outnumber the number of Harvard fans, even though THEY are the home team! Everyone knows all the songs and cheers so it is a cool experience.

I'm really tired now so I'm going to get our guest room ready for our guest and head to bed myself! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Posted by becky at 11:01 PM | Comments (2)

November 10, 2005

Hungry run

I woke up when Matt came in last night (around 1am) feeling really hungry but too lazy to get up and make myself something to eat. I figured I would have enough time in the morning to eat something before I went running, but that was silly because I was meeting Wynne at 6:10. Of course I bolted out of bed at 5:50 and was hungry almost the whole run. Not the way I like to start my day!

Wynne and I ran to Alison'splace to meet her after the two of us met up. I don't think any of us were very awake for the first couple of miles. We did a loop around Medford and Tufts and came back through Davis Square--I've been doing a lot of variations on that route lately. After Wynne turned toward home, Alison ran me back to my apartment and then continued on her run. I ended up getting home a little later than I should have today and I was rushing around like a crazy person for the next half hour. (I made it to class just as it was beginning.)

I had class for the majority of the day and then I came home, intending to pick up the car and drive down to MIT for practice--I've been bad and haven't been in awhile. Just as I was about to leave, I got an email from the assistant coach who remembered that practice had been changed to 4pm instead of 5 today...so I missed it. I went down to the gym and biked and read for about 45 minutes. Then Matt and I went to pick up sushi, which is always a treat for me. Now we are vegging out watching Thursday night TV!

Posted by becky at 8:53 PM | Comments (1)

November 9, 2005

Nice and chilly, just how I like it

I decided that I was ready to run again with someone who did not just run a marathon, so I met up with Alison, who promised to go as slowly as I wanted. I felt a lot better and much more back to normal than I have the past couple of days. My quad soreness is virtually gone and I didn't feel as tired. Except on the one hill we went up, and then when we were almost done with the run. It's been a while since Alison and I have run together so we had fun catching up. And it was chilly enough to neccessitate wearing gloves, hooray!

I didn't have any classes today but I had a ton of reading to do for tomorrow, so I spent the majority of the day doing that. Matt came home around 3 to do some work before heading out to a basketball game and other debauchery tonight, so it was nice to see him for a bit! We are on very different schedules these days. I went to the gym in the late afternoon to lift and do a little biking, although I kept getting accosted to participate in some "bike for charity" event, so it wasn't too pleasant. I was having a fine old time listening to my iPod and reading New England Runner while I biked and I was not in the mood to be bothered. Plus, one of the charities they were raising money for was the National Rifle Association and I would never want to contribute to a place like that.

I did some more reading tonight and decided I am going to get to bed extra early because I know my body is still tired and I do not want to repeat Tuesday when I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open in any class. I miss reading for pleasure, which is what I want to do right now--but I haven't had time to start any new books. And MTV is always so tempting to fall asleep to...do they realize that their sappy teen shows appeal to people way outside their target demographic? :)

Posted by becky at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2005

A little less sore

I had an especially hard time getting out of bed this morning. From the moment I woke up, I felt more tired than I had yesterday! Strange--but it happens. Plus I had a whole day of classes ahead of me, and the thought made me sleepy. I did get out the door for a short run (about 40 minutes) and I felt less stiff and awkward than I did yesterday for sure. I ran across part of Harvard Yard, toward Fresh Pond and looped back via Brattle Street, where I always imagine all the distinguished Harvard and MIT professors live.

I made it back home with barely enough time to shower and make breakfast to go before I had to head off to class. I didn't feel so bad during my first class but then I nodded off on the (short) bus ride over to the PH campus and never fully woke up. It was especially challenging to be sleepy in a class with 4 people, but I tried my best to stay alert. In my third class, my eyes were closing no matter what I tried to do. I had contemplated biking for a little while at the gym on my way home from school, but being that tired I decided just to come home and relax. After all, this is the last Tuesday before my club's indoor track practices start, so I might as well enjoy the free time.

Mary and I met for dinner tonight to talk about NYCM and whatever else has been going on in our lives this week. It was a lot of fun. Now I am going to attempt to replace the battery in my iBook. Why I needed to purchase a new one after only having this one for a year and four months is a mystery, but according to the guy at the Apple Store, "it happens." Very reassuring!

Posted by becky at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2005

Sore but satisfied

I read today that the humidity at the start of yesterday's marathon was 97 percent. No wonder I felt so sluggish. Not that all performances can be blamed on the weather, but that makes me feel somewhat better about my sub-par run.

Anyway, I woke up today feeling pretty sore but not as bad as I've felt after past marathons. I'm always wary that soreness is really an injury, because after I ran Boston in 2002 (or 2003, I always forget) my knee was hurting me and I thought it would go away in a couple of days. And it didn't. Because it was really bad tenonditis incurred on the downhills on the course.

But I digress. I decided to jog slowly for about a half hour since that is usually what I like to do post-marathon. Mary and I were going to go for a walk later too but that never happened. I felt very sore and out of sync for about a mile, then a little better. But I could tell I was still pretty tired from yesterday and was glad to stop when I got back to my apartment. I meant to use the foam roller when I got back but I just realized I forgot, so I'll do that in a few minutes. It hurts so much when you are sore, though, so I'm kind of scared.

In between falling asleep a couple of times, I caught up on a lot of reading and a couple of assignments today. Being the exercise-a-holic that I am, I also biked a little at the gym, but easy enough so that I could devote full attention to People magazine. Not as juicy as US Weekly, but a little more meaty on the stories. Comparatively speaking.

Matt's staying late at school tonight to work on something, so I will probably be fast asleep by the time he gets home. He missed the cutest call from his grandparents tonight--they were looking through the marathon section in today's Times to try and find my name. I told them to look online instead and since Matt's grandfather is totally computer literate, he said he would do that. Their son-in-law (Matt's uncle) ran the marathon many times in the 80s so they have been spectators in the past. They are so great! (Not as great as my grandparents, but close.)

OK, going to bed!

Posted by becky at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2005

NCYM Post-mortem

The upshot of today was that it was very hot out there, I did my best to ignore it through 21 miles and then I just shuffled on in. I'm not very good at analyzing my performances when I'm disappointed (or even when I'm not) and I ran about 10 minutes slower today than I had hoped. Considering I did 75-85 mile weeks for about 20 weeks until tapering, plus I felt stronger and was faster in my speed work than I have been since college, I thought 3:25 or so was within my reach. Actually, I still think it is; today just wasn't a good day for it. It's not like 7:45 pace is completely out of the realm of my ability; in fact I would like to even improve upon that considering my shorter races and other indicators predict I should be able to run around 3:20 fairly comfortably.

Of course there is a huge mental component to marathons, especially since I hadn't done one for 2 years and rarely race anyway. Today I felt fairly relaxed at the start and pretty positive despite the weather. I was relieved to have Mary with me on the Verrazano because she had some last-minute stuff going on with her family that made it uncertain whether she would be able to run. Generally I think way too much about what is coming next in a long race and I definitely did that today! But I managed to hold it together until we turned onto 5th Avenue after going around Marcus Garvey Park. At that point, I probably should have eaten something but instead I just started slowing down and never really recovered. I kept reminding myself about all the miles and hard work I had put in but you know how it is--that nagging voice telling me it really doesn't matter won out. Despite slowing down I was suffering a lot during the last mile and that mean little uphill from 26 to 26.2 nearly killed me. But as soon as I stopped I felt okay--just angry at myself.

It took forever for me to find the Team for Kids reunion area, where Matt was waiting, because someone misdirected me and I missed an important sign. I walked out of my way for about 20 minutes and then finally found it. Once I got there, I sat down and realized that maybe I didn't feel so great at all. I was dizzy and nauseous and my vision was weird, all signs of dehydration for me. (I carried a frozen Gatorade bottle in my belt the whole time; Matt and I swapped for a new one at about mile 17.) It took a long time of just sitting, but eventually I felt okay enough to walk (slowly) across the park to where my parents were waiting in their car. I feel better now after sleeping in the car on the way home from Boston and nothing hurts, I'm just a little sore.

Here are the things I really enjoyed about my day today:

I'm sure there are more, but those are the neat things coming to mind right now.

And, a few things that I would like to change or work on:

Although I was disappointed today, it is not insignficant that--as my friend B. pointed out today--I trained well over the summer and made it to the starting line without any major injuries. That is of the utmost importance to me and I hope to continue my streak of healthiness! I will start by going to bed shortly since I've been up for way too many hours already today. Have a good week, everyone!

Posted by becky at 9:39 PM | Comments (10)

November 5, 2005

'It's hot out there...'

If one more person I talk to (or overhear) exclaims how warm it is out today and supposed to be tomorrow, I'm going to scream! Since the marathon is such a big event here in NY, even the weathermen mention how the weather's supposed to be "a little warm" for a marathon. But it's going to be what it's going to be. And I will not do anything stupid like go out fast (usually I have the opposite problem anyway.)

This morning I ran one of our old high school training loops. It felt so long back then but I don't think we ever did much more than 4 miles! I felt okay today except for this headache that is persisting despite Advil (this morning) and Aleve (this afternoon.) After my run my dad drove me down to the Javits Center to pick up my number and chip. It was surprisingly calm there and I was in and out in about 15 minutes. The only thing I bought was a Nike t-shirt because I have one from Chicago and one from Boston (the Quick Chick ones.)

Now I've got to go do some work or take a nap; I haven't decided. Thanks for everyone's best wishes and I'll let you know how it goes!

Posted by becky at 3:42 PM | Comments (1)

November 4, 2005

Anticipation

Tonight is supposed to be an important nice of sleep (2 nights before race day) so I am going to make this snappy! It has been a long day. I did a nice, easy short run this morning and felt decent but still like I am fighting something; my throat has been a little scratchy since then. (I can't dwell on it though and I'm sure my nerves are making it worse. I just keep thinking how I kind of felt this way before Chicago in 2003 and it didn't go well.)

I had class in the morning although we got out early because the professor had to go make a presentation. That worked out well since it gave me enough time to go home, pack the car and drive to my second class over at the public health campus. Matt met me there at around 2 (I snuck out of that second class early) and we headed to New York. We got caught in some random traffic on the way to the Mass Pike and then were fine all the way until Stamford, when we hit rush hour. We usually get off in Westchester but tonight we were going to a Team for Kids event at the Armory. Once we got to the Bronx, the traffic was just awful because we were headed straight toward the George Washington Bridge. We ended up getting off the highway in a not-so-nice area of the Bronx and eventually finding our way into Manhattan and the Armory. (It was highly stressful!)

The event was very nice and my co-workers said some great things about me--I was touched. And we heard from Kathrine Switzer, which was cool. We also got some last minute tips about the NYC course, which of couse made me nervous! Now we're back at my parents' for some much-needed rest!

Posted by becky at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)

November 3, 2005

Quick local loop

It was chilly this morning. I was happy about that but it made me think, "Well, it won't be like this for the marathon..." since I have a one track mind lately. Wynne ran down from her place today to accompany me on my four mile jaunt as part of her run. We did a very boring loop that involved Mass. Ave. and a teeny bit of the bike path. My legs didn't feel as good as I had hoped; in fact they were a little sore. I certainly didn't do anything fast yesterday on the track and I'm not even usually sore from track, so I was a little perplexed. I tried to stretch out well afterwards and I'm pretty sure a lot of my aches and pains and tiredness this week is due to nerves. (Shocker!!)

After my long day of classes, I finally made it to MIT practice, but there wasn't too much going on. The top 7 group was doing grass loops and I chatted with the head coach for awhile. They have one more meet (next weekend) and then it's time to transition to track season already. How time flies!

Tonight I'm packing and working out logistics for the weekend. These are the things that stress me out to no end so I better get cracking!

Posted by becky at 7:44 PM | Comments (2)

November 2, 2005

Morning run and then a day spent reading

After things had been looking better weather-wise for this weekend, T. emailed me today to say he had seen a forecast of 70 and thunderstorms. I was wailing about that to Matt and he (clearly tired of hearing this for days now) asked me if there was some other marathon I could do this month. I reminded him about Philly (which I did in 2002 and enjoyed a lot) but in all honesty, I've been training for so long now that I really just want to get it over with and stop worrying. But in the future, if temps in the 70s become the norm for early November (and early April in Boston!) I will set my sights on a better-timed raced.

With that being said, the taper continues. I met Wynne near the Tufts track this morning and we jogged over there together. It was a little chilly, the type of weather where your body is fine but your hands are cold. (Which I wouldn't mind for Sun. just to throw that in there :) I did a run that our track club coach had suggested to all of us fall marathoners back when Twin Cities was coming up. It was a continuous 3 mile run but broken up into 6 800s where you started at marathon pace and cut each one by 4 seconds. (Wynne did some 800s at a much speedier pace.) It was strange to try and not run fast on the track but not totally jog the last 200 either to make up time. It went by quickly and I felt okay, not like I was jogging but not like I was hauling either. After we were done at the track we jogged toward both of our houses and we were both all clammy and feeling crappy. I stood around a little bit waiting for Wynne to finish her workout so that could be part of the reason why I didn't feel so hot. I was glad to get home and into the hot shower.

I spent way too many hours reading for class today. I hope it at least pays off and I'm able to make good comments in my 4-person class tomorrow! I resisted the temptation to go bike or run a couple of miles with MIT XC peeps this afternoon because I know it isn't going to help me now and also because Matt had the car and I was feeling lazy about taking the bus. I haven't been to MIT practice yet this week partially because I don't want to tempt myself to run too much and partially because my workload is a little crazy! I hope to make it there tomorrow.

Posted by becky at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2005

Just a run

Today was the first day I've had to run early since we changed the clocks back and I was shocked to see how light it was at 6am! I always get confused about that stuff but now I realize that it makes sense that it isn't as dark out as it was in weeks past--hooray! Although there is something nice about going out in the dark; you feel like you're the only one out there sometimes.

I felt a little better than yesterday on my run but still on the sluggish/lethargic side. I'm not a believer in the whole "tapering makes you sluggish" phenomenon and I'm still convinced I'm either getting a cold or I peaked too early. (If I don't have something to worry about, all is not right with me.) My run was uneventful except for the observation that too many people were wearing winter coats when the forecast was summery.

I had a long day of classes today, which I'm going to have to get used to since it repeats itself on Thursday. One class is tiny--there are only 4 other people in it, which is small even for my program. It's kind of neat though because it will force me to keep up with the work and and contribute in class! The professor recently got her doctorate from our school and seems receptive to our suggestions on how to make the class better, which is always a good sign.

Tomorrow morning I'm doing a light workout with nothing too much faster than marathon pace. I would have done it tonight with the usual group but there is no club track practice this week and next. I am planning to meet Wynne in the morning at the track--we will be doing different workouts but it is always good to have company!

Posted by becky at 10:50 PM | Comments (1)