« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »
December 31, 2005
Last long run of the year
I always like knowing that I'm in the midst of my last run of the year. I have a pretty good collection of running logs (almost 10 years at this point) and I am generally eager to begin a new one. I didn't run every day of 2005 (because of my achilles tendonitis) but I definitely did something aerobic every day, a streak I've kept going for a few years now. (There was one day in 2001 or 2002 when I missed a day because we had just flown into Italy and the timing was all screwy, but aside from that I'm good.)
Anyway, back to this morning's run. I met A near a trailhead that she told me about. She's been running on this trail for years but I never noticed it, despite driving by a million times! We planned to go for 2:30 and I am happy to report that the pace was a lot more reasonable than yesterday. We did a ~20 minute loop on these rocky and slippery trails--but very scenic--and then did an out-and-back on the cinder trail that follows the Hutchinson River Parkway . We repeated the beginning trail loop at the end and were still about 12 minutes short of 2:30, so we just did a quick out-and-back on the road close to where we had parked.
Some of the trails were mucky and a little treacherous (I twisted my ankle pretty badly when we were almost back) but I really enjoyed the run. I felt much better and more energetic than I have in the past few days and I was so glad to have company on my long run. It was also great to learn about this huge network of trails right under my nose! The predicted snow started falling about a half hour before we finished our run and there were these huge flakes coming right at us. It stopped when I was driving home, but it was beautiful while it lasted. I think A and I were both very glad to have had (good!) company on our runs this week while we were home.
Matt and I are going into the city now where we will have dinner tonight with some friends in Brooklyn and then ring in the New Year on our balcony (or by the windows if it's cold). I'm not a huge New Year's Eve fan but our first "date" was 7 years ago in that very apartment to celebrate this very occasion!
Happy New Year to all!
Posted by becky at 1:06 PM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2005
Shoreline tour
A drove over to Matt's mom's house again this morning to meet me for a run (yay!). I always let her pick the route since she's so much more familiar with distances and geography (and topography, for that matter) and she took me on a run she has obviously done a million times. I knew this because if I didn't pay close attention to her body language, I would have missed a lot of sharp turns! We basically followed the shoreline of the Long Island Sound for about half of our run and then came back on the streets of Larchmont. It wasn't as hilly a run as the one on Monday, but I felt pretty crappy for the first few miles. I ate a decent amount before I left, so I'm not sure if it was just that we started out too fast (definitely a possibility) or that my legs are still adjusting to hillier terrain (makes me nervous that I have completely lost my hill legs.) In any case, I started to feel better later on in the run but was very glad when we were done. We are running long tomorrow so of course I am apprehensive that I am going to get that same rubbery-legged feeling I've had on other runs this week. We'll see what happens.
I spent most of the rest of the day shopping. Or mostly trying on things and leaving empty-handed. I need a suit for an upcoming interview thing, but I have always hated traditional suits, so I am looking for something that I will want to wear again. Many of the stores I went to had good sales, but I didn't find anything that I liked enough to buy. I did manage to get a few baby gifts that Matt and I have been meaning to get for a while.
Tonight we had dinner at Matt's dad's house with his grandparents and had yet another Chanukah celebration. It was fun. Now we're back in our usual positions on the couch vegging out!
Posted by becky at 9:48 PM | Comments (2)
December 29, 2005
Hudson River hills
I woke up to the sound of pouring rain this morning, which made it even harder than usual to get out the door. I ate a little breakfast and watched to see if the rain was getting lighter, but it really wasn't. I borrowed a baseball cap from my dad and headed out. I decided to run toward the "Rivertowns" today--my town is on the fringe of being called one, but the real three that are right on the Hudson are Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington. I ran about 2 miles downhill and noticed that my legs felt very weak and wobbly, like low blood sugar. I stopped at a convenience store and bought a Luna bar (thankfully I remembered to put a couple of bucks in my pocket) and that helped almost instantaneously. I still didn't feel excellent, but definitely better after that. I ended up running a little longer than I intended, with A LOT of big hills. Good Boston training, but they made me tired!
I didn't do much except hang out at home today and then got a manicure and pedicure. I was feeling antsy after that so I went for a quick second run. It was uneventful but a little spooky because it was getting dark.
We're going to a movie now so I must end here!
Posted by becky at 6:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 28, 2005
Not one of my best workouts
Even though I do all my regular runs in the morning, I have yet to have a decent track workout in the morning. This problem also has to do with the fact that when I do workouts in the morning, I'm generally by myself and not with my usual group. This morning I actually met up with A at the local high school track (where she ran in her glory days as a Mamaroneck Tiger :) but we were doing different workouts. Still, it helped just to have someone else there as a co-sufferer (and cheerleader).
It was warm again (high 40s) which was lucky since we were outdoors. I'm sure there are parts of the winter when the track is unusable because of ice or snow, but that was certainly not the case today! I jogged over to the track plus a little extra to get in a decent warmup, and then we both started our workouts. Mine was 3x400 at repeat pace (same pace as 200s last week--supposedly) and 4x1,000 with 800 at interval pace and the last 200 at repeat pace. I was way too fast on the first 400 and then way too slow on the second. The third one was okay, but at that point I could tell that the rest of it was going to be really painful. I was consistent on the 1,000s, but about 10 seconds slower than I thought I would/should be. I'm not sure if it was being on the outdoor track, or not having anyone to pace with for a lot of it, or just having tired legs...either way I was kind of bummed when I finished. I knew I probably wouldn't feel like running again tonight so I did kind of a extended cool down, probably about 4.5 miles or so. I was so dead when I got home and I had a headache that has been off and on all day.
I hung out with my family for the rest of the day, including going to the gym with them again. It was only a couple of hours after my track workout and I wasn't really in the mood to do much, but at least I lifted. My mom and sister and I went shopping after that for a few hours and now we are just relaxing at home (Matt's in the city tonight). I feel sort of guilty that I've been a bit low on mileage this week and not running twice a day but it's hard when you're not at home and you have other things you want to do, too! Plus my legs have been really tired so I thought giving them a rest tonight would be a good idea. I hope it helps!
Posted by becky at 7:53 PM | Comments (1)
December 27, 2005
Crappy run
Every so often, I (and probably most other runners out there) have an inexplicably crappy run. Today was certainly one of those days for me. I don't know if it was just tired legs after doing more hills than usual yesterday or something I did at the gym when I was showing my parents some machines, but I was really dragging this morning. I also overdressed. I was all ready to put on my shorts and head out the door, but I checked Accuweather and it informed me that the good old "real feel" was 21 degrees. My dad, who had just been out to get the paper, concurred that it was cold and windy. So I put on tights and felt really warm the whole time. Not a terrible thing, but of course I don't like being too warm because it makes me sweat more.
To top it all off, my right hamstring was sore right at the top near my butt. That's from something I showed my sister at the gym, but it's okay because I am trying to strengthen my hammies. But the fact that it was only sore on one side is curious. (In case anyone's wondering, I'm doing my track workout tomorrow since I'm not in Somerville with my posse--sniff, sniff.)
Matt and I spent some time today catching up on email and making plans for our trip to DC. I have more people to email tomorrow since I got sidetracked with a phone call from a friend who just got engaged. (I'm so used to people calling with news that they are pregnant these days, I thought maybe she had skipped a step and gone straight to that.)
Later in the day, we got an afternoon snack at Walter's, a Mamaroneck hot dog legend that A. described well in her blog. Yum! Then we did a couple of errands and rented two movies. Finally, I ellipticalled for a bit while watching mindless MTV shows and giving Matt some lifting tips (he's trying!) Not too eventful, but a good day nonetheless.
Now we're off to watch the aforementioned rented movies, at least until I fall asleep!
Posted by becky at 8:47 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2005
Sloshing through the trails
I hardly ever have company when I'm home in Westchester, so it was really nice to be able to run with A today. Having grown up in the same town as Matt, she knows the area a lot better than I do, so I pretty much just followed her lead today. We started our run from Matt's mom's house and headed to the Leatherstocking Trail. Most of it was wet but not too slippery, but then we got on the southernmost part of it and it was like running through a muddy river in parts. I was just glad my shoes didn't get stuck and fall off! We ended up running nearly 10 miles and I had a really nice time. We plan to meet up for a few more runs this week and coordinate our track workouts on Wed.
I relaxed for awhile at home in the afternoon and then met the rest of my family at the new gym they joined. I biked for a bit and then lifted while showing my parents and sister a couple of machines that I thought they would enjoy using. Then Matt and I went over to my parents' house for dinner with my (NY) grandma. All six of us then went to see "Brokeback Mountain." It was a little slow at times but definitely different than your usual Hollywood blockbuster.
Now we're flipping between football and wrestling on TV. It's not hard to tell that we're on vacation!
Posted by becky at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2005
Hungry Xmas run
I was kind of dreading running this morning because I knew I didn't eat enough for dinner last night. It wasn't intentional--my grandmother just made weird things and all were dairy because she's kosher and you can't have milk and meat together. So everything was eggs and milk and cheese, and there's only so much of that I can have without starting to feel ill! Matt and I were both thinking that we left there hungry, but we didn't have much in the fridge and everything was closed. So we settled for popcorn during the two movies we watched ("Shattered Glass"--excellent and "In Good Company"--cute but stupid). I was still kind of hungry when I went to sleep and I knew I would be lacking energy this morning.
The run wasn't actually that bad. It was still pretty mild out but today my hands got cold. I ran to Harvard Square and then along Memorial Drive to Watertown. (I guess it's not Mem. Drive there anymore, it's Greenough Blvd.) But anyway--if I had felt better I would have made a bigger loop back through Belmont, but I could feel myself getting low blood sugar-ish and there's really no way (for me) to recover from that without having a meal. The run only ended up being an hour and if I have a chance later, I will use the elliptical at Matt's mom's house and get in a little lifting. But considering we haven't left Boston yet and my parents are coming over to his mom's house at 6, it's seeming more and more unlikely. We'll see.
I think we're almost ready to hit the road so I'm going to finish packing up. Merry Christmas!
Posted by becky at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2005
It doesn't feel like Christmas
The Christmas "heat wave" continues here in New England. It was already in the mid-40s when I left for my run this morning and my long sleeve shirt only stayed on until about 10 minutes into the run. As I mentioned yesterday, I brought my iPod with me since I was solo today, and I was really glad to have it. I always make sure to keep it at a moderate enough volume so that I can say hi to other runners and hear their greetings, too. Actually, one woman I was about to pass today suddenly stopped short to cross the street and obviously had her music turned way up because she got so scared when she turned to look at the traffic and she looked right at me coming toward her. Of course she acted like I was the one in the wrong. That's a little holiday spirit for you! :)
I headed toward Winchester and the Mystic Lakes for my run today since I always feel comfortable there, even by myself. There were a lot of runners out since the weather was so nice. I wanted to run just 2 hours today since I'm going to start my "official" marathon training schedule next week and it'll be awhile before I run much less than 2:30. Plus I was by myself and I couldn't get excited about doing too much more than that. Anyway, I ran to the Medford/Arlington line and then around the Lakes and I knew I was going to be short if I went straight back. So I was going to get on the bike path near Arlington Center but that part did not have a clear path carved out--it was still icy and melting, making it pretty slippery. Instead I ran on Mass. Ave. for awhile and picked up the path closer to the Alewife T Station. Then I ended up running by the Fresh Pond Mall and back to my place through Harvard Square. It was basically a really big loop and the timing ended up being perfect. Despite my worries about running alone, I ended up having a nice run and feeling pretty good. My only complaint was that my adductors (or abductors? the inner ones) were achy. Not sure why.
Matt and I spent more than 2 hours cleaning after I came home today and I'm pretty pleased with the result. It had been way too long since we did that.
We're heading to my grandparents' shortly for an early dinner, so I'm going to run and finish up a couple of things.
Posted by becky at 3:41 PM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2005
Finished with fall (semester)
I finished my paper last night (and not too late, either) and then got a project writeup done this afternoon. So now I'm officially done with all academic obligations for the semester! Funny that the last real day of the fall semester brought more fall-like weather than we've had in the past few weeks. I was ready for the warm(ish) weather in my shorts when I went running this morning, of course, but I wished I hadn't brought my gloves after a couple of miles. I must admit that it was nice not to have tingly, freezing hands, though. My legs have been really sore and tired after Tuesday's 200s, so I took an easy and short day today. It was an uneventful run except for the weather :)
I finally got around to cleaning half the apartment today and the rest will (hopefully) get done tomorrow. After my cleaning rampage, I went over to my friend's house and we finished the aforementioned project writeup. We went to get our nails done afterwards to celebrate being finished and then met Matt near Kendall for pizza. Matt and I went to see "The Squid and the Whale" after dinner, a movie we had both wanted to see for a couple of months now. It definitely had that "typical" independent movie feel, and was a little predictable at times, but it was a very touching look at divorce. It took place near Prospect Park in Brooklyn, site of many of my summer runs.
I am dreading doing my long run tomorrow. I've been spoiled by having company on every long run I can remember except one in September! Hopefully my iPod will help me through it.
Happy holiday weekend!
Posted by becky at 11:34 PM | Comments (3)
December 22, 2005
Almost done
I had hoped to finish my last paper last night, but when I knew it wasn't going to happen, I decided to go to bed at a (fairly) reasonable hour so I could make the most of today. My legs still felt a little sore running today, but definitely better than they did yesterday. I met Alison and P at about the midpoint between our places. I didn't really have a route in mind today, and P turned off soon after we started to head another way, so we ran in the general direction of the river. Our route was not the most scenic, and that's putting it mildly. Things were a lot quieter when we got down near the Museum of Science and ran along the (Cambridge side of ) the river path. Once we had to come back through Central Square and cross Mass. Ave. again, things got trafficky and ugly again. So it was kind of a stop-and-go run, but I never really mind where I run too much unless I feel really bad and then I never want to run in that place again :)
Both Alison and I are going away for the holidays and then Matt and I are going to DC for awhile, so it will be a couple of weeks before we'll meet up again for one of our morning runs. It's been really nice to have company on practically every run!! I am not looking forward to running on my own for the next 2 weeks.
I finally had my last day of classes today. We had pretty informal but thought-provoking discussions in both of the classes I had, so that made things interesting. I was glad when the day was over but I still have this paper hanging over my head, so I wasn't totally filled with joy. Hopefully that will happen tonight!
I procrastinated getting back to the computer by going for a run with Mary tonight. It was nice and easy and actually a bit longer than I intended, but we were talking so much that I did not really look at my watch (plus it was getting dark or dark the whole time). Anyway, it was relaxing and fun to catch up with her.
Dinnertime! I really need to stop ordering in and get back to cooking. :)
Posted by becky at 6:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2005
More sore than usual
As predicted, those 200s from last night took their toll on me. I also went to bed really late because I was working on something. The two combined did not make for a very enjoyable run this morning. Alison didn't say she minded my constant complaining about my legs...so maybe she didn't. Or maybe she was just being polite. In any case, we ran around Fresh Pond. While we were there, I saw a woman from Somerville Road Runners doing a loop as well. She is exactly my pace and did the 200s with us so I couldn't believe how well she was moving compared to me! I don't usually get very sore, so I shouldn't have been so jealous :) We also ran into a friend from school on the way back to the Harvard Square area. I felt so popular today!
I was somewhat productinve during the afternoon and then I convinced Matt to come play basketball while I lifted. I think he was glad he played (it's been a while) and it was nice for me to have company going to and from the gym. We grabbed burittos on the way home and although he is heading out for awhile, I will be working on my last paper for the semester tonight. I'm already really tired, though. I hope I get some good stuff done!
Posted by becky at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2005
It's going to be a long night...
...so this will be a short entry. I have to finish a paper tonight. As usual, I'm totally not in the mood. And track tonight tired me out a lot more than I expected it would: we did 16x200 with 30 seconds rest (it felt like none at all). We weren't running that fast, but we were consistent. My right hip started bothering me after the first one, I'm not sure why. It felt okay running home but now it is kind of achy--I hope I didn't pull anything.
My other running today was done in the morning with Alison--she ran down to my place and then we did about a loop that was about 4 miles or so, maybe a bit more. We ran down Mass. Ave. until we got to MIT and then circled back around there. It was a little different, for a change. And very sunny.
That's pretty much it for me, but another enjoyable part of my day was when I bumped into Audrey in the cafeteria and we had lunch together. I haven't seen her much this semester and am looking forward to having a couple of classes with her in the spring!
Posted by becky at 9:24 PM | Comments (1)
December 19, 2005
Looking for Bunker Hill
Alison and I have been discussing the fact that we are tired of running the same routes all the time, so she suggested that we run to Charlestown and Bunker Hill today and explore around there. We eventually did find our way there, but it involved a lot of map-checking and crossing of (very) busy roads during rush hour. I've never been to Charlestown though so I was glad to be able to check it out--it is a lot cuter than I thought. And very hilly! We probably did more hills today (most of them short though) than I've done in quite some time. Overall it was one of those adventure runs where you're really relieved to get back to recognizable territory! I also felt a little less tired today than I did yesterday, which was good. However, when I came home, I showered and ate breakfast and everything and then had to take a quick nap to wake myself up.
I spent most of the day working on a paper (still another one to go after this that I haven't even thought about yet) and then went to lift at the gym. I thought MIT would be dead since this is finals week, but it was super-crowded. I bought an US Weekly to read on the bike because I wanted to totally zone out and not think about school stuff. It worked! It seemed like every story was about a celebrity breakup, though. Who wants to read about that?
I just made us some salmon and now I'm going to see how long I can last at the computer. Let the good times roll.
Posted by becky at 7:56 PM | Comments (2)
December 18, 2005
Too much computer time
Ugh. I am very tired from sitting at the computer all day, so this will be very quick so I can look at something else for an hour or so before I go to bed. I ran to Alison's place this morning to meet her for our run. We were trying to go somewhere a little bit different than where we've been in the past few days but many of the sidewalks are still icy, so we continue to be limited. Today we hit an especially bad patch of ice in Arlington near the Somerville border. I continue to be impressed that Alison hasn't fallen yet, and that I've only fallen once (I'm probably jinxing it now.) Both of us complained that our legs were tired today, probably from the combination of running more than 2 hours yesterday and treading carefully on the ice for so many days in a row.
The exciting part of the run (for Alison) came when she spotted a pile of pennies in front of someone's house on Broadway near Teele Square. She gives new meaning to the term "penny pincher" as she proceeded to stop running and pick up every penny she could see. I would have helped but my hands were pretty cold and unusable at that point. It was impressive--I hope she can afford that extra piece of gum now :)
I have not left the house all day since that time--sad but true. I intended to go grocery shopping but decided to put that off until tomorrow. I wanted to go to the gym and lift but it was hard to give up another couple of hours...plus the MIT gym is on "Winter Break" hours meaning that it closes at 4 on the weekends. My parents are thinking about joining a gym (I never thought I'd see that) in Westchester so hopefully I'll have somewhere to lift when we're home for a bit after Christmas. Sneaking in with my sister's ID is usually useful, too.
But I digress...anyway, I finished one take-home final exam and now have 2 papers left. The end is in sight...but not close enough.
Posted by becky at 10:39 PM | Comments (2)
December 17, 2005
Shorts day--but maybe not such a good idea?
Since it was so much more seasonable outside today (or at least the high temperature was), I decided to wear shorts this morning. All in all I was happy with that decision, but right when I started running, I turned down a side street that I didn't realize was icy and fell really hard on my leg. Because of the shorts, it was really obvious that I had wiped out. (It's looking much better now but will probably be a lovely bruise tomorrow.) I was a lot more careful the rest of the way--some roads were better than others but there are definitely still a lot of icy spots left out there.
So the details: Alison and I met at Wynne's building this morning and the three of us set off for a long run, knowing we'd have to be really careful because of the remaining ice. We went through Harvard Square and over the Eliot (? maybe) Bridge to Allston. We went through Allston and then Brookline to get to Jamaica Pond. We were going to attempt to run around the Pond at least a little, but that was not meant to be as we almost killed ourselves as soon as we got on the path. We decided to go back across the river a different way and it turned out to be a lot less icy (except for the bridge near MIT, which was also incredibly windy.) Alison and I ran Wynne home, then she ran me home, then she (finally) went home herself. It worked out well because we all ran the amount we wanted to (about 2 hours, 2:15 and 2:30). I can't believe that I will soon be going out for 3 hour runs all the time...but hopefully I'll keep feeling pretty good. Right now the back of my knee is sore again from running on the ice. Whenever I "hold back" my stride--either on the ice, snow or on the treadmill, it bothers me.
I worked on a final exam for the rest of the day today...and still have loads more of it to do. But we're being social tonight too and going to dinner and making an appearance at a party. Off to go get ready!
Posted by becky at 5:34 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2005
Slip-sliding away
When I woke up, the guy on the radio was saying it was a little icy outside but temperatures were rising so quickly that it wasn't too bad. That's why I bounded right out the door and down the street and almost fell right off the bad. It was, in fact, probably the worst conditions in quite some time. The least slippery part was the middle of the roads where the rain had started to puddle, but obviously that is not ideal for safety. The sidewalks were awful. But Alison had planned to meet knowing the weasther forecast and I knew she would be out there too. Basically we shuffled the whole way and tried to avoid killing ourselves. I don't know how I stayed on my feet the whole time, because there were several times I thought I was going down for sure. We pretty much did a few out and back loops on the safest roads. I was glad that we were at least a pair to look out for one another a little bit.
Toward the end of the run, my hands got really cold and started killing me. This has been happening a lot lately and I just bought a pair of gloves that seem a little warmer--hopefully that will help. Today I took off my gloves to see if that would help but it was horrible. I couldn't do anything, including put my key in the door, for a few minutes after I got back. And then I just had to sit with my hands under the heater until they thawed out. Ouch!
While I was in the shower this morning, the power went out in our building. I finished up and did everything I needed to by the little daylight that there was. I needed to drive to school today to make it over to my other campus in time after my first class, but our garage door is electrically operated. Luckily a bunch of us lined up in the garage and one of the building workmen opened it manually. I was still late for class, though.
We did a good job on our presentation today, so that's one weight lifted off of me now. However, I sill have a long way to go...
Posted by becky at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2005
Not as cold...but it's all relative
I think the real feel this morning was maybe 10 rather than 4 degrees. And the sun was shining brightly. Plus, the high for the day was in the 30s, so it was getting warmer as we ran. Whatever the reason, even Alison agreed that it wasn't quite as frigid out as yesterday. We checked out the condition of the Minuteman bike path today and were glad to see that it was pretty clear at least into Arlington, where we turned off to head back to the Medford/Somerville area. I felt kind of blah today. No specific complaints, just not very perky. But luckily I did not have my 8am class today so we at least could go a little bit later than the crack of dawn, giving me an extra hour or so of sleep.
I had two classes today and went to a lunchtime talk in between, seduced by the prospect of free food. I got there a little late so all that was left was salad (actually lettuce) but then some pizza arrived. I'm not usually a big pizza-for-lunch person, but I had my Lactaid pills with me and it smelled good, so what the hell. Free lunch is free lunch, right?
Tonight I did a nice, relaxed run with Mary. I didn't have too much time so it wasn't very long, but it was good to see her as always. Now I'm waiting for my friend to come over so we can finish working on our presentation for tomorrow morning. All my work is preventing me from being able to watch the finale of The Apprentice tonight...go Randal! (He's an MIT guy...)
Posted by becky at 5:45 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005
Sliding around
I had forgotten how icy most of the sidewalks around here are when I was in Philadelphia. Chances are it'll warm back up into the 40s or 50s soon (weren't temperatures on New Year's Eve last year in the 60s?) and a lot of the icy patches will melt, but for now, it's still hard to get going at a normal pace. Plus this morning was exceptionally cold. I didn't check the temp before I left, but it was as cold as it's been all season--probably in the low teens or single digits. I bundled up a lot, for me! I was glad to be meeting Alison especially because people tend to give you a lot of strange looks when you run by yourself when it's this cold. I don't notice as much when I had company. Plus Alison and I hadn't run since last week because we were each away for a few days, and we had a lot of running news to catch up on! (Foot Locker, Zeigle-gate, etc.) We went to Fresh Pond and around it, coming back through Danehy Park instead of the exact same way we had run there.
I didn't have classes today so I worked on a short paper and my major project that we are presenting on Friday. Matt had to go to school around 4, so I drove him and stopped at the gym to look for my lost hat and gloves (no dice) and lift. I heard everyone talking about how they were almost done with finals and going home for break soon. I was jealous!!
Matt's out tonight so I just made myself dinner (well, okay, Whole Foods helped a bit) and am about to get back to work with the Indigo Girls singing in the background. They have calmed me down about work and running and other worries ever since I was a freshman in high school!
Posted by becky at 7:17 PM | Comments (1)
December 13, 2005
Cuss the coach 2
Wow, I feel like I've had a really long day, and it's not over yet. Liz and I did a short run in Philly this morning and we managed to keep it pretty scenic and safe, staying mostly in the Center City and Society Hill areas. It was cold by mid-Atlantic standards and even for me this morning--about 17 degrees. However, I knew it would have been even colder in Boston! I felt decent but not great on the run--I woke up with a sore throat again and I feel like I am getting another cold. It could just be lack of sleep effects since I have not slept well for two nights in a row, but I wouldn't be that surprised if I do end up getting sick.
My friend Steph and I stayed at the conference until about 2 and then we shared a cab to the airport. We got to attend two more sessions before we left, one of which was good and one of which was unfortunately a waste of time. Our flight back was blissfully empty and arrived ahead of schedule. We live pretty close to each other so we shared a cab back to our houses too. I got home just in time to go to track (yes, I planned it that way.) I might not have been so keen to go to track if I knew it would be a "whistle workout" day. It was freezing running up there and coming back, and the workout itself was not one of my faves. Basically our coach blows a whistle when we are supposed to run hard and then again when we are supposed to do our recovery (this was known as "Cuss the coach" in my high school.) The length of time we were running hard was not too bad, but then when it was over we were surprised to hear him tell us to do a hard 1,200! Ugh--it was so painful, especially the last 200. But in the end I was glad to have made it back in time.
Sadly, I have even more work to do than ever upon my return from Philly. Ugh.
Posted by becky at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2005
Philly run
This morning Liz and I did a loop around Philly, where we are staying for a public health conference. We used to run together a lot when we both lived in DC but it's been a long time since we've seen each other other than at weddings, let alone run together. It would have been even more fun if we didn't have to go so early (we were supposed to go at 6 and ended up getting out a little later than that.) It was fairly dark out for the first half of the run so I was really glad we were together. We found our way to Kelly Drive along the river and just did an out-and-back. There were a few icy patches but it was nice to not have to worry about the piles of snow like in Boston! We ran for about 6 miles or so, then I dropped Liz off at our hotel so she could get ready for her presentation this morning and I did a couple (or 3?) more miles through downtown Philly and the Society Hill area. It was an okay run; my legs are still a bit tired for no real reason. But getting to run with Liz was definitely the highlight!
I spent most of the day at meeting sessions, some of which were interesting and some of which were boring. Liz and I and my other friends from school had lunch at Reading Terminal, which was crazy, crowded and fun. Then it was time for more sessions and another big cup of coffee. By the time 4pm rolled around, I was not in the mood to listen to anymore academic talks, so I headed to the hotel gym to bike a little and lift. I even finished an article I had to read for school on the bike.
Tonight we went to a reception for Harvard students and alums (pretentious, but a good way to make some connections with VIPs in the public health world) and then to a quick near Rittenhouse Square--in fact at the same restaurant where we went before I ran the Philly marathon a few years ago! Anyway, time for bed...
Posted by becky at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2005
Inexplicably sore legs
As soon as I started running this morning, my legs felt heavy, sore and tired. There's really no reason I can think of for them to feel like that--I didn't run that long or at all fast yesterday. I guess it's possible that I was tired from running gingerly on ice and snow for the past couple of days, but I'm not sure. In any case my run was pretty blah. I was just feeling tired and it was definitely dragging. I had to go pretty early since my grandparents were hosting my family and some family friends for brunch this morning, so I was able to stay mostly on the roads, all of which were in a lot better shape than they were on yesterday's run. I was surprised to see that the bike path along Memorial Drive was almost all clear, too. The part on the river side is in the sun, which must have melted it.
The brunch at my grandparents' house was fun and my mom surprised me with a present from a new Nike store that just opened near them in NY. She got me warmer running tights (which I really need but it will take sub-zero temps to get me to wear them!) and a bright orange long-sleeve which seems pretty warm too. She knows how to make me happy!
We're back now and I'm getting ready to leave for Philly. Since I am a horrible overpacker, I have a big bag packed already. It will be nice to get away for a couple of days although traveling in general stresses me out because it means I can't stick to a normal routine. I'm already nervous about not being able to lift today or tomorrow, but if the hotel has free weights maybe I can sneak in a half hour here or there tomorrow. I'm also mad at myself for being less productive than I should have been this weekend. I can say that I will do work on the plane, but I will fall asleep! Maybe tonight...although there is a new HBO movie on about Mia Hamm and the U.S. women's soccer team, so that will probably win out if we have HBO in our hotel room!
Hopefully I'll be able to update from the road!
Posted by becky at 1:37 PM | Comments (3)
December 10, 2005
Quasi-long run
I'm into the word "quasi" ever since I learned it in my research methods class this semester (as in "quasi-experiment".) It is a perfect word to describe my run today since it had some aspects of a normal long run, but not all. I intended to run for about an hour on my own but (of course) didn't get out on time and it ended up being more like 50 minutes. Most of it was slow goings because the roads in Medford were TERRIBLE. I even chose to run on Main St. because you think with a name like that, it has to be plowed. Not so much. The sidewalks and the roads were equally snowy and since the sun was out and it was warming up, everything was getting slippery. I took my time and was careful so I didn't wipe out. I do have to say that once I got back to Somerville/Cambridge, the roads were a lot clearer. I'll remember that in case it snows again this winter.
I met Mary at the Porter Square T and we waited around for another friend who we thought was coming. We waited especially long because we had a suspicion that maybe this person had the wrong time in mind. But in the end she never showed and we went to Fresh Pond for a loop around there. I felt low blood sugar-ish and shaky at one point (probably from waiting around) but I had some emergency gummy bears and they helped a ton. There were tons of young, fast women out running near FP today--maybe everyone likes temps in the high 30s as much as I do. Anyway, Mary and I did a nice, relaxed loop and then I ran her home. I wanted to get a total run time of about 2 hours, so I added on some more random mileage in Somerville. The whole thing was definitely at a slower pace than I've run my long runs at the past couple of weeks, mostly because of the poor footing, but right now I'm happy just to get my 2-hour run in no matter what the pace. I think I already have a good base for Boston so I'll just have to find some people to do longer runs with...and not get injured.
My parents are in Boston this weekend but they just got in due to a heating problem at home that forced them to leave NY much later than intended. We will see them tomorrow at brunch at my grandparents' house. Then I leave for Philly for that public health meeting. I don't know how I'm going to get all my work done but I'm looking forward to the meeting mostly because it'll be a good chance to network a little and because I'm staying with a good friend who I haven't seen for awhile! I don't know much about running in Philly (except the marathon course) but I'm sure we'll figure something out.
Off to get ready for dinner and a holiday party...
Posted by becky at 5:32 PM | Comments (2)
December 9, 2005
'You are hard core!'
So when I woke up this morning I heard the radio people talking about snow, but it wasn't actually snowing. Maybe a few flurries. While I was out there, however, probably after about a mile, the snow really started picking up! It was super-heavy and super-wet, giving me that lovely frozen-eyelash look. I was careful with my footing so that meant the run was at a nice an easy pace, which was fine for today. It definitely took longer than I expected it would! When I was almost finished, a woman walking by told me that I was hard core. Nice--you gotta love that, when other people think you're nuts. (It isn't the first time.)
I was hoping that my classes would be canceled, but they were not. It had stopped snowing by the time I left again for class but I thought I should wear my boots since it was pretty wet out. What a good decision! When I left my afternoon class at 3:00 to go to a meeting with a professor, I couldn't believe what I saw outside. It was a huge blizzard--windy, snowy and piling up fast. Apparently it was thundering and lightning at one point, too. I had to walk a few blocks to my meeting and it was very difficult. Nothing had been plowed, cars were standing still, and you could hardly see in front of you. Thankfully by the time I was done with my meeting, it had stopped. But there's a lot of white stuff out there, that's for sure--more than anyone expected.
Tomorrow I plan to do about an hour of running on my own and then meet Mary for another hour. I'm dreading the time alone but it's not any different than what I do every day, so there's really no reason for me to be apprehensive. But that never stopped me before!
Happy weekend to everyone and I hope that no one (esp. Audrey) has as much work as I do.
Posted by becky at 7:40 PM | Comments (1)
December 8, 2005
Cold enough to notice
Poor Wynne woke up with a sore throat today so she called me early this morning to say she was out for our run. Although I was glad she got me out of bed to answer my phone, I did not relish the idea of going outside when Accuweather's "real feel" estimation was 12 degrees or something. I decided to do a short run since I had been planning to run later with some of the MIT girls anyway. It really was cold--I dressed warmly (for me) and ended up choosing to go up a hill in the middle of my planned route because I thought it would warm me up! It did--I actually felt a lot better after that! It was probably warming up a lot as the sun started to come out, too. I ended up running about 5 miles, I think. When I got home I was marveling in the fact that my clothes were much less soaked with sweat than usual! I felt almost normal. :)
Even though I had done a shorter run than I usually do on Thursday mornings, I still had to rush around like crazy to get to class on time, and I made it, but just barely. This was the last 8am class for the semester, actually--there's one next week but I won't be there because I will be in Philly at a public health meeting. I'm proud to say that I made it to class on time for the entire semester!! How far I've come from when I slept through an exam in college...
My quiz today was harder than I anticipated. Probably because I had trouble with some of the concepts and didn't have enough time to spend on them. Oh, well, I did the best I could. After my 3 classes I went to MIT and met the distance girls on the team for their run. It had warmed up a ton by then (i.e. I wore shorts and was glad, although it was borderline.) We were supposed to meet at 4:10 but everyone was late so we didn't get going until about 4:25 and darkness was descending. The team likes to run along the river and no one seems to get sick of it like I do, so I tagged along. It was okay while there was still some daylight but as soon as it was dark, I was really worried that someone (esp. me) was going to fall on an icy patch or get run down by a crazy biker. Most of that path is not well-lit (i.e. not lit at all) and while it's "safer" than running on traffic-y roads, I still think it's dangerous. Of course, it's just not cool to wear reflective gear when you're in college. Not that it would do them any good anyway without any source of lights.
Anyway, the run was a little faster than a usual "easy run" for me but still okay. No one talked a whole lot but it was fun to run in a big pack (about 9 of us, I think, until the 1,500 group turned back) as I haven't in quite some time. After the run I joined them for their strides--which I want to get in the habit of doing--and then did a tiny bit of lifting, just the things I hadn't had time for yet this week.
Matt is staying in the Brooklyn apartment tonight because he has a job interview in the morning in the city. I hope to get a lot of work done in the next few (quiet) hours!
Posted by becky at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 7, 2005
Windy Wed.
I swear, it's always windy around here. Actually, it wasn't bad when we first started running and then we got near the river and (surprise) the wind picked up. I met Alison and another girl who is in her first year of my program at HSPH for a run today. I was worried about how my legs would feel after last night but they were okay. That probably means I'll feel it tomorrow, but that's another story. No one really had any route suggestions, so I just kind of made it up as we went along. It ended up being longer than I had originally intended, but that's okay since I had no major complaints except the wind. We all got along well (of course--we're runners and runners are all nice) and had some interesting convos, including helping Alison think of ideas for a project for one of her classes. I don't think we were too helpful, but it did help pass the time.
I have a quiz tomorrow that I was completely unprepared for until I crammed for most of the day today. Now I'm only slightly unprepared :) and I'm super-unprepared for a class discussion in another class that only has 4 people in it. Oh well, you can't be a model student 100% of the time, right? hah!
I spent a couple of hours at MIT track practice tonight timing people's workouts. The 1,500 groups (men and women) had a pretty long workout so I was yelling out 300 times for what seemed like hours. but I felt like I was helping motivate everyone, if only a little bit. I studied on the bike a little and lifted before practice, too. I do try to make the most of my time...
Matt's out playing poker tonight and I should be in bed already but I'm still working and planning what courses to enroll in for my final (yay!) semester since registration starts tomorrow. I am meeting Wynne early in the morning for a run so I hope I can wake up!
Posted by becky at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
December 6, 2005
Another sprint workout
It was supposed to snow today, but it never really did (maybe a few flurries.) I expected it to be snowing when I woke up, especially since it was so dark, but it wasn't. It wasn't even that cold. Alison met me at my place and as usual, accompanied me on my pre-workout run. We did the usual loop in reverse just to mix things up. Sometimes I get stuck in my route ruts and I need to remember to break out of them.
After practically sprinting to get to class on time this morning (as always) my IT band was sore. It's definitely been acting up more since I got back on the indoor track a few weeks ago. I'll try to be more aggressive with the foam roller, since that usually helps. Massaging it helps, too, so I tried to do that as I sat in classes today for hours.
I made the most of my time when I got home from school and took a nap for about an hour. Then I ran up to the track taking a new route--but it took the same amount of time as the other route. Good to know. We are still doing shorter stuff for another couple of weeks--I complained about it tonight but our coach said there's plenty of time before Boston to get in some longer intervals. Anyway, we did 200, 400, 400, 200, 400, 400 and 1,000. Everything except the 1K was at "repeat" pace which is like your all-out mile pace. We had a good group of 3 keeping each other on pace and I even led the fastest of our quarters! The 1,000 felt long but I closed nicely so I was happy with it. In fact, I was pretty happy with the whole workout. It was fun (!) and over fairly quickly. My IT band was very sore on the jog home but I stretched well and hopefully there will be no ill effects (except extra tiredness in the morning, of course.)
Back to work!
Posted by becky at 9:17 PM | Comments (1)
December 5, 2005
Too much to do!
Lately I feel like I am busy at every hour of the day, unless I am running or sleeping. I knew at the beginning of the semester that the month of December would be pretty crazy for me, but I somehow hoped it wouldn't be quite as harried as it's been. Thus, I am in a hurry once again to document the day's (physical) activities and go to bed.
This morning I ran with Alison. The footing was pretty bad in some places because of the frozen-over layer of snow from yesterday, but we got through the run without either of us wiping out. Always a good thing. We went through Harvard Square down to the Charles and then back up through another part of Cambridge. There seemed to be a lot of traffic on the busy roads today--as in, more than usual--but that's probably just a function of the time we went. Or maybe I noticed it more because we were trying to avoid the icy sidewalks!
As usual, I worked for several hours during the day and then went to bike and lift (I read something for class while I biked though) and then to MIT track practice. Today was a workout day for almost everyone so I helped out with timing. It is very confusing when there are 6 different groups on the track at once--on Wednesday they are going to stagger their workouts so it is less crazy. We'll see if that works.
I taped the NCAA XC Championships on TV today and watched while I ate dinner. The coverage of the races would have been awful if it wasn't for Carrie Tollefson. The other commentator, whose name escapes me, kept making dumb comments like "Some people are in it for the individual title and the others are in it for the team title" and constantly asked Carrie what it was like to be running/winning a cross country race. She handled the dumb questions with a lot of poise though and tried to steer the conversation back to the girls who were actually in the race. As usual, everyone looked skinnier than even in their photos. I won't expand upon that, but I can say for sure that I'd out-eat probably all of the top 10 women combined! Hah!
I am rambling, so it must be time for bed, only an hour after the time I'd promised myself I would be tucked in. 17 more days until I'm done!
Posted by becky at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)
December 4, 2005
First snowy run this season
We got home really late (2am) from the wedding we went to last night. I could hardly keep my eyes open on the way home as that is way past my bedtime! I definitely feel asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I got up at about 7:30 because Matt's mom was leaving to go somewhere this morning and had requested that we have breakfast with her before that--that meant running beforehand because we wanted to hit the road on the early side anyway. I was super-groggy getting out of bed but then I looked out the window and saw that it had snowed and was still snowing a bit! I really like snow so I was excited.
There weren't too many cars out on the roads and the plows had just come by (plus there were only a few inches, maybe 3) so it wasn't dangerous to run in or anything. But the snow turned to freezing rain while I was out there and the snow on the roads got slushier and slushier. I had a pretty decent shoulder to run on but every time a big SUV went by (often), I would get splashed with freezing, dirty slush. Once it went all over my face--gross. I was freezing because I was so soaked, especially my feet. Yuck! That's the ugly part of running in a "wintry mix" storm. I could not wait to get back and into a hot shower.
We did get back on the road before noon as planned, so that was good. I wanted to go and lift this afternoon, but I couldn't do that in good conscience because I had all this work hanging over my head. I've pretty much been working ever since we got back and my lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. It looks like more of the same for tomorrow, so I hope I get a good night's sleep and maybe a second wind!
Posted by becky at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)
December 3, 2005
Early and windy...but fun
Alison and I both needed to get our long runs done early today and I was really glad we were able to coordinate. We had to go pretty early, but it was nice to get it out of the way. When I checked Accuweather when I woke up, it told me the "real feel" was 14 degrees even though the temp was in the high 30s. I was skeptical, but I am glad I wore more clothes than I normally might have because it was SO windy, at least for the first part of the run. I've come to realize that wind is pretty much the only weather condition that I don't like running in.
We ran up to the Fells and did a loop (really and out-and-back) in there, where it wasn't nearly as windy. I've only run in there a handful of times but Alison has a couple of routes that she knows. It was surprisingly crowded in there for 7am on a Saturday--we saw several people walking their dogs (but no other runners.) It's been a while since I've run on rocky trails and I think I was being overly cautious because I was worried about falling. My knee felt better today but my hamstrings are still very tight, and they got even more so when my tights got sweaty and made my butt and hamstrings feel like I was applying an ice pack. Since I so rarely wear tights, I haven't bought a new pair in years. I wonder if certain brands dry faster than others. My Nike spandex (shorts) that I wear on practically every run are good at drying, so maybe I'll look for some new Nike tights.
All told, we each ran for about 2 hours. Today was one of those days when I was very glad that I wasn't doing a 3-hour run. I need to map out my Boston training schedule but I think I still have another week to "relax." I did an 18-week training schedule for NYCM but I may shorten that to 16 this time around since I have a better base.
Matt and I are leaving for NY soon for the wedding we have tonight. It'll be rushed as usual but what can you do? We are driving to his mom's house in Westchester, where we'll get ready, and then driving into NYC. I hope I'm still awake by that time!
Posted by becky at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
December 2, 2005
Busy day
Sometimes I can't believe there was a time I didn't have any classes on Friday. I'm so used to it now that it doesn't really bother me--especially because it practically guarantees that I'll have a productive day. I ran in the morning as usual, but not very far because I wanted to get as much sleep as possible. It was very windy and I was cold even though it wasn't too bad temperature-wise. My knee felt somewhat better than it has but my left leg just feels weaker than my right one, which probably means that the muscles are super-tight and I don't have as much range of motion. It's happened before and I hope it will work itself out.
I have a major project due soon in the first class I had today, and we got about 2 hours to work on it during our "lab" time today--that was very nice. After that class was over, my friend and I grabbed lunch at a cute place I had been to years ago (before moving to Boston) and then I rushed over to (other) school for my next class.
After that class, I navigated my way through Friday afternoon traffic over to Winchester for my weekly manicure (especially important this week because we have a wedding tomorrow) and then to my grandparents' house for dinner. I don't know where the time is going tonight--I'm trying to get some work done since we have to be in the car for a few hours on the way to New York tomorrow--but I better get back to work.
Posted by becky at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)
December 1, 2005
Tired
As predicted, I didn't finish what I was working on last night until about 12:30 and didn't get to sleep until after 1. Not terrible, but I had plans to run at 6am, so that was painful. I met Wynne at about 6:05 and then the two of us ran to Alison's place to pick her up. It wasn't too cold this morning, but at least back to long-sleeve weather after a couple of sports bra (practically) days. Alison had a loop picked out for us that went through Medford Center and along the Mystic River. Not all of it was scenic, but as we discussed on our run, it is the best you can do in that area! Toward the end, we realized it was later than we thought (I needed to be back by 7) but it turned out I walked in at 7:08 and everything turned out fine.
I felt less tired running today than I did yesterday when I was sore from the workout, but I can tell than I am favoring my left leg because I'm worried about the back of my knee. It's not too painful but it is very stiff and a bit sore especially after sitting all day in class. I should swim tomorrow...but I will probably do a short run because it means I can sleep a little bit later. I need to listen to my body though and it is clearly telling me that! Massage has helped me in the past with this knee thing but I don't have anyone I trust around here.
My tiredness seemed to catch up with me after lunch, when I had to will myself to stay awake in class. I almost fell asleep on the bus ride home. When I did get off the bus, I went to several stores in Harvard Square to look for a pair of shoes to wear to this fancy wedding we're going to on Saturday. Everything I saw was either too high or not fancy enough. I was very frustrated because I had hoped to get that task done.
I couldn't make it to track practice today (or do any other working out myself) because I had plans to work on a project with a friend. We made some headway tonight and will get more of a chance to work on it during our lab time in class tomorrow. Goodnight!
Posted by becky at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)