Running Commentary: January 2006 Archives

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January 31, 2006

Feeling a little off

I have a sneaking suspicion I may be developing a cold. I just felt a little run-down and not myself today. Not sick or anything, but just a bit off, if anyone has experienced that before. I didn't have to get up early today, and that was nice. Like I said yesterday, getting back into the school routine makes me tired! Matt had to be somewhere at 9 today, so I just got up when he did. I ran my usual pre-track loop, but I felt weird. My legs felt fine, but my chest felt heavy (hence my feeling that I'm getting a cold.) I made it through no worse for the wear, and beat the yucky weather that was on its way.

I had one class this afternoon, which is on public health responses to disasters and major emergencies. With my Red Cross background, I think I will have a lot to contribute. Audrey is in the class too, as emergency preparedness is one of her expertise areas, and so are many of our classmates from our winter leadership class. Interesting. It looks like it'll be a good class...but there is a major project to be done in a few weeks.

When I left school to go home, it was sleeting/snowing. I was a little scared on the bus ride home, but I put on my headphones and read and forgot about the bad weather. Walking home was definitely slippery. Not as bad as I had feared, but I knew it was not going to be a fun run up to track. By the time I left to go there (about 2 hours after getting home), there was about an inch of snow on the sidewalks and that actually made it less slippery. Still, I was super-careful on my run and it took me about 2 minutes longer than usual. But I didn't fall!

Our new track coach is having us do some longer, tempo-paced workouts for the next couple of months. I seem to do better at those anyway, so I'm willing to give it a try. Tonight we were supposed to do 5 x mile at tempo pace, with a one minute rest. (Just like Alison and I did last Thurs.) Alison was at track again tonight too, so neither of us were too psyched to have to run all those miles on the track again...but we got through it. Our first three were consistent and right on target pace (we were running with a couple of others too) and then we got a little separated on the last two. I probably should have just tried to keep the pace on the last two the same (a little faster than the first three) but I got sucked in and pushed it a little too much on the last one. It ended up fine, but I was feeling it afterwards. I decided to just do my cooldown inside and get a ride home from a friend since 1) I had already run a lot and 2) the icy sidewalks meant it would have been a really slow jog anyway. I was glad to get into a warm car!

It is already late but I have some reading to do...such is life as a student!

Posted by becky at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2006

First day of school

I can't believe it is the end of January and that my last winter break (ever, as I don't plan to go back to school again) is over. I always get a little nervous before the first day of the semester, so I woke up a little jittery today. I ran a little more than two miles to get to my friend Janel's house this morning so we could run together. (Alison had a doctor's appointment or I'm sure she would have joined us too.) Janel grew up in S'ville and is around for a couple of weeks doing a freelance gig and helping her mom recover from surgery. I think I was kind of pushing the pace to get to her on time because I was pretty winded by the time I got there! I felt better once we settled into a more normal pace. We did a little loop that went near Arlington Center and then Janel ran me part of the way home. I ended up running for 72 minutes or so.

I actually planned things out right this morning so I didn't have to rush around like crazy when I got home from running. Matt was already gone, so I had a nice, leisurely shower and even had time for a bowl of cereal. My first class today was really interesting, but there are only two of us enrolled and the profs might decide to cancel it. I hope not, since I want to take it and I do not want to pick up a random class that doesn't interest me just to fill my schedule. We'll see what happens on Wednesday, the next day the class meets.

I had lunch with some of my friends from school who I hadn't seen in more than a month. It was really fun to see them and hear about all of their adventures over break. My afternoon class was the one I am TAing. I was a little nervous about my part of the lesson but it really wasn't anything more than going over some key dates in the syllabus and it was fine. All but one woman in the (small) class are from my department, so it is not too daunting to be their TA. I think it will be a really good group.

I biked and lifted after school was done and realized that sitting in class for four hours makes me tired. Even though I had a snack right before getting to the gym, I started getting hunger pangs halfway through the workout. I hate that. I finished what I could and then stopped by practice to see if any of the coaches needed my help, but only a few people were doing workouts on the track that needed to be timed. I was happy enough to jump on the bus and go home when I heard I wasn't really needed!

We'll see how much work I get done tonight. I'm already feeling like I'm about to fall asleep. Maybe I'll get a second wind...

Posted by becky at 8:06 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2006

Choosing a nap over lifting

Surprisingly, my legs didn't feel too bad this morning. I ended up doing a lot of walking during the afternoon yesterday, and that probably helped get the soreness from the long run out. I had to go running pretty early today because I had brunch plans (a few of us who trained together last winter went to meet one of our running partners' new baby.) I felt like a zombie getting out of bed, even though I really didn't go to sleep that late. Anyway, I was totally dreading running and was glad that it didn't end up being too bad. I did one of my now-typical Sunday routes, down to the river, almost to Watertown and then back through Cambridge. It was early enough so there weren't too many people out running, but I did get passed by someone who had to be an elite runner still in town after one of this weekend's big meets. I know the women elites well enough to be able to identify them from the back, but not the men!

Brunch was really nice. When I got home, I was very productive for a couple of hours, doing laundry and getting some webmaster duties done. I had planned to go to the gym to lift in the late afternoon. I only lifted twice this week (horror of horrors) and I haven't gotten in a weekend lifting day in quite some time for various reasons. But I ended up falling asleep on the couch. When I woke up, it was dark and raining, and Matt had the car so I just didn't feel like running to the gym. My body was probably telling me something, so I suppose my laziness is okay. Still, I hate when I plan to do something and then don't get to it. Big pet peeve.

Tonight I have some prep work to do before classes start tomorrow. The class that I am TAing meets for the first time and my prof has actually given me some responsibility. I have another class before that, but no work to do for that (yet). I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine for my last semester, but my class schedule will make it harder for me to go to MIT practice in the evenings. I'm pretty good at fitting a lot of different activities in, though, and I'm sure I will make it work.

Posted by becky at 7:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2006

Reversing the curse

Today marked my return to the Boston Marathon course after dogging it up the Heartbreak Hills many times last winter. Plus, the last run I did on the course last year was the one when I finally realized my achilles injury was bad enough to actually take some time off. So let's just say I have some bad memories/associations with it. (Oddly, I don't really have any memories of the course during the actual marathon a few years ago.) Anyway, I was excited today because the weather was supposed to be good (perfect for me--high 30s and warming up to 50s) and we had a good group. I parked at Cleveland Circle, prayed that I wouldn't get a ticket, and did a couple of miles around the BC reservoir before meeting Wynne, Alyssa and, a special guest, Caitlin at Boston College. I knew Caitlin wanted to get out on the course so I invited her to join us. I've read her blog and heard a lot about her from Alison, but never met her in person.

Anyway, from BC we ran on Beacon Street (not part of the course) for about 6 miles, then we met up with Washington St. and ran towards Wellesley. I felt very relaxed today and I'm not sure why. But I was glad. Even the hills going into Wellesley didn't seem that hard, especially compared to the hills in Derry last weekend! I was worried about the Heartbreak Hills though, because they've always gotten the best of me. I tried to run easy and relaxed the whole time so that I would be ready for the last 3 or so miles of hills. It's just a very long undulating stretch of the course, that's what makes it so hard. (And where it comes in the race, of course.) None of the individual ones are very steep. Today I felt good on the hills, but that doesn't mean I will feel good next time I run them. Still, I ended up getting in probably a little more than 20 and didn't feel particularly beaten up when I was done. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I'll take it for what it was: a good run.

We just got back from the Boston Indoor Games, which were a lot of fun. We got there on the late side, though, so we didn't have very good seats and I felt squished without much room to move around. I like watching the races, of course, but I also really enjoy just looking around and picking out elite athletes in the crowd. That's because I'm a big track geek. But it's still fun! The most exciting race was the men's 2 mile. The pack stayed tightly bunched through more than a mile and then Craig Mottram battled with Alistair Cragg and Sileshi Sihine on the last lap. Mottram is such a big, tall guy that it looks like one of his strides equal two (or more) of his competitors'! He came charging around the outside on the home stretch and won decisively. It was awesome! Plus, he was so pumped that he kept running and celebrating, not showing any ill effects of having just run an 8:26. My other favorite moment of the meet was when Sara (Bei) Hall was jogging after her race and ran into her husband Ryan who was warming up for his race on the track. They hugged quickly--it was a brief but cute moment and I'm a sucker for those.

Boy, I'm tired! But there were lots of big meets today that I must check up on. Priorities, priorities...

Posted by becky at 2:13 PM | Comments (1)

January 27, 2006

Runnin' around on a 'rest' day

I don't know why I'm so tired today, but I keep yawning. I had to wake up on the early side to fit in a quick run, so that might be part of it. Fridays are usually my easy/short day and today was even more so. I felt okay at the beginning of my run, but I realized quickly that my legs are tired. Although it doesn't always translate, I'd like to have a decent long run tomorrow, so I did one of the shortest of my daily loops. It was super-sunny but very cold. The high tomorrow is supposed to be around 50, but still cold in the morning...hopefully good running weather. We definitely had a lot more very cold weekend runs last winter--many of them are still fresh in my mind so it must have been really cold!

I spent a lot of the morning over by school meeting with the professor I'm TAing for this semester. Our first class is Monday and I have to do some work on the Web site but otherwise I think we're ready. I'm excited about it and it is a (very) small class being taken by people I know pretty well.

After I left school, I came home to make a sandwich and then went to pick my grandmother up. We were going to an accessories store owned by a very close family friend up in Marblehead, about 45 minutes away. It's actually a very nice store and my grandmother told me to pick any purse I wanted and she would buy it for me--whoo-hoo! I was glad we got to go over there--it was fun. And one of my best friends from college who now lives and works on the North Shore came to meet us when she got out of work. So it was a very nice day and even had less traffic than anticipated.

I'm waiting for Matt to come home from a meeting so we can eat dinner. I feel like I've been snacking for hours. Tonight I think we're staying in, and I'm glad. I'm getting excited for tomorrow night's Boston Indoor Games, so I better rest up! (Oh yeah, and that long run...) Happy big-track-and-field weekend!

Posted by becky at 6:45 PM | Comments (1)

January 26, 2006

Trying something new

I have never been one for following a training schedule. At least not one that's in a book. I kind of have an idea in my head about what I should be doing based on what's worked for me in the past and what my training partners (past and present) did or do. I have Jack Daniels' book and some others on my bookshelf, but I'll confess, I haven't gotten through them. I'd much rather just follow what other people do and if I see improvement, then I like that particular training technique!

This line of thinking led me to join Alison for some tempo (and that's Jack Daniels' tempo) miles on the indoor track this morning. I rarely do 2 speed workouts in a week, but for a long time I've wanted to add in a tempo component. It's tough when you do your hardest effort on a Wednesday, the way it is with my DC club. But for now I am sticking with Tuesday hard efforts, so today was a good day to try the tempo miles. I didn't enjoy the first two very much, but we were extremely consistent and by the last two, I was finding my rhythm. (Alison has done a lot of "T" work so she was better at knowing the right pace to run. Therefore, I stayed on her heels for 4 miles!) My biggest annoyance was a couple walking in Lane 1 of the track. They finally got the idea to move out after we passed around them about 16 times. I am so track-centric that I forget the rest of the world doesn't know the etiquette!

By the time I got home from the run, I was really tired. A brief nap in the late morning helped. I had some work to finish up and then I went to pick up Matt from the train station. He's finally back from tons of interviews but he had a symposium to go to this afternoon and evening so I've barely seen him. Still, it's good to know he's back, at least until the next interested firm comes calling!

Tonight I went for a run with Mary. I am really impressed with the way she is keeping up with swimming, biking (on her trainer) and running during the first few months of her pregnancy. And no matter what she says, her pace isn't that slow. We tried our best to avoid the icy patches tonight since it was getting dark. We both stayed on our feet, yay! I'm glad we got to run; it was fun.

OK, that's it for me. A couple of things to do for my running club Web site and then I will read and go to bed. Happy (almost) Friday!

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

January 25, 2006

A very drippy run

Supposedly it snowed/rained last night into this morning, but by the time I had to wake up, the sun was coming out and it was just very wet and slushy outside. Everything was melting since it was fairly warm and there was still some snow on the ground from Monday morning. Neither Alison nor I was super-excited about running this morning--both of us were tired and stiff from last night's track workout. I actually felt crappy in the beginning but then things got a little better. (I was surprised and sometimes when that happens the next day's run is bad. So I'm not out of the woods yet!) I felt like we were getting dripped on constantly during the run. And it's not like we were passing under trees all the time, so I guess a lot of the moisture was coming off people's roofs. I don't know why it annoyed me so much, but it did! I think it reminds me of my favorite hot and humid days where I drip on myself and others :)

I spent most of the afternoon doing some work and then a couple of errands, most importantly getting our "new" car inspected. It was just inspected its former state of NY, but obviously when we switched the plates, it had to be done in MA. The one other time I waited for the car to be inspected it was very quick, but this time I waited nearly an hour. Good thing I brought my book. After the inspection I went to the gym to bike and lift. Lifting was especially tiring today for some reason so I cut it a bit short. I went up to track practice after that and saw some great sprint and middle distance workouts.

Now I'm home catching up on email and waiting for a phone date with my sister. Matt is scheduled to come back tomorrow afternoon. I like my quiet time but I'm definitely looking forward to his return!

Posted by becky at 8:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2006

One last free Tuesday

My spring (and last!) semester begins next Monday, so today was my last free Tuesday. I was somewhat productive but I also had time for a pre-track nap, which is one of my favorite things to do. Alison (and P) met me at my place for a short run (for me) this morning. The sidewalks were either impressively clear or a little bit slippery, depending on whether someone had done a good job shoveling after our little snowstorm yesterday. When Alison "dropped me off" at my place, she asked what my club's track workout was tonight. Even though she had already run a decent amount, she said she was considering coming to the track as well. (Since she'd be there for Tufts practice beforehand, it was not too inconvenient.)

We ended up having a good-size group at the track, and Alison did end up joining us. Our workout was on the short side, which was a good thing because my legs are still pretty tired from Sunday. We did a tempo mile, then had a very short recovery and did 3x1,000 and 3x200. We were about 15 seconds fast on the mile because it seemed like the whole club was pushing the pace. It felt okay to me, though...not quite tempo but not all-out or anything. I generally don't like 1,000s because they are pretty tough to do at interval pace. We were consistent on our first two (a tad bit slower than we ran our 800s last week) and I decided to try and pick up the last one as I was leading most of it. We ended up doing that one about 9 seconds faster than the first 2, so that was cool with me! It felt a little bit harder, but not like I was out of control. Our 200s, as usual, were kind of an afterthought, although they felt harder than they did last week. I'm sure that was due at least in part to my tired legs.

One of my all-time favorite 80s movies, Mystic Pizza, is on TV right now. I've seen it a million times but I can't turn it off!

Posted by becky at 9:35 PM | Comments (1)

January 23, 2006

What's all that white stuff?

I swear, it seems like we already went through winter or something because it's been warm for so many stretches and because it hasn't snowed in ages. I heard that it might snow/rain during the day today, but I didn't expect to see that it was snowing pretty heavily when I woke up and got ready to run. I was already a little bit late getting out the door to meet Alison, but I figured I needed a baseball cap to keep the snow out of my face. I ran back upstairs and then out the door as quickly as I could. Which wasn't very quickly at all because my legs and feet were sore from the race/long run yesterday. Alison also had run a ridiculously long way yesterday too, so we had agreed to take it very easy.

Today was my last day of my winter class, so I was under time pressure. Therefore I chose a route that we have done probably 3 times in the past week or so. I just know that it takes the maximum amount of time that I can spend running and not be late for class. It is not too scenic, but at least it was runnable in the snow this morning. Between moving slowly due to soreness and having to trudge through the snow, I actually ended up getting home a bit later than expected. A mad rush ensued but I did make it to the bus on time. Phew! I'm glad to have a few more days off before the semester begins for real on Monday. It seems like just yesterday that I was looking forward to the class-free weeks ahead...how time flies.

After my class ended today (we got out early, yay!) I went to the gym to lift and bike and then finally showed my face at MIT practice after not being there for more than a week. I watched some sprint workouts and chatted a bit with the distance runners...nothing too exciting was going on today up at the track. I think some of the middle distance runners were about to start a workout but I had to run to catch the bus home.

Matt is on his way to L.A. right now for some interview-related stuff. We are definitely not moving to L.A., but one of the companies he is talking to in D.C. has their main office there. I've only been to L.A. once, for a few hours, so I have a very mysterious picture of the city in my mind. I look forward to hearing what an office in Hollywood is like! (Probably not unlike an office in Manhattan, huh?)

I have a lot of non-school related work to do tonight, so I better get a move on.

Posted by becky at 8:25 PM | Comments (1)

January 22, 2006

What goes down must come up

The slogan/motto of the Boston Prep 16-miler is a tongue-in-cheek "moderately challenging." The race organizers put the course elevation profile on the shirts and medals because it is shows how the course goes up and down a lot and then WAY up between 10 and 13. Thus, it is good preparation for hilly marathons like Boston, and that is the reason why I chose to run it. I haven't gotten a chance to get on the marathon course yet this winter and now I know I need to work on my hill strength!

Actually, I enjoyed the race today. I went into it with the intention of running pretty comfortably but hopefully at a 7:45 pace or so, to prove to my body that it isn't locked in to 8 minute pace during the marathon (because that's what I have run 7 times now, despite training and racing at a much faster pace.) The first 5 miles or so were rolling but really beautiful. I had a lot of people around me to work with and I noticed that most people around me were breathing much harder than I was. I ended up running 7:30s like clockwork, despite the HUGE hills that came late in the race. Of course, I was glad to finish but I was left wondering how much faster of a pace I could have handled if I wanted to, say, really push the last 5K or something. One of the guys I run with on the track a lot ran about a 7:15 pace, so I bet I could do that too. I definitely wouldn't have been as comfortable!

Anyway--I was happy to have felt good and run consistently. The weather was perfect for me (high 30s or low 40s?) except for the wind. I heard some comments on my shorts when I started, but I knew I made the right choice for me. One weird thing was that we had chips today, but there was no mat at the starting line, so we didn't know when to start our watches. I imagine the splits are off by 5-10 seconds since I was pretty far back at the start.

Tomorrow is my last day of my leadership class and I'm making a running-related speech. I really just want to sit on the couch, but I'm off to go practice!

Posted by becky at 7:06 PM | Comments (3)

January 21, 2006

Wind-whipped

Tomorrow's "race" is long enough so that I'm treating it more like a long run, but I still am worried about the hills and feeling decent so I tried to run really easy today. It was warm but very windy, especially since I did one of my routes that involves the Esplanade along the river. The high temps brought out tons of fair weather runners, one of whom passed me! (OK, maybe he was an experienced runner, but he didn't look it.) I hate being passed which is one of the other reasons (the wind being the first) that I don't like the Charles bike path. In any case...I ran for about an hour and certainly was glad that today wasn't my long day. My hip was bothering me again when I first started, but my legs were just kind of dead. I will do more foam rollering tonight before I go to bed to try and bring them back to life!

I've already lifted a few times this week and I didn't feel like going over to the gym just to bike for a short time this afternoon. Plus, I had some work to do. So I stayed in and listened to the wind and worked on a speech that is our "final project" for the week-long leadership class I'm in. It was actually a pretty pleasant and relaxing day.

I'm off to pick up Matt from the train station. He's finally coming back from NY only to leave again for LA for a couple of days on Monday. :( I can only imagine what it's like to be in such demand!

Posted by becky at 4:49 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2006

The twilight zone

Today was one of the longest days I've experienced recently. Since I had to be downtown by 8, I tried to get running by 5:30...it didn't quite happen that early, though (I was running about 10-15 minutes late) and I only had time for a short one. I didn't feel too bad about it, though, because I was due for an easy day and I knew the rest of my day would be mentally, if not physically, demanding. My "good" knee was a little twingy today. I must have tweaked it doing something at the gym.

So today was another wacko winter weather day--it was still 55 when I was coming home at around 7 and I didn't even bring a jacket with me to the interview. Honestly, I hate the word "unseasonable" because I always associate it with the first really warm Boston Marathon (in 2004 I think) that was on my radar, and that's all the weather forecasters are saying these days. We used to be able to count on needing to wear a coat in January! What's going on here?

OK, enough of the weather rampage. Today's interview was a twilight zone experience in itself. I can't really go into all the details, but there is no reason why an interview process that requires less than 2 hours of time spent on tasks should take 10 hours (really). For the majority of the day, most of us were trapped in a hotel room with nothing to do except worry about the next presentation we had to do. Fortunately, the other candidates I was working with were really great--we got along well and managed to have some fun. It wasn't a cutthroat environment or anything like that because we aren't necessarily competing with each other. None of us could believe how long the whole process took, and we won't find out if we are moving on to the next stage until late March!

Ugh, what a day. I'm feeling sleep coming on...and I'm not going to fight it. My long run this weekend won't be until Sunday, because I'm doing a "race" up in NH--it's a 16-miler and extremely hilly, so I'm just going to run at marathon pace and use it as a training run. I hope.

Anyway, that's it for me. Happy weekend!

Posted by becky at 9:24 PM | Comments (2)

January 19, 2006

Lots to do...

...so this will be quick! I have an all-day interview/skills assessment thing tomorrow so I'm trying to cram for that while getting an assignment done and getting to sleep at a (relatively) decent hour. So here's the rundown on today's physical activities: I was glad to have both Alison's and P's company on my early-morning run today. It was still pretty windy and I was of course not dressed warmly enough, so I was especially glad that I had left an extra shirt at their place the other day when I actually overdressed. Still, it was a lot more pleasant today with the sun coming up than it was yesterday with the wind and the rain. We did a pretty non-scenic route through Medford Center but the traffic wasn't as bad as I had feared. I felt just okay today; I was a little cold the whole time (!) so I felt sort of stiff, which is never a great feeling. But no major complaints.

Class was really good today and we did a group activity that I hope will be good prep for my interview tomorrow. I did a short run on the treadmill and lifted at the gym tonight. I haven't been on the treadmill in a long time and it felt hard. But it was already pretty dark out and I missed the MIT girls on their run.

OK, back to the real world!

Posted by becky at 8:06 PM | Comments (1)

January 18, 2006

Running early...and then late!

Even though I assured Alison that she did not need to get up on her birthday and run at 6:30 am with me today, she wanted to get her run out of the way. (And enjoy my company, of course! Who wouldn't?) I was very worried about how I would feel since my legs were so dead after track last night and I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, but I kept reminding myself on my way to Alison's place that all I needed to do was run easy today. Surprisingly, my hip/groin felt a lot better today than it has the past couple of days. Maybe all my foam roller-ing finally made a difference.

It was warm (in the 40s, but felt even warmer with the humidity) and rainy this morning. Definitely not what you'd expect for a mid-January day in Boston (this seems to be a theme of the winter) and it looks like this warm trend will continue at least through the weekend. We chose a route today that brought us to the bike path that goes along the Mystic River. We had done it once or twice before but neither one of us remembered that it was one of the longer ones we do in the mornings. I looked at my watch when I knew we had about 2 miles--maybe more--to go until we got back to my place, and I realized that I was definitely not going to get back by the time I was aiming for. It ended up being fine--I forced myself to get ready in less than a half-hour, short for me--but I was worried that I would miss the bus and be late to class. Not that being late would be the worst thing in the world, but I went through all the effort of getting up early to run and all that. In any case, it worked out fine.

My class today was a little less intense than it was yesterday--no off-the-cuff speeches--but I was more tired and I had a hard time staying awake during the last two hours. I felt like I was sleepwalking when I left and got on the bus to go to the gym. But as usual, biking made me feel better and I got in a decent lifting session as well. Walking home from the bus stop was not too much fun because the wind had picked up again and I was only wearing a light fleece. But I made it.

Matt's still in New York tonight so I am going to take advantage of the quiet and get some work done. I definitely don't like being here without him, though...I'm such a stereotypical girl! :)

Posted by becky at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2006

The case of the non-wicking sports bra

This has been such a longer day than I'm used to, and I still have a lot of work to do! I don't mean to complain, but today was definitely my return to the real world. I am taking a pretty intense public health leadership class that goes from 9-4 for several days straight. Audrey is taking it too, but she didn't embarass herself giving a three-minute speech nearly as much as I did today. (Actually, she was great. I, on the other hand, was a mess.) I know it's good to challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone, but generally I only do that when I'm running!

Speaking of that, I worried all day about my ability to do tonight's track workout because my hip/groin was really bothering me at the beginning of this morning's short run. Even Alison commented on my leg-dragging-behind-me form when I first started running. It loosens up after a couple of minutes, but it is really awkward at first. Anyway, I sucked it up as always and did about 3.5 miles with Alison which was just part of her run. I rushed around like crazy when I got back in order to make the bus to school, but I got there with a few minutes to spare.

I spent the rest of the day in class (as described above) and didn't have much time to do anything but have a snack and get ready for track when I got home. Jogging over to the track bothered my hip, but it wasn't as tight as this morning. I was surprised that I didn't feel it at all during the workout, which was 6x800 and 2x200. My little group hit our times, but we all felt like we were working way too hard to do so. I'm not sure why, but I was definitely glad when it was over. The track was also especially crowded tonight, so we wasted a lot of energy weaving around and passing people on the outside lanes.

When I was getting ready to jog home tonight, I felt something dripping on my shoes. I couldn't figure out what it was--I looked around for a water bottle on the bleachers or something, but there was nothing suspicious. Then I realized it was coming from me. I mean, of course I was super-sweaty (what else is new?) but for some reason my sports bra was not absorbing any of the sweat. It was so gross! It's an old favorite but I guess I will have to part with it since it's not doing me any good this way!

OK, time to get to work on a couple of assignments due in about 12 hours....

Posted by becky at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2006

Cold ears, but (finally!) warm hands

It's winter again here in the northeast as evidenced by the less-than-20 degree temperature readings on Boston.com this morning. And that was without the windchill--I heard our neighbors' windchimes all night long. I decided that today would be a good day to wear the windstopper mittens I picked up while I was home in Westchester. My cold hand problem hasn't bothered me lately since it's been so warm, but when it does happen, it is really painful. I'm happy to report that the mittens really helped! My hands were not at all cold. I suspect that they will be too WARM for most runs I do, though...but I'm glad to have them.

Alison and I met this morning in one of our usual spots--good thing we recognized each other because we were both so bundled up--and did a loop through Medford. My hip hurt for the first couple of minutes of the run and then loosened up. I was also bothered today by a crick in my neck/upper back which came on yesterday evening for no apparent reason (watching TV in a weird position??) I couldn't (and still can't) really turn my head fully to the right--luckily Alison was the traffic navigator. While we were running, she told me about the movie "Murderball" that she just watched for an assignment and it made me really want to see it. (Matt wants to see it too so I will wait for him.)

I didn't do anything too exciting today (unless you count grocery shopping) and went to the gym in the late afternoon. It was super-crowded because the hours were limited for MLK Day today. Luckily I found a bike and a bench for lifting.

Tomorrow will be the first day in a few weeks that I actually have to wake up early. I'm taking a weeklong class and it begins in the morning and goes through next Monday. It's supposed to be good, so I'm looking forward to it, but I'm dreading having to run so early again!

Posted by becky at 8:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2006

30 degree temperature drop

This morning's temperatures were a lot more normal for January compared to yesterday's, meaning that they were about 30 degrees lower! I liked the cold but the wind was and still is pretty crazy today, so it wasn't the best conditions for running. My hamstring soreness seemed to disappear later in the day yesterday (I did some walking around and I think that helped) but my hip continued to be sore. I considered cross-training today but I knew it would take longer than just going for a shortish run, so I tested out the hip. It wasn't too bad, but I definitely felt it. I stopped and stretched my IT band and hip after about a mile and that seemed to help. I ended up doing the end of the run by the river and it was a lot icier than the rest of the roads, so I tried to stay on the dirt path as much as I could. I did not run very long (less than an hour) but I think my mileage will end up about where I want it this week anyway.

Ideally I would do some cross-training and biking later today, but we are heading to a friend's wine tasting party and I just won't have time for both. Hence, I am feeling lazy but I am also enjoying relaxing on the couch. I do want to try and make sure I lift at least 3 times a week instead of the 2 I've been doing...who knows if it will happen but writing it down makes it seem like a real goal!

Posted by becky at 3:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2006

You take the good and the bad...

All runners know that not every day brings a good run. Today was one of those bad days for me--I don't think there was any real reason that I felt crappy; I just did. All I can say is, at least I had company. I ran a couple of miles before meeting up with Wynne and another woman we ran with a lot last winter. The two of them wanted to run about 14, and I was trying to cobble together 18, so I figured I could just do a couple of extra miles on either end of the run.

The weather was pretty gross, in my opinion. It was quite warm, nearly 60, when we left. I had woken up to the sound of pouring rain, but it was a little lighter by then. The humidity and warm temperatures made it feel like an October day rather than a January one--and we all know how I feel about humidity. I knew I wouldn't have a very good run when I felt sluggish doing the first two miles. I ate a few gummy bears and drank some of my Gatorade while we waited for everyone to get to the meeting spot and that helped a little. We decided to run to Jamaica Pond and around it since we know that might not be an option once the path there ices up again. I noticed that from the beginning of the run my upper hamstrings and butt were extremely tight and a little sore, but nothing was really bothering me--I just felt sluggish and off my game. It happens sometimes so I'm not going to dwell on it, but by the time we got back to our meeting spot, I decided just to run home, which made my mileage closer to 17 rather than 18. What can you do--I know I'll survive!

My hamstrings were SO sore when I got home. I stretched, used the foam roller and took a hot shower. Now I'm sitting on a heating pad, but nothing is making it go away. I've never had soreness like this after a long, easy run, so I'm baffled. I just hope my hammies loosen up soon.

Matt and I are having a pretty low-key day, but we promised a friend we would help transport her new futon from the store to her apartment. I think it's still raining, so it will be especially fun!

Posted by becky at 1:39 PM | Comments (2)

January 13, 2006

Easy-ish day

Boston.com told me it was 37 when I left to run this morning, but temps were supposed to reach the high 50s so I knew it couldn't be that cold (it wasn't). I was fine in a t-shirt and shorts, once I kept moving. When I first started running, I thought that my legs felt less tired than they have been the past couple of days. But when I met up with Alison, about 10 minutes into the run, my legs were tired again. I was glad that I had vowed to run less than an hour today. We did one of my staple Friday loops that goes around the Tufts campus and back through Davis Square. I thought we would see even more runners than we did because of the nice weather :) The run itself was pretty uneventful; both of us complained about being tired and I personally was glad when it was over! One thing Alison did comment on was the steam rising from my back when we were standing there chatting for awhile. (I told you, it was springy today!)

I went over to school for a meeting today and then accompanied a friend on an errand. We got ice cream to celebrate the nice weather before we headed home, definitely one of the highlights of the day. By the time I got home, it was almost time to go to my grandparents' for dinner. Matt came too, and it was nice since we haven't seen them since before the holidays. We ended up staying longer than expected because we were trying to help my grandfather upgrade his computer. It's not easy on a dialup connection!

I'm really tired and worried about how my long run will go tomorrow. It's pretty humid out there right now and I know there's a big cold front coming through, so the weather could be questionable. (I don't mind rain, but some of my running partners do!) I just feel like my heart isn't in my Boston training yet. I hope I turn a corner soon!

Happy (three-day) weekend to all!

Posted by becky at 9:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2006

Running and napping part deux

Most of my day today was very similar to yesterday's. I met Alison at one of our typical meeting spots in the morning. We hemmed and hawed (sp?) about where to run and neither one of us was too creative. We ended up going toward the Charles and then looping back through Kendall, Central and Harvard Squares. Might as well call it the "Red Line run" after the aforementioned MBTA stops!

Alison was sore from lifting today, and I was just feeling pretty crappy for no real reason. We continued to enjoy the unseasonable weather, though. And we always manage to pass the time with good conversations, so it wasn't all torture. My butt felt better today but something in my hip (same leg) is bugging me again. Nothing too bad, just muscular (I think and hope.)

I did a little preparation for an interview thing I have next Friday today and played around with my club's Web site since I am going to step in as interim Webmaster because of an emergency. I volunteered but I didn't think they were actually going to take me up on it! I really liked my Webmaster duties in DC, though, so I think it will be an easy transition.

Later in the afternoon, I met a few of the MIT distance girls for their run. I didn't want to go too far since I ran longer than intended this morning, but luckily one of them was planning to go shorter than the group consensus of 8 miles. We ran mostly on the Emerald Necklace trails in the Back Bay and Fenway area, which felt great on my legs. When we came back, I did some strides on the indoor track (although it was balmy enough to do them outside) just to loosen up those tight muscles a little bit.

After that, I met Matt downtown at a Cornell Club of Boston happy hour. The event was lame, but we ended up talking with some nice people and joining them for dinner at this comfort food/upscale diner type place on the same street as the bar. We were all starving and scarfed down a bunch of bad-for-you food. It was a lot of fun! Now I'm tired again since it was a full day--off to bed we go.

Posted by becky at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2006

Pain in the butt

I wasn't as sore or tired as I expected to be this morning after last night's workout, but I had a tight and painful spot right where my hamstring meets my butt! Alison suggested a few stretches to try, but nothing really got it. I needed the foam roller, which I used when I got home and should probably use again tonight. I definitely get weird muscle issues from running those tight turns on the indoor track.

Today we ran to Fresh Pond, around it and back through Harvard Square where Alison had a stop to make. Both of us commented on the mild weather--some of the smaller paths around Fresh Pond are runnable again, and it's supposed to be 60 tomorrow here. Craziness! Alison said she hopes the whole winter is like this. It's nice for running, true, but I still like to get the most out of my favorite season.

My cold was feeling a lot better today, but then when I got home from running and was reading on the couch, I started getting really tired. I ended up sleeping (in a sitting position) for two hours! I woke up all groggy and with a big headache. Eating lunch helped, but I still didn't feel that great. Being the crazy nut that I am, I went to the gym shortly after that (I had a small window of opportunity or else I would have put it off until later.) Biking made me feel a little better and I surprisingly still had some energy left for lifting. Then I went up to the track to help the other coaches time some workouts since there was a lot going on today. The workouts seemed to go pretty well--I was especially impressed with one of the girls who had to do 4 long sets of 300s all by herself since her training partner is injured. She hit all her times.

Matt and I might watch a movie tonight, but the On Demand choices are pretty slim. I look forward to the day when you can get any movie available on video/DVD by ordering it with your TV remote...we're almost there!

Posted by becky at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2006

Surprisingly decent workout

Being back in Boston means I can meet up with Alison for runs again! She (and P) ran to my place this morning since I was only doing a short, pre-track workout. I definitely still have a cold, but it's not anything serious since I don't feel sick, just stuffed up and I have a little cough. The mild January weather continues--it is supposed to be around 50 all week. Before I left for New York, I thought about buying a few more pairs of tights. I'm glad I didn't since I've worn shorts for the past 2 weeks! Oh yes, back to the run--we just did a short loop around the 'hood, although it wasn't the same loop we usually do on Tuesdays because I had a mental hiccup before we started and I couldn't remember that one.

My day was spent on the couch, enjoying my first full vacation day with nothing to do. I felt a little lazy, but I got over it quickly! Track went better than I anticipated, except my throat was burning from the combination of my cold and the dry air inside the track. We did 2 miles at tempo pace, an 800 at interval (10Kish) pace and then another mile at tempo pace. I was 15 seconds quicker on the last mile than my average for the 2 mile interval, but I felt strong so I think it was still within tempo pace range. We finished up with 3x200 at about 39-40 seconds (speedy for a shuffler like me!) I was pleased with the effort and I ended up getting a decent amount of mileage in since I ran to and from the track.

I must stop here as I am off to the airport to pick Matt up!

Posted by becky at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2006

Driving time PR

Ugh, I definitely have a cold. I felt pretty gross when I woke up this morning, but my throat didn't hurt anymore so I know it is progressing (it's now in my nose, if anyone is wondering :) I really haven't been running quite the mileage I've wanted to in the past week, but today I knew I had to play it by ear. I ran a loop that I often do from my parents' house--it is a conglomeration of a couple of runs we used to do in high school. There is a nasty hill toward the end and I felt like I was moving backwards. Other than that, I didn't feel quite as bad as I anticipated based on the way I felt when I woke up, but I capped it at an hour.

My sister stayed over at my parents' house last night too (it was like a sleepover) so she helped me get all of our bags into the car this morning and then I dropped her at the train station on the way to the highway. Traffic was very light today and I positively flew back to Boston. And I was going over the speed limit, but I wasn't doing anything crazy. I made it to the Mass Pike in a little over 2 hours, which I believe is a new personal (driving) record--at least for me. I'm usually asleep when Matt is driving, so I can't say for sure if we've made it faster than that. The rest of the trip was quick too and I was back by mid-afternoon. I unpacked and then went to the gym. I thought about running on the treadmill, but I biked instead because I am still not feeling so great. I lifted after that and then I stopped by (MIT) track practice for a little while. Everyone seemed in good spirits, especially compared to the moods during practice before the holidays, during exam period!

I have several phone calls to return and I feel like a bad friend because I have been incommunicado. But tonight I plan to veg out and enjoy some mindless television and finish my book. After all, this is my last winter break ever--and it's not going to last forever!

Posted by becky at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2006

Time in the car and time with family

I did not sleep well last night. I woke up every couple of hours and had a raspy and sore throat. When I did finally have to get up, my throat felt a little better but I was worried about having to drive after not having gotten any quality sleep. I wasn't in the mood to go running, but besides the fact that I pretty much always go anyway, I was meeting an old running friend and I knew that I would feel better after the run. We did one of our old standby weekend routes and I was glad that my body didn't feel too sore from yesterday's "race"/long run. It was a nice run and I was sorry that we couldn't have spent more time catching up but Matt and I were on a tight schedule this morning. He had a 12pm flight from Baltimore to Chicago where he is spending the next couple of days on school-related trip, so we had to leave our hotel by 10am.

We had a quick breakfast and then drove to the airport. I dropped Matt off and then I continued on to New York. I really despise long drives when I am the driver because I get sleepy sitting in one position and although I have (knock on wood) never fallen asleep at the wheel, it is one of my bigger fears in life. Anyway, the first couple of hours after Baltimore were not the greatest. I was drinking a lot of water and eating everything I could find and chewing gum to keep myself occupied. And singing along to my music. Then I stopped at one of the lovely rest stops on the New Jersey Turnpike and got coffee and walked around a little. Before I got back on the road, I waited 20 minutes in line for gas. The guy at the station handed me my receipt and told me to have a nice day, and I started to drive away. When I had just gotten back on the highway, I realized that he had never given me back my credit card. I got off at the next exit but it took some time (and 2 tolls) to figure out how to get back on the Turnpike going south. I had to pass the gas station and take the next exit after that to be able to turn around AGAIN to be going the right way so that I could stop there. It was very annoying but thankfully worth it--I got my credit card back. Phew!

When I got home I felt like I should do a short run, but my throat was hurting again and I had lots of stuff to tell my mom and sister (nothing important, just the events of the past few days!) They wanted to go for a walk so I figured it was a good compromise. :) This week will be short on mileage, but it was high on quality time with friends and family--and that is what's really important.

Posted by becky at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2006

Races are good for me…

Or at least that's what I'm learning. As I mentioned yesterday, I got convinced by my old DC clubmates to do this ten mile race this morning since many of them were doing it. It's a known fact that I don't race much, mostly because I worry about the race for a week in advance (or more) and make everyone around me miserable. But after I had fun at the Thanksgiving race back in November, I realized that maybe I was worrying too much sometimes. I wasn't thinking too much about today's race in advance and I was planning on doing it as a tempo long run anyway. What I didn't like was getting up early today—the race didn't start until 9 but I wanted to get a good warmup in and it took a good half hour to get there. I haven't gotten as much sleep as I wanted to this week and I have a few hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow (DC to New York) and Monday (New York to Boston.)

Despite getting a little turned around on the way to the race, I made it there with enough time to warm up and everything. I thought running 70 minutes would be a good goal for today (the course is out and back on a narrow, winding and rather hilly bike path, with a half mile hill up to the turnaround) but I also hoped to be competitive with one or two old club teammates. But I mostly wanted to get in a good workout and not feel like I was dying the whole time. It turned out that I ran my goal time almost exactly. I was a little fast on the first mile and on the downhill half mile, but otherwise pretty steady. I felt good in the middle miles and was only really hurting the last mile and a half, which included two or three steep—but mercifully short—climbs. The woman I ran with at track on Wed. ran just under 1:08. I'd like to hope that I have a faster ten mile time in me, but with me it's still a learning process since my races are few and far between. I ended up really racing with this woman over the last five miles (she totally sat on my butt going up the hill and then we worked together after that) and it helped to have someone there—I was on my own for the first 4.5 miles—hardly anyone was in sight and I didn't have anyone to pace with. The woman and I stayed together until the finish—she kicked more than I did and was about 1 or 2 seconds ahead. I didn't really care at that point!

So I'm glad I did the race, although with the longer cool down I didn't get home until almost noon. We hung out with Matt's sister for most of the afternoon and had lunch with (another) pregnant friend and her husband. Then we watched part of the Redskins game with Matt's cousin and her boyfriend. Now we're about to go meet another couple for dinner at our old favorite sushi joint—I can't wait for sushi!

Posted by becky at 6:52 PM | Comments (3)

January 6, 2006

An easy day I think I needed

I definitely felt better when I woke up this morning than I did post-workout yesterday morning. I decided not to set a specific mileage goal and just run by feel since I have had a string of not-so-great runs in a row. It was a lot colder than I expected when I stepped outside--I brought my hat thinking I would take it off after a few minutes, but I ended up being glad to have it the whole time. I did a route that I often did on Fridays when I lived in DC because it's on the shorter side and pleasant. It ends by coming up the pretty big hill going into the National Zoo. I always dreaded that hill and today it wasn't terrible, but I remembered why it intimidated me! Even though I was feeling decent, I decided to run a little less than an hour and call it a day. I intended to just do a regular long run this weekend, but most of the regular crew from the running club is planning to do a 10 mile club race. I guess I'll do it just for the company, but I'm certainly not in 10 mile race shape. I'll just consider that part of the run a tempo pace run and then add the warm up and cool down miles to count it as a long run.

I had lunch today with a couple of old co-workers from the Red Cross, which was nice. It's always good to hear the office gossip. After that I went to Alexandria to visit a friend who just had a baby. I haven't seen her in quite some time so it was good to catch up. Tonight Matt, his sister and I had a quiet dinner near her apartment. Now we're sitting in the hotel lobby finding sporadic internet access--what dorks! Matt's having trouble getting online with his computer so I'll pass mine on to him. Happy weekend!

Posted by becky at 7:40 PM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2006

Return to Rock Creek Park

I had a bad feeling about this morning's run when I woke up. I was dreading it because it was less than 12 hours ago that I had finished that rather long track workout. But I decided to run one of my favorite (hilly) Rock Creek Park loops in the hope that the beauty of the scenery would make me forget how tired and sore I was.

No such luck--it was definitely one of my crappiest runs in a while. The weather was typical for Washington winter--mid-40s and predicted to get to 55 later in the day. As much as I bitch about "warm" weather, that is definitely good running weather. But I felt stiff and sore from the first steps I took and never really found a rhythm. I also had a strange cramp in my side which hurt even more going downhill. I must have pulled a muscle there again. It bothered me during the whole run. The knee on the same side as Monday's ankle injury was also hurting a little. The swelling is gone and my ankle doesn't hurt anymore unless I press on a very specific area or stand in a way that puts pressure on it, but I must be compensating a little. Or maybe I was earlier in the week. In any case, I had hoped to get in closer to 10 miles today rather than the 7.5 (or so) that I did, but my body was protesting. I thought about running a bit more later, but I decided to bike and lift instead because I want to feel better on the rest of the runs I do here in DC!

I had lunch with an old running buddy who is now a mom with a one-and-a-half-year-old (that's probably too many hyphens, but oh well.) It is truly amazing how much bigger this kid has gotten since I saw him last in July--wow! He is a cutie and was fairly well-behaved during lunch. We ate quickly so when he started to act up, we could get the check. We took a walk afterwards and it almost felt like spring. I'm glad I got to spend some time with them!

Tonight I met my sister-in-law at the gym and then we grabbed some Thai food to bring back to her place. We had planned to watch "The O.C." (my first time) but it wasn't on so we put something else on and had some sisterly bonding time. It was a lot of fun. Now I'm back at the hotel waiting for Matt to get home from a poker game with some of his old buddies so I can hear about his day. I hope he gets home before I fall asleep!

Posted by becky at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2006

Back to my roots

This is very surreal. Matt and I are sitting in a hotel room in Washington directly across the street from the apartment where we lived for five years. If I don't look out the window, we could be anywhere! But it's nice to be back. We left Westchester at about 11:30 this morning, after I did a quick pre-workout run that ended up being longer than I thought because I got a little lost trying to repeat part of a run that A showed me! I'll get it right next time. We got to DC at around 4:30 and I ended up sleeping most of the way. I just can't help it when I'm a passenger in a moving vehicle! I felt bad though, because Matt was tired from staying up too late.

Posted by becky at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

Back to my roots

Posted by becky at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

Back to my roots

I really wasn't in the mood to go to the track when I got out of the car, but I walked around for awhile and got something to eat and then I was good to go. I was really nervous when I was driving there because I haven't run a speed workout with most of these people in a long time, but as soon as I got there and was welcomed very warmly, I felt a lot better. I warmed up with another Cornell alum--someone I like a lot and should be in better touch with--and then hooked up with someone I thought would be running around my pace for the actual workout. My SRR workout was quite different from the DCRRC workout, but the most important thing for me is having someone to pace with and push myself against, so I decided to do what most everyone else was doing. That turned out to be a bread-and-butter DCRRC workout that I have never done anywhere else: 16 x 400 with only a 100 jog. The point is to do them consistently at 10K pace and not burn the first 4 or 6. The woman I was running with and I were very consistent and that made me happy. I felt much better than I did last week but I had a bit of a side cramp most of the time, probably because I wasn't able to eat as well today as I normally do on workout days. I also didn't do as long of a cool down as I usually do, but Matt was back at the hotel waiting for me to eat dinner, so I was kind of in a hurry.

I just remembered that I left something in the car, which is parked on the other side of the hotel and it feels like it takes forever to get there. Better go take care of that!

Posted by becky at 9:50 PM | Comments (1)

January 3, 2006

Wet and icy morning

Today was one of those days when every time you look outside, the weather is doing something different--raining, sleeting, or snowing. Such conditions--Matt's sister calls this type of weather "Ithacation," because it happens all winter long at Cornell--always make for slow runs. I got out the door earlier than usual this morning because Matt had to be in Manhattan for a meeting pretty early. When I left, it was sleeting and the roads were wet and a little bit icy. My ankle feels much better but it is still a bit swollen, so I was especially cautious not to fall again. The weather improved (to rain) during the second half of the run so I felt more comfortable opening up my stride a bit, but as soon as I did I stepped in a huge, freezing puddle which made my toes numb. I just couldn't win. I was glad to get home and get into a hot shower!

Right now all my Somerville track buddies are toiling around the track doing mile repeats, and I look forward to being back to join them next Tuesday! I'm taking advantage of the fact that we're driving to D.C. tomorrow morning and meeting up with my old club to do their track workout (or the one I was supposed to do in Somerville; I haven't decided yet.) I'm nervous because I haven't run with most of these people in quite awhile, and while I felt like I was in pretty good shape at the end of December, I've been feeling tired over the past week. I will do my best and see what happens.

The rest of my day today was spent taking care of some car-related things we needed to do before leaving New York. Always a fun time! I used the elliptical here at Matt's mom's house tonight and lifted. I was really excited because my old favorite TV show "Felicity" was on while I was working out! It wasn't the same as my usual gym routine because I didn't have all of the weights/machines I needed, but it's great to have something like that right in your own house--or at least where you are staying.

I'm being called for dinner now, so off I go...

Posted by becky at 7:08 PM | Comments (1)

January 2, 2006

Another twisted ankle

When I first started running track, I had weak ankles and I used to twist them all the time. But that hasn't happened in years, until this week! Saturday I twisted the right one pretty badly, and today I totally wrenched the other one coming down a hill on a trail I discovered. I'm hoping it's not too serious but it is a little swollen so maybe icing it will do the trick. (Matt just made me a nice ice pack.) Anyway, the trail I found this morning was in a park that I always pass along this one route from my parents' house that I've been doing since high school. I stopped to tie my shoe right near the entrance to the park and I noticed a lot of mountain bikers in there. Knowing that there are also a lot of mountain bikers in other parks that I enjoy running in (like the Fells back in Medford), I decided to explore. The trails were very hilly and rocky, but pretty cool. It wasn't until I was stepping off the trail and back onto the road that I sustained my ankle injury (typical). I walked it off for a few minutes and then finished the run. There were a lot of hills involved in today's run, so I'm not sure how far it was but it was about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Later in the day, my mom joined me to look for a suit again. It did help having her there--I ended up getting a bunch of separate pieces that make a few different interview-worthy outfits. It was great of my mom to give up her last day of vacation to take me shopping!

We met my dad at the gym after that and I biked and lifted. It felt good not to be rushed for a change. Matt picked me up from the gym and now we're back at his house for a couple of days until we go to DC. I can't believe it's already Jan. 2...time flies when you're on vacation!

Posted by becky at 7:06 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2006

New year, old run

It's been a long day, but a good one. We had fun last night going to dinner in Brooklyn with some friends and then ringing in the new year back at "our" apartment (where we lived this summer). We didn't get to bed that late in the scheme of things (1:30ish) but it was definitely late for me. I couldn't sleep in too much because we had brunch plans in the morning. I was looking forward to running in Brooklyn again, but when I woke up I knew it would be a tough run after running long yesterday and not getting enough sleep on top of it. I thought about going to Prospect Park, but I was worried that running more than 8 miles would get me home too late and I also wasn't looking forward to the 2.5 miles to (and from) the park which are pretty ugly. So I ran over the Brooklyn Bridge and did a loop in Tribeca and then came back via the Manhattan Bridge and Dumbo. The wooden plank part of the B.B. was very icy even though it wasn't that cold--weird. I guess that "bridge freezes before road" traffic sign is really true. Anyway, the run wasn't too bad but my ankles and lower legs were very tired from the slippery and mucky trails yesterday.

We went to our friends' apartment in Manhattan for brunch pretty soon after I came back from my run. We usually spend New Year's Eve with them but they were busy this year and this was a good compromise. We hung out there for a couple of hours and then went over to Columbus Circle where we were meeting my parents at the traditional New Year's Day party that they go to every year. The host couple lives in a gorgeous apartment on Central Park West and the party theme is homemade desserts, so it's generally a good time! We stuffed ourselves with cake and pie, etc., and then my sister met us all to see the new Woody Allen movie, "Match Point." It was not what I expected but I won't say too much more so as not to ruin it for anyone else intending to see it.

Finally, we had a late dinner at a Chinese place close to the theater where we saw the movie. On the way back, when we were almost home, my mom realized she had left a sweater on the chair in the restaurant. So my dad turned the car around and we went back to Manhattan. She got the sweater back, so it was worth the long trip, but I'm really tired now. Off to bed I go!

Posted by becky at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)