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June 30, 2005
Wet
Given how wet I am at the end of my run everyday you would think that I'd either jumped in the pool or been struck by a passing thunderstorm. I took particular notice of this tonight at the track because I was noticably wetter than everyone else. Now I'm pretty sure this is a good thing since I have read that the more you sweat the fitter you are. Of course, sweat is kind of like a bell-shaped curve, the really fat out of shape people sweat a lot too.
Most of today was spent finishing my job application. It has to be in by noon tomorrow. I'm actually having nightmares that I might get this job. I don't really want it. It is in a very rural area and would require moving at least an hour away from everyone I know. That would give me an almost hour commute, if I wanted to be close to the job it would require moving to a place that I really do not want to live.
So it was hot and humid tonight-AGAIN. The dew point, which I learned about the other day, was around 75. Basically, you ideal perfect running conditions-NOT! I didn't feel so great on the warm-up. I don't know if the iron supplements that I recently started to take are giving me indigestion, but I've been burping something not pleasant recently. I've only been taking them since Tuesday, I figured that I've been dragging and I don't eat meat, so that might be part of my problem.
The workout was to do 2 laps with a strider on the backstretch. This was followed by 2400 at pace. The prescribed pace was to take the mile time from last week and add 30 seconds. I admit that I was a bit fast, but not that far off. I knew that I wasn't feeling so great by the fourth lap. My legs are not responding to what my mind is telling them to do. Immediately following the 2400 we were to jog a lap and then do 2 more laps with striders on the backstretch.
I've got to do my final copy of the application, so I've gotta run!
Posted by Blondie at 08:17 PM | Comments (1)
June 29, 2005
Dew Points
I forgot to mention that after yesterday's disaster of an attempt to run, I got a crash course in dew points. Sometime around this time every year, I get a refresher on the news about dew points. Apparently they take the temperature and the humidity and somehow come up with the dew point. How it differs from the heat index I don't know, but I know that they throw around these numbers like we all know what they mean. Anyhow, yesterday they said that a dew point in the 50s is comfortable and when it is over 70 it is very very uncomfortable. Anyhow, when I got home from yesterday's run the dew point was 75. No wonder I could hardly move!
Today was infinitely better than yesterday. I decided to run on the trail, but that was the plan anyhow. It was kind of overcast and looked like it was threatening to rain. It may have rained some, but it is hard to tell when you are pretty much covered by trees. I wasn't trying to run that hard, but was ahead of my "usual" time at each checkpoint. Of course, I've only done this run three times so the checkpoint times aren't all that accurate yet. I did an extra loop to hit an hour. Yesterday I was dry compared to how soaked in sweat I was by the time I finished today. Early on in the run I didn't feel so hot, but by the time my body got warmed up I must've been feeling pretty good. As unappealing as doing striders up and down the hill was, I sucked it up and did them. My guess is that my total for today was somewhere between 8.5 and 9 miles.
This evening I went to Spinning. I really enjoy going, but during the school year the classes I can make are not my favorites. Our track club also has a "duathlon" on the Fourth-it's all for fun, but I had to make sure that I could still get in and out of the pedals. Now one would not want to be overtrained for it! The class started with a warm-up, a few intervals, and then a 25 minute time-trial (or tempo for us runners). The music makes it all tolerable. I'm petrified to actually take my bike out on the road by myself, so Spinning is a much safer option. I'll have to have my ex check it out before Monday to make sure that everything is still in working order.
I did get that job application...it's due on Friday so I've gotta get cracking!
Posted by Blondie at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2005
Dumb Blonde...Blondie
In my lifetime I have done plenty of things worthy of being called a dumb blonde. In all seriousness, I have quite a bit of common sense and book smarts. Most of my "blonde" moments are due to some serious lack of coordination. Other moments are due to just not really thinking, such as today.
This morning I woke up around 8:30. I took care of bathroom business and watched some of the Today show. I watched the weather segment and decided to use the trail on whatever day looked to be the worst day of the week. Well the forcasted high for today and tomorrow were the same. I decided that I would run from home today and then use the trail tomorrow. My theory is that I have to get acclimated to hot weather some time. I mean races are held out in the sun and the courses are not purposely put in the shade. The temperature in the bottom of the screen said that it was 77 out, thats not too bad.
Anyhow, none of the forecasts that I saw said anything about the humidity. By the time I got to the two mile point where I have to stop to cross the major road I was drenched. I sweat a lot. I mean, I am one of the top five sweaters that I know. I didn't feel too bad on the part that is accross the street, most of that is in the shade. By the time I got back to the crossing point, I was absolutely soaked and I had to stand in the sun to wait for the cross signal. About three quarters of a mile later I noticed that I wasn't sweating anymore. I've been here before and know that is most definitely not a good sign. I sat down in somebody's driveway that happened to be in the shade for a few minutes. The last mile and a quarter was a pretty lame walk/run home. I was going to do some striders, but I knew that would do more harm than good.
I got out of what could have passed as a bathing suit, downed a ton of water and put my right ankle in an ice bucket. I know that I must have been really dehydrated. Last night I could not feel quenched. I must have had about 50 ounces of water after the track and didn't have to pee until about 4:00 in the morning.
Today was spent looking for a job application. The ad specifically states that a completed application must be sent with your resume. Well I spent three hours this afternoon on that district's website and was not able to find an application anywhere on it. It was incredibly frustrating. I did print the application from the other district that is hiring and started to fill it out. One of the things that they want is unofficial transcripts. Well for someone who is looking for their first job that isn't that hard, but for those of us who graduated from college in a different century, that is not an easy task.
Later this afternoon I went over to the gym. I have the guilty feeling that if I have a lousy run I have to make up for it with some cross-training. So I did the elliptical harder than usual for 35 minutes and rode the bike for half an hour. The magazine selection was not that great. Time is a fine magazine, but it is not what I want to read while I'm working out. I need something light and fluffy that doesn't require any thinking. After my cross training I lifted. By the time I got to the weights the entire area was being taken over by the meatheads. Such is life.
All right, time to work on applications....
Posted by Blondie at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
Paybacks are a Bitch...
...and based on how I felt tonight, I owed everyone. I definitely paid the price for two good days in a row, three if you count Thursday since I don't run on Fridays. Man, oh man, tonight was not my night. The warm-up wasn't too bad, but the workout was pretty awful.
It was raining lightly but steadily. It didn't feel all that bad since it kept us cool since the weather is still on the warm side. Actually, today was the first day that it has been below average in quite some time. We got started on the workout, 12 x 200 with a 200 jog again. My legs just were not responding to what my brain was telling them to do. I guess that the sore quads from yesterday were a sign of things to come. I did suffer through all 12, but it is not one of those workouts that I really want to remember. The only time to remember it is in a race when I feel like crap and can think back to those workouts where I felt just as bad.
Four of us did the warmdown, then it was time to head home. I forgot a towel to put over my seat, so I put a dry tee shirt on the leg part of the seat and leaned forward while I drove. The woman collecting the heart rate monitor data called, so I had to turn around to drop off my full watch to her.
In other news...my mom did not have a detatched retina, it was "only" torn. The specialist did some laser surgery on it to fix it this morning. I asked her if she also did some lasik on her while she had that laser out to correct her vision, but she didn't. Since her pupils were seriously dialated I had to be the taxi today to drive her around.
I still have not heard anything from my interview two weeks ago. I have been trying to come up with a terrific follow-up question so that I can call them and not look like I'm just being nosey. There were at least two jobs in yesterday's paper that I need to send resumes to tomorrow. I should do my cover letters etc tonight, I just have to talk myself into doing it.
Posted by Blondie at 07:52 PM | Comments (2)
June 26, 2005
Tired Legs
This morning I was pleasantly surprised that my legs weren't all that tired. Last night I was absolutely beat and ended up going to bed very early. I took my mom to the mall to buy a new outfit for her aerobics class party tomorrow night. She does not think that she should be driving at night until she sees the retina specialist tomorrow morning. She's been suffering from a "floater" for a while and finally went to the eye doctor on Thursday. The eye doctor thinks that she may have a detached retina; chemo can affect your eyes. Anyhow, I ended up with lots and lots of sleep. I was in bed around 10 and didn't get up until almost 9 this morning!
So this morning it was hot when I woke up. Really hot. I turned on the Today show and the temperature at the bottom said 99 degrees...I was pretty sure that was not right. I checked the thermometer on the other (sunny) side of the house and it was registering over 100 degrees. So, in the sun, it was felt like over 100 at 8:45. This made my choice of runs very simple-the trail.
Once I felt awake enough to get moving I got dressed and drove on over. I purposely ran easy this morning. I ran harder and further than I have in a while yesterday and my legs felt a little sore. Suprisingly, it didn't bother me during the run. I did the same loop that I did on Tuesday. About 41 minutes in, I needed to use the bathroom, but the last one was about a half mile back. There was no way of making it back, so I had to hop off into the "woods" (calling this a trail is pretty generous, there is a river on one side and it is pretty smooth). I made it back to the car in about 50 minutes. I wanted to run for 55 minutes, so I had to add on a little bit. Striders got scrapped this morning. Doing them on the hill that leads in and out just didn't seem too appealing. It's on a hill and right out in the sun. Doing them on the trail is not a good idea-I have a tendency to fall and I could just see myself falling and turning my right ankle-AGAIN.
My legs got tired this afternoon when I went on a shopping trip. I walked back and forth accross this shopping center about five times. Right before I left, my legs felt like lead. I definitely need to stretch tonight. I have found that is helping my pirformis/hamstring/butt issue and my plantar is just waiting to act up.
Time to catch up on what everyone else has done this weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 06:58 PM | Comments (2)
June 25, 2005
Busy Morning
Yesterday I was concerned that I would not be able to get up early enough for the 7 AM long run. Let's face it, when you are living a life of leisure, getting up around 6:15 is pretty damn early. Fortunately, my experience in the sun during the day pretty much wiped me out; I was tired early and got into bed early. Waking up was not so difficult since I was asleep so early.
There really wasn't a big group this morning. Many of the regulars are on vacation. Some regulars go to the beach every weekend during the summer. Others (the triathletes) have a race tomorrow. Still others are somewhat gimps at the moment. I kind of wanted to run longer than most of the group. Trust me, not really long, but longer than the 70 minutes give or take that most of the group was doing. I feel like I've lost a lot of fitness and need to regain some of it.
K also wanted to run a little bit longer, so he and I ran together. He is no joke...his first marathon was 2:54 with terrible pacing. We decided to do a route that is just under 13 miles. Pretty much, you run downhill for the first 5.5 miles, then make a left turn onto this really spooky road (lots of stories about it, I think that if you google it you come up with all sorts of ghost stories) that climbs gradually for about 3.5 miles. Your legs are absolutely whipped by the time you get to the top of the hill. Once you're at the top of that hill, you make a left and think that you're going to flatten out...but you're still climbing!!!! Once you get onto the main road again, there are two major hills to deal with, but some downhills to ease your aching legs. K made sure that he kept me honest on the uphills. I'm just not a very strong hill runner. I guess that I didn't phrase that right. I can run uphills well, but it takes a lot out of me. I'm not chatty on hilly runs since they take more out of me.
It wasn't super hot out yet when we were out. About 70 minutes into the run there is a hose and we stopped to get some water. I think that I put more on my body than I drank, it was pretty warm. I don't want to take any chances with dehydration. Of course, I already play it pretty risky when it comes to hydrating. We finished the run in a few ticks over 90 minutes, so we both kept it honest. He told me that he would have slowed down if I wasn't running with him, but I would have slowed down if he wasn't with me. We have a tendency to push each other when we run together, which I think is a good thing.
I killed some time until my parents met me accross the street at the running store. Dad bought his shoes. I bought a warm long sleeve shirt for me and one for my dad. After that my mom and I went to Target. I don't know if all Targets have done this, but ours has a grocery store in it now. There aren't fresh meats or produce, but they have lots of food now. We did some grocery shopping there. We also went and spent my $50 gift certificate. I found a big bag in the same pattern as my luggage.
We had lunch at home and then I went to the gym. I did the elliptical for 35 minutes and lifted. Nobody was there at 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. I guess all the cool kids have things to do on the weekend!
I'm getting ready to make a nice dinner for the family, so I've got to get going. The heat is supposed to be back with a vengance soon, so everyone drink your water!
Posted by Blondie at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2005
Sunburn
My body is finally starting to get used to not having to wake up hours before the sun comes out. I can not say that I am waking up as early as I would like to get going, but my internal clock is finally straightening itself out. I've been waking up pretty easily around 8:00. I would like to get up around 7:00 so that I can be out the door running around 7:45 or 8:00 so that it isn't too hot out. Running on the trail does alleviate the heat issue, but it does get boring going back and forth. Plus, I don't know how far I've run, just a good estimate.
No running today. None. Nada. Zilch. I did go for a walk to get some blood flowing after last night's workout. I didn't get to stretch at home afterwards since we went to the sale and then a few of us went out to dinner. I didn't think that stretching would do much good five hours after the fact. My walk was about four miles. On the way back I saw W and stopped to talk to her for a long time, about 45 minutes. While we were talking I got sunburn. I'm never out in the middle of the day like that, so I didn't even think to put sunscreen on. Big mistake, my skin does not tan, it burns-so right now I have a nice pinkish/reddish tone.
I took my new, cheap shoes out for a spin today on my walk. They don't feel too bad, more stable than I am used to, but they aren't too stable either. The stability is mainly in the heel and since I tend to strike on my forefoot, I probably won't even notice. If all else fails, they will be relegated to strictly lifting shoes.
I went to spend the $50 gift certificate I won last weekend since that store is having it's semi-annual clearance sale. Big strike out. There just wasn't much available in size XS. Besides, I don't really consider $177 for the dress I really like clearance. Lucky for me, the smallest that dress was left in was a 6! One of the sporting goods stores was having a tent sale and I stopped by that. I picked up two pairs of running shorts, a sports bra, and a short sleeve shirt for $5 each!
I'm having my dad meet me at the running store tomorrow when they open so that he can get his annual pair of shoes. He walks like a mad man every morning on the treadmill in the basement. Honestly I don't know how he does it, he is staring at a cinder block wall and does not even turn on the TV. He is so much mentally tougher than me. This is our annual father/daughter bonding time. I help him pick out a good pair of shoes since he really has no idea. I think that I am going to buy him one of the shirts that is in the clearance area, even though most of them are the heavy winter variety. He can always wear it outside in the fall to do yardwork etc....
Hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2005
The Mile
For most of us the mile was our introduction to distance running. Whether in a kid's fun run or the gym class in junior high, the mile was probably where most of us realized that we might not be able to keep up with the fast kids in the 100 yard dash, but could churn out lap after lap. The mile is what we base our pace off of in races. In reality, it is what all of distance running comes down to. J swears that in order to get better at the longer races, you have to come back down to basics at some point. That basic is the mile.
For most of the summer we are planning to do prediction miles every other Thursday. Somebody who is injured will come and be the official timer. He or she will give quarter splits and then we are on our own. To make things fun, everyone throws a dollar into the hat and the closest to the pin wins the cash. We do the usual warm-up, then once at the track, do 4 100 meter striders with a 300 jog. We all get together again for the mile run. The mile is not meant to be a race, although most of the people there treat it like race. In reality it is supposed to be run like the first mile of a 5K, maybe a hair faster, but not a mile race. Immediately after the mile run, we are supposed to jog a lap and then go into two or three striders again.
I won't go into the details of the actual mile run. My guess was 5:44, I really only thought I could run about 5:50, but I usually end up running faster than my guess, so I took a few seconds off. My quarter split was 84/85...it didn't feel too terribly fast and I tried to maintain that pace. I was slowly closing in on T, he went out way too fast as always, but couldn't quite catch him. My moment of weakness was not on the third lap, but on the backstretch of the fourth lap. Immediately after the mile I went into my lap jog, unlike everyone else who was standing around.
I ended up in third on the prediction. My mile was 5:46, so I was happy with that. I felt like I could have run at least another half mile at that pace. This is giving me some confidence that my speed is slowly coming back to me.
After the workout we went to the local running store for the annual clearance sale. This is our opportunity to buy last year's shoes for anywhere between $20 and $40. I bought a pair of shoes, a sports bra, a pair of shorts, and a vest for a total of $80. I never do well on shoes during this sale since he only brings in two pairs in my size of the shoes that I like and I end up with both of those pairs. In fact he has had to special order them for me because the Mizuno Wave Rider is my shoe. I never stray from it...it works for me.
Tomorrow is Friday!!!
Posted by Blondie at 10:31 PM | Comments (2)
June 22, 2005
Need to Pay More Attention to Flexibility
It still baffles me how I was able to get up and be running by 5 AM so many mornings this winter. Waking up at 7:30 to run this morning nearly killed me. I just don't get how I need so much sleep when I'm not really training per se.
This morning was meant to be very easy for more than one reason. First of all, I had a good solid run yesterday. Secondly, I was scheduled for a massage later in the morning. Thirdly, tomorrow night is a workout and as far as I am concerned the workouts are more important than the easy runs.
Getting dressed was not easy. I didn't really want to go out in just a sports bra (short-wear testing the HR bra today), but I thought that I might be warm with a shirt on. My hunch was right, about two-thirds of the way through the run I was roasting. Even though I didn't think that it was short sports bra weather, I had to suck in my stomach and finish the run with no shirt on.
The run was really not all that interesting. I was really groggy at the start...my first two miles were in 15 minutes, the same two miles on the way back were in 13:10. I did try to stay really relaxed, but at times I noticed that I was pushing harder than I meant to. I got back and wasn't sure if I had time to do my striders, but I know that they do help me, so I did them. I'm sure that the landscapers working accross the street were confused to see some chick running back and forth on the street.
My massage was painful to put it mildly. She thinks that my back may be out of alignment based on what I was telling her about the discomfort and awkwardness of running faster paces. Of course, I come from a family that absolutely does not believe in chiropractic care. Not like I have any insurance to cover it if that is the problem. Oh wait, I don't even have a paycheck to be able to pay for an appointment! My calves were in serious knots, very unusal for me. Both my right and left piriformis were tight. My right foot was much tighter than my left, I've got to keep stretching that so that my plantar doesn't flare up.
This afternoon I went on a long walk, about 3.5 miles to get the blood flowing in my legs again. When I got back I did a lot of stretching. One thing that I noticed when I stretched this afternoon was that my back is very tight.
Mom is going to her aerobics class tonight and wants me to come, but I don't want to work out more than I should tonight.
Posted by Blondie at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
Day One of Summer
This morning I was quite concerned about how my stomach would behave. Last night I was absolutely starving, I could not feel satisfied, no matter what I ate. Add to that the fact that I was eating later because of going to the track, it could have been a very ugly morning. As I said to my mom while we were watching TV, I don't think that my digestive system works when I sleep. There have been many instances when I ate shortly before bed, slept eight or nine hours, woke up and went running and felt like I had just eaten. I think that my saving grace today was that I did stop eating about an hour and a half before I went to bed and allowed my body to wake up some before I went out to run in the morning.
My plan has been to save my runs on the trail for the most obscenely hot days of the summer. I also would like to run on the trail once a week to get off the road some. Putting these facts together means that I must be selective on which days to do these runs. Since the cleaning people were coming this morning, I did not want to come into the house all sweaty and gross when they were around, so I chose today to be the day that I ran the trail. Instead of going out and back and out and back today, I decided to jump off the trail where it "ends" and run the road for a little bit. I took it very easy on the way out (and had two encounters with dogs) and was just over 20 minutes where the trail ends. I ran out about 3/4 a mile or so to the stop sign to turn around. I hit my turn around point at about 25:30. On the way back I knew that I was feeling good, I just was not aware of how good...I got back to my car in 49:40! I wanted to get an hour in but really did not want to just out and back, so I did some loops.
Today was day one of doing striders again. The problem is I don't want to do them on the trail since I am so prone to falling and turning ankles when not on the road. I ended up doing six striders on the driveway leading into the housing complex/parking area for the trail. It is nowhere near being flat. In fact it is a rather steep grade. I timed the first (downhill) strider in 25 seconds and did the ones going up much slower!
After my run, I hopped in the car and drove just over a mile to the gym. There are many more magazines now, but the selection is still really lame. Boating magazines just don't float my boat!!! I rode the bike for an hour and then lifted some. By the time I got around to lifting I was getting kind of hungry and didn't feel much like lifting. I was also feeling a little on the sore side since I didn't lift on Saturday, I lifted on Sunday.
Tomorrow is an early morning since I need to get home and showered before my much needed massage. As luck would have it, most of the soreness has subsided since I actually went through and scheduled a massage.
Hope that everyone is enjoying the first day of summer and the longest day of the year!
Posted by Blondie at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2005
Mission Accomplished
My mission tonight, if I choose to accept it, which I did: run my workout faster than my mediocre races of last week. OK, I'm not good at keeping you all in suspense, my title gives it all away. This is not to mean that I felt wonderful and fast during the workout, as I most definitely did not. It just gives me some confidence that my races are not necessarily indicative of the shape that I am in. After all, this is three high quality runs in five days.
I ran pretty much alone during the workout and did not time each interval. I just can't seem to see the significance of timing each 200, I just kept a running time. I didn't even check to see what my mile splits were. To put it mildly, I felt very choppy. I kept stumbling a bit and felt really awkward. I can't wait until running at a faster pace doesn't feel so awkward anymore. Two guys were running way ahead of me and everyone else was running very far behind me. After the workout one of the guys told me how proud he was that he was so consistent in running each 200 in 38-40-but I lapped him. I don't see the point of running the recoveries that slowly.
The weather was nice, yet again...we're up to five days in a row! Of course tomorrow, on the first day of summer, the heat is supposed to be coming back. I could live with every day being like it has been the past few days.
In other news...I scheduled a massage for Wednesday. I usually have a tight piriformis. The right side is usually the troublesome side, but the left side has been acting up. But, since I scheduled a massage, it has not been acting up as much. I have also decided that, effective tomorrow, the striders will be returning. I feel recovered enough to incorporate them into my routine again. This should help in the losing the awkward feeling in faster running.
Posted by Blondie at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2005
Finally...An Easy Day
After some very hard days in the end of this week, I took a very easy day this morning. Although I am relatively happy with both of the races I ran this week, I must not settle for the kinds of times that I have been turning in of late. That being said, I do not want to race every race there is on the calendar to get back to where I feel that I should be. Rather, I plan to take my workouts more seriously. Making excuses (however true they are) is just a sign of weakness. That being said, I have already made goal for the workout tomorrow night.
Knowing what I would like to do in tomorrow's workout, I knew that today needed to be easy. It was cool and looked like it might rain this morning when I woke up. Running on the trail did not seem that appealing, I really would like to save running there for when we are in the throes of heat waves. I did my usual 7 mile road loop, which I have not done in about two weeks! Thank goodness there was no race or workout on slate for today. I felt like a giant, lumbering football player. Completely awkward and choppy, not smooth and flowing.
This afternoon I went to the gym and rode the bike for half an hour, trying to keep the rpms up. After I stretched I lifted some. Not really heavy weights or as much as usual. Pretty much the only reason I even hit the weights today was to appease my guilt for not lifting yesterday.
Hope that everyone had a good weekend and did something nice for Father's Day!
Posted by Blondie at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2005
Crunchy
Yesterday was so beautiful and I felt so beat up, that I decided it warranted a short two mile jog. My theory was that it would help get the blood flowing in my legs since I planned to race today. I felt pretty darn awful early on in my little jaunt. It did get a little bit better as it went along, but I never felt really good. Other than doing laundry and going to the grocery store, it was a very boring day. I went to bed early so that I would feel pretty rested for the race.
I woke up this morning and felt a little more rested than I have for the past few mornings. I drove over to the race and registered. The race director decided that I merited a low number even though I told him that I really did not need a low number. I went out for my warm-up and did the course. I felt terrible...crunchy is the word that J and I use to describe how we feel after running harder than usual. Nothing feels right, nothing feels smooth...you just feel crunchy.
I got back, put on my racing shoes and number and got ready to race. I did see a few women who could push me. These are women who I can usually beat, but I was sort of concerned because I just was not feeling all that fluid. It is really a shame that I wasn't feeling so hot since this is the kind of course that I tend to run well on. There aren't really any steep ups or downs, it is an out and back with mainly gradual inclines and declines. The start is pretty downhill for about two tenths of a mile, then you make a left turn and go up the steepest of the hills (it is pretty steep, but is really short), then you make a right onto the main thoroughway of the course. It has a slight grade, but both ways manage to feel uphill! Just before the mile mark there is a zig-zag to take you into the park. You run about four tenths of a mile up the hill in the park to the turnaround and then do the same thing backwards.
I knew that I wasn't feeling so hot, but I really did want to win. I was with the leading woman for most of the first mile, she surged a little bit before the mile marker and maintained that distance for most of the race. At the turnaround, I saw another woman who was pretty close behind. I felt like I was closing the gap on the winning woman, but could never really get it. With about a half mile to go, the other woman passed me. It turns out that she caught the woman who was leading to win. I can't say that I am particulary happy with the time, but I have to accept it. I ran 19:37, I know that I can run much, much faster, but given how I felt it was as good as I could give.
I don't want to start making excuses, because that is a bad habit. I do think that I ran harder than I should have on Thursday night. I didn't really back off on that course until about the three mile point. The fact that I ran only six seconds slower on such a difficult course makes me believe that I put too much into that race.
I did the course again as a warm-down, giving me a grand total of almost 9.5 miles for the day. I hung out at the awards ceremony and collected my $50 gift certificate to this trendy boutique. Fifty bucks will not really go anywhere there, so I can splurge some when they have their clearance sale. The overall winners won teeth-whitening, something I would have liked since I think my teeth could be a bit whiter.
I was going to go and lift, but I feel tired. I'll have to settle for only lifting once this week, unless I can talk my mom into going to the gym with me tomorrow. My brother is on his way home right now, so we might not be able to go because we have to entertain him.
Posted by Blondie at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)
June 17, 2005
A Little Bit Carried Away
OK, so I got a little bit carried away last night. Nothing too bad, but a little more excited about putting on a number than I should have been. It's been a long time and heading into it, I was pretty nervous. Excited, with hardly any expectations, but nervous. The one thing that was making me more nervous is that there is prize money at this race and I need the money right now.
Anyhow, I got to the race-an adventure in itself. As I said yesterday, I didn't get to go to this race last year. It is on an old estate. Not an ostentatious estate, like Alison saw on her run the other day-this family has lots of old money that they live off, and lots of estates in the area. When they need some money, they simply sell off some of their land. Must be nice. The adventure is that it is kind of in an out of the way location. There also usually is not a sign on the property-they like their privacy.
I got there and found some of the folks I run with and did most of the course for a warm-up. Whoo boy, it is not a PR course at all. The first mile is a screaming downhill, just before the mile marker there is a turn on a cone to head back up that hill. Instead of going left, back towards the start, you turn right and run down a slight down out to the main road and make another turn on a cone. Just past that turn in the two mile marker. Now you run straight back up the slight uphill, past the finish line, up more of the hill and make yet another turn on a cone to head back slightly downhill into the finish. So lots of hills and three turns on cones equals a not fast course!
The weather was much better last night than it has been recently. Shortly before the race there were a bunch of storms that rolled through, but it was still on the warm side. I got my racing outfit and shoes, wow it had been a long time! I headed up to the starting line, close to the mansion. Hanging out up there I saw L show up and knew that she would win. I have beaten her and usually run about the same times, but she has been racing tons lately and knows how to race a 5K right now while I am pretty much out of sorts on short racing.
We started out and sure enough the usual suspects went out way too fast. I held back on that first screaming downhill mile, and still hit it in 5:50. This is a real testament to holding back because I could have very easily gone through the mile in around 5:25. I was closing on most of the usual suspects who went out so fast going up the hill and caught them by the two mile mark. I think that my two mile split was something like 12:10, but the guy calling out splits was only calling out the seconds, not the minutes. At this point I was in third overall and second among the women. Just before the three mile marker, R, who has been training with us and has had a goal of getting under 20 kicked like crazy and passed me. I decided that I had been running too hard and didn't go with him, I had second locked up and that was good enough for me. I ended up finishing in 19:43 which made me very happy on this course.
L and I warmed down for 23 minutes and then retrieved our awards. I won $75 which is a great help considering my financial situation at this point. I also got a lot of confidence for the race that I am planning on doing tomorrow. I usually won't run on Friday, but I think that given how late the race was last night that a 2 mile jog and stretching session may be warranted.
Hope that everyone has a great weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 09:20 AM | Comments (3)
June 16, 2005
Wednesday
My goodness, it's already Thursday morning! Time really flies when you aren't doing anything! Originally I was going to start working for my parents this week, but next week looks more realistic. I have some more errands to run today, so I may as well just start at the beginning of next week. There are more jobs to get resumes sent in to, so that I am no longer without a job. I need to come up with a good expression to explain the situation that I am in. I didn't quit, I resigned...it really was not my fault.
Yesterday morning was still horrendous. The weatherman stated in the afternoon that the humidity had greatly decreased over the course of the day, making it more comfortable. I was extremely jealous of Alison and anyone else in the New England area as the news said that it was in the 50s in that neck of the woods. When I ran, around 9:30, it was already 85 degrees out. Now, it didn't really get much hotter yesterday and the humidity went down...seems that I ran at the worst time of day!
As much as I hate to rationalize, there are plenty of good reasons that I felt on the lousy side yesterday morning. Of course, I didn't really think of these reasons until after running. Since my last day off, on Friday, I did a long run on Saturday, had a good medium run on Sunday, did a track workout on Monday (the first one since the beginning of May), and another long run on Tuesday (the longest since the end of April). Honestly, I have not put together four quality days in a row in about a month. There was every reason to feel tired running yesterday. I did keep telling myself to stay relaxed and back off. I am planning on participating in a race tonight (more about that later) and don't want to be too wiped out.
I went back to my trail yesterday. Most of it is in the shade, there are about three small sections where you pop out into some sun and I was amazed at the difference in the temperature in the sun compared to the rest of the trail. I park at the "top"-it does go further on the road and then picks up trail someplace else, and run "down" to where it hits road again (but picks up someplace else). About three-quarters of the way down there is a parking lot with a bulletin board with information. I stopped there on the way back to see how long the part of the trail I've been running is, but no dice. There isn't a legend on the maps, but it does say when it is completed it should be about ten miles. I was pretty mad at a group of about thirty nature walkers; the leader called "runner up" but most of the people didn't hear it and I had to come to a complete stop and get dirty looks from them because I was running where they wanted to walk. I finished up at 50 minutes, but didn't feel too good for most of it.
When I got home, I showered and self-tanned. For some reason I can not get putting on the self-tanning lotion right. I am multi-shaded now and streaky. Sun is a no-no...my fair skin burns and both of my parents have had skin cancer. I have just been feeling so pasty white that I wanted some color. Now I have various shades of tan on my body, hopefully they will improve after I shower today.
Last night my mom had her water aerobics class at the gym. It turns out that her instructor is someone who I used to swim with when I was about 12. I went to the gym with her and used the fitness center during her class, riding the bike for half an hour. There is a serious shortage of "good" magazines right now. I don't want to read parenting magazines or money magazines...give me some trashy gossip! Before going to the gym we went to buy her a new Vera Bradley bag and to get Father's Day cards and after the gym we hit Target. It was a wild and crazy night!
Earlier I stated that I am going to "participate" in a race tonight. I have no plans of actually racing it. The course is quite hilly and turny. One of the men who runs in our group has started a race organizing company and this is one of his races. In fact, this is the second annual of this race. I missed it last year since I was in a different time zone. I felt guilty about missing it, although there is no reason to feel guilty about it. I was doing something that was much more prestigious. Luckily the weather seems to have broken, it is only in the low 70s and should not get much hotter. C does get great prizes for this race, but my only objective is to run strong, smart and hopefully get under 20. Tonight is more of a tempo style workout instead of a race.
Posted by Blondie at 09:23 AM | Comments (2)
June 14, 2005
Better than Anticipated
It's funny, waking up to the alarm is so much easier when I have to be somewhere. This morning I had grand plans of waking up and getting my run in very early. The alarm was set for 7:30, which by my standards is not really all that early. Anyhow, I could not drag myself out of bed for anything. I ended up hitting the snooze button until 8:00...and I absolutely hate it when people snooze for half an hour! If you're going to get up at 8, set the alarm for 8-don't subject others to your beeping alarm. This seems to happen to me every year at the end of the school year, my body cries out for all of the sleep that I have deprived it of and sleeps alot.
Based on my tentative plans for the week, today was the best day to do a "long" run. Since there is a heat advisory in effect for today and tomorrow, I decided that my best option was to run on the trail that I ran on Sunday. Since I planned to go longer, I backed off some and tried to stay pretty relaxed. I ended up doing two full out and backs on the trail. I did the first out and back in about 39:50 and the second out and back in about 38:50. I decided that I would turn around and run until I hit a nice, even 80:00. My guess is that I ran about 11 miles. I scared the living daylights out of two older women who were walking. I came up behind them and said, as calmly as possible, "runner back". Well they both jumped up like they had never had a runner come up behind them in their lives. On the second out and back, some man told me that I had a really nice stride.
I was unsure of how this morning's run was going to turn out. I have not done any track work since early May. My back feels kind of out of whack, if I had some insurance I would try to get it adjusted, but that will just have to wait a while. I have also had some pretty terrible runs the morning after doing a track workout. I also have not run that long in about six weeks. I felt really good. In fact, I didn't realize how far out I was until I was at the turnaround. In all I think that part of the reason today turned out so well was that I was by myself and did not have to talk to someone or anything else.
During the day I did some errands, like going to Trader Joe's to get some much needed food. This afternoon I went to the gym and rode the bike for an hour. The magazine selection is still pretty lame. I found two so-so magazines to read. Lucky for me I saw S and K my last five minutes on the bike when I was done reading the magazines and could talk to them to finish out the ride. I stretched some to try to hit the sore piriformis. It is feeling better and my back is starting to feel a little less off. After that I lifted some, but my heart was not really in it.
According to the weatherman, only one more day of hot weather!
Posted by Blondie at 07:27 PM | Comments (3)
June 13, 2005
There is only one word that can describe today...
HOT! I will admit that I was plenty spoiled for most of today...I sat around and did absolutely nothing. I watched morning TV, drank my coffee, finished two crossword puzzles, but really did not do much of anything productive. Around 11:00, I got myself in the shower to start thinking about going out. I ate some lunch, watched more TV and discovered that some of the contestants on an unnamed trivia show are really very stupid and then started to get ready for the interview.
I got myself dressed in my nice, new, beautiful black suit. Have you ever noticed that when you go on interviews you really are not showing yourself to the interviewer? Seriously, how many of us would voluntarily wear a suit and stockings when it is 94 degrees out? Not that I am some kind of freak, but I took off any extaneous items-for example, I didn't wear my usual hoop earrings, I stayed with diamond studs. They really don't see the "real" you until you get the job and then it could be too late!
Anyhow, the interview. My interviewer was a few minutes late and then put me in a conference room and asked me to wait for just a minute. Just a minute turned into nearly fifteen minutes. The building was HOT, the air conditioning was not working right. I was sweating the whole time but telling myself that it was cool in there and cool outside. I don't know what to say about the interview. The school has an interesting concept, but they definitely will not get to see my beautiful, fun wardrobe-the staff must wear uniforms! I've got to write my thank you note and get it in the mailbox tonight.
Driving home I was wilting fast. I decided to take the blazer of my suit off and drive home in my lingerie inspired camisole. This was not too much of an issue, except when the man next to me at one light was giving me a funny look.
Since the interview was running so late, I had to get home and change into shorts and a sports bra to go over to the track. We had a small group since some of the guys are working nights and some of the guys had just raced this weekend. It was still hot and muggy, I kept saying that they should be happy to have me present because I could have run at any time of day! The workout was 12 x 200 with a 200 float jog-I was supposed to test the waters and try for 8. It was a rude awakening that I have not done any speedwork in about 6 weeks. The first 200 was probably too fast because I was trying to keep the jogs on the faster side. By about number six, the combination of not doing any speed and the weather was taking its toll on me. I didn't feel bad, but not great by any means. I jogged a mile on the track waiting for some of the guys to finish up before we did the warm down. I got in a total of 8 miles for the night. I hope that when I try to run fast again it does not feel nearly as bad as it did tonight.
According to the weatherman the weather is supposed to be a furnace until Wednesday and then break for Thursday. Here's hoping to him being right...
Posted by Blondie at 07:54 PM | Comments (1)
June 12, 2005
I Guess I Was Pooped
After our long excursion yesterday, both mom and I were absolutely pooped. I had called my friend S to see if she was up to doing something last night, but fortunately, she didn't call back last night. We were watching a movie on TV last night and by 10:15 I was snoozing on the couch. I did wake up a few times in the middle of the night to pee, and once at 6:15 when I told myself to go back to sleep. When I woke up for real it was just about 9:00! Let me tell ya, I was dragging even then. I laid around for a little bit longer on the couch, so by the time I was even thinking about running it was nearly 9:45.
Since it is still just hot, humid, and nasty here on the East Coast, I decided it was not in my best interest to run on the roads in the sun. I went over to the straight, relatively flat trail that is about three miles from the house. The trail does connect to others, but this main trail is pretty tame. They are a part of the state parks system and are used by runners, walkers, and lots of mountain bikers. The main advantage to going here instead of one of the parks is that this trail is almost completely in the shade. Right when I was starting a group of three guys from the same family (grandpa, son, grandson) got on the trail on their bikes. I passed grandpa running and he said, that isn't a good sign for me! I did encounter a whole lot of people trying to stay out of the sun today. For the past few weeks, I have only run out for 18 minutes. Today I decided to run out until the trail ended. It turns out that the trail doesn't go too much further-granted I was running faster, but I reached the end in 19:45. Technically the trail does not end there, but it crosses some road and goes out into the sun. I turned around and ran back to where my car was, that took about 19 minutes. On my way back a group of more serious mountain bikers were behind me. They told me that I needed to slow down because they couldn't catch up-they didn't pass me until they were going down a hill. I wanted to run for 50 minutes, so I needed to add on when I got back to my car. I turned around, again, and went out for another 6 minutes. I will admit that this was a boring route, but it was cool and out of the sun.
This pattern of awful weather is not supposed to break until Wendesday night. The trail and I may become very good friends over the summer. I am starting to notice that the weather is not bothering me as much now as it was earlier in the week. It takes me a good week to get used to heat.
My mom and I went to the gym today. She is planning to take a water aerobics class that starts tomorrow and wanted to get acquainted with the layout before tomorrow. I showed her some pool exercises. I ran in the pool for about 20 minutes and she walked for that time. After that we kicked some laps with kickboards.
OK, I'm pooped again. Hope that everyone had good weekends.
Posted by Blondie at 07:00 PM | Comments (2)
June 11, 2005
Playing 15 Questions
As instructed by Beth, I have completed the game. I'm sure that we will find that we have many similar responses after it gets passed around enough.
three physical things you like about yourself:
1) arms, especially my biceps
2) shoulders
3) back
three physical things you don't like about yourself:
1) feet, especially my toes
2) my stomach, short torso=pudgy looking
3) suddenly, newly extra-muscular quads
three things that scare you:
1) death, mine and others
2) childbirth; both the pain, possiblity of complications, and having that terror child in the grocery store
3) never finding someone who loves me for me
three of your everyday essentials:
1) coffee
2) diet Pepsi
3) Viactiv multivitamin chew
three things you are wearing now:
1) yellow livestrong bracelet
2) sundress, my summer uniform
3) diamond pendant
three of your favorite bands or musical artists:
1) the Beatles
2) Dave Matthews Band
3) don’t listen to enough music to have a third favorite!
three things you want in a relationship:
1) communication
2) passion
3) fun
two truths and a lie (which is a lie?):
1) I have never had a Gu.
2) I swam a 500 with my butt hanging out of my bathing suit.
3) I have one blue eye and one green eye.
three physical things that turn you on:
1) shaved/clipped hair
2) eyes
3) thin build
three of your favorite hobbies:
1) running
2) shopping
3) cooking, but not always eating
three things you want to do really badly right now:
1) sleep
2) run in 50 degree temperatures
3) have a good job
three careers you are considering:
1) nutritionist, but it requires going back to school
2) being independently wealthy (probably not considered a job)
3) headhunter
three places you want to go on vacation:
1) Greece
2) Italy
3) Ireland
three things you want to do before you die:
1) achieve all of my running goals
2) find a career that I excel at
3) have better eating habits
three people you are throwing this to next:
1) Leilani
2) Liz
3) Nanda
Today has been insanely busy. I got up early this morning to go to the long run. Soupy would probably be the best term to describe the conditions. About 75 degrees with 100 percent humidity. By the time we were done the only dry spots on me were on the sides of my shorts at the very bottom. A group of four of us did a variation on the run that we have been doing the past few weeks. There is a lot of shade on this course, so it felt a little bit cooler. I think that we ran about 10 miles, so it is the first time that I have cracked double digits in a while. My stomach was not too happy during the last 15 minutes, but that was the main problem. I can still feel some fatigue, but it is getting better. I have not been sleeping as much as I know that I need to the past few days-my adrenal system is all out of whack from all of the news at work.
I went to the gym after the run. I wanted to ride the bike for an hour, but my thighs and butt were having problems with the seat. Again, there were not any good magazines, but I brought a so-so book to read. I got off the bike after 35 minutes and decided to try the elliptical for the rest of the hour. I only made it about 10 minutes on the elliptical before I just wanted off. I stretched some since I didn't do that at all after the run, I was just to sweaty and nasty to sit outside on the pavement and stretch. The one good part of this trip to the gym was my lifting. I did more exercises than usual, not that I had tons of energy, but I felt like a bad ass after I got two compliments on my biceps. One girl even asked me what exercises I do since they "pop" so much!
This afternoon my mom and I went back to the gym to change the membership so that she is a member too. Then we went on an excursion to find an outfit to wear to the interview. There were a bunch of strikeouts at the first stop. The second stop involved getting a drink and mom finding a bathing suit to wear in the pool at the gym. On the third stop I found a pantsuit on clearance which I bought, although I didn't love it. The pants looked too tight in the thighs (big surprise!). We went to another store just to look and found a much better skirt suit that I bought too. Now the pantsuit needs to go back, but we were both wiped out and didn't feel like dealing with a return.
We got home and watched the Belmont. We really aren't that big of horse-racing folk, but Afleet Alex and his jockey train at the local horse racing track and the owners are from the town where I went to college. They won, woo hoo! Now I'm looking forward to just chilling out and relaxing for the rest of the night.
Posted by Blondie at 07:44 PM | Comments (2)
June 10, 2005
Moving On
I can not say that everything that has happened this week has been terrific. In all honesty, it sucks. But, this is life, I need to move on. Dwelling on this isn't going to do anything for me. I have enjoyed today since I didn't have to wake up super early, I am taking advantage of having a longer weekend than usual. I had a great night last night and needed it (more about that later). I took care of a few loose ends this morning and will use the rest of the weekend to relax.
I must agree with what Nanda stated, everything happens for a reason. I firmly believe that the reason this happened is that I needed a swift kick in the butt to get me out of that dead end job. I had been saying for quite some time that this position was a dead end. It did serve a purpose, to get experience in order to get state certification. Everyone I know has been saying for a while that I need to get out of there, this is my ticket out. Looking at it in a positive way is helping me deal. My friends who spoke to the news are very upset about the way they were represented. I have had enough experience with our local press to know they are notorious for misrepresenting you.
Last night was a great night, both running-wise and morale-wise. The workout was a prediction mile. I got to be the official time-keeper and everyone had to guess what they could do a hard mile in. Splits were yelled out for the first quarter and that was it. I did the warm-up and then some strides with some of the group. J and I were mad at some of the people because they were not doing the workout right. He ran a great mile; a 5:15. Of course, he didn't think that he would come close to that and guessed 5:28 so he didn't win. Everyone put a buck in and the closest to the pin was supposed to take the money, but there wasn't much, so next time (in two weeks) the winner will take the cash.
After the workout (I got in about 55 minutes of running)we hung out and had some soda and beer. One of the local festivals is going on, so a few of us went over there to hang out. We met up later at a local place for a light late dinner and hung out some more. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. I got home too late and went to bed!
This morning I had to head back to the school to get a copy of my resignation letter, I forgot to take a copy for myself with all of the commotion yesterday. It was very awkward. I know that some of the people who were there working on report cards felt some animosity toward me because I am in a much better place than they are. I won't say anything bad about these people, but they do not work very efficiently so the process is going to take a very long time.
Today was some light cross-training. I did the elliptical machine for 35 minutes and then rode the bike for half an hour. The magazine pickings were pretty sparse today, lots of magazines like Parents, but nothing trashy.
Tomorrow my mom is going to join the same gym that I go to and then we are going shopping for a new interview outfit. I have to get this job. Some of the more unprofessional people I work with are trying to get jobs where this interview is. I know that these people are not good fits for the job, but I have been passed over for so many jobs for whatever reason that I am worried about it. Again, I won't say anything bad, but they would not be able to cut it in a regular school.
I would like to thank everyone for reaching out about the job situation. I hope that everyone stays cool this weekend and has fun!
Posted by Blondie at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2005
A Resolution
[Note: I wrote a more in-depth entry earlier, but the line-speed was so slow that it did not publish and I could not retrieve it.]
I can not say that I am exactly happy with what has happened today. The person from the Department of Education/county who has been trying to help us showed up at school this morning. He lives almost two hours away and was at the school at 7 this morning. He is not able to help us that much and has been put in the uncomfortable position of needing to be the bearer of bad news to us. He is trying as hard as he can in order to get us paid.
We made the decision that we would start the day and around 8:30 decide if we would continue to work without pay. The problem is there is no foreseeable pay. We made the decision to close the program. Our representative felt that it was our choice and thanked us for working for so long without being compensated. Three representatives from the biggest school district in the county were also present and absolutely disgusted at what was going on. They also supported our decision. We fulfilled our obligations to the students by doing our grades and so forth.
The county, state, and school districts are all taking legal action against the company. We are also able to take individual legal action against the company. I can't say that I am thrilled with what has taken place. With the way our pay is set up, we are missing out on 20% of our salary for the 2004-2005 school year. I am very lucky that I am in the situation that I am in. Not everyone is so well off. I still live at home, my car is paid for, and I do not have any student loans to pay off. I believe that I am the only one of the staff who is so lucky. I will probably start to work for my father early next week.
I have not run yet today. I'm going up to the track, not doing the workout. I'll probably go up a little bit early to get an extra mile or so in since I am the official timekeeper for tonight's "fun" workout. After the workout, we are having a hang out and then maybe going out after that. Of course, I can't pay if we go out, I hope that people feel sorry for me!
Posted by Blondie at 12:50 PM | Comments (3)
June 08, 2005
Getting More Info...
Today we were able to get more information about our paycheck situation. This morning we believed that the state would be able to step in and pay us, at least for this month. Each of us sent our information-name, ssn, address, gross salary, etc...to a representative to see if he could get our pay. He called us later on in the day and informed us that the state gives the company money and all of that money has been drawn. The problem we run into is that the state, by law, can only pay for a service once. In essence, if they were to pay us, they would be paying for this service twice.
Clearly this information had the staff in an uproar. We demanded a staff meeting with our administrator to find out more information. Our contact person put us under the impression that we will not be paid for our next paycheck either. Our staff meeting did not get us too far. We demanded more information because we felt it is not fair to keep us in the dark. The owner of the company finally sent over a fax that said that the IRS took the checks. What he did not include in the fax, but I was able to find out from my father, is that he has two tax liens filed against him. He has not been paying our federal withholding tax. The one lien is for over $164,000 and I am not sure how much the other lien is for. This is very bad news since the IRS trumps all of the employees. Dad is currently hard at work doing detective work to see how we can possibly nail this guy. One of my friends is high up in the government and has been giving me advice as to what to do, but he is pretty much at a loss as to what to do to get these two paychecks. Since we are paid once a month in ten equal payments, this is 20% of my annual salary.
Ok, enough bitching. I did run today. It felt really crappy. The fact that it was 92 degrees and humid when I went out probably did not help my cause. I felt tired and dead and weak. I did manage my 7 mile loop and the time was not all that bad considering all of the times that I was barely moving or not moving at all. I went to the gym after, but had no energy. I have had poor dinners the past two nights and the weather was not a help. I rode the bike a little bit and then I did manage to lift, but not much.
In better news, I have an interview set up for Monday afternoon. The local news and the newspaper are also coming tomorrow to report on this story, since it is taxpayer money.
Posted by Blondie at 07:57 PM | Comments (2)
June 07, 2005
Really F&*%ing P#@@*d Off!!!
I've gotta keep this really short because there are lots of much more important things for me to take care of today. I just got back from picking the car up from the mechanic which is part of the reason that I was not able to touch the computer last night, I had to drop it off there in the middle of a thunderstorm. That is not even the problem, my horrendous job is the main problem.
We get paid once a month, on the seventh. Well, today instead of getting paychecks, we got a memo that stated that they were not able to dispense the paychecks today. This is the first time that we have not actually been able to get the checks, there have been other instances in which we had to go to the Department of Labor and the checks magically were available by the close of business. Today that was not the case. We did call the DOL who is opening a case against them, but they can not tell us exactly when we will be getting paid. If we do not show up for work tomorrow, they can fire us because we live and work in an employment at will state. That basically says that an employer has the right to fire an employee for no reason. We also can't strike. What this really means is that if we ever want to get all of our pay we have to show up to work. I have to make another phone call this evening to a friend of mine who may be able to help out. I called this afternoon, but he wasn't around. I don't mean to be overly aggressive, but this is serious. They have broken numerous laws in this case. We did talk to someone who helps in the funding and they said that they will make sure that we are paid.
Oh yeah, I did run, but it wasn't all that exciting. I did about 8 miles last night with the group, including two long striders on the track. The pace was pretty quick and it was really hot and humid. I was so soaked when I got done that it looked like I had jumped in the pool. A local summer cross country series started tonight and a bunch of people from the track participated in it. I did a very fast warm-up with K and T, then I ran around some with J. I wrapped up with a 15 minute jog on my own for a total of 50 minutes, just shy of 7 miles. It was hot again, but not nearly as humid as it was yesterday.
All right, gotta go and see what I can do about the job situation. I can't think with my emotions, I need to think with my head. I know the best thing I can do is continue to show up for work until my paycheck comes and clears. You can bet your bottom dollar that when it comes I am running directly to the bank and cashing that thing.
Posted by Blondie at 09:06 PM | Comments (1)
June 05, 2005
Too Much Fun
A girl deserves a night of a lot of fun every now and then. Last night was well earned. There has been a lot of work recently, but no play. The graduation party for J's daughter, also a J, was a good time in the afternoon. I ate a lunch before I went, so I wasn't really hungry when I was there. There really was not any food that I would have eaten either, so it was not that much of an issue. Yesterday was kind of warm, so that was suppressing my appetite. The cocktail party in the garden was beautiful. It also went on several hours past when it was scheduled. I did graze on a little bit of food, but not enough to constitute a meal. As the night went on, I just did not feel hungry. Boy did I pay for my indulgence in beverages with very little food!
I did sleep late this morning, at least until the phone rang at 8:15. I stayed in bed a bit longer and then got up, but knew right away that I would not be able to run for a while. I napped a little bit longer on the couch and then decided to head out for my run around 10:30. It was HOT, much hotter than it has been. My legs were sore from the harder effort yesterday. I had no energy from my lack of calories consumed yesterday. Today was one of those days that I wished that my stomach could tolerate some food before running.
I scrapped my original plan of running 7 miles and only did 4. It was probably a good idea anyhow, becuase if I did do the full 7, I would have been at 47 miles for the week. That is not really high, but considering last week was 32 and the 7 mile loop was kind of wiping me out during the week, I used my better judgement and just cut back.
Needless to say, I have been hungry almost all day. I tried to fill up on lots of veggies tonight so that I would not feel as guilty about the sheer quantity of food that I have consumed. I need to get my laundry off the line and call a former co-worker who called me on Friday afternoon.
Posted by Blondie at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 04, 2005
Bzzy as a Bee
This has got to be quick since today is an extremely busy day. Collapsed super early last night from being wiped out. Doing this makes Saturday morning runs much more tolerable since I am able to be pretty darn awake by 6:15. Got up a little earlier than that since I had to pee and then got dressed and packed for my workout.
We decided to do what we did last week, run through the historic estate. We all thought that we had a really enjoyable run, talking and looking at the pretty landscaping. Of course, this morning was wet and damp, so it was not nearly as pretty as last weekend. We had a bigger group this morning and a group of them decided that we were going to run much faster than we did last weekend. I did feel pretty good, but man we were flying. A few of the guys decided that they were going to sprint about a half mile from the finish. Right before they did this, I had said that I didn't want to run any faster than we were (because I couldn't run any faster!). Anyhow, we ended up running for just under 68 minutes, but ran further than we did last week. Basically, we ran further in less time!
I went over to the gym after the run. I rode the bike for an hour, but I decided to do something different: I put less resistance on and really worked on spinning. My thought is that by spinning faster on the bike I can re-teach my legs some turnover for running. I tried to keep my rpms as close to 100 as I could. After than I lifted some. I'm working up to my pre-race lifting routine.
Now I have to paint my nails in an effort to look pretty for the parties I have to go to soon. J's daughter graduated from high school this week and I have her party this afternoon. One of the guys who I run with is having a cocktail party this evening that I would like to attend (I hope that there are some cute single guys there!).
Posted by Blondie at 01:09 PM | Comments (2)
June 03, 2005
What is it About Rain?
I seriously wonder what it is about rain that makes people lose any common sense and intelligence that they may have. This morning three students got off the bus and walked down the street to smoke. They know that they are suspended when they get off the bus and do not come immediately into the building. Why would they choose to end up staying outside on a cold, rainy day? Driving is even worse. For some reason when it rains, especially when it has not rained in a long time, people forget how to do it. There was even a reminder on the traffic watch that you have to change the way you drive when it rains; slow down, don't follow so closely, etc... A prime example that I saw today: a woman goes to make a right turn on red onto a major highway. There are cars in all three lanes, including the lane she is turning into. Instead of waiting, she pulls out and drives about 20 miles an hour! I just don't get it.
We had a soaking rain today. The forecast is for rain tomorrow morning and then clearing out and nice in the afternoon. I most certainly hope that it does clear out since I have two outdoor parties to go to tomorrow. It was a very nice day to take off from running. I would have thought about cross-training today, but getting over the general fatigued feeling of the marathon is much more important to me.
Hope that everyone has a great weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2005
The Important Things
Last night I had every intention of getting to bed early. I was even in my pjs with my teeth brushed and getting ready to get into bed when my mom needed help with some things on the Internet. I give her some credit, she is afraid that she will break the Internet if she clicks on the wrong thing. She did not even get her own e-mail account until a little bit over a year ago. It took a few weeks of coaching her through it before she even got comfortable checking it on her own. Anyhow, we ended up spending some quality time together instead of me getting into bed early. There are some things in life that are more important. Sleep is one of those, but spending time with someone who is important is even more important.
Today was a crazy day, especially given my semi-catatonic state. Work has become such a chore. I don't feel like doing anything anymore because whatever I do is not going to be right, we've been told straight-up that our opinions don't matter, so why should I do anything? Anyhow, I made it through the day and came home for a nice hour long nap.
While I was at work, I talked to J about tonight and some about summer training. Tonight, although going to the track, I was not to do the workout. For the some of the summer we are going to work on turnover. I'm going to do about half of what the workout is and absolutely blast through it to get my legspeed back. I've never had great legspeed, but it has greatly decreased. I'm not sure what that will mean as two of the early fall races that I have earmarked are a ten miler and a half marathon. He thinks that my longest runs over the summer should be 60-65 minutes. We'll have to have a more in-depth discussion about this pretty soon.
So tonight I went up to the track. I did the warm-up, way too fast. I got caught up with a few of the guys. Once we got onto the track, two of the guys said that they were going to draft off me. I know they were kidding, they said you draft off the strong one. I said, I'm not the strong one; I'm the young, dumb, blonde one. Why people choose to draft off me utterly confuses me, it isn't like I'm a big tall person to block the wind! When they started on the workout, I went back on the road with M and ran him home since he has a big bike race on Saturday. I came back to the track and ran two laps with J and C. We waited for everyone to finish their workouts and then did the warm-down. I think that I got just over 7 miles in for the night.
Overall I am feeling better, but I still feel a bit fatigued at times. This feeling should pass, but I don't want to overdo it and get myself so worn down that I can not recover. Again, the long term goals are more important than getting back to running big mileage weeks.
Posted by Blondie at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2005
More Good News
Thank you to everyone who advised me about the not so direct job e-mail. I think that I am going to take part of what Nanda suggested, and send them an e-mail tomorrow. It's kind of like what I tell our kids at school: being assertive is good, being aggressive is not so good. I do not want to seem overly aggressive, but I do not want to seem passive either. A few weeks ago I had given my resume to one of my running friends who is a very good person to know. He is well connected within the community. Anyhow, I got a call today to set-up an interview at a new high school that will be opening in the fall. The woman who will be running the school is one of our contacts now and I have a pretty good relationship with her.
Also in terms of good news: it's June. The end is in sight. I always have a hard time at work in May because by then I am so frustrated with the staff and the students and have not had a break in a long time. Now we are down to days left. Once we hit June, I can see the finish line. It's kind of like hitting the 25 mile mark in the marathon, you're almost there. I do feel a sick day coming on next week, I just don't know what day I'll be sick. We would get paid at half a day's pay if we don't use them, but I would much rather use the last day-maybe for interviews!
Running this afternoon was marginally better than yesterday. I had a dreaded case of feeling like I had to go to the bathroom the entire time. My stomach was gurgling and I felt kind of gassy, but it was not too bad. It was also slightly cooler than yesterday. My ass area feels a little bit better, I think that it is some kind of strain. I managed to do my seven mile loop in 49:48, slightly faster than yesterday. It definitely takes more out of me than it used to. J said the whole idea was for me to get out of shape so that there is something to build from. Let me tell you: I feel out of shape.
After my run I went over to the gym since I didn't get to lift yesterday. I can be flexible, like Gumby, when need be. I rode the stationary bike for half an hour and talked to S for the first 20 minutes. Having somebody to talk to makes the time go by much faster. When I got off, I stretched some which is definitely helping. I've never been the most flexible person, but when I work on it it does improve. After stretching, I lifted some. The swim team was in the weight room making it even more crowded than usual. I must say that getting back on my regular schedule has helped in my body image issues, I don't feel so sloth-like anymore.
Well, off to catch up on all the blogs and then call and leave a message about the interview.
Posted by Blondie at 07:52 PM | Comments (1)