« January 2005 | Main | May 2005 »

April 18, 2005

Baking in Boston

Ouch - it was definitely a hot one out there this afternoon . . . I got a little sun, and I felt warm the entire time (and I was NOT running! I was standing stationary in one spot for 4 hours). B. and I were like little kids in a candy store this morning - we were so excited to watch the race. We left our hotel around 9:30 and walked back to heartbreak Hill (stopping for breakfast and a giant bag of candy to go).

I ran into one of my friends from Chicago - which was awesome. Her boyfriend finished in a solid 2:36. I saw him at mile 21 and he looked fantastic, but definitely tired. He ran a 1:09 half marathon last week so I think he was hurting by the time he rode through the hills. If he decides to run Chicago in the fall, I think he will dip under 2:23. He is one of my running gods :)

The runners were definitely struggling - we saw quite a few drop out right around the 21 mile marker. In my estimation, it was a little too warm to run a great time . . . or to run a marathon at all! But it looks like the heat didn't bother Ndereba or Culpepper. In fact, when I saw Culpepper come over the hill, he was a few seconds back - and not in 4th place. Way to go!

I spent the next few minutes waiting for Alison to fly by me, but I never saw her. My guess is that she was running too swiftly for my eye to catch her . . . I am anxious to hear how she did!! I did see Joe Positive and she looked incredibly relaxed and smooth (and that was after she ran up heartbreak hill . . . WOW). I saw a few fellow Chicagoans - no one was on PR pace, but everyone looked pretty good.

It's been an amazing week. Now it's back to reality. I have to write a 10 page paper tonight.

Congrats to all of our Boston runners!!!!

Posted by bridget at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2005

Boston, Heartbreak Hill and a Ring!

I am posting this on the night before the marathon - for the record, I am NOT running the marathon!! I am here to spectate and to cheer on the gazillion friends that I have running it this year. I am going to plant myself at mile 21 and SCREAM my lungs out for 4 hours. I am so excited!

B. and I arrived in Boston yesterday morning and I was finally able to run with Alison and Joe Positive. I have a good feeling that both of them are going to run extremely well :) We ran around the Charles a bit, but it was awful trying to dodge the crowds of people until we hit the River. The best part of the run was hanging out with two fellow bloggers.

When I got home from the run, B. was dressed in his running clothes and he was anxious to get out the door. I was starving so I quickly ate and then we waited about half an hour before heading out again. Our plan was to take Commonwealth Ave. all the way to the bottom of Heartbreak Hill and then take the T back. So we ran past BC, down the hill, and I stopped. B yelled over, "WE HAVE TO RUN TO THE TOP." I replied, "Okay." So I decided to hammer up the hill and I took off. I tried to pretend that I was Paula Radcliffe, but it didn't work. One, a 7 minute mile pace is race walking for her, and two, she's never run up heartbreak hill!

So I got to the top and I sat down. B. joined me a few seconds later. I just kept talking about the hill: "It was running up this hill in 2002 that my leg gave out and I missed the Boston Marathon . . . it was on this hill that I ran every morning and evening . .." and so on. I was totally romanticizing the freakin' hill. Little did I realize that B. was down on one knee about to propose to me. He literally took my breath away. I can hardly recall what I said (other than the fact that I said, "yes"), or what passed in those few moments. I felt dizzy and shaky . . . he is truly the man of my dreams.

Needless to say, we drank a bit last night so we have not run yet today!

I will write again tomorrow with a marathon update. By the way, Alison is just as inspiring, smart, and funny in person as she is on her blog. I wish I lived closer to her so I could run with her everyday (if I could keep up!). She is only 5'3", which surprised me, but she definitely looks like a hard core runner :) You rock, Alison.

Posted by bridget at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2005

I'm Back (for real this time)

It has been MONTHS since my last post. Where do I even begin to explain myself? I will start with my life. I think it is obvious that teaching has been an extremely difficult addition to my life. I absolutely love my students, and while I originally thought I was going to have a tough group, I got lucky. Only one of my students has been non-responsive. As a teacher, I have done everything possible to keep him alive in class - including a 3 hour conference where I laid everything on the line. He responded at first, but he is hibernating again. I am at my wits end on this one. I am still throwing down some crazy hours, but I have decided - for some sadistic reason that I cannot explain - to make my life even more complicated.

On top of teaching and getting my MA, I have taken a part-time job in my local Alderman's office as the Director of Community Affairs. When school ends in May I will take on this job full-time, and so long as my Alderman gets re-elected in November 2006, I will have a job! This means that I will not be pursuing my PhD or teaching for a few years. It's too complicated to explain how all of this came about, but I think I made the right decision. I am terribly overwhelmed by my new job - but I think that is the nature of any new job. It is going to be a 7 day/week job, BUT I WILL FINALLY HAVE MY MORNING HOURS AGAIN TO RUN! (instead of planning lessons, catching up on and writing papers, reading, etc . . . I am craving a routine).

As for my running life, it has been AWFUL. I have been existing off of 3-5 days/week of running, but I am simply grateful for the 20-35 miles/week I have been able to squeeze in. I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8K this morning - it was a gorgeous morning in Chicago!! Deena demolished the American Record . . . I think she ran 24:36. Unbelievable. A lot of people ran well today.

My race report: I wanted to break 33:00 today, but I really didn't think that it would be possible given my inconsistent training of late. I thought I started off conservatively, but I ran through the mile in 6:11 (and that is fast for me . . . but it didn't feel terribly fast). I decided to pull back the reigns a bit because I was afraid of bonking. I ran through mile 2 in under 12:40. I still felt good at this point so I continued to roll with it. I hit mile 3 in 19:26 (I must have slowed down a bit). I started to feel a little sick at this point, but I kept it strong through mile 4 in 25:55 - a PR for me). AND THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. I was shocked to find myself on my way to a PR, but then I spent the final mile choking up and down the street as I perpetually slowed down to throw up water. Maybe that was a sign that I need to start training harder. But I never felt like I was running particularly hard throughout the race - just comfortably hard. Anyway, I crossed the line in 32:51. My summer goal is to break 32:00 and run 31:59 (just as my long term goal is a 2:59 in the marathon). On a positive note, I had never broken 33:00 before I ran 3:04 in the marathon so maybe this is a good omen for the upcoming racing season.

Goals and resolutions: run 6 days/week and get my miles into the magnificent 50s. Then I think some magic will begin to happen.

I miss everyone and I am going to make an effort to post weekly through the end of the semester. I have too much work ahead of me to think beyond the 23 papers I have to comment on tonight (not to mention the work I have to do for my own classes), but I need to reawken this community in my own life . . . you are quite the motivating bunch.

Alison - you rock! I will be in Boston to cheer you on :)

Posted by bridget at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)