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December 30, 2005

New Year's Non-Resolutions

I know that the New Year is looming around the corner, but I do not participate in the construction of resolutions; I have convinced myself that such desires and wishes only set one up for failure. In fact, I cannot even remember the last resolution I made (and probably proceeded to break immediately). In an ideal world, I would resolve to eat healthier, run more, study more, be a more active dog-mom . . . and a thousand other things. I am kind of talking in circles so I will jog to another topic now :)

RUNNING: I missed 60 by 2 miles last week! I was a little bummed out, but the world did not end and I will have plenty of opportunities to reach 60 miles . . . maybe even this week. On Monday I ran an easy 6. On Tuesday I had the option of taking the day off or running 3-5 miles. I am desperately trying to wean myself from taking days off unless they are needed so I ran a fast 3 miles. I do not think that run had any physical benefit - what can 21 minutes of running really do? At the same time, the mental benefit is huge. Plus, it was nice to just run 3 miles and call it a day! On Wednesday, I got a little dose of excitement and ran 9 miles in the morning - totally abiding by the "LSD" philosophy. It was long and slow. And it felt invigorating. I am finding that running 9 miles every now and then is a lot different from running 8 miles. Wednesday night I met up with my friend Ryan and we tossed in another 7 miles. We were moving pretty quickly, and it was awesome to actually run with another human being! Yesterday I ran 8 miles as a progression run. I kicked off the run with a 7:30 mile and slowly worked my way to 6:40 pace.

Other than running, I have had a happy holiday! B. and I decided to buck tradition and convention and NOT give each other christmas gifts. Just because we have all of these dominant societal constructions and "norms" does not mean that I have to follow them. That's about as rebellious as I get. Aside from that, we are sending out our Christmas cards on President's day because we think it's funny. It's probably not very funny to other people, but we are secure with our eccentric definitions of "funny."

And finally, a vent or a gripe or whatever anyone cares to call it. Obviously, I love being a runner and I love the way it makes me feel. But it has the potential to distort our bodies. Case in point: my incessant search for the perfect pair of jeans must come to a premature end! I would like to think that I have shrunk, but I am completely aware of the new vanity sizing that exists - it drives me nuts. But what drives me even more crazy is not being able to find a pair of jeans that fits in both the waist and the hamstrings! I have fairly muscular legs that are deceptively lean from the front, but extend back a few miles from the profile view. This makes it impossible to find jeans (my hammies are too big). I hate wearing belts, but I have no choice. This entire paragraph is ridiculous so I will stop now . . . I just wanted to express my recent frustrations.

I need to run 6-9 miles today. I hope everyone has a happy new year!!!!!!!

Posted by bridget at 08:37 AM | Comments (6)

December 24, 2005

Slip n Slide

I always wanted a slip n slide as a kid, but I think my mom worried about our general safety too much (although I vaguely recall having one for a summer; I wore a lot of hip bruises that year from rolling over rocks). Today I awoke to a balmy 35 degrees in chicago and met my friend, Kim, for a run. I overdressed, of course, but I appropriately stripped down to just my base layer once we hit the lakefront. Getting to the lakefront was another story.

I have a habit - formed sometime around the age of 17 - of falling at least once every winter (hence the strange slip n slide metaphor). I registered that fall in the books today. Kim and I took a relatively unknown street to the lakefront and decided to run in the street as opposed to over the slush-ice-water covered sidewalks. Somewhere in between the sidewalk and the street, I slipped. Fortunately, I landed on my right hand and prevented my knee from slamming into the concrete. We laughed it off and almost immediately regained our momentum.

I did not take all of our splits, but the splits that I caught hovered right around - or slightly under - 7 minute pace. This run convinced me that the treadmill I log many of my winter miles on is totally off. 7:30 pace on the treadmill feels closer to 7:10 pace outside. It could just be me, but I think the 10 mile hard runs I have been putting in - getting down to 6:30 pace - have me fitter than I have been in a looooooong time.

Speaking of treadmills, I am a wimp. Yes, I adore winter running, but I detest ice . . . I really, really detest ice. As a result, I have become good friends with a certain TRUE treadmill. I don't care if some running gods and gurus and speedsters disagree with my soft spot for the treadmill - I am going to use it ALL winter long! I will continue to do my long runs and semi-long runs outside, but everything else will be moved indoors if and when there is ice on the ground.

This week has been a confidence booster. I will hit my highest mileage in over a year: 61. That's kind of like a milestone for me, especially considering the fact that my legs feel peppy - like an over-caffeniated cheerleader (not that I have anything against cheerleaders - my older sister, katie, cheered for years!!). My glutes are tired, but not horrifyingly painful.

I would love to race a half in the next couple of weeks to test my fitness level, but I probably need a warmer climate and a few hundred miles outside of the midwest to realize that desire. Hmmm. Maybe B. will volunteer some of his Starwood points to my running endeavors. I am sure there are lots of great halfs out west - maybe even near Seattle (where my twin sister is!!).

And speaking of twin sisters, I really miss mine. This Christmas eve marks the first one in our lives that we will not see each other. That makes me extremely sad . . . I wish she were in Chicago right now.

My mom says that I need to blog more so I am going to try to update more regularly ;)

Posted by bridget at 02:18 PM | Comments (2)

December 14, 2005

Building a Base

My running has been really uneventful lately - I feel like I am on auto pilot with my new training schedule! I have stuck to my new schedule like glue, but I messed up slightly today. Today's run was supposed to be 8 miles easy. Well, I confused today's run with tomorrow's run, and ended up running an 8 mile progression run. I started around 7:30 pace and worked my way down to about 6:50 pace. It felt particularly hard today, but I think my tiredness was less running-related and more life-related. I am trying to juggle too many things and I need to make some hard decisions, but I hate making hard decisions that require saying "no" to people. I haven't quite figured out how to negotiate that yet.

About the best thing going on lately has been my running. I am gradually progressing and building my base. My new coach started me around 44 miles and last week we posted a 50 mile week. This week will be 54 and I have no idea what next week will bring. I am only running 6 days/week and in all singles. I have a feeling I might lose my rest day next week! I kind of like having a day off, but I am also getting to that cool place where I want to run on my rest days - it's been a while since I have been this passionate and excited about running, and I believe this neo-excitement has something to do with the fact that I am no longer only accountable to myself - someone else is watching what I do everyday. It's kind of neat. Now - if only the rest of my life were so structured and predictable.

The biggest adjustment lately has been the departure of my twin sister, Aine, to Seattle. I miss her more than a few simple words can express . . . last night I really wanted to walk over to her place and grab a hot latte, but she wasn't there. I tasted a hollow emptiness in my stomach that I did not like. We have been apart before - I lived in Boston for 3 years while she was in Illinois, but, for some reason, this feels different. Maybe I just got used to our renewed "twin time." Now I look back and realize that I didn't always carve out enough twin time in my schedule - it doesn't feel good. I am planning to see her in January or february :) I guess winter in seattle is aout 40 degrees . . . she does not miss the Chicago snow and ice!

Posted by bridget at 12:47 PM | Comments (2)

December 01, 2005

Run Around Sue

My name is not Sue, but I feel like all I have done today is run around, without, of course, actually running. It is 6:15PM and it does not look like I will get in any running until at least 7:30 - and I have 10 miles to hammer out tonight. I have been a good running student thus far and I do not want to mess up my perfect attendance! This week has not been especially noteworthy. I ran 6 relaxed miles on Monday and I recruited the faster twitched muscle fibers on Tuesday. The goal was to run harder than my easy days, but nowhere near tempo pace. So I kicked off with a 7:30 mile and held steady around 6:50 - 6:55 pace for most of the run. My body felt well-oiled and ready to roll, but I can definitely tell that my endurance is lacking. I have not been doing long runs so 8 miles feels a little long. That said, I am staring 10 miles in the face tonight and 12 on Sunday. All singles for now until we start to creep into the 70s. The goal is to head in that direction - 70s - but not for a few weeks. The prescription for this week is 48, next week is 50 and then 54. I like this gradual progression concept. I hardly feel like I am inching toward 50.

And one day when I am doing 100 miles per week . . . just kidding. Hopefully I will still be blogging and running into my 80s, but it's not likely.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I need to catch up on my blog reading and respond to everyone - I plan to get around to it this weekend while B. and I visit Washington DC. I have never been there before so I am excited, but I am nervous about running my 12 miler there since I have no clue where I am going. Didn't a few fellow bloggers frequent the DC area at one time??? Any good and easy suggestions on places to run?

To recap today: I spent hours at my university re-enrolling as a grad student after hibernating for a semester. I am nervous about going back, but I know my intellect needs another school "vacation." Reality can be a tough pill to swallow sometimes. The university might be able to reactivate my TA-ship, which would make school free. I would humbly accept that gift, but I do not expect anything at this point. I should be on a free ride in the Fall again - I miss teaching college freshman!

I also spent hours on my magazine work. As soon as we have our new website up, I will link to it!

Happy Running! It's 6:26PM.

Posted by bridget at 06:14 PM | Comments (1)