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October 30, 2005

Inspiration

Tonight we attended my friend Mary's 50th birthday party. Mary has been a part of my running pretty much since I started. She wasn't the inspiration for me to start running - that would have to be Andy and his sister and brother-in-law - but she is *definitely* a big reason why I'm still running today. She's one of the most positive people I know. She used to tell us all to "embrace the hill" when things got tough and vertical on a run. She was such a calming effect when I didn't know what I was doing in those early years. When we joined our first official marathon training group in '99 she'd always remind me to relax when I'd get all flustered at the beginnings of our long runs when the group would take off and we'd get left behind. And she was right; we'd always catch all those who started out too fast. I ran with her in the early middle miles of my first Boston qualifier; I'll never forget her telling me to stop talking (and, ahem, singing.)

She didn't know how to swim two years ago. She was terrified of swimming. And now she has a half Ironman under her belt and a full Ironman in the works. I think she set a 10K pr a few weeks ago, and it's not like she wasn't working hard when I was running with her years ago. She's 50 and she'll still getting better.

Yay Mary!

She's also the administrator at the hospital where I'll be delivering in January. Even though she won't be physically by my side to get me through *that* particular marathon, telling me to just relax and not spaz out, I know the lessons she taught me in those early running years will be with me. And I have a feeling that even if she's not physically there at the hospital when everything's going on, she'll be there indirectly through the staff, whom she undoubtedly has an effect on through her work there. I'll be in good hands.

Run report: yesterday was another excellent running day and I got in another eight miles and felt great at the end. I hope we have a few weeks of this great running weather before it gets really cold; otherwise I might start using the weather as an excuse to stop running ...

Posted by jenandmats at 8:19 PM | Comments (2)

October 26, 2005

I made it to the cool weather!

At least ... that's what the title was to the entry I wrote a few days ago that is lost in space somewhere.

I had a good run on Saturday. It was the first for-real fall morning we've had. I even toyed with the idea of wearing gloves but was ok without them. In a way, Saturday was something of a victory lap for me. Although I've been prepared to stop running at anytime if it stopped feeling good, I couldn't help but hope that I'd be able to run long enough to enjoy one of those glorious fall mornings out on the roads with my friends.

I felt good the whole time, but if I controlled the universe and could force my friends to run the way I want them to things would have been even better. One of the reasons I've been able to run for so long is that our weekday group, for the most part, sticks together for the whole run. If some of us do strides there's a breakup in the last mile, but before then the priority is just running together. When we run on the weekends, though, and the group is bigger, more often than not someone picks up the pace early on. I hate hate HATE starting fast. I think it's totally unproductive. Plus we end up getting strung out, since people don't want to get left behind and will run out in no-man's land. And then there's the poor soul who's left to pull up the rear, which can be hard mentally.

So if I ran the running universe I'd take each run out nice and slow and social, with lots of water stops early on - especially if it's hot - and then work steady through the hills in the middle, stopping less but still making sure to get enough water, and then everyone running hard, pushing one another for the last few miles. No talking for the last two miles!

I can't really complain too much about Saturday, though. I had company early on when I was the caboose and I also had someone to push it in with at the end. And it was such a great feeling to still feel somewhat springy and fast at the end. My legs can definitely feel those extra pounds, though!

This afternoon was another story. I felt like poop! My strides on Monday morning felt a little rough, too, although the run in general felt good. I passed up running with the girls this morning - I didn't want to miss out on good afternoon running weather this week before the time changes, and I was already a little tired of running the whole run in the dark - and headed out on my own after work. I'm hoping that I'm just not adjusted to afternoon running anymore and that's why it was so hard. My lower back and hips were incredibly tight and unaccommodating. Sitting at a desk all day will do that to ya, I guess. But YUCK! And my nose was runny so when I got a drink of water and had to breathe out of my nose it made a mess. And I was wearing one of Andy's shirts and felt smothered (it was in the high 70s still) and it was hanging off to one side strangling me a little.

I've been crabby all day, though. Could be because I went to bed last night after the Astros left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. And I woke up this morning and immediately turned on the news to hear that the game was ultimately a "heartbreaker." Bah. I generally don't get emotionally invested in sports I'm not playing. And it's a good thing, because when I do I let it affect me more than I should. Strange as it may sound with my team being so close to being swept, though, I feel like it could be worse. I don't feel like they've rolled over; they've put up a good fight. I just hope they keep fighting with better results.

Posted by jenandmats at 9:24 PM | Comments (4)

October 20, 2005

Astros in the World Freaking Series?!!

How exciting. I've only been a fan for the past 16 years or so, since I moved to Galveston in the summer of '89, and even those years have been sprinkled with a few years where the Giants were my *real* number one team (living in Davis.) But I think this series is going to be *so great*. Of course, the series with the Cards was *really* great, since there's so much more of a history and relationship between those two teams.

For some reason, though, I didn't get as fired up last night as I would have on Monday night. Could be because I bought a new organizer (it's an addiction, seriously) that was vying for my attention last night. But I think that the amazing letdown on Monday night tempered my enthusiasm somewhat. On Monday night I was on my feet, squirming and spazzing, waiting for that third out in the top of the ninth inning and the enormous celebration to follow in Houston, when I realized that if Edmonds were walked then Pujols would be up as the winning run at the plate. I called Andy, who was in Tulsa, just before Edmonds was actually walked and said, "you know what's going to happen, don't you?" Then we just waited and let out a collective, agonized "AAAAGH" when it actually happened. As Crash Davis would say, "anything that travels that far oughtta have a stewardess on it."

So I'm happy, but feel a little robbed of the freakout I would have had on Monday night. Maybe I'll get to have one next week sometime! In the meantime there will be plenty of nailbiting. And no beer to take the edge off! Yikes!

Posted by jenandmats at 7:04 AM | Comments (1)

October 15, 2005

Still Kickin'

I wonder if Andy would be interested in a guest-host gig for this blog. He's going to either run a 50K or a marathon in December, and he's about as skinny as I've ever seen him, so I'd expect he'll be ready for something good by then. I have no details on his training, though; he's so much more tight-lipped about that kind of thing than I am. When he gets home from a run we generally talk about who he saw on the trail, who he ran with and what they're up to, and how bad his hat smells and the like, but I never know if he did anything "interesting" (read: fast) during his run. So I'd *really* be interested in him doing a guest-gig - I'd get a little more info!

As for me, I ran four ... zzzzzzzz ... oh excuse me for dozing off during this highly exciting run report ... miles on the trail yesterday morning ... zzzzzz ... with the girls. Again. And then a nice hilly 8 this morning. I didn't fall down. I was definitely picking up my feet more this morning, although we were still poking along. Gilbert would have been happy with my BUUUTT KIIICKS. I'm a little worried that the girls won't want to run with me much longer. One advantage I've had over them the past few months is a much higher tolerance for the heat and humidity. Now that the weather's better and they're feelin' frisky they'll probably ditch me. Maybe I can reel them back to me with some salacious gossip or something.

One funny thing about the fall on Wednesday that I'd forgotten about until this morning was that I got right up from falling down and started to run again. And then one of the girls - either Heather or Julia - asked me "do you want to walk?" And I let out a sad little "yeah." And we did. I guess I was looking for permission to be hurt. Kinda like when a little kid falls down and then immediately looks to a parent with that little confused "am I ok?" look on his face? Before he decides whether to cry or not? I have no idea how I'm going to be somebody else's parent. Seriously.

Probably won't get much of a chance to sit down this weekend. Today we have three social events to attend and then tomorrow is Andy's birthday and we'll have family over. Busy weekend!

ps - I read on Marla's (y'know, my new best friend Marla Runyan) blog that she had a daughter on 9/1. Congrats to her! But what I thought was noteworthy was that she had her a week *after* her due date. BOOOOOOO. I was under the impression that if I kept active I'd have less of a chance of overcooking! Oh well. Mom says I was a week early. That I could handle!

Posted by jenandmats at 9:17 AM | Comments (1)

October 12, 2005

Lookin' like a train wreck ...

1. My right knee is a big shiny, gory mess. And I have some serious trail rash all the way down my right shin. We were running so slow this morning and I guess I wasn't picking up my feet enough. **tunk** I can still hear the sound in my head of my shoe kicking the rock sticking up out of the ground. Heather thinks it's the same one she caught earlier this year. A guy running toward us as I went down let out a loud, drawn-out, overly-dramatic "WOOAAAAH!" Our friend Julia, who was running behind me, managed to straddle/jump over me without kicking or stepping on me. I had a trail of blood going down into my shoe when we were finished. Cool.

2. For some reason, I have developed some semi-serious hives from something and am itching like crazy. Fortunately, the little red bumps from last week - which prompted a panicky "what the hell is this" phone call and visit to the OBGYN - have stopped itching (although they're still there. The doc had no idea what they were, but knew enough to assure me that they weren't the bumps I'd read about on the internet that are linked to a high fetal mortality rate.) So I'm still covering myself with hydrocortisone.

3. I'm wearing a mentholated breathe-right strip to help alleviate some of the residual congestion from my allergies last week. Y'know, the ones that made me feel like my head was going to explode.

4. My shoulder is sore from a) running into the door frame at 4am this morning on my way back from the bathroom and b) the flu shot I decided to get this morning since I was going to the capitol nurse for my knee anyway. Oh wait. That was two different shoulders.

It's been kinda a long day. And now the Astros aren't helping any.

5. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow! YUCK!

Andy discouraged me from getting new running shoes last week since I'm "only running 20 miles a week now anyway." Maybe he'll change his mind when he sees the blood on my old ones! I'm making lemonade from my lemons, see!

At least I didn't squash my little friend when I went down. Didn't even come close. It was all hands and knee. Mostly knee.

As an aside ... do you think it's coincidence that I keep hearing R.E.M.'s "End of the World as We Know It?" Getting ready to have a kid kinda makes you feel that way. Fortunatley Andy and I both "feel fine." Mine's more of a ignorant bliss "feel fine," though, I'm afraid.

Posted by jenandmats at 9:01 PM | Comments (5)

October 10, 2005

Back in the saddle

Andy and I ran tonight after work. It was my first afternoon run in a loooooong time. Maybe even my first afternoon run this year? I can’t remember. So now I’m on the couch with Matty, blogging after a good dinner and quick shower. Just like this time last year!

I was in New York’s Hudson Valley this weekend for a memorial for my mom’s brother. There were some sad moments but overall it was a very nice weekend with family. I laughed so hard at times this weekend I thought my head would explode. Literally. My allergies were terrible this weekend, and when I laughed the pressure in my head was pretty intense. So aside from there being less room in my torso for a good belly laugh there was less airway space to provide the requisite oxygen. It was a dangerous situation.

Yesterday I drove up to Cornwall with my dad and Uncle Jack to check out a 10K race there. I find when I travel I’d rather find a local race to run than to try to plan a run on my own. Scary enough to be a small woman out on the roads by yourself; worse still when you don't know if or where there will be water and there’s a chance you might get lost. The 10K was very small – there are 47 people listed in the results on Coolrunning. And if you check out the results you can see my dad in the back row – well, about half of his face and white hat and his blue short-sleeved shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt. And you can see the brim of my hat just to his left!

Before the race, the 47 of us who ran the 10K mingled around on the sidewalk next to the road until a cop momentarily stopped traffic and the race director told us it was ok to come out into the street. While we stood on the sidewalk he verbally gave us directions around town. There was no air horn; the race director just said “on your mark … go!” And people TOOK OFF, leaving my dad and me and a few other people in the dust. For a good stretch there at the beginning, maybe the first 200 yards, my dad and I were LAST. The sweep vehicle was tailing us. I couldn’t believe it! I’ve never been LAST before! By about the half mile mark I had already started moving up and had found a few people to talk to, but my dad stood his ground for quite a while as the last person. I was actually really proud of him for doing so and not giving in to the stress of having that cop car behind him.

The race course was SO CUTE, winding its way through Cornwall on an overcast fall day with the fall foliage providing a background similar to the wallpaper I have on my computer at work – a picture of a cross country meet that Alison took in Amherst last fall. At one point we looped through a little neighborhood and I could see the Hudson (I thought) off to one side. I asked aloud if it was the Hudson, but no one answered. Everyone around me had headphones on.

I haven’t timed anything all year and had no idea what different paces felt like. I think when we run around the lake on the trail in the mornings we average somewhere around 10 minute miles, maybe slower. I know that when I ran really easy recovery runs last summer I could go as slow as 11 minute miles. I think I started out about that pace, but the pressure of the sweep cop car combined with the thrill of my first cool weather run since we were in Montana had me moving faster in no time. I did work a little going up hills, but I managed to stay perfectly comfortable the rest of the time. I crossed the finish line in just over 52 minutes for an 8:25 pace. My dad, who had hoped to come in under an hour, came in with minutes to spare, at about 57 minutes. (The results say he's only a year older than I am!)

Neither of us ended up last at the finish, which sure was nice. I was definitely in the bottom half, though, which is somewhat remarkable, especially in light of the fact that the women’s race was won in over 44 minutes. I think only one person finished in over an hour, and he came in at 1:00:06. It certainly wasn’t a fast race (at least as far as the women go,) but it certainly wasn’t an overly slow one, either!

It was definitely nice to run in a race again, especially one as pretty and low-key as this one. I wonder when my next one will be … ?

Posted by jenandmats at 9:12 PM | Comments (3)

October 4, 2005

Best laid "plans"

I have several half-finished posts that will probably never see the light of internet. I would like to keep posting mainly about running with some commentary on other aspects of my life. But how many times can you write "I ran four miles today with some strides on the track. So happy to still be running!" I mean, it's definitely good, but there's definitely a lack of material there. I've also started a few more posts about how sad it is to see the start of the racing season come and go and how antsy it makes me to hear other people talk about their training. SNORE.

I still think about running and love to read and listen to other peoples' training, even if it does make me antsy. I even have an idea of what I'd like to do after January, even though I know it's completely naive to try and plan anything at this stage. I'm pretty sure I'd like to come back and work on my speed again first, targeting a half marathon a year after having "her" (still nameless.) And then maybe try to do a fall marathon after that on mileage only to see where I am before adding some real work for the Austin marathon the following winter.

Ha ha. I hope I like pushing the jogger. I hope she likes being pushed in the jogger!

Posted by jenandmats at 9:46 PM