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August 31, 2005

Tuesday Update

Tuesday afternoon it was pouring rain as I sure it was doing throughout much of the East Coast. For some reason I was pretty beat even though my day at school did not seem especially tiring. In one class I struggled with one answer that was given and could not return with a fast enough response so I know that was bugging me. The comment made by the student was inappropriate and I was trying to think of a way to spin it and could not. Another teacher who I asked to observe me interjected when I could not find a response and knew exactly what to say. The student had said that one of the major health issues facing teens was prostitution and I did not know how to respond or I guess what she meant. The other teacher suggested did she mean low self esteem. That indeed was a better word choice. So I felt that my response was much too slow.

When practice with the team arrived I was glad to have 18 other individuals to run with because I was not feeling especially motivated. We ran a mile warm up, stretched,and then did three sets of 30 seconds of push ups followed by 3 sets of 1 minutes of lunges. By the third set of lunges my quads were very tired. We then set off for some hill repeats. We ran a mile warm up and then did 8 x 30 seconds of hill repeats. The hill was short and steep and I felt like I was going full speed to stay with the front of the pack. We ran continuously and ran about 1 minute down and back to the start. We then ran a mile cool down back to the school. Oh, before the hill repeats we did 6 striders. I felt good on the hill repeats but if they were any longer my quad would have definitely acted up on me.

I was planning to run another 7-8 miles after practice but with the dreary weather all I wanted to do was to go home and make some comfort food and stay warm for the rest of the night. I went home and made some lasagna and then got a phone call from some friends who were just passing through town. I decided to save the meal for Wednesday and meet my friends with Mark. It turned out to be a relaxing night and I was happy for an easier day.

Today I have to run 15 miles to keep up with my mileage goals. I would like to run 90 to 100 miles this week so I have my work cut out for me. I think I will run four miles with the team and another 11 miles on my own. I am sure it will be raining so I hope to just run continuously for 2 hours so I don't get cold in between and bail on the 15 mile idea. I enjoy running in the rain but I don't like dealing with the aftermath, wet clothes and sneakers. I'll update my blog after the run and hopefully report a successfully run 15 miles.

Posted by mary at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)

August 29, 2005

New School Year

A lot has happened this summer. I decided to take a year off from my graduate program and return to teaching. I am not sure right now if I will return to the program in a year or not. Right now, after only being in school for a half day I am pysched to be back in the classroom teaching biology. I am teaching biology at a high school in Morrisville, VT, which is right near Stowe and I am helping Mark out with the cross country and track teams.

I was hoping to race the 50k trail championships which were held just last weekend but did not go. I had decided not to go when I developed tendinitis during the first two weeks of August. I am actually not sure if that is what it really was. I was experiencing a lot of sharp pain in my lower shin and could barely run without a major limp. It really scared me so I took it easy for those two weeks. I then decided that I wanted to save my money for a race that I was truly ready for and had properly perpared for. In retrospect, I think I really did not feel fit enough to run even though I have been logging at least 75 miles a week this summer. I felt the pressure of having run the race two times before and having done really well.

I am ready for my fall racing to begin. I am doing the Stowe half marathon the second week of Sept, followed by the VT 50k the last weekend of Sept, which I will then follow with the MT. Masochist 50 mile race the second weekend of Oct.

I have my work cut out for me with my training and the start of a new school year. Yesterday I ran 20 miles in the pouring rain on a very hilly course, 13 miles were on trails and 7 miles were on dirt roads and paved road (half and half). The 13 mile portion was out and back adn the 7 miles was point to point. I wanted to get up and do a morning run today but I had too many last minute things to check before going into school. This afternoon I will do a long run with the girls on the team, probably 8-9 miles. I may add on afterwards or I may just go home and make some lasagna to have tonight and for the rest of the week. I am happy to be back on track with my blogging.

Posted by mary at 11:47 AM | Comments (3)