here we go

that seems to be the phrase of the week for me. Even the Handyman was saying it this morning. And it always makes me think of that beer commercial (I am incredibly susceptible to all kinds of marketing), which is sort of annoying. Eh.

nothing terribly exciting to report, just here to check in on my goals. And I just realized that I got one wrong already -- I thought I'd made the goal to bike once a week, but here I find out it's actually to work once a week. Sigh.

this week:

• Monday: sick/allergies, plus a work-dinner to entice newly-admitted grad students to pick us, pick us! (And let me tell ya, shoving a bunch of CS grads, postdocs, and professors into a house together = socially awkward times, all night long.)
• Tuesday: easy run with new-to-running friend. Apparently I pushed her pace ;) which took it up into the realm of my easy pace. So that worked out!
• Wednesday: tempo on the treadmill, really slow cool-down. Got in 30 of my assisted pull-ups and (girly) push-ups. Also signed the lease for our new house! Now, for the packing and moving: UGH.
• Thursday: baked a cake for the Handyman's bday on Friday! And managed to not lick my fingers even once. Thank goodness Lent is over now.
• Friday: woke up so early I made it to the gym before work for 2 easy miles + a tiny swim (mostly trying to work on technique, and also because I had to get out of the pool in time for the AquaFit class to take it over) = weekly swim goal DONE. Oh and I got in the last 20 of my pull-ups and push-ups, for 50 total = weekly push-pull goal DONE.
• Saturday: 10 long miles. My mp3 player died at the start so it was just me and my thoughts. And, somehow, there was a headwind both ways. I think I stopped sweating at mile 7, which was very bad, but perhaps it was just because of the wind + it's pretty dry out right now. Saw my running club finishing their 10 miler at about mile 2 of mine...that was fun. Made it back home in time to go to aerial silks dance class with a friend, where I managed to do two moves all on my own which was completely awesome but not at all reflective of my getting stronger (sigh).
• Sunday: long-ish bike ride with two slow friends - perhaps I should ride my mountain bike next time I go out with them, it's just cheating to be on a road bike when they're on hybrids. This was intended to = weekly bike goal DONE so we'll call it DONEish. ;)

oh, I did sign up for the MCM 10k in October. I was so so so tempted to sign up for the marathon -- they are masters at the social media, got everyone in a frenzy -- so this is my compromise. I still get to race on that day, and get the newsletters building up to the marathon (I assume?), and feel some of that race energy, but I don't kill myself on a marathon. Distance is not my goal for this year (though it's hard to resist the siren call...).

p.s. = weekly blogging goal DONE. ;)

the months, they fly by...

happy April!

so...March kind of kicked my butt. But, that's a little bit fair because I totally kicked February's butt!!

here's the goals rundown(s):

February goals:

• blog once per week. Done! According to how I calculate "weeks" anyway. ;)
• ride my bike to work. Done! Could have done more, but without the goal I probably wouldn't've gone at all. And I've gone a few more times since - weather is ridiculous this winter/spring, I LOVE it.
• race a 5k. Done! Freaking freezing morning, and I handily beat my time a few weeks later at the St Patty's Day 8k - so now I'm on the hunt for a cheap, timed 5k to make it official.
• do a swim workout. Done! And I've done a few more since - off of a "sprint" training plan in the Triathlete's Magazine, which keeps me much more amused than trying to just keep swimming...

Butt. Kicked. ;)

I've observed Lent every year since I was...in high school, at least...and those goals have kept me pretty occupied during March. For Lent, I gave up sweet things (including fruit because I am just nutso), and stopped cussing. The cussing was actually much more difficult in the beginning - it's so insidious - but in this final week or two before Easter, avoiding and saying no to all sweets has been incredibly difficult. Also, I'm mad about it because I haven't lost a single pound. Grr.

I also have been avoiding gluten, which has made me feel IMMENSELY better but I'm quickly running out of things I can eat. Sigh.

I did, though, have some only-in-my-head goals for March:

• try a flip turn (I'm terrified of them). Done - did it yesterday! Took 3 tries, plus a few somersaults in the middle, deeper part of the pool, but yay!
• stand up on my bike (easy on a spin bike, scares me on a real bike). Done - did this a few times this week and maybe last week too? Not hard in the slightest, which is the most exciting part to me.
• bike to work once per week. Nope. Maybe if I'd made it a written-down goal.
• keep blogging once per week. Ha. Hahahahaha. Oh well, try again this month?

which brings us to April goals!

• go back to blogging at least once per week. February redux.
• bike to work once per week. March redux.
• swim at least once per week. Figure out how fast I need to be to not embarrass myself at a tri.
• go on a trail run.
• push-pull-up challenge! I'm in an aerial dance class that is kicking my BUTT and I need to build my arm strength. I'm making up the challenge on the spot...let's say, do 50 push-ups and 50 (assisted) pull-ups per week. Which is probably low but I want to make it something achievable and hopefully not injury-prone. Breaks down to less than 20 per day.
• quit dithering and sign up for the May half-marathon and/or an Oly triathlon (currently have my eye on Rock Hall but maybe it's too small and too soon?).
• sign up for the birthday race.

no foolin here...in fact this is possibly the first year in many that I haven't tried to play a trick on anyone. I myself am incredibly gullible so I've generally been avoiding all links and articles today.

does anyone else have April goals?? Tell me tell me! I love to read goals posts.

on running "long" with a "plan"

this week has been so long. just typing that sentence exhausted me. there are some things going on, mostly at work, that have me feeling like I'm being pulling in 4 different directions all at once, all at the same time, all day long. despite that, I got some stuff done this week.

1. I set up a little training "plan" for the Shamrock 8k in DC. (yes it's totally ridiculous to have a 4 week plan for an 8k race, shush -- that's why it's in scare quotes.) my first race ever was the Shamrock 8k in Portland, and when I moved to DC last year I was delighted to find that I could continue the tradition. that first race is also my fastest race ever (because I was running with a friend who didn't know I was slow, and I was just hanging onto him the whole race). I have dreams of knocking down that PR during a Shamrock 8k. unlikely to happen this year but never hurts to dream!
   
   

   

   2011

2. said plan "plan" has me running at a specified pace pretty much at all times. this annoys me a little, but it means I get to play with my new buddy the Garmin 310-XT.** 
3. despite my best efforts, I couldn't keep up the long run pace specified for my 5-mile "long" run last Saturday. after the marathon training, 5 miles seems pretty pathetic as a long run, but wowsers was I tired and sore afterwards. oh well, I am starting entirely from scratch again.
4. I did hit the prescribed pace for my "easy" run. it did not feel so easy. my heart agrees:
   
   
   also I thought I only had to do 3 miles, but remembered after 2 miles that it was supposed to be 4. major sad panda -- I went from being 2/3 done to only 1/2. so I gave myself a little break at the 3-mile mark, that's the dip in HR up there.
5. I did do 3x800s yesterday, but closer to the McMillan-calculated 800s pace than my pie-in-the-sky beat-my-PR plan prescribed.
6. and last but not least: yesterday, on the most gorgeous day of the year and despite an early meeting, I BIKED TO WORK! booyah! another February goal, DONE! (I also biked home from work -- an exceedingly bad idea as I discovered that the bike path is unlit for the entirety of the path. and there have been some assaults in the area in the past couple of months, enough that the grad students here refuse to walk there after dark anymore. yeah. won't do that again...)
   

   

   light-as-a-feather Heather

meet Heather, my roadbike. I love her. my officemate was less than pleased when I stored her in the office yesterday. but he got over it. :) we are all a little OCD at times around here...it just comes with the territory.

**I'm contemplating naming my Garmin. I name my cars (my first was Tommy Turtle the Toyota Tercel, my current is Cindy the CR-V, hubby has Sami the Suzuki Samurai...), my bikes (I also have Alex the mountain bike because she's a tough girl), and my skis (Flopsy & Mopsy, and Red & Scarlett). was contemplating Hobbes or Snuffleupagus (wow the internet really does not know how to spell that name!) cuz of the orange...but is that taking the naming-things/anthromoporphizing too far?? ;)

race report: love the run you're with 5k

well...as any other race report will tell you, this race was freaking cold. 23° when I left my house, with a reported windchill factor of 10°. oww. but, apparently not cold enough to make me forgo the $40 I'd plunked down for this race (WHY ARE 5K's SO EXPENSIVE???) by DNSing. so off I went, dressed in every single warm layer I owned, plus a top layer of (pink, Tweety) fleece -- pj pants and hoodie sweatshirt. yes I looked AWESOME. and I was totally not embarrassed by my own self.

ok I was. totally embarrassed. but I was warm!

thank God packet pickup was inside a building (bar). that was totally brilliant and more races need to do that. (do many races do that and I'm just unaware? I've really only raced a few here in DC...)

this is what I actually raced in.

(yes I love Tweety...) the winning article of clothing that day? totally the green "turtle fur" you see around my neck. kept my breath warm when I needed it and settled down lower around my neck when I didn't. and yes I raided my ski bag for this and other articles of clothing for this race. IT WAS 23 DEGREES OUT!

there was lots of pink at this race.

so much that I don't think I stood out at all -- hubby says he can always find me by watching for the pink shirt, but I'm guessing that would have been hard this time. not that he came out in that freezing weather to watch me run 3 lousy miles...

speaking of which? I totally don't respect the 5k distance at all. I'm just such a slut for distance, all I want to do is go longer. sigh. not that I'm any good at this distance -- I am a sloooooooooooow turtle and I even had to walk twice thrice during this race. sadface. also I had NO goals for this race, which was weird. BUT. this race was meant to give me a baseline to beat over the next few months, to encourage me to work on speed-not-distance. goal achieved. (also? another February goal achieved!)

current 5k PR: 35:00. new goal: 30:xx.

now I just need to find me some more 5k's. oh yes, and the money to register for them. ;)

swim, swam, swum

I did it! I got in the pool! I went swimming! sadly, I can't conjugate the verb 'swim' at all:

I'm so embarrassed.

is it cheating to use nose plugs? my tri friend Chris says no, the internet says no, and I can't find anything in triathlon rules specifically forbidding them. seems like a n00b move though...but it also felt way easier than not using them. I think I just never really learned how to plug my nose by pressure, so when I don't wear nose plugs, all of my energy is spent on trying not to get water up my nose/spluttering and getting all flustered when it does.

I am terrified of flip turns. I refused to do them in my workout. that needs to change. someone please tell me they're not really so terrifying/how to do them so I don't bonk into the wall or bottom of the pool...

neglect

poor, neglected little blog. everyone's February goals posts are making me want to do one too. but first, some updates are probably in order. ;)

1. that little half-marathon that I swore I couldn't finish? you know, the previous post on this blog (omg so long ago)? yeah I totally finished it. 2:45, and my knee twinged a lot, but always got happier after a bit of walking. so I ran-walked the last...um, 7 miles of the half. actually I ran the last mile and passed a few people, it was loads of fun. love love LOVED that race, the course (got to the last turnaround and was yelling my fool head off because at that point I knew I'd finish), the participants (it was so small, and we run/walkers passed each other so many times, that we befriended each other a bit). woo! maybe the next time I'm bored I'll do a proper race report.

2. I ran a marathon. woo! :) this also deserves a race report, sigh. it wasn't the race I wanted. if it hadn't BEEN a race, I'd have quit and gone home at mile 3, I was that miserable. NONE of my training runs were so hard, I don't understand. I blame the extremely cold weather, which kicked off a minor asthma attack until mile 9. :( I finished, though. 6:06. and I cried when the Marine put the medal over my head. as I knew I would. I do plan to do another, but not until I get faster. UGH SLOW TURTLE.

3. I have a blood clot. probably happened a month before the marathon, when I traveled to Colorado to meet my new baby nephew, but diagnosed two weeks after the marathon. doctor says I probably tore my calf muscle, so recovery has been hampered by a) my lower leg being incredibly painful for a month and b) yep something definitely happened to my calf, it took almost 3 months to be able to run on it again. which brings us to...the end of January!

yesterday evening was basically my first run back. I think I had a 3-miler somewhere in January, but it took me 5 days to recover from that. and, perhaps choosing a track workout was not the best bet for my first run back. ;) oh well, it felt awesome to be out there again, and so many people remembered me and said hi, it was great.

so that's...the past 7 months. awesome. let's do a goal list for THIS month, to include more blogging. ;)

• um yeah, more blogging. let's shoot for once per week.
• ride my bike to work. this winter has been RIDICULOUSLY nice and in a few months, I'll be changing jobs and won't be able to do so anymore. take advantage now.
• race a 5k. I've actually never run one before (started at 8k), and with my goal of getting faster, I need to also aim shorter. and talk myself out of all the halfs I want to sign up for now.
• do a swim workout. I'll tell you a little secret: that link above points to a half-Ironman. yeah. I have the tri bug. it's bad. I've done a sprint but just with the goal to finish. I had SO MUCH FUN doing it too -- the pics of me on my bike during the race show me grinning like an idiot -- but that may have just been because I was SO GLAD to survive the swim. maybe. we'll see. my heart still belongs to running though.

that's probably enough blabbing for today...now back to work!!

not to finish, or not to start at all?

I have a half-marathon coming up next Sunday. I will not finish the race -- I'm not trained for it, my ankle's not ready, and my goal for this race has been to reach the finish line happy and healthy, which will not happen if I attempt the full distance. aside from the fact that I signed up for this half-marathon in order to try out a training regime, and that's obviously gone out the window...I'm wondering, should I even bother to show up for the race at all?? I want to. it's a two-loop course so I could easily stop at mile 8...but I'm not sure I can even make it that far. which is heartbreaking in and of itself. :(

so. DNS, or DNF??

wordless

one month and one day

one month and one day after running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in my pink VFFs and thrashing my heel/foot/ankle/whatever...I ran again.

!!!

sure, it was only for a tenth of a mile. sure, I was really only running because the dog was excited and would otherwise have yanked my arm out of its socket. sure, my ankle twinged for a bit afterwards (faded after 4 blocks, never rose above the "twinge" level). and sure, I was in my flat unsupportive boots that I'd worn to work. but! I mother-effing ran, people.

maybe tomorrow I will try a real run -- of like .2 miles maybe! -- in running clothes and everything! (my next problem is quickly going to be one of finding new running shoes when I can't really...run, yet. hrmm.)

also? I took the puppy out for a walk after work even though I just wanted to stuff food in my face and collapse on the couch. yay I got outside, yay goals!

fail

yesterday was a total fail, in terms of my primary monthly resolution (I actually did make some progress towards my tertiary). but! today is a new day, and while I won't go so far as to make new day's resolutions...I can resolve to be better about my monthly goals. watch me go!

happy new month!

...just doesn't have quite the same ring as Happy New Year, does it?? ah well. it's a new month and I'm makin some resolutions!!

1. get outside. this is my main goal for the month. I like to keep my resolutions simple so I can remember them -- my new year's resolution last year was "finish what you started" and this year is "just be me." all of the below count as part of this goal:

• take the dog for a walk
• go for a hike! (with or without dog...)
• hit some golf balls
• jump on a friend's trampoline (after foot has fully healed)
• hang out on the patio, with laptop or book if need be
• take a different form of transportation to work -- walk or bike

see how I very carefully structured those so that I'm not relying on running to get me outside?? because I've started using my injured foot as an excuse, and despite sometimes feeling like running is everything, there are other ways to be active and get outside.

2. be an active participant. I have a bad habit of living on the periphery, and/or living vicariously, and the internet makes it so super easy to be that way. so here are the pieces of this goal:

• blog more consistently
• comment more consistently
• decide whether it's time to take a break from twitter and/or Facebook
• make plans to hang out with friends once a week...and not to watch HIMYM

3. track to-do's. I have several major projects going on right now, including a few at work, wedding planning, and health/fitness stuff including marathon training eep. in general I like to think I'm a really organized person, but I clearly haven't figured out a good system for tracking to-do's that works for me. yesterday I installed software that will make my phone talk to my computer (they're different OSes, it was hard, whiiiiiiine), so hopefully that will help. I give myself two weeks to try that, otherwise it's time to move to Things or OmniTrack.

yay goals! happy May!!

no no no no

still walking normally, for which I am super grateful. of course I went through a series of muscle aches as muscles I haven't used in a month got called back into action. and apparently flip-flops are a bad idea right now (too flat, no support), so I should be grateful for the return to cooler weather. and the excuse to wear my cute heels...?

I do really miss running though. and I am super tempted to push my recovery so I can get back out there. fortunately(?), my foot is having nothing of it. on Tuesday, I jogged across the street to catch the tail end of a green light, and regretted it for the next 20 minutes. come on, it's a friggin intersection! yesterday, I ran out of PetsMart to my car, and regretted that for a solid 2 miles -- kinda felt like I might throw up from the pain. oy. the instant I move from a walking gait to anything resembling jogging or running, my foot immediately pipes up with "no no no no no no running." grr! dumb foot!

I guess it's time to try the bike again. come on foot, work with me here!

it's the little things in life

I spent all day walking normally!!!!!!! there are not enough exclamation points in the world to express my joy. 22 days. I have been limping for 22 days.

for posterity's sake, I have to say that I was wearing heels (yes, they make me extra-freakishly-tall but omg all cute dress shoes are heels), which, with this injury, is a bit like cheating. tonight while I was cooking dinner in my stocking feet, I could feel the twinges in my ankle. but I was able to mostly walk normally even in socks. and completely unmedicated.

WOO to the freaking HOO!!!!!!

slow as a snail

...referring both to how quickly I can walk at this point (cry), and to how quickly my foot seems to be healing (more crying).

over the past two days, Wednesday and Thursday, my foot actually seemed to be getting worse. WHAT. it's been actively painful, versus the usual slight ache with occasional sharp pains when I step wrong. this has resulted in me calling off two workouts, eating a lot of crap, and generally being a crabby terrible no good very bad person to be around. the Handyman is pretty over it. hell, I am pretty over it!

however. after staying up ridiculously late last night trying to meet a paper deadline (which turns out not to be for another month, typo on the conference website FML), stepping really wrong on my way to bed after sitting stock-still at my desk for hours, then sleeping for like 11 hours (work from home FTW), I actually feel a wee tiny bit better today. gasp! I went down the stairs one foot per stair instead of the gimpy both-feet-on-each-stair that I've been doing for two weeks now...and I was halfway down the stairs before I noticed. I've even taken a couple of steps that felt almost-normal.

I've wondered whether I'd wake up one morning totally healed from this injury and walking perfectly normal again, or if it'd be this slow baby step progress, or if I'd have to consciously stop limping because I'm so used to it now.

please, please, please let this progress continue. and can we speed it up a little please? quick like a bunny? it is Easter weekend you know...

no couch potato

the official diagnosis is that I sprained my foot. I don't buy it 100%, because Google says ;) that sprains are usually caused by twisting the foot unexpectedly, or running over uneven ground; while the road was slightly uneven in places at the Cherry Blossom 10M, I was watching my footing every step of the way (that's what ya get for wearing Vibrams), and don't recall a single twist or unexpectedly difficult landing. just straight forward, mile after mile. which really seems to me to be more like the recipe for a stress fracture.

I find myself comparing this "injury" to the time I somersaulted down a black diamond at Mt Hood Meadows in...hmm, 2005, maybe? I got xrays, was diagnosed as having a shin contusion with severe swelling, and told to ice, elevate, and stay the hell off it for at least a week. I was so so good about it...but also really really lonely. didn't help that the pain meds didn't touch the pain, but made me really really sleepy. I became a total couch potato. started a netflix account, watched a lot of Project Runway...and ate a lot of donuts. a lot.

one week turned into 2 turned into 4...after 2-ish weeks, the shin felt ok and I tried to go skiing again -- I was determined that this injury was not going to end my ski season -- but my leg had other thoughts. the moment I put the ski boot on, the leg said HELL NO, GTFO. so I went to the lodge and proceeded to get trashed while my friends skied the awesome corn.

since it was the back of my leg that was twinging at that point, I thought maybe I had a posterior contusion, which Google said ;) takes longer to heal. I was still limping at least 6 weeks post-fall. 6 months later I got another xray...which showed pronounced calcium deposits on my fibula. yeah. broken leg, misdiagnosed. I'm happy it healed well but I wish I'd known why it was taking so darn long to heal. so I am a little mistrustful of this diagnosis.

while I was on the couch healing my leg in '05, I dreamed of running. swore that I would train for a marathon after I healed...well here I am, 6 years later, and finally signed up for my first. and injured again. but so so happy that with this injury, this time around, I have no desire to watch endless tv or eat boxes and boxes of donuts. maybe it's the impending wedding/honeymoon that I want to look awesome for, maybe it's having actual goal races that I have already plunked down money for (see, told you I'd get over hating racing). but this time, I am at the gym trying out all the cardio options to see what works with the foot, and planning to get in a lot of lifting. BRING IT.

(but also, foot, please heal in the week that the dr said it would take...please?? swimming is so boring, I can't take it as my only cardio! if anyone has swimming drills to stave off the boredom, or instruction videos to improve my stroke, please share!)

still not running

or walking, for that matter. my ankle/heel is still really painful from the Cherry Blossom race. I'm going to get it x-rayed soon - the Handyman said last night that from the looks of the swelling (I had an unusually active day, trying to keep up with some colleagues walking to/from lunch), he thinks it's a stress fracture. I know he doesn't know bubcus but it still stressed me out to hear it. also, seriously?? I broke my foot by running on it??? lame.

I visited my mom this weekend and she made me use crutches while I was there...so at least I got in a good upper body workout. sigh.

race report: Cherry Blossom 10M

a race in two parts. or, the race in which the last 10% completely ruined the first 90% which is statistically unreasonable. or, why did I sign up for a half-marathon before completing this distance first?? at the end of the race, I was done with racing, and severely regretting the two I have on tap (Alexandria Half 5/29, Marine Corps Marathon 10/30). but I am getting ahead of myself.


the start was really cold. I am a big wuss about the cold. and the early. the Handyman is too -- he was wearing 4 pairs of pants :) and napped on the metro on the way there. I decided to keep my running jacket on and hand it off to him at some point along the course (good decision!). I had been planning to run with my mp3 player but the instructions seemed pretty strict about not bringing them, so I didn't...and was super pissed to see that nearly everyone in my corral had headphones on. grr!!! either enforce the rules or don't make the rule!

we thought this would be a fairly spectator-friendly race, since it loops around and back to the same 1-block area about 3 times. unfortunately the Handyman didn't get out there in time, and was totally blocked off from the runners. sadface! I don't know where he ended up, but I didn't see him until mile 5, which I knew would be my last chance to see him before the finish. I gratefully handed off my jacket, and headed on my way.

those first 5 miles were pretty great. I played the "follow that butt" game (plenty of butts to choose from! lots of people going at an excellent pace for me, just over 10m/m), watched my footing, breathed easy. was through the 5k in 32min, felt a little slow but hey we have a ways to go. I hit mile 5 at 52-ish min, and had as my dream goal to finish the 10 miles in 100 min, so told myself I needed to push it...and I hit mile 6 at 60:00. awesome. I planned to "drop the hammer" once I started the Hains Point loop.

I hate Hains Point. I do, I really do. I didn't like running it for the Jingle 10k, I didn't like cheering at it for MCM, and I really, really hated it this morning. I was super confused for most of it, and just could not remember whether or not we'd gotten to the turnaround point. for all 3 miles. not good.

at some point my right heel started hurting. this is a totally new pain to me, and I have no idea why it happened -- probably my gait was off, maybe because of some bursts of speed I put on to push through people-gaps? I think it started up quite a bit before Hains Point, but it got to be a serious problem in there, and I started limping. I tried to play follow-that-butt, play music in my head, tell myself I had less than a 5k to go, walked through 2 of the water stops, etc., and that all worked to some extent. but by the time I hit mile 9, I was near tears.

if anyone saw me past mile 9, it was not pretty. grimacing & cussing. and I felt really bad about it, I wanted to respond to the cheering, to push up that last hill, to kick it up to a sprint once I saw that finish line (why is it around a corner?? that's just mean!) and finish strong, but my heel just wouldn't let me. it said, "we have two speeds: this one, and stop. GTFO." the Handyman saw me finish and said I looked like I wasn't having much fun. I collapsed into his arms just past the finish line photographers (I think all of the photographers on the course missed me, which I hate because I do love an action shot, but I was always in the middle of the road and saw them too late to dodge to the side & get a pic snapped. I did manage to smile for finish-line posed photo, maybe it will come out ok but I will always see the tears in my eyes I think), and I wept, and told him I didn't want to walk anymore.

I'm actually still weepy. my heels hurts and I can't put weight on it. my left knee hurts too, so I've been scooting around our house on my butt. yeah.

so...I'm glad I ran it, I'm glad I tried this distance, the volunteers were super awesome especially out on Hains Point!, but I wouldn't do this race again. at this particular moment, I don't want to do any races ever again, but that will probably fade. I will admit to not being trained for this race distance, and that needs to not ever happen again (train right or take a DNS). oh and to add insult to injury, I stupidly went and looked up the "unofficial" results to see that gosh am I slow (bottom 30% overall). I did pass 708 people in the second half though (and got passed back by 393, which I would bet happened almost entirely in mile 9). bah, why do I even bother.

excuse me while I go mope. and ice my heel. *sigh*

self talk, randomized

so...I talk to myself. kind of a lot. mostly in my head...mostly. ;) when I'm running, this sometimes translates into a blog post. yesterday's run was full of random so I'm just gonna go bullet-point style!

• when am I going to remember to wear a hat? [the head/cross-wind was crazy, and had my hair blowing into my face at every turn. this is what comes of being a treadmill runner -- I never really had to deal with wind before!]
• I seem bound and determined to prove that I inherited my dad's iron stomach. I DO NOT HAVE AN IRON STOMACH! [I need to stop eating crap then immediately trying to run it off. either eat crap and don't run, or eat good foods then run. or, run hungry then eat crap. heh.]
• wow, that is the first time ever that my knee hurt on a run. please please make it go away. [it was a weird hurt, too! lateral pain on the outside, felt like my knee was just going to give way every time I put weight on my left foot. I was hoping it was sympathy pain -- the Handyman is experiencing the exact same pains from hyperextending his knee last week. or perhaps I need all of my blogger friends to be healthy so I don't sympathy-pain off of them...I kid, I kid. I did KT Tape it last night and it seems to be all better today YAY.]
• puppies! [one guy was throwing a stick for his dog...and was still at it when I came back 45 min later on my out-and-back. wowsers.]
• my feet look ridiculous in two different-colored shoes. I'm glad I don't watch my feet while running, I'd get dizzy. why do the pink Vibrams look so much bigger?? [still debating over which shoes to wear for Sunday's Cherry Blossom 10M...for this run I wore one pink and one black Vibram, got hot spots + a blister on my big toes. next in the lineup is to have both feet in the pink but with Injinji socks...black or purple-stripes though??]

• man I really do not understand how to run down steep downhills in my Vibrams. weird. should probably figure that one out before Sunday. have I not ever run a hilly race before? ah -- not in Vibrams...yikes!
• OMG I FOUND A SECRET PASSAGEWAY! [so excited about this, because I can use it for my bike-commute. which, first time I did it, involved rolling over a dead animal, ew. but there's no shoulder on that particular road and it was either roll over roadkill or...be roadkill. Maryland drivers are mean!]

most ridiculous "injuries" ever

my wrists & arms are sore from waving my silly pom-poms, and my throat hurts from yelling my fool head off, while volunteering at the National Marathon yesterday.

did you see me?? I was around mile 11.5ish, where you turned off of H street and onto 13th. I had purple-and-white pom-poms and, near the end, some cowbells that an awesome cyclist brought us -- he had a backpack full of them! Several people joined me in cheering on the runners, most of whom were just passerbys and not there for any particular runner. Random and awesome! There were also two small girls who joined me late in the game, one of whom was blowing bubbles ("bubbles!!!" ala Nemo), and the other borrowed my pom-poms to do some very professional-looking cheerleading.

fun times, and 'grats to all the finishers! Now to prep for the Cherry Blossom 10M on Sunday...oy I'm so not ready. The Handyman worked his schedule so he could come cheer me on though, he's the bestest!! I'm also on the lookout for a spring half-marathon of my own, suggestions welcome!! Am thinking of the Alexandria Half, since the timing more-or-less works out...

a fresh start

I love a fresh start. I love making New Year's Resolutions. Love the start of a new month, a new season. I think that one of the reasons I've pursued a career in academia is due in no small part to my love of a fresh new semester.

Today's fresh start is brought to you by my fiance the Handyman, who arrived in Maryland last night with our dog and two cats, having battled through hurricane-force winds, tornado watches, thunderstorms, and multiple mountain ranges in his 4-day drive from Oregon. I'm super happy to have our little family back together again after 6 months apart, and I shall commence inundating this blog with animal pictures immediately:

I know it'll take some adjustment and frustrations to get used to living all together again, but I also have this ridiculous idea that now that we're in a new place, perhaps this can be my chance to better train the animals...

Maybe I can train the kitten not to jump up onto the counters. Maybe I can finally get the puppy to understand "come" (this is the thing that keeps me from letting him off-leash when we're out & about, and worries me about dog parks...ok, that and "no, do not hump that lady, I don't care if you're bigger than she is!"...though the Handyman says the puppy has been much better about that since we got him fixed last summer). Maybe I will resist hand-feeding the puppy even when he does his "but look Mom, I'm sitting so good! see, I'll do it again!" ::raises butt up, sits again, wags tail:: (It's so cute. How can I resist that darn face??)

I'm also looking forward to getting back into the habit of going to the gym with the Handyman (and perhaps sticking to a training schedule??), getting up earlier, and of course walking the dog.