I'm sitting in yet another hotel room.
But I'm on vacation..... and I needed to let my husband nap for a bit before we go out to meet some folks for dinner.
We are in Kentucky, because Eric had a Muskies Inc. meeting here, and I decided I wanted to go with him and hang out. So we flew in to Lexington on Friday, and drove around, in the rain. Stopped at the Daniel Boone National Forrest Visitor center, in the rain. Found our hotel room, in the rain. Went to meet up at the hospitality area, in the rain. And went and got some dinner, again, in the rain. It rained on Friday!
Saturday, I dropped Eric at his meeting, and headed back to the hotel to see what they had for their continental breakfast. Um, donuts, Sunny Delight and Coffee just were not what I was looking for. So I went back to our room, and managed to fall asleep again. When I got up, I was up and out to find one of the hiking trails in the National Park. I hiked for about 3 1/4 hours, and covered about 9 miles. And yes, I was tired...
After that, I noticed that I had missed a call from Eric saying he was done, so I drove straight there, then we went back to the hotel so I could shower. We then went for a drive through more of the National Forrest, then out to dinner and then I was back to the hotel for sleep.
Today, we went out fishing with one of the local Muskies Inc members. And caught nothing. But it was a beautiful sunny, blue skies day out on the water.
Tomorrow, we go home. I hear it's snowing. Yippee.
~a
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
It's never easy letting go
We had to put Alex (my 15-year old cat) to sleep on Saturday morning.
After I crawled into bed Friday night, I heard her making a very strange noise, and she was laid out on the floor, whezing and unresponsive.
And she never got up. The whezing went away, finally, but she had one pupil much larger than the other, and was just limp. She was breathing, and her heart was beating, but was completely limp and unresponsive. It was about 11:00 at night
I put he into bed with me, and cuddled with her all night, and we took her to the vet in the morning, where they said that it looked like she had had a stroke. And that the best option was to put her down, which was pretty much what we expected.
But it was hard letting go. And as I wander around the house this weekend, I just start thinking about her and crying at odd moments.
Rest peacefully, my kitten. I love you.
~a
After I crawled into bed Friday night, I heard her making a very strange noise, and she was laid out on the floor, whezing and unresponsive.
And she never got up. The whezing went away, finally, but she had one pupil much larger than the other, and was just limp. She was breathing, and her heart was beating, but was completely limp and unresponsive. It was about 11:00 at night
I put he into bed with me, and cuddled with her all night, and we took her to the vet in the morning, where they said that it looked like she had had a stroke. And that the best option was to put her down, which was pretty much what we expected.
But it was hard letting go. And as I wander around the house this weekend, I just start thinking about her and crying at odd moments.
Rest peacefully, my kitten. I love you.
~a
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Success.
I finished.
8 minutes faster that my PR. (Personal Record) And that is just completely amazing.
Two hours and twenty five minutes.
I had a hard time not crying at the finish line. I owned that race. If you do the math, I averaged 11:01 minute miles. Next time, I will do sub 11-minute miles.
It was a beautiful day for a run. One of those nice crisp, coolish fall days, with sun peeking through the trees on the trail, which were decked out in amazing fall colors. I vascillated on what to wear, but ended up wearing a running skirt, and my Moving Soles T-shirt, and it was perfect.
I'm a little sore today, since I didn't take enough time to stretch after - I jumped into the car pretty much right after the race to drive home - in time to hurry and get ready to go to a wedding reception. People there were amazed and astounded that I had run a race that morning and I was still there.
That's what training will do for you.
On some associated news, I've decided to try South Beach. Yep. Drinkin' the Kool-Aid I am. Bought a book at Target, and will be reading up on it today. I started the morning with an egg white omlette with garlic scapes, tomato, and fat free feta. Very tasty. I'll need to make up a list and start some planning today.
~a
8 minutes faster that my PR. (Personal Record) And that is just completely amazing.
Two hours and twenty five minutes.
I had a hard time not crying at the finish line. I owned that race. If you do the math, I averaged 11:01 minute miles. Next time, I will do sub 11-minute miles.
It was a beautiful day for a run. One of those nice crisp, coolish fall days, with sun peeking through the trees on the trail, which were decked out in amazing fall colors. I vascillated on what to wear, but ended up wearing a running skirt, and my Moving Soles T-shirt, and it was perfect.
I'm a little sore today, since I didn't take enough time to stretch after - I jumped into the car pretty much right after the race to drive home - in time to hurry and get ready to go to a wedding reception. People there were amazed and astounded that I had run a race that morning and I was still there.
That's what training will do for you.
On some associated news, I've decided to try South Beach. Yep. Drinkin' the Kool-Aid I am. Bought a book at Target, and will be reading up on it today. I started the morning with an egg white omlette with garlic scapes, tomato, and fat free feta. Very tasty. I'll need to make up a list and start some planning today.
~a
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Nerves
In 36 hours, I will be milling around the starting line.
I'm not sure if I am nervous or not.
I know I can do it. I know I can make it the 13.1 miles. And I don't feel all that nervous right now.... I have been training for 12 weeks. Okay, there was some slacking in there... but I honestly feel like this is the most prepared I have been for a longer race. I've done two 10-mile races, and two half marathons. I have in my mind, a goal to PR this race. Which means I should finish in under 2 hours and 33 minutes, which is slow for most running the race, but that would be fabulous for me!
I think the thing I am most nervous about is the starting chute, and knowing how much I tend to panic in crowds. At least I will have the support of friends to protect my back from being jostled. Yep, irrational phobia girl here.
On another note, Eric took the cat to the vet today, because she has been losing more weight, and is getting kind of bony. The vet thinks she has an overactive thyroid, so hopefully we can get her on some meds to get her to a healthier weight, and so she has some energy! She is 15 years old, so she will never be kittenish, but I would settle for her actually moving around the house and not sleeping all the time.
I need to check the weather forecast, and pack for all running contingencies...
~a
I'm not sure if I am nervous or not.
I know I can do it. I know I can make it the 13.1 miles. And I don't feel all that nervous right now.... I have been training for 12 weeks. Okay, there was some slacking in there... but I honestly feel like this is the most prepared I have been for a longer race. I've done two 10-mile races, and two half marathons. I have in my mind, a goal to PR this race. Which means I should finish in under 2 hours and 33 minutes, which is slow for most running the race, but that would be fabulous for me!
I think the thing I am most nervous about is the starting chute, and knowing how much I tend to panic in crowds. At least I will have the support of friends to protect my back from being jostled. Yep, irrational phobia girl here.
On another note, Eric took the cat to the vet today, because she has been losing more weight, and is getting kind of bony. The vet thinks she has an overactive thyroid, so hopefully we can get her on some meds to get her to a healthier weight, and so she has some energy! She is 15 years old, so she will never be kittenish, but I would settle for her actually moving around the house and not sleeping all the time.
I need to check the weather forecast, and pack for all running contingencies...
~a
Sunday, October 05, 2008
body image
My running group ususally goes for coffee after our runs on Saturday. Not everyone goes every week, like me, but it's one of the reasons I love running with the group. You get to share war stories, and share your successes, and comiserate when things are not going so well.
I had one of my best runs ever yesterday. As I told the coach - "I think I've finally found my running legs!" I ended up doing just over 6.5 miles, instead of 8, but that's life. I started out slower (about 12 minute miles) but was just feeling so good, that at the end I was doing somewhere around 10 to 10 1/2 minute miles. And I felt just great when I was done.
There's a lady who has been running with the group for about 6 months now. She is going with the group of us running one of the races in Ashland next weekend, and is planning on running her first 10K. She's feeling frustrated with herself because she is comparing herself to some of the other runners in the group, not just in running ability, but body shape. She said that she thought that if she started running, she would start looking like some of the very thin, trim runners in the group, and since she started running, she has not lost any weight - and it sucks. I agree, it's tough. But there is really no getting around genetics sometimes, and sometimes you just have to come to grips with that, and accept it for what it is. Nobody is ever completely satisfied with how they look.
Then there's me: I know I'm somewhat using it as an excuse, that I can't lose weight when I training for a long race, but to some extent it's true. After next weekend, I am going to quit using that as an excuse, and work on dropping the 30 pounds I have regained. I just have to, if I want to keep doing the longer races. It's not bad - but I can tell that the weeks with longer milage are starting to hurt my knee again, and I want/need to keep running.
It's a fine balancing act. And I just need to figure out where to put the fulcrom.
~a
I had one of my best runs ever yesterday. As I told the coach - "I think I've finally found my running legs!" I ended up doing just over 6.5 miles, instead of 8, but that's life. I started out slower (about 12 minute miles) but was just feeling so good, that at the end I was doing somewhere around 10 to 10 1/2 minute miles. And I felt just great when I was done.
There's a lady who has been running with the group for about 6 months now. She is going with the group of us running one of the races in Ashland next weekend, and is planning on running her first 10K. She's feeling frustrated with herself because she is comparing herself to some of the other runners in the group, not just in running ability, but body shape. She said that she thought that if she started running, she would start looking like some of the very thin, trim runners in the group, and since she started running, she has not lost any weight - and it sucks. I agree, it's tough. But there is really no getting around genetics sometimes, and sometimes you just have to come to grips with that, and accept it for what it is. Nobody is ever completely satisfied with how they look.
Then there's me: I know I'm somewhat using it as an excuse, that I can't lose weight when I training for a long race, but to some extent it's true. After next weekend, I am going to quit using that as an excuse, and work on dropping the 30 pounds I have regained. I just have to, if I want to keep doing the longer races. It's not bad - but I can tell that the weeks with longer milage are starting to hurt my knee again, and I want/need to keep running.
It's a fine balancing act. And I just need to figure out where to put the fulcrom.
~a
Friday, October 03, 2008
marathon weekend
That's because this is the weekend of the Twin Cities Marathon, not that I have lots going on this weekend. In fact, I think I have more scheduled "down time" than I have in a while.
Not to say there are not things going on. There are.... Eric and I will be leaving shortly to go to the marathon expo, so he can pick up his necessary stuff, and then go with the group to do a final walk-through of the finish area. He runs the clock at the finish line. I will be doing some browsing of running paraphenelia. Because, you know, you can never have enough paraphnelia!
Tomorrow morning, I will be running 8 miles with my running group. Easy peasy.... I did an 8-mile run on Wednesday in.... wait for it.... one hour and 37 minutes. I was doing sub 11-minute miles. For 8 miles in a row. I've never done that before.
Saturday afternoon/evening, I will be doing some socializing. The plan is to do Renaissance Recovery at the Fest grounds at 5pm, then when I feel like leaving, I'm gonna go wish a friend happy birthday at her party.
Sunday, I have not decided what I want to do yet. I might go volunteer with the marathon. I had fun one year making sure only registered runners went into the starting chute (I wear the "Security" T-shirt for pajamas now, since it's a 2XL!). Or I might join some folks with my running group to to cheer on the runners. Or I might just stay home and get stuff done around the house.
On that note, I need a snack to keep me going.
~a
Not to say there are not things going on. There are.... Eric and I will be leaving shortly to go to the marathon expo, so he can pick up his necessary stuff, and then go with the group to do a final walk-through of the finish area. He runs the clock at the finish line. I will be doing some browsing of running paraphenelia. Because, you know, you can never have enough paraphnelia!
Tomorrow morning, I will be running 8 miles with my running group. Easy peasy.... I did an 8-mile run on Wednesday in.... wait for it.... one hour and 37 minutes. I was doing sub 11-minute miles. For 8 miles in a row. I've never done that before.
Saturday afternoon/evening, I will be doing some socializing. The plan is to do Renaissance Recovery at the Fest grounds at 5pm, then when I feel like leaving, I'm gonna go wish a friend happy birthday at her party.
Sunday, I have not decided what I want to do yet. I might go volunteer with the marathon. I had fun one year making sure only registered runners went into the starting chute (I wear the "Security" T-shirt for pajamas now, since it's a 2XL!). Or I might join some folks with my running group to to cheer on the runners. Or I might just stay home and get stuff done around the house.
On that note, I need a snack to keep me going.
~a
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