Recruitin' skillz

Yo
Are we still short a few team members? I've got one potentially-interested runner who has even been in one of these big-team relays. What do you think?

Green was not meant to be...

Oh how I love the taper! Last week was our second 40 mile week and second 20 mile run. And now we get to lay off for the next two and a half weeks. Ahhhh. I decided to cut back to running only twice a week a) to see if this hamstring will feel better and b) so that I can catch up on my biking and swimming. I am not sure if this is a good idea. Since I haven't run a marathon before I am not sure if the strategy will work or I will end up feeling out of shape on race day.

Yesterday we did a 6 miler (9:41 pace). The stormy weather in the morning gave some respite from the heat - it was only in the high 70s when we ran (although it was humid). I probably should stop complaining about the heat because in two and a half months we'll be running in some pretty hot temps. So, time to suck it up! Although it will be a dry heat, right? Is that better or worse... hmmmm...

Oh, in other news, I received a check from Teresa yesterday, so one more person definitely in! Since she hasn't introduced herself, I will introduce her myself and put this fuzzy picture I found of her on the internet from the Iowa State Daily in 2004. She's been in Australia since January, so she probably has more interesting things to do than write blog entries :-) Anyways, Teresa and I try and save the world together. But Teresa, I will say I am disappointed that you were ever undecided in this matter!

So, in sad news, I could not find my sneakers in my size in green. I think maybe because Asics already has the Nimbus VIII out. But anyways, since I knew what I wanted, I just went to the mall and bought them. Yeah, I usually try to support my local running store (and maybe they would have had green) but my "local" running store is in Des Moines, almost an hour away. I have been using about a tank of gas per month these days, so I couldn't justify driving all the way down there when I didn't need their advice, just shoes. Anyways, I think this store is overrated. After going to the best running store ever, they just don't even compare. Marathon Sports has put me in the perfect running shoe on two separate occasions (and since I just end up buying the same shoe again, really they are responsible for many months of happy running). Last time I went to Fitness Sports I said "I run in Adidas Supernova Cushions and I need new ones." But the new model was different so I didn't like them. They put me in two other Adidas sneakers and I didn't love any of them. And they didn't even suggest another brand. So I ended up with the Adidas Response Cushions that I never loved at all and only became acceptable after I put arch supports in them.

Well, anyways, I ended up getting purple, because that is the only color to be had at the mall. I wasn't even aware there was purple. I wish they were more purple though because then they would at least be more fun. Or at least have silver instead of white like the green ones did. I felt flashy in those. Well, I will turn them red running in that Colorado dirt. In related news, I went to the dentist this morning and they gave me a purple toothbrush.

Summer's Here

Summer seems to have hit here in DC. It arrived late last week. That was when the weather just magically started being in the 80s and humid all the time. I got used to running in this crap last summer, but I guess I got spoiled during the fall and spring, so I'm going to have to readjust to it again. Blech.

It's gettin' hot in here...

Hey sun! What you smilin' at? You are mean. And hot. And I wish you would go away.

On Monday, someone back in Ithaca e-mailed me and was complaining that it was only 37 degrees. Hey universe! Would you mind sending some of that cold weather here? See, 86 degrees and humid just isn't cutting it for me. I would say that I would rather be running there any day, but I don't think there is an unhilly region for a ten mile radius around Ithaca.

Anyways, last night at 5:30, when it was still in the 80s, we ran 10 miles (10:09 min/mi). Someone unexpectedly replanned the route and made it two five mile loops which included two big hills on each loop. Really didn't need that on the first hot running day of the season, especially on a ten mile night (and I might add that he only did one of the loops!). As you can tell, there was a lot of whining last night, at least by me.

Okay,</whining>.

Kori and I cheated and didn't do the second hill on the loop (it was one of those down and up streets and we just picked a street that went neither up nor down). And I don't feel a bit guilty, especially because our new route happened to go by some sprinklers on campus, which we joyfully frolicked through.

I realized that I like running with a hat. Keeps the sun out of my eyes, absorbs the sweat. Good times.

After all of this, I went and bought a new-to-me Red Schwinn road bike for $60. And actually, it was sort of less than that because afterwards, Jeri bought me a beer. Yay for the Friends of Central Iowa Biking!

woman down!

On Sunday I felt like this.
href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2690/2597/1600/badass.jpg">


Today, things are looking more like this.


This is because I ran my fathest distance ever (8 miles) and it was cold, but I ran well.

Stupid toronto wind. I need to go home now and sit on the couch and sulk about how my mom isn't there to bring me juice.

Back off, man. I'm a scientist.

The end of this post will all come back around to the title, but I couldn't resist continuing with the theme.

So this post isn't about running, since our 12 miler (10:09 pace) on Saturday was pretty uneventful (besides the fact that I was responsible for setting out the water stops and misjudged distances - damn you google maps! - and put them at like 3.2 and 9.1, when they should have been at 4 and 8 - oops!). Anyways, I decided that writing about bike rides is okay because it is cross-training :-)

Well two summers ago, when Lisa and I were at nerd camp, we shared an office with three other students and we designated ourselves Team Lazy. Really we weren't that lazy, but compared with the industrious international students in the other office (Team Not From Around Here), we seemed pretty lazy. But that is probably because we thought that drinks at bars with nautical sounding names followed by working until 4am was a good way of life. Anyways, that is totally off topic. The bottom line is that we have lazy streaks. Today I realized just how lazy I am.

When I go off on bike rides, I am usually content to average about 12 mph. I blame the fact I don't go faster on the fact I just have a hybrid and I don't have toe baskets or clipless pedals. That is much easier on blaming it on the fact that I am lazy.

Normally I am not in any rush to get anywhere so my slow-pokiness doesn't usually bother me. But, after starting to bike and swim more when I was injured, I decided I want to do the Cornman Triathlon (motto: "Outstanding in its field"). Now I mostly have no time goals for this - I just want to finish. But, I also don't really want to finish last. Almost all the bike times are under an hour, so I really want to do that leg in an hour, in which case a 12 mph pace isn't going to cut it.

Today I rode my bike to Ledges State Park with four boys who ride bikes better than me. Unlike Joe, who runs faster to chase girls, I needed to ride fast because:

1) As a matter of pride, I didn't want to be pathetically slow. Similar to all those times I am the only girl in any of my fluid mechanics classes, I feel like I am representing all of womankind, so I must not suck.

2) I had never been to Ledges, so I would get lost if I fell too far behind.

But anyways, I discovered how much faster one can go if they are not lazy, and turn the gears up higher. Who'd a thunk it? I ride my bike almost every day, but since I am riding to school, I don't like to get too sweaty, so I never turn the gears up. I was pleasantly surprised that I did the first 14 miles in 53 minutes. I was still the slowest one, but hey, I didn't expect to be the fastest.

So Part II of this ramble is because reminiscing about Team Lazy reminded me we still need to think of a team name. I am horrible at this kind of thing. Apparently lots of other people are as well, since half the google searches that end up on this blog are for things like "good team name."

The best I can do is come up with is the tongue in cheek title of this blog. Actually, I can come up with some nerdy ones. As of now, one third of the team is fluid dynamicists - my best attempt at a bad pun for that is "The Drag Force."

Or, I figure between the nine people on the team at the moment (yes we are short three! recruit your friends!) there are eleven science degrees and six more in progress - most of us qualify as nerds. On the surface, Kori looks like a hip young professional, but I have known her long enough to know that she is probably a nerd too :-) So we could be "Nerds who Run." Or I think it would be fun to have t-shirts for the relay that said on the back "Back off, man. I'm a scientist."

Man, I wish I were more clever.

This is an addendum to this already long rambling post, but I just had to share and since I was rambling about Team Lazy and science I figured I would attach it here. The crazy Israeli faction of TLZ e-mailed me this morning and I laughed and laughed and suddenly didn't want to admit to being a fluid dynamicist. He sent me this paper:

Meyer-Rochow VB, Gal J. "Pressures produced when penguins poo: a study of avian defaecation" Polar Biology 27: 56-58

Important safety tip, thanks Egon.

Ok, so all day yesterday I was actually feeling pretty good after running; not tired, sore, anything like that. Then today, I couldn't get it together, I was just sapped of energy all day. It may not have been a problem had I not had to play soccer. So class, what did we learn? Running farther, and much faster, than normal, is something we're going to feel the effects of.

Holy crap am I dragging. Just got back from my soccer game, and I just want to go to sleep. It's too bad I have a stack of forms to fill out for the new job that I start tomorrow. Well this worked out extremely well for me -- tired, hungry, and didn't even get the girl... :)

Motivation...

So today I ran with a friend of mine from work, and 2 friends of hers. We ended up doing about 7 miles, and I ran most of it with one of my friend's friends. We ran fast (for me anyway), averaging sub-9 minute/mile (with my usual pace for medium/long distance around 9:30/mi). Afterwards, I was trying to figure out where all the extra energy came to do this run, and I think it was as dumb as one could guess -- I didn't want to look like a wuss to the girl I was running with. So stupid, I know, but it did feel good to get out and really stretch the legs. But yes, I realize that I am pathetic.

Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!

Er, if you route it, they will run?

Anyways, this is my favorite route. Soon after I moved to Iowa and I didn't know where to run, I randomly ran up this gravel road that and to this day it is still my favorite place to run. I heart gravel roads. There are farms and fields and lots of deer (probably trying to stay out of the hunting range nearby). There is a really big hill leading up to mile 3, so I love that the rest of the run feels like it is all downhill after that. I also get to run around the lake where I do science.

Favorite Routes

About a month back, Danielle wrote a post pointing out the USATF Routes page. So I am curious, what are folks' favorite routes? Draw one up on the site, and post a link to it in the comments.

I will get started. Here are two of my favorite runs:

Pentagon/DC Tidal Basin: Run past the Pentagon and through the tidal basin that houses many of the Washington DC memorials (passing by Lincoln and Jefferson, with slight variations allowing you to see Vietnam, WW2, Korean War, and Washington Monuments, and adding an extra few miles allowing you to simply run the length of the National Mall, passing the Smithsonians and the Capitol)

Gravelly Point Park to Iwo Jima Memorial: Gravelly Point is a park that sits at the end of one of the major runways at Regan National Airport, so planes are either taking off or landing while flying very close overhead. Start there, run up a trail along the Potomac, passing by Arlington National Cemetery, ending up at the Iwo Jima Memorial, then back to the Park.

Commitment

Team,
Despite what you might hear from a few ex-GFs, I'm not afraid of commitment. Need proof? Here: I'm IN for the Wild West Relay. How's that for commitment.
I just finalized summer travel plans and I'll be back in Iowa on August 2, hairy (ok hairy-er than usual) and sunburned, and perhaps not in great running condition. But after sitting on a little glacier and watching the mountains move by excruciatingly slowly for a few weeks, perhaps I'll be in the mood for speed.
-Pete

Today is my rest day, but thought I'd post this one for Joe.

Lollygagging

So Sunday, the day after the 20-miler, I was feeling good. I wasn't sore at all. So I decided I would go to a yoga class, go swimming, and do some squats and lunges. Now my legs are killing me. Today when I started running, I was not a happy camper. But it ended up being a good day. Once I got my legs moving they actually started to feel better. I wasn't going to break any speed records today, but it turned into one of those "I'm so glad I made myself go run today!" days.

Distance: 7.13 miles
Pace: 10:18 min/mi

So the question of the day is: blue or green? I love these shoes and I am almost up to 200 miles on them, so I want a new pair before the marathon. I have green now and I sort of love my Kermit shoes. But I also like blue a lot and that would be a change. And damn, why do the shoes I love have to cost $120? Why couldn't I love my $70 Adidas that I alternate them with?

Graveyard Run

On Sunday I woke up in a foul mood, because I knew it was time to do my first ever 7-miler. You know, I don't really like to run 7 miles on a Sunday morning. I like to sit on my ass and drink coffee and knit socks while watching Coronation Street on Sunday mornings.

But there's something to be said for being committed to a team, because I got my butt out the door. Man...long runs take long. Longer than my 3 year old iPod is willing to play for me, and definitely longer than my crappy shoes are willing to support me.

The good part is that I am seeing sides of Toronto that I didn't even know existed. By the time I got to the local shopping strip that I used to consider the end goal of a "far" run, I had barely scratched the surface of my run, and i was pretty much at a loss as to where to go next. North? No good - that's uphill and we don't want to make it any worse than it already is. South - also no good, because that's downtown and that means yuppies in SUVs out for Saturday shopping.

So instead I turned into Mount Pleasant Cemetary, which has a sign out front that says "Rest Assured: There's Always Space!" (classy? yes.). The cemetery is a wicked place to run. Although not as creepy as I hoped, MP has some old old old graves in it, and it's quiet, and there all kinds of winding paths on which to get lost. I got lost, but I was glad because that gave me something to think about while waiting for the run to end.

After I found my way out again I looked at my watch and realized that I was only about halfway through my stupid run. Friggety frig! But somehow between the cemetery and the train tracks, I stumbled upon a tiny, yet totally tree-hidden trail that cuts secretly though the city and spits you out in a totally different place than you would think. I think it might be a rip in the space time continuum, or something.

10 million hours later, my run finally ended and my entire body hurt, and then it started to rain and I almost froze to death as I limped home. And did I spend the rest of the day on the couch? Hells no - I went to church 2 hours before the service and lugged speakers and tables around.

Who's a superhero? Me!

distance: about 6.5 miles or so.
pace: no effing clue
song: Poe, Haunted

Baby steps

I realize that I'm nowhere near Danielle's level of badassness with her 20 mile runs, but I am trying to make slow and steady progress.

Yesterday, I had planned on running a nice 4 mile loop; the weather was nice, no humidity, no wind, I was looking forward to it. Somewhere about 2/3 of the way through, I started to feel like it was taking a really long time to finish. When I got home, sure enough, I had been running for over 50 minutes. Thinking something went horribly wrong, I hopped online, mapped out my route, and realized that it was actually just over 5 1/3 miles long. So I ran 5 miles at about a 10 minute pace (I walked the last 1/3 mile). Not too bad considering I was only planning on running 4.

So today, I decided to do the same route again and see how I felt. This time I finished the entire loop, at a 9:30 pace. I felt a lot better today than I did yesterday. I think I do better when I can get in a groove at (or at least near) my regular pace. If I slow down too much, I don't do as well for some reason.

Now I need to go downstairs to the gym and lift a little, because I'm starting to get those stupid shoulder cramps when I run, so I need to stop that from happening.

Hooray for progress!

(Note: Post edited to reflect actual distance and recalculate average time; I was under on the mileage a bit; this is not my weekend for judging distance apparently)

Take me home, country roads

There is a Police song called "The Madman Running Through the Fields":

You ask me how I've become mad now.
There was a day, I had so much say.
What of my feet? Life seemed to be sweet.
I was admired but I was so tired.

Isn't that the madman, running through the fields?
Isn't that the madman? Wonder how he feels...

That was our theme today as Kori's 20 mile route took us out onto the gravel roads south of Ames past fields and cows. It was 40 degrees and spitting out when we left - fortunately the rain held off. Of course we spent about 6 miles of that running directly into 15 mph winds (with 20-25 mph gusts). I really had never experienced wind until I moved to the Midwest. And the wind is always the worst on the country roads where there is nothing to block it for miles. When I was living in Illinois, I went out on a bike ride one day and had to call a friend to pick me up when I turned into the wind because I was 10 miles out of town and progressing at 4 mph. Today, I would be close to saying that the second ten miles was almost easier than the first.

Well, regardless, I ran 20 miles today for the first time ever, yay! We went slow (10:42 pace) but we got it done. And nothing really hurt! The hamstring was a little sore, but if I ran on the right side of the road I didn't notice it as much. I have another massage scheduled on Monday - I hope Susan can help with that.

I have been exhausted all day. I have done nothing but take a nap and watch movies. It amazes me how some days I can finish a long run and feel tired, but still able to do stuff, and then others I can do nothing but be lazy all day. I have noticed the trend that with 16+ mile runs, if it is sunny out, I end up feeling tired but invigorated and if it is gross out, I just want to curl up and do nothing. But anyways, it is a good thing I don't have any kids - as it is I have neglected the dog, who hasn't been out since this morning (in my defense, he has been as lazy as me today and has showed no interest in going out).

P.S. I guess when Lisa and I would go running by the ocean in Woods Hole the wind was pretty nasty there sometimes too. Ah, how I miss the path by the ocean... If I survive Grandma's Marathon and still actually like running and if the registration is closed for Chicago (which Kori is doing and which I paid for but couldn't run last year), then I think it would be fun to run the Cape Cod Marathon in Falmouth/Woods Hole in October.

Lasers, Hamsters, Hammys, Drowned Rats, and Texas

So right now I am working in the lab on some experiments that pretty much just require me to babysit the laser. I am not sure what the laser might do, jump up and start burning people's eyes out? But anyways, pretty much I fiddle around with stuff then sit around and do nothing for 15 minutes while the experiment runs. So I thought I would post here.

Last night I had to run five miles (10:18 pace) and I was so unmotivated. To top it off, the weather was gross and really windy, so I went to the gym and did it on the hamster wheel. Why does the treadmill suck SOOOOO much?! I think running outside in the gross windy weather would have been less painful.

Tomorrow morning is our first 20 miler. I think mentally I am ready for this, but my left hamstring has been really tight lately and I worry about it. I can feel it when I am out walking around. On the plus side, rigorous stretching and self-inflicted torture with the styrofoam cylinder of death have paid off - I haven't felt my IT band in over a week. Tomorrow morning is also supposed to be gross out, so this isn't going to be a heck of a lot of fun.

One of the guys I run with managed to find the picture of me from the Drake relays. I had a jacket on over my number, so I never even bothered looking, but Bill apparently wanted to find the pictures of himself in the "Lost and Found" section. So here we go:

Me looking like a drowned rat at about Mile 11

I am amazed I managed to smile. I think I was probably delirious (this was actually about mile 14 for me). I also love how I think I am not swinging my arms across my body, but every photo of myself running always proves me wrong. I apparently love wasting energy.

Lastly, in my goofing off while experiments are running, I was looking at the stats for the blog. I can see the cities of the people who read the blog and expectedly Ames, DC, and Toronto are the most popular (that being where we hail from), but there are several hits from Plano TX. Anyways, Plano, you should say hi some time :-)

with almost no pain!

I did a short run today to test out my knee, which has felt like it was going to explode every time I've walked up or down stairs since I got kicked in it on Sunday. It felt pretty good, which is encouraging. Also encouraging is not having a soccer game this weekend, so I can get into a solid running groove over a 2 week period without missing 3 days at a time to heal from the beatings I receive every Sunday on the pitch.

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 26 minutes (faster than my normal pace, but I ended up chasing a slow bicyclist for about the last 1 1/4 miles)
Song stuck in my head: Vermillion (yes Danielle, a Slipknot song, just for you)

Frunning

So, a few weeks ago I made peeps at my church start a running group with me, mostly because I need people to keep me company and get me to move my ass when I'm not in the mood. I'm glad to say it's growing and people are into it. We've named it the Frunning Club...Freedomize (<--our church name...yes, it is weird) running...Fun running...Fucking running...whatever. Frunning: it's the new fugly.

Aaaaaanyways. So we've mostly been doing slow 5Ks around Queen's Park (= like a track, except with lots of trees...a sad excuse for a park, really), but last night the only person who could make it out was a girl who'd never come out before and who, unlike the rest of us, is a serious runner. So I did my 5-miler at Andrea's pace, and it was awesome...the cobwebs, they's gone. If I play this right, I might be able to ensnare her into our team.

However, today my foot hurts in a freaky way, for which I blame my stupid shitty shoes from freaking Footlocker.

Some little skanky chick made fun of us as we passed her, and I'm pleased to say that I totally ignored her and kept on running. If this had happened during the first two weeks after I got back from my trip to India last year, she would have learned what a knuckle sandwich tastes like.

Distance: 8K...or thereabouts
Song in my head: Girlyman, Amaze me
memorable quote: "Hey, it's Mark!"

Foxy

I saw a fox today when I was out running. This is Iowa - seeing any wildlife is exciting. He was hovering on the side of the trail in Brookside Park. Normally I run a little earlier in the day, but today I didn't head out until 8pm because we were grilling yet again (yay for summer!). I almost didn't go because I was still full from dinner, but this is my first 40 mile week ever and I figure starting it out by skipping out on the first run of the week is not a very good beginning. It was a gorgeous night, I'm so glad I made myself go out.

Distance: 5 miles
Pace: 9:47 min/mi
Song that made me run faster today: Song for the Dumped by Ben Folds Five
Song that made me laugh and surprisingly made me pick up my feet a bit: Milkshake by Kelis which my roommate put on my ipod for our bbq yesterday. So bad.

why i like running

it's so much lower impact than soccer. at least, lower impact for my face, which seems to attract people's elbows and the ball like it's magnetic.

I'm a dirty girl

Okay, so my sneakers don't look that dirty, but I had already knocked off a lot of the loose mud. And I decided not to blind the world with my pasty white legs covered in mud. Man, but that mud just seeped right through the mesh in the toebox of my shoes - the inside of my shoes were squishy.

I just got back from the Pilot Knob 15K Trail Race. What is that next to my sneakers? I thought you'd never ask! That would be my second place "trophy" for my age group. Yes, I'm wicked awesome. I know. The piece of paper attached to my "glacial till," as they called it, is a little geology lesson (I'll leave it to Pete, our resident glacier guy, to make fun of any bad science, if there is any):
Man, I forgot how much harder running on trails is than on the road. This was a really hilly trail with lots of mud pits and lots of debris to trip on as you bolted down the hills. But it was a lot of fun. The weather was gorgeous. It was a really small race. After mile 5 I didn't see another soul until the end, neither in front of me or in back of me. So it was rather like a nice little jog in state park. My GPS batteries died at mile 1.5, so I had no clue of my pace the entire way, as that was also my timer. That actually made it really nice too - I just ran and didn't stress about how fast I was going. My only indication of pace was when Barrett, a guy from the Nordic Ski Club who went up with me and who is fast, passed me at his mile 9 marker when I was about to hit my mile 6 marker (the course wasn't the same loop over and over, but rather four loops that occasionally criss-crossed each other). I decided that since he ran the same half marathon as me last weekend in 1:18, that it was okay if I was running 150% of his pace.

Okay here is where my confession comes in. No, I am not going to confess to kneecapping some poor girl with a fallen tree branch. So yeah, I got second place. But that is apparently because women aged 20-29 don't like to run 15K trail races. Yes, there were only two of us. My time was almost embarrasing too - 1:49. But really, trail running is a whole other ball game than road running. The last quarter mile was on a road and I hit that and still was able to pick it up for the last bit and then go into to a full on sprint to the end. Actually, based on Barret's time (1:18), my last three miles were more or less at 10 minute pace. And I actually felt good those three miles and felt like I was running decently. I decided that I shouldn't look at my actual time but the ratio of the best time to my time since that sort of takes out the difficulty variable. It was a small race, but the winner just ran the Boston Marathon in 2:30, so there were competitive people there. For the half-marry last weekend that ratio was exactly 1:2. Today that ratio was a little less even (the winner did it in 57 minutes). So I am content. And it was a fun running day. And I got a prize! Yay for me! You can bet that I am going to use my glacial till trophy to hold down the napkins at our barbeque tomorrow.

Walden - not exactly a Thoreauian paradise...

So last night while I was listening to a friend rant for like a half an hour about a bad bad day, I was looking at the race website (nice friend, huh?) and I was reminded that we run through Walden. The sheriff of Walden CO and I go way back. And not because I ran a stop sign on my bike.

Last summer, while driving from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs (where my sister Jess lives), my friend Tamara and I decided to take a "shortcut," which was a mountain pass through national forest. It was July, the road wasn't closed, so we figured it was fine. Look, doesn't this map just scream "Take Rt. 24!"


After winding up a (very nice gravel) road for forty five minutes, we came to a snowy patch. We could tell we were close to the top and that we were only about 12 miles from Steamboat (at least according to the map). Tamara, who has lived in the middle of nowhere in CO working for the Forest Service, says "You can make it through that snow patch." Note that I own a Ford Escort station wagon.

Well we got stuck. If my camera hadn't been stolen in Toronto last year, I would post a photo here of Tamara trying to dig out my car. We dug and we dug and tried to get out for like 2 hours. Tamara gave it one last try and my car started slipping off the road so we gave up and called AAA just as it was getting dark. Amazingly I had cell phone reception! Anyways, they called the ONLY tow truck driver in Walden CO, who apparently is a lazy ass who didn't want to drag his butt up a mountain to pull us out. Instead, he called the sheriff of Walden CO who brought his ass all the way up the mountain to pick up Tamara and me. I would note here that Tamara and I were on our way to NM, so we only had warm weather camping stuff and it was cold up there and we were wet from digging in the snow, which is why we didn't just wait until the next day to get pulled out.

I had to call my sister at 10 pm to come to pick us up - which was like a 1.5 hour drive from Steamboat (from the base of the road we took). She was not a happy camper. We had to get a tow truck driver from Steamboat to pull us out. Let me tell you that the pulling out took about two minutes. Any of the 5 SUVs we saw coming back down as we went up could have pulled us out. Instead I had to pay $270 for a tow truck driver from Steamboat (which I fortunately got AAA to pay).

I will say that the sheriff of Walden CO was very nice, but don't get your car stuck there - the tow truck driver is a jerk.

P.S. This link is in honor of Kori's post.

P.P.S While writing this my ipod came back from Apple. As much as I bitch about Apple and how I only got an ipod because Apple is the only company that managed to get up to 4G on a flash player, I have to state how impressed I am. It broke last thursday (the click wheel broke). I put in an online service request thursday night. Monday morning I had a DHL delivery with the prepaid box I was to return it in. Sent it out monday, and here it is thursday and they have sent me a brand spanking new ipod. One week. One week! Talk about customer service! And now I have a shiny new unscratched ipod, yay! It will keep me company on this 15K this weekend.

2006

Each year, I name the year like on the chinese place mats. 2006 is the year of the closed toe shoes.

My legs look better from the ankles up than they did before I was a runner, but from the ankle down, it's an entirely different story. Do you remember when you were losing your teeth and you would wiggle and wiggle your tooth until it was hanging from your gums and definately should have been pulled days ago? I have a toenail like that. I also have a toenail that is so black, I think it is actually four black toenails layered on top of eachother. Last night, I had a great 8 mile run - I felt so good, I went to the gym to lift weights when I was done. I haven't had a run like that in a long time. But, I wore the wrong socks and I have a blister the likes of which people have never seen. I actually limped about the house last night - from a blister!

Life as a runner is hard.

Oh Google, how you offend my vanity!

So they posted the results from the Drake Relays. I have a (probably unhealthy - but don't lie, you know you do it too) habit of googling myself occasionally. After a page of nerdy stuff and bad photos, my race results start popping up. And all I have to say is "Why Google? Why oh why must some of the worst races I have ever run pop up first?" I mean the first race that pops up is an 8 miler that I did like in 1:30. Google doesn't let me put up a disclaimer that says "This is the first time I had ever run 8 miles! And it was a trail race! And I was running with like five pounds of mud on my shoes! And some stupid ATVers pulled up the directionals AND the 7 mile marker so we got lost and also got discouraged about never hitting 7 miles and thinking we were running 15 min/mi!" Why do they put up that race and not the 8 miler I just did in Hawaii where my pace was 9:30? Saturday's results pop up second for races. While my time wasn't that bad (for me), I actually finished like 45 of 50 for women in my age group. I blame it on the rain - I figure all the wussy people stayed home :-) Plus I ran 3 mile beforehand!I am still wicked tired from Saturday. My run yesterday sucked. I ran on the treadmill. Now here is a question for debate - is the treadmill harder or easier than the street? I think harder, Lisa thinks easier. I have heard physics explanations for both. Who knows which is right?

Today I could only do 4 miles (10:16 pace) before my calves started throbbing. Well, I guess that is what rest weeks are for - taking it easy.

I am contemplating rescinding my general non-meat eating until the marathon. I am worried about protein and muscle recovery. I don't know any vegetarian marathon runners, so I am not sure if it can be done healthily. I am sure it can, but there is only so much tofu and beans I can eat. Man, I haven't had steak in a long long time. Mmmm, meat.