Might not be blogging much this week. Had an awesome weekend, but one of the lame highlights was that I started a new puzzle yesterday afternoon.
It was a nice way to chill out after my first weekend of double-digit miles each day (well, at least first since we've been back from Italy), and day 37 in a row of temps at 100 or higher.
The rest of the wknd was good. We had dinner with friends Fri night and she interpreted my being a vegetarian as meaning the meal should consist mostly of cheese. Ugh... not good for the goal of losing some weight, but so tasty! We started with a curry-cream cheese dip and baked brie, then cheese tortellini in a spinach alfredo sauce, salad with bleu cheese, then for dessert, brownies and gelato. Very good, just made me nervous about my stomach holding up on Sat morning.
I went to meet my buddies at 5:30 to loop the lake. It was really nice. They were doing 18 miles (2 lake loops), but I bailed just before completing the first loop and instead ran to the race. My stomach had survived cheese-fest completely intact! That was good news. Sometimes I worry that by eating healthy most of the time, I'll be less tolerant of not-so-healthy foods (which is my husband's problem). Anyway, I ran to the race site and I met my bestie and hubby there. We hung out until the race start.
It was my first cross-country/trail race EVER. It was a bit tougher. Lots of watching for roots, little room to pass, and jumping over the 3 obstacle hurdles (hay bales) on the 2 mile loop. And there were probably 2 uphill climbs (though the last half mile was all downhill, which was nice). It was also hot and sunny, so I shouldn't have been shocked by how high my heart rate was by the end.
So I ran very hard for 2 miles. It was tough. But I felt like I ran pretty strong and then handed off to my hubby. And then before I knew it (busy guzzling water and seeking shade), he was handing off to my bestie. And then she was done. That's the beauty of a relay with legs of only 2 miles each -- it's like they're over before you know it. We didn't end up placing in our division, but we hadn't expected to. It was a lot of fun.
Then hubby and I walked back to my car at the lake, just over one very hot mile away. Along the walk though, we did check out a kayak/canoe rental place and I think we're planning to do that in 2 weeks, which will be a fun Saturday adventure! Got home, ate, straightened up, ran errands, and went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Pretty good. But I came in with little of the "ape movies" background. Apparently there were a couple references to the original that hubby caught but I of course missed.
Sunday was my group long run. It was only 10 miles, but we were a little worried about it b/c of the heat. I added a few extra miles, and it all felt good. One person in our group ended up having a lot of trouble with the heat, so she fell back a group. But otherwise, it was all good. Came home and relaxed, did some more stuff around the house (including breaking our washing machine and finally ordering some pics from my bro's wedding to put into frames in my office). Then last night I went to a running team dinner, which was fun, but b/c of the puzzle I started after breaking the washing machine, I didn't really want to go.
I just wanted to stay home and puzzle! They're so addictive! One of my good friends is coming over tomorrow night to help me with it, which will be nice. Right now I've basically just got the border done. Fun week project!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Big Ambitions
So the scale has been alarming lately. I don't feel like I'm really doing anything differently, but not only have I still not lost my Italy pounds, but it seems like another couple pounds are joining them. Ugh. I need to start watching things.
I have big running plans for the weekend, maybe that will help. Unlikely, I know, but maybe.
Tonight we're going to dinner at a friend's house. I'll probably eat and drink way too much. But tomorrow, I'm meeting a couple pals for a lake loop very early in the morning. That will be about 9 miles. After that, I'm going to walk or run solo to a nearby park for a race. My local bestie is going to pick up my husband and meet me there, then the three of us are going to be a team for the relay. It's a 6 mile race, 3 person teams, 2 miles per leg. I go first, hubby's taking the middle and my bestie's running anchor. That should be fun. I want to run really easy for the lake loop so that I can try to go hard in the race.
But who am I kidding? It's way too hot for me to realistically expect to do well. But I can try.
Then we have a day o' crap on Saturday. Fun things like mailing wedding shower gifts to my next future sister-in-law, washing sheets and towels, taking my car in for an oil change, a couple cleaning/organizing projects, hopefully a movie (hubby's choice, something about apes), and probably several other errands. If I'm very, very lucky, I'll get to start a puzzle with my bestie. Hubby and I have a wedding Saturday night but we rsvp'd no b/c it's just too much, esp with our Sunday morning schedule.
Sunday morning my running best buddy is going to run from our running store to my house to pick me up, then we'll run to the store together (just under 2 miles, so he'll be at almost 4 miles by the time we get to the store together), then we're running with our White Rock training groups for 10 miles, then he's going to run me part or all of the way home (another 2 miles for me, 3-4 for him).
So I had about 1 mile this morning at boot camp, then about 11 on Sat, and 14 on Sun. That doesn't sound too crazy really, kind of like doing a 6 on Sat and 19 on Sun, which doesn't seem too bad, but it's going to be the most I've done 2 days in a row in a long time.
The key for me is not to eat like I'm running 25 miles in 2 days! Then maybe I can start to undo some of the damage that's being done...
Sunday
I have big running plans for the weekend, maybe that will help. Unlikely, I know, but maybe.
Tonight we're going to dinner at a friend's house. I'll probably eat and drink way too much. But tomorrow, I'm meeting a couple pals for a lake loop very early in the morning. That will be about 9 miles. After that, I'm going to walk or run solo to a nearby park for a race. My local bestie is going to pick up my husband and meet me there, then the three of us are going to be a team for the relay. It's a 6 mile race, 3 person teams, 2 miles per leg. I go first, hubby's taking the middle and my bestie's running anchor. That should be fun. I want to run really easy for the lake loop so that I can try to go hard in the race.
But who am I kidding? It's way too hot for me to realistically expect to do well. But I can try.
Then we have a day o' crap on Saturday. Fun things like mailing wedding shower gifts to my next future sister-in-law, washing sheets and towels, taking my car in for an oil change, a couple cleaning/organizing projects, hopefully a movie (hubby's choice, something about apes), and probably several other errands. If I'm very, very lucky, I'll get to start a puzzle with my bestie. Hubby and I have a wedding Saturday night but we rsvp'd no b/c it's just too much, esp with our Sunday morning schedule.
Sunday morning my running best buddy is going to run from our running store to my house to pick me up, then we'll run to the store together (just under 2 miles, so he'll be at almost 4 miles by the time we get to the store together), then we're running with our White Rock training groups for 10 miles, then he's going to run me part or all of the way home (another 2 miles for me, 3-4 for him).
So I had about 1 mile this morning at boot camp, then about 11 on Sat, and 14 on Sun. That doesn't sound too crazy really, kind of like doing a 6 on Sat and 19 on Sun, which doesn't seem too bad, but it's going to be the most I've done 2 days in a row in a long time.
The key for me is not to eat like I'm running 25 miles in 2 days! Then maybe I can start to undo some of the damage that's being done...
Sunday
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Serves me right!
So no sooner do I post my first entry of the summer b!tching about the heat, than does this morning get here. I have the TV on as I'm getting dressed for camp and putting in my contacts. 91 at DFW at 5:10ish. Oh my... I think it eventually cooled down to 88 or something, but it was 91 when I started. Ugh!
But Wednesdays are almost easy for me. Hubby and I carpool to boot camp, and then one of my besties runs to camp and then we run home together on the trail. Her place is about a mile before ours, so I run the last mile solo, but it gives us a little chance to catch up. This morning she said she basically ran down to camp to tell me to get a ride home, it was just too hot. But getting a ride home wasn't really an option (unless I bummed a ride from a friend), b/c hubby was going straight to work. So I ran the 5k home despite the heat.
To me, it didn't feel that much worse than 86 felt. It's just hot right now.
I would like to be able to tell you about my negative splits on the way home. I manage to do that most weeeks. The first mile we sometimes stop for water, but either way, we're chatting a lot, getting into the groove, etc. The second mile we pick up the pace some, and then I drop her off at home and I try to push a bit harder for the third mile. I know I succeeded this morning. I think making each mile about 50 seconds faster than the previous mile.
But that's based on memory. Because somehow my garmin home data screen is now displaying solely in a language I can't read -- maybe Chinese? And I have no idea how to change it back. I will probably call one of my best running buddies today and see if he can walk me through it. I call my best friend for the same kind of help when there's a big privacy setting change on Facebook. Since I fb in Italian, and I speak Italian, I can kind of do it myself, but some of the words are odd translations and I want to make sure I'm turning off all the correct settings, so she just tells me to click something like the second button from the left on the top, called Profile, and I'll say, oh yes, Profilo. But no such luck when it's Chinese. I can say Nee-hau, but I can't write it! Let alone change my Garmin online profile back to English (or even Italian).
But Wednesdays are almost easy for me. Hubby and I carpool to boot camp, and then one of my besties runs to camp and then we run home together on the trail. Her place is about a mile before ours, so I run the last mile solo, but it gives us a little chance to catch up. This morning she said she basically ran down to camp to tell me to get a ride home, it was just too hot. But getting a ride home wasn't really an option (unless I bummed a ride from a friend), b/c hubby was going straight to work. So I ran the 5k home despite the heat.
To me, it didn't feel that much worse than 86 felt. It's just hot right now.
I would like to be able to tell you about my negative splits on the way home. I manage to do that most weeeks. The first mile we sometimes stop for water, but either way, we're chatting a lot, getting into the groove, etc. The second mile we pick up the pace some, and then I drop her off at home and I try to push a bit harder for the third mile. I know I succeeded this morning. I think making each mile about 50 seconds faster than the previous mile.
But that's based on memory. Because somehow my garmin home data screen is now displaying solely in a language I can't read -- maybe Chinese? And I have no idea how to change it back. I will probably call one of my best running buddies today and see if he can walk me through it. I call my best friend for the same kind of help when there's a big privacy setting change on Facebook. Since I fb in Italian, and I speak Italian, I can kind of do it myself, but some of the words are odd translations and I want to make sure I'm turning off all the correct settings, so she just tells me to click something like the second button from the left on the top, called Profile, and I'll say, oh yes, Profilo. But no such luck when it's Chinese. I can say Nee-hau, but I can't write it! Let alone change my Garmin online profile back to English (or even Italian).
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Requisite Weather Complaint
No big surprises here, it's now August and that means it's hot in Dallas. Very hot.
So, we're on a roll in Dallas right now. 31 days in a row in the triple digits. Yesterday morning when we started to work out at 5:30 a.m., it was 87 degrees. Yes, 87 at 5:15 in the morning. I get fun little email warnings and FB messages like this:
Fellow Dallas-area runners...we know morning runs this summer have been pretty miserable, right? Found this little gem from the folks at US National Weather Service Fort Worth Texas - "SO FAR AT DFW IN 2011 WE HAVE HAD 24 MORNING LOWS THAT ARE 80 DEGREES OR ABOVE. ASSUMING NO STORMS AFFECT THE AIRPORT THIS AFTERNOON THIS MORNINGS LOW OF 82 WILL BRING US TO 25 DAYS ABOVE 80 DEGREES FOR LOW TEMPERATURES THIS YEAR. THE 25 DAYS WILL BRING US UP TO THIRD ALL TIME AT DFW WHICH IS A SIGN OF HOW LITTLE RELIEF RESIDENTS OF THE METROPLEX ARE GETTING FROM THE HEAT IN GENERAL. THE TOP TWO YEARS FOR 80 DEGREE AND ABOVE LOW TEMPERATURES ARE 1998 WITH 39 AND 2008 WITH 27. UNFORTUNATELY NO SIGNIFICANT PATTERN CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE."
That warning of course was more than a week ago, and nothing has changed. Currently, we're on the second-longest streak of days at 100 degrees or higher. Summer 1980 had the longest streak, 42 days. Right now, we're at second (31 days counting Monday). Third was 29 days in 1998 (I was here for a little bit of it), fourth was 25 days in 1952, and fifth was 24 days in 1999 (I was here for a couple weeks of this one). This week, we're supposed to have highs several days over 105, so no risk of the streak ending any time soon.
All of this heat based conditioning should make for some fast marathon times this fall when the cooler weather arrives! At least, so I hope.
I am trying to remind myself that it's probably just a few more miserable weeks. I try to remind myself of the things I like about summer running -- there's never any question of what to wear, and no one is in a hurry to split right after a run to warm up in their cars, instead you can hang out and leisurely talk, stretch and walk. There's less risk of injuring a cold muscle. The wind is a treasure instead of pure evil. It's light so much longer. My garmin works better if I'm not wearing gloves. I have more variety in my summer running clothing. I try to remind myself how much I truly despise running in sub-freezing temps -- not just running really, doing anything outside. But the problem is, this year I feel like I've gotten screwed on both ends. We had a major ice storm and really cold weather for the week before the Super Bowl. And now we're on the second longest 100 or over streak ever.
I try to think about how almost everywhere in the country has a miserable month or two (except those lucky Californians and Hawaiians). It just so happens our miserable month is summer, and not winter. But this year it really seems like we've gotten a raw deal to have had such a cold winter in addition to a hot summer. I heard somewhere that climate change or global warming is really just higher highs and lower lows, rather than actual warming, but I have no idea. But if that's true, then this year in Dallas, it feels like that's really happening.
Generally speaking, I'd take the heat over the cold. My ideal running temp is about 50, +/- 5 degrees. But I'd take 70 over 35. I'd take 75 over 35 probably. But what happens when my choices are 85 of 25? I can't decide which is worse. I guess it would depend on whether the sun is out -- 85 and dark or overcast sounds better than 25 and dark or overcast. But 25 and sunny beats 85 and sunny. But I think when it gets to be anything over 85, the lower temps start to win out without any contest.
But for just living, I'd rather have a day with a high of 90 than a day with a high of 35. I'm definitely a warm weather person. I hate being cold. It's just the running temps where I'd like it a bit cooler. Still not cold though.
So, we're on a roll in Dallas right now. 31 days in a row in the triple digits. Yesterday morning when we started to work out at 5:30 a.m., it was 87 degrees. Yes, 87 at 5:15 in the morning. I get fun little email warnings and FB messages like this:
Fellow Dallas-area runners...we know morning runs this summer have been pretty miserable, right? Found this little gem from the folks at US National Weather Service Fort Worth Texas - "SO FAR AT DFW IN 2011 WE HAVE HAD 24 MORNING LOWS THAT ARE 80 DEGREES OR ABOVE. ASSUMING NO STORMS AFFECT THE AIRPORT THIS AFTERNOON THIS MORNINGS LOW OF 82 WILL BRING US TO 25 DAYS ABOVE 80 DEGREES FOR LOW TEMPERATURES THIS YEAR. THE 25 DAYS WILL BRING US UP TO THIRD ALL TIME AT DFW WHICH IS A SIGN OF HOW LITTLE RELIEF RESIDENTS OF THE METROPLEX ARE GETTING FROM THE HEAT IN GENERAL. THE TOP TWO YEARS FOR 80 DEGREE AND ABOVE LOW TEMPERATURES ARE 1998 WITH 39 AND 2008 WITH 27. UNFORTUNATELY NO SIGNIFICANT PATTERN CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE."
That warning of course was more than a week ago, and nothing has changed. Currently, we're on the second-longest streak of days at 100 degrees or higher. Summer 1980 had the longest streak, 42 days. Right now, we're at second (31 days counting Monday). Third was 29 days in 1998 (I was here for a little bit of it), fourth was 25 days in 1952, and fifth was 24 days in 1999 (I was here for a couple weeks of this one). This week, we're supposed to have highs several days over 105, so no risk of the streak ending any time soon.
All of this heat based conditioning should make for some fast marathon times this fall when the cooler weather arrives! At least, so I hope.
I am trying to remind myself that it's probably just a few more miserable weeks. I try to remind myself of the things I like about summer running -- there's never any question of what to wear, and no one is in a hurry to split right after a run to warm up in their cars, instead you can hang out and leisurely talk, stretch and walk. There's less risk of injuring a cold muscle. The wind is a treasure instead of pure evil. It's light so much longer. My garmin works better if I'm not wearing gloves. I have more variety in my summer running clothing. I try to remind myself how much I truly despise running in sub-freezing temps -- not just running really, doing anything outside. But the problem is, this year I feel like I've gotten screwed on both ends. We had a major ice storm and really cold weather for the week before the Super Bowl. And now we're on the second longest 100 or over streak ever.
I try to think about how almost everywhere in the country has a miserable month or two (except those lucky Californians and Hawaiians). It just so happens our miserable month is summer, and not winter. But this year it really seems like we've gotten a raw deal to have had such a cold winter in addition to a hot summer. I heard somewhere that climate change or global warming is really just higher highs and lower lows, rather than actual warming, but I have no idea. But if that's true, then this year in Dallas, it feels like that's really happening.
Generally speaking, I'd take the heat over the cold. My ideal running temp is about 50, +/- 5 degrees. But I'd take 70 over 35. I'd take 75 over 35 probably. But what happens when my choices are 85 of 25? I can't decide which is worse. I guess it would depend on whether the sun is out -- 85 and dark or overcast sounds better than 25 and dark or overcast. But 25 and sunny beats 85 and sunny. But I think when it gets to be anything over 85, the lower temps start to win out without any contest.
But for just living, I'd rather have a day with a high of 90 than a day with a high of 35. I'm definitely a warm weather person. I hate being cold. It's just the running temps where I'd like it a bit cooler. Still not cold though.
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