Progression

Good: A late dinner with friends and a very leisurely morning
Better: Running uphill with Matt biking behind, singing the "Rocky" theme song
Best: Finishing my run, hot and sweaty, letting cold air from the AC blast me in the face

Oops

I meant to go running after work today but fell asleep by accident. There's still plenty of daylight, but I'm in one of those post-nap fogs that feels awful and is really hard to shake. So I'm going to make some caffeinated tea and try not to beat myself up over it. I'll run tomorrow (easy), Saturday (long), and be back on my schedule Sunday morning when I go to yoga.

Official Time

So... I overestimated my 5k time a little. Official results are in, and I have an official time of 29:24, a little more than 30 seconds off what I estimated in my race report.

I'm happy about my pace, though, which averaged out to a 9:28 mile.

See the offical results here.

And... just for perspective... the male winner ran a 5:20 mile to finish in 16:33, and the female winner ran a 5:48 mile to finish in 18:01.

5k Race Report

This morning I ran the National Police Week 5k. It was raining when I woke up and the rain persisted through the entire race. Thankfully, it wasn't a soaking rain, so clothes and shoes mainly stayed dry.

The route began at the FBI Field Office and finished at the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial, following Independence Ave to the Capitol Building, turning north on 1st St NE, east on Constitution Ave NE, and south on 2nd St NE back to Independence to form a loop.


I already knew about the fairly steep hill between miles one and two, which was just another reason to obey my mantra of "Don't start too fast, don't start too fast, don't start too fast..."

Well... I didn't start too fast, but when all my hill training kicked and I started passing people on the incline, I got a bit cocky and picked up the pace. That resulted in a debilitating cramp just before the second mile marker, the kind where you just want to stop and double over and every inhale feels like an icepick stabbing you in the diaphragm. Yeah. But just then I noticed my support "team" (one loyal friend who braved the rain to cheer me on) and that was the boost I needed to take the pace down a notch and push through until the cramp abated, which it did just in time to turn north on 3rd St for the home stretch.

My official time won't be posted for another couple days (at least), but the clock as I crossed the finish said 30:15. I estimate that it took about 90 seconds to actually cross the starting line, which takes my time to about 28:45, which is exactly within the range I had hoped to finish.

I need to run a few more small races through my half-marathon training program, just to keep an eye on my pace and refine my strategy. Overall, I'm pleased with my performance and my time, especially given the conditions.

5k Eve

I'm running a race tomorrow! It's the National Police Week 5k and should be a lot of fun if the rain can hold out. My plan is to run easy, just a normal pace and see what happens. Since I don't run with a wathc, I don't know how fast (or slow) I am. So... I need to get a handle on that before official training starts in July.

Race report tomorrow afternoon!

Monday Evening

Today on a whim I signed up for a 5k race this Saturday. I think the race atmosphere will be energizing and it will be nice to know my official pace, since I don't run with a watch. But first, I need to pick up and break in a new pair of running shoes, so I'll do that tomorrow.

This is my only night to myself this whole week, and I'm spending it unfortunately watching a mediocre film, Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters. Not his best film, so I've stopped paying close attention and am cleaning up the kitchen, blogging, and browing a fashion magazine.

NHL playoffs resume on Thursday. I'm psyched.

Delinquent!

Okay, so I really haven't updated in a long time. There's kind of a lot going on in my personal life these days that isn't fit to be discussed in a public forum.

My half-marathon pre-training has hit a bit of a snag. I think I'm trying to do too much too soon. So I'm cutting back on my Saturday mileage - instead of doing 7-8 miles I'm going to stick with 5-6 and just try to build strength. I don't want to burn myself out... and acclimitizing to the warmer weather is proving to be a bit of a struggle.

I cooked dinner last night for a friend, and it turned out really well! I baked salmon with tomato, lemon, shallot, and thyme and served it over a bed of penne with a light cream sauce. The salad was baby spring greens with walnuts, cranberries, and goat cheese drizzled with a mustard vinaigrette. He brought an amazing bottle of Medoc. The meal was delicious, if I do say so myself.

This morning I'm going to have brunch with Mike and Christina! So sadly, Mike has moved down to Norfolk (Christina will be following soon), but he happens to be in town this weekend so I'm snagging a couple hours of his time. I know it's a great move forward for them, but it's sad for me that he's left.

The weather is PERFECT today so Matt and I are going to take advantage and go to the Zoo later this afternoon! We're both very fair, so I'm sure there will be much sunscreen invovled.

That's it for now! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend.

Swapping

I toyed with the idea of writing a post playing on the various connotations that "swapping" contains, but I really don't have the energy.

I just walked all around town in the rain, in sandals (slimy... yick) and now I'm home and I feel like I've been out in the rain enough for one day, so I'm swapping out my run and will have a yoga practice at home later tonight.

I'm trying to be flexible (literally!). There'll be enough time for hard-assness when official training starts this summer.

Reconnecting

I have been busy lately. New friends, old friends, friends in town. This afternoon I played some tunes at a friend's house - there were about eight of us, and I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of practicing my banjo.

I had a terrible run on Thursday and lost a lot of my confidence, so I took it easy this morning and gained some of it back. My diet is super-clean and super-strict right now - I need to seriously detox from the Evil Pastry Table that lorded it's ubiquitous presence over my training class these past two weeks.

On Sunday night I am reconnecting with one of my friends who interprets sign language. Hopefully she can introduce me to a few deaf people who can become friends. I miss signing.

Well, I just finished a film and now I'm going to play my banjo for a while and maybe do some reading. I won't mind falling asleep a bit early tonight.

Not in the mood

I am in the worst mood. Class today was deathly boring. I quit my run with a mile and a half to go and walked home. I didn't feel strong, I had a persistent cramp, I felt bloated and slumped over. Partly because of this training class I have been eating like CRAP for two weeks and I feel hideous because of it.

I just want to get back into my routine, into my diet and training program, into my regular sleeping pattern. I feel like this break in my routine has taken me a giant step back. So demoralizing.

Excuse me while I get into bed for an hour and try to regroup before the Wings go on. Let's just hope to God they win...

Last Night's Fun

I think this photo (courtesy of Matt) says it all:

Run Interrupted

The weather getting warmer is causing me to adjust both my pace and my clothing. Between that and my injury I wanted to take it really easy this afternoon. Despite attempts to moderate my pace, I was flying along my route feeling really good when I noticed that traffic was stopped at the intersection ahead of me. Two police officers were standing in the middle of the street. They motioned me to stop, too.

I looked around. Were the traffic lights out? Was there an accident? Nothing that I could see.

Then, ahead, coming toward me were three police motorcycles followed by three black SUVs. Yep - the Papal Motorcade! Motorcycles, SUVs, ambulances (two!), marked police cars, and somewhere in the middle a long black limo with the Vatican flag flying true. The windows were tinted but the limo was moving slowly and I'm pretty sure I got a glimpse of the Pope inside! I'm not sure which one of the white-robed figures he was, but I bet he was one of them!

Yes, dear readers, my run was interrupted by the Pontiff himself. Only in DC - or Italy, I guess.

Injury Report and Misc. Photos

I am injured. I don't quite know how it happened, but I seem to have strained my entire right quadricep from the knee all the way up to the hip flexor. DEEP within the hip flexor I have pain and it's a really difficult place to isolate for a stretch. So this has thrown my training schedule off a little... I took Monday off instead of running 4 miles, had a light yoga class last night instead of a tough one, ran 2 easy miles today instead of having it off. I hope that I will be back on track for tomorrow's 4-miler. In the mean time I am applying heat, gentle massage, and stretching/walking to keep the muscles loose.

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Last night I went out to McGinty's Public House in Silver Spring for some much needed tunes!! Even though I felt way out of practice I had a great time reconnecting with my friends and sharing in the craic. Here is a picture of me and Doc at the end of the evening after many a Guinness.

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A few weeks ago, I talked about purchasing new beds for my kitties and their subsequent turning-up-of-the-nose at my offering. Well, as I predicted, a sufficient amount of time has gone by and they are finally venturing into the beds for their little naps. I caught each of them trading off snoozes this morning.

A Basic Dilemma

It's NHL playoffs time and the Red Wings are, of course, in the number one spot in the Western Conference. We clinched that spot almost as soon as we could.

Most of you who know me know that I love hockey. I love hockey and I love the Wings. I grew up watching hockey at home and have great memories of going to games. But when I moved to DC, I lost a lot of my hockey-watching capabilities. DC isn't much of a hockey town, and the games aren't on the local channels. Not being a digital cable subscriber, I was left listening to the games on streaming radio. I grew to really enjoy that - it's old school, and anyway, I've been watching hockey long enough that I need to hear the game OR see it, but not both.

Now, though, playoffs are here and I decided to bite the bullet and order digital cable so I could watch the games on the Versus channel. This was a really conflicted decision for me, as I tend to eschew technological upgrades (or even initial purchases!) on the grounds that it draws one to the world and away from more important spiritual pursuits.

So, in typical style, I struggled and vacillated about the decision to upgrade to basic cable. I called and made an appointment, cancelled it. Called back and re-submitted my request. And contrary to my fear that having digital cable would draw me to the TV more, I think that the upgrade actually make my TV watching more mindful since I now have the option to flip through the guide (no more channel surfing) and I also have channels that could actually be meaningful to watch, such as the Independent Film Channel.

So now, as this post has been typed in several short spurts while playoff game three goes to commercial, I will end it and go back to supporting my team, who are well on their way past the quarterfinals to the semis...

Huh.

The strangest thing just happened. I got dressed for yoga, walked outside, and at the end of the block I calmly turned around and came home again.

I guess I'm not going to yoga class tonight.

Last night my friend Danny and I took a Level One class together and then went for a nice four-mile jog. I felt great last night and this morning - light and clean. But now I feel heavy and tired, my hamstrings are tight, and I'm just worn out.

Maybe my double workout was a bad idea. Or maybe my body just needs a rest regardless of last night's training. It has been a long, hard week both at work and in my personal life.

Still, I'm stymied.

Oh well. It is what it is. Tomorrow, a 10k.

Phrases that don't make sense if you think about them

"used to" as in, I used to be a runner.

"for starters" as in, for starters you can buy me a drink!

"good people" as in, he's good people. HE (singular) is not PEOPLE (plural)

I'm sure there are more that really get on my nerves, but I can't think of them now.

Good Luck Matt

Today is the culmination of months of training, as Matt heads downtown to run the Cherry Blossom 5k. You can read his pre-race (and, I assume, post-race!) report on his blog, Still Waiting For the Runner's High.

Yesterday he went to the Expo and found a t-shirt that made him think of me. It says, "In my dreams I'm Kenyan" - he was nice enough to buy one for me. He also had the immense privilege of meeting my favorite runner, Catherine Ndereba, aka Catherine the Great. Here is a picture of the two of them:


He taped her whole talk and asked her a couple of questions. I can't wait to hear the tape. She is a freaking LEGEND in the running world. I'll never forget watching her run Athens, and I can't wait to watch her run Beijing this year. ::swoon

Today we are finishing up the birthday celebrations with brunch on the Old Town waterfront and, later, dinner at my brother's. Tomorrow my mom, her husband, and my oldest brother fly back to Michigan and I go back to work.

Surprise!

This weekend my mom and her husband, along with my aunt, are in town for a wedding. It also happens to be my mom's birthday, so as a surprise we devised a plan to bring my oldest brother to DC from Northern Michigan! Yesterday the boys, Mike's finacee, and I gathered at The Dubliner on Capitol Hill to wait for my mom's husband to lure her down to the bar for a pre-rehearsal dinner drink (cause who doesn't need one of those?) The look on her face when she saw me there was slight confusion, then she saw my brother and was uncomprehending for a second before the shrieking and hugging and picking up of jaws off the floor started.

I love surprises like that :)

Then they went off to their dinner and we started the serious business of whiskey tasting and burger-eating. I became a bit distracted around 9pm when my left ankle started to swell and ache. I'm not sure why, exactly - the only thing I can think is that, since my running shoes are completely dead, my form was off earlier that afternoon and that may have put undue pressure on my tendons. Some ice last night, an anti-inflammatory, and more ice this morning seems to be settling things down. I'll replace my shoes on Tuesday and in the mean time try to take it easy.

Today is the wedding and reception, tomorrow is the birthday brunch and then dinner at my brother's pad in Arlington. Then, it's back to the daily grind.

I Need Goals

I feel stagnant.

I mean, I'm happy generally, life is good, I have a lot going for me in a lot of different areas....but... I don't know!

I think I'm finally over all the stress of grad school and missing the constant learning and testing of the intellect.

My New Year's Resolutions don't really count as goals per se, I am thinking of more intense self-improvement oriented things to work toward.

My running has been going great, and I have the goal of running the Detroit Half-Marathon in October. I'm a little averse to the idea of taking a class of some kind, only because I think it would be expensive and I'm not sure what sort of class I'd want to take. But maybe I will look into that more.

I could set a goal of reading more, but I read a lot already. Maybe a good goal would be to incorporate a more "academic" book into my stack. I read non-fiction already, so I need to take it a step further, maybe, and read something... schoolish.

Thoughts?

Yoga + Running = Best Time Ever, Apparently

Ultimately, I've decided, there just aren't enough days in the week for me to have an optimal fitness routine. I'm running three days and practicing yoga three days with one day off. The result? Running is improving. My day off activities are improving (heh), but my yoga is really suffering. So, in the interest of not losing my pathetic (but hard-earned) hamstring flexibility, I have begun experimenting with doubling up on running and yoga at least one day per week.

Last week I went for an easy three miles and ended up at the studio for a practice. The result? Decent run, horrible practice. Okay, well, part of the point is to rule out what doesn't work, so fine.

Last night I tried the opposite - I took the 6pm class and planned on finishing with a 3-mile loop home.

WELL. My instructor (who is a MAD RUNNING MACHINE himself - honestly, who runs 50 miles at a time? Or 100 miles? I mean, do you pitch a tent halfway through and sleep the night? I don't get it) gave me the option of only doing the first half of the practice to run, but I wanted to try the whole thing, just as an experiment.

So, practice over, I stepped into the cool mist and embarked. Disaster right away. My legs felt like spaghetti. Weirdest feeling ever. I almost bagged the run right there and just took it home (1 mile) but instead I said to myself, "Hey, it's just an experiment, give it a shot and see how it goes. If you don't finish, so what."

And so I ran! And as I ran, I felt better and better. My core was completely engaged, my body felt light, my head calm. As I ran my legs moved faster and faster and a couple of times I tried to moderate my pace, but my body wouldn't listen.

The result? A 5k personal record and the best night's sleep I've had in a long time!