My home internet connection is basically schizophrenic (ie, it tells me it is connected and not connected on the same page), but I got online just long enough today to discover that apparently one of my letters of reference didn't make it to the University of Puget Sound. ONE. I submitted 4 different references to PTCAS, and 4 references are marked "completed" on the page, not to mention this application only calls for three. So someone please explain to me how in the hell one of these letters managed to not make it? THEY'RE ONLINE! How hard is it to email a freaking letter? Seriously? I sent a rather unfriendly email to the PTCAS help department who I know will probably not get back to me until sometime in 2009, by which time I may or may not have located the PTCAS office and burned it down. In all seriousness, this could screw up my chances of getting into 3 out of the 6 schools I'm applying to, and I refuse to let that happen because some moron at a clearing house forgot where the enter key was. AGGGGH.
Rant over. I went on a glorious run at the Pettit today, slightly over 4 mile tempo at 7:12 pace. Yesssss! I love running at the Pettit. The whole 450 m track thing is awesome because it tricks you into thinking you're running less than you are, it's absolutely the perfect temperature, 50-55 degrees, and the fact that it's an Olympic training center for speed skating generally makes me feel badass when I work out there. Good workouts = happiness, and since my workouts over break are always questionable, its good to make the ones I do get in count.
So tomorrow is Christmas Eve, probably one of my favorite days of the year. Time to bake cookies, eat a lot, and enjoy hanging out with my family. Here's to peace, happiness, and love...and lots of fast running. :) Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
7 x 7
7 x 7 laps around the Shell = 7 miles...it also equals me being bored out of my MIND. Indoor running and me don't get along so well, but then again neither do "-9 feels like - 30 degree" weather and me, so I was stuck inside after work. The laps actually passed pretty quickly - my strategy is pretty much to count to 7 and then start over again, not thinking about anything except the current lap/mile. I ended up running 7 miles instead of my planned 5, so I guess it worked out...not to mention though I was running pretty slow (7:56 pace) I was so ridiculously consistent and didn't stop or slow down at any point...I guess monotony has it's benefits.
I've definitely hit the winter running doldrums. With over a month since my last real race and a month to go before my next one, no team to train with, and the weather outside complete crap, eating and staying in bed are much higher on my to-do list than going for a run. I've been getting better the past couple of weeks, and I had better keep the motivation up over break because once indoor starts I'm going to be regretting being lazy. Either way, I'll probably be ahead of where I was last year after my IT band problem pretty much eliminated any chance of training over break. Hopefully I can get some speed work in in the next few weeks before I actually have to RACE! Although who knows what distance that's even going to be...oh well.
This semester has absolutely flown. I can't believe Christmas is in 4 days...where did that even come from? Ridiculously enough, in a semester where I put in virtually no effort whatsoever, I'm probably going to have my highest GPA of college. It still terrifies me that I'm entering my last semester of undergrad...wasn't it just yesterday that I was partying at the grandma house and going to Ed's at 2 am? A lot has changed since then, running wise and otherwise, and I like to think that the majority of it is for the better. I'm happy, I'm in love, I'm running like I could never have even imagined freshman year, I know what I want to do in life, and overall I'm just really pleased with where I'm going. Yay. It's also good to know that I'm going into a field that's fairly stable even in the midst of this horrible economic situation...though my own finances are in the crapper, at least I know I'll have a job when I finally get out of school...yipee!
And on a completely miscellaneous note, my glorious house has invented a drinking game called "Pointsetta" which resulted in a group trip to the OP to buy 40s, toasts to the freshmen who funded our beer, walking to Brother's in a snowstorm completely wasted at 9 pm, and no one remembering how we got home. A great end to the semester? Yes, I do believe so. Did I run the next day? You better believe it. ;)
I've definitely hit the winter running doldrums. With over a month since my last real race and a month to go before my next one, no team to train with, and the weather outside complete crap, eating and staying in bed are much higher on my to-do list than going for a run. I've been getting better the past couple of weeks, and I had better keep the motivation up over break because once indoor starts I'm going to be regretting being lazy. Either way, I'll probably be ahead of where I was last year after my IT band problem pretty much eliminated any chance of training over break. Hopefully I can get some speed work in in the next few weeks before I actually have to RACE! Although who knows what distance that's even going to be...oh well.
This semester has absolutely flown. I can't believe Christmas is in 4 days...where did that even come from? Ridiculously enough, in a semester where I put in virtually no effort whatsoever, I'm probably going to have my highest GPA of college. It still terrifies me that I'm entering my last semester of undergrad...wasn't it just yesterday that I was partying at the grandma house and going to Ed's at 2 am? A lot has changed since then, running wise and otherwise, and I like to think that the majority of it is for the better. I'm happy, I'm in love, I'm running like I could never have even imagined freshman year, I know what I want to do in life, and overall I'm just really pleased with where I'm going. Yay. It's also good to know that I'm going into a field that's fairly stable even in the midst of this horrible economic situation...though my own finances are in the crapper, at least I know I'll have a job when I finally get out of school...yipee!
And on a completely miscellaneous note, my glorious house has invented a drinking game called "Pointsetta" which resulted in a group trip to the OP to buy 40s, toasts to the freshmen who funded our beer, walking to Brother's in a snowstorm completely wasted at 9 pm, and no one remembering how we got home. A great end to the semester? Yes, I do believe so. Did I run the next day? You better believe it. ;)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
How far will you go? As far as you can.
Awkward triple post today, but I found this on another blog and I just had to put it up. Its apparently from a Nike ad (running shoe brands tend to do such a good job of putting into words what I for some reason can't):
You pretended the snooze button didn’t exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while other slept. While other ate their pancakes. You had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you. You ran. 5ks, 10ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior. You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays. You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmer’s tan. You hit the wall. You went throught it. You decided to be a man about it. You decided to be a woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just kept putting mile after mile on your internal odometer. How much farther will you go? As far as you can.
I also really like this one from New Balance...so true:
You pretended the snooze button didn’t exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while other slept. While other ate their pancakes. You had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you. You ran. 5ks, 10ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior. You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays. You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmer’s tan. You hit the wall. You went throught it. You decided to be a man about it. You decided to be a woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just kept putting mile after mile on your internal odometer. How much farther will you go? As far as you can.
I also really like this one from New Balance...so true:
"You didn't even look back!": Jingle Bell Run Race Report
Well that certainly didn't go according to plan...it went way, way better.
So I finally dragged myself home from the library at 6 am Saturday morning, fell headfirst into bed, and woke up at 8:45 (45 minutes before I set my alarm, may I add) ready to go...I'm assuming it was something similar to when I was little and would just laugh for hours straight at idiotic things because I was so damn overtired...that was the kind of goofy energy I had. The weather forecast was actually looking pretty good - it was supposed to be 36 or something, so I went with my running tights under my (amazingly badass) orange race shorts, underarmor, and my (free!) Mizuno cold weather top. BF made fun of me because "orange and purple don't match", and just for that I tied an orange ribbon in my hair. Sweet.
So I met up with the other WTCers at 10 and we got our bags and things and went off to warm up. I ran around with Nicole...when she asked me how fast I was going to run this, I said "just like we're going for a run in the Arb.
Oops.
We got to the starting line and apparently there was no starting gun, no announcements, no nothing...suddenly someone said go and everyone started running. We went through the first mile at the leisurely pace of 7:50 and were talking about Christmas shopping and just basically treating it like a normal run. Except for the one small fact that I always forget when I say I'm not going to try in a road race: if I have a number on, there's no WAY I'm not racing. So right after the first mile mark, Nicole dropped behind me a bit and I started passing people...really not putting any particular extra effort in but if I was close behind someone, I'd try and pick up my cadence a bit to just get past them and then fall back in. Apparently I did pick it up though, because my second mile was 7:25. The 3rd mile of this course is my least favorite of all time, including a long, steady hill for probably half a mile up Manitou Way...usually when I run the Arb I run it the opposite was as they race it so I get to run DOWN this hill...its damn tiring to run up. Hence my 7:43 3rd mile. Still, I passed at least 6 or 7 people on the uphill and I was happy with my situation at that point. When we turned the corner into the Arb I looked behind me and saw Nicole was probably 10 seconds back...I figured she'd probably catch up on the hills in the Arb but to be honest...I didn't really feel like worrying about it at that point. I was on pace for a PR, so my race strategy (run lazy) had changed.
As I passed the 3 mile mark, 2 older guys behind me who I had just passed were yelling to eachother "Let's go! 3 mile race now!" I figured they were going to pick it up and if there's one thing I hate, its being passed back, so I focused on an older man and a girl who looked about my age who were probably 10-15 seconds ahead of me. I caught up to them both and passed the guy, then the girl. A few minutes later, she passed me back on an uphill right around the 4 mile mark, which came up a lot faster than I remembered...gotta love those downhills. I finally got ahead of the girl, who I think ended up being the last person I passed. The race spread out a LOT in the last 3 miles...I had my sights set on "guy in red shirt" and got pretty close to him, but he pulled away a lot at the end. I was getting really tired...I'm sure that whole fact that I didn't sleep the night before had nothing to do with that...and I was starting to feel sick, which tends to happen when I race. But now that I knew that girl was behind me, there was no way I was letting up - I was NOT going to let her pass me.
We finally turned out of the Arb and passed the 6 mile mark...I was verrrry excited to be almost done running, and also pretty pumped because I knew a PR was coming my way. I also knew that the girl I had passed earlier was most likely gaining on me, and when I heard some people yelling for her at the finish, I knew there was only one thing to do - KICK!
It was probably the best kick I've had all year, and I beat her by 2 seconds.
Nicole came in about a minute later, and she wasn't too thrilled with me. Which is totally legit, since I was all "oh I'm not going to try, blah blah blah" before the race. And I wasn't PLANNING on trying, but when I found myself in decent position and feeling good, I figured there was no point in not going for it. The weird thing about the race was I never felt awesome, but I never truly felt bad...it was like the quote "it hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse". Overally, I was pretty damn happy with my race and overall time. I got even happier when I got home and found the results online - 8th overall female out of 126, 2nd in my age group out of 49, with the girl right behind me being 3rd...SCORE! I got 39th/266 overall. And that is why I love road races...because in cross country, you can run your best time EVER and get 204th, but in a road race you beat a TON of people. I also like 10Ks at Vilas Park because I know the course sooo well....I've run the Arboretum loop a million times. Weirdly, I also really liked running with the jingle bells they gave us on my shoes, because it seriously made me get into a really good cadence. And I also had the Manheim Steamroller version of White Christmas in my head almost the entire time...very random since its a pretty slow song, and I haven't heard it in awhile...but whatever! So in the end, I'm really glad I did it, even though at 5:30 am it seemed like pretty much the worst idea ever. Not to mention, this made me a lot more motivated to get out and run knowing that I'm not completely out of shape despite being in kind of a slump lately. PRing after an all-nighter...that is just plain ridiculous. WIN.
Jingle Bell Run 10K - Vilas Park, Madison, WI
46:30 (7:29 pace)
Splits: 7:50, 7:25, 7:43, 7:17, 7:22, 7:25
39/266 overall
8/126 women
2/49 AG (19-29)
So I finally dragged myself home from the library at 6 am Saturday morning, fell headfirst into bed, and woke up at 8:45 (45 minutes before I set my alarm, may I add) ready to go...I'm assuming it was something similar to when I was little and would just laugh for hours straight at idiotic things because I was so damn overtired...that was the kind of goofy energy I had. The weather forecast was actually looking pretty good - it was supposed to be 36 or something, so I went with my running tights under my (amazingly badass) orange race shorts, underarmor, and my (free!) Mizuno cold weather top. BF made fun of me because "orange and purple don't match", and just for that I tied an orange ribbon in my hair. Sweet.
So I met up with the other WTCers at 10 and we got our bags and things and went off to warm up. I ran around with Nicole...when she asked me how fast I was going to run this, I said "just like we're going for a run in the Arb.
Oops.
We got to the starting line and apparently there was no starting gun, no announcements, no nothing...suddenly someone said go and everyone started running. We went through the first mile at the leisurely pace of 7:50 and were talking about Christmas shopping and just basically treating it like a normal run. Except for the one small fact that I always forget when I say I'm not going to try in a road race: if I have a number on, there's no WAY I'm not racing. So right after the first mile mark, Nicole dropped behind me a bit and I started passing people...really not putting any particular extra effort in but if I was close behind someone, I'd try and pick up my cadence a bit to just get past them and then fall back in. Apparently I did pick it up though, because my second mile was 7:25. The 3rd mile of this course is my least favorite of all time, including a long, steady hill for probably half a mile up Manitou Way...usually when I run the Arb I run it the opposite was as they race it so I get to run DOWN this hill...its damn tiring to run up. Hence my 7:43 3rd mile. Still, I passed at least 6 or 7 people on the uphill and I was happy with my situation at that point. When we turned the corner into the Arb I looked behind me and saw Nicole was probably 10 seconds back...I figured she'd probably catch up on the hills in the Arb but to be honest...I didn't really feel like worrying about it at that point. I was on pace for a PR, so my race strategy (run lazy) had changed.
As I passed the 3 mile mark, 2 older guys behind me who I had just passed were yelling to eachother "Let's go! 3 mile race now!" I figured they were going to pick it up and if there's one thing I hate, its being passed back, so I focused on an older man and a girl who looked about my age who were probably 10-15 seconds ahead of me. I caught up to them both and passed the guy, then the girl. A few minutes later, she passed me back on an uphill right around the 4 mile mark, which came up a lot faster than I remembered...gotta love those downhills. I finally got ahead of the girl, who I think ended up being the last person I passed. The race spread out a LOT in the last 3 miles...I had my sights set on "guy in red shirt" and got pretty close to him, but he pulled away a lot at the end. I was getting really tired...I'm sure that whole fact that I didn't sleep the night before had nothing to do with that...and I was starting to feel sick, which tends to happen when I race. But now that I knew that girl was behind me, there was no way I was letting up - I was NOT going to let her pass me.
We finally turned out of the Arb and passed the 6 mile mark...I was verrrry excited to be almost done running, and also pretty pumped because I knew a PR was coming my way. I also knew that the girl I had passed earlier was most likely gaining on me, and when I heard some people yelling for her at the finish, I knew there was only one thing to do - KICK!
It was probably the best kick I've had all year, and I beat her by 2 seconds.
Nicole came in about a minute later, and she wasn't too thrilled with me. Which is totally legit, since I was all "oh I'm not going to try, blah blah blah" before the race. And I wasn't PLANNING on trying, but when I found myself in decent position and feeling good, I figured there was no point in not going for it. The weird thing about the race was I never felt awesome, but I never truly felt bad...it was like the quote "it hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse". Overally, I was pretty damn happy with my race and overall time. I got even happier when I got home and found the results online - 8th overall female out of 126, 2nd in my age group out of 49, with the girl right behind me being 3rd...SCORE! I got 39th/266 overall. And that is why I love road races...because in cross country, you can run your best time EVER and get 204th, but in a road race you beat a TON of people. I also like 10Ks at Vilas Park because I know the course sooo well....I've run the Arboretum loop a million times. Weirdly, I also really liked running with the jingle bells they gave us on my shoes, because it seriously made me get into a really good cadence. And I also had the Manheim Steamroller version of White Christmas in my head almost the entire time...very random since its a pretty slow song, and I haven't heard it in awhile...but whatever! So in the end, I'm really glad I did it, even though at 5:30 am it seemed like pretty much the worst idea ever. Not to mention, this made me a lot more motivated to get out and run knowing that I'm not completely out of shape despite being in kind of a slump lately. PRing after an all-nighter...that is just plain ridiculous. WIN.
Jingle Bell Run 10K - Vilas Park, Madison, WI
46:30 (7:29 pace)
Splits: 7:50, 7:25, 7:43, 7:17, 7:22, 7:25
39/266 overall
8/126 women
2/49 AG (19-29)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Shoot me?
Its 4:20 am. I have no intention of going to bed anytime in the next several hours. My current home is a corner on the 3rd floor of College Library.
Oh, did I mention I run a 10K at 11 am.
I am an idiot.
Oh, did I mention I run a 10K at 11 am.
I am an idiot.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
That was a final?
So I just took a final at a bar.
No, you didn't read that wrong. I just took my Kinesiology 615 (Lab Techniques in Exercise Physiology) final exam at the Blue Moon, while drinking a delicious Capital Amber provided by my professor. I also tried some tasty Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, which I actually really liked and thus completely changed my opinion that porters and me don't get along, and also some Spotted Cow and Winter Skal. It was absolutely ridiculous...basically, I'm pretty sure everyone in that class is getting an A, and my professor kicks ass. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and drinking and talking, I actually feel kind of bad that I don't know a lot of people in my kines classes as well as I should. After all, we basically take ALL the same classes for 2 years...so you'd think I'd at least know their names by now. So it was kind of nice just hanging out and talking...although, we've spent a lot of time doing that in this class anyway...haha.
I also went on a pretty decent 5.3 mile run...ran into Nicole over by the VA which was kind of funny. I've been really unmotivated when it comes to running lately, partially I think because this stupid cold has been sucking out my energy and I've just wanted to sleep. But it was good getting out their today, and drunk or not I'm planning on doing the death circuit tonight...in between drunkenly studying for my microbio exam tomorrow....yeaahhh....senioritis like whoa.
I can't believe that exam just happened...just more proof that this semester is beyond ridiculous.
No, you didn't read that wrong. I just took my Kinesiology 615 (Lab Techniques in Exercise Physiology) final exam at the Blue Moon, while drinking a delicious Capital Amber provided by my professor. I also tried some tasty Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, which I actually really liked and thus completely changed my opinion that porters and me don't get along, and also some Spotted Cow and Winter Skal. It was absolutely ridiculous...basically, I'm pretty sure everyone in that class is getting an A, and my professor kicks ass. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and drinking and talking, I actually feel kind of bad that I don't know a lot of people in my kines classes as well as I should. After all, we basically take ALL the same classes for 2 years...so you'd think I'd at least know their names by now. So it was kind of nice just hanging out and talking...although, we've spent a lot of time doing that in this class anyway...haha.
I also went on a pretty decent 5.3 mile run...ran into Nicole over by the VA which was kind of funny. I've been really unmotivated when it comes to running lately, partially I think because this stupid cold has been sucking out my energy and I've just wanted to sleep. But it was good getting out their today, and drunk or not I'm planning on doing the death circuit tonight...in between drunkenly studying for my microbio exam tomorrow....yeaahhh....senioritis like whoa.
I can't believe that exam just happened...just more proof that this semester is beyond ridiculous.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Proof that humility still exists in sports
US sprinter Shawn Crawford gives silver medal to disqualified runner Churandy Martina
I'm absolutely blown away. To see that kind of sportsmanship, especially from a sprinter, who are typically thought of as some of the cockiest athletes, is incredible. I saw the race, and the disqualification of Martina was completely unfair, since he ran out of his lane on the outside (therefore actually running extra distance, not less) and not impeding anyone else. Crawford apparently said that he felt that the medal didn't belong to him, and that he was beaten fair and square by 2 other athletes. Regardless of whether the IOC officially awards the medal to Martina (there is a hearing scheduled for January 15), I think its pretty awesome to see something like that between fellow athletes, especially in this day and age when the top stories are about drug cheats.
Also, I suck at school and I have a cold that's sucking away what minimal motivation I do have. Running today was very unpleasant and I'm hoping that these freaking zinc cold drops that I spent $4.99 on will help me...they did before nationals, right? We also just got a boatload of snow dumped on Wisconsin so running outside kind of sucks right now...and I'm really regretting signing up for the Jingle Bell 10K especially since pulling an all-nighter Friday is the only way I'm going to catch up on the 11 online lectures I haven't looked at before my exam Sunday...sweet...
But on the bright side, all 4 of my recommenders got their PTCAS letters in! By Christmas break, all I'll have to do is sit and wait and wish for those acceptance letters to start rolling in...
I'm not terribly religious, but replace running on a beach with running in the snow and this pretty much sums up how I feel when I'm out there, alone, on a freezing winter day when no one but a crazy person would be outside and the snow just sparkles, and I can look back at my lone line of footprints stretching off into the distance and think about how far I've come.
"It's elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being."
- Sister Marion Irvine, 2:51 PR and 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier
I'm absolutely blown away. To see that kind of sportsmanship, especially from a sprinter, who are typically thought of as some of the cockiest athletes, is incredible. I saw the race, and the disqualification of Martina was completely unfair, since he ran out of his lane on the outside (therefore actually running extra distance, not less) and not impeding anyone else. Crawford apparently said that he felt that the medal didn't belong to him, and that he was beaten fair and square by 2 other athletes. Regardless of whether the IOC officially awards the medal to Martina (there is a hearing scheduled for January 15), I think its pretty awesome to see something like that between fellow athletes, especially in this day and age when the top stories are about drug cheats.
Also, I suck at school and I have a cold that's sucking away what minimal motivation I do have. Running today was very unpleasant and I'm hoping that these freaking zinc cold drops that I spent $4.99 on will help me...they did before nationals, right? We also just got a boatload of snow dumped on Wisconsin so running outside kind of sucks right now...and I'm really regretting signing up for the Jingle Bell 10K especially since pulling an all-nighter Friday is the only way I'm going to catch up on the 11 online lectures I haven't looked at before my exam Sunday...sweet...
But on the bright side, all 4 of my recommenders got their PTCAS letters in! By Christmas break, all I'll have to do is sit and wait and wish for those acceptance letters to start rolling in...
I'm not terribly religious, but replace running on a beach with running in the snow and this pretty much sums up how I feel when I'm out there, alone, on a freezing winter day when no one but a crazy person would be outside and the snow just sparkles, and I can look back at my lone line of footprints stretching off into the distance and think about how far I've come.
"It's elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being."
- Sister Marion Irvine, 2:51 PR and 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier
Sunday, December 07, 2008
12, feels like 0, snowing...
Ahh, winter in Wisconsin. I've been a piece of crap about running since Thursday, but today I decided that I NEEDED to - I was going to go early this morning, but my bed was just too comfy, so I went out at about 4 planning on going to the Shell and running in circles until I wanted to die. I got about half a mile before I saw one other dude out running and I was like...screw it, I'm hardcore, I'm running outside. So I actually ended up running out to the beltline and back on the bike path, 7.5 miles in all. It was snowing almost the whole time but the footing actually wasn't too bad...although I think my legs hurt more afterwards because I was sliding around. And yeah, it was COLD. Its funny because I was wearing a sweatshirt, which I usually hate running in because its so bulky, but it actually was ok today. And I have to say, its pretty cool running in the snow at sunset. I may whine about running in the cold, but to be honest I'd definitely pick it over running in the heat of summer! So in the end, I'm glad I didn't go to the Shell...running in circles for easy/long runs is overrated.
The rest of this weekend was pretty awesome. Yesterday the BF and I went to the Capital Brewery tour, which was a lot of fun...and of course, beer samples!! We got these cute little 3 oz mugs and sampled Island Wheat, Rustic Ale, Wisconsin Amber, Special Pilsner, Winter Skal, and Autumnal Fire (aka, one of my favorite beers). We ended up coming home with a 6-pack of that and a mix-match 6 pack with 2 Winter Skal, 2 American Pale Ale, and 2 Special Pilsner...delish!
I forgot to mention that Thursday after our usual easy/tempo run, we did what I am going to call the circuit of death. Seriously, I haven't done anything like this since high school cross country, and I had a serious case of jello legs after. We did this circuit twice:
20 x lunges (10 each leg)
20 x calf raises
20 x squat jumps
20 x 1 leg squats
20 x step ups
20 x hamstring raises
20 x burpees (uggh.)
20 x squats
20 x star jumps
Can you say pain? I was limping around pretty extremely on Friday and even into yesterday...obviously I need to work on my strength a bit. But hey, if we do this even twice a week into the season, it won't hurt as much, right?
I also played St Nick to my roommates this weekend - nothing says festive like a stocking filled with chocolate, candy canes, and a Christmas shot glass...hooked onto a bottle of Rolling Rock. Red & green...get it?
The rest of this weekend was pretty awesome. Yesterday the BF and I went to the Capital Brewery tour, which was a lot of fun...and of course, beer samples!! We got these cute little 3 oz mugs and sampled Island Wheat, Rustic Ale, Wisconsin Amber, Special Pilsner, Winter Skal, and Autumnal Fire (aka, one of my favorite beers). We ended up coming home with a 6-pack of that and a mix-match 6 pack with 2 Winter Skal, 2 American Pale Ale, and 2 Special Pilsner...delish!
I forgot to mention that Thursday after our usual easy/tempo run, we did what I am going to call the circuit of death. Seriously, I haven't done anything like this since high school cross country, and I had a serious case of jello legs after. We did this circuit twice:
20 x lunges (10 each leg)
20 x calf raises
20 x squat jumps
20 x 1 leg squats
20 x step ups
20 x hamstring raises
20 x burpees (uggh.)
20 x squats
20 x star jumps
Can you say pain? I was limping around pretty extremely on Friday and even into yesterday...obviously I need to work on my strength a bit. But hey, if we do this even twice a week into the season, it won't hurt as much, right?
I also played St Nick to my roommates this weekend - nothing says festive like a stocking filled with chocolate, candy canes, and a Christmas shot glass...hooked onto a bottle of Rolling Rock. Red & green...get it?
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Random commentary..
From an editorial from the Badger Herald completely unrelated to running, this is an awesome comment nonetheless:
"For those of you who don’t know, cross country is a sport that involves running as fast as possible for a distance most could not drive without stopping to stretch their legs, until the participants cross a finish line, at which point they stop running, collapse and try not to vomit from exhaustion. In other words: It’s a lot of fun!"
So true. So true.
"For those of you who don’t know, cross country is a sport that involves running as fast as possible for a distance most could not drive without stopping to stretch their legs, until the participants cross a finish line, at which point they stop running, collapse and try not to vomit from exhaustion. In other words: It’s a lot of fun!"
So true. So true.
Thankful.
A slightly belated Thanksgiving post...
I'm thankful for running - the good days, the bad days, PRs, every glorious cross country course everywhere, the Arboretum loop, spikes, intervals, tempo runs, exploring, pasta parties, road trips, living in a city that's full of beautiful places to run, long runs with the girls, lapping people at the Shell, feeling badass, finding my true passion in distance running, and having the most incredible team in the world to share every mile with.
I'm thankful for my amazing boyfriend, who loves me, understands me, lets me be my ridiculous self, and lets me love him right back, and who doesn't mind when I leave him for hours or days at a time to embark on my ridiculous running ways. I'm thankful to have not only a boyfriend but a best friend in him and I'm thankful for kegstands, without which we never would have found each other!
I'm thankful for my amazing family - my sister and her ridiculous stories, my mom even when she's driving me insane, my grandma for inspiring me every day, my dad even though I pretend I'm not, and the rest of my crazy and wonderful extended family - I don't know what I would do without their support and love.
I'm thankful for my friends - new and old, and for being able to come home to them no matter how long its been.
And now that the cheesy parts are out of the way: I'm thankful for good beer, coffee, living in the greatest college town in the nation, ice cream sandwich pie, underarmor, digital cameras, facebook, being 21, puppies (and having a job that involves playing with them), hope for change with our new president, microwaves, being able to watch House and The Office online, Subway $5 footlongs, the OP, and so much more...
Most of all, I'm thankful for love. In every form and aspect of my life, love is what keeps it all together. And currently, I'm thankful that its finally the Christmas season! :)
I'm thankful for running - the good days, the bad days, PRs, every glorious cross country course everywhere, the Arboretum loop, spikes, intervals, tempo runs, exploring, pasta parties, road trips, living in a city that's full of beautiful places to run, long runs with the girls, lapping people at the Shell, feeling badass, finding my true passion in distance running, and having the most incredible team in the world to share every mile with.
I'm thankful for my amazing boyfriend, who loves me, understands me, lets me be my ridiculous self, and lets me love him right back, and who doesn't mind when I leave him for hours or days at a time to embark on my ridiculous running ways. I'm thankful to have not only a boyfriend but a best friend in him and I'm thankful for kegstands, without which we never would have found each other!
I'm thankful for my amazing family - my sister and her ridiculous stories, my mom even when she's driving me insane, my grandma for inspiring me every day, my dad even though I pretend I'm not, and the rest of my crazy and wonderful extended family - I don't know what I would do without their support and love.
I'm thankful for my friends - new and old, and for being able to come home to them no matter how long its been.
And now that the cheesy parts are out of the way: I'm thankful for good beer, coffee, living in the greatest college town in the nation, ice cream sandwich pie, underarmor, digital cameras, facebook, being 21, puppies (and having a job that involves playing with them), hope for change with our new president, microwaves, being able to watch House and The Office online, Subway $5 footlongs, the OP, and so much more...
Most of all, I'm thankful for love. In every form and aspect of my life, love is what keeps it all together. And currently, I'm thankful that its finally the Christmas season! :)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
There's a first time for everything...
This post has nothing to do with running, but I am seriously finding it difficult to care about school this semester. My classes bore me to tears, I feel like I'm learning nothing with the exception of my exercise physiology lab class where occasionally we do something cool, like watch bubbles being pumped into the professor's heart. Anyway, because of this newfound laziness, I've accomplished a couple things I never thought I would do:
1 - Get drunk the night before a midterm.
Now granted, this is a midterm in a class that I do not attend except for the exams (which I guess is kind of terrible in itself) and I study by going through the lecture notes, but more importantly, the exams from previous classes. My professor is mega-lazy and pretty much re-uses old exams...a big, big bonus for those who can get their hands on them while everyone else in the class brings down the curve. (I realize, I'm a terrible person. But I think I deserve one class that involves absolutely no work after the pre-med hell I've been through) Anyway, it was my friend's 21st birthday and obviously I was going to go out. About 3 drinks into power hour at the Nitty Gritty, I literally was like "oh my god...I have a MIDTERM tomorrow!" Like, I had been studying for the past couple days, but my need to go celebrate with my friend had completely pushed all thoughts of it out of my mind. So, was I a good responsible person? Um, no. I continued drinking through 3 bars with the birthday girl and finally called it a night at 12:30...also, I had to wake up at 6:30.
Also, I got an 88% on the exam...and based on the previous exams, the class average will most likely be <75%. WIN.
2 - Write a paper the day its due.
Actually, I'm kind of in the middle of this one right now. I could have worked on this last night, but I thought it would be a better idea to watch 3 hours of Mythbusters, Top Chef, and Good Eats while consuming a pint of Mackinac Island Fudge with BF. Oh well..these things happen. Another idiotic class, online at that, so I'm about to go spew out 4 pages about how my grandmother's life experiences (which are freaking awesome btw...she is the coolest lady ever) relate to HDFS 363. And then I'm going to go run the Arb loop. WIN.
1 - Get drunk the night before a midterm.
Now granted, this is a midterm in a class that I do not attend except for the exams (which I guess is kind of terrible in itself) and I study by going through the lecture notes, but more importantly, the exams from previous classes. My professor is mega-lazy and pretty much re-uses old exams...a big, big bonus for those who can get their hands on them while everyone else in the class brings down the curve. (I realize, I'm a terrible person. But I think I deserve one class that involves absolutely no work after the pre-med hell I've been through) Anyway, it was my friend's 21st birthday and obviously I was going to go out. About 3 drinks into power hour at the Nitty Gritty, I literally was like "oh my god...I have a MIDTERM tomorrow!" Like, I had been studying for the past couple days, but my need to go celebrate with my friend had completely pushed all thoughts of it out of my mind. So, was I a good responsible person? Um, no. I continued drinking through 3 bars with the birthday girl and finally called it a night at 12:30...also, I had to wake up at 6:30.
Also, I got an 88% on the exam...and based on the previous exams, the class average will most likely be <75%. WIN.
2 - Write a paper the day its due.
Actually, I'm kind of in the middle of this one right now. I could have worked on this last night, but I thought it would be a better idea to watch 3 hours of Mythbusters, Top Chef, and Good Eats while consuming a pint of Mackinac Island Fudge with BF. Oh well..these things happen. Another idiotic class, online at that, so I'm about to go spew out 4 pages about how my grandmother's life experiences (which are freaking awesome btw...she is the coolest lady ever) relate to HDFS 363. And then I'm going to go run the Arb loop. WIN.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
I can has tempo run?
I'm back after my week off...and yes, it did turn out to be a full week. Things got busy, there was a football game, and I woke up feeling like death (as in actual sickness, not hungover, amazingly) on Sunday so my running comeback was delayed until yesterday. It was also quite a rude awakening going running in 25 degree and snowy weather when the last time I ran was at Nationals where it was 55 and sunny. But apparently the cold weather worked out pretty well, since Nicole and I did what turned out to be a tempo run at 7:09 pace on the bike path. Yes...that's right...5 seconds faster per mile than my race at Nationals. Huh...that's cool...well, I guess in a way it kind of is, since I felt really good, but why couldn't I have pulled that out a week ago? Ohhh well. Anyway, it felt good, and today we did the Monona Bay loop at a slightly slower but still by no means lazy pace. The best part is, (knock on wood), I've felt NO pain in my hip the past 2 days! It's actually kind of amazing being able to walk around after a run and not be limping...and a little sad too that I got so used to it and just put up with it for that long. Either way, I hope that the week off and a few weeks of no workouts will be the cure for whatever that problem is/was.
I don't have anything planned in the way of races for awhile...if I could, I'd probably be doing a Thanksgiving Day race, but sadly Milwaukee hasn't jumped on that bandwagon yet. That's probably OK though since I'm sure I'm due for a break in racing, although I haven't done a road race in awhile and I'm kind of looking forward to the Jingle Bell Run in December. I'll pretty much be doing whatever I want running-wise until Thanksgiving, then after that starting lifting and doing some workouts to get ready for track...still don't know exactly what I'm running, but I guess we'll see. I think I get better at running in the cold every year, but ugh, I still hate winter in Wisconsin. Brrrrrr!
I don't have anything planned in the way of races for awhile...if I could, I'd probably be doing a Thanksgiving Day race, but sadly Milwaukee hasn't jumped on that bandwagon yet. That's probably OK though since I'm sure I'm due for a break in racing, although I haven't done a road race in awhile and I'm kind of looking forward to the Jingle Bell Run in December. I'll pretty much be doing whatever I want running-wise until Thanksgiving, then after that starting lifting and doing some workouts to get ready for track...still don't know exactly what I'm running, but I guess we'll see. I think I get better at running in the cold every year, but ugh, I still hate winter in Wisconsin. Brrrrrr!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The little things...
Dude at Indie Coffee: I see you have a USATF sticker on your computer, are you a runner?
Me: Yes!
Dude: Atta girl!
This pretty much made my day for some reason. Indeed, I am a runner. :)
Me: Yes!
Dude: Atta girl!
This pretty much made my day for some reason. Indeed, I am a runner. :)
Throwin' up the W
I don't know what to do with my life today because I don't have practice at 5:30. It's weird. And since I am attempting to take a "week off" (read: 3-4 days) after cross country, I'm in running withdrawal as well. I went swimming last night. It was bizarre. Swimming does not equal running, especially when the last time I worked out my arms was forever and a day ago, but its cool because I swam a mile and a quarter, and that equals out to 5 miles. Win!
So anyway, the nationals race report. It took me awhile to write this because I had to get over my initial issues of a) having a shitty race and b) cross country being over, potentially forever. I was in a glass case of emotion this weekend, that's for sure. But now that I'm a little further out, I feel ok to deal with it...maybe.
So my race sucked. I would say probably my worst race of the year, at a time when I should have been at my best. My legs felt. like. shit. I felt like I'd been sprinting 400 m intervals by the mile mark, and the lactic acid never subsided. I felt like I was dragging 2 painful lead weights around, and no matter how hard I tried I could NOT pick it up. It was by far the most frustrating race I've ever run because from the waist up, things were fine, and my legs just refused to respond. Hey legs, try to stick with Jade...nope. Hey legs, go with Karin and Taylor...nope. Hey legs, Nicole is passing you, fucking GO WITH HER! Nope. Nothing. I finally dragged myself across the line in 26:57...so not my worst time ever, but far, far, far from my best. And sadly, I think the reason I felt so bad was the fact that I had been driving for 4 and a half hours the night before...and I tense up incredibly when I drive. But hey, I guess I didn't have the worst race of our team, since Laura (who just found out she's super anemic) ended up dropping out because she felt like she was going to faint. Overall, our team was definitely not anywhere near its strongest, and we ended up tying for 9th (when most likely we would have been 3rd with our top 3 there/at full strength). But since I'm trying desperately not to dwell on my shitty mc shit shit race, lets talk about how the rest of the weekend was incredible. WTC BOYS....NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!! They completely kicked Oregon's ass, 35-89....who's #1 now?? Also, did I mention that our girls team still managed to beat Missouri despite being in our weakest state all season? Take that, NIRCA rankers!
So the road trip aspect of the trip was ridiculous/hilarious. We drove 1400 miles to race 3.72...wow. Missed tolls, "Can you switch gears while driving? I guess so!", signs telling us to buckle up the next million miles, beer drive throughs, van races, 3 motels in 3 nights, strip clapping games, tattoos, sluts at the Olive Garden, fail-movie van, the worst mall in America (Clairon, PA), ordering water at a bar, "the highest point on I-80!", sketchy Motel 6, always waiting for Kyle, Mo's sleep-talking ("Nicole...do you have a rope or an atom? I need to go on the ceiling..." or "We took the fish out of this little tank...it was like an Easter egg hunt, but with little fish")...seriously, road trips cannot be explained haha. Watching the guys win was one of the most exciting things I've ever experienced. I think I used up all my adrenaline screaming as I watched Ben, Zach, Nick, and Joe shoot towards the finish line, one after the other. The course was gorgeous, and I think under other circumstances I could have run a really kickass race...but it wasn't meant to be. We also discovered the BF's twin...seriously, it is CREEPY. This dude runs for Illinois and I am not kidding...same hair, same facial hair, similar facial features, same height....even he was creeped out when he saw the picture.
I'm sad to see it end. The team aspect of cross country is something you can find nowhere else...and our team seems to just get closer and closer as the years go on. If anything will keep me in Wisconsin for PT school, its this team. I cannot imagine what my college career would have been like if I hadn't become a part of this incredible group. I've become a legit runner, and I've met some of the most awesome people I know. I know one bad race doesn't define my season, and I had some awesome races this year. I really want to find a way to run cross country next year, wherever I am...because you can run in all the road races you want, but nothing can quite compare to standing with your team on the line on a crisp fall day, the gun going off, and hundreds of runners roaring down that line towards the horizon...
But you know what's also pretty sweet? Track season. Coming soon to a club near you :)
So anyway, the nationals race report. It took me awhile to write this because I had to get over my initial issues of a) having a shitty race and b) cross country being over, potentially forever. I was in a glass case of emotion this weekend, that's for sure. But now that I'm a little further out, I feel ok to deal with it...maybe.
So my race sucked. I would say probably my worst race of the year, at a time when I should have been at my best. My legs felt. like. shit. I felt like I'd been sprinting 400 m intervals by the mile mark, and the lactic acid never subsided. I felt like I was dragging 2 painful lead weights around, and no matter how hard I tried I could NOT pick it up. It was by far the most frustrating race I've ever run because from the waist up, things were fine, and my legs just refused to respond. Hey legs, try to stick with Jade...nope. Hey legs, go with Karin and Taylor...nope. Hey legs, Nicole is passing you, fucking GO WITH HER! Nope. Nothing. I finally dragged myself across the line in 26:57...so not my worst time ever, but far, far, far from my best. And sadly, I think the reason I felt so bad was the fact that I had been driving for 4 and a half hours the night before...and I tense up incredibly when I drive. But hey, I guess I didn't have the worst race of our team, since Laura (who just found out she's super anemic) ended up dropping out because she felt like she was going to faint. Overall, our team was definitely not anywhere near its strongest, and we ended up tying for 9th (when most likely we would have been 3rd with our top 3 there/at full strength). But since I'm trying desperately not to dwell on my shitty mc shit shit race, lets talk about how the rest of the weekend was incredible. WTC BOYS....NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!! They completely kicked Oregon's ass, 35-89....who's #1 now?? Also, did I mention that our girls team still managed to beat Missouri despite being in our weakest state all season? Take that, NIRCA rankers!
So the road trip aspect of the trip was ridiculous/hilarious. We drove 1400 miles to race 3.72...wow. Missed tolls, "Can you switch gears while driving? I guess so!", signs telling us to buckle up the next million miles, beer drive throughs, van races, 3 motels in 3 nights, strip clapping games, tattoos, sluts at the Olive Garden, fail-movie van, the worst mall in America (Clairon, PA), ordering water at a bar, "the highest point on I-80!", sketchy Motel 6, always waiting for Kyle, Mo's sleep-talking ("Nicole...do you have a rope or an atom? I need to go on the ceiling..." or "We took the fish out of this little tank...it was like an Easter egg hunt, but with little fish")...seriously, road trips cannot be explained haha. Watching the guys win was one of the most exciting things I've ever experienced. I think I used up all my adrenaline screaming as I watched Ben, Zach, Nick, and Joe shoot towards the finish line, one after the other. The course was gorgeous, and I think under other circumstances I could have run a really kickass race...but it wasn't meant to be. We also discovered the BF's twin...seriously, it is CREEPY. This dude runs for Illinois and I am not kidding...same hair, same facial hair, similar facial features, same height....even he was creeped out when he saw the picture.
I'm sad to see it end. The team aspect of cross country is something you can find nowhere else...and our team seems to just get closer and closer as the years go on. If anything will keep me in Wisconsin for PT school, its this team. I cannot imagine what my college career would have been like if I hadn't become a part of this incredible group. I've become a legit runner, and I've met some of the most awesome people I know. I know one bad race doesn't define my season, and I had some awesome races this year. I really want to find a way to run cross country next year, wherever I am...because you can run in all the road races you want, but nothing can quite compare to standing with your team on the line on a crisp fall day, the gun going off, and hundreds of runners roaring down that line towards the horizon...
But you know what's also pretty sweet? Track season. Coming soon to a club near you :)
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
yes. we. CAN!
I have to say, it was pretty cool being a witness to history last night. I actually most likely wouldn't have even watched the election except for an amusing random happening. The BF and I went out to dinner for our 1 year anniversary (yay! love you!) at this restaurant called Harvest on the square. HEAVENLY...small first course (I think I read its called an amuse) of butternut squash soup which was delightful, an appetizer of seared scallops (heaven.) with tomato vinagrette and zucchini puree, then for dinner he had grouper and I had this absolutely ridiculously awesome hanger steak with salsa verde and potatoes, we also split a side of mushrooms in brown butter. And of course, to top it off, a decadent chocolate cake with mousse and this ridiculous caramel sauce. It was the perfect place for an anniversary dinner - quiet, simple, and spectacular food.
So anyway, we're walking home after splitting a bottle of wine when we realize we need to pee. It just so happens that BF mentions this just as we're walking past the Nitty Gritty and I suggest we go in, pee, and have a beer...why not, right? Well as it turns out, there's a bunch of people there and the election is on, and oh...there's a $10 debit minimum so I guess we're getting 2 beers each...haha. The place absolutely ERUPTED when the results came up that Obama had won and so we decided to stick around to hear his speech...meaning more beer. Top that off with an Ale Asylum Hopalicious nightcap and we ended up being two pretty drunk Obama supporters. In all seriousness though, I got chills when Obama made his speech. I'm really not terribly political at all but this was seriously a landmark election in our country's history and we are witnesses to it. It was actually really cool being in a bar for the announcement and having people to celebrate with...apparently State Street was completely full of people. The whole night really made me very proud to be an American (and also thankful that I have the most incredible boyfriend ever :))
So running you say? Well, I leave tomorrow at 4:45 for NIRCA NATIONALS!!! Needless to say, I'm excited. The girls team has run into a bit of a roadblock with 2 of our top 4 runners not coming, but you know what? Screw that. Who says that Jade, or Nicole, or Karin, or what the hell...ME can't have a breakout race and just dominate? We got dropped from the rankings this week which has honestly fired me up even more because we are CLEARLY better than the #4 and especially #5 teams....I'm sorry, just because you have one awesome runner doesn't make up for the fact that one of your scored runners runs a 29:45 6K. Rant aside though, I know we're all going to leave it all on the course on Saturday. I know I will....hell, this could be my last cross country race, and I'm going to make it count. My hip has been feeling OK lately...definitely better than the past couple of weeks, and tapering has been good to me. I'm ready. My team is ready. And we are going to rock the socks off everyone who stands in our way. In the words of Obama: YES WE CAN!
Time to kick some ass.
So anyway, we're walking home after splitting a bottle of wine when we realize we need to pee. It just so happens that BF mentions this just as we're walking past the Nitty Gritty and I suggest we go in, pee, and have a beer...why not, right? Well as it turns out, there's a bunch of people there and the election is on, and oh...there's a $10 debit minimum so I guess we're getting 2 beers each...haha. The place absolutely ERUPTED when the results came up that Obama had won and so we decided to stick around to hear his speech...meaning more beer. Top that off with an Ale Asylum Hopalicious nightcap and we ended up being two pretty drunk Obama supporters. In all seriousness though, I got chills when Obama made his speech. I'm really not terribly political at all but this was seriously a landmark election in our country's history and we are witnesses to it. It was actually really cool being in a bar for the announcement and having people to celebrate with...apparently State Street was completely full of people. The whole night really made me very proud to be an American (and also thankful that I have the most incredible boyfriend ever :))
So running you say? Well, I leave tomorrow at 4:45 for NIRCA NATIONALS!!! Needless to say, I'm excited. The girls team has run into a bit of a roadblock with 2 of our top 4 runners not coming, but you know what? Screw that. Who says that Jade, or Nicole, or Karin, or what the hell...ME can't have a breakout race and just dominate? We got dropped from the rankings this week which has honestly fired me up even more because we are CLEARLY better than the #4 and especially #5 teams....I'm sorry, just because you have one awesome runner doesn't make up for the fact that one of your scored runners runs a 29:45 6K. Rant aside though, I know we're all going to leave it all on the course on Saturday. I know I will....hell, this could be my last cross country race, and I'm going to make it count. My hip has been feeling OK lately...definitely better than the past couple of weeks, and tapering has been good to me. I'm ready. My team is ready. And we are going to rock the socks off everyone who stands in our way. In the words of Obama: YES WE CAN!
Time to kick some ass.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Pennsylvania dreamin'
I definitely had a dream last night that I somehow found the Penn State cross country course and was walking around it at night to see if it was hilly or not. This might have something to do with the fact that I literally went to look at pictures from meets held at the course to see if it looked hilly or not...for the record, it didn't, but a few pictures taken at one point on the course doesn't really mean much.
But eeeh! I'm excited! I feel like its been a really long time since I felt like something really big was on the horizon, and I think I've realized what the difference is - the TEAM aspect of this. We're trash talking and our boys are gunning for the national championship - hello, I don't care who you are, that's freaking exciting! And you know, the girls are looking pretty damn good ourselves. Seriously, I don't know if we can get Oregon (they are pretty freaking ridiculous) but seriously, Michigan? Why are you still ranked #1? Yeah, you have one girl who runs a sub-23 6K, but one top runner does not a winning XC team make. I'm so, so, SO proud of how far our girls team has come this year - we have a really solid top 4 or 5 and really no one at the back of the pack. I wouldn't be surprised if we surprise some people at nationals as long as we go in ready to ROCK. I just really want to see the course!!
I am really ADD right now...I'm working on writing this stupid paper for my "physical activity and health class" (aka, the worst/most obvious class ever....exercising is good for you, really?) I can't even count how many times I've written the words "continuous and intermittent exercise" in the past 2 days...yes, that is what my paper is about, I didn't have a choice. I've made it to the conclusion and this version isn't graded except for the fact that its done on time, so at least it can be a pile of crap and someone else can rip it apart for me, I don't care.
OK, I seriously can't do anything else right now. Maybe the gingerbread latte was a mistake. Cutdown intervals on the track today - mile, 1200, 800, 400, I really have no clue what pace but I guess we'll see. It's going to be COLD. Hope the hip holds up...hooray.
But eeeh! I'm excited! I feel like its been a really long time since I felt like something really big was on the horizon, and I think I've realized what the difference is - the TEAM aspect of this. We're trash talking and our boys are gunning for the national championship - hello, I don't care who you are, that's freaking exciting! And you know, the girls are looking pretty damn good ourselves. Seriously, I don't know if we can get Oregon (they are pretty freaking ridiculous) but seriously, Michigan? Why are you still ranked #1? Yeah, you have one girl who runs a sub-23 6K, but one top runner does not a winning XC team make. I'm so, so, SO proud of how far our girls team has come this year - we have a really solid top 4 or 5 and really no one at the back of the pack. I wouldn't be surprised if we surprise some people at nationals as long as we go in ready to ROCK. I just really want to see the course!!
I am really ADD right now...I'm working on writing this stupid paper for my "physical activity and health class" (aka, the worst/most obvious class ever....exercising is good for you, really?) I can't even count how many times I've written the words "continuous and intermittent exercise" in the past 2 days...yes, that is what my paper is about, I didn't have a choice. I've made it to the conclusion and this version isn't graded except for the fact that its done on time, so at least it can be a pile of crap and someone else can rip it apart for me, I don't care.
OK, I seriously can't do anything else right now. Maybe the gingerbread latte was a mistake. Cutdown intervals on the track today - mile, 1200, 800, 400, I really have no clue what pace but I guess we'll see. It's going to be COLD. Hope the hip holds up...hooray.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
FTW!
I think I owe the girl who took my shift at work on Friday some cookies or something. Because if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have FINALLY raced a kickass PR on a course that I 100% know wasn't short. I mean, they were running a high school sectional on it immediately afterward, and there were actually lines on the course this year to tell you where to go to the finish...there was nothing screwy. So, here we have it, my new 5K PR....
20:46!! That would be 6:41/mile pace. Yeah, I kick ass.
It's actually kind of funny, because the day leading up to the race was nothing exciting...in fact, I felt kind of sick and exhausted when I woke up, not at ALL in the mood to race. I had only run 3 miles on Thursday and 4 on Wednesday since my hip has been in agony ever since our ridiculous hill workout at Pope Farms on Tuesday. Plus races on Friday are just weird to me now...in high school it was so normal to have a meet on a school day, but now its like WTF? It throws my whole schedule off. And on top of that, I had to drive to Winneconne...driving being one of my least favorite things to do, especially before a race. After managing to not fall asleep at the wheel or get lost, we arrived and found out that the meet, which was originally supposed to be $10 each, was going to be free because Oshkosh had a HUGE meet the weekend before and didn't feel like getting chip timing for this one, which is basically a JV race for some of the WIAC schools. Everything was kind of low key, and I think because of that I never really felt nervous at all. There was kind of an underlying pressure to do well, because I mean, I'd made a really big effort to go to this meet, and I really wanted to validate my time from last year, but I guess I just really wasn't in race mode until the gun went off.
A side note to explain about Oshkosh's home course - if you are going to run a PR, this is the place to do it. Its the flattest cross country course I've ever seen...there are a few "slopes" I guess but no real hills to speak of. Its all on grass and it just loops around so you really don't think while you're running it...all of a sudden you're just done. It's amazing and I knew I had run a fast time here last year (even with the course most likely being short) and I was hoping that despite the problems I'd been having that I would be able to pull out a good time today.
I spent the first mile of the race about 5 seconds behind Katie....who ended up running a 19:36. Brilliance? I know, right. I honestly was pretty zoned out for the first mile - I ended up coming through in 6:19 and felt awesome, although obviously I know that something that good was definitely not going to last. But just like at Lacrosse, I really RACED...it was kind of fun having it be a smaller race, because I could just gradually reel people in and pick them off...and I greatly enjoyed doing so. The only person who passed me the entire race was Cameron, other than that I was just the passer, not the passee...which is awesome. I went through the 2 mile at 13:17 so obviously I had slowed down a bit, and I knew I was really going to have to dig in for this last mile to get under 21, since the last mile is where I always die. And for once in my life, I did. I was hurting, yes, but I absolutely refused to slow down. The entire last mile the line from "Swim" was screaming in my head..."I'M NOT GIVING IN"...and every time I felt like I wanted to back off a bit I just looked at the girl in front of me, dug in, and kept pushing. When I finally saw the finish line, I just gave it everything - there was no clock at the finish so I honestly had no clue what my time was until I looked at my watch and saw those beautiful numbers - 20:46. And life was glorious. I ended up getting 11th out of 37 runners, basically I was thrilled. It was an awesome day, made even better by the fact that now I didn't feel obligated to race on the death course at our home meet on Saturday, and so could go out to the Blue Moon and enjoy a giant cheeseburger and broccoli cheddar poppers and Capital Brewery Oktoberfest. Win.
My hip KILLED on Saturday...it was very unpleasant. I went and watched/helped out at the home meet, BF and I 'worked the corner' of the course and watched everyone braving the ridiculous death hills of Pope Farms Park. The night that followed was fantastic, there was a track club drunken shindig, we adopted the Minnesotans, and I enjoyed more than my share of victory beer...not that it prevented me from going and running 12.5 miles this morning or anything. Sometimes I feel like there is nothing more wonderful than a long, easy run on a gorgeous fall day, through trails where the leaves are changing colors, next to a lake, after an awesome weekend, when you had a blast the night before and magically aren't hungover. And the best part was, my hip has been bothering my less today than it has in a looong time. My calves are super tight and sore for some reason, but the hip is feeling ok...crossing my fingers that I'm finally on the road to recovery!
So I have been looking at the NIRCA rankings/results, and I think our girls team might actually have a shot at placing really well at nationals too. With all of our top runners together, I think we can really do some damage...and I'm looking forward to it!
20:46!! That would be 6:41/mile pace. Yeah, I kick ass.
It's actually kind of funny, because the day leading up to the race was nothing exciting...in fact, I felt kind of sick and exhausted when I woke up, not at ALL in the mood to race. I had only run 3 miles on Thursday and 4 on Wednesday since my hip has been in agony ever since our ridiculous hill workout at Pope Farms on Tuesday. Plus races on Friday are just weird to me now...in high school it was so normal to have a meet on a school day, but now its like WTF? It throws my whole schedule off. And on top of that, I had to drive to Winneconne...driving being one of my least favorite things to do, especially before a race. After managing to not fall asleep at the wheel or get lost, we arrived and found out that the meet, which was originally supposed to be $10 each, was going to be free because Oshkosh had a HUGE meet the weekend before and didn't feel like getting chip timing for this one, which is basically a JV race for some of the WIAC schools. Everything was kind of low key, and I think because of that I never really felt nervous at all. There was kind of an underlying pressure to do well, because I mean, I'd made a really big effort to go to this meet, and I really wanted to validate my time from last year, but I guess I just really wasn't in race mode until the gun went off.
A side note to explain about Oshkosh's home course - if you are going to run a PR, this is the place to do it. Its the flattest cross country course I've ever seen...there are a few "slopes" I guess but no real hills to speak of. Its all on grass and it just loops around so you really don't think while you're running it...all of a sudden you're just done. It's amazing and I knew I had run a fast time here last year (even with the course most likely being short) and I was hoping that despite the problems I'd been having that I would be able to pull out a good time today.
I spent the first mile of the race about 5 seconds behind Katie....who ended up running a 19:36. Brilliance? I know, right. I honestly was pretty zoned out for the first mile - I ended up coming through in 6:19 and felt awesome, although obviously I know that something that good was definitely not going to last. But just like at Lacrosse, I really RACED...it was kind of fun having it be a smaller race, because I could just gradually reel people in and pick them off...and I greatly enjoyed doing so. The only person who passed me the entire race was Cameron, other than that I was just the passer, not the passee...which is awesome. I went through the 2 mile at 13:17 so obviously I had slowed down a bit, and I knew I was really going to have to dig in for this last mile to get under 21, since the last mile is where I always die. And for once in my life, I did. I was hurting, yes, but I absolutely refused to slow down. The entire last mile the line from "Swim" was screaming in my head..."I'M NOT GIVING IN"...and every time I felt like I wanted to back off a bit I just looked at the girl in front of me, dug in, and kept pushing. When I finally saw the finish line, I just gave it everything - there was no clock at the finish so I honestly had no clue what my time was until I looked at my watch and saw those beautiful numbers - 20:46. And life was glorious. I ended up getting 11th out of 37 runners, basically I was thrilled. It was an awesome day, made even better by the fact that now I didn't feel obligated to race on the death course at our home meet on Saturday, and so could go out to the Blue Moon and enjoy a giant cheeseburger and broccoli cheddar poppers and Capital Brewery Oktoberfest. Win.
My hip KILLED on Saturday...it was very unpleasant. I went and watched/helped out at the home meet, BF and I 'worked the corner' of the course and watched everyone braving the ridiculous death hills of Pope Farms Park. The night that followed was fantastic, there was a track club drunken shindig, we adopted the Minnesotans, and I enjoyed more than my share of victory beer...not that it prevented me from going and running 12.5 miles this morning or anything. Sometimes I feel like there is nothing more wonderful than a long, easy run on a gorgeous fall day, through trails where the leaves are changing colors, next to a lake, after an awesome weekend, when you had a blast the night before and magically aren't hungover. And the best part was, my hip has been bothering my less today than it has in a looong time. My calves are super tight and sore for some reason, but the hip is feeling ok...crossing my fingers that I'm finally on the road to recovery!
So I have been looking at the NIRCA rankings/results, and I think our girls team might actually have a shot at placing really well at nationals too. With all of our top runners together, I think we can really do some damage...and I'm looking forward to it!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark
So I officially had an amazing weekend. Not only did I run my first decent race since last cross country season, but I also ran my longest run ever - 14 miles! - and beat my half marathon PR in the process. Kickass? I think so.
So first, the race. Since the guys race was at 10:30 and West Salem is a good 2 and a half hours away, we had to leave at 6:30 am, meaning I was up before 6. Some last minute advice from the BF (leave early so you don't have to tire your legs out biking fast to the union, take some of my raisin bran crunch so you have something good to snack on, and run fast :)) and I was off. Nicole and I finally got to reclaim our posts as "token girls" in a van filled with boys on the drive up. It was incredibly foggy -visibility was terrible - and I slept/sat with my eyes closed as much as I could since it was damn early and I was nervous.
We got to the course around 9:15 and it was COLD. The fog was still ridiculous, and we learned that they had changed the course from last year, so we decided to walk the course and check it out. I absolutely adore the LaX course. The first mile is completely flat, a loop around a field, then there's a smaller loop and you head into the lower part of the course. The entire first 2 miles are either flat or downhill, although its kind of made up for by the fact that the 3rd mile is mostly hills. This definitely isn't a negative split kind of race, but you can go out hard and not worry about the hills until you get there. At one point a deer came bounding across the golf course through the mist which was awesome...talk about inspiration to run fast! Then it was time to warm up and cheer on our boys.
Start of the boys race, running into the mist
And then it was our turn. I think the difference between my race at LaX and the past races this season was that I actually WANTED to race. From the minute I got up, I was ready to kick some ass. And, since the LaX meet has to be perfect, by the time our race was ready to go the sun had come out and it was an absolutely glorious day. We got kicked out of our box by some stupid team from North Dakota (bitches.) and so got to start the race on cement - awesome! But none of that mattered once the gun went off. The first mile was absolutely INSANE. 444 girls pushing and shoving and falling and getting spiked...mayhem. The beauty of the first mile on this course is that its flat and crowded, so its really easy to be so wrapped up in not tripping over someone that you don't even realize that you're almost done with the first mile. As we came through the mile mark, MILEY CYRUS was playing over the loudspeakers...I'm pretty sure I actually cracked a smile over that. I went through the mile in 6:27...ummm....yeah. Like I said, its flat, and you zone out, and you don't realize that that was a ridiculous pace to go out in, but whatever! I was pretty close behind our lead pack of Claire, Laura, and Tali at that point, but they started pulling away soon after.
I started falling back a bit during the second loop, but really I think I was just settling more into my actual pace - you know, not kamikaze 6:27 pace, haha. There was a lovely downhill where I passed quite a few people, and I came through the 2 mile in 13:17...yes, that's like 45 seconds faster than I did at Parkside. I was still feeling pretty awesome at that point and was enjoying zoning in on girls ahead of me and picking them off...something that I haven't been able to do all season! Things started falling apart a little bit when we got to the dreaded "hill of sand" as I so deemed it my freshman year (when I ran 3 minutes slower than I did on Saturday, haha). It's a hill that isn't terribly steep, but its long, and the terrain is this ridiculous mud/sand that sends you sliding backwards as you're trying to go forward. Jade passed me at that point looking really strong, but I was holding my own still. At the top of the sand hill came my point that I have in every race where I just really want to quit - all good feelings from the past 2 miles were erased and I slowed down a LOT for about 30 seconds. In retrospect, this probably cost me a PR, but I got it together pretty quickly because I knew the 3 mile was coming up, and I was over the last of the bad hills. I started trying to pick people off again around the 3 mile, and came through the 5K in 21:35. This was when I heard Dallas screaming at Nicole that she was only 7 seconds behind me, which I think gave me a bit of extra motivation because come hell or high water I was not going to let her beat me. Just after the 5K Karin came up on me and passed me. I passed her back a couple minutes later, and we headed for home running pretty much together. I've never had that happen in a race before - that someone from the WTC is running with me near the end of the race - and it was honestly pretty awesome and kept me going. We turned for the final straightaway and I tried to kick as hard as I could - my legs felt like they were about to fall off at that point. She outkicked me a little bit and ended up beating me by a second and a half, but I was still absolutely ecstatic when I crossed the finish line - I had FINALLY run a good race! My official time was 25:49, a bit slower than my PR on this course last year, but considering the races I have been having so far this season, I was more than happy with it.
I think the best part about the race was the fact that I felt like I was actually competing - picking off people, not being content to let people pass me, trying to relax and maintain. Really the only time when things fell apart a little bit was at the top of the sand hill, and I know that by the time nationals roll around I'll be able to push through that better.
So I was pretty much dead, but at the same time ready to celebrate by the time I got home, so the BF and I split a 6 pack of New Glarus Staghorn and then went out to a friend's party and to the Nitty Gritty. The night was topped off by a triple order of bacon/taco Topper's Stix...ah yes, I needed to replenish those carbs.
Well after a night of drinking, I wasn't too thrilled when my alarm went off at 8:30 to meet Claire at the union at 9, but a few swigs of Gatorade and I was out the door for what turned into an absolutely epic/awesome run. We decided to go to the Arb, which is absolutely fantastic in the fall, and go explore some of the trails off the loop.
My favorite trail in the Arb. Aren't I lucky?
So first, the race. Since the guys race was at 10:30 and West Salem is a good 2 and a half hours away, we had to leave at 6:30 am, meaning I was up before 6. Some last minute advice from the BF (leave early so you don't have to tire your legs out biking fast to the union, take some of my raisin bran crunch so you have something good to snack on, and run fast :)) and I was off. Nicole and I finally got to reclaim our posts as "token girls" in a van filled with boys on the drive up. It was incredibly foggy -visibility was terrible - and I slept/sat with my eyes closed as much as I could since it was damn early and I was nervous.
We got to the course around 9:15 and it was COLD. The fog was still ridiculous, and we learned that they had changed the course from last year, so we decided to walk the course and check it out. I absolutely adore the LaX course. The first mile is completely flat, a loop around a field, then there's a smaller loop and you head into the lower part of the course. The entire first 2 miles are either flat or downhill, although its kind of made up for by the fact that the 3rd mile is mostly hills. This definitely isn't a negative split kind of race, but you can go out hard and not worry about the hills until you get there. At one point a deer came bounding across the golf course through the mist which was awesome...talk about inspiration to run fast! Then it was time to warm up and cheer on our boys.
Start of the boys race, running into the mistI started falling back a bit during the second loop, but really I think I was just settling more into my actual pace - you know, not kamikaze 6:27 pace, haha. There was a lovely downhill where I passed quite a few people, and I came through the 2 mile in 13:17...yes, that's like 45 seconds faster than I did at Parkside. I was still feeling pretty awesome at that point and was enjoying zoning in on girls ahead of me and picking them off...something that I haven't been able to do all season! Things started falling apart a little bit when we got to the dreaded "hill of sand" as I so deemed it my freshman year (when I ran 3 minutes slower than I did on Saturday, haha). It's a hill that isn't terribly steep, but its long, and the terrain is this ridiculous mud/sand that sends you sliding backwards as you're trying to go forward. Jade passed me at that point looking really strong, but I was holding my own still. At the top of the sand hill came my point that I have in every race where I just really want to quit - all good feelings from the past 2 miles were erased and I slowed down a LOT for about 30 seconds. In retrospect, this probably cost me a PR, but I got it together pretty quickly because I knew the 3 mile was coming up, and I was over the last of the bad hills. I started trying to pick people off again around the 3 mile, and came through the 5K in 21:35. This was when I heard Dallas screaming at Nicole that she was only 7 seconds behind me, which I think gave me a bit of extra motivation because come hell or high water I was not going to let her beat me. Just after the 5K Karin came up on me and passed me. I passed her back a couple minutes later, and we headed for home running pretty much together. I've never had that happen in a race before - that someone from the WTC is running with me near the end of the race - and it was honestly pretty awesome and kept me going. We turned for the final straightaway and I tried to kick as hard as I could - my legs felt like they were about to fall off at that point. She outkicked me a little bit and ended up beating me by a second and a half, but I was still absolutely ecstatic when I crossed the finish line - I had FINALLY run a good race! My official time was 25:49, a bit slower than my PR on this course last year, but considering the races I have been having so far this season, I was more than happy with it.
I think the best part about the race was the fact that I felt like I was actually competing - picking off people, not being content to let people pass me, trying to relax and maintain. Really the only time when things fell apart a little bit was at the top of the sand hill, and I know that by the time nationals roll around I'll be able to push through that better.
So I was pretty much dead, but at the same time ready to celebrate by the time I got home, so the BF and I split a 6 pack of New Glarus Staghorn and then went out to a friend's party and to the Nitty Gritty. The night was topped off by a triple order of bacon/taco Topper's Stix...ah yes, I needed to replenish those carbs.
Well after a night of drinking, I wasn't too thrilled when my alarm went off at 8:30 to meet Claire at the union at 9, but a few swigs of Gatorade and I was out the door for what turned into an absolutely epic/awesome run. We decided to go to the Arb, which is absolutely fantastic in the fall, and go explore some of the trails off the loop.
My favorite trail in the Arb. Aren't I lucky?We ended up exploring on the other side of the tunnel that goes under the beltline for about 35 minutes, and then ran the rest of the loop and along Lake Wingra. I ran back to Regent and then back home, for at total of ~14 miles in 1:50 (It's runs like these that make me wish I had a Garmin). So pretty much...I beat my half marathon PR on a long run, and I also ran the furthest distance I've ever run...after a race and a night of drinking. Bottom line: I'm awesome.
And finally, to top off my fantastic weekend, I was at work yesterday and found someone to work for me on Friday...meaning I will be racing at the Oshkosh Open on the flattest course ever. And after this weekend, I have some confidence that I can put together an awesome 5K race...I'm so ready. I don't know what I'm going to do about our home meet yet, I feel super guilty not going so I might just have to suck it up and run there too...run it as a workout or whatever...we shall see! Pretty much it depends on if the BF cares about not going to the game... I honestly don't, especially since the Badgers are sucking the big one this year.
And finally, something completely non-running related, here are the Octoberfest beers I have tried so far this year:
-Flying Dog Brewery Dogtoberfest
-Bell's Octoberfest
-Capital Brewery Autumnal Fire
-New Glarus Brewery Staghorn
-Blue Moon Harvest Moon
Dogtoberfest is my favorite so far, followed closely by Autumnal Fire which is just amazing. Harvest Moon is great too because its a bit different than the other Octoberfests. I'm sure there will be more to come...there are just so many to try! And after all...apparently 1 beer with pasta the night before (among other things....;)) is the recipe for a great race!
And finally, to top off my fantastic weekend, I was at work yesterday and found someone to work for me on Friday...meaning I will be racing at the Oshkosh Open on the flattest course ever. And after this weekend, I have some confidence that I can put together an awesome 5K race...I'm so ready. I don't know what I'm going to do about our home meet yet, I feel super guilty not going so I might just have to suck it up and run there too...run it as a workout or whatever...we shall see! Pretty much it depends on if the BF cares about not going to the game... I honestly don't, especially since the Badgers are sucking the big one this year.
And finally, something completely non-running related, here are the Octoberfest beers I have tried so far this year:
-Flying Dog Brewery Dogtoberfest
-Bell's Octoberfest
-Capital Brewery Autumnal Fire
-New Glarus Brewery Staghorn
-Blue Moon Harvest Moon
Dogtoberfest is my favorite so far, followed closely by Autumnal Fire which is just amazing. Harvest Moon is great too because its a bit different than the other Octoberfests. I'm sure there will be more to come...there are just so many to try! And after all...apparently 1 beer with pasta the night before (among other things....;)) is the recipe for a great race!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Redemption in 6K form
25:49.
Not quite a PR, but damn it, I'll take it! For the first time in a long time, I RACED. And I am so, so, so happy.
Race report later...I need to celebrate this victory over myself with some beer. :)
Not quite a PR, but damn it, I'll take it! For the first time in a long time, I RACED. And I am so, so, so happy.
Race report later...I need to celebrate this victory over myself with some beer. :)
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