track fan

Happy 1st of June everyone.  Scheduled day off - rode my bike to and from work (22 miles).

The cactus flowers are in bloom here ... truly beautiful!

One more very stressful week getting my grant finished.  I had a friend look it over last week and she did not understand it as well I was hoping she would ... so I guess I have a lot of editing to do here.  And I am having some technical issues with one of the primary aims ... like, it maybe can't be done ... daggonit.  I am freaking out.

1:11:21 (36:35/34:46). My legs felt a little weird this morning. Probably from the biking yesterday. I am a little dehydrated too, I think. Did you know that temperature readings are always taken in the shade? hmmm. The closest temperature reading to my house said 85F this morning -- it felt a little hotter than that. But, all is good, it felt great to be out, I feel strong and invigerated!

So, I came home last night and found Dean fiddling with a hanger and a piece of paper? hmmmm. I asked him what it was (after I went on and on about the frustrations I am having with my grant) and he said, a compass to measure hip angle ... have I told you all that besides being a funny, handsome and good runner, Dean is also a huge geek (what is there not to love?). Anyway. He had taken a pants hanger (the kind with the circular cardboard piece on the long end) taken off the hook a the top and taped a paper with angles on it (that he had made from a statistical graphics package that we use). He then used my medal from the Des News 10K last year attached to a thin piece of elastic (used for conference badges) as a "plumb bob" (so it would hang taut). He then could find the top of his (and mine) hip bones and put the two ends (where the hook would be) on the front and back of the hip bones.  Interesting.  Pelvic tilt on his R side was about 4.3% and 2% on his left.  This is a likely cause/effect from his current hamstring woes that have kept him from training for the last 5 months.  Mine were 8%/9% (women have more pelvic tilt than men and 5-7% is considered normal) - not bad, and nicely balanced (if I do say so myself ;-) ).  I tried to take a picture of it ... but I am not sure if my cell phone is capable of taking clear enough pictures to really convey the "contraption" in its fullest light.

Have a good day bloggers!

(128.2, dehydrated?) 

48:17. Modified Dean's loop. Felt much cooler than yesterday (I think because I finished sooner).  I did practice a little hill bounding - just to see how the hill would work -- it was ok, but I am going to continue to search for the perfect hill.  I have a couple more to try out, and I have to figure out which days to incorporate these.  Well, and I still haven't found a good solution for measuring stride length so I can do some before and after metrics.  I won't have time until next week to even think about this.   I somehow "tweeked" my adductor yesterday - I don't know if it was my exercises from yesterday (they are heavy on hip and adductor work this month), on my run, or if I can blame it on my workload at the desk ;-) or my 4 hours of sleep/night.  It is not "injury" bad, just "avoid aggravating it" bad - hill bounding was a little aggravating.

Have a great day bloggers. I miss keeping up on your blogs, I will play catch-up next week!

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:04:04) 18 x :30 w/1` recovery (I was supposed to do 15, but I lost count and did not realize it until I got back to my chronometer on my watch, it wasn't because these were fun ;-) ).

Preblogging because I likely won't be back online tonight. I am tired. really tired.

PM: (long 4, 38:20).  I am glad I got my first 98F mile run over with, now I know what it feels like.  Luckily it was mostly overcast.  Man, Montelepsy ROCKS - and it is humid (and windy, sandy) there!

Have a good day bloggers!

48:24.  Modified Dean's loop + my loop.

Wildlife encounters: thousands of lizards, hundreds of bunnies, 1 coyote and 1 goathead.

ok ... goatheads are not technically wildlife, though they are abundant here in the desert.  We find them in our house all the time - by the tried and true method of "walk barefooted to the kitchen".  Their scientific name is, appropriately, "puncturevine weevils".

 Anyway - the one I "found" today was the largest I have ever seen, it was long enough to stick all the through the bottom of my running shoe and about 3 inches into the pad of my foot --- ouch.  I was able to pull it out and all is well ;-).

Have a great Friday bloggers!

1:13:46 (37:21/36:25).  Easy run ... much cooler 83F today ... ahhh.  Even so, I was feeling a little lightheaded after my run.  Probably caused by the sleep deprivation of late.  This too shall pass.

11 miles to work on bike.

(129.4, very hydrated)
 

1:48:39 (56:34/52:05). Took it pretty slow at the start, but couldn't help but speed up a little at the end, I was barely sweating! Wonderful morning ... great weather, nice to be out. Came home and took a little break from work to watch the Pre Classic. WOW. Some great runs today, my favorite highlights: Jenny Barringer's gutsy 1500, Bernard's awesome 3K win and 14 guys all running under 4 mins for the mile (Kiproch runs a 3:48 for the win)!!

Happy weekend bloggers

AM: (9 miles, 1:20:16) (40:49/39:26).

not much time to write ... have to go finish my grant.

PM: (4 miles, 35:38). 

Hopefully, if I can get everything uploaded to the NIH form before it is too late. I have to take over 40 page of grant and break it down into 14 different sections, make pdf of each section and upload them one-at-a-time. Then it gets sent over to the grants office on main campus and hopefully, they submit it before the Friday midnight deadline.

Then I sleep for 12-14 hours.

Have a good day bloggers.

1:20:20 (31:33/30:46). My body is rebelling today. I am just so mentally (and physically) tired.

The grant did not get submitted yesterday - I finished my part but I really can't even adequately vent about the problems that were encountered by the administrative staff at the college level (we haven't even gotten to the university level stuff yet). It is very frustrating not to have people to do this who know what they are doing ... I am sure it is even more frustrating to them. I guess I just got spoiled from all the years at Vanderbilt - where they had the resources to hire people who where trained to do this type of thing. vent vent vent.

Anyway, I left the office at about 7:15 so I ended up running in the dark around campus last night. I got home about 8:30, which is the earliest I have been home in the past 3 weeks straight -- but still not what I had been hoping for ... it looks like rest will be postponed until the weekend, where I am going to attempt not to work even for a couple hours.

I am debating about whether or not to ride my bike into work this morning .... ok, now I seem to be rambling on the blog, I have to go ;-).

Have a good day bloggers.

1:09:26 ... probably a little longer than 8 miles, but not by much.

20 x :30 w/1` recovery.  Very invigorating!  It is starting to get more "normally" warm here ... but it is great for faster stuff, I can see why it can't be too hot for sprinters!

Tonight we are taking the very brave and fun Montelepsy to dinner!

happy Thursday one and all! 

1:02:58 (31:43/31:15).  Wonderful morning for a run.  Stunningly beautiful day.  Saw two roadrunners!  They are so awesome.

So, I am the luckiest blogger in the whole world.  Twice in the same number of months I have met the most wonderful people from fastrunningblog.  First was the most incredible Snoqualmie ... and last night I met Montelpsy (a nice, handsome, smart and yet tough manly man).  I was so lucky to be part of the :

MONTELPSY American Tour 2009

Washington, D.C.

Tuscon, Arizona

 Where will he end up next????

I had a very nice time (and broke his camera, so there will be no evidence).  AND -- I also was able to talk to the beautiful and talented Kungfublond as well.  SIGH, it was a truly a wonderful night!!

UPDATE:

My grant has been successfully submitted -- all told the "science-part" has taken 6 months (well 2 years from conception -- but 6 months of writing and organizing, 1 month pretty much full-time) and the "submission-part" took almost 4 days.  I kid-you-not 4 days just to get it submitted, amazing.  Anyway, now we wait until October/November.  Just so you all know, grants hardly ever (read never) get funded the first time, so it is likely I will be resubmitting this (with updates based on the reviews) in February.  The main thing this round is to get scored, so that is what I am hoping for (that would mean the reviewers think it is worth funding next time).  The resubmission is generally a little easier than the first round.

UPDATE2:

I rode my bike into work today (11 miles).  I had to go pick it up from the bikeshop.  The guy who fixed it called me yesterday to tell me it was ready and I asked him, "how can we make sure this doesn't happen again".  His response was classic -- "This was one of the freakiest things I have ever seen, honestly, I don't think you could do this again no matter how hard you tried".   -- Sounds like a challenge to me.  I don't know, if there is something incredibly stupid that one could do many times ... I could do it ;-).  Though I still am sticking to my story that it was not my fault.

Happy day bloggers.

AM: (8 miles, 1:11:49). I got a late start today, I was just too tired to get up early, even though I still woke up when the sun came up (about 4:15). I did not want to look up the temperature because I knew it was hot. I told Dean before I left that it was really hot, and he said, "luckily you are tough" - ha. Anyway, I adjusted my pace (ran about 10-15 sec/mile slower) and it wasn't too bad, I did have to get water about 50 mins into the run. I got home, looked up the weather, and it was hotter than I thought it was, I thought the temp would be low and it was just the intensity of the sun that made it feel hot, but no ... the two weather spots nearest my house measure between 89-92F (at 9AM!). Now, I have to hydrate well because it will be even warmer this afternoon when I run. I am pre-blogging 4.5 miles (because I am going to my favorite spot to run tonight -- the first time since the marathon!), but I might back off the mileage if I don't feel right. I have to decide between running earlier in the evening (when it will be hotter) and getting more recovery time before tomorrow morning or run when it is a little cooler, but not get as much rest between today and tomorrow.

One thing is for sure, I have to get up early tomorrow it would be tough to do a long run in this heat.

PM: (4.5 miles, very easy).

GOOD LUCK UVM RUNNERS!!

(128.6)

1:48:47 (57:03/51:44). Much better ... I got out early and finished by the time I had started yesterday. It was still warm at the end, but I was running pretty easy until the last few miles so it felt pretty good. Allie, you can have about 20F of this though ;-) (about 83-85F at the end of my run - felt hotter in the sun). Bad bad socks rubbed a huge blister/sore over my ankle ... ouch.

Ok ... warning. First I am going to discuss something gross, and then I am going to say something not so nice about someone - well, about their job. I apologize in advance.

So, the gross. For about a week my cat, Titus, has been very pleased with us. So much so that he brings us at least one, and average of two, "treats" per day. Mainly lizards (the largest one being over 6 inches without a tail) but twice last week he brought us ground squirrels (one very large -- about 5x the size of field mouse). Dean (it is his job), picks them up, puts them in a baggy, and throws them out. It has been so hot out that our garage must average about 120F during the day ... and the garbage can has begun to smell. I swear I can smell it in the house. I just don't know what to do. Yesterday I went out and sprinkled this smelly kitty litter baking powder stuff all over the top of the garbage can and then put a bunch of open containers of baking soda all over the place in the garage ... it "kind of" works. I am afraid that in the future we are going to have to pick up the "treats" from Titus and put them in the freezer until trash day ... any other suggestions?

Second, I really try not to say anything negative about people ("...if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything") -- but this is not really about HER exactly, more about her ability to do her job. Yesterday was live NCAA track and field on TV. Have I mentioned before how horrid the news commentators are here in the US? Seriously, they are awful. Last week Jenny Barringer ran a USA Collegiate record in the 1500 -- she demolished the old record by 6.29 seconds -- the announcers did not even know it!!! She almost beat the current WORLD LEADER in the 1500 -- their final times were milliseconds from each other! it was an big big thing. Granted Dean and I read Track and Field News faithfully, but still -- these are supposed to be knowledgeable news people, come on! But, the worst -- very worst -- of them all is Carol Lewis. She is absolutely, without a doubt, one of the least informed sports people ever. Just because she is Carl Lewis's sister (and a long-jump champion) does not mean she is a good commentator -- and truly she seems to say things that are just plain wrong. Yesterday (and this is not the worst thing I have ever heard her say) during the women's 4x400 relay she says, "... yes, you know you don't always want to have such a big lead going into the last 400"... Excuse me? When EVER would it be better not to have as much of a lead as possible at ANY of the hand-offs? whew. The positive is that this is weekend number 3 -- in a row!!-- of track on TV. One more week until the USATF championships! YEA. It is better to have miserable commentators than no track coverage at all. sorry for the gripe.

Happy weekend bloggers.

No run to talk about -- I couldn't even ride my bike to work today because Dean is out of town and I have doggy drop-off and pick-up to daycare today (yes, they are spoiled).

I wanted to put pictures of them up ... but I can't seem to insert them (and I don't have time to play with it and figure it out right now .... I will try to do it later!).

AM: (9 miles, 1:20:40 (40:36/40:03)). Beautiful morning. I saw another/the same roadrunner today. This morning he/she had some grass in its beak, they must have a nest somewhere in the wash -- it was the same place I saw them last week. It is going to be hot today ...

PM: (4.5 miles - forgot to stop my watch).  I did get to go to my favorite running spot tonight -- it was a good thing since my day sucked, at least the running was good today!

One thing that I found out last weekend, well and the week before, is that I am running my easy runs a little too hard. I kept thinking that it was because I was out of shape, that these runs felt hard. But Dean was right ... again ... (boy, I hate when I have to admit that ;-) ) and it is because I am running them too hard. I was running 8:30-8:40 pace last Sunday and I wasn't even breathing hard, so I must have been running some of these morning runs at 8:00 or so ... I am slowing down a lot and it does indeed feel pretty easy again! That is the "problem" with lower mileage!

I am super busy - one of the many things about working so long on my grant was my usual work has really piled up. I have two deadlines that are long since past ...

Have a wonderful day bloggers, stay cool, dry and happy running!

I am posting a link to my new bike (for Bec) -- although mine is much dirtier and now banged up from my trail rides.

1:04:32 (32:37/31:54).  The first half of the run was excellent ... the cloud cover made it nice and cool - and then it went away ;-).

I am still a little upset about some things that happened yesterday ... but I am hoping to snap out of it soon.  The work-related stuff is just not good ... I am supposed to be getting my dossier ready for going up for tenure next spring and I had a meeting yesterday with one of the senior faculty.  I know this should spark me into action - but what it has done for now is make me feel extremely overwhelmed and depressed. 

I hope you all have a good day -- I need to snap out of this slump. 

1:19:24 (25:14/29:17/24:53).

20 x :30 @ slightly faster than 5K pace w/1` recovery.

Today is gas boycott day here in Tucson (we are supposed to find ways other than our cars to get around today) - I wanted to ride my bike to and from work, but Dean had to drop his car off at the shop and I had an early morning meeting. So, I am riding home (11 miles) and will ride in tomorrow morning too.

Busy day -  happy Thursday bloggers!

1:04:32 (32:39/31:53).  It was very hot this morning (I was very disheartened when the radio announcer said it was 77F at 5:45 AM) -- but, it is going to rain, so there is a lot of cloud cover, which makes it much more tolerable.

This week was one of "those" weeks ... a test of the spirit.  With all the best of intentions (and giving up a run for ... which is one of the personal attributes I am working on right now, flexibility) I was unable to participate in the gas boycott yesterday.  What a mini-nightmare of an afternoon.  At about 4:30 I picked up Dean and took him to his car repair shop (near campus) so he could pick up his car.  I was planning on going back to my office, working for another couple of hours and then ride home at about 6:30 (giving me an hour before it is dark).  No sooner did I turn out of the driveway of the shop, and get about 2 blocks, then my car started making this horrible noise (sounded like a motorcycle engine when it revs).  And my dashboard lit up with all of these Swedish versions (I have a SAAB) of "MAYDAY MAYDAY".  I pulled over and ran (in my dress and birkenstocks) up to the shop -- it was so hot ... I mean HOT ... to catch Dean.  To make a very very long story short, I had to wait in the hot sun for the tow truck to come (Dean had to go pick up dogs from daycare - after I made him go to my office and pick up my cycling clothes) -- my bike was in my car so my plan was to get towed to my car repair shop (which was closed for the day -- nightmare #2) and ride home from there.  Have I mentioned how hot it was? 

So .... the tow guy finally came and I was *just* going to make it to the shop in enough time to ride home before it got dangerously dark (this is a big deal because their are very very few street lights in Tucson proper, and even fewer where I live (in the desert), so it is really dangerous at night even with lights.  Anyway ... we get to the shop and I find out they don't take credit cards (or checks from people with Utah Driver's licenses) ... SO, I had to call Dean to bring me some cash and by the time all was said and done it was getting too dark to make it home on my bike.  BUMMER. 

One thing was so cute though.  The tow truck driver.  He loved my bike ... I got it out of the back of my car and he came over and started looking at it (he had already said how cool it was while he was getting my car onto the tow truck).  "Wow, disc brakes", "Wow, how many gears does that have?".  I told him about how the chain had popped off a couple of weeks ago and showed him where it messed up my frame and he started messing with the chain a little.  Then he said, "oh yea, look at that the sprocket needs to be adjusted".  He went and got a screwdriver from his truck and starts messing around with all of these screws and things ... he says, "bikes are easy to fix" as he messes with the gears and turns the wheel.  It was so funny.  Then he showed me where the problem was -- basically I have to be in the smallest of rear sprockets in order to shift to the smallest front sprocket ... which is sort of bad design if you ask me (although it probably would be dumb to be in large rear and small front anyway).  It was just pretty cute though, and very nice of him.

On another front, my cat, Titus, is in the hospital today.  Another long story cut short, he was in some sort of a fight last Monday.  He has gone downhill over the course of the week (in some respects, he is doing better in others - animals are amazing in their ability to adapt), by last night I was pretty sure his front leg was broken or dislocated.  Anyway - apparently it wasn't broken but there is a huge absess there that they have to surgically drain.  Poor kitty. He is housebound for a while, poor kitty owners.

I did ride in to work this morning -- and even though I have to work this weekend, I am hoping to make enough progress today that I can work from home and not come into the office!

Happy weekend!

AM: (8+ miles, 1:13:34, 37:14/36:19).  Got out late again today.  Luckily, I had other things that made the run difficult, so the heat did not bother me -- well, not that much.  I got a new set of exercises last night.  These are strengthening my outer and inner quad muscles and trying to increase flexibility in my hips.  Ouch, they hurt, a lot.  So after an hour of them last night and another 40 mins this morning (well, and maybe the 15 miles on the bike yesterday) my legs were pretty sore.  But, the good news is that I can feel a real difference, already, in my foot and leg position during push-off (especially in my "bad" leg).

Titus the kitty is not doing well at all.  The anesthesia wore off about 11PM last night and he freaked out ... he does not like his new radar collar, and I mean at all, he doesn't like how much his side hurts, and he is more than grumpy.  I was very worried last night, so I gave him a kitty sedative that I had left over from our cross-country drive and sat with him until he calmed down. This morning he wasn't quite as bad, but he is still pretty upset.  I am not sure this is going to work until Tuesday when we go back in to get the shunt taken out.

PM: (4.5 miles, prettiest run of the week -- oh yea this is the second time this week I have run here!).

 Happy weekend bloggers -- and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Barry!!
 

1:54:21.  I am not going to give my out and back splits today because I ran a couple miles with a friend that I saw.  She is getting ready for a 1/2 ironman and was running 6 miles after riding this morning.  Up until I started running with her I ran about 9:10 pace for the first 6 1/4 miles ( into a headwind) and was averaging about 8:30s on the way back (tailwind).  I was sort of "racing" this really annoying guy -- but trying not to race him.  When I saw Anabel I dropped down to about 10 min pace for a little over 2 miles.  I am estimating about 13 miles -- it could have been a little more.

Titus is still not doing well, I am going to take him in tonight to have the drain taken out, he escaped from his collar last night and then when I put it back on him he went nuts.  It is just too hard (on both of us) ... I will take my chances with the heavy duty antibiotic (it is only one day before the schedule to have it taken out anyway).

Happy Sunday.
 

AM: (9 miles, 1:19:26, 40:14/39:12). A bit warm, but partly cloudy so it was tolerable. I am a little worried as I have not heard from all of my DC friends yet. The metro crash yesterday was close to a major transfer station from the green line to the red line -- this particular line/train is heavily used by my friends who work at the National Center for Health Statistics (where I did my post-doc). Tragic event, I am sad (and right now a little worried).

PM: (4 miles). Pre-blogging as I am busy all day and will likely not have much time to blog again until tomorrow.

Safe travels bloggers.

1:02:20 (31:42/30:37).  I felt so good on the last 3 miles today.  The start was tough, but once I got warmed up I felt really good.  This despite the fact that I seemed to have done "something" to my upper back -- it hurts like no ones business to take a deep breath.  It must have been some stretch that I did yesterday after doing my new Egoscue exercises.  Bummer since I was planning on riding my bike into work today ... now I don't think I should because I really don't want to inflame the area anymore than it is and hunching over on the bike for an hour probably wouldn't help matters.

So, I just have to say I love this town.  Last night I waited as long as I possibly could do to my PM run.  It was about 105F yesterday and I just couldn't get excited about running until it go below 100.  So about 7PM I left work and drove to part of the trail that is on my way home.  I figured it would leave me with just enough time to get home before it got too dark to see.  It was still warm (about 96F) but the sun was starting to go down so it didn't feel too bad.  First thing that happened was I saw the BIGGEST snake I have ever seen -- king snake I think -- he was about 95% inside a gopher hole and still had about 12 inches of tail sticking out.  He pulled his body out and I couldn't believe how long (and chubby in the middle) he was.  WOW.  This nice woman warned me about him, otherwise I might have stepped right on top of him.  Then ... I saw all of these people (probably 50 or so), some with nice cameras on tripods, hanging around near a street underpass.  I stopped and asked one of them what was going on and the guy said, "oh, its a nice night, I guess we are here for the bats".   

I don't know if I have ever told you guys about the bats.  There are two underpasses where you can hear them (particularly in the late afternoon) -- well, I can hear them, when I ran there with Dean he couldn't hear them (because the frequency was too high for him).  But I digress, I hurried up and ran to my turn around spot and sure enough AS SOON as the sun went behind the mountains thousands -- looked like about 10 swarms of  way over a hundred each -- poured from under the underpass ... it was SOOOOO cool.  I have seen them swarm around street lights before (looking for bugs) but I have never seen them at exactly this time and in such vast numbers.  There were still hundreds milling about under the overpass and I actually had to run up and over the busy street because I literally couldn't run through them.  VERY COOL.  Here is a very cool youtube video of exactly the place I was talking about -- it shows you why I couldn't run under the bridge!!

It got me thinking -- I have loved things about everywhere I have ever lived (and I have lived a bunch of places), but I really like living in places were people overcome extremes.  Like my brother who lives in upstate Minnesota - despite some of the worst temperatures on the lower 48 (routinely below zero in the wind chill for 4-5 months out of the year) - they manage to enjoy the winter -- hockey on the frozen ponds, ice fishing, etc.  Same thing here ... from about 2 - 5PM Tucson is a ghost town, most construction shuts down by 2 or so, and it is too hot to really be out much ... but as soon as the sun goes down people are out in full force ... walking, running, biking, and bat-watching apparently ;-).

I did hear from two of my friends yesterday (I knew they were out of town, but I did not know if they had heard anything about anyone else at NCHS) ... what a relief.  They are safe and sound, and so far all of "our" immediate group is safe and sound.  From a statistical perspective though, it had to have affected them (NCHS) in some way since about 90% of the people at NCHS who ride the metro would have been on that particular train in one direction or the other.   Tragic.

Be safe, stay cool!

(128.8)

AM: (10.5, 1:30:01, 47:15/42:44).  12:46 @ HASS pace (heat adjusted steady state pace -- Daniel's threshold pace) - I was supposed to run 10` @ SS pace (7:23-7:36) but I wanted to time it so I had to add on to use the mile markers (so I ran 2:46 over).   It was about 82F when I started and 88F or so when I finished.  It was partly cloudy, when the clouds were there it was pretty much ok - when the sun was out it was brutal.  I knew it was going to be hard, so I had already figured that the heat would cost me about 10/secs a mile.  Pretty funny, that is the way it worked out (I learned this from the nasty Nashville summers!).  I felt great on the run, it was fun to run faster again.  I love the base cycle of training - I look forward to most of the my runs, I feel good when I run and I am encouraged that I am still feeling the effects of all that marathon training.  By the time I start training for races again I will be anxious to race and be ready to take down that 10K PR (maybe the 5K too, but I am less confident about that) -- I am also hoping to get a 10 mile PR this fall, even though it will be a race that I won't be training for so it will be off of base mileage.

PM: (4.5 miles, 38:40).  Ran with Dean - a little faster than usual (by about 1.5 mins)  - it wasn't his fault, I am always intimidated when I run with him and tend to speed up a little.  Still pretty easy, just not as easy as it should have been!

1:04:38 (32:38/32:05).  I slept pretty well last night, my back was feeling a little better after seeing the chiropractor last night.  And then I blew it this morning by trying to do an exercise that is specifically for bad backs .... my back went into spasms so severe that I literally could not move - and could barely breath - for what felt like an eternity!  Basically whatever I did is not based on core (because the chiro made me do all sorts of "poses" that did cause the pain) but is base on my hip flexors and lower back - which in turn puts pressure on my neck that causes severe spams. Ouch.  I am so grateful I can run, although I can tell I am running a little differently because I can't use my arms much (and I can't too fast because I can't take deep breaths).

What a wonderful night of track it was last night -- WOWOOWOWOOWO

Amy Yoder-Begaly - what a gutsy and amazing race she ran, beating the american record holderin the 10K!!  Amy, Shalane and Katie McGregor, our TEAM USA for the 10K.  All got the A standard in this race.

Congrats to Galen Rupp, Ritz and Tim Nelson -  RITZ ... what a great race, very tactical.  I was a little bummed that Abdi fell the pace so much, and I was holding out hope for Meb too - I guess all the  pace changes in the first half really hurt them both.  2 of the top 3 had the A standard and one had the B so the team choice is easy.

Dean and I were making predictions on how the races were going to play out, and he got them mens 1500 prelims down pat -- it really played out exactly like he predicted.  The first two men in the first 3 heats were all kickers, the final 6 guys all came out the final heat, with those guys just running really fast from the gun. 

The 5K should be interesting too, since they are running 2 heats with the team coming from the fastest times in both heats.  There won't be too much tactical racing in the 2nd heat - since they all will know what they have to run. 

One final word, as someone who was was a teenager in the 1970's yesterday was pretty sad.  Both Farrah and Michael Jackson were a part of my teenage years.  Farrah pretty much defined hair and clothes for a generation ... and for all of his faults MJ was a very talented entertainer and I would even say artist. RIP.

AM: (8 miles, 1:14:58 37:51/37:06).  Very hot ... about 85F when I started and 89F by the time I finished.  As usual, it was the sun that was the most unpleasant.  I took my own advice and just slowed down about 10 secs/mile and kept my HR and breathing under control.  

My back is such a mess.  I did talk to the Egoscue people and got a couple exercises to try, they did not hurt my back so we will see how if they help.  After I did them I could actually take a sort-of deep breath, so maybe ... I will see the chiro again on Monday.  

PM: (4.5 miles in my favorite park!).

 
Exciting 5K last night -- both the women and the men.  A couple "upsets", a few favorites!
 

Happy weekend bloggers, stay cool, run and bike safely! 

1:48:46 (55:49/52:56).  I was really lucky for the first 1/2 of my run -- it was hot (about 85F) but lots of cloud cover.  Unfortunately, the clouds burnt off and the last 40` were tough (92 - 96F now - depending on which thermometer you believe).  All and all, though I can't really complain, it wasn't a race, I could slow down as much as I needed, and I was sweating (which is good, because it means I am hydrated).  Ok, I was sort of a "bad" girl though.  You probably won't notice but my "out" split is almost 2 mins faster than what I normally run.  There is a reason for this.  I was being a competitive dummy.  There was a woman who was walking in front of me about 2 miles into my run.  When she saw me coming she waited until I was about 2 stride lengths in front of me, and then starts running again.  Well, I thought to myself "good for her, this is my run and I will run at the pace I need to finish feeling good).  Well, she was running all over the place (I think she was overheated and getting kind of loopy) and she kept looking back at me.  I wanted to ask her if she was ok (I was afraid she was going to get hit by a cyclist because seriously, she was all over the path), but since she seemed so concerned about where I was I thought she might take it wrong (e.g., she might think I was being condescending).  So, I decided for both of our sakes I would just speed up and pass her.   It wasn't really that hard to do (she was probably running about 8:40 pace or so).  But, what happens (to me) when I start running that fast that soon into my run it sort of gets "imprinted" in my mind and I just can't slow back down.  Which means that by the time the sun was out full blast (and it warmed up another 5 degrees) I was working a little harder than I normally like to be working.  It isn't necessarily a bad thing -- I can afford little tiny over-do-its when I am not really training for anything - truth be told it is a little invigorating.  

Back spasms only lasted about 10 mins this morning after I got out of bed and as long as I don't lay down I can breath almost normally today.  The new exercises I got Friday are helping. 

Great races yesterday everyone - congratulations! 

AM: (9+ miles, 1:20:09, 41:03/39:05). I woke up with severe back pain that diminished a little after I did some exercises/stretches. I had my second chiro appointment yesterday. We decided to continue the Egoscue exercises and try the chiro stuff for 3 weeks. If things don't improve then I will go for an MRI. I am hoping that things improve. I have been trying to only take anti-inflammatories at night (I am not supposed to take them at all because I have a disorder that is exacerbated by NSAIDS) ... and things are only horrible in the morning so this is somewhat of an improvement.

The run was wonderful today -- it was hot -- but it is always hot. I am "embracing" the heat and trying to be more Zen-like ;-). But my legs felt good and I enjoyed being out there!!

PM: (4.5 miles).Windy, hot, beautiful storms along the horizon ... did not end up helping me, though I was hoping for rain so badly on my run ... it was 100-103F depending on what  thermometer I believe ... but the sun was down -- and there were storm clouds (and lightening and a rainbow!  how cool is that?).

Have a wonderful Tuesday bloggers!

Entertaining (to me) link from Pete Magill's blog.