track fan

Early run ... I am going to Flagstaff today!! Yippee. 

AM: 7 miles on the Urban Trail in COOL Flagstaff!!

PM: 3.5.  Very tired this afternoon, decided to play it a little on the safe side and take it easy - although it did not feel easy, 7000ft and hilly ;-). 

Had a really nice dinner with Greg and Tracy McMillan -- Greg turned his book into the publisher on Friday and we celebrated!   I am not sure when it will be out, but you know I will tell you all first!  

His new calculator will be coming out soon too, I will be putting on my statistician hat and checking some things out for him first, but I would guess sometime in the next few weeks it will be ready to be beta-tested.

I still need to sift through the results from the Rome Diamond League, Pre, and Nashville Distance Carnival results -- good track and field this weekend!!  Some more people qualified for the trials and Rupp ran a 12:58 5K!   

Great run up A1 mountain.  A little on the slow side, but I felt much much better than yesterday.  

I hope you all had a very nice weekend!! 

Not really looking forward to my radiation appointment tomorrow morning, just when I am starting to recover from last week, but the good news is that on Thursday I will be half way done!!  yea!  And, I am still hoping to maintain my goal of at least 4 miles/day through the end of treatment ... as of right now, I think it is doable!

AM: (7 miles, 59:46). Had to get on the road earlier than usual because I had a 7:00 AM conference call, and I had to get ready for a talk that I had to give at 12Noon. Then I had to rush home, to get ready for a talk I am giving tomorrow at Ventana (a subsidiary of Roche). And, I have two days of grant reviews Thursday/Friday - and my grants were due at 9AM (I did not make the deadline - oh well ;-) they won't fire me - we don't get paid to do it ;-) ).  It was much cooler out at 5:30 than it usually is at 8AM!  Surprising to me that I ran this so quickly ... also surprising how good I felt today.

PM: easy, I do mean easy, 4. 

Sigh.  Another day, another 5 mins of poison ;-).   So much closer to Thursday (my 1/2 way point).  I met with my doctor today, she is pleased with how everything is looking (e.g., my skin is starting to look burned, but nothing serious in terms of blisters, etc.).  It is starting to get irritated when I run - so I have improvised by cutting a square from an old, soft, t-shirt and using that as a barrier between my skin and my sports bra (TMI, I know).  My doctor was quite impressed with my ingenuity ;-) ... she is a little worried about the heat and inflammation while I run, but she wants me to run (which is good) if I can.

I am so busy with work that it makes it better with the fatigue, since I don't have time to dwell on how tired I am ;-).

I hope you are all doing well!! 

Didn't have time for a longer run today -- and it was good.  I was giving my talk this afternoon (it was at Ventana -- a Roche company) and I suddenly, I mean really suddenly, feel like I was going to fall asleep *right there*, it was weird.  Then, I went into the bathroom later and realized that the right side of my collarbone area (only on the right side) looked like I had a HORRIBLE sunburn - it is in an exact outline of where I am being radiated, apparently.  Luckily, it does not extend outside of the tattoos ;-).  Wow -- that was sudden ... one day "normal" the next day "radiation burn".  And yes, it does hurt ;-) -- but not as bad as it looks (yet).  

Now I have to finish working on my grants ... I can't tell you how tired I am.  

I hope all of you have incredible amounts of energy ;-)!!! 

Really going to try to get out again this PM ... but I am really struggling today.  The tiredness is really horrible.  I can't help but think of Litinenko (the Russian writer who was poisoned by the Russian government in 2006) ... I am glad I am not in his shoes, as this sucks ;-), while I am sure it is a good thing as all the pesky cancer cells are dying ... it wears me out killing them ;-).

PM: easy 4 (it was 100F, but not sunny) 

The GOOD NEWS?  NCAA track and field this weekend both on TV and on the web!!

Saturday. Live results will be available at flashresults.com. 

Breathing hard, but still a little faster than usual because of the reduction in overall mileage.  Dragging ... dragging ... dragging, heyo gitty up (to the tune of the Rawhide song).

Happy Friday bloggers, I am looking forward to NOT seeing the radiation techs for two whole days ;-) 

AM: 7 miles -- 89F by 8AM.  did not feel as bad as I thought it might, but it was pretty hot.  I brought carrots for Dover this morning - it was good to see him.  I need to find the energy to see Big Boy and Coco soon ... 

PM: easy 4.

Yup, another pathetic 1:15 "long" run -- but, it is what I can do these days.  It was 91F and sunny (because I couldn't drag my sorry behind out of bed earlier than 7:30 ;-) ).  

Very tired.  Like, really tired.  I am lucky I can run - I remember being injured and not being able to run, and it was bad.  Now, my legs/muscles are co-operating, my body just won't co-operate.  

I loved reading the race reports from yesterday -- congratulations fastrunningbloggers, on getting out there and doing the best you could on the day.   I also was able to watch 3 hours of track on TV yesterday -- holy cow, what a lucky day!!

Next week (21st)??  Olympic trials!!! yeaaaaa!  Keeping my fingers crossed for those who don't have the Olympic A standards yet (like Aaron Braun) -- hopefully the trials will be fast and not tactical so that we will see some standards next week too!! 

Happy Sunday bloggers. 

AM: 6 miles, 54:19.

PM: easy 4.

Never a dull moment here in the Arizona summer.  On Sunday night we came home after picking up a potential new faculty member (a friend of mine who interviewed for our full professor position) from the airport.  It was dark, but Dean had turned out the outdoor light before we left, so ... I stopped Dean on the sidewalk, and said, "wait, look at that .... yup, it is a Diamondback".   A rattlesnake was laid out on our retaining wall, I guess getting warm.  I decided to walk around to the front door, rather than walk by it at all!

Then, yesterday morning I was late to my radiation treatment, why?  Because I was running all over the kitchen dodging the scorpion that Zula (the cat) was playing "volleyball" with in the kitchen -- it must have been quite a site, me screaming, "no Zula, leave it alone" and she was picking it up - batting it my way, and having a great time (although I think it stung her on the face once, because she sort of sneezed and shook her head, undeterred from her "fun").  

Ha!  What an exciting day! 

105F yesterday - I don't know how hot when I ran, but it felt pretty darn hot (it was not 105 yet).  I can tell it was Wednesday, as usual, my week seems to start pretty well on Monday/Tuesday (I felt almost "normal" on Tuesday), and then it is a long, fast, downhill ... by Wednesday PM I am trashed.

The only way I can run twice is to get a long nap ... so, I am not sure I will be able to run twice today (I am not sure I can get out of work).   But, I keep remembering my goal was at least 4 miles/day and I have far surpassed that goal so far.  only 8 more treatments - yea.  Apparently you "cook" for 1-2 weeks afterward (so my skin will likely get worse through next week and then 1-2 weeks after that) -- but recovery will start as soon as the treatments stop -- so my hope is within a month after treatment I will be nearly all good.

Today is supposed to be a cool 101F - the "funny" guy on the radio said, "don't forget your sweater today for the cooling trend" ;-)

I hope you are all doing well!  I can't wait for the TRIALS!!!! 

AM: 6 very hilly miles

PM: 4 very easy miles

 I think this was the last week that I can work without taking sick leave.  I had a tough day today-- I did come home a little early (in order to nap for an hour) - which allowed me to get in another run ... but work this afternoon was tough.  tomorrow I am going to try to work from home and see how that goes, but I have a feeling I will only be working 1/2 time for the next couple of weeks.  it is likely what I have to do to be able to keep running ;-)

Please keep my baby (4 years younger than me) brother in your thoughts this week, he is in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism -- I don't know much yet, I might have to fly to Minneapolis, but for now we are just "wait and see" ... he has two teenage sons and they are very frightened right now. 

yippee.  I felt pretty good this morning ... I think a nap in the afternoon (yesterday) really helps the next morning too.  AND, my brother is ok, if all goes well he will be released from the hospital tomorrow (Saturday).  They don't know what happened, he doesn't have any risk factors except that he travels by air (a lot, like weekly).  Scary. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

AM: (7 miles, 58:08).  93F  -- ouch.

PM: easy 4.  

I feel remarkably good today -- I am even pre-blogging (I am being hopefully optimistic at this point -- since I can nap between work today).  SOOO lucky!  

I hope you are all doing well.  Jake and Andrea did so well today - way to represent!!!

Also, just sayn', Westside of Tucson was well-represented as well (both the 1st place - Abdi, and 3rd place - Ian Burrell, are from Tucson and we all live within 4 miles of each other!!).

 Funny thing - I saw a coyote walk (they never run) across the road.  I, of course?, ran across the road to see where he went -- poor guy, he was right in the bushes squatting down in his VPB (virtual private bathroom, per Sasha) - he ran from me.  I felt bad because as a runner, have been in his position before, it is both embarrassing (to get caught) and uncomfortable ;-)

1:14:22 ... 97.5F (27% humidity - which doesn't sound like much to you guys in the real humid climes -- but for here?  that is pretty humid ;-)).  We had a monsoon storm and small haboob yesterday -- it was awesome, AND monsoon season doesn't "start" until this coming Wednesday -- so I am hoping that it means it will be a wet summer this year.  The temperature dropped from 102F to 82F in 2 hours!  very nice.  Although today it is back to the usual 109F or so, and by Thursday it will be 111F or so.  I will say it again, I don't like it during the summer.  Even though I am acclimated enough that it doesn't kill me, I don't like it ;-).  The storm also meant a huge number of gnats -- I ended up with three of them in the same eye over the course of this hour run (their little hairy legs hurt when you blink!).  

I stopped by to see CoCo and Big Boy.  I found out that, sadly, their owner is selling CoCo and Big Boy is going back to the  "race horse retirement home".  It is so expensive right now (hay is very expensive because of the drought) that their owner just can't afford to keep them.  This probably won't happen until the Fall, so I need to make sure I go back as much as possible during the Summer, so I can see them a lot before they go.  

I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday!! 

AM: 6 miles -- it was hot hot hot.  I felt pretty good anyway, I guess I must have been running really slowly ;-)

PM: easy 4.

Lab meeting up in the outskirts of town and the stopped and had a prickly pear lemonade with my friend Merry (the really fast one I told you about last December - she got an state age group record in the 5K recently, and I had not seen her in way too long).  Prickly pear lemonade is a real Tucson thing -- and I am hooked.

I hope you are all doing well!! 

a hilly 6 miler ~52 mins (52:5something).

Not feeling very well today.  I won't go into gory details, just suffice to say, side-effect city from the radiation. 3 more treatments!!!  Soooo relieved, and so happy I can still run, I am not very fast, but I have hung on until the bitter end!    

Getting work done so I can head to Salt Lake City on Friday!!  So looking forward to seeing you all at the track on Saturday morning!  Wedding Bells 5K here we come!! 

Oh, and don't forget bloggers ... Olympic Trials start Friday!!! 

AM: easy 7

PM: easy 4

It is HOT here ... low in the 80s high in the 108s ... lots of 8s ... maybe my new lucky number, since I am outta here tomorrow!

I have a severe skin reaction to the radiation ... I am going to have it bandaged up in order to travel ... but I am forging ahead (rather that taking a break from treatment to have it heal) so it will be over next week!!

I can't wait to cheer (and jog?) in the race on Saturday!! YEA fastrunningbloggers!!! 

in a hurry -- run to treatment -- run to airport -- fly to SLC!  See you soon!!

So so so so much fun seeing everyone today, let's see, I saw allie and fiddy, Jake and Andrea, Lulu Walls (though I did not get to meet her), Tara, Glidergirl, Rossy, Cam, the lovely Catherine and Elliott (and Eric!), Sasha/Sarah/Benjamin/Julie, Kelli (the pacer with the mostest) and RAD (who ran a huge PR!! yippee) ... my goodness what a wonderful morning.

Between the altitude and some stomach issues there was no way I could race - but I was and I just decided to run a couple of miles on the track (and "participate) and then run on the grass on the outside of Sugarhouse Park afterward.  Jake was kind enough to keep me company on the grass run -- I hope I did not break him the way I break Dean when he has to run with me.  It was the best Saturday morning I have had in a long time.  What a nice thing for allie and fiddy to do!!

Afterward Dean and I had breakfast/brunch with Kelli and RAD, it was the best!  It was so nice to talk with them -- and actually meet them for the first time (though I really felt like I had known them for a long time ;-) ).  

It was a lovely lovely day! 

Ran 4.5 loops on the grass at Sugarhouse Park.  It was warm (because I slept in ... don't tell anyone ;-) ).  Not as much fun as yesterday -- but it was still awesome to be back in town!!

DONE DONE DONE DONE

In 6 weeks all of the past 6 months will be a distant memory (or tomorrow like many things I do)!!  It will probably take 4 weeks before my fatigue will go away entirely, but I am looking forward to running again -- and now I get to train for my birthday 50K!!!

In about 6 weeks I get a follow-up mammogram and then in October a follow-up MRI and then they will pronounce me "cured"!!!  I will, unfortunately, be seeing both my radiation oncologist and my surgeon every 6 months for my whole life (along with lots of tests), but hey, they are kind of nice so I guess I don't mind so much.

_______________

 Traveling wore me out, but it was so very much worth it to see so many of you on Saturday.  Thank you so much for all of your support the past 6 months, for non-running issues, and for the past 5 years on running.  You all mean a lot to me!! 

AM: 7.5 miles.  Very hilly, very hot, same ole, same ole ;-).

PM: 3.5 miles

Such a lucky day!  So, our very own KP is in town -- see Burt's blog since he met her FIRST!  She is staying on the East side of town, so we decided on a restaurant that was half-way between us.   Still, I had to get on my second run earlier than usual in order to meet her by 7 (during summer I usually wait until the sun is going down, so it will be cooler -- but the sun is going down pretty late these days, so I sometimes don't get out until 6:30 or even 7).  It has been pretty hot this week (105F)  - so, I thought, if I meet KP at 7 I need to get out on my run by 5 or 5:30 ... it will be HOT.  So, maybe I will go to the gym and run on the yucky treadmill.  BUT -- and here is where the luck comes in -- it rained in the afternoon!!  It worked out PERFECTLY!!  I got in my run, it was cool(er), and, best of all??  We had a wonderful dinner with KP!!!  She is a sweetie, seriously.  I wish I could have whooped it up for her longer, but I was seriously tired ... I can't wait until I get some energy back, I really hate being tired all of the time!

But, I am the luckiest Bonnie in the world!! 

1:03:34.  Hot today -- like really hot. But, Dover liked the carrots, I am happy to be running -- and we are heading to Flagstaff on Monday -- yea!!

Now I have to get serious about finishing some work!!

Happy Hump Day bloggers! 

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:06:32).  Nice ... it was 82F when I got up at 5:30, probably well into the 90s when I finally got out the door to run (at 8:15 - in my defense I was working, but wow, so dumb). 

PM: easy 4.

Still pretty tired, but feeling better than last week!  all is good.

Happy trails bloggers! 

I am taking it easy the rest of this week, I was super fatigued yesterday and realized that it really was the first week I had worked my "usual" hours ... AND, I am really hoping to be able to run 10 miles on Sunday -- even though Dean wants me to take it easy this week, wrt running, I am chomping at the bit to work back up to my normal mileage and get back to normal.  Anyway, I am sacrificing a couple of miles today and tomorrow for the bigger picture.

GREAT, WONDERFUL, STUPENDOUS track and field last night.  The men's 5K final was just a cliff-hanger -- and although most of the race was slow and tactical, Rupp and Lagat threw down a 52.54 last lap!!!! Holy cow we were yelling at the TV!!  And the men's 3000 Steeple was so amazing -- Evan Jager just ran away from one of the most talented steeplechase fields that the US has ever had, and it was only his 4th time running the event (he was a miler in college) - insanity!!!  The women's 5K was a great, but heartbreaking, race - that was down to the wire - and the 3rd place spot went to a woman who did not have the Olympic standard coming into the race (15:20) so she had to run that in the race AND come in the top 3 to go to London, and she did it by a millisecond!  Oh Happy Days!!

AM: (6 miles, 47:58) -- outstanding run.  I did the hilly 5.5 mile loop and added on some trails.  I have not done this loop this fast in ages, I think it because my mileage is so low, and must be feeling better!!  It was 90F when we got up at 7 and 96.1F by the time I rolled my puttering bum out the door at 9AM, it felt pretty hot!

PM: easy 6

Happy Saturday bloggers!  hope you are all doing well today!