catherine's running efforts

At the gym. It was supposed to only be 5, but I had to see who got the final rose. I was happy with his choice. 

Also 40 hanging leg tucks. While I was over there there was a pretty hot woman doing ab exercises. It was kind of fun to watch how everyone (even the girls) kept looking over at her.

I wanted another 5 today, but last night was kind of an all-nighter* and even though I got a couple of naps today (thanks, Eric!) I felt extra tired. So I was just going to do 3, but Biggest Loser was wrapping up (ah, Biggest Loser...remember when that girl sat on the steps and cried because she didn't want to work out?). 

*Until 5:00. But Elliott does this thing where she wakes up at about 5:15ish and fusses/cries until we put her in bed with us for the last hour or two until we get up (I know, we shouldn't have ever let this start). It sucks. We're trying to make it stop. Two mornings ago we let her fuss for an hour and a half. She'll fall back asleep if we go in and hold her hand or comfort her or whatever, but somehow she knows when we leave her room. Tomorrow we're just going to try getting her (and us) up when she wakes up. Even though we're so so tired.

Also, if anyone knows how to make her want to eat solids...we've been trying for about 3.5 months, and she's still not interested in rice, oatmeal, bananas, apples, mangoes, pears, carrots, avocados, peas, or sweet potatoes. In a spoon or in her hand. Sometimes a mesh feeder works for a few bites, but that's not really a sustainable solution.

Remember how yesterday I talked about how Elliott wakes up early in the morning so today we were just going to get up when she first woke up? Today she didn't do it. And we slept through our alarms. And Eric missed a class. And I didn't prepare for my class. But at least we weren't tired (for probably the first time this semester). 

I was going to go for 4.5 but at about 4 I felt a tiny twinge in my IT band. I haven't had IT band pain since about two years ago when I switched to a forefoot strike; before then I'd have it pretty consistently every time I ran more than about 6 miles (though stretching made it better). So I stopped and did the foam roller when I got home.  

Yesterday I was the only person in a row of 9 treadmills and a girl picked a treadmill right next to me. Tonight there was a group of guys near me who were stinking up the gym with their cologne. These are my biggest gym-related peeves. Buffer zones should be respected when possible, and fragrances are inappropriate when people are sweating together in an enclosed space. 

Tonight I had a rough start when my [former] favorite treadmill started wigging out (you know how sometimes they'll do that thing where they start decelerating on their own?), but I moved to a new one (and got away from the stinky guys!) and had a good run to Sex and the City and the Republican debate. I don't know enough about his politics to say for sure, but I kind of like Ron Paul. And if we're not going to have a woman president, at least we could have one who knows a vagina inside and out. 

"I'll sit in the chair, but you can't make me eat."  - Elliott

Probably Fridays are my least favorite day to run. I don't know why. 

I'm a little disappointed in my Kinvaras. For awhile I thought they were my favorite shoe ever - they felt super light and springy, and I liked how the flexiness made me feel really grippy - like I could dig in or something. But they seem to have a really short feeling-nice life. My old ones have fewer than 300 miles on them, but they feel like my Launches did after almost 600 (I start to get little pains when I'm running, and they've lost their springiness. I know this isn't very "born to run" of me, but I prefer a bit of cushy springiness). Anyway, my newer ones feel great (except for a hot spot I got today that probably had more to do with my socks and the shoe tongue), but I think after this I'm moving on to something with a little more staying power. But I think Jun posted something on facebook about insoles, so maybe I'll try that. We'll see. 

6 miles at the gym, treadmill switch at 3.5 to maintain some personal space, and last mile at 6:58.