Well Documented

I went for a run today. Four miles. Well, 4.19 miles. In an attempt to give myself something to look forward to, I tried out a new route. This one took me through the campus of UTC. I decided on this route because there is a really cool old cemetery and I wanted to check it out. It would be shady (literally, I mean. It's a very bright day here), and old graves are really interesting. But I went one block over too far and skirted the back edge of the Confederate Cemetery where there is a very tall, imposing fence. I almost backtracked, but I knew the meter at my car would be hitting zero soon enough.

I walked in the door and immediately wrote down my time, distance, pace, route, and misc. notes into my training log. Then I logged the mileage on an application that I added to my Facebook profile. Then, I plugged the Garmin into the computer to download all the exact same information into the Garmin Training Center program (gotta have those mile split times). Oh, and before the run, I mapped it out on Runstoppable. And now I am on Blogger to write all about it. The future generations are going to hate us. "You did stuff. WE GET IT."

I also wonder if my running is part of what is killing the planet. I drove to a park to start my run. I do way more laundry and for clothes that I have worn for maybe an hour at a time, I drink about 80 bazillion ounces of water a day, and I've taken two showers in a 9 hour span.

Rubbin' is Racin'

Saturday I was in a Dragon Boat race and it looked absolutely nothing like the picture above. For one, we were in the back. The way back. And the combined weight of our team (20 members) was approximately 3,600 pounds, whereas the approximate weight of a real professional Dragon Boat team is about 36 pounds. But it was still a good way to spend a sunshiney Saturday. And we had way more fun than those smug "winners" and other boats that didn't finish in "dead last place." I wish I could say that it was a good workout, but the actual race time (we did two races) was about 3 minutes total.

I got 5 miles in on Friday. 51 minutes. No speed records, but it was nice to have that kind of distance again. Second longest run in four months. I was very fired up about some things here in boarding school land so the run was a great reminder for me as to just how therapeutic getting out there can really be. I'm a fairly laid back person. If I had the personality to get fired up more often, would I be a be logging like 40 miles per week? Maybe I need to go into more things with a bad attitude and see if I, in turn, have to go run more to blow off steam. I can't imagine this would be a well-supported training philosophy by people who know about this kind of thing. Nor would it be much fun for my husband.

A-hahahahaha

So I just did a real hill workout. Maybe this Bear thing isn't such a good idea.


(okay, that was hard and I feel like crap now. But I also feel freakin' awesome at the same time.)

Bear of an idea

I am really thinking I might try The Bear this summer. For anyone not in the know about The Bear, it is a five mile race. A five mile race that goes from the bottom of a mountain to the top of one. An elevation change of 1541 feet over the course of five miles. If you have seen Forrest Gump, you have seen part of the course. Specifically the hairpin turn right before the finish of the race. The event starts at 7 pm, and the really cool part is that it helps kick off the Annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. According to the events schedule for the day, the next event is "more sheep herding." Later in the evening is the Torchlight Ceremony - I don't know exactly what that is, but it sounds very cool. Being of some Scottish descent (Fine. Acutally, I'm very Anglo-mutt. But I know there is some Scots in there somewhere), I am pretty jacked about this. This seems very "Stuff White People Like".

But I digress. The time limit on the race is 90 minutes. On a good day, my five mile time would be around 50 minutes. But that is also on relatively flat ground. The event has a sag van to pick up folks who haven't made it to the three mile station by the 50 minute point. SURELY 1500 feet won't slow me down that much.

I mapped out a route up a mountain just down the road from me, and it was about a 1000 ft. climb, and about 3.6 miles long. There's not much of a shoulder to run on, so I don't really know where or how to train for this. But I am still very much considering it. Look at the view from the finish line. How cool would it be to see that at the end of a run?


And in case any of my faithful readers are completely out of their minds, two days later is the Grandfather Mountain Marathon, "One of America's Toughest Marathons." The last part of the race is (13 miles) is virtually uphill - the link goes to the profile map. YOWZA.

Reflection

I have changed quite a bit in the last 16 months or so. Probably not obvious to anyone but myself. Part of that change may be due to circumstances. The other part, is from the running. I never hit the wall, but I still feel the pride of finishing. I should have finished faster. But I am still proud of it. The change in myself. I didn't know it at the time or even a week post-race. As I go about my daily life, I discover the significance of the race to me. The time since I crossed the finish line has taught me as much as the four months prior. Did I discover running, or just myself during all those miles?

A million people do it each year. Does it mean as much to them?

The springy spring-ness here yesterday set me to check summer stuff going in my neck of the woods. The local minor league baseball team, movies in the park, outdoorsy stuff, and of course, Riverbend. I was very excited to discover that The Black Crowes will be performing one night early in the festival! Yay. And it's only $28 for all eight days. I am sure I can find some other shows to go check out at the event. The Ohio Players and T-Broussard & the Zydeco Steppers. Admittedly, my knowledge of Zydeco goes only as far as the 30-second tourism commercials for New Orleans have taken me. But I still think it would be a good time. And ZZ Top will be here too. Hell si.

Conversation Pace

Went for a run this morning with my neighbor. It was a very slow run, easy for conversation. I was pleasantly surprise to map it out and find out that we did close to four miles. I took no watch or Garmin, so I have no idea what our pace was. So conversation pace.

Spring is springing, which can only mean one thing. Okay, it could mean any number of things, but in my current world, that means it is prom season. Our dorm is buzzing with upcoming prom news. "OMG (they actually say O.M.G.), who are you going with, where are you getting your hair done, can we fit one more person in the stretch limo/Hummer?" I happened upon the receipt of the dress of one girl, and it was (including alterations) $1071. Yeah, you read that correctly. ONE THOUSAND & SEVENTY-ONE DOLLARS. I have yet to see this dress made of platinum and unicorn hair, but for that price it should be a sight to behold. We did it up right back in the day, but we did it much cheaper. And we went to post-prom parties in fields and some old barn. Ahh good times.

I hope to get myself up tomorrow morning for another run. Today was the first one in eight days, so I don't want to mess up the cosmos in going for two in a row.

Love/Hate

Chocolate and Cash

Still not much going on around here. Rain. More rain. But I guess we need it, so I shouldn't complain. Ooh, check out that rhyme!

I actually have been doing a bit of a nutrition experiment. I'm trying to drop my sugar intake. I have been doing quite a bit of reading on the matter, and I am wondering if it is one of the factors that might be giving me sleep problems. Oh, and it is giving me a little buddah belly as well. I always thought that the being addicted to sugar stuff was baloney, but now I am kind of thinking it might be true. I had really bad headaches on Monday and Tuesday. Five days into the experiment, my sugar cravings had dropped to record lows.

I gave myself some daily goals - one fruit and one veggie per day, try to cut down on processed foods, check labels for amounts of sugar, etc. If I do all that, I get one treat a day. The fancy grocery store had fancy dark chocolate on sale - .50 for a one ounce bar. I stocked up, and that is my treat at the end of the day. I guess I really need structure.

And it is looking like a freelance job is going to come through and for the money I was hoping for. I wouldn't start it until July, but that is okay. I know money doesn't buy happiness, but the prospect of having it damn sure puts me in a better mood.

If I were one for foolin', I would announce on the blog that I was pregnant or something. But I am not one for foolin', and I am not pregnant either. I could call up my mother and April Fool her with that one, but she might not take the joke so well.

Gnumoon did her April Fools up right. Read about if you have a chance - it's good stuff.

Not much to report on here, so I'm going to spend some quality time with my porch and some beer.