Thanks for all the helpful advice and encouragement in your comments, friends.  It was nice to read them, and I appreciate y’all taking the time to help a girl out.

I’ve been feeling really run down and tired this week, and it’s a little frustrating. Not tired enough to skip working out, mind you, but tired enough to go to bed at 9:30 and not wake up until 7:00 the next morning, still feeling tired. Maybe I’m fighting off a virus, or maybe it’s the daylight (or lack thereof), or maybe I haven’t been sleeping soundly enough. Who knows? Regardless, I’m going out for 35:00 at lunch today.

We are supposed to be getting some cold temps beginning tomorrow, and I am not looking forward to that one bit. Getting out today for a run will be key.

So I was talking with Dianna this morning about my spinning teacher, and how he’s beginning to annoy me a little. He’s a nice guy, and I like him, but sometimes I feel like he has no ability to see things from the perspective of someone else – the perspective of a mid-to-back of the packer like myself, specifically.

I mean, it’s great that he can do what he does (run back to back half, then full marathon distances on a weekend, win his age group constantly, do a 90-minute spin class, then run 7 miles afterwards), but dude, I am not that fit! And I have no desire to be that fit, honestly, because I have more things in my life that require my attention. Like painting, like community service, like freelance work, like my partner, and my friends. And I also like to sit on the couch and watch movies and drink beer, too. Let’s not forget that. :)

Anyway, I think he generally means to be helpful, but his delivery is sadly lacking. And I’m kind of just sick of hearing it, I guess.  Some of his comments stemmed from his opinion about the Thanksgiving race I wanted to run ("Don’t do that race! It’s too big. I hate it. You can’t win your age group because of the crowd." Uh, I can’t win my age group because I am slow, but okay, whatever.), and some were about my wearing regular sneakers to spin class instead of my bike shoes (which I understand, but they’ve been bothering my back lately, so please, enough with the eye-rolling).  Regardless, I left class without any socializing afterward, and I’m trying to decide if I’ll go back. There are other classes I can take, you know.

But my main point in brining this up was that it was just about a year ago that I started taking spinning, wondering if I could even make it through the 60 minute class. Just one year later I’ve taken 90-minute classes, bought a bike, competed in a triathlon, and have logged a decent amount of miles on the road, both pedalling and pounding.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how many because I have been sucky about keeping an up-t0-date log. *sigh*

But so it goes. I am, for now, keeping my CoolRunning log and also entering some data into my planner. I think I might start up a little notebook or something, because I really like to have a paper record of my thoughts and feelings about stuff. I’m a big writer offline, actually. It’s a process, as my mom would say. :)

Last week was pretty sucessful. I logged 2 lunchtime runs, and 2 other runs, in addition to 1 spinning class. Woot! The only thing I didn’t accomplish last week was doing a longer run on Sunday. Rob wanted to go out with me, and since he is coming back to running after being sick, I opted for being his partner for a 3 miler  instead of doing a 5 miler as planned.

Anyway, it was a good week, and our run on Sunday was great, as was the run on Saturday.  Come to think of it, all of my runs last week were  good or great, without any ITB or back problems, and I haven’t felt that way in a long time. These shoes are magic, I’m telling you!

Oh, so I’m not sure if I brought this up before, but I think that one of the things that was an issue for me in the past, were my shoes. Sure, they seemed comfortable enough, but looking back on it, I wonder if they caused my ITB problems in the first place, overcorrecting my pronation to the point of injury. I don’t know, but I battled with ITB twinges all through tri training, and now that I’m running again more regularly with this Saucony Regulate model, I don’t have the ITB shit going on.

So my new shoes, well,  they are discontinued (which pisses me off to no end), so I’ve been ordering them online in multiples.  Stupid discontinued shoes. Jeez!

I’m finally feeling back in my running groove again, and I feel good about where this is all leading – to longer runs and more enjoyable shorter jaunts, and not feeling like I’m slogging all the time. I’m sure part of this is because I haven’t run on the treadmill at all, except as a warm-up before spinning class, and because it’s fall and the air is crisp and whatnot. Yay, again, for fall.

So. My to-do list for the week is something like this:
Monday: Run 35:00 at lunch. Go to my studio tonight for a bit.
Tuesday: 90 minute spin class
Wednesday: Run 35:00 at lunch
Thursday: Run 35:00 at lunch
Friday: Lots of appts, studio time, other stuff. Run if there is time.
Saturday: 60 minute spin class. Get a hair cut.
Sunday: Run 5 miles

Oh, and I’m thinking about changing my current running log format. I have been using the one on CoolRunning.com, but I am finding that I just forget to log stuff, even though I am a big list-maker and generally like online tools.  So what does everyone use? A notebook? Some kind of Excel spreadsheet (like the Dave Hays one?), or something else? Your collective wisdom is appreciated. :)

Today I went out for my third lunchtime run, and like the previous 2, it was good. Actually, the first 2 lunctime runs were great, followed by shower/schedule mishaps, and today’s run wasn’t great, but the shower/schedule thing worked out perfectly. So it all evens out I guess.

My times have been funny, too. I run 17:00 on the way out, and about 15:30 or less on the way back. It’s windy on the Charles, to say the least.

I had perfect weather today – partly cloudy, about 60F, not too hot, not cold.  There are always a lot of runners along the Charles and today was no exception. I saw lone runners, runners in groups, runners partnered up, runners wearing long sleeves & pants, runners wearing singlets and shorts, and every combination in between. 

It thrilled me a little to be out there while I knew most people in my office were eating lunch or in meetings. It was like I’d discovered some kind of secret lunchtime rendezvous – just me and my running compatriots, sneaking out to enjoy the day. It was almost like playing hooky!

Anyway, my day has been busy and I’m glad I got out of here for a bit. I’ll try again tomorrow for another 3. Woohoo!

Alright. Who’s in?

Hot Chocolate Run

5k Road Race and 2 Mile Walk

through Downtown Northampton, Mass

Saturday
December 3, 2005

www.hotchocolaterun.com

I’ve been working at my new job for 5 whole months, and I just discovered something about my workplace that would have been quite a boon for me over the last couple of months, and would have been a huge factor in getting me to work here in the first place.

That’s right. There is a shower in our building. For 5 months I have not known about it. Five! That’s almost half a year, people.

And not only is there a shower (technically, there are two showers – one for the men and one for women, located in the restroom for each), but there is a little changing area and a place to hang things, and it’s in a secure part of the building where you need a key card to get in there. Hallelujah!

This totally solves my daylight problems, my carpooling with Rob problems and anything else that might cause me to miss a run if left it until after work. I am excited and relieved.

This is going to be awesome. I am bringing my gear tomorrow to test it out. Lunch-time running, here I come!