HELLOOOOOOOOOOO, anyone still out there?I have neglected my blogging duties lately, but I have been so busy it boggles the brain.
Here is a blitzing run-down of the last week and a half. I endeavor for punctuality in all future blog posting events. By the way, this is the loooooongest blog post in history, enjoy.
Wednesday, 3.9.2005
Workout wrap-up:Yesterday,
Old Man Winter showed his busted face again and pitilessly poured forth further white stuff. This made my workout more difficult today, because the road I would use is covered in ice. I ran over to "Historic Coventryville" (there's a sign and everything) and ran repeats on a small road paralelling Rt. 100. It tooke about 3 min to traverse the entire span, which is likely a little less than 1K. Frisking winds and biting cold challenged my honor. First 5 were uninspired, heart rate (HR)remained in the 170s. Second 5 better, HR in the 180s+, loosened up. Got good sleep last night, but achilles remains sore.
Workout by the digits:21 min warmup, about 3 miles.
10 X 3 min hard, 1 min easy. (approximately 7 miles)
21 min cooldown, about 3 miles.
Workout total:
13 milesAlso did Pilates and lifted weights following a scrumptious supper.
I conversed with Rabdt at Fred Beans Ford today, who insists (again) that my car registration is on the way. Those jokers were nice, but I expected more superior service. I will also receive a new license plate, what's up with that?
I spoke with a woman at the
Templeton Foundation about summer internship opportunities. I have a phone interview on Monday. I have been too busy to do much work on the forefront here, but did submit an application to Wall-Mart and heard back from them. Unfortunately, it's spelled "Wal-Mart", with one "l". Alas, alas.
Smokey, the feral stray cat, is now living free in our house. He follows Rudy, our domesticated feline around, although remains afraid of us. Perhaps soon I will be able to pet him all day long.
Tuesday 3.8.05
AM: 41min,
6 miles or so at 5:50am. Had to get run in way early before going to work, in the rain. So... that's what the sunrise is like in March? Brrr. Yawn.
PM: 39min, more like
5.5 miles. Got in the 2nd half of my day's mileage in after work, around 7pm. Quite very hungry and tired. Felt like falling asleep during run. I vaulted over the potholes, concealed in the night's darkness. I was able to hop in the warm whirlpool after dinner, which is quite a luxury. Reminds me of the Cloister days, when I would often join my friends in the outdoor hot-tub for a post-dinner soak.
I worked in Philly today at Alan's law office. Alan, however, was in Liechtenstein on business, so it was a chill day. There is a new legal assistant there, Jim, who seems to be a fine chap. I wasted much time searching for some notes of Alan's and did a few other tasks. Commuting from my parents' home was a long haul, almost 2 hours each way. Alan if I could go the whole week, but I will only go in twice. I will earn money the old fashioned way--by working, not winning (until this weekend). By the way, I negotiated a pay hike prior to coming in this week.
Monday, 3.7.05
In Baltimore, aka Charm City. Ran a
Century (100 minutes) or somewhere between 14.5 and 15 miles. Oh the weather was so delightful, it was in the upper 60's. Mother Nature is my dawg.
Achilles and my corporeal self in general remained sore, so I didn't fly on today's jaunt. Ran up and about Druid Hill Park.
Weekly mileage: 72.5 miles. My mileage was a tad lower than I desired this week. Without a long run, a Midterm, and GA work out the whazoo, I will take it.
Stacy's yearly mileage: 2.25 miles. Maybe I'll try to get her to jog again come September.
Sunday, 3.6.05
Race Report I was suckered into driving down to Salisbury, MD for a 5 mile road race. The Course Record was previously 25:42, and if I won I was looking at a sweet $450 purse. So, I arose well before the sun peeked his wuss head up, around 4:35 AM at Stacy's apartment. I hopped in my trusty vehicle and drove 112 miles to Salisbury State University, geographically located on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The dj was pumping catchy tunes, and
local road jogger clowns were out listening to a motivational speaker lead them in a group warmup. I was licking my chops, thinking I would clean up. Then, 15 min prior to commencing the race, I saw the
Kenyan decked out in Fila gear show up. Maybe it was a fake Kenyan? (Nope... bummer.) Then, at the starting line, a few other serious road whores showed up, who I recognized and had even recently performed well at US cross nationals. Oh well, I was in for more than I bargained for.
First mile went out in about 4:43, with a pack of about 6 of us. The marathon fool who I beat at Ambler 2 weeks ago was leading the way. Course was mostly flat, though slightly downhill in the beginning and uphill towards the end. A fair amount of turns also slowed it down. There was some wind, and the temperature was in the upper 30's. The Kenyan and Mark Stallings took off shortly before the 2 mile mark, which I passed in approximately 9:33. By 3 miles, a MD runner had gapped me, and I had gapped everyone else. I passed 3 in the 14:40s and 4 miles in 19:45. I finished the uphill finish strong, and crossed the line in an official time of 24:50 (I had 24:48 on my watch). After my morning odessey, I crossed the line in 4th, one place out of the money. D'oh. In pursuing the money, I did get a PR and enjoyed myself, which reminded me why I do this silly sport anyway.
RACE RESULTS? CLICK HEREI cooled down and chatted with Stallings and Sandercock, both former Bryn Mawr runners, still running strong, though weird dudes. I won my age group (joy), and got a pewter plate. Yeehaa.
I was more excited to fill my backpack with the free food and gatorade at the post race festivities. The goodie bag and foodstuffs that I hoarded out of there were glorious. Simply glorious.
Had a long drive home, but felt good to have the pressure off. Worked on research activities and pushed Stacy out the door for a few shake out miles later.
20:15 warmup (3.25mi).
24:50 (5mi) race.
27.5min cooldown (4.25mi)
21.5 (2+)Slow stroll with Stacy around the rugged streets of Charm City.
Today's total mileage:
14.5 milesSaturday 3.5.05
41 min, easy 6 miles, pre-race. Ran around home prior to driving down to Baltimore. Stacy and I went to another Med School function--talent show. I am feeling like a med school groupie these days.
Friday 3.4.05
64min, around Bryn Mawr. 20 min warmup. 10X1 min hard, 1 min easy mini-fartlek. 24 min cooldown. A solid 10+ mile effort. Wanted to get in something today, though it won't take much out of me before I run for the money on Sunday. Drove back home to visit with family, especially Karin and Greg, who don't make it home very often.
Thursday 3.3.05
This was a long and emotionally exhausting day.
Woke up around 6:30am and shuffled through 62min, or 9-9.5 miles on the roads around home. My grandmother died last Friday and my family travelled to Lancaster for her funeral services. (for the obituary:
Click Here). She was quite a lady, with a good sense of humor and anchored in her spirituality. She had pre-planned her entire service, including hymns, passages, and sermon topic. I was honored that she requested me to read Psalm 103. It was difficult to do, because of the emotions of the event, but I managed. We all try to be happy for her, finally home with the Lord, but this is difficult to do, because we all miss her.
Inappropriate comment of the day: My cousin remarked that the service looked like a scene from "The Witches," because of all the old ladies in attendence. (In this book/movie there is a witches convention, where there is a roomfull of old ladies plotting about eating kids, etc.).
I drove back to Bryn Mawr after a long day and made it (a little late) to my Euro class.
The day of Wednes 3.2.05
21 min warmup. Snow outside, so had to do workout in the neighborhoods, where I have a hilly mile marked, with a .3 mile rest back to beginning.
5X mile: 4.59, 2:25rest, 4:58, 2:32 rest , 4:55, 2:21rest, 4:54, 2:33rest, 4:53, 2:07rest.
This was a very solid workout. I liberated myself from the HR monitor, and just tried to go at a good, hard pace, also letting the rests be a little longer. Progressively got faster as I loosened up a little.
22 min cool down. Total miles:
12.5Managed to lose my car in the parking lot and spent a good 20 min walking back and forth looking for it, in pounding wind and snow. Also, a Nova b-ball game let out, pouring forth many fans into the madness. Quite frustrating. Finally, I found my car--oh wait, that's just one that looks exactly like it. This occurred twice before my car showed itself in the middle of everything. Perhaps it fell temporarily into a black hole? I will listen for it here:
http://www.black-hole.nl/Tuesday 3.1.05
61.5 min. 9 miles, around zee neighborhood. Ran into Bob Schwelm, owner of the Bryn Mawr Running Co. and ran with him for half the run. He is easy to talk with, and made run go by easier. He has a radical canine who accompanied us. The dog is a hungarian hunting dog, and needs at least 2 hours of exercise a day. I am interested in procuring a similar beast someday. Delayed workout until tomorrow, we got much snow yesterday (March=in like a lion...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr). Spent much time prepping for an exam tonight in Managerial Accounting. It went all right, but I would prepare differently if I had another opportunity. Our
bonus question: Who is portrayed on the dime?
(Answer: FDR!)
Monday 2.28.05
75 min,
11.5 miles or so. Ran up and about Haverford, if my recollection serves me correctly. The nature trail was still iced over, but what the heck, right? I slipped along it's 2.3 mile radius. Later in the afternoon, the clouds defecated a fat load more on my surroundings, making future soft surfaces all but impossible. Went into work, even though Villanova officially closed for the day (they even turned many lights off in my building--thanks, much appreciated). My research for Jonathan was killing me at the time, and I was also prepping for tomorrow exam. So, why, I ask, did there have to be a 2 hour celebrity Fear Factor that night starring
Omarosa? I watched these butt faces perform for my amusement.
Weekly Total: 82 miles. A good week of training, with 3 workouts. Going to use some upcoming road races to transition into track.
Sunday, 2.27.05
1hour41 minutes, 15 miles up and about Dru Hill Park, including the frisbee golf course. This was a decent run, as I recall. Nothing spectacular, but decently solid. Drove home tonight to avoid an impending Armageddon-the-sky-is-falling-snowstorm.
Saturday, 2.26.05
21 min warmup. Squeezed in a 3rd workout this week. Damn, I'm studly. Ran up to the Baltimore reservoir at Dru Hill. Some kindly citizens have marked distances around the reservoir, and I decided to do half mile repeats. As you can see by times below, either I'm in crazy mad awesome shape, or the distance was short (it is the latter). I stuck with it, however, because it seemed about right. One end was right under a giant sweet statue of William Wallace, who inspired me through the intervals. I did 12 X approximately 800m, with quite short rest. My HR was in 180s, and would get down to 140s before I would go again. It was very windy, which accounts for much of the discrepancy in times (I would run one direction, rest, then run back).
By the digits:
2:12, (40 rest), 2:09, (38 rest), 2:17, (39 rest), 2:05, (38 rest), 2:18, (39 rest), 2:09, (39 rest), 2:17, (38 rest), 2:08, (40 rest), 2:15, (39 rest), 2:10, (39 rest), 2:12, (40 rest), 2:06
21.5min cooldown. Total miles:
12.5Later that evening, Stacy and I went to "Monte Carlo" night at the med school, where I pimped my suit and we got $25,000 in casino chips. There was a makeshift casino set up, with many of the tables run by professors. We rocked the blackjack table, where I started off very Hot (with a capitol "H"), winning big bucks 5 out of 6 hands. Then, still attempting to high roll, I lost all my money in the next 5 hands. Brrrr... I was as cold as a cat trapped outside on a winter's eve. We went to the roulette table, where using Stacy's remainig chips, we conservatively won back my money. Lastly, we headed to craps, where the dealers ended up to be quite corrupt, and gave us many more tickets for the prize raffle than our measly chips were worth. We didn't win any prizes tonight, but it was a fun event, with much flowing food and beverage.
Friday, 2.25.05
1 hour, 9 miles. I did a fine run around Bryn Mawr. Wrapped a few things up and drove down to Baltimore.
