Flying Electronics?

Day 2

Ran 4 miles - 45 min., little bit of hamstring/hip tightness

Now that I've decided to run for 40 days in a row [well, 38 now!], I'm hyper aware of the little things that bother me during my runs [like my socks]. Today, my socks were fine, but my entertainment was a bit of an issue. My super awesome fabulous sister got me an iPad for graduation and I'm a little bit obsessed with it. I love watching tv shows while I work out because it makes the time fly, but with my little iPod touch, it's hard on the treadmill. I end up squishing way too close to the display and my stride gets all funky, and it's no bueno. But the iPad is amazing [for other reasons too, but clearly for the keeping me distracted]!

Here's my issue. I'm petrified that I'm going to fling it off the treadmill. I've lost many an mp3 player that way. In fact, I usually buy really cheap non-iPod video players for exactly this reason [the touch was ANOTHER present from my super amazing sister]. I don't know if it's my height or if I move my arms funny or what, but invariably at least once a run, my hands get caught in the headphone cord. Most of the time, I can catch it before it comes tumbling to the ground, but certainly not always. Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep my cord out of the way and my iPad in working condition?

Also, I had to go to bar class this morning. On a Saturday. During Memorial Day weekend. I should be on a beach somewhere fist pumping and drinking margaritas. Not cool. I came home from the gym and realized I had absolutely nothing to eat. My lunch literally consisted of 2 pickle spears, hummus and bagel chips and a Baby Bell cheese. I don't even have time to be a real person & go grocery shopping ... how I'm going to get my run on for the next 38 days is beyond me.

Double also, I ran in shorts today! This was the longest I've ever run in shorts [chub rub and I have a sordid history]. I was 100% concerned about how I was going to handle marathon training in SoCal in capris, so yay! Thanks, breakup diet!

PCRF Half Marathon (Race?) Recap Part 2 [or How I Totally Took the Prize for Worst Race Fail Ever. In. Life.]

I had grand plans for Saturday night. I was going to eat pasta, drink tons of water and be in bed by 8. And clearly by that I meant eat Taco Bell, drink tons of wine and be in bed by midnight. Whoops. That should have been sign numero uno that this was not going to be my race.

I woke up on Sunday at 4:45, feeling not quite hungover but not quite right. I had casually pretended to be a real person the night before, so all of my gear was "laid" out [aka thrown in a small pile at the food of my bed]. Excellent. I got dressed, grabbed my water bottle from the fridge and headed out. The race started at 7 but I wanted to get there a little early, since I hadn't gotten my bib from Sarah yet. As I was driving down to Irvine, I had this weird nagging feeling that I had forgotten something (along with a growing hangover). Garmin? No, got that. Phone? Nope, right there. What was I missing?

I got to Irvine around 6:15 which was perfect. The race was right off the freeway, which was awesome, and there was free parking. Holla! [Something about living in Los Angeles makes a person covet free parking]. I grabbed my stuff (went back about 4 times because I kept forgetting my headband) and finally made it the start area around 6:30. The starting area of this race was great. There were no lines for the porta potties and everything was really relaxed. My first 1/2 was Rock & Roll Los Angeles in October which was huge. The starting area of PCRF was much more organized. I'm not sure if I was just more blase about this or if it was the atmosphere but I wasn't nervous or anxious at all. I met Sarah, grabbed my bib and headed to the start. Sarah was starting all the way in the front (because she's an amazing rockstar) and I headed towards the back of the pack. I lined up right behind the 2:45 group, not necessarily because that was my goal, but because it was a convenient way of keeping pace. I knew I hadn't trained, but I figured I'd run what I could, walk if I had to and sort of muddle my way through.

After a fun little warm up from Lululemon and the national anthem we were off. As I crossed the starting line (about a minute after the start - so much different than LA!), I realized what I had forgotten. Breakfast. I had forget to eat breakfast. Oh. Crap. All I had was an FRS on my way down (thanks Sarah!). This was not good. I thought about eating a Gu right away, but I only had 2 and I didn't know if there'd be any along the course. I knew immediately I was in trouble, but there was nothing to do about it now.

Miles 1-6 were awesome. I was running just in front of the pace group and I felt great. The pace was easy, it wasn't too hot, it wasn't too windy. Nothing hurt. I was jamming to my music (and by that I clearly mean singing out loud awkwardly). It was great. I had been taking water at every stop, because I knew I was dehydrated from the night before. Right around here I made mistake numero dos - I took some sort of sports drink instead of water. I didn't actually mean to take it, I thought I was just taking water. When I realized what it was, I figured I'd take it - it was calories and I needed calories. BUT. I don't train with sports drinks. I rarely drink them. In fact, I rarely drink anything that's not water (or alcohol, obvs). The sports drink was so sweet. Like, hurt my teeth sweet. It was not sitting well with my stomach and I had a ton of saliva in my mouth (note: this is the least gross part of this post. If it's too much, go ahead and close your window now. It's ok, I'll wait).


So anyway, the sports drink and I were not getting along. I kept telling myself to hold on until the next water stop, where I could grab some water and hopefully get the taste out of my mouth. At the next water stop, they were handing out water AND gels. Outstanding! I really can't say no to free things and I was pumped that I wouldn't have to use my own gels. This was mistake numero tres - trying something new in the middle of a race. I've only ever had vanilla and blackberry gus. They work for me, I don't think they're gross, and I'm a creature of habit. I'm one of those "buy the same shirt in 17 colors once you know you like it" kind of girls. This gel was neither gu, nor one of my preferred flavors. It was some sort of mocha something. I chugged as much water as I could to get the initial taste out of my mouth, then took half the gel. Bad plan. This gel was not delicious. It was not even tolerable. My stomach, which was a little annoyed at me to begin with, started an open rebellion. By the middle of mile 7, I watched the pace group pass me. Every step I ran made me feel a little more nauseous. Miles 7-9 [ish? it got a little hazy] went through some sort of nature trail with a lot of shrubbery. I started dry heaving and had to walk. Shockingly hard to run and throw up at the same time. I had nothing in my stomach besides water and gel, so I couldn't even throw up properly. To say it was miserable would be an understatement.

It was right around this time that I first started to notice how dehydrated I was getting. My fingers had been swelling a little bit in the earlier miles, but by now they were so swollen I couldn't make a fist. This was not good. I was actually starting to get a littler worried that the swelling and the throwing up were related. I stopped at the porta potty around mile 9 to try and get my act together. This was when I discovered that I had gotten my period. Seriously, body? Seriously? They don't give out tampons in half marathons. Fun fact. It was at this point I officially decided this was just going to be a comedy of errors and let it go. I'd just finish the race as slow as I needed to, I'd chug as much water as I could and I'd hope for the best.

For a couple of miles, I had noticed that I was developing a blister on my right foot. I've gotten really bad blisters since I started running, no matter how many times I get fitted for new shoes or wear fancy running socks. It's a thing. But this one was getting pretty bad. I started alternating walking and running. My hips hurt when I walked and my feet hurt when I ran. It was sort of a no win situation, but I was moving along, feeling as good as can be expected.

At mile 11, my mp3 player died. Apparently, when you plug things in to charge drunkenly, you don't always do it right. Outstanding. But I could see the mile 12 marker. I'd be fine. I took a step and felt something squish. At first, I thought I had stepped on someone's discarded gel. Then I looked down. No, no I had not. I had popped the blister that was developing on my right foot. My toes instantly felt better but my foot was now bloody. Apparently it was a blood blister. Lovely. I officially looked like the female version of 2004 Curt Schilling.

I crossed the finish line and just laughed. This was easily the most ridiculous run I have ever been on. I grabbed about 14 water bottles and an apple and headed back to my car.  My feet hurt and my hips hurt, but other than that I felt ok. I had started to develop a really bad headache, but I chalked it up to a combination of dehydration/allergies/residual hangover. When I was driving back up to LA, I started getting a little dizzy and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. It was actually a really scary experience because I didn't know what was wrong with me. I pulled off and found a bagel store. I grabbed a bagel and another water and sat in my car eating it. I finally started to feel better, but I have officially learned my lesson. Gidget's Rule #4: Don't run a half marathon on an empty stomach.

When I got home, I showered and then headed right back out to the library. No post nap race for this girl. All in all, I was glad I ran it. I don't know that it accomplished what I had hoped, though. I was pretty disappointed in myself for not pushing through everything. I knew I wasn't physically in shape for this kind of distance, but I didn't realize that I wasn't mentally in shape either. That was absolutely a let down and something I'm going to need to ruminate on a little bit. One of these days I'm going to run a race that I have actually trained for without being injured. That will be awesome.

What's your worst race experience?

PCRF Half Marathon (Race?) Recap Part 1 [or How I Decided This Was A Good Idea]

Let's get this out of the way now: This sucked. Not because of the race, not because of the organizers, not because of anything other than I sucked and was woefully unprepared. But I did it, and that was pretty amazing.

Ok, on to the deets (do people say deets anymore? did I just date myself?).

Yes, I have been MIA. No, I didn't secretly plan to run a half marathon and not tell you guys. This one just kind of ... happened. I'd been feeling pretty low about myself. As I mentioned, D's new girlfriend is in my profession and she's unbelievably successful, in a way I'll never be. I know I shouldn't compare myself and blah blah blah but honestly (and we're all about honesty here - Gidget's Rule #3: Always tell the truth), it's been a huge blow to my self esteem. I've been doing a lot of internal soul searching and I've been feeling pretty unaccomplished. Yes, I'm about to graduate law school, yes, I moved across the country all by myself but I couldn't convince myself those things were awesome.

I had 2 exams and a paper within 24 hours of each other on Thursday/Friday. I was drinking my 3436th latte of the morning when I got this magical tweet from the beautiful Sarah:

Well, no, no I wasn't. I had an exam on Monday and an exam on Tuesday. I was going to spend my entire weekend in the library, by myself, feeling alone and stupid and unaccomplished. But wait, why do you ask? Oh, you have an extra bib for a half marathon? On Saturday? No. No, I couldn't possibly ... Well ... Ok, I'll do it. 

Here's what was going through my head:

"I'm not trained."

"I couldn't possibly."

"Well, I was going to run 6-8 miles anyway."

"How bada$$ would I be if I ran a half marathon in the middle of finals?"

"I bet she never ran a half marathon in the middle of finals ..."

"..."

"......."

"Ok, I'll do it."

And just like that, I was running a half marathon. In 2 days. With no training. On 4 hours of sleep. OUTSTANDING.

Stay tuned for Part 2 [or How I Totally Took the Prize for Worst Race Fail Ever. In. Life.]

If I Distract You With My Blogging Fail, You Won't Notice My Running Fail ...

Ok, so I’m officially the worst blogger ever. Real life has eaten me a little bit. There have been some amazingly stressful things going on and this isn’t really the right place for them. Needless to say, my life’s been turned a bit upside down and I’m still trying to catch my footing. I promise to be a better blogger from now on.

In fairness, I was also a pretty poor runner in my blogging absence. I did sneak home to NYC for a long weekend this past weekend, which definitely helped heal my soul a little. It did not, however, help my running one bit. I had grand plans of running in NY with my sister, who’s training for her first ½ marathon in May. Things I did not counting on:

-       It was VERY cold. Much colder than I anticipated

-       I left my running shoes in LA (because I’m a GENIUS)

-       I didn’t have a lot of time and a lot of things to do and people to see (and Mardi Gras’ to celebrate…)

So I managed to get 1 lousy, stinking 5 miler in. I also missed a training run because I landed in LA much too hungover to function Wednesday afternoon. I did manage to buy new running shoes, though! I had a gift certificate for a running store near my sister (thanks, Groupon!) and am going to need a new pair between now and my potential quasi-graduation celebration ½ marathon, so I figured I’d pick them up with my gift certificate. I also grabbed some Gus because the only flavor I have left is strawberry banana and that stuff’s just gross.

I promise to be a better blogger. Stay tuned for my review of some awesome products sent to me by the awesome Sarah from Once Upon A (L)ime and my big marathon conundrum.

You know you love my cliff-hangers.

2-a-Day

Workout:
Morning: 2 mi. run outside 19:47
Evening: 7 mi. treadmill .5 incline 68:47

Um, hi. Let's talk about this for a second. I ran TWICE today. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Now, it should be noted that I absolutely did NOT intend to break my workout this way. I had 7 miles on the schedule for this weekend. I may or may not have been too hungover yesterday to manage (sometimes martinis are too delicious to pass up) so I knew I was going to have to get it in today before I had to be at a training session at 10 am. I carbo loaded with some delicious pasta (the first time I've had pasta in a really long time) and a little red wine (not the first time I've had red wine in a really long time) and was tucked into bed by 1030 pm. Excellent ...

Except. I meant to set my alarm for 645, be out the door by 7 and by home by 830 or so - plenty of time to shower and get ready. Well. You can, therefore, imagine my surprise when my alarm went of at 745, not 645. Crap. That would definitely NOT be enough time to run 7 miles. Knowing that I was technically still "injured," even if I felt awesome, I didn't want to push too hard and hurt myself. I decided to run 3 or 4 miles and finish the rest when I finished training. Well. As soon as I started running I knew that wasn't going to happen. My legs felt heavy, my chest was burning and I just did. not. want. At 2 miles I passed my house and bailed. I was hoping to get 5 miles in when I got home but I wasn't optimistic.

By the time I got home from training it was after 5 (yes, it was absolutely the longest day ever. ugh.). I didn't particularly relish the idea of running outside and ending my run in the dark, but I didn't want to run 5 miles on the treadmill. By the time I carefully weighed my options (aka stalked facebook for a while) it was already dark out. Since I'm a magnet for cars in the dark (I have the scars to prove it!), my only real option was the gym. I reluctantly headed out, figuring at least it would be empty while the Oscars were going on. I hopped on the treadmill, figuring I'd run my 5 as fast as I could and be out of there. But while I was running I got to thinking. I was supposed to run 7 consecutive miles today. If I was really serious about running a half in May (and I'm 90% certain I am) I wasn't going to be able to run half of it in the morning, take an 8 hour break, and then run the second half in the afternoon. So I decided to just stay on for the whole 7 miles. This was definitely easier said than done. The time limit on the treadmill was 60 minutes (are there treadmills in this world that go longer? There must be, right?) and I knew it would take me longer than that to run 7 miles. I thought about splitting it up 3 and 4 or 5 and 2 but I kind of wanted to see that 7 on the display. I figured if I could average a 10 min. mile I could finish in under 70 minutes (the 60 minute limit + the 10 minute cooldown). I did a 1 mile warmup at 5.5 and then just took off. Everything about the run felt amazing. At the start of the last mile "One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)" came on my iPod and I knew I'd finish. The cooldown period was less than awesome because I had to keep fiddling with the speed, but I finished it and it was amazing. This was the run I wish I had had last weekend (and absolutely no leg pain at all! I may or may not want to marry my physical therapist).

It looked a little something like this (for those of you keeping score at home).

I really couldn't be more pleased with my run tonight. It makes me feel so strong and accomplished and awesome, which is what I really needed after a bit of a demoralizing, confidence-busting sort of week (I may or may not have had an existential crisis about what I'm doing with my life). The decision to do the full 7 miles was the best one I've made in a long time. Now I'm enjoying some left over pasta, some red wine, a very much needed foam roll and the dvr-ed Oscars.

Have you ever done 2 runs in one day? How do you feel about breaking up long runs?

Bad Run But Good Brunch

So I couldn't think of another adjective that began with B besides "Badass" and I thought that might be inappropriate. Sorry in advance for the lack of alliteration.

Workout:
6.63 mi - 1:20:20

There's really not much to say about this run, or at least not much that I'm willing to think about right now. It was really disappointing. After banging out some awesome runs these last few weeks, I was anticipating this run being AWESOME. It was decidedly less so. I was scheduled to meet the super stellar Skinny Runner and some other speedy blogging ladies down in Newport at 9am for my very first group run! However, after getting off to a late start and realizing I'd have to stop for gas, I figured I'd never make it in time. I sent off an email letting the ladies know I'd be a little late and to start without me. I made it down to Newport in record time (especially considering the gross traffic Moondoggie and I sat in to get there last weekend). I got a little lost and ended up in the middle of the loop (I think). I had planned 2 outfits - one for rain and one for no rain - and brought both down with me. The sun appeared to be shining so I made the executive decision to wear the non-rain gear. That was, in hindsight, a mistake. After a quick stretch, I headed to the path. I ended up parking pretty much in the middle of the path (again, I think. There was definitely some confusion as to where the path started/ended/went at all). I decided I'd just go right, run a nice easy 1/4 mile warmup, run for 3 miles, then turn around. I wasn't sure if I'd pass SR and the other ladies, but I figured maybe it was for the best - they're all in such better running condition and I really didn't want to slow anyone down! The path looked gorgeous and I was really excited to get out there and run.

My non-rain decision turned out to be misguided. Within the first 1/4 mile, the rain started again. Now I had a tough decision to make: I was still close enough to the car to go back, grab my windbreaker and a hat and be none worse for wear. As the rain came down harder, I decided I'd turn around. Bad choice #1. By the time I got back to my car, the heavy rain had stopped, so I decided not to stop and just keep running, but this time heading for the path to the left. Bad choice #2. The path to the right seemed nice and flat. The path to the left was full of rolling hills that my knees just did. not. love. The rain continued on and off and I definitely regretted not getting my windbreaker. My first 2 miles were perfectly lovely. Then my left IT Band decided to read its ugly head. Yes, you read that right. The LEFT IT band. As in, not the one that made me cry during the half. As in my good leg. As in kill me now. I stopped at the turn around and sent some pretty pathetic text messages to Moondoggie about how I was hours from home (not really) and 3 miles away from my car (almost true) and maybe crying (definitely true). As I hobbled painfully and slowly back to my car, I passed the adorable SR, Megan and Pam. They were running so effortlessly I didn't have the heart to stop them and tell them that this pathetic bundle of IT Bands was the person they were supposed to meet.

So I finished up my miles, tearing up the whole time, stopping every once in a while to stretch, got to my car and seriously debated finding the nearest grocery store and drowning my sorrows in as large a vat of icing as they were willing to sell me. However, I realized that that was just going to make me fat AND sad, so I head to the blogger brunch over at Mother's Market. I'm so glad I did! All of the ladies were so inspiring and fun and gorgeous. Not gonna lie, kind of jealous and their awesome running abilities! I may or may not have been tempted to trip them on the way out in an attempt to level the playing field :) Thanks for a great day Sarah, Monica, Nicole, Megan, Pam and Bri!

Shamelessly stolen because I'm obviously not fancy enough to take pictures for my blog yet.

Today's run really got me thinking. I was so disappointed and frustrated to see this injury pop up again. It was really disheartening, especially considering how well my runs have been going lately. I had these beautiful visions of running a half before bar studying really got under way, then putting in some serious training for a fall/winter first full marathon. Now I just don't know if that's going to happen. Maybe my body just isn't cut out for long distance running. That's a really sad thought for me. I love distance running but my knees may not. For now, I think I'll try to scale back my mileage and little and see what happens. My knee began feeling worse and worse as the day went on. I convinced Moondoggie to massage it a little, I did a ridiculous amount of foam rolling and now I'm just trying not to aggravate it (I may or may not be blogging in bed and drinking wine with ice packs on my knees. May or may not.). I really don't want this to snowball into another 3 month forced hiatus, so I'm going to be extra careful. I'd rather lose some milage now, maybe have to forgo the spring 1/2  and be able to keep running.

Have you ever been sidelined with an injury? How do you deal with the mental pain?

Tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Workout: 5 miles, 53:50

5 miles down and it feels pretty great! I had originally planned on running this nice and easy, hoping for about an 11:40 pace. After my last treadmill run I decided I'd be ambitious and aim for an 11 minute pace - still slower than my weekday runs but faster than I had been running. I am a new convert to the idea that you really don't know how fast you can run until you try. Then, I talked to my dad. While you'd never know it to look at him now, my dad used to be a pretty good cross-country runner. He suggested I run my first mile with an 11 min pace and then see if I could kick it up to 10 for the middle miles and back down to 11 for the last mile. At first I was really unsure. Me? Run more than 2 10 min miles? Surely you jest. He reminded me that I didn't think I could run one 10 min mile, let alone 2, so maybe 3 wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility (hence my new speed philosophy above).

I got up and out this morning at around 8, which is probably still too late to start but is a vast improvement over last week's 11:15 debacle. I decided to go running at a park by Moondoggie's house because a) I was there and b) his neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks. Now. I have done all of my running, ever, almost exclusively on streets. I have a hard time working up motivation to drive somewhere to go running, so I just map runs from my apartment. It's not always awesome, but it gets the job done. So I was both excited and nervous to run on an actual running path. What if it was really empty and I got raped by a crazy man? I tried to convince Moondoggie he wanted to come with me, but he not so politely declined. Then I got nervous about the actual stopping. I usually end up stopping once or twice per "long" run to wait for lights. Would I be able to cover the distance without these 15 second breaks? My knee hadn't been loving me all week, what if it hurt in the middle of the loop and I couldn't just hop a bus back to my car? These are the ridiculous things I think about.

Well, all of my fears were unfounded. In fact, the park was PACKED! This was both awesome and frustrating. I love people watching so I never got bored, which was awesome. I loved running on the path because I knew it was a 5 mile loop, so I didn't have to worry - I could just follow the curve of the road! There was a Team in Training group run going on, which was both great to see and really obnoxious. I think TNT is a great organization. My sister is training to run her first half with them and she loves them. They raise money for an amazing cause and teach people some really great things about running. In that respect, it was inspiring to see so many TNTers out and running. But. There were a couple of things about the way they had organized their run that really bothered me. First, they were running in fairly large groups. I'm more of a solo runner myself but I can understand the benefits of running with a group. However, it sucked that they were 4 or 5 abreast. This made it really difficult to pass. I was also taken aback by their attitude. They set up some sort of checkpoint/finish line area about 1/2 way around the loop. They had a canopy set up with gatorade and a cheering section. I think that's great. I'd love it if every long run felt like a race! As I approached, I noticed they were cheering on all of the TNTers who passed. When I passed, the leader (maybe?) said, "Oh, not HER. Don't cheer for HER, she's not one of us." Um, thanks, lady! I certainly wasn't expecting them to cheer for me, but I was very put off by her holier than thou attitiude. I wanted to respond, "Hey, I've given tons of money to your organization, lady!"

Anyway, the run went pretty well! As you can tell from the timing, I didn't quote make my 11-10-10-10-11 plan. I haven't uplaoded Henry's data yet, but I know I was in the 10s for the middle miles which I'll 100% take. When I was training for the half, my 5 mile time was around 62 minutes. The fastest I've EVER run 5 miles was 58:32 about 4 years ago, so this felt pretty amazing. The path was a little hillier than I anticipated and my left knee didn't love that, but all in all an excellent run!

Now I'm off to enjoy a beautiful 80 degree So-Cal weekend! How'd your "long" runs go?

Edit: Holy typos, Batman! Sorry about that, that's what I get from trying to blog from my phone in the car!

Carbo Loading

It's ok to carbo-load before a 5 mile run with past ... and red wine. Right? Right??

I thought so.

Slacker

I’m feeling a little guilty right now. I’m sitting in class after a 12 hour day that was chock full of activity. Except running. I shamelessly snuggled in and skipped my scheduled 2 mile run this morning. Didn’t shorten, didn’t run half-assed. Just did not run. And now, I’m feeling pretty guilty about it. I have a 5 mile run scheduled for Saturday and between shortening yesterday’s run and skipping today’s, I’m worried I’m just going to die on Saturday. I won’t get out of class until after 10:15 pm. I’m so tempted to run home, grab my running clothes and race to the gym (which closes at midnight – how dumb is that).

Edit: While writing this post, my very enlightened quasi-running sister said I should go to the gym. To the gym it is!

In other news, I’m supposed to run 5 miles on Saturday. I’m beyond excited and beyond nervous about it. When I was training for the ½ marathon, I loved running my long runs [which is probably why I did them so often and why I didn’t do my short mid-week runs and why I hurt myself etc. etc. etc.]. While 5 miles is by no means long, it’s long for me! Every time I start start a long run, I’m tense and worried and concerned about ridiculous minute details – what if I didn’t put on enough sunscreen? Did I remember Body Glide? How much battery does my iPod have? Why didn’t I drink more water last night? I should start before noon, is it always this hot? But by a mile or two in, I’m not really thinking about anything. Skinny Runner [who I totally want to be when I grow up] over at skinnyrunner.com asked the other day why we love to run. I run because it’s the one time a day when I don’t have to think. I spend 12-14 hours per day thinking about the briefs and demurrers and habeaus and other difficult vaguely  Latin sounding things [totally random aside: I studied Latin for 8 years and HATE when lawyers and law students mispronounce Latin terms. Hate. It.]. I love running because I don’t have to think about anything. I just have to concentrate on not falling on my face which, admittedly, is more of a challenge than you’d imagine. That’s why I can’t wait to get back out there this weekend. I’m not sure why, but there’s something about 5 miles that makes me feel like I’m back!

Also, head over to skinnyrunner.com, who’s giving away a bib for the LA Marathon and runningrambles.com where Aron is giving away an entry into the SF Marathon. Free races? Sounds good to me!

things to do that aren't watching the super bowl

Workout: 4.3 mi., 45:20

Finally got my 4 mile "long" run in today. Friday was a no good, very bad day which led to a very drunk Friday night and a very hungover Saturday. So I knew the run wasn't happening. Yesterday was a draggy hungover-ish sort of day. I took some Tylenol PM (read: several) and hoped to but up early to get my run in. Ah, the best laid plans ... By 9:30 I was awake but laying in bed playing on my computer and catching up on blogs. It was cold in my apartment and warm in my bed. I finally forced myself to get up and get dressed, then fiddled around with my music. By the time I actually got out the door, it was almost 11am.

And let me tell you, it is hot in Los Angeles at 11 am. I have to work on getting up and out earlier or there is no way I'm ever going to make it through the summer. It's only February, people! The first mile I felt tired and sluggish and I just couldn't get going. My right calf was stiff and my breathing was funny. I couldn't find shade and the sun was gross. I sort of settled in by mile 2, but I started getting some weird right ankle/foot pain. I think it's because the sidewalks I was running on were slightly slanted. I felt like my Garmin (whom, I believe, I have decided to name Henry. Apparently to be a cool running blogger you have to name your electronics? Ok.) beeped way early for the end of mile 3. that made mile 4 seem absolutely interminable. I just wanted to be finished and not hot and curled back in bed. But i finished and that's all that counts, right? Right?!?

I'm going to try to come back with another post this afternoon sort of re-evaluating my life and where I want to go (to say that there are some major changes going on would be an understatement). I make no promises, though. Not that there's anyone reading this out there.