Thursday, February 11, 2010

Thursday Thirteen

  1. I am so freaking sick of winter. How am I, the lazy runner, to get through a run when it's colder that sh*t out?  I can't stop and walk, because I get chilled.  I know, I know, I'll miss all this in July.  Meanwhile: bitch, bitch, bitch..
  2. I'm losing 1.5 pounds a week.  Which for most people would be fantastic.  For me, who used to pull off losing 5 pounds a week, it's like GAAAAA!  Still, I'll take it over losing nothing.
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  3. I'm seriously doubting my ability to pull off a 50-miler in less than a month from now.
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  4. I found my favorite pink iPod.  This is awesome, because I thought the car thieves had stolen it.  They didn't, it just fell through the hole in the pocket of the jacket I was wearing that day.  Remember: every day is Christmas when you lose things the way I do.  You find it, and you're ALL happy.
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  5. I did an 18-miler last weekend averaging about  14-minute pace.  For me, this is huge, especially when considering the elevation profile of said 18-miler.  There is a funny little blip right before 10 miles, that's where I accidentally turned off my Garmin for 0.6 miles.  I started feeling panic problem about mile 14, but I got through it okay. 
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6.  I have discovered, that even if you do nothing, panic attacks will go away.  They suck, but THEY GO AWAY.  Buwahaha.  You will not vanquish me, stupid anxiety crap.
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7.  Per the profile, above: That's 5-1/2 miles of downhill running.  My quads did not stop hurting until Wednesday.
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8.  I've gotten very good at wasting what little time I have while a) not training and b) not doing any of my reading, or homework.
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9.  One of the new psychiatrists said, "your assessments are wonderful."  Wonderful!  Me!  When I taught public school, nobody told me I was wonderful; the only thing they ever told me was "don't park near the front, that's where parents and visitors park.  You park in the back."
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10.  This week, I begin Satan's spin class.  Dread Pirate has been trying to get me into this for years, so that I can share her misery.  Beginning promptly at 5:30 am, It's an hour forty-five of constant spinning, with a man yelling commands and intervals at you NOW!  C'MON: NOW!!  Then I get to hurry to work with a wet pony tail.  The upside to this, discovered today, is that the next morning my hair has assumed a fairly attractive flip from the pony tail worn all day.  Win-win. 
Note: You men reading this will not appreciate a "upside" of this nature. Or maybe you will.  I don't know.
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11.  I have decided that I would like to go to WAL-MART today and buy items cheaply made by children in sweatshops for my office. In particular, I would like to get a coat tree and a mirror, and maybe a cheap curtain to filter the afternoon sun. 
There's no reason why you would be interested in this, I'm just mentioning it.
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12.  The place where I work has a treatment unit for juvenile sex offenders.  Would you guess that there are cases I work on that I can never, ever, ever talk?  Oh, yeah.  NEVER.
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13.   They started a "biggest loser" club where I work.  Back in 2005, when I started all this, I joined one of those--we paid $10, and the biggest loser would get all the money.  I lost 30 pounds, proving once again that there is not much I won't do for money.  However, most of the people in the club lost interest, stopped coming, and faded away; there was never any explanation as to what happened to the money. I didn't get it.  My understanding is that the school secretary kept it. 
This time, if I win, I want my money.

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9 comments:

  1. I have to say that I love your Thursday Thirteens. I enjoy your blog alot, but I always look forward to Thursdays post. There is always something to make me smile in it. Thanks for doing them!

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  2. The ponytail flip is great incentive to continue with spin classes. Just sayin'.

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  3. This is a scary looking 18mile profile.
    Hopefully you will stop doubting yourself soon. Not that I have done any ultras but I understand that mental toughness is at least 50% of the game.

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  4. I'm impressed by the strength of dealing with the anxiety attacks as they come & go. I've only had a couple (&hope it stays that way) but I'm not sure I would be able to fight through & keep going. Recognition is half the battle, good for you!

    PS - you did an 18 with THAT profile...if you stay tough & keep on the training/food scheduling you can get through the 50. Won't be earth-shattering fast, but you can do it. We'll be waiting for the report, your faithful stalkers.

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  5. I'm a really, really, REALLY slow runner (11-11 1/2 min. miles when I'm doing good, right now). I am so impressed that you kept at that 18 miler at a 14 min. pace (which is also the pace I would probably do on a run this long right now). I think I would have quit. Or walked.

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  6. Oh, gosh, that is so nice to say, but it would be a mistake that assume that I kept a steady 14 minute pace. That is my average pace, and reflects running fast downhill and slogging uphill.

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  7. Nice work on the 18 miler; as a fellow slow runner I can really appreciate those times -- good work!

    Panic attacks: if you can get enough control of yourself (much easier said than done, but it sounds like you're already there), consciously breathing in through your nose out through your mouth repeat repeat repeat can lessen the severity of the attack . . . fyi

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  8. 18 miles?! Oh my goodness that is impressive!!!

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  9. I'm sick of winter too. I haven't driven my car in over 2 weeks because it's stuck in the driveway. Luckily, there are other cars here. I just drive whichever car is closest to the street. In any case, I've been sending the groundhog strongly worded letters aka hate mail. I think he's on to me though. I've received a couple back saying, "Return to sender."

    Good luck on the rest of your training for the 50 miler. And I hope Spring comes soon for you too.

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 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...