13 It is finally raining here. We came home from Leadville to rain. The next morning I got up to go to work, put the dog out, and she has two preferred places to be when it rains: huddled under a patio table that affords no protection, or sitting in the middle of the patio, in the rain, staring in at me, because sadly, she doesn't know:
I will not be manipulated.
12. Now that Sweet Baboo is "tapering" (read: he's only running 50 miles this week) he's the boss of my training, and runs with me. For some reason, this makes me run faster. I don't know why. It's not like I'm trying to prove anything to himself. Maybe it's just that having a running buddy, I'm too self conscious to take my usual lazy walk breaks. The result: faster times in training.
11. I have come to the conclusion that I am sadly lacking in symmetry. How do I know this? Behold, my evidence:
a) Whenever I wear Cw-x tights, the "supportive" seams always rotate inward on my right leg.
b) My left calf muscle has an ongoing issue, but only my left.
I have to assume that I lurch along, not unlike Quasimoto. Next thing you know, I'll have a built-up running shoe.
10. This week I had a kid's case on my desk, one that I taught my last semester of teaching. I went down to the youth detention center (kid jail) to interview him for admission.
When I asked him if he wanted to come to the hospital where I work. He waved his hand around the jail, and said, "I don't know. I seem to do best when I"m in here. Maybe I should just stay here as long as I can".
When you're 17, and resigned to a life in lockup, who can give you hope?
How do you get hope back?
9. I turns out that even though I had only planned to do a few long events on the last quarter of the year, the training is still sucking up a lot of time. I had planned on doing a lot of sprint triathlons, but holy hell: I spend most of my time running. I can't believe I signed up for a hundred miler. I must be crazy.
8. Sorry for the downer (#7). It's just that I thought about this kid from time to time. He was the smartest in his class. I figured he'd be the one to make it. You just never know.
7. I dropped another pound. I went to my ticker, up at the top of this page, to enter in my new weight, and it was all, "New! Now track your waist measurement!" Oh, HELL no. I am not going public with that. My weight is one thing; my actual measurements are another.
6. I will share, however, that the size 10s are starting to loosen. This is good, because I want to weigh as little as possible if I'm going to try to drag my ass over 100 miles.
5. My training this week:
- Friday: 10 mile hike to the top of Hope Pass and back.
- Saturday: 7.3 mile run around Silverthorne, Colorado, Elevation 9000 feet, rising up to around 9400 feet, dropping down to 8800 feet, and then back up to 9000.
- Sunday: 7.8 mile trail run alongside Turquoise Lake, mostly flat, starting at 9900 feet.
- Monday: rest
- Tuesday: 4.2 mile trail run at home, elevation gain, 563 feet.
- Wednesday: 8 mile road run, elevation gain, 355 feet.
- Thursday, 6.7 miles, road/trail, elevation gain, unknown.
- Total mileage: 44 miles. Not a bad start.
4. It's amazing that I ran on Thursday. I haven't stuck with a training plan and actually run a single Thursday until now. Of course, Baboo is watching over me, so I'm too self conscious not to. It will be an even bigger miracle of I do both of my long runs this weekend: 20 miles on Saturday, 12 on Sunday.
3. Wednesday's run was momentous for a very important reason: I wore a running skirt. I have NEVER been able to wear those things. But last night, I wore one, and only tugged the shorts down twice. You men won't understand. You women will.
2. I will share my favorite fast meal: steamable bagged veggies, kraft easy mac in a cup, and some tuna or salmon. I suppose you could use chicken. Mix it all together, and divide in half, and voila: the guilty pleasure of mac and cheese with veggies and protein.
1. Thursday is binge day. I have decided that I will have: a donut. More on this later.
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