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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Sore Places

4800 yd swim workout. I am sore in places I didn't even know existed.
   I went to the Y to swim around 9:30, forgetting that all the water aerobics classes go on in the mornings. This means I had to share a lane with 2 other guys who were doing some sort of scuba diving-breast-stroke thing- all good, because hey, exercise is exercise, but I nearly got nailed in the face a couple of times by one of the guy's legs. Someone needs to teach the man some black line etiquette.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Brats and Breads

MGF_2433

   A lovely picture of me, myself, and my sweat ring from a local 8k yesterday. The course was on a vineyard and we actually got to run through the grapevines- sounds cool, until you get smacked in the face by a vine. And then get stuck behind slower people because you have to go single-file for half the course. Still, it was an absolutely awesome race on a beautiful day with perfect weather. A couple of my running buddies did it as well, which always adds to the fun, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the cider and homemade breads at the end (Sweet potato bread..SO. GOOD.). And the best part of the whole day? Speeding up a hill at the end and having a guy come up next to me and say "You brat! I was drafting you!" Fuel for the fire, darlin'. I sped up, passed him, and then did the polite thing and congratulated him later while we were both getting cider. Because though I may sweat like a dude, there's a lady in here somewhere.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Oh Leaf Mold, How I Hate You...

 When everything else in your life is up in the air, it's nice to know that no matter what, you will still get sick 2 weeks out from your A race of the season. Wednesday greeted me with a sore throat and a headache, and
Thursday's run was coupled with chest pains, side stitches, and a general feeling of almost complete suckishness for the first 2 of 7 miles. Luckily, things went better after that, but it was touch and go for a while, with me contemplating laying down in the ground and taking a quick snoozer rather than tackling yet another monstrous neighborhood hill (seriously, it's like I live in freaking San Francisco).
   I am feeling on the mend at this point, but still sound like Snuffleofagous, which should bode well for the sick nasty 8k cross country race I signed up for tomorrow. The website describes the course as "extremely challenging with lots of hills"- just the way I like 'em! I bought some new trail shoes since my Asics Gel Trail Sensors have officially seen better days, so I am hoping my new Brooks Pure Grit will send me flying to a speedy, painless finish (joke).

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Weekly Revelations

1. After nearly 7 months of hardcore swimming, I am finally coming to the realization that soreness, fatigue, and generally feeling like laying down on the kitchen floor and taking a nap every moment of the day just comes with the territory of intense swim workouts.
2. Most swimming sets will look like they totally suck when written on the whiteboard. You will react to almost all of them with a "WTF??! Um Coach I think you wrote the intervals wrong..." Hint hint: Those intervals ain't wrong, girl.
3. The best way to get through said swimming sets is to focus only on the portion of the set you are doing at the moment. For a gnarly set of 4x150 descending, just focus on the 150 you are doing. It makes the pain a lot easier to handle, and just like no one likes thinking "20 more miles to go!" during a marathon, who really wants to think "Oh hey only 450 more yards to go!!"?
4. If you only get an average of 30 hours of sleep per week, taking that Echinacea isn't going to stave off the cold forever. Yes, I have the sniffles, Yes I am still going to run. Haven't you heard of a Nedi Pot?!
5. Flavored almonds are the most fantastic invention of all time.
6. When in doubt, put butter on your bagel. PB&J on Chocolate chip... not the same.