Still haven't hit the weights

and I'm looking for any and every available excuse to avoid them. I'm trying positive thinking about how much better my running will be if I lift more regularly...but so far all I've been able to positively convince myself of is how much I truly hate lifting. And it's not like it's a huge routine...all I'm shooting for is about a twenty or thirty minute upper body program. I need to just do it.
In other news, today was one of my regularly scheduled 1/2 days of work. Usually I work three ten hour days and two five hour days, but lately it's been more like three ten hour days and two eight or nine hour days. I still put in six hours today, but today was the first time in a month or so that I haven't had to go back to work after having a few hours off on a Tuesday or Thursday to see a few more patients. I know, I'm too flexible with my schedule, especially for people who don't really appreciate me as much as they should.
I felt like I was doing something wrong by having a whole afternoon to lounge around. I spent the afternoon doing laundry, straightening up the house, riding the stationary bike, reading, and planning my dinner menu (garlic ginger chicken with brown rice-which was delicious by the way). This makes my apparent weight lifting deficiency all the more sad and pathetic.
Alright, now is the time to quit talking about it...so here I go. Then it will be off to bed, as somehow the nap that I had penciled in this afternoon never quite materialized.

Tough run today

Last night was a speedwork session, 4 x 1200's, it was tough, but I was able to finish it. For the first time ever, I actually got faster each repeat...just like I was supposed to. This morning I got up early so that I could get my run out of the way.
I was tired when I first got up, and I was slightly discouraged because I knew I had to go four miles today. I was dreading it. I managed to knock all four miles out at a pretty good pace but I was so tired afterwards that I couldn't hardly get back up the stairs to take a shower. I just wanted to sit down and rest, but I had to go to work instead.
I'm done with my runs for the week, at least until I get to my race on Saturday. Tomorrow I'll do a little cross training and hopefully convince myself that weight lifting is my friend.
In other news, my business is finally starting to pick back up. I have already seen eight new patients this week, and I know of at least three more that are scheduled already for later this week. I'm so glad that we're getting busier (knock on wood), I was really worrying there for awhile. There is only so long that you can coast along barely breaking even. Hopefully the upward trend continues.

A good idea

In honor of Island Girl Runs post from last week...which I just discovered today, and because I've had a all around sucky day (I'll spare you the gory details but sufice to say the visit to the dentist at lunch today WAS the highlight of the day.) here is my list of twenty things that I love:

• Long runs
• Rain on the roof when I'm falling asleep
• My morning "face time" with Max dog
• How my husband tries to "stay out of my way" when I'm pissed off
• Half days of work
• Clean sheets
• Fresh blackberries with Splenda
• People who don't avoid conflict
  
• Music with a good bass line that I can crank up and rock out to when driving home
• Lame pick up lines...not that I've heard any recently, but I got a dynamite list of them from a friend today
• Sno cones after a summer speedwork session
• Being all done with my chores for the day
• Shoes...shoes...shoes
• Funky colored clothing...like the orange capri pants that I wore to work today
• Patients telling me that I look skinny
• Free race scwhag...seriously folks, THIS is why I run...I desperately need those fifty seven tee shirts that say "I ran XXX race.
• The looks I get from random people (and the way I walk a little taller) when I wear my "big" race shirts (ie: marathon finisher shirts)
• Wasting time vegetating in front of some truly horrible television show...the kind that lowers your IQ ten points when you even thinking about watching them.
• Pancakes on Sunday morning
• Driving around looking at the houses we'd buy "if we had the money"

Suprisingly enough, I feel better now. Whew.

I always feel so much better after getting my run out of the way

I don't know why I ever let the morning run thing lag off. I always feel so much better about the day after I get it done. Instead of heading to work feeling like I have a million and six things to do when the workday is over, I feel like I've already accomplished a ton. I'm not sure if the whole morning running thing just wakes me up a little, or if I just like that satisfied feeling of knowing that I've done more by 5:30 than some people do all day. Of course, I may change my opinion about the whole getting up early thing when I'm actually doing serious mileage in a few weeks...
Today was just another easy three, I bumped my speed up a bit from where I was yesterday since I felt pretty good. The only problem was...shall we say...a digestive issue. I'm trying to phrase it delicately for all you breakfast blog-readers, but we all know what I'm talking about. I'll spare you the gory details.
I find that as I get older, my digestive system becomes more and more sensitive to certain foods. When I was in college I had a cast iron stomach. I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted and not have any trouble. Now though...it doesn't take much to upset the gentle balance of the GI tract. Seriously, the list of foods not to eat before a long run is now about as long as my arm, unfortunately these foods are often things I really like. (See yesterday's post re: 4 favorite foods).
Tonight I plan on doing a little bit of stationary cycling while I watch the new Treasure Hunters, just because I find it hard to sit on the couch and just watch television. So my logic is, if I'm riding the stationary bike as I watch television, I'm not really wasting my time. Always quick with the justification, that's me.

An easy three

Today's run was slated to be an easy three miler. I was undecided as to whether I would do it outside (cloudy and a cool 77 degrees) or on the treadmill. I opted for the treadmill because I just didn't feel like going running any hills...and my neighborhood is all hills. I felt a little sluggish right off the bat, but after getting the first 1/2 mile in I started to feel a little more "in the groove". I'm just glad it's done with for the day. Yesterday Nicole tagged me, here's my answers:

A. Four jobs I've had:

• Usher at Busch Stadium (the old one)
• Guest Service Host (fancy title for usher) at Savvis Center
• Inclusion Specialist for a special needs child at a day camp
• Physical Therapist

B. Four movies I watch over and over:

• The Thomas Crowne Affair
• Gone in Sixty Seconds
• The Heist
• The Italian Job

C: Four places I have lived:

• St. Louis, MO
• Beijing, China
• Manchester, MO
• Lake St. Louis, MO

D. Four tv shoes I love to watch:

• Rescue Me
• The Amazing Race
• CSI
• The OC

E . Four places I've been on vacation:

• Nassau, Bahamas
• Maui, Hawaii
• Estes Park, Colorado
• Bar Harbor, Maine

F. Four websites I visit daily:

• weather.com
• yahoo.com
• heritagept.com
• this one!

G: Four of my favorite foods:

• Fried pickles
• Chocolate anything
• Cheetos
• Red Robin California Chicken Burger

H: Four places I would rather be right now:

• Maui
• Anyplace cold
• In the pool
• On vacation

I: Four favorite bands/singers:

• 50 Cent
• Kenny Chesney
• Huey Lewis and the News
• Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (Iz)

J: Four people I'm tagging:
I think I'm the last one to get this, so if you're reading this and haven't been tagged, consider this your tag.

Today is a good day

I ran my long run this morning. I got up super early (it starts getting light around five here) and headed out to the group run course. I started the course around six, and it was gorgeous out then. A balmy sixty five degrees, with a nice breeze coming off of the river. Of course, as it got later in the morning the sun got quite a bit warmer, but I was done before eight, so it never got too uncomfortable for me.
I was still undecided when I started out as to whether I was going to do the recommended six, or try for the ten I knew I wanted to do. I ended up feeling really good, so I went the full ten. I knew if I didn't I'd regret it later today. I ran a little slower than I intended to run (9:45/mile instead of 9:00/mile) but I figured that it was okay since this was really the first long run of the season.
I love, love, love my new fuel belt. It really wasn't warm enough to need it, but I figured that I should start trying to get used to it. It took me about a mile to become accustomed to the sensation of something slightly heavy around my waist (who'd have thought that 24oz of fluid would feel so heavy?), but then I practically forgot about it. My only complaint is that it's kind of hard to manuver the bottles back into their holsters while moving, but I'm sure I'll get better at it.
There were a lot of people out on the course today. I counted about 28, which is pretty good for the end of June. The numbers out there seem to really pick up come mid September. The Saturday morning group is the largest organized group run in the area and sometimes there are as many as 100 runners on the course.
I feel very satisfied with my performance today though. I also made a decision while running today that I WILL run the Hannibal Cannibal 10k next weekend. I like to race, and my reasons for not running that race were really kind of lame when I laid them all out neatly yesterday. So, the registration is in the mailbox as of this morning. I also registered for the Missouri River 8k in three weeks. Although I've never run this race itself, I've run the route that they have planned on taking and I love it (very flat river bottom road) and it will be a nice race for a short run.

First long training run since April tomorrow

That's right, it's finally here. Tomorrow is my first official long run of the fall marathon training season. I'm actually really excited about it. I'm supposed to do six miles, but I'm thinking about doing ten instead. I feel good today, and I'm going to go to bed early, so I should feel good tomorrow.
I've done everything almost everything right today. I ate healthy, drank a ton of water, and didn't do any type of exercise. The one slip was a small adult beverage after I got home from work as I got ready for dinner. No big deal, right? Right.
My fuel belt arrived today, so I picked that up this evening. I wore it around the house while I was straightening up...I love it already. It is my new best friend. I can't wait to try it out tomorrow.
The course I'm running tomorrow is the Fleet Feet Saturday morning group run course. The group usually starts at seven o'clock, but I'm thinking I might try to be on the course by six. I don't really like to run with a group. I like to be alone with my thoughts and my i-Pod. I like to run with one or two people that I already know well, but am not too keen on making small talk with strangers while running.
I've been toying with the idea of adding a 10K race next weekend and an 8K (running the races and then tacking the extra miles that I need to run onto the end of the races)in three weeks, but so far haven't committed. I really want to do the 10K, but it's in Hannibal, MO which is about an hour and a half away...and my husband's cousin is getting married (an hour and a half drive in the opposite way) on the same day as the race. Of course the race is at 7am, and the wedding isn't until 2pm, so I'd probably be okay. I kind of feel like maybe I'm looking for an excuse not to do the race. But I feel like I should do it, because there really aren't that many 10K races around this area. I need to make a decision!!!

I never realized

just how much I really love cross training. Some mornings it's just nice to know that you don't have to hit the treadmill or the street for a few miles. I cycle for most of my cross training, and I always feel like I'm cheating as I do it. It just seems so much easier to cycle than it is to run after I've put in a few consecutive days of running.
I still need to do a little weight training tonight (boo, hiss). I'm so not looking forward to it, but it's good for me. Yeah, I'm not doing a real good job of convincing myself that I need or want to do it.
Today was overall a good day. I spent the morning observing some surgery, then did a marketing lunch with one of the other clinic directors. The doctor we met with was totally laid back. Apparently he's a big practical joker, as is my coworker. Given the context of the conversation we were having I'm pretty sure that I will be getting pranked pretty soon. Fine with me, as long as the referrals come rolling in.
The only downside to my day was a phone call from DishNetwork trying to get me to switch my satellite service to them. I was unbelievably polite to the guy despite the fact that he was obviously having a really bad day. He tried to sell me their "new improved product" which is "cheaper" than my current service and just couldn' t understand that I was happy with my current provider. He ended on a high note...by telling me that I was a dumb bitch (for real, he actually said this). I was livid, so much so that I called the regional office and complained. But of course, they wouldn't take my complaint, because "you're not a subscriber, so we don't have any disciplinary recourse available for this situation." Sucky people...

I was right, the air conditioner is broken

So the air conditioning repair company sent a different repair guy out today. Low and behold...he thinks that we need a whole new air conditioning unit. I told you so, I told you so. I knew that thing wasn't "just low on freon". It's good to know so much.
Today was my last run for the week until my long run on Saturday. I did a fairly tough four miles on the treadmill before going to work. I'm going to cross train tomorrow morning on the stationary bike before going to work, and then try to get in a little weight training after work. For some reason, I seem to absolutely hate weight training. I just don't see the immediate (or so it seems) gains with weight training that I see with cardio. My husband is the opposite, he loves to weight train, but hates cardio. If only we could combine the best parts of both of our workout ethics....
My long run this week is scheduled for a six miler...so it's not really long, just longer than what I've been doing recently. I've been thinking about bumping it up to a ten miler, because the course I like to run is a five mile out, five mile back course, and I feel like a sissy turning around at the three mile mark when the rest of the saturday morning long run group is going to the end. If there is one thing I'm not, it's a sissy. How far I go will depend on whether or not my new fuel belt comes in by Friday like its supposed to.
I bought a fuel belt from Fleet Feet last week, and of course thought I knew more than the sales guy (so dumb of me). I discovered that the belt fit fine around my waist, which is great, but I like to wear it around my hips...and it was too small to go around my hips comfortably. So I exchanged it the same day I bought it, or tried to. They had to order my size. It should show up on Friday. If it doesn't come in on time, I guess I could always get up earlier and head out before it gets really steamy.
We'll see.

I'm pretty sure that...

HELL is a suburb of St. Louis. Why is it so freaking hot here in the summer?!?! Seriously, this is ridiculous. It's only mid-June and my outside temperature/barometer still reads 86 freaking degrees...at nine o'clock at night! I keep trying to tell myself that the more time I spend outside the more my body will become "acclimated" to the heat, so far all that's happening is I'm taking two showers instead of one each day. This is crap I tell you, crap.
Tonight was a speed workout in this awful sweltering St. Louis summer. I ran 2.75 miles as the speedwork, but did an extra 1.5miles as part of my training schedule. I was exhausted by the last lap. I was pleased with my times though. I managed to meet all of the time goals that I had set for this week, and I was not one of the runners puking behind the bleachers afterwards...any day without puking is a good day in my world. Great workout.
Not only is it hotter than the fifth circle of hell here this week, but the air conditioner in my office is broken. By broken I mean totally does not work. Not a bit of cool air in the ole' office. So, I call the repair company today (which incidently is so not in my job description...I believe it falls squarely under the duties of the person who fills the position titled "receptionist"...but that's another day's story). Who does the repair company send me? Gomer freakin Pyle, that's who.
He spent about thirty minutes in my office which was just long enough to piss me off three times. That might be a new world record. (And in case you can't tell by this post, I have anger issues) That's right, thank you Mr. Air Conditioner Repair Man, I definitely needed you to tell me that "dang, it's hot in here", I hadn't been already sweating my ass off for three hours or anything at that point. I also needed to hear you muttering the lyrics to "It's Getting Hot in Herrrrrre" as you diligently worked on NOT fixing the damn air conditioner...I'm certain that my 78 year old patient thought you were a musical genius.
And apparently, that freon you added to the air conditioner "because it was low" was not really the solution to the problem...because as my last patient of the day figured out...the blower was broken. (Yes, it was that hot in the office, and I was desperate enough to ask any patient with even the slightest mechanical inclination to offer a solution to my problem). So tomorrow, I'll be calling your company again...and you'll be spending the entire day in my sauna of an office....I'm certain you will find a solution much more quickly if you have to spend ten hours there.
I'm so wearing shorts tomorrow.

Official Chicago marathon training starts today!!!

Yeah! This morning marked the first "official" run of the Chicago training program. I started off with just a regular, easy three miler. Tomorrow I'll bump it up a little, including a 2.75 mile speed workout. I'm excited to get the summer/fall racing season underway.

I find its a lot easier to motivate myself to do my runs when I know that I really can't afford to miss even one. I feel like if I miss even a single run, I'll be dooming myself to failure at the actual race this fall. I also find it a lot easier to control my diet when I'm training. I've been trying to eliminate caffeine from my diet (isn't it ironic that caffeine and fiend sound a look so much alike?) and I don't drink much during training. I kind of like having an excuse not to drink..."None for me, I'm in training."

I've been reading (albeit very slowly) Performance Nutrition for Runners, it's very informative, although I have yet to employ any of the techniques recommended in the book. Bad runner.

On a different note, business is starting to pick up just a smidge. I actually have new patient evaluations on the books for this week. I think I've discovered the secret, if I actually plan to be out of the office, new patients will drop out of the sky. This morning I was in surgery with a local orthopod. I got to watch an ACL reconstruction with a hamstring graft and a inferior capsular shrinkage (shoulder scope). Way cool stuff. A most fun way to pass the work day.

This morning was my last 5k of the season...

now it's on the marathon training starting tomorrow.

This morning was the third annual "Hero's Run". It was sponsored by the St. Louis Track Club and the Police Athletic League. It benefited the Metro PD's inner city sports program. It was a great race, although it was a little warmish out. I think I must just be well acclimated to the heat, because I never got really miserable until after I was done with the race and sitting in my car finishing my water.

I was really happy with my time, I finished in 26 minutes. I was really disappointed in the other people running the race. There were an awful lot of people really struggling with the course, because it was warm, and it was hilly, and it was extremely sunny. I tried to offer a few words of encouragement to anyone I passed who looked like they were really having a tough time. I also tried to make it a point to thank the kids handing out water and the cops directing traffic. Is it me, or doesn't that just seem like being a basic, decent human being? I was pretty much the only one doing these things though. That made me sad.

We also went to the Science Center today. For those of you who don't live in St. Louis, it used to be a really top notch facility. Nowadays, none of the exhibits have been updated since the late 1990's and most of the exhibits are broken or extremely uninteresting. However, the special engagement exhibits ROCK!

Today was the BJC Sportswork exhibit. It was an interactive exhibit where you could try your hand out at throwing from a major league distance mound, sprinting 10m against Jackie Joyner Kersee, pulling up to 5Gs on an inverted loop with a bike, and various other balance, agility and physical aptitudes tests. It was very cool, and I highly recommend it if you're in the area.

So...yesterday's run

went well, but did not take place at the previously mentioned time of 5:00AM. I just could not quite get my butt out of bed. I had a good run, albeit after completing my work duties for the day.

Today I did not run. Friday is my scheduled day of rest. It's also my day of somewhat lousy eating. I try to follow healthy eating (and drinking) habits for the majority of the week, but also allow myself what my husband calls a "cheat day" once a week. I really need to try and move it from Friday, because I know how important it is to fuel my body properly the day before a long run...but old habits die hard.

On a lighter note, today's Pearls Before Swine comic strip, which incidently is the best strip ever written seemed perfectly applicable to this setting and will no doubt make your day. Feel free to chuckle out loud.

Why does 5am come so early?

Last night was a formal speedwork session. I was right, it was really tough. The guys who run the program advise you to try to run a little faster with each repeat. I think I set the bar to high on my first repeat. I just got slower and slower with each repeat. I have never been so tired in my life...my legs felt like they were eighty years old.

Today I decided that I would get up and try to get my run in before heading out to work. No big deal right? I've always run in the morning, or at least until last month when we went on vacation. Ever since I've been back, I've found it extremely difficult to get out of bed in the morning. I love the feeling of getting the run done with and dread coming home to a run...but I've just been so stinkin tired lately.

So I set a goal for this week of getting my run knocked out before work 3 of the 4 days that I was planning on running. Since last night was a formal speed session, that meant I HAD to get up today, and I have to get up early tomorrow. The good news is, I did it...although it was the hardest three miles ever I think.

But, now I've got the rest of the evening free, which is good since I'm supposed to be meeting some friends for dinner.

Gnarly toes

Runner's feet are ugly. There's no way around it. Every runner I know has snaggily feet, even if they get regular pedicures. Mine are no different. I try to take care of them, but no matter what I do, they're callused and dry and generally just ugly.

After my last marathon, two of my toenails turned black and blue. I was pretty sure that I was going to lose at least one of them, but somehow I never did...until this morning. It's been at least ten weeks since my marathon...why am I losing these bad boys now?

So now, my second toe on my right foot is missing its toenail. I am a freak. Of course it's very obvious that I'm missing my toenail, because all of the other nails are painted. So now what? Do I just leave it as is? Do I try to paint the skin where my nail used to be so that it's less obvious?

On a different note, today is speedwork again. I kind of like speedwork because even though it's tough as hell, it's over fast. Tonight's workout is 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m, and 200m. I'm sure that the first two repeats are going to suck.

My dog needs therapy

Yes, that's right, the Max-inator has some serious issues. He's been so incredibly well behaved for the last two weeks...that I know he's up to some dastardly doggie scheme. After today it's official, he's given up on his plan to take over the world. How do I know this? Well, he's reverted to his pre-people vacation behaviors. Including, but not limited to: digging...in the indoor plants, ransacking the dirty laundry, licking the carpet (yes the actual rug on the floor) and leaving little "treats" for us while we're busy slaving away to buy him the "good" kibble.

Whatever it is, he's back to his old tricks as of today. Damn dog has got to have some type of separation anxiety...seriously the morning routine in our house consists of getting completely ready to leave, loading all my various work crap into the car (the amount of which seems to increase slightly each day) and finally when I'm absoulutely ready to walk out the door for good...taking Max out to do his bid'nass.

After his royal doggieness has been out to survey his kingdom, I must leave the house immediately. Any delay in my departure from the house will result in having to start the process all over again. Again, HIS neurosis, not mine. Any deviation from said gameplan will result in the four legged freak taking a nice piss all over the living room carpet...just to show how unhappy his is with his people.

Thank goodness for the "little steam cleaner that could".

I'm fresh out of catchy titles...

Yesterday was the Komen Race for the Cure St. Louis. It went suprisingly well despite the fact that everyone started at the same time this year. In the past the race has been staggered with wheelchair participants starting first, followed by runners, and ending with walkers. I ran with my cousin's husband and my mom. Or I should say, I started the race with my cousin's husband and my mom. We lost each other fairly quickly.

The St. Louis Race for the Cure is now officially the largest in the nation. There were over 64,000 participants yesterday. Many of those people are not runners, or walkers, or any type of regular exercisers. This is the one day of the year that they come out and exercise...mainly because it's a good cause to support and almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer. And I think that's great. It's fantastic to see people of all shapes, sizes, and abilities coming together to do something good for their community.

My mom; however, lost sight of this pretty quickly yesterday. I was pretty sure she was going to get bee-yotch slapped. It was hard to get going if you were running the race because there were SO many people there. My cousin's husband and I just kind of went along with the flow and started running when we could (proably about 2/10 of a mile into it). My mom on the other hand, started yelling at people to get out of her way. "If you're going to walk move over, let the faster people through, etc..." Extremely poor race behavior under normal circumstances, even less so at a charity race of this size.

We had to have a little talk a the end of the day about good manners to other racers. I think that after it was all said and done, she might have grasped that this race was not about setting a new PR, but rather supporting a good cause. Hopefully, next time around she'll be a little more mild mannered and I won't have to worry about anyone causing bodily harm to her.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Finally Friday

This could quite possibly have been the longest week of my life. My patient census sucked eggs this week. If everyone shows up today, I will have seen exactly thirty patients. For those of you keeping score at home, that's less than one patient per hour for the entire week. If it tells you anything about the state of my practice...I'm blogging from my office. Not good.

My office staff keeps telling me to chill out, that this is a "nice" break from the madness that it usually is around here. All a low census means to me is that I have to go market my clinic to physicians, which is something that I hate to do. I like to talk but hate to schmooze and I really suck at ass kissing.

On a lighter note, this weekend should be a busy one. I've got Race for the Cure tomorrow morning. They've changed the route and the format this year, so we'll see how it works out. This is the first year that the runners have not started fiteen minutes ahead of the walkers, so it may be a mad mess for the first mile and a half. I've also got a basketball tourney tomorrow that we're doing promotional stuff at. That might be fun.

I'm not planning on a long run this weekend since I'll be busy with other stuff. Hopefully the weekend goes just as slowly as the work week went.

Speedwork kicks my butt

Last night was the second week of speed training with the local running store. This week was the first real week of working out, as last week was strictly time trials. According to my time trial result I should be shooting to run about a 4:14 800meter pace. Yeah, no big deal right? Guess again. I did great the first two or three repeats, but by the fourth set I was feeling a little winded and by the last set I was whipped.

This was really a wake up call for me. While my aerobic conditioning may be stellar and my slow twitch fibers very well developed, apparently those pesky fast twitch fibers are not so well developed.

These sessions are very well attended by the local running community. The local running community is sometimes very friendly and accepting of non-club members, but at other times they can be very cliquish and hard to get to know. I notice at one particular organizations events there are a lot of people who have been running for a long time who seem to look down their noses at those of us who haven't been running for ten years.

I don't know, maybe my expectations are unreasonable. I thought that I would find most running clubs and groups to be eager to interact with other runners and to be really interested in what the other people are training for. The more seasoned runners do seem okay when asked for specific advice, but other than that they're kind of standoffish.

All told, I got a great workout from the session, so great in fact that I did not want to run this morning before work. I slept in instead, and now will have to run this evening. Oh well, maybe it will be semi-cool out tonight and I can run outside.

It's been ten years already?!?!

So....the mail recently brought an invitation to my ten year high school reunion. Now the dilemma is do I really want to go to this event?

The whole process seems kind of cheesy to me. I mean, come on, we get all dressed up and shell out a seriously large chunk of cash to spend four hours drinking cheap booze, eating crappy food, and making small talk with people we haven't seen in ten years and probably won't see again for another ten. Hey, wait a minute does this sound like PROM to anyone else? We answer dumbass questions like "what's the most important lesson life has taught you so far?" (the answer to which is: I'm glad I wasn't popular in high school because it would have sucked to have peaked so early in life.) Then, when it's all over we retreat to our real lives to talk badly about how the studly star football player is loosing all of his hair and little miss prom queen is getting fat. Then we congratulate ourselves on how much cooler we are now than all of our peers.

One of my best friends from high school, in fact the person who has known me longer than anyone I'm not related to, is on the "missing alumni" list. I told him this and he laughed, he said he wants to stay lost. While I understand his school of thought and find it pretty humerous, there are about a half dozen people that I've lost touch with that it might be fun to see again.

So, I need some opinions, did anyone go to their reunion and have a rockin good time? Or did you go and wish that you'd had a root canal without a sedative instead? Or did you not go and totally regret it two years down the road?

Monday, Monday

Just like the song says, can't help that day. Today has reminded me of why I absolutely dread Mondays. I had lofty goals last night when I went to bed.

I've always been a run-in-the morning type of girl, or at least I was until I went on vacation a week and a half ago. Now, I did not sleep in while on vacation...but I certainly did not find myself on the treadmill or beach at five or six any of the mornings while I was away. Last week, I just could not get my act together (i like to blame the jet lag) and ended up running after work every day. So today, I was going to try to get back on track.

I did get up at five this morning, run three miles on treadmill and was actually close to on time at that point. I was still on time after showering and drying my hair...then the dog puked...all over my bedroom floor. Needless to say, I did not make it to work on time this morning (but neither did my first patient).

As for my run, it went pretty good. I covered the three miles in slightly under 27 minutes, which is dynamite for a Monday run. I did find that my stomach was not liking the run though. Although I love getting my run out of the way early in my day and not having to worry about squeezing it in later, I find that my digestive system is not an early riser. The rest of my plan for today is a fitting in a smidge of stationary cycling and maybe some stretching. Which I really need to do, I'm a big fan of not practicing what I preach and am probably the least flexible person on the planet.

Today was also interesting in that yet another therapist in our company has been laid off. Now is not a good time to be in the healthcare field and deal with a lot of work comp cases in the state of Missouri. New legislation means that employers are feeling much freer to turn down work comp injuries, and fewer accepted injuries means fewer patients for me to see. As long as my job is still around, things will be just fine.

Hopefully tomorrow will suck a little less than today.

Virgin blogger....

Yep, sucked you in didn't I? You were pretty sure that this was going to be one of the millions of "dirty" blogs out there weren't you? It is a dirty blog...if your idea of dirty is muddy shoes, sweaty singlets, and salt residue covered extremities. The kind of dirt that comes from a running a full marathon. Welcome to my world.

So...my genius self has been lurking through the site, checking out all of the other great blogs...and as I'm doing so, I'm thinking to myself "self, this d0esn't look so hard, and what a great tool to use to track your progress towards the fall running season's goals."

Of course, I am for all practial purposes, computer illiterate. So having convinced myself that this will be easy, it will probably be an extremely difficult undertaking. But I digress.

The entire purpose of this blog, in addition to supporting my sometimes brillant, yet at other times completely delusional musings, is to make myself more accountable. I've set my fall racing season's goal as a sub 4:00 hour finish at the famed Chicago marathon. To me, this seems an attainable goal, considering that I ran St. Louis in 4:19 this past April and did absolutely no speedwork while training for St. Louis.

A sixty minute improvement in my finishing time from St. Louis in 2005 to St. Louis in 2006 has only given me more hunger for what I can accomplish if I really put my mind to it and train as hard as I need to. I've always been a steady middle to back of the pack runner, so I'm excited to see just how fast I can become with the right amount and kind of practice.

Unlike some of my friends, who run for enlightenment and better self awareness (both of which I truly admire and think are wonderful goals), I run for selfish reasons. I run because I love the Zen-like feeling of knowing that my only competition is myself. I run because I love the look that people give you when you tell them that your weekend plans include a fifteen miler. I run because I love the idea that I'm tough enough to do something that a lot of people can't. And I run because I love being an athlete, which is something I never was as a child and teenager.

So, my official training starts in two weeks or so, but I've already started my summer speed workouts with the local running store and I'm already starting the feel the itch to put in a long run...so hopefully this will be a good season, and hopefully by journalling myprogress it will help keep me on track.

Bring on the miles!