jjllhh's Xanga

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:51:25 GMT

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since I last updated. Time flies!

Tues 6/17: 6x400 track workout with 400 recoveries (1:32, 1:29, 1:30, 1:29, 1:28, 1:31). I ran to and from the bikepath for 1.5 miles and we did a 1.5 mile warm up and a 2 mile cool down for about 7.5-8 miles.

Wed 6/18: Off day. I was supposed to play VB in our league, but thunderstorms caused it to be cancelled. I was certainly happy we didn't have to play in the rain! We all went out to eat instead. I saw on the news that night that a 30 year old man had been stabbed while walking on the bikepath. Eeeek. The man who did it was arrested, and they really gave no other details. I'm not completely freaked out, but maybe I should be? Lots of people still run, walk, ride there. Do they not care or do they not know? I kind of wish I never would have seen the news story. The incident was on Sunday, but they didn't specify the time or exact location. I'm wondering, was it random? Did they know each other? Was there a confrontation? Would the police reveal this data if I went to the station to ask? Or, maybe I don't want to know. Something like this could happen anywhere so I'm thinking there is no need to stop running there. But maybe I'm too naive??? I discussed this with several of my running friends and received a variety of thoughts. Most simply said you have to be careful no matter where you are. I haven't mentioned it to my volleyball friends. They already freak out that I run by myself and/or live by myself. It's never bothered me to be alone, but most of them have a hard time sleeping if their husbands are out of town or anything. I'm glad I'm not that paranoid, but I suppose a little more caution couldn't hurt.

Thurs 6/19: Ran ~6 miles in the trails at Rensellear Lake Park. It was my club's summer trail series. We are consistently getting over 100 people to these runs. It's fabulous! This night was a faster effort, and it felt good!

Fri 6/20: I did 30 min on the bike at the Y before my hour yoga class. Then I went to swim for 35 min. It was good to be in the pool again.

Sat 6/21: I met a couple friends for the Plotterkill loop. We had planned to do it twice for 12 miles, but after one time around, we were exhausted. Plus, it took us longer than we intended because of muddy/slippery terrain. And, I had to walk the big hill. My legs had nothing. We decided to skip the 2nd loop and we ran a few extra miles (hilly ones) on the road. My friend's garmin gave us a total of 8.5 miles in 2 hours. Eeek. I'm not sure that was right. I know we were slow, but I figure the road miles had to even it out a bit? Oh well, it was a tough workout nonetheless. I'm thinking that week (Sun-Sat) was my most mileage ever in one week. Not positive as I haven't looked back to check, but I was well over 50 miles.

Sun 6/22: I was supposed to meet a friend from KS to run in the evening, but bad weather convinced us to cancel. I took an off day instead. I was fully prepared to run 8-10 miles and I think my legs would have made it, but I also had no problem giving them rest.

Mon 6/23: I met a friend at the Crossings in Colonie for a run. I have no idea how far we went (~6-8 miles?) but we did mix in some striders so that was good. I should do that more often. I've read that they are beneficial. Plus, they make me feel more energetic when I do them on an easy run. After the run, we ate at Cheesecake Factory. Brownie Sundae Cheesecake

Tues 6/24: Tonight was another track workout, 4x800 with 400 recoveries (3:13, 3:15, 3:10, 3:14). I ran to and from the bikepath plus 1.5 mile warm up and cool down for a total of 7.5 miles. It poured on me on the way home, and wouldn't you know, the sun came out as I was walking into my parking lot!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Another review:

Wed 6/11: VB league

Thurs 6/12: Peebles Island trail run with club. A volleyball friend joined me so it was a great run/talk. We did ~5 miles or 2 island loops.

Fri 6/13: I met a couple friends from the club up at Thacher Park after yoga. We did ~8 miles over Roemer's Point and on the roads for a loop course. It was tough. The climb was particularly hard on my tired legs. The legs were tired from the week's running but also from yoga I'm sure. We had a sub in yoga class, and I'd missed yoga a couple times in the last month so it was a tough class!

Sat 6/14: Off day. . .I travelled to Montreal, Canada with a friend for a run on Sunday.

Sun 6/15: The Mount Royal Summit Quest 50k "Fat Ass" style http://www.geocities.com/pnd97/FA50.html Trip report:

Montreal was very. . .French. It was definitely different, but neat. I had only been once before, and I don't remember noticing how different it was at that time. Anyway, the "Fat Ass" event was fun. "Fat Ass" is a term for low key events. They are not really races as there are no prizes or entry fees. They are more like group runs. There may or may not be course support. . .it depends on if people have friends/family willing to setup shop and hand out stuff. There are no course markings. People are expected to know the route. I was very nervous about this considering I was going to be in another country where not everyone would speak my language. Amazingly, I didn't get lost on the course! I went to the event with a friend, and his friend who we stayed with did a very good job of showing us city maps and talking us through it the day before. It was still a guessing game at several points, but I guess we guessed right

The race had more support than I thought it would. I ended up carrying way more than I needed. Oh well, better safe than sorry. It was good practice carrying stuff for my Lakeville-Placid trail run in August, although I don't think I was carrying stuff in the same manner I will be then. I still want to buy another bag/pack of some sort. I need to do that soon so I can try it out. I also need to buy some other types of race fuel (want to try some of the ones a local, successful ultramarathoner was mentioning the other day--Perpetuem? Heed, Endurox for recovery. . .anyone with comments, advice, suggestions on these or others?). I need to get them soon so I can try them out. I think I have to order them as I don't know any place that carries them. This would have been the perfect time to try this stuff, but the weekend trip all came about so quickly I wasn't completely prepared.

Anyway, back to the run. . .if you know Montreal, you can check out the run link & map http://www.geocities.com/pnd97/FA50.html
I started off with a guy who was doing the 100k; he had started at the finish at midnight and run to the start. I had planned on doing 20 min run, 1 min walk, and he had been doing 20 min run, 2 min walk but we sort of compromised. We only stayed together about 1 or 2 cycles of this and he stopped to walk before the 20 minutes was up so I was on my own. My friend was doing a run/walk thing as well, but he started his first walk after only 6 or 7 minutes and I couldn't do that so we were see-sawing each other a bit. As the race went on, he added longer consecutive running streches so we synchronized quite a bit and ran most together after that.

It was a nice course. The first part was through a very nice neighborhood along the water. Then we hit the bikepath along the canal. Lots of exercisers were out along here but there was plenty of space. There was a gravel path and/or herd path next to the bikepath much of the way so I ran on that. I was happy for that because I knew that would help with the recovery (which by the way has been fabulous!). After the canal section, we ran through "Old Port" which was kind of dumpy, industrial seeming. Then we headed over the first bridge to the island that has the Biosphere. We ran across that island and over another big bridge back. This big bridge was really cool at first, but then I started to feel a bit dizzy/claustrophobic. The bridge had arches curiving over the pedestrian path to prevent jumpers, but it seemed like prison and the sun shining through the metal bars was a constant light/dark that seemed almost like strobe lights to me. Looking up bugged me but so did looking down because somehow you could see the water between the pedestrian bridge and the road bridge. Eeek. This was a tough part mentally and physically because the end of the bridge was 40k into the race and it was getting hot at this point. There was an aide station after the bridge so that was nice. We got our directions clarified a bit, and off we went to the summit. When we got to the park, I was refreshed a bit thinking we were almost to the end. I knew it was still a long windy hill climb, but I guess I didn't really know how long. My legs felt good on the climb and I had some energy still so I was excited. We even caught a couple people at this point. However, the climb kept going. Two volunteers/race organizers on bikes passed us and said we were doing great and almost there. They said there was 1.5k left of the climb. I thought that meant 1.5 k til the end. However, somehow that wasn't right. Later we saw another woman with the race who said we had 3k left. I was completely deflated at this point! I guess the 1.5k was only meant for the steep part of the climb. There was more mileage of flat/rolling terrain before the finish. I was not mentally prepared. It didn't completely matter because I wasn't racing and I hadn't changed my pace, but the mental battle is a big part of any ultramarathon and that was where I failed a bit in this one. It was hot. My legs & energy still felt good, but I felt hot. My water was not cold anymore, and I hadn't stopped at the previous fountains in the park because I thought I was almost done. While I still had water, it was not refreshing and I didn't feel I had enough to keep dumping on my head. Therefore, the last 3k were most miserable. I'm sure the temp had climbed as well, but my cooling scheme had altered. My friend probably heard me complain a lot in this section!

Anyway, the view was beautiful in the end and we could see much of the route we took. It was also fun to hang out and picnic with this running group (most spoke English. . .at least better than I spoke French).

And well, the race wasn't the hardest part about the day, but that's another story. . .my blog entry is long enough now!

Today 6/16: I went to the YMCA for a 4 mile treadmill run. I increased the pace from 6mph to 7mph over the course of 38 minutes. It was a slow run, but my recovery allowed it, and I think that's GREAT! I didn't run outside because we've had thunderstorms rolling through all day. I thought about cross training at the Y because I love doing that, but I also think I need to start working on the "sandwich" runs. This probably doesn't count because it was only 4 miles, but yesterday was much more than the first of the "sandwich" is supposed to be anyway. I'll get there!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:40:33 GMT

Review of last week:

Wed 6/4: no running; first night of summer volleyball league. I played better than I expected considering I had only played volleyball twice since regionals. My knee was sore after and my shoulder hurt during/after I'm thinking they are not injured but just not "in shape."

Thursday 6/5: I hit the bikepath going west for a round trip of 7.5 miles. I saw two snakes!!! They seem to be harmless, but then again, I haven't actually gotten around to looking up what kind they were.

Friday 6/6 and Saturday 6/7: I did the Relay for Life walk. I walked for 12 1/2 hours. Yes, it's supposed to be a team event where you share walking time with your team, but I figured since I was going to be there all night, I should make use of my time. I walked with my teammates (although most of them went home early and didn't even stay) and with some students. Walking 12 1/2 hours on a track is not easy. . .in fact, it's rather hard. I found it very painful. So painful, that I even took some "running breaks". I jogged a mile at three different points. The jogging felt easier than the walking. I guess it was my chance to stretch out my legs, but also maybe some adrenaline was released or something??? All in all, I stayed up all night and walked all night. My left calf (same one as after Boston) hurt a bit toward the end. I found that odd since it didn't hurt at all during the Nipmuck trail marathon. And, of course, my feet hurt. My feet were swollen and splotchy red during the day Saturday. I iced a lot during the day, and I took ibuprofren. I don't usually do that, but I wanted to be fully recovered for my volleyball tournament on Sunday. I napped a bit Saturday morning and then just went to bed kind of early that night. I felt rested for Sunday.

Sunday 6/8: Reverse coed volleyball tournament. My partner and I finished pool play in a 3 way tie for first. We didn't have the point advantage so we had to have a play in. We lost in the rally to 15 game. Bummer. I think it was a little unfair because the team we played had just played, and we had been sitting for an hour. They did give us warm up time, but it's not quite the same All in all, I wasn't too disappointed. I didn't expect to play great considering I haven't played that much lately. I think most people thought I was going to be really good and "fresh" since I didn't play Saturday so they picked on my partner most of the time instead of serving to me. He had played very well on Saturday so they expected him to be somewhat warn out. He did fine though. If they would have picked on me, we may not have done as well. I might have screwed up a lot because I haven't played much lately. Oh well. I did fine. We'll see how it goes next time.

Monday 6/9: It was 96 degrees with a heat index of 102, and I ran anyway. Am I crazy??? Apparently so. I had plans to run with a friend so I stuck with it and met him at 6:30pm. We did 10 miles (at a slow pace). I think it cooled considerably by 7:00, 7:30 though. It really wasn't that bad.

Today 6/10: Another hot one! I had posted a track workout and two club members had signed up to come. All day, I kept thinking they would cancel, but they never did, so I went. We ran a 2 mile warm up (slow) and then did 4X400 with a 400 walk in between. I ran 1:33, 1:31, 1:29, 1:30. My goal was to run 1:30. I decided that since it was hot, I could run slower so I started slower, but then it didn't seem bad so I picked it up for the last few. We then ran a 2 mile cool down. I also ran there and walked back for a total of 7.5 miles.

Now, I'm sitting in my air conditioned living room. I put the window unit in last evening. Aaaahhh

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:43:11 GMT

Summary of last week:

Wed 5/28: I did 1 1/2 hour run with walk breaks in the Pine Bush preserve. Walk breaks weren't necessary for me, but the friend I was with is a believer and I didn't mind. Plus, it's probably good for me because I know I will take walk breaks in August on the Northville-Placid trail.

Thurs 5/29: I did ~ 9 miles at Schodack Island State Park. My club was hosting it's Thurs night trail series. I brought a new friend (from the ski trip) to the event as well. I think he had fun. He's a good runner, but he doesn't race often. I wanted him to meet some of the gang in case he decides to get back into it. I was tired during my 9 mile run though. . .we started pretty fast; plus it was warm

Friday 5/30: I did 30 min on the bike and then an hour of yoga. I hadn't done yoga in 3 weeks, and I sucked! I was tired & sluggish and couldn't hold the poses. How quickly one degrades

Saturday 5/31: I volunteered at the Freihofer's Run for Women. It's an awesome race in Albany. 3,000+ women doing a 5k! I saw several people I knew and had a good day.

Sunday 6/1: Nipmuck Trail Marathon!!! Here's the story. After Freihofer's, I went to a barbecue for a few hours and then ment my friend to head to Conneticutt. We were staying over so we wouldn't have to get up so early to run. Another friend was going to come and run, but he had a bicycle accident earlier in the week and had to get stitches and was no longer up for it It was just me, and then my friend who volunteered to come along as support. We got there, and checked it to our motel. It was primative, but cheap so okay. We went out to dinner at a diner. I ordered biscuits and gravy. Yeah, I know that's not the typical pre-marathon meal, but you hardly ever see that on the menu in the northeast, and I love it so I had to go for it. Plus, the picture looked soooo good, and besides, I wasn't planning to race the marathon. When the meal arrived, the gravy was NOTHING like the picture, and I was completely disappointed. I've yet to find good biscuits & gravy up here I ended up staying up a bit later than normal just visiting with my friend, but again, I wasn't planning to race the marathon.

Sunday morning, my friend dropped me off at the race start. . .there was limited parking so he took off for breakfast/coffee and planned to meet me at some of the road crossings. I registered & waited in line for the porta potty (one porta potty for 200+ people). The porta potty was large (handicap accessible) and fully decorated on the indside. They had hung limbs all around and had leaves on the floor and had a deer head on one wall and a stuffed bird from the ceiling. Hilarious!!! Part of the pre-race briefing was an infomercial trying to sell you a kit to learn how to poop in the woods. Sort of a crude sense of humor, but whatever! Here's a picture I found on an online news story.

And, they made first time runners wear this bright orange sticker that said "High Fall Risk". And they went around handing everyone directions to the nearest hospital. It was a little dramatic. Again, I decided I wasn't racing so at the start I didn't jet out to the front. This put me in the midst of a long conga line for many miles. It was slow, but this was good. The first portion was an out and back of 6.2 miles each way. I was 1:11 at that turnaround and 1:20 when back to the start. The next portion was an out and back of 7 miles each way. About a mile into the second part, I fell for the first time. It was a bit scary. I was walking down a rock face (the only major one on the course), and my feet slipped right out from under me. I landed thud right on my butt and a little on my lower back. My hands hit the ground, but there was no pressure on them so that was good because I know people can break wrists/arms trying to catch themselves. As I got up, I thought this is going to hurt and I still have 13 miles to go. It didn't hurt to stand. As I started running, I thought this is going to hurt. It didn't hurt to run. I thought this is really going to hurt tomorrow, but it didn't hurt. It didn't hurt ever. LUCKY ME!!! I ran on and I hit that turnaround point at 3:45, and then I finished in 5:15. It was slow going for many reasons: I didn't want to run fast; The terrain was rocky most of the time and hilly some of the time; I hadn't tapered; it was hot. At the end, I was very happy with my race. I was tired though. I guess for some reason I thought since I was only doing it as a training run and not as a race that it would be easy. It wasn't really easy! However, I have recovered very well. I'm sure that's in part because I didn't run fast, but I know it's mostly because it was the trail surface. Amazing. I love it! I'm pretty sure that I'm not quite ready to do 4 of those in a row, but by August, ready or not, I'm going to give it a whirl!

Monday: I took as an off day. I kind of wanted to run so I could practice the back to back thing, but I had a meeting that lasted late, and then I had plans with a friend for her birthday.

Today: I did 6 miles on the bikepath with my Tuesday group, and then I did the additional 1.5 mile to/from. We ran slower but for the most part I felt great. My left hamstring was a bit tight for a while, but now feels fine. My right heel has a bit of a blister as my sock sunk down during the race Sunday. I stopped to fix it, but it was already rubbed a bit raw by then. Oh well. . .I usually have no problem with the short socks, but this time I did. Interesting.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:25:13 GMT

Updates from last week:

Tuesday, I did the usual ~6 mile run with the group on the bikepath and the preserve trails. Wtih my 1.5 mile run to/from, I totaled 7.5 miles.

Wed, I ran the Olana 10k which really wound up as a ~5.6 mile race. It was VERY hilly! I did a good job of running in control and not getting too tired. In fact, I passed the lead woman about 2/3 of the way through, and I passed one of the guys I train with about 3/4 of the way through. I won the women's race, and I felt really good on all the hills (considering).

Thursday, I did the summer trail run series with my club. I ran ~ 6miles. A friend & I went off course from the group so as to skip a pavement section and to avoid the crowds, but then I felt guilty for not being part of the group and wanted to hook back up with them as soon as possible. For some reason, I felt like we stay part of the "team" when we come to these group functions. Plus, I think I was just feeling tired as it was my 6th day of running in a row. That's unusual for me. After the run, we had a cookout, and I ate way too much, but oh well.

Friday, I had an off day. I travelled to KS

Sat, I did a 30 min run on the dirt roads near my aunt & uncle's. Then we prepared for the wedding of my cousin. It was an outdoor wedding that was blessed with great weather. . .quite amazing considering all the thunderstorms & tornadoes spawning throughout the state this last weekend!

Sun & Mon, I took off days as I hung with the family and travelled back to NY.

Tonight, I ran ~5 miles with the group on the bikepath and preserve trails. I also ran there & back for another 1.5 miles. And I did 2 x 400 at 1:27 and 1:24. I was shooting for 1:30. The goal being to improve speed. I'm thinking less repeats at a quicker pace will strengthen my legs. Right now, when I run fast, my legs get tired but my breathing seems okay. Running faster should help my legs? I want to start with 4 repeats, but I thought I'd just do a couple today to see what 1:30 feels like. I was too quick, but I doubt I could have done 4 at that pace so 1:30 seems doable. We'll see. Not sure when I'm going to try it. Maybe next week after my marathon.

I'm running the Nipmuck trail marathon on Sunday. I'm doing it as a training run so I don't anticipate needing recovery days. I'm getting geared up for my August adventure!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Mon, 19 May 2008 21:40:48 GMT

I'm doing a Relay for Life on June 6th-7th. If anyone would like to donate to the American Cancer Society, you can do so through my fundraising site. http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeEasternDivision?px=6425722&pg=personal&fr_id=9542

Workout updates:

Friday 5/16 Off day. I even skipped yoga. I had a teacher event that night, and I didn't want to rush around to fit in the workout.

Sat 5/17 I worked an event for my club in the morning, and then I did an ~4 mile run around my friend's neighborhood. I disccovered some new trails. They were sandy, dirt bike trails full of many small hills/jumps, but it was a fun discovery nonetheless. That afternoon, we hiked Buck Mt.

Sun 5/18 I went to CT with a friend. We ran the northern part of the Nipmuck Trail Marathon course (14 miles). I'm running the marathon in a few weeks, and it was cool to go there first and see what it would be like. Trails are all vastly different and it's hard to get a good picture from someone else's written descriptions. It was a long drive, and I don't usually like to drive to run, but I had the day free and exploring new places with the right people is fun. I didn't mind the car ride a bit. I'm not even too sore today. Running trails is incredibly forgiving.

Today, I ran the Plotterkill loop with another friend. It was a very windy day, but we didn't really notice at all in the woods. I felt surprisingly good. I'm going to work my way up to 4 days of long, trail running in a row

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:18:21 GMT

Tonight was the GHI Workforce Team Challenge, a 3.5 mile run in Albany. There were 7,186 registered participants making it the largest event between Utica (Boilermaker) and NYC. Many of the participants are walkers, though, and this race must somehow learn to accommodate them better. The start is not designed very well. I did push my way to the front, and I didn't have a miserable start, but I spoke to many people who did. All in all, I ran 24:24 which was a PR from last year. However, I didn't feel my best. I know I can do better My legs felt heavy. Was it because I'm not fully recovered from the marathon? Or was it because I haven't done much speed work (or any amount of faster running) the past several weeks? Who knows, but I tried to go for it. My miles were 6:57, 7:06, 7:10, and 3:11. You can tell I slowed a bit during the race. I felt tired, and the hills were tougher than I remembered. Or maybe I was tired and my legs felt heavy because I ran fast? Who knows? I did 7 min miles for 5 miles in early April. In theory, I should be able to do faster than 7 min miles if I'm only going 3.5, right? Maybe next time.

I coordinated my team from my school. We had 22 register, but only 17 came. Some others had dropped out earlier in the week, and some just did so today. Everyone seemed to have fun so that was cool. I entered our women's team as the best. Last year, we did a coed one, but I really feel that comparatively, our women were better. We'll see how we wind up. The captains received a nice, dry fit, long sleeve shirt this year. That was a nice surprise as last year we didn't get anything special. We all went to dinner afterward, and it was great fun. A club member who was volunteering at the event carpooled with me, and so he went to dinner with all us school folk. As it turns out, one of the guys in our school group went to grade school with him. How randomly neat!!!

Last night I did not run. I played doubles volleyball. It was not a great evening. My 4's tournament on the weekend was so fun so I was all geared up on vb again, but doubles is sooooo different. There aren't any long volleys because defense is so hard with just two people on the court. I feel that we spend much of our time shagging balls. We need people to do that for us and then I would enjoy it! There's a tournament on Sunday, but I really don't think I want to play. It's King & Queen format which can be very iffy. And the weather forecast isn't that great. I'll probably go trail running instead

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:25:09 GMT

Mon 5/5 I did 7 miles east on the bikepath. After every 7-8 min of casual running, I picked up the pace for a minute. I wanted to get myself ready for the Thursday speed workout.

Tues 5/6 I ran a slow 5 miles on the bikepath west with a girl from my running club. She is recovering from injury and needed to go slow. I didn't mind.

Wed 5/7 Off from running. I worked the finish line of a race with my club's business side.

Thurs 5/8 I was supposed to do a track workout, but the college kids were on the track. My friend and I did 400 repeats on the straight-away just north of the track. We ran with the wind at our back, and turned around and jogged back just to do it again. My repeats were between 1:36-1:40 and I suppose that was my goal range so it was okay. This winter, I ran some faster ones I think, but all in all this went well. My legs were definitely heavy/tired at the end. My friend said he was done after 8 repeats because it was feeling like someone was "grabbing his lungs and squeezing". He gets tired breathing wise. My breathing has no problem. I get tired leg wise. I told him I felt like I could fall over while running. It was like my upper body was going faster than my legs. I felt I could tumble forward if I wasn't careful My legs weren't doing what my brain was telling them to do. I suppose that means I need to do more speed workouts. I know I need to, but after Thursday's race, I'm once again training for an ultra, so do I really need to do more speed workouts? Perhaps I'll fit them in while ultra training. Just for fun Oh, and after the repeats, we did a 4 mile loop for a total of 8-9 miles on the day.

Friday 5/9 I went to yoga for an hour and then ran in the Pine Bush with a friend. We did about 1 1/2 hour. It was mostly slow running, but we also walked a bit. I've been running with this friend a lot lately, and I really enjoy his company However, he's a believer in walk breaks. He really likes long, slow distance so I guess that's why he is able to run slow with me so much because he's really much quicker.

Saturday 5/10 I played in a reverse coed 4's tournament. It was my first outdoor tournament of the season, and my first time playing volleyball since regionals back before my marathon. I was nervous about how we'd do, but I didn't seem to miss a beat. My team placed 2nd, which was pretty impressive since we were 3 girls + 1 boy playing against many teams of 2 girls + 2 boys or even 3 boys + 1 girl. The net is women's height and the men have to jump and hit behind the 10 foot line so it's a bit of an equalizer, but I believe the men can still swing with more power. My team was just good at defense and smart It was fun!

Sunday 5/11 I went hiking in the high peaks. My friend & I did Mt. Colvin. We had planned to do Blake as well, but there was still quite a bit of snow toward the top, and it was very slow going, and exhausting! Some places had lots of snow, and then you'd go around the corner and it would be completely dry because of how the sun hits. Sometimes the snow would be packed frozen solid, and other times you'd step and fall through. It was deep. . .at times my foot would fall through and I'd have snow up to my thigh!!! It was hilarious at first because we never knew when we took a step if we'd be on top the snow or down in it. Eventually it got exhausting and annoying. Oh well. What an experience. We made it to Colivn and decided to save Blake for another day.

Monday 5/12 I ran the Plotterkill loop. I love that place. This was the first time I've been there since last fall. I also went with the guy from my club that I've been running with a lot lately After the run, we walked to the viewing points to see the waterfalls. He had never been there before so I felt like a tour guide a bit. It was fun showing off the place I love!

Tonight I ran 6 miles with my Schenectady running group. We did ~4 miles on the bikepath and ~2 miles on the preserve trails.

I can't believe how late it has gotten on me. I must get off to bed! Crazy how I never seem to get everything done. Oh well.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Sun, 04 May 2008 18:54:51 GMT

Friday I did 30 min on the bike before my 1 hour yoga class.

Saturday morning, I ran for an hour (just under 6 miles) in the Pine Bush with a couple running club friends. One is a girl just coming back from injury so we ran slow, which made me happy because I'm still in recovery mode. . .not wanting to aggravate the calf, which, by the way, feels pretty good. After that run, I went to yoga for an hour. Saturday's yoga instructor does tougher poses than the Friday night one. I love it! My shoulders and hips are sore today, a good sore though. After yoga, I went to run in Pine Bush again with another running club friend. We did about an hour and a half. This friend is a very fast runner, but it seems he's into the long, slow distance philosophy because we run for a long time at a slow pace. We did about an hour and a half. I was getting thirsty & hungry at that point. I didn't bring stuff with me because I hadn't planned to run that far, but I wasn't tired because we weren't going fast. I simply didn't realize how long it had been since I last ate! Anyway, the calf held up nicely.

Today, I went for a 5 mile walk. I kind of wanted to run, and I probably could have, but I'm still working under the philosophy of resting every other day. I'm going to try a speed workout on Thursday though. I want to see if I'm going to be ready to race the GHI WTC a week from Thursday. I have faith.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:19:19 GMT

My Boston recovery has been so-so. My quads did not hurt like they did after the Wurtsboro 30k (lots of downhill in that), nor like they did after last year's Seven Sisters (lots of up AND down hill in that). Basically, my ailments are like no other marathon recoveries. My ailments are more like minor injuries. My right quad was hurting, but it's seems better. Probably 99% right now. My left calf still has some issues, but I'd say it's 75% well. Here's what I've been doing:

Last Wed, I did a 4 mile walk.

Thursday was an off day. . .I had a dinner event for teachers. The Capital Steps performed for us, and they are hilarious. If you ever have a chance to watch them, do it! They play in Washington DC on Fridays & Saturdays I believe. Their slogan is "We put the mock in Democracy." Basically, they sang a bunch of parody songs making fun of politicians and policies. Pretty fun stuff!!!

Friday, I did an hour of yoga (could not do downward dog fully and could not do one-legged dog at all because of the calf). Then I swam and/or aqua jogged for 40 minutes.

Saturday, I worked the finish line for a race, and then I did about an hour & a half of walking/jogging in the Pine Bush. I went with a friend who had also run Boston. We talked a lot, and it was fun, but it certainly wasn't taxing. My calf felt a little strain on any uphills and my quad felt some on downhills, but for the most part both were fine. The soft trails helped, I'm sure.

Sunday, I worked the finish line for another race (our club has a side business where we do this). Then, I did 50 mins on the bike at the gym and then 10 mins on the elliptical.

Monday, I joined the same friend from Sat to do another walk/jog session. We went from Blatnick Park to Lion's Park and back. . .not sure how many miles this was. This outing probably had more jog to it, and it was on the bikepath so that was a little more strenuous. I didn't notice the quad or calf at all. It was raining the whole time, but I enjoyed getting back into the running.

Tuesday, I met my usual club members for a run. We did ~5 miles on the bikepath and some trails in a nearby preserve. We ran a slower pace than normal, but it was still faster than anything I had previously done. My legs felt heavy and tired, but my injuries did not seem too bothersome. . .I did feel them though, and that is why I decided not to run on Wed.

Wed, I did 50 min on the bike and 10 min on the elliptical at the gym.

Tonight, I ran ~5 miles in the Pine Bush preserve with a club friend. We certainly didn't run fast. And, the trails were great. I didn't notice my injuries at all. I'm going to do some stretching and massaging before I go to bed, but I think if I keep up the frequent rest or cross training days, I'll be fine in no time. I certainly hope so. I'm shooting to race the GHI Workforce Team Challenge on May 15th. This is Albany's biggest race (6000+ participants), and my school's team placed in the top 30 last year so I'm hoping we can do better this year! We have 22 participants, which I think is somewhat impressive considering the year before last, we couldn't even get 4 which is the required amount for entering a team. I know I can run the event, but I really want to race it.