Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Random Ish Tuesday

Monday Workout: 6 miles, ~11:38 average, Pace Gloves
Tuesday Workout: 6.5 miles with 6 x 800 (8:30 with 400m rest), Connects

Wow, so much to tell you all! So many random, unimportant things. Convenient, actually, since it also happens to be the most boring day of the week. I think this calls for the monthly-ish edition of Random Shit Tuesday! It's such a sacred tradition I rarely remember to do it. Let's get right to it:

  • As I mentioned on Sunday, the weather gods decided to bless us with a major snow dump. And snow it did! For two days straight. Things were kind of messy for a while there, but then the clouds receded and we were left with a perfect sunny and snowy day! Here are some photos to whet your Alaskan appetite:

You throw a shadow in a picture, Instagram the shit out of it, and you've got some high class art. Right?

This is where I study. I am only marginally productive.

Snowfall!

This is a Subaru Outback in my neighbors' driveway. I'm waiting for the roof to cave in.

Now that we've gotten the obligatory weather talk out of the way, let's talk running! My body continues to shock me. Yesterday's 6 miles didn't feel great. My legs were achy McGee. Not tired, surprisingly, but achy. It was snowing like crazy, but snowplows had done their thing so the roads were actually pretty great for running. Until I entered what is technically another neighborhood that hadn't been plowed for a while, at which point one of my Yaktrax broke. Fuuuuuuuh. Fortunately I had already done four miles so I only had to do two on the treadmill. Like I said, my legs were achy and running uphill in powder caused a strange pain in one of my big toes (probably from curling the toe under to try to get decent footing). I was not looking forward to today's speedwork. But remember how I started my story with "My body continues to shock me?" The shock came today. When I woke up, my legs felt fine. Great, even. I couldn't believe it. Running is weird.

I spent all morning wondering where I could do my planned intervals and finally decided it was time to return to the ice rink. It's perfect for speedwork, except that a mile is 9 1/2 laps. 9 1/2 laps?! You mean I have to count out 4.75 laps for each interval and an additional 2.375 laps for rest? AND I don't have a watch telling me I'm on pace the entire time? That sounds complicated. I decided I'd be crazy and call 2.25 laps 400 meters so each interval and subsequent rest was 7 laps. Much easier. Anyway, I'm awesome (and modest) so I obviously killed it. 800 splits: 4:20, 4:13, 4:11, 4:11, 4:13, 4:09 (I was aiming for 4:15s). Even better, it all felt easy. Too easy, really. And no aches to be found! Miraculous. It was the perfect way to cap off a hard week of running. And tomorrow, we rest!
  • Back to bullets. Did anyone see this article on water replacing soda as the number one beverage in America? Have I been living in a hole? I had no idea soda was number one, and for two decades. Really?!?! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Americans are gross. I mean, soda's tasty and all, but 50+ gallons a year? That's crazy talk. I'm happy water's back on top, although I'm less than thrilled that bottled water is responsible for much of the growth (according to the article, at least). We live in America, guys! Our tap water rocks!
  • When I was in the locker room after my run, I overheard a woman telling someone else that until recently, half her body was paralyzed. She was there for a karate class and was explaining that she can't do many of the exercises but is trying to regain some strength to help her move around more easily. I couldn't believe it! The class did a couple of laps around the ice rink as I was warming up (with their hands above their heads. That was confusing) and I had noticed her struggling, but she was definitely giving it her all. What a BAMF!
  • Has anyone seen the movie Pitch Perfect? I know, I KNOW, it sounds like Glee the movie. It's so much more than that, though. And so good. It's not an Oscar contender or anything, but it knows what it is and embraces it. Such a fun movie. Anyway, I can't get over the fact that Adam from Workaholics is in it. And he sings!! I love that man. If you're into dumb-but-super-fun movies, you should check it out.
  • I forgot to mention that hockey practice started before I finished my run. Those guys are assholes. Worse than skiers, even. They were literally shooting pucks at me to scare the shit out of me. There wasn't any risk of getting hurt because there was a thick layer of plastic between us, but they were shooting them so hard I could actually feel the sound wave or whatever when the puck hit the plastic. They were laughing about it, too. Okay, guys. At least I'm not the worst-smelling person the planet. Anyone ever walk into a room of full of dirty hockey gear? Puke.

Well, that's all I've got for RST. Thanks for playing! Let's do it again the next time I remember.

Tell me:

  • What super fun but dumb movies have you seen recently? I can't get over how fun Pitch Perfect was; I need another one.
  • How has your body surprised you recently? That sounds like an "Are you there, God, it's me, Margaret" question. You know what I mean.
  • Do you drink a lot of soda? If so, I apologize for my mean words. What's your beverage of choice?

12 comments:

  1. I'm a water girl here. Mostly from the tap, unless it's really gross city water. (Not all city water is gross. Only in some places is it really gross. Union, NJ is one of those places. <--- Random fact)

    I SWEAR TO YOU that I JUST used, "Are you there, God, it's me, Margaret", not 2 hours ago. I was testing the quality of a FaceTime chat with my parents. So weird, and VERY random. Are we twins separated by birth? (Uh, I guess that would actually make you a quadruplet?) And by, like, 5 or 7 or 10 years or something? [I feel old in the runner-blogger world. Seriously.]

    Over and out.

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    1. Whaaaat? That's nuts! I'm not even sure I've read the book but I make an effort to insert that phrase into as many conversations as possible. Glad to see we're on the same page.

      Psh, "old in the runner-blogger world." No way! Just think of all the mommy bloggers out there; many of them are pushing 40+. Not that it even matters ;).

      Huh, I guess I just assumed tap water was good everywhere in the U.S.! We are definitely spoiled up here but I know New York (City)'s tap water is supposedly really good. Oh, New Jersey.

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    2. I am totally a tap water girl, too. (Unless I am drinking seltzer, which I LOVE!). When I moved to NJ, my bf took one sip of the water and made me get a Brita. Now I use the stupid thing all the time, even when it leaks constantly and makes my counter all wet.

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    3. I had almost completely forgotten about seltzer until you mentioned it! So good. I am actually willing to go the bottled route for that stuff. Fortunately I rarely remember how much I love it.

      Britas can be a pain, but they sort of make me feel fancy because I can pull it out of the fridge and pour water for myself like I'm at a restaurant. It's the little things...

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  2. I love tap water. I actually prefer it. The water in Colorado was delicious!! DC's is meh, and there is lead in some of the pipes (how's that for fun?), so we use a britta filter that screws onto our sink so we can still have tap water - but have it be lead-free.

    It snowed here like 3 inches on Monday...but it had pretty much all disappeared (it switched to rain around noon) by the time I got home. Boo.

    Awesome about your intervals!!! My body has been the opposite lately...after the MC 17.75k downhills (may have taken those a little too intensely) and a soccer game I played in the next day, my entire body is more sore than I have been in a long time. And in awkward places...like in between my ribs. *sigh* I'm trying to figure out who to convince to add a foam roller to our work gym so that I can go stretch during lunch, ha.

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    1. My roommate in New York got us a Brita filter (the kind you pour water from and not attached to your faucet) and it was pretty gross seeing some of the stuff that accumulated in there... Overall, though, it was pretty good water!

      Yeah, well you've done quite a few race-effort runs recently, so I can see why you're sore! The great thing about this plan I'm following is that it's making me run faster than usual, but (at least so far) hasn't pushed me too hard. It's a fine line but I seem to be handling it well! I can't say I've ever had pain in my ribs from running... I'm obviously not badass enough.

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  3. My body has depressed me latley. All of my run have felt terrible. I hate it.

    Dumbest thing I have watched, reruns of Dawson's creek on Netflix.

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    1. Yes, Dawson's Creek!!! Every six months or so I get a crazy urge to finish the entire series but then I go on a binge (10 episodes or so) and forget about it until the next time. Dawson's such a nerd.

      Sorry to hear about your bad runs!! Hopefully it's just a rough patch and will blow over soon.

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  4. My body and legs suck lately. We aren't friends and we aren't on speaking terms except for when I cry and plea for them to just let me run.

    I LOVE me some tap water. In fact, I prefer it (I like my 20 oz water bottle to be filled up with 6 seconds of cold water and then 2 seconds of hot water-- it's a lovely temperature). Bottled water is for elitists and planet haters!

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    1. But now you've got some new shoes!!!! New shoes cure all evils (or, at least, prevent you from spending money on dumber things).

      I'm pretty anti-bottled water until Amy up there brought up seltzer. I rarely drink it, but I'll totally kill some plastic trees (that's where it comes from, right?) for some of that sweet stuff. Someday when I'm a millionaire I'll buy one of those machines that seltzer-izes your water for you (totally blanking on what those things are called, ah!).

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  5. Definitely a water drinker - I love me my Brita filter. I didn't grow up drinking soda, which I think helps quite a bit. I am totally grossed out by the massive soda consumption as well :P

    That lady sounds like such a BAMF! I love hearing stories like that. You also killed it with your speed work, so ... another BAMF ;)

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    1. Ahaha, thanks! My goal in life is actually to be called a BAMF as many times as possible, so it seems I'm on my way!

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