I'm Out There, Bloggers, and I'm Loving Every Minute of It!

[Okay, that title didn't work at all. I thought the quote was "I'm back, Jerry, and I'm loving every minute of it," but a quick google search told me I'm full of it. That was my attempt to cleverly tell you I've returned to the interblogs. Also, I still don't know what you're supposed to capitalize in a title.]

Monday workout: 5 miles, super easy, on the treadmill in socks

Tuesday workout: 6 miles with 1 x 5k (8:30 pace with 400m rest), Connects

Wednesday workout: rest

Thursday workout: 10 miles, 8 at tempo (9:25-ish), Connects

Oh hey, fancy seeing you here! You come here often? No? Hey, me neither. At least, not these past few days.

Sorry about that. I wasn't trying to be dramatic or anything ("Did she decide to stay in Norway?!?!? Did she break her leg?! Does she not like us anymore?!" Or, more probably, "Jeano who?"); I just had a shit ton of stuff to catch up on. I am not anywhere near caught up, but there's only so much work you can do before you need to chill the eff out. I'm chilling out by chatting with you fine folks, sitting next to an incredible remote-controlled fireplace, watching Parks and Rec, taking advantage of a well-stocked fridge, and being harassed by an attention-starved cat at the house I'm housesitting. It's delightful. Anyway, let's get to it!

I'd be remiss not to start with Boston, although adding another "thoughts and prayers to those affected by the tragedy" to the mix sounds almost hollow at this point. It's not that I don't mean it, of course not. I just mean that because I am not particularly adept at talking about feelings, I don't have much to add to the many wonderful things that have been said already.

As someone who likes to take action, tragedies like these are extremely frustrating ("frustrating" is an understatement). We can't outlaw pressure cookers and backpacks the way we can (and should-gettin' political!) outlaw guns. And given that we don't even know who these guys are (yet), there is nothing to direct my rage towards. All we can really do is sit around and twiddle our thumbs. I just hope we catch the assholes who are responsible for this.

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So I lied about not running in Oslo. I ran. 10 miles. I know, I know, I babbled on and on about wanting to walk all over for hours and hours and how running didn't fit in with that, but I obviously spoke too soon. I'm an idiot. 

I'm paranoid about budgeting a ridiculous amount of time to do even the simplest activity (for example, when I lived in New York I would give myself a solid two hours to try out a new subway route that only took a half hour because I was so worried about screwing it up). Last Saturday, my only full day in Oslo, I decided I wanted to go to a lake on the outskirts of Oslo. I figured it would be an all-day affair. 

Sognsvann. It was not the lush paradise I had pictured. There were billions of runners out, though. I saw a sign with the Olympics rings so I think it might have been a training camp of some sort?

Well, I went, I walked, and I conquered that lake in, like, two hours. I was back in my hotel room around 11:00 a.m. The hell? What was I supposed to do with myself for the rest of the day?

Go for a run! Duh.

I made the mistake of starting by the ocean, which I thought would be pretty, but it really wasn't. Think construction. Oslo apparently loves construction (or, I guess, cleaning up the city, an admirable goal!).

I wasted four miles along the water before heading north along the Akerselva River, which runs right through the middle of the city. I'm so pissed I didn't start there, because it was gorgeous. The farther north I got, the higher I went (this run was insanely steep. I'm not sure I would have done it had I known just how steep going in) and the more picturesque it became. Had I continued, I would have ended up at a lake.

HOW IS THIS IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A CITY???

It was spectacular. Since it had been an extremely low-mileage week, the run didn't feel hard. I did a lot of walking afterwards and didn't seem to feel it.

I love the heart statue in front of the church (church? Fancy building of some sort).

The opera house, the only scenic part of the waterfront.

View from the opera house. It took the entire trip, but the weather finally cleared up!

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And thus we conclude Oslo coverage. Norway was amazing, if ridiculously expensive, and I am so happy I had the opportunity to go. Honestly, when I left I was kind of upset about it because the timing was so inconvenient (close to the end of the semester, right when I had to make some big decisions about grad school, etc.), but the very short time I was there has me itching to go back (in a million years when I'm earning six figures). I LOVED Oslo, which really surprised me because I hate cities. Oslo: five Jeanos up! That's the new super awesome rating system I just came up with. People should pay me for my genius ideas.

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Last week killed what had been, up to that point, a nearly perfect marathon training cycle. Some commenters claimed to admire my "dedication" and "commitment," to the Hanson Method, although I think what they were actually trying to say was, "Jesus Christ, you are an obsessive maniac. Chill out already." I wish I could say that my week off allowed me to do just that, but if anything, I think it's made me even more determined to follow it exactly. Suckers!

I can't tell whether my legs feel refreshed or awkward and leaden after my time off. I guess I'd say it's a little bit of both. During my runs I've been pretty tired (although I'm still sort of jet-lagged so I'd say part of it has to do with that), but afterwards my legs have felt great. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be dead by the time my next rest day rolls around, though.

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Well, this post has been kind of all over the place (blame Parks and Rec!) so I'll stop while we're behind. I am eager to start reading blogs again and can't wait to hear what you've all been up to!