She's a beast!

Greenland 25k

For the hell of it

So I decided to total up the number of miles that I've logged this year to date. I know that there are a few runs in the beginning of the year that I didn't get written down, so those don't count (seeing as I have record for them). It's not that much, but it looks like a ton to me! I can't wait to make this number grow.

Miles to date: 230.92

How did it happen?

I'm not sure when it happened, but I think my buddy Tim is right. I'm turning into a runner. So strange. I would never have guessed it. I had an 18 mile day yesterday, there's a bruise on my toe where my nail has been ripped half off, and I just got back from a short 4 miler in the Garden of the Gods (with dinner at the Pita Pit, mmmm) and feel fantastic. After yesterday, I didn't think that I would be able to move today. What I've realized is that I may actually have been able to push myself harder during the race yesterday. I didn't think there was any way I could have done more than I did, but either I recover amazingly fast or I could have gone harder. Since yesterday was the first time I'd ever done a run that long, I really was figuring out what I was capable of. Part of it, I think the wind got to me mentally more than I realized. It's retarded, but I feel like I've learned a lot from it. It'll be interesting to see how I can apply it to future runs.

Location: GoG
Distance: 3.92
Time: 41:23

Yep, definitely nuts.

Had a horrible and wonderful run this morning. I wasn't entirely prepared for it and I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to finish. But I couldn't let that f'ing trail win. 25k is long. The trail was hiller than I expected and the wind practically pushed me backwards. It sucked... and I loved it. Other than the wind, it was a beautiful day. I have to admit that I'm really glad I went out to this run. To top it off, I followed the 25k race up with the Pikes Peak hash. All in all, a good day.

Location: Greenland Trail
Distance: 25k (15.5 mi)
Time: 3:11 (really f'ing slow, but finished)

Back from the dead...

... I think. This morning my spirit is up a bit, mostly because my stomach isn't. I wasn't sure if I'd make myself sick again by going out for a a training run last night. Hell, I'm not even sure why I let myself be talked into it. I guess I just feel crappy when I miss a run day. Who would have thought that could happen. At any rate, things are looking up today. I have an appetite, I can drink water, and even take my vitamins. So at least I get to rebound back from malnutrition and dehydration. With any luck, I'll feel well enough to try that 25k tomorrow. If not, I guess I'll have to settle for the 8 mile course.

Dying.

Well, not really, I just feel like I am. My stomach just has a demon in it that must be purged! I hate being sick. I'm such a sissy when I'm sick!! I did run on Tuesday despite my feeling crappy, but I think it made it worse. I've been in bed almost all day today.

I love the Peak

Ok, so Sunday's run sucked. I felt like shit the whole way, but apparently it didn't hurt my time too much. I just thought I was going to die most of the time. I guess one brownie's favorite sayings was appropriate, "I love it when it sucks." I have to admit that I'm fairly pleased with the results overall. I had to go incredibly slow on the return trip because my knee was throbbing and I didn't want to eff it up on a downhill run. Though my total time was slower than my last Barr Trail run, I was surprised to see that my time to No Name Creek was actually 2 minutes faster than last time.

Location: Barr Trail
Distance: 8.63 mi
Time: 2:10:02

Time to top of Ws: 51:24
Time to No Name Creek: 1:18:20

Tortoise and Hare 5k

So this is my first 5k of the year. Last year about this time I ran the Bash the Bluffs 5k at a pace of 11:30ish. According to my gps, today's run was a bit short of the 5k mark.

Location: Santa Fe Trail (downtown)
Distance: 3.04 mi
Time: 27:33
Pace: 9:04

This is the first time I've maintained a 9 minute pace for more than a mile since I was in the Army. :) I nearly puked at the end, but it felt like such a good finish that it would have been worth it.

Hmmm... boring week.

It's time I start really cracking down on my studying, so my already lame blog will be even more so. Once I'm done with my MCAT, I can start to have a life again.

The Brownie Special

So I woke up this morning after my first full night of sleep in two weeks. I still feel tired, but I was just excited to have slept solidly through the night. Yay! So I climb out of bed, undress, and head to the bathroom. When I step on the scale it puts me in a good mood. Back down to 154.4, which is right around my Army weight.

I dress, strap on my nerd watch, and head out for a run. About 6.5 miles into a 9 mile run I suddenly have to poop so bad that my stomach is cramping and it gets worse with every step. With no bathroom in sight and no TP with me, I decide to suck it up until I get home. Those were the most uncomfortable miles I've ever run in my life.

The end result... after nine miles of running and one poop, I stepped on the scale again: 151 lbs. Woohoo!
Fastest way to loose 3.4 pounds? Run + poop.

GoG 1

Made it out for my first Garden of the Gods training run this morning. I haven't been awake this early in a few months. My knee has been hurting a lot in the past few days. I was worried that I would get out there, run half a mile, and end up limping and sniveling back to the car. Fortunately this did not happen. I hate to feel like a pansy.

I went with the slow group for two reasons: 1) because of my stupid knee, and 2) to gauge my current running state compared to last year. The results were encouraging!! Last year at this time, I was barely making it up those hills in the Garden, even walking some of them. I was usually somewhere around the middle to back of the pack. I always felt like I was sucking wind, but it seemed to help me improve. Today, even though I took it a bit easy, I was at the front of the pack, circling around to pick up runners/walkers at every hill. Last year it was me that was being picked up, even after doing the training runs for a while. This year, I'm starting off so much better it's ridiculous. It must by the Incline Club runs. After trying to run up Pike's Peak, even in shorter walk/run spurts, running in the Garden just doesn't seem so tough!

As usual, sunrise in the Garden is beautiful.

Location: Garden of the Gods
Distance: 4.51 miles
Time: 47:01
Pace: 10:26

Theatre rocks!

In my Intro to Theatre class this past Monday we had a makeup artist come in. Most of my class is made up of freshmen who are not theatre people. Well, you know me... I'm game for just about anything. So he shot me in the head and gave me a black eye. The fun part: I was stuck like this for the next two classes, because there wasn't enough time to get cleaned up!

Bleh...

Monday and Tuesday were really rough for me. I barely made it out of bed for lecture, then crawled back in as soon as I could. Rough days. Feeling a bit better today. Hopefully, I'll be up for the run in the morning tomorrow.