Scatter my ashes here...

Scatter my ashes here...
scatter my ashes in the desert...

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Squirrel Sprints for Slackers

I have been the biggest slacker as far as hard workouts go. I'm not having any problem getting out to run easy, but as far as doing any formal speed training, forget it. I have had no motivation over the past week. This morning I took the girls out early and we did about 3 1/2 miles. We ended up doing some squirrel sprints, but not too many. Not enough to make me any faster.

I finished up 11 miles by running the bike path, and ran into Eddie, who is an expatriate in Boulder. He moved there from Fort Collins last year, but still works here. I haven't seen him since last summer, and we ran for about a mile together on the Spring Creek Trail before he had to go back to work.

I worked Wednesday and it was a long busy day but at least we were staffed for it. I have four days off now and I am going to enjoy every one of them.

Tuesday it was 27 degrees, much warmer. I got out early. Isabelle refused to go so I took Iris running, and then did my run for a total of 8 miles in the morning. I felt like I could barely move my legs. I studied for a couple of hours and then was brain dead, so I took a long nap. Then it was time to go for my evening run with Wheaties Boy, but that was supposed to be a tempo run and I was in no condition to run hard. We ended up just doing 8 miles at a 9 minute pace, which felt like a good effort to me.

Crashed on my bike on Friday, I was riding with Troy, and we turned at an intersection that sucks, especially on a Friday afternoon. I was trying to make a left turn and there was a lot of traffic. Then this woman in a car slowed down, was pointing like she was turning right, but didn't have a turn signal on. I thought she was letting me go across the intersection, but then she started coming toward me.

I tried to get out of my clips because I had to stop fast, but I didn't get out in time and fell on my left side again. This time I was moving but I didn't crash as hard. I thought, shit, I'll screw up my back again. But other than a small bruise on my left knee and a sore left wrist, I seem to be okay for running. I have to stop crashing on my bike!

I'll be putting the miles in until Across the Years, even if I'm tired. I need to get my butt out on the hills too, I've been avoiding hills all year. Not on purpose, either. I'm just too lazy to drive across town to park at the dam and run at Horsetooth. Soon I'll have no choice unless I want to run the bike paths all the time, because the streets will be too icy in town. Getting wimpy on the hills is not like me.

I added my wish list for 2013 races to the blog. I'm not planning on doing all of them, and there are other ones I haven't listed that I might do, but it's a work in progress. Badwater dates have been announced for July 15-17. I'm really hoping to be able to get out to Death Valley again next summer. If I do, it will be on the medical team again, not to run the race. We've been told at work not to plan any vacation time in July because we're switching to the new computer system and I guess they anticipate chaos.

Why they chose July is beyond my comprehension. July is known to be a bad month in health care anyway, since the chaos of the incoming crop of new residents makes July the most dangerous month for hospital stays anyway...not to mention that anyone who has kids would want to take vacation in the summer, and things never go according to the planned dates anyway! Last time we switched the system over, just 3 years ago, they made a much bigger deal of it than it actually was. We'll see, I might be able to free myself long enough to work the race.

Registration opens on Sunday for Delano Park 12 Hour Run, and I'm signing up. That will be my first race next year. I'll have to see what the budget looks like, I'd like to go down to Arizona and run the Pemberton Trail 50K again, Arizona is usually an inexpensive trip for me since my parents live there.

Still in search of that elusive fast 50 miler on the roads, preferably on a loop course. I know it's out there.

No comments: