Friday, November 1, 2013

Catch you on the other side

Heading out in about half an hour to drive up to Lynchburg for the Mountain Masochist Trail Run. The training is in the bag, the gear is the bag. Everything is set. I'll do a better race report once it's over.

Everyone have a good weekend. My brother is doing a Tough Mudder Sunday afternoon, after my dad does his first 10k run that morning.

Soundtrack:
"Misery Business" by Paramore
"Everything" by The Classic Crime

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Big Time Changes

State Fair with family. New job. New apartment. EMT class. 2 weeks to Masochist.

I know it's been a long time since I last updated. A lot has been going on and I just have NOT had the time. But it's been pretty much all good things.

This week I started a new job. Not with the Y. There was a conflict with being able to take my EMT class. As much as that class isn't yet "necessary" I felt like I needed to keep on going with it where as the Y job didn't feel like it has much future. So now I'm working for a pool service company. Essentially I maintain pools during the winter so they're not so much trouble come springtime to get ready for the summer. It's hard manual labor. Maybe not so mentally challenging, and I go home exhausted, but I'm liking it.

My tiredness is compounded by my EMT class. After working 8-5, 3 nights a week I still have my EMT class. I'm still enjoying it, though we've still just barely touched on the medical training. It's settling into a good rhythm. I just hope having a stable job doesn't sour my motivation to pursue this.

This week was also moving week. My brother and I made a big change and decided to be housemates (apartment). I think the last time we shared a room (we don't know) was back when my oldest sister went to college. I think the last time we lived under the same roof was probably technically when I got my first apartment my sophmore year of college. It's kinda crazy.

On the short term: I've got 2 weeks until going back to the Mountain Masochist Trail Run. Two weeks ago, the Grindstone 100 was CANCELLED because the government shutdown prevent usage of some forest service roads. So luckily we get to stay on the course. My running has been good. For the past month (or so) my training cycle has been much shorter, so with a lot more recovery weeks. And today-ish is the start of my taper to store up the energy for this event.

My sister was in town for our family camping trip last weekend. She tele-commuted for the week and before she left, last night we all went to the State Fair. I glad we went, even though I was pretty hungry until we got there, so I got a little grumpy. I had a good ham biscuit (kudos to the church fair booth!), a polish sausage (good, but not very well seasoned), and a little bit of bacon-chocolate funnel cake (split among the five of us). I have yet to find the pickle booth! I've heard they're amazing, and after having fresh pickles when the JCC had a Food Festival, I know the fresh ones are in a league a part from the canned ones.

Keeping it short, even though it's been a while.

Soundtrack: DON'T JUDGE
"Royals" by Lorde
"Everything" by Taylor Swift

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

I Love October

Quality week. Moving. EMT class. Umstead.

It's been [slightly] longer than usual since I last blogged. Last week, I finished up work at the JCC and over the weekend I moved. I crammed all my stuff into boxes and bags and shoved it all into my parents' house. Like I've said before, it's a frustrating feeling. I feel disoriented, and as if my life has been bottled up and stuffed in a cage. I'm hoping things will be looking up, so we'll see.

One up shot was starting my EMT class last night. It's only been one class, so there's not much to write about. I was surprised at the number of other students with [Bachelor's] degrees. I don't mean that in a snooty way; I've just been told I'd probably be the highest educated person, but there's probably 4 or 5 of us that have graduate college. As to the class itself and the curriculum, I think it's going to be a fascinated topic and I can't wait to really get into it. The 6:30-9:30 time frame really sucks (my normal bedtime is usually 9:00), but practically speaking, if I want to be an EMT, I better get used to not operating on my own schedule.

Training for Masochist progressing well. Now I'm on an back-and-forth recovery-build/quality system. This week I'm doing something a little different by not having a specific weekend long run of 30/35 miles. Instead, I'm doing across the board 15 miles each day. The weekly mileage ends up about the same. Yesterday and today have gone OK, but definitely when I start pushing 11 miles, my body starts realizing somethings up. Today was certainly tougher than yesterday, and I'm worried/anxious to see how tomorrow will feel.

As to Umstead: yes, I've gotten suckered in. I applied and was accepted as a competitive entry. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. I've never been one to chase a PR. And it's the first time I feel PUBLICLY committed to a time goal, in this case under 17 hours. It's one thing to want to run faster; it's another to HAVE to. But while it's scary, that itself is the main reason I chose to go back, rather than pick one of the other races I was considering.

Ironically, two days after I applied for Umstead, the ThunderRock 100 (in Chattanooga) finally announced their race date.

May 16, 5-6 weeks after Umstead. I should think about it, right?

Soundtrack:
"My Songs Know..." by Fallout Boy
"Breathe Today" by Flyleaf

Monday, September 23, 2013

Moving Weekend

Long run. Stomach troubles. Moving day. Job hunt.


Good, solid week last week. Nothing crazy going on with training. Cross-training-wise, I haven't been swimming. Since our pool closed, I no longer have a free place to swim. Since most of my workouts are only 2000 yds, about 30-40 minutes, I didn't feel justified to pay, even just the $4 for the city pool. And I just didn't want another logistical planning session. I would've gone for my Thursday swim, but from past experience I know that it would've sucked. Only doing an sport once a week does NOT help maintain any ability/endurance. Even though it cost more, I went over to the YMCA and used their erg (rowing machine) and got a good set in. My hamstrings were tight and my back ached from the full body work out, but for the most part, no harm done. I'm just trying to make sure to avoid running on my day off from running.

I did deal a little bit with some GI issues. I couldn't really say what the problem was. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've "readjusted" to a meat-eating diet. Last weekend though I bought some buffalo burgers from Trader Joe's. A whole one Sunday, and parts for lunch early in the week, that was my first suspect; I tossed the leftovers. Could really tell if I felt better or worse; just some weird cramps and rumbling. Then I decided to stop taking my iron supplement. I don't know if I still need it anyways, and I could reason that maybe with the red meat, I overloaded on iron. I've been feeling better; maybe because of getting the iron under control; maybe just some bad food finally cleared out.

I'm moving this weekend. I recently told someone that I was content with the fact that I wouldn't likely every have a permanent place. Well fuck that. I became sharply aware how much not having a place to call MINE is. And realized how much useless, meaningless crap I have. All it does it take up space, gets aged and dirty. It really kind of makes my stomach turn (physical issues aside). I don't know, maybe it's reflective that I still don't know where I'll be working or what I'll be doing in a few weeks. And that almost as soon as I go to my parents, I'm gonna want to get out. I really don't know if I could tolerate being at home for more than two weeks. It's nothing against my parents. Really, it's NOT. I just feel this huge burden that I haven't moved forward at all, and that I'll just be sliding backwards, with all my pointless, crappy possessions growing moldy in a garage because I haven't manned up to get a real job.

I'm in a muddled area of my training plan, with several weeks that I never really filled in. I only did one build week. This week is recovery again, next week probably a quality week, then another recovery, and then start tapering. It's 5? 6? weeks until Mountain Masochist.

Soundtrack:
"Gone Gone Gone" Phillip Phillips
"ISHFWILF" Disturbed

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Climb the highest mountain and dive off...

Glute pain. Puppy love. Apartment search. Scam. Race schedule anxiety. Spinning.

The Tabata class I've been taking can kick my butt. And of course, I don't adjust my running routine, so I've been paying for it. Even on top of that, I've missed out on my Thursday recovery swims and have substituted with short EASY runs... which I know don't help. When I've done this in the past it usually leads to foot problems. Last week, I had a great 10 (ish) mile Wednesday tempo run. Then in our tabata class we did TONS of leg exercises including explosive lunge jumps. Without taking the Thursday to recover, my right glutes were DYING most of the weekend. It was one of those things were I think I was able to maintain my form, but I just felt zapped of energy. Most likely my quads and other muscles were doing a lot of extra work to compensate for the defunct power in the quads.

The puppy love has passed. Well, sort of. There is no sense of imperative to get one ASAP. I still want one, but I know it could take some time. I also decided to go ahead and offer to help out my sister, who may need a taker for her two pests Manchester Terriers. That may be coming in December.

I was going to write about my apartment search (though it may have been meaningless. More on that in a moment). Looked at a couple places in the Cary area, when I was sure I would want the job at the Cary Y. My goal is to be within 5 miles of my workplace... when you have to be 'on call,' it's easier to get up and go when you're nearby.

Though I did almost get scammed. There was a listing for a home that had a great rent, so I emailed the lister to schedule a viewing. I got a very cordial email, telling me rent, pet policies, move out policies, etc., and then a request to complete a background check before the viewing with a web link provided. Well, something told me to check out the website on Google. And it turned out these guys used this website by charging credit cards 100x what it says. It was crazy! I'm really glad I did so, though of course now I get spam about once a day from these seemingly random yahoo accounts trying to get information.

I'm getting some more race anxiety. After Umstead registration came and went, I thought at least that race was behind me. However, this weekend I was essentially told if I want in, I was in. It's just hard to think about really RACING and chasing a time goal or PR. And I am a little worried about how many quality miles I got in my legs AND in my mind.

With our pool closed, my swim cross training has switched over to spinning. I'm trying to find the sweet spot of not crushing my legs, but still get a good aerobic workout.

So yeah, I also really confused about job stuff, and where I'll be. So I may be at home for a few weeks. I really really NEED to make it just a few weeks.

Soundtrack:
"Camisado" by Panic! At the Disco
"We Are" by The Kids in the Way

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Weekday Update

Introspective time: I'm noticing I have what I'll call a feedback paradox/conundrum. There lots of aspects of my life where I want to receive feedback. Not just criticism, but just acknowledgement of something I've said or done (as opposed to just black stares). I'm not really talking about serious things; I mean, I could just be shooting the breeze about something that's happened over the weekend, blah blah blah. Like I said, just a basic need to get some type of reaction I guess.

But the thing is a lot of times I feel really jaded/cynical about the responses. Such as if I talk about something positive, and the listener says "that's awesome!" I just instinctively think "it's not that awesome. You're just saying that because you want to pretend to care when you really could care less how much I ran/read/ate (whatever)." Or if after something bad happens, and I feel obligated to let friends or family know. I hate being asked "am I ok" partially because "I'm going to go all manic depressive," but also I think "you're asking because you want to know if the next few moments/days/whatever are going to be awkward self-pity times." I mean, should I really think people are all that fake?

Moving on....

A couple of good paced runs. Last week was a "quality week" and it rounded out Saturday with 25 miles ending at a tempo. Of course the tempo isn't actually all that fast. For me a tempo like this means I'm deliberately putting in the effort to move quickly; regardless of whether the pace is actually quicker. Lucky for me it was. And when I really wanted to push the effort, over the last 5 miles, I had some good help. Running through Umstead, I tagged behind a trio of runners (one with a dog) that were keeping a really good pace, which always helps. And then to polish off the last few miles on singletrack, I attempted to catch, match, and outpace some NC State women cross country runners. Good motivation there.

Wednesdays are usually a deliberate effort run as well (Monday is recovery, Tuesday trail work, Friday whatever). This one was pretty good. Being a recovery week, but 8 miles, at just sub-7:00 mile. Not to shabby.  I've also been switching out my mid-day treadmill hill climbing routine with a Tabata class. This is essentially high intensity training in a group exercise setting. It's not so running/race specific, but with a varying routine, and the high intensity, I think it's been a fun cross training session.

I've been getting a little dog crazy. As I wrote my brother: "1)I think I'm just feeling needy. 2) [my] mom mentioned Lida's dog predicament. 3) some one on the trails running with a dog off-handedly said I should get one to run with.
Reasons I have this unreasonable urge to have a dog."

Problem is I have nowhere to keep one. And I have no good plan for training, feeding, maintaining/exercising. I mean, my plants only started growing after I started ignoring them... A lot of those "breed matcher" sites are pairing me with little toy dogs.... I can't say I'm completely opposed, but I also feel tempted to have a DOG dog.

Soundtrack:
"Roar" by Katy Perry; yeah I know, shut up
"Listening to Freddie Mercury" by Emery

Friday, September 6, 2013

Lost

New shoes. Long run. Job confusion. PT book. Lost.


It's been a weird few days. Things at the J are winding down a lot and we really only had a two day work week. I'm feeling lazy and without direction. I've been doing a lot of reading and trying to tell myself that's being "productive," but I feel like I'm just kidding myself. I want to do things, but I don't want to do things that cost money. Besides reading and running, I'm fresh out of hobbies. Oh, and I don't want to include watching Netflix.

I don't like not feeling like I have a purpose. I don't like feeling that my purpose is not "purposeful." I can't help but feel like the things I enjoy doing are simple and monotonous. Brainless. I crave work, but I am terrified of duty and responsibility. I feel selfish in my work ethic and my running. Maybe I feel like my only claim is that I'm stubbornly mechanistic with running and setting a schedule. If I'm not known for my "discipline" what else can I be known for?

I haven't heard back from the Alexander YMCA. I won't say I'm nervous, but I am frustrated. There's this whole musical chairs, ring-around-the-rosy going on that, while I understand the hard-and-fast process; I don't understand the reasoning.

I ended up purchasing new trail shoes. So much better. I finally go through all of the PT book. I took a practice exam. I knew more than I thought, but not as much as I want to. It's hard to say what the point of sticking with that.

I'm just scared that I'm getting to yet another crossroads point and I still haven't gotten directions.

The Umstead 100 registration opens tomorrow. I think I will pass on it, but I also think I will regret doing so until/unless another big race after MMTR.

Soundtrack:
"If I Die Young" The Band Perry
"Take me away" Lifehouse