When last we left this blog, I was desperately trying to get my act together for a long holiday break. And now, here I am, on the 7th day of my 12 day winterfest. So where are we? In no particular order...
* This holiday break was supposed to be a little hectic, with upstairs bedroom and bathroom floors getting re-done. Alas, we lost the "little" when - one hour before we were supposed to go to Christmas Eve service - our gas alarm went off again. The results? a. a later church service. b. a condemned gas furnace c. double the contractors I expected to have trouncing through my house d. more than double the money I expected to spend this holiday season. As I write this, the last contractor has just left (finally).
* The day before Christmas, one of my personal e-mail accounts got hacked. That was a joy, both for me and the 3,000 people who think I've lost the ability to spell and like to visit websites selling Chinese merchandise. If you got the e-mail - my apologies.
* Operation Vibram continues, though diminished. I'm not using my orthotics, but it's too cold to be doing much in the Vibrams. I am, however, doing a fair amount of running in my Nike Frees, too.
* That being said, "fair amount of running" is all I've managed to accomplish, due to said contractors. Mainly, I've been out every other day, though I did skip the previous two days, which is something I haven't done in a while. To make up for it, I did a mini-interval workout last week and had a good 13 miler over the weekend. So I'm maintaining, but nothing more.
* Speaking of last weekend, we had a small earthquake. The weird part? On my 13 miler the next day, I decided to get "creative" on my run, which really isn't a good idea when the fog's as thick as pea soup. I came to one intersection and ran down and back each road before I finally got my sense of direction. The next day, the same intersection was in the paper as being the epicenter of the quake.... hmmm.. earthquakes... faulty compasses????
* Also on that run, I used HEED from Hammer. As I've blogged about before, Hammer Nutrition kind of markets themselves to diabetic athletes. Though my energy level was crap on the long run, my blood sugar was 97 at the start and 105 at the finish. Not too shabby, I'd say.
* Before we knew we'd be broke for the holidays, the wife and I bought each other a treadmill for Christmas. It's serving it's purpose, if by "purpose" I mean making time stand still when we're on it. I've never been a fan of them and won't start now, but it gives me an option for days when the weather's too horrible or I want to bang out a run without thinking about it.
* And finally, I've made some diabetic changes. My wife and I are both blessed with very good health insurance through our jobs. Previously, though, I'd been on hers' because it was a smidge cheaper. However, my co-worker's diabetic wife just got approved for the CGM with our insurance. So, I'm switching insurances and even switching doctors to the same one as my co-worker's wife. Though it'll mean a longer drive, it's not like you go to see your endo that often. Being a typical endo, I can't get in until early April, but that's my plan to get on CGM sometime in 09 (without paying for it).
Aside from all the me-me-me, the family's having a great holiday break... the boy's hands are either on legos or the Wii and my daughter hasn't put down her new cell phone since Christmas morning. Though we are notorious sleeper-inners, the contractapalooza at the house hasn't helped us perfect that move this holiday season. Thankfully, though, we have five days left.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
A For Consistency, D for Improvement...
For the past three years, my final race of the season has been the Jingle Bell Run, one of the bigger 5k's in the area.
Last year, I came in 26th place w/ a 19:47. This year, I came in 26th place w/ a 19:53. Last year, though, I missed an AG award by a minute. This year, I missed it by three seconds. Ouch.
Without a doubt, it was an interesting year of running, and mainly a good year. My early spring races were all PR's and gave way to a good summer of training for a fall marathon. There were definitely points in the late summer, early fall when I think I was ready for some fast races. However, I didn't deviate from my plan and ended up with a lackluster marathon and without a final 5k PR. About that, I'm not pleased.
More than anything, I'm confused going into '09. While I don't think it's weird that 07 and 08 were so similar, given how differently I trained this year, I guess I do... my low-mileage high speed plan yielded very similar results to my high-mileage low-speed plan. I guess in the end I'll need to do both to push me over the top.
I still haven't finalized my plan for '09, but I'm once again thinking of the Delaware Marathon. That had been my plan last year, but I quickly abandoned it in February when I took a week off for injury. Considering how well this spring went, though, it could be a good idea. Also, it's a small enough marathon that I can wait until just before it to make the call.
I also have blog posts coming on the Vibrams and an update on the diabetes (and how it could help my Boston plans), but they'll both have to wait... Duty calls.
Last year, I came in 26th place w/ a 19:47. This year, I came in 26th place w/ a 19:53. Last year, though, I missed an AG award by a minute. This year, I missed it by three seconds. Ouch.
Without a doubt, it was an interesting year of running, and mainly a good year. My early spring races were all PR's and gave way to a good summer of training for a fall marathon. There were definitely points in the late summer, early fall when I think I was ready for some fast races. However, I didn't deviate from my plan and ended up with a lackluster marathon and without a final 5k PR. About that, I'm not pleased.
More than anything, I'm confused going into '09. While I don't think it's weird that 07 and 08 were so similar, given how differently I trained this year, I guess I do... my low-mileage high speed plan yielded very similar results to my high-mileage low-speed plan. I guess in the end I'll need to do both to push me over the top.
I still haven't finalized my plan for '09, but I'm once again thinking of the Delaware Marathon. That had been my plan last year, but I quickly abandoned it in February when I took a week off for injury. Considering how well this spring went, though, it could be a good idea. Also, it's a small enough marathon that I can wait until just before it to make the call.
I also have blog posts coming on the Vibrams and an update on the diabetes (and how it could help my Boston plans), but they'll both have to wait... Duty calls.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Five Miles in Detroit...
I got into Detroit last night at midnight. Now, it's six pm, and I'm back in the Detroit airport, ready to fly home. That's how I roll -- well, except for the two hour delay part. That's how US-friggin'-Air rolls.
Even though I got to sleep around one, the alarm went off at 7:30 because - well, I have no good reason, other than that runners run. And also, one of the things I do love about being a runner and being a sometime business traveler is that it's a great way to see the city, assuming the city is worth seeing.
Where I was staying was actually in a suburb of Detroit. I was there for a longish meeting, but knew if I dragged my butt out of bed I could see some Detroitish roads before the meeting.
Looking out the hotel window, I realized it was cold and wet and miserable. Colder, wetter and more miserable than I'm used to on Dec. 1. I briefly considered going back to bed. Also briefly, I thought about running on the treadmill in the sterile hotel workout room.. but that really seemed to defeat the purpose. I didn't get out of bed to run, but rather to run on roads I never had before. And it was THAT curiosity that pushed me through five pretty solid, mighty yucky miles.
I've been to Detroit enough to know that this run wouldn't crack my top fifty list - probably not even my top 250 list. But it did show me some streets I'd never seen in a city I've rarely been. And that - for sure - was worth something.
Even though I got to sleep around one, the alarm went off at 7:30 because - well, I have no good reason, other than that runners run. And also, one of the things I do love about being a runner and being a sometime business traveler is that it's a great way to see the city, assuming the city is worth seeing.
Where I was staying was actually in a suburb of Detroit. I was there for a longish meeting, but knew if I dragged my butt out of bed I could see some Detroitish roads before the meeting.
Looking out the hotel window, I realized it was cold and wet and miserable. Colder, wetter and more miserable than I'm used to on Dec. 1. I briefly considered going back to bed. Also briefly, I thought about running on the treadmill in the sterile hotel workout room.. but that really seemed to defeat the purpose. I didn't get out of bed to run, but rather to run on roads I never had before. And it was THAT curiosity that pushed me through five pretty solid, mighty yucky miles.
I've been to Detroit enough to know that this run wouldn't crack my top fifty list - probably not even my top 250 list. But it did show me some streets I'd never seen in a city I've rarely been. And that - for sure - was worth something.
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