Keep On Going

Winter's End 4.5 miler

2009-03-23T07:58:00.002-04:00

I ran the first event of the Wyoming Valley Striders' Triple Crown yesterday--the Winter's End 4.5 mile run, on the Penn State Lehman campus. It was a wonderful event. First of all, registration is in the heated and comfortable student center, with REAL bathrooms (whoo-hoo!) Second, advance fee was only $8. Third, you get a hat or gloves instead of yet another useless cotton T. (If I run all 3 races in the Triple Crown, I get a Frank Shorter performance shirt--now you're talking). I got a nice knitted red hat with the event embroidered on it. Fourth, the setting is absolutely gorgeous. It's a lovely campus, surrounded by barns, fields, and beautiful big houses. The course is rolling and varied, part on asphalt and part on dirt road, with essentially no traffic at all. There are wetlands, gorgeous old trees, and a lovely pond. Bucolic! And fifth, free massage afterwards--more on that later.

I had a good run in terms of competing with myself. My low-bar goal was not to be dead last, and my personal goal was to beat 50 minutes. I did! The clock was at 49:17 when I crossed the finish line. When they posted the results, I showed up at 47:24 and was thrilled--but I think they skipped someone and put me in the wrong place. In terms of competing with others... every time I'm in a race I'm confronted with being the SLOWEST fit person possible. Not that I can't get fitter, and losing 10 pounds would help, but I'm in way way better shape than the few people I manage to beat. Only 3 people came in behind me. And I run good races--I don't go out too fast, I expend my energy evenly, I really pour it out at the end and don't leave anything on the road, my form is decent, I have fun with it. I'm just as slow as molasses in January, as a turtle just out of hibernation, as a snail in the sun... whatever you can compare it to, I am SLOW slow s l o w... But who cares!

So after the race, Active Performance Chiropractic was doing free massages. I told Dr. Armillei that I didn't have any particular complaints but I am inflexible and hate stretching. He asked me to try to touch my toes and I showed him how far from the ground I end up, with pain up and down the back of my legs. He had me lie on one side and then the other, while he jabbed his thumb into the side of my upper thigh. Meanwhile, he had me stretch my leg out and down (the technique is called Active Release). It hurt quite a bit while he was doing it, but it didn't linger. After just a few minutes of that, he had me stand up and try again, and I gained probably 4 inches of stretch, just like that! He explained that my sciatic nerve is entraped by the piriformis muscle and stretching doesn't help when that happens--I need to massage and release the nerve, then I'll be able to stretch. I was very, very impressed!

Stubborn craziness: centering an image horizontally and vertically with CSS in IE7

2009-01-11T19:52:00.003-05:00

So, I've been telling everyone how learning CSS is totally worth it and not as hard as it seems. But today I spent probably 2 hours trying to get one simple image vertically aligned without using a table. I should have just put in a table, but I'm crazy stubborn. I guess it was educational... The breakthrough was finding this site for vertical centering, but then I had a hard time making it center horizontally too. You can see the ultimate solution at Jonathan's new website (just a forwarder right now, so the code is simple), but here it is for anyone searching. There are a zillion solutions out there, which SEEM to be collected at SuzyUK's thread, but I couldn't get any of those to work for me. I fully admit my approach to CSS still has a lot of superstition!

OK, now I have to figure out how to easily paste code into Blogger...
... which I can now do thanks to Francois Schnell!

Style sheet:


<style type="text/css">

body {
    background-color: #000000;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    }
#outer { 
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    position: fixed;   
    display: table;
    }
#middle {
    display: table-cell;
    height: 540px;
    vertical-align: middle;       
    text-align: center;
    }
img {
    border: 0;    
    margin: 1em auto;
    }
</style>

<!--[if IE]>
<style type="text/css">
    #middle {
        position: absolute;
        top: 50%;
        left: 50%;
        height: auto;
    }
    #inner     {
        position: relative;
        top: -50%;
        left: -50%;
    }
</style>
<![endif]-->

and the code:


<div id="outer">
    <div id="middle">
        <div id="inner">

    <a href="http://home.epix.net/~hce/jhumor.html">
    <img src="JCEcom.jpg" height="540" width="720" alt="Jonathan Caws-Elwitt, humorist and playwright" title="Click to enter" />
    </a>
</div> </div></div>

5-mile run - a thousand points of light

2008-12-14T11:27:00.003-05:00

Timing myself--how quickly can I write a run-report post? Great run--just around freezing, a few days after an ice storm, so all the twigs and shrubs were still coated. I "shook the hands" of a few trees bending over the road, hoping the ice would cascade off, but that's going to be later in the day. Mostly cloudy but with some cobalt blue peeking through, plus lovely pastel blue with a little purple at the edges of the sky in the distance. At times the sun shone through, sparkling in the rounded ice drops--not like diamonds, even though that's the image my brain reached for first, but dots of white light. Met two people walking a gorgeous collie--Ernie, I think they said his name was; first week in a month I didn't see a raven, but did flush a grouse; doves, crows, and lots of tracks in the snow. Focusing on peace of mind, my primary goal for my 45th year. Thank goodness for my Stabilicers, or I couldn't run at all on a day like this.

Goal 60 follow-up

2008-03-09T20:14:00.002-04:00

We finally got the Carl Kasell CD for our outgoing message (about a month ago, I am behind in posting this). Jonathan had to tweak it in order to get it on our voicemail (since it's phone-based, it had to play loud enough to record well through a handset)--thank you, J, for the tweakage and writing the script, and thank you, Emily Ecton (Wait Wait Don't Tell Me producer who was my contact), and most of all, thank you, Carl! Script by J. MP3 here (a lot easier than calling us when we're on vacation!) And here's the link to the show I was on (it's in my 101 Goals list but hard to find). Other samples of Carl's messages are on the NPR site here. I encourage anyone who wants to be on Wait Wait to email them at waitwait AT npr.org with a couple of interesting/funny things about yourself. Go for it! It's fun!

Goals 4 and 25: daily habits

2008-01-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

I did really well with Goal 4 from my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list--daily Pilates. And so far I've been able to consistently keep it up though I've moved to a new habit: picking up my hotspots (FlyLady term) for just 5 minutes. But the hotspot pickup, Goal 25, is proving very difficult. Half-way through the month, I'm only doing it about half the time. It's only 5 minutes, but I forget, even now that I've scheduled it for a specific time (7pm). I guess that's a sign I really need it and it could be key to starting to conquer my disorganization. I will probably continue to focus on that during February in exchange for something like Goal 26, flossing every day, which I'm succeeding at without focusing on it. I also added Goal 92, moving my blogs to WordPress, because Blogger (on my own server) won't let me do something simple like put Older Posts/Newer Posts links without a ton of hassle. I'm also wondering again whether I should do the advertising thing. I hate it but if I could add a trickle of income, maybe that would really be good. I am very glad advertising pays for lots of the Web....

Goal 60: listener-contestant on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

2007-12-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

I called the Wait Wait phone number in the spring but never got a call back. A few weeks ago I sent an email, mentioning two semi-interesting things (our town, Friendsville, was so called because it was originally a planned community for Quakers; and I have fun staffing Ask Here PA, live chat reference). An extremely nice Wait Wait staffer called me. I was on standby last week and tonight got to be the first caller, playing "Carl's Countdown." The really cool part was hearing the warm-up. Live, it's a 2-hour show, which they edit down to the best bits. I would love to see it in person someday. It was very exciting--nerve-wracking to be on the phone waiting!--and I got all 3 questions right (although I was kinda disappointed they even tackled the topic of the last one, as you'll hear if you listen). Tomorrow I'm supposed to get a call about the details of the prize--Carl Kasell on our answering machine! That's the very first of my 101 in 1001 days list done. Woo-hoo/w00t!

101 Goals in 1001 Days

2007-12-09T14:00:00.001-05:00

I try to do a mini-retreat every year for my birthday. This year I focused on doing a 101 Goals in 1001 Days project. It's very easy for me to go crazy-unrealistic on something like this, so I tried to rein myself in after coming up with 121 goals initially. I left 10 empty slots for new "I've got to do this!" inspirations which otherwise might lead me to abandon the whole thing!

Start Date: December 8, 2007
End Date: September 4, 2010

Blue and crossed-out are completed
Green are in progress

Daily habits – focus on one per month

1. Lights out at 11pm, wake up at 6:30am
2. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning
3. Exercise for 20 minutes
4. ~~Pilates 10 minutes~~ (December 2007 Challenge at ZenHabits)
5. Swish & swipe the bathroom
6. Put away all clothes
7. Wipe down the kitchen counters
8. One email to friend/family
9. Wash any pots from the day before
10. Shine kitchen sink
11. Perform morning routine (2-10) consistently for one month
12. Process that day's snail mail
13. Sweep kitchen floor
14. 3 minutes of filing
15. 10 minutes of paperwork or Quicken
16. Process that day's email
17. 5 minutes on old email
18. Perform get-home-from-work routine (12-18) consistently for one month
19. ZenHabits and/or Habitzer check-in
20. Log any books finished that day
21. Check calendar
22. Check next day's weather
23. Review goals
24. To-do/plan for tomorrow
25. 5 minutes to patrol hotspots (January 2008 Challenge at ZenHabits)
26. ~~Floss every single day~~ I've been doing this consistently for 3 months! Go me!
27. Cleanser & moisturizer on face
28. Moisturizer on hands & feet
29. Maintain cuticles
30. Perform evening routine (19-29) consistently for one month
31. Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables
32. Do one (but no more than 5) DP pages

Weekly habits – focus on one per month

33. Fix one thing from the mending pile
34. Write one blog post or essay
35. Back up my computer
36. Clean purse & totebags
37. Write one letter or card
38. Phone family members
39. 30 minutes of decluttering
40. Read or get rid of one old magazine
41. Make a weekly plan on Sundays
42. Shred papers

Big and bold

43. Edit the turkey book I'm about a third done...
44. Turkey book accepted by a publisher or agent
45. Write CIN database as a Joomla component
46. Get involved in the Joomla calendar group; add "email the admin" feature
47. Write an open-source payslip tracker for Ruby on Rails

Health

48. Get weight down to 114 pounds and stay there for 4 months
49. Bike up the killer hill from 858 without walking
50. Do the NYC 5 boroughs
51. Get an Excellent on endurance and a Good on flexibility here
52. Do the Wyalusing triathlon
53. Break 29 minutes in a 5K
54. Weight training twice a work week
55. Write our wills & get them notarized

Fun

56. Visit Quabbin reservoir
57. Get a portable canoe or kayak
58. Go to a movie in a theater once a month
59. Four times a year, spend a few hours in a big bookstore
60. ~~Be a listener contestant on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me~~
I played "Carl's Countdown" on the 12/22/07 show; still waiting for Carl's message...
61. Get in the pool for Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
62. Guest on A Word A Day
63. Read Les Misérables (I'm half-way through Tome I, "Fantine")
64. Re-read all of À la recherche du temps perdu
65. Learn to raise one eyebrow
66. Learn to juggle
67. Visit PA Grand Canyon
68. Hike Rickett's Glen
69. Keep a dream journal for a month
70. Work through piano books for "Madame Uvula"
71. One craft project per month
72. Be able to recite 10 poems, including Tithonius
73. Focus on learning Italian for one month
74. Read & learn Botany in a Day

Volunteer/Community

75. Teach a Montrose Adult School class on web content First class on Blogging is tomorrow. Class blog
76. Donate blood 5 times a year (I got deferred for low iron--first time ever!--on 12/18/07. Argh!) (But succeeded on 2/19/08 after making sure to take a multi-vitamin regularly again.)
77. Become CPR certified
78. Do my trash pickup 3 times a year
79. Do my own re-qualification for P3 at DP
80. Upload and manage five DP projects I adopted an orphan project, Dictionnaire d'argot fin-de-siècle (1894), which I am now PM'ing--not sure if that should count)
81. Upload five Sony Reader books to MobileRead

House

82. Grow sunflowers
83. Do Square Foot gardening vegetables
84. Cut down all multiflora rose and Russian olive
85. Repaint trim
86. Repaint walls
87. Repaint ceilings
88. Fasten down carpet joins
89. Shampoo carpets
90. Declutter the garage
91. Fix the chainsaw

Extra to add as I go along

92. Move my 3 blogs to Wordpress
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.

First Salt Springs Triathlon

2006-09-08T01:36:00.000-04:00

The first triathlon for me and for Salt Springs Park!

The night before

No exercise Saturday, but I planned on doing a lot of stretching--which didn't happen. I made a checklist of everything I'd need, got it all together, put the bike rack on the car, and called it a day. It rained off and on but thank goodness no cancelling-the-tri flooding. Carbo-load dinner of "Lombard Style Garlic and Potato Sauce" over pasta (with broccoli added), which is now my pre-event ritual. It's an absolutely yummy recipe from the great cookbook The Encyclopedia of Sauces for Your Pasta (Charles A. Bellissino, Marcus Kimberly Publishing Company, 1989), but I couldn't find any references to it online--aha! it's self-published--aside from my marathon blog. Early bed with alarm set for 4:30am.

Pre-race

Slept well & woke up easily, dawdled over coffee, had the usual trouble getting my contacts in so early, ate a banana and made two slices of whole-wheat toast with honey and peanut butter to eat in the car. It was drizzling but didn't feel as cold as I'd feared. I put the bike on the rack and then couldn't find bungee cords (I realized later they were probably in the trunk), but I did find some little nylon straps to use instead. More crazed running around when I couldn't find my sports watch, which I had definitely set out with my gear; I found it Velcroed to the long pants I'd decided not to wear over the tri-suit. Another recapping-the-marathon tradition: listening to Get Happy in the car.

It was still dark when I got to the bike transition area, where we were supposed to have the bikes in place BY 6:00 AM!! (emphasis from the original entry form). No overhead lights but plenty of mud, gravel, and real rain by that point. I did manage to find my spot (#9) but I was only the second bike there. I put one bag over the seat with my helmet in it but didn't bother protecting any other part of the bike from the rain; I guess there must be covers one could buy... Another bag on the ground with towel, shoes, and socks with Two Toms blister powder. Over to the Price Chopper parking lot for check-in; the Salt Springs folks were cleverly using one of the shopping cart corrals for cover. I saw various friends and acquaintances, including the family (father Bill and daughter Rosemary) who were doing a relay, partly inspired by my letter to the editor. Back to the bike area to put my race number on the bike; the zip ties didn't fit around the top tube itself so I slid them around the brake cable where it runs along the tube. Worried about whether to put my run number on my trisuit now (where it would create drag in the water) or wrestle with the safety pins and slow myself down during swim-to-bike; I did finally leave it for the transition. Back again to the parking lot, where I hung around for a while (and got to use the warm, clean, lighted bathroom inside!) before walking over to the start with an older guy, Eugene from Laceyville, who was doing the Olympic distance (he said if the sprint bike segment had been longer he would have done that instead, but he was looking for more of a challenge).

The Swim

We gathered on the lawn of a family who'd agreed to let the tri use their dock. There was even a photographer, Renee Coy, although with the rain I don't know if she managed to get any pictures. The Olympic guys--six of them--were all very fit, young, and intimidatingly serious in their wetsuits, except for Eugene, who just had on a pair of shorts. I heard that one was from Harrisburg and one from Annapolis (plus there was a couple from Manhattan who did the sprint)--long way to come for a very small event! They got in the water and began warming up. Olympic-distance start was set for 7 but was delayed; Walt Kostyk (the organizer) gave final details and whistled for the start at about 7:10. The six swimmers quickly spread apart and the buoys, which hadn't looked like they were that far, took on their true (intimidating) distances. Eugene dropped far behind as the two lead swimmers booked along. As the sprint's 7:30 start approached, I put on my cap, took off my shoes and socks, and finally took off my long-sleeve top (note to self: in future put on the cap AFTER taking off the top...) The water wasn't too terribly cold, but it certainly wasn't warm, and I whooped a little getting in. Once in I felt pretty good but didn't want to get out again; when I got tired of swimming around I crouched down in the shallow water waiting to start. Walt had said there were a dozen sprint entrants but it didn't seem like that many (one presumably was Bill, who was only doing the bike leg). Now that I have the results I see there were only eight of us. Finally Walt came back from gear positioning and whistled for the start.

I swam for a minute or two before realizing I had forgotten to start my watch. I had to dogpaddle while I wrestled with the buttons. That and mentally cursing to myself raised my heart rate even as I lost time. I ended up doing more breast-stroke than sidestroke, but I was amazed at how closely I trailed the other sprint folks; we didn't separate that much. I felt like I was heading directly for the one buoy we needed to worry about, but I was significantly further to the right than the rest of the swimmers (it was nice to have the room)--I think I was going straight and they curved off, which might account for my ability to keep up. When the first in our bunch got to the transition area I switched entirely to breast-stroke so I could watch. I was the last sprinter out of the water but not by much, and Eugene was still out in the lake, so my firm conviction that everyone would be gone by the time I finished the swim was disproved. Walt even yelled "You said you would be slow!" There was a nice little group cheering and clapping, including my friend and co-worker Betty M. It was so nice to see her!

As I emerged I reached into my trisuit pocket for my first gel. Strawberry--not exactly pleasant to choke down, like any gel, but not too bad. I had been looking around for water but didn't see any. Guess what--it had been taken on to the next transition area. I was quite annoyed, partly kicking myself for not making sure to bring a bottle with me just in case, especially since it was the first year and screw-ups are bound to happen. Rosemary very kindly gave me a Gatorade and I hoped it wouldn't mess me up too badly in combination with the gel. (I had planned on having a bottle on the bike, but the holder that was on it didn't fit any bottles I had--it's a very strange shape.) It seemed to take a really long time to dry myself a little, put on my shoes, socks, run number, helmet and sunglasses (it was raining, but I figured they would help keep the water [and loose stones, etc.] out of my eyes), and get going. But finally I was on my way.

The Bike

The bike segment went quite well aside from some gearing issues on the steeper hills. One of the zip ties on the number started chafing my thighs, but I was able to turn it without having to dismount. I actually caught up to someone relatively quickly (2-3 miles)--Gretchen, who looked familiar from the library--because her chain kept popping off. (She was on a mountain bike, to boot). We passed each other a few times. I almost fell over my bike at one point--trying to dismount, went the wrong way, and had to jump clear. It's not a bad bike but the gears just take more finesse than I have, and I need more practice to know when to shift ahead of time and when to power over the rise. Not far after the turn (5-6 miles in) I passed Bill, who was also on a mountain bike. Then I started seeing the fastest sprinters running back to the park. I had been so sure I would see no one after the swim that it was really encouraging! There was a quite steep rise near the very end, which I walked; in the lowest of my 10 gears it was taking too much out of my legs and I was barely inching along. I rolled into the transition area, sucked down my second gel, and chugged a bottle of water, which seemed like it took a long time (and now that I've seen the results, I know it was a long time). I had packed a moist towelette but the rain had kept my face relatively clean, so I skipped that and just pulled on my hat.

The Run

Having practiced bike-to-run transitions helped--I didn't have much of that stiff-legged, disconnected-from-the-ground feeling. I was definitely running slowly and I had to adjust my laces at least once (I have complicated speed laces on that pair of shoes, which turn out not to have been a good idea--cheapo speed toggles work much better!) The rain had cleared and the road was pleasant to run on--lots to look at and no horrible hills, just moderate ups and downs (the steepest downhill was the part I had walked up with the bike, but it was short). The last two sprinters, Rosemary and Gretchen, quickly passed me, just as I expected. (I was almost a little relieved, since I had told everyone I was bound to be last!) Then I started seeing the Olympic-length bikers coming in. I passed the Washo family, there to cheer on Jerry, and Dawn told me it was only about a thousand yards to the finish. I started speeding up as I approached the entrance to the park and felt some of the typical finish-line kick, although since there was no one else running in sight, and the crowd was small, it wasn't as overwhelming as usual. Whoo! Renee was there taking pictures--I have to find out how to get them.

Post-race

I wanted a quick carb infusion but all I saw at first glance was Gatorade and soda. I really don't like Gatorade unless I need it, so I decided to have a Pepsi. It was my first soda since last December (when I cut out high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated anything to the best of my ability) and although I prefer Coke, I was looking forward to it. Blech!!! I kept examining the can to make sure I hadn't grabbed a diet by mistake, because the taste was so chemical-heavy and revolting. I guess my palate really has adjusted. I stretched my legs by walking around the park looking at the flood damage, which the triathlon fees are going to fix. What a mess, even now that it's mostly been cleaned up.

I talked to Karla (the winner of the sprint, who beat the next guy by more than 10 minutes!) and she told me she had done her first tri in 1983. Wow. She also said that the guy from Manhattan, Corey, had not shown up. I hadn't passed him at all so we figured he must have gone astray on the course. Later I spoke to his friend (can't remember her name--post-race fog!) and she said she had been waved past the turn, on to the Olympic course, and the same thing probably happened to him. She quickly realized she had missed the turn and doubled back, but as it turned out Corey ended up finishing the Olympic bike distance (he wasn't sure where he was and figured the safest thing was to stick to the course) and not doing the run. She told me they came from Manhattan to get out of the city and were staying in Clarks Summit. I was having a hard time coming up with recommendations of what to do & especially where to eat. We finally have a really good restaurant in Susquehanna County, the Summerhouse Grill, but I wasn't positive they would be open. I told her about this fancy Italian restaurant near Clarks Summit, way out in the country, but couldn't remember its name. (I think it's Michelangelo's--we haven't eaten there yet but stopped by to find out more about it, and the atmosphere is sure nice.)

The Olympic guys started coming in--the winner was Montrose native Jerry Washo, yay! I had some more food, including a yummy veggie burger and some home-made cookies, and then got a massage. That was SO nice--thank you, Pat Collins Massage (although there were two of them and I'm not sure who was who). I wandered around the park some more, visiting with the llamas and admiring Renee's photos and our friend Melissa's poetry, both displayed in the main park building. Once Eugene, last man on the course, got in, Walt held the awards ceremony. The sprint winners had left, but Jerry was there to get his medal. The medals were nice, but even nicer were their wooden stands, made of local cherry. Oh, other presents for everyone: Granola Bears and a water bottle full of useful goodies from the New Milford Bike Shop.

I got a ride back to my car, along with Eugene, who was as happy with his time as I was with mine. Drove back to pick up my bike and got home before noon. A good day!

Walt emailed us the official results just a few days later. I did finish last, but my time was only 1:40:36, when I was expecting between 2 and 2 1/2 hours! My transition times were WAY slow compared to everyone else's. Jerry's were about 30 seconds each--wow. Dawn told me he had his shoes clipped onto the pedals and doesn't wear socks. Lots of room for me to improve!

My times

Swim (600 yards, supposedly): 17:17
T1: 4:46
Bike (9.5 miles): 42:01
T2: 2:58
Run (3.1 miles): 33:34

I think I will get myself a better road bike for next year. The bike leg was the most fun!

Salt Springs Triathlon Eve

2006-09-02T19:28:00.000-04:00

I'm taking this blog out of mothballs now that my Blogger problem appears resolved. I'm not going to detail my ups and downs with training and getting organized and everything Keep on Going-ish, but instead I'll jump right into what I've been focusing on for the past few months: the first annual Salt Springs Triathlon. Tomorrow morning!!!

I heard about it many many months ago from Walt Kostyk, a library user who's been the main person behind the Triathlon. Originally it was going to be only an Olympic distance (1200 yd swim/25 mi bike/10 K run), and by August it was clear I hadn't trained enough for that, but thank goodness they added a sprint-ish one (600 yd swim/9.5 mi bike/5 K run) which I can definitely handle.

I half-heartedly tried to learn freestyle swimming, but I have a real problem with breathing, and so I quickly decided to stick to what I can do: breaststroke and sidestroke (faster than breaststroke as long as I swim on my left side; I've practiced on the right but that still doesn't feel very efficient). So I'll be getting out of the water after everyone else (only 22 entrants as of today!).

Then for biking I'm using an old Nashbar road bike, borrowed from friends, that's a little too big for me. It was once a very nice bike and it's beautifully made (the contrast with my cheapo mountain bike, that I used for training, is dramatic), but the gear shifters are on the bottom tube (hard for me!), the brakes are sidepull (which you never see any more), the tires are REALLY bald and I wasn't able to get replacements in time, and there's something a little out of true that makes the chain rub in high gear. (Also you can easily pop the chain off when shifting if you're not careful.) I'm not very coordinated on a bike, or brave about downhills, so I'll probably be slower than anyone else there too.

Then the run--I'm in OK running shape but not at my ideal weight (about 125 right now, and really my body would probably be best between 110 and 115), and the bike-to-run transition is difficult for me. (I did practise it recently and it seemed to be getting a little easier, though.) Having done a few biking-running "bricks" (back-to-back workouts) has taught me that the combination seems to suck the glycogen out of my muscles way faster than either on its own, and I've ended up walking part of each run I did after biking.

So much gear & technique, it's intimidating and expensive! I did get a tri suit so I don't have to change anything, although it's already a little the worse for wear from wearing a Camelback swimming in muddy Stanley Lake (thanks to Dave for giving me permission to swim off his dock, and then giving me produce, cooking me breakfast yesterday, and even giving me a cool quartz necklace he made!) .

BUT I will finish (unless the rear tire, which is flaking, blows up on me...) and I'm excited!

is Blogger fixed?

2006-03-05T16:11:00.000-05:00

Blogger was refusing to FTP anything to my site from October 2005 through February 2006. I was just switching to WordPress when bingo, it appears to be fixed--I think. This is a test!

Race for the Cure

2005-09-18T21:36:00.000-04:00

After Chris Thater I was looking for another race to keep myself motivated, and on impulse I registered for the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in Scranton. A fellow runner had told me it was a lot of fun and the size of the field (8,000!) appealed to me. Way, way more people than Steamtown, on a 5K course--what could that be like?

So yesterday morning I got up at 5:30am--painful, since I hadn't had enough sleep the week before--and left for Scranton around 6:15. I hadn't tapered or anything since I'm still at a measly 10 miles a week (5 long run on Sundays, 2 2-milers on weekday mornings plus one intervals day), and since it was on impulse I didn't have a lot of time to plan. I parked at the Steamtown Mall and saw oodles of participants all over. However, most were wearing cotton clothing (lots of RftC and team T-shirts), most of the women had makeup, and there were lots of little kids and people who looked out of shape, so it didn't have the atmosphere of an intense race. Courthouse Square was full of people and tents, with no clear sign of where to start or what to do. I asked at a booth where I should sign in and they sent me around two sides of the block. Two long tents side-by-side, one for people registering that morning and one for pre-registers. No division by last name or anything, and no real lines, just a mob around the table. I gave my name, which wasn't on the first set of sheets; the person asked if I had registered online and then went to another set of sheets. She gave me a T-shirt and offered me a pink magnetic ribbon. "What about a bib number?" I asked. She said that was the tent on the other side of the square. I crossed between the buildings but only saw food tents and a Ford booth handing out bandanas (which I realized hours later may have been what she meant: bib = bandana?) Finally I asked at another booth.

"Are you a runner? You just line up first... Good luck!" It felt so incomplete and wrong! I wouldn't know where I was in my age group or anything. Grr... I went over to stand in line for some of the expo-type booths. That was also grumpifying. I was next to a group of women complaining about their husbands. The tables were all companies handing out plastic tchotchkes. People forced their way to the tables and grabbed handfuls of this crap that no-one really needs, including me, yet there I was taking part in this mass of human greed. I turned down quite a few things but took quite a few too, pens etc, a totebag--don't I have enough totebags?--so I was annoyed with myself the whole time. Part of my monkey self curiosity to not break out of the line because I hadn't seen what else there was. The most ironic: a USDA table promoting their new Healthy Eating Pyramid, decorated with a rubber model of a huge glob of human fat and--to draw people to the table--wait for it... an enormous bowl of Tootsie Rolls!

I went back to the car to deposit my useless booty and then it was time to line up for the race. Huge mobs of people on the sidewalks in front of the start line (an arch of balloons), but a suspiciously small knot of runners right at the line. After going back only about 50 feet everyone looked like a walker, and when I asked around, they were. I moved up quite a few rows & ended up to someone I recognized (Sister Mary Elizabeth, a librarian at Mercy Hospital), which was cool, but she was a walker too so I hadn't gotten to the runners yet. A very attractive young couple said they weren't running but "jogging--we're not serious!" Then the start horn went off and the frustration started. Blocks and blocks of walkers, paying no attention to people behind them, pushing strollers, the whole bit. Clearly everyone on the sidewalks had poured into the street as soon as the horn went off and there was no kind of crowd control to keep people in logical order. After a couple of blocks I ended up running on the sidewalk with a bunch of other people as we tried to get past the walkers.

Finally, after at least a third of a mile, I had more room to run and settled into my stride. I passed lots of people who had already slowed to a walk. We ran along Wyoming Avenue, down a long long slope and then up again. At the peak it was cool to turn around and see a huge mass of people filling the street behind me (walkers all)--I'll never see that again! I noticed a couple of people, especially a womanwith short red hair wearing a green T-shirt who passed me around mile 1 but was running only a tiny bit faster than me. I kept her in sight the whole race and had a back-of-the-mind idea that maybe I could pass her. The hill kept going up. An elderly guy with a ponytail and teal leggings was ahead of me running in old leather loafers. He had huge calf muscles. I think he may have been homeless or at least very eccentric because of the inappropriate footwear and clothing in general, and his weather-beaten, leathery skin. He slowed to a walk on the steepest part. Two women chatting (ie not out of breath) pulled ahead of me.

We turned a corner and took the parallel avenue back to Courthouse Square, picking up the marathon route along the way which was really cool. Since I didn't know the course that was encouraging as well because I had a better sense of how much longer we had. Green T-shirt lady was a good half-block ahead but I started gaining on her on the hill pastCooper's. Then I could see the finish and started sprinting, but I didn't get anywhere near her in time. Finish clock--I wasn't going to beat 33 minutes. Sure enough, 33:11. Tony the Tiger was waiting at the finish line to high-five the runners (there was a Kellog's booth giving out Special K Fruit & Yogurt) but he turned away just as I crossed so I just gave him a pat on the shoulder.

Great finish-line food: Krispy Kreme donuts, yogurt, oranges, and best and most unusual of all, Mrs. T's pierogies (with butter & broccoli & carrots). Yum! Not so good: grape-flavored Propel (so icky sweet and artificial tasting I had to pour the rest of mine out), and the Special K which I had for breakfast this morning (same faults as the Propel except fake strawberry instead of grape). Lots and lots of runners finishing after me, so it was fun to cheer them on. I watched part of the awards ceremony (not running awards that I saw, rather fundraising ones) which hardly anyone was paying attention to & then went home. I wouldn't do it again but it was an interesting experience! In future I will definitely make sure races are proper ones where everyone is timed...

Chris Thater 5K

2005-08-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

Well, my training totally fell apart over the past month. Combination of things, but mostly I didn't make it a priority... I'm in a slump! So although originally I had hoped to match my previous time (29:56), I didn't think that was going to happen. I told J I'd be grumpy if I didn't beat 32, and realistically, it seemed I ought to be able to do that even though I wasn't in top shape. (Also I'm still hovering at 120 pounds, because, again, I haven't made eating right a priority. It's depressing how so much goes hand-in-hand, so bad decisions about eating lead to bad decisions about exercise, etc. I need to get that virtuous circle going instead!)

The morning got off to a bad start when I spilled coffee all over myself and my race outfit. I rinsed it out (good thing about running gear, it dries quickly!) I was able to park within a block of the start and got there in plenty of time. Weather was OK--overcast, good, but humid, not good. When I picked up my packet, it turned out they gave me a T-shirt even though I didn't pay for one. It's a nice dusty blue color so even though it's an XL I might keep it. One of the bike races was still going on, fun to watch. I warmed up with several runs, stretches, etc., & wandered around the expo tents (nothing terribly exciting). I saw my co-worker's husband who's an Endicott policeman, so that was cool--he shook my hand & said "It's easier than the marathon, right?" Yes!

When I finally made my way to the start I was behind some of the Ethiopian or Kenyan runners and I was admiring their physique and form--they really did look built to run with their skinny muscular legs and arms. I lined up way at the back. The race was using timing chips for the first time, chunky yellow boxes that look like early digital watches on velcro bands. I thought that was great because the start is pretty crowded, but as it turns out there was no mat at the start so they just gave the order of crossing the finish line with the clock time. "Runners, set, go!" and we were off. Although I was already at the back I got passed by dozens of people within the first block, including two dads with strollers (although at least one passed off to a mom further along). I was running near some people with visibly terrible form and though "geez, I ought to be able to run faster than *them*!" But as I've learned, I am just plain SLOW...

My race strategy was to visualize a dial going from 1 to 10, run the first mile at 6, the second at 7, then turn up during the last mile. I took the first 2 miles too slowly the first time I ran the Chris Thater, which is very flat. I was focusing on keeping an even pace and running my own race, not getting distracted by people around me. Easier said that done when several times I ended up next to people running about my speed and breathing very heavily.

After the first few blocks nobody passed me and I started passing a few people, but I was clearly way, way back. First mile: 10:21. The water stop was at about 1.5 miles. I was running next to a woman in blue who seemed to be struggling & said "half-way!" She said she thought we were further along. She took a cup, I didn't. (If I'm properly hydrated I certaintly don't need a water stop in a 5k, but I think I had been a little cavalier about hydration.) We ran near each other for almost a mile; I kept pulling ahead and then she would sprint past me. I felt bad because she seemed to be really laboring to pass me and I was partly rooting for her to beat me, but I was still husbanding a lot of my resources and I couldn't help but think that I would outstrip her eventually (and I did). Second mile 20:53. Argh--slower than the first. I started to feel that maybe I wasn't as well-hydrated as I should have be, although I might also have been having a hot flash--the humidity was bad. Rounding the corner onto Beethoven Street, I reminded myself not to turn it up too far too soon. The race is psychologically difficult because you cross the start again and then have several long blocks to actually reach the finish, so it's easy to think you're closer than you are.

The magical finish line energy kicked in about a block away and I could feel myself starting to float into a sprint, but the clock was already at 31:something--not surprising but a little bit of a letdown. At least I would beat 32, and I did: 31:38. Good after-race stuff: Fig Newtons, Nature's Harvest Pecan Crunch granola bars, and a Crowley truck handing out all sorts of stuff: I got string cheese for protein and later finished off with chocolate milk. I saw the woman in blue come in, a few elderly runners, and some little kids. That's my competition!

The Scranton "Race for the Cure" (Susan Komen Foundation) 5K is September 17... maybe too soon. I do want to do another 5K this fall.

Not a good run!

2005-08-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

The Chris Thater 5K is just 2 weeks away and I couldn't even finish 5 miles today--conked out at 3 and then alternated running and walking. What's the deal?!? I did give blood last week; I have been expending lots of energy (Blueberry Festival and Jonathan being in Southern Fried Murder last weekend, when I was really really short on sleep, and trash pickup & trying to fill a rented dumpster this weekend), but still. I think I'm not recuperating well from those efforts, either; I push myself and then end up feeling like a zombie for the rest of the day, which perhaps comes from not balancing nutrition and hydration correctly. The other issue is that I'm back at 120 pounds, when I feel best at 115 and probably 110 is my "ideal." Oh well. So I really doubt I'm going to beat 30 minutes in the Chris Thater.

Highlights from some past runs: meeting an adorable young pug, beautiful snakes, a wren (love their cute little upturned tails), wonderful pine scents (since it's been so dry, the fragrance gets concentrated; makes it more like Arizona, the best-smelling place I've ever spent time). Today I walked the big hill at mile 3 1/2 which is normally a tough haul, so I got to really enjoy the peaceful woods and admire the sun filtering through the leaves.

6 weeks to Chris Thater

2005-07-17T22:04:00.000-04:00

I'm at approx. 2 miles 3x week, plus long run today of 5 miles. I'm not timing anything except intervals--the Forerunner is invaluable now that I've finally figured out how to use it for those. I did 9 400m repeats Tuesday, but that sounds like a lot based on stuff I've been looking at; more like 3-5 repeats, 400m up to 1600m, crops up in what I've found googling. (Maybe not, based on this). Speedwork seems like the most confusing thing! I don't have much of a goal for Chris Thater aside from equalling my 29:56 finish in 2003. I'm not timing anything, I'm just using the race as a motivation to run. My weight is at about 120 (I was slowly gaining before starting to run again, and on vacation week before last I was running but also eating way more than I normally do!); it would be great to get down to 115 by race day (Aug 28), but again, I'm not taking any of this too seriously. I could, but one thing I learned from the marathon: even though I can do anything I set my mind to--and I guess I can!--the tricky part is the setting. I don't want to waste my limited (so far) "setting" power on this particular race.

On my long run today I spent most of the time thinking about HP 6, which I finished last night. Hot and sticky!

Running again

2005-06-26T13:15:00.000-04:00

For a while I was trying to do outside work (digging, weeding, getting rid of invasive plants, etc.) as my exercise, plus some weight-training on my lunchtime. But I can't really get the same intensity and side-benefits that running gives me. So I started up again. I need a goal, so I'm going to do the Chris Thater 5K again (August 28th). Since I haven't run in months, I started with a mile a day Tu/Wed/Thu and 2 miles "long run" (ha!) this morning.

Really, nothing compares to running--not just the intensity, but the way it clears my mind and gets me out in nature and weather in a way I love. It's like my head is full of bits of string that get tangled into a big ball, and running is a sure-fire way to start looseing and straightening and unweaving them. I think I'm happier when I'm running consistently.

My goal: to be the most moderate person IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!

2005-02-28T01:07:00.000-05:00

To my surprise, googling on that yields nothing, though it seems like a very obvious joke.

Mini-existential crisis--I wrote two new book blog entries, which took forever (maybe 45 minutes each) when they were forgettable books that I though deserved maybe a sentence each; I've been asked to do book reviews for a new newspaper & don't know if I want to/ought to/would regret saying no. How to balance wanting to try & do everything with having the normal spacetime limitations? My coping strategy for most of my life has been to do a bit of what I most want to do at any given moment, then use denial and procrastination to avoid making decisions. Hmm...somehow that doesn't seem to to turn out particularly well. Strange!

I just finished Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin, which is such a remarkable, mindblowing, thought-provoking book that it made me think of the best books I've ever read so that I can put it on the list.

Five Best/Most Interesting/Most Mind-blowing Books I've Ever Read (The Ones That Jump to Mind, At Least)

Chance and Necessity, Jacques Monod

A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander

Metamagical Themas, Douglas Hofstadter
On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin

Star Trek Generation X

2005-02-07T00:40:00.000-05:00

I started running again this week! The days are getting longer and the roads are dry (no precipitation for the past 8 days--amazing!). I only went 3 miles today (1 - 1 1/2 3 times during the week) because I'm so out of shape, but boy it felt good.

I think I've discovered the key to making the FlyLady system work for me: it's the after-work routine. Just 3 steps: sort the mail, declutter for 15 minutes, then tea/toast/Buffy (I just got the first 4 seasons on DVD) until Jonathan gets home. "You can do anything for 15 minutes!" (J, trying to encourage me, accidentally said "You can do anything IN 15 minutes." Ha! I wish!) It's really been helping so far. Oh, and I tidy the kitchen while making the tea and toast.

I was just about to buy a new Dell but I missed the free-flat-panel monitor offer so postponed again. My main hesitation was the royal pain of moving all my documents off this one (which is now 5 years old). And holding up my monitor is my old Macintosh Performa--full of documents I still hadn't moved off! But with J's help I made some inroads this weekend. After I've finally ditched it (hey, if anyone wants a Performa 6220CD just for the cost of shipping, let me know!), then I can think about a new Dell again.

On the Mac I found an old project: Jonathan's single-panel cartoon Star Trek Generation X. He drew it in 1995 (or maybe earlier), so it's maybe dated now, but I still think it's hysterically funny. I had scanned it but was unable to get it into web-friendly form that would fit on a screen and be legible, so it's been on my Mac's hard drive since about 1998. J suggested trying a PDF, and bingo: only 33 K and it looks passable. Googling "Star Trek Generation X" reveals that others have had the same idea (presumably after he did), but IMO his is much funnier and pithier. So click here to see classic Trek and classic grunge together at last.

40 years old today!

2004-12-09T01:00:00.000-05:00

Happy happy birthday to me--and it has been one so far. My birthday tradition is to take the day off work and spend some time thinking about where I am in life, where I want to go, etc. Usually I do a few exercises from whatever self-help book is currently my favorite--this time it was a Cheryl Richardson exercise from her Life Makeovers newsletter--and I re-read what I wrote in previous years. It hasn't changed much from year to year, which is a good sign. This year was especially rewarding because when I was 35 I had two answers to "if you died right now, what would your biggest regrets be?" One was leaving a big mess behind me (and I'm working on that, although I haven't made much progress), and the other was not having written my "turkey book" (which was my NaNoWriMo project!) Plus I had said how proud I was to have run two miles the weekend before with very little walking! So with a marathon and a "novel-length work" under my belt, I feel pretty good about 40. I don't mind getting older as long as I'm satisfied with the amount life I'm getting out of my years--and I am, today. Yay running!

I did a slow five miles this morning. I haven't run in about 3 weeks, since we've been away on the weekends and the dark cold mornings have been a disincentive I haven't been able to conquer. But I haven't fallen as far back as I feared. Despite stopping for quite a while (and I haven't turned the Forerunner's autopause back on yet) for some dog time, I still averaged 11:16 per mile. Total 56:16, splits 11:00, 11:25, 10:55, 11:49, 11:05.

It's been amazingly warm for the time of year. On a mid-November run the ponds were iced over and Stanley Lake was partially frozen, but it melted again and today there was no snow or ice anywhere, with temps in the forties--great for running. Partially cloudy, windy, with a tiny bit of spitting rain at times. My dog time was spent trying to get the boxers on Schoolbus Hill to come over and say hi. The younger one (brindled and white) wouldn't get closer than a few hundred feet and would turn and run as I approached. The older one (standard fawn color) joined the younger but wouldn't come over either, even though he's come up and greeted me plenty of times before--but that's when the tubby black mutt led the way. Interesting dog personality variations!

I did it!

2004-11-30T22:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't been doing much running, but I wrote and wrote and wrote and I'm finished with my "novel-length work!" The NaNoWriMo zaniness really worked for me. I reread enough to pick an excerpt for my author profile, and I was surprised to find a section that wouldn't make me blush too much to reveal in public, so maybe it's not quite as bad as I fear. But I'm setting it aside until January, when I can come back to it with more detachment.

I need to pick a December project--and I definitely want to get back to running--but I'm still basking in my achievement, artificial as it may be!

A five-dog day!

2004-11-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

I said no blogging until I'd met my quota, but maybe I'll do at least one entry a week. I'm at almost 8,000 words, so well behind where I "ought" to be (14,000 by the end of today)--I'm not whining, just saying!--and a lot of that has to do with the election. I have been in a deep depression since Black Wednesday and I'm just starting to come out of it. I haven't burst into tears today, so that's a first. I tried to run five miles yesterday but ended up composing an open letter to my community in my head (not sure if I'll actually do anything with it) about how alienated I feel right now. For the first time since we moved here almost 15 years ago I wonder if we made a mistake. I've put so much of myself into my work and into my volunteer efforts.... Anyway, I started actually crying while I was running and then I couldn't breathe, so I had to walk. I ran maybe 2 1/2 miles off and on.

Today I feel much better, I think because I have a course of action (write the letter) and I've gotten a lot of the emotion out (thanks to everyone who let me cry on their shoulder). So, not much writing done, but I did run a proper five miles around 4pm. I didn't bother to bring the Forerunner, just got dressed & went.

It was a lovely warm day for November. I saw the young kinda-crazy black lab who lives on 267, then the bigger one who's on Canada Road--I *thought* they were two different dogs but I haven't seen them on the same day before. The bigger one, who used to be a little shy of me, came right over and leaned against my legs as I petted him or her (haven't checked sex). On my way up the hill I caught a flash of orange. There were 5 or 6 pumpkins in the woods next to the road--for a second I thought they had grown there, then it almost looked like they had fallen out of a tree. Obviously they were tossed there to get rid of them and they'll get eaten.

At the top of the hill there were my friends the tubby lab/shepherd mix and the boxer, so I got to pet them too. A good dog day! Lots of people were out in their yards because it was so beautiful. As I rounded the lake, the clouds started coloring from the sunset. It was an especially nice one--lots of shifting shades of pink, blue, and crimson. It's a great time of day to run. I saw my fifth dog, a Scottish terrier, on a lead with 3 guys walking along the road. I said hello and the guy holding the leash said hi in kind of a clipped, not-that-friendly way. Oh well.

OK, back to various types of writing. I'll be trying to catch up this week, but again, no whining & no beating myself up!

NaNoWriMo: so far so good

2004-11-02T01:22:00.000-05:00

My average speed is almost 2,000 words an hour! Of course, this is on the first day when inspiration is at its height. I'm not sanguine enough to feel confident, but it's sure heartening. I'm well over quota for today at 2,270 (no blog entry if I don't meet my quota!) and still had time to write a book blog entry I needed to write (because it was a review copy).

Thank goodness my Inner Editor was whisked away to a kennel by Chris Baty:

[T]his month you'll leave your Inner Editor here with me at the fully licensed, board-certified No Plot? No Problem! Inner Editor Kennel--where it can spend its days carping with other Inner Editors, happily pointing out typos in the newspaper and complaining about the numerous plot holes on daytime television.
It will be very, very happy here.

(there's an actual button to touch in the book, which I did first thing when I woke up this morning) Thank goodness, because what I've written so far is really terrible. But that's OK. Quantity, not quality!

Running is good for writing!

2004-10-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

Another 5-miler this afternoon, and I composed the opening scene and closing paragraph of Turkey Season in my head! Not in exact sentences, but the feel of it. This should get me off to a good start tomorrow, I hope. 55 minutes, splits 10:53, 10:09, 11:15, 11:49, 10:52. I started with a 3/3 rhythm but I almost bonked around mile 2 (I was clammy and had jello legs, but they didn't turn to lead) & just let my mind wander after that. Heavy steel-gray clouds with some clear sky at the horizon; as I rounded Stanley Lake, the sun came out and lit up the remaining brown and orange leaves in the most incredible, saturated golden light. The glowing hills against the dark blue-gray sky were breathtaking. Glimpses of the surface of the lake through the trees looked like a solid gray substance--the water was riffled in the wind but not reflecting the light, so it was matte and opaque.

I might or might not get to the second Snowflake Pattern planning step, or do the Magna Carta exercises in No Plot? No Problem!, but I'm feeling excited and ready to get started tomorrow. I'm also feeling hopeful about the election. Election Night is going to be a NaNoWriMo fest, as people stay up writing waiting for the results. My plan is to stay up no later than 2am, no matter what; before that time, I write until we have a President. If Kerry wins, it'll be such a weight lifted that I'll sail through the rest of the month. I don't even want to think about him losing.

But no matter what your political beliefs, get out there and VOTE!!!!

Snowflake Process #1 for Turkey Season

2004-10-30T22:26:00.000-04:00

One-sentence summary: An animal-loving city girl moves to the country and meets a wild turkey hen she can mysteriously communicate with--but school and turkey hunting season are starting.

Ehh, not so great. It's 28 words long, whereas Randy recommends 15 or shorter. He also says it should tie the big picture to the personal picture--I think it does that.

A transplanted city girl meets a wild turkey hen and finds they can talk to each other--but hunting season is coming. (22)
In the woods, before hunting season, a city girl meets a wild turkey hen and discovers they can communicate. (19)
OK, that's good enough for now.

NaNoWriMo ground rules

2004-10-30T17:37:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm taking the plunge. National Novel Writing Month starts Monday! Jonathan believes I can do it--a necessary-but-not-sufficient test. I'll talk about the novel itself another time, but here are the rules I've set up for myself:

No whining about being behind!
No fiction reading, except to analyze structure/scenes/dialogue
I'll do my level best, but I won't beat myself up if I fail. However many words I write is more than I would have without this crazy scheme.
If I start waking up with a sore throat (my body's sign of too much stress), I will take it easier.
Minimize time on the forums, which are clearly a great way to fritter away time.
Get up, stretch, do something else briefly every 15 minutes.
NO WHINING!

I didn't make much progress on my book blog this week, nor did I get anywhere near my theoretic target of 10,500 words, but oh well. I CAN do this if I'm willing to make the sacrifices that it will require. We'll see whether I in fact am!

Reading Randy Ingermanson's advice, and reviews of the books he recommended, made me realize how little I know what I'm doing! All I have to carry me through this is 35 years of voracious reading. I've written a couple of (pretty terrible) short stories, but that was almost 2 decades ago. I don't even have an educated appreciation of narrative; I recognize what's good and bad but I can't say why. I can't explain why I like deeply flawed writers like Dornford Yates, Robert Heinlein, and Frances Hodgson Burnett; I know there's something about their stories that works despite the major things that don't work, but I can't put my finger on it. Ingermanson and his recommendations make me realize that I could learn to analyze those things if I wanted to. But it's too late for NaNoWriMo, and if I don't "win" (50,000 words or even close), it might not be worth learning (what am I saying? of course it would be, I love learning no matter what!)

I had hoped to "catch up" (I should just ban that phrase from my life...) with various things like email & household chores before NaNo started, but that's unlikely to happen. So I'll just do it the way I do everything else: control what variables I can & then fly by the seat of my pants. Wish me luck.

Thoughts while running

2004-10-30T12:25:00.000-04:00

It was dark & rainy when I woke up at 7--in fact, I thought it was 4 or 5 until I looked at the clock--and I sure didn't feel like running. I dawdled over coffee and computer. (I made the decision last night to do NaNoWriMo--more on that later--so I was forum-surfing and ended up researching writing techniques and books at this very helpful site.) It cleared a little and by 9am I decided to go (I was planning 5 miles today and 5 miles tomorrow). I still haven't found the heart rate watch (no progress on any of my black holes of clutter, alas), and I left the Forerunner behind because I don't want to risk any moisture on it until I figure out a strategy to avoid shorting it out again. So I was planning on sticking to a 3/3 breath rhythm to be sure my heart rate was low enough. As I headed out the door, I thought about what a timesaver it would be to be able to write as I run. I have all kinds of thoughts while running that I want to remember, but writing them down takes so much time, as indicated by the length of this entry.

It was foggy and damp but on the warm side--not too hot for running, just right. I don't remember if I've mentioned the lovely smells of fall before--woodsmoke and rotting leaves added to the mix of grass, mud, pine needles, and manure, all more noticeable when it's damp--but today there was also a less pleasant one, something that smelled like dog fesces. It must be a particular type of leaf, but I didn't think to pay attention to what kinds of trees correlated with the smell.

I was thinking about how lucky I am with the variety on my 5-mile loop. There are farms, regular houses, and lake cottages; lawns, fields, and pastures; a pond and a lake; stands of honey locust, sumac, white pine, hemlock, and maple; a few old apple trees, willows, and other less-common trees; dogs and cows; one lovely garden; so much to look at! Most of my pleasure in running is enjoying my environment. I'm so glad not to live in a city. Thank you, Jonathan, thank you for being willing to live in the middle of nowhere. I love it here!

I saw a redtail hawk in a tree, all puffed up so it looked very big, and I flushed a grouse--I didn't see it, but I sure heard it! There's something about damp fall weather that makes vegetation look magical to me. The grass is so green in contrast with the fallen leaves and decaying vegetation, and the moisture everywhere feels nurturing and friendly, as though anything could grow. I don't know if anyone else reacts that way, but it seems natural because dryness correlates with harshness of the environment & survival difficulties (deserts, extreme cold, droughts). Maybe somewhere in my subconcious the green fall grass evokes the magical little green things that make the peach tree grow in Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.

I thought about NaNoWriMo and whether writing is something I'm committed to long-term, willing to put as much effort into as the people whose advice I was reading this morning. I started ranking my favorite activities in my head:

Reading
Research
Problem-solving/fixing things (covers everything from jigsaw puzzles to programming

and then I remembered "eating" and "movies/plays/TV" and wasn't sure where to put them. The synergy between reading and eating (or watching and eating, to a lesser degree) is a problem for me. I enjoy the combination so much that it sometimes leads me to eat when/what I shouldn't, and/or to read when/what I shouldn't (eg, get caught up in comfort reading that I can't put down instead of continuing a book that's challenging). If I could break that link, never read when eating and never eat when reading, I would eat better. But would I be going against my "true nature"? It would certainly feel like I was missing out on one of the greatest joys of life. So probably the key is that boring old BALANCE again... not doing it all the time so it loses specialness. I want to become the best person I can be, but more specifically the best Hilary I can be, working with the strengths and weaknesses I have without losing the quirks and idiosyncracies, but rather strengthening them.

As usual, I had to go to 2/2 breathing on the hills, but past mile 3 it got harder to revert to 3/3 on the downhills and flats. Partly I got into a groove and my mind started wandering more, and partly as I warmed up I naturally tended to go faster. It didn't come easily to keep myself to 3/3. I started thinking about the "push yourself to do the things that don't come naturally or seem easy, so that eventually they will" principle. My brain/my rational self needs to be in charge, because if I lose focus and my subconscious takes over, it only knows how to do what's familiar. It's like when you space out while driving and your subconscious takes you on the most familiar route--which may not be where you intended to go! But on the other hand, it's not good to be too much in the head without listening to the heart and body. That's how people push themselves beyond where they should, into injury (physical and mental). The brain needs to be the leader, but the best leaders listen to what the followers are saying. You can't lead effectively if no one wants to go along with you.

That started me thinking about how dogs need to know that their humans are the pack leaders; a dog that thinks it's in charge is stressed and a pain to live and deal with, whereas a dog that knows its place in the pack is relaxed, happy, and better-behaved. And when I'm not consciously making a plan for what to do and how to lead my life, maybe I'm as restless and confused as that dog. But when I make unrealistic plans ("I'm going to catch up on all my email tonight!" "I'm going to get 4 hours of sleep so I can do more!"), when in my heart/body/guts I know it's not workable, I fail. That's like utopian schemes that overlook the irrational and monkey side of human nature.

I'm still filling out my 5-miler by doing a little spur onto Ryan Road to look at our neighbor's garden. Today her boyfriend was out in the yard with their dog, looking at the pond they've been working on. I said hi & then stopped so we could talk a little bit. He told me about the pond leaking, about the fish in their lower pond that I should walk over to check out, I told him about the marathon, etc. It was really nice and I was happy to have stopped. There are a lot of neighbors I don't know really well, and running has allowed me to make connections with some of them. I need to not let the combination of shyness and being caught up in the goal of running prevent me from stopping and chatting!