Empty

the apartment is empty now. It's always been barren and sterile, but now, after three days of being filled with laughter and love (and a little bit of bickering), it seems even emptier than before. We had a wonderful weekend, despite dismal weather for most of the first two days. We walked a ton (especially for little 7-year-old feet and for 12-year-old feet with bad arches), and it was magical to see this place through their eyes. Everything was exciting to them, even things as mundane as the revolving doors and the yellow taxis. And the things that aren't mundane? Well, those things flipped them out entirely.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the weekend was the trip to the Empire State Building. We'd originally planned for it as a Sunday morning thing, but after the day was so horridly rainy all day, we couldn't believe that it cleared up so nicely later in the afternoon. We had dinner at the apartment, along with a fabulous chocolate cake from Buttercup bakery, and even though the table we sat around was 1400 miles from home, it felt complete because we were all there. Then we watched a few Looney Tunes cartoons from his birthday DVD collection, and decided on the spur of the moment to head down to the ESB at night. A quick check of the webcam reassured us that visibility was 20 miles, so we grabbed our CityPasses and a cab. Luckily, with the CityPass, we were able to skip the lines and head straight to the elevators. The gasp and squeal of delight when we went out onto the observation deck was well worth the entire trip.

Haven't run in a week. I was considering going out tonight, but the physical exhaustion of th weekend, coupled with the emotional letdown of being left alone is a bit much to deal with. So instead, I'm going to sort through the 300+ photographs and let the memories we created this weekend linger a little longer.

NYC Adventure Day 1

Breakfast at the apartment. 20-minute walk to the American Natural History Museum. Seven full hours of very cool, educational, enlightening fun. Hall of Mammals. Mexican and South American artifacts, including an enormous sun stone. Dinosaurs. LOTS of dinosaurs. No, really. LOTS of dinosaurs. Topped off with a rainy walk for a few blocks before successfully hailing a cab. I think my favorite were the enormous fossils of all the dinos that I know so well from reading TDP DinoBoy all his dinosaur books.

We're currently waiting for the rain to subside so we can head down to Times Square for the lights, ambience and some dinner. And, if it's still open, the ginormous Toys R Us. If not, we'll hit that crazy hyper place tomorrow before we do the Circle Line cruise.

State of my Mind

This is the state of my mind lately, that the Arby's commercial with the Irish step dancing monkeys cracks me up.

The state of my body is that I am taking a break this week from the running. After last week and covering three time zones in 72 hours, I find myself physically and mentally exhausted. I have been trying to wake up early the last two days to run, but just find that I don't have it in me. I just lay in bed and try to stretch the tight spot in my lower back and wake up, but I just haven't been able to do it. Rather than lament the missing mileage, I opt instead to take a deliberate break. If I feel like a run, I will head out and run, but if I don't, I won't sweat it. I did do a couple of yoga and stretching routines I found on the OnDemand thing on the cable here, so it wasn't a total waste. But I feel like even though I have a race coming up in about seven weeks, I need to take this week and recover and give all the little creaks and aches a chance to heal or I won't make it.

And mentally, the last six months have been tough. Yes, things are going well with work, really well, actually, but the overall picture of how things have shaken out has taken some adjustment, not just on my part, but for all of us. And I have to figure out how much of other folks' adjustments I can take on myself. And when I'm home, especially for such a limited amount of time, I feel like I spend all my time running, running, running, scrambling to do things and take care of things and cram as much life into 2.5 days of the week because the other 4.5 days are all about getting back to those 2.5 days.

None of this makes any sense to you, I'm sure. I'm sure it doesn't even really make that much sense to me. All I know is that I have to bend my routine some to keep it from breaking me. And if that means I hang up the shoes for a week, then so be it.

brrrr.

News flash (or not!): Colorado is cold. OK, colder than I've been used to, even lately in NYC. I ran 3 on the TM at the hotel and then braved the outdoors for another 2-2.5 (not sure exactly how much until I GMap it). I should have worn my long-sleeved shirt, but since I started out in the gym, I didn't wear it. Lesson learned for tomorrow.

Gotta run -- on a short, short, short break from presentations.

ORN -- 5 - 5.25 miles, 55-ish minutes or so.

still here

still churning away. missed the long run this weekend because my brother had a 5-hour layover Sunday morning, and in the greater scheme of things, that seemed more important. It was not a choice I regret. I did fit in a 5-miler, but the 15 didn't happen.

Still doing the NYC-Dallas thing, with a little Denver thrown into the mix this week. Looking forward to getting a couple of runs done in the thin air up there, although I'm quite sure I've lost my conditioning for the altitude that I built up earlier this spring.

Next weekend, the boys and Hub come up for the weekend. It's going to be epic. We have no plans except the Natural History Museum, the Empire State Building, Central Park and Yankee Stadium. Everything else we do above and beyond that will be cake. I'm sure there will be lots of photos. After that, i have marathon to look forward to and keep me going, then we'll have to come up with another milestone to keep me moving ahead.

I'm dreadfully behind on blog reading, but I promise to catch up and post comments as much as possible this weekend. Peace out!!

this could be problematic...

I'm down to only one fudgsicle in the apartment freezer.

ORN -- ~3.25 miles to and through the park then back to the apt.

I'm about 10 miles behind schedule for the week already. I'll have to make up Monday's and yesterday's runs tomorrow and Friday. Traveling into the city on Monday AM instead of Sunday night played havoc with my running schedule. Yet... it was worth it to have an extra evening at home with the boys (all three of them!!)

Do or Die

so I said earlier that I had a "do or die" 15-miler today. what I meant by that is that I had to do the distance to stay on track with the plan for the White Rock Marathon the 2nd week of December. I've been playing with my schedule lately to the point that this week's distance had to be covered, or I couldn't really safely escalate the long runs to 20 miles in the time I have left. The weekday runs have been going well and i know I could cover the mileage physically. The question was whether the brain had 15 miles in her.

I got the answer to that question pretty definitively when I was getting ready for bed last night. After a morning run of 5 miles (in pretty ridiculous humidity) and then 6 hours walking around the Texas State Fair, not to mention Friday's leg-focused weight session with my trainer, I was feeling pretty beat up, and the legs had taken the brunt of it. As I set the alarm for 5:00, a necessity in order to 1) race the sunrise and accompanying heat and 2) be back in time for the boys to get to 9:15 checking clinic at the rink, I halfway griped that I had to run today. So Hub very innocently suggested that I cut back today's distance, or even bail on it entirely. Now, he's fully supportive of my running and racing, and his suggestion was not meant to be negative, in a saboteur kind of way. Rather, it was him reacting to what he knew was a tough week and a long day yesterday, and his way of telling me that the only person who expected me to run was me. He said maybe I should plan to do the half at White Rock and plan for a spring race like Austin or Houston or even Cowtown close to home. But my instinct, and my final decision after thinking about it during the run, was to say, "No way. I'm doing White Rock again. It was my first, and as much as I hate that damn lake, I'm doing it again." When faced with the prospect of NOT doing it, I realized how fully and completely I want to do it again. Getting the miles in has to be a priority to make it happen, and so it will be.

So, all that to say: I ran 14.5 miles today. I did the first 12 out on the road, in two huge sweeping loops around my house. I finished the last 2.5 on the treadmill in the playroom; I could have gone the last .5, both physically and mentally, so I decided I didn't need to. I know that doesn't make sense. But I'd demonstrated to myself that I could do 15, and that I can do the full 16 called for next week and the week after that. Then a cutback week, and then 18, 18 and 20, right in time for taper right after Thanksgiving. This will happen. My times have been slower than last year's time when it comes to the long runs, and I'm OK with that. I'm not feeling beat up and defeated at the end of the runs, so I'm doing better with hydration and nutrition. I feel like after 5 previous races, I know better what I need to do to prepare for this. And I'm poised and ready to do it.

Mile splits (all but the first include 1:00 of walking at the start of each lap -- I'll be doing this during the race, so for the first time, I'm training like this):
Mile 1: 11:11
Mile 2: 11:20
Mile 3: 11:55
Mile 4: 10:58
Mile 5: 11:12
Mile 6: 11:21
Mile 7: 11:30
Mile 8: 11:34
Mile 9: 11:44
Mile 10: 11:32
Mile 11: 11:29
Mile 12: 11:49
Mile 13: 12:00 -- on TM inside
Mile 14: 12:00 -- on TM inside
Mile .5: 6:00 -- on TM inside

Total Time: 2:17:43 outside, 30:00 TM, total of 2:47:43

4 day weekend

because of the Columbus Day holiday in NYC, I have a 4-day weekend. Lots to do to fill the time: Laundry. A once-a-year State Fair cinnamon roll. Catching up with my brother and sis-in-law at the fair tomorrow. Seeing the Transformers cars at the Automobile building. A do-or-die 15-miler. Movie night with the boys.

Gotta run. Have a great weekend -- I know I plan to!!

Long days

and very short nights. At least it seems that way, that morning comes way too soon, regardless of what time I turn in for the night. I'd have more to say but I'm wiped out completely.

I do have to give a huge shout-out to my little buddy, TDP DinoBoy, who successfully earned his first Tiger Cub badge last Saturday night. It was the best part of a pretty busy weekend, having him up there with his little pals, in his uniform and neckerchief. He was very excited and is looking forward to doing a lot of fun activities with his den and pack. I've got photos, but didn't have a chance to upload before I left.

ORN: ~4 miles right before House. Ran up the Hudson River parkway to 97th, across to the park, then down Central Park East to 72nd. Stopped by my favorite deli for a dinner-to-go of salmon, veggies and mashed potatoes. Yummy.

YORN: 5 miles yesterday -- ran a mile to Columbus Circle to meet up with a friend from work, then we went up to the East side, then around the south end of the reservoir and back. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening, with a light breeze and perfect temperatures. It was a great autumn evening.

confidential to DH

Hi there. So glad you distracted me so while I was supposed to be studying for that Psych 301 test. The last 20 years have been amazing, and the best is yet to come.