wE mAde iT!!!!

After a week of craziness it's all over. So let's recap the last few days. We woke up around 3 on Friday afternoon, took a couple of one hour naps and went to bed at 2am sunday morning. Woof.

That's right. Woof.

Last night the graduate student association had organized a formal winter ball that we went too. I was so tired that I wasn't looking too forward to it but once I found some nice clothes to wear (in the back corner of my closet) and got my hair all done (not in a pony tail!) I had woken up enough to get through the night. The music was all ballroom dancing music which I don't do so I didn't dance at all, but I did meet a lot of new people which was tons of fun. We had to help clean up and ended up leaving around 1:30 am and got home around 2am. I think I was asleep by 2:03 am.

And what time did you get up you ask?

4 pm!!!!!!!! That's 14 hours of sleep!!!

Whew. After we were up for about 1 1/2 hours we went out for a 6 mile run. Of course I was worried since I had been horizonal for so long but it ended up going ok. Slow but ok. We were very excited when we realized that one of the water fountains along the lake front path was still turned on. The water runs continuasly so it doesn't freeze and holy crap that water tasted good! It was super cold and I love love love Chicago water. So that hit at about 3.5 miles and revitalized the last 2.5 miles of the run.

So the end of a long week ends well. I am looking forward to getting back on track with a more consistent schedule this week. We'll continue to take the train so gotta get everything organized including eating a bit better on a day to day basis.

I almost see the light

Alright just about another 30 hours and I will be done with this crazy schedule. I have to work shift tonight from midnight - 6am but then I have a meeting at Fermi Lab from 9:30 -12:30. After that we'll drive home and sleep for a couple hours and then we are going to this formal dance type thing that I helped organize. There is a dinner at 6pm and then the dancing ball goes from 8 till about midnight. After that we'll drive home and crash! (not the car, but ourselves into bed)

So I will only miss one run this week which I think is not too bad considering the schedule I have had. Tomorrow the schedule calls for a 3 mile pace run which doesn't fit anywhere unless we forgo a few hours of sleep, which I think would be a bad idea. However, we will be able to get the long run of 6 miles in on Sunday and then perhaps even we can run three miles on monday before we play volleyball or something.

In other fun news, my dad and step mom are coming to watch the Indy Mini in may! I don't know if I have mentioned but they live on a sailboat and are currently in the Florida area. It's always exciting when they can come home for a few days and very exciting that they'll be here to watch the race. Helps me stick to the schedule for sure.

So today (what day is it?) we got home around 8:30am and I worked for another hour on a plot that I screwed up the night before and wanted to send my advisor the correct one before I layed down. We slept until about 3 and then from about 4-5:30. THEN we got up off our butts and got out there for about 3.2 miles. It felt great to get out there and I was happy that I pushed myself out there.

Below I just have some pictures of the electronics that are reading the detector I am working on. The detector is a prototype muon detector that could be used at a new detector called the International Linear Collider or ILC. The wiring is ridiculous at Fermi Lab and this is just an example. Click on the image to see the full size (the full ridiculousness)

Got It Done

Whew. That's all I can say. Jason woke up at 5:30 Wednesday morning and I woke up at 7am. We went to bed at 7:30 am Thursday morning. woof. I totally passed out on the training coming home from the lab, which was funny because I woke up when we got to the city and my neck hurt because I was sitting in some ridiculous position. I slept until about 2 in the afternoon, Jason until about 2:45 or so.

Today was the first time we were going to try and do a tempo run. All these "fancy" runs are very new to us as I am sure I have mentioned before that all we have done is gone out there and plodded through whatever distance was listed for that day. So today we warmed up around the block first and stretched and then did the following. 10 minutes easy running, then for the next 10 minutes we picked up the pace every 2 minutes. At 20 minutes we held that pace (the fastest we would go) for 1 minute and then slowed down a bit for another 4 minutes. At this point we were pretty winded and our legs were not moving very fast. My original plan was then going to be to easy run for 5 minutes, but decided to walk instead. So we walked for about 5-6 mintues, ran for about 10 minutes and then walked the rest of the way home. I was dissapointed that I wasn't able to run that 5 minutes after the speedy running but then realizing what I had done to my body over the last few days I realized it wasn't a big deal and I was out there and that was something.

I have to mention the gracefullness that is Jason. We were only about 8 minutes into the run and are just cruising along and then all of a sudden Jason trips on the sidewalk and stumbles, but not just stumbles he completly falls onto the ground rolling around. Of course I am laughing hysterically (shut up i am a good wife) but his hands are bleeding. Good thing we don't use our hands to run and we were able to get through the rest of the run.

Our schedule is to be back at the lab tonight, we are going to take the 7:40 train, I'll work for a few hours before my shift and then shift and then back to the city. I would like to run in the morning tomorrow because I want to go into the lab as late as possible friday night because I have plans on saturday night and don't know how much sleep I'll get on Saturday at the moment because of an AM meeting I have.

Late Night Labwork

Quick! We need the labwork back from the...muon detector? Hmm, that really works better on ER.

Yep, Leah is working hard on the late night shift helping research the detector of the future. Meanwhile, I'm also at the lab trying to finish up the last of my research for the measurement I'm working on. Fun stuff all around.

If there's one point in all of this (and there certainly isn't more than one point), it's that you've got to get those runs in regardless. We were up early this morning and into the lab for meetings, working from 8:30-5:30. Then we had to hurry over to the gym to get changed and run.

runrunrun.

Back to the gym - shower - and over to Leah's cousin's apartment to meet up for dinner (she has a great apartment, btw. Lots of character). And now we're back at work until 6am tomorrow.

But the key? Yep, we managed to wedge the run in there. I thought it was a great run, personally. Very refreshing and a welcome break from all the work. In all the insanity, at least one thing will always remain constant...pain.

No, wait! That's not it.

No, the one constant, of course, is running.

Push It Back

Well yesterday wasn't the best day for me. I only got a couple of hours sleep because I found out at 11pm that I really did need to take a test for radiological worker training at 9am the following morning and had only slightly gone over the first half of a 50 page document which I would be tested on. So I had to study for that before I went to bed.

I ended up going to bed around 1:15am, but MissyCat had been sleeping on my side of the bed and when I layed down I realized that the entire bed smelled of...well let's say it didn't smell good. This is when I realized that we would have to put her down the next day. So I slept on the couch for a few hours and woke up to continue to study and make sure that I caught the early train out the the Lab.

I thought that I would have to be on shift last night from midnight to 6am so I left work around 1:30pm so I could go take care of MissyCat sleep for a few hours and get back into the lab for my shifts. Thank goodness the shift got cancled last night because otherwise I would have had to be at the lab for about 40 hours or so.

ANYWAYS. I had to push all the runs back one day. Today I'll run 3 miles, tomorrow 30 min tempo, friday 3 mile, saturday 3 mile pace and sunday 6 miles. This doesn't give me a break between runs but since none of the workouts are too strenuous yet this should be a huge deal. Today's run will be at the lab before meeting my cousin Sarah for dinner. After dinner it's back to the lab to work with this detector from midnight -6am (this will be my schedule though the weekend :-( )

Missy Could Give No More

Well she gave all she could, but today we saw that it wasn't nearly enough. Our 16 year old cat Missy had deteriorated to a point where we couldn't conceivably keep her alive any longer.

I believe that her kidney functions were down to about zero percent because the poor girl had lost a lot of weight and could barely walk around the house anymore. I noticed last night that she wasn't smelling her best either because I think that the toxins had over taken her body since she couldn't process them anymore.

Jason and I made the tough decision to put her down this afternoon. The Doc was very good and suggested we not stay in the room. So we gave her one last scratch under the chin (she loved this one little form of attention) and said goodbye.

The picture was taken right before we left for the vet. :-(

Something Had to Give

Well I love to do it all. Get all my workouts, work work, reading, netflix watching, commuting, cleaning, eating in everyday. I don't like to let one thing go. This morning I realized though I had to. I had planned on getting up at 5am walking over to the YMCA (we are now leaving our car in the burbs so we can take the train to work) working out, walking home, showering, walking to the el, getting downtown, walking to the metra train, training to Wheaton, stopping at the post office to mail something to my dad (wait it's president's day anyways so that didn't happen) work all day, play volley ball at 7:30pm, take the 8:54pm train home, putting us back at Stately Wayne manor at about 11pm.

Right. That's a lot.

So I did get out of bed right at 5am and I thought to myself, "Something has to give. If you go work out now, it'll go fine but volleyball and the end of your work day will suck" So I went back to bed where Jason was still curled up under the blankets and I just told him I thought it would be less than brilliant to try and get it all in today given the late volleyball game. So I went back to bed for about 90 minutes and got up closer to 7am. I am way more rested today and hopefully volleyball will go alright tonight.

I think that strength training is one thing I can move around a bit and try to fit in else where. So we are playing a team we might actually beat tonight (although I'm not too positive of that) so hopefully all goes well.

Battling The Cold

This afternoon Jason and I braved the low temperatures and headed out for a 5 mile run. Fortunatly we don't have the snow covered sidewalks that our running compadres in Wisconsin are dealing with so we don't have to worry about that aspect of winter running.

The temperature however was only about 18 degrees with a "feels like" 5. I don't know if I really trust the "feels like" temp, I think it's just a way to make it seem like it's worse that it is. I arm myself with three layers on top, tights on the bottom, thick smart wool socks on my toes, gloves on my hands and an ear band to keep my ears warm and I head out. I was correct in that it wasn't actually that bad out. My legs got a bit cold as we got about half way through the run, but other than that it was a beautiful day out. There were quite a few other bundled up runners on the path including one gentleman with a beatiful golden retriver running in the opposite direction. I always feel happy seeing other runners out there on not particularly wonderful days and want to talk to them, so I told him that I thought his dog was very pretty, he said thanks, smiled and kept running. Which is great because sometimes when I smile and wave at other runners they look at me like I have a screw loose...

It was just one of those runs where you love being a runner. I always have days where I wish I wasn't a runner (not many though): my legs hurt, or it's really cold (or hot!) out, or work has consumed 14 hours of my day or life happened and I have to rush through my run and just get it over with so I can do the 18 other particles of stuff that seemed to pop up. Not today though, it was just one of those runs where it just goes.

I love when that happens.

I love those days.

Treadmill?

You mean Boring Mill?

Oh man. I have not run on a treadmill for probably about 5 years, but since it was SO cold yesterday (never made it out of the single digits) I thought it would be a good idea to not be so tough (stupid?) and go to the YMCA and get our 3 miles in. So I did about 3 minutes of warming up and getting used to the machine and then 2 minutes at 9 minute miles and then about 2.25 miles at an 8:30 pace, and then .75 at an 8 minute pace. I set the machine to an incline of 1 (I don't know what the units are on this....so don't really know what it means, I just know that I have read to make the treadmill more like actual running to set it at this). I mean it's fun because you can see exactly how far you are running and how fast and blah blah blah. I got to one mile however and I thought I had been on there for like 10 miles.

I got through it anyways but I would rather run outside. I think it was smart that we did the treadmill thing because when we left to walk to the gym I could barely take a deep breath because the air was so cold. I keep getting these ice cream headaches with these temperatures. Very Annoying.

The weather today seems a bit better in the high teens, but it feels like 5 degrees. We have a 5 mile run today so hopefully we can get through this without to many problems. I have to make sure that I do only 5 miles instead of the usual well it should be about 5 miles and it ends up being 6.2.

We'll see how it goes out there!

Spread Thin

You know when you go to your favorite bagel place and get that heavenly combination of bagel and cream cheese. Sometimes the proportion of cheese to bagel is perfect and others there is hardly enough cheese to cover half the bagel let alone both halves. These days I am the cream cheese in scenario two. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutly love being busy (it's my thing), but recently I have been looking at all the things in my life and how many hours in the day and there is no way. The easy things are being put on the wayside and tough things look much much tougher than they actually are.

For exampke, Jason and I were in car hell for awhile where were juggleing 3 different cars. My dad took one of them, and the then my old Nissan 240 SX was just stuck in I don't know what to do with you land so I'm going to park you "secretly" at work until I have time to deal with you. I just sort of forgot about it out there at the Lab and I recently was in that neighborhood of the lab and yup, the car is gone. Alright then. Now I am going to go have to go through the hassle of finding the car first off, second off paying to get it out to then take it to some donation place or auto wreckers place, all for a car that is 15 years old and worth about $15 (although it's a super cool car that I loved for the years that I drove it)

I was getting completly fed up with driving lately and so Jason and I decided to take the train home last night. It was raining and so on and I knew that traffic was going to be horrific. So even though it's probably longer to take the train it's more enjoyable because we can read and relax and so on. BUT i have to be at the lab at 7 am this morning because I am working on a hardware project for a few days. It's something different to work on for awhile I guess so that's interesting. But I have to catch the 5:53am train and so I spent the entire night up looking at the clock convinced I would miss the alarm. 2:10. 2:15, 2:30 (at this point jason wakes up and I say, "Don't worry we still get another hour and a half of sleep.....").

I would like to try and take the train from now on and see if that helps my cream cheese complex.

Anyways I was up at 4 so today will be a long day, good thing it's an off running day. yesterday we had just an easy three miles which went well.

Also the weather right now says for today :currently 20 degrees, high of 19 degrees and low of -(!)4 degrees. ooooooh damn it's going to be cold!!!!

Jason and Leah Do Some Speed

Running that is.

Today was the first day of our running careers that we attempted to run a speed workout. The Hal Higdon plan called for 5x400. So we decided that we would need to do these at work because we had meetings all day and wouldn't be able to get it in when we got home or before we left for the lab in the morning. So my original plan was going to be to use my Timex GPS watch system and run until the thing go to .25 and then walk .25 and so on around the ring. However when I looked at my watch this morning I was saddened to see that there were no numbers, so the battery must be dead on the watch. Damn. so the site said that you should run the 400's at about a 5K or 10K pace. I figured this was about 8 min/mile so I decided that we would run for 2 minutes and that would be able 400m. This worked pretty well. We warmed up a bit and finished with a cool down and had some excitement inbetween. It was nice to have a change from our usual plodding on for more distance. I think I am going to like this new training plan as there are many different types of runs (speed, tempo, @race pace and so on).

Other super excitment happened at the lab today. Daniel Dennett who wrote a book called Dawin's Dangerous Idea came and gave the weekly Fermi Lab Colloquium presentation today!!!! Wow was it amazing. I dated a guy in college that told me I should read Dawin's Dangerous Idea. I think I made it through about 1/3 of it....me being 19 at the time and not having enough under my belt to handle the book. However, I know his name along with Richard Dawkins as big evolution guys so I was really excited to see Dennett's presentation today. He has a new book out called, Breaking The Spell : Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. It's a really fasinating idea in which he talks about organized religion from the view point of a scientist and tries to break it down and so on. It was a really AMAZING talk and I am excited to read this book as he just wet my whistle on the topics.

Another reason it's fun to work at Fermi Lab because we get really intersting talks that aren't necessarily physics based. The biggest science lab in the country gets that I guess.

Much Better Run

Today our run went much better. I got home and checked the weather and it was 55 degrees out! So Jason and I both ran in shorts which is always a nice thing to do in February. Unfortunaly it's going to be a high of 16 on Saturday. I hate the midwest. I wish it would just pick a freakin' temperature and stay there. Like in French Kiss where Meg Ryan's character says,"Match the corresponding face with the corresponding emotion. Happy smile. Sad Frown" Here it should be, "Match the corresponding temperature with the corresponding month. February 25. May 55." Sheesh.

But I'll take what I can get. Had a nice easy run. 3.2 miles in 30:05 = 9.4 pace, which I'm fine with. I guess you are supposed to be able to carry on a conversatioin with your running partner on these easy days. Jason and I talked about an upcoming trip I am taking to Washington D.C. to talk with representatives about how cool science is and to hopefully fund the President's recent budget which has a 14% increase for the Office of Science. I have a practice meeting tomorrow in front of the other people going on the trip and I am bit nervous about it so Jason helped me work out what to say during the run. All of a sudden the run was over which is always a nice phenomenon.

Dear Shins,

May I ask you what the hell it is you think you are doing to me. What have I done to you lately? I iced you yesterday, I massaged you yesterday, I took it easy yesterday. Why Why when I run must you scream out in pain. Why does it feel that with every step I take someone is jamming a knife into you and dragging it down my leg until I have the brief interval of a pain free moment as the pain has moved to the leg that is now on the ground. Oh wait there it is again. STAB STAB STAB. If you would please stop the incredulous pain you have been providing me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,
LeahC


Alright Alright. So what's the deal with my shins. I was about in tears today on my run the pain was so incredibly bad. I thought I started off slow enough, but perhaps not slow enough? I really need to warm up. I just don't know. I had to stop 3 or 4 times to try and stretch the area out. The problem I am having is out the outer part of my lower legs. Jason went ahead of me because I was a, well I'm going to use the word "crab" while Jason might use the word "bitch", and his run was going alright. I know that he worries if I am out running alone so I got to a point on the path where I could turn off and go home, but he didn't look back at me so I had to keep going forward. He never looked back and so I just had to keep going. It ended up being good that he did that because I did run the entire loop that we planned although I don't like to count it because I had to stop so many times to try and stretch my legs out.

The numbers : 6.93 miles, 1:05.35, 9.46 pace (notice the 9.46 is not 9 minutes and 46 seconds....) So not too bad, again does it count if I probably had some miles at 8:00 and others at 11:00? I need to get this leg stuff under control.

Also click here for a link to graphs that I have made for the week.

They Can't All Be Perfect

I love Saturdays! It's a whole free day. Sunday's are a close second, but nah, I love Saturdays.

Got up this morning around 8am and was out running by 9am. Wanted to run about 4 miles, but forgot that the lakefront entrance is closed and so we lost some distance by not crossing over, and we needed to stop at the grocery store on the way home to get some breakfast food. I love going to the grocery store after a run because we end up getting much healthier food. Instead of vodka, diet coke and ice cream (as we got last night), we got bananas, all natural granola cereal and orange juice along with a few other health food crap. In other VERY exciting news, gatorade was way on sale so we have some of that now which is quite the treat after running.

Anyways...the run....we ended up going 3.64 miles in 33:41.99 which is 9:15 miles. Not too bad.

Both Jason and I had the return of the severe shin pain. I really don't know what to do about this except just run though it. I do feel that when we both get the pain we have started off too fast. Although I didn't feel that we were going fast today...hmm. We also talked about bringing back the warmup around the block run. We do this in the summers because it's so nice out that we can just sit outside and stretch after the warmup and get ready to run long. However, in the winter it's so crappy out that I usually just want to go outside and go. This might not be the smartest strategy though, so we'll try a warm up tomorrow before our longer run.

Tomorrow we'll go north to Montrose since we have not gone that way FOREVER and onto the lakefront path and then completing the loop the same way we did last Sunday. This might be adding on too much distance, so we can make adjustments at the end of the run.

I am the WINNER!!!

Alright for those of you who know me (and I think if you look at the people that know me AND read this blog we are down to my father) you know how I like to win things. When I was little my favorite sentance was, "Is this a winning game?" In my childhood lots of gameboards went flying across the room, there were tears, it was all very tragic. Parents learned to NEVER sorry me in Sorry because well, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH"

So I have grown up (a little)....but I still like to win. For example I was a bit upset after Jason and I ran our first race together (the Indy Mini in 2004) and we ran the whole thing together, BUT when we checked the finishing times he was 1 second ahead. Of course this is ridiculous because the shoe he had the chip on probably crossed first or whatever. Now, I did let him know that I "beat him" in the marathon (same deal because we ran the whole thing together). I know I know I am ridiculous (at least I realize it)!!!

Tonight Jason and I went to the YMCA to play some raquetball and then work out. I would say that instead of Jason and I being equally good, we are equally bad. However we had some great games tonight. Lots of times when we play, it'll be one shot and there are LOTS of shots hit way up high on the wall. But tonight we were able to keep the ball down more. The final scores being 16-14 (Leah wins!) and 17-15 (Leah WINS AGAIN!!!)

Alright I do get some bragging rights with raquetball because Jason and I played for like a year and I didn't win ONCE (that wasn't the best year for Jason as it always, "NOT FAIR") But we had a good time playing, lifted some weights...but not too many as we were so tired after playing. It's so funny how different a sport like raquetball is. I can run far and never be out of breath, however 10 mintues of stopping and starting on a raquetball court and I am exhausted.

Tomorrow and Sunday will be running. I am thinking maybe 4 tomorrow and 6 on Sunday. This would put us in really good shape I think for starting our training program next week.

Sleepy Thursday

Yesterday Jason and I got home from work.....Well maybe I first should mention that we got to work at 6:30am, so we were up at 5am and Jason didn't go to bed until about 2am, and I had a night filled with nightmares and was continually waking up. Alright, so we left work around 2:30 and got home and 3:45 and both of us just fell onto the couch and fell asleep!

We woke up around 5 and actually felt way refreshed and so went for a very short/slow run.

Alright, the following complaint will make zero sense for those of you that are not from Lakeview in Chicago and run on the lakefront path.

The lakefront path, is well on the lakefront, so it's on the "other side" of lakeshore drive. So to get over there they have tunnels at certain points along the path that go under the drive and over to the neighborhood. I tend to use the tunnel that is at Waveland Ave and for like 3 months it was under construction. This is not a huge deal as we just run another 1/2 mile south and go onto the path there instead. But I love the running on the path because there is no lights and there is a gravel part of the path so slightly better for the knees. So finally finally they finsihed the construction about a month ago and all was fine until yesterday where it is COMPLETELY closed off again. WTF? I mean full construction equipment and half the road is blocked off again. Hopefully it won't be under construction too long this time.

The run numbers are 3.2 miles is 30:27 = 9:30 miles/min. A tad slower, but lights and a slower start probably account for this.

Alright, today is an off day but we might head to the gym later this afternoon.

Another Good One

After sitting in traffic for a LONG (and i mean LONG) time. Jason and I went out for a nice run around the neighborhood. I am really liking my new mix because all the songs are totally upbeat and are all the songs that I wish were on my shuffle when I was running before. It was also a nice winter evening with a light dusting of snow on the ground. The temperature was a bit on the chilly side but not too bad. I wore my thicker jacket and was actually warm (when the wind was at my back :-) ).

We went 3.94 miles is about 35:30. I pressed the wrong button or something on my watch and so it didn't stop right away, but that should be about right. This puts us at a roughly a 9:00 min/mile pace which I feel very comfortable running at. I am going to try and keep our pace here because my legs are feeling great (!). I have had only slight shin pain and instead of slowing down to try and nurse it, I have been sticking at the pace that I am at and I have been able to run through it. I am wondering if when I slow down I bounce up and down more therefore putting more stress on my legs. Maybe keeping up a slightly higher pace is putting my stride in the right place instead of cutting it short. I don't know. Just an idea....gotta think of something while running.

The Fermi Report

I went for a run along with Leah yesterday, although my route was a mere 40 miles west of hers. Yep, being stuck at the lab, I ran around the ring: the ol' "race the protons" route.

There was one problem with my run yesterday was that was that it was really freakin' cold. I checked weather.com before I left and the current temperature in Batavia was listed as 31 degrees (feels like: 22). Turns out I should have paid more attention to the "feels like" as the wind was apparently imported directly from the Arctic.

At the start of the run, the wind was right in my face and my hands were beginning to freeze, crack, and fall off (like in the end of Terminator 2, which would be pretty cool if they weren't my hands). However, one of the benefits of running around a ring is that the wind can't always blow in your face. It's simply a basic tenant of physics which just can't be violated (although I'm pretty sure this doesn't apply by the lakefront where the wind will blow in your face regardless of direction). So I ran faster than I would usually at the start of my run, willing myself around the ring to the warm side. To my great relief, the second half of my run was quite warm and comfortable. And, as a result of my cold start, fairly quick.

All in all, a pretty good run. I had been feeling a twinge in my calf since my last run, but I can report today that it seems to have worked itself out and my legs feel good.

...getting geared up for the Indy 1/2. Woot!

Garmin for Macs!!!

That's right people.

Beginning in spring 2006, Garmin will offer a Mac version of its popular Training Center software. Used with Garmin’s line of Forerunner and Edge series of fitness products, the Training Center software lets users plan and analyze workouts. Fitness enthusiasts can create their own workouts or use workout templates that can be downloaded into the unit for any level of personal training. The software also offers interactive analysis tools that will now allow Mac users to chart their performance information like speed, heart rate, cadence, elevation, and pace.

Also in spring 2006, Garmin will make the www.MotionBased.com upload interface Mac compatible. MotionBased.com translates GPS data into performance analysis, online mapping, and route sharing for endurance and outdoor athletes. Data collected by a Garmin GPS device is uploaded to MotionBased.com where time, distance, speed, elevation, cadence, grade, and heart rate analysis is displayed through charts, illustrations, and reports. This activity data can also be displayed as a route and replayed on street, photo, topographic, and elevation maps as well as the popular Google Earth service. Members can also use the TrailNetwork database to seek out and download new activities in their region, to find popular routes while traveling, or to engage in "virtual races" with other MotionBased users.

The new Garmin Forerunner 205 is pretty cool too. It's real small, about the size of a normal sports watch and is said to have much better reception/better coverage as in better for under heavy tree cover or between tall buildings. Plus you can download all the workouts to your computer and keep track of EVERYTHING. It also looks like you can upload to the watch a previously run route and the time you ran it and then race yourself so you can see if you are getting better/worse. It also has a virtural training partner where you can tell it, ok I want to run 9 min/miles and there is a little computerized image of a runner running that pace and then a computerized image of you running whatever pace you are running so you can see if you are "winning".

Ok, I actually don't have one of these the above is just things I have read about the watches. I currently have a Timex version which I love and works fine for me. I do like the upload ability though, but they didn't have all the software for macs....but looks like the world is a changin'

Speedy Speedy

Whoooooo hoooo!

Man I had a great run this afternoon. I have made a new playlist on iTunes called 'RunningFast' I wasn't really thinking of running fast, just of some more upbeat tunes. I have an iPod Shuffle and so usually just randomly load the thing from my full library, or I had a subset that had somewhat more upbeat tunes, or at least not super slow ones.

I just was feeling the need for some speed and so decided to put my favorite running songs together. You know I had some Micheal Jackson (Billy Jean), Hall and Oates (leave me alone! (and you know you love 'Private Eyes')) but the third song that hit my ears on todays run was the new Eminem song "Shake That"

Alright Alright.

Not super positive towards women in general...however it has a great beat to run to. I heard the song last night on the radio and I thought it would be good to run to because I thought that the beat would be perfect for the strides I tend to love falling into....long and fast! Well I was correct that it was the perfect song and it hit me right after I was warmed up enough to try and step up the pace.

Oh Well.

I felt great and extended the run to 4.3 miles instead of the 3.7 I had planned. I really didn't want to get stuck at a light since I was feeling so good so I kept dodging them and going down different streets and so on.

So 4.3 miles in 37:00 = 8:36 min/mile (SWEET!)

Nerd Girl Has Returned

I know you missed me. Don't lie to yourself :-)

Alright, just a quick post to acknowledge that I have updated the running progress plots. If you click the "Running Progress" Link on the upper right hand side and the click on "read more" for last week you can see the graphs of how our runs have been going so far this year.

I know I know, it's totally exciting and way cool!

Alright, haven't gone running today yet, but I will going around the neighborhood and Jason will be running at Fermi Lab. Should be about the same distance though. I will time todays run to see what range I'm in (as in slow or slower)

Um......only 13 weeks

Until the Indianapolis 1/2 marathon.

exqueeze me?

That means that next week I have to be totally serious about the workouts and even start adding in speed/pace/blah blah blah workouts. I mean I have been running 4-5 times a week no problem, just doesn't seem like the first weekend in May is only 12 weeks away. I guess that's good news cause that means that spring/summer is only 12 weeks away as well!!

Doing speed workouts or even timing the runs is going to be very different for Jason and I. I don't think that I have taken a watch with me when I have gone running for probably 6 months or more. I tend to be very concerned about the pace and don't think so much about the running. But I suppose this is a skill tht I will have to aquire anyways. Especially since I would like to start getting faster anyways.

Here is a link to the training program that Jason and I will be following. I have posted this before, but it's VERY exciting so I thought I would post it again.

A quick word about our 5.3 mile run yesterday. I felt "ok". I don't know how to describe it. Nothing hurt, my breathing was fine....but I was just feeling ughhy. After we stopped I immediatly knew what the problem had been. My upper back/shoulder muscles....the trapezius muscles I believe, immediatly clentched up and I could barely stand up straight. I must have been running *VERY* stiff and perhaps this was the reason that I was so weird feeling during the run.

Today no running, but some volleyball and then the YMCA for me (FOR REAL THIS TIME!!!!!) Tomorrow I'll go my favorite city loop as I will be working from home tomorrow and Jason will try and run here at the lab to get a break from the computer (this will be another bad week for him :-( ). I will also start timing my runs this week, just to start to gauge where I'm at speed wise.

Mr. FancyPhysicsBoy strikes again!

You've been hacked, Insane Running Girl!

No, as it turns out, I'm not hacking the system. In fact, I'm actually a writer on this site! Of course, you'd never know this since I've been doing a remarkable job of not writing. In fact, this is some of the best not-writing I've done in a long time.

As Leah said, Physics is hard. Last week consisted of many 16 hour work days mixed in with a 24 hour day and then capped off with a 17 hour day. Not a lot of time for running.

I'm not really okay with this.

I don't like when my work interferes with my life to the point where I can't do the simple things...like run. But, as long as it's only a couple weeks once every many, many months it's survivable. What I have discovered is that I know I never want the type of job that forces me to keep up this kind of pace on a daily basis.

Actually, I think it's sort of impossible to keep up this sort of pace with any regularity unless you do entire buckets-full of Coccaine, which is an expensive habit and can give you a nasty case of the sniffles. So I plan on passing on 80 hour weeks.

What's that you say? This is a running site? Okay, if you insist, I will write about today's run. Leah and I repeated last week's 5.3 mile run along the lakefront. I felt pretty good and mostly I was just happy to be out there. The sun was shining, the air was cool, and I was sweating as I definitely overdressed.

All I know is it wasn't work and it felt great.

-----------Side Note-----------------

So, when I got home on Friday after working from 7am-midnight, there was a little present waiting for me. I unwrap it and, to my amazement, what do I find? An iPod! The wonderful wife, as a belated X-mas gift and to celebrate my (basically) finished first analysis, bought me a fancy new iPod. For once, I am actually in posession of a current technology.

It was a physics miracle.

(I have a good wife)

Um....Like....Physics is Hard

Alright, first of all awhile ago there was a hilarious episode of Will & Grace where Grace has to get a shot or something at the doctors office and the nurse who has to take the blood is really young and keeps saying, "And I was all like, This is Hard"....anyone know the episode? They had a bunch of outtakes of it because Debra Messing could barely get through the scene.

Anyways, Physics is hard.

I am trying to fit some data, and the fit doesn't want to sit on the points, it thinks it's much better to go off into space and fit NOTHINGNESS. Alright then.

Actually physics is hard, but being a graduate student is rather nice. 90% of the time, at this moment Jason would not agree with me. But in general we have A LOT of freedom in...well...in everything. We can work from home, take a day off, go on vacation...whatever. This is very condusive to running as most of the time we have no problem getting our runs/races in.

Just a little thought of the day. When I get really frustrated with my work, I have to step back and realize that the money might be crap but in general not too bad of a lifestyle. I have to remind myself to get to this realization though!

No running or gym today since I was able to get in a run yesterday. I am going to take a walk down to my local Barnes and Nobles to look for some way to spend a Christmas gift card. That's about a 1.5 mile walk one way, so it's something I suppose. Tomorrow I have a meeting in the morning at the lab and then Jason and I will run in the afternoon, and then Sunday maybe start putting up more distance.....6 miles maybe.

Get That Boy Some Air

Well after Jason slept for a couple hours I thought it would be a good idea for him to just

GET OUTSIDE!

so I finally convinced him to put on some running clothes and we'd just go for a short run/walk to get him some fresh air. Well go figure he felt great and we ended up doing the favorite loop at 3.7 miles and a nice pace. Go Jason!

Alright, well dollar beers at the local pub is calling my name so I'll leave you with this picture of my dresser (i know i know great(!) organizatioin).....whos' that in there. oh my cat missy :

All Nighter!

Well I didn't pull one, but Jason did. :-(

I went to bed last night around 11:30 pm and Jason saying he thought he would be to bed in a couple of hours. I woke up at 4:30 and heard him making more coffee and when I got out of bed at 5 am There he was in front of the comptuer finishing up his talk. Man what a trooper. He gave his talk this morning at 9:30 and did a great (!) job. Tomorrow the paper covering all this work is due and as soon as that is turned in by midnight he'll be all done....well for a couple days anyways, at least until the group send him all the comments they have for the analysis and he has to go through and work all those out....but still.

I haven't decided if I will run today or tomorrow yet. I am guessing tomorrow morning since my sleep shouldn't be so screwed up tonight and I can get that done in the morning before sitting down to work the rest of the day. That's my plan of the hour!

There's Tight and Then There's Too Tight

Now, I could be talking about the pair of jeans in the back of my dresser that I refuse to throw out, but probably couldn't wear again unless I got on the ice cube popsicle diet...

But I'm not.

I talking about the shoe that was on my left foot this morning. My poor little piggies needed the jaws of life to free them. Alright, so that's some good information for tomorrow....pull on the laces to tighten the shoes, not death grip the laces and pull them until your knuckes turn white.....too dramatic....I think so.

But the run did go well this morning, I went the same loop I went yesterday and like yesterday I went alone. Jason's presentation is tomorrow morning and then the paper is due on Friday. So soon all this craziness will be over. I better get my ass moving on my analysis so that this doesn't happen to me in the coming months.

So last night apparently (I only vaguely remember) I woke up and started screaming at the blanket on the bed. Something about it wasn't fitting the curve, so I guess I put the blanket back on but then threw it on to the floor saying oh forget it. Well that's only slightly embarrising. what the....