Still sick

Seriously.  Not cool.  I was sick for a few days, felt better for a couple, and then a new cold decided to piggyback itself onto the old cold.  The second one is definitely worse than the first.  The first time it was basically just a chest cold, this time it was a full blown fever/congestion cold.  Basically what it boils down to is that I haven't been for a REAL run in over a week now.  I went for a short one last week, on one of the two days that I was feeling better, but I didn't want to over-do it, so I only went about a mile.  Looks like it didn't matter how far I went though, as I got sick anyways.
Yesterday I was feeling completely miserable and I didn't know how I was going to make it through the day today.  Luckily, we had ANOTHER snow day.  This time though, I was actually looking forward to it, because I really wanted to just sleep.  I actually got up at 6 and found out that school was cancelled.  I did a mini-dance inside my head, put on my humidifier, brushed my teeth, and went back to bed.  Jealous? I bet.  Then I woke up around 10:30 and felt 10x better, but not great. Took a ridiculously long shower to absorb the steam into my membranes, took some medicine, went grocery shopping, and then shoveled.  Later, I even walked the dogs.  I think the sleeping until 10 really did it.  I was able to sleep off that extra bit of fever that was hanging around.  Hopefully I'll be able to run again this weekend.  I never thought I would say this, but I miss it!  I was just about to start interval training, and I was pretty excited about it, so I really want to get back at it.
Since I don't have any Charity Miles to share with you, I'll share this lovely picture I drew instead.  I thought it might be fun to put The Outsiders into comic book/graphic novel form, so I've been (sort of) working on that.  It's only chapter 1, and I'm not sure I really like the way my faces are coming out, but it's something, I guess.

Oh, and one more thing.  Remember those zip-ups I got?  Well, the other day on the T, I noticed that only the left side was working.  Seems to be a loose wire connection in the right side, because it comes and goes, depending on which way the wire is turned.  I have to say that I'm fairly disappointed in that.  This is supposed to be a great product and yet they're broken on me already.  I'm not sure how the company is going to handle this, but I imagine it's going to be tough to get a replacement without it costing me an exorbitant amount of money, considering it's an overseas company.....

Training day

There is one week left until the 15K.  That's 7 days to be able to run 9 miles in under 1:45, according to the site.  As you saw, last week, I was able to do 6 in 1:01.  Today I decided to try a new route.  Instead of driving to the woods or the lake, and then running the 6 miles, I ran from my house to the woods and back.  According to Google Maps, the distance from my house to the entrance of the woods is only 1.5 miles, so it was easily doable.  That's 3 miles right there, just to go to the entrance and back home after all.  Of course I wanted to try and get at least 6 miles in, so my plan was simple.  Run through to Stone Tower, then loop back around and go back home.  Unfortunately, Stone Tower is on the top of a giant hill.  No joke.  If you happen to run Lynn woods and go through the Pennybrook Road entrance, down Jackson Path, towards Dungeon rock, you will encounter a series of hills.  Pretty much as soon as you enter, going down Jackson Path towards Dungeon Rock, you come upon some man-made wooden trail stairs.  (I don't really have a better way to describe them.)  These stairs are like mini jumps, they're just wide enough apart that you have to step in between to run up them, or jump.  Luckily, they head right back down on the other side.  However, after crossing through Jackson path you can either go straight and head up another set of man-made stairs to Dungeon rock, or loop around by Breeds Pond and come up behind the rock.
 I chose the loop because I wanted to add more miles to my run, but there's really no good choice here.  If you go straight, you run up the giant stairs and it sucks.  If you loop around, you run up a giant hill that never seems to end, and it sucks.  It's a Sophie's Choice here, except there's far less on the line.  Either way, you're running uphill though.  After that uphill, you can go straight across and down around Walden Pond (not the Emerson one) or go to the right and head up to Stone Tower.  The Walden Pond road will eventually take you to Stone Tower, should you choose to go that way, but it's almost like running a roller coaster track of up and downs. At least the road to the right just goes flat and then pretty much straight uphill until you reach Stone Tower.  The nice part is that you know when the big hill is coming because you can see the tower seconds before you actually hit the hill.  Not only is this hill steep, but it's covered in loose rocks and gravel, so take caution if you're running up it.
Once I got to Stone Tower, I went against every ounce of good sense I had and decided to stop for a minute to snap a picture.  It's a really nice view if you're not opposed to climbing a few stairs.  And let's face it, if you've just run up here, you can handle a few stairs.  The view is not as awesome as the one you get if you run up to Steel Tower, but I've only been able to find that one once, and it was by mistake, so I didn't want to go looking for it today.  Maybe someday I'll find my way back there and show you the view. Until then, google it.   I wore my zip-ups for the run today and they were everything I hoped for.  Having the second, loose, earphone zipped up with the one in my ear, I was able to keep the cable from bouncing all over the place and I didn't have to worry about that second earphone.  When I stopped for the picture, I put both earphones in, just for good measure.  I think I scared a guy and his dog who happened to walk by while I was up there, and were resting on the ledge when I came down.  Pretty sure he didn't realize there was anyone else around. I got a chuckle out of that.  Here's the view from Stone Tower.  Check out the zip-ups too.  Then go buy a pair.  If you look real close, you can see Boston in the background.  That's what all those buildings are too the left, behind the scraggly looking no-leaved tree.

Once I got through with my photo sesh,  I turned and went back down the giant hill.  I'll say this, it was definitely a more enjoyable run on the way down.  There was a slight uphill, but almost everything else was downhill.  I think I made up a lot of time there.  When I got to the tower, I was clocked at 2.5 miles in 30 minutes.  By the end of the run, I was at 5.5 miles in 1 hour.  So, maybe I didn't make up so much time after all.....Actually though, once I left the tower, the entire route was basically downhill.  I didn't think too much of it as I was running up, but I definitely noticed it on the way back down.  Noticing the downhill run back makes me more likely to run that path again, though I'm not sure it will become a routine for me.  Those rocky hills and stairs in the woods are really a lot of effort.  

Even after all of this though, I'm not sure I am ready for a 15K.  The 5.5 miles seemed a lot longer than the 6 miles I ran last week, and it was a lot of effort to force myself to even go the long way home.  (Full disclosure, this may have had something to do with the donut I ate earlier today; I can't be sure.)  Though I do believe that part of it was because I was running alone. Everything seems to take longer when you're alone.  Maybe with other runners around me, it won't seem so long.  Of course, if I'm dead last, it may still be that bad.  I just keep telling myself to remember that back when I started, I didn't think I could ever make anything more than 3 miles, and now here I am at 6, so 9 maybe isn't too far out of the realm of possibility.  Now I'm stuck though.  Should I try to get to 7 or 8 by mid-week or stay at 6 and hope for the best next Sunday?  I'm sure there's no good answer here, but I think I might try for 7.5 on Wednesday.  We'll see. As a parting note, here's a Charity Miles/Google Earth shot of my run from today.  Enjoy.

Mail Call

Today I checked the mail when I got home and didn't see any in the box so I figured the mailman had not come yet.  I went out and about on a run, taking my normal streets, where I usually see the mailman, but not today.  Turns out, he left the mail on the porch instead of in the box.  Why am I rambling on about mail you ask?  Well, if I had the foresight to check the porch BEFORE my run, I would've been able to go for a run with these!

They finally came! Almost exactly a month after the order was placed, but not a terrible wait.  It was about what I was expecting, considering it was international. So, I haven't been able to use these yet but I was just so excited that they finally arrived that I had to share.  Here's hoping they work out for me!

Tired Thursday

This week has been the longest week of my life.  I've been doing the ACCESS test all week and it is seriously hindering my ability to get motivated about anything else.  I cannot wait for this test to be over although soon after the MCAS are popping up, so there's not much of a break between all this standardized testing.  I feel worse for the students who are taking the test because it's a lot of listening and writing, all while trying to comprehend a language that may be fairly new to him/her.  Needless to say, this is the first time I've ever wished I had the flu, just so I could avoid giving the test for one day.
Earlier this week I was full of motivation for running.  We did the 4 miles on Sunday and then on Monday and Tuesday I went for shorter, 2 mile runs.  I purposely went two days in row because I had a professional development class on Wednesday and I knew I wouldn't have much time or energy left to run after that.  Plus it snowed out Tuesday night, making the sidewalks and streets a miserable mess on Wednesday.  On top of that, on Monday it was so nice out that I couldn't just stay inside and sit around.  It was almost 60 degrees, in the middle of January.  For those of you who know nothing about New England weather or just don't believe the anecdotes, it's a mess.  Just look at the beginning of this week.  Monday, 60 degrees.  Tuesday, snow storm that turned to ice that turned to rain through Wednesday.  The weather may be a hassle but I like it better than living in the same season year round.  I think I might get incredibly bored with 70 degree weather every day.  Also, my Charity Miles stopped working again and I think that might be it for me and that app.  I love the idea, but I'm not going to continue using an app that doesn't work for me. I'll just stick to MapMyRun for logging miles from now on.  Sorry Charity Miles, maybe when you get your act together, I'll visit you again.
I thought about running again today but I really was just too tired.  I know that's not a very good excuse but considering that I've technically met my weekly goal of running 3x a week, I don't feel TOO bad about it.
Since this weekend is MLK Jr. weekend, I will attempt to get a run in on Friday, Sunday, and Monday.
Finally, I'm still waiting for JOPWorld to process my order.  It seems to be taking them FOR-EV-ER. (Sandlot!!!)  I know I'm being impatient and a little bit whiney right now, so I apologize. I seriously need a nap.  That would do wonders for me right now, so I think I'll go do that.

Sunday Funday

We're in playoff time now, so that means there's a lot of time spent at home, on the couch, watching the greater teams weed out the lesser teams.  Hopefully the 4:30 game today weeds out the Texans and we can carry on with Baltimore next weekend.   Since there are so many games this weekend, we've done a lot of couch sitting. Luckily the games are in the afternoon/at night, so I haven't been totally lazy.
Yesterday we spent a good portion of the day in Providence.  Ryan got his hair cut at the Gallery Salon, courtesy of Sara Marsh.  If you live in RI and you need a haircut, check her out.  After the cut we went to the farmers market in Pawtucket and got delicious street food. Namely, meat pockets.  I'm not sure what they're actually called, but the name we gave them is pretty self-explanatory.  It's a pastry filled with meat.  Think pasties if you've ever been to England, except that they only contain meat, no extra vegetables or potatoes.  So, all the delicious, none of the health.  Perfect street food!  We also got a giant Whoopie Pie from some dude in a booth who was selling chowder. Personally I wasn't a fan of the Whoopie Pie.  The filling tasted too much like cream cheese and I would prefer it to be a bit sweeter.  Once we left the farmers market we went to the dog park.  There isn't really a dog park so much as a bit of woods that a lot of dogs run around in.  I say it's not a dog park because it's not fenced in and is right next to the street.  I would be concerned taking my dog there considering we almost got run over crossing the street as someone came flying up in their little Prius.  Rude!  It was a nice little loop but it was horribly muddy and wet.  I, for one, was not a happy camper at the end because my socks and feet were soaked.  I was wearing my Climacools, which are not ideal for walking in mud or slush, and had I known that was a part of the outing, I definitely would have worn better footwear.  What can you do though?
When we got home from Providence we still had to walk Nala, so we headed back out to the marsh nearby.  This time I wore the appropriate shoe, so that walk was fine.  I think it was about 2.6 miles total and the weather was nice so that always helps.  This morning, I went for a run with a small group.  We went a  bit further than last Sunday and made it 4.2 miles.  Hopefully next week we'll make it 5, and the week after 6.  I still haven't signed up for the Great Stew Chase, mainly because the site isn't working.  I also want to get a jump on finding out how to train for a marathon, so I can be prepared for Disney next year.  It is still my plan to run that next January. I don't have much else to say about my running, it's basically been going the same except that the weather has been warmer, so it's been nice to be outside. I know that won't last so I'm enjoying it while I can.
The Google Music app is still giving me some trouble, but I did a force stop the other day and I'm hoping maybe that kicked it into gear.  I figure at the very least, it's easier to force stop the app when it stops working than it is to uninstall/install every 2 days.  Below is a picture of the problem I've been having with my Google Music. I'm adding it in case you're having the same problems. If so, I recommend a force stop, probably completely against anything Google would say.

This is what my home screen looks like when my phone is locked and Google music isn't working anymore.  Note that it shows that a song is playing, but it is actually not.  *Disregard H.M. please

When I go into Google music however, this is what I see.  This is the song that SHOULD be playing, but is not.  In fact, the app is not doing anything. Notice how it also shows that this song is playing.  In reality, no songs are playing, making my day just a little bit sadder. 

I'm still waiting on my zip-ups from JOPWorld and I'm getting a bit antsy now.  I know it's an international order and there have been a lot of holidays, but every time I log in and check the order it still says processing.  My card has been charged so I hope the processing just means that they're waiting on a new order to come in.
And now for something completely different....I found some spare time the other night to do something by myself and decided to paint a new picture.  The last time I painted was when we went to the Urban Art Bar and I really wanted to try the techniques I learned there.  I enjoy painting and drawing, but I've never taken an art class, so I basically just wing it and hope for the best. Usually I paint scenery but I wanted to try something new this time.  Previously I had seen a Chinese Proverb about a red thread and I really loved it.  So for my new painting, I decided to use that as the basis for the picture.  I'm fairly happy with the final outcome. Here it is, touched up a bit for brightness, because it was dark in the house and the flash kept leaving a bright spot in the middle of the picture.

Keep in mind that I am, in no way, a professional painter and I definitely can't paint words in a straight line.  Apparently it's harder than it seems!

Running buddies

The other day I went for a 4 mile run through Lynn Woods.  Here's a shot of my route, thanks to Charity Miles.  If you've never used Charity Miles, it's a free app that tracks your run and donates to the charity of your choice.  I recommend it.  I also use Map My Run as a back up just to make sure I'm keeping track.

Trail running isn't something I do very often because I'm a bit nervous about tripping over the rocks, tumbling down the hill, and breaking a leg or worse. But I do love the beauty of the woods and it is a nice 4 mile loop at the same time.  The worst part of it all, without a doubt, is the hills.  They're not necessarily steep, but there are quite a few. Generally I don't mind hills.  I hate hills, but I do them, because I know that if I can make it up, it's easy running back down.  Of course, this mind set sort of goes out the window when you're heading down and you can see the next hill in the distance, but that's neither here nor there.  

Now usually if I work out, I want to do it alone.  I hate looking like a fool in front of tons of other people, and I know that if I'm paying attention to the people around me, the same is probably true for them.  The only time my alone while working out rule comes out of play is when I go running.  I have found that it is so much easier to run and keep pace with a buddy than alone.  That's not to say that I can't do it alone, I just prefer not too. Usually I'll try to go running with a friend or a group of friends, but that isn't always possible.  We all work different schedules and we all have busy lives, so it can be hard to find a time and a day that works for more than one person.  I also can't see my friends joining me on the trails or on the beach; that type of terrain doesn't seem to be their thing.  I like it because I feel like it helps with my speed on flat pavement, but I'm not sure if that's actually true. But when we can go together, it is nice to have someone there.  We don't usually talk save a few minutes at the beginning and we almost all have earphones in too.  I think it's just the solidarity in having someone else beside you, so you're not suffering having a great time by yourself. It really helps me to have that someone there to keep up with as well. Running alongside a partner pushes me through the cramps and forces me to keep going even if I want to quit.  I can't be left behind after all!

Since I was out on my own the other day though, I had ample time to think, while I was trying to ignore the fact that my knees were killing me and that there was a large hill looming in the distance.  As it were, I happened to be thinking about running buddies; more importantly, a running buddy I would choose if I could pick any one person in the world.  (Well, first I would choose Ryan, but he never wants to go running, so I guess this would be my 2nd choice.)  I know there are tons of people in the world and plenty of professional sports stars that I'm sure would be great running buddies.  Not for me, because I could never keep up, but for someone out there.  After much deliberation, because after all, what else is there to do when running alone, I have settled on my choice.  If I had the opportunity to pick one person in the world to do a training run with (Ryan aside), I would choose Oliver Phelps. I've read his Triathlon diary and I feel like he would be a great running buddy.  Sure he's got some tendinitis, but that would probably be better for me, as I might actually be able to keep up. Of course he lives halfway around the world and he's quite famous, so it would most probably never happen, but a person can dream right?  If you have no idea who or what I'm talking about, take a trip back to JOP World and check out the Triathlon diaries.  And if you feel like getting crazy, you can tell me who would be your top choice as a workout buddy.

Short and quick, like I wish my workouts were

Merry Christmas!
As an added bonus, we here on the East Coast woke up to snow this morning.  It just doesn't get any Christmas-ier than that.  Not exactly a white Christmas, but at least it's a bit more festive than the 50 degree weather we've been having.  That being said, snow = not a fun running surface, so I guess there's the other side of that coin.
Took to the woods yesterday in my awesome Adidas climacools, (see previous post) and found them even better for traction over the iced up puddles and rocks.  They may be ripped, but they can still grip!
I must say I got the best new gift this Christmas, a brand new phone.  I've been using the iPhone 4 and I will just come out and say it, I hated it.  I need my Google apps and I hated having to run everything through a 3rd party.  Especially Google music.  That's what I use to pump my jams when I'm trying to ignore the fact that I hate running even though I'm halfway into my 3 miles.  However, on the iPhone, it takes forever to load and half the time it doesn't work on it's own.  I have to pull it out in the middle of my run to switch songs or restart.  Not exactly helpful when you're trying to focus on making better time.  So I'm pretty excited to switch to the Galaxy and be able to access my music straight from Google.  Of course the phone came with headphones, but what I'm really aiming for are the zip ups from JOP World  I wouldn't say no to the gloves either actually.  It's not necessarily that I NEED new headphones, but I have been hoping to get these.  I like to keep one headphone out while running. (Safety precaution, I like to hear what's happening around me.) When I do though, the other phone is just floating and bouncing all over the place.  I'm hoping that the zip-ups will stop this by holding the free phone in place.  If not, well, at least I'll have some pretty sweet phones. I can't find them at any of the stores here in the States, so I figured if I was getting them off the internet, I might as well get them from a site I like, which is why I plan to go through JOP World.  If I buy these (read: when), I'll be sure to let you know how well they work.