Days 25 and 26: Dec 22 and 23

Two days off in a row!

I really hope I don't fall of the wagon during the holidays.  I HAVE to run a long run tomorrow morning.

Day 24, Monday Dec 20

Daily Run Stats
5.95 miles
Location: Down Bus 35 and Water Street
~50 minutes
8:53 min/mi
Tune Highlights: Love Shack and Tiny Dancer

Running is Cartharsis. 
Running is Pushing---Pain---Pure---Primeval.
When I can no longer run (and I know that day WILL come), I will have to find some new way to exercise my outer and inner daemons*.

*Note the spelling is latinized for the Greek. This word in the Greek references both good and bad spiritual beings.

Getting Up to Date

So, the week after all my big work events shouldn't have been the week when I got behind on my posts, but lo' and behold.  I DIDN'T get behind on my workouts though.

Day 14, Friday Dec 10 - Off
Day 15, Saturday Dec 11 - 10.36 km at 5:46 min/km
Day 16, Sunday Dec 12 - 2.15 mi at 8:53 min/mi  LAME
Day 17, Monday Dec 13 - 5.01 mi at 8:33 min/mi
Day 18, Tuesday Dec 14 - 10.23 km at 5:56 min/km
Day 19, Wednesday Dec 15 - Weight-training and Cycling
Day 20, Thursday Dec 16 - Weight-training and Cycling
Day 21, Friday, Dec 17 - 6.94 mi at 9.02 min/mi
Day 22, Saturday Dec 18 - Off
Day 23, Sunday Dec 19 - 5.09 mi at 8.57 min/mi

Days 12 and 13: Off and On

So I hadn't planned on taking Day 12 off.  Emergency battery replacement needed for my car (great timing) and then an impromptu but wonderfully fun dinner with TAM/THC peeps.

Day 13 ON in Lamar
Daily Run Log
5.58 miles
48 minutes
Average Pace: 8.53 min per mile
Tunes: Cake...again

Getting FASTER...

Days 10 and 11

Day 10: Day OFF

Day 11
Daily Run Log
4.02 Miles
36:58
Average Pace: 9.08 min per mile
Tunes: Cake

Day 9: 7 Miler in the Cold

Daily Run Log
7.03 miles
Time 1:05:12
Average pace 9:16 min/mi
Cinema to Water Street and Back
Cold Wind from the North, Mid-50s
8:40-9:45am
Tunes: Indie Soup Runner "Runner's Rant Mix 2008" Podcast

So, no, the mid-50s isn't really "cold" per say.  But, compared to the 78 degree sweat-fest I ran yesterday, today was a bit chillier.  I realized at my 3.5 mile halfway point that I would be running the last half of my route INTO the 15 mph north wind.  Luckily, I did enjoy full sun for the majority of the run.  On the second leg of my run, an older woman passed me headed in the other direction.  First thought--FANTASTICALLY toned quads!  As a 26 year old that HAS never and WILL never have fantastically toned quads, I made the rather convenient connection: trying to chip away at the jiggle gifted to me by my genetic code is like running into a 15 mph north wind--a whole lotta work for very little and very painful progress.

Day 8: New PR!

Daily Run Log
4.02 miles
~36 minutes
Average pace: 9.08 min per mile
Ipod PR: fastest mile with my Nike +
76 degrees in Lamar
10:02-10:39am

Epiph(run)y of the Day 
On Theatre: I refuse to harbor, for one moment, grand illusions of "making it big" or even "making it."  As I was running today, it occured to me that community theatre is one of the last venues to truly express art in its purest form.  By "pure" I mean that amateur actors contribute 3 months of character development, line memorization, and 4 day-a-week rehearsals---without a dime in return.  I truly can't think of any other artist--performance or visual-- that produces their art for art's sake only.  Wow.  Most people have trouble finding contentment with their lot in life.  Today, I found myself overjoyed. 

Day 7: Off Day

Upper Body Weight-Training
20 minute Cycling Sprint

Day 6: 10K Toughie

Daily Run Log
10.02 kilometers (6.22 miles)
58 minutes and some change
Location: Lamar and Goose Island State Park
70 degrees
Plugged into music shuffle


Already in the first kilometer of my run, my quads were ON FIRE!  I'm glad it was such a beautiful day, but for some reason, this run was one of those toughies from the very beginning. You know it's going to be a rough run, when half way through, you begin contemplating your funeral--who would be there--who would bother to cry.  Good thing I had Journey there at the end to bring me home.

Day 5: Unplugged in Lamar

Daily Running Log

39 minutes
~3.9 miles
Location Change to Lamar, Big Tree and Beyond
3:42pm-4:21pm
68ish degrees

Well, having a wonderful boss helps out when you sleep late and can't squeeze your morning run in before work.  Hence the afternoon run.  I left work early and decided to try out a new route.  The Lamar/Goose Island area is beautiful, and today the water was particularly sparkly.  It was absolutely wonderful NOT to huff vehicle exhaust along my route---this is unfortunately unavoidable while running on the sidewalks through Rockport.  The only potential problems with running the new route: I was completely unfamiliar with the area, I didn't have my IPOD gps, and I was on a time crunch.  Since I underestimated the distance back to my car, I ended up running 10 minutes over my initial goal.  Luckily, I made it back in plenty of time for my work meeting.  Oh, and though the pictures don't reflect it, I was pretty disturbed by the high number of roosting vultures/buzzards at one of the intersections.  I counted around 10!  So, while the wildlife is prolific, the deadlife is apparently, equally prevalent.  Quite the Hitchcock-ian experience.

Not "Big Tree" but mushroomingly beautiful.