Thirteen Thursday Thoughts

1.)    I am hesitant to write in my blog lately, because that requires I VISIT my blog, and see the counter. Yeah, that one at the top of the page. That I put there. That I thought was funny. Avoidance is now my constant companion. I just keep thinking, “It’ll never be then.”  Right? (tick, tick....)
2.)    I also am reluctant to write about my training… because it is going well. I think. I don’t want to jinx anything by putting it down into words. When did I become so superstitious? That is NOT like Analysis Girl at all.
3.)    But because this blog is really all about me, and right now I am all about running, that kinda means that if I’m not willing to write about running… well, you see the pickle I am in.
4.)    I have been terribly consistent in my training. More so that for any other endeavor by far. I have only missed a handful of scheduled miles over the last 3 months. My training log, which I color green for days that I do the scheduled workout and red for a missed workout, is almost completely green. Wow. I didn’t know I could do that. I’ve been saying that a lot lately. I’ll work out the percentage of completed workouts when the race is a week away to boost my confidence.
5.)    I got interviewed as a newbie ultrarunner for the Albuquerque Journal Fit section. It’ll come out in August. I hope I don’t come across like an ass. The only thing I said that I am concerned about how it will come across was in response to the question, “what worries you most – or what aspect do you worry about the race?”  In reality, I think and mull over LOTS of things. I'm not a worry-wart, though. The only thing I worry about is, well, being paced. Yes, I worry about my pacers. I worry that we won’t get along. I worry that they won’t have fun. I worry that we won’t be able to communicate… mostly because I am terrible at it. So, that’s what I said, that I worry about my pacers, and how we’ll interact. I think she was shocked that I wasn’t worried about my stomach, the course, the time cutoffs. I guess I’m odd. And now I worry about what people will think about me worrying about my pacers. What a useless waste of energy.
6.)    I feel like I am getting slower. The facts don’t bear this out though. My speed work and tempo work show I am getting faster, a little. But I FEEL slower.
7.)    I’ve gone through several more shifts in perspective. First, now 30 mile runs followed by 10 to 20 mile runs the next day do not seem like a huge deal. THAT IS MORE MILEAGE THAN I USED TO PUT IN DURING AN ENTIRE WEEK. Ack, who does that? Oh, apparently I do. Huh.
8.)    Second, the ski hill doesn’t seem so bad. It’s kinda fun to go straight up. And then straight back down. And repeat.
9.)    Third, I have finally gotten more used to running in the heat. I ran in DC in 100 degrees and 9X% humidity, and it wasn’t that bad. I can’t believe I just wrote that.
10.)    Lastly, a 40 mile week was a welcome recovery week for me. Wow, what a load off! I barely ran at all. My legs got some bounce back, I slept well and tried not to overeat. However, in retrospect, 40 miles per week used to be a high mileage week. Sheesh.
11.)    My house is dirty and my garden has weeds. Big weeds. It wouldn’t bother me so much, but my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces are coming to stay for a couple of days next week. Guess I’ll be cleaning Sunday night when I get back from…
12.)    Leadville training trip #2. See, you maybe thought that last point wasn’t going to be running related. But it was. Friday: double cross that Hope Pass. Saturday: Twin lakes to Pipeline/Treeline during the day, then night run from near Fish Hatchery up over sugarloaf to the dam and back. Sunday, May Queen to the Tabor boat ramp and back. If this makes no sense to you, the take away message is that we’ll cover ~45 miles of the Leadville course. Woot!
13.)    One of my favorite parts about all of this running is the growing list of animals I have seen in the last few weeks: Marmot, black bear (twice, with growling huffing noises thrown in for fun), rattlesnakes, horny toads, porcupine, white tailed deer (one whole deer family – a doe, fawn and buck all together), Abert squirrels, burrowing owls, coyotes (lots), mule deer, garter snake, hummingbirds, and more.  :)  I love the trails.