Terrible Tuesday...

As evident in my previous post, today was not a good day.

I am unhappy with my current job responsibilities. I do not like managing people, particularly "difficult" employees. The one bright spot of the day was a training on mental health issues that I am conducting for Department staff every week this month. I really enjoyed being the "expert" and teaching people something new. I've considered off and on looking into being an adjunct professor somewhere, but I really don't want to do that while working full-time...maybe sometime in the future when I have that part-time private practice. I definitely don't want to pursue full-time academia either...tenure-track professorship is just too stressful and focused on research productivity.

I had been planning on going to the gym or taking advantage of this cooler weather and going for a run on the trail, but I realized that I haven't taken a day off since last Monday. So, no working out today, despite the pressure I feel to focus on losing weight. Instead, K and I are going to the grocery store. I'm going to try to incorporate more of my pre-K diet and see if that makes any difference with my weight. More salads, more sushi, more fruit, more lower calorie meals. K is going to have to fend for himself more in terms of preparing his dinner, but he's being supportive.

On a positive note, I'm looking forward to having good friends in town from Dallas for ACL this weekend. There's something about being with people who have known you for years that is comforting.

And, I could use some comfort right now.

Are you kidding me?!?!?

Someone at work just asked me if I am pregnant.

Um, no.

I'm going to go cry now.

17...

That's how many pairs of running shorts I have, 10 of them are the same style (Hind PE short) in different colors.

1...that's how many pairs of running shorts I have that fit right now.

How depressing.

ACL schedule...

K and I planned our schedule for ACL tonight. There was some compromise involved, but I think we're both satisfied with what we came up with:

Friday:
(We'll miss Peter Bjorn and John, unfortunately, because I'm not taking off work early).
Spoon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers

Saturday:
Blue October, Muse, Indigo Girls, Arcade Fire

Sunday:
Robert Earl Keen, Bloc Party, Wilco, Ghostland Observatory, Bob Dylan

I truly hope it's cooler than it has been in past years. Otherwise, I'll be a grumpy, grumpy girl in the heat.

Now I remember...

Oh yeah. Now I remember part of the reason why I stopped running earlier this summer...it was hurting. Just like tonight.

We live in Travis Heights. Heights = Hills. I have been searching for a non-hilly route from the house ever since we moved in. No such luck. Tonight I decided to run my new 4-mile route in reverse since I have a really difficult time coming back up our street at the end of a run. So, it was downhill then flat for the first couple of miles. I stopped at the intersection of Riverside and Congress to stretch because my left leg was already hurting. K came running by shortly after me while I was doing foot circles. He continued on, and I followed behind a couple of minutes later. UP Congress. If my leg hadn't been hurting, I think I would have managed the uphill better. I cut the run short and only ran 3.5. A very frustrating 3.5. With time and consistency, it's gotta get easier, right?

I went to the gym last night, primarily to do weights. I ended up doing 45 minutes of weights, 30 minutes of Stairmaster, and 20 minutes swim. Good workout.

I can't wait to say "Good run."

Ouch!

Austin runners, have you seen this???

Registration prices:

• Marathon: $100 until December 1, 2007; $110 until February 10, 2008; $125 at the Oroweat Health & Fitness Expo on race weekend
• Half Marathon: $65 until December 1, 2007; $75 until February 10, 2008; $90 at the Oroweat Health & Fitness Expo on race weekend
• Please note: the marathon will be capped at 6,000 and the half marathon will be capped at 7,500, so register early! If both events fill up, we will not have race weekend registration.

P*Dipp and Rogue love...

We had a very lovely night yesterday with my running family, the P*Dipps. The P*Dipps are the Rogue marathon group that I trained with for my 1st marathon 2 years ago. We have a very special bond and continue to run together and, more importantly, continue to support each other. They really are like my Austin family. Phillip organized a great dinner at his place to "celebrate" the beginning of marathon season. It was also good to pull together for a friend going through a difficult time right now.
I managed to get up early and run this morning before it got too hot. I ran the Dam Loop up to S. First, so about 6 miles. It wasn't a great run, but I didn't quit. I've had some pain in my lower left leg during my runs this week and it continued to bother me. I was looking forward to a short swim right after my run, but was frustrated to find that Big Stacy wasn't open at 8am! It is during the week, so I surely expected it to be open on the weekends. No such luck. So, I came back home and tried again shortly after 9. STILL not open. K got up then and we went up to the Annex for the Rogue sale. We got some great deals on shirts and shorts. We also saw some of the P*Dipps there and had the chance to talk to Ruth. It reminded me of why I love Rogue.

I tried once more to go swim when we got back. Still nothing. Apparently, the pool doesn't open until NOON on weekends now. I should have just gone to swim at the gym.

K is watching football now. He's yelling at the television. Time for me to go do something away from here.

It's official...

"Melissa Long, you are now registered for the RunTex Distance Challenge. See you at the races."

Casual Friday...

Not only do I look forward to Fridays because it is the end of the work week and things are generally calmer on Fridays, but also because it is "casual Friday" and I can wear jeans to work. When I was in private practice, I wore jeans every day, so it was an unwelcome transition for me to go back to "professional dress" when I came here. I cherished Fridays here...until my jeans stopped fitting. Ugh. I tried 2 pairs on this morning with the same result while K watched my dismay. Again, ugh.

I went to the gym last night - 45 minutes weights, 40 minutes Stairmaster, 15 minutes swim. I love finishing a workout with a short swim...it truly feels like a massage. We have dinner plans with the P*Dipps tonight at 7:30, so I think I am going to get in another short swim at Big Stacy after work and K suggested doing a run either before or afterwards. He must have me confused with a triathlete. :)

Still a runner...

I knew I should have posted last night after I got back from my run and was feeling good! I definitely had that elusive runner's high and should have tried to capture it on the blog so that I could revisit it when things weren't going so well...like tonight.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what to do next - to run or not to run. And, if the answer is to run - why? what for? K and I talked about our running "interests" last night...I specifically used the term interests rather than goals. Mine? I would like to run the Silicon Labs Marathon Relay. Why? Because it's a fun event to do with my friends. I would like to do the Distance Challenge again. Why? Because it's exciting and challenging. It IS the epitome of fall running in Austin.

But, something has to change. I have not been successful fully committing to marathon training this year for a variety of reasons. I was the most successful with my running when I was first starting out, didn't really know enough to have significant performance expectations, and ran for enjoyment with my friends. I think that's what I need to get back to right now.

I am not in BQ shape for Austin right now. I accept that. I know that I can (and will) get back to that though. And, I think that this is the way that I need to do that. The only way that I can see myself being successful with the marathon right now is to completely let go of a time goal (well, maybe not completely, but definitely not an aggressive goal) so that I don't beat myself up to have a perfect run every time I walk out the door.

I also need to run less mileage per week. I did just fine in the "beginner" program running 4-5 days a week and cross-training 1-3 days. I do not want to be running 10-12 miles several times a week for my "easy" weekday runs. It's just too much for me, mentally and physically. When I talked with Ruth about my running goals at the beginning of the summer, she even told me that I am a new enough runner that I probably don't need the very high mileage...she said that is generally a "last resort" for those runners who are trying to get faster and haven't made the gains with other strategies such as strength training and speedwork.

So, here it is. I am officially a runner again. A runner in training at that. Now, what that "training" looks like has yet to be determined. But, it started with a couple of easy 4 mile runs this week. After all, you have to start again somewhere...

Corpus Christi, The Conclusion...

Well, still no sun in Corpus today so we continued our tour of the tourist attractions in the city. We went to the U.S.S. Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier. Once again, K didn't have time to see everything he wanted to see, but he enjoyed going in the flight simulator and we both enjoyed the movie about fighter pilots at Red Flag, which is the international training exercise for air forces of allied countries held in Nevada.Before heading out, we had lunch at the "Whataburger by the Bay," a 2-story Whataburger near our hotel that K was fascinated with.

Pictures from our trip are here.

Corpus Christi, Plan B...

Well, we came down to Corpus for one last chance at the beach. But, Day 2 is winding down and we haven't made it to the beach yet. We had planned to spend the day at the beach today, but the weather hasn't been on our side. It's been cloudy with drizzling rain all day. So, onto Plan B. We spent the afternoon at the Texas Science and History Museum. K didn't have enough time to get through it all, but the highlight of the visit was clearly seeing Columbus' ships. They had replicas of the Santa Maria and the Pinta which were made in Spain in the 1980's to commemorate the 500-year anniversary of his voyage. After the trip to the museum, we walked along the Marina to go see the Nina which is docked there. Here's a picture of us in front of the Santa Maria:

Corpus Christi...

We're taking advantage of the holiday weekend and spending it in Corpus Christi. We were here for the 1st time together last May for the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay with Gabby. It was our first trip away together, and we had a great time. Good memories...maybe that's why I was so eager to come this weekend. K had a rough day at work yesterday, so he was eager for the time away too. He said he is going to wrap himself up in pima cotton all weekend.

We drove down yesterday immediately after work. We made really good time, despite intermittent rain and traffic getting out of Austin. It really is a pretty easy drive, and I told K that we should do this more often. But, as he said, we've been kind of busy this summer.

K got a good deal on the hotel. We're staying by the marina on the Bay. We explored the downtown scene a little bit last night since it is only a block or so from the hotel. Not much of interest, unfortunately.

We went to the Texas State Aquarium this morning, and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. In some ways, I actually liked it better than the Georgia Aquarium when we went in Atlanta in July. By comparison, the one here doesn't have nearly the same amount of fish, but it was more interactive as we went to several different interesting presentations. Some of the highlights: seeing animals from the Amazon; watching a scuba diver feed the fish from a coral reef; a hawk going AWOL during a presentation; seeing river otters because they remind me of K; learning that otters and alligators are faster than K; touching a Ray and a shark; watching the dolphin show; and watching a bird smash his prey (a plastic alligator) against a rock.

After the Aquarium, we had lunch at a restaurant nearby. We ate outside and had a great view of the U.S.S. Lexington. Then, we stopped at a few of the souvenir shops so that K could get a swimsuit (Who goes to the beach and doesn't bring a swimsuit? K!). We also picked up an accessory for Halloween...Meet K, the pimp.

The sun came out and really warmed things up at that point. Hopefully that holds for tomorrow when we go to the beach. But, for now, we're back in the hotel. K is watching college football. He's quite happy that Michigan lost to a Division I-AA school (and of course that Ohio State won).

Thank goodness for free wireless internet in hotel rooms to give me something to do.

Desiree on cover of RW....

Austin's very own Desiree Ficker is on the October cover of Runner's World. She's amazing. I love watching her race (even if she does beat K) and seeing her run on TLT. She does a lot of progressive pace runs and will be running pretty high mileage (90 mile weeks) as she trains for the Olympic Marathon trials.