Category Archives: Snow Run

July 21, 2010 · 7:00 am

Tuesday Run + Swim!

Yesterday I ran the 3.1 miles from work to Pentagon City.  It took 15 minutes for my Garmin to get a signal!  WTF!  Then after waiting all that time I realized that it was stupid to wait, since 90% of the time when I do this run, my Garmin thinks I’m zigzagging across downtown DC…  I think from now on I’ll give up if it takes more than 5 minutes, then just adjust on Garmin connect…  So what if my unit will underestimate my mileage?  It’s not like I’m not keeping track of it in other places, and I run the exact same route each time, so I know what the mileage is.

Then I got home, rinsed off, and went out to the pool.  My goal was to complete at least 1km this time, since last Tuesday I swam 900m.  Turns out I wasn’t tired at all, and swam a mile non-stop.  A freaking mile!  Non-stop!  Though it’s not that much for most swimmers, it’s more than what I swam in the last 3 years combined.  Yikes.  By the end, my arm was starting to get sore (out of shape much?).  So then I put on my zoomers, and did a couple of laps of dolphin kicks and butterfly.  That caused my calves to tighten, and I knew it was time to stop…

So I ended the day with a 5k and an 1800m swim (1.11 mile).  Not too shabby!

Last week, I wasn’t sore after my swim, but I have a feeling that I’ll be sore tomorrow.  My calves are hurting right now, and my shoulders are tight.

But the swim?  Totally worth it!  I feel super tired, but awesome.  I won’t have time to get any more swimming done this week, but next week, I’m hoping to fit it in at least twice.  Probably short swims since my parents are in town, but it’s better than nothing…

And I need to get back to biking soon…  Maybe I can bike to/from work on Monday?  I definitely need the cross training, and my poor bike has been neglected for almost a year now.

One question:  what do people have against flip turns?  There are many swimmers at my pool, some are not even bad swimmers, but I have yet to see someone else doing flip turns.  That’s my favorite part of the swim!  (And yes, having a 25 meter pool, I’m really careful not to push off too strong, so I don’t lose the swimming benefits — I’m not there to be fast, I’m there to get the most exercise.)  Back when I used to swim at the gym, it was the same thing, no one else would do flip turns.  Anyone knows why?

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Filed under Chicago Marathon Training, Snow Run, Swimming

February 16, 2010 · 10:54 am

So behind!

I’m SO behind on my runs…

A little over a week ago, on Saturday, was my last run.  I was supposed to go out there and run 8 miles.  I got the mileage covered, but I STILL have not gotten my endurance back, so had to take tons of walk breaks.  This weather and snow are really ruining my training.  If it wasn’t for all the snow, I’d be back in form by now.

Did I mention I was running during the snow?  I went out for a run with Karl, leaving from our place then catching the Mt Vernon trail in Crystal City.  It was snowing quite hard, but it wasn’t sticking, so the ground wasn’t slippery as it should be, but it also wasn’t as nice and peaceful as the last time I ran during a snow storm, when I could hear the shush-shush of my footsteps, and everything looked so white and pretty.  This?  Was just like running in the rain, wet and cold.  Not fun.

We got home right before the storm really picked up, and the snow started sticking.  That weekend, we got over two feet in the ground, and even went around town to eat (the restaurants nearby were open, yay!).

Worked got canceled for Monday.  We had plans on leaving for Seattle on Wednesday night, but another storm (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) was coming our way on Tuesday.  We quickly changed our flights to Tuesday morning, and headed over to the airport at 5am for our trip.  (Work was later canceled for the rest of the week, only reopening on Friday.)

I had good intentions, really.  I packed both cold and warm running clothes in my suitcase.  I brought my running shoes and my five fingers.  I had my Garmin and its charger.

But although Seattle wasn’t nearly as cold as DC (it was anywhere from the 40’s to 50’s — while DC was in the 20’s), Seattle was raining.  EVERY SINGLE DAY.  It’s one thing to run in the rain during the summer.  But running in the rain on 40 degrees weather is asking to catch a cold (plus, it’s miserable…).

So I’m back in DC, with still no predictions of when I’m able to run again.  Because the trails?  Have not been plowed.  The sidewalks are even worse than the trails, as Arlington County did a great job of clearing the streets and throwing ALL the snow on the sidewalk, so we’re dealing with 4 to 5 feet of packed iced over dirty snow on sidewalks, forcing people to walk on the streets.

I’m a month away from the half marathon, and having difficulty of running 8 miles.  I’m screwed.

Onto brighter news, I met Karl’s family for the first time, and they seemed to like me.  On Thursday, he took me out to dinner at the Space Needle and surprised me with this:

(Ignore my old lady-like hands)

I’m engaged!!!

We’re planning for a November wedding in Rio de Janeiro.  We met in DC, got engaged in his home town, and will be getting married in my hometown.  Sounds perfect to me!

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Filed under Snow Run, Training, Wedding

February 5, 2010 · 9:10 pm

Told you!

Told you I went running on the snow!  This was taken afterward…

4 Comments

Filed under Mt. Vernon Trail Run, Snow Run, Training

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February 4, 2010 · 2:51 pm

Snow Run Take 2?

It looks like my long run will not happen this Saturday.  Because tomorrow?  We’re meant to get hit with snow.  A lot of snow.  And it’s supposed to keep on coming until 10pm on Saturday, anywhere from 18 to 24 inches, which means that as much as I liked running on the snow, the run will not happen…

But, as luck will have it, the snow is meant to start at 10am.  And, of course, in my office it’s all “business as usual”  They say if it starts snowing, we can just go home.

For those of you who live in a place where snow is common, this might seem reasonable.  But DC?  We usually get hit with snow once or twice a season, usually no more than 3 inches.  The roads don’t start getting plowed until after the snow stops.  So traveling becomes impossible.

DC is also the sort of place where if it rains, heck, if it sprinkles, traffic comes to a standstill.  I wish I was exaggerating.  I never seen people reacting like this to water.  So you can imagine how people react when it’s frozen water.

Commuting home will be near impossible.  I don’t live far, but my bus only runs during rush hour, and here as soon as the snow gets bad enough public transportation stops running.  Even the metro, which is not all underground, shuts down.

If my job doesn’t change its mind by tomorrow morning, I’m bringing only the essentials to the office, and packing my running gear, including gloves, ear warmers, maybe some sunglasses so having my eyes open doesn’t get so painful, and am running home.  It should be a 7 mile run taking the trails (I really have to look into better routes from my new place to work).  7 mile run?  Totally doable.  I was supposed to be running longer than that on Saturday anyway.

The weird thing?  As much as I bitch about having to be here when we KNOW a blizzard is coming, I’m also secretly looking forward to it.

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Filed under Run Commute, Snow Run

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