The following dream is responsible for my only having had six hours of sleep last night. It was worth it. It’s marathon morning and we’re on the starting line. I wish Jonathan a good race and he heads up to the front while I hang back a few rows. For some reason, we’re running the [...]
Filed under: everyday life, humor, racing | 8 Comments »
Have you been frustrated by your inability to accurately predict how you’ll do in your next marathon? Or even know if you’ll finish the damn thing? Well, wonder no more! Now there’s The Performinator, the first online calculator that can answer that tough question: “Will I be like Happy Paula or Sad Paula next Sunday?” [...]
Filed under: humor, racing, resources | Tagged: performinator | 6 Comments »
I’ll say it again: cortisone is a fucking miracle drug. 48 hours after the shot into my tendon and the problem is all but gone. I did my penultimate marathon-y run on the track yesterday: 12 miles with 9 at a few heatbeats below marathon effort. My heart rate during the warmup miles was just [...]
Filed under: injury, recovery, training | 7 Comments »
Interesting week. Not quite the one I wanted. But I’m learning that I can’t control everything, and that can’t be a bad thing. First side tangent about control: I was reading a book about adventure travel (Robert Young Pelton’s Guide to the World’s Most Dangerous Places) recently. There’s a chapter on adventure racing and it’s [...]
Filed under: central park, injury, training | Tagged: nsaids | 8 Comments »
I used to suffer from chronic anxiety. This illness took many forms, the most pervasive of which was my compulsion to worry constantly, envisioning the worst possible outcome of any situation or endeavor. I would also brood, spending hours, days or weeks blowing up the smallest negative interaction into some sort of globally applicable proof [...]
Filed under: everyday life, physiology | Tagged: anxiety, depression | 16 Comments »
This week started out well but rapidly nosedived as a new injury emerged. On Tuesday, toward the end of a midlength run, the top of my left foot suddenly started hurting. A lot. With icing it seemed to get better overnight and I felt good enough to go do my tempo run at the track [...]
Filed under: central park, injury, racing, training | Tagged: ankle, foot, injury, tendon | 9 Comments »
I’ve got another 20 miler today. I’ve been listening to the same playlists for months, so it was time to build a new one. Since my run will start off easy for 5 miles and then work up to slightly below marathon effort for 15 (gulp), I wanted a mix that reflected that pattern. There’s [...]
Filed under: music, tracks | Tagged: mixes | 5 Comments »
Long before there were these strange things known as blogs, I would sometimes write up a little essay to commemorate something important that had happened in my life and send it to people who I knew would appreciate it. Coach Kevin is coming to terms with the imminent loss of his parents’ nine-year-old golden retriever. [...]
Filed under: everyday life | Tagged: death, loss, pets | 9 Comments »
The former incarnation of this blog, Runs Like a Girl, has been sitting around on Blogger for well over a year since I moved over here and underwent a name change. Since I’m getting sick of moderating comments submitted to a dead blog, I’ve pulled the plug on the old Girl. Just so you know.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Oh, you poor thing. I know why you’re so unhappy. I forced you to run 18 miles in a newish pair of Adidas Adizero Tempos, which, with their slightly too-narrow toebox, pinched your award-winning bunion. You were also probably working hard to compensate for the right leg’s compromised hamstring. Then I took you on a [...]
Filed under: injury, training | 4 Comments »
