Archive for February 4th, 2008

Cutting yesterday’s run was a smart move, and for this, I’m relieved. Because you know, there’s a demon in the back of your mind screaming “LOSER!!” if you do less than you had planned.

But lets start with this morning’s adventure; visiting the University of Penn School of Medicine to give a couple vials of blood. I’m participating in a study for people with high HDL cholesterol (the good kind) that my Doc recommended me for. They’re also recording my DNA with that blood, so unfortunately, I can’t murder anyone anymore. What a downer.

Anyway, one good thing that came from the test (besides helping mankind, lol) was that I had to fast for 12 hours beforehand, which kept me from stuffing food in my mouth until bedtime, like I usually do. I’ve heard ad naseum that eating at night is bad and since I want to lose a few pounds for racing, here is my new proclamation, “No more eating after 10PM from here on in!” We’ll see how long I adhere to it.

After giving blood, I waited a few hours then got in my running gear, and hoped that any vestige of tired from yesterday was only a memory. And yay, it was. I did 7 with 4@tempo, keeping a good speed, the third mile at 7:39, with an average for the tempo portion @7:47.

Once again, I have to laugh at the term “comfortably hard”, since throughout my tempo runs I’m always repeating the mantra, “when will it end, when will it end, when will it end…?” until it ends. But then, I’m a whiner by nature.

That said, it’s interesting how Daniel’s gives slower times for tempo runs than McMillan. I use this to my advantage. When I have a shitty tempo run, I just say to myself I was using Daniel’s that day.

On a totally unrelated note, yesterday before the big game, Nick (my honey) spent the afternoon on a group bicycle ride. I have to say, for all my runningness, Nick has become as enmeshed in his bicycle, and I love hearing about his rides because he can zoom up hills faster than his youthful counterparts, which is delicious for old people like me to hear. This is a guy who had an angioplasty a little over a year ago, then lost weight and now easily completes 90 miles on a weekend.

So after his ride, he went out for 3 beers with his new bike buddies and came home so drunk, it was hilarious. At one point, in the middle of the Superbowl (what a game!), I realized he was still wearing his tight biking clothes, so I suggested he go change into softypants (our silly term for PJs).

He goes into the bedroom and doesn’t come out, so I go in a couple minutes later and he’s lying on the bed with softypants in hand, fast asleep. I turn on the light and he springs up, insists he doesn’t want to sleep and tells me for the 5th time who was on the ride with him and how nice they were. And for the 5th time I asked, “and those were normal-sized beers?” Apparently, the Belgians know how to fuck you up for cheap.

So that’s the story from our House D’Exercise. Time for a snack…I’m going to eat all the things I would have eaten between 10PM and bedtime.