Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Did measured speedwork for the first time in, like, ever, this morning. And it was So Much Fun. 1.5 mile tempo pace, half mile cool down. Was supposed to do three repeats, only did two repeats because I thought I didn’t have enough time (turned out I could have – oh well), but man was it fun to run faster than normal again.

Might even be able to beat 1/2 an hour on the 5k I’m doing next month if I keep that up. Not that 1/2 an hour is terribly fast on a 5k, but I don’t think I’ve done that yet, and it’d be nice to do.

The tempo trainer thingey I got last week is definitely helping me keep the turnover going. Turnover (how many time your feet hit the pavement) was steady (with the beeping) at both the fast and the recovery paces, which is as it should be. More proof that switching over to the evolution running stuff was a good thing. I’m sure I was quite the sight this morning, tempo trainer beeping in one hand, heart rate monitor held in the other (showing pace and distance). But still, it was so much fun running up and down the boardwalk area at the Waterfront doing the repeats. I wish I’d discovered this stuff sooner.

You can tell it’s almost the full moon – work is starting to get crazy again. Really crazy. Ick.

Sunday I managed to burn myself pretty well on the shoulders on my morning run. Got up too late (must’ve needed the sleep), so ran later than I’d have liked to, and the shoulders got nicely toasted while out and about. Doesn’t hurt, just looks pretty wicked red. Biked a tad, too. A lovely dinner of Indian food with L, then up chatting far too late.

A meeting of the cult co-op this evening. Very slow, not many folks showed up, which is typical of the summer months. There’s still a few members who do not like change, and they’ve been agitating against change. The latest tactic is to bad talk the building manager (whom they dislike, because she’s competent and doesn’t kowtow to them) behind her back once she’s left for the day. Charming. A shame we can’t record it, get the manager a nice suit for slander. Ah well.

As for now, it’s time to crash so that I can get up and do some speedwork in the morning. Not looking forward to it, but it should help. And it’ll be a welcome change from the normal slowish pace.

This morning’s run was great… for the first 4 miles. Had a nice breeze, heart rate was behaving itself, mostly shaded. Then I hit the Awakening, turned that corner and Death Awaited. Breeze was non-existent, shade was precarious at best, the heart rate shot up and forced walking breaks. Yuck. Needless to say the last three miles sucked gorilla butt.

But, I still got out and ran.

Been thinking a lot about dating lately, and I’m still of the opinion that, while I’ve gone on dates, I’m still not ready for anything yet. It’s like when I think about eating meat – I can visualize getting right up to the point of taking a bite, then I just freak out and can’t do it. Everything just keeps telling me I’m not ready yet, despite trying. I can still be witty and charming engaging and all that, but that essential spark is just not there for me.

Which is not necesarily a bad thing (though it is occasionally an annoying thing).

Took a quiet night tonight, not really spending any time online, played some on the DS (there were so many weeds all over my town in Animal Crossing it wasn’t even close to funny – that’s what I get for taking 2 months off from the game). Talked with K for the first time in a while, he’s doing well, which was good to hear. Nice and quiet, which was needed.

Tomorrow’s run should be interesting. It’s a short one (thankfully), but I received my tempo trainer finally today after being on backorder for two months now. So we’ll see how the pacing goes with picking up the feet to a set rythmn. Should be interesting.

I hate my digestive system. I suspect the spicy food from the other day has wreaked the havoc that is playing in there currently. Grrr. I want a do-over, with an iron digestive system the next time around, thanks. No lactose intolerance, no ickies when I eat (my favorite) spicy foods, just eat whatever I want and not get any sort of upset in the balance of the lower body. Is that so much to ask?

Did get some play in this evening, regardless. Must’ve been my 6 month mark, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Shan’t go into more detail than that, this time.

The usual 7 miler planned for tomorrow morning, so it’s off to bed here so I can run before it gets too beastly out there. As it is it’ll easily be 80, even at the early hour. Thankfully the cold front comes through Friday to kill this thing off.

On my morning run this morning I:

Stared at army boys running (the joys of living a block from a base);
Helped a woman who was massively lost get back on her way;
Stared at more army boys running;
Got really, really warm.

Was an okay run. Did feel a touch of the soreness from Sunday’s run, but not too bad. Also had fun staring down a squirrel as I was stretching. Was slow enough that he came down to check things out (not too close to me), but was cute, for a tree rat.

Had a couple friends who live here in the cult co-op over for martinis this evening. Needed to practice on boys who wouldn’t care that I had no clue how to make them. Now that I know how (the gin variety, at least), I’ll have to have some more folks over.

It’s summer in DC, it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s time to mosey.

That does not mean walking at my normal “get out of my way before I barrel you over like the speed bump that you are” pace, it means getting back to my southern roots and walking at a measured pace designed not to leave you drenched when you get to your destination.

And by heavens, it works.

I managed not to be soaked by the time I got to work this morning. Tomorrow may be another story as I have a run planned in the morning and that tends to make me a tad more prone to sweating on the walk. But at least for one day I was not a total victim of the weather. Thursday should be really fun, what with my normal 7 miler to do.

In wretched news, the YWCA, where I swim, is closing their pool as of the end of August. Evidently it’s too big a financial drain on them, so they’re dumping it. As a result, I will be dumping them. I’ve written to the manager (with a CC to the overall email addy) asking how to cancel the membership. Which means I now have to find a new gym. Grrr. I’ll miss the towel service, but what a pain in the ass. Looks like I may be moving to the (not so hot) gym around the corner after all.

Assassins was really well done. Small space, big voices (mostly – Lee Harvey Oswald was a little weak), and really, really well staged. The curtain, a flag, dropped and the assassins and other cast members were sitting in an exact duplicate of the seat set up that we were in. Great commentary on who was where and what not. From there, it went really well. Good music, good show. Won’t be playing much longer, but I recommend it if you can get to it.

Was good to see L again. He’s been up in Maine or otherwise busy for most of the summer. Had fun catching up.

Legs are surprisingly well this evening, post-run. Sucking down water like there’s no tomorrow, though, and the piss at the resturant was pretty darned dark (dehydration, anyone?), but should get back to balance this evening before bed.

Ran this morning. Two big lessons: 1. I need to be more consistent in my training; and 2. I need to run earlier in the morning.

‘Twas a trifle warm out there today. Because I was going for longer than my nice little Thursday morning 7 miler I decided to leave the District and head down the Mount Vernon Trail. Was quite nice, a good trail, well maintained and fairly busy. Only complaint I had was that they need more trees (for shade) but less vegetation (which blocked the nice breeze off the river). Otherwise it was a pretty good run. Did two hours, and out and back with a little side detour in East Potomac Park (found out where the driveway off Buckeye Drive goes now!).

Did a load of cold wash just now. Need to do more laundry, but no time. L is picking me up to go see Assassins at Signature Theater this evening, with an early dinner beforehand.

Put away the ‘toys’ from where they were, out in the open, to not quite so out-in-the-open. Sorted them by purpose (restraint, penetration, etc.) and put them away accordingly. Even managed to hang up a couple of pieces of art – no longer will I have to worry about smacking the Japanese prints I’m keeping for my parents as they are now hanging in the front hall. The mirror’s up near the front hall, my first cross-stich is up in the bathroom hallway, and there are still books all over the floor in front of the bookshelf. Bit by bit.

Work continues. Ran 7 miles this morning. Should be doing more, but that’s a good amount for a school day.

Happy hour with co-workers tonight, then back home for some grilled food with a couple I helped set up (rather, they knew each other and I pushed them together – forcefully). Was nice and quiet. Just got done checking LJ for the night, and the other journals I read. Chatting with a couple friends, then will get off to bed. If up early enough I’ll go for a ride. I have a practice tri, a sprint, coming up in a couple weeks and I’m very much not ready for it. Running, yes, but not the other two events. I mean, I’ll swim just fine, but after that, feh.

Life’s a mess, as always. The air thing seems to be fixed now, I’ve killed off the last head cold from that craptacular little adventure, and I’m running again.

I had a visitor over the weekend, a boy (in the BDSM sense) who is perhaps relocating to DC. Had a very fun time with him, despite the head cold. Played tourist, played period, though not as much as either of us would have liked (again, the head cold). Mildly disappointed at that, betrayed by my body. But a fun time with him, nonetheless.

Otherwise I’ve been feeling even more anti-social than my usual wont, killing off the shows on my TiVo, catching up on the DS games I’ve been neglecting, pulling down the books I’ve not yet read and starting in on some of them.