Monday, February 2, 2009

From FUNK to FUNKY!

When this week started out I was sure it was going to be a bust. Everything was (and still is!) all white up here and the temps were still sub-20 degrees. There have been quite a few mailbox fatalities from the snowplow, although ours was lucky to succumb to minor injuries only. I am just getting tired of it. I love my winter sports, but I think I have had my fill of them. Everything is just black and white outside and I was just in such a funk over it because it seems that I am just doing the same thing and it’s just not fun any more.

Saturday would have been our annual snowshoe race. However, due to lack of snow in the past few years and lack of participation, last year’s race was the last. But, of course, you knew that once the race was cancelled we would have major snow – and the best snowshoeing conditions that the Finger Lakes National Forest has seen in a long time!! So I thought we should go for a snowshoe run on Saturday to commemorate our dearly-departed, but I was really excited when Joe suggested that we go to Binghamton for a 10K race.

So on Saturday we headed to Binghamton to run a road 10K race. The terrain & the distance were surely just my polar opposites, but the idea of doing something – anything – different right now sounded really sweet! So I got home from work on Friday night at midnight & went to bed around 1:30am, got up at 6am, downed 1 cup of coffee and some Ensure and hopped in the car. Now Joe assures me that I told him the race started at 9am; I know I never said that (it started @ 10am). So we arrived in Binghamton with time to waste. And what better way to waste time than to go and have breakfast with some good greasy diner food. So I powered-up on an egg, toast, apple juice, and hash browns with less than two hours to go before race time. Let me just say that running hard with this much food in your gut is a real challenge. My stomach rolled most of the race and I re-tasted the hash browns several times. And somehow I managed to run a 45:49! And I had a blast! We saw a bunch of our friends and got race info for some upcoming races in the area. Now it’s time to hone my speed a little more . . . I have my Clydesdale title to defend at the upcoming St. Patrick’s 4-Miler in March. And for any of you who can make it to the race on March 14, let me just say this is the most awesome race with the best spread of food and free beer. It’s another 4-thumbs up on the Chris & Joe Race Rating Scale!

And yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. Now I don’t follow football and I don’t really care who won the Super Bowl, but it’s a great excuse to eat a lot of food, drink beer, and not feel bad about it. So I ate a lot of chicken wings and some pizza, a couple of Moo Thunder stout ales, some taco chips, and ice cream. Oh, and some salad to balance in the healthy factor. But I made sure I had a long run in the morning, so I figured I was allowed some lenience in the food department.

So, from FUNK to FUNKY, here’s how the week panned out:

MONDAY 1/26: 5 miles. 14 degrees, sunny, no wind.

TUESDAY 1/27: 7.5 miles.

WEDNESDAY 1/28: 0 miles. Sleet storm and then more snow. So I was sequestered to the garage on my bike for a hard 35-minute session along with some weight-lifting and ab exercises.

THURSDAY 1/29: 5.5 miles. Joe and I started out xc skiing, but the crust over the snow from the sleet storm made skiing difficult (and painful as it sliced through the sides of our boots when the skis sunk under!), so we opted for a run.

FRIDAY 1/30: 0 miles. Sunny & 32 degrees out, but I just didn’t have the mental energy to run & I thought it might be good to rest my legs for a potential race-effort tomorrow. Biked hard for 35 minutes, weights, and ab exercises.

SATURDAY 1/31: 9 miles. 2-mile warm-up, 10K race, and then cool-down. COLD & WINDY!!!

SUNDAY 2/1: 17.5 miles. FLRC track meet at Cornell, so I ran from home to Cornell and then ran a relay with Joe (2 x 800 meters). I have no idea what my time was for my 800 meters, but I surprisingly felt good doing it.

TOTAL: 44.5 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now there sits a pile of race entries on the kitchen table waiting to be filled-out. How exciting! And today is the end of the Bull Run Run lottery, so I should know by tomorrow if I got in or not. The “Versus” channel has been turned-on for free for a month so I might actually get to watch Lance at the Tour of California. The big rugby tournaments are starting. So things are actually looking up!!!!!!!!! (If you don’t think about the pending snow storm that will hit TONIGHT!)

Until next week, stay safe and warm.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Chris,
    Just ran into your blog! Thanks for sharing your training and running adventures. Good luck with the lottery.
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete