112 - tuesday

I sat down with my marathon training plan, and made some honest admissions:

1. because grad school and work took up so much of my time this summer, I am way behind on training for a full 26.2 in october.
2. I hurt my left leg in seattle.  badly.  I injured the soft tissue in my ankle and strained my gastroc and soleus muscles.  because I've been trying to train for a full fall marathon in fits of LRs followed by weeks with no training, I haven't given my injury the proper time, stretching, massage, and general tlc that it very much needs to heal.  
3. like many new marathoners, I went through a bit of a motivation slump after my race.  it's been hard to get out of this rut but I am trying. 

I walked away from seattle high on the adrenaline from my big accomplishment.  I couldn't wait to get out and do it all over again.  I started thinking about the boston and nyc marathons.  I registered for newport in october.  when this slump hit, I didn't want to admit it, and I wasn't sure what to do about it.  so, WWHD?

hal higdon is a running icon.  he's been training runners, from the most timid novices to elites preparing for the olympic trials, for decades.  I sat down with my higdon 26.2 training plan.  then I looked at the 13.1 plan at the same skill level.

all these things considered, here are my proposed solutions to my running issues:

1. I will run the newport half marathon on october 17 instead of the full. 
2. this will give me time to heal my injuries.  for example, if I were on the 26.2 plan, this weekend's LR would be 18 miles.  on the 13.1 plan? a cool 5k.  which is convenient, because I'm going on vacation next week and there just so happens to be a sunday morning charity 5k one town away.  a week on the beach means I can cross-train with swims and since it's vacation, I have all the time in the world to stretch, and knead, and ice, and rest.  it's like a hollywood rehab trip (for my bum leg)!
3. smaller distance goals are much easier to self-motivate towards.  because I'm still very fit from training for seattle, I can focus my energy on the quality of my runs (improving speed and technique) rather than on, well, finishing without wanting to die (you want me to run howmanymiles?! *hits snooze button, rolls over*).  there's also plenty of room built into this plan for weight- and cross-training.  shaking things up will help keep me focused and motivated.  

goal: PR.  I ran newport last october in 2:06.  I ran providence in may in 2:08 (though I didn't race it as hard as I would have were it not part of my larger seattle training plan).  my goal for newport this october is 1:50.  secretly, it's more ambitious than that, but I'd like to start someplace reasonable.  let's go!

111 - monday

now that t is home and the numbers don't much matter, sporadic posts seem to have become the norm.  then again, I'm on vacation.  anything goes.

about midday today it was starting to get awfully sticky and hot in my house, so I headed down to the risd beach at tillinghast farm in barrington.  it's a small, private beach open to brown and risd faculty, staff, and students only.  to get there you have to trek across a meadow and a marsh, but once you arrive you are rewarded with strong breezes, a mostly empty stretch of beach, and views of mount hope bay in bristol and narragansett bay beyond.  the water is kind of murky here, but the beach is lovely.  it's a perfect little spot to unwind and catch some sun.

walking through the marsh to the beach

109 - saturday

I am in love with August and all the summer bounty it has to offer.  brought these beautiful heirloom tomatoes home from this morning's farmer's market.

the green one was mighty ripe and so I sliced it up on the spot, topping each slice with a dollop of my mom's famous pesto.  mmm.

107 - thursday

I went to IKEA today, to buy a few things and finally (2 months later!) get our apartment furnished and finished.

fact: IKEA alone is no fun.  it involves varsity multiple-cart-steering maneuvers.

it involves carrying very heavy boxes (marked "team lift") to my second-floor apartment, alone.  then, putting together the contents of said boxes, while sweating like a man because it's 97 degrees and a bazillion-percent humidity outside.  but IKEA alone also has it's perks:

bragging rights to having put this beauty together all by myself.  I don't know why the picture is weird and grainy.  but I'm immensely pleased with the result!

105 - tuesday + 106 - wednesday

what does the collective joy of four grad students finally done with their summer research practicum look like?

wednesday night update: we are really done.  final report submitted.  onto a month-long vacation! that's what's up.

happiness is...

...my wonderful boyfriend, safely home from his deployment!  welcome back, I love you!

104 - monday

to distract myself from the facts that

1. t is landing in the united states (home! USA!!!!!) sometime VERY soon, and
2. my practicum research team is presenting tomorrow morning (aka, VERY soon) and we still have a scary ton of work left to do,

I bought these. from here. 

and I'm not calling this what it is and that's the end of it.  om nom nom.  

103 - sunday

this morning, I went for a run on the blackstone river bikeway.

the path is absolutely stunning - it winds in and out of the woods, through three towns, and is flanked on both sides by the blackstone river and its estuaries.

I am already dreaming of leaf-peeper runs on crisp fall mornings.  ahh.

102 - saturday

tonight was beachfest, my family's annual reunion.  I hadn't planned on attending because of all the research work I have to do before tuesday.  I spent four hours holed up in the library this afternoon with my team.  eventually we decided that being inside on such a perfect day was a violation of our souls and that, since we weren't getting anywhere productive, we should break for the day.  

I'm glad we did.  I made it down to the beach in time for a preemptive celebration of my grandfather's 80th birthday (technically, it's in november, but we celebrated now because everyone was together).  nearly 75 of my relatives were in attendance.  quality time with my family (who have been grossly neglected since I sold my soul to grad school) was a wonderful way to spend saturday night.  

my grandparents and their five kids. my mama is furthest to the right!

papa and me