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back in austin after a relatively painless day of travel...had some PF Chang for dinner :) and just chilling at the house...more on the rest of PGH later...

pittsburgh

yesterday was nice...did the 3-2-1 workout with 15 minutes warm up and cool down...i thought the workout was fun but tough...and would have been a bit easier had there been a spot that was totally flat for me to run...but i didn't want to be on the track so the road in Fox Chapel was where i went...after a nice warm up of 1.5 miles...it was a 3 minute 10k push with 3 recovery 2 minutes at 5k with 2 recovery 1 minute fast 1 recovery....repeat three times...nice...the middle repeat was on a flat section of the trillium trail park...totally pretty to run in the quiet of the trees and the trickle of the stream...i felt good after that run...iced the knees (no time for a full ice bath) then off to pittsburgh mills...

watched the nephews play in the really huge indoor play area...they had a blast...tons of people out returning christmas gifts...i thought it was fun that we were just there to play and not get involved in any of that consumption...

mom dad and i went to OCC for dinner...it was nice to have a bit of grown up time with my folks...as always dinner was excellent...i had seared scallops with fava beans, asparagus and rice pilaf...yummy...

my brother is off to the APA in maryland today to try and get himself a tenure track job...i am keeping my fingers crossed that he gets a great one...and we are off to the strip district to check out Penzey's, primanti brothers and the local flavors of down town...

Christmas in Pittsburgh

so it has been an eventful christmas morning with the nephews, brother, sister in law, mom and dad...there was lots of truck playing going on...i don't think that the boys could have too many trucks...they are totally in love with them...firetrucks, tractors, road rollers, excavators...all kinds...it is totally an innate thing that boys love trucks...my brother said he never taught them that trucks were cool...very interesting...

i got going long, an awesome new pair of running shorts and a certificate to title nine....i am excited to add to my collection of workout clothing as it seems i am spending more time in them than in my regular clothes these days and that is only going to increase from here...

a huge leg of lamb is in the oven (ugh) and my very small chicken is about to go in...rosemary potatoes are roasting and garlic is being chopped for some wilted spinach....i have been pigging out on greek yogurt and crab and shrimps and of course the occasional christmas cookie...mom made these new ones this year...almond with bits of almond and fine sugar and sprinkles...they are tasty but i can't give up my favorite thumb prints...

the only thing that is not perfect is that j is in texas and not here to give me hugs...i miss him...and i hope that he is having an amazing and much needed rest from all of the crazy work he has been doing...also hope he has broken into the box of cookies my mom sent along just for today...

merry merry christmas!

Recovery

so i am trying to figure out the psychological effects or affects (i never remember which to use) of a recovery week...okay let me restate that...there are psychological things that take place during a recovery week....i am trying to get my head around why...with my extensive psych study in college (psy 101) i am sure that i have none of the answers...

my body knows that it needs this recovery to heal all of the little bits of muscle that i have been building over the last weeks of high mileage...my mind is saying to my body you deserve a week of lower miles, a change of pace to get geared up for the final push...but then there is the self esteem and the mood and the eating habits and the mood and the sleep and did i mention the mood? yeah...so what is really happening...

the things that i am thinking are the miles are lower this week but my eating is the same...so then i am saying okay i should not be eating that cookie because i am only running 12 miles...but i want to eat the cookie so i do...then i feel bad...that makes me cranky...weird sleeping this week too...not sleeping through the night and wondering if that is because i am not exerting the same amount of energy that i was the week before...then i am tossing at 3am...it does not help that my (crack head??) neighbor and his girlfriend are fighting then (i don't think that the f-word could be used more frequently in a 10 minute span)...so i wake up still a bit tired and that makes me cranky...and then i am cranky all day :P

so i really have no idea if it just the slight cut in the miles that is making me feel whacked out or if i would be feeling this way this week even if i wasn't training for a marathon...so i know that i should just be enjoying my recovery and relaxing...so i'll shut up...and go run my measly 30 minutes...and love every second of it.

18!

wow, i ran 18 miles today. that is a crazy feeling. the ice bath felt good, really good, after todays run. my legs were feeling stiff (quads, abductors, knees) on the last mile or two but i felt good other than that.

thanks to Jeremiah for sticking with me till the end... i left Chuck Eric and John at the MacDo (i totally think John bought some McMuffins) early on (chuck did you say "go kick ass" or "don't run too fast"? both were fitting) and was glad to catch up with some other folks that i know.

i can proudly say that i did it and biked home to tell the tale. my feet are tired so no dance parties tonight but looking forward to a nice dinner out and some sleep in time on sunday. who knows maybe i will sleep past 7am...

sold!

IMAZ fall sold out on 12.10...finally...and i bought the rocket ship :) i get to pick it up from the shop today...too bad the weather stinks for being on the bike...

have a hilly (chilly and most likely wet) quality workout tonight at the marshes...the map makes it look like we are running switchbacks up the hills in the bouldin neighborhood...i am interested in knowing what we are teaching our bodies with this workout...

sunday was 16 miles of lots of hills...ladera norte anyone?...out team bake sale at the end made it all worth while...i was even able to justify a brownie after that run...pix to come soon...so everyone can drool over the cream cheese frosting...and the great amount of cash we made for donation to the Malawi Project

my quads were sore on my shake-out run yesterday...not sure if that was the hills from sunday or playing around on the bike...either way it still feels good...progress

Drew's Bike

i'm test riding Drew's bike for a few days to see how i like it...i think we look cute together...me and the little rocket ship...very different than my Trek 820 antelope from 1992...

Leaves

crossing the congress st bridge today on my bike gave me a great view of the water and the trees along the trail...the leaves are actually changing color...it looks beautiful...nothing like fall in the NE but still very pretty...the vibrant blue sky, a reddish cast to the leaves and the dark ripples on the water of ladybirdlake...i should take a picture

30K Thoughts

so i have been thinking about this darn 30k since crossing the finish line at the Decker race. it is the only race in the DC that i need to sign up for and i was all ready to do it on Monday. then came Ruth's e-mail basically saying if you run this you will get hurt. Since this was the first time i heard anything about _not_ running this race it made me think. the 30k is on the long run schedule (weeks 11-18), is part of the DC and on Tuesday we were given a discount for $5 off the race registration. If i had not received the e-mail on Monday i would not have thought twice about registering for the silly thing. so that is what finally helped me to make my decision to run, not race, not fast, but just run it...if i need to walk i will. hopefully j will make it to the finish of this one...i will need it i have a feeling it's going to be brutal.

December??!

yeah yikes...it really is December...we kicked the month off with a great weekend...j's holiday party was friday...casino night with fake money...i really am a terrible gambler which is why i never do it with real money especailly my own....but i did get to play some black jack with Desiree Ficker and her boyfriend who is also an amazing runner and currently in 1st place for the runtex DC

Saturday was gray and relaxing with an hour watching IMHI while doing chores around the house...as i said to my buddy Chuck...cry fold cry fold...nothing like IM and laundry...after a carb filled dinner of a giant baked potato it was off to the crepe trailer for our Christmas party...crazy games like dodge ball and stick the lifesavers to your face...it was early to bed

and early to rise for the Decker 20k...yeah that was a challenge...but running with Jeremiah and Vishall was a lot of fun...i was really able to clear my mind of thoughts of the run....those bad ones that creep in sometimes...like this is really hard...and how does one course have so many hills...but conversation kept me on the right track...yeah it was a tough race but i finished strong and was happy over all...nutrition worked well too...i had a gel at 4 and some clif blocks at 8...with a recovery drink after...i liked the carboom even better than the clif gel...it actually tasted like a banana...so that was nice...i think i need to get the luna blocks...the clif ones are just a little too big for me to chew while on the run...i did like them though...i could always cut them up and repackage them...that could work...

plans for the group brunch fell through but j took me out for Indian buffet...totally yum...exactly what i wanted after a hard morning running...and what could be better after a run than an afternoon cooking...made the focaccia (started it on Saturday)recipe from Baking with Julia ...i think it is the best medium intensity focaccia that i have made...i put fresh basil, tomato, Maine sea salt and olive oil on top...it was really good...nice light open crumb...and a chewy crust...the dough was a lot easier to work with than others i have made in the past...i will make it again for sure...then some stuffed cabbage rolls (with modifications of course) for dinner...yeah those were tasty...for some reason they reminded me of my grandmother even though i don't think she ever made them.