I've been on the road since May 20. May 19th if you count my little evening out in Portland with Dan. Here are some impressions:
-- Montana is surprisingly beautiful! Who'd have thunk? It has these great mountains surrounding wide, open farmlands. The sky really *is* big in Montana. I'd never want to live here. But I imagine I can probably spend a week hiking the mountains. Hardly any cars were on the road, particularly toward the end of the day. It's really odd to be the only one along a highway.
-- Even western North Dakota is beautiful, too! I'd always thought all these non-coastal states are boring. But it has really interesting landscape, with canyons and rocks of different colors. Although, I did have to drive through the most awesome but terrifying rain storm. I was still driving at around 11pm, and I was very close to my nightstop in Bismarck, ND. The sky was very cloudy. I could see lightening from 10 miles away as I approach Bismarck. As I got closer, lightening reflected off of the clouds were literally lighting up the entire space. It was mostly pitch black, interjected with flashes of lightening that made the place look like daylight. Then the rain came down *hard*. So hard that I couldn't even see out of my windshield. I had to carefully pull over because I was afraid I might drive off of the road! I sat in my car for probably less than 2 minutes, thinking to myself whether it's better to sit there in the dark, or brave the rain and get the hell out of there. I decided to get going, since sitting in the pitch black night by myself on the side of the road in the middle of *nowhere* seemed like an even more horrible option. I started the car. That's when I realized that I was actually shaking. I've driven many many miles back and forth across the U.S. This is the first time I actually felt myself shaking from bad weather. And I'm not the kind to get scared easily.
-- Eastern North Dakota sucks. I drove through more rain, and really strong wind.
-- Minneapolis is surprisingly impressive! It is actually a sizeable city! I really thought all the midwestern cities, with the exception of Chicago, are just pretend-cities. But this place actually has a pretty nice downtown, with lots of tall buildings! There's an incredible system of "skywalks" connecting buildings downtown. It is all on the second level above the street, so you can walk around the downtown area for *SEVEN* miles without ever having to step outside! This is all built because of the horrendous winters they have here. But the skywalk system is a total maze. I tried to go back to the hotel during lunch break to fetch my laptop, and I got so lost that what should have taken less than 10 minutes took me 20. The only way I actually found my way back to my hotel was because a nice man asked me if I needed help, while I was standing in front of a skywalk system map, probably looking totally exasperated. I told him I was looking for the Best Western Normandy, and he said, "Oh, follow me. I work there."
-- Minneapolis has 22 lakes *in* the city!!! I knew Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. But I didn't know they meant it literally! Good God! I'm going for a run tomorrow along the Mississippi. Should be interesting.
-- Minneapolis has a bar/restaurant called "An Irish Pub". No joke. It's the most descriptive restaurant name I've seen since "#1 Chinese Buffet". But in addition to good Waldorf salad and Guinness on tap, it has a "Kissing Room". It is literally a room with swinging doors, "Kissing Room" written above the doors, a couch inside, red walls, and dim lights. I really think it is meant to be exactly what the name suggests. Is this an Irish tradition?!?
-- My German is rapidly improving. I know how to count to 10 now. I must be a language genius or something.
-- ICSE... My impressions of ICSE is available for payed subscribers only. But I will say that I am looking forward to the outing tomorrow evening on Nicollett Island! I can't wait to hop across the world's smallest suspension bridge, throw some tomahawks, ride a segway, catch some trout, watch an Native American dance, and dance with an Native American.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Operation Diet Coke
Background:
- Yannis just received tenure from University of Oregon.
- Yannis likes Diet Coke and uses it as the sole source of caffeine.
- Yannis has a sign on his door. On one side, it says "I'M IN", on the other side, it says "I'M OUT". He flips it over everyday to indicate his location, until more sophisticated GPS-tracking technology becomes more accessible.
The Idea Man: Christoph Csallner. Born and educated in Germany, Mr. Csallner has been working for years in the prank-making industry, trying to be the first German to break into the Billboard Top 100 of pranks. Despite of heroic efforts, Mr. Csallner has largely been unrecognized by both the critics and the public. Mr. Csallner is looking for Operation Diet Coke to be his break-out hit.
The Idea:
- Replace the sign on Yannis' door with one almost identical. It says "I'M IN" on one side, "I'M TENURED" on the other. *
- Stack up cases of Diet Coke against Yannis' door.
*Idea #1 comes from Michal Young, underground prankster cult favorite, now retired from the scene.
The Financiers: Christoph Csallner, Me, Tony Kay, Reimer Behrends. The first three are Yannis' graduate students. Reimer is a post-doc. The only actual Doctor among us. As it turns out, Reimer later proved to us that there really is a difference between having a Ph.D and not having a Ph.D.
The Logistics Woman: Me. I'm good at crunching numbers for the amount of fund, sending out emails soliciting fund and labor contributions.
Operation Diet Coke was officially kicked off last Friday, when we learnt that Yannis received tenure. The first step was making a replacement sign for Yannis' door. As it turns out, Yannis' sign was made with cut-out stick-on letters, stuck onto a piece of construction paper. We found an appropriate font in MS Office that looked close enough. A manila folder was used to glue print-outs onto either side, to make it feel more like it's made on construction paper.
Sunday night, we made the purchase of 24 cases of Diet Coke, 3 cases of Diet Coke Plus, and 1 case of Diet Pepsi. This was not easy. We had to ask a Safeway employee to go into the storage room to fetch us more Diet Coke. And we had to endure very strange looks from the cashier.
The actual stacking of the Diet Coke cases took three tries.
Version 1.0: stacked them straight up. Completely unstable.
Version 2.0: This is where Reimer showed us what a Ph.D. can really do. Reimer came up with a zig-zagged configuration that looked much more stable.
We tried that. But as we were almost done, the whole thing started swaying. Not good.
Version 3.0: A slight tweak of Version 2.0. We kept the spirit of Version 2.0's zig-zagged design. But rotated the formation such that the stack leans against the door for support. Much, much better. It might even stay long enough for Yannis to see it.
The Result: Yannis showed up around noon, on schedule. He was happily surprised. The pranksters are happy.
- Yannis just received tenure from University of Oregon.
- Yannis likes Diet Coke and uses it as the sole source of caffeine.
- Yannis has a sign on his door. On one side, it says "I'M IN", on the other side, it says "I'M OUT". He flips it over everyday to indicate his location, until more sophisticated GPS-tracking technology becomes more accessible.
The Idea Man: Christoph Csallner. Born and educated in Germany, Mr. Csallner has been working for years in the prank-making industry, trying to be the first German to break into the Billboard Top 100 of pranks. Despite of heroic efforts, Mr. Csallner has largely been unrecognized by both the critics and the public. Mr. Csallner is looking for Operation Diet Coke to be his break-out hit.
The Idea:
- Replace the sign on Yannis' door with one almost identical. It says "I'M IN" on one side, "I'M TENURED" on the other. *
- Stack up cases of Diet Coke against Yannis' door.
*Idea #1 comes from Michal Young, underground prankster cult favorite, now retired from the scene.
The Financiers: Christoph Csallner, Me, Tony Kay, Reimer Behrends. The first three are Yannis' graduate students. Reimer is a post-doc. The only actual Doctor among us. As it turns out, Reimer later proved to us that there really is a difference between having a Ph.D and not having a Ph.D.The Logistics Woman: Me. I'm good at crunching numbers for the amount of fund, sending out emails soliciting fund and labor contributions.
Operation Diet Coke was officially kicked off last Friday, when we learnt that Yannis received tenure. The first step was making a replacement sign for Yannis' door. As it turns out, Yannis' sign was made with cut-out stick-on letters, stuck onto a piece of construction paper. We found an appropriate font in MS Office that looked close enough. A manila folder was used to glue print-outs onto either side, to make it feel more like it's made on construction paper.
Sunday night, we made the purchase of 24 cases of Diet Coke, 3 cases of Diet Coke Plus, and 1 case of Diet Pepsi. This was not easy. We had to ask a Safeway employee to go into the storage room to fetch us more Diet Coke. And we had to endure very strange looks from the cashier.
The actual stacking of the Diet Coke cases took three tries.
Version 1.0: stacked them straight up. Completely unstable.
Version 2.0: This is where Reimer showed us what a Ph.D. can really do. Reimer came up with a zig-zagged configuration that looked much more stable.
We tried that. But as we were almost done, the whole thing started swaying. Not good.Version 3.0: A slight tweak of Version 2.0. We kept the spirit of Version 2.0's zig-zagged design. But rotated the formation such that the stack leans against the door for support. Much, much better. It might even stay long enough for Yannis to see it.
The Result: Yannis showed up around noon, on schedule. He was happily surprised. The pranksters are happy.
Monday, April 30, 2007
T +1day
I actually don't feel as bad as I thought I would. I am clearly sore, but I don't know if I'm any more sore than I was yesterday. I was warned that I might not be able to get up from the toilet. But I can, with a little pulling and pushing of the sink counter and towel bar. I managed to walk to school to keep my legs loose. Stepping down anything, even the curb, is rather excruciating. And I scheduled a 90-minute massage for tomorrow. I think that one's going to hurt...
The Georgia Department of Revenue's way of customer service is by attrition. I noticed that the check I mailed them for my 2006 tax payment still has not been cashed. So I decided to call this morning and ask what is going on. Not that I'm eager to have them take my money, but I don't want to get fined, either. I was on hold for 57 minutes until I talked to a person. She promptly told me that she doesn't see anything posted, and transfered me to "accounting", where I was on hold for another 55 minutes, until my phone ran out of juice. I mean, if you have to have your customers hold for that long, isn't that a sure sign that you need to hire more people????????? I called the Federal IRS, this morning, too (though by accident). And I was only waiting for less than 2 minutes before speaking to a real person! I'd imagine there are more people calling the Federal IRS than there are people calling Georgia!
The Georgia Department of Revenue's way of customer service is by attrition. I noticed that the check I mailed them for my 2006 tax payment still has not been cashed. So I decided to call this morning and ask what is going on. Not that I'm eager to have them take my money, but I don't want to get fined, either. I was on hold for 57 minutes until I talked to a person. She promptly told me that she doesn't see anything posted, and transfered me to "accounting", where I was on hold for another 55 minutes, until my phone ran out of juice. I mean, if you have to have your customers hold for that long, isn't that a sure sign that you need to hire more people????????? I called the Federal IRS, this morning, too (though by accident). And I was only waiting for less than 2 minutes before speaking to a real person! I'd imagine there are more people calling the Federal IRS than there are people calling Georgia!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Marathon: 4:38:02
I think the moment I crossed
that finish line was one of the happiest moments of my life. I just couldn't believe I actually did it. Particularly when the last 6-7 miles were really brutal, and I was fading fast. I really thought that at mile 20, I would get a second wind, knowing that only 10k is left. But I didn't. All I could think of at that moment was, "Oh my God, there's still 10k left???" I had nothing left in my legs -- I don't really understand why, since I never felt like that during training. All the Gu and sports drink I had consumed was making my stomach queasy, so I didn't want to take any more. I was literally just putting one foot in front of the other. People around me were suffering, too. I saw this one guy, who had his girlfriend/wife pacing him, and his dad taking photos, and they were going at a pretty decent clip, and all of a sudden, his left leg just went berserk! It was like he completely lost control of his left leg! It was nuts. He had to stop and stretch. I never saw him again. I kept trying to tell myself that four months of training had culminated in this, and I only had so much left to enjoy it. And I really tried to believe it, too. But I just couldn't. It took all I had to make sure I didn't stop. The thought of going to the bathroom occurred to me a couple of times. But honestly, toward the end, I really felt that had I sat down on a toilet, I might not be able to get up -- my thighs were *killing* me.
I never got my "second wind" until the last 0.2 miles :) And particularly the last 0.1 mile, when everyone was screaming. I finally kicked it in. I was elated to cross that finish line. I think there's probably a really good photo of me crossing that line from the official photographers -- I literally had my fists up in the air. I think I looked like somebody who just won on "Price Is Right."
The morning started out a little chaotic. Even though I got up at 4am to make sure I had enough time to make my latte, drink it, and relax and get dressed and all that, I forgot to eat breakfast! So I chowed down a banana right before I left the house. Then, the bathroom lines were *huge* at the start. With 8 minutes remaining before the start, there were still 15+ people ahead of me and the lines were *not* moving fast. So Kasey and I just went behind somebody's dumpster. Not the most lady-like thing I've ever done. But hey, you gotta pee.
With all the rushing, I did manage the start the race on time. I ran with a sharp pain in my left foot for the first 6 miles or so. I really weren't sure if I would be able to make it all the way through with that pain. But since it didn't get worse, I figured I'll learn to deal with it. And really, the option of dropping out of the marathon was even more painful than the foot. Then miraculously, around mile 6, it stopped bothering me. The funny thing is, what I *thought* would cause me problems during the race (i.e. the foot) really didn't end up being my problem at all.
My thighs started to hurt around mile 13. They have never done that before in training. I really don't know what it is. It just goes to prove that the marathon is a rather brutal race -- *anything* can happen during the 26.2 miles. If it's a shorter race, you push through and an hour later, you're done. But with the marathon, whatever happens, you just have to live with it. For hours and hours. I was pacing with Kasey, Rob, and Ed the whole way. Ed dropped back before the half-way mark. I dropped back around mile 13-14.
I was still on pace to finish in 4:22 at mile 18. But then that's when things really deteriorated. Maybe that's what "the wall" feels like? I couldn't run any faster even though I knew I was going way slower than a 10-minute mile. My legs were just dead. It all made me think I should have finished my pasta dish the night before -- I was so concerned with not getting to the starting line feeling stuffed that I didn't finish my plate! Note to self: next time, stuff your face.
Michal Young and his wife were able to meet me at different points of the course to cheer me on. The first time I saw him was around mile 3-4. I was feeling strong, and gave him an enthusiasitic scream and high-five. The next time I saw him was a
round mile 7. I was still feeling pretty good then. Then I didn't see him again until around mile 14. I was visibly suffering by then, I think. I knew I didn't have the energy to give him the high-five's that he got the previous two times. That was an indication to myself that I've really gotten tired. They rode their bikes along side me for much of the last couple of miles and snapped some photos with their cell phones. I have no idea why I was even smiling in one of them -- I was feeling pretty bad. It must have been toward the *very* end.
I have to say that I'm proud to have finished a marathon. Would I do it again? I'm not sure. Probably. But most certainly not anytime soon. Maybe in a year, after I've recovered from the mental abuse -- the physical abuse will heal soon enough. I'm really looking forward to adding a little more variety into my workout for now. I'm looking forward to swimming more, and taking up biking.
I'm not extraordinarily sore. Although, I think it'll all get worse tomorrow. That's always the way it is. And the pain is coming back into my left foot. I can feel it... I iced it some today. Probably not enough. I did take a 2-mile walk from the finish line back to my apartment. So I'm hoping that helped keep me loose. We'll see tomorrow...
that finish line was one of the happiest moments of my life. I just couldn't believe I actually did it. Particularly when the last 6-7 miles were really brutal, and I was fading fast. I really thought that at mile 20, I would get a second wind, knowing that only 10k is left. But I didn't. All I could think of at that moment was, "Oh my God, there's still 10k left???" I had nothing left in my legs -- I don't really understand why, since I never felt like that during training. All the Gu and sports drink I had consumed was making my stomach queasy, so I didn't want to take any more. I was literally just putting one foot in front of the other. People around me were suffering, too. I saw this one guy, who had his girlfriend/wife pacing him, and his dad taking photos, and they were going at a pretty decent clip, and all of a sudden, his left leg just went berserk! It was like he completely lost control of his left leg! It was nuts. He had to stop and stretch. I never saw him again. I kept trying to tell myself that four months of training had culminated in this, and I only had so much left to enjoy it. And I really tried to believe it, too. But I just couldn't. It took all I had to make sure I didn't stop. The thought of going to the bathroom occurred to me a couple of times. But honestly, toward the end, I really felt that had I sat down on a toilet, I might not be able to get up -- my thighs were *killing* me.
I never got my "second wind" until the last 0.2 miles :) And particularly the last 0.1 mile, when everyone was screaming. I finally kicked it in. I was elated to cross that finish line. I think there's probably a really good photo of me crossing that line from the official photographers -- I literally had my fists up in the air. I think I looked like somebody who just won on "Price Is Right."The morning started out a little chaotic. Even though I got up at 4am to make sure I had enough time to make my latte, drink it, and relax and get dressed and all that, I forgot to eat breakfast! So I chowed down a banana right before I left the house. Then, the bathroom lines were *huge* at the start. With 8 minutes remaining before the start, there were still 15+ people ahead of me and the lines were *not* moving fast. So Kasey and I just went behind somebody's dumpster. Not the most lady-like thing I've ever done. But hey, you gotta pee.
With all the rushing, I did manage the start the race on time. I ran with a sharp pain in my left foot for the first 6 miles or so. I really weren't sure if I would be able to make it all the way through with that pain. But since it didn't get worse, I figured I'll learn to deal with it. And really, the option of dropping out of the marathon was even more painful than the foot. Then miraculously, around mile 6, it stopped bothering me. The funny thing is, what I *thought* would cause me problems during the race (i.e. the foot) really didn't end up being my problem at all.
My thighs started to hurt around mile 13. They have never done that before in training. I really don't know what it is. It just goes to prove that the marathon is a rather brutal race -- *anything* can happen during the 26.2 miles. If it's a shorter race, you push through and an hour later, you're done. But with the marathon, whatever happens, you just have to live with it. For hours and hours. I was pacing with Kasey, Rob, and Ed the whole way. Ed dropped back before the half-way mark. I dropped back around mile 13-14.
I was still on pace to finish in 4:22 at mile 18. But then that's when things really deteriorated. Maybe that's what "the wall" feels like? I couldn't run any faster even though I knew I was going way slower than a 10-minute mile. My legs were just dead. It all made me think I should have finished my pasta dish the night before -- I was so concerned with not getting to the starting line feeling stuffed that I didn't finish my plate! Note to self: next time, stuff your face.
Michal Young and his wife were able to meet me at different points of the course to cheer me on. The first time I saw him was around mile 3-4. I was feeling strong, and gave him an enthusiasitic scream and high-five. The next time I saw him was a
round mile 7. I was still feeling pretty good then. Then I didn't see him again until around mile 14. I was visibly suffering by then, I think. I knew I didn't have the energy to give him the high-five's that he got the previous two times. That was an indication to myself that I've really gotten tired. They rode their bikes along side me for much of the last couple of miles and snapped some photos with their cell phones. I have no idea why I was even smiling in one of them -- I was feeling pretty bad. It must have been toward the *very* end.I have to say that I'm proud to have finished a marathon. Would I do it again? I'm not sure. Probably. But most certainly not anytime soon. Maybe in a year, after I've recovered from the mental abuse -- the physical abuse will heal soon enough. I'm really looking forward to adding a little more variety into my workout for now. I'm looking forward to swimming more, and taking up biking.
I'm not extraordinarily sore. Although, I think it'll all get worse tomorrow. That's always the way it is. And the pain is coming back into my left foot. I can feel it... I iced it some today. Probably not enough. I did take a 2-mile walk from the finish line back to my apartment. So I'm hoping that helped keep me loose. We'll see tomorrow...
Saturday, April 28, 2007
The Prep
17 hours 'till the marathon. I'm so nervous of screwing up something that I couldn't even decide what to have for lunch -- nothing too greasy, nothing too spicy, nothing with dairy, nothing with beans... I ended up having chicken teriyaki with rice. And some chocolate -- dark chocolate is suppose to be good for blood pressure, I read recently. And certainly I need to keep my blood pressure under control right now. It's all in the name of health.
I thought the only thing that might calm me down is to document the prep. Also I was inspired by this photo, and figured I should do something of the same.
So, I decided that I'm going to wear exactly what I wore for my 21-mile run for the marathon -- everything has been battle-tested.
Our training group will have 2 separate aid stations, in addition to the aid stations provided by the marathon planners. This is nice because then I wouldn't have to j
ockey other runners for a spot at the water table. I also wouldn't hav
e to carry all the gels with me -- I carried 4 packets of gel for my 21-miler and I could have sworn they were weighing me down! Today's the last day I can stop by Eugene Running Company to drop off my stuff for the aid stations. There is one bin for each station. To show how anal I am, I have shown 10 packets of Gu neatly separated into two zip-lock bags, annotated with my name. I really don't think 
I'll need any more than 5 packets. But just in case. It doesn't hurt to have more. I also purchased two bottles of water, one for each station. This is not just *any* regular water. This is "Smart" water, for smart people. I think I might be the only one who's ever taped her business cards to bottles of water -- but hey, I didn't have markers, and I needed someway to mark that the water bottles are mine. When I put my water in the bin though, I realized that I wasn't the only one with creative ways of marking their own bottles. Bob has decided to put hig
hway signs on his bottles so he can spot them a mile away!
I have had foot pain for the past week and a half, and it all started when I wore these really cute leopard print flats to school. They just didn't have much support, gave me blisters, and caused me to overstretch the arch on my left foot. Dammit. That's the last time I try to look cute before a marathon! People say it may be plantar fasciitis. God I hope not! I've been icing and eating aspirin and it still hurts somewhat. But certainly much better than it felt last week. I think the adrenaline will push me through. Either way, I'm doing this thing.
The coach told us that we need some sort of mantra, something that we can say to ourselves when the going gets tough -- and it will -- to push us through. She said we need to come up with something before hand, because we won't be able to during the marathon. So I thought, well, how about this:
"I've trained for 4 months for this thing. For 18 consecutive Saturdays -- okay fine I've missed a couple when I had a little too much to drink on Friday's -- but for the most part, I've gotten my ass out of bed at 5:45am, so I can make my latte, eat my banana, and get myself to the store to run at 7am. And after all this, I really only have 4.5 more hours to enjoy the fruit of my labor. If I want to do this again, I'd have to train for another 18 weeks. So however tough it is, I should savor it, because it'll be over very fast."
So, yeah... I, too, am realizing that it's a bit long for a mantra. I think the coach had something shorter in mind. Something that can be repeated over and over again. Something like, "one foot in front of the other". And I suspect that at mile 21, when my thighs are feeling like they're in labor, and at that moment, if I tell myself to "savor the fruit of my labor", I'm going to have a strong urge to tell myself to shut the hell up. So I'm strongly considering revising my mantra... Christoph said I should picture myself punching somebody. I honestly don't have anyone I want to punch. Although, it's highly possible that I might at mile 21...
I thought the only thing that might calm me down is to document the prep. Also I was inspired by this photo, and figured I should do something of the same.So, I decided that I'm going to wear exactly what I wore for my 21-mile run for the marathon -- everything has been battle-tested.
Our training group will have 2 separate aid stations, in addition to the aid stations provided by the marathon planners. This is nice because then I wouldn't have to j
ockey other runners for a spot at the water table. I also wouldn't hav
e to carry all the gels with me -- I carried 4 packets of gel for my 21-miler and I could have sworn they were weighing me down! Today's the last day I can stop by Eugene Running Company to drop off my stuff for the aid stations. There is one bin for each station. To show how anal I am, I have shown 10 packets of Gu neatly separated into two zip-lock bags, annotated with my name. I really don't think 
I'll need any more than 5 packets. But just in case. It doesn't hurt to have more. I also purchased two bottles of water, one for each station. This is not just *any* regular water. This is "Smart" water, for smart people. I think I might be the only one who's ever taped her business cards to bottles of water -- but hey, I didn't have markers, and I needed someway to mark that the water bottles are mine. When I put my water in the bin though, I realized that I wasn't the only one with creative ways of marking their own bottles. Bob has decided to put hig
hway signs on his bottles so he can spot them a mile away!I have had foot pain for the past week and a half, and it all started when I wore these really cute leopard print flats to school. They just didn't have much support, gave me blisters, and caused me to overstretch the arch on my left foot. Dammit. That's the last time I try to look cute before a marathon! People say it may be plantar fasciitis. God I hope not! I've been icing and eating aspirin and it still hurts somewhat. But certainly much better than it felt last week. I think the adrenaline will push me through. Either way, I'm doing this thing.
The coach told us that we need some sort of mantra, something that we can say to ourselves when the going gets tough -- and it will -- to push us through. She said we need to come up with something before hand, because we won't be able to during the marathon. So I thought, well, how about this:
"I've trained for 4 months for this thing. For 18 consecutive Saturdays -- okay fine I've missed a couple when I had a little too much to drink on Friday's -- but for the most part, I've gotten my ass out of bed at 5:45am, so I can make my latte, eat my banana, and get myself to the store to run at 7am. And after all this, I really only have 4.5 more hours to enjoy the fruit of my labor. If I want to do this again, I'd have to train for another 18 weeks. So however tough it is, I should savor it, because it'll be over very fast."
So, yeah... I, too, am realizing that it's a bit long for a mantra. I think the coach had something shorter in mind. Something that can be repeated over and over again. Something like, "one foot in front of the other". And I suspect that at mile 21, when my thighs are feeling like they're in labor, and at that moment, if I tell myself to "savor the fruit of my labor", I'm going to have a strong urge to tell myself to shut the hell up. So I'm strongly considering revising my mantra... Christoph said I should picture myself punching somebody. I honestly don't have anyone I want to punch. Although, it's highly possible that I might at mile 21...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
T - 12 days
Count down to the marathon begins. I've been sick for a week, and finally it's letting up. My cough is almost all gone. I went for a short 5-miler tonight and felt pretty good -- Missy Elliot sets a good beat to running ;) I hope somebody will be spinning some Missy on the Marathon route... I don't know why I'm nervous. I've done all the training I'm suppose to. I missed last weekend's 9-miler. But that shouldn't be a big deal, since I ran a pretty hard 5.2-miler in Sunday's relay. I'm healthy and injury free. I know it's gonna hurt, but I should be able to do this.
I've gotten serious about eating well this week. I'm hydrating myself like Oregon is running out of water. I've cut down my wine consumption. I'm hitting the salad bar like salad is the new black. And I haven't had any dairy -- usually I cheat and have diary and pop my lactase pills. But not this week. Not even goat milk cheese. I'm simply not risking it.
Okay I think I'm psyching myself out...
I've gotten serious about eating well this week. I'm hydrating myself like Oregon is running out of water. I've cut down my wine consumption. I'm hitting the salad bar like salad is the new black. And I haven't had any dairy -- usually I cheat and have diary and pop my lactase pills. But not this week. Not even goat milk cheese. I'm simply not risking it.
Okay I think I'm psyching myself out...
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