Managed to get away from work in the middle of August to spend a few days at the beach with my sister and her family down in North Carolina. The trouble with this is that North Carolina is very hot in August, and I had some difficulty getting up early enough to avoid the heat. I was, in fact, very proud of myself for waking up one morning at 6:30 am to run 3 miles along the beach. The downside of this was that the beach is very uneven so I managed to injure my hip. A few days later, I came down with an impressive cold which has basically left me coughing for the past two weeks. As a result, my running has taken a severe hit which is very sad because I was just gearing up to run a fast 5K this fall. In fact, I had done a few interval workouts which were both very satisfying and very tiring. I’d been running a pretty steady 20 miles per week until these past few weeks when I managed 7.5 miles, 3.2 miles and now 6.5 miles this week. At least I’m on an upswing.
Archive for Running
Excuses excuses
No, I don’t actually have any excuses for my lack of posting lately. We got back from Ireland at the end of June and I ran a very disappointing half marathon, finishing 2 seconds slower than my previous half. Of course, as Eddie points out, I had been quite sick for the week prior, and it was a ridiculously hilly course so he thinks I should be quite pleased with my finish. If I really think about it, given the course and the bad bronchitis I had, my finishing time is not bad. But given how much I trained for it (and how little I trained for my first half), I remain quite disappointed. So, I’ve decided enough with these long distance races, I’m going to train for a 5K. My husband has been trying to break 20 minutes in the 5K for a while now, and he’s been making excellent progress so I’m excited to start training for mine. My previous 5K PR is 28:19 in 2004, followed by 28:34 this past March. So my current goal is sub-28 which I think should be pretty easy, and maybe even sub-27. We’ll see. To accomplish this, I’ve been running about 20 miles a week with a 9 mile long run and 1 day a week of intervals. I’ve had some trouble with my left foot for the past few months, and I was worried that intervals would exacerbate it, but it seems to be holding up fine.
Enough about running. As of July 1st, I am now officially a 3rd year resident. I started off the year with the wards, which is probably our toughest rotation. Thankfully, I had a fabulous intern and managed to survive a very busy month with a significant amount of anxiety but also a good amount of learning and fun. I followed that with a 2 week away rotation in pediatric oncology because I’ll soon be applying for a fellowship, and I’m trying to get a sense of the different programs. I’m not looking forward to writing yet another personal statement…
I survived the exciting milestone of turning 30 and celebrated with a fabulous barbecue at our place. As a sign of my age, about half the people at the party brought babies with them. Soon, everyone I know will have kids!
Ireland, Part 2
Monday, Eddie got to experience the thrill of driving on the left side of the road for the first time. We stopped off at Hertz to pick up our car. Amazingly, Ireland is one of the most dangerous countries in which to drive in the world. As a result, our credit card, which normally provides insurance when renting a car, does not have this coverage for a select few countries, Ireland among them. So, we paid 15 euros/day for the car and ~26 euros/day for the insurance. Phew. Obviously we only elected to have one driver and given my total inability to judge distance, Eddie was the obvious choice. He did an amazing job, and we started out on our trip across Ireland. Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel which is actually a very cool combo of a fort and cathedral:
Gorgeous views of the Irish countryside. Notice the cows in the distance.
From there, we went on to the Castle of Cahir which was awesome because you got to explore almost all the rooms. If only our condo had a “murder hole” so that we could drop rocks on unsuspecting salesman as they tried to approach.
We finally arrived at our bed and breakfast around 8 pm and headed out for a quick dinner at the nearby Sailor’s Bar. This is the view for our dinner. Note that at this point it’s probably close to 9 pm and still full daylight.
Tuesday morning, we debated a good bit whether to check out the Ring of Kerry (a popular tourist destination) or the Dingle Peninsula (awesome name, but farther away). We ultimately ended up going with our host’s recommendation and driving around the Beara Peninsula which was absolutely gorgeous with amazing views of both the ocean and mountains. This beauty was interspersed by moments of pure terror because apparently someone decided it would be fun to make very windy and narrow roads, just wide enough for 1 car, and then set the speed limit at 80 kmh. Luckily, Eddie was driving, and I just let out frequent squeals of terror.
Anyone who knows me knows that I have love animals, so we frequently stopped to try to entice the cows and sheep to come closer. Apparently the cows loved me:
But the sheep were quite fearful. Here is one running away from us:
Here’s one example of some of the amazing views.
Notice the crazy winding road:
Unfortunately, I’ve been rather sick for this entire vacation so I haven’t been able to get much running in. I’m actually starting to feel better, but I’m left with this horrible hacking cough. Lovely.
Ireland, Part 1
I had a lovely to start to my vacation. My official first day was Wednesday but I was post from working overnight in the ED and then I had to work another overnight on Thursday to pay someone pack. Prior to going to work on Thursday, I managed to wake up and run my last long run (of 14 miles) prior to my half marathon (coming up on 6/28!). The first 10 miles felt great, the next 2 miles didn’t feel too bad but the last two were rather painful. I did have some left foot pain which has been bothering me off and on for the past few weeks. Also had some right hip pain which is new. Anyway, after this, I rested for a bit and then did some laundry and packing for Ireland. I got to work and discovered that there were ZERO patients for me to take care of. Awesome. And somehow, miraculously, made it through the whole night without a single admission. I did have some trouble sleeping because I always have trouble on call and because I’ve been working nights for a while. I left work around 8 am and went home to finish packing and drop our cat off at “cat camp,” which is how Eddie and I refer to Cat Whiskers Inn. Finished cleaning up the condo and then headed to the airport around 4 pm to catch my 7 pm flight to Ireland.
The flight went well: there was both dinner and tiny TVs for each person. Shockingly, I didn’t actually sleep at all. We landed in Shannon around 12:30 am US time (5:30 am Ireland time). I had a 1 hour layover there and then finally made it into Dublin around 7:30 am. Got through customs very quickly and took a bus to our hotel and arrived by 9 am. Eddie was at his conference so I got unpacked and then wandered down to the lobby to send him an email and let him know I was there and, wouldn’t you know it, there he was. Excellent. We walked down O’Connell street and found our way onto Grafton Street where I bought 2 of the best scones I’ve ever eaten and a very peculiar (yet tasty) iced coffee. From there, we walked through St. Stephen’s Green and then I walked him back up to Trinity College to go back to his conference. I wandered back to the hotel and took a nap from about 1 pm to 3 pm and then met up with him again. We went running along the Liffey and then met up with some of his friends and headed over to the Market Bar for dinner. Turned out to be a Tapas bar and was very tasty. There were four of us and we managed to sample a cheese plate, meatballs with potatoes, 2 types of salad, chicken skewer, fish pie, and olives plus Guinness and Krombacher (surprisingly tasty). I was sad to find that the Guinness here tastes exactly the same as in the States. After that, we wandered around some more and then I succumbed to some very strange ice cream concoction at Burger King. We finally made it back to our hotel around 11 pm, just as the sun was setting. So cool to be at this latitude.
Despite our best attempts, we didn’t wake up on Sunday until close to 11 am, and even then only because the cleaning people knocked on our door. We hurried out and grabbed a scone and croissant at a convenience store (1 on every block!) and then dropped off Eddie’s laundry. Then we walked over to Trinity College and went on a very cool tour that ended with the Book of Kells. From there, we headed over to the Queen of Tarts for a delicious lunch. We stopped off and saw Dublin Castle and then checked out a very over crowded street fair before picking Eddie’s laundry back up and heading back to the hotel. On the way, we found some Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. This stuff is amazing! Why don’t they have it in the States!!!? Eddie went for a run, but I’m tapering so I stayed at the hotel and planned our driving route for the next few days.
We grabbed dinner at a takeout fish and chips place called Leo Burdock’s which was delicious. Then we stopped in at a very touristy bar where you could pour your own beer. As it turns out, they also had some excellent Irish singing and dancing. Very cool to see. Now we’re finishing packing so that we can leave tomorrow to check out Kenmare on the southwest coast.
Pictures to follow…
Gardening extravaganza
I’m thoroughly enjoying our backyard lately. Today I planted the tomato plants I bought a few weeks ago that have been “hardening off” on our back porch. I even bought tomato cages to help support them. I’m currently holding two betting pools regarding my tomato plants. 1) Will they survive? 2) Will they produce tomatoes?
We also bought a patio set for our backyard and a bistro set for our back porch. Plus, I found some annuals at the grocery store for $2 each and put them in some pots so now each table has a pretty flowering plant on top. It looks awesome. The pictures below give you an idea:
I also mowed the lawn again and finally figured out how to set up our sprinkler so that it actually waters our lawn and not the neighbors. Can’t wait to have a cookout now!
On a sadder note, I seem to have pulled my left hamstring so I have to take it easy this week with running.
Nice weekend
I am unofficially part of the Somerville Striders which means that most Thursday nights (when I’m not on call) I head over to run a race with them. I used to just run these races as a regular run but now that I’m training for a half, I’ve started treating them as tempo runs which works very well. This past Thursday I had an especially motivating tempo run because I was pushing my friend’s 10 month old who decided it was time to eat about 1 mile from the finish. His cries were a great reason to pick it up. As a result, I ended up running a 9:42 pace which was actually a little faster than my goal pace of 9:55. Excellent.
The evening got even better when Eddie and I decided that we should catch the new Star Trek movie. I thought it didn’t open until Friday but our local theatre started showing it Thursday night. I was really hoping to see tons of people dressed up like Star Trek but we actually only saw one. Anyway, it was a great movie. I highly recommend it.
After staying up late Thursday night to watch Star Trek, I was pretty sleepy at work on Friday but I actually managed to get a lot done and got out early and snuck in a nap before heading over to Cambridge Brewing Company for their 20th anniversary. Woke up reasonably early on Saturday and got in my 13-miler which actually wasn’t too bad despite the humidity. We spent Saturday evening celebrating an early Mother’s Day with my mother. For whatever reason, she decided she wanted to go to Friendly’s, and we actually had a great time.
Today, I spent most of the day outside doing yardwork, and it was a perfect day for it: low 70s and sunny. Managed to dig up a TON of weeds, mow the grass, buy bark mulch, put down grass seed and put down the mulch. Awesome. Also spent the afternoon eating delicious food at a friend’s BBQ. Overall, an excellent past few days.
Long time no post
Not sure quite what’s come over me lately that my posts have fallen off. I think part of it is that I’ve had some very stressful shifts at work lately with some very sick kids, and it’s hard to post about it here without violating confidentiality, so I just end up not posting.
I’m actually on a relatively easy rotation but I’ve been very busy with other things including trying to write two case reports, working with a plumber to install everything for a washer/dryer in our unit, trying to get my full license (so painful!), working with an advocacy group for our big end of year event, and trying to work on our garden/yard. Phew. In running news, I’m very proud to announce that my husband ran his first marathon (Boston!) a few weeks ago. It was tougher than he expected but he still did very well. Of course, now he wants to do even better. Within 10 minutes of finishing the marathon, he was trying to figure out which fall marathon he could do. And now he’s been talking about how precisely he can qualify for Boston. Poor boy, he’s got it bad…
My running has also been going well. I have a rather interesting training plan for this half I’m running on June 28th which involves a rather rapid increase in miles followed by a few easy weeks (during which my schedule makes lots of running impossible) and then a second ramp up before I finally taper. So, this means that I ran 12 miles for my long run last week. I’ve obviously run 12 miles many times before, but this was definitely one of the tougher times. Not sure why, other than it was fairly warm, and I didn’t have enough water. I actually stopped at a convenience store and bought gatorade which was very helpful. I’ve also been adding some speedwork which so far has consisted of tempo runs and striders. They’re actually pretty fun to do. I’ll probably throw in a few track workouts and hill work toward the end.
Amazingly, I’m nearing the end of my second year of residency which is pretty exciting. Sadly, next year won’t really be any easier than this year. In fact, it might actually be harder but I’m still looking forward to it. I get more responsibility which is always both fun and terrifying. What I’m most excited for at the moment is that I get two weeks of vacation at the end of this year, and I’m spending part of it in Ireland with my husband. Should be awesome!
My first ice bath
Actually, it was more of a cold water bath, and only my feet, not my whole body, but it was still horrible. Went for a very nice (but windy!) 10 mile run today. My left foot has been bothering me for a while despite ibuprofen and conventional icing, and I can’t even quite figure out where the pain is. Sometimes it’s on the top and sometimes it’s on the bottom so I figured just emersing my whole foot in cold water after my long run would probably help. I don’t know how people take real ice baths which involves filling a bath tub with ice and cold water and sitting in it for 15-20 minutes. As my husband can testify to, I basically spent the entire time letting out yelps because the water was so cold. On the plus side, my foot feels pretty good. hmmm. I better not injure my hip now because there’s no way I’m putting my whole body in that!
Another good weekend
Despite being on an easy rotation, I’ve been very busy. Given, a lot of this is because I’m trying to cram in all my socializing while I have time, so I really can’t complain. Tuesday I got called in for back up overnight but still managed to go running post call on Wednesday which is always difficult for me. Then went out for some drinks with other people from my residency program. Thursday I met up with Elena and Todd at running club for an easy 4.2 miles and a tasty dinner at Magoun’s. Friday night had a belated St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Jack and Shilpa. Saturday woke up late and then met Emily and Charles for lunch and then babysat Timmy for a few hours before getting in a tempo run. Then off to dinner at Beerworks to help a friend celebrate turning 30. Got up late again this morning and then met Elena for part of my 8 mile run. Phew, so much fun to have, so little time to do it. Probably would have more time if I didn’t sleep till 10 am on the weekends…
Feeling very happy that I managed to squeeze in 18 miles this week. Maybe 20 next week??
Back to regular life
Ahhhh. Sigh of relief. Finally finished my month of very long hours. Sadly, my running took a definite hit. The month before I started, my weekly mileage was as follows: 16 miles, 16 miles, 16 miles, 18 miles. The month of that rotation: 15 miles, 16 miles, 13 miles, 7 miles. Phew. But have no fear, managed 17 miles this past week with an almost PR at the Ras 5K this past weekend in 28:34 for an average 9:13 mile. Not bad for me given that I’m not in great shape. Only about 20 seconds off my PR for a 5K.
And very happily, the rest of my schedule for this year is not too bad so I should be able to actually train for my half marathon, tentatively scheduled for June 28th. I plan to get back up to a base of ~20 miles per week and then add in some speedwork and build to a long run of 12-14 miles. Despite my relatively poor running during my busy month, I did manage to get in at least a 7 mile long run every week (yes, one week that was the only run I did).
I’m on an easy outpatient rotation this week and next, and it’s been wonderful to actually have a life again. Despite having to work overnight in the ER Friday night, I still had a very enjoyable weekend. I’ve also been able to catch up on tons of housework, emails, and residency work that has been piling up. And I’m currently trying to write some case reports so that I’ll have some chance of getting into a good fellowship. Life is always busy…
