Monthly Archives: April 2009

New shorts Thursday.

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Before I forget, here’s the corn muffin recipe I used a couple weeks ago. (This is for you, new commenter Tracy.)

I didn’t run today because my legs were kind of tired from the hill workout and because there was a soaking rain all morning. I’ve decided to throw the base mileage plan out the window because it has me running six days a week. Most likely, I will stick to four or five days of running a week (hopefully with a day of cross-training) and just have slightly higher daily mileage.

My friend Paula sent me a belated birthday present today. It was a pleasant surprise as I hurl headlong into the two-week hell that is finals period. (Really, it’s paper-writing period.) She sent me a pair of Brooks Epiphany Shorts and The New York City Marathon Cookbook, which has a lot of tasty-sounding recipes and awesome pictures of runners in short shorts from the 70′s, 80′s, and 90′s. Thank you, Paula, for such spot-on gifts!

I tried to model both the shorts and the book in one picture, but unfortunately, I ended up looking like a creepy weirdo, and you can’t really see either. Whoops.


Tomorrow, I’m getting up at the ass-crack of dawn (which means I should already be in bed) to run with Jessica. This may be a bad decision on my part considering that she usually runs with two boys as running partners.

You may have been wondering why I haven’t mentioned my running buddy Lena in awhile. Unfortunately, the Half Marathon ate Lena’s knee alive, and she has just been diagnosed with Patellofemoral Syndrome, also known as the dreaded “Runner’s Knee.” I am hoping for her speedy recovery because 1) injury sucks and 2) I’m selfish and want my RB back in my life.

Hills are meat-grinders.

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Few words have the ability to strike fear in my heart. One of these words is “hills”, as in “hill repeats”, which is what we ran tonight at the local running club’s speedwork session.

Jessica kindly agreed to join me for tonight’s running shindig, so we met up at the local high school track a few minutes early for a warm-up. I didn’t run with my Garmin, but I’m guessing we ran sub-9:00 pace because 1) I ended up sweaty and somewhat out of breath by the end of ten minutes and 2) I say so.

We met up with about eight other runners, as well as one of Jessica’s male running buddies. Upon approaching the Mizuno- and Asics-sporting crowd, my heart sank as I realized that they were all sinewy 30- and 40- year-old dudes, which is by far the fastest age group in Champaign-Urbana. We took off for a one-mile run to a nearby hill, and I was once again forced to run faster than my steady pace. So much for a warm-up; it was more like “Trial by fire.”

Once we got to the grassy knoll, we proceeded to run up it eight times in a row with about a minute of rest in between. I definitely was the slowest person in the group and, without a doubt, the sweatiest. I just kept following Jessica’s bouncy French braids and having internal dialogues like:

  • “Dear Body, Thanks for doing this. I know it’s hard. Just four more, okay?”
  • “This is hard? That’s what you get for eating three servings of Tostitos Scoops yesterday at linguistics meeting!”
  • “I hope I locked the car.”
  • “I bet this hill is nothing compared to Berkeley hills.” (Why Berkeley? I don’t know.)
  • “Sweet Jesus Lord.”

I survived the hill workout, which is one of the few structured speed workouts that I have ever done. Though I didn’t sprint up the hill like…everyone else, I’m proud that I hung on for all eight of the repeats.

When I got home, I ran an extra 1.3 miles to bring my total to around six miles for the day. (Base mileage plan, why do I feel so commited to you?) My legs kind of hate me right now, but maybe they’ll get over it by tomorrow morning.

In other news, I convinced myself during afternoon seminar that I had swine flu. My temperature is 98.6ºF, so I’m pretty sure I don’t. Phew. Crisis averted again.

New shorts Tuesday.

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I wore my new red running shorts today. The weather was cool this morning (low 50′s) with lots of drizzle, so I ran more quickly than I did over the weekend. I really hauled ass the final mile to test my body’s ability to endure moderate discomfort. And I definitely made a couple embarrassing grunting noises. Fortunately, no one heard me this time.

Here are my splits, which were negative:

  • Mile 1 – 9:46
  • Mile 2 – 9:43
  • Mile 3 – 9:00
  • Mile 4 – 8:08 (“UNHHHH!”)
  • 0.01-mile nubbin – 0:03

When I got home, I took an awkward photo, just so you could see my shorts…which don’t look that great from this angle/with bad lighting:

Then I packed lunch in everyone’s favorite OCD lunchbox:

(Carrot sticks, apples, grapes,
sweet potato, turkey & spinach wrap)
I’m going to bed now. I don’t plan on running in the morning because I’m going to go to the weekly speed sessions offered by the local running group (of which I am apparently a member).

P.S. For all you grad students out there, here is an interesting article that my TA sent out today. No joke, the opening line of the article is:

“GRADUATE education is the Detroit of higher learning.”

Sport chic vanity.

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According to my plan for base mileage, Monday is a day off from running. I have no splits or nubbins to report.

I forgot to mention that yesterday, I made a quick trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy red Nike Tempo Track shorts, just like the ones Susan and Roommate Tina wear. Hopefully, they will make me easy to spot during races!

I also caved and bought a cool t-shirt. Here I am modeling it at 8am, with a mug of mint tea. Classy!


A co-worker today told me that the Asics DS Trainer 13′s have my “name written all over them.” Do I want a lightweight, ostentatiously-colored trainer for speed work and racing? Yes. Do I need one? Probably not. Will I get one? Depends on how I feel after exam period is over…if I survive.

I have been coughing a lot. If I have swine flu, I will be super pissed.

Also: Hi, Lisa! Thanks for your nice comment!

Two kinds of blondies.

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I’ve decided that blogging falls under the list of permissible activities during fun hiatus because 1) I’m sure at least some people (=my parents) would be disappointed if I dropped off the face of the planet for two weeks and 2) everyone needs a healthy dose of distraction, even during the end-of-semester crunch.

I ran a “long” run today of eight miles as part of my mileage base before I start marathon training. It was in the low 70′s when I went out, with wind gusts around 25mph. In good news, I managed to run the whole way without having to stop and feel sorry for myself/remind myself that I like to run. I will take this as a sign that my body is acclimating to the above-freezing temperatures and continue to drink/pee a ton of water. In bad news, my splits are suffering.

  • Mile 1 – 10:41
  • Mile 2 – 10:10
  • Mile 3 – 9:55
  • Mile 4 – 10:02 [Damn. I was on track for negative splits.]
  • Mile 5 – 9:52
  • Mile 6 – 9:39
  • Mile 7 – 9:34
  • Mile 8 – 9:19
  • 0.01-mile nubbin – 0:03

Thought only two weeks have passed since the Half Marathon, it feels like forever ago that I was able to comfortably maintain sub-9:30 pace. Bah, get ready. It’s going to be a whiny summer.

I need to invest in some headbands. I usually clip my swoopy, side bangs up for runs, but with wind and heat, I end up with sweaty, loose pieces plastered to my face and neck. It’s rather unpleasant.

Here’s an example of inefficient marketing. Why tell me that the apricots are “great tasting”? It’s not as if I’ll pick them up at the store and say, “Well, thank God! I was about to buy those terrible tasting apricots, but I can see now that I’ve made the right decision!”


Are you still wondering what a nubbin is? Well, look no further than this deformed carrot I used for dinner:


There was an extra, yucky-looking banana sitting around, so I repeated yesterday’s banana-chocolate chip blondies/glorified banana bread. They kind of look like a tray of boogers:


And here’s a strawberry blondie…or maybe just a red neck.

Officially on fun hiatus.

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My stress level reached a critical point today. I am now officially on fun hiatus which means until I turn in my final papers, I am allowed to do the following things:

  • Cook (and maybe bake)
  • Eat
  • Sleep
  • Study
  • Write papers
  • Do homework
  • Work
  • Run

I am not allowed to do the following:

  • Engage in fun, distracting activities.

I’m not sure if blogging falls under “fun, distracting” activities yet.

This morning, I baked blondies for the first time, which turned out more like gooey, sweet banana bread with chocolate chips. No, they were not vegan. They had butter, eggs, and milk chocolate, and they were delicious. I was going to take a picture, but my camera battery died.

I also ran four miles:

  • Mile 1 – 10:36
  • Mile 2 – 9:40
  • Mile 3 – 9:24
  • Mile 4 – 9:19
  • 0.02-mile nubbin – 0:11

I apparently sweat more than the boyfriend. I guess I can add that to my list of “Ways that I am more masculine than the boyfriend.” Joy!

A chance of meatballs.

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[For some reason, I think the computer room smells like poo. I hope it isn't me.]

I’m working on my base mileage of 30 miles/week before I starting adding on miles for Chicago in mid-late May. This gives me between 18 and 20 weeks of progressive training, which sounds safe for a a first marathon training program. Today, I was a little nervous about my planned six miles because it was already 60º when I left the apartment at 7:55am. I am proud to report that I got through all six without having to stop and walk. (I’m really whiny and pathetic about warmer temperatures.)

  • Mile 1 – 10:44
  • Mile 2 – 9:59
  • Mile 3 – 9:45
  • Mile 4 – 9:34
  • Mile 5 – 9:13
  • Mile 6 – 8:51
  • 0.01-mile nubbin – 0:02
  • Total:58.11

Not too bad overall. I guess I’ll just have to remind myself to start out slow and let my speed increase gradually.

I was really sweaty when I got home. Like, so sweaty that my back looked like some kind of Rorschach test. I also had sweaty wisps of hair plastered to my neck, as well as a lovely salt-crust mixed with sunscreen on my arms and face.


The middle part of the day was spent freaking out about work. I’m trying to hold myself together, but the next two weeks may see a fun hiatus as I try to not fail miserably at school and life. So many pages to write…

For dinner, I made meatballs and tomato sauce. The boyfriend ate his on as a meatball sub…or he tried to…


I ate mine on some spinach because 1) I had to get rid of all the baby spinach in the fridge and 2) I knew I was going to be consuming a metric ton of chocolate and peanut butter later in the evening.


After dinner, I went over to Jessica’s for a baking adventure. In between discussing running blogs, Boston and Chicago, callouses, and dead toenails, we managed to make homemade Tag-A-Longs. We did not speak Tagalog, sadly. Ho ho ho, I made a language reference that wasn’t funny!

The recipe involves making a small depression in a freshly-baked shortbread cookie with your thumb.

Mica: “Ow! Ow! Ow!”
Jessica: “Oh, I guess I’ve burned myself with acid enough times that I don’t feel it.”


Then you fill the little wells with a mixture of peanut butter and evil powdered sugar:


These, once cooled, get dipped in chocolate. This part gave me ample opportunity to make a giant mess of chocolate all over my hands, the counter, and the stove.


They turned out pretty well, if not the most aesthetically-pleasing concoction.


Jessica’s verdict? “They don’t really taste like Tag-A-Longs, but they’re good.”


Jessica’s cat’s (Java) verdict? “Bitch, get that camera out of my face!”


[I still have not figured out the mysterious source of the poop-smell. I hope I'm not detecting phantom smells because that's a sign of a brain tumor.]

Off to bed. Running, working, school-working tomorrow. Please, God, let me finish this semester without failing at life.

Watch me chewing.

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True story. Kara Goucher is an awesome runner. She also is totally hot. I want to look like this:


Too bad I sit around doing this instead:

Liz just told me about Insomnia Cookies. I’m half-excited, half-disdainful. I bet my cookies are better anyway.

I didn’t run today, so tonight’s post is really sad.

Boring Wednesday.

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I went for a five-mile run this morning with the goal of running negative splits:

  • Mile 1 – 10:08
  • Mile 2 – 9:31
  • Mile 3 – 9:12
  • Mile 4 – 9:07
  • Mile 5 – 8:21
  • 0.01-mile nubbin – 0:07
  • Total – 46:27

The last mile, I struggled to maintain pace. A few times, I punched my stomach because it kept making loud and irritating gurgles.

I’m considering running the Twin Cities Twosome in a few weeks. It’s a relay 10K, with two people each running one 5K-leg. I’ve never run a 5K before, mostly because I have, until recently, been hovering around 10:00 pace. I have no idea how to race a 5K, and I’m also not very good at enduring discomfort on runs. Nevertheless, it might be fun to team up with the boyfriend, though I will inevitably be the slow member of the team and wail, “I MADE US LOOOOOSE!” while beating my breast in sorrow at the finish line.

[Jessica--Are you thinking about running this?]

Wow, this post really sucks because nothing interesting happened today. To liven things up, I’m posting a picture from a few weeks ago, when I caught the boyfriend dozing off during physics homework:

Mystery cake!

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To answer Pearl‘s question: I used a program called Paintbrush for Mac to create my artistic masterpieces last night. It’s a free download, and therefore, pretty bare bones.

Rebecca had the first part of her MA exam today, which included some five+ grueling hours of writing about French literature. To demonstrate my faith in her ass-kicking abilities, I woke up early this morning and baked an apple cake.


I cannot attest to the quality of the finished product because I didn’t get to try any of it before I left it stealthily on Rebecca’s office desk. (“Good luck, Rebecca! Here, be a guinea pig for this lumpy cake I made!”) Dan later reported that everyone enjoyed the “sugar crust.” Oddly enough, I don’t remember making a sugar crust. (I put the lid on the cake pake before it had finished cooling completely. Maybe some trapped humidity produced a crust? Who knows.)

Also, I packed my lunch:

(Corn muffin, carrot sticks, grapes,
leftover pork tenderloin, rice/spinach/chickpeas/tomato)

The weather was a delightful mixture of rain, cold, and wind, so I wussed out and ran at the gym. I did another tempo-ish run of four miles:
  • 1-mile warm-up, building from 6mph-7mph
  • 15 minutes at 7mph-7.3mph
  • 1-mile cool-down

I still don’t know what pace I should be running. Maybe I’ll get the hang of it eventually…

Speaking of running, Lena’s man-friend captured my posterior during the Half Marathon.


One of my vain aspirations for the Chicago Marathon is to get a picture where I don’t share the frame with someone twice my age or twice my size.