First-Of-The-Seasons

A short one, as it's been a busy week and I've got much to do. As I explained in an earlier post, I'm rehearsing a show for the Cape Playhouse, so between that, school and training, not enough time left for some good blogging.



No names for the honor roll this week, alas.



This has been a week of first-of-the-seasons. The first rehearsal of the season, the first track drill workout of the season, and yes, the first bladder infection of the season. More info than you needed, I suppose. This happened to me last year, too. It's pretty common for women runners. The combination of running with an empty bladder (which can irritate) and sitting around in sweaty running shorts (which I do) = bladder infection! I probably gave myself one this past Thursday, after our track drill workout. I did my long run Friday after work, and the second time I needed to use the bathroom in the first hour of the run I knew something was up. Sure enough, by Saturday afternoon I could feel my kidneys aching (never a good sign) and I spent more time in the bathroom than in rehearsal. Today, slightly better but still feverish and completely sick of cranberry juice, I gave in and called the doctor, and she called in a prescription for me. I need to pick it up as soon as I'm done writing this, so understandably, this isn't going to be a long one!! And also why I will be taking an extra couple of days off, as much as I hate to, to let everything heal.



So anyways, we did this crazy track drill workout on Thursday. There's this mini-track (1/10 mile) right next to the place on 72nd and the River that we do our alternate stair workouts on. I've been going there for a year and never noticed this spot. Guess it was dark out. Anyway, we did lots of knee-up running and that kind of stuff, then Jeff pulls out a stretchy rubber tube with handles. One of us would wrap the tube around our waist and start running while Jeff held the handles and kept us in place. It was exhausting. I tried deperately to pull Jeff along but he is way stronger than me! After we all did that, Jeff pulled out a mini-parachute. You wear it around your waist -- there's a harness and a quick-release attachment, and we did one lap with the parachute, then release the parachute and do a second lap. It was hilarious! First of all, it was windy, and the parachute was banging into trees and other people using the track (particularly this one couple, who seemed displeased that we were there and deliberately refused to get out of our way when we passed by.) I was getting pulled all over the place, plus the harness was loose and the parachute started shifting to my left side, yanking me sideways. You can really feel the pull -- I was exhausted at the halfway mark, and this is only 1/10 of a mile. But I was also laughing so hard, it was difficult to run. When I unclipped the chute, I felt 50 pounds lighter. I don't know if I ran any faster, but I felt lighter than air.



I did my long run Friday night, because I had to work all day Saturday, and Sunday (today) was the Nike half marathon, so the streets would be too clogged in the AM. Fortunately, too, because there would be no way for me to do a long run now. I made up my own path, going up Riverside Park, then up to the dog run, back through the dog run down to the end of the Park, back up and through the dog run for the second time, then back down Riverside to Chelsea Piers, around the piers, then back home. I discovered this neat little pier across the street from H & H bagels, I guess around 45th St. then? It has a water play area for the kids, including paddle wheels, water pumps, and a "surprise" fountain that's a big circle on the ground with multiple jets that spew in random patterns, so if you're in the circle you never know when you're going to get wet. There's also the boat-building workshop there, and canoeing. Really nice. A little further down, on the end of another pier, is a giant working water wheel that's an art installation called "Long Time." At night, it's lit up really beautifully. Our runs are usually more regimented, so there's no time to explore the piers like that, so it was cool. But I was starting to feel uncomfortable as it got darker -- it's not as lit up east of 57th St. as it is on the west -- so even though I could've gone another 15-20 minutes or so, I went home instead. I mapped the route and was a little chagrinned to see that it was shorter than I had thought -- or to put it another way, that I ran slower than I thought. But it's a long run, it's humid, and I forgive myself. A little. I need to not hold back so much during the second half of the long runs, and see if I really do have a little more speed.



Oh, remember how I was talking about taping the floor in the rehearsal room? Here's a picture of part of the floor:

It's hard to tell, because you can't really see the red, but there are two different stages taped out on the floor. This also extends another 4 feet to the left and right. The white and gray represent one set (with a big spiral staircase) and the yellow and red are another set. Looks simple, and in some ways it is, but it took me FOREVER to do. There's always one point you mis-measure, that affects everything, and you don't realize it until you've done a good bit of work.

And I think (fingers crossed) I might have passed one of my steno speed tests! I'll find out tomorrow.

Lastly, I have not forgotten about the Amazon gift certificate challenge, I swear!!!!

more anon, have a good week

MG