winter running

I love running during the winter you guys.

In the winter it's cold, so you don't have to get up super early on the weekend to get your long run in before it's too hot.

And since it's cold, you get to wear running pants. With pants on, no need to shave your legs!

 In the winter it also gets dark really early. So if you work inside at a desk all day like me, you never get to be out in the sun during the week. Plus it's cold outside, so you're not spending the weekends sitting outside at cafes or lounging around the pool. You're inside. But with winter running, you get outside! And if you don't go super early in the morning, there is often sun! So it makes the long winters much more bearable.

In the winter there are no leaves on the trees. This actually has a drawback, in case you're out running and need to step off the road for a pit stop. Less coverage. On the other hand, it gives you a chance to catch some mountain views you might otherwise not get to see.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I think running in the cold is also better on pesky joints and IT bands that otherwise might get a little more swollen. Less need for ice baths if it's already below freezing out!

And let's be honest, running through the winter lets you feel just a little bit like a badass.

Running in Santa Fe

While I was home in Santa Fe for the holidays I kept up my 3-4 days of running per week.

My first run was a few days after I'd arrived. I planned out 8 miles, but after I'd been outside and gone about 2.5 miles toward downtown on a rail trail, I decided to cut it short. I thought maybe the altitude and the fact I hadn't run in four days was making it difficult. But as soon as I turned around it started to feel a lot better, and I picked up my pace. I think the real problem was cold wind rushing in my face, which I hadn't really noticed until I was finally going away from the wind. So I decided to go a little longer and made it to 6.5 miles.

Heading north on a rail trail through town.

My next two runs were both 3 miles on a treadmill at my parents' gym. Then the Sunday after Christmas I did an 8-mile long run outside again. I started on the same rail trail as before but went all the way downtown and came back a different way. Once again it was harder going north but got easier and faster on the way back. This run was also in sixteen-degree weather. Around the 3-mile mark I went for a sip of my sports drink and saw it was freezing where it leaks around the lid. Yikes.

Brrr.

Ran across Billy the Kid wearing a bike helmet!

My last two runs were 4 and 5 miles back on the treadmill at the gym. That last day I had been hoping to get outside on another trail, but the forecast was for really cold temps plus wind and clouds, and since the trail wasn't paved or near roads I decided maybe it wasn't the best idea to risk getting stuck out there and dying of hypothermia. Instead I stared at the trail (which happens to go right by the gym) out the window from the treadmill and cursed myself each time I saw a runner or cyclist go by. The sun had come out and I didn't see any wind, so I would have been fine. Sigh.

Pretty nice view from the treadmill though...

When I got back from New Mexico I spent a few days in Richmond, where I ran 3 miles Friday and 10 Saturday. And starting today I'm officially in marathon-training mode!

Christmas

I just spent almost two weeks in Santa Fe for Christmas. It was nice to take a break and hang out with family.

My brother Ryan had to work for Christmas and wasn't there for the actual holiday, but he was there for a few days the weekend before. I hadn't been planning to arrive until the 23rd, but I changed my flight and went out on the 20th so our visits would overlap a little.

It was great to see Ryan, and it was also nice to see his dog Tess! I love her.

Walking Tess!

Since all four of us were together (for only a day and a half, sadly) we opened our presents early after mom made burritos, a family favorite.

Ryan on the plaza.

On Christmas Eve my grandparents came over and we had our traditional posole and tamales for dinner. Then Dad and I bundled up and headed out to walk Canyon Road.

Farolitos and art.

Dad chatting with a rabbit.

On Christmas morning my grandparents came over again for breakfast and tree. Later in the day more relatives came over for Christmas dinner. It was a good day.

Teaching Granddad about selfies.

Grandmother, too.

Checking out the tree. I love our Christmas tree. (But Ryan decorated it this year before I arrived and he skimped a little on the ornaments.)

After Christmas I hung out with my parents a lot. We went to the gym a few times, ate out several times, saw three movies, went to a concert, visited a museum, walked around Christmas lights at the botanical garden in the freezing cold, and hung out at home watching tv.

A Christmas burrito at Tomasita's.

Plus a sopapilla with honey for dessert.

Waiting for a movie to start.

We hung out with my grandparents again the day before I left. And that evening, which was New Year's Eve, my parents and I went out for one last New Mexican dinner before having a low-key night at home.

It was a good trip.

It's a good event, but I still don't like 5ks.

On December 6 I met up with friends at Monticello and ran their Holiday Classic 5k. I ran it two years ago, and that was my 5k PR. I don't run many 5ks though (other than the Montalto Challenge). That's because 5ks are hard. I'd much rather run long and slow than short and fast. Ouch.

Anyway, I got to the visitor center and picked up my bib, then took the shuttle up to The House. Two friends were also running, and another two were volunteering.

Twins! (Coincidentally. We took off our jackets to run though.)

It was chilly.

I jogged around on the mountaintop to try and get a warmup in. That's key (for me) for not dying during a 5k and actually having a decent chance of going fast.

Part of the course, right through TJ's garden.

A backward view from the course of TJ's vineyards and Montalto.

The race started at 8:45. I was going to attempt another PR, even though I haven't been doing any speed work lately. The course runs around Monticello, the gardens, down some roundabouts on the mountain, down part of the Saunders-Monticello Trail, and back up the trail to the parking lot of the visitor's center. The terrain included pavement, gravel, wood chips, and boardwalk. I managed to keep up a decent pace most of the way, but then came a dreaded side cramp. Around mile 2 I decided to take a walking break. That's pretty pathetic for a 5k, but I hoped it would make the cramp go away so I could continue running. Which sort of worked. I finished 8 seconds slower than my PR. Stupid cramp.

Happy finishers. They both won prizes.

In other running news, I registered for the Blue Ridge Marathon in April again. I've been running about three days a week, but as soon as Christmas is over I will start training for realz. (Though I haven't figured out a plan yet.) I'm not nearly as excited and obsessed with it like I was two years ago, but I think it will be good as long as my body holds up. Last Saturday I ran up Observatory Hill once for kicks, and it helped me get excited to work on hills and mountains again.

upstairs

Last night I had a little housewarming party. It was a nice mix of coworkers and friends. There were lots of good things to eat and people sat in all my new living room furniture. Since I had the house all ready for visitors to poke around, I took a few pictures of the upstairs and I'll now finally share them with you.

This weekend I got a new lamp for my room and hung up some pictures, so it's finally put together. (I'm still looking for a headboard though.)

My new bed, mirror, and bedside table (which is part of a matching set of side tables but the other one is in the living room).

My old dresser that I painted, along with a new Ikea mirror.

The mid-century modern piece that started my love for mcm furniture. The pictures were taken out of a calendar and hung in Ikea frames made for record albums.

The other two rooms upstairs are much smaller than my master bedroom. The guest room has my old bed, along with little tables I already had.

Visit me and you could sleep here!

The third room is my office. So far I've only used it to pay bills and be on the computer. It has potential for being a cozy place to write my dissertation, but unfortunately I don't usually write at my desk.

The desk my grandpa fixed up for me back when I moved to Raleigh, and two bookshelves I already had. In the other corner (not pictured) is a lateral filing cabinet my aunt passed down to me. I haven't actually organized or filed anything yet though...

So there you have it, the three rooms upstairs!

Grateful for Friends

The last few weekends I've had fun times with friends. Sometimes finding and making and keeping friends can be hard when you're grown and don't live near high school or college friends, so I am especially grateful for the friends and community I've been able to make and find in the last couple of years.

One friend's parents recently bought a vacation home in Wintergreen, so five of us girls went there on a Friday night. We hung out that evening snacking and playing Ticket to Ride. The next day we made breakfast, went for a short hike, got in the hot tub, and then drove back to Charlottesville and enjoyed a late lunch outdoors. It was nice both to hang out with girls for a sleepover and to get outside.

Last weekend I made the four-hour trek to Raleigh on Friday after work for a Halloween party with friends I made during grad school. I hadn't been back to Raleigh in several years, and going to the party was sort of like a blast from the past with the same crew. The next night we went to a restaurant for Octoberfest and I got to hang out with my friend Elizabeth from school. It was really nice to catch up with her.

I was a gumball machine! The guy on the left is from Jaws. The guy on the right appears to be a creepy gas station attendant.

With my friend Ryan, aka the Kool-Aid Man.

Last weekend my friends S and B got married! Friday night I hung out with them a little after their rehearsal dinner, Saturday was the wedding, and Sunday morning was a lovely brunch. It was a great weekend of hanging out with, and celebrating, friends.

Weekend in Baltimore

Last week my dad came to visit! We had fun.

He hung out around town while I worked Thursday, and then Friday we went to Baltimore so I could run a half marathon.

We took the train. I thought the first couple hours were fun and the scenery was beautiful. But then after some delay and impatience I was ready to arrive already. And then we did, around 3pm.
 

Welcome!

We took the light rail to the convention center and then walked a few blocks to our hotel in the Inner Harbor. We checked in and dropped off our bags, then headed back out. We ate (finally) at the Pratt Street Ale House. Then we went to the race expo so I could get my race packet, and I bought a new belt that would fit my phone plus some food. Then we walked around and explored the harbor.

After all that walking my feet were ready to stop walking, since I had a race to look forward to in the morning. We had dessert at a restaurant and then headed back to the hotel. I was still able to hang out and relax a bit before going to sleep at 10pm.

Saturday morning I got up, ate my bagel with peanut butter, banana, orange juice, and coffee, and then was ready to go run a half marathon! Our hotel was right across the street from the start line, which was awesome. I went to the start, while Dad headed in the opposite direction so he could see me later along the course. We took off at 8:45.

I was in the first wave, and started pretty close to the front. Which meant lots of people passed me in the beginning as I forced myself to take the first mile easy.

I trained enough to safely run a half marathon, but I didn't necessarily train to be really fast. I still planned to attempt a PR though. (Spoiler: I did it!) Luckily the course was relatively flat. And sometimes there were good not-too-steep downhills and I was able to go faster than intended. I succeeded at negative splits, too!

Dad and I planned to see each other three times along the course. There were over 8,500 runners doing the half marathon (which eventually joined up with the full marathon course), and Dad was worried about finding me. But I knew we'd be fine as long as he was where we planned, since I'd be looking for him, too. Unfortunately he missed the first spot, but he was there as planned just before mile 5.

I ate a GU at mile 3.5 and started eating chews at mile 7. I also carried a little bottle of Gatorade and refilled it every once in a while at water stops. I felt pretty strong the whole time. I made sure to look around and enjoy the scenery, I loved reading the funny signs and appreciated the cheers along the way, and I grinned ear to ear as I ran past two women blaring Hairspray's "Good Morning Baltimore." I saw Dad again at mile 12.

The last couple miles I was getting kinda worn down, and while I wasn't really able to kick it even faster for the last mile I did manage to hang on to my pace. It felt like it took forever to actually get to the finish line though, because there was a big crowd and photographers right before we entered Camden Yards and I thought maybe that was it, but then we went through Camden Yards, which was a little lonely with very few spectators. When we got out of there the crowd picked up but the line was still a little ways off. Man oh man I was ready to stop. But I felt happy because I knew I would finish under 1:57, which was my PR from my very first half marathon.

The elusive finish line.

I finished in 1:55:12! My pace (according to my Garmin, which says I ran 13.35 miles) was 8:39. That's pretty exciting for me. I came in 77 in my division (out of 897), 416 for my gender (out of 5158), and 1306 overall (out of 8643).

I sat and stretched in the finisher area and ate some snacks, then met up with Dad (who was walking from that mile 12 point). Finishers got beer tickets, so I shared with him.

Finally we headed back to the hotel so I could shower and rest a little. Eventually we headed back out and walked to Fell's Point, where we had mussels and paella for our early dinner. After more walking we ended the night with dessert at another restaurant. (We sure ate well during Dad's whole visit.)

Sunday we got up and headed out to the National Aquarium. We saw all the fish and animals, and watched the 4D movie on sea monsters.

After the aquarium we still had some time to kill before our train, so we went to another seafood place for a good lunch. Then we grabbed our bags at the hotel and took a cab (Dad's first!) to the train station. Adios Baltimore, it was fun.

Back in Charlottesville Sunday night, Dad and I ate cheese and crackers and guacamole and chips and grapes while watching tv. Monday I went to work while he hung out on his own again. We ate dinner at the Local, followed by an evening of hanging up pictures around my house. Tuesday morning we went out to brunch before I dropped him off at the airport.

So my plan to run a half marathon as an excuse to have a mini-vacation with my dad was a success! And the PR was a nice bonus.

downtown sighting

I know you guys were hoping I'd post another picture of a pistachio shell sighting soon.

my first century!

Saturday I spent nine and a half hours on a bike ride doing the Culpeper Cycling Century. It was pretty fun.

JoAnne came to pick me up at 6:45 in the morning and I scrambled to get all my things ready to go. (Biking takes a lot of things.) We drove to downtown Culpeper and then scrambled some more to get our ride packets, use the porta potties, and get our bikes ready. Race bib on, tires pumped, sunscreen applied, socks and cycle shoes on, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses on, cue sheet and map folded and in my pocket, water bottles and computer on the bike, and voila! Ready to ride (five minutes later than the 8:30 start time).

Getting ready.

JoAnne and I have been riding together for several weekends now, and somehow I have been designated to always ride in front. I made a big effort to take it easy in the beginning, knowing that we didn't want to get worn out too soon. We had a lot of miles and many hills ahead of us. We also made sure to stop at every rest stop, which were set up about every 15 miles. They were well stocked with snacks and drinks and a couple even had real bathrooms!

Hitching post at Brightwood Store

Eating all the snacks!

The ride was really beautiful. Parts of the route were the same as the Tour de Madison I did earlier this year. The weather was also just about perfect. A couple times we got chilly (usually after restarting from a rest stop), but we warmed up. And a couple times it got windy, but it wasn't too bad.

Look how pretty!

At mile 58 we got boxed lunches. My legs were pretty sore at that point and I was grateful for a chance to stretch out and sit down. But after our break we were back on the road!

The event included a 35 and a 65 mile option, which split off from us. At our lunch stop it became very clear to us that we were probably the last of the hundred milers. There had been a few other people at that stop, and we saw two guys again at the next stop, but by about mile 75 we knew we were in the very rear. But we just kept riding.

A few miles before the last stop at mile 92 the SAG vehicle pulled up next to us to tell us the last stop had closed. Then the guy said it was five o'clock. What?!? Where did the time go? I thought it was around 3:30. Time flies when you're having fun. The SAG guy asked if we were going to be okay or if we wanted him to call a truck to come get us.

You guys, the event was over and the SAG truck was ready to drive us back to our car. How did this happen? We had no idea we were so slow. This was embarrassing. But there was no way we were going to let them take us off the road. We were going to ride one hundred miles no matter what. So we told the guy we'd be fine and rode on to the next stop for a break anyway, planning to eat our own snacks. But a different SAG vehicle (the truck) met us there and this new guy offered us snacks and drinks. He was nice. We felt really bad for his having to be with us, and we offered to take off our bib numbers and just ride on like two strangers unrelated to the event. But he said no, this happens every year. And then he proceeded to ride just ahead of us the entire last nine miles with his yellow lights flashing.

We were basically escorted back into town. Again, embarrassing. But we also found the whole situation hilarious. It's always a joking fear in races that one will get picked up by the SAG truck if you can't meet the cutoff time. It never really occurred to us that we wouldn't make the cutoff time. Guess I shouldn't have taken it so easy in the beginning. And we shouldn't have spent so much time at each stop. Lessons learned.

Anyway, the nice SAG guy met us at the car after we'd completed all 101 miles on our own. He took our picture (in front of a pretty empty parking lot, since everyone else was long gone) and gave us a recommendation on where to get some food.

We did it!

Sure we were tired and I was a little sore, but overall we were in great shape. (That's a perk to taking our time!) We had averaged 13.5 mph, which isn't that great but don't forget there were lots of hills (a 5,750 ft. elevation gain). I think we were both plenty pleased with how it all went, despite the SAG escort. And of course if either of us decides to do another century (likely), we'll pick up the pace.

(For JoAnne's version and extra photos, see her post here!)