GO RED SOX!

My heart races and I'm sick to my stomach - it must be another Red Sox v Yankees nail-biter.

Lordy, here we go again. And it ain't over 'till it's over, only this time there's the playoffs on the line.

UGH.

I don't think I can watch - somebody let me know when it's over.

September Survived

Yippeeeeeeeeeeee! It's over! I survived! WHEW, I'm tired.

Normally, I don't wish the time away, but I am greatly relieved this month is over. My schedule remains busy, but not AS busy thankfully as we head into October. :)

My trip to North Carolina was good . . . I thought the presentation went well, but was clearly not what everybody in the audience expected. SIGH. That's okay though - I can only control my part, not theirs.

My audition before my trip also went okay - I thought the first side went very well, especially after I got some adjustments from the director. I think I blew it with my second side.

Hope springs eternal, however, as I have two more auditions in the next two weeks. So say your prayers and keep your fingers crossed for me.

Tomorrow I run 20 miles. Say your prayers and keep your fingers crossed for THAT too.

My housemate and I are working on our Katrina dog foster application - a few 'i's to dot and 't's to cross, but we remain hopeful. I so want to do this!

Not much else to tell at this point . . . I'm just enjoying a day that isn't crammed with more things than I can accomplish, September ending, and taking a deep breath before October begins.

Green Festival

I'm a tree-hugger. Okay, not exactly - but I definitely believe in preserving our environment and today, after I finish some work, I'm off with a couple of friends to the Green Festival.

I went last year and had a great time. The festival has lots of information about living and buying more "green". There are exhibits, information booths, lectures and free samples. The knowledge about global warming, alternative fuels, green homes, etc is out there - and up for grabs at the festival. Too bad we can't force Congress to attend.

I mean, really. We have a system in DC for the terror level - AND for the AIR QUALITY. Doesn't that tell the boys club something? At all? Apparently not.

It sure tells me something. I pay close attention to the air quality report - especially when I'm training - and pretty much ignore the terror level all the time. I'm not alone in my thinking, either. Shouldn't that tell the boys club something as well?

Fortunately, the air quality is good today and made for an easy 8 miler this morning. It's overcast and cooler, and though it looks like it wants to rain, it hasn't yet. We haven't had rain in a month and those poor folks in the gulf are water-logged again. It just isn't right.

At least I can do something about it in my own small way. I can live green - take public transportation (which I do), recycle (which I also do), buy green products and invest in renewable resources. My next car is going to be a hybrid unless the technology improves enough that gas is no longer needed. Imagine that! And imagine our air quality then. We'd sure have a lot more "code green" days. I wouldn't have to pay attention to the air quality level - I could just go out and run and not worry that it would feel like a cat was on my chest the whole way.

So I'm off to the Green Festival and praying for code green next Saturday when we run 20 miles.

Friday Frustrations

It's Friday and I'm frustrated.

I'm frustrated by yesterday's audition (what the hell am I doing wrong?). I'm frustrated by my speed work not happening (yup, it's official, I will NOT be participating in any speed work because in two weeks it's OVER - I will refrain from commenting on the folks at AIDS Marathon until I've cooled off). I'm frustrated by work (too much to do, too little time). I'm frustrated by my present lack of social life (don't even get me started on match.com - ugh). I'm frustrated my red hair has FADED! I'm just friggin' frustrated!

So . . . tonight after the frustrating poetry event - being made even more frustrating by certain individuals - I'm going drinking. Yup. Going with a friend who's feeling Karmically challenged at the moment and possibly another friend who's feeling sinus pressure and we are getting un-frustrated!

Of course, tomorrow is a run day . . . so I may be REALLY frustrated at 7 AM. But it will have been worth it.

Surviving September

I think September comes in like a lion and then STAYS that way.

Maybe it has something to do with the start of the new school year. Maybe it is kissing summer and vacation goodbye. Maybe it has to do with ancient memories of harvesting. I don't know, but what I do know is that I once again feel as if I am barely holding on and must survive September.

My teaching has started at both NIH and Rockville so besides the time I spend in the classroom, I have prep work and a longer commute. Days I teach I leave the house before 7 AM and don't return until after 10 PM regularly. I'm still at the Folger and things are certainly picking up there now that the season is under way. So the juggling of three jobs has been and continues to be a constant.

But let's look at what's been added to it just this week: two auditions, a seminar in North Carolina (that still needs to be polished), lunch with my sister, and a visiting Aunt. OH, and a broken down car that's costing me over $400 to fix.

And of course I can't let my training lapse. So somewhere in there I need to squeeze in a couple of maintenance runs and then there's the speed work.

Wait a minute - WHAT SPEED WORK? Okay, I'm going to digress for a moment because I'm still a little ticked off.

As I've been talking about since the beginning of the blog, I was planning on participating in the Advanced Training Program which basically meant adding speed work to my training. I was excited because I thought it might improve my time and I could actually break the four hour mark. Since July I have been trying to coordinate with the office when I can actually begin this advanced training. Finally, in a desperate move, I spoke to one of the coaches and he said to just show up on Sunday.

So show up I did. And NOBODY was there. So either I had the TRACK wrong (which as far as I know American University only has ONE) or the TIME wrong (training has always been at 7 AM). Naturaully, I shot off an e-mail that "expressed my frustration" over the whole thing.

So today I get an e-mail saying that the training was meant for the Marine Corps Marathon runners, not Honolulu but if I want to attend the last two I can. WHAT? The LAST TWO? But the marathon is over two months away!!!!

Well, I have now sent an e-mail to somebody named Cal (who has some responsibility with the speed work) asking if there are indeed only two sessions left and if I should even bother. I'm a bit pissed off, but clearly if this is the end of the program then there is nothing I can do about it.

SIGH.

I guess surviving September means sucking it up - in more ways than one.

Breaking Through the Wall

So I ran 18 on Saturday. Not a bad run, except that at mile 16 my side started cramping. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way.

Coach R. was with us (he really likes running with our group - we're fast enough and, more importantly, fun enough) when I cramped up and our exchange went something like this:

Coach: What did you have for dinner last night?
Me: Thai food.
Coach: Did you eat late or early?
Me: Late.
Coach: Did you eat more than you usually eat?
Me: Yes.

Three strikes, you're out. Actually, the Thai food wasn't a problem, it was that I loaded a night too late. Come to find out (and I consider this lesson a very late one for me since this is my sixth marathon), you should eat your big meal two nights before a long run. Also, you shouldn't eat too much or too late the night before a run. SO . . . though I did the exact same thing for the 16-miler that felt so good, I wasn't able to repeat it.

The article linked to the title has lots of good advice for those later miles that seem to haunt me. I am working on eating during my longer runs and learning to drink sports drinks along the way, too. I eat my breakfast and am now wondering how I'm going to do THAT when the marathon begins at 5 AM! I will have to wake up at 3 AM to eat and drink and all that good stuff. I guess I'll have to prepare it the night before, too, since I doubt room service delivers at that hour (and my friends who are joining me probably wouldn't appreciate a middle-of-the-night delivery).

Runner's World actually has lots of good advice about marathon training. One of the things it discusses is speed work which I am FINALLY starting this weekend! I'm a little nervous . . . don't quite know why, but assume it's the unknown and being physically tested and all that. Plus, I'm really going to miss Team Tegla! I so enjoy running with them and I will miss the easy runs of 8 - 10 miles.

The change in weather has made my maintenance runs easier and more pleasant. Even Zoe is enjoying getting out there.

And, since my schedule has radically changed, it looks as if I might get to try out the advice in the linked article about running at the same time the marathon happens. UGH. 5 AM. Ugly ugly ugly, but possibly necessary considering my crazy schedule. It won't be easy since I'm getting home so late, but since I haven't been sleeping well anyway . . . why not?

So . . . I continue to read and try and test and train. And hopefully I will break through that wall and break my personal best.

New Roommate?

Well, we've heard from our first "displaced" person from Katrina regarding our offer to house somebody. I'm surprised to have heard so soon and my housemate and I are eager to speak with him. We called and left a message for him only minutes ago.

Of course we have lots of questions. We worry about personal and property safety, we worry we'll be scammed, and we worry about being too careful! It's not easy opening your home to a stranger, but fortunately between the two of us we feel we can ask enough of the right kind of questions to ease our mind and make the right decision.

I so want this to work out!

Last night I woke up at 4:30 (nothing like the sound of cats in heat to wake you from a deep sleep) and from that point on could not stop thinking about Katrina and the frightening mess it left in its wake.

I keep thinking of that poor dog swimming after the press boat wanting to be rescued and being left behind. I keep thinking of the AWFUL photos of the folks who died violent deaths at the hands of other people while waiting to be rescued. I keep thinking of how our government keeps pointing fingers at everybody else and won't stand up and be accountable for its negligence! I am so angry and cannot believe the spin doctors are in place trying to smooth over the deaths of probably tens of thousands. I realize we are not responsible for the damage mother nature did (with the exception of the levee issue, but let's leave that for now) - but we ARE responsible for the damage that happened after the storm passed.

Stand up Mr. President and take on some of the blame. You are our commander in chief and I expect MORE from you. Tell your "buddy" Mr. Roberts to look for another job (because he was never qualified for it to begin with) and start working with the mayors and governors of those southern red states who put their trust in you and voted for you instead of trying to usurp their power. This was a human disaster of biblical proportions - surely you can understand that much.

If I HAD a senator or a congress-person I would be on the phone making my complaint heard. But of course, as a resident of this nation's capital, I have no voice. All I can do is wait for the next presidential election and do my damnedest to make certain your party is no longer calling 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home.

And of course, I can offer up my little study to somebody without a home. Funny, I bet NONE of our great leaders with their big homes have done the same. It's all of us "little people" who make the real difference. Those in power that preach the Christian way don't very often act it. Isn't the expression "What would Jesus do?" I have a good idea what the answer to that is . . . but I don't imagine the powers that be have even bothered to ASK it.

It's a good thing I have an 18 mile run tomorrow . . . I'm going to need every one of those miles to release some of this anger and frustration . . . 'cause I'm pissed.

Housing Available

Well, we've done it. My housemate and I have applied at the above link to temporarily house a victim of hurricane Katrina. Both of us are feeling very good about our decision and the fact that we have taken action. Who knows if anybody will actually take advantage of our small study, but at least we've made it available!

We've also applied to foster a dog! Neither of us could bear the stories we were reading about the rescue efforts of our four-legged family members and decided that, too, would be the right thing to do.

So we sit and wait and hope.

In the meantime, I got in an easy eight miles on Saturday and am preparing myself for 18 this Saturday.

I'm also steeling myself for the onslaught of work. Starting this week, I begin juggling three jobs while continuing to train, audition, and try to have a social life.

No luck with match.com thus far . . . not that I haven't had offers, but they haven't been any I've been interested in. Naturally, the one guy I'm interested in doesn't seem to be readily available in that I don't hear from him much.

That's about it from THIS filled in swamp. I have nothing to say about the village idiot running (or is it ruining?) the country because I have TOO MUCH to say about him. Where even to begin?

Sun, Rain, and Hurricane

I really don't know where to begin here . . . the world seems a bit topsy-turvy since I returned.

So I'll work chronologically from my perspective.

Saturday morning was a 16-miler for all of us AIDS Marathoners and let me just say what a difference from 14! We ran most of the way in a cool, light rain and we ran happy and healthy. I was surprised how easy 16 was compared to two weeks ago when we ran two miles less. The weather makes a huge difference - obviously. Normally I don't enjoy running in the rain, but because this wasn't a heavy downpour or really cold, I have to say I actually enjoyed it.

Then I left for Fenwick Island and had a great mini-vacation. Highlights were: happy hours and snacks on the screened-in-porch, kayaking on the bay, swimming in the surf (was it ever strong!), running on a near deserted beach with Zoe, poking around Rehobeth and riding the rides (I loved the CHAOS ride - thanks to S and his antics), CRABS, and a nice swim in the pool. Yesterday was crazy windy and I figured Katrina was making her way up the East Coast . . . pelting me and my friends with sand and churning up the surf. Aside from the wind, it was pretty much a perfect vacation except that it had to end. The TV never went on so we blissfully enjoyed our time away from reality.

I returned to a full dose of it today. I'm bewildered and shocked by Katrina's devastation in the Gulf and cannot comprehend the behavior of some of the people down there. I cannot comprehend it because I cannot comprehend their situation, but it's appalling from where I sit and watch. I'm not judging (or at least TRYING not to), just awed and dismayed by it all.

A friend of mine's husband has gone down with a Red Cross relief truck. We got our first update this evening and he's already experiencing frustration and heartache and he hasn't even arrived at his destination yet.

How do you help? How do you make a difference in the lives of the people who lost everything except their lives? Yes, give money. It feels so insignificant. Of course it adds up, but I would rather be a woman of action than one just sitting here watching and waiting, hoping I've done enough and knowing it's probably not.

And naturally I think about the animals, too. Who will help them? In some ways they are probably better equipped to survive something as wretched as this . . . and in other ways they are totally dependent on us to save them.

It feels so damn hopeless that I wish I had never left the beach. Ignorance is bliss indeed.