Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Finished the Lawyers Have Heart 10k this morning (an hour and 8 or 9 minutes – I forgot to hit the stop button when I zipped over the finish line and they haven’t posted results yet). Ran for the first 4 miles or so, then took some walking breaks. It was made pleasant for those first 4 miles by a young law student who decided to chat with me about triathlons (I was wearing a club shirt). She had a good pace and we ran pretty well together, which was nice. I finally let her go when I needed to drop down out of zone 4 and back into zone 3 with some walk breaks. Glad I did the race, I needed the experience, even if it did mean I didn’t go out last night.

One thing that annoyed me was that they used a new disposable timing chip system – as if Championchip’s resuable chips weren’t good enough. So now we all have a piece of miniature electronics and plastic to throw away. Ugh. I’m going to send a polite note to the race organizers expressing my displeasure over the waste.

Popped down to the parade this evening. Dear heavens but that took forever. The sun had been down over half an hour and floats and groups were still coming past the reviewing stand. Someone needs to work on their timing. Or start the thing earlier. Or something, because N and I finally gave up and went to meet the typing pool for dinner down on P street. Took a lot of pictures, not sure if any are worth anything. Did discover my backup battery had no charge (whoops!), so those are getting charged now and in the morning before tomorrow’s day at the festival. My plan is to spend pretty much all day down there seeing folks, chatting and what not. I always prefer the festival over the parade because the pace is more leisurely and it’s not such a logistical mess.

In the meantime, I’m going to try and get up and get in a bike ride in the morning, as well as hitting the work ATM so I don’t have to pay fees. Sunscreen galore for tomorrow, too. No sense getting more fried than I need to.

I think the theme of this past week has been “yes, I’m incredibly tired and I’m so, so, so, so, so, so ready to go on vacation now, thankyouverymuch.” It’s been difficult to motivate myself to do much of anything.

Sort-of prepped for a 10k on Saturday, then likely planning to go watch the parade Saturday evening, and perhaps find myself out and about somewhere later that evening. Sunday is of course the festival, and I plan to go down and try not to get too sunburnt.

Also more than a wee bit tired of the daily thunderstorms now. With one exception they’ve all been in the evening this past week so have (theoretically) not interfered with my workouts, but I’m still a bit tired of the light shows and the wet. And the accompanying humidity. Not that we shouldn’t expect 198% humidity in DC in June, but still.

Gotten my stuff together, mostly, for California next week. I’m set for a ride to Wildwood, have made a couple plans to see folks, but will need to be making calls & dropping notes this upcoming week to try and set a few more things up. Looking forward to the Tut exhibit at the De Young, and the zoo, and yarn shopping. And, most of all, just not being at work for two full weeks. I need the down time from it or I’m going to seriously go nuts. I’m very, very glad I planned this trip and got it approved back in December, because it’s coming at a perfect time to get the heck out of Dodge.

Finished the Columbia triathlon in 3:35:30, about 2 minutes slower than last year. Will write up a full race report later. In the meantime, shower, FOOD, and maybe a nap.

My stomach has started the pre-race jitters dance this morning. I’ve gotten up, taken delivery of a chair I ordered a couple months back (and yay for prompt delivery people – window was 8 to 12 and he was here at 2 after 8!), started assembling my race gear, and put the bike rack on the back of the mini. Weather today is sticky, and threatening rain. Tomorrow looks to be cool and damp (arm warmers have been put in the gear pile).

Once I get packet pick-up and bike drop-off done here in a bit, it’s home to finish packing, clean, and generally try to go over the race day and how things are going to go (visualizing transition is a good thing). Get to try the wet suit on and see how tight it’s going to be this year – I’ve not worn it since last July-ish, and I gained a few pounds over the non-running part of last year which haven’t quite come off yet. With it looking to be damp tomorrow I’m glad I got the new, lighter shades. Lighter in terms of tint, that is – wanted something for dimmer conditions like pre-dawn rides where the sun would be coming up, and I’d want some protection once it did, but not the full dark of my normal sunglasses. They’re perfect for this weather, protecting but not obscuring.

Will try to crash shortly after sunset this evening since I have to get up around 4 to get ready and get up to Columbia for the race in the morning. Gonna be a long day tomorrow.

This morning I mapped out my long runs for the next month, up to Columbia on the 17th of May. It’s ambitious, but doable. I do wish I were in the situation of last spring where I had been at a 10k long distance for months before, but you run with the endurance you have, not the endurance you want, to paraphrase the former head of defense. In the meantime, my hips and ass are complaining about the extra work from the increase in running and biking. They’ll just have to get over it.

Didn’t really mind the rain this morning. We need it, because water levels in the area are still low, and it merely meant I had to bike on the trainer again. Not my favorite way to bike, but better than not biking. And I got to skim through two of the back log of magazines in the magazine pile, which I suppose is a plus.

Chatted today with a co-worker of mine who’s been out on maternity leave, and caught her up on the last couple months of office drama and intrigue. Again, it’s tons of fun being a lawyer at a BGA when the head of the BGA dislikes anyone not in his particular profession, but especially can’t stand the lawyers. I think he views us merely as an obstacle to carry out his work rather than a protection. That might change the first time something goes wrong (and something will go wrong at some point), but we’ll see. I’d bet he’d just blame us for not being vocal enough, despite his efforts to sideline us. Regardless, it was fun to chat with her again; I’d missed having her in the office as she’s the other lawyer who came in the same year I did, albeit several months later (there was a third, but she switched offices).

Dear weather, it’s April, I shouldn’t need to turn my heat on. Stop it.

Dear sinuses, I don’t have time for a cold. Stop it.

Dear allergy meds, you’re not supposed to fail me in the middle of allergy season. Stop it.

Dear work, I don’t have time to get to all the things you keep throwing my way. Stop it.

Dear upcoming race, I’m not ready for you and you’re approaching too quickly. Stop it.

Dear life in general, the whole minor annoyances thing? It’s not working for me. Stop it.

Had an impromptu hill workout on a run this evening since the wind was coming in steady, fast, and directly in my face for half the run. Even lost my visor at one point to a good gust. But it was still a good run, and I’m glad I skipped the swim this evening to do it. I think I’m going to be able to build up to Columbia by the time it rolls around, which is a good thing.

Work was nuts again, though we did get a chance to be helpful on something late this afternoon that’ll have a big impact on our stimulus spending next week. Not that the head of the BGA will appreciate it, but it’s there. At least the initial screwup wasn’t ours.

I was released from some of my previously planned volunteer activities this weekend, so am heading out tonight and may do so again tomorrow, depending on folks’ other plans. That and I must go clothes shopping, since last weekend didn’t pan out. In the meantime, though, it’s time to get out of the house.

All in all a very good Thanksgiving day. Was nice and quiet for most of it. The store this morning was uncrowded and uncharacteristically quick to get out of. The cooking went well, and I took the better of the two batches of cupcakes with me (made 2 dozen). Unfortunately I’ve broken a ring on my icing piper, so it was slathered on by spreader rather than piped nicely, but they did fine.

Side note: I really, really want to make the margarita cupcakes I found in the cookbook while flipping back to the buttercreme frosting recipe.

The dinner itself was fantastic. I took a zucchini risotto as well as the cupcakes (the mushroom selection stunk, so zucchini it was). The bird came out perfect, which the host was rightly proud of. He also thoughtfully saved me a batch of potatoes sans butter/milk, which was much appreciated. The other selections were equally tasty, with lots of good vegetables.

Some Wii was played, and I set Jon’s Wii up (he hadn’t played with it since he’d moved – in June). Next thing you know he’s going to be getting messages via the Wii from a certain someone who will have him registered here shortly. Bwhahahaha. We did warn him what the blinky blue light on the front means now, too.

Got the kitchen cleaned up just now after getting home, so no mess in the morning. Off work early tomorrow, and will plan to stop by the gym after that, swim, and hand in my receipt for the new shoes & lock. Wonder how they’ll do the credit.

Got the news that early registration for the Nation’s Tri opened for DC Tri Club folks, so signed up for that tonight. Hopefully with the stretching I’ve started doing on my feet will keep the PF under control, and keep it from recurring, and I’ll be able to do the race this time around.

It’s a good thing when I remember to take in a ton of water after drinking early in the evening – no hangover this morning. The friend showed up shortly after I posted the last entry, and we got some dinner & got into a showing of Hancock. Not a bad flick, though several of the elements were a little obvious. It would be fun if they did a prequel to the movie, showing his origins.

Foot’s a little better this morning – I had run yesterday, which was probably why it was so sore. Definitely having a full recurrence of the PF, though, so back to the podiatrist next week. I suspect he’ll want to do the ESWT this time, and I think I agree, though it may kill doing the last two races of the season.

Forgot to put on a watch this morning, a rareity for me, so I’m going to be dependent on the electronics fir time telling today. I know there are people who never wear a watch because they always have their cell on them, but I like the familiar weight of a watch on my wrist. It’s part of my normal routine, and more convenient than hauling out the phone.

I think I finally pinned down what it is I’ve been feeling for the past day or so, and that’s lost. Something I considered an anchor (though whether I clung to that anchor for the right reasons is a whole other story) is gone, and I’m doing the usual soul-searching that comes from such an upheaval.

And it’s not particularly fun.

This on the heels of just having had a “what do you want to do with your life” talk with my supervisor, going over advancement possibilities, and thinking about what else I might want to do with my career. I’m fairly happy with my job, though I will admit these days to being somewhat bored with it, too. Same old issues, same old fights, and in some ways a new crew of managers coming in (not in my office, but in others I deal with) who are not quite as pleasant to work with as the ones I deal with daily now. Do I want to stick with that? But what else would I do? So frustrating.

It doesn’t help me that I’m horrible at cultivating a support network. I don’t reach out to folks as I might, and I don’t really go outside myself when dealing with a problem (save for venting here). “My problems are my problems,” my little brain says to me, “and they’re for me to deal with, alone, until they’re taken care of.” And that’s not always the best solution. In fact, it’s probably rarely the best solution. I work, maybe I go exercise, I come home, I veg, I maybe chat online, but that’s it. And I don’t think that’s enough for me.

I’m also very seriously reconsidering the IM in November. My parents are iffy, because Dad’s going to have some surgery around then and so they don’t know if they’ll be able to travel out. BC won’t be coming, obviously. And frankly, the idea of going out there for a week and coming across that finish line for something that big with no one there to greet me, celebrate with me, or just to see it happen is just not an appealing one. Yes, I wanted to do it because it’s a challenge, but I’m not sure if I like the cost at this point.