catherine's running efforts

I was going to go to the Salt Lake City Track Club speed workout this morning for the first time, but when I got there (after I figured out how to get into the track area (I made it harder than it needed to be)) there were only about three people, and they all seemed to be doing their own thing. I asked one of them, and she said that most people had come at 7:00. I guess I misunderstood the email, website, and newsletter that all said 8:00. Oh well. 

Instead, I ran three laps around the park in my beautiful and almost perfect Kinvaras. They feel so speedy and light! Not as roomy as my Launches (but the next size up was way too big), and there's a part on the left shoe that kind of cuts into my ankle bone, but overall I'm really really happy with them (so far). My goal for the run was to keep my average pace under 8:20, and it ended up being 7:59.

As I was running I was trying to keep a pace that was a little faster than super easy but not so fast that I'd get tired, and I thought about how probably everyone who's improved/gotten fast/met their goals has had to push beyond what's comfortable and easy. Then I thought about the dissertation that I still haven't written (but that was supposed to be done about a year ago). I think I keep waiting to want to do it like I want to read a book or watch a movie or TV show or take a nap or work on a hobby or any of the other million things that always seem to be a better idea when I have free time. But obviously it's not going to get done that way, just like I won't ever be able to qualify for Boston if I don't try to run farther or faster than what feels easy.

I've tried setting dissertation goals with my adviser, with friends, and even with a therapist (I can't write that without thinking about Arrested Development), but so far I haven't made more than a couple weeks of progress over the last couple of years. But since FRB has helped me feel more accountable for my running goals, maybe I can kind of use it for dissertation goals. So today I'm setting a goal that's realistic but not super easy - to complete a proposal draft by the end of August.

Liberty Park loop. Unhappy tummy.

I was a little shell-shocked after yesterday's 3-emergency-bathroom-stops run, so today I just did a mile with Eric after he got home from his ride. I hope he gets un-broken soon so that we can run together more.

Memory Grove loop from work at lunch. Eric came and ran with us and then surprised me with flowers and chocolate-covered cinnamon bears because it's our six monthiversary. He's the best. :)

Then a quick mile on the treadmill in between work and dinner with Eric. The weird lady was on the treadmill next to me. She told me that she doesn't have my build because she's a swimmer (who has won over 50 gold medals in the olympics), that in eight years she's going to marry someone whose name I think I should have recognized (he's currently a cardinal), and something about how she had detonated. (I don't know what she meant, but someone saying something about detonation while running on a treadmill reminds me of that line in The Runner's Rulebook about how the author imagines that passing gas while running is like having little jet propulsions.)