Week 7: More break.

(Monday, 24 December)
GG park with I. Saw some sweet plants, touched a pigeon, ran up a hill named Strawberry. Was surprisingly getting tired by the end. We were probably running faster than I thought, because every time I tried to yap I was really really out of breath.

(Tuesday, 25 December)
Easy half hour in the PM, which was better than nothing. The only observation I made of note was that Piedmont is *filled* with Priuses. It's like the new Volvo station wagon. Also, I'm very sincerely grateful this holiday season to have people in my life that can spell the word "ridiculous", because I never can.

(Wednesday, 26 December)
The Gate to BV and back with Ian. Cold! Hands were quite stiff even after they warmed up. Ran relatively steady but harder on the way out than the way back - I have no stamina any more! Nice to see lots of folks and cute dogs up there though. I. confirms that this run is about 7.5.

About 500m to go while I was ambling downhill at a respectable rate, a little yappie dog tripped up my foot so that I was sailing through the air towards some rather pointy rocks. The thought flashed into my head that "this is going to be very, very bad" and I hoped desperately not to break any bones or tear any knee ligaments. My hand flew up to grab Ian by the shoulder (presumably my subconscious was plotting to bring him down underneath me and break my fall. After all, being already gimpy, isn't he expendable?). My plan was FOILED, however, by his strength and/or sure-footedness, and instead he steadied me mid-flight for just long enough for me to bring the dog-tripped-up foot down underneath me. And we moseyed on. It was epic.

Conclusion: there's like eleven million alternate universes that split off from this one in that moment, and in all of them I ended up eating it. I'm just glad to be in the one where everything is okay.

(Thursday, 27 December)
Cross country skiing with JStan. Kirkwood is great! Drive was no problem, and the snow was... snow... and I had a sweet wool sweater on so I wasn't cold. If I lived in a cold place, I think I would spend half the time snowshoeing when it was snowing (you can do it running but I suspect it would mess up the knees or something) and half the snow time cross country skiing. We also had fondue, completing the Nordic experience. Also, I discovered that cross country skiers are 1) hella hardcore and 2) wear lots of spandex. So it's got the out-in-the-woods thing of running plus the outrageous outfits of cycling. Cool!

(Friday, 28 December)
Off, not that I need another off day, just that I was tired from driving in the snow the whole way back (down to 2500 feet!). I agreed to give blood tomorrow.

(Saturday, 29 December)
Hemoglobin too low, so I didn't give blood after all. Which was stupid, because one finger they tested came out 12.4 g/dl, another 12.2. How accurate can the test be, then? (It's supposed to be at least 12.5 for donating). So, I guess I have to drink more water, eat more leafy things, and not run the day before I get tested again. Blah. I was kind of excited.

I went for a run beforehand, though (which may be why I didn't qualify) and it was all right. A little over five miles of the best damn hills Piedmont has to offer (I do miss that in Pasadena). I didn't have the courage to go run on the track, though. Felt pretty good.

(Sunday, 30 December)
Wonderful run with Ian as a tour de Piedmont. Toured the cemetery, ran through the high school, did some track stuff (man the smell of the track brought back so many memories!) a little jaunt into the creek, and back home safe and sound. I'm calling it tempo-ish, since there were a lot of hills, but that's really a bunch of baloney.

The bad news of the week is that it's supposed to rain ALL next weekend, so it's looking unclear as to whether or not we're going to have a winter training camp for cycling. Poo.