(no subject)
This is kind of ridiculous. I've talked about my marathon PR before- I ran a 4:55:13 in Savannah, setting a PR by 1 second. And for the record, my first Philly marathon was a 5:15:23, and the 1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut was a 5:15:12. But I've run my 4 mile route three times in the past couple of weeks, and my times have been 45:13, 45:03, and 45:13.
I mean, come on. There's consistency and then there's ridiculousness.
(As a side note, I've always been a consistent runner. When I used to do the 3000 in high school, my coach would time my laps and except for the first lap and the last lap, they'd always be within 2 seconds of each other. It's just a matter of getting that pace faster. But still.)
Anyway, I've been toying with races again. It's very difficult because I have not heard back from this job I applied for, but I don't feel like it's a rejection at this point, especially given that I know the guy I sent the resume to, and I know there are also two other jobs opening up that have not been posted. This is the Federal Government- it could be ages before I hear back. Which is sort of the thing- if I hear back soon and the news is good, I don't know what it means for my running schedule. But I've been sort of wanting to do a half, so I started looking for one. Thing is, I don't feel like paying for a hotel, so it has to be a half nearby. I was going through and found the Garden Spot half in April. Which sounded awesome, and so I looked at my training schedule, and if I want to do the 50K, that weekend is a 22 mile run. Which, of course, makes me think "why don't I just do the full?" Which kind of wasn't the point- I want to do a half. (Yes, I know the logical answer is "then just register for the half!", but then I still have to run an additional 9 miles if I'm going to do the 50K, so I might as well run the marathon and get a medal for it.)
Either way, it sounds nice. It's an hour away from my home, and starts and finishes at a retirement community. They let the runners use the showers, pool, and hot tub afterwards to clean up, which sounds awesome, and rumor has it there are chocolate milkshakes at the finish! Chocolate milkshakes are my ideal post-marathon treat. I rarely get milkshakes anymore because they are such an incredible calorie bomb, but I will have one after a half or full marathon. It also doesn't sound like this race fills up very fast, so I have time to decide, which is what I will do. I'll keep training for a marathon/50K, and decide a little later. March 29 is my 20 mile run, so if I make it to that point (which I may, given that this is the federal government), it doesn't matter what happens with the job, I'll be able to pull everything off.
Of course, this still leaves me wanting to actually run a half again. My problem is basically coming down to the fact that I don't want to have to put out the money for a hotel room. That leaves me with a fairly tight radius of places I can go. And this early in the season, there aren't many half marathons out there to begin with. Most of them really start going at the end of March/early April, and if I'm doing the 50K, that's pretty much when I've got some long runs lined up. Although the way the 50K schedule works, the weeks alternate between 20+ runs and 16 mile runs (which I feel no guilt about doing a half marathon race, since I'd run harder). But again, it's finding one that lands on the right weekend and is the right distance. And while I could play more with my long runs for a marathon (oh, I'll switch the lighter week to next week, because lighter usually means 4 miles less, not 8 miles less), I can't really do that with a 50K because of how the training schedule is set up. Plus, this all costs money. Even a cheap race is 30-60 dollars.
Oh well. So, right now, it looks like my potential runs are:
April 6: Hot Chocolate 15K
April 12: Garden Spot Marathon
April 27: Valley Forge 5 Miler (with additional running)
May 11: Delaware Marathon
June 7: North Face Endurance Challenge 50K
We'll see what happens. That looks pretty intense, actually. Although if I do get the job and the marathon thing doesn't work out, I think the two marathons will just change to half marathons and the endurance challenge will be replaced by something else. (I'd go back to that race to run the 50K, but it's kind of far away and so I don't know that I'd bother to go back for the half marathon. (Actually, now I'm wondering why I go back for the 50K, instead of hitting a different state, but it really was a nice run and well set up, and I guess I'd at least have some clue as to what I'd be facing? And part of it is a lot of ultras don't seem to give finisher's medals, and I want a finisher's medal, damn it! :) )
Oh well. I guess a lot depends on what happens with this job, and right now, that means waiting. Sigh.
Bookwise, I finished Half Way Home, by Hugh Howey. It was okay. I wasn't thrilled with it, I wasn't appalled by it, I strongly suspect I'll forget most of it. But it was a nice change from the YA dystopia genre. I decided to step all the way out of that now (aside from my reread of the Hunger Games) and am reading The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory, based on a friend's recommendation. Not far enough in to have an opinion yet, but it seems like it will be a fun read. Toby also finally brought home The Last Olympian, so I can start that.
All the boys in my house (please note that my husband is included in that grouping) are gearing up because this weekend is one of the biggest events in the Cub Scout year- The pack does three different races- the regular Scout race, a race just for siblings, and a race just for adults leaders. It works out great. The kids get to do their cars, the siblings (younger or older, male or female, none of that matters) can join in the fun, and the dads can channel their competitiveness into their own cars. :) Our pack does a theme every year, and the kids can decorate to that theme or not, as they choose, but it's nice because then additional awards are given out. This year's theme is Americana. So! This year's Pinewood Derby entries:
Toby's car. He decided shuffleboard was quite American, which maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but it was all his idea and hey, there's a shuffleboard court on the floor in the room the Scouts meet in, so that works. I thought it was cute. Howard did the cutting, but Toby designed the car, did all the sanding and painting, buffed the axles, and did pretty much all the rest of the work himself.
Trevor went for the more direct American theme. He required more help, especially with the painting (he didn't like the spray paint), but I thought it came out cute. And he put the star stickers on himself :) He did do a lot of the sanding and some of the other work. (I just don't know because this was Howard's domain.)
Hubby's car :) I thought the idea of the little red wagon was very Norman Rockwell and it came out adorable. He'd originally had the idea of trying to put Calvin and Hobbes in, but he couldn't find figures and declined my offer to make him some. Which is fine, because they wouldn't have been the right scale. But the dogs look cute in it. His exceeds the height restrictions by a tiny bit, but as it's not going on to a further race, it doesn't matter.
I am not yet officially a leader, so I don't get to make a car this year. Which is fine, because I didn't have any brilliant ideas this year. Well, I might have done an homage to Girl Scouts (which I in fact expect to see from at least one sibling car, as most of the sisters in the Pack have at least 1-2 years of Girl Scouts under their belts, unless they're too young), or Gone with the Wind. Probably the latter just to be more unique, although none of the boys would get it most likely. (They're all just too young.)
Speaking of Gone with the Wind, I do hope some day at least one of my boys decides to read that one. I was debating trying to write a meta on boys reading female characters, and how important I think it is that we give boys these female characters early on, but the meta wasn't coming out well. But it was sparked by thinking about what my boys are reading these days, and their reactions. Toby came home last Friday, super upset about a reading test he thought he'd failed. I was pretty sure he hadn't- Toby worries about his grades like crazy- and was trying to reassure him that we do not expect perfection, and if he does fail a test, all that means is we can see where we need to help him. (With the usual parental qualifiers of "as long as you're putting in effort.") It was really hard to get his mind out of that rut though, until all of a sudden he looked up at me and said, "Mom? I'm a lot like Hermione, aren't I?" Which YES, because Toby's boggart would TOTALLY be his favorite, most respected teacher turning up and telling him he failed at everything. And while I didn't try to make a big deal out of directly, I was so proud that he'd made that connection, and that that was how he was seeing this character. Not as a girl (said with the proper amount of "ew cooties" inflection), but as a person that he had a lot in common with. And yes, a girl, but right now I want him to focus on the fact that they have the same fears and there are some lessons there in Hermione's character that can help him, and that she is a character he can turn to when he feels alone or needs someone like him.
I've been experiencing the same thing with Trevor, too. He's crazy about the Ramona books, and he adores Ramona. In fact, when we read Henry books, he wants to know when Ramona is going to show up. I don't think he can put it into words as well as Toby can yet, but it doesn't surprise me. Ramona is a spunky, mischievous, bright, artistic kid with a bossy older sibling that she sometimes adores and sometimes drives her crazy. Gee. Can't imagine what Trevor would identify with in Ramona! But I'm glad to see my boys embracing these characters, just like I'm glad to know pretty much every boy in their classes has seen Frozen. One day I would love to write some meta type post about how moms raising boys have a huge chance to impact feminism, because really, while it's great to empower our daughters, we should also REALLY be telling our sons so many important lessons about girls, but every time I try it comes out boring or Tumblrspeak or something, so I just haven't been able to do it. But it's definitely swirling around in my head.
Speaking of writing and things swirling in my head, I should get back to the fic I'm writing. I've managed to get over 7,500 words down for it, so I'm actually feeling good about it. Whoohoo! Words again! I'm also anxiously awaiting (and will be for a while) my assignments for shipswap and Space Swap.
Hope everyone has a good day!
I mean, come on. There's consistency and then there's ridiculousness.
(As a side note, I've always been a consistent runner. When I used to do the 3000 in high school, my coach would time my laps and except for the first lap and the last lap, they'd always be within 2 seconds of each other. It's just a matter of getting that pace faster. But still.)
Anyway, I've been toying with races again. It's very difficult because I have not heard back from this job I applied for, but I don't feel like it's a rejection at this point, especially given that I know the guy I sent the resume to, and I know there are also two other jobs opening up that have not been posted. This is the Federal Government- it could be ages before I hear back. Which is sort of the thing- if I hear back soon and the news is good, I don't know what it means for my running schedule. But I've been sort of wanting to do a half, so I started looking for one. Thing is, I don't feel like paying for a hotel, so it has to be a half nearby. I was going through and found the Garden Spot half in April. Which sounded awesome, and so I looked at my training schedule, and if I want to do the 50K, that weekend is a 22 mile run. Which, of course, makes me think "why don't I just do the full?" Which kind of wasn't the point- I want to do a half. (Yes, I know the logical answer is "then just register for the half!", but then I still have to run an additional 9 miles if I'm going to do the 50K, so I might as well run the marathon and get a medal for it.)
Either way, it sounds nice. It's an hour away from my home, and starts and finishes at a retirement community. They let the runners use the showers, pool, and hot tub afterwards to clean up, which sounds awesome, and rumor has it there are chocolate milkshakes at the finish! Chocolate milkshakes are my ideal post-marathon treat. I rarely get milkshakes anymore because they are such an incredible calorie bomb, but I will have one after a half or full marathon. It also doesn't sound like this race fills up very fast, so I have time to decide, which is what I will do. I'll keep training for a marathon/50K, and decide a little later. March 29 is my 20 mile run, so if I make it to that point (which I may, given that this is the federal government), it doesn't matter what happens with the job, I'll be able to pull everything off.
Of course, this still leaves me wanting to actually run a half again. My problem is basically coming down to the fact that I don't want to have to put out the money for a hotel room. That leaves me with a fairly tight radius of places I can go. And this early in the season, there aren't many half marathons out there to begin with. Most of them really start going at the end of March/early April, and if I'm doing the 50K, that's pretty much when I've got some long runs lined up. Although the way the 50K schedule works, the weeks alternate between 20+ runs and 16 mile runs (which I feel no guilt about doing a half marathon race, since I'd run harder). But again, it's finding one that lands on the right weekend and is the right distance. And while I could play more with my long runs for a marathon (oh, I'll switch the lighter week to next week, because lighter usually means 4 miles less, not 8 miles less), I can't really do that with a 50K because of how the training schedule is set up. Plus, this all costs money. Even a cheap race is 30-60 dollars.
Oh well. So, right now, it looks like my potential runs are:
April 6: Hot Chocolate 15K
April 12: Garden Spot Marathon
April 27: Valley Forge 5 Miler (with additional running)
May 11: Delaware Marathon
June 7: North Face Endurance Challenge 50K
We'll see what happens. That looks pretty intense, actually. Although if I do get the job and the marathon thing doesn't work out, I think the two marathons will just change to half marathons and the endurance challenge will be replaced by something else. (I'd go back to that race to run the 50K, but it's kind of far away and so I don't know that I'd bother to go back for the half marathon. (Actually, now I'm wondering why I go back for the 50K, instead of hitting a different state, but it really was a nice run and well set up, and I guess I'd at least have some clue as to what I'd be facing? And part of it is a lot of ultras don't seem to give finisher's medals, and I want a finisher's medal, damn it! :) )
Oh well. I guess a lot depends on what happens with this job, and right now, that means waiting. Sigh.
Bookwise, I finished Half Way Home, by Hugh Howey. It was okay. I wasn't thrilled with it, I wasn't appalled by it, I strongly suspect I'll forget most of it. But it was a nice change from the YA dystopia genre. I decided to step all the way out of that now (aside from my reread of the Hunger Games) and am reading The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory, based on a friend's recommendation. Not far enough in to have an opinion yet, but it seems like it will be a fun read. Toby also finally brought home The Last Olympian, so I can start that.
All the boys in my house (please note that my husband is included in that grouping) are gearing up because this weekend is one of the biggest events in the Cub Scout year- The pack does three different races- the regular Scout race, a race just for siblings, and a race just for adults leaders. It works out great. The kids get to do their cars, the siblings (younger or older, male or female, none of that matters) can join in the fun, and the dads can channel their competitiveness into their own cars. :) Our pack does a theme every year, and the kids can decorate to that theme or not, as they choose, but it's nice because then additional awards are given out. This year's theme is Americana. So! This year's Pinewood Derby entries:
Toby's car. He decided shuffleboard was quite American, which maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but it was all his idea and hey, there's a shuffleboard court on the floor in the room the Scouts meet in, so that works. I thought it was cute. Howard did the cutting, but Toby designed the car, did all the sanding and painting, buffed the axles, and did pretty much all the rest of the work himself.
Trevor went for the more direct American theme. He required more help, especially with the painting (he didn't like the spray paint), but I thought it came out cute. And he put the star stickers on himself :) He did do a lot of the sanding and some of the other work. (I just don't know because this was Howard's domain.)
Hubby's car :) I thought the idea of the little red wagon was very Norman Rockwell and it came out adorable. He'd originally had the idea of trying to put Calvin and Hobbes in, but he couldn't find figures and declined my offer to make him some. Which is fine, because they wouldn't have been the right scale. But the dogs look cute in it. His exceeds the height restrictions by a tiny bit, but as it's not going on to a further race, it doesn't matter.
I am not yet officially a leader, so I don't get to make a car this year. Which is fine, because I didn't have any brilliant ideas this year. Well, I might have done an homage to Girl Scouts (which I in fact expect to see from at least one sibling car, as most of the sisters in the Pack have at least 1-2 years of Girl Scouts under their belts, unless they're too young), or Gone with the Wind. Probably the latter just to be more unique, although none of the boys would get it most likely. (They're all just too young.)
Speaking of Gone with the Wind, I do hope some day at least one of my boys decides to read that one. I was debating trying to write a meta on boys reading female characters, and how important I think it is that we give boys these female characters early on, but the meta wasn't coming out well. But it was sparked by thinking about what my boys are reading these days, and their reactions. Toby came home last Friday, super upset about a reading test he thought he'd failed. I was pretty sure he hadn't- Toby worries about his grades like crazy- and was trying to reassure him that we do not expect perfection, and if he does fail a test, all that means is we can see where we need to help him. (With the usual parental qualifiers of "as long as you're putting in effort.") It was really hard to get his mind out of that rut though, until all of a sudden he looked up at me and said, "Mom? I'm a lot like Hermione, aren't I?" Which YES, because Toby's boggart would TOTALLY be his favorite, most respected teacher turning up and telling him he failed at everything. And while I didn't try to make a big deal out of directly, I was so proud that he'd made that connection, and that that was how he was seeing this character. Not as a girl (said with the proper amount of "ew cooties" inflection), but as a person that he had a lot in common with. And yes, a girl, but right now I want him to focus on the fact that they have the same fears and there are some lessons there in Hermione's character that can help him, and that she is a character he can turn to when he feels alone or needs someone like him.
I've been experiencing the same thing with Trevor, too. He's crazy about the Ramona books, and he adores Ramona. In fact, when we read Henry books, he wants to know when Ramona is going to show up. I don't think he can put it into words as well as Toby can yet, but it doesn't surprise me. Ramona is a spunky, mischievous, bright, artistic kid with a bossy older sibling that she sometimes adores and sometimes drives her crazy. Gee. Can't imagine what Trevor would identify with in Ramona! But I'm glad to see my boys embracing these characters, just like I'm glad to know pretty much every boy in their classes has seen Frozen. One day I would love to write some meta type post about how moms raising boys have a huge chance to impact feminism, because really, while it's great to empower our daughters, we should also REALLY be telling our sons so many important lessons about girls, but every time I try it comes out boring or Tumblrspeak or something, so I just haven't been able to do it. But it's definitely swirling around in my head.
Speaking of writing and things swirling in my head, I should get back to the fic I'm writing. I've managed to get over 7,500 words down for it, so I'm actually feeling good about it. Whoohoo! Words again! I'm also anxiously awaiting (and will be for a while) my assignments for shipswap and Space Swap.
Hope everyone has a good day!