"Victory" song - need recommendations

Sunday, December 16, 2012

I've wanted to created a race playlist for a very long time but in staying true to my procrastinator roots I have not yet done so. But since I will be off work from 12/19 through 1/7 - and including 10 wonderful child free days! - I will have plenty of time to finally putting my music in order.

All races so far, and all runs for that matter, have been run with my trusty iPod Shuffle on...well, on shuffle.

Never underestimate the Power of the Shuffle...it's come up with some real winners in the past...

Pink's "I'm Trouble" when I was supremely pissed over a situation;

Sinatra's "My Way" as I approached the finish line of my first ever half marathon (and I trained on my own with no official plan at all);

KT Tunstall's "Come On Get In" the first time I experienced the Never Ending Hill of Death (We could make it easy, (or) we could do it right....oh, 'cause the time...has come, we could break these chains, and baby we could run);

"I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar when I first exceeded my 2 mile run time goal.

But...dare I say it...those runs were easy in comparison. Now I'm faced with 26.2 miles coming up in February. And while I refuse to be anything but confident I will do it...that is a freakin' long distance! I'm looking at over 5 hours of running!

I want to give the Power of the Shuffle a little help.

So I know by mile 26 I am going to be well & truly whupped and I want that perfect song to motivate me to move my feet that last few hundred meters to cross the finish line (ahead of the course sweepers). I want to finish upright and running, not shuffling along moaning like a zombie.

So Spark Peeps...give me your recommendations!

I want something with a good hard beat and motivational lyrics!

OK, I know you can't really know what lyrics I will find motivational. Music-wise I listen to something in every genre (I'm talking from classical to techno and everything in between). And there really don't necessarily have to be lyrics. One of my favorites to get moving happens to be an instrumental mix of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters.

I will listen to everything recommended. Which will also let me expand my library and give me an excuse to upgrade my iPod because I am at about the size limit for my little Shuffle.

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Stupid Dog strikes again

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

I haven't taken Stupid Dog for the morning walk since Friday. Saturday and Sunday were running days and I can't run with him, and yesterday I had trouble getting up in the morning so I skipped the walk.

Today I also skipped in the morning because I had to do some last minute house straightening before the insurance guy came today to review the water leak damage.

Today was also the day the owner of the company and his posse came to the office/plant for meetings and a tour, with journalists in tow. So we all had to dress up more formally than normal. For me that was a dress and heels. This is important later.

So back to Stupid Dog.

I went home at lunch to meet with the insurance guy. Stupid Dog was locked in a bedroom barking his fool head off. The insurance guy showed up right on time; I had allowed for some delay on my calendar so when he left I still had an hour before I had to be back at the office.

I ate lunch and decided to take Stupid Dog out for the walk. Not wanting to walk a mile + in heels I changed into my winter boots, these are purple to match my coat. These are NOT the fashionable knee high leather boots one can get away with wearing with dresses or jeans; they were meant only to keep one's feet warm and dry in the snow. Remember this detail.

First was the sing along chorus of dogs. I honestly had no idea there were so many dogs in the village. Apparently they all come out for lunch to practice their routine for the French version of American Idol. From the moment we hit the sidewalk there were dogs barking all over the place. Stupid Dog felt compelled to join in and sing harmony.

Then we passed an older lady walking her dog; I have no idea what kind it was, just that it was smaller than the Stupid One. I stop and grab his leash right by the collar and tell him to wait as the lady passed. Stupid waited for maybe a second before lunging at the dog. Stupid is also still barking his solo of the Hallelujah Chorus. I have to yank him back repeatedly, the lady says something like Ooh la la!

We each continue on our separate ways. Stupid has to stop at every stick and stone and pee a river. This is the exact same route we walk in the mornings so it's not like it's new and exciting. And I'm not kidding about the river, little lakes of dog pee were forming. This wasn't just leaving a bit for doggie messages, unless he thought he was writing War and Peace.

We go around the first corner, the barking chorus continuing all the while, and now Stupid thinks he's a football player and starts ducking and weaving all over the sidewalk, darting around imaginary obstacles and barking...always barking.

Until we got to the bottom of the hill where he added jumping straight in the air to his antics. We were passing the house that keeps chickens (and I think they have a goat too) and one of the chickens squawked. Stupid, apparently, was mightily startled by the chicken squawk because he jumped several inches.

We reach the bottom of the hill and turn the corner and see...the lady with her dog coming along on the opposite side of the street. Again I make Stupid stop and grab his collar this time; he continues with the barking and lunging. I know he just wants to do a meet and greet with a potential new doggy friend but to her it must have looked like he was trying to attack.

Stupid keeps trying to choke himself until she passes behind us and then, since out of sight equals out of Stupid's mind (or what passes for one in his case), we continue with the ducking and weaving bit - and mercifully the Bark Bark Boys have stopped for the time being - and I see a delivery truck coming down the road.

Not a problem, where we are the sidewalk is kind of wide to accommodate cars parked in front of the house.

Yeah, I should know better.

For absolutely no reason that I understand Stupid proves his name by lunging into the road just immediately before the truck reaches us.

I didn't know a person's eyes could get so big.

The truck driver's, not mine.

Fortunately I still had a good grip and shortened leash so I could yank Stupid back before having to change his name to Flattened.

I have had more than enough by this time so I practically drag Stupid the rest of the way up the hill to the house. We finished the walk in record time.

We go back in the house, I grab my things and go back to work.

Remember those details I told you to keep in mind at the beginning?

Yes, I went back to work in my purple snow boots and spent the afternoon walking around in them. They clashed nicely with my dress. The only saving grace is that the owner and his posse and the journalists were gone by the time I got back to the office so I only looked foolish in front of the people I know.

THIS is just one of many reasons I prefer cats.

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13 weeks

Sunday, December 09, 2012

I am now 13 weeks in to my marathon training and starting to get the real mileage long runs.

Today was a scheduled 14 miler but I went over a bit and ended up with my 2nd longest run ever, 15.41 miles. I'm happy to note that my Garmin ForeRunner matched the miles on my phone GPS with RunKeeper almost exactly. They were only 0.01 miles apart mostly, which is good enough for me. Perhaps yesterday's aberration was from starting my run by going downhill.

In any case I am beat now and will probably fall asleep soon. I have even struggling to keep my eyes open for the last hour. I should sleep well tonight.

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The 1 minute mile

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Usain Bolt...watch out, I'm coming for you!



Today my Garmin informed me I ran 1.16 miles in exactly one minute!

I am the fastest person in the world!



Ok, probably not.

My Garmin has been a bit wonky since it went through the washing machine. That is what broke the strap a few weeks ago. I got a new strap for it and I thought it was working pretty well except for the annoying beeping messages of "approaching turn" when nothing of the sort was approaching.

Now I have to treat what it tells me as suspect. Tomorrow I will cross-check it against the phone GPS with RunKeeper and see what it shows. I don't want to run my normal route just yet to check because that route is pretty rural and I still hear hunters out shooting at things. Getting shot is not part of my training plan.

And why is it the male runner emoticons are all "running", i.e. fast, and the female runner emoticons are just jogging along? Why is there no female sprinter? Aft all, the fastest person in the world (me according to Garmin ) is now a woman!

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Outrunning the thieves

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

I was able to call my insurance agent in the US this afternoon to inquire about my 500% increase.

Nope, not a mistake.

The thieves...excuse me, insurance company...have declared that they must have a driver listed as the main driver of my car and since I am in France they have determined that my son is to be listed as the primary driver. And apparently the going rate for a 17 year old male is over $12,000 per year.

Ummmm...don't think so. I have no hard data yet to back up this hypothesis but I know plenty of people who have teenagers and are not paying that much for insurance. I didn't even pay that much for the car when I bought it!

So my agent is sending out for quotes and I am doing the same thing independently.

During my lunch time today I went to one of the sporting goods stores for the first time. They had a lot of variety in sports but when you got into specifics I wasn't too impressed. It was kind of like a Home Depot feeling, you go in and help yourself to what's on the shelves. No Clif Shot Bloks, which is a bummer since that is what I use on my long runs. I don't like gels and haven't had a great result with them but that is what I ended up getting today. It was gels or fruity granola type bars which I like even less. Trying to chew while running just does not sound like a good idea for me.

I also finally bought a head lamp and a reflective vest. I've been skipping my weekday runs because it's dark out when I get home (although there is enough light from the street lamps so I admit I'm just using the dark as an excuse). No more excuses now though. And I have a slightly higher confidence level that I won't be shot by a local hunter because he will - I hope - recognize that animals usually do not wear fluorescent yellow and run down a paved road.

Just in case the local hunters are not on board with that idea yet I've decided to relocate my running into the city where I can run on the bike trails. An added bonus is that I have a much higher chance of actually going out to run this way since I will have to bring my running clothes to work with me; I know that going home first tends to sap my will to go outside again. This way I can run right from the office door.

I went for my first run with the lamp and vest tonight and wound up doing the first 2 miles in under 20 minutes. I haven't run a 10 minute mile in a very long time so I am suitably impressed with myself. I even - for the first time ever! - passed another runner on the trail. He heard me coming and tried to speed up so I wouldn't catch up but he couldn't sustain it and I passed him by (it took awhile but I did it!).

I am so bad ass lol!

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