It now seems a tradition (though I’ve only done it twice), to put every random topic I had nowhere else to put, in a Friday post. Frankly, the way my brain works, I could make every post just one long list of random topics, but I do try to control myself 🙂 – except on Friday. So here goes.
1. This morning I slept in until
That says 6:03
Okay, that’s not entirely true – I stayed in bed until 6:03. My son had a late function at school last night, so I was late to bed. I told myself, no alarm, just get up whenever. 4:00. 4:42. 5:21. 5:41. 6:03. Enough. I HATE that I can’t sleep in even if I stay up late. Agggghhhh!!
But I am a very good napper.
2. With it getting warmer, and me running and swimming all the time, I am in desperate need of a new sunscreen. This is what I have been using…
but I sweat soooooooooo much (think: drowned cat in a running skirt and visor), that the stuff is off in 20 minutes – plus, it makes me sweat even more. As much as I love a crocodile handbag, I don’t want to look like one. Please help me, sunscreen experts!
3. As I said above, I’m doing a lot of swimming in hopes of being able to swim the Catalina Channel soon. The pool I go to is huge – 2 pools, 16 lanes – but it still gets pretty crowded, necessitating a lot of lane sharing.
After 10 years as a competitive swimmer, I am used to sharing a lane with 6-10 people – no problem. But, for some reason, there seems to be very little pool etiquette observed at this facility. Almost every day, while 2 or 3 of us are sharing a lane for an hour of solid, hard, non-stop lap swimming, someone hops into our lane to kick, float, or work on his stroke. What? This is usually accompanied by a cheerful, “Don’t mind me. Just swim around me.” Really? Come on. It is impossible to get any rhythm going when every 150 meters you have to stop to get around the floater.
Please, if you swim, try to pick a lane with others doing activities comparable to yours. If you want to kick for an hour, join others who are kicking. I just seems like common sense.
4. I think I will go ahead and race in a 100k next weekend. Okay, maybe not race, but run hard. The weekend following, I’m going to do the 72 mile Western States training weekend, so I think it will be great to have 2 tough weekends in a row. We’ll see. My motivation for the 100k is waning, but I know it will be good for me. Time to toughen up!
5. I’m recording a podcast for Trail Runner Nation today on the Art of Pacing.
I am super excited – love to talk about anything related to running!
What are you doing this weekend?
Happy Running!
Mom, ultrarunner, four-time US 24 Hour National Team member, adventure athlete, food writer. Graduate of the Pro Cooking Program at the New School of Cooking, Los Angeles. Will run for food.
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I’m no sunscreen help, as I wear whatever my husband picks up at Deals. :-/ But it’s been a while since I burned, so hopefully I’m doing something right!
Having never been a competitive swimmer, I HATE sharing a lane…to the point that I’ll not swim to avoid it. If I ever get serious about doing a triathlon, I’ll have to get over that. I did a private half-ironman that my friend put on (just the two of us) and a virtual HIM, and I swam just enough to be able to get in the 1.2 mile swim. Just enough, as it turned out, was 5 times INCLUDING the two long “race” swims. Slow, but done. 🙂
Very cool about the podcast!! I love talking about things I know something about or love.
Good luck with the 100K. Very cool! You’ll definitely be getting some good workouts. 🙂 My weekend…I’m riding bikes with my brother Saturday morning, OFFICIATING at my cousin’s wedding (I’d rather run a 100K. Through a volcano. Barefoot.) that afternoon, running with friends Sunday morning, and then picking up the very nice bike I’m borrowing for Dirty Kanza (and riding it, if I can get away with spending most of Mother’s Day away from my family). Busy, and pretty fun once I’m through the wedding part.
Happy Mother’s Day!!
I love how you get it all done, Kate! It inspires me to tackle more. And swimming can be a big fat pain if you’re not into it, unfortunately – a lot of equipment, prep, etc. I still have nightmares about swim practice from my youth 🙂
It blows me away that you just decide to race 100k the weekend before. I’m assuming that you were always going to run it. You ultra-runners are a whole different breed. I have one in my squad. He’ll run a 37k one day and then back up the next with a 32. I don’t even understand how he can keep up with his energy needs but I’m sure that I’d enjoy HAVING to eat the extra calories.
I’m a little odd – I usually just pick a week or two in advance. Whenever I pre-plan anything, something always goes awry. I have to trick myself 🙂
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