Thursday, August 28, 2008

Thursday Thoughts

  • It is officially Too Creepy to run through the cemetery in the mornings now. There isn't a single light anywhere in there and it is heavily wooded. I swear I'm not afraid of the dark! I'm not! It's just...OH MY GOD WHAT'S THAT? RUN FASTER!
  • Nothing like a disgusted snort from a deer (one of a herd of six that I passed on my run this morning) to make you think, "Sheesh. Everyone's gotta be a critic."
  • My BMI/body fat scale LIES. LIES, LIES, LIES. There's no way I have 31% body fat. 157 (pounds), on the other hand, is a number I can get behind (sort of)
  • Irritating, yappy, loud little dogs can all burn in hell for all I care. SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!
  • According to recent research (master's thesis I saw at work), a 14-day training taper is more effective at improving or maintaining VO2max and running economy than a 7-day taper in trained marathon runners. This has now been Scientifically Proven. Long live the 14-day taper!
  • Cookies with M&Ms in them are yummy and way better than Granny Smith apples as a breakfast food.
  • The Runners Lounge Take It And Run Thursday prompt is "Run, Rest, Recover, Repeat." How do I recover? On weekdays, I have a glass of soy milk as soon as I finish. Then I stretch (most of the time). On weekends, when I don't have to go to work immediately afterward, that's easy: Soy milk, stretching, and beer.
  • People in cars who don't move over at all to give me a little more space when I'm forced to run on a road with no sidewalks are ASSHOLES. I'm SO SORRY I have to exist on the same spacetime plane as you, JERKWEED. I can't move over any farther or I'll be in the DITCH.
  • The little restaurant we went to for dinner last night now carries Magic Hat #9 Not-Quite-Pale-Ale which is one of my favorites. Hooray! I had two with my tuna melt.
  • It might rain today! Lawn, hang in there just a little longer.
  • A rerun of The Office (my favorite show) the other day showed the Jim-dressed-up-as-Dwight "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica" bit which is my favorite piece of television OF ALL TIME. I was screaming with laughter (and speaking the lines right along with them). Good times.

12 comments:

Vickie said...

Which marathon are you doing?

Sun Runner said...

Detroit, October 19.

Spike said...

Although morbid, Lil and I play a game with cars that refuse to move over—especially when there is no oncoming traffic—which is to debate whether the individual (based on appearance and car being driven) would stop and offer/get help after they plowed us over.

Fritz said...

Body fat by those scales are a load of BS; even under completely controlled lab conditions they were off about 7% versus under water weighing; skinfolds were off about 3.5%. (granted, I investigated all this about seven years ago, so improvements may have occurred.)

I'm currently trying to make up my mind between a two and three week taper. Three just seems too long, but I'm going to give it a try for my next race.

muh said...

i think my bodyfat scale is off in an absolute sense, but it is internally consistent, i think.

Except for two things:

1) the amount of moisture on my feet makes a difference. The sweatier my feet, the lower my body fat (i think thats the direction that goes in). If i weigh myself at the same time in my work out during which i've been wearing socks, it is okay.

2) I have a 'athlete' or 'non-athlete' choice of settings. Being an athlete helps, even though their criteria for being an athlete makes me borderline.

With sweaty feet, and as an athlete, by bf is around 22, which seems alright.

chia said...

You're the sister I never had.

MMM... Magic Hat offers some helluva nice brews!

I'm stoked it's almost pumpkin beer season ;-).

Happy running!

New site - http://chiarunner.blogspot.com/

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Oh, yes, on some of those! But the cemetery? That just sounds like a good excuse for speedwork. ;-)

Nitmos said...

14 day taper? After my last 20 mile long run on the schedule, there will actually be 21 days until the marathon. Maybe I better re-examine this plan I'm following. Or up the LR miles 2 weeks out.

Sun Runner said...

Fritz-- Body fat by those scales are a load of BS. I agree, especially since I did the "grip test" method not even a year ago and it was 24.6%. I know I've "leaned up" even more since then.

Chia-- I saw pumpkin beer in the grocery store already! I think it's a little early, though...

Nitmos-- Hey, I don't write it, I just report it. :) If a 14-day taper is better than a 7-day taper, who's to say a 21-day taper wouldn't be even better? Some industrious Canadian master's degree student in kinesiology should get right on that.

B. Kramer said...

No. 9 is tasty. It replaced the gross Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat (Fruity Pebbles anyone?) at one of my frequented local watering holes.

Have a good weekend.

Tina said...

I'm totally with ya on the cars thing! I get a lot of that when I'm out on the bike as well, and it's almost worse b/c I ride with traffic and can't always hear them coming up behind me until they're practically next to me.

Anonymous said...

My training plan calls for a three week taper but I swear that's too long for me. I will surely kill someone from the reduced mileage during that time. Less of a chance of psycho behavior if I taper for just two weeks.

Oh and regarding cars -- yes I have punched the hood of taxi cabs more than once while shouting obscenities. Hey, I'm a New Yawkah.