Geek Hawk

On Saturday I ran my first 1/2 marathon of the year. I’m trying to get into shape for my June marathon, and I enjoyed the Running with the Cows half last year. Continue reading →

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I’ve had a tough time of it getting back in the groove this spring after a long, cold, snowy, brutal winter around here. Frankly, I’d had enough running in the cold. I was over the whole Raynaud’s issue and the long post-run discomfort that goes with it. At least I kept up with the weight lifting all winter, which is helping me get back in the swing of things.

Another thing that helps is feeling motivated by other runners. Yesterday, for example, I felt tired and depressed and grumpy, and I knew that running would make me feel better. But I was tired, depressed, and grumpy.

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As my hip was still healing, I decided to make my running short and fast until I’d recovered… which is how I hurt my knee. At first, I thought my knee needed to pop, but then I realized I’d yanked something, so I pretty much quit running for the past few weeks to let everything heal. Besides, we had a big fatty snow storm followed by a blizzard the next week, so my frost-bitten toes were happy for the downtime. I got a little lazy, but still kept up my weight training and lost 1/2 inch all over, except my gun show, which went up 1/2 an inch. Pow!

But next to this girl, I’m a slacker: Continue reading →

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I had a trip to Berkeley earlier this month and ran most mornings, which was a great way to stay in shape and see the town. A friend, Jon, was also in the area that week, so we even took a nice long run across the Golden Gate bridge at sunset. Here are a few of the things I saw on my jaunts:

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Back in December, I pissed off my right hip. The hip isn’t pissed when I walk, but gets progressively pissier the longer I run, which means I’ve been sticking to 3-7 mile runs and visiting the chiropractor/active release therapist regularly. So I’m not running my first 50-mile ultra next weekend. I’m not even riding to Texas with my fellow Tramps to show my emotional support, because the financial hit I take on every trip is really too much. (You single parents out there know what I’m talking about.)

Anyhoo, instead of staying home this weekend and feeling melancholy, I plan to go to a dance workshop and learn how to Lindy, which is something I’ve wanted to do for years and years. So a happy ending is still quite possible. And I haven’t given up on running a 50-miler. Instead, I’m postponing it until September and plan to run the Hawk Hundred 50.

Things I learned this winter:

• Running on snowy trails is fun
• Running on dark trails with a headlamp is fun
• Running on dark, snowy trails with a headlamp is the funnest

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I see that I haven’t updated this site since I finished my 50k, which I suppose makes perfect sense. I built up to that, then crashed and burned. Since that run, I’ve also had two trips, which threw a wrench in my running schedule.

I was in Salt Lake City for a few days, and the weather and roads were ideal for running. I tend to get pretty run down on business trips, and that particular one was worse than normal, so my running shoes never hit Utah pavement. Then I went to Austin and stayed with my best friend the week of Thanksgiving. Many a margarita was consumed, but no mileage was.

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My child turned 16 last weekend, which means I missed my 16-mile run on Saturday. And I don’t regret it one single bit. I spent that day driving my kid from activity to activity, and she had an awesome 16th birthday weekend. Continue reading →

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