February 08, 2009

running! dates! meat!

hello and happy sunday to everyone! it has been an absolutely GLORIOUS weekend here in dc - it got up to SEVENTY DEGREES here today. seventy! instead of seventeen, which it had been earlier this week. that's pretty insane, but holy hell am i not complaining. i've had a very relaxed but excellent weekend thus far. i had a really great run (!?!? those are really weird words to come out of my mouth), i had a nice night out at the movies with the girls, and i had a really good second date - also a weird thing to come from me, since date #2 is typically where i lose all interest.

this was a good one, though. the plan was to meet up to go kite flying since it was so amazing outside (and windy), but the park we went to was far too packed for us to run around trying to launch a kite. we went and got coffee instead, then walked around ballston for a bit, then he went right in for a nice confident kiss at the end of the date. i love when they do that :-)

in other news, i'm still loving silvia's interval running plan. i left the gym after a run last week, and i felt GOOD. i have never in my life felt good after running before. on saturday morning i hit the gym again, and upped my distance by a half mile - 2.5 miles! this is UNPRECEDENTED! - and increased my run/walk ratio for the initial 2 miles to 4 minutes running / one minute walking. i'm actually EXCITED to go see if i can do this again during the week. i'm even confident that i may eventually be able to continue increasing my distance, both in between walking and overall, which is not something that i've ever accomplished through training before. it's always frustrated me to no end that i'm so inexplicably bad at running. i mean, i play sports! i run! i have endurance! just, not endurance without any small breaks to bring my heart rate down, turns out. it never occured to me to try running the same way it happens when playing ultimate, for example - it's not 30 minutes straight of jogging at one speed; it's bursts of sprinting, some jogging, and some resting between points while you line up for the pull. it makes perfect sense.. i just can't believe it took me 28 years to figure it out. hah, and i didn't even figure it out - silvia did.

tonight i'm headed to the ex's house for a cookout. i'm really, really happy to report that everything between us seems to be good: nice and friendly and not awkward and also not Anyone Having Ulterior Motives by occasionally hanging out. i hope we can maintain this, because i really think he's an excellent guy and i honestly enjoy having him in my life... we're just not good as a couple. as cookout friends, though? we're much better.

21 comments:

  1. So much good news!! It was 70 here today too!! It's fantastic!

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  2. Sounds like an awesome weekend!

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  3. Hope the cookout works out as planned (=

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  5. I have NEVER thought of that. I've always thought, like, it's not REALLY running unless it's CONSTANT. But...there's LOTS of little rests in OTHER activities!

    Also, why does the comment form say it's September 2nd? Did I sleep later than I thought?

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  6. Oh. February 9th. 9-2. I get it, finally. LESS sleep than I thought, then.

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  7. I thought about running this weekend. Does that count?

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  8. Ooo, I love the confident kiss. Excellent.

    Update on the cookout with ex, kthx.

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  9. OK, all of this is awesome. Running! Cookouts! Kisses! Yay! Am excited to get in-person update on Wednesday.

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  10. yay for running!! i think that you are gonna be a bonefide runner by the end of the summer!! let's do the 10 miler next year together!!

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  11. Weather, great date, awesome weekend...yay for you!

    I just started hitting the treadmill and good God did my legs ache the next day. I'll be going for another round of punishment after work tonight.

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  12. why run when you could eat a donut instead?
    kidding - good for you. :)

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  13. That whole ability to run is amazing, isn't it? I remember when I first started running and realized how far I could actually run. It didn't matter that I took walking breaks. It was such an exhilarating feeling. Guess it doesn't hurt when the weather is nice, too. Might as well enjoy it before the 90+ degree days encroach on your ability to enjoy the outdoors!

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  14. Hey Alice, I just started running and now can go 35 minutes straight. I'm working up to do over an hour come April for a race anyway just wondering if I should be looking at doing Intervals yet. That plan sounds awesome and I know it's good for blasting fat but as I am just trying to build up my endurance at the moment I am not sure if I should do too much and risk injuring myself. Anyhoo, this is inspiring! Be sure to keep up the good work and I'll keep up mine!!

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  15. Pics of your final dishes, please?

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  16. That is such a great way to get into running! It's hard to just go out there and go for it. That is how I got into too - with intervals. Someone had to tell me too ;) Keep it up and keep us posted!

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  17. i think it's cool that you still hangout with your ex - adults can be adults sometimes right? ha.

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  18. 70?? In February? Wow. It was close to 50 here today, and I thought that was warm.

    I love the kite flying idea. I always think dates with a bit of an activity that gets you moving are a good thing.

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  19. Wow - that sounds like an all around fantastic weekend! And I'm curious to hear more about this running thing. Oh, and yes, the bbq with the ex! I've never been able to successfully hang out with an ex. Never.

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  20. that is the best kiss in the world. at least, i think so as it has been so long.

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  21. Thats how I run! See?! Running can be fun...well my thing is that I need the iPod to be on full blast with awful music to get through 3 miles. And running outside makes a difference...I never thought I could run outside, but now I could not run on a treadmill anymore. Now it just needs to get nicer here and then I can start up again! My mission to run a 10K this year!

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