June 30, 2004

My Parking Pass Saga

I don't usually drive into work. I'd rather be able to relax on my way in. I get to work by slugging, a makeshift form of carpooling. Slugging begins at a commuter parking lot. Slugs (people looking for a ride) and drivers meet there. Slugs wait in line as drivers pull up and announce where in DC they're going. Different commuter lots serve different areas of the city. This process benefits the slugs because they get a free ride into work and benefits the drivers because with three people in their car they are able to use the HOV lanes, which gets everyone to the city much more quickly than the regular lanes.

Normally I am a slug, but yesterday I drove because I was staying after work for a softball game. I arrived at work at abut 8:10. My wife would come watch the game and pick me up, but she had a lacrosse game. You have to have a parking pass to park in one of the lots, so I had to see one of the security guards to get one. He started to put my information into his computer, but then got a message saying he couldn't give me a pass and I had to see the parking office. I went upstairs to do so, but the woman I needed to see wasn't in yet. In the meantime, I had to move my car, so I parked at a meter, which took some of my coins without giving me any time. I went into the building but only had a few minutes on the meter, so I tried to change a dollar in a vending machine to get some more change. The first machine just gave me back the dollar and the second one wouldn't give me change until I bought something. Luckily, I ran into a coworker who had change for my second dollar. By this time it was almost 9, and I was supposed to have a conference call at 9. I went quickly back out to my car and put the change in the meter, which again only gave me time for some of the coins. I had the conference call and thankfully it only lasted a few minutes. Afterwards, I went to see the parking office about getting a pass. The woman in charge was there, but was walking out the door as I arrived. I told her I needed a pass, and she asked someone else to get it for me. He got the same message on the computer, but they also have handwritten passes, so he just gave me one of those and I went to move my car.

I got back to my desk and sat down to check my voicemail. I had two messages from the parking lady, one asking me to come see her right away and another one asking me to give her a call. I called her and she told me I needed to come see her. When I went down to see her, she told me I had been locked out of the system and that was why the computer wouldn't give me a parking pass. Apparently I had driven in too much in the past few months. Because it costs money to park where I work (the lots are leased from the city) you can only get a certain number of free temporary parking passes per year, I guess, and I had reached my allotment. I thought the limit was three per month, and I hadn't driven in at all in June, but that is not the case.

So I can't drive in to work and park in the lots for a few months now. On one hand, I understand there needs to be a limit on the free parking passes because people who drive every day pay to park. On the other hand, though, I'm a little upset because I only drive into work if I have a valid reason, so this is at least a little inconveniencing.

June 29, 2004

A Good Week

I'm having a good running week, at least. Sunday I did a good long run, and then an easy eight miles Monday morning. This morning, I did a hill workout. The workout was simple, 10 times up the hill, recover going back down. I ran it at the soccer fields. It was a beautiful morning; I wish I would have had my camera to take a picture of the sun coming up over the trees.

I have a softball game this afternoon and I didn't even bother to bring my running clothes. I drove in because my wife has a lacrosse game tonight (getting a parking pass today was a total debacle, I'll explain later) and I'm driving over to the game so I don't have to come back to work to get my car. Besides, my workout this morning totaled 10 miles and the last two times I've brought my running clothes I didn't run anyway.

The Weekend

I had a nice, relatively uneventful weekend. Friday I went for a run with Puff and he seemed to have a good time. We ran out along the bike path and seemed enthralled watching all of the cars go by. I couldn't get him to look at me when we had to wait to cross a street. He just wanted to watch the cars.

Saturday my wife and I walked to Starbucks in the morning and then I ran in the afternoon. Despite sleeping in until 8 or so, I felt sluggish all day. It's not the first time I've felt like this. I'd feel better if I got up at 6 instead of getting two more hours of sleep. It was a beautiful day to run, sunny, breezy, and not too humid at all.

Sunday my wife, Puff, and I went to the pool. He had a good time; I was cold the whole time I was in the water. The temperature was around 80, but it was still breezy. I did my long run after I got back from the pool; 15 miles in a little under two hours. I felt stiff when I started, but loosened up as I went along.

June 25, 2004

Box Score

I didn't run again before my softball game last night. We were going to play at the high school next to where I work, but then the football team showed up and started practicing on the field. I waited around to see if we'd have to move our game, but it turned out they would be done before our game was going to start. Also, I was tired.

We won our game 7-3. That gives us a 3 game winning streak, the longest in the brief history of our team. The brand new college graduates (I'm only two years out myself) have really helped our team. I volunteered to write a recap of our games for the website a teammate is putting together, so I took care of that this morning. The website should be up in a few days. I'll post the address once I find out what it is.

June 24, 2004

Work

I probably have too much work to do to be writing this, but here goes. My wife and I have decided that we're not going to Charleston, but instead I'll run a half-marathon in Fredericksburg a week later. Longer range, I'm strongly considering running the Pittsburgh Marathon in May.

My training is going much better this week than it did last week. I did 8 miles Monday, a good workout Tuesday where I ran 3 x 10 min. (more or less) near tempo pace, and then 10 miles Wednesday. I didn't have such a great run this morning but I'm planning on getting a second run in before my softball game.

Work is hectic. It doesn't help matters that my partner is now working on a "special project" and is now my former partner.

June 22, 2004

Catching Up

It's been a few days since I've written, so I do have some catching up to do. The trip to South Carolina was fun. It was nice to see some friends I hadn't seen for a while. The wedding was very nice, but why anyone thinks an outdoor reception in South Carolina in June is a good idea is beyond me. I didn't run at all while in South Carolina.

Our office move went pretty smoothly. All of my stuff made it safely over to my new office. The one big problem is that my desk is not finished. It should form an L, but the second piece of the L is not here yet. All the Ls that were ordered were left hand Ls, but my desk needs a right hand L. At least I'm not the only one with this problem.

I ran 8 miles yesterday after work. My stomach bothered me again. I think I know what the problem is, though. I was thirsty yesterday while running and I think I was dehydrated. I don't think I drank enough over the weekend, and I was running around the building yesterday from office to office and didn't drink enough. I'm going to drink more the rest of this week and hopefully I'll feel better.

I may not be heading to Charleston in September after all. Our financial situation is probably not what it would need to be to make the trip. I'm going to look for a race of a similar distance closer to northern VA or Pittsburgh, where I grew up and my parents still live.

June 17, 2004

Packing Up

My office is moving, which is a good thing as well as a bad thing. We're getting some new furniture, which is good, but we have to move from our current location, which is bad. Right now, I work in a smallish room with three other people. I like the feeling of seclusion. I'm moving to a much larger room, which will have about 10 times the amount of people once everyone moves in.

I didn't run again today. I was hoping to run before our softball game, but between working and packing I didn't have time. Plus, it started thunderstorming, so I think our game is cancelled. As of this writing, I don't have any official word. Since I'm still at work at 6, I'd really just like to go home.

June 16, 2004

???????

Will I run today or not? That is the question. Had my week gone according to plan, I would have run 10 miles or so this morning. However, when developing my plan, I forgot that my wife had a get-together with some friends last night. She went over with her sister and was going to call me when things were wrapping up so I could bring the baby and come get her. Of course evryone couldn't just say "Hi, baby!" and leave, so we hung around for a little while. I got to bed about 11 and was going to get up at 5 and run a little less than planned. Sleeping in, running, and coming in late to work was not an option because I had a meeting at 9:30 and had to prepare some materials beforehand. If you haven't figured it out already, I didn't run this morning. I was tired and just tried to sleep a little more.

My wife occasionally tells me to sleep in, run, and go to work late. She tells me just to take some sick leave, of which I have plenty to be able to take an hour or two here and there. I haven't done this yet, but the more late nights I have the more tempting it becomes. However, I worry about saying I'm sick when I'm really not. I guess I could say I don't "feel well," which while technically true because I'm tired doesn't seem to be the same as being sick. I should just try it one day and see what happens.

June 15, 2004

Puff's First Ride

Puff went for his first real run in the baby jogger with me yesterday and did not have a good time. He was tired and hungry, and he didn't enjoy all of the bumps. We started on the path right by my house, but it goes up and down as it crosses the streets. We followed that up to the fitness center that has the soccer fields; I found out recently there's a trail behind the soccer fields. We had to go through a gravelly parking lot to get there, though and Puff did not like all that bouncing around. Part of the trail is dirt and part is paved. Puff fussed until we were on the paved part for a few minutes and then I think he fell asleep. He woke up once we got back to the fitness center and it got bumpy again. He'd probably be better off going for a run after he ate.

June 14, 2004

Catching Up

It's been a little while since I've written, but I've been busy. My day off Friday was not bad, except for the weather. It started raining about noon and didn't quit until well into the night. I finished 9th in the XC race Friday night, but I was only about 10 seconds out of 5th. There was a group of four runners that finished just in front of me. If the race were a little longer I think I would have caught them. I ran 19:05, about 20 seconds slower than last year. I'm not surprised with the time, though, given the conditions. When I picked up my spikes Saturday morning they felt like bricks.

Saturday was nice. My dad came to visit for some of Saturday before he left to see his brother in Maryland. He didn't get in until late Friday night and I decided to sleep a little more instead of run Saturday morning. The lacrosse fields were fine. It didn't rain to heavily Friday; it just rained steadily for a long time.

Sunday I got up early and ran 10 miles. I woke up as the run went on. We went back to the lacrosse fields for the final game of the season in the afternoon.

This is another short week for me. I'm leaving Friday for South Carolina to attend a friend's wedding. It'll be a good chance to catch up with some people I haven't seen for about 2 years now. I also get to try out the jogging stroller this week. I think Puff will like it as long as he's not too hungry when we go out.

June 10, 2004

Softball

I'm almost of to my softball game. As soon as I finish writing this, anyway. I did 7 miles this morning, still feeling the effects of the 7 I ran last evening. It was about 90 degrees when I ran yesterday, and the heat didn't bother me as much as my stomach. I think it had something to do with the blood flow being closer to my skin to cool me off, and therefore less blood getting to my stomach. It was obviously cooler this morning, but my stomach still felt funny.

The forecast is not looking good for my race tomorrow, but it is cross country. It's supposed to start raining any time now and continue through tomorrow night. Who knows what's going to happen with the lacrosse games this weekend too?

June 08, 2004

What's Up?

I had another sub-par run this morning. My legs felt OK, but my stomach was still acting up. I didn't know what the cause is. I haven't changed my diet or anything like that. Oh well. Here's hoping it'll just go away.

I've got another race Friday night. It's the next race in the cross country series the club I belong to runs. Last year it stormed shortly before the start and the start had to be delayed. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of that this year. Friday's supposed to be partly cloudy with a high of around 75. This race should go pretty well, especially since I don't have to go to work Friday. All federal employees have the day of due to President Reagan's funeral.

I'm still leading my age group in the series, and I think tied for 5th or so overall. Last year I won my age group and won a $50 gift certificate to a local running store. It was quite a bit more than I expected.

June 07, 2004

5k PR

I had sort of an up and down weekend. I did almost nothing Saturday. It was raining, I was tired, so I just laid around. I did find the time to go to Target and pick up some things I needed, as well as a wedding present for my friend who's getting married in about 2 weeks. The wedding should be a good time. It will be the first time I've been back near Clemson since I graduated 2 years ago. I've been back to South Carolina for two other weddings, but both were on the other side of the state. Plus, I'll get to show off Puff to some friends who haven't seen him yet.

Sunday was a much better day. I ran a 5k race and set a new PR. I ran 17:55 to finish 13th. My splits could have been better though. I ran miles of 5:25, 5:50, and 6:00, and then closed in 40 seconds. I was tying up at the end. The race was out and back along a local trail. Before the race, the announcer mentioned that the trail was slightly downhill on the way out and then slightly uphill on the way back, which my splits seem to indicate. I didn't notice it warming up, but I felt it during the race.

On a related note, in races I run that are sponsored by my club why are my times in the results always a second more that what I see on my watch? I think it must be because their timing rounds up to the next second. So even though the results say 17:56, I'm going with the 17:55 I got from my watch as my PR.

June 04, 2004

Work, Work Go Away

Is it time to go home yet? I wish it was. It's a Friday afternoon, I'm tired, and don't really feel like doing work.

I did not have a very good run this morning. After softball last night I got to bed late, but was going to run this morning because I have plans tonight. My legs actually felt good and the temperature was nice. But then about halfway through the 8 miles I was going to do, my stomach acted up and the rest of the run was fairly miserable. I ended up walking part of the run. I ran 7 of the 8 miles, so 7 miles is going in my log for today.

Tonight my wife, Puff, and I are going to the graduation ceremonies at the school where she used to teach. It's a pre-K through 8th grade school, and the 7th grade students she taught last year are graduating from 8th grade. I'm sure everyone will be glad to see her.

June 03, 2004

My Workout

Despite my halfhearted efforts to convince myself not to, I did my workout this morning. I warmed up by running over to the soccer fields. My workout was 5 repeats of 2 laps around the lowest soccer field, and then up the hill to the sign near the top of the parking lot. Then it was back down the hill to recover and start the next repeat. Each repeat was probably a little less than 3/4 of a mile, based on my time. Before each of them my legs felt heavy and stiff, but once I started running they felt fine. Including the warm up and cool down, I ended up with about 9 miles total.

I'm not running over to the field for the softball game tonight. My wife has a meeting tonight and won't be able to make it to the game, so I had to drive into work to have a ride home. I'll just drive over to the game so I don't have to come back to work to get my car.

What's up with the weather these past two mornings? Both today and yesterday I was rained on, even though only half the sky was cloudy. If I looked in one direction, it looked like rain. But if I looked in the other direction, I could see the sun coming up and blue sky. What the heck?

June 02, 2004

Time to Go Home

Another workday is ending. This one was largely uneventful. For the most part, I like uneventful work days where I can get some work done and also peruse the Internet, mainly looking at running sites. Hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.

I don't have to go visit the agency who's testing our new online ordering system tomorrow, but my partner does. She was out of town when I went last week. I don't think she looking forward to it. I'd be going, except I'm conducting a training session tomorrow morning and by the time that's over it won't be worth my time to visit.

I ran 10 miles this morning. Like my workday, it was largely uneventful. I'm planning on a workout tomorrow morning.

I "won" a jogging stroller on eBay last night. I'm looking forward to getting it and taking Puff with me when I run. I think he'll really enjoy it. My wife also wants to use it; she's playing lacrosse this summer and wants to do some running to get in shape.

June 01, 2004

I had a pretty nice end to my Memorial Day weekend. The trip to Charlottesville was largely uneventful, and really was just about unnecessary. Originally, we were going to try to plan some activities for my in-laws, we scrapped that idea just picked up some of the brochures in the visitor's center. The one good thing that came out of the trip was finding a hotel that is pretty close to everything.

My run Sunday morning before I left was terrible. I was very tired and ended up cutting my run short to 4 miles. I just wanted to crawl back into my bed.

My run Monday was much better, however. I got a good night's rest and did 16+ miles in a little over two hours. Days like this make me feel like I have a good chance of meeting my goal at the Distance Run.