The Fells

Went for a long hike this afternoon with Andrea and Amina. We wandered around The Fells, which is a forested area that is right smack in the middle of about 5 different towns just outside of Boston. A little piece of paradise in the city. Went for a 3 mile run later in the evening. Tomorrow is the Human Race 10k...

Radioactive Bones

Couldn't sleep well last night in anticipation of being injected with radiolabeled liquid first thing this morning. Had a couple sips of coffee and some H2O as I made my way to the hospital at 7am. I parked and found my way through the maze that is BWH to the nuclear medicine department just in time for my 7:30am check-in. As I checked in, I realized that I'd forgotten my blue card. Apparently you can't be seen unless you have one. So I was directed to the Ambulatory Unit check-in desk to get one and I was greeted by a very friendly woman who hooked me up with my fast pass to the bone scanner.

I checked in again and was quickly whisked off to a stark room with a comfy leather chair, in which I was instructed to sit, by a tech who acted as if it was his first day on the job. He proceeded to tell me that he'd be inserting an iv into my arm and noted that I had "great veins". He proceeded to cut off my circulation with the tourniquete and I thought my veins were going to explode. He stuck me once, pushed in the iv tube and realized that he'd missed the mark as blood rushed into the attached vial of saline. "Whoops, let me try again" he said to me. He poked again, just above the first stab wound and I noticed that the tube was half filled with blood and air. That doesn't look right. I hope he doesn't give me an embolism, I have a lot of things I need to do today. He began to push the saline in and the skin above the needle quickly enlarged into a small mound. "Oh...I am so sorry," he said to me, "Feel that..." he rubbed the growing bump..."I don't want to tell you this but I am going to have to get someone else to just do a straight stick because I have missed your enormous vein again" Fantastic, I am now a human pin cushion. I rolled up my right sleeve in preparation. "No problem," I smiled.

The second tech thankfully acted like he knew what he was doing. He pulled the needle & radioactive isotope out of a lead vase, tightened the tourniquet and stabbed me for a third time. This time it took. Whew. He informed me that I needed to return in 3 hours and to drink lots of water. I hope coffee counts.

Three hours later I found myself laying on an over sized geiger counter watching small white dots form the outline of my skeleton. It took about a half an hour to take a full body scan and two leg scans. It was the coolest thing I've seen since grad school and I almost asked the tech to print me out a copy of the picture so I could take it home as a souvenir. I didn't, only because I thought that might be just a little weird.

On my way out of the office, the tech introduced me to one of the radiologists who would later examine my scan. He told me that at first glance, everything looked ok, but that he would take a closer look at the offending area and talk to my doctor if he finds anything. I should know my status by Tuesday. I'm thinking that I am ok.

The plan for this weekend is to run two 10ks and go for a hike (or bike ride). A little phantom pain isn't going to slow me down...

A gnatty run

An unfortunate consequence of my reservoir runs as of late are the hoards and hoards (and hoards) of gnats that hover between 4.5 & 6 feet in the air over the trail. As you might imagine, my short stature puts my head at just the right height to be surrounded by these nasty little creatures. Tonight was no exception. Every time I ran through the swarming brown clouds, I tried a preventative head duck, thinking that if I was able to drop my altitude enough, I would avoid inhaling a mouthful of bugs. Much to my dismay, this strategy rarely worked and I ended up swatting my way around the reservoir.

Bugs aside, the run was beautiful. The water was completely still except for a ripple that 2 swans left in their wake toward the end of the loop. The sun was setting behind BC and the sky was full of brush-stroke clouds.

In other news, I had an x-ray on my leg today. It came out just fine, but the Dr. wants me to have a bone scan just to be safe. Yikes. That will happen on Friday. Stay tuned...

That's what horses eat

Last night Layla came over for dinner and Amina was kind enough to cook dinner for all of us. She made butter chicken, daal and yogurt with cucumbers. It was quite a tasty meal and I was thrilled when there were leftovers because I love eating daal for breakfast - especially before running. When I told her I was going to eat it this morning, Amina laughed and said to me "that's what horses eat! It gives them strength..." Horses eat lentils flavored with garlic, hot peppers and spices (for breakfast)? hmm...

The breakfast: a plate of daal and 2 glasses of water

The run: met at MIT, ran the MOS loop, passed the Mass Ave bridge, went over the Anderson footbridge and headed back to MIT: 8.2ish total miles.

All I can say is that the proof is in the daal. I had an amazing run this morning, full of energy and completely pain free. This might become a long-run tradition. I just need to somehow convince Amina to cook for me more often.

3+ plus 2.5x Summit

Went for a jog to marathon sports to see if they have compression socks for my achy leg. Unfortunately, the girl that worked there had no idea what they were. *Sigh*

I headed back toward Summit to do a couple of repeats. 2.5 down and I headed home to make guacamole. Tasty. As of 7:12pm, I've pretty much eaten my weight in avocado.

An easy 3

I decided that I needed to do a short recovery run tonight to keep the limbs limber. I ran the Comm ave loop through Allston, Boston and back to Brookline. I left around 7 and returned a short 27 minutes later. My shin is still hurting, so I am icing it and I made an appointment with my pcp to get it checked out. Dx tbd.

Reservoir 6 + 1.5x Summit

Took off for a run this evening to make up for the slacker week I had. Hit Beacon to do the usual reservoir run as the sun was just starting to set. This is my favorite time to run the reservoir because it's starting to cool down, it is peaceful and quiet and there aren't a lot of people that get in the way. Saw a couple guys fishing again and I wonder a) if they actually catch anything and b) if they caught something, would they really eat it?

My run continued back down Beacon and all of a sudden, I had an idea. Summit. Yes, the monstrosity of a hill that I conquered oh so long ago. In true relay fashion I passed off the house keys to Amina and told her I'd meet her at home. I then stormed down the street and took a left onto Summit just as Ingrid's Tu Es Foutu (You Are Crazy) began playing on my iPod.

My favorite part of this run is on the way down. I know it's torture on your joints, but it is such a great recovery from the pain that ensues during the time it takes to run up the thing. And oddly, tonight, as I ran down it, the following thought crossed my mind, "That wasn't so bad. How about a repeat?" Since I had already gone 5.5-ish miles by that point, I cut myself a little slack and went halfway up to Bellavista and ran home. I've come to the conclusion that I'd like to own a home on Bellavista. The houses are huge, are surrounded by plenty of trees and they all have large yards. As I was contemplating how many years it would take me to save up enough for a down payment on one of the BV chateaus, I noticed that the vibrant orange sun had just about set behind the trees. Gorgeous. I finally zipped home and made myself a salad with corn and frijoles negros. And now, here I sit on my living room floor, ice pack on my left leg, munching on sheep's milk gouda, watching women's diving. Such a relaxing way to end what turned out to be, a very enjoyable weekend.

No running

Yeah, you read correctly. I haven't been running. Well, for the last 2 days anyway. After my awful Sunday run, I decided to give my left shin and right knee a break. So what, you ask, have I been doing in the interim? Watching the Olympics of course. Childhood dreams of winning the gold have passed me by, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the synchronized diving, water polo and gymnastics does it? One question though, why does the women's beach volleyball uniform consist of a barely-there bikini when the men's team uniform is a baggy sleeveless t-shirt and long shorts? My vote: the men should be forced to go sleeveless t-shirtless. But I digress.

(interesting...an hour after I posted this, it looks like I'm not the only one asking that question http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/slideshow/ss.76)

On tap for tomorrow: a spinning class! Yep, back to the gym I go at lunch time to get in a little cross training. Gonna take my old tennies for a spin on the bike. Hope I can keep up. The last time I did this, I had one of the best (and sweatiest) workouts ever. In the evening, perhaps a run. I'm going to be exhausted. But maybe, just maybe, I'll finally be able to get a full, uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep tomorrow night.

One good, one bad

Did the reservoir run yesterday in about an hour -I was finally able to put the much needed 6 miles under my belt. It was a beautiful morning, I felt strong the whole time and I had a surprisingly nice finish. Today, however, was a different story. I headed out to do a 5 mile run around the river and was in pain not even a mile into it. Could have been because I didn't stretch properly, could have been because my muscles were fatigued. I did finish, but it was such a sloppy run. Tonight I rest, ice my leg & watch the Olympics.

7 at 7:30

Did another 7 today with the group at 7:30 this morning. Had an egg & chocolate Gu for breakfast and then headed out to the river. Temperature was great when we started - overcast & in the mid-70s and then as usual, warmed up along the way. The run couldn't have been better. My legs were going strong the whole time and had it not been for some rather annoying GI issues, I could have gone farther. After we finished, Amina & I headed to the South Shore Mall for some shopping. Bought some new work clothes and had shredded beef tacos for lunch (which made my afternoon, I needed the protein & guacamole). Got home and crashed. Ate a salad for dinner and then went to JP Licks and had chocolate & oreo ice cream for dessert. What a great day.

Another humid run

This week has been light in terms of mileage. I bought some new Asics, (which I love) and have been trying to break them in slowly. We did 4 on Sunday, 4 on Tuesday (with the group) and 5 last night with Vik (who is preparing for a full marathon and has already hit the 12 mile mark in only 7 weeks of training).

After an extremely long day at work, a forgotten appointment with a plumber, a potential roommate interview and my stomach full from dinner, we ran to CHB in what seemed like 15 minutes (probably more like 45-ish). What a difference it makes to run with someone new. I think this may become a regular Thursday run.

One random thought...what am I going to do once this half is done and I have nothing to train for???