Friday, December 01, 2006

Grin and Bear it


I'm back.
It's been another fun-filled week here in Bexville.
Well. Kind of.
Thanksgiving - remember that? Only a week ago, but now just a faint memory with a slight aftertaste of cranberry sauce.
First, a 5-mile Turkey Trot that E. and I ran, though I as a bandit (and in a race sponsored by my local running club!). Then saw "Corteo," a whimsical, beautifully stunning, and acrobatic show by Cirque du Soleil (the photo is of me mugging in Cirque's shop during intermission). Capped the day with a yummy turkey dinner and homemade pumpkin pie at a friend's house.
Blitzkrieg trip to the Big Apple: But all of that holiday goodness dissipated on Monday at 4:12 p.m. That's when The Powers That Be said I must go to New York City immediately for a story. Aaaaargh. So much for a relaxing evening, not to mention my scheduled 6-mile tempo run.
Scrambled for train and hotel reservations. Caught the 8:30 p.m. train to Penn Station. Arrived at midnight. Crashed to a honking cacaphony of taxis 26 floors below. From 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. the next day, as holiday tourists thronged Times Square a few blocks away, I gripped and grinned and interviewed lots of middle-aged folks in dark suits, and took notes at the rawther tony Princeton Club.
Afterwards, famished, stumbled into a Japanese restaurant and ate what must have been a whole school of fish. Caught the 8:15 p.m. Acela train to Washington, arriving home at 11:20 p.m.
The rest of the week has also been kind of like that. You know, busy as hell. So that's why, dear readers, I have not been around lately.
Running update: I did manage to squeeze in an abbreviated speed workout on the treadmill on Wednesday night. 2 X 1600, then 2 X 800 at 7:30/mile pace, with a quarter-mile jog in between repetitions. My lungs hurt afterwards. Gotta do more speed workouts.
On Thursday, it was too dark to run outside, and I didn't have any reflective gear, besides. So I logged 75 minutes on a stationery bike, my quads burning through 25 miles. Let's call that equivalent to about 8 miles or so of running.
Next time: My marathon DVD of the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon finally arrives. I laugh. I cry. But mostly, I wonder, "Where the hell am I?!"

7 comments:

  1. Welcome back stranger! I thought you fell off the edge of the earth, which I guess in some ways is the same as a trip to NYC.

    I was hoping for some video from the famous MarathonDVD. It must've been the free beer and wine that made you order it!

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  2. Thinking about Corteo makes me want to jump on my bed! I love Cirque du Soliel - love it! So much more fun than running on treadmills at hotels.

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  3. You are one busy woman. We are looking forward to seeing you both next weekend. The historic house tour on Saturday and Sunday is taking place right around our block, so we'll have folks dressed in Colonial garb, re-enactors, and lines of people everywhere. Our race is in the morning, though, so we shouldn't be dodging anyone:)

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  4. Ah, I don't miss those kinds of days and weeks as a reporter anymore. Looking forward to hearing about this DVD footage. My friend gets one every year from the LA Marathon, hoping this time he's actually included.

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  5. I am sorry you aren't the star of your DVD. I couldn't imagine they'd catch enough of me to put in one so I passed. Now, if I'd somehow run spectacularly, I might have enjoyed the leaders' success video and overlayed that on my own snippets.
    But in my case, uh ... no.

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  6. Doesn't sound like you were able to squeeze in a run in NYC...

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  7. i got mine yesterday! but i'm too afraid to watch it.

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