Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I'm back!!!!!

Hola. I know I’ve been absent for a few days with my blog; I’ve been on a little trip to 4 states and 3 times zones in as many days and have had very limited time nor means to adaquately access the internet. But I wanted to let you know I was still alive and I did do a little documentation of each day so here ya’ go:

Thursday 03/26:
I’m currently am sitting in a bar in the Atlanta airport sharing a table and a beer with a guy from St. Louis; he is in the family business for the past 152 years of jail and prison construction. I’m serious. Isn’t it really cool the diversity of professions you encounter that never even crossed your thoughts before? Dennis’ company develops software for jails and prisons…small world. Anyway, I made it safely on the Atlanta ground by the mysteries of the powers that be, one of those unexplained cosmic phenomenal events…because most flights out today were cancelled and as I looked out my airplane window covered with ice and snow, I was praying like I never prayed before that my remains would not be sprawled clear across the DIA runways. I need a drink….and I’m not kidding!!!!!

When I woke at 6:00am this morning with only a trace of snow on the ground, schools were already closed and businesses delayed. The storm was moving quickly and going to dump hard; I knew I had to get out of Denver fast before the storm hit and my 3:41 departure time was not going to make the cut-off of soon to be inevitable canceling of flights. I do not want to miss my class; I needed to get out of Denver quick. I understand that weather is unpredictable and the logistics of changing countless flights is a nightmare in these situations, but please PLEASE, can’t the airlines just be consistent in what they tell a person? Each and every single 8 phone calls I placed landed me with a different explanation of the procedures to get on an earlier flight. This is their profession, this is their job…for heaven’s sake – all need to be on the same page!! Okay, off my soap-box. Somehow that 10:55 flight I mentioned I’d be on in the previous blog was booked solid, then it wasn’t, then it was …you see the pattern. Finally, in an attempt to get me on a flight from Denver to Salt Lake to Atlanta, one very sympathetic woman took pity on my soul (finally!) and somehow got me on the 10:55 direct Denver to Atlanta flight that was now delayed to 1:15. En route to DIA, I was in awe over the amount of snow on the roads and as I nervously picked at my finger nails, I thought there was no way in heck that any plane could possibly take off in this mess and what a waste of time this little excursion was. I was clearly mistaken because oh yeah baby….we took off. Words can’t even express the fear I felt, I won’t even try to explain!

I landed in once piece; miracles do happen. All I can say in summary of today’s little expedition is this: if you take a girl that has a lot of anxiety just to walk on an airplane in perfectly normal conditions and you throw snow, ice, and wind into the mix….I deserved a drink when I landed!

Friday 03/27
Today was day 1 of 2 of my RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) coaching certification class. I am very excited!! Today’s topics: Physiology (Rules of Overload & Specificity; Work Capacity; Energy Systems; Training Adaptations), Nutrition (How Much to Eat; When to Eat; What to Eat), Injury Prevention (Understanding Prevention; Injury Prevention; Injury Treatment), and Psychology and injury. There are about 35 people in my class and the vast majority is incredible, established runners. I have met some wonderful people and absorbed their amazing stories and careers. Evening plans consisted of a gathering of those of us doing the marathon or half to meet after class and head downtown to pick up our race packets, a little expo browsing and then off to a great dinner It was really fun meeting new people and listening to all their running stories. Wow…incredible stories! I thought I ran a lot……

Saturday 03/28
Day 2 of my class and today’s topic is The Art of Coaching (Training Cycles), Training Progressions (Base Building, Sharpening, and Tapering), and Race planning and recovery. Intermixed throughout the day, we did a few hand-on exercises where we had a “client” and had to design a proper training program that realistically met his needs. It was really great! I learned so much about running and I am excited to put my new sills to use.

Managed to make my way downtown from the seminar hotel to meet my dear Alabama friend, Lisa, who came to watch my race (and share some girly time together). What an ordeal trying to use the train but somehow I figured it out with the help of a local homeless man who showed me my way (with some of my spare change). It was great to see Lisa; I hadn’t seen her since last year at the race. We checked into the hotel (the Omni – very SWEET!) and had a little carbo loading dinner at McCormick and Schmidt’s and enjoyed an evening of catching up and getting my race stuff together for the next day. Lisa gave me a necklace she got for me when she was in Greece (she just returned days before); it’s the Greek Goddess, Athena whose strengths are: Rational, intelligent, a powerful defender in war but also a potent peacemaker. Yeah……I can see that in meJ.
It has been pretty much raining non-stop since I landed in Atlanta but finally tonight it was stopping. I hope that tomorrow brings dry skies, I don’t relish the thought of 13.1 rain-soaked miles that I lived through in StG but of course, I’d rather it rain than 80 degrees.

I finally landed in my heavily mattress and down comforter…there is NOTHING better on earth than a down-filled blanket – ahhhhhh!

Sunday 03/29- RACE DAY! I’ll blog on this separate tomorrowbut to give you a peek: I had the race of my life!! Okay, maybe not "life", that was St. George, but I had a great run and it couldn't have unfolded any better!

Monday 03/30:
I am now sitting in the Nashville airport, having slept in 3 time zones and 4 states in as many days, dead tired, enduring yet another delay in flight to get me back home to Denver. I am tired, y’all (a little southern hospitality, being in the South and all!). I am tired and I just wanna go home. But this extra airport time where I have nothing to do other than focusing on my writing (okay, I do have a few Runner’s World I could get caught up on or a great book I started like 3 months ago and am currently on page 55 of 855)

I am sore and stiff, though maybe not particularly as bad as I could be? In order of aching rankings: my quads, my right bicep (only my right), my calves (mostly right again. Hum…..???), my left knee and finally, my ab muscles. Ouch!

I am tired, y’all and I just wanna go home right now and be in the comforts of my own environment but what a fabulous 4-days I’ve endured and I can’t even imagine, even in my overly-tired current daze, that I’d do one thing differently. It’s been a whirlwind trip which will go down in my memory bank as one of the best of the best of memories and I will frequent these days often when I need that little escape to visit somewhere special.

1 comment:

Dennis said...

Great PR! Nice job and at a good time, you are definately going to do well at Boston.