Weeks 3, 4 and 5

The amount of blogging I’ve done in the last three weeks has a direct correlation to the amount of running I’ve done. I suppose I could just say I’ve been too busy to do both, but that would be…well…a lie. Week 3 was pretty bad. I should have run three times for a total of ten miles. I ran once for a total of five miles. (I can blame at least one missed run on the fact that New Mexico has 50-60 mph winds, but even that’s a little wimpy.) Week 4 was also pretty ugly. I should have run three times for a total of 12 miles. I ran twice for a total of four miles. (That week my excuse was semi-legit. I had the worst shin pain on my first run of the week, so much so that I was barely able to walk home. I decided to take a day off and then shorten my next run just in case I was really hurt.) The x-training was even more abysmal. ************************************************************************************** I can proudly say that I went six for six in Week 5. I x-trained three days and then ran three days for a total of 12 miles. Last week’s runs were tough, but bearable and I feel pretty good about the progress I am making all things considered. It’s frustrating as hell that I quit running for three months, gained about ten pounds, lost the ability to run for any prolonged period of time and lost a ton of fitness. I guess there’s only one way to get it back! Our half marathon is less than six weeks away and only time will tell if I’m really ready to do that again. ************************************************************************************* We’re now less than three months away from our big move to Salt Lake City. I just moved up my last day at work to July 9, which hopefully means that watching the show “Wipeout” will be the most mentally challenging thing I do between July 9 and August 11, when “Math Camp” starts. (No, that’s not a TV show, it’s my life as a doctoral student.) One of my runs from Week 4 was during our trip to Ruidoso, NM as part of our farewell to New Mexico tour. I have lived in this state for four years and really haven’t seen much. I would think that Southern NM would be a desert wasteland (no offsense to my Phoenix friends), but Ruidoso is this beautiful mountain town and it was a really fun visit. (Despite our visit to a “western style chuckwagon dinner show”, which is another story entirely.) On the way home, we stopped by White Sands National Monument and a gigantic pistachio. Lucky for you, I’ve included a picture or two.