Dispatches from Staycation, #2

Staycation is more than halfway over now, and I am exhausted, impressed with everything that has been done, and overwhelmed by the thought of everything left to be done. I had intended to put up some pictures with this post, but I don't have the energy to get up and take them. So, here's a quick, text-only summary of some of the major accomplishments:

-Donated old glasses.
-Recycled broken TV, computer, and cell phones.
-Disposed of old and broken grill, table, and fan blades in bulk pickup.
-Bought and assembled new shelf for kitchen. Re-arranged stuff in kitchen.
-Replaced some Teflon-coated pans with non-toxic ones and took old pans to Goodwill.
-Took two boxes of books to Goodwill. Moved school books from bedroom shelves to office and put fun books on bedroom shelves (yay!).
-(With help from Mom) rotated mattress and fixed bedframe.
-(With help from Dad) hooked roommate's room up to cable.
-Added new recipes to recipe books.
-Had two years' worth of pictures printed and put them in albums.
-Purged old magazines.
-Went grocery shopping and cooked.
-(With help from my brother) upgraded old computer with new memory.
-Purchased new bedding, a replacement for the broken TV, and a larger food processor. Ran out of money.

I think there's actually more, but I can't think of it all right now. In the midst of all this, I have also managed to work out once or twice a day, see the new Harry Potter movie, and hang out with a friend (though I did meet her at Ikea). So, obviously, the staycation is going well, but there is still so much to do! I have barely started on the biggest project- cleaning out my attic/office. That could easily take up the remainder of my time. I also have to write a sermon for a guest-preaching gig on Sunday, which I am finding hard to do without my office.

Also on my things-to-do list is updating this blog with some recent happenings. So, here is one such update:

Over the past two weekends, I ran two Annapolis Striders' races: The Women's Distance Festival 5K and the John Wall mile. Both of these races happened on Saturdays (aka: long run day), meaning that I had to get creative in order to reach my planned mileage for those days.

On the day of the WDF, I was supposed to run 12 miles. I ran to the race, which wound up being 3 miles. Then, I ran the race as hard as I could manage, coming in at 27:30 (about 15 seconds over my 5K PR). Afteward, I joined my tri-training friend Lauren and did another lap of the 2-loop race course. That got me to 7.5 miles, so I should have kept going, but I was hot and exhausted. At the end of the bonus lap, I met up with a high-school-friend-turned-amazing-triathlete, Scott, and we went for bagels. So, I came in 4.5 miles short that day.

On the day of the Wall Mile, I was scheduled for 14 miles. I went to the track early to get in a few miles before the race. I ran 4 miles before the race, which did not help me much in the race itself. I was good and warmed up, but I was also hot and a little tired. I ran it in 8:11, which is 16 seconds faster than last year, but dissapointing compared to the 7:45 mile I ran during tri-training. After that race, I had to come home and get ready for my niece's birthday party. So, the next morning, I got up and tested a potential new running route. I was unsure of the distance when I set out; it turned out to be 7 miles. So, 4 pre-race miles, 1 race mile, and 7 miles the next day= 12 miles. Still a couple miles short, but better than the previous week.

All in all, I was pleased with these two weeks, running-wise. Even though I came up a little short in terms of mileage, I have been much more consistent than last year already. At this point, I am feeling confident that NYC can be a much better marathon experience than MCM. Of course, the real heat starts this weekend!