Saturday–December 3, 2005
Training: Fun road race. Escalade is the second biggest road race in Switzerland!
3k warm up, 4.7k race (17:00 18th place…lots of Kenyans!!!), 7k cool down
Where: Geneva, Switzerland
Quotes: "What's the point of waiting until New Year's to set goals…I need to set them now!" Me Because it isn't good to put things off!!!!
The Thuner Trio. Those two, Astrid in the middle and Livia on the bottom
qualified for European Championships Congrats girls! I am proud to train with them.
This road race was so much fun!!! I have never been to a normal road race with so many people there!!! The spectators were great and the feel of the whole thing was awesome. I believe there were 23,000 participants!!! (My French really sucks so I could have understood wrong, but I am pretty sure I am right! Hahaha). No matter, there were tons of people there, both spectators and participants. Some of the participants also wore costumes for the race! I saw this one dude dressed up as Mr. Incredible and it was HILARIOUS! He had the black mask painted around his eyes and everything…he was hardcore! HAH!
Anyway, here were my results: http://services.datasport.com/2005/lauf/escalade/RANG028.HTM
And the rest: http://services.datasport.com/2005/lauf/escalade/default.htm
And the official site for the race: http://www.escalade.ch/spip/index.php3?lang=fr
The Course: Oh man, hilly and LOTS of sharp, 90 degree turns!!! It was awesome though because there were spectators who lined almost the whole course!!! REALLY cool.
Thanks to Chrigu for being so nice and helping me get to where I needed to go for the race! I would have TOTALLY gotten lost without you. You rock! Due to many more things than leading me in the right direction of course! You just rock in general!!! THANK YOU!
Short term GOALS-some are repeats from earlier
1. Work on core…apparently I need a lot of work! (Crap, it was those anorexic girls messing with me again…I always associated crunches with them and psychos, but it is a fact that it is important to have a strong core for a runner! So yeah, I am working on leaving those "ghost" thoughts behind and just do what is necessary to become a better runner in all aspects…again, screw appearance, it is just about having a strong core, so when my legs start giving out, I have a backup system. So yes, lets call it that instead…..)
WORK ON MY BACKUP SYSTEM
2. Jack the miles up for the next 5 weeks (with a down week in the middle of course so I don't kill myself…This is of course is also from Fritz, but I like to write it down to give me motivation) So Jack up miles….aka, Run a lot of miles, aka lay an awesome foundation down so I will be able to handle the harder workouts coming up in the next couple weeks.
3. Qualify for Student World Cross Country Championships
4. Rock a fast half marathon in April!!!!
5. Reduce sugar intake!!!!!!!! Crap, this is my biggest challenge. For those of you who know me, all know my mouth is full of silver fillings and my pantry full of sugar!!! I also have a weakness for fatty foods such as pastries, cake, sugar, sugar, caramel, sugar….and umm…oh yeah, anything with sugar in it!!! Am working on it… Today I only had TWO rows of cookies instead of a whole box..WHICH are small here, thank you! Remember, everything in the States is truly super sized, so when you buy a box of cookies here, there are only about 100 to 200 grams of cookies instead of about, 10 POUNDS JUMBO GIANT FAMILY FAT SIZE. Hahaha Sorry, but you know it's true. Those family size bags are killer. Hahahha! A killer, but a beautiful thing at the same time!
Sunday–December 4, 2005
Training: 95 mins, long run with KILLER HILLS
Where: I don't know, but I am never going back there…hahahahha Somewhere on some mountain above Steffisburg over towards Goldiwill and then back down next to the Thuner See.
Quotes: "I don't know where I was…all I know is that it kept going up, up, up…and when I thought it should go down soon because what goes up must come down…yeah, it went UP again!!!!!!!"
WEATHER: Pretty warm today. High of 48 degrees F.
Monday–December 5, 2005
Training: 25 minutes in the am with 30 mins. of core strength, 50 mins, pm
Where: Thun and Steffisburg
Quotes: "Crap. Just ate a bar of chocolate. But, I mean, chocolate is the good kind of sugar…………" me laughing to my Aunt
WEATHER: A bit of drizzle in the pm. Temperature was comfortable. 5 degrees Celsius, ummm that is…umm, hold on….converting………41 degrees F!
Celsius to Farenheit: 1) double the Celsius temperature 2) subtract one tenth of this value 3) add 32
Actually, I learned that in Physics with you, Mr. Aylsworth!!! Aren't you proud of me? Hah!
I felt okay today. My legs were a little tired, but I think I am holding up. I wonder what my workout is Wednesday….
PREVIOUS: November 30, December 1, 2 – Next goal: World Student XC Championships
INDEX: Unfinished Business -- Former PA XC state champion Josi Lauber's post-collegiate adventure.