Sleeping Like Babies

Took the path in the other direction this morning and ran 2.78 miles in 25 minutes. My thighs are in protest mode. We'll leave the running for a couple of days. But -- about 9k over two days -- not bad!

The DD had a fabulous time at her sleepover, but has spent much of today at the ballet school. Because she is in two classes this year (ballet and modern) she is in two performances. Hence, a 90 minute rehearsal for one this afternoon, and two hours tonight (she' s there now). She will be sleeping like a baby tonight. Me too.

How Many Times Can I Title Something "Back to Running"?

Still coughing a bit in the morning, but I managed a really good run half way around Wascana Lake this morning. My run proper was 2.98 miles (sooooo close to the 5k I'm aiming at), but with the further walk home, I went 3.91 miles in all (over 6k). It is a beautiful sunny and warm day here today. Perfect weather for an outdoor run, and I wasn't alone. Lots of folks out walking their dogs (I'm feeling enormous dog envy), and other runners and walkers.

Spent almost two and a half hours last night at the DD's ballet school while her two classes had their pictures taken for the yearbook (and for us). The hairspray was so rife I thought I was going to stop breathing. But ballerinas have to have that hair slicked right down -- no sprigs sticking out.

The DD is having a sleepover at her little friend M's house tonight. The girls have been just about exploding with excitement over this for days now. Last time she had a sleepover I was an utter fool about it -- I kept waking up all night and thinking mournfully that her bedroom was empty. This does not bode well for her eventual departure for university.

Back after Exams

All done! Exams are graded, committee meetings are over, and I have spent the day thinking about how I want to organise my time over the next couple of months while I teach the Shakespeare course. The end of term is very welcome. I plan to enjoy my week and a half off.

Since I last "blogged", I have read Rebecca West's autobiographical novels This Real Night (1984) and Cousin Rosamund (1987), and have just started a book of literary criticism on Joyce's Ulysses.

No real running exploits to report due to a lingering bout of bronchitis. It's almost gone, though not as gone as I'd like. As a result, I've put on weight again, and between that and stress-induced bad eating, I have a lot of ground to recover. So I'm back on the South Beach Phase One diet again. Salads here we come.

Current Reading: S.L. Goldberg's The Classical Temper: A Study of James Joyce's Ulysses (1961)
Current Music: Scott Joplin's "Elite Syncopations"

Brown Spots, Be Gone

After cancelling my afternoon class due to a migraine, and sleeping it off with Tylenol and Gravol in time-honoured fashion, I went off to the laser clinic today to have two brown sun-damage spots removed from my face. I can now expect to look scabby and gross for a couple of weeks, but ... oh well. Since I teach until the end of June there really isn't any particularly good time when I can hide away from the world, so I'm just going to shrug my shoulders and wear my scabs proudly. I did tell my morning class what I was having done so I wouldn't they wouldn't think I lost a bar fight. I was going on to go for a run tonight, but I'm still feeling kind of wonky after the migraine, so I'll just wait and go for a walk tomorrow.

Current Reading: James Jones' Whistle (1978)

Yay Me!

I had an amazing run yesterday at the fitness centre. I was starting the intermediate training programme, geared to adding distance, so I was doing 5 and 1's, but an extra set of them. Ran 1.92 miles in 27 minutes (5:1:5:1:5:1:5:4), and for the last quarter of the run had a real endorphin high and just chugged along, no pain, just in the groove. It was fantastic!