Showing posts with label NCAA Tourney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA Tourney. Show all posts

Thursday, March 19, 2009

It's Tourney Time!!!

I had a 5 mile run on the calendar for today and my options were: 1) go in the morning like you normally do -or- 2) go at lunch time to the gym and watch some NCAA Tourney action.

I'm sure you can guess which option won :-)

Anyhow, with the new treadmill room at our gym, there are no TVs on the wall anymore - just on the treadmill screens.  It's nice because I can watch the game even if the person next to me insists on watching HGTV or the Food Network.  However, I find it very uncomfortable to be staring down at a screen while running.  Luckily, I don't do it all the time...

Results of my run:  5 miles, 53:50 - 10:46/mile pace; 146 avg HR.  Nice.  Steady.  Easy.

And I've earned my beer tonight while I watch Michigan play in the tourney.  GO BLUE!!!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

No Rain - Hooray!!!

So yesterday I was a bit bummed out that the weather was supposed to be cold and rainy this morning. I'm glad to report that it did not rain! It was a bit chilly - 37 degree wind chill - however, I dressed appropriately so it was not too bad.

I had a difficult time keeping my heart rate below 150 at the rate that I wanted to run. I believe this is attributable to my blood donation earlier this week - my body has not fully bounced back to its full aerobic capacity. I also think that I may be a bit dehydrated - I drank lots of water on Monday after the blood donation, but on Tuesday and Wednesday I was not in my office and I ended up drinking more coffee and sodas. I got some NUUN tablets this afternoon to try and get some electrolytes back in me...we'll see if that works.

I ended up running pretty well - 12.25 miles in 2:11:43 - a 10:45/mile pace. My average heart rate was higher than I would like for a long run - 159 - but I'm hoping that some more time and hydration will help bring that back to where it should be.

I had a lot on my mind during my run, so the time went quickly. There are a few issues at work which are bugging me a bit - one of which is how to convince my management on the number of Project Manager I need for my current project, as they are not sold on my initial recommendation - so I had a few ideas that I may try to work on during my plane ride to Dallas tomorrow night.

I also was thinking about the NCAA Tourney - I did get to catch the OT buzzer shot that put Western Kentucky over Drake, but all in all I have not spent much time on the Tourney this year. In previous years, I would fill out multiple brackets, read about how the teams did in the regular season and their conference tournaments, and would take at least one of the afternoons off during the first round to watch some games. I actually was planning to "work" from the Wine Harvest Cafe on Friday afternoon - they have free WiFi and a television that would have the games on...multitasking at its best! However, at around 3:45 on Friday afternoon a colleague of mine IMed me asking if I was there and I had totally forgotten about going! I believe that I may have lost about 1 hour of productivity during work this week on the NCAA Tourney - it must be a record for me :-)

The backdrop to all these thoughts was wonderful scenery - I saw a few deer when I ran on the overpass through Seneca Creek Park on Great Senaca Highway - and some Israeli music. I listened to Rami Kleinstein's "Tagid Et Zeh" and then a collection of Israeli Hits from 2006 "Rak B'Yisrael 2006".