Sorry for the lag time between posts. I haven't had much free time lately or well I guess I have, I've just been using it to get my life together. (i.e. working on completing the switch from the old computer to the new computer, trying to figure out why half my music disappeared in said switch, etc., etc.)

I'll do a quick update bullet point style:

• Wednesday night my soccer leauge started back up. Because we had a ton of defenders, I saw a little action at forward in the first half. That was an interesting experience to be sure. I haven't played forward since I was in like 6th grade. I was able to switch back to my normal defensive position half way through the first half though. Unfortunately we lost 3-0. I guess that will happen when you play a high school team that just joined the league to keep in shape in the off season.
• My doctor has me taking melatonin to help me sleep better and maybe figure out the cause to some of this fatigue stuff. I should mention that melatonin is a supplement that helps your body sync to natural circadian rhythm and isn't one of those addictive sleeping pill dealies. I've been taking it for three days so far, and I definitely feel like I've been getting more quality sleep. So score one for the doc!
• I'm meeting a co-worker for tennis during my hour and half lunch break today. I think it will be the first time in the eight or nine months since I started working here that I will actually use the full hour and a half. Usually I only take an hour at most.
• I'm heading to Maryland again this weekend. My soccer boys play Boston College in their ACC opener. It should be a good and close game. Tomorrow Terps football plays Cal. That unfortunately, has every potential to be a blow out in the wrong way. Tailgating tonight for the soccer game at 5:30 p.m. Tailgating tomorrow morning for football at 6 a.m. Oof! I hate noon kick-offs.
• Maybe getting free tickets to Saturday's D.C. United game. A guy my friend knows apparently has two he might not be using! That would make for an awesome, sports-filled weekend.
  

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I'm taking my running stuff with me to Maryland again, we'll see if I have time to cram in a run at some point.

So I was reading the D.C. United blog this weekend, to get the scoop on the game last night (tied the Red Bulls 0-0) when I happened across this video.

Pay special attention to the picture that's shown after the dude says, "She's wholesome." You may recognize it.



(P.S. if you missed how I ended up in this random video, you can read all about it here and here.)

I was reading one my favorite soccer blogs (yea, I'm a nerd, I know...) this morning and stumbled across this post.

Yes, Devon McTavish is my favorite player (followed closely by Marc Burch...duh he's a former Terp).

Yes, I'm a female.

Does that mean it's my lucky day? (This will only make sense if you read the link.)

Seriously though, I'm half thinking about entering the contest. I mean, what the heck, why not right...right? OK obviously I'm still not sold on wanting to upload my picture to a radio station Web site for people to vote on it.

What do you guys think? Should I do it?

Also....why is Devon having a hard time finding women? Have ya seen him? He's not exactly hard on the eyes and from what I've read in various D.C. United articles and stuff, he comes across as a nice guy...sooo what's the problem?

Last night I did my first ever interval workout at the track. I have to give some props to my friend Josh (no blog to link too) for setting me up with the workout.

Josh is another runner who was on his high school track and cross country teams and still runs a bunch in college. But now he's laid up with a broken leg and it's going to be a little while until he can get back to running. In the meantime he's taken to helping me out with my training.

I'm pretty grateful for the help because I didn't know the first thing about doing a track workout. I mean I know the basics. Run a mile warm up, stretch, do some intervals, mile cool down, stretch. I also knew that a mile on the track is four laps. But that was about the extent of my track knowledge.

So Josh and I fiddled with my times and he suggested I try 6-8X600 on a 2:50 to 3 minute interval and recover for 200 meters in 90 seconds.

Here's how things went. I did six of the intervals and finished the first five in the three minutes. The last one I think took me a little longer. My problem was the recovery. Josh suggested I walk the last 200 meters so my legs wouldn't burn out too bad, but I couldn't walk it in 90 seconds. So instead I walked it in 2-2:30 minutes.

I also skipped the mile cool down because I wanted to get home in time for the soccer game. My D.C. United was playing the Chicago Fire on ESPN2. Both United and the Fire are home to a few Maryland soccer alums (see here, here and here) so I was pretty pumped. (Unfortunately DCU lost 2-0. I'll chalk it up to seriously uninspired play and a ton of injuries, including one of my favorite players.

Shame on me for skipping the cool down, but I stretched really well.

My legs felt dead during repeats five and six. It's been a really long time since I pushed myself in my running. Usually I just go out for a run and if I go faster than normal so be it. I've never really made an attempt to work at it. But I think it's something I'm going to try to fit in once a week or so.

Josh's suggestion for next week was to try 8X400 in two minutes, but I forget how much rest he suggested. I'll have to double check that.

ORN:
4 miles total in intervals, total time somewhere around 45 minutes