Corn Chronicles + Updates
First – the corn! Because I know Carrie checks here over & over on Thursdays until she finds out how her little Carrie Corn is doing.
Needless to say, we definitely achieved ‘knee-high by the 4th of July.’
James Corn is 31″ tall. That is only a 2″ growth. My father has now resorted to threatening his little corn namesake with violence & divine retribution, which is exactly what he did to me when I was young, and you can see how well that worked (I am 5′2″ but at least I do have two ears).
Carrie Corn is 68″ tall. That is an 8″ growth from last week. She is tasseling nicely. However, she has been surpassed. She is still the second tallest, but Ullyses has finally out-grown her. It’s a close race – he is 70″ tall, so there’s no telling who will be the tallest at the end (Amy corn might still get there – she’s been neck & neck with Carrie Corn since the beginning).
Many of the corns are tasseling, and most of them have the beginnings of ears showing. They are at their most vulnerable now, so we are taking very good care of them. We have a pretty high level of nitrogen in the soil, so I don’t need to add extra fertilizer, but we are watering them. They’re all ready to get their drivers’ licenses now, which as you can imagine, it’s a little nerve-wracking for me!
The rest of the garden is doing well. We’re beginning to enjoy the fruits of our labor – summer squashes & zucchinis & potatoes. The broccoli is very nearly finished – we pulled up half the plants last night, and our last bean crop needs to be picked, too. I’m finally seeing cucumbers in there, and my pumpkins are getting pretty big!
The flowers are so beautiful right now – wish I’d remember to photograph them for you. Maybe next week!
And, for the rest of my week:
Tuesday I didn’t work. I did a 3-mile recovery run, my first run since the half. I meant to go at a slow pace & just work out the kinks & last bits of muscle soreness.
I looked down at mile 1 – 10:02. “Slow it down, Amy,” I thought to myself. “That is not a recovery pace.” (I was thinking more like 10:40 or so.
Mile 2 – 9:44. “Hmmm….that is not what I was aiming for, but I feel good. Not sore or winded or like I’m working really hard. But still, I should slow it down for my last mile.”
Mile 3 – 9:36
Yeah…..that slowing it down thing isn’t quite working for me, is it? But, I felt great after. No stiffness or soreness, and I wasn’t even too winded. I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere! All this running & hills & speedwork – it actually works! And the cross-training & weight-lifting? Seems to be helping! Who knew? (Oh wait – everyone knew that? Dammit! I thought I was on to something revolutionary.)
All that being said, this has been a pretty wussy week. I took Monday off because my quads were very, very angry, as was my whole body. I had weird feelings all day Sunday & Monday. I kept getting leg cramps & feeling like I was seriously deficient nutritionally.
Tuesday I did run. And then I ate at Taco Bell. And then, I may have gone to a concert.
Although my friend & I were ridiculously disappointed in our lack of hangovers Wednesday morning, we had no one to blame but the $9 drinks at the arena (that you couldn’t even drink at your seat! And for $9, they really should have been served in crystal & come with a shirtless masseuse named Enrique or something.)
I still didn’t get my bike & swim in yesterday because I am lazy! Home by noon. Nothing to do. Didn’t over indulge the night before. Just lazy. The architect & I did go for a walk last night, though. That was nice.
And today, I skipped my planned am run, because I suddenly realized that I have a planned trail run tomorrow and a long run on Saturday, and I have rules about running three days in a row (rules handed down from my physical therapist). So tonight is yoga (yay! I missed yoga) and then swim/run tomorrow. Run Saturday & swim/bike on Sunday. I’m volunteering at a trail race on Sunday, which is something I’ve never done, so I’m pretty excited!
I think that I always schedule too much the week after a race, and then up not being able to do it all, and then feel like a lazy slacker. I don’t often schedule more than 1 day of recovery, and I’m finding that I need 2-3 days for a half, and will probably need 2-3 TIMES that for the full. How long do you allow for recovery after a half?
The architect & I will be headed out for some camping either the weekend of the 17th or the weekend of the 24th, so whichever weekend we’re home will see the next Brew Review and my first open water swim. SCARY! (the swim, not the beer.)
Also, grad school is a lot of work! Also one of those who knew situations!
So – what about you? What have you been up to?
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July 9th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
When those kids get their licenses they better not be zipping up and down the street! If they do and I catch ‘em they’ll be cooked!
gazelle reply on July 11th, 2009:
I’ll teach them all about responsible driving. We’ll leave the redneck crazy driving to the people down the block!
July 9th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
How are you going to be able to eat your kiddies after all this? I like that after recognizing that you may be nutrient deficient you went out and had a nice wholesome meal at Taco Bell
It’s been over a year since my last half marathon and it was in preperation for a marathon so it wasn’t really a race, more like a training run. Before that I don’t even remember. Probably too long….Don’t feel bad for taking some time off. You should. Your begining marathon training now.
Your going to do fine swimming. You totally underestimate yourself. Just stay relaxed and picutre the line on the bottom of the pool.
gazelle reply on July 9th, 2009:
I thought I might be missing out on sodium – I don’t buy processed foods and I don’t add it to food much, and I’m a super salty sweater – and I figured that Taco Bell probably has a LOT of sodium
I think I’ll be able to eat the corn kids!
July 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Taco freakin’ Bell? I won’t even comment on that missy.
My lame running opinion – if you’re training for a full – then no need to really “recover” from a half. Just keep up the mileage on the weekends.
gazelle reply on July 9th, 2009:
I was sodium deficient! I swear!
I lost 25 lbs after moving from SoCal to PDX, and I fully credit the dearth of good Mexican food. I would have NEVER done Taco Bell in SoCal!
your running opinion is never lame – thanks!
July 10th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Your garden looks wonderful! And sounds yummy.
That run after your half was awesome. You’re on fire! I usually take up to a week off after a half (if it is a goal race, if it is a “training” race I only take a day or two), and 2-3 weeks OFF after a full marathon. Then I do some really easy running for an additional while. They say you need one day of recovery for every mile you raced, and I find that to be pretty accurate!
gazelle reply on July 11th, 2009:
It was definitely a goal race – so I’m glad to have my need to take off some time validated. I was beginning to feel like a pussy. I hope your tri went swimmingly (and bikingly & runningly) today!
July 10th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Of course someone had to pass little Carrie up. She couldn’t be tallest forever, I suppose…but since I’ve never been tallest ever, I’m proud!
I’m with POM. The halfs I ran this spring were during my marathon training, so I just used them as my long run that week and kept going. Way to go on the speed!
Have a good weekend, Amy!
gazelle reply on July 11th, 2009:
When I did my 20K, I used that as a training run, and didn’t go for speed, and felt fine after. But I was aiming for a PR for the half, and think I need a wee bit more time to recover from something like that. That or I’m the wussiest runner ever!
I can’t be sure, but this morning, it looked like Carrie was the tallest again! Her tassels are very impressive!
July 10th, 2009 at 8:02 am
agh, my comment from yesterday never made it
well, i was saying that your corn looks enormous now! and i just love love love corn. also, i kinda recall lining up in front of tower records on my 21st bday (drunk, of course) waiting to catch a glimpse of nkotb!
gazelle reply on July 11th, 2009:
The corn is doing so well. When it & the tomatoes are ready, I might have to have a PBR bbq at my place so we can eat fresh corn & tomatoes & potatoes!
I hope all is well with you lately!
July 10th, 2009 at 8:53 am
i see no need to allow for recovery time for a half when you’re training for a whole. i did a 19 mile training run the week before a half and a 20 mile training run the week after. your tri training kicks it up another notch. Go amy!
July 10th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I will not knock you for taco bell because I hit it up sometimes….Although there is good mexican food here and I really shouldn’t.
But your corn is looking awesome!!
Also, I think you are doing the right thing by listening to your body. There have been halves that I’ve run hard and needed 3ish days to recover and others that I’ve run hard in the middle of marathon training and I just kept going. It depends really how your body is feeling, so if you needed the break, you needed the break.
Just get back into the groove when you feel ready!
gazelle reply on July 11th, 2009:
I think the key might be ‘listen to your body?’ Totally crazy – don’t know why I don’t do that more often!
Glad I’m not the only one guilty of a Taco Bell stop occasionally!