Monday, August 29, 2011

One...two...thirteen breakfasts

Okay, it happened. 10 weeks left and I've entered the "25-Meals-A-Day" phase of marathon training.

Maybe it's only 17 meals, maybe 29. I don't even count anymore. All I know is that my mileage and my appetite are directly correlated, and it is soon to be at the expense of my waistline.

When I ran my first marathon last year with a friend, we'd joke about the absurd number of calories we were consuming. Co-workers would comment that every time they saw us we had a different food in our hands. We ran races for the bagels at the finish line. "Bacon" became my mantra for the really tough hills. Somehow, though, it all evened out and, if anything, I lost a few pounds.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Confessions of a Grimy Runner, Chapter 1

I usually run after work. In the summer, this means I come home all sweaty and gross around 8:00pm.

I also really hate to shower before I go to bed, because I always like to shower in the morning. And two showers inside of 12 hours just seems like a waste.

So I am going to sit here and evaporate until I think I've reached a level of dryness that's acceptable for putting myself into pajamas. (Which, come on, is probably a very low threshold considering I'm already sitting here proclaiming my filthiness to the internet.) Then, in all my grungy glory, I will get into bed.



And wash my mildly salty sheets this weekend.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

That's One Expensive Bag Watch

I'm a little more than 2 months away from running my second marathon.

The first time around, I trained with a very good friend that I've known since elementary school. We logged miles, exchanged complaints and ate a ton of pancakes and bacon together in preparation. Apart from having fun and someone to talk to for hours on a long run, it was nice to have a sense of accountability.

If no one is waiting for me...at 7:00am...in the rain...then chances are I'm gonna stay in bed.

So when I accidentally qualified for the 2011 NYC marathon (with the NYRR 9+1 program) this year, I knew it was probably wise to enroll myself in a program that would keep me in check. Since I am already running to raise money on my own for my woodsy alma matter, Outward Bound, I didn't want to train with a charity team that would require me to raise even much money. I didn't want an online program because it would still be too easy not to do the work. I definitely needed a real life, physical, tangible training program.

So I selected one.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Shinjury!

Anyone who knows me well, knows about my left shin bone.

It started 2 years ago when I broke my left ankle. I collided with someone and slid down the stairs at the library (read: local bar). Convinced it was just a sprain, I walked home on it- uphill (both ways!)- but alas the next morning that cankle called for a visit to the emergency room. After a few bad orthopedic surgeons, I found a great doctor who works with the performers of Cirque du Soleil and has the mustache of Tom Friedman.


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Summer Streets

I look forward to Summer Streets ALL YEAR LONG.

For 3 Saturdays in August NYC shuts down Park Avenue and extending streets from 72nd and Central Park to the Brooklyn Bridge. It's open to bikes, blades, walkers and runners with activities and rest stations along the way.

First of all it's super fun to be able to run where you normally can't, like a city street. It's really great to cut the car pollution for a few hours and replace it with people coming out to be active and social and healthy. It's a relatively flat route, with plenty of distractions. But the best part for me is simply that you can start running and just knock out block after block for a straight shot of around 5 miles (not including the bridge). 67th Street...55th St...32nd...17th...it goes so quickly. 

Which means Summer Streets is literally the one time of the year I am great at my long run. It is so much easier for my head and my legs to get through than loops of that damn park.

Blah blah blah blah run blah blah

A lot of people run. A lot of people have blogs about their running and training. I didn't want to be one of them, but here I am. Sorry.

It's just that I always have so much to say about my runs, but it never seems like it can be condensed (let alone be interesting enough to anyone but myself) for posting on Facebook or Twitter or any other site where you're supposed to declare "What's happening" or "What's on your mind."

Most of the time what's on my mind is running. But I've learned that only other runners really care about talking about running. Talking about pace, time, distance, injuries, "shinjuries," sneakers, the best way to stretch this-or-that-muscle, what you eat before you run, and how you plan on wallpapering your hallway with race bibs.

I keep track of my running routes and stats on a great site called Dailymile. It's a fantastic community of runners, cyclists, walkers, rollerbladers, etc. But this blog is for those days I want to talk just a little too much about putting one of my feet in front of the other.

Yes, it's another running blog.