Monday, July 20, 2009

Important Lesson Learned!

I had one long run last weekend. Last Saturday I was to run 12 miles. My IPod has a habit of rounding up - so in order to run 12 miles, I have to run 13.2 on the IPod. Crazy math, hunh? Well, I have another obstacle - I need to run more outside. So here was my plan. I would run about 5 1/2 to 6 miles outside in the morning before it became too hot then finish the run at the gym on the treadmill. Here was the plan:

Wake at 7am.
Leave house by 7:30am and run.
Come back to house in an hour, leave for gym.
Complete run at gym in about an hour.
Come home, shower.
Maybe run to the store or just chill out.

Here was reality:
Wake at 7:30am.
Leave house at 8:35am and run.
Heat is already 80 degrees.
Run for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Return home - dehydrated and tired.
Shower.
Sit on couch; think about how freaking hot apartment is.
Fall asleep on couch. Wake up hours later, sweaty.
Shower.
Go to Target to buy fans.
Go to gym at 6:10pm.
Run 50 minutes, then kicked out of gym (they close at 7pm).
Shower.
Wake at 10am Sunday morning to run last 3 miles of run.
Shower.
Feel utterly drained and wasted on Monday.

Lessoned learned - run my long runs all at once or suffer the consequences.

No Candy...

I am now in training. I run any where to 4 to 6 miles four days a week with a long run on the weekend which at the moment is topping out at 12 miles. With the guidance of my running coach – found on the Road Runners Club of America website: http://www.rrca.org/. She has created for me a custom schedule to enable me to run my marathon. I am so excited to be accomplishing something, hell, even attempting something that 15 years ago I would have thought forever beyond my ability. Why the running coach? Because I saw someone wrote a freaking book on how to run the NYC Marathon. Why did they write a book on how to run one specific marathon, you ask? Cause it’s that freaking hard. So for the cost of two pedicures a month, I hired a running coach.

My running coach has confirmed for me my sinking suspension regarding marathon training and weight loss. The two do not coincide. I have to admit that I am a bit bummed. In the 2 last weeks or so I have used this as a reason to eat more than I would have normally, but I determined to put a stop to this behavior. Would it be nice to be that size 8 while running across the finish line in Central Park – Hell Yeah! But knowing that it's perhaps not a realistic goal (I am currently a size 12) I am not going allow myself to continue to gain weight just because I have this odd sense of defeat. Which is really weird, cuz I am in a freaking marathon! I need to celebrate this accomplishment. When I eat better - I feel better. A few weeks ago, I bought candy for the office (okay me, but I shared People!). And I found that I felt achy and terribly fatigued afterward. So I have made my first pledge for this race. To improve my training and overall sense of well being – no more candy till after the race – insert big gasp here! To those of you who chew only ½ a piece of gum at a time, I don’t expect you to understand. I am once of those who does eat and enjoy the entire movie size box of sour skittles before the opening credits of the movie are over. It’s weird how much more in tune I feel with my body now. It’s hard to ignore those small signs that I was so oblivious to before. The food I eat, the amount of sleep I get, the depth of my training – now all greatly impacts how I function. Now to most of you this is no great revelation. To me, it’s the first time I have really paid attention to what my body is saying. At the moment, it’s got a filthy mouth.

One day a week I am to cross-train. I have found a great class called Zumba at this dance studio called Diva Den: http://www.pdxpoledivas.com/index.html. I found this place through a Weight Watchers meeting, believe it or not. I have taken levels 1 & 2 of the Pole Dancing Classes and they are an utter blast – but I have been told not cross-training worthy. Have no fear, once this race is completed I will return to my pole! Oh, don’t be confused. I am not very good at pole dancing – I call myself the Mary Catherine Gallagher of the strip tease. That easy/flirty/sexiness that so many women have – not me. Why do I do it? The same reason kids swing on the monkey bars – its fun! And the shoe are just freaking hot!

Well I am off to shower and rest. Today is a rest day. Tomorrow - bring on the runs!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

So much has happened since my last post!

I took some much needed rest after my half marathon (about a month and a half). Getting back into to game was difficult, but worth the effort. Re-training is much easier than that first attempt at running seriously.
I have completed my races for both the Starlight Run and Epilepsy Run. Both were fun and I did not focus on finishing in any "record" time (for me). I have also won the lottery pick for the ING New York City Marathon for this November 1, 2009. The airfare has been purchased and the training will begin in earnest soon. I am also looking at hiring a running coach. I never - ever would have thought it necessary to hire someone to tell you to run. When I began to plot out my training schedule for the ING, I realized that I would be able to run the marathon in 2 months! Great! Awesome! But you see, my race is not for 4 months. Major freaking problem. So I became creative and figured that if I repeated every week twice, then I would be doubly ready for the race. One small nagging issue - overtraining. Never an issue for me before. Hell getting me to train was the issue before. So with the help of the Road Runner's Club of America website: http://www.rrca.org/ I have found several coaches who appear up for the job of correcting my form, training schedule and giving me that little tiny bit of additional motivation I need.
I am excited and scared, but I know that I will succeed. I just want to be sure that it doesn't take me 12 hours to finish the ING! God, if your listening, help me train so I can finish in 5 hours and I will no longer cut-off old people in traffic - well, I'll try anyway.