Marathon musings

I haven't been able to go to the gym all week, and it's been making me kind of crazy, so last night I decided I was going to go for a run. The 30ish degree air felt pretty tropical compared to how it's been lately, and I set out on my usual route. I was just going to run up the coast and loop back, but I noticed that the water by No-man's land was eerily flat and undisturbed, so I decided to just go for it and brave the winds of the causeway since it looked like they'd be pretty mild. There was not a single living soul for about a mile and a half, probably because the ground was scattered with patches of snow and black ice. But, the wind was indeed very mild and didn't throw me against the chainlink fence like it usually does, and I got to see that amazing, heart-melting view of the city skyline across the bay.
I was feeling pretty good, and when I got back to L Street I checked my time on my iPod, and was shocked to see that I had recorded an average 9:12/mile. That's a full minute per mile faster than I was running a couple months ago, and I've only really run outdoors once since the half-marathon. I guess I have to attribute that to all the squatting and deadlifting and HIITing with the occasional Tabata-til-I-almost-puke session. So it is possible to condition for running without actually running!

Now I'm trying to decide which marathon I'm going to run.
Option 1 : Vermont City on May 24.
Pros : It's supposedly a beautiful course, I think May weather would be kind of ideal, it's sponsored by Ben & Jerry's and I would get free ice cream at the end. I could train with Dennis & maybe Bryan while they're training for Boston. It's not too far away. I could get it out of the way before the summer really starts.
Cons : I'd have to start training on Monday. This Monday. Next Sunday I would have to run 10 miles, and it'd only go up from there. I have a very hard time running the cold, meaning below 35 degrees. Weather would undoubtedly derail my plans at least a few times, as would some travel I have planned for February & March (I can run in NYC, but probably not in Jamaica).

Option 2: Montreal Oasis Marathon on September 13th.
Pros : Also supposedly a beautiful course. The food is supposed to be spectacular. It was mentioned in a Runner's World feature as a suggestion for those who wanted to run a European marathon but didn't want to have to actually go to Europe. I wouldn't have to start training until the end of March, which would be ideal. I love running in the summer. I'd be able to integrate a bunch of the other races I want to run (Smutty 5k, Thompson Island, James Joyce Ramble, Falmouth, etc) into my training. It's also not terribly far away and my parents would probably come with me. I could get it out of the way before school really gets going in the fall.
Cons : It might be difficult to train that much in the summer if I'm taking classes, since summer classes are four hours/two nights a week for 6 weeks. And I'm just being realistic here, but I don't know how hardcore I can actually train during baseball season.

Option 3 : Rochester Marathon on September 13th.
Pros : It's in Rochester, and I would get to see/stay with my Lunchbox and she could come meet me at the finish line and give me a big hug. That pro is so significant that none of the cons really matter.

Option 4 : BayState Marathon on October 18th.
Pros : Most obvious, it's very close to home, in Lowell. I wouldn't have to travel or stay overnight anywhere, and I could get there by train. Of course, dad would probably insist on taking me. I could make all my friends & family come cheer me on and make goofy signs. Wouldn't have to start training until April. It's a really flat course, and not that I can't handle hills, but it'd be nice to not have to deal with them when I'm running that freaking far. October is generally pretty perfect running weather.
Cons : It's in Lowell. Again, I don't know if I can train that hard during school (or baseball season). I kind of want to run the Manch half-marathon again and doing that a month after this is pretty ambitious.

So there are my options.

2009 Crazy In A Good Way : Update

1.) I'm going to Jamaica for 5 days over spring break. I have never been, and I can't wait. It's going to be sunny and relaxing and fabulous. I booked the trip just this past weekend, and it's kind of weird that I chose Jamaica given how much I hate drugs and reggae, but I felt that it was just calling to me.
It's amazing how easy it is to save up a little money and then immediately spend it.


2.) I just realized that if I start a typical 16-week marathon training program this coming Monday, the end will coincide exactly with the Vermont City Marathon, which happens to be a mere 3 hours drive away. Will muse on this later. Can't decide if I want to do a spring marathon or a fall one, need to make some pros & cons.

3.) The people in my gym continue to amaze & amuse me on a regular basis. I have no reason to be ashamed of my high-rep kettlebell snatches and H.I.I.T. sweat sessions when there are guys dressed in jeans and cowboy boots Riverdancing away, girls performing their own one-woman step class, ballerinas in legwarmers, and two dudes boxing with each other all in the middle of the same aerobics studio.

Yesterday's workout
8x20sec/1min intervals on bike (no more stationary bike for me. not a fan of bikecrotch.)
4x12 sumo squat with 12kg kettlebell, switching l/r
4x12 one-arm rows with 12kg kettlebell, switching l/r
4x10 military press with 8kg kettlebell, switching l/r

bunch of swings & snatches, alternating l/r

sickasadog.

So I made the mistake last week of saying "Gee, I haven't been sick ONCE this winter. Amazing!" and the promptly came down with the black lung. This has everything to do with karma and saying the above out loud, and nothing to do with the fact I spent the majority of my winter vacation drinking too much and staying out 'til all hours and jumping into Boston Harbor on New Year's Day. But nope, it's just the karma.
I got to the gym on Monday and did some light cardio (35 minutes on the elliptical, ugh) and my Hundred Pushups Challenge week 2 day 1. Then I did four sets of 10squats with the 12kg kettlebell, at which point I think I pulled something in my back. Good times. I might try and eke out another workout today, but I am really feeling narsty and may not even last through the day at work.

I've been really missing running lately. I'm even itching to get back on the treadmill. It feels like it's been forever, even though it's just been the week. Oh running, absense makes the heart lose track of the time/space continuum. Or something. Sickness aside, this was probably not the best week to hoss up and try running outside, what with the temperature flirting with zero and the wind chill knocking my teeth out of my face and all. Next week, if I feel better, I will get out there.
Since I'm already operating on the assumption that I'm not getting into grad school this go 'round, I've started casually looking at marathons for the summer.
Insanity!

These are the people in my gym-orhood

Since we're still on break, the gym is blessedly free of awkward undergrads and lots of people I work with who I don't necessarily want to see me in my sweatshorts (nor I them, in their sweatshorts). It is not, however, free of "characters".
Today's highlight was a slightly older gentleman who I see frequently. Judging by his age and sweet 80's-mullet-lite, I'm guessing he's probably a Media Arts professor or something. Anyway, he refuses to pull back his lionesque mane with a hairband, and runs quite quickly on the treadmill without moving his arms at all. Today I noticed he was actually holding 5lb dumbbells by his sides, running bolt upright, probably faster than I was running. Huh. I mean, hardcore, but strange.

Today's workout :
4x8 sumo squat with 12kg kettlebell (alt right and left arm)
2x30 Russian Twists with 12kg kettlebell
5min warmup on treadmill, 20 min tempo run at 9:13/mile (woohoo!), 5 min cooldown
Week 1 day 2 of the Hundred Pushups Challenge - 6,8,6,6,7 with 90 sec rest between each set.
I couldn't quiiiite finish the 7th rep on the last set but it was a good effort.

Wimpery

Okay, so after finally catching up on my Google Reader and reading so many blog posts about running in the winter in crazy places like Michigan and Maine and basically Antarctica, I realized I am a wimp and today I am going to buy some Yaktraks at the Eddie Bauer outlet. Maybe also some heavy-duty hat and glove action. And a headlamp.

It's been awhile

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. I also haven't really run in awhile, but no worries, I've been getting in some alternate workouts and devising a plan to get myself in prime shape by the time it gets warm enough for me to go run outside again.
Since much has happened, I'm going to throw down a couple trusty old bulleted lists to outline both past and future!

*Stuff that has happened*
-Took the GRE. It wasn't so bad, except for the fact it was on the same day as a GIGANTIC SNOWSTORM. I had to rush there since they were closing early. Prelim scores show me as being in the 96th percentile in Verbal (whoo!) and I don't care about my embarassing Math score. Writing scores are on their way. On the way home, I wiped out on the snowy highway at least 20 times and thought I would have to sleep in a parking lot.
-Saw my family, including the most adorable baby cousin ever, Joey.
-Hosted a little beer & chocolate tasting with my bro at Christmas dinner, which was a surprisingly big hit.
-Did a couple of kettlebell workouts from LiftKettlebells.com. I can't recommend these highly enough. If you're interested in kettlebells and know basic form, these two free audio workouts (either a 20 or 30 minute session) are intense, quick, simple, and incredibly well cued. Excellent.
-Drank too much beer and didn't eat well. Will look into fixing that.
-Made some new friends in the neighborhood.
-Hung out with some old friends I hadn't seen in awhile.
-Most importantly and awesomely, I started off 2009 with a dip in the Harbor with the L Street Brownies. It was seriously one of the most ridiculously life-affirming and joyful experiences I have ever had, though I still can't quite feel my toes. Next year (and yes, I am doing it next year, for sure) I am going to wear shoes. It was a balmy 8 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -11 or something.

*Stuff that is happening*
-Since I just can't manage to bring myself to blow snot rockets, I'm not running outdoors when it's below 35 degrees OR when the sidewalk is a solid sheet of ice.
-I am still going to do at least two treadmill runs per week, mainly tempo runs of around 20 minutes (plus warmup and cooldown). I'm going to try and keep them under a 9:30 pace.
-In addition, I'm going to try and do two HIIT sessions a week. That stuff makes even the elliptical into an intstrument of torture. Holy cow.
-Every weekend I'm going to get in at least an hour of cardio, whether the bike, elliptical or treadmill walking. If it's warm enough, I'll do a "long" run of 5 or 6 miles.
-Finally, I am going incorporate more weight training. I started the one hundred pushups challenge today.
-And I'm going to post all my boring workouts in this blog, forcing me to say something interesting whenever I work out. Let's get this party started.

Today's workout
HIIT on elliptical : 5 min warm up, 8 x 20 sec hard & 1 minute easy, 5 min cooldown
Hundred Pushups Challenge : Week 1, day 1. 6, 6, 4, 4, 6
Other : Captain's Chair. I have never used this instrument of torture and I'm not entirely sure I did it right, but I tried 3 sets of 12 and felt pretty tired after that.