Monday, December 7, 2009

Hey hey hey

Good news, everyone who doesn't read this! I completed the NYC marathon. I managed to improve my time by two minutes. But I really think I could do much better. My goal for the next one is 4:30.

I also ran my first ultramarathon! It was a 60k (9 4-mile laps around Central Park). It took fucking FOREVER. But somehow I managed to stand at the Start line at 8am knowing I wouldn't be done until after 4pm and it didn't freak me out. So I did it. Woo hoo!

Now I'm trying to plan my agenda for the coming year. I've decided I'd much rather just run a bunch of marathons throughout the year than pick like two and have lulls between training. I'd like to always be ready to run one. That way I won't be restricted in the places I can go. I'll just be able to run one at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately I haven't been so great about it since the ultra. Haven't run since (two weeks). Yesterday I rode my bike 16-17 miles through the park. I plan on getting up in the morning, so I'm going to have to get to sleep soon. Here's the stuff I hope to do next year:

Big D Texas Marathon - 4/11/2010
Rhode Island Half Ironman - 6/11/2010
ING NYC Marathon - 11/7/2010
NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix - 2010
9 + 1 for ING NYC Marathon 2011

Well, that's enough for now. I plan on doing more next year and I'll do a better job of updating. But it's late!

Monday, October 5, 2009

I'm baaaack

Well this whole marathon blog seems like a waste. It's been almost two months since I last posted. Two months. That's like half the training schedule.

While I'm here and posting, though, I might as well update my progress. I don't even remember what the last long run was that I posted about, but last weekend I ran 20 miles. It should have been a 19 mile week, but my 20 miler was scheduled on the same day as the Staten Island half marathon. Last weekend was the marathon tune-up (18 miles). I figured it would be easier to turn 18 miles into 20 than 13 into 20. But I still need to do the 19 next weekend, so still have to run extra after the half. Ah, well. The point is, it's almost time for the marathon! Not even a month to go. Well, probably just about a month from today.

This marathon is going to be significantly slower than the Dallas one, which is pretty disappointing. I think I haven't been training hard enough. I've been doing the long runs, but since I mostly do them by myself, I settle into a really slow pace. If I was running with someone it would be a lot easier to get faster.

On that front, I found a running partner. The NYRR has listings for running partners, and I found one that's really close to my pace and was also interested in morning runs, which I've had little success doing in the past. It's been really good! Last week I did three morning runs, which is way better than I normally do. We're scheduled to do another on on Tuesday.

Tomorrow is also basketball day. I love basketball. I'm not even that good, but there's something about playing it that really makes me happy. I love it. I think I could probably play all day.

Anyway, it's getting late. I guess I'll turn in for the day.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Days 31, 32, 33, 34, 35

Yesterday I finally decided to accept the fact that my shoes are too terrible to use. At least right now. They're really, really bad. I suppose it could be that they'll just take a long time to break in, but right now I don't have time for that. I'm not going to run 12 miles if each step is agony. My solution to this problem was to use not my old shoes, but my old old shoes. I should probably ask my mother to ship my old shoes. First of all, they still have the Nike+ chip in them. Secondly, if I'm going to be wearing older shoes I might as well wear newer old shoes. But my old shoes aren't bad at all. They're certainly better than the new ones. It was a huge relief, because I was starting to think that it was just me.

I'm not sure how far I ran yesterday, but I think it was around 5 miles. I used an iPhone app called TrailGuru. It has to be inaccurate thought, because according to it I ran 6 miles in 53 minutes. That would mean that my average pace was less than 9 minutes, which I just don't believe. Anyway, I assume I at least came close to running five miles in that amount of time, so that's what I'm going to call it. 5 miles. This is good since I only did 3 on Sunday. Balances out. Tomorrow I need to run 6 miles. And swim.

Oh! That's the other great thing about today. I went swimming! And by swimming, realized that I will be okay for the triathlon. I still need to swim almost everyday in order not to embarrass myself, but I'll be fine. I won't croak.

Bad part about today was the softball game. I mean, great that we had one. You have no idea how much I look forward to softball games. Unfortunately we weren't up to the task of winning. We were doing great for the entire game. All the way up until the 6th inning. We held them scoreless for 5 innings! Meanwhile we did a good job chipping away at their defense. We scored a run here, a run there. By the time the sixth rolled around, we had a six run lead. Then it all went to hell starting with an error by yours truly. Someone hit a ball that actually did go to the outfield, but I thought I could get it. He called it, but I still went for it. As a result, we collided and no one caught the ball. That was only the beginning. Over the course of the inning we gave up 7 runs. Yes, 7. Then in our last at-bat, we weren't even able to get someone on base. It was agonizing. Ah, well. It was a very good season and I'm glad I got to join in when I did.

So, Tomorrow's Agenda
6 miles running
awhile swimming

Good night!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Days 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Aaaand the inattention continues. I went home last week. But I think I did an okay job of at least keeping active during the week even if I didn't follow my schedule to the letter. Last Sunday I ran 6 miles for a (short) long run. Then I did boot camp on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Unfortunately I didn't do anything on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. But I got back on the ball on Sunday with a 10 mile run around the park.

This week has been marginally better. I ran approximately 1.5 miles on Tuesday. No excuse for that, really. Nothing yesterday, then two basketball games today. Full basketball games. I'd say today was a big victory. I've been feeling generally discouraged. For no particular reason, just that I can already feel that my training isn't going as well as it should be. I also realized today that somewhere along the way I got behind! I thought I was supposed to do 10 miles this weekend, then 11 miles next weekend. As it turns out, I should have done 12 last weekend and 9 this coming weekend! So now I need to do 12 this weekend. Then 14, then 15. Then a break with 10 again the weekend after the triathlon. But it's fine. I'm my own worst enemy and I just need to focus on not getting discouraged for no reason at all.

In other news, I HAVE to swim this weekend. I only have two and a half weeks to be able to swim 400M. That's on top of marathon training, basketball, and softball. But I brought it upon myself, so I can't complain.

Haven't eaten dinner yet, so I guess I should do that. Toodles!

Tomorrow:
To Run: 3 miles

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Days 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16

Yeah...I've been woefully inattentive to the blog. My bad. Well, probably the most important development since the last post is that I've decided to go back to Hal Higdon's program. Am I wishy-washy? Without a doubt. But it's the right way to go. I'm not ready to do the basic NYRR plan. As it is I barely manage to train 5 days a week. I don't think I could manage 6.

What else? I've gone biking outside once and done the stationary a couple of times. I'm pretty confident that I have a good handle on the biking and running portions of the triathlon. Swimming, on the other hand...Not good. I haven't swum for exercise since 7th grade. And when I did it then I think I might have done .75 laps. Maybe. I really need to get on that since I'll have approximately 3 weeks after I get back from Dallas next weekend.

We won our last basketball game. The next one is tomorrow against a team that is also undefeated. The Barclays softball team made the playoffs! Unfortunately I think the first playoff game will be next week when I'm gone. Ah, well. Maybe there will be multiple and I'll get to play one more time. Anyway, this isn't really a sufficient catchup entry, but I'm tired and more interested in watching the end of Sex and the City. Tomorrow I'm going to try to run after the game, but I make no promises.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Day 6

Ugh. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I didn't do my running today so am now two days behind schedule. Hopefully there will be some occasion to make them up, but I'm not making any promises. Tomorrow is the first Long Training Run. I plan on doing 13 miles. I'm sure it will be quite painful afterward since I haven't run that far in awhile.

On the bright side, I attended two barbecues this evening at which I did not consume alcohol. The whole alcohol thing is really more socially awkward than anything else. I don't mind not drinking, but explaining the whole thing over and over again gets tiring.

Today:
Miles Run: 0
Beverages not consumed: 5

Tomorrow:
Miles to run: 13 (maybe 16 if I can come back for round 2)

Friday, July 10, 2009

Day 5

I forgot to post an update to yesterday. Both softball and basketball were victories. Actually they were routs. I think we won baseball 7-2 or something like that. We won the basketball game 41-20. Then after basketball we went out to a dive bar called Dive Bar and I didn't drink. We also came up with an idea for a bar of our own! It's going to be called the Soggy Nacho. Don't be too jealous of the business idea.

Today I was supposed to run 3 miles. My team went out for drinks after work. We were probably out until 9:15 or so. Then we parted ways and I walked the 13 blocks from 50th and Broadway to the Y. If there is one thing that frustrates me about the YMCA it is the treadmill TVs. I know the fact that I'm able to complain about such a little thing means I really have nothing to complain about, but I'm gonna anyway. So, the TV control is actually in the LCD screen on the front/top of the treadmill. It's technically a touch screen, but it's probably one of the worst touch screen implementations ever because you never know where a button actually is or how hard it needs to be pressed. It's very annoying.

So after fooling around with the screens on three different treadmills, I got fed up and decided to try my hand (legs? butt?) at biking. I did 10 miles on the exercise bike. Obviously it was an exercise bike and can't be trusted to reflect actual biking conditions, but I manged to fake-bike the 10 miles in 35 minutes. Didn't seem too bad. But now tomorrow I need to try to run 6 miles.

I decided to do the NYRR Marathon Training Run on Sunday. That means Sucky Saturday and Science-y Sunday will be switched this week. Ugh. I didn't add a fun section today for Fun Friday. My computer's running out of batteries so I'll have to skip. Maybe I'll come up with something later.

Miles Run: 0
Miles Biked: 10

Tomorrow:
Miles to Run: 3 and 3

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Day 4

Hah. Done.

It was not easy, though. I hate getting up early in the morning. While I was running I realized I'm going to have to give some serious thought to how I'm going to train for both a marathon and a triathlon (even if it is a baby triathlon) at the same time. I think I'll have no choice but to start working out in the morning regularly. I need to get in some swimming and biking time and there just isn't enough time in the evening to bike/swim + run. Alright, have to finish getting ready for work.

Today:
Miles to Run: 4
Softball games: 1
Basketball games: 1

Day 3

It's official: I'm behind. But never fear, I have a plan. Yes, laugh. Snicker if you must. But I'm going to get up at 6am (in approximately 6 hours) and rectify the situation. And if I'm to do that, I need to go to bed pretty much now.

Miles Run: 0
Beverages not consumed: 0

Tomorrow:
Miles to Run: 4
Softball games: 1
Basketball games: 1

I'll keep you posted on the outcome of the games. Somehow the schedules worked out so that I can play both. Softball is at 7 in the Park and will probably last a little over an hour. Basketball is at 8:50 at a gym on the Upper West Side. It'll be tight, but it seems like it was meant to be.

I also came to the conclusion that I'll probably start incorporating news pertaining to other sports. Let's face it: I'm boring and the last thing anyone wants to waste 1.5 minutes doing is reading about how I waddled my way through a 3-22 mile run. Maybe I'll even do theme days! Here are some ideas:

Marathon Monday - Marathon news!
Triathlon Tuesday - Triathlon news!
Water Wednesday - Swimming news even though I have no business writing about swimming!
Basketball Bthursday - Basketball bnews!
Fun Friday - Random crap that I deem fun and feel like writing about!
Sucky Saturday - The dreaded Long Run Day! This is when I'll write about stuff that sucks worse than long runs to make myself feel better! It's the antithesis of Fun Friday! Yaaaaay, antitheses!
Science-y Sunday - Health news!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Day 2: Short and...Smoky

Today wasn't really a success at all. I'm hosting an impromptu mini-barbecue/gurlz night. I'll either have to run on Friday or get up early on Thursday. Or maybe go after basketball. But at least I'm not behind at this point.

Miles Run: 0
Beverages not consumed: 2-3

Tomorrow:
Miles to Run: 4

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Day 1

I'm going to call Day 1 a rousing success. And by rousing, I mean I was able to plan ahead as well as not drink alcohol. I realized that my last day of boozin' went by without much fanfare. I had a Bud Light at dinner. Now, thanks to the BBQ, we have tons of beer in the fridge. Ah, well. It's up to Jeremy and guests to drink it.

Mondays are supposed to be rest days. But as I have a basketball game on Thursday and have made the better part of the last month into rest days, I thought it would be good to get a head start. I, Katie Escoto, Ultimate Procrastinator of the World, planned ahead. So now I don't have to work out after the game on Thursday. It would have been doable, but I'm not sure I would have been motivated. Plus, it would have been a late evening.

Summary:
Miles run: 4
Beverages not consumed: Approximately 2

Tomorrow's Agenda:
4 miles

Monday, June 29, 2009

Base Miles Week Begins

After much consideration and some advice from Jeremy, I decided to go with the NYRR's Basic Marathon plan (it's the third one down). It's definitely going to be a challenge, but I think I'm up to it. I plan on getting up early tomorrow morning to go to the gym. If I succeed, it will be only the second time since I've lived in NYC. This is base miles week. So 4, 4, 4, 10, 3 for a grand total of 25 miles.

On Saturday I ran the Pride Run. It was 5 miles. I definitely wasn't feeling it when I woke up after a decently boozy evening. I managed a sub 10 minute mile, but barely. One of my long-term goals is to start running at a respectable pace (sub 9 minutes).

Monday, June 22, 2009

Questions Existing?

Okay, fine. All that jaw about trying to post every day for motivation and it's been 10 days since I last posted. I'm going to have to try a little harder.

Updates: The Tavis won the New York Urban Professionals championship, so congrats to all. I purchased a bathing suit and am going to need to figure out how my marathon and triathlon training programs are going to coexist peacefully.

Speaking of the marathon training program, I'm starting to wonder if I actually do want to use Hal Higdon's. There's no question that it would work just fine. As it is, the first time I did it I could have taken it a lot more seriously. So on one hand I think I would probably improve just by keeping the program and being more diligent about following it. On the other hand, I'm two weeks from my official start date and floundering. You'd think it'd be simple and I could just sort of run or borrow a couple of weeks from another program. The problem is that it's getting easier and easier for me to just skip days and justify it by thinking that I'm going to have 18 weeks of severely reduced social life, so I might as well take advantage. Now, does that make sense? Should I be taking the time or am I a slacker who's making excuses?

So one of my solutions for this is to find an alternate 20 week program that would occupy me longer. The problem is that it's a lot more in the way of mileage and also more sophisticated in terms of varying the type of running it calls for. It involves fartleks (I'll be honest, I had to look up what that was approximately 10 seconds prior to typing it), sprints, and hills. I don't know if I'm ready for all that. I also wonder if there doesn't exist a program that is somewhere in between these two. Probably so, I just need to find it. Any suggestions?

Friday, June 12, 2009

Revelations

Blogging is going to take more work than I expected. Not that it's really work per se, but it's going to require constant supervision. Like a child....only not. Today (aka at 12:30am) I really wanted to just go to bed and do it later, which is how I feel about pretty much everything. But then I realized that I'm not even in Marathog mode - I'm still in PRE-Marathog mode. If I already feel like not blogging now, it's only going downhill from here. Besides, part of the point of the Marathog was to hold me accountable for my training program. If I say something's on the agenda, I damn well better do it. So here I am. Blogging.

As for today's agenda, I'd consider the day a victory. Actually multiple victories. I finished the Corporate Challenge in 33 minutes, which is an average of 9.26/mile. For SlowPoke, that is a great time. And we won our basketball game! This means the Riki Tiki Tavis will play in the championship next week!

Tomorrow's Agenda: 40 minute tempo run. Maybe at the Y, maybe at the park.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

A few more things...


I've come to an important decision about this marathon. I hereby declare that I will not consume alcohol between July 6 and November 1, 2009. That is the entire duration of my training program. I will go boozeless for 18 weeks, no exceptions. This will be difficult, no doubt. But I figure there are worse times in the year for it to happen. The only occasion for which I might really miss drinking is my birthday. At least it doesn't encompass New Year's Eve.

In other news, my new bike was delivered today. It required more assembly than I anticipated. I also discovered that a normal ball pump does not work on bike tires. Go figure.

On the triathlon front, the Pancake, which I had hoped would be my first triathlon, is on the very same day as the Front Runner's New York Lesbian and Gay Pride Run. If it hadn't been for the fact that I already coughed up $17 to run the race and the triathlon itself costs $85, I would have done the triathlon. To my relief, NYRR has its own triathlon . Can someone remind me to register on June 15th?

Tomorrow's Agenda: Corporate Challenge (3.5M) and 1st playoff game for Basketball. Go Tavis!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

QTMBAIAGC

The Marathog officially starts on July 6, 2009. So I guess this is Pre-Marathog. How should I do this? I know, an FAQ section. Everyone loves those. The only problem? No one has actually asked any questions, frequently or otherwise. It is therefore my great pleasure to present to you:

QTMBAIAGC - Questions That Might Be Asked if Anyone Gave a Crap

Q. What is this blog all about?

A. I plan on running the ING New York City Marathon on November 1st, 2009 and thought it would be entertaining to chronicle my misadventures.

Q. Who came up with the crappy name?

A. That would be me.

Q. Is there a game plan? Or are you just going to show up at the start line on November 1 and hope you don't die?

A. An excellent question. I will be utilizing Hal Higdon's Novice 2 training program. It worked pretty well the first time around.

Q. Are you both posing and answering these questions? If so, why?

A. Yes. I have little else to do with my time.