Sunday, July 28, 2013

B2B Training Ramping Up + Comedy!

Hi, all. Good to be back and I wish I had more time these days to reflect on running and triathlon. Someday soon, I will.

But let me reflect briefly to catch up. I last posted at the beginning of the month and since then have run one (right? Amortya, correct me if I'm wrong) race, which was the Queens 10k. It was a good race despite being a little bit hot. Oh, and one part at the beginning smelled like urine, but let's chalk that up to New York City charm. I ran it in 49:56, which was fine but not a PR.

I also recently signed up for my usual slew of fall races plus a new addition, which I'll be running for the first time next Saturday. This is the NYRR Team Championships, which is 5 miles around Central Park. I'll be running it for hash-associated running team known as the Hudson Dusters. For the first time, I'll even be rocking a team singlet!
Queens 10k. I look super grouchy. But also like I'm flying.
I've also been stepping up my tri training because, well, it's about that time. I've had a couple of long bike rides (50-70 miles) and an open water swim, along with the usual amount of running. Amortya and I started up our weekly long runs again after sticking to 6-8 miles for the past month or so. I'm still working out how to get in more time on the bike. I haven't come up with a solution, and I really need one because I'd like to be faster on the bike this year and I won't get that from long rides alone. Also, swimming. Another thing I could really stand to improve. Aside from the short mid-week swims, however, more dedicated swim time is going to have to wait another week or two.

On the comedy front, I've been doing my best to get out there and my efforts have yielded some results. Now, whether or not those results will mean anything for the future remains to be seen. First, I did that open mic I wrote about a couple weeks ago. It went well. You know what else? Most of my set was Ironman/running inspired. In fact, what I learned is that I should probably diversify my material a little bit. But just a little bit because I'm attached to my running and triathlon bits.

I also got what seems like a rare opportunity to write a play for a theater here in the city. It's a short play, but I still wrote it and it's still going up onstage. Even crazier, I'm directing and performing in it. To be honest, I didn't know I'd have to do those things when I signed on, and I'm nervous about them. However, I also can't help but believe that it's an amazing opportunity. Now I just have to hope that it goes over well. Also starting tomorrow is an improv class, something I haven't done in about a year and a half. And my final comedy activity: an internship at the PIT (People's Improv Theater).

As much as I hate being the person who's always saying "God, things have just been soooo crazy for me these past few weeks," it actually has been true recently. I get up, go to work, run home (sometimes literally), walk Phoebe, go to whatever comedy related thing is happening that night, run to the gym (always literally), run at the gym and/or do whatever workout is appropriate for that day, run home (sometimes literally), go to sleep. Run commutes have never been as valuable to my schedule as they are right now. It would be great if I could finally be good at working out in the morning, but that hasn't happened yet.

TL;DR - It's been busy but I'm managing just fine. Nothing the occasional Redbull won't help. Also, if you're interested in seeing my play in a larger short play festival, here's the info.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Yikes!

Holy crap. I can't believe it's been an entire month since I last posted. I'll admit, I am ashamed. I've been hard at work with not only running and triathlon, but also with comedy. Let me catch you up on some stuff:

Boston Training
Guys, I came to the disappointing conclusion that there's almost no way I'll be ready to run a Boston Qualifier by the fall. Perhaps this should have been obvious to me when I set out to accomplish it. If you've spent much time at all reading this blog, you well know that being prudent and realistic are two things at which I'm terrible. The effort and time involved for a Boston Qualifier are more than I currently have to give, considering the other things I'll mention shortly. In no way have I given up on qualifying, I'm just adjusting my schedule. It looks like a BQ will have to wait for 2014. In the meantime, I'll continue with my speedwork and healthy lifestyle efforts. It should be noted that I'm still very committed to those aspects of the plan. No beer 'til November!

Ironman Training
Underway. I have the running bit under control. Now I need to zero in on the bike and swim. Last weekend, I did my first long ride of this training cycle. I rode to the park, did 10 laps and rode home. I consider the trips home as warm up and cool down and the middle 60 miles took me 4 hours to complete. Slow and steady, but I can deal with that and improve on it through the coming months. A hurdle I need to overcome has mostly to do with scheduling. Last year, I rode with Brian and the WorkLiveTri crew on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. At the time, though, I lived a mere 5 blocks from the meeting point. Plus, I had a roommate who could help me take care of Phoebe. Now, I live significantly further away and have sole custody of the pup. I wish I could say that I'll be really amazing about getting to sleep early and waking up early (around 4:30am), but I'm not convinced. I'm therefore doing my weekday rides after work, instead.

Comedy
The biggest surprise of all. Over the last month, I've been committing a lot more to comedy in a number of ways. My sketch group, The Chupacabra Conspiracy, had a show in early June and I spent a period of time last month writing sketches like crazy. Although it looks like we might not be able to put on another live show in the next couple of months, I'm exploring other avenues for getting my stuff out there. I won't go into too much detail about that, though. The one thing I will say and that I'm extremely nervous and a little excited about, is an impending foray into standup comedy. I'm in the middle of writing a set, I've scoped out an open mic with a friend who does standup, and I'll probably hit one up myself in the next week or so.

I'm not going to lie, comedy and endurance sports are two interests that don't mix well. One necessitates late night commitment and the other early morning commitment. And that's just events! Nevermind actually writing and creating stuff, which I'll have to squeeze in around the rest and my job (can't forget about my job). No complaints here, just statements. You know I'm always up for a challenge.