DEALWATCH: Sale on Xterra Wetsuits

Hello and good Tuesday to all. I'm currently watching The Biggest Loser and obviously not at the gym. The good news is I've already done my run so that's good. FYI - Xterra is having a wetsuit sale. The prices are really decent. See the offer here. It's good until March 28th. If you're in the market for one before the season starts, take a look!

Fun Run, St. Patrick's Day Parade, and Scheduling Conflicts

Okay, so while I do refer to it as a fun run, make no mistake; it was pretty tough. It was good, though, and definitely different from most of the runs I do. I've biked across the George Washington Bridge, which is mildly terrifying, but I'd never run across it until Saturday. When all was said and done we'd done about 16 miles. This run has a story behind it, as well. On Thursday the run was on my mind since we'd planned on doing another long run in preparation for the New Jersey Ultra Fest. Originally I'd planned on doing all or at least part of an 18 mile route that goes back and forth between Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, crossing the Williamsburg, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queensborough, and Pulaski bridges. The bridges provide plenty in terms of challenging hills. The Queensborough feels especially endless, just like it does in the NYC Marathon. I was all set to do that route when I spoke with my friend Helen, whom I hadn't told about the run. She mentioned that the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day parade was taking place on Saturday and that a friend of hers was having a party starting at 9:30 (yes, in the morning). I glumly responded that I would be in the midst of a run at that time and so wouldn't be able to make it. She suggested (possibly jokingly, I'm not really sure) that I should run there. I sort of dismissed it at first, but then it began to grow on me. I love functional runs. So I mapped it out and made sure Jared was okay with it.

We started at about 9:30 and made our way north to Central Park. I decided to go up the east side of the park since it would give us a little more in terms of distance. We made it up to Harlem Hill and exited from the northwest corner of the park. We then ran west on 110th street until we got to Riverside Dr. We ran along that from about 110 to 160 and then had to take a right onto Fort Washington in order to make it toward the ramp of the GWB. That ramp was much less scary when I ran it than when I biked it. Running the bridge itself is glorious, the hill doesn't seem that bad and the wind is great, not to mention the view. Once we got off the bridge, I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to get to River Road, which is what we ended up spending most of our time running in New Jersey. But it was fine, the ramp led right to it and we began running south in New Jersey. It got a little boring at that point since we ran along the same road for about 7 miles, but it was still much different than what I normally run.

We made it down to the Port Imperial ferry terminal, where Jared had to catch the ferry back to the city for a Quidditch match. I took the light rail into Hoboken and did, in fact, make it to the party and even managed to see some of the parade.





Unfortunately, I did not do the indoor triathlon today. When I signed up for it I completely forgot that I had a sketch comedy class at noon. Under normal circumstances I would have done the tri and shown up to class late, but if I had been more than 15 minutes late I wouldn't have been let in. I did go down to Park Slope anyway hoping that I'd at least be able to do one or two parts of it. No luck, though. On the bright side, the race director said I could apply the entry fee to the championships on March 27th.

So that is that for the weekend. I continued my streak today by doing the Phoebe Loop. People are always entertained when we run by; it's probably because Phoebe looks like a running sausage with pointy ears.  Upcoming this week: tri training. I'm hoping to get in a couple of swims, a couple of runs, and some time on the spin bike. Eventually I'll need to start doing rides in the park in order to prepare for when I can start training with Team Lipstick again. I still have a phobia of biking with a group, and the only way to fix that is to put in the time and the miles. Hopefully I'll also be able to get my new bike soon.

One more thing, vote in my poll! Tell me what your goals are this spring and let me know if there's one that I've missed.

Good Saturday, Calm Sunday

Good run on Saturday! We started out a little after 9 along the route I planned. It was a gorgeous day, if a little windy. It was especially interesting because I've run along the east side of Manhattan and I've run along the west, but never both in the same run. There are also particular areas along the route that are more populated with runners. Since we ran along 1st Ave for the first mile and a half or so, we didn't see too many. Because there's not much beyond 1st Ave and therefore little traffic, it's an interesting mix between the start/stop of running in the city and the more continuous nature of a run in, say, the park. The running crowd remained sparse until we got to the Lower East Side, where numbers seemed to increase. The other notably crowded area happened from about 10th to where we stopped in the mid-50's. Oh, that's the other thing. We stopped a bit early so the run ended up being about 12 miles.

We thought we would run late (and we probably would have) if we didn't stop early to get the quidditch equipment and make our way up to Riverside Park. So we did, and then had two hours of quidditch practice. It was a very good, exercise filled day.

What we didn't think of was breakfast! We didn't eat it and then didn't have time to get lunch. I realized this would probably happen right after we started running and regretted it immediately. I made myself feel better by planning to devour french onion soup from the usual post-quidditch stop, Toast and was not disappointed when I finally had it around 2:30.

Yesterday I kept it simple with the 1.5 mile midtown loop I've gotten in the habit of running when I either don't have much time or plan on a light workout. Phoebe came along and mostly enjoyed herself. By the time we were running along the park, though, she was pretty much done. It took some convincing to get her to keep up in the last few blocks and she was especially irked when we passed by what I have concluded are her mortal enemies: the Central Park carriage horses.

Whew...Back Again

What a week. After returning from Ithaca, I went to Boston last minute on Wednesday to visit my brother Matthew. I also came down with a very unfortunate cold that made my running on Monday through Wednesday (and even last night, to some extent) very unpleasant. I didn't do too much of it, not much more than the requisite mile. After running about a half mile when my cold was in the development phase, my throat would start burning and it made the rest of the mile miserable. I tried to make up for my lack of distance by incorporating some speed, even if it was just a little bit. I ran 1.5 miles on Wednesday and did the first mile at a pretty leisurely 9:13 pace, but did the last half mile at a 7:00 pace.

What I haven't been able to regain a hold of is my 100 sit-ups streak. It's on and off. Last night I did them, but not on Wednesday. But rather than accept it as something I don't have time to do, I would like to reclaim it as a streak. I think it's definitely made a difference in overall strength and I may even be able to see additional midsection definition. It's amazing what five minutes per day can do.

So now that the cold is on its way out, it's time to get back to business. Jared is currently doing the Paleo 101 challenge on Social Workout. Also, we've decided to try to be ready for the New Jersey Ultra Festival in a little under a month. This is going to be a very large undertaking, as we'll need to be ready to run 50 miles in not very much time. The current plan is to run 13 miles tomorrow, as a prep intro, 18 next weekend, then 24-30 the weekend after along with a couple of midweek long runs. This is really ambitious, but since Jared may be traveling to Germany soon, this is probably our best 50 mile option right now. So now I have indoor triathlon + ultra training to be doing. I think I'll need to draft a detailed plan for this because it's kind of overwhelming to think about. Anyway, part of Jared's challenge is making a Paleo-style dinner. The plan is to have paleo dinner and then go running early tomorrow morning before Quidditch. This is probably the route we will take:



It'll take us around the tip of Manhattan and to the Upper West Side ending at Crunch Gym, where our Quidditch equipment is currently in storage. We'll pick it up and head to practice after that. One thing's for sure: it'll be a busy day!

Back in the City

I am back in the city and blogging again after a four-ish day break. The good news is I just managed to keep my streak going all throughout. It wasn't easy and there was a point at which I thought it would come to an end. On Saturday night, after performing in a couple of comedy shows, attending the ensuing party, and a trip to get food, I was about done for the evening. I was thinking to myself "well, it was a good run. But it's too late and cold and there's five inches of fresh snow on the ground plus ice under that and it's still coming down. It was good while it lasted but I think this is an okay place to stop." I was eating with a couple of friends and expected the usual dubious "you're really going to run right now? Really?" from one of them. I was totally ready to say no and, had she asked that way, I would have. But she didn't. The question she actually asked was done so with a tone of grudging resignation: "Guess you're doing your run then huh?"

If she had the expectation that I'd run despite everything that was influencing me not to, I really had no choice but to adjust my own expectations of myself. So I said yes and I did exactly one mile (in a well, lit area right outside the house, of course). It was a snow run, which I would have appreciated a lot more if circumstances had been better. Still, my streak stands at 20 days and counting. While I'm proud I've kept it going, I'm still aware of the fact that my overall training hasn't been great in the last week and the last regular indoor tri is fast approaching. I'll need to hit the pool, pick back up on my sprintwork, and do a couple of practice rides on the spin bike (with cycling shoes) to ensure that I can match my distance from last time. Speaking of cycling shoes, I'll have to do a post on those. It occurs to me that I've mentioned them a few times but not really explained what they are for anyone who might not know.

One Streak Broken

Noooooo. My situp streak came to an unceremonious end yesterday when I went to bed having completely forgotten about it. Totally slipped my mind. I ran five miles but forgot to do my damn situps. The sad thing is I had just gotten to the point where I thought it was a streak I could keep going for a very long time. I still believe that, I just need to make sure it gets done as early as possible in order to avoid forgetting again.

So I've restarted. That's really all I can do, right? Pick back up and try again. I was able to do this via a good workout with Jared. We did the following:

50 tabata burpees
25 x 5 crunches
50 squat split jumps
50 tabata jump squats
10, 8, 6, 4, then 2 pullups (assisted, for me)

Five rounds of:
5 dumbbell deadlifts
5 dumbbell hangcleans
5 dumbbell push presses
5 dumbbell squats

It was a good workout. Then I ran home to complete my mile requirement. It's going to require some thought and planning to continue my streak over the weekend as I'm going to Cornell to perform in our comedy group's fifth anniversary show! It should be a great weekend. Maybe I'll even get to do a run along my favorite route:

Introducing: My New Running Partner

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day, whether you had a Valentine or not. I, for one, ate entirely too much candy. As usual. I also continued my streak with a 3 mile loop just below the park. Accompanying me on this run was the newest member of our household (apartmenthold?), Phoebe!

Phoebe is a pretty good runner. She doesn't appreciate running much more than about 1.5 miles, though. She can do it, but she won't be happy about it. This is what I discovered yesterday. She started hanging back to indicate that she was not very interested in running anymore so I slowed down. The sad thing is she kept up with my slowed pace with what appeared to be a moderate trot. This would be less embarrassing if she wasn't tiny. She's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who's maybe, maybe a foot off the ground and weighs 20 pounds.

She might have been tired after awhile, but she stuck it out like a champ. The only thing we really need to work on is her herding tendency. In the first two or three minutes of the run she likes to try to run in front of me and barks if I'm not going where I'm supposed to. She also hates grates and those metal cellar doors on the streets and refuses to either walk or run on them. It's a work in progress.

On an unrelated note, if you do road races and might be interested in writing a bit about your experience, let me know! I'd like to start doing some guest race profiles.