Heeeey! It's me! Again! I'm so bad at doing this on a regular basis. I'm considering going public with it just because it might motivate me to be more diligent about posting [Please see disclaimer below]. So many things have happened since I last wrote. I joined Team Lipstick and found out that I have a whole hell of a lot of work to do on all aspects of tri, but most of all on the bike. So I took a beginner cycling class taught by Sara Ellison, one of Lipstick's coaches. It was a really great class. I wish I hadn't been so busy in the fall because I ended up missing a good number of classes. While I felt like I gained a good grasp of the basics like clipping in and out, stopping properly, bike maintenance, etc., I didn't feel that I got any faster.
This is where I reveal that the title of this post is sort of a lie. I am still cheap but slightly less so because I actually have invested some money in cycling. And I haven't even purchased a new bike (although it's something I'm pretty serious about doing before next season)!
But back on topic. I completed the NYRR Sprint Triathlon, began training with Team Lipstick, did the DiamondGirl sprint triathlon at Lake Sebago with the team, and did the Mayflower Sprint Triathlon over Labor Day weekend solo. That was a really nice race. Very scenic, although the water was pretty cold.
As far as running goes, I did the Bronx half-marathon, Staten Island half-marathon, Greta's Great Gallop (half-marathon), the Marathon Tune Up, Fifth Avenue Mile (7:17!), the New York City Marathon, and the Knickerbocker 60K. I'm determined to really start my ultramarathon career this spring. Jared and I applied to enter the Empire State Building Run Up but it's difficult to get into. If we don't get in, we'll probably do a 50 mile race called the Febapple 50 Mile in New Jersey. If I'm ever going to do Badwater, and I hope to in the next five years, I need to start getting 100 milers under my belt (you have to run three of them to be considered). I figured I should ease my way into that by starting with 50 milers and then maybe 100k races. This is going to require some really intense training, though. Jared and I have worked out a preliminary plan. I'd explain, but this post has gone on for quite some time and is very scattered. If I ever get good about posting regularly I'll try to address some of these topics individually. The New York City marathon deserves its own post for sure!
If and when this goes public, you need to know something about this blog. You may have read other blogs about other crazy people who are also addicted to doing races like me. Take this guy, for instance. That man is a champ. Browse his blog for a bit and you'll likely discover a listing of his personal bests. Notice that he's run a 5:09 mile and a 2:53 marathon. His blog is filled with tips and good advice on being a competitive runner.
Before you turn to my blog for the same sort of thing, understand this: I am a goofball and might be considered just slightly more skilled than a novice runner for the simple reason that I have put in lots of time and miles. I'll be lucky to win an age group award sometime in my life. And believe you me, it will be at a tiny, tiny race somewhere remote where there is an unusually small population of runners. This blog is 10% speculation, 60% entertainment, 25% information, 5% crazy talk and all the inspiration I can squeeze in. Someone check my math, it's getting late.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
New Inspiration - Part IV
Alright, I promise this is the last installation in this series. Who knew it would take so long to talk about this. When we left off, our heroine was just exiting the T1 transition area and setting off on her 56 mile bike trek!
What? It sounds a lot more dramatic than how it actually happened, which is this: I got out of the water and almost fell back in because my legs felt like jelly. I finally regained my balance, however, and booked it for the sandy shore and transition gate. Once I made it to my spot I yanked on my shoes. Pretty sure I even skipped the socks part of this exercise (as if the extra 10 seconds really mattered). I dried off, put my GUs and water bottle in my butt pockets, made sure my stuff was in the bag and strung up on my rack, and headed out. Jeremy filmed me running out, which was half exciting and half embarrassing as I had a massive wedgie.
I mounted my bike and settled into the ride with the full knowledge that there was probably a maximum of twelve people behind me in the entire race. I was a little embarrassed by this, but not too much. I had to focus on the cutoff at that point. So I rode and rode, and watched as I was slowly passed by each of the riders behind me. For the first two hours I just chugged along and, while the cutoff was at the back of my mind, it wasn't a pressing concern. I figured the four and a half hours I had would be plenty. It wasn't until about 2.5 hours in that I started doing mental calculations of my current pace and the distance I still had to cover. I just kept telling myself to push harder and make the cutoff even though a sinking feeling had begun to creep over me.
I won't go into some of the sad details of the rest of the race, though I will admit that I'm not above grunting and screaming my way up a massive hill. Let's just say it wasn't my finest hour (or five). Finally, I was pulled from the course at mile 47.
As much as I hated not finishing, it was a huge lesson in failure for me. Normally when I fail at something, I become intimidated by that activity. Not this time. I couldn't stop thinking about all the things I needed to do to get better and finish. And while my first instinct was to sign up for the next 70.3 race I could find, another part of me said to wait until next year so that I could not just be ready, but do well. I'm still struggling with this dilemma.
So the point is, I failed. But I can't wait to jump right back in (and on).
That sounds like a really good blog post ending, but I still have things to say so I guess it will be wasted. Once again, it's really early in the morning. But I decided that I really need to develop a structured training plan that incorporates swimming, biking, running and weight lifting. It's no longer enough to just do whatever, whenever. Triathlon is too demanding for it and if I don't have a schedule to stick to, I'm much more likely to either blow off a workout or water it down. There are a few ways to do this. One is to do lots of research and develop one myself. It's not an altogether terrible option but, let's face it, I'm not exactly the most qualified person to be doing that sort of thing. Another option is to join a triathlon team. I found an all-women's one called Team Lipstick. I'm looking into joining because their training program seems really comprehensive and I'm intrigued by the all-female aspect. Although it would preclude me from meeting guys, it would also provide a more appropriate level of support than a typical team, most likely. Regardless, I think it's worth a shot.
In other news, I'm starting to look at upgrading (or purchasing for the first time) my gear. My bike is a piece of crap, but I don't currently have the resources to invest in good bike, which would cost at least $1200. I need to talk to someone at a bike or tri shop about adding aerobars and clip-on pedals. At some point, I'd also like to get a wetsuit and bike computer. Triathlon is an expensive sport.
On the running front, training for the marathon is in full swing. The Queens Half Marathon was last weekend and it went really poorly due to a combination of circumstances, not least of which was that I just wasn't prepared. But I plan on getting better and more disciplined. Just have to work out some of these kinks. This weekend is the NYRR Sprint Triathlon. It should be interesting to see how I do. Last year was terrible, and while I don't expect to place at all, I do hope to perform markedly better.
Well I'd better quit. This is getting long and I have logistics to work out!
What? It sounds a lot more dramatic than how it actually happened, which is this: I got out of the water and almost fell back in because my legs felt like jelly. I finally regained my balance, however, and booked it for the sandy shore and transition gate. Once I made it to my spot I yanked on my shoes. Pretty sure I even skipped the socks part of this exercise (as if the extra 10 seconds really mattered). I dried off, put my GUs and water bottle in my butt pockets, made sure my stuff was in the bag and strung up on my rack, and headed out. Jeremy filmed me running out, which was half exciting and half embarrassing as I had a massive wedgie.
I mounted my bike and settled into the ride with the full knowledge that there was probably a maximum of twelve people behind me in the entire race. I was a little embarrassed by this, but not too much. I had to focus on the cutoff at that point. So I rode and rode, and watched as I was slowly passed by each of the riders behind me. For the first two hours I just chugged along and, while the cutoff was at the back of my mind, it wasn't a pressing concern. I figured the four and a half hours I had would be plenty. It wasn't until about 2.5 hours in that I started doing mental calculations of my current pace and the distance I still had to cover. I just kept telling myself to push harder and make the cutoff even though a sinking feeling had begun to creep over me.
I won't go into some of the sad details of the rest of the race, though I will admit that I'm not above grunting and screaming my way up a massive hill. Let's just say it wasn't my finest hour (or five). Finally, I was pulled from the course at mile 47.
As much as I hated not finishing, it was a huge lesson in failure for me. Normally when I fail at something, I become intimidated by that activity. Not this time. I couldn't stop thinking about all the things I needed to do to get better and finish. And while my first instinct was to sign up for the next 70.3 race I could find, another part of me said to wait until next year so that I could not just be ready, but do well. I'm still struggling with this dilemma.
So the point is, I failed. But I can't wait to jump right back in (and on).
That sounds like a really good blog post ending, but I still have things to say so I guess it will be wasted. Once again, it's really early in the morning. But I decided that I really need to develop a structured training plan that incorporates swimming, biking, running and weight lifting. It's no longer enough to just do whatever, whenever. Triathlon is too demanding for it and if I don't have a schedule to stick to, I'm much more likely to either blow off a workout or water it down. There are a few ways to do this. One is to do lots of research and develop one myself. It's not an altogether terrible option but, let's face it, I'm not exactly the most qualified person to be doing that sort of thing. Another option is to join a triathlon team. I found an all-women's one called Team Lipstick. I'm looking into joining because their training program seems really comprehensive and I'm intrigued by the all-female aspect. Although it would preclude me from meeting guys, it would also provide a more appropriate level of support than a typical team, most likely. Regardless, I think it's worth a shot.
In other news, I'm starting to look at upgrading (or purchasing for the first time) my gear. My bike is a piece of crap, but I don't currently have the resources to invest in good bike, which would cost at least $1200. I need to talk to someone at a bike or tri shop about adding aerobars and clip-on pedals. At some point, I'd also like to get a wetsuit and bike computer. Triathlon is an expensive sport.
On the running front, training for the marathon is in full swing. The Queens Half Marathon was last weekend and it went really poorly due to a combination of circumstances, not least of which was that I just wasn't prepared. But I plan on getting better and more disciplined. Just have to work out some of these kinks. This weekend is the NYRR Sprint Triathlon. It should be interesting to see how I do. Last year was terrible, and while I don't expect to place at all, I do hope to perform markedly better.
Well I'd better quit. This is getting long and I have logistics to work out!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
New Inspiration - Part III
Where did I leave off? Oh, yes, the swim. I wrote about finishing it but I didn't write about the swim itself. So, the gun went off for my wave and all of us ran out to meet the water. I fell behind right away, unfortunately. For a couple of minutes I was hanging with one girl, but it didn't last long. Another problem I didn't anticipate was the panic I felt almost as soon as I started swimming. And I really should have anticipated it since the same thing happened to me during the sprint triathlon last year. Both times I panicked and was unable to breathe underwater. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) this swim was long enough that, at some point, I just wanted it to be done faster and was finally able to settle down and breathe properly. Even once I sorted that out I had to deal with really inefficient swimming. I'm not good at keeping an eye out for which direction I'm swimming, so I would swim with my head down for a few strokes, look up, realize I was going too far right or left, overcorrect, and repeat the whole process on the other side. I'm sure this just resulted in a lot of unnecessary zig-zagging.
So the part where I had to swim with my head above water lasted for almost half the race, until the turnaround. In that time, people from the two waves behind me caught up and started passing me. It was demoralizing but not altogether unexpected. It also seemed endless. Every time I swam up to the next buoy hoping and praying that it was the last, there would be another one right behind it! And when I say "right behind," I in fact mean far, far away. But I did finally finish and head into the Transition 1 area. The transition went pretty well even though I was one of the last ones out. I forgot to put on my Garmin ForeRunner, but as it turns out this wasn't a big problem.
Oh my God I'm falling asleep again. Four parter? Meh, it's not like anyone is reading anyway. If any of my non-readers are following and offended, I'll try to avoid future four part posts. Night@
So the part where I had to swim with my head above water lasted for almost half the race, until the turnaround. In that time, people from the two waves behind me caught up and started passing me. It was demoralizing but not altogether unexpected. It also seemed endless. Every time I swam up to the next buoy hoping and praying that it was the last, there would be another one right behind it! And when I say "right behind," I in fact mean far, far away. But I did finally finish and head into the Transition 1 area. The transition went pretty well even though I was one of the last ones out. I forgot to put on my Garmin ForeRunner, but as it turns out this wasn't a big problem.
Oh my God I'm falling asleep again. Four parter? Meh, it's not like anyone is reading anyway. If any of my non-readers are following and offended, I'll try to avoid future four part posts. Night@
Monday, July 26, 2010
New Inspiration - Part II
It's late. I don't think I can make blog posts at normal times. I'm actually feeling sort of restless tonight. I feel like doing some writing but I never know where to start. But that is a topic for a different blog.
I think I left off with Jeremy and I getting dinner at the food court in Providence. I got spaghetti from Sbarro. It was meh, but spaghetti is a reliable pre-race food for me. After we finished, we headed over to the GNC to sort out my liquid breakfast situation. A store associate guided me right to the section that everyone else in the triathlon had been hitting all day. It was the section with the new Gatorade G Series line. I got a couple of the Step 1 products that had a few hundred calories each. Hefty, I know. But I figured it would be necessary. And I think it would have been had I made the bike cutoff and been able to finish. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I spent the evening preparing all my stuff for the morning and solidifying the plans with Jeremy. I then did what I do most evenings, watched a lot of tv. I probably should've been in bed by 10, but of course I was not. I was busy watching Harry Potter IV. I don't know that I would have been able to fall asleep at 10 but I should have at least tried. I ended up going to sleep at midnight (approximately 3 hours before I was supposed to get up).
Each of my five alarms went off unmercifully at the right time.
Man, I'm getting tired. But this story is taking so long! Now I'm going to have to switch to the condensed version and then maybe get back to it if I ever feel it's necessary. We got up at 3, left to catch the shuttle at 3:30, caught the shuttle at 3:45 and arrived at T1 a little before 5. Once there,I set up my transition area. It was a "clean transition" area, which meant that they didn't want anything on the floor and everything had to be hung up on the rack or bike. Almost everyone had a wetsuit and, although I'd ideally like to get one, the one I saw at the check in convention was priced at $400. No way am I paying that much money for that. I found one website that sells one for $99, but it's still something I'm going to have to think about.
Honestly, though, the water wasn't that cold. I was okay in just my tri suit. The race itself started at 6am with the professional men. My start came 45 minutes later. I knew I was way out of my league when one of the girls I was talking to said she intended to do the swim in 35 minutes. The one standing next to her mentioned that she was slow and would be doing it in 45. My anticipated time was 1 hour. No joke. But I calmed myself and kept thinking about how I'd practiced and timed the swim and thought I had definitely given myself enough of a cushion.
And I had, the swim did take me a little bit over an hour, but I was still one of the last ones out of the water and that just does not bode well for the rest of a race...alright I can't do this anymore as I'm too sleepy. Will have to make it a 3 parter. TTFN - ta ta for now.
I think I left off with Jeremy and I getting dinner at the food court in Providence. I got spaghetti from Sbarro. It was meh, but spaghetti is a reliable pre-race food for me. After we finished, we headed over to the GNC to sort out my liquid breakfast situation. A store associate guided me right to the section that everyone else in the triathlon had been hitting all day. It was the section with the new Gatorade G Series line. I got a couple of the Step 1 products that had a few hundred calories each. Hefty, I know. But I figured it would be necessary. And I think it would have been had I made the bike cutoff and been able to finish. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I spent the evening preparing all my stuff for the morning and solidifying the plans with Jeremy. I then did what I do most evenings, watched a lot of tv. I probably should've been in bed by 10, but of course I was not. I was busy watching Harry Potter IV. I don't know that I would have been able to fall asleep at 10 but I should have at least tried. I ended up going to sleep at midnight (approximately 3 hours before I was supposed to get up).
Each of my five alarms went off unmercifully at the right time.
Man, I'm getting tired. But this story is taking so long! Now I'm going to have to switch to the condensed version and then maybe get back to it if I ever feel it's necessary. We got up at 3, left to catch the shuttle at 3:30, caught the shuttle at 3:45 and arrived at T1 a little before 5. Once there,I set up my transition area. It was a "clean transition" area, which meant that they didn't want anything on the floor and everything had to be hung up on the rack or bike. Almost everyone had a wetsuit and, although I'd ideally like to get one, the one I saw at the check in convention was priced at $400. No way am I paying that much money for that. I found one website that sells one for $99, but it's still something I'm going to have to think about.
Honestly, though, the water wasn't that cold. I was okay in just my tri suit. The race itself started at 6am with the professional men. My start came 45 minutes later. I knew I was way out of my league when one of the girls I was talking to said she intended to do the swim in 35 minutes. The one standing next to her mentioned that she was slow and would be doing it in 45. My anticipated time was 1 hour. No joke. But I calmed myself and kept thinking about how I'd practiced and timed the swim and thought I had definitely given myself enough of a cushion.
And I had, the swim did take me a little bit over an hour, but I was still one of the last ones out of the water and that just does not bode well for the rest of a race...alright I can't do this anymore as I'm too sleepy. Will have to make it a 3 parter. TTFN - ta ta for now.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
New Inspiration!
I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that I view my spectacular failure at the Half Ironman as an inspiration. Probably a bad thing. And yes, the Half Ironman was a massive, massive failure. I thought I was ready but I absolutely was not. Not logistically and not athletically. So, I guess let's back up to that part.
Jeremy (who was nice enough to come with me) and I left the apartment around 6:30am that Saturday (7/10) to catch the bus to Providence at 7:30am. I was kind of worried about getting my bike on board just because their policy, while it did allow for bikes, also included a caveat about the bus driver being able to put you on the next bus if there wasn't enough room in the cargo area. We got to Port Authority about 30 minutes early, but it ended up being a good thing because I was able to get the bike on without a hitch. Well, sort of. I guess you could call the bus driver's griping a hitch but overall it didn't impede my progress.
We got to Providence around 11:30 and headed straight for the convention center. I checked in and got all my stuff just fine, but soon realized that I would need to check my bike in at the start. This wouldn't have been a problem if the start had been within walking distance of downtown Providence instead of a 45 minute drive away. Alas. As you might imagine, this worried me a little bit since no bike meant no race and a complete waste of time and money. So Jeremy and I started frantically thinking of what to do. After finally deciding that renting a car was going to be the best bet, we left the convention early (in order to get a leg up on anyone else who might be as incompetent at planning as I) and headed over to the Avis across the street.
30 minutes and $70 later (damn under-25 fee) we were on the road to Roger Wheeler State Park. Fortunately for us, the day was nice and the drive was scenic. We had a little trouble finding Point Judith, but finally managed to get to T1. We had 15 minutes to park and check in the bike so I quickly pumped my tires and rode back and forth a few times making sure the gears were in passable shape. I then took it into the transition area and hung it up by its seat at my spot (1041). I was a little self conscious because the entire transition are was full of tri and expensive road bikes (LOTS of Cervelos). I don't think I saw a single other bike that didn't have proper pedals. More than anything, it finally gave me some inkling of how serious most of the racers were about the sport and made me want to be competitive as well.
After my bike was secured we headed back to downtown Providence to check into the hotel and drop off the car, which we'd had for approximately 3 hours. I have only nice things to say about the Hampton Inn in Providence. The room was nice (though I think anything with air conditioning would've pleased me by that point in the heat wave we'd had all week). We also had 50 more channels there than at home. AND there were free cookies in the lobby. How much more could you ask for, really?
Once we were checked in and the car dropped off, we walked to Providence's one (albeit nice) mall to eat and find me a liquid breakfast for Sunday. I got this idea from a triathlon podcast I've been listening to (TriTopics, if anyone is interested). It seemed brilliant to me as I tend to have...digestive difficulties before races.
A quick look at the mall directory revealed that there was a GNC near the mall entrance and a food court on the third floor. Needless to say we headed for the food court first. I read in a beginner triathlete forum that it's best to finish your last large meal before a race about 12 hours before the start and by that point it was about 5pm. The choices at the food court were mostly not triathlon friendly but at least there were lots of options. I ended up going for the standard bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce. It's a safe option.
This is getting really long so I'm going to break it up into two parts. TO BE CONTINUED...
Jeremy (who was nice enough to come with me) and I left the apartment around 6:30am that Saturday (7/10) to catch the bus to Providence at 7:30am. I was kind of worried about getting my bike on board just because their policy, while it did allow for bikes, also included a caveat about the bus driver being able to put you on the next bus if there wasn't enough room in the cargo area. We got to Port Authority about 30 minutes early, but it ended up being a good thing because I was able to get the bike on without a hitch. Well, sort of. I guess you could call the bus driver's griping a hitch but overall it didn't impede my progress.
We got to Providence around 11:30 and headed straight for the convention center. I checked in and got all my stuff just fine, but soon realized that I would need to check my bike in at the start. This wouldn't have been a problem if the start had been within walking distance of downtown Providence instead of a 45 minute drive away. Alas. As you might imagine, this worried me a little bit since no bike meant no race and a complete waste of time and money. So Jeremy and I started frantically thinking of what to do. After finally deciding that renting a car was going to be the best bet, we left the convention early (in order to get a leg up on anyone else who might be as incompetent at planning as I) and headed over to the Avis across the street.
30 minutes and $70 later (damn under-25 fee) we were on the road to Roger Wheeler State Park. Fortunately for us, the day was nice and the drive was scenic. We had a little trouble finding Point Judith, but finally managed to get to T1. We had 15 minutes to park and check in the bike so I quickly pumped my tires and rode back and forth a few times making sure the gears were in passable shape. I then took it into the transition area and hung it up by its seat at my spot (1041). I was a little self conscious because the entire transition are was full of tri and expensive road bikes (LOTS of Cervelos). I don't think I saw a single other bike that didn't have proper pedals. More than anything, it finally gave me some inkling of how serious most of the racers were about the sport and made me want to be competitive as well.
After my bike was secured we headed back to downtown Providence to check into the hotel and drop off the car, which we'd had for approximately 3 hours. I have only nice things to say about the Hampton Inn in Providence. The room was nice (though I think anything with air conditioning would've pleased me by that point in the heat wave we'd had all week). We also had 50 more channels there than at home. AND there were free cookies in the lobby. How much more could you ask for, really?
Once we were checked in and the car dropped off, we walked to Providence's one (albeit nice) mall to eat and find me a liquid breakfast for Sunday. I got this idea from a triathlon podcast I've been listening to (TriTopics, if anyone is interested). It seemed brilliant to me as I tend to have...digestive difficulties before races.
A quick look at the mall directory revealed that there was a GNC near the mall entrance and a food court on the third floor. Needless to say we headed for the food court first. I read in a beginner triathlete forum that it's best to finish your last large meal before a race about 12 hours before the start and by that point it was about 5pm. The choices at the food court were mostly not triathlon friendly but at least there were lots of options. I ended up going for the standard bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce. It's a safe option.
This is getting really long so I'm going to break it up into two parts. TO BE CONTINUED...
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Where has the time gone
Well here I am. It's really early in the morning. For various reasons I thought it would be a good idea to wake up at an obscene hour to get some stuff done since I can't seem to manage during normal people hours. As a result, I've caught up with a few things that have been neglected over the last few days, weeks, or in the case of this blog, months. So here are some updates on my 2010 goals:
Big D Texas Marathon: Done. Shitty time (5:20) but completed nevertheless
Amica 70.3 (Half-Ironman): Registered and training. Training is a bitch, by the way. It's physically hard, yes, but even more annoying is the time commitment. If I want to do both the swim and bike portions of training in an evening I can expect to be at the gym for 3 hours. But the variety has been really nice! My swimming has improved and, although I haven't mustered up the courage to really bike in Central Park, I'm getting decent at it on the spin bike. I haven't been doing enough running, though...
Half Marathon Grand Prix: Bad news, I didn't sign up for Brooklyn before it sold out, so no Grand Prix for me. But that's okay, I just need to keep up with my races. I'm already a little behind for 9 + 1 but it's nothing a little frantic racing won't fix.
NYC Marathon 2010: Registered.
I've also come to the realization that I have plenty of things to do and I need to stop looking for more. I'm stretching myself too thin, and it shows in the things I do. Basketball, for instance. I know I could use a lot of improvement and that a surefire way to achieve that is by playing in a second league. But I have waaay too many things already scheduled to be able to commit to that. There's apparently a league that plays only on Saturday mornings, and if I could join that it might be manageable now that tutoring is over. But that's just one example. I should prioritize and pick the things that are really important to me and drop the rest so that I leave myself room to get better at those things. But enough for now. Since I'm up this early I figured I should get in a morning trip to the gym (for once). Toodles!
Big D Texas Marathon: Done. Shitty time (5:20) but completed nevertheless
Amica 70.3 (Half-Ironman): Registered and training. Training is a bitch, by the way. It's physically hard, yes, but even more annoying is the time commitment. If I want to do both the swim and bike portions of training in an evening I can expect to be at the gym for 3 hours. But the variety has been really nice! My swimming has improved and, although I haven't mustered up the courage to really bike in Central Park, I'm getting decent at it on the spin bike. I haven't been doing enough running, though...
Half Marathon Grand Prix: Bad news, I didn't sign up for Brooklyn before it sold out, so no Grand Prix for me. But that's okay, I just need to keep up with my races. I'm already a little behind for 9 + 1 but it's nothing a little frantic racing won't fix.
NYC Marathon 2010: Registered.
I've also come to the realization that I have plenty of things to do and I need to stop looking for more. I'm stretching myself too thin, and it shows in the things I do. Basketball, for instance. I know I could use a lot of improvement and that a surefire way to achieve that is by playing in a second league. But I have waaay too many things already scheduled to be able to commit to that. There's apparently a league that plays only on Saturday mornings, and if I could join that it might be manageable now that tutoring is over. But that's just one example. I should prioritize and pick the things that are really important to me and drop the rest so that I leave myself room to get better at those things. But enough for now. Since I'm up this early I figured I should get in a morning trip to the gym (for once). Toodles!
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!
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!
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