Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
My Running Partner is Back
At the beginning of February, I wrote that I'd been joined on my runs by a partner. A furry, long, low-to-the ground partner. I remember that on our very first run she was basically dragging me around the small lower loop of Central Park. I even named one of my frequent streak routes (the Phoebe Loop) after her.
She wasn't very well behaved on our runs, thought. Unfortunately even as time passed, she didn't get much better. When we'd start running, she would start jumping and barking. At some point, I stopped bringing her along because running with her was going to require more training than I had time to provide. And so it went for 9 months. I kept running the Phoebe loop without Phoebe and Phoebe stuck to her normal walks.
When I came home from my Thanksgiving, I was shocked when I was greeted by a fat Phoebe! I had no idea how out of shape she was and was unsure how she had reached that state. But I was determined to put her on a diet and exercise regimen so she could lose weight and get back to her lean Corgi self. So, Phoebe has been getting a little bit less food than usual and has been going on the Phoebe Loop once or twice per week. Here she is, say "hi!"
Oh, by the way, we did solve the mystery of Phoebe's impending obesity. She'd accidentally been receiving a cup more food per day than she's supposed to, which is nearly twice as much food as she needs. It shouldn't take too long to get her back in shape, though.
She wasn't very well behaved on our runs, thought. Unfortunately even as time passed, she didn't get much better. When we'd start running, she would start jumping and barking. At some point, I stopped bringing her along because running with her was going to require more training than I had time to provide. And so it went for 9 months. I kept running the Phoebe loop without Phoebe and Phoebe stuck to her normal walks.
When I came home from my Thanksgiving, I was shocked when I was greeted by a fat Phoebe! I had no idea how out of shape she was and was unsure how she had reached that state. But I was determined to put her on a diet and exercise regimen so she could lose weight and get back to her lean Corgi self. So, Phoebe has been getting a little bit less food than usual and has been going on the Phoebe Loop once or twice per week. Here she is, say "hi!"
Oh, by the way, we did solve the mystery of Phoebe's impending obesity. She'd accidentally been receiving a cup more food per day than she's supposed to, which is nearly twice as much food as she needs. It shouldn't take too long to get her back in shape, though.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
2012 Race Calendar Starting to Take Shape
As you may have read, my A race for 2012 is the Ironman US Championship in August. I'm trying to arrange my race calendar so that I can keep my focus on the Ironman while avoiding boredom. In all honesty, I doubt I'll find myself bored. Still, though, there should be more rhyme and reason to how I select my races this year versus those prior.
In choosing my race calendar, I should also evaluate my goal progress for 2011. I achieved a fair few of the things I set out to do, but I also missed a good number. In my goal analysis, I'll have to determine which unattained goals will carry over into 2012 and which ones I'll shelve for later. Ultimately, today is not the day for my goal analysis. It probably should come first, but I'm very much the type of person who acts before (or often without) thinking and thus, have already begun registering for races next year.
Which brings me to the point of this post. With the Empire State Building Run-Up out of the picture, my winter is freed up for other training. I've already signed up for the Manhattan Half-Marathon on January 21st as well as the Gridiron Classic on February 5th. The Gridiron always takes place on the day of the Super Bowl. I've always wanted to race it but have run one reason or another why I haven't been able to. Not this year!
Also, I decided that this is finally my year to do the New York City Half Marathon. Unlike the NYRR Half Marathon series, which consists of a half in each borough, the New York City half is a separate event that runs from top to bottom of the island and through iconic parts of the city. Incidentally, the course passes right by my building. The cost of this race is over four times as much as your typical half marathon series race, which is why I've avoided doing it for the past few years. It was always one of those races that I thought I should do once, so when I realized I accidentally qualified for it this year, I took it as a sign. The NYC Half takes place on March 18th, 2012.
There may or may not be more road races during that period, but they're what I have planned for now. As for multi-sport races, I plan to start off 2012 with participation in JackRabbit's Indoor Triathlon Series. I did a few of these last year and they're a pretty cool way to stay into tri during the winter time. Team Lipstick, the triathlon team I train with sometimes, is doing the race on February 5th. Now that I'm writing this entry, I see that there will be a conflict with that and the Gridiron Classic. I'll still do both but it will decrease my edge for the tri, at which I'd hoped to be competitive. Ah, well.
So as far as that goes, there are four events: January 8th, January 22nd, February 5th and February 19th. The way this series works is that if a competitor makes it in the top ten for any of these four, she is automatically qualified for the Indoor Triathlon Championships, which take place in March. Last year, I just squeaked into the championships, so I hope to do so this year by a more definitive margin. The plan right now is to race until I qualify. With any luck, I won't have to do all four. Not that I would mind, but it gets expensive.
So that's how my winter season is shaping up. I'll spend more time talking about the rest of the year at a later date. For now, stay tuned for a new rage comic. I hope you all are enjoying the holidays!
In choosing my race calendar, I should also evaluate my goal progress for 2011. I achieved a fair few of the things I set out to do, but I also missed a good number. In my goal analysis, I'll have to determine which unattained goals will carry over into 2012 and which ones I'll shelve for later. Ultimately, today is not the day for my goal analysis. It probably should come first, but I'm very much the type of person who acts before (or often without) thinking and thus, have already begun registering for races next year.
Which brings me to the point of this post. With the Empire State Building Run-Up out of the picture, my winter is freed up for other training. I've already signed up for the Manhattan Half-Marathon on January 21st as well as the Gridiron Classic on February 5th. The Gridiron always takes place on the day of the Super Bowl. I've always wanted to race it but have run one reason or another why I haven't been able to. Not this year!
Also, I decided that this is finally my year to do the New York City Half Marathon. Unlike the NYRR Half Marathon series, which consists of a half in each borough, the New York City half is a separate event that runs from top to bottom of the island and through iconic parts of the city. Incidentally, the course passes right by my building. The cost of this race is over four times as much as your typical half marathon series race, which is why I've avoided doing it for the past few years. It was always one of those races that I thought I should do once, so when I realized I accidentally qualified for it this year, I took it as a sign. The NYC Half takes place on March 18th, 2012.
There may or may not be more road races during that period, but they're what I have planned for now. As for multi-sport races, I plan to start off 2012 with participation in JackRabbit's Indoor Triathlon Series. I did a few of these last year and they're a pretty cool way to stay into tri during the winter time. Team Lipstick, the triathlon team I train with sometimes, is doing the race on February 5th. Now that I'm writing this entry, I see that there will be a conflict with that and the Gridiron Classic. I'll still do both but it will decrease my edge for the tri, at which I'd hoped to be competitive. Ah, well.
So as far as that goes, there are four events: January 8th, January 22nd, February 5th and February 19th. The way this series works is that if a competitor makes it in the top ten for any of these four, she is automatically qualified for the Indoor Triathlon Championships, which take place in March. Last year, I just squeaked into the championships, so I hope to do so this year by a more definitive margin. The plan right now is to race until I qualify. With any luck, I won't have to do all four. Not that I would mind, but it gets expensive.
So that's how my winter season is shaping up. I'll spend more time talking about the rest of the year at a later date. For now, stay tuned for a new rage comic. I hope you all are enjoying the holidays!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
The ESBRU Squirmies
Although it's not official yet, my hope of doing the Empire State Building Run-Up 2012 is quickly slipping away. My sources (aka Twitter) are saying that notices have been sent and credit card charges have already been made. I have gotten neither of those things and my status on the website says "In non-guaranteed entry drawing." I'm really hoping they'll at least update my status so I don't hang around refreshing the screen all evening (is it bad that I'm admitting I'll be doing that?).
I'm not sure why I got myself so worked up about this one. Perhaps it's because I find the prospect of running around iconic New York City to be an unparalleled experience. Also, this race is simply very different from most of the ones I've done. It should scare me, but it doesn't. Ah, well. Here's hoping for ESBRU 2013!
I'm not sure why I got myself so worked up about this one. Perhaps it's because I find the prospect of running around iconic New York City to be an unparalleled experience. Also, this race is simply very different from most of the ones I've done. It should scare me, but it doesn't. Ah, well. Here's hoping for ESBRU 2013!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
A Note on Streaks
So my big streak ended awhile back and it was a sad day when it did. Fortunately the day after, when I realized what happened, was also a very happy day because it was the same day that I destroyed my old marathon PR by 24 minutes. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.
The point is, streaks are one of those things that's most effective the first time around. I tried restarting the streak between then and the marathon and didn't have much luck with it. I think if I was to have another really successful one, I would have to take a break from streaks for a good long time first.
After that second little streak ended just before the marathon, I wasn't really sure what to do about the whole thing. On one hand, I felt like I was cheapening the principles behind the streak every time I reentered it halfheartedly. On the other, I was really afraid not to have anything to motivate me to run at least almost every day. I don't want to get back to the point when I feel comfortable not running for a couple of days in a row!
That's when I saw it on Twitter. The Runner's World holiday streak. It was an RW challenge to run every day between Thanksgiving and the New Year. I figured I can do that. It doesn't solve my streak/motivation dilemma in the long term, but it does give me something for another few weeks. I'll figure it out then. For now, it's been a good adventure. Definitely different from much of the time I've spent streaking in the last few months since it's now starting to get really cold. Granted, when I started my streak in February, it was also really cold but it's harder getting back into it than you'd think.
So, yes. I'm on Day 16 of the Runner's World streak. How about you? Anyone else keeping a streak, Runner's World or otherwise? Let's keep this thing going until New Year's Day!
The point is, streaks are one of those things that's most effective the first time around. I tried restarting the streak between then and the marathon and didn't have much luck with it. I think if I was to have another really successful one, I would have to take a break from streaks for a good long time first.
After that second little streak ended just before the marathon, I wasn't really sure what to do about the whole thing. On one hand, I felt like I was cheapening the principles behind the streak every time I reentered it halfheartedly. On the other, I was really afraid not to have anything to motivate me to run at least almost every day. I don't want to get back to the point when I feel comfortable not running for a couple of days in a row!
That's when I saw it on Twitter. The Runner's World holiday streak. It was an RW challenge to run every day between Thanksgiving and the New Year. I figured I can do that. It doesn't solve my streak/motivation dilemma in the long term, but it does give me something for another few weeks. I'll figure it out then. For now, it's been a good adventure. Definitely different from much of the time I've spent streaking in the last few months since it's now starting to get really cold. Granted, when I started my streak in February, it was also really cold but it's harder getting back into it than you'd think.
So, yes. I'm on Day 16 of the Runner's World streak. How about you? Anyone else keeping a streak, Runner's World or otherwise? Let's keep this thing going until New Year's Day!
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