Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Terminal Time
So it’s been a while since I posted on here, but I am stranded in BWI waiting for another two hours before my delayed flight leaves for Boston. I am ill prepared for that much terminal time and I figure that putting an update on here is my best option for filling the time. (Editor’s note: this post was typed as a word document and placed online at a later date due to the author’s inability to rationalize paying money for a few hours of internet use)
Long story short, I found out in early September that I had mono and Lyme disease. I was on antibiotics for three weeks to get rid of the Lyme disease and the mono just went away on its own.
My original plan was to run the New York City Marathon in the fall. That changed when I started to feel tired in August (I knew something was up!) and I thought I might just run some cross country races. Those plans also fell through but I was thankfully able to resume running by mid-October and enjoy the fall weather. I am pretty busy between teaching and taking graduate courses, so my new plan is to build up to between 80 and 85 miles per week. Ideally, I will keep my mileage in that range through the end of May when I will have a lot more time to train. Additionally, I am not going to run any intervals until late January at the earliest. I feel completely recovered from the mono and Lyme, but both of them can be problematic if you don’t recover fully. There is no reason for me to push the envelope at this point. I’ll leave you with an awesome answer from the most recent science test I gave my 8th graders.
What are the three properties used to tell the difference between ionic compounds? Please briefly explain each property.
The three properties used to tell the difference between ionic compounds are Amy doesn’t know, Amy needs to study, and please let Amy make up the points lost. Amy doesn’t know means that after sitting for 15 minutes and thinking she can’t figure it out. Amy needs to study means that she needs to be prepared for tests. Please let Amy make up the points lost means that you should be a nice young man.
I almost wanted to give her partial credit. Her answer sure beats the heck out of IDK.
Long story short, I found out in early September that I had mono and Lyme disease. I was on antibiotics for three weeks to get rid of the Lyme disease and the mono just went away on its own.
My original plan was to run the New York City Marathon in the fall. That changed when I started to feel tired in August (I knew something was up!) and I thought I might just run some cross country races. Those plans also fell through but I was thankfully able to resume running by mid-October and enjoy the fall weather. I am pretty busy between teaching and taking graduate courses, so my new plan is to build up to between 80 and 85 miles per week. Ideally, I will keep my mileage in that range through the end of May when I will have a lot more time to train. Additionally, I am not going to run any intervals until late January at the earliest. I feel completely recovered from the mono and Lyme, but both of them can be problematic if you don’t recover fully. There is no reason for me to push the envelope at this point. I’ll leave you with an awesome answer from the most recent science test I gave my 8th graders.
What are the three properties used to tell the difference between ionic compounds? Please briefly explain each property.
The three properties used to tell the difference between ionic compounds are Amy doesn’t know, Amy needs to study, and please let Amy make up the points lost. Amy doesn’t know means that after sitting for 15 minutes and thinking she can’t figure it out. Amy needs to study means that she needs to be prepared for tests. Please let Amy make up the points lost means that you should be a nice young man.
I almost wanted to give her partial credit. Her answer sure beats the heck out of IDK.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Reformulating Plans
I am not even going to bother with the typical format for this post. The past two weeks have been much of the same. A few days a week I doubled and put in around 120 minutes. Other days, I only ran 30 minutes or completely took the day off. I was around 50 miles for each week. From Friday to today, I didn't run a step.
Part of the problem is that, despite the decreased mileage, I have been feeling very tired. My favorite part about running is being able to go out for a 90 to 120 minute run, cruising along at a quick pace, and have it feel completely effortless. I honestly can't remember the last time I wasn't hoping to just get home during one of my runs.
Another part of the problem is that I get tied up with this mindset that if I am not running 100 to 110 miles a week, I might as well not be training. It is very hard for me to get out the door on Saturday and Sunday to finish up a 60 mile week. I know it is absurd, because there are obviously training benefits from running 80, 70, or fewer miles a week, but I just struggle with motivation when I am not running as much. I think it goes back to the whole sense of purpose idea where each run in a big week is building towards a larger goal. I just don't get that feeling when I am not running as much.
My plan was to run the New York City Marathon this fall, but I am starting to think that it might be in my best interest to defer my entry for a year and run a cross country season. With work and grad school, I am not sure that I will be able to train for a marathon the way I would like and I feel like I might be setting myself up for frustration.
I am hoping that my upcoming vacation will be a good chance to get stuff straightened out a little. Who knows? Maybe doing cross country and indoor track would help me out to come back and run a spring or fall marathon in 2009.
Sorry for the pity party of a post, but it's all I've got right now.
Part of the problem is that, despite the decreased mileage, I have been feeling very tired. My favorite part about running is being able to go out for a 90 to 120 minute run, cruising along at a quick pace, and have it feel completely effortless. I honestly can't remember the last time I wasn't hoping to just get home during one of my runs.
Another part of the problem is that I get tied up with this mindset that if I am not running 100 to 110 miles a week, I might as well not be training. It is very hard for me to get out the door on Saturday and Sunday to finish up a 60 mile week. I know it is absurd, because there are obviously training benefits from running 80, 70, or fewer miles a week, but I just struggle with motivation when I am not running as much. I think it goes back to the whole sense of purpose idea where each run in a big week is building towards a larger goal. I just don't get that feeling when I am not running as much.
My plan was to run the New York City Marathon this fall, but I am starting to think that it might be in my best interest to defer my entry for a year and run a cross country season. With work and grad school, I am not sure that I will be able to train for a marathon the way I would like and I feel like I might be setting myself up for frustration.
I am hoping that my upcoming vacation will be a good chance to get stuff straightened out a little. Who knows? Maybe doing cross country and indoor track would help me out to come back and run a spring or fall marathon in 2009.
Sorry for the pity party of a post, but it's all I've got right now.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Double Up
Training Summary
Two weeks ago, grad school went from being something that conveniently occupied my days to an all consuming venture. The readings, papers, and projects seemed endless and blogging was towards the bottom of my "to do" list. Fortunately for you all, you now get to read about TWO WEEKS of my life, thus the title of this post.
I am a deep guy, so "Double Up" actually has two meanings (that I could figure out, there may be more). It also has to do with the amount of running done, as I went almost twice as much this past week as I did two weeks ago. My hamstring is feeling much better and I think I will try an easy workout sometime later this week. I have continued to rope stretch for about 20 minutes before my runs but have started to do yoga twice a week.
Yoga is incredibly hard but I can already tell a difference in my flexibility and am able to see improvements in my hamstring. Yoga is also very humbling. I am quite inflexible and weak in my core, while the majority of the middle aged women in my class are the opposite. As I sweat and strain to make my way through the poses, they calmly flow from one stance to the other.
A highlight of the past two weeks was going to the beach this past Sunday. I went with Ted and Katie and we met Bruce, Christy, Brad, and Laura there. We went for an easy ten miles and then I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon napping, swimming, and playing frisbee. Again, I lead a tough life.
7/7 - 7/13
Monday
PM: 30 minutes
Tuesday
PM: 30 minutes
Wednesday
AM: 30 minutes
PM: 40 minutes
Thursday
PM: 40 minutes
Friday
noon: yoga (60 minutes), 60 minutes
PM: 30 minutes
Saturday
PM: 30 minutes
Sunday
PM: 60 minutes
Total
350 minutes on 9 runs
7/14 - 7/20
Monday
Am: 30 minutes
PM: 60 minutes
Tuesday
AM: yoga (60 minutes), 30 minutes
Wednesday
AM: 30 minutes
PM: 70 minutes
Thursday
PM: 90 minutes
Friday
noon: yoga (60 minutes), 30 minutes
PM: 70 minutes
Saturday
PM: 110 minutes
Sunday
PM: 70 minutes
Total
590 minutes on 10 runs
Holler of the Week
Keeping with the theme, the Holler of the Week for this entry is in fact two hollers from one guy. Neither holler was particularly interesting, but the man who delivered them certainly was. When I passed him two weeks ago, he gave me a quick "keep it up" as he danced on a street corner to the music coming from the mini boom box he had on his shoulder. During this run in, he was wearing a black suit, cowboy hat, and pink scarf. This past week, I ran by the same guy. He was on a different corner, was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, dancing, and playing maracas. His motivational "nice job" was easily the least interesting part of our interaction.
Epiphany Story of the Week
Nothing much to report on this front...just wait a month.
Song of the Week
I met Terry for lunch a few weeks ago and we did a pretty serious music swap. Since then, I have been working my way through the handful of albums he gave me. Currently, I am completely hooked on Wolf Parade. Below is the video for their song I'll Believe In Anything from the album Apologies to the Queen Mary. Also, speaking of apologies, let me apologize in advance for the dozens of quotes from the new Will Ferrel movie, Step Brothers, that are sure to be in my post next week.
Two weeks ago, grad school went from being something that conveniently occupied my days to an all consuming venture. The readings, papers, and projects seemed endless and blogging was towards the bottom of my "to do" list. Fortunately for you all, you now get to read about TWO WEEKS of my life, thus the title of this post.
I am a deep guy, so "Double Up" actually has two meanings (that I could figure out, there may be more). It also has to do with the amount of running done, as I went almost twice as much this past week as I did two weeks ago. My hamstring is feeling much better and I think I will try an easy workout sometime later this week. I have continued to rope stretch for about 20 minutes before my runs but have started to do yoga twice a week.
Yoga is incredibly hard but I can already tell a difference in my flexibility and am able to see improvements in my hamstring. Yoga is also very humbling. I am quite inflexible and weak in my core, while the majority of the middle aged women in my class are the opposite. As I sweat and strain to make my way through the poses, they calmly flow from one stance to the other.
A highlight of the past two weeks was going to the beach this past Sunday. I went with Ted and Katie and we met Bruce, Christy, Brad, and Laura there. We went for an easy ten miles and then I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon napping, swimming, and playing frisbee. Again, I lead a tough life.
7/7 - 7/13
Monday
PM: 30 minutes
Tuesday
PM: 30 minutes
Wednesday
AM: 30 minutes
PM: 40 minutes
Thursday
PM: 40 minutes
Friday
noon: yoga (60 minutes), 60 minutes
PM: 30 minutes
Saturday
PM: 30 minutes
Sunday
PM: 60 minutes
Total
350 minutes on 9 runs
7/14 - 7/20
Monday
Am: 30 minutes
PM: 60 minutes
Tuesday
AM: yoga (60 minutes), 30 minutes
Wednesday
AM: 30 minutes
PM: 70 minutes
Thursday
PM: 90 minutes
Friday
noon: yoga (60 minutes), 30 minutes
PM: 70 minutes
Saturday
PM: 110 minutes
Sunday
PM: 70 minutes
Total
590 minutes on 10 runs
Holler of the Week
Keeping with the theme, the Holler of the Week for this entry is in fact two hollers from one guy. Neither holler was particularly interesting, but the man who delivered them certainly was. When I passed him two weeks ago, he gave me a quick "keep it up" as he danced on a street corner to the music coming from the mini boom box he had on his shoulder. During this run in, he was wearing a black suit, cowboy hat, and pink scarf. This past week, I ran by the same guy. He was on a different corner, was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, dancing, and playing maracas. His motivational "nice job" was easily the least interesting part of our interaction.
Epiphany Story of the Week
Nothing much to report on this front...just wait a month.
Song of the Week
I met Terry for lunch a few weeks ago and we did a pretty serious music swap. Since then, I have been working my way through the handful of albums he gave me. Currently, I am completely hooked on Wolf Parade. Below is the video for their song I'll Believe In Anything from the album Apologies to the Queen Mary. Also, speaking of apologies, let me apologize in advance for the dozens of quotes from the new Will Ferrel movie, Step Brothers, that are sure to be in my post next week.
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