oh to run on Christmas...

Christmas Day... went out for a few miles and felt like hell. I'm not going to blame the mimosas or cookies I had for breakfast, but rather the weight of my legs. I visited the Princeton running shop the other day and the guy told me two things. 1) I should be training for 6 months (not 18 weeks) before my first marathon and 2) I should lose ten pounds on my legs. Ever since I heard the 2nd piece of advice I feel like my legs are made of portland cement.

The cool thing was that my brother-in-law and father-in-law (Doug and Paul) got me this super cool garmin gps running watch. So I'm back to being that typical Denver-ite I used to be... don't have to be good... but gotta have the good gear. It is a great gift and I felt like a kid again at Christmas time, going through all the social grace stuff, when all I really wanted to do was go play with my watch.

Yesterday was a 5 mile day. Felt great. It was 30 degrees and Oli and I ran on the canal tow path. On the way back I saw a bumper sticker "Adoption is Child Abuse." The same car also had one that said "Just say 'no' to sex with pro-choicers." I would love to party with these people.

A little history... and Happy Festivus

So my brother-in-law Doug has been running marathons for the past few years, and despite my prowess as a Novice B runner in the mile at St. Joseph's School in Aston PA in the 4th grade, where I finished 4th in the only race I can really remember... (I think there were 3 other runners in the race)... I've been a bit jealous of Doug's achievements.

After a Christmas morning run last year with Doug and cousin Paul (and after a few mimosas and a few vodka tonics) I got it in my head that I'd run a marathon in 2009. It became one of my New Year's resolutions... and subsequently has been a broken resolution along with all the others I made. My goal was the Philadelphia marathon in November, but since I hadn't trained a single day before the race... I decided to give up on that one.

For a few years now Doug has been talking about the Country Music Marathon, and Leigh and I have been wanting to go to Nashville. Voila - Leigh and I are training for April 24th. Doug has made the gracious offer to run together on the big day (but after he sees my 20 minute/mile pace he might recant).

So that's the story...
...oh yeah missed another run yesterday so I've made about 25 of my 34 training miles so far... that's over 70%, C- if I'm not mistaken... in other words... i'm passing, but barely.

I did diligently wake up this morning for my run, but it was 16 degrees out... I decided to wait a bit. I'm off now for 4 miles. It is 23 degress.

Happy Festivus!

Can't wait til the Airing of Grievances!

Inclement weather

Hard to run with 24 inches of snow on the ground. Cookies and tea... is that cross training?

Week two, long run...

6.25 am just started snowing and my thermometer says 23 degrees. Oliver is ready, I just put Sayre back to sleep after he needed "someone to talk to."

I'm off.....

I'm back. That silence and peace that accompanies the pre-dawn... is magnified (if you can magnify silence and peace) during a light snow. It was a great run somewhere between 7 and 8 miles. Oliver must have run 12 including two small mammal chases. It was the first time in our long relationship that I had to thaw ice off of his eyebrows (yes dog's have eyebrows). I cupped my hands and breathed on his icy brows to melt the offending snow. That was at mile 5. When I started back on the trot... my legs felt like 4 huge hamhocks... four.

... but then they came back to life...

Week two... cross training... or not

So week two starts with a cross training day. Hal Higdon recommends swimming, snowshoeing cycling and the like.... the problem is i sink like a stone (no swimming), I live in New Jersesy (no snow), and my bike has had a flat for 3 years (just plain lazy). So I opted for 15 minutes of yoga in my office before our lab group got together for pizza and beer. I called good.

Later my wife says "I don't think a few stretches, a Heineken, and a garlic pizza count as cross training." I say, "What does she know?"

I mean give me a break, if I can't be allowed to slack off a bit in the beginning of 18 weeks of training, when CAN I slack off?

Today's light run... scheduled for 3 miles. I ran 2.5 and came home to bathe my children and drink a vodka tonic.

I'm really starting to feel in shape.

My first two training runs...

First run, no problem left work at lunchtime, ran three miles, came back, boss said 'clean up then we'll meet.' Then i realized that there isn't a shower in my building at work. Googled searched the campus for 'shower facilities.' Found an aritcle from the student newspaper, entitled "The best bathrooms on campus." The author made some very poignant comments about the different 'urinal to shitter' ratios across campus, told of some great spots to get some quiet time, and asked the insightful question "If the new urinal are flushless... do i even have to wash my hands?"

Then I realized that I was going to have to just lather up on the deodorant, and call it good. Went to meet the boss, he cut the meeting short. Not sure the reasons, but i could have used some Irish Spring for sure.

Second run - this is the run that inspired me to write this blog... to myself. You see we had an awful night with the kids. Both were up through much of the night, and at 6.30 Austen (baby girl) was wide awake. I graciously offered to get up with her, but my wife said "no honey, I'll do it." (She never calls me honey). Wow this is great... is what I was thinking, but then she said... 'but since you are up you might as well go for your run.' "Oh I don't feel... i'm mean I'm still asleep, tired, sore..." "You really should go for your run." Damn it. The problem is she always talks sense. So i went downstairs, looked at my trusty outside themometer that our Grizzly Adams-meets-Oscar the packrat friend of ours (Thomas Wood Parsons) gave us. It was 24 degrees out. And so I grumbled about my wife the whole run, and the guilt trip she laid on me... and thought, I should write all this shit down. Voila - blog to myself.

One good thing about the cold, it felt like someone was icing my knees the whole run. Felt great.

week one long run

This sucks. It is pouring out and I am exhausted. Cooked all morning for my dad's birthday, and was up from 3am to 4am with my poor Sayre (son) who couldn't breathe due to a stuffy cold. I mean it is really coming down out there, and the house is so cozy and warm, and there are christmas carols on which just leads to a whole can of feelings which are lulling me to a cup of tea, some cookies, a book which i will only feign to read... and then a nap. What an opportunity with the rest of the family down for a nap. but alas... this damn run.

i'm off.
did i say this sucks?

.... and i'm back. Despite my mantra during the 4.5 miles being "i hate running,' i had a good out there, mainly because I remembered the fact that I really like the rain. It was about 45 degrees, so not that cold biting rain, but just big drops of rain sending me gentle messages of ... 'at least you are outside.' Four years in England and never minded the rain. So in short... glad I went.

So here's the weekend report. This was week one of the 18 week training regime. I was suppose to run 4 times for a total of 15 miles. I ran 3 times for a total of 10.5 miles. I've always been a procrastinator. So after 6 days, i'm already 4.5 miles down. At this rate by week six i'll already not have run a marathon in my marathon training schedule.

Day one - 19 weeks til the marathon

On April 24th the Country Music Marathon in Nashville Tennessee will hopefully add a virgin pair of legs to the marathoning world. I will be one of the select few (one of about 60,000 runners) to try to run, walk, crawl, piggy back my way around the 26.2 mile course, all while listening to a genre of music i really can't stand. I'm hoping to use the twanging noise and overly sincere lyrics of that pure country sound to push me to the finish line faster so that I can put my headphones on and listen to some proper cynical, mopish music which dominates indie rock.

I've also tried to sucker a bunch of friends into their first marathon, so that I can spread the pain a bit. More soon on the background to this stupid idea, the family members joining me, the party that week will entail, and the drudgery of training... but it is 10.20 and i think i better start work.

See...
http://nashville.competitor.com/
for details...