Captain Furious: Did you get my text? Off to Milwakee for Summer Fest to see Jon Bon Jovi with BACKSTAGE PASSES!
Me: No! That is insane! By the way, I am all signed up for the Marathon, and I have a training blog.
CF: F********k. You mean I actually have to do this?
Ah running.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunblock?
So I went for my long run today which was 9 miles. Like my run last week, I ran down to the lakefront and ran along the running/biking trail down through Lincoln Park and back to Ravenswood. It was really warm this morning, but it was a really pretty day. There were tons of people running, biking, and rollerblading, many of whom were training for the Chicago Marathon. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago was out in full force training for Chicago, and they sang lots of cool cadences while they were running.
A scary thought entered my mind as I was running. I ran by this woman whose arms were the shady of cherries, either from sunburn or blood pumping. I suspect some combination of the two. My first though was, "Wow, that woman sure is red", then it occurred to me that I had no sunblock on, and there was a good chance I looked the same as she did. I looked down at my arms, and sure enough, they looked pretty red and angry. Fortunately when I got home, they returned to a relatively normal color, with only the hint of a farmer's tan.
Other than that, my run was uneventful. I maintained an ok pace, even managing to pass the 90 lb. trixie* running in front of me in her Forever 21 club top which was masquerading as a running shirt. She's not fooling anyone.
*Trixie-Social climbing, marriage-minded, money-hungry young ladies that seem to flock to the upwardly-mobile neighborhood of Lincoln Park. While the term originated in Chicago in the 1990's, the population clearly exists everywhere.
A scary thought entered my mind as I was running. I ran by this woman whose arms were the shady of cherries, either from sunburn or blood pumping. I suspect some combination of the two. My first though was, "Wow, that woman sure is red", then it occurred to me that I had no sunblock on, and there was a good chance I looked the same as she did. I looked down at my arms, and sure enough, they looked pretty red and angry. Fortunately when I got home, they returned to a relatively normal color, with only the hint of a farmer's tan.
Other than that, my run was uneventful. I maintained an ok pace, even managing to pass the 90 lb. trixie* running in front of me in her Forever 21 club top which was masquerading as a running shirt. She's not fooling anyone.
*Trixie-Social climbing, marriage-minded, money-hungry young ladies that seem to flock to the upwardly-mobile neighborhood of Lincoln Park. While the term originated in Chicago in the 1990's, the population clearly exists everywhere.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I need to get up earlier
So Mother Nature decided that instead of ramping up to the heat of summer, she'd go straight from the balmy 40 degree spring that we've been having to 90 degree summer.
Yesterday, I only had to run 3 miles, but when I got outside at 8am, I discovered it was already 80 degrees. This is the problem with living in the eastern part of this timezone. Because St. Joe is only 90 miles away, but it was 80 degrees at 9am. Which is still pretty terrible, but still. On top of that, I've been sick recently with some stupid summer cold or something. So in addition to the heat, I had a hoard of bacteria playing 'Bring in da' Noise, Bring in' da' Funk' on my immune system. After stumblings around and generally flailing, I finished the run, and I vowed to get up earlier on Wednesday to try to beat the heat.
Which brings us to today. I just finished my 5 mile run, and I did manage to get up half an hour earlier. I'd taken some DayQuil the night before, and I actually woke up feeling pretty good. My nose wasn't too stuffy, my throat wasn't sore, and I wasn't coughing too badly. So already this is the best morning in about 2 weeks. It was still super hot, but fortunately the sun was angled in such a way that half the street was in shade. There was even a small breeze. These two things made the run a lot easier. The brief moments spent in a non-shaded area were horrific. On my second leg of my journey (I do a there-and-back route), I ran past a bank that has one of those display things that show the time, date, temperature, etc. 91 degrees outside. I'm really happy I saw that on my way back because it meant I only had to run a little more before I take a shower in ice water. But on the whole, the run was pretty good. And who knows, maybe my pale-ass legs got some sun, but I'm not banking on it.
Yesterday, I only had to run 3 miles, but when I got outside at 8am, I discovered it was already 80 degrees. This is the problem with living in the eastern part of this timezone. Because St. Joe is only 90 miles away, but it was 80 degrees at 9am. Which is still pretty terrible, but still. On top of that, I've been sick recently with some stupid summer cold or something. So in addition to the heat, I had a hoard of bacteria playing 'Bring in da' Noise, Bring in' da' Funk' on my immune system. After stumblings around and generally flailing, I finished the run, and I vowed to get up earlier on Wednesday to try to beat the heat.
Which brings us to today. I just finished my 5 mile run, and I did manage to get up half an hour earlier. I'd taken some DayQuil the night before, and I actually woke up feeling pretty good. My nose wasn't too stuffy, my throat wasn't sore, and I wasn't coughing too badly. So already this is the best morning in about 2 weeks. It was still super hot, but fortunately the sun was angled in such a way that half the street was in shade. There was even a small breeze. These two things made the run a lot easier. The brief moments spent in a non-shaded area were horrific. On my second leg of my journey (I do a there-and-back route), I ran past a bank that has one of those display things that show the time, date, temperature, etc. 91 degrees outside. I'm really happy I saw that on my way back because it meant I only had to run a little more before I take a shower in ice water. But on the whole, the run was pretty good. And who knows, maybe my pale-ass legs got some sun, but I'm not banking on it.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, the real day of rest
Thank God I don't have to run on Mondays during my entire training schedule. With the insanity that is Monday, I don't think I'd be up to moving beyond my usual walk to and from the El.
Also, I want pie.
Also, I want pie.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Day 7...8 Miles
Why oh why did I write so much in that first post? This is why I suck at blogging. I write a ton of stuff at the beginning, and then I go quickly into "This is boring. I'm bored now. Bored". Maybe I can keep it together for this post.
I have finished my first week of training. It is an 18-week training schedule with my long runs on Saturdays. I ended up doing my long run today (Sunday) because work was insane this week, and I had to rearrange my running schedule. I'm really going to try to keep that at a minimum because I don't like doing that. Running and insane work.
My long run today was 8 miles which was just lovely. In that hideous sort of way.
I have thank three people though. The first is Dawn Dais who wrote one of the funniest books I've ever read, making it the funniest running book ever. "The Non-Runners Marathon Guide for Women" is hilarious and quite helpful, and I'd recommend it to any runner, male or female. The only women-specific parts are those relating to sports bras and other female necessities. P.S. How can someone with no rack still feel like her boobs are going to fall off?
The book is amazing, and I will probably quote from it in this blog. I have to thank Capt. Furious for not only recommending it to me, but buying me a copy and mailing it to me.
The third person to thank is the dark-haired gentleman with the sweat-stained gray t-shirt whose RoboCop-like pacing kept me from dying. I seriously suck at pacing. He definitely kept me steady though, and he did not seem at all weirded out by the fact that I was creeping behind him for 3 miles. Up until he farted it was a magical time.
Tomorrow is my rest day, otherwise known as my favorite type of workout. But it also means the weekend is over which is annoying. But I digress from the topic of this blog, which is my cue to stop writing.
I have finished my first week of training. It is an 18-week training schedule with my long runs on Saturdays. I ended up doing my long run today (Sunday) because work was insane this week, and I had to rearrange my running schedule. I'm really going to try to keep that at a minimum because I don't like doing that. Running and insane work.
My long run today was 8 miles which was just lovely. In that hideous sort of way.
I have thank three people though. The first is Dawn Dais who wrote one of the funniest books I've ever read, making it the funniest running book ever. "The Non-Runners Marathon Guide for Women" is hilarious and quite helpful, and I'd recommend it to any runner, male or female. The only women-specific parts are those relating to sports bras and other female necessities. P.S. How can someone with no rack still feel like her boobs are going to fall off?
The book is amazing, and I will probably quote from it in this blog. I have to thank Capt. Furious for not only recommending it to me, but buying me a copy and mailing it to me.
The third person to thank is the dark-haired gentleman with the sweat-stained gray t-shirt whose RoboCop-like pacing kept me from dying. I seriously suck at pacing. He definitely kept me steady though, and he did not seem at all weirded out by the fact that I was creeping behind him for 3 miles. Up until he farted it was a magical time.
Tomorrow is my rest day, otherwise known as my favorite type of workout. But it also means the weekend is over which is annoying. But I digress from the topic of this blog, which is my cue to stop writing.
Welcome to my training blog!
Greetings!
Recently my aunt Bee and I ran a half-Marathon in Traverse City, and with persistence, she has convinced me to run the Grand Rapids Marathon on October 18. I'm pretty sure she secretly hates me, and this is her way of torturing me. A little bit about her, her nickname is Captain Furious and recently she ran down the median of I-94 to rescue a kitten. And she's persistent.
This training blog will contain updates on my running progress, as well as general grousing and commentary on the insanity of running, runners, spandex, GU, and other aspects. The reasons for running the marathon will come in later postings. For now, I'm going to provide some PSAs on this blog.
First, I do not expect ANYONE but me to actually read this because I'm sure most people file my running under "who gives a shit". However, I would like to document what I'm doing. Assuming that I do not die in the process of training and/or running the race, afterward it might occur to me to do it again. It'll be like childbirth or watching "A Clockwork Orange". I'll forget the torment and torture, and want to do it again. So this blog is a way to prevent that. Or at least allow me to better assess just how hard it was to train, so I can make an informed decision.
Second, I have a tendency to ramble and rant about my goings on, like a sort of verbal incontinence. When I ramble to others, I bore them and I forget what I've told whom. This way I can get my thoughts out of my system, and if you're interested, you can read them here. However, this will most likely be rambling and insane. Consider yourself warned.
Thirdly, this blog gives the readers the opportunity to bet on whether I'll finish a marathon or whether I'll actually update a blog more than 3 times. Those of you who are familiar with my past blogging experiences will be betting on the running. This despite the fact that the greatest pain I'll encounter while blogging is my computer being really hot and having somewhat sharp edges.
Fourth, while this blog will contain its share of complaining, it will most likely have moments of cheesiness. What can I say? I'm a graduate of the Sarma School of Sentimentality and Cheese, and I know that is not everyone's style. However, with the proper application such cheesiness can induce tears in even the most business-minded individual. You know who you are. (Abbey). So when those occassional bouts of cheerfulness come, keep faith, and I'm sure they will go away quickly.
Finally, the name behind this blog. A full marathon is 26.2 miles, hence that part of the title. However, the phrase "this is idiotic" has a special meaning to me. While billions of people have uttered those words before, they always remind me of a trip to Cedar Point, which is one of my favorite places.
In May 2006, Ben Maki, Karen, Mike, and I traveled to this fabulous destination on what was an overcast and somewhat cold day. After a number of rides, we all walked up to one ride's entrance, and to be honest, we weren't really sure what it was we were walking up to.
It turned out to be one of those flume rides where you go up for eternity, turn 180 degrees, and then plummet down. Waiting for you at the bottom is a sheet of water that will drench you to the skin. Now. For those of you who do not know Michael Mandarino (and at this point, I knew him very little), he hates when his clothes are wet. As a child, he would change his shirt several times during water balloon fights. True story; we have eye-witnesses to back this up. So this ride was not for him. Karen suggested we leave, but Mike vetoed that plan. As we took the 15 minute journey to the top, suddenly, Mike busts out "This is idiotic!" Again, Karen reminded him that we could have left, but he said that we'd already committed to the ride by walking up to the entrance, and there was no "going back". Incidentally, he ended up being soaked, removing his t-shirt, and wearing only his zip-up for most of the day.
Long story aside, I enjoy the idea that just because something is idiotic doesn't mean that you shouldn't see it through. That the other reason for this blog. My intentions are declared, and while I'm sure I will say this is idiotic (as well as other things) many times in the next few months, I'm going to stick with it.
Recently my aunt Bee and I ran a half-Marathon in Traverse City, and with persistence, she has convinced me to run the Grand Rapids Marathon on October 18. I'm pretty sure she secretly hates me, and this is her way of torturing me. A little bit about her, her nickname is Captain Furious and recently she ran down the median of I-94 to rescue a kitten. And she's persistent.
This training blog will contain updates on my running progress, as well as general grousing and commentary on the insanity of running, runners, spandex, GU, and other aspects. The reasons for running the marathon will come in later postings. For now, I'm going to provide some PSAs on this blog.
First, I do not expect ANYONE but me to actually read this because I'm sure most people file my running under "who gives a shit". However, I would like to document what I'm doing. Assuming that I do not die in the process of training and/or running the race, afterward it might occur to me to do it again. It'll be like childbirth or watching "A Clockwork Orange". I'll forget the torment and torture, and want to do it again. So this blog is a way to prevent that. Or at least allow me to better assess just how hard it was to train, so I can make an informed decision.
Second, I have a tendency to ramble and rant about my goings on, like a sort of verbal incontinence. When I ramble to others, I bore them and I forget what I've told whom. This way I can get my thoughts out of my system, and if you're interested, you can read them here. However, this will most likely be rambling and insane. Consider yourself warned.
Thirdly, this blog gives the readers the opportunity to bet on whether I'll finish a marathon or whether I'll actually update a blog more than 3 times. Those of you who are familiar with my past blogging experiences will be betting on the running. This despite the fact that the greatest pain I'll encounter while blogging is my computer being really hot and having somewhat sharp edges.
Fourth, while this blog will contain its share of complaining, it will most likely have moments of cheesiness. What can I say? I'm a graduate of the Sarma School of Sentimentality and Cheese, and I know that is not everyone's style. However, with the proper application such cheesiness can induce tears in even the most business-minded individual. You know who you are. (Abbey). So when those occassional bouts of cheerfulness come, keep faith, and I'm sure they will go away quickly.
Finally, the name behind this blog. A full marathon is 26.2 miles, hence that part of the title. However, the phrase "this is idiotic" has a special meaning to me. While billions of people have uttered those words before, they always remind me of a trip to Cedar Point, which is one of my favorite places.
In May 2006, Ben Maki, Karen, Mike, and I traveled to this fabulous destination on what was an overcast and somewhat cold day. After a number of rides, we all walked up to one ride's entrance, and to be honest, we weren't really sure what it was we were walking up to.
It turned out to be one of those flume rides where you go up for eternity, turn 180 degrees, and then plummet down. Waiting for you at the bottom is a sheet of water that will drench you to the skin. Now. For those of you who do not know Michael Mandarino (and at this point, I knew him very little), he hates when his clothes are wet. As a child, he would change his shirt several times during water balloon fights. True story; we have eye-witnesses to back this up. So this ride was not for him. Karen suggested we leave, but Mike vetoed that plan. As we took the 15 minute journey to the top, suddenly, Mike busts out "This is idiotic!" Again, Karen reminded him that we could have left, but he said that we'd already committed to the ride by walking up to the entrance, and there was no "going back". Incidentally, he ended up being soaked, removing his t-shirt, and wearing only his zip-up for most of the day.
Long story aside, I enjoy the idea that just because something is idiotic doesn't mean that you shouldn't see it through. That the other reason for this blog. My intentions are declared, and while I'm sure I will say this is idiotic (as well as other things) many times in the next few months, I'm going to stick with it.
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