Winter Running

On most days (especially in the months between May and December), I'd say that I truly love winter running. Feeling the crisp, cold air on your face. Hearing the distinctive crunch of snow under your shoes. Smelling the freshness in the air. It's truly beautiful. Like in the picture above - what's not to love about this? Sure, it's cold, but with the technical fabrics that exist these days, you really can dress very well, very easily.

Then there are days like today, where Boston was covered with an icy, sleety mess. At 5:30am this icy, sleety mess started by masquerading as snow, so I left the house, properly bundled in my favorite winter running gear, excited to start the day with a refreshing snowy run. "WHOA!!!!!" I yelled, as I went slipping and sliding down our front walkway. Eh, no big deal. Our walkway was icy from days past, and I just went out a little too quickly on it. I'll be fine once I'm on the road.

Thankfully, it was a short run on the schedule today. Even so, any sane person would have turned around after quickly discovering that this white stuff that looked like snow, was not snow. It was in fact some sort of crazy street lubricant that would give K-Y Jelly a run for its money. At the very least, I should have turned around and gotten my YakTrax so I'd have a chance out there. Nah, it's only a 30 minute run. I'll be fine.

I was fine, but it was a challenge! With every footfall, I'd slip backwards a foot length, so I was doing some bastardized version of the Running Man dance as I ran along the streets of Winchester. Not only do people think we runners are nuts for running in the cold and snow in the first place, but now I'm doing us an additional disservice by truly LOOKING like a fool while doing so. Sorry guys.

I hate running on a treadmill, but I believe today that would have been the better choice. Since I don't HAVE a treadmill, it was a moot point, but perhaps I should finally bite the bullet and get one.

And just imagine the brick workouts I could do, all right there down in the House of Pain? It might be worth it, it JUST might be worth it.....

Where the HELL have I been????

Or, as an alternate title: I Hate January.

In my opinion, the only thing good about January is that it's over in a couple of days. And good riddance! I've had a lousy month, athletically / health speaking. We returned back to Boston after a truly lovely trip back home (Cleveland) to visit with family over the holidays. That's when it started. First, a neck spasm that had me jacked up on muscle relaxers and prescription pain killers for 4 days. In addition to keeping me from traveling on my first business trip for my new job (and therefore actually STARTING my new job as scheduled - nothing like starting off with 3 sick days, eh?), I was completely blocked from training for a full week.

Ok, well, a week isn't the end of the world. So after I find a good chiropractor who has me on a great program of PT, I'm back to it. Whew. I ramp back up to my usual training levels over the course of a week, and am rolling again, full steam ahead. Woo Hoo!


Then the stomach bug hits. HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?!? I'm never sick. Ok, well, never is a strong word. I'm rarely sick. But this took me out for 5 days, which included my previously scheduled January race, Derry. You can read all about the fun that Claire and Mary had at the race, while I was at home, wishing I was suffering along with them. I missed out on Derry last year because I was babying my injured calf, to insure I'd make it to the starting line for Boston in April. So I HAD to run Derry this year! I simply HAD to!!!!!!

I'm back. Really, I'm back. The neck is better, and with ongoing PT I'll be better than new. And the stomach thing is gone. And hey, who am I to snub my nose at loosing a few pounds? Ok, not the greatest weight loss plan in the world, but, I'll take it.

I'm done with the whining, I'm done with the worrying, I'm just back to training, with my eyes set on next season.

But I won't be sad when January is a thing of the past.

My first silly run!

There is no shortage of silly fun runs in the Boston area, but for whatever reason, I've never raced in any. For example, just yesterday was a race in downtown Boston called the Speedo Santa. It's a mere 1.25 mile race in the Copley Square area. A 1.25 mile race? What's the point? Did you catch the name? The Speedo Santa Run requires that runners wear speedos. And nothing else. Yup, you are understanding this correctly. A *LOT* of people pay MONEY (which all goes to charity) to run nearly naked in December in downtown Boston.

I had friends who ran and I would have LOVED to join them, but had other obligations that couldn't be changed. Yet ANOTHER fun run missed!

But luckily, today I had no plans other than the Somerville Jingle Bell Run, a 5k in Davis Square. My first fun run! And fun it was. Hundreds of folks dressed up in elf costumes, reindeer costumes, santa get-ups, etc., to run a 5k around Davis, followed by free beer at a number of local pubs after the race.

While it really was a good time, as far as races go, I now recall the reason why I was having a hard time remembering my last 5k time: I hate short distance running. I'm not even warmed up until I'm a solid 4 miles into a run or race! To be totally done well before I'm in my zone? That's just stupid. The short distance stuff hurts - you find that line as fast as you can - that line that's just a HAIR under "OMG, I'm going to throw up right NOW if I don't slow down" and you hold it for ~20 minutes. There is simply nothing fun or enjoyable about running just under that line. Because sometimes you drift OVER the line, so you really do get that "OMG, I'm going to throw up right NOW if I don't slow down" feeling for a few seconds until you micromanage your pace back down to just under the line.

But from a racing perspective, it was a good experience. Since it was a 5k, I was miserable, and a goal for me this year is to work on the mental aspect of racing. I've got an evil little minion living in my head that often tries to talk me into slowing down. To take it easy, to relax, to have fun! This minion is screwing with my head and needs to be dealt with. So I've been working with my coach on strategies to bat the minion down when she rears her lazy ass head during a race. And she was having a FIELD day this morning! But I used the tricks suggested and was able to successfully shut the bitch up. Woo Hoo! It wasn't a spectacular performance by any means, but it was respectable and I won the mental battle today. Definitely a "W" in the Win/Loss column for me.

And even better, I think it helped to kick me out of Funky Town permanently. I'm getting more and more jazzed about killer training sessions again, which is happy news. I was starting to worry that I'd shot my racing wad, and was simply DONE, as I've been a lazy ass for the last 2 weeks.

It feels good to have found my mojo again.

...live as if this is all there is.

My bike trainer is set-up in the basement of my house. My house is a 120+ year old Victorian farmhouse in New England, which means that the basement is a scary, scary place. It's totally unfinished, with rocky walls, exposed beams and pipes, and lots and lots of spiderwebs. In other words, it's the perfect place to gut out bike trainer workouts. My bike is set-up somewhat in the middle of the basement, next to the furnace (because you really should sweat 4x your body weight when doing Spinervals workouts to do them right), with a TV/DVD in front of it. Off slightly to the left, is our downstairs spare refrigerator, and on that fridge I have a bunch of inspirational cards, magnets and pictures posted. You know, those square cards that Whole Foods carries with the feel good quotes on them? I collect the ones that may be inspirational when Troy is asking for the impossible 2.5 hours into a brutal workout. For example, I've got Eleanore Roosevelt's "Never never never give up" card. "Leap, and the net will appear." "When you are going through hell, keep going." That kind of thing. It does wonders for my psyche - I eat this stuff up.

My current favorite is from Mary Anne Radmacher. I don't know anything about Mary. I don't have a great literary background, and am embarrassed to admit that most of my free time reading is either triathlon books or magazines or trashy chick lit. So maybe Mary is famous - I'll have to look into that.

Anyway, the bit of genius that I love about Mary is the following:

live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard.
practice wellness.
play with abandon.
laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.

Nothing mindblowing, when you think about it. It's really just common sense. But ..... then again, how often do you really stick to these prinicples, if you'd like to call them that? At times it's really easy to just go through the motions day after day. You get up, you get your workout in, you get the kids ready for school, you go to work. You come home, make dinner, help the kids with their homework, clean up the house a bit, maybe squeeze in a few minutes on the computer before bed, then you hit the sack. Repeat. And repeat again. Over, and over, and over. You get numb to it all, and don't really see, feel, hear, experience.

But if you remember that last one, especially, that's such a shame. Live as if this is all there is. Oh My GOD!!!!! Going through the motions, not pushing to the limits as often as you can, not doing what you love. That's just CRIMINAL.

So I'm going to do my best to live as if this is all there is. Because, well, this IS all there is. I'm not going to waste it.

What about you?

Gettin' Sweaty in the Basement with Coach Troy

Oh, stop it! It was a Spinervals workout!!! Big Gear Strength, to be exact. Although I will admit to having a HUGE crush on Coach Troy, but we'll leave that for another day...

I know that many people despise their bike trainers, but I love mine. I really do. I enjoy riding the trainer nearly as much as I enjoy riding outdoors. Now, if it weren't for Coach Troy and Spinervals, I'm sure I'd be in the "trainers are the work of the devil" camp. But with Troy, what's not to love? A handsome guy screaming at you to focus, ride harder, don't give up, "have some pride and finish strong." In addition, you've got a room full of uber fit cyclists and triathletes to watch suffer along with you. Awesome, awesome stuff.

Big Gear Strength is a 1 hour leg strength building workout. If you loving mashing the big gears, you will love this one. For the most part, you are parked in Big/12, only leaving for brief recovery periods. I happen to LOVE the standing sets, of which there are two. The first, fairly early in the workout, is a 5 minute set where you stand in Big/12 for 45 seconds, then sit in Big/13 for 15 - repeat that pattern 5 times. After the lunge sequence that comes at about the 2/3 point (3x10 lunges, each leg), you do it again, but this time for 3 minutes, alternating 50 seconds standing with 10 seconds sitting. Killer. And beautiful.

There is just under an hour of such quad burning fun, and you end with a leg and lung busting 3x20 seconds all out in Big/12. Ouch.

Troy can make me sweat like nothing else. My calves sweat. My forearms are dripping. I climb up the basement stairs when the workouts are over totally and completely spent, feeling like I just conquered the world.

I'm looking forward to my next sweaty session with Troy!

Thanksgiving Musings....

To be perfectly honest, what I'm really doing is avoiding cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms, and upstairs hallway, which are the remaining areas of the house that I haven't yet decluttered, swept, mopped, dusted, or otherwise beautified to prepare for my Mom & Stepdad's arrival tomorrow. I'm not really one to muse about Thanksgiving - it's definitely toward the bottom of my favorite holiday list. Xmas has got the obvious appeal - presents, carols, cookies, presents, the kids' excitement as it gets closer to the big day and they get to see what they got from the big guy, ornaments, presents. You understand what I mean. Then there is Halloween - candy and the opportunity to scare little kids - that's just fabu. Easter - more candy - can't really argue with the appeal of that one. 4th of July has fireworks - totally cool. But Thanksgiving - what does it really have going for it?


The dinner - it's ALL about the dinner. And that's my big problem. First of all, I'm not a big cook. I don't enjoy it in the least. If left to my natural tendencies, I'll figure out the absolute easiest way to get a healthy meal pulled together, even if it makes no sense at all to anyone else. A low fat cheese stick and an apple? Dinner is served! Unfortunately, unless there is a market for a live action version of the Peanuts Thankgiving starring my family, I don't think a platter full of cheese sticks and apple slices is going to cut it. Which is unfortunate, as I do a mean Snoopy dance....


Anyway, so I'm not a cook, which makes hosting the holiday an issue for me (btw, I'm hosting this year, which is a clear sign that my parents love me (ok, that they love the grandchildren...), as I know they aren't coming for the food). But on top of it, I'm just not all that into food in general. Sure, I enjoy a fine meal when one is presented to me, with no effort on my part. But if I woke up tomorrow and was told that there would be no more eating? That I could get optimal nutrition (really, not a snake oil scam, but it would really work) from a pill? Whaaaa Hooooo! Count me in! Seriously, think about it! No eathing == no cooking == no dirty dishes == no cleaning up == more time to do stuff I actually ENJOY! And we could turn the kitchen into a big workout room - I wouldn't have to share my space with the kids playroom (and therefore I'd no longer have to threaten them with death if one of their friends touches my weights or tries to do a flip off my roman chair). The benefits to this no eating thing really are incredible, once you start thinking about it.

All that said, I am looking forward to the long weekend, even if I'll be spending much of it in, ugh, the kitchen. My folks will be here, and my kids are about to EXPLODE with excitement at the notion of seeing Grandma and Papa. We are planning some fun activities with them that I'm looking forward to (some walks in the Fells, around Horn Pond, a tour of the North End, etc.), and I enjoy just hanging out with them. So it will be all good in the end.

Of course, it would be better if we could sit down to a plate loaded high with the perfect blend of protein/carb/fat pills, but, I'll deal.

Gladys, the Glady-ator!

Readers of my The Road to Boston '08 tale may recall that the driving reason for me running Boston last year was to celebrate my turning "the big four-oh." My birthday is about a week after the marathon, and I thought it would be a cool way to ring in a new decade. I thought I was pretty cool, thumbing my nose at aging and all that.

Compared to Gladys, however, I'm totally and completely lame. Check out this woman! Gladys is 90, and she's shooting to break the world record for the marathon in the 90-94 AG. Sweet Jesus! Who knew there even WAS a 90-94 AG!!!!!! This is her 5th marathon - she started training after she saw the fireworks for the 2003 marathon and thought it would be a cool thing to do. How many 85 year olds just decide that training for a marathon is a cool thing to do????

So here's to Gladys - keep on running (or, race walking, as the case may be!), old girl!