The Holidays

My entire body is sore.

For Christmas, I took a week and a half off work and traveled to Newburgh, IN and Louisville, KY to spend as much time with family as I could.  With the exception of the actual traveling, it was a fantastic vacation.  I was a little concerned on my way down that I wouldn't be able to run anywhere.  The only sidewalks I knew of were in neighborhoods (mostly small - I could squeeze a mile out of my parents' subdivision) and at the elementary and high schools (4 laps = 1 mile).  This meant I would have to count while I ran.  No way.  Get real.  So, I went to a gym with my dad to run on a treadmill.  Please note, I only brought running clothes for outdoor running.  No sleeveless shirts in my suitcase.  Running inside is HOT and running on a treadmill is harder than I thought.  I quickly realized I am not a "metronome" runner.  When I run on the street, I must change my pace and shorten/lengthen my stride constantly.   I kept scooting up against the front of the treadmill and hitting my hands against the display, and ended up adjusting the speeds high, low, high, low for most of the run.  And the distractions in a gym are unbelievable!  I had my ipod, six TVs to choose from, and all kinds of people moving around downstairs in the weightlifting section to watch.  I was switching from college basketball, to the news, to George Lopez, to music, to laughing at people, and back to music.  I couldn't help myself!  It was pretty entertaining, though.  This is something I may need to get used to - at least a little bit.  Any more blizzards come through Boston and I will definitely need to have a training back up plan.

I decided to try my long run outside and, surprisingly, Newburgh has a nice, new Riverfront Trail.  It's still a work in progress, but it made for a very nice run.  I went back and forth to get my 9 miles in and thoroughly enjoyed the sites of the Ohio River.  My parents came with me and ran/walked the trail to start their training for the Bourbon Chase in October 2011!  We decided Dad needs new shoes.

The rest of the week I took it easy.  I was really enjoying my full days of laziness and spending time with the family.  Oh, and eating.  We ate a lot.  I was back in my old stomping grounds and thought it was necessary to grab a bite to eat at all the faves.  We hit up B-Dubs, White Castle (not necessarily a fave, but a must-have), Moe's, Acapulco's, and much more.  Add those on to the delicious (and much more wholesome) dinners at home and I think I could cut out eating for a good part of 2011.  Great marathon training foods.

On the plane ride back to Beantown, I couldn't get comfortable because I hurt so much.  I can't laugh or even sneeze without doubling over in pain.  You would think marathon training, right?  Not even close.  Call it Xbox Kinect.  Call it Track & Field games.  Sprints, Javelin Throw, Long Jump, Discus, Hurdles.  Call it Boxing.  Head, body, head, body, KO.  Oh the pain.  I'm positive my body can hold up for a 26.2 mile run but put me in front a TV with a controller-less video game and I am a goner.

 

Happy New Year!

Fresh Pond Park

Last weekend, we went to Green Bay, WI to watch the Packers - 49ers game.  And no, I did not run while in Wisconsin.  I raced from heated building to heated building, ate, drank beer and watched football as a good mid-Westerner should.  I did, however, run my 5 miles Friday after work to get the training in before we left.  I ran from my house to Fresh Pond Park and back.  It's a pretty decent run, nice and flat, and the route goes right past Chipotle.  So let's just say I "got hurt" or "hit the wall" and needed some delicious guac to get my strength back, wonderful Chipotle is right there.  Not this run, though.  Micah and I ran the five miles without a hitch.  No runner's knee to speak of.

Fresh Pond Park is a fairly popular place to go.  It's got a nice little path around a pond (it’s fresh…get it?) and people bring their dogs and strollers and walk around.  Which is fine.  Great, even.  Only problem is, everyone at Fresh Pond seems to think they are the only ones at Fresh Pond.  This is a popular place to take dogs off leash and let them run, which again, is great.  I'm always looking for another place to take my dogs where I can let them run and play.  Typically, however, when my dogs are off leash I try to have at least the vaguest clue as to where they are in the park.  In between dodging feral dogs (and hearing in the distance "oh, he's normally really good with people, I don't understand what happened") you have to also weave in and out of the hordes of people who, from what I can tell, are playing the "who can take up more of the sidewalk?" game.  Everyone wins at this game but me.  Here's what happens:

We are running, la di da, down the sidewalk.  Up ahead we see a young lady taking a nice stroll around the Pond.

She hears the pitter-patter of our feet coming up behind us.  It's clear we're going to pass her.  I'm looking very athletic with my running gloves, runner's knee strap and reflective gear, so it's pretty obvious I will be moving at a much faster pace than she is.  Her reaction?

Where did that come from?  Did the baby and the dogs just appear?  Maybe she was hiding them in her awesome white peacoat that was probably recently purchased in Montreal (underground, no less).  Is she just going to leave that poor baby naked on the sidewalk?  More importantly, her yoga pose is in really poor form.
 
Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little.  There was no baby.  I photo-shopped that in.  From my run I learned I need to steer clear of parks or any other place that encourages people to “stroll.”  I’m better off on the sidewalks of busy streets shared with my fellow runners or other pedestrians who have places to be and are far too busy to purposefully get in my way.

On another note, this post has taken about 2 weeks to complete.  Between starting and finishing I have been to Montreal and completed my first semester as an MBA student of Arizona State University.  Going out of the country and getting a 97% on my Accounting final should make up for the missed posts, right?  I am currently on my way to Newburgh, IN and Louisville, KY to visit the family.  And yes, I brought my running clothes with me.  Training doesn’t stop just because it’s Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!