Snow Moat, Snow Problem

Another week and a 12 mile long-run down.  As most of you already know, we have gotten a ton of snow the past couple of weeks.  The best bet for finding a safe, non-icy long distance route is to stay on a main road and go out and back which makes for an exceptionally boring run.  And, because of where I live, Mass Ave would be the only road with enough sidewalks to make a long run out of.  Running on Mass Ave means running through Harvard Square and, for whatever reason, I never have good runs when I run through Harvard.  To combat the unknown sidewalks, Harvard, and the cold, Micah and I split yesterday's long run between running outside and on the treadmill.  It worked out well, except running on the street right after getting off the treadmill is not easy.  I felt like I had sea legs and was a little wobbly on our way back home.

My running stories this week aren't really worthy of a blog so I'm going to turn this over to my two dogs, Minnesota (Sota) and Buttercup.  Sota is master of escaping in general and the mounds of snow in the backyard has made it even easier for her to figure a way out.  The neighbors had piled the snow from their driveway over our bushes and into our yard, giving her a bridge to get out.  When I saw what they had done, I hoped that Sota's fear of everything would keep her in the yard.  Unfortunately, Sota is afraid of everything but snow and jumping.  In lieu of a run on Friday, I decided I would knock down her bridge and shovel a moat in between the bushes and our yard.  After an hour and a half of shoveling and excavating of ice blocks, I had a pretty nice pathway.

Surely this would keep Sota's tricks at bay.  I was very proud of myself and decided my hard work was certainly deserving of some hot chocolate.  This sense of accomplishment was short lived.  I was inside for all of two minutes before I heard barking.  From the front porch.  I opened the door and there was my little Houdini.  Smiling and taunting me with her unbelievable escaping abilities.  The only way I was going to be able to put a stop to this was to figure out exactly where she was getting out.  I put my snow gear back on, took the girls outside, walked on the other side of the fence and called her.  Please note that in the photo above that there are no trampolines of any kind in our yard.

Unbelievable.  This isn't even fair.

Baby, it's cold outside

January in Boston = Cold

As you are dodging snow banks and icy spots on the sidewalk, it's easy to think to yourself, "self, what is wrong with you?  It's 29° out here.  You could be watching Jersey Shore in your cozy living room.  There's lots of unfinished business between the ladies of the house and Deena is definitely going to add to the trainwreck-nicity that makes the show so great."  (I tend to ramble and make up words when I talk to myself.) But this is what I've signed up for.  Unfortunately, you have to get through January to make it to April.


We've had two snowstorms so far, so Micah and I finally broke down and joined a gym.  Planet Fitness at Porter Square.  I can get there by walking, driving or public transportation so there is officially no excuse for skipping trainings now.  And now I have equipment readily available to start training for the Tough Mudder 2 weeks after the marathon.  It's not a 26.2 mile race, but there is mud and toughness involved so I need to be ready.  I was really excited walking into the gym because I noticed that each treadmill had its own tv.  There are only about 15 channels to choose from, but it beats staring at the timer for an entire run.  However, I ended up running a 12 minute mile pace because going faster made the screen bounce.  A girl can't watch Kind of Queens and Adventures of Old Christine on a shaky screen.  To remedy the situation, I moved to a bike.  Technically Wednesday is cross training day so this justified my move.  All I can say is I hope I get better about running in front of a tv.  I'm not sure if I will make it outside for an 11 mile run this Saturday and based on my first run at Planet Fitness, it will take me the entire day to watch tv/run. 

For the record, I never watch either of these shows.  I only cared because they were on.

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! 

Runner's Knee

My first week of training is finished.  Even better, I met my fundraising goal for the week.  All in all, a successful marathon training week.

My long run this weekend was 7 miles.  I didn't do so well...my left knee got really sore once we hit 3 miles so we cut the run short about 2 miles and "speed walked" home.  It was kind of a bummer, but I think I just tweaked it running the half marathon a couple weeks ago.  I'll just rub some dirt on it and I'll be okay.

Any time I have any aches or pains, running induced or not, I attempt self-diagnosis.  My initial go-to is Google, of course.  I Google EVERYTHING because Google has everything you could ever need.  Just recently, I interviewed three different people for a cashier position we had available.  I picked one person and couldn't figure out what to say to the other two.  Since I found them through Craigslist (not recommended, by the way), I decided emailing would be most appropriate.  So I googled "how to reject someone for a position."  Here is my favorite hit.  My goal was to find a sample letter that I could copy and paste thinking it would save me time.  Instead I wasted a half hour going through the search results and began to realize what a huge dork I am.  I ended up writing the e-mail all by myself.  It was 2 lines and took 30 seconds.  But I feel my google perusing gave me a good knowledge base.


The last time I googled a possible ailment was at work last year.  I didn't feel well, so I decided I was going to get everything done early so I could go home and rest.  Feeling short of breath was the only symptom I could pinpoint.  I just couldn't fill my lungs all the way.  Otherwise, I just felt like crap.  When I mentioned this to my boss, she seemed genuinely concerned and said "you may want to check that out, Al."  I'm pretty sure by "check that out" she meant "Google it," so Google it I did.  I gathered all the information I could find from my all-truth, all-knowing web sites like Wikipedia and WebMD (you know, the legitimate ones) and found that my shortness of breath could be a symptom of one of three things:

1. I am having a heart attack
2. My cancer radiation treatment is the culprit
3. I was bitten by a venomous snake.  (Not sure what kind of snake, @iamdoctorish needed a bit more information before releasing the full details of my analysis.)

Since I was still walking around and not currently undergoing chemotherapy I figured I could rule out 1 and 2.  Number 3 was a little unnerving.

Naturally, when my knee started hurting I figured there was no better place to turn other than good 'ole trusty Google.  I typed in "sharp ache kneecap running."  Can you believe that what came up was Runner's Knee?  Google is so smart.  So there it is, kids, I have runner's knee.  It's fairly common among hardcore athletes such as myself, so no need to worry.  I'll just wear a cool kneestrap.  It just makes me look more legit anyway.  It will help me move faster when I'm running away from all the venomous snakes hanging around Mass Ave.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Breakin' in the Bikilas

Allie Running in Bikilas

Bikilas are my new barefoot running shoes.  Don't I look cool in them?

I'm starting off Thanksgiving week on a good foot.  I have officially transitioned from my half marathon training plan to full on marathon training.  I have 22 weeks to get in tip top shape and raise $3065 more for the Melanoma Foundation.  Funny how "April" sounds so far away but "22 weeks" feels like it's right around the corner.   I wanted to loosen up and break in my new shoes with an easy 1 mile run.  Micah and I grabbed the dogs and set out on our usual 1 mile loop.  Sota was not in the mood to run on a leash.  As soon as we got down the steps she broke into a run, dragging me behind, and went straight for the park across the street.  I got her under control and untangled myself from the rose bushes in front of the abandoned house at the end of our street and continued on our way.  These random bursts of speed from Sota make my running times look a lot better.  It doesn't matter that I am flailing behind her, I figure I am still covering ground and should count that toward my running time.  Of course, she makes up for it on her pee breaks in front of houses 42, 44, 46, 48, 50...  I tell her bad dogs pee during training runs.  She doesn't seem to care.  Minus the constant stopping, the dogs do pretty well on our short runs.  Buttercup starts showing her age after 1 mile and Sota starts showing her lack of attention span at about 2.  We leave them at home on our longer runs, and then they join us on our cool down W-A-L-Ks (I have to spell it out, otherwise there will be two very excited dogs harassing one very tired Allie). 

With Turkey Day coming up, my training will be off a  little bit.  I'm headed for Nashville, TN Wednesday night and will get back on Friday.  I probably won't do any training while down there - I'll be too busy eating.  But I'll be back in time for our first Running for Cover team run where I can embarrass myself in front of the teammates who have run 10-18 marathons (yikes).  My long run this week is 7 miles, which means my fundraising goal is $70. Help me hit my goal so I can run off my second helping of turkey and sweet potato casserole!