Multi-Sport Marathon Training

Haven't been running much, but I haven't been inactive either. What I wonder about is how this will affect marathon training. I've been core training a little more, spinning doing Tabata intervals, playing full and half-court basketball, and a little bit of weight lifting. In the coming weeks, I'll be transitioning to higher mileage again, especially on the weekends, but for now, I'm enjoying these other activities. I'm still aiming for a 3:15 at the NJ marathon, but I guess I'll have a better assessment of that goal within the next couple of months.

18 miles this weekend!

Not in one day, but it's a start. I watched Ironman 2008 yesterday and it kind of got me excited about resuming training. Yeah, I'm dealing with cold here, but it's nothing compared to what a lot of the athletes had to do to even compete in Kona. I did 10 yesterday afternoon and another 8 around midday today. Even though it was in the low to mid 20's today, it felt a little warmer because of the sun.

Today's run was interesting because at about mile 2 of my run, I caught up with this guy who ran a similar pace. In the spirit of silent competition, we started to push each other and what was meant to be an easy 6 around the park started to get really brisk. I looked at my GPS live pace and there were points when we were running sub 6:30. I thought I could outrun him, picking up the pace and leaving him a few steps behind going up the hills but he always caught up. I didn't think he could keep up a fast pace for long either because he seemed to have bee breathing pretty loudly from mile 3. We finally struck up a conversation, and thank God for that because I was winded. Turns out he's just started training for the Lake Placid Ironman. His marathon best was 2:45 a couple of years ago.

There's always a part of me that thinks I'm better than I really am that borders on arrogance, albeit a silent one. At times it leads me humble pie serving, other times it kicks up my intensity in competition. What I'm thankful for is that it helps me to make the best use of my facilities, physical or mental.

One Mile At A Time

That's how I'm going to run off the excess around my midsection. The Manhattan Half-Marathon is tomorrow and I opted not to run it because it's too cold. Instead, I decided to run an easy 10 miles this evening. After how I've been enjoying delicacies lately, I figured it's time to start doing double digit mileage again. It was still below freezing, but at least it wasn't in the teens like tomorrow's race conditions. I'm hoping to make it out sometime for another few easy miles when it gets warmer...hopefully back in the 20's. Ugh.

Gotta Get Moving!

It has been a busy last few weeks and couple of months. Spent last weekend with friends in Hyde Park and really enjoyed the CIA inspired local cuisine. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed it so much I've put on another three pounds. Since the NYC marathon, I think I've added about eight pounds. It's time to start getting back into real running shape. Twice a week & less than fifteen miles per week won't do it.

My plan to get back into shape is to do the New Jersey Marathon. I thought it was in late May, but it's actually on the May 2, 2009. That gives me a little more than three months to train. Enough time for a 3:15? I'm really not sure. I just know I need to do something besides eat dessert. The other event I plan on doing is the Queens Biathlon in the last part of May.

Anyways, hopefully I'll stop the talking and get going. I've been staying indoors mostly playing basketball and spinning. But there's nothing like getting out there and hitting the road.

In Hyde Park

Staying across the street from the Vanderbilt home in the Journey Inn bed and breakfast in Hyde Park this weekend. Because the Culinary Inst. of America is in this little town, restaurant and even diner food in this area is unusually hearty and delicious. I've only been here less than 24 hours but it's quite homely and starting to like it.

It's a cold, sunny 6F right now and I'm thinking of going for a run since I really had a big dinner last night. The cold really bites at this temperature, especially with the wind. We'll see though. I'll probably end up waiting 'til tomorrow to go running - when it warms up to about 20F.

I Went Running. Yay!

That's what it's felt like for me the last couple of months, but it's slowly going. I had a cold and relaxing stroll around Central Park tonight. I know it's a cold winter when Harlem Meer and The Lake are frozen. I noticed the Columbus Circle electronic billboard read 30F and the Times Square temp read 23F. I figure the real temp was somewhere in between.

That wasn't the highlight of my day though. My TV finally broke. Wooohooo! I'd been waiting for months. I can finally get a 1080P HDTV. I've already decided which one I'll get and will probably be placing my order tonight. Hopefully it'll come in by Tuesday. Can't wait!

Happy New Year!

I know. I'm 10 days late, but it's okay. It's right in sync with the rest of me so far this year. To briefly explain that, I had two great weeks in Hawaii and have had a hard time transitioning back to the cold. It wasn't so bad the first couple of years I was here because it was new. Now I understand why people move to warm climate.

I haven't made any entries in about a month because, well, this blog is about running, and I haven't been running much. I had not felt like running. The calendar images attest to that. Add a sore right foot to the mix and I just decided to basically shut off my running. I'm averaging about 15 miles/wk of forced mileage just to try to stay in shape throughout the holiday season. Speaking of which, I put on about 6 lbs. Not as bad as I thought considering I spent the better part of my vacation eating all my favorite local foods. The scariest part of that was not stepping on the scale since the marathon until 1/1/09.

Anyways, I think I'm back now. And I don't mean blog wise. As I mentioned, I have not felt like running. Today though was the first time I felt an urge to go for a run. I did not, but I was glad to have that feeling. It's the same feeling I used to have almost every day when I was training. And when that juice is flowing, snow and cold won't make a difference. That's a good thing because that's exactly what I'll be dealing with the next three months.