Bradykid.

This is so much fun watching Tom Brady right now. He is magical. I am so excited about the start of the NBA season, but its awesome to see such a great football player and such a great team tonight. All the calls are going their way and all the bounces - and the 17-0 feels like 50-0.

Went swimming tonight, swam a 1/2 mile in less than a 1/2 hour, don't know/care if thats fast at all..but it sure was fun. There were 5-6 laps tonight that I swam as fast as I could and I felt like I was going very fast (for me)...but it really drew a large amount of energy from me. I think I am going to just go it slow next Monday.

It felt great to get out after yesterdays run, definitely still feel some hip soreness, but I am not going to worry about it b/c it isn't too painful and I understand my body being mad at me for running 9 miles I really do wonder at this point how much I run during a day of ultimate at a tourney, considering how much more sore I am after ultimate.

Damned Mewelde Moore - just returned a punt for a TD. Lame.

Workout: 1/2 mile swimming in around 1/2 hour at the Y.

Nine.

Well, over and done with, and it was awesome.

Nine miles this morning, 7.5 of which were pretty standard, the last 1.5 were a bit difficult, but only because soreness started in on my hips, which was unique. But overall the run was awesome. We went from our apartment in Needham to the intersection of Rt. 9 and 16 - and it was great. We stopped at 4.5 miles for stretching, for about 5 minutes.

The whole thing took us 92 minutes (not including stop time) which we are both real happy with. I want to say my goal for the 1/2 marathon is going to be 140 minutes, and I think thats a cool goal thats achievable. I haven't started to think about how the setting of my race is going to positively effect my output - its going to be so awesome.

It was so nice today but windy as all heck...but overall it didn't seem to effect things much.

Nine miles - most of the way to 13 as I see it. Next week we are back down to 5 and its going to feel so great and easy. Tuesday and Thursday we hope to run 40 minutes instead of 30, closer to 4.5 miles than 3.5, so thats awesome too...

Workout: 9 miles, 92 minutes.

Steam.

Yah, its friday, but it feels like a bad news day. Looks like Metal is having another tough run with DoG, and I feel bad b/c its probably packed and they probably wanted to win real bad. Bullcorn, sorry Metal.

I ran last night at the gym, 1/2 hour. I didn't have my ipod b/c my earbuds kept slipping out Wednesday night, but I forgot to find the remote before I started and 80 percent of my run was to Inside Edition on TV and it was honestly way more painful than running itself.

Boring 1/2 hour, 3.2 miles. With nobody else there its so hard to push yourself and stay motivated. Oh well.

I wanted to swim tonight, but I don't think I can b/c I am running to something for work in about 5 minutes...

Thursday workout: 1/2 hour, 3.2 miles

Wednesday.

Not much to report. Took Mon + Tues. off....but I am back on track.

Did about 3.25 miles in 30 minutes last night, but I felt like I was running real slow, intentionally. Tonight I'm going to do 40 minutes, not sure of my pace yet, but I'm gonna keep trying to do 40 minutes 2x/week...

I'll let you all know how tonight goes, and then the big time 9 miler on Sunday!!!

Trav's.

What a rediculous weekend. Can't put it into words on a website, but it was Trav's wedding, and it was everything from Thursday night til Sunday afternoon - and it was awesome. I'm gonna just stick with the training here.

Thursday night:
Went to the Y to have a run, and I did my goal of 30 minutes at 6.8 mph, which is about an 8.48 mile. I did 3.4 miles strong, and I'm thrilled. Tuesday night I am doing 7.0 mph for 30 minutes - 3.5 mile run. I think I'm going to do that on Tuesday's and then up the distance on Thursdays, pace unknown.

Sunday morning:
I was tired - long night of dancing, long weekend overall. It was so hard to get a route straight, really cool park in Colonie NY, but we didn't know how to get anywhere cuz there wasn't a mad readily avaliable. I had one, but i didn't bring it...and I regret that.

The run was supposed to be 8 miles, and if I had a gun to my head I would have done 8 miles, but i was so exhausted and we had a place to be...so the run was closer to 6-6.25. I am not ashamed.

Workout logs:
thursday - 3.4 miles in 1/2 hour treadmill, YMCA Needham
sunday - 6 - 6.25 miles in 65 minutes, Colonie NY

Treadmill.

Man, I was dreading the treadmill. I didn't want to do it, especially b/c of how nice it was all day, but I managed to get to the Y, and I ran on the treadmill.

The plan was to run for 30 minutes, which is actually what I did. I started out at 6.5 miles per hour, which is basically a 9:30 pace, for 3.1 miles or so. Nothing special. I am going to break down how the run goes:

> Minute 0 - Minute 10:
I hate that part, every run, I really do. The hopeless 'beginning', it absolutley sucks...I just feel slow and that it'll never end
> Minute 10 - Minute 18:
I start to feel like things are just moving along, I don't really feel much of anything during this portion
> Minute 18 - Minute 25:
Today in particular, I realized I didn't push myself and I have a lot left in the tank. My fear of being "empty" is just so great and overwhelming that I think I take it too easy
> Minute 25 - Minute 30:
Lately, I have been trying to push myself at the end of this run. Tonight I went from 6.5 mph to 7.5 for the last 4 minutes or so.

I am looking forward to tomorrow's run and then sunday's BIG BOY, 8 miler!

Workout: 3.2 miles, 30 minutes (treadmill)
Tomorrow, 30 miles, 6.8 for 15 minutes, 7.0 for minutes. around 3.3 miles (hopefully!!!)

Floater.

I don't know what it was, and I am 85 percent sure I don't want to know what it was, but there was something gross in the pool last night. It ruined my swim, it really did. Twice my face made contact with it, and once my hand did, and I just wanted to get away from it. But I couldn't.

I changed lanes, and this hairlike structure was just chasing me around the pool, everywhere.

I had ambitious goals, to do 6, 8 then 10 laps for a total of 24 (.67 miles), but they died quickly. I did 6 and then 8, I was a bit exhausted b/c I was at work til 7.15...But I wanted to stay and get it done.

But I didn't. I finished the 3rd set with only 3 laps, b/c my final brush up with the floater just pissed me off and I wanted out of that pool.

I am running 4 miles tonight, probably all treadmill (YUCK!) but I'll find something good on the TV.

Things I need to make this experience better:
1) I Pod Nano
2) nothing else.

Workout: 17 laps (.47 miles)

Half.

Today I officially ran the longest I have ever run in a given day. I know there was a loop at Umass, and I am pretty sure it was 2.8 or 2.7 miles, and I know I ran that twice in a row, but for some reason I thought I had a 6 mile run stuck in there as well - but I cannot recall when/where it was, so last week's 6 miler was a "I'm pretty sure that's the farthest I have ever run"...but today definitely took the cake.

Went to Trav's to run a 7 mile loop through Ayer/Devens/Littleton, which ended up being difficult, but not impossible. I feel this in my legs more than any other run, without a doubt. The one thing I can think of is that I did a lot of dancing last night at Richie and Laura's wedding. I don't know what is going to happen next weekend, as I am going to be at another wedding Saturday night. The 8 mile run has to be done - I just don't know when I'm going to do it. I'm a bit nervous about getting it done, but it'll get done. I promise. I mean, I have to.

8 mile next Sunday, 9 mile the Sunday after that then it'll drop back down for a week, then go back up and back and forth and back and forth...its going to get harder from here, it really will - and that thought is pretty scary.

Running alone wasn't fun, I need a small ipod, something I can carry with me, something I can have on my mind.

I'm over halfway there, distance-wise. I'm pretty confident I can do this.

Workout: 6.8 miles, just under 70 minutes.

Telfair.

Watched the Celtics tonight at my 2nd favorite apartment in the world, with Grum, Jake, Josh and Bomb Jones. It was awesome, an awesome prelude to what will be an awesome season. I am going to about 11 or 12 games this year, at a minimum, and I'm real excited about it. Celtics rule, for serious. Tonight will forever be the night that at least 5 members of Green 16 fell in love with Sebastian Telfair.

After work I went to the YMCA and hit up the pool. Last time I went 22 laps I think, and Friday I wanted to commit to beating that. I was sorta sick of just doing 2 or 3 or 5 laps at a time, and wanted to do more of a solid chunk of swimming.

I decided to do 24 laps (.67 miles), 3 sets of 8, with very little stopping. Within each set of 8, I only stopped to fix goggles a few times, no other stopping. Between sets of 8, I would stop for 2-3 minutes just to get my breath.

Weird how the Y was packed (one lane had 3 people in it) last weekend, which was a getaway holiday weekend, while this Friday night I was one of 2 people in the pool the whole evening.

Workout: 24 laps at the Y (.67 miles). Sunday I run 7 miles, route TBD.

Uphill.

We have a winner. Tonight was my least favorite run of the bunch. We did a new 3.2 mile route that we hadn't done before - but it took us straight up a hill for at least 1/4 of a mile, if not more...then straight down.

Mind you, we ran past a nuthouse and the entire 1/4 - 1/2 mile downhill was in the pitch dark, with ZERO houses or streetlights. I know I said it before, but its just TOO DARK to do this anymore, and it makes me so sad. I wonder if I can possibly run in the AM...

Running in the AM....not something I am a fan of. I mean, I like running 1 hour after I wake up, but the thought of waking up at 6.30 to go for a 1/2 hour run and immediately get into breakfast/shower/gotowork mode isn't really the thing I am most excited about.

That leaves the treadmill. Yuk.

Workout: 3.2 (ish) miles, right around a 1/2 hour. uphill.

Comeback.

I felt great tonight. Really did. Don't know what the timing was, I think somewhere around 25-28 minutes, pretty positive it was in that range, but it was our 3 mile loop. A few observations about the run.

I am sick of Needham Center (as part of a running route). Now that I feel like I have a groove when I run, I hate stopping at streetlights. I am required to cross 2 roads, and I don't want to do it again, so I must adjust.

Another thing is that its just too dark. I don't know what to do besides running on the treadmill, but its real dark out there early, and its getting unsafe to run.

But to reiterate my first line, I literally think this is the strongest I felt during a run, I think i could have pushed myself to well under 8 minute miles, I really do. I could be crazy though.

Tomorrow I'll run before my softball game, Friday I swim.

Workout: 2.95 mile loop, Needham.

Break.

I'm tired. Officially. I didn't know it was going to happen, but it came on quick. But the thing that is great about taking today off, and doing nothing but walk around a mall and put on some new jeans, I really am thrilled that a few hours of relaxing makes me feel like I am ready to go tomorrow.

I took today off of running because I really do want to listen to my body, and my body asked me to stop. The 6 miler, golfing and swimming in 36 hours made me feel like I needed to take a break.

But in better news, I am wearing shorts I haven't worn comfortably in 2 years - I bought new jeans today that are a size smaller than 1 month ago, and I am not sure if they are too BIG...

Tomorrow I'm back on track, do some running after work, same with Thursday. I'll be back on track, ready for the 7 mile trek this weekend, maybe in Kingston!

Workout: The Mall.

Pinehills.

Had a great day of golf with grum today. Shot a 108, which sucks, but its just what I always shoot. 100-110, every single gosh darned time. I still contend that I am the worst golfer (in the universe), who plays as much as I do. Or, in other words, take all the people who have played as much as me, and I have the worst handicap out of them all. But whatever, what can I do?

Tonight after golf, Al and I went for a good swim. I did 21 laps, up from 20. Wore my new swim shorts, which I are basically compression shorts, but I could swim faster in them. We were swimming for a little over a 1/2 hour I believe.

I think I did 2-2-4-4-4-5, with some stops in between, but definitely the last 4-4-5 were in full, with the only breaks to fix goggles that wer fogging up. My face was getting real hot, I don't know why.

I'm officially tired - physically, its the first time I have felt this. I have my 7 miler next weekend, it'll be interesting to see how that feels on Monday.

Workout: 35 minute swim, 21 laps (.58 miles)
Next week's swimming goal: 24 laps (.67 miles)

Metal.

Congrats Metal - you did it again. They made nationals for the 2nd straight year (WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN THREE??? WHY!??!?) - and they looked good doing it. After a troubling game against DoG, they def. came out blazing vs. Goat and really did a good job of making things extremely difficult.

I'm not gonna say anything bad about Goat, or DoG, or anyone - just flat out awesome win for Metal and I'm real proud of everyone on that team. They have managed to really keep the essence of the team alive but also evolve themselves into a nasty competitor.

And it has to be mentioned how awesome Brute Squad was this weekend as well. First place in the New England region - never happened before for Brute, awesome job there, too!

On the subject of my training I completed the 6 mile run today, in under 1 hour, with relative ease. It was an awesome weather day, amazing really. Everything was so clear and crisp and sunny, it was perfect running weather.

At no point today did i feel tired, injured or like I wanted to stop. It was an easy run, and it was awesome. Next week is 7 miles and I am so confident about it, I am looking forward to it. It'll probably be done in Ayer before football. But shucks, it felt awesome this morning.

Workout: 6 miles - watched awesome regionals all day.

1 Month.

I swam tonight with Alison - pretty packed house at the YMCA. I went in hoping to do 1/2 mile (18 laps), and do it with a little more consistency. I think I did a fairly good job. I actually ended up doing 20 laps, and I think I did them in the following blocks:
2, 3, 3, 4, 2, 4, 2...

I want to do 5 straight 3 times next time. But that may be hard. I'm still working on form a lot, and I played around with different breathing techinques, but I think its cool that i am a faster swimmer than I was 1 month ago.

I cannot believe that I started my job four weeks ago. NUTS! I'm going to use this forum to also update people on my work, which I think is fun, and I think some basketball (and possibly NCAA Football!!!) fans would find interesting. The fruit of my work will start to show itself in newspapers and magazines across the country soon, stay tuned!

Workout: 20 laps (.51 miles), ~35 minutes

Pedometer.

Thank goodness for the Gmap Pedometer. It works well, and it tells me exactly how far I run every time.

I left work at 6 tonight, went straight to Brighton for my softball game, which started at 7.15. I parked my car by about 6.30 and I listened to some Howard before I ran. I don't know when I started, so I don't know how long I ran, but it felt good.

I was real comforted tonight during my run when I saw the top of the Prudential, mostly b/c I knew it was my way BACK on the loop, but also b/c I knew I was at my highest point, so that was pretty cool.

I ran 3.26 tonight, I REALLY wish I had timed it to see if I did it in 1/2 hour, but I definitely feel like I did. Either way, it was a good run, I only felt tired during my uphills but it was really good, and I finished very strong.

After that, I played softball! I made a few plays I was proud of, lost 1 in the lights, got a few hits, but got out at 2nd trying to stretch a single into a double. I slid head first into the bag, was called safe, and my ultimate instincts took over and I called myself out.

it just felt like the right thing to do.

workout: 3.26 mile run, somewhere around 1/2 hour. Softball game.

Biking

I thought biking was going to be my favorite part of this whole training, but the reality is I really don't like it all that much. I haven't biked outside, so thats not really a fair thing to do - to trash it...but I have been on the bike at the Y, like I did tonight.

After 15 minutes I felt a big burn in my legs, which is okay b/c its what you expect. But at the same time, I felt like I couldn't get comfortable on the seat, and that my nipples were almost being bashed by my knees with every pedal - I found it monumentally frustrating.

I did a few different workouts tonight, no more than 25 minutes total. Elliptical, bike and stairmaster, but I don't like any of them. I felt a lot of frustration when I couldn't go swimming, I REALLY have to go on Wednesday mornings before work. It is imperative - I just HAVE to. I love it so much that its not something I can pass up.

By the way, all this training has killed my golf game. I couldn't hit a ball straight to save my life at the range tonight. I am PISSED.

workout log: 25 minutes on various YMCA machines.

Background.

Why run a half marathon?

I saw Alison, Andy and Tara finish their triathlon, probably around the height of my disgust for personal fitness, and I realized there is something I am completely missing. Golf is a huge passion for me, and I am loving the competition of it against myself, and really feeling like I am fighting a battle against myself...

But I realized it wasn't really challenging me physically, and I really do love that feeling. Getting open, for me, in club ultimate was hard. I had to work at it. I realized that I needed to work hard to even get to a point where I could be open for the disc, and I also realized I didn't have the time to put in in the offseason to maintain that level.

My offseason of 04-05 was really hard. I was planning on coming back and playing ultimate, but I gained a lot of weight, probably 20 pounds or so, and I got a new job, and the thought of going back to ultimate, on Metal, was too much. I had to quit for a 47 reasons, mostly b/c I just didn't have the time.

By summer of 05, I realized I had let things completely slip. I didn't get injured in the summer club season, but I felt like I was so limited as to what I could physically do. I was getting headaches, I felt like nothing was really fun, and I was frustrated with physical output b/c it was difficult.

By the spring of 06, things had gotten pretty bad. I was up around 220, but it was a bad 220. 1-2 healthy meals a week, skipping either breakfast or lunch every single day and not really caring (or knowing to care) about it at all.

Then I saw Alison, Andy and Tara do their triathlon, in great shape, in great spirit, and realizing that it was COMPLETELY time for me to do something. I had toyed around with the idea of a 1/2 marathon for a while, but only one half marathon.

My love for Disney will come out in other posts, but the only place I knew I could be motivated to do such a thing would be in Disney World, and their event is in January of each year. I was at the 2004 Disney 1/2 and Full Marathon's, as an employee of Reebok, at the Expo. It was a great energy, a little chilly, but I had a good time. I got sick as a dog, but it was fun being there.

I went to disney in january of 06 as well, on a golf trip with Marc, and I knew I liked the idea of a long weekend in Orlando, to get away and do something fun. So why not the half?

Around the early summer, I identified a training program I am comfortable with (see my previous post) and I saw the start date of this training as September 11, 2006.

Well, since that day, I have been faithful to the training. I have had to adjust a few things b/c of time constraints, but overall it has been excellent, I have been doing what needed to be done, all leading up to the 13.1 mile race in January.

My next post will be something about the course itself, and how excited I am about it.

Training

I am in training. I am in training for a half marathon.

A few years ago, a few months ago, even, I could have never imagined doing what I am doing. It isn't the physical aspect of getting up and running, cuz I could imagine that. I don't mind doing athletic things, but I just have always had such a negative outlook on running and what it is and the time it consumes...

I guess what I don't think I could have imagined for myself was how much I am enjoying this whole experience. Its going to start to get tough, but I am having fun, so who cares. Here is a basic breakdown of my training:

Monday Nights - Swim. I am up to 1/2 mile in about 30 minutes now, I want to start to increase that each week, eventually doing a mile and seeing how long that takes, and improving that time.

Tuesday Nights - Run. 30 minutes. I am trying to increase my distance in a 30 minute period. I went from 3 milse to 3.25, but it was hard. I need to find a flatter run. But I wan to increase from 3.25 weekly, even if just a little bit.

Wednesday Nights - Walk/XT. I am hoping to start swimming Wednesdays, see Monday. If not, I've been walking or softball or SOMETHING else besides NOTHING.

Thursday Nights - See Tuesday.

Friday Nights - See Wednesday.

Saturday - off

Sunday - The "long" run. The 17 week training program I am on has the following Sunday run schedule. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5, 10, 5, 11, 5, 12, 13, 5, 5K, 7, HALF MARATHON RACEDAY.

So, I am currently in the middle of week 4 of training, my Sunday runs have been fun, slightly difficult, but not overwhelming. I have pushed myself harder on Tues/Thurs (and more recently, during my swim) than I have on Sunday's, but I know with these numbers (6, 7, 8 and 9!!) I am starting to get a bit nervous. But I'll just go out and do it.