After a chilly, drizzly 10K today, I'm ready for a little extra sleep over the next few days. This past week, I was able to keep with my schedule, except for swapping out tuesday's run with today's planned workout. I'm still pretty sore from lifting yesterday. I'm trying to mix in a little heavy lifting over the winter, simply to strengthen my upper body for swimming and legs for increased speed in biking and running. I'm afraid of injury, so I'd rather do this before my endurance workouts become too long. I also want to do some track workouts - and will either do this with Dana Farber or Community running. It might mean missing my next chorus concert, but I'll just have to see what the scheduling is like.
Meanwhile, I am now officially registered for three 1/2 marathons in February:
Music 1/2 Marathon, Cocoa Beach, FL - February 7th
Palm Springs 1/2 Marathon, Palm Springs, CA - February 14th
Hyannis 1/2 Marathon, Hyannis, MA - February 28th
It will be nice to have two warm races at the beginning of the month, and I'll have about 10 days to run in southern California during my February break. March is still open, and I may opt to simply run all the Dana Farber distance runs in preparation for the Marathon, instead of trying to find official races. It would be nice to find something for January, but there aren't any good New England races, and I won't be able to get away during the month. I'll have to have the bundle-up-and-run philosophy.
The next step is to plan the races leading up to the half ironman in late June. This will be a combination of bike races, running races and maybe a smaller triathlon. Normally, I'd put this off until much later, but I now know how quickly these races fill up during the winter, so I'm trying to plan ahead.
am i still outside
hidden beneath the layers
listening inward
cursing cold drizzle
how I'll miss you in summer
on the hot pavement
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Training Week
After a bit of a whirlwind week, I am enjoying a leisurely Saturday morning. Yesterday had that feel of early Spring - and it was displacing. Today just feels like an unusually warm Autumn day. I followed my workout schedule for the week, and I think it is a good balance. The two 6 mile runs felt really strong and fast, and swimming on Monday and Friday are good preparations and antidotes for these runs. The swim on Monday made my legs feel warmed up on Tuesday, and I never really felt the early fatigue of running the first few miles while your legs are still a bit stiff. And yesterday's swim was extremely relaxing - and I tried to work in some interval training to build up speed (something I still lack quite a bit in swimming). On wednesday I tried out the bike trainer for a full hour. It was definitely boring, but at the same time very effective. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a real ride on Sunday.
And today should be perfect for a 12 miles run - sunny and in the 50's. I feel pretty lucky to have the Charles (or the St. Charles, as Tom Cruise calls is) so close by. It will also be a day for raking leaves, putting away outdoor furniture, and running errands.
I've also begun to daydream a bit about triathlons - often while swimming back and forth monotonously at the pool. I recently found a really great and inspiring Lake Placid Ironman blog:
http://ironmanlife.blogspot.com/2006/07/ouch-or-ironman-usa-lake-placid-race.html
I really look forward to the half IM's this summer, and for the spring weather that will allow me to swim again at Walden (this time with a wetsuit) and do brick workouts. Meanwhile, it is fun to read personal accounts of the races.
thoughts under water
imagine distant races
in time and measure
light in november
like ephemeral summers
in midday hours
And today should be perfect for a 12 miles run - sunny and in the 50's. I feel pretty lucky to have the Charles (or the St. Charles, as Tom Cruise calls is) so close by. It will also be a day for raking leaves, putting away outdoor furniture, and running errands.
I've also begun to daydream a bit about triathlons - often while swimming back and forth monotonously at the pool. I recently found a really great and inspiring Lake Placid Ironman blog:
http://ironmanlife.blogspot.com/2006/07/ouch-or-ironman-usa-lake-placid-race.html
I really look forward to the half IM's this summer, and for the spring weather that will allow me to swim again at Walden (this time with a wetsuit) and do brick workouts. Meanwhile, it is fun to read personal accounts of the races.
thoughts under water
imagine distant races
in time and measure
light in november
like ephemeral summers
in midday hours
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Letter
Yesterday, I received a moving letter from a friend I have worked with for the past few summers. I have received a number of personal stories so far, and they have had a strong impact on me. Here is part of yesterday's note:
"Thanks for doing stuff like this. I just lost one of my best friends and my best man of my wedding of just two and half years ago to sarcoma. I included pictures of when we were young and when we were older. I watched him battle over the summer right until the end which came October 4th. I was with him at the end and nobody should have to go through what he did. He was well taken care of by Mass General. In the second picture I am with my wife who is a stage 3 ovarian cancer surviver and she was handled by Dana Farber. In lieu of favors for our wedding we donated to Dana Farber. In the picture two of the four people were seriously affected physically by cancer and all were affected emotionally. Your motivation inspires me both physically and mentally in my everyday life, career and athletically. You are the power of example and a difference maker." --Billy McDonald
sometimes words fail us
our most profound sympathies
are ineffable
"Thanks for doing stuff like this. I just lost one of my best friends and my best man of my wedding of just two and half years ago to sarcoma. I included pictures of when we were young and when we were older. I watched him battle over the summer right until the end which came October 4th. I was with him at the end and nobody should have to go through what he did. He was well taken care of by Mass General. In the second picture I am with my wife who is a stage 3 ovarian cancer surviver and she was handled by Dana Farber. In lieu of favors for our wedding we donated to Dana Farber. In the picture two of the four people were seriously affected physically by cancer and all were affected emotionally. Your motivation inspires me both physically and mentally in my everyday life, career and athletically. You are the power of example and a difference maker." --Billy McDonald
sometimes words fail us
our most profound sympathies
are ineffable
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Winter Workout Schedule
planning new patterns
bringing light and energy
to Winter darkness
Tentative schedule for Winter...
Winter Workout Schedule
Monday: One Hour Swim, Weight Lifting (upper body)
Tuesday: 6-7 Mile Interval Run
Wednesday: Bike Trainer – One Hour
Thursday: 6-7 Mile Run and Weight Lifting (lower body)
Friday: One Hour Swim
Saturday: 11+ Mile Run or Bike Trainer (90 Minutes)
Sunday: 11+ Mile Run or Bike Trainer (90 Minutes)
Given my crazy schedule, this will not always work out, but I think it is a good, balanced pattern. As the weekend run distance increases (up to 20 miles before tapering to marathon day), I'll need to put a recovery day after the long run. In general, I've found that swimming works well as a recovery workout - it almost seems to smooth out the muscles impacted most severely by running.
bringing light and energy
to Winter darkness
Tentative schedule for Winter...
Winter Workout Schedule
Monday: One Hour Swim, Weight Lifting (upper body)
Tuesday: 6-7 Mile Interval Run
Wednesday: Bike Trainer – One Hour
Thursday: 6-7 Mile Run and Weight Lifting (lower body)
Friday: One Hour Swim
Saturday: 11+ Mile Run or Bike Trainer (90 Minutes)
Sunday: 11+ Mile Run or Bike Trainer (90 Minutes)
Given my crazy schedule, this will not always work out, but I think it is a good, balanced pattern. As the weekend run distance increases (up to 20 miles before tapering to marathon day), I'll need to put a recovery day after the long run. In general, I've found that swimming works well as a recovery workout - it almost seems to smooth out the muscles impacted most severely by running.
Winter & Spring Race Planning
A few weeks ago, I signed up to run two half ironman races this summer. One is the Patriot triathlon, at the end of June, and the other is the Timberman triathlon, in late August. A half ironman consists of: 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles bike ride, 13.1 mile run. Because of the significant increase in the running portion from my last triathlon, I began running longer distances in September. This led to three 1/2 marathons in September and October, and my addiction to distance running. In preparation for the 1/2 ironman races this summer, I thought it would be good to try to run a marathon and ride a century (100 miles) this spring. The Dana Farber Marathon Challenge helped me to plan the marathon component, and I plan to ride the CRW (Charles River Wheelmen) Spring Century in mid-May.
In the interim, I am trying to plan out a bunch of races for late Winter. In early February, my sisters and I will be heading to Cocoa Beach for a weekend. My older sister, Alison, will be surfing, and I will run a 1/2 Marathon (featuring live music all along the way!) I think it will be a nice change from the New England winter running. DFMC also has quite a number of organized long runs building up to the Marathon. I'm slowly trying to put together a race calendar, to keep everything organized. I'm also trying to find a good weekly workout schedule that includes running, biking and swimming.
The weather is forecast to be sunny and mild this week, so I hope to spend some time doing interval runs on the Charles, and maybe do another bike ride to practice using my new pedals and aerobars. I tried out my bike trainer (which mounts your bike so you can ride indoors), and it definitely provides a great workout, but it is pretty boring. I went through my iTunes folders and found the most hard-rocking songs I could, and made a one hour training mix. Riding indoors on a trainer with earphones on isn't my romanticized view of training, but it will have to suffice in the Winter months ahead.
swimming the pool line
close my eyes for a moment
imagine Walden
running over leaves
colored, softened, cushioned ground
below barren trees
In the interim, I am trying to plan out a bunch of races for late Winter. In early February, my sisters and I will be heading to Cocoa Beach for a weekend. My older sister, Alison, will be surfing, and I will run a 1/2 Marathon (featuring live music all along the way!) I think it will be a nice change from the New England winter running. DFMC also has quite a number of organized long runs building up to the Marathon. I'm slowly trying to put together a race calendar, to keep everything organized. I'm also trying to find a good weekly workout schedule that includes running, biking and swimming.
The weather is forecast to be sunny and mild this week, so I hope to spend some time doing interval runs on the Charles, and maybe do another bike ride to practice using my new pedals and aerobars. I tried out my bike trainer (which mounts your bike so you can ride indoors), and it definitely provides a great workout, but it is pretty boring. I went through my iTunes folders and found the most hard-rocking songs I could, and made a one hour training mix. Riding indoors on a trainer with earphones on isn't my romanticized view of training, but it will have to suffice in the Winter months ahead.
swimming the pool line
close my eyes for a moment
imagine Walden
running over leaves
colored, softened, cushioned ground
below barren trees
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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