Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Miles to go...

60 miles in the past 30 days, according to my crappy pedometer. I am using my iPhone and an app called Pedometer Pro. It is pretty good for .99. I know that the devise missed a few runs, either because of lack of GPS signal, or human (me) error. So I know for sure 60 in 30 so far, plus a few extra miles here and there.

Ran 2 races in Novmber. November 6 was the US Half Marathon. Went pretty well. Beautiful coarse over the Golden Gate Bridge. The second was November 27, a 10K in Golden Gate Park. The time on the Half was 1:44, slow, but there were issues, such as a bottleneck at the base of the bridge, where we came to a full stop and had to stand around to cross the bridge. The 1oK time was respectable - 1:04.

Monday, November 14, 2011

First day jitters

Today is the first day of my marathon training schedule, and all my pre-run actions are now feeling ritulized. I eat a small amount of protein and coffee. I put on my knee brace on my gimpy left knee. I check the weather. I put on 2 sports bras and Toms of Maine deoderant (that does not have anti-persperant, so no gross white chunks.) I choose Nike capri tights, with a hidden key pocket on the butt. I choose my grey, broken-in New Balance Minimus trainers, that have held up for over 100 miles already and are kind of stinky. I double knot - I do not use any fancy tight tying techniques - those give me blisters. I never run in Nikes - they give me shin splints. I brush my teeth and hair. I put on Banana Boat sun screen. I pick out a shirt - today it is a red long sleeve tech shirt. I pack up my cell phone, that also acts as my pedometer, into a very tight and small fanny pack. I do not run with water - it is too bulky. I don't need it unless I am running over 10 miles. I think briefly about how many miles I plan on doing and pick out a tried and true trail. All my trails are near roads, in case of an emergency such as a leg cramp or twisted ankle or dog attack. Well, I will do a trail run once a week. I will contact Hugh for those, and give him an itenerary, in case of an emergency. I will not become the guy from 127 Hours.

Training for the marathon

I signed up for my first marathon - the San Francisco July 29, 2012 full marathon. I have been training and running half marathons for the last 6 months; now I am modifying my running plan to achieve the full 26.2 next year. Today is day one of this modified plan. And today is an easy 3 mile day. (Plus kung fu class.) Since I just did a good half marathon 7 days ago, an easy day is fine.