2/26/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: 1.98 miles*

 

* If I use Aubree's bonus mile system, I did 2.23 miles.  I did the same short distance I did last week, and it was much warmer this week (in the 20s), but the majority of the sidewalks on which I ran were unshoveled, and there was enough snow such that my footing wasn't entirely stable on the run.  I think that gets me an extra 0.25, even if Aubree has not yet accepted my "running in snow" addendum to her bonus mileage system.

Days to go until the marathon: 209

Miles to go until 1000: 982.82

Two Aerosmith songs played on my run today, and this got to me to thinking about 2 things:

1.  I can't really remember why; something about some stories about him feuding with the rest of Aerosmith, or maybe just Joe Perry, but I have sort of thought of Steven Tyler as a jerk.  But I've seen him on American Idol a few times this year, and he's kind of a big teddy bear (or at least he plays on tv), and not a jerk at all!


2.  I always think it is weird when my ipod shuffles to 2 songs by the same artist during a short run.  It seems like it happens often, and it seems like it happens with hair metal bands often -- Aerosmith today, Bon Jovi last week.  Ok, Aerosmith and Bon Jovi would probably resent the hair metal band label, since both have had success in their careers beyond the years in which hair metal ruled the airwaves.  But I came to know both of these bands in the late 80s, the same time I came to know Poison and Warrant and Def Leppard, bands that are indisputably hair metal.  All of these bands got playtime on 1-800-Dial-MTV which I watched every day after school in 5th and 6th grade with my friend Tara, so they are all hair metal in my mind.  But I digress.  I should take a look at the contents of my ipod shuffle to see if hair metal is over-represented and that's why it plays so frequently.  Or maybe my ipod just really liked the late 80s too.

Miscellaneous

So this post has nothing to do with exercising . . .

There is currently a great sweepstakes to win a GREAT cloth diapering package, and you get 20 extra entries for posting about it on your blog.  So consider it posted.

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2/24/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: "strength training" 15 minutes

Days to go until the marathon: 211

Miles to go until 1000: 984.8

I put strength training in quotes because I was running a little short on time so I just did sit-ups, push-ups, and wall sits.  I am NOT counting today's work-out toward my 1000 mile goal!!  But, I figured doing a little something was better than nothing.

It has barely been above 0 this week but is supposed to be in the 20s-30s this weekend so I am looking forward to a run.  Either that, or I'm looking forward to the polartec running tights I ordered from athleta arriving so I can get out there in the cold!

2/22/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: yoga, 25 minutes (= 2 miles toward 1000 mile goal)

Days to go until the marathon: 213

Miles to go until 1000: 984.8

Yoga is something which I have always really liked in theory . . . I know how important, and how good for you, stretching is, and I think the relaxation breathing yoga offers is a great stress/anxiety reliever.  I also think yoga can be really helpful for back pain.  I tell all these things to my patients all the time.  That being said, I have never really been crazy about yoga in practice.  I think this is mostly to do with the fact that I feel like I can't concentrate on the poses, or be all zen about what I'm doing, because I've always done yoga with videos/tv so I'm always trying to see the person on the screen, to make sure I'm doing the pose correctly.  (The only time I've been to an actual yoga class was prenatal yoga when I was pregnant, and I did like that a lot better than any yoga I've ever done, although I felt like the poses were modified to be easy for us pregnant ladies.) 


I am determined to keep giving yoga a shot, however, especially now that I'm marathon training because I do think a lot of the stretches/poses are good for counter-acting the stress that running puts on the body.  So my goal from now until the marathon is to do yoga once a week.  Hopefully if I do the same routine enough, I won't have to spend so much time concentrating on the screen and I can actually be zen.  Om.

2/19/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: 1.97 miles

Days to go until the marathon: 216

Miles to go until 1000: 986.8

I'm not going to lie, I spent the vast majority of this very short run thinking about how cold it was.  3 degrees, with light snowfall that landed on my eyelashes and -- I'm not even kidding -- turned into icicles.  Evidently my warm running clothes that worked for Portland winters are woefully inadequate for Montana.  (Obviously, I did not subject the little one to those conditions so there was no jogging stroller today.  At least that let me move a little faster!!) 

2/14-2/18/2011

So this week has not been a good one, exercise-wise, as my lack of posting  might indicate.  I spent the week working in the hospital and was very stressed and overwhelmed most of the days (including one terrible day when I worked so late my son was already in bed when I got home).  The irony is, a workout probably would've been better for me this week than most days, but when that evil alarm went off at 4 am, I just wanted to hit snooze.  Next week I return to my regularly scheduled life, where the work days are only 10 hours instead of 12-13, and I am hoping 4 am won't seem so early . . .

On the brightside, I just noticed that my blog as 2 followers!  Ok, they are my friends Aubree and Tryna, but still.  I also got a comment on my last post from someone I don't know (a fellow member of the 1000+ club).  Look at me, I'm a blogger! :)

2/12/2011

Training schedule says I will do: N/A

I actually did: 3.84 miles* + 0.5 miles of walking.  This is the longest run I’ve done since Russell was born.  But before anyone gets too impressed, you should know that 1) I probably walked 20% of my “running” distance, and 2) I had a goal in mind: I ran to this super yummy bakery to buy breakfast food.  Once there I was rewarded with a free slice of chocolate raspberry bread (it tasted as good as it sounds), plus I got to buy a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread straight out of the oven, and a loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread for ½ off.  I had planned to walk home, but had to run so the bread would still be warm when I got there!

*If I employ my best friend Aubree’s bonus mileage system, in which you get extra miles for running in inclement weather or other challenging conditions, I ran 4.84 miles.  This is because we decided I get to add 0.25 miles to my total for each 10 lbs of baby + jogging stroller.  The stroller weighs 23 lbs and Russell is about 17.

Days to go until the marathon: 223

Miles to go until 1000: 988.77

Most thought provoking song that played on my ipod: It’s a tie between Bon Jovi’s “Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars” and Britney Spears’ “Slave 4 U”.

“Captain Crash” is a song about a kind of misfit couple, and at the end they mention some other famous couples: Sid and Nancy, Fred and Nancy, Clyde and Bonnie, Liz and Richard, Kurt and Courtney, Bacall and Bogie, Joltin’ Joe and Miss Monroe.  The Richard sounds like “Richie” and always makes me think of Richie Sambora, which makes me think of Richie Sambora and Heather Locklear.  And it turns out I am still upset about them breaking up.  Who knew?

“Slave 4 U” got me to thinking about Britney Spears in general and how I wonder whether her new song is good, and how I hope she is really on the road to recovery.  I also started thinking how that song might be a fun one to sing at karaoke, but ultimately decided it wouldn’t be, because there is a lot of non-singing in the song, and I am comfortable singing, but I don’t like non-singing in my karaoke songs!

The background/getting started

I was never a runner.  Now, for most of my life I have been in decent shape and exercised on a regular to semi-regular basis, and even would run on occasion, but I can honestly say running was never my favorite form of exercise, or even something I did more than once a month or so.  Those people who claimed lacing up the running shoes and heading out for a long run was the best thing ever?  I thought they were lying.  And then in July 2007 I started medical residency.  While my life was far less dramatic, and less well-styled, than the lives of the residents on Grey's Anatomy, I did have the same 80-hour work weeks and 30-hour call shifts that those residents had.   So my exercise routine went from "regular" to non-existent.  In the spring of 2008, I decided this was unacceptable, because how could I tell my patients to get regular exercise if I wasn't doing it myself?  I decided I needed a goal that would force me to exercise, so I signed for a 10k for September 2008, and I started training.  Admittedly, this was a little bit strategic because I knew I could walk a 10k without training – so I had a bit of an out; if I slacked in the training department, my entry fee wouldn’t have been wasted because I could still walk the race.  But to my surprise, I loved running.  Those people weren’t lying after all!   (Oh, I should say here that I use the term "running" rather loosely, as my pace is very, very slow.)

I loved running so much that I signed for a half marathon in the spring of 2009, and then another in the summer of 2009.  I was completely hooked and my weekend 10-12 mile runs were among the highlights of my week.  I continued running (albeit much shorter distances) until I was 28 weeks pregnant in the spring of 2010.  And then my son was born in June and my exercise routine pretty much went back to nonexistent.  I'd do a short run maybe once a week, but it was a far cry from the 20+ miles per week I was running before I got pregnant – back into which I, of course, I thought I’d easily jump. 

I was clearly delusional.

I had a million "reasons" why I wasn't exercising: we moved so I had to pack up the house; I was waking up several times a night to feed my son; my son was too small for the jogging stroller; getting ready to exercise meant breastfeeding, then pumping, then making sure the baby was otherwise occupied; blah, blah, blah.  I have come to realize that these aren't reasons, they are excuses.  And they are ridiculous, because again I am telling my patients to get regular exercise while doing nothing myself.  I hate being a hypocrite.

So I decided to sign up for a marathon.  You should know this is something I always said I'd never do.  I love the half marathon distance and I never had any desire to run a full.  But, I am turning 35 this year and I thought what better way to celebrate than to challenge myself with a new distance.

So I signed for up the Bellingham Bay marathon which will take place September 25, 2011.  And I decided to blog about the training.  Blogging is another thing I always said I'd never do.  I guess I should stop saying I'll never do things!

Last month I also joined the Tall Mom 1000+ Club, which is a virtual club of moms with a common goal of running 1000 miles this year [full disclosure: I get credit for cross training as well, such that 11 minutes of cross training = 1 mile toward my goal], so in addition to documenting my training runs, I’ll be documenting how close I am to reaching 1000 miles.  Today, I am 992.61 miles away.  Just around the corner.

What makes me and my training so special that I think people will want to read about it?  Well, nothing.  And to be honest I don't expect that even my best friend will read this.  But I am hoping that writing this might hold me even more accountable for following my training schedule.  My training doesn’t officially begin until March 13, but I’m starting the blog a bit early in the hopes it will get me to exercise more regularly now, too.

So here we go . . .