Long Week

It’s been an exhausting week. It’s my last at work at the old job and I’ve got plenty to do. I’m also starting to ramp up my mileage and keep up with my weight lifting. Throw in a number of Braves losses and you can see how the week can just get tiring.

Last night I did the dumbbell bench press with the 50s at three sets of 15, 12, 10, dumbbell bicep twisting hammer curls at 20 pounds and three sets of 16, 16, 16 reps, three sets of bent rows at 30 pounds (can’t remember the reps) and 30 pushups. It wasn’t a great workout by any means, but it was nice to get back into the swing of things. I plan on kicking it up when I lift again Thursday.

Lost has been my hands down favorite show this season and I can’t wait to see where it goes this week. I’ve also been digging the new Office episodes, although I’m really getting into 30 Rock. I heard hulu has all the episodes from the first season, so maybe I’ll catch up soon.

Tuesday Addictions

I won’t be working out until tonight, so I thought I’d get back to the Tuesday addictions and post about my workout later.

1. Running – I’ve definitely been bitten by the running bug. Now that I’m training for a half marathon (less than four weeks away!) I can’t stop thinking about my next run. Will it be a tempo run? How far should I go? How far can I go? I’ve enjoyed it so much, and I can’t wait to hit the road again tomorrow.

2. Fantasy Baseball – Yeah, my teams are struggling a bit, but it’s still a blast.

3. My Movie Blog – www.moviesto11.wordpress.com It’s been slow going, but now I think it’s moving along nicely. I hope to have a lot more content up on it by the end of the week.

4. Spending Time With My Wife – The running takes a lot out of our time right now until I got start running in the morning. So any time I get to spend with her is great. She’s very supportive and I’m lucky to have her.

Tonight will be my weights workout. I really, really want to run today, but I’m a bit sore from yesterday’s workout. I’ll be running a few miles on Wednesday and Friday. Sunday will be my long run. I’m hoping for nine miles and more than 75 minutes of time on the pavement.

A Good, Hard Run… and Books!

I headed out this morning not sure what I was going to do. My legs were a bit stiff from Saturday’s one hour run, but I really wanted a good run today. I wobbled down the initial declining hills and ran with aches and pains up toward the one mile mark.

After that, the world – and the road – seemed to open up. My pace rose and the wind began to blow behind me. The “whirrrrr” of the breeze kept up for another mile. And then, I saw a snake.

It was dead in the middle of the road, a few feet away from my racing line. But the image of the snake gave birth to two new realities: 1. There were snakes nearby. 2. Snakes have teeth.

The thought of running past snakes waiting in the high grass gave me what doctors call the “willies.”

Eventually, the willies slipped away and I continued on as the clouds began to burn away. To my right, a dozen horses fed and shrugged their shoulders at me. Or at least they would have shrugged, if they could. They were pretty indifferent to me.

I went a new route today, hanging a right and speeding up and down unfamiliar hills. But my legs felt great. I was moving at a fast clip and I wasn’t tiring too badly. The return route zipped by, but my legs were starting to ache again. The sun was out and the sweat was beginning to drip in my eyes as fast as I could wipe it away.

In the end, I managed about 5.75 miles in just under 50 minutes, that’s an average of about a 8:45 mile. Not too bad. And I still had gas left in the tank.

I’ll run again Wednesday and Friday with Sunday being my long run of the week. I’m running low on time before the May 24th race, but I’m still planning on being more than ready.

On to books…I picked up Ultramarathon Man today. Anyone who is a runner should read it. Or anyone who wants to know exactly what the human body can endure. I don’t want to give too much away, but the author Dean Karnazes is pretty amazing. He ran 135 miles through Death Valley and ran a marathon at the South Pole. He once ran 13 miles to the start of a 100K race, then finished the race…fourth.

It’s a fast read and pretty inspirational. He never brags about his accomplishments. To him they’re the fuel for his life. Give it a try. I’ll be back tomorrow with Tuesday addictions and my plan for the half marathon.

Home Again and a Tribute

Savannah was fantastic, but it’s good to be home too. The historic area is absolutely beautiful, and the weather was pretty mild. We stopped by my alma mater (Georgia Southern) on the way, and the weather was nearly unbearable. The humidity in that part of the state is so oppressive. Everyone walks with their shoulders slumped trying to force their way through the wet heat.

I went looking for old professors, and only found one. The one I really wanted to see, professor Peter Christopher, passed away just a few weeks ago. Honestly, I feel pretty horrible. He was my favorite teacher, the one who taught me that I’m a strong writer and that I should believe in myself.

He taught me not to want to write, but to need to write. And I’ve neglected that. And I hate myself for it. I had just started writing creatively again, but hadn’t talked to him in about three years.

Now he’s gone. I could write more, about my Saturday one hour run that was perfect or how I know I’ll be prepared now for the race, but I don’t feel like it. Instead, I’ll leave you with the quote that professor Christopher first read to my class, and immediately became the greatest work of writing I’ve ever read or heard.

It’s from Jack Kerouac. And when I hear it, it sounds like my professor…and my friend.

…but then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, amd to talk, amd to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerligh pop and everybody goes “Awww!

I’m Outta Here!

Well, I’m off to Savannah. There’s no fitness challenge now, but that’s fine. I’ve got my running gear and I plan to hit the streets tomorrow for a nice jog. I’ll be back on the blog Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Scenic City Trail Half Marathon

I kicked off my late half marathon training with a nice four mile run at just over a 9 minute pace. Not bad given that I’m low on carbs on account of the Jewish holiday of Passover and I ran before breakfast.

With barely more than four weeks to prepare, I’ll be pushing myself pretty hard to be ready for the Scenic City Trail Half Marathon. I’ll be running five days of the week with my long runs on Wednesday and Sunday.

I hope to add a mile a week to my Sunday run to get me right at 13 miles for the event. I’m not going to be concerned about my time right now. I just want to finish. Alive.

I’m planning to do my first marathon in Novemeber at the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon. That one I’ll do for time, aiming for a sub four hour mark.

Tomorrow I won’t be running at all on account of we’re driving down to Savannah. But Saturday I’m going to try and get a short run in, maybe. After we get home Sunday I’ll go out for a long run of 7 or so miles.

Time to get my butt in gear if I’m going to be ready in a month!

A New Challenge

This just in: I hate Hotwire. I called back a second time to change my hotel to May 31 and they said I couldn’t. After they originally said I could. Hell.

So we’re going to Savannah this weekend for a nice, relaxing getaway. As for the challenge, well, I liked Adam’s idea, but I’ve got a new challenge on the horizon. Originally, I was going to start training for my first marathon beginning on Monday, you know, after the fitness challenge. Only problem was, the marathon wasn’t until November. That’s a long time to train, even for a marathon. I need something during that time. Something competitive.

So here goes. On May 24, I’m running my first half marathon. My current mileage high for a run is 6. I’ll have to more than double it in 5 five weeks.

I wanted a challenge. Now I have one. I’d better get going. Off to run. I’ll be back later and post the half marathon details.

F@ck!

F@ck! Sh!t! H&ll!

Just received an e-mail. The fitness challenge for this weekend(you know, the one I’ve been training for over the last three plus months) has been postponed. Until May 31.

Excellent.

Hotwire will let us change our reservations, but that’s not the only issue. I start a new job in two weeks. I might not be able to take off Friday the 30th to head down to Savannah. Which means a late arrival in Savannah, no time at my alma mater, less time in Savannah and more hassle in general.

Or we go this weekend and forget the challenge. More time in Savannah, time at my alma mater, less hassle of changing plans. But no challenge.

F@ck.

One Last Chance

Yesterday was a run day, but I wasn’t in the mood to do speed work and I don’t think it’s that necessary for the event so I went for a long run. I  wasn’t sure how long it was going to be, so I grabbed a water bottle, plugged in the ol’ iPod and took off.

The sun was already warming the pavement by the time I hit the one mile mark. The horses were up and around as jogged by their farms, and some raised their heads, most most just ignored me.

I hit the two mile mark and crossed the street into relatively unknown territory for my runs. I climbed a hill and was suddenly running farther than I had ever on this lonely rural road.

Tiny bugs jumped leapt back forth across the road ahead of me, landing in the tall grass and jumping back. They hid when I caught up to them, and started again once I passed.

The third mile was a series of descending hills, something I knew I would pay for on the way back. But I turned around and headed home with renewed power. The renewed energy didn’t last long on the hills. My quads started to ache and my calves were tiring.

A dog chased me for a few hundred feet, but I picked up a piece of junk on the side of the road and swung it around until he went home. I would never hurt an animal, but if it’s between me and him…

The final mile came and went in a series of rolling hills and a final climb to the finish.

6.4 miles by Mapmyrun. My time was good, but I don’t really care about it. I ran without Achilles pain.

Today I’ll have my last hard workout before the challenge. The rest of the week will be tapering and resting.

The Braves played very well last night, and John Smoltz goes for 3,000 strikeouts tonight.

Final Days…

So a week to go. After my decent run Saturday my workout yesterday was…disappointing. I could barely lift the weight for the benchpress for more than a rep. I’m not sure if it was A. fatigue from working in the yard for two hours prior B. not eating much earlier in the day or C. I’m in trouble.

Hmmmmm… the plan now is to eat better and work out first  thing tomorrow morning. If I’m still having problems, then I’ll seriously consider doing the basic event instead of the advanced. It would be a bit disappointing since I’m only having issues on one exercise, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

I’ve come a long way in the three months that I’ve been training for this, and I always knew the bench press was going to make or break me. There’s always next year. For now I’m focusing on April 26, a few days away. I’ll be ready.

Today I’ll have a nice run to keep my legs moving, but nothing too tough. My times have been great for the 3 mile portion of the event, so I’m not worried about that at all.

Elsewhere, the Braves swept the Dodgers and jumped to .500. ‘Bout time.