Preparing

Yesterday was a busy one and of course no Office didn’t help. Ah, but a full hour after the Super Bowl will make things all better. I’m picking the Steelers by at least a touchdown. Their defense will be too much for the Cardinals.

To running, I just mapped out my 16 miler for tomorrow. I used Map My Run, but I’m wondering if anyone else uses a FREE program they like better. I like MMR, but it can take a while if I’m trying to be really exact.

A short post, but it feels like it’s been a short week. Tomorrow I’m running 16 miles, driving an hour to my sister’s house for a vist then two hours to my in-law’s house to see Mrs. Fitness Geek’s grandfather in the hospital (he’s stable and today they’re doing a procedure to find out what’s causing his infection).

I’ll sleep well tomorrow night.

TIART – Are You Being Chased?*

I like this week’s theme. A lot. You’re not truly a runner until you’ve been asked “Why?” a hundred times. This week’s theme over at the lounge is “The Marathon Explained.”

If you’re on the lounge, then you love to run. It’s that simple. You run. You talk about running. You read about running. You know your hydration needs (every mile a few ozs for me). You also have been asked “Why?” plenty of times.

The best answer I ever heard was simple. “If you have to ask, you’ll never understand.” If you don’t run, you can’t understand the joy of hearing the soft crunch of gravel under foot. The way you feel alive after a particularly long run. The accomplishment of running more miles in a day that many people will in a month, a year, a lifetime.

For the marathon though, the allure for me is easy to explain. I don’t know how my body will react to 26.2 miles. I don’t know how my mind will react. But I’m going to find out. And it’s going to be one hell of a trip.

As Sir Edmund Hillary said, “I believe that if you set out on an adventure and you’re absolutely convinced you are going to be successful, why bother starting?”

It’s come to my attention that some of you, don’t watch Lost when it airs. I’d hate to toss out a spoiler, but I will say last night’s was fantastic. Super. For those of you who run with iPods, I must recommend again “This American Life.”

I ran six miles last night at an easy pace and finished feeling pretty good. I’ve got my long run on Saturday morning.

* People think this is a funny response when I say I ran yesterday. It was funny. The first 50 times.

Highs and Lows

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted. And let me tell you, it’s been quite a few days. Mrs. Fitness Geek’s grandfather is now in ICU. We visited him Saturday and spent the day with her family. I ran 13 miles on Sunday and averaged a sub 9 minutes. On Monday we visited the doctor for four and a half hours. I’ll post on this later – it’s good news – but if you’re curious, e-mail at schulmanwriter@gmail.com  for the whole story. Her grandfather got worse last night, and the prognosis is not good. My sister is pregnant. Mrs. Fitness Geek is battling a cold. A good friend of mine has a dog that might have cancer.

I think that pretty much covers everything in the last few days. I’ve been working a lot and trying to run and workout when I can. Last night I did four miles and turned off my watch so I could go at a nice pace and not think about time. Tomorrow is officially two months until the marathon. I’m planning on 15 or 16 miles on Saturday or Sunday, depending on how everything plays out.

And yes, I was planning an all-Lost post, but all this other stuff got in the way. Friday, all Lost.

TIART – Half Marathon Love

First things first…Lost last night. Epic. Headache inducing. Full of Ben Linus goodness. A great start. Does that cover it? I’ll have more tomorrow.

TIART’s theme this week is “How to Run Your Best Half Marathon.” Given that I’ve only run one half marathon, I guess that means it was also my best one by default. As Homer Simpson said, “The two greatest words in the English language: De Fault! De Fault!” The man’s a philosopher.

There are tons of people who can give you the technical points like starting off slow, hydrate well, don’t die, etc.

My advice: Do a trail half marathon. If you’ve been doing road courses regularly, head to the woods. There’s nothing like it. You’ll likely finish a bit slower, but it’s an incredible feeling to look to your left and see nothing but the edge of a mountain or spend two hours in the woods to suddenly emerge into open air.

Half marathons are a great distance for anyone who doesn’t have the time to train for a full marathon. But trail runs, at the half marathon distance especially can give you a new view of running. No cars, no pavement, just trees, fresh air and hills that will put you to the test.

So hit the trails for a training run to get a taste of what a half marathon in the woods can feel like. It’s a great way to mix up your races and dirt is always easier on the knees than pavement.

Going Strong

Last night I did the bike at home to work on strengthening my legs. Today’s going to be a busy one, but I still plan on getting my run in. I’ve got work then a Kiwanis function. We take pizzas to the local children’s shelter once a month. After that I’ll run and still be back for Lost.

OK, so I’m looking for a few new blogs to read. Any suggestions, put ‘em in the comments. Sorry for the short post, but I have to head to work early. I’ll be back tomorrow to talk Lost and do TIART.

On My Way and Addictions

I got home fairly late last night, nearly 9 p.m., and didn’t start my workout until almost 10:30. But I got it in, a good arms workout. I’m already feeling it today. I think I’m back on track now with the workouts…it only took me a month!

Today will be an after work run of 3-4 miles.

Tuesday Addictions…

1. 24 – Last night another great one. Which leads to…
2. Lost – Starts tomorrow. OK, so is Jin dead? Rumors are he isn’t.
3. Baseball – It’s just about that time again and with the Super Bowl set, I’m now ready for Spring Training to get started.
4. Predictions – Rocketman, please go back and delete all of my comments on your blog about my NFL playoff picks. It seems one, actually almost all, were wrong. Thanks.

Finally, I did an interview for my museum on American Freethought podcast. It’s supposed to be up in the next day or so.

Marathon Week 8 Review and Angry Food

This was a pretty good week. Saturday’s 13-miler capped off a solid two weeks of training and lead into this week’s welcome easier week. Right now I’m pretty happy with my fitness level. I think Tuesday’s bike workout will continue since it really goes after my quads. Counting last night I got in two days of weight lifting. I’m going to aim for three days this week.

My time on the 13 miles was under two hours, but I’m still not confident of finishing a full 26.2 in under four hours. Not right now anyway. Give me a few more weeks.

The weekend seemed to fly by. Saturday Mrs. Fitness Geek’s grandfather fell and ended up in the hospital. He’ll be OK, but he’ll need some rehab. Saturday night we watched “Stepbrothers.” It’s fantastic. Raunchy, funny and full of Will Ferrell. Sunday had me going into work a bit and then meeting my parents for lunch at Burger King.

You know that Angry Whopper? Well dad and I had to try it since we love spicy food. This was not spicy. Or angry. It was more disgruntled. Oh well. It’s good, but not hot. We finished up the day by watching “Swing Vote,” which was better than I thought it would be. We also watched both NFL games and I was sorry to see the Eagles lose. I was pulling for both the Steelers and Ravens, but you know, they can’t both win. Seems like it’ll be a good Super Bowl though in two weeks.

Tonight is of course 24 and two days until LOST. Not that I’m counting.

Baby, it’s F’in cold outside

First off, thanks to everyone for the helpful hints yesterday about winter running. Being a southerner, I always thought winter meant 25 degrees every now and then and temperatures the rest of the time around 35.

We’ve had some cold days recently, and this morning was a doozy, at least for someone like myself not used to cold running. I try not to complain since so many of you are used to these kinds of temperatures. But not me, soooooooooo

The one thing I did do was have a plan to keep warm. I knew if I could get through the first two miles my body would warm up. So I wore two pairs of pants, a long sleeve shirt a heavy jacket, ear covers a tobogan and on my hands gloves and a pair of socks. Hey, I have knit gloves because that’s usually all I need.

I also vaselined up my face, a phrase I never thought I’d write. When I started the temperature was about 14 and I did my first two miles at about an 8:30 pace. The socks came off my hands and I was good to go.

I tried hydrate every two miles, but my water bottles were partially frozen so I did slow a bit taking off the lids to drink since the squirt part well, wouldn’t squirt. The powerade fared better, becoming just icy not frozen.

I did gels during miles 6 and 11, the last one because I was getting a bit nauseous. I think it was from a lack of food in my stomach. I should have eaten a bit more before the run.

I finished the 13 miles in 1:54, a little slower than I liked as my last four miles hovered at about 9 minutes each. I think this was from just tiring out from the quick start and also from the drinking issue. Overall, I kept warm, ran good and now I’m ready for that nap.

The only downside to the run was the slowing times and some minor IT pain. The speed will come with more running, so that’s not something to bother me too much. Also, the blisters arrived once again on my feet. I put some vaseline, but I think it should have been more. I’ll know for next time. The rest of the day will be spent indoors and probably watching a movie tonight. What’s your plans for the weekend?

C-C-C-Cold

12.

That’s the current temperature. I went running last night and the temperature was already in the high 20’s when I started my run. I managed four miles with a sub 9 pace, nothing too fast, just trying to get done before the cold really set in on our little city.

Tomorrow is supposed to be my long run. 13 or 14 miles out again in temperatures that will be around 20. I’ve got a plan to keep warm and I’m running at the park on the one mile loop just in case. I thought about pushing the long run back, but Sunday looks worse with a chance of snow.

The Office last night was one of the best this season. “I’m impressed with the potential you see in me.” What a classic line. I feel bad for Andy, but I’m glad he moved on. And Michael. So so awesome.

I’ve got a long one at work today, so here’s a photo of me Mrs. Fitness Geek snapped a few weeks ago. She’s becoming quite the photographer and really enjoys unique angles with her shots.

One Year Anniversary: Part II

One year ago today, the Fitness Geek kicked off. I started the blog to keep up with my working out and give me an outlet to talk about all the other stuff I enjoy.

It has changed quite a bit. I went from preparing for a strength and fitness competition to training for my first half marathon when the competition was postponed. I never thought I’d run more than 4 miles at a time, but the hope was there in the back of my head.

Time to look back.

The year started out well enough. I began working out regularly and in April I was offered a new job, this one in town. But  the fitness competition was postponed and I needed a new outlet for all the competitive energy I had built up inside me. I found a half marathon five weeks away and began training for that even though there really wasn’t enough time.

Finishing it however was a fantastic experience. I instantly wanted to do a marathon. A few weeks later I began a marathon program, and the weight lifting definitely suffered.

In October I developed shin splints and the November marathon came and went without me.

The shin splints faded and in December the marathon training started back up from scratch. The miles piled on…

The year was full of non-running events as well. Mrs. Fitness Geek and I continued to grow closer and talk began of starting a family. Soon hopefully.

We are best friends and soulmates and that has only become more obvious over the last year. I can’t imagine my life without her.

There have been setbacks here too. The lack of weightlifting means I don’t look like I used to and that I hate. It makes a difference. So that’s something I’m working on now. Like the running, I want to be in shape by the marathon on March 29.

We also lost one wonderful cat, sweet and kind Julius. He was a cuddler, an eater and he would fall asleep with his head in my hand.

But we gained Callie, a rambunctious kitten who is up every morning at 5 for breakfast.

So the second year begins and I have goals:

1. Run the Atlanta ING on March 29
2. Work out more so by April I will look close to how I looked a year earlier.
3. Be a better person.
4. Be a better husband.
5. Enjoy life as much as possible.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by, commented, and read this blog over the last year. Here’s to a great second year. Oh and I’m running out of time (as Jack Bauer would say) so I’ll post photos tomorrow.