i've got the bug.

it's back. the running bug. and it's a terrible terrible time of year for it.

why?

cause it's damn damn cold in ny right now. i see people running out there and i think "they must be in training, because no one is doing that for fun!", but not so, my friends. there are people out there just loving the running.

coupled with the running bug is, as it tends to with me when it comes to running, is a healthy dose of fear. "fear?" you ask. "but you're not even training for anything yet!"

and you're right. i'm not. but i will be training for the new york city marathon this year, and even though it is months and months away (November), it requires probably one of the only things scarier (for me) than training for a marathon in the first place:

training for a marathon in the middle of a disgustingly hot and humid nyc summer.

this scares the crap out of me. really it does. especially since i'm not a strong runner to begin with. in the summer my activities tend to take place in the coolness of an air conditioned gym, or i ride my bike which at least can provide a false sense of coolness as the air swoops over your face. the idea of doing hill repeats on one of those horrible, muggy nights where the pavement has been soaking in the blistering heat all day and not even the dark cools it off...even thought i'm *cold* right now, i shudder more at the idea of that heat.

so, to prepare for the beginning of training in may, i need to start the running now. because to be starting from scratch in the beginning of summer's glow...well that's a thought i simply can't bare. so i'm lucky the bug has hit now - between the running bug and that healthy dose of fear, i'm bound to pick myself up out of the winter lazies and get myself to the park.

and to reinforce the "need" to run, i just registered for my first race - the "snowflake" race in prospect park. done and done. see you out at the loop.

the week in review

so between last saturday and this saturday there was no running. just stretching.

despite the stretching, the shins have been very very ouchie. walking downstairs has been especially painful, despite all the stretching. i should have been cross-training, but that means 6:30am spin classes or 7am yoga classes, and i'm not sure if it's because i've been really busy but general laziness but there was no cross-training in marathonville this week.

i even went so far as not to go to practice on wednesday, and you know i never miss practice. we're in hill training, and the thought of thumping my shins around made me queezy and so i didn't even run.

usually i would feel really guilty about this but i'm hurting - or, as ramon says, uncomfortable enough that this didn't really bother me this week. i was hoping for some relief on saturday morning. we had a big run ahead of us, over the george washington into a very hilly park on the jersey side of the hudson.

and the worst mentor of the year award goes to...

i know, its been a while and i have no good excuse.

so lets go back to friday. when we had a disgusting blizzard. all day we were chattering...would practice be cancelled? snow day? it was so gross out. cold.
sleaty. icy. the tri-team had their practice cancelled....but their coach isn't crazy.

the rookie, sk8 and i were all debating. then i got a call from cap with what amounted to be the deciding factor: there was to be no ride in the morning. urg. mentor-guilt kicked in. what to do? what to do? if anyone of the three of us had insisted on us going to practice (and yes, i realize, that would be *my* job as resident captain), we would have gone. but the thought of having a crappy run on the icy, windy westside just seemed silly. plus the rookie doesn't have insurance and with his luck he'd probably break something. so we decided to skip. and it did hurt. last season i never skipped practice outright. i missed a few because of vacations and work events, but never ever skipped, even when it was pouring. so the guilt was at a record-high because of the "mentor factor" but we promised we'd make up for it on sunday...

...except the thing is that saturday was st. patrick's day.

no i'm not irish. not even close (i mean, i might have a speck on my dad's side, but i don't think so - and i'm kissable enough without it anyway). but i ended up playing ringleader to, when all was said and done, a random crew of about ten of us hitting the few non-cheesy irish bars in the 'hood. sk8 and the rookie were a part of the guinness-infused madness, which ended up being a...um...10 hour marathon of it's own when all was said and done.

i woke up a tired and cranky girl sunday morn - er, afternoon, and there was no way in hell i was running 10 miles. at first i thought, i'll do 4-5 at least. sk8 was a good runner and headed off to the park early. i nursed my hangover for most of the day, then watched a movie. uuurg. i felt like a useless slug.

the good news is that the debauchery has kicked me in the ass enough to do a few things:
- cut out some of the alcohol (good so far)
- cook more (good so far)
- stick to the schedule (less than good, but after i recover from last night's beating, i will be back on track)

gym skippin'

i'll confess right now. it doesn't take much for me to skip the gym.

i hate the gym - at least for running. it's hot. and crowded. the people are annoying. the tvs are at bad angle's to the treadmills which result in an awkward crook in my neck (ps - you can keep the short jokes to yourself thank you very much). and most of all, i hate the treadmill. the treadmill is my enemy, my nemesis. i'd *almost* rather be tickle tortured than run on the treadmill. and yet despite all of this i was going to go to into battle with the treadmill last night. i was whining about it. it was cold and i was all set to go...and then i got side tracked.

instead i ended up having a few magic hats with a pal. magic hat is a vermont beer. i thought at least if i was going to drink instead of run...the beers would be from bouv's vermont.

okay, i know that is TOTALLY lame and does not make it "okay" but...but...at least my heart's in the right place?

miles run: 0
magic hat's consumed: 4
level of guilt (1-10): 7*

*would be an 8 if it were not for the vt beer

day off due to bad singing

i was beat after the whirl-wind trip to massachusetts so opted to have my day off today instead of my cross-training day. well that and the damn people singing outside my window last night. well, maybe not right outside, but somewhere in the viciity that sure as hell felt like right outside at midnight.

now, i'll confess that i myself have been a member of singing groups, even a capella ones. but *who* holds rehearsal at midnight on a sunday. it sounded like 3 or 4 girls singing the same pieces of vaguely familiar songs. over. and. over. then they started with that keane song that has been in every cw/wb/upn/whatever-it's-called show, 12 girlie movies and god knows where else, singing along to the cd, singing the first verse through the chorus again and again. just when i was wondering to myself if it was 311 that you called to report really stupid noise complaints to, they decided to call it quits. i can't wait until the album comes out.

so yeah, i slept in. we have two off days on the schedule this week because we're going back to the trails in new jersey this weekend. 20 miles on the agenda...but more about that later.

so this week will be:

monday - off
tuesday - 4 miles
wednesday - practice (probably 5-6 miles)
thursday - 4 miles
friday - crosstrain
saturday - off, but maybe yoga
sunday - 20 miles

and tomorrow, we're having a little photoshoot for the tattoo auction, ha! keep your eyes peeled for some promotion...

strike one

argh.

so i didn't run today. i walked 4 miles too and from work (at least), but i did not run. ~sigh~

when i got up in the morning, the tempurature was so cold that i knew i couldn't run outside. i haven't gotten to the store to get approapriate winter running gear. i don't even have "normal" gloves (i lost my one pair a month or so ago). i debated going to the gym, but then i would have been later than i wanted to be for work...so i decided i would go *after* work.

and we know how that turned out. aaaaaaaaak.

i didn't leave until a bit after 8:30 and i just couldn't do it. i had a huge headache and just, well, just couldn't. i just don't know how i can be so strong some days and such a wuss some others.

so notice the title of the post. three strikes and...what? what will be an appropriate dis-incentive to make sure i stay on schedule?! suggestions welcome in the comments.

tomorrow practice - 5 mile loop, but we're going to "race" it. i better run fast or i'm gonna freeze.

and in other news...i'm going to try to get the tattoo-auction going on monday!! so start spreading the word. there's nothing up yet...but my good pal euroskip bought www.bidonmybum.com - no, i'm not kidding. get those pay-pal accounts ready! =)

slow on the running...

i'll fess up now. i haven't ran since the 18 on saturday.

this is less a function of soreness (i am surprisingly okay after that run!) and more of life being crazy. sunday i was at my old office all day cleaning, organizing and getting things okay for green team because i was leaving. then i had to be at grand central monday morning at 7 am to go to connecticut for a client meeting for my new job! on my first day! today i couldn't get up out of bed...and then after work i had a few drinks with colin and josh, rendering me too tired to pack tonight.

i figure i'm going to need to run in order to keep my sanity while i'm at home. i'm going to try to run tomorrow morning, but i'll probably have to pack instead...so that means i'll run at home a lot.

i just can't tell you how exhausted i am. i'll be over it soon, but i think some time away from the city will do me good.

next post from the wilds of brimfield, massachusetts...

a new york kinda life

i didn't run or cross-train today. and i'm going to blame it on my lifestyle. so there.

i had to handwash my running clothing yesterday, and because of various things going on, didn't do it until late last night. or at least i didn't wring it out until late last night. and yes, i washed all of it because i've been procrastinating. shocker, i know. so everything i could run in (the item i couldn't really do without being the sports bra, sorry to offend anyone) was drying all night.

i made a valiant effort and got up at 6:15 but it was all still wet. my brain could not comprehend macgyver-ing an outfit together so i set my alarm for 7:30 and went back to sleep.

when i left for work, everything was still wet, and i had to try to arrange both 1) a read-through of a friend's pilot and 2) a possible dinner with my sister and my cousin who's in from chicago. i had a few options:

1. if cousin wasn't having dinner, i could:
a) leave work pretty early, go home, run or cross-train, shower and go to the read-through
b) leave work on time, go home and grab clothing, go to the read through, then go run or cross-train

2. if cousin was having dinner, i could:
a) leave work pretty early, go home, run or cross-train, shower, go to the read through and then go to dinner
b) go to the read through and then go to dinner, and not exercise today

unfortunately i went with 2b. i wasn't happy about it (except for having dinner with my cousin, that i liked) but i really couldn't leave work early enought to do it all and i couldn't move the other two activities and damn it i'm just going to have to run harder to make up for it.

but i did do stuff for running and the marathon today (today = anything after 12am 9/5/2006), even if it wasn't running. here's my list:
• i bought a refurbished 2gig ipod nano and arm band. how sporty of me.
• i joined ny road runners - now i can maybe do the 2008 nyc marathon. ha. we'll see how much i love running come jan.
• registered for my first official *race*. eeeeee!! it's saturday in the park, and it's a wee 4 miles, but i'll have number and a chip to record my time and...

hmmm. i'm feeling a little bit like a real runner. ~giggle~

Cautious or wimpy?

so i got up really early today to go for a run...and was not all that successful. my left calf muscle was aching about two minutes into it, which made me feel like i was favoring my right leg. i stopped and stretched it out (when its warm out, you only stretch after, you don't have to stretch to warm-up), and tried to keep going. m street to connecticut to 17th i think...it still felt hard as a rock. so when i got to the mall, i stopped and walked back.

~sigh~

the walk felt good after a while, but it's the first time i hurt in a way that doesn't feel like good-exercise-sort-of-hurt. i guess it could have been walking around in heels maybe yesterday, but you would think that after two days of rest, that wouldn't happen. depending on what train we catch, i'm going to try to get to the gym or at least try again tonight back home. i'll be upset if i don't do anything today. see you back in nyc.