How can it be October?

I have been totally delinquent in posting. How did it ever get to be October? In a nutshell, the Great Bay Half Marathon was a great experience in Newmarket, NH. Very different than the MORE Half('09) in NYC! Gorgeous weather ... and it got a bit warm towards the end... and the very last incline to the finish added insult to injury, so to speak. And then a mere two weeks later I returned to NYC for the MORE '10. It rained the whole time and was hovering close to 50 degrees. A very different experience from the record heat of the prior year's race! Fast forward through the summer (which was very nice!) and ta da: another Half marathon- the Maple Leaf Half, in Manchester Center! Ah, local flavor! And the ability to check out all sections of the course in the weeks leading up to race day. Had great weather and my mom and sis saw me off and then found a point towards the last mile to see me at mile 12! Whew. 3 Half Marathons in one calendar year ... and participation as a member of a three-person relay tream in a full marathon (so I only ran 8.2 in my final section ... my teammates each ran 9!) The Wineglass Marathon was fantastic... again good weather ... I ran between 11:40 AM and 1:45 PM. The warmest part of the day! But a good time (literally) was had by all. And our wine touring was fun too. Is there more racing before the end of 2010? Yes- but most likely only 5Ks.

No fooling

One week to go until I tackle the Great Bay Half Marathon in Newmarket, New Hampshire. And what did I do this weekend to prepare? and I tool part in a local 5K in Salem, NY. The 31st Annual April Fool's Race. As a warm up I jogged (and walked) a mile with a couple of elementary school students I know. At least that mile was flat.
I had been warned by past participants about the killer hill in the 5K. Now I have been training on a variety of roads in Manchester and West Pawlet for the past 3 months, so I figured I was all set to venture forth.
Well, here's how it went: I finished the 5K course in under 37 minutes (running and walking)! I wonder what the time would have been if there had NOT been a killer hill known as Blind Buck!
That being said I think I am ready for whatever NH has in store ... including weather.
The unusually warm temps today were a factor, esp with only one water stop and that after 2 miles. Starting at 11 AM was nice for not getting up early, but a drawback as far as the temp at Race time. Guess you just can't have everything! At least the Rupert Rising egg, cheese and bacon sandwich was perfect for lunch afterwards!

Woefully delinquent about posting for a whole month. Must be all the walking and pushups. Suffice it to say that yes, I can now do 100 "modified" pushups ... almost consecutively. I find myself completing 50. Then pausing (straight-armed, in pushup position) and counting to about 15 ... then doing another 20... repeating this... doing 20. And then a final 10. I also had about 125 miles completed by March 13th. So I completed this challenge. And I find myself continuing to do sessions of 100 pushups, once or twice a week. Good for the arms. And the training continues for the Great Bay Half-Marathon (race is in 2 weeks!). The past 3 weekends I have walked 10, 12 and 10 miles. This weekend I completed a 14 mile training session! That's right more than a half-marathon. Apparently this is a mental game as well as a physical one. Knowing that I have walked more than the half-marathon distance is supposed to empower me. ell, maybe on race day it will!
Today - yes it feels good to have walked that far (and in good company I might add- thanks to my pals Alice and Liz). But I still think the best part of my morning was sitting down with these two ladies and each of us enjoying a bagel, egg and cheese sandwich... and a cup of coffee!!

end of a snowy week

Hitting the road today was not as easy as I thought it would be. Afterall there was a new 3" of snow on the ground and it was still snowing, lightly! But while checking in on Facebook (as I do most mornings) one of the other women meeting me for mileage IM'd and said "I'll see you at 8:30." And there it was - commitment. Staring me in the face. The night before I had invited her to come meet up at 8:30 and now, despite the momentary "go-back-to-bed" syndrome trying to sink in, I had to commit! "Yes, I guess I need to go brush off the car." I IM'd back. "Oh, we're you thinking of not going?" she countered. "Only momentarily," I replied. "I'll see you at 8:30," I confirmed. And so there it was. Time to get dressed (thank goodness for clear gear!) and I had already eaten my oatmeal (breakfast of champions in my book). The question was "How to layer?" for the weather. And don't forget the Yak Trax! So there I was getting all prepared inside and when I looked out the window and realized my sweetie of a husband had already cleaned off my car and scooped the driveway! No stopping me now! And he even brought in my snowboots which I had inadvertantly left in the car overnight! What a guy! He is my champion. My number one "cheerleader". Making it possible for me to go 2, 3 and 4 times a week for mile upon mile. And don't you worry - he's been thanked! But just in case he ever reads this - thanks honey!! So I got in 3 on Thurs. and 3 more on Fri. and 4 today! Ah ha - 10 miles so far this week ... and a possible 6 tomorrow. The coming week should put me back on my training schedule for the Half-marathon (on April 11th!!) - only 6 weeks away!

checking in during school vacation

I have been racking up the miles during my school vacation ... mostly by traveling. Drive to Albany. Train to NYC and back. Drive back from Albany. Then drive to Geneva, NY. Another drive to Rochester, NY. And back to geneva. Tomorrow I drive back from Geneva. So all in all, about 1000 miles by means other than "by foot".

Now you may be wondering, just how many "by foot" miles have I logged this week. Well, I'll start by saying that after being on the train for over 2 1/2 hours Monday I was ready for an afternoon walk! So with the cooperation of the weather in the Big Apple I walked about a mile before having the opportunity to indulge in a specialty order of Chocolate Chunk and Raspberry Pancakes at the Clinton Baking Co! Another mile+ after dinner was very helpful for settling that very satisfied feeling of eating an amazing dinner - even if it was pancakes!

Tuesday morning I started right off by getting in 3 miles (my standard mileage) in the early stages of a light snow! Now, keeping a steady pace during the morning rush hour of bodies headed to work is no easy task ... especially in a light snowfall. Thank goodness I was not worried about looking fashionable at 8:00 AM! I was able to pop in to Crumbs for a pickup of muffins, croissant and classic cupcakes.

Following this outing I logged another mile or so of leisurely walking in the snow doing errands and such with my girls and then we headed uptown for a wonderful lunch at Sarabeth's ( a favorite of ours!) I had a wonderful cheddar burger that came with guacamole. Yum! Then a short walk to the Cooper Hewitt Museum for a small exhibit of Rodarte clothing and then over to Central Park. For those of you who don't know the Cooper Hewitt is located at 91st str. and 5th Ave. right near the entrance to Central Park at the reservoir. So off we went, southbound! Taking pictures and people watching took us 20 blocks south to the Alice in Wonderland statue at the Boat Pond. Here we exited the park and walked down 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center and then over to Crumbs (yes, again!). And then we walked down to my daughter's apt. at 20th bet. 7th/8th Aves. Well, you do the math. 20 city blocks to the mile! and the east-west clocks are twice as long as a north-south block. Every foot matters (well, to me!) Once back at the apt. it was time to crash and eat pasta! One more evening walk about capped the day! I figured about 6.5 miles total.

Wednesday started with about a mile and a quick lunch at a favorite in my daughter's Chelsea neighborhood, Elmo. A delicious and light chicken breast sandwich curbed the appetite for anything more. Then off for another casual stroll which lasted an hour and a half and covered a couple more miles. During the outing I was in the Times Sq. area, 44th and Broadway, and actually bumped into a fellow townsperson - who said, "I never bump into people." And I replied, "Actually, this happens to me a lot!" Once my daughter's class was over we met up at 38th and 7th and chose a dining spot over on the East side (60th and bet. 3rd & 2nd), Serendipity, known for Frozen Hot Chocolate. My city daughter has been there before with me, but my VT daughter had not had the pleasure yet. So off we went. And despite an almost hour wait (well worth it!) we were seated upstairs and the girls shared a Mint Frozen Hot Chocolate. Okay - I had a couple of spoonfuls! Mostly I enjoyed a footlong hotdog!

And what does one do after dinner? Why walk more of course! Back over to 5th Avenue to see Bergdorf's windows and on down, again, to 20th and 7th o the apt. So - another 6 miles for the day.

Are you keeping track? Well, I am figuring for the NYC trip somewhere close to 16 miles total. Not too shabby.

Did I mention I also did Week 6, Day 1 pushups? Well, I did!

Thursday there was the travel back to VT - lots of sitting in a train and a car. And guess what? That was fine by me! A day off is good!

Friday brought the drive to Geneva. Reunion with my sister and brother-in-law... and pizza! After hours of conversation and a shared viewing of The Patriot (Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger!) I decided to just see how my consecutive pushup level was coming along and the answer was 60 modifieds! Pleased by this, I went to bed with a clear conscience having not walked measurable mileage either Thursday or Friday.

Welcome to Saturday. Off to the University of Rochester campus to pick up my niece and we roamed about "tour-style") for close to an hour. Then off to the local mall - Eastview. Now maling is stop & start walking, but we were at it for 3 hours! Gotta be some mileage in that. And yes, there was lunch at Johnny Rockets (a burger again!) but I skipped a shake ... and I shared french fries!

And that brings me to the here and now. The smell of roast beef cooking (thanks to my sister and brother-in-law) as well as Yorkshire Pudding. And let's not forget the red wine!

Sunday will bring 4 plus hours of driving ... but my sister has mentioned we can go walking at the indoor track in the morning!

Hmmm ... What to do? What to do ? Stay tuned.

pacing myself

Very excited to report that I eked out my Week 5, Day 2 Column 2 pushups this morning ... 160 over almost 8 minutes (that includes the short rests between sets). And I have to tell you that my arms were vibrating by the time I finished! Not quite sure what to make of that. But I am encouraged that I got through it!
As the day wore on it became clear to me that I was NOT going to take part in the evening training walk/run.
In short I opted for casual faculty volleyball... 2 on 2 for 45 minutes! Fun and actually a nice workout.
So what did I do instead of walking my 3 miles and dong hill work? I visited a very close friend and had half a turkey sub, some cheese bread and a small slice of calzone ... and a Blue Moon (albeit without the orange slice!).
So I am counting this as a cross-training day and I will get back to chasing down 100 miles tomorrow.

Mileage home stretch ... and about those pushups?

Entering this week I have completed 85 miles, so I should hit 100 sometime this week! Yea! This is definitely the easy part of the whole mileage, pushup challenge. Since I am training for a half-marathon I am racking up between 12-20 miles a week. This coming week for example: three outings of 3-4 miles each and then the endurance day of 9 miles.
Turns out there is a Valentine's Day 4-mile race nearby, so several of us are going to take part in that, and then do a one-mile warm-up, leaving the remaining 4 miles for after the race. We are told there will be post-race Valentine's Day cookies .... which we can take with us for after the additional mileage!
Now about those pushups! Week 4 was hard. Yes, I admit it! And frankly, I never liked doing pushups! But I am not a quitter. I feel like I gave Week 4 an honest effort and although I did not meet the minimum repetitions of Set 5 each day, I went ahead and did an exhaustion tes to see where I am at overall.
So I did 36 consecutive modified pushups which puts me in the middle column going into Week 5. This means my repetitions are a little less demanding which is so okay by me!
Today was Day 1 of Week 5. And honestly, my workout was somewhere between Column 1 and Column 2. But that being said, I am still doing some 100-plus pushups overall in a 7 minute workout period, with rests of about 60-90 seconds in between the sets of 20-25 each. So that is something. Well, it is to me! The Week 5 workout changes on Day 2 to less repetitions per set but the number of sets goes up to 8.
This sounds better to me, but we'll find out when I get down to it.