Taper… Sortof

My foot hurt Monday morning so I decide to take it easy. This week I’ll be driving to work to stay off my feet as well. The countdown start today! Less than 2 weeks left!

Today I’m going to treadmill an hour of running. I’ll organize some more music during the less vigerous run. Remember, it’s not too late to make any recommendations. Later this week I’ll post pictures of the tattoo that I’ve been considering getting.

Which reminds me, there may be another change in plans. I might extend my stay in Chicago because after how I felt after my 17 mile run last weekend, I don’t think I would be up for a tattoo immediately after. I doubt I will be wanting a tattoo a couple hours after my flight. So more word on that as it happens.

Oh…

… now I know what it feels like to run for over 2 hours.

Today I ran for 17 miles.

Here is a screen shot of the trail I ran. (yes it’s around my neighborhood)

(psst... click on the link to actually be able to understand it)

So things I’ve realized:

• I need to adjust my playlist
• I really enjoy running in my new gear
• Ice baths are phenomenal (but intimidating as a first time participant)
• 26 miles will take a long time to finish
• I may not be able to get my tattoo after my race
• I need to figure out how/where to pee in public less obviously
• I need rain gear in case race day weather doesn’t co-operate

In other news, I feel like crap.

That is all

3 Days Left…

… until I get a glimpse of what a marathon will feel like.

Today I ran for an hour at 8:30pm. It was quite exciting to run at night. Warmer, that’s for sure. This morning I woke up stepped outside and walked right back in. It was about, err, 40F degrees. Too cold for me.

During my run, I browsed through a few albums. Many of those albums’ tempos were way off, but suprisingly, the one Incubus album I dislike most, happened to have beats most in tune with my running style. So I added a few songs to my marathon playlist. Go check it out.

Tomorrow I think I’m going to run in the afternoon again.

4 Days Left…

… till I run 17 miles. On Saturday I’m going to some reconstructed railroad track pathway in CT to run my longest run. The last two days I ran one hour on the usual track. I tried on a pair of Under Armor compression shorts and running shirt gear and it didn’t necessarily increase my performance, but I do feel that, when I run, my butt is a fraction of a degree cooler than it was before. Which is good

I picked up some Fatboy Slim yesterday, but as of so far I didn’t find any songs that I would like to include to my album. I’m going to go through my Daft Punk collection today. Hopefully by Saturday, I’ll have enough music to atleast fill half of my run.

Long Run!

Holy Cow! So two insights:

1. Running fast feels better than running slow
2. I need music

I ran a total of an hour and twenty-five minutes. I thought it was amazing. Next week, I’m going to double this distance. Next week will be the longest I run before the marathon. I will have one week of break slower runs and then I’m in Chicago. I listened to some Fatboy Slim and Franz Ferdinand this time and uploaded my marathon music playlist with new songs. Go check it out!

45 Minute Runs…

…are no longer painful and feel great. I don’t enjoy crawling out of bed in the morning, but I really enjoy the satisfaction after a run. Today and yesterday I did a brisk 45 minute run which was the equivelant of about 5 miles.

Tomorrow I’m going to aim for a long and lengthy 10 mile run.

Runners are similar to software engineers…

Both exhibit these traits:

• have great ambitions
• are willing to work extra
• try to outperform others
• strive at efficiently doing their stuff
• continually tweak their styles
• upgrade to better equipment
• always, in some way, are behind in schedule
• procrastinate towards the deadline
• have a demanding figure commenting on their work

I can’t think of anymore, and I know there could be many more, but those are the ones that I remembered while running today. If you’ve got one you’d want to share, go for it.

Today I did a quick 40 minute faster-paced run. My music died while I was running, but I remembered the songs I wanted to post. My marathon music playlist has been updated

Other Thoughts: Today was the first day where I felt an exhaustive pain instead of a joint/foot pain. It marks a new chapter in my training which should have happened months ago. I’m curious to see how much I’ll be able to shape up by the 12th of October!

In other news…

This past week I’ve run a total of 12 miles, 30-45 minute runs at a time. This morning (early early morning) I ran around my neighborhood for about an 1hr. It’s a great feeling to run in the morning in a completely new town. It’s a sense of exploring.

I’ll update my music list once I get a hold of my Ipod. I have 10 new songs I’ve gotta add after this week

Reborn Again!

All thanks to my new shoes

New Balance 1062 + Super Feet

My new shoes: New Balance 1062

Superfeet Maximum Shock Absorption

So I ran in these guys and my foot doesn’t hurt.

So I ran a little further… and my foot still didn’t hurt.

Tomorrow I’ll continue running and training for the 2008 Chicago Marathon!

Biking in CT

Seeing that I can’t run due to a painful ping in my foot, I’ve decided to switch gears from running and start biking a bit.

(what’s that? a pun! muahahah!)

Groton, CT isn’t what one may consider a mountainy area, but if you’re coming from the Midwest’s flat cornfields, anything resembling hills are confused as mountains.

Yesterday and a few times these past few weeks, I’ve gone biking on a challenging hill called Bluff Point. It’s similar to a River Grove Forest Preserve but Bluff Point has about 150 to 200 of total elevation. It also has got narrow winding root-infested trails that intersect with each other all over the place and it’s really easy to get lost. I’ve gotten lost every time I’ve gone alone. My first big investment will most likely be a mountain bike because the bike I use now is my fiances, and I cringe at the thought of taking my commuter bike on Bluff Point.

But otherwise, my foot is feeling better today from staying off of it for the past few days. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to write about running.