Voici une intéressante initiative, de l’auteur du blog “Distance Minimally“, que je soutiens avec plaisir :
One day run without shoes to fight hunger
Next month, beginning on the morning of Saturday 20 March 2010, I will be running for 24 hours at the Pacific Rim One Day Run raising money to fight hunger.
I will be toeing the line barefoot, and will run the whole race without shoes. I hope to run 100 miles, and raise $10 per mile. Contributions will go to the Oregon Food Bank through Firstgiving.
Can you sponsor one or more miles to help me reach my goal of raising $1000 for the hungry in our communities?
Visit One Day Run For Hunger at http://www.firstgiving.com/onedayrunforhunger
Thanks!
I’m pretty poor so being able to spend a lot of money on gym clothes isn’t an option. I don’t get to shop at Lulu Lemon like all of the other girls at my gym, but I still want to look cute! So here are some of the items I recommend:
Yoga shorts from PINK by Victoria’s Secret. They are the most perfect things ever. Fit perfect without being too tight. And the cutest length!
Yoga pants from Victoria’s Secret. Only cost $24.50 to mid-calf length and then the pants come in different lengths so they fit if you are short, medium or tall and are only $29.50! Plus they have a bunch of different colors. The ones with a different color waist make your butt look awesome.. they make you look skinny too! They don’t cause camel toe and they come up high enough to hold in my fupa. Get a size smaller than you normally would though. They are stretchy. And wash them in cold water so they don’t fade.
I wear the Champion sports bras from Target with the tiny straps. They come in cute colors like pink, purple and green and look cuter with the tank tops I wear. They’re between $13 and $17 and hold up for a really long time.
The tanks I wear are cheapies from H&M. You can find them anywhere though. Just little tank tops with spaghetti straps that cost $7. I have them in all different colors and they’re so cheap that I am okay with throwing them out when they get icky from all the sweat. I can throw them in the dryer too without having to worry about them shrinking which is convenient. And I’d much rather wear tanks than t’s because what’s the fun of having smoking hot guns if you can’t show them off?
As for shoes, I recommend, especially for runners, to get fitted for shoes. Everyone runs differently and shoes are made for different running styles. I used to have major foot pain from running in the wrong shoes. The cute ones by Lacoste aren’t going to be the ones you should wear to the gym. There’s a lot of styles out there that an expert can help you choose from. That’s the one area I will splurge because I know it’s going to have a major impact on how I perform.
If you want to look good why stop at the gym? Mix it up with lots of colors and lots of different outfits that complement your body, and you don’t have to spend a fortune. And if you wanna be JUST LIKE the Get In Shape Girl, you’ll always wear a ribbon in that pony tail for added girlieness and cuteness! Just remember, it’s that hard work that you put into your body that make those clothes look good.. not the money you spend.
CorriFerrara Half Marathon – (21k, Road), obiettivo finirla con un tempo migliore del 2:17 fatto alla Rune Tune Up nel 2009; –> Fatto!
TCE – Traversata dei Colli Euganei (45k, Off-Road), obiettivo finirla nel tempo limite;
PDP – Porte di Pietra (75k, Off-Road), obiettivo finirla nel tempo limite;
LUT – Lavaredo Ultra Trail (98k, Off-Road), obiettivo finirla nel tempo limite;
CCC – Courmayeur Champex Chamonix (98k, Off-Road), obiettivo finirla nel tempo limite;
Triathlon olimpico delle Nazioni (1,5k nuoto, 40k bici, 10k corsa), obiettivo finirlo nel tempo limite;
Reggio Emilia Marathon – (42k, Road), obiettivo finirla con un tempo migliore del 4h:53′ ottenuto nel 2009.
A queste gare aggiungerò sicuramente dell’altro ma visto che questo blog lo legge anche la moglie del sottoscritto è meglio non esporsi troppo in anticipo
If you don’t know what/how to earn that sweet Goofy medal, its very simple…
You run a half marathon and earn the donald medal then…
you run a marathon the next day and earn the mickey medal!
Shouldn’t be too hard right!??!?!?!?!?!!??!?!?!!? Well, even if it is…. I’m gonna do it!
For now because I am quasi-injured I’m going to do CrossFit Endurance as much as possible until my knee feels better. I’ve been having a lot of problems with it lately and so I haven’t done any running at all! I’m gonna get back on the saddle soon and train for my goal!
This last week has been a test of my endurance. I have just finished a physio course this weekend and managed to get all my training in for the week. When I have a course on all weekend I can not take my time with my training or rest afterwards. I know I have another 3 weekends of courses before the ironman and it does not do my head any good thinking about what those weeks will involve with training and work.
In the last two weeks I have had little things happen as I have been traning and each time I am learning how to fix the problems. On a three-hour ride the crank and pedal came loose. I stopped at a bike shop in Putney and it was fixed with an 8mm Alan key so I bought one in case this happens in the future. The light on my bike fell onto the road as I rode over bumps and now I know to check it is on properly before I ride. The levers that secure my wheel to my bike came loose and so I do a bike check before I ride to Richmond Park.
There are many things that happen when training and it continues to change every week. Being adaptable and flexible is a key to making life manageable with training. I tell myself I must stop taking on social events and from now until July my weeks and weekends have been planned. I like my weekends being free of commitments to rest from training, work and recovering for my long bike rides.
I spoke to Fran (Coach) and he has is now worried about my running as I have not run outside since my injuries. This week I did run to Battersea Park and I discovered the track around the Park had flat surfaces. When the surfaces are sloped it irritates my ITB friction syndrome. Good to know I can run on good surface and it is close to work.
My body is adapting to the training. I can ride up the hills in Richmond Park seated on the bike and breathing easily. It was great to run outside and this will be my focus to improve. It freaks me out a little knowing how many weeks I have remaining before the event. Time to put in harder training.
Please, someone tell me that you watched the brother-sister ice dancer duo who did the “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man” number and ended it in a very non-sibling-appropriate body position. TCL and I both screamed at the TV in horror and woke up the puppy, who had previously been enjoying his evening sleeping with a toy in his mouth:
Why yes, that is a faux ficus in the corner.
Well, now I want to watch Blades of Glory and shriek with laughter at Will Farrell and Jon Heder skating to “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing.” Hold the thought, EE.
Sundays are really decadent days, aren’t they? For me, they’re enjoyable because I get to spend time in this gorgeous sanctuary:
Religious studies major. I like churches!
On that note, I was raised United Methodist, took a long hiatus from attending church, and have been attending an Episcopal church since about December. I really like it. The choir is phenomenal!
The rest of the day was just me being EE: napping, working on a paper, doing some other school work, and buying veggies and other foodstuffs. I also did my 12 mile run. But if we’re talking running, I’m not the hero today (*note: I am never a hero; I just do my thing). Congrats to my fabulous southern belle on her first half marathon today!
Dinner with our “couple-friends” the Ms was fun last night, too. TCL and I both feel really lucky to have maintained quality friendships with people from our respective schools. We’re hoping to plan a summer camping trip (yeah, me camping is pretty hilarious because I’m a klutz, but I enjoyed it last summer!). Mrs. Hoosier, are you guys in?
And one more thing to illustrate TCL — I had asked him to take a picture of the platter-sized enchilada dinner he gets at Abuelo’s, but we both forgot. But he apparently had some more when I went to bed, and he thought, “I’ll take a picture!” Yep, he definitely combines everything together so it looks like dog food (not like I should talk). It’s the thought that counts. Yum?
Yeah, definitely not attractive. I'm sorry.
Tomorrow’s Monday. You’ll learn to love that I love Mondays. Or you’ll silently curse me.
I think this is about the fifth blog I’ve ever started – not including the proper ones at Section Five Records and Raging Death Films – and I’ve never managed to get past one or two posts on any of them, so in the spirit of it being another new year and a time for change and all that I’m going to give it another go. At the very least I can use it as an exercise to better my writing, which you will realise is full of lazy sentence structures and a limited vocabulary.
So what’s up? Well for those who don’t know me my name is Alan. I do a bunch of stuff with my time, but mostly I work. The rest you’ll probably find out over time. Those two links I posted in the first paragraph are definitely worth checking out as (I run them, and) they are things that are important to me – music and films.
In other news I had my birthday at the start of the month where I realised I was getting old and needed to sort myself out, so to achieve this lofty goal I have decided to take up running. Realistically I’ll perhaps start off with a mild jog, but running is the intended result.
As a way to set this into motion that didn’t begin with me being completely unprepared I have bought myself some running trainers. I don’t know about how you find it, but I found the experience of buying running trainers less than easy. Seriously I’m not a professional by any stretch of the imagination, I’m a normal guy who in a fit of desperation decided ‘going for a run’ might be neat. I needed something that I can run in, that’s all. They have descriptions for different kinds of shoe; “stability sounds good” I thought, “I don’t want to be falling over all the time” but it really means ‘get these if you have normal feet’, not if you’re flat-footed or something.
Anyway, I found a nice pair that were normal and not too expensive so I made the purchase and am duly waiting for them to arrive. Then the fun begins.
So until they do arrive and the fun has begun I’ll stop talking about running. I can’t see my anticipation is going to reach a heady climax in the next day or two. Thanks for reading, we should do this again sometime.
PS. You can also follow me on twitter – @alansuspect and pester me to write more blog posts. Or alternatively, less.
Ran ~10k in ~1 hour+ here at Gurgaon. Ran from the hotel to the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium and ran inside the ground. Tried to do some interval training, but didn’t exactly work out that way, unless you call slow-crawl-slow as interval training .
Hotel to the stadium: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3484483
Running inside the stadium was not so great because of the thick grass, dew, uneven surface and it was very dark and I could hardly see where I was running. But it was still different and so good. I understand that this was the same place where the ICL matches were held. The ground does not seem that big! It was quite small actually. I ran 8 laps inside the track when I noticed some boys who came in and started running on the outside perimeter where there was a concrete ‘track’ all around the ground. So, I ran another 3 laps with them and then ran back.
Not a great running day but good to be back in business.
True rewards are those you have to work hard to earn. To be given something for free, it means nothing.
Slow progress yields true and lasting satisfaction. Build a house by laying down one brick at a time. Must not expect too much out of a workout.
After a day off, I’m back to training again. Weather is still blazing hot in the city. No goal race in the near future, but I’ll be ready when one comes up. Most likely I will do a half next.
I’m lowering my weekly mileage and hoping that my foot will heal for good. Of course, most runners are never 100% healthy. Just the way life is never 100% perfect. It’s supposed to be that way. We deal with problems.
I admit that I am known within the running community in the country through this blog and from the newly-published Front Runner Magazine and I did not spend much except for my yearly URL fee for WordPress. My advocacies are well-known to everybody and many runners as well as ordinary citizens have benefited from them. Despite these undertakings, the Bald Runner had never been featured in any broadsheets’ lifestyle & sports sections. Even if I know personally some writers, they don’t dare to write about me without them asking permission from me. In short, I don’t need publicity and shy away from public relations outfits as they ask some exhorbitant fees for them to give you a good image and “market” you as a good product. I would like to state it once again, that I am not running for an elective office/position or I am not trying to transform myself into a politician. I just love to run and inspire others to adhere to a healthy and active lifestyle.
Many runners had been asking me why the Bald Runner is not featured in the TBR Magazine; Men’s Health; or Multi-Sport Magazines and even the annual takbo.ph publication last year after they have published and featured their “stars” in the running community. These runners should ask the publishers of these magazines why they are not featuring me. I am glad my friend & ultra runner, Jonel, published the first running magazine in the country, The Front Runner Magazine!
As I said, this blog is already a good platform for people to know what the Bald Runner is doing to promote running and at the same time sustain its advocacies. I have also projects being the President of the Philippine Association of Ultrarunners (PAU) in promoting the sports of ultramarathon in the country. And the most significant project of this Association is the conduct of the yearly Bataan Death March 102K Ultramarathon Race, simply called “BDM 102″.
In my personal point of view, ultramarathon is still an “underground” running sports event in the country. It is better known by “word of mouth” from one runner to another. The lesser the number of runners, the better as most average runners would not dare to challenge themselves to go beyond their endurance limits. In short, ultramarathons are for those who are “crazy, have the “balls” & hardcore” in running.
So, if a media or PR outfit would ask me to be an Official Media/PR partner for the BDM 102, I would say “NO”, most especially if the media outfit would ask me material things in return for their services of advertising and covering the event. I believe that these media outfits should be the one who should be giving material things, like support funds/sponsorship funds/banners, for the event and support for the advocacy of the running event.
The Marketing Staff of RunnerSpeak approached me on the early part of January 2010 and made a schedule to meet me for two occassions but their staff would not make it and had these meetings re-scheduled until the meeting was put on hold. Instead, the Marketing Staff of RunnerSpeak sent me an e-mail on their proposal/offer to cover the BDM 102. Below is an excerpt of a proposal from RunnerSpeak of Q TV to advertise, promote & cover 2010 BDM 102.
RunnerSpeak will assure that BDM 102KM will receive the following mileage:
A full exposure and coverage for BDM 102KM
Placement of event announcement and updates on the show
Interview of representatives and organizers
Extra media values:
Inclusion of updates and links in our sites eg: Facebook, Website
Bumper and CBB
In exchange for this, RunnerSpeak is requesting the following:
Inclusion of the show’s LOGO as Official TV Partner
Install banners on race day (max. of 3 banners)
Singlets/ Shirts for the team (at least 10pcs)
Complimentary registration of at least 2 participants for the race
RunnerSpeak to be acknowledged as the Television Partner
Okey, they are requesting me for such & such but definitely, my answer is “NO”. I am not a marketing-trained “son of a gun” but just for curiosity sake, I just want to know if this is the “protocol” in advertising/marketing. I have the impression that whatever this media outfit would cover in the BDM 102 event and have it shown in Q TV, they will be paid for every second & minute in their TV program. Am I right or wrong?
Or it would be better if the media outfit would pay the Race Organizer (Director & Producer) and the runners (Actors & Actresses) as we are their “talents”?
The First CamSur Marathon is scheduled on September 26, 2010. Registration will start on March 1. However, no details yet regarding the registration fees and the registration sites.
Check Takbo.ph for updates on the schedule and details on the CamSur Marathon.
Related Post
News Camsur Marathon on July 2010?
Calendar Camsur Marathon 3/5/10/21/42K
For complete list of races , news and updates about running in the Philippines please visit www.takbo.ph.
I dove back into training this week and feel much better. I was surprised to realize that I’m now only 15 weeks away from my marathon! It’ll be here before I know it.
Monday – Rest day
Tuesday – Rest day
Wednesday – 4.02 miles on the treadmill (1.5% incline) in 40:58 (10:11/mile). This was my first morning run ever and it was great! It was so difficult to drag myself out of bed. It’s so nice and warm under the covers and oh so cold when you get out from underneath them. I’d been trying to do morning runs for a while, but had never managed to get past turning off the alarm. So on Tuesday night I wrote myself a very cheesy note (10 reasons why I want to get out of bed and run), and left it sitting next to the bed. When the alarm went off, I got up and went for it. Hooray! It was so nice to have the run out of the way for the rest of the day. I got to work earlier, I was more awake, and I didn’t have it hanging over my head when I got home and just wanted to relax. I will definitely be continuing with morning runs.
Thursday – 7.02 miles on the treadmill (1.5% incline) in 1:17:10 (10:59/mile). An evening run (I only need to do morning runs on Mondays and Wednesdays when I have crazy work days). Everything felt good. No problems. Nothing amazing either.
Friday – Rest day
Saturday – Yoga with my friend. I am a huge yoga fan. The girl who does our class is phenomenal. I almost fall asleep every time for the ending meditation. It’s so relaxing.
Sunday – 15.02 miles on the treadmill (1.5% incline) in 2:40:44 (10:42/mile). This was my longest run to date and overall it felt pretty good. I took one quick bathroom break at mile 6, but other than that, it was straight through. My knees got a little tight at mile 13, but I managed to keep going and picked up the pace quite a bit for the last mile. My foam roller does wonders working out sore knees/quads/hamstrings/calves/backs (I love that thing). I continued with my Friends DVDs. It seems to work great! Luckily I’m still on season 1 and have 9 more to go! I’ll have to find a new show to watch after I finish all 10 seasons. My sister has suggested Lost. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to follow it through the treadmill noise…
Really, life is starting to get busier. I have class every day of the week — well, not this Friday because of weird scheduling conflicts, but that’s a fluke — and homework assignments and paper work to fill out for the French Government, so I’m doing things.
But nothing is incredibly pressing. Nothing is sitting here on my desk calling for me immediately, demanding that I get going right away. I have due dates and deadlines and suggested end times, but nothing really pushes me on a daily basis. Except, of course, the desire to avoid spending piles of money, which is becoming increasingly easier as the Euro continues to sink, thanks to the financial situation in Greece that worsens daily. I’m holding out for a complete collapse of the Euro — think of how cheap everything will be!
So, I fill my time with running. Granted, I’m not running incredibly long distances or training for a marathon or anything like that. I’m just running. When I get home from class and look at the hours between just then and the time when I might feel like preparing my delicious yet solitary dinner for one, I realize that the best thing I can do is go for a run.
So I run. True, I’d probably run even if I had to fight to fit it into my schedule — I’ve done that in the past, and I’m planning on doing it again in the future. Running is a daily need; without running I don’t sleep well, I don’t eat as much, I don’t feel as awake and lively as I could.
I vary my runs — sometimes along the canal, sometimes up the hill to my favorite park — but the important thing is that I run. It gets me out of the house and out of the neighborhood and into the world around me. It makes me feel like I did something significant that day. It makes dinner taste better.
I slept through my morning swim this morning. What a slacker. I’m really having trouble with 4:30am lately. We’re really not on friendly terms. Anyway, after work I headed over to Fort Boise to do a 7.5 mile trail run. A little number called “Wandering Frontrunner” (link below).
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=334416
It’s a nice hilly route, but not too long or extreme for a weeknight run. I’d taken my headlamp just in case I ran out of daylight. The temperature was really nice, high 40s and overcast. However, as I gained the ridge above Fort Boise, there was a strong wind out of the north which cooled things off a little more.
There were only a few other runners out and one small pack of mountain bikers heading up for a night ride. I did ok on the climb up to the apex of the route at the junction of Three Bears and Shane’s Trail. I paused there to snap a pic of the city below, but it was on my Blackberry, which doesn’t do justice to the view. It looked amazing and was a nice place to be at that time of evening.
View of Boise from junction of Shane's and Three Bears
I headed down Shane’s to Central Ridge and onto Bucktail Trail. I had a bone to pick with Bucktail. Two Saturdays ago, I had my ass handed to me on our run and had to walk portions of Bucktail. This was particularly sad because Bucktail is a rolly, but relatively flat trail. There was no walking anything tonight, so I felt somewhat redeemed.
As I reached the far west end of the trail, I heard a sudden burst of gun fire. I very nearly pissed my pants before I realized that just downhill from that portion of the trail is a police firing range. I knew it was there, but I’ve never been around when it was in use. I really think my heart rate spiked to an unhealthy level for a minute!
I finished my run just before dark, so I didn’t need that headlamp afterall. Nice to see the days getting longer!
Now to make up my missed swim tomorrow morning when I otherwise woulda been sleeping in. As they say, play now, pay later…
Like really big brownies. I was planning on saving this one from The Wow Baking Company for Cookie Friday, but I just couldn’t wait. Is it ironic that I was also watching The Biggest Loser at the time? I didn’t feel too bad because it was all about Olympic athletes and fueling! And I love chocolate fuel.
The Wow Baking Company Chocolate Brownie
Like the name says, “wow”. I popped this brownie in the microwave to get warm and melty. The texture was superb! So fudgy I thought the sweetness was a bit “off”. It was definitely sweet(how could it not be with so much sugar?) but needed something to balance that sweetness. I really couldn’t complain…
Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie
Check out that fudge factor! And, of course, being from Wow, it was gluten free. I fel like that’s not so much a problem with brownies, though, since the first ingredients are always chocolate, eggs, sugar, and butter. For homemade gluten free brownies, check out my recipe here.
Oatmeal With Smart Balance Peanut Butter
I thought all those generally empty calories would have left me starving, but I was actually more or less in a sugar coma and just wanted to get to bed early for my long run. Still, I figured I might want a little more so I wouldn’t be starving when I got up and made a bowl of oatmeal. There was a good blob of peanut butter but sticking it back in the microwave “enrobed” it with oats; doesn’t that sound tempting?
Running Stats
The oatmeal must have worked because this morning I woke up refreshed and ready to tackle my “long run” of the week. I wasn’t sure how it’d be after yesterday’s unplanned 8-miler. Well, for one, it certainly felt like a long run–difficult and painfully long at times. That being said, I enjoyed it and finished 9 miles in 80:53. And in that time I was able to catch to much of The Today Show on the Olympics! I can’t wait for them to really start! Breakfast was very “themed”
Tierra Farm's Organic Crystallized Ginger
I found this product from Tierra Farm I had yet to even open. I think yesterday’s Kombucha turned me on to a ginger kick!
Breakfast
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Walnut Butter And Crystallized Ginger
Vanilla Chobani With 2 Goji Ginger Walnut Cookies
Like I said, very themed. I topped the vanilla Chobani with 2 of the ginger walnut cookies from Goji Gourmet; gotta get my superfood in after a good run! Since I liked the idea of the ginger and walnut so much, I topped my pumpkin oats with Artisana brand walnut butter and the organic crystallized ginger. The ginger wasn’t quite as strong as I’d have liked; I’ve had some ginger in the past that’s just knocked my socks off and this wasn’t at that spice-level.
And on my way back from the gym it started snowing!! Obviously, the East is getting pummeled today, and it’s finally hitting New England; we’re supposed to get 6-10 inches! There’s also a great chance my only class will be cancelled, so I went ahead and put on lazy sweat pants, and now need to think of what to do for today. Obviously, there’s a little homework. Beyond that, I’ve just got an email about next year’s housing which has me thinking. I really lucked out this year. I got into the perfect dorm for me and got paired with a great roommate and we respect each other well. For higher years, however, it’s done a little more differently; there’s a bit of play involved. I could partner up with a group of 6–if I could find 6–and have us go into the “housing lottery” for a suite, go in completely solo and throw myself to chance, or a number of things in between. My dream would probably be a solo in the dorm I live in now(Wayland). That’s not very likely, though, for a Sophomore. If anything, the top preference on my list would be to live in the same building at least as this year; I lived in one house my whole life so clearly, when I settle somewhere, I like to settle. There’s always hoping, right?
Hey y’all! Hope you had a good Tuesday! Mine was pretty good. Right now, Bentley Scratchy Pants and I are hanging out watching the The Millionaire Matchmaker.
Guys! Can I just say that I totally thought I was there…like my hip was finally healing and so much better and thought I would run strong. I was going to start with just one mile today. And I did to it, but it wasn’t smooth like it should be and it was a little painful. I kind of paid for it afterwards…I did ice a little afterward. Super frustrating when you want to do something so bad, but your body won’t allow it. I’m going to do some more icing and stretching later. I want to keep positive, but I’ve already signed up for Gasparilla and all I can think about is not being about to run it or if I do, sucking badly. What to do, what to do…
Anyway, let’s talk about happier things…like today’s eats!
I did wake up early to hit the gym. I was really excited about running that mile though.
Workout:
Warm-up 10 min on treadmill
1 mile run at 6.0 then to 6.5
Cool down – 10 min walking
Stationary Bike – 15 min – alternating lvl 3 and 4
“Heather,” my mom told me sternly this afternoon. “You owe me an update. Think of all those people who read your blog. They want to know how you’re doing.”
I sighed in response and said something to the effect that no one was reading my blog these days. She looked even more sternly at me and said emphatically,
“I read your blog.”
I cast my eyes downward. Point taken.
Where do I begin? If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to start with what happened today.
Today I reached an important milestone in what I have lovingly begun to call The Great Comeback of 2010. You see, today I ran 13.5 miles. Thirteen point five miles! All at once. Tears burned in my eyes at mile 12 and my throat ached with emotion. When I turned the corner on to the final stretch a grin spread over my face. Wow. I had forgotten how great it is to finish a long run on a Sunday morning.
Now normally I wouldn’t consider 13.5 miles a very long run. However, my running life has been so transformed in these past months I hardly recognize it. The 13. miles I completed this morning is the longest distance I’ve run since September. The fact that I ran it a perky 8:20 min/mile is tasty frosting on this runner’s cake.
There have been no marathons, no races and no fun runs in my life since September. Not even a track practice. That strained tendon in my foot that I blogged about all those months ago? It sidelined me bigtime. I suspect the strain was really a stress fracture and that whatever the problem was, it was more serious than I let on. While I could walk without difficulty, running was a painful and arduous experience. I was forced to throw out all my running goals for the fall/winter. My shoes stayed in my closet, the blog went stale and my weekly mileage plummeted. It was a dark and dreary time.
In November things got a bit better. I put in a few miles. Without my former speed, strength and endurance I felt pathetic. It was like I was convinced that if I couldn’t pick up from where I left off then I didn’t want to run at all. What a terrible attitude. I wanted desperately to be the runner I used to be, not a runner with a weak foot and low mileage. In December I had some harsh talks with myself, adjusted my attitude and ran slowly. Oh, so very slowly. But you know, at least i was running and at least it seemed like my foot might finally be better.
Then on January 6th I was hit by a car.
I was riding my bike to work when a truck failed to signal or look to see if anyone was in the bike lane. He turned right. We collided instantly. It is an awful feeling to know that you’re going to be hit and that there is nothing you can do to avoid it. My bike was either run over or dragged into the wheel well, I’m not sure. I ricocheted off the truck and fell to the ground. The driver got out of the truck, saw me crying, saw me clutching my left arm and then promptly got back into his truck and fled the scene of the accident.
I was taken to the ER. I broke my left hand. Here is a picture
Broken hand, my right hand next to it for comparison, days after the crash
Here is a picture of some of the bruising.
Bruising on the palm
Besides the broken hand and some severe abrasions I was extremely lucky. Let’s not even think about how much worse it could have been, OK?
Since the crash I’ve had to deal with a temporary cast, a not-at-all sexy arm brace and very limited mobility. I could hardly type, sign my name (I’m left-handed) tie my shoes, wash my hair, shave my right armpit or button my pants. Every morning before work I played a game I invented called “Will it Fit?” It involved pulling out a long sleeve shirt and seeing if it would fit over the cast/brace. Sadly, much of my warddrobe did not win “Will it Fit.”
Despite the injuries I decided to continue running. I ran on a treadmill - for weeks. It was mind-numbingly boring. My arm ached with the blood that rushed into my fingers. The brace took on a “unique” odor and my hand would hit the console every so often and send shockwaves of discomfort into my broken wrist. But you know what? Not once did my foot hurt!
So this weekend, with the OK from the doctor, I ran outside for the first time in over a month. It was an amazing feeling. Somewhere deep inside me I feel like I might finally be coming back.
If you can believe it, I got strep again on Tuesday. So this week, I neglected writing since there hasn’t been much to write about in the way of running. I lost 3 days, although one of them was a planned rest day anyway. This post I’m going to try to wrap up the whole week.
Monday I managed to do an hour on the treadmill at my marathon pace, 8.2 miles with an incline of 1.5. Things felt great during.
Tuesday, I woke up and felt like total crap. I went to work and decided to skip running at the gym because I felt I was getting sick. The previous Sunday my daughter got a stomach flu and it turned out she still had Strep despite just coming off an antibiotic – she got strep too a week ago. Then two days later, Tuesday, I’m feeling sick and I leave work early that day.
Wednesday I have all the same symptoms as when I had strep a month ago. I go to the urgent care office for another antibiotic and the nurse practitioner doesn’t seem to want to listen to why I know I have strep throat. She points to the “rapid test”, the same one I posted a picture of when I had strep last month, and states “but it’s clearly negative”. Those test are notoriously inaccurate I remind her. She huffs and says, “Well, if you want me to send in a throat culture I will. And in two days, we’ll have an answer and if it’s positive we can give you an anti-biotic.” At this point my blood began to boil and I told her give me the antibiotic and if in two days its not positive, call me and I stop taking it. After rolling her eyes she agrees. Wow.
At the pharmacy, while I waited for my prescription, I remembered I have a lot of flex spending cash left over from 2009 burning a hole in my pocket which I’ll lose if I don’t spend by March. So, on a whim I bought a cholesterol monitor, a bunch of tests, and a blood pressure monitor. I’m actually pretty happy about this in some nerdy kind of way. It was a bit fun testing myself and my wife, and I seriously need to get my blood pressure down; I’m prehypertension.. no surprise there actually.
Total : 172
HDL : 61
LDL : 86
TRI : 125
BP : 130/80
Also I picked up some glucose tablets. I guess they’re for diabetics or hypoglycemics. I figured they’re a cheaper alternative to gels and much more appetizing. I honestly can’t stand gels. Most brands, especially power bar gels, taste horrible. Gu’s, I can get down but I’m starting to suspect they might be responsible for the stomach upset I’ve coincidentally had every time I’ve taken them. Plus, I’d rather not have all the sodium.
The glucose tablets are basically no frills glucose, taste good and are meant to spike your blood sugar fast, which is exactly what you want from a gel when running. I generally don’t take gels, or any fuel, during long runs, (just races) but I tried them out today before doing 18.6 miles. They seem to work well. And are easy to carry. More on that later.
Thursday the antibiotic was already kicking in and I felt well enough to go back to work. While there, I got a call from the urgent care office informing me my throat culture came back positive for strep and that the nurse practitioner who I saw wants me to continue taking the antibiotic. You know, this actually pissed me off? I felt like responding “no shit, sherlock”. Instead, I just mumbled thanks and let her know the antibiotic is already helping.
Friday, all I could think about was running again. During my lunch hour back on the treadmill. 8.4 miles in an hour on a 1.5 incline. It should have felt easy, and it did mostly, but I was exhausted by the end.
Saturday, I wanted to run long, but due to time constraints I was only able to do 10. Family duties called, but it was great to be outdoors. Lots of snow was predicted, but thankfully none of it came. I was really beginning to fear having to drag out another 20 on the treadmill. So it didn’t matter how cold it was, I was happy to be on the road. Things felt great mostly, but by the time 10 miles was over, I was sort of beat and happy to be done.
Today, Sunday, I still had 20 written into my plan. It was 19F with 33 predicted so I waited around for it to warm up. By 11am it was still only 25 so I went out to the Rockys. I felt a lot of fatigue in my legs. The 10 yesterday was a bit fast, but it didn’t explain why I was so tired. Nonetheless, I tried a few of the glucose tablets and I really believe they gave me a bit of pep. Things got easier. Up until 13 miles I was able to hold it well, and then the hills got to me – I would have liked to have had another glucose tab to see if it really made a difference. Anyway, things were slow from there on, and I think I just wanted to stop by 15. At that point, I was headed back and began to think about someone’s recent blog post about struggling with long runs and the response I wrote. Ironic that my long run now just fizzled out and came to a crawl by the end. Ending with 18.25 total.
Later today, by chance, I found a some debate online about antibiotics and fatigue…. who knew? :|
With my slight tendencies towards ADHD I need a lot of exercise to keep me happy and content. Today I got more than my fair share of that.. Got to work for 10am, did my meetings and all other things i had lined up before heading to my Yogalates class. Enjoyed 45 minutes of core strengthening and arm exercises before heading back home and out for a 30min run around Finsbury Park. Absolutely fantastic feeling!
I also ate fairly well all day yesterday. Had a yoghurt to start the day with, followed by a protein bar on the way in to work. My lunch consisted of some carrot sticks with a dip based on low fat creme fraiche, along a bowl of chicken mulligatawny soup.
I only had one cup of green tea at work though, which is not really as much as I have usually, and I am lacking in drinking enough water. So that needs to be corrected.
My post run dinner consisted of an omelette with spinach accompanied by a mixed salad, delicious! Had some berries and a yogurt for dessert as well to round off the meal and went to bed feeling content, but not overly full. Excellent!
Check out my new running kicks Robert bought me today! Total surprise! Such a good husband……
I usually run in New Balance, but I gave these a test run tonight, and they were more flexible than they look, and I looked super cute, soo thumbs up Nike!
Kick ass, right?
Dayglow inside too!
Check out the other funky color combinations of the Nike Lunarglide+
This weekend, other than being the Superbowl party, I was supposed to have a race. The Dirty Dog 10k Trail Run. I was very excited for it, because it’s not one of those race where I’d try to set a PR, but really it was all about enjoying the frozen forest, the trails and the landscape. Breath in the cold air in the nature where city noises can’t reach… Well I just found out (totally my fault) that it is 1 hour and a half away from here. And I don’t have a car. So bye bye trail race in the mud/snow/forest, I’ll have to find a closer one. Which is most likely to be just a regular on the road race… I’ll still go on a long run this saturday in the frozen winter landscapes… sigh…
As a law student who runs and tries to do the whole “healthy living” gig, I have a long list of things I consider “must-haves.” Right now, I’m going to feature two of these fantastic things: shoes and friends.
If you read my Law Street Journal article, you probably figured out that I love (love, and love some more) high-heeled shoes. In college, I was also that moron who wore open-toed shoes in the snow. I can also offer up the dubious defense that I wasn’t a runner then. Just buy it, all right?
When I first started running, I was convinced that I needed motion control shoes. WHYYYYYYYYY? Oh, probably because a local running store did my gait analysis incorrectly. I forgive them; I just don’t shop there anymore. The truth is, I supinate after years of ballet and always trying not to “roll” my feet inward. Too bad it took a stress fracture to figure out that wearing pronator-geared shoes when you supinate is just bad news bears.
Blessed be the shoe that saved me: the cushiony-wonder Saucony Triumphs.
Don't ever leave me.
Barring any other freak injury, I think I’m married to these shoes. Thanks, Saucony, for helping me feel like I’m running on pillows. And thanks to the very smart people at The Running Company for helping me find my “sole mate.” Oh, my puns are dreadful.
Here’s another thing I need: friends. And tonight I’m going to write a little ode to someone who has her own blogtag and has made my law school experience brighter by her very awesomeness.
A couple of semesters ago, I was busy clackety-clacking away on my laptop to come up with gems like this in Property class:
Ellen, are you loving this?
Wow, that’s exciting just to reread (I’m kidding). Anyway, during Property, I sat behind someone who looked at much more interesting Internet sites than I did during lecture lulls. She didn’t know it then, but she introduced me to the world of etsy. I’m still wondering why I waited until second semester Criminal Law to walk up and very awkwardly ask, “Hey, want to go to BodyPump with me?” Well, at least I didn’t wait forever. Rachael and I were pretty much instant friends from our first Starbucks chat.
OK, I realize I could really be creeping Rachael out right now, but I just want to say what I’d tell her anyway: she’s a wonderful friend. I do love law school, but it can be a little daunting if you don’t have someone who accepts you as you are, listens, and makes the days slightly more fun. Rachael does all of these things and more. For instance, she kindly agrees to go to one of the only veg restaurants we have around here with me. She also introduced me to Chinese foot massage (well, she didn’t do the massage — let’s be perfectly clear here) and motivated me to sign up for my recent baby triathlon. More importantly, she is a great reality check for me when I’m freaking out about something ridiculous, and she doesn’t seem to mind that I can be pretty “forceful with my opinions” (that’s my inner ENTJ rearing its ugly head). I enjoy that we find the same things hilarious and that I am free to unleash my inner nerd when we’re camped out somewhere at school.
I mean, let’s be honest. We all need good friends. So Rachael, thank you for being a friend (yes, I am indeed thinking of The Golden Girls theme song). I’ve met a lot of great people the past couple of years, but you deserve some major props.
To ease the sappiness — or perhaps make it worse — before I go, I just want to throw it out there that my husband is watching Celtic Woman on TV. This is not an isolated occurrence.
p>I don’t know if I’ve made this clear in the past but I’m quite the fan of Zombie films. I’m not sure why. There’s just something mildly appealing about being one of the few last members of a doomed species surrounded by the undead who want nothing more than to consume your flesh. That may seem odd but who wouldn’t want to be one of those survivors, no more of the drudgery of everyday life, going to work and earning a wage but fighting back the shambling hordes just so you could say you survived. Yeah, for me the Zombie Apocalypse is escapism.
There’s also a fantastic sense of hopelessness in zombie films. In the best ones it seems as though once the infection has begun to spread then the fight is already over. The zombies have already won simply through sheer numbers. The infection often seems to be global and it seems as though it’s only a matter of time before the remaining survivors succumb to either a natural or unnatural end. This is why my favourite zombie films are the original Day and Dawn of the Dead. It’s made very clear in those films that the undead dominance is practically total. The same is also true of the absolutely fantastic piece of Zombie-related televisual entertainment I’ll be looking at today, Dead Set.
Now, let’s get one thing out of the way right at the outset. Dead Set’s zombies are the runners that are becoming more and more prominent throughout zombie fiction. Whilst still being a zombie purist and preferring the shambling, rotting kind who are no real threat on their own but amass in huge numbers causing survivors to become trapped and ideally turn on each other, I will admit that, when used correctly, the runners can be effective. This was perhaps best demonstrated recently in ‘Zombieland’. Running zombies were perfect for that film because the survivors didn’t spend most of their time trapped in one location. It was essentially a road movie and in that kind of film I can see why the runners would be more effective than the traditional Romero variety.
In Dead Set, the running zombies are effective but for different reasons that Charlie Brooker, the writer of this and all-around genius, has stated himself in response to friendly criticism he received from Simon Pegg, well known slow zombie advocate. Basically the runners are used due to budgetary constraints restricting the number of crowd shots, the need to differentiate itself from Pegg’s own ‘Shaun of the Dead’, and the fact that infection needed to spread quick enough to stop an evacuation of the studio being possible. That last one will make more sense once I get into the actual review which I seem to be having some difficulty in doing. Anyway, to sum up these are all fair enough reasons.
Right, to the synopsis then. ‘Dead Set’ starts off during an eviction night for the reality series Big Brother. Throughout the day there have been reports of massive riots or some such thing occurring throughout Britain but despite the possible ramifications of this, the producer decides to take Big Brother to air as normal. During the eviction, however, something horrific happens and before long the only people left alive are those inside the Big Brother house, unaware of what’s happening outside, a show runner, the producer and the evicted contestant. There are a couple of other survivors but the main focus is really on these and, later on, the show runners boyfriend who is trying to make his way to the Big Brother house.
The show runner, Kelly, soon finds out that the outside world is pretty much devoid of life and decides to make her way into the Big Brother house, what with it being possibly the safest place in the world right now. When she makes it inside the house mates think that she’s a new contestant, albeit a fairly crazy one. When a zombie manages to get in and bites one of them, however, they soon realise the situation they are in.
And that’s pretty much where I’m going to leave the synopsis. I’ll say right now that this really is a must watch. It’s available in all of it’s fantastic five part glory through Channel 4’s YouTube page here. My apologies to people outside the UK. I know how these things often work so I wouldn’t be surprised if you find some kind of content restriction message. You can always buy the region 2 DVD, which I would recommend for anyone if I’m honest. It’s always nicer to have a physical copy of something. There are of course other methods you could employ which I will no way endorse here.
So what makes Dead Set so pants-wettingly brilliant? Well, everything really. The very idea of taking Big Brother and putting a zombie apocalypse around it, is in itself a wonderfully simple idea and allows for all the satire and commentary that the best zombie films are known for. In this case it’s reality TV that’s on the chopping block, obviously, and the culture that surrounds it. All of the contestants are the kinds of twattish stereotypes that Big Brother and it’s generally twattish audience thrive on. From blonde bimbo to flamboyantly gay transvestite, all the archetypes are covered. There’s even that one who’s a little bit stupid but likeable enough that he’d probably never actually win. From what I’ve seen of Big Brother those are generally regarded as background characters who never get much screen time because they aren’t as twattish as their housemates. I need to stop using the word twattish.
What’s interesting is that most of the characters, whilst still retaining may of their stereotypical charactersitics, manage to undergo major developments. For example Veronica, the blonde bimbo character, upon finding out about the zombie apocalypse enquires “Does this mean we’re not on the telly anymore?” but by the end she’s able to come up with a plan in order to take down a zombie lose in the garden. It manages to take what should be a relatively unlikeable cast of people and make you care about them and what happens to them in a way that I imagine Big Brother itself would have trouble doing in two months of programming.
It’s also quite clear that a large portion of the zombies are drawn to the Big Brother house, something which makes sense because most of the people there probably where fans of the show who were turned on the night of the eviction and one of the contestants even muses that they the house was almost like a temple to them in life. This echoes Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ where it is theorised that the zombies come to the mall due to some fading half-memory of their former life in which they considered it to be an important place for them. In this case the people used to come here to feed on the micro-fame of the people inside the house and now they’re back to feed on them once more, only this time in a much more literal sense.
Of course, you could talk about the satire and social commentary in zombie films until the cows come home and I’m sure people will continue to do so until the inevitable real life Zombie Apocalypse. The most important thing is how is this invasion of the undead portrayed on screen and all I’ll say is that Dead Set does not disappoint. It is exquisitely gory, revelling in the dismemberment of people by the ravenous monsters. Seriously, for a TV mini-series it seems as though absolutely no punches were pulled. You get to see a zombie get it’s head smashed in with a fire extinguisher, a zombie being carved up for bait and British television ‘favourite’ Davina McCall getting her throat bitten out. The whole thing is enhanced by the fucking fantastic sound effects, each squelch and stab being presented in sickeningly, crisp detail. Awesome. Speaking of sounds, I should also say that setting the initial zombie outbreak to Mika’s ‘Grace Kelly’ was an ingenious idea.
Right, I think I’ve spoken enough about this now. If you haven’t watched it yet, find a way to do so and do it now! Five pints out of five. I‘ll be back tomorrow with either a new list, a review of ‘Antichrist’ or the remake of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ which I‘ve decided to rewatch after my softening on the whole running zombie thing. Laterz.
As I whined about a few days, I am in the midst of grading. I have 18 papers left, and, dear reader, my eyes literally hurt. My fingers are numb. My brain has rebelled. The essays are mostly fine, so at least I don’t have constant ogida. The stress is mostly all of the other stuff I need to do (finish writing several projects; lecture/class prep; search committee business; working on my college’s blog–I’m an editor–etc etc etc).
I did manage to do other things this weekend (a department gathering at a local pub; running both mornings; chores; lunch with the hubby at yet another local pub).
So, this is a placeholder posting, identifying more for myself than for anyone else what postings are potentially forthcoming next month:
Mary McCarthy’s 1963 best selling novel, The Group, has been reprinted by Virago Press: I’ve been reading the latest re-views and recently reread the novel, and I have oodles of reflection: who would have thunk it?
I finally started using the little Nike/Ipod thingy that tracks my distance and speed when running. It’s no GPS device, so it’s undoubtedly not entirely accurate, but I’ve got to say that I’m even more motivated to run each morning than even when I was only mildly obsessed pre-Nike/Ipod thingy (note: I actually do not wear Nike running shoes–so this posting will also be a review of the many pouches available to the anti-establishment running shoe wearers).
Amazon has made Kindle software available to PC users: I’ve downloaded a slew of “free” e-books (Alcott, Austen, etc) to test out on my Netbook.
The trials, tribulations, and joys of teaching Chopin’s The Awakening in a general ed. survey class where male students outnumber women students (a novel that is on a dream high school reading list that Dr. Crazy has started, but not on very many actual high school reading lists, like Quills, mostly because it’s a beautiful novel about SEX).
