Intervals.

Things I am trying to do:

• Run intervals more often
• Run intervals faster
• Jog between intervals instead of walking (this is always what I start doing, but after about 3 intervals my legs don’t want to do it)
• Run intervals outside instead of only on a treadmill

This morning I did that last thing. I ran down my block, then ran up the street sprinting 1 short block, then jogging or walking 1 short block, repeat until I reached the busy street. Then turn around and do the same thing back down, and jog home. In all, it was only about 1 1/4 miles and took me about 13 1/2 minutes (which seems slow for interval training, which is why I want to do more of it.)

Basically, I need to do this like 3-4x/week. It takes almost no time. It doesn’t require extensive stretching. Pretty much, if I plan out what I want to wear to work that day and set out running clothes at night, it adds maybe 1/2 hour to my morning.

Real talk question: I don’t mean this in a tell-me-I’m-right-and-coddle-me-into-not-pushing-myself way, but interval training is based on your OWN top speed, not some universal standard of “run this fast.” Right? Like, as long as each sprint interval is as fast as I can go and I’m out of juice by the end of it, I’m working hard enough?

(I guess this is a dumb question, since if “As hard as I possibly can” isn’t hard enough, why bother, but it’s something I think about as I’m more than halfway done with this and my speed starts to slow no matter how hard I try to make my legs pump faster.)

running

intervals

workout

JP Morgan Corporate Challenge

Tonight was my first time participating in this race. It was kind of crazy leaving work and seeing so many people in tech tees in the subway heading up there- also, seeing so many people representing companies so huge that they tend to be faceless in my mind (American Express, Google, Morgan Stanley, etc.)

There were 75 people from my company, and none of my friends who tried to get in could. The only other people from my channel were a few people from ad sales who I didn’t see until I was eating a sandwich after the race. I feel like this would’ve been a really fun experience if I’d had a friend with me- as it was, it was fine, just nothing special.

It was a bit of a hike to get to our tent, and then I had to double back to get to the pseudo-corral. I found a few other people (strangers) from my team in our teal shirts (that matched my new shoelaces below!) and forced myself to strike up a conversation with one woman after I overheard her say she’s run about a hundred half marathons.

The race was enormous and full of a lot of people who don’t run or race often. Etiquette-wise, it was a lot like the Coogan’s 5k full of children, except all the children are adult-sized so there’s a lot more potential for harm if I trip on them.

Things thinned out a little after about a mile and a half, but it was the strangest race. I was weaving around people a lot to try to get a little room, but then suddenly 100 people would overtake me and swarm up on me at once. It wasn’t terribly hot, but still warmer than I’m acclimated to, which affected my pace/consistency.

Finally in the last half mile, a guy ran up behind me with a boombox strapped to his back, and as he passed he set it to play Eye of the Tiger. I made it a goal to keep up with him until the finish so I could hear it, but he was shockingly fast for someone with a boombox strapped to his back and I lost him quickly. I ended up finishing in 37:50 (for 3.5 miles) which is a good deal slower than I’d hoped. But it was a pretty noncompetitive environment and crowded race so that’s fine.

After a sandwich, I really wanted to mindless snack on cookies, but since i had $5 free at 16 Handles that expires today I went there instead. Now I’m headed to bed so I can get up to head to the gym before work!

running

race

workout

central park

I really needed a good workout tonight, so I busted out of work a couple minutes early and rushed to the gym. I started with 20 minutes of treadmill sprints (and I put more effort into them than I usually do/have) then changed my shoes and did some deadlifts and a bunch of other stuff. I lifted for about 45 minutes, then stretched and showered before heading to a concert.

I think I need to start planning my workouts like I planned my half marathon training schedule- just put all my workouts into google calendar. If I don’t plan it, I won’t do it, so I think I just need to plan these workouts even if I’m not officially training for anything.

I’ve been feeling blah and out of shape since the half, so I think if I can get in 3 workouts like today’s each week, plus one outdoor run and a whole bunch of walking I’ll feel a lot better and hopefully my shorts will fit again.

gym

workout

running

Boy, am I glad I didn’t punk out on the gym tonight!

I was worried when I walked down the stairs to the locker room at the gym. Major ouch in my muscles. But I took 10 minutes to stretch and foam roll pre-workout and I felt ready for deadlifts.

I even ended up doing an extra set just for funsies!

Deadlifts (on a box), split squats, underhand grip pulldowns, step back from box, dumbbell snatches, 3 kinds of crunches. Currently blogging and stretching (which I would call “bletching” but that sounds a little barfy. Strogging?)

In other news, people who work out 1 foot in front of the rack of weights so no one can get any while you’re working: STOP IT.

workout

strength training

new rules of lifting

gym

Rage & running

I got so rage-y today.

First I read in the elevator at work that Cher is paying Chaz Bono to lose weight. $1000/pound. Because nothing says “I love you, honey” like paying him a small fortune to change? Now, the story makes it seem like losing weight was Chaz’s idea and she’s just supporting/encouraging him, but I hate that parents might read that and use it as a “tool” in the “war” on childhood obesity and inadvertently make that kid hate him/herself.

THEN, I read that a fan at a Beyonce concert grabbed her ass while she was onstage (she had the fan escorted out. Thank you for that show of self respect, Bey.) But all the comments on the news post were things like “This guy is a hero!” or “I wish I would’ve done that!” or “She had it coming” or “What did she expect, dressing and dancing like that?” Because if there’s one thing people always say about Beyonce, it’s “Put some clothes on.” Then there was the argument “Act like a stripper, get treated like a stripper.” Spoiler alert: you’re also not supposed to grope strippers without their permission.

THEN I was telling my coworker “Cher is paying her son to lose weight” when I was interrupted by my other coworker who said “Wait, her “son”?” With air quotes. I got the snappiest I’ve ever been at work and told him to lose the air quotes. He got offended that I took issue with them.

Long story short, I got mad at the world all day, but then I ran about 4.75 miles in about 46 minutes after work. I don’t know that I’ve ever run a 9:44 pace for so long…now I just need to work on sustaining that without the crippling rage at the world.

rant

running

workout

Looking forward: summer fitness plans.

I’m trying to think more than a month ahead with my post-Brooklyn Half plans.

Last summer I gave up running cold turkey, in favor of half-hearted attempts at weight lifting and riding my no-gears bicycle around my impossibly hilly neighborhood. I guess I did a few bouts of treadmill intervals, but at most once every other week. I think one nice day in July I ran about 3 miles outside because it wasn’t 100 degrees so I wanted to celebrate.

I have 3 short-ish races coming up in June. First the mini 10k (which, after the BK half, I have a tentative interest in PRing). A few days later, I have the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge, which is the totally normal race distance of 5.6k. But work is paying for it and giving me a tshirt, so cool. Then at the end of the month is the LGBT 5-miler in Central Park. So obviously I can’t stop running altogether.

June goal: 3-mile run twice a week, Sunday 5-6 miler.

July/August goal: treadmill intervals 3x/week, one 3-4 mile outdoor run once a week. If there’s a nice 70-ish day, take an easy run outside if I’m free.

My summer goals are based around the fact that I know I hate running outside in the heat. But I also love running in the fall, so I want to put in more effort to keep my miniscule “base.”

I also intend to focus more on strength training- I think I’m going to jump back into New Rules of Lifting for Women, but skip the sloooow phase 1. I do well with a plan, but I fell out of this routine around phase 5 or 6. I’ll hop back onboard and really try to dedicate effort to making my workouts  shorter and more intense. Also, I’d like to ride my bike more.

In general, I feel a sense of balance in my life (aside from the nights I drink too much or weeks I eat too much junk) and I don’t want to focus on “weight loss” per se, but I do know that I hold most of my weight in my thighs so if I want my shorts to fit comfortably I should put a little effort into burning some far and gaining some muscle.

workout

goals

summer

11.something

I am so, so, so glad I did this run. A few people commented on my Tuesday post that I didn’t really need it. And there’s some truth in that- one can run a half marathon with 10 miles as your longest long run. But I don’t know if I can. Running is so mental, and if I don’t feel prepared I’m just going to set myself up to fail.

Fortunately, I feel good and prepared now.

With how great I felt, I really thought I was going faster, but this is still very good for me. (If I can repeat that in the half next Saturday, I’d have a time of 2:19:18. I’m hoping for 2:18 or faster, so hopefully race day adrenaline (and not having to stop/start at lights) will get me there.

I took an espresso Gu right before running (it was gross.) The weather was beautiful- about 60-65 degrees, sunny, no rain, nice breeze off the river. Perfect running weather, in my opinion.

I had half a pack of Gu chomps around mile 5- I’ve found that I really prefer chomps/shot bloks to Gu, but the only downside is that I have to walk to eat them. But Gu has a tendency to mix with my water and bounce back into my throat so I never stop tasting it, which I do not enjoy.

My only complaint is that literally every bathroom on the Hudson River Greenway, from 96th st down to the World Financial Center, is closed. Are they doing construction? Do they close at 6? I have no idea. I tried to duck into a ferry terminal near my turn-off point for the bridge, but the women’s room was out of order. Just the women’s. Are you kidding me?

The other half my chomps on the bridge, and I was back in my own borough. It was a bit of a bummer to get to the end of the downhill off the bridge and realize I actually had to use muscle to move my legs instead of just gravity. By this point my legs were pretty sore. I think it’s my IT band, which I don’t normally have issues with, sore because I took way fewer walk breaks than usual.

From there it was just slightly uphill for a mile and a half to get home to my burrito. It waited for me while I stretched and foam rolled a bit, and has since been devoured in my bed while I ice my knees.

TL;DR, this was the strongest I’ve ever felt on such a long run. I really only stopped to walk 3 times (2 of those were for eating my gummies) and had good luck with lights so I only stopped for those a couple times.

Playlist:
Butch Walker & the Black Widows “Every Single Body Else”
We Are the Fury “Now You Know”
Mann f/ Jason Derulo “Text”
Young Statues “Pretty Girls Make Raves”
Sugarcult “Daddy’s Little Defect”
Thee Armada “Magnet to Misery”
Fountains of Wayne “Stacy’s Mom”
Take Cover “Escape Artist”
Kelly Clarkson “Mr Know It All”
Take Cover “Back Pedal”
Take Cover “The Whole Story”
The Starting Line “Decisions Decisions”
Amy Winehouse “Tears Dry On Their Own”
Tokyo Police Club “Wait Up (Boots of Danger)”
We the Kings “Heaven Can Wait”
The Starting Line “Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us”
Zebrahead “Jag Off
Something Corporate “Straw Dog”
Vinnie Caruana “Somehow The World Keeps Turning”
Valencia “Spinning Out”
One Direction “One Thing”
311 “Don’t Stay Home”
The Starting Line “Hello Houston”
Jessie J “Abracadabra”
Whitney Houston “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”
Timbaland f/ Fall Out Boy “One and Only”
Sum41 “Motivation”
Wiz Khalifa “Roll Up”
Thee Armada “Lala”
The Starting Line “Up & Go”
Beyonce “Love On Top”
Young Statues “Spacism”
You, Me, and Everyone We Know “The Puzzle”
Kate Nash “Kiss That Grrl”
Suicide Machines “What I Like About You”
Something Corporate “I Want to Save You”
Straighter Than Pete “Centerfold”
Valencia “The Space Between”
Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer “How Bout It”
The Starting Line “Island”

running

workout

training

Brooklyn Half Marathon

brooklyn

playlist

Evening 4-miler

This run was just what I needed to remind me that I actually can run, and that I actually enjoy it most some of the time.

I did 2 lower loops of the park without stopping to walk, at a pace so consistent that my time at the end of the run was exactly double what it was when I checked it after loop 1. It’s no negative split, but I’ll take a totally-equal split!

Then I came home and ate 2 veggie dogs and some roasted parsnip fries. Also I cut my roommate’s cat’s claws because he’s getting stuck to everything like velcro. He sulked for a little while but he just sat down on my arm so I think he’s forgiven me.

Now off to bed- a friend from high school is in town with her orchestra to play Carnegie Hall tomorrow (!!!!!) so we’re meeting for breakfast.

running

central park

workout

Almost the worst. Pretty much the worst.

Today’s long run was a mess, for some reasons that were not my fault and some that were.

It wasn’t really my fault that I feel like I’m starting to get sick (and have felt like I’m staving off a cold for the past couple days.) It’s not my fault that it was kind of hot today, though if I’d gotten my ass up earlier I could’ve NOT run 10 miles in the 2pm heat. It wasn’t my fault that there was park construction down by south street seaport, so I couldn’t take my exact route.

It was my fault I was a little hungover from pre- and post-theater drinking yesterday, and it was my fault I got a late start. I guess I should have realized that altering my route would’ve shortened it and added a little bit, but I didn’t so my route got shortchanged a little.

Things could’ve been worse. I didn’t have to walk the whole thing. I didn’t pass out and fall into traffic (there was no actual chance of this happening, it was just something I thought about.) I didn’t poop my pants (there was a time when I thought there was an actual chance of this happening.) Looking back at it in my pajamas, I’m glad I finished it out (sorta) since now I don’t have to try to redo it during the week.

Everything just went wrong- I planned to go to the gym at Wall st to use the bathroom before heading out on the run, but that gym is closed Sundays. Which meant I had to dash into a construction porta potty around mile 1.5, and it was the only one I’ve seen that was grosser than the Brooklyn Half mile 8 porta potty from last year. Also some mom/kid ripped the door open on me even though I locked it, and didn’t immediately slam it shut when I screamed so I had to grab the door and pull it closed myself.

There were a ton of tourists around the seaport, which I should’ve anticipated. I accidentally kicked one a little, and mostly-accidentally pushed another.

I ran out of water around mile 7 but none of the water fountains were on. Fortunately I found a gatorade vending machine that took $5 bills, but when I hit the button for orange gatorade it gave me blue. EW. Better than nothing.

The majority of this run had to be done in run/walk intervals. It was either that or give up, and I wanted really badly not to give up. I put myself in bad circumstances for the run, so I walked maybe 1/3 of a song, then ran the rest of the song + the whole next song.

When I finally saw the sign for 125th st I was so relieved. Even if I had to stop a few blocks short of it because my body didn’t want to run anymore.

I planned to go to Shake Shack for a chocolate peanut butter shake post-run, but neither my throat nor stomach wanted anything cold/dairy. I grabbed some garlic knots from a random pizza place near 125th st and headed home (where I downed some poached eggs on hash browns.)

So, to recap, my 8 miler 2 weeks ago was awful. My 9 miler last week was pretty good. This one was even more awful, so my 12-miler next Tuesday should be great, right? Right?

running

sick

workout

training