Scorecard and Ten Seconds of Fame (Literally)

Being completely preoccupied with eating and workout, I only now found time to report that my 20 mile run last weekend went really well. Yes, of course there were some aches and pains, but I made it in great time without major difficulties. What a confindence booster that was!

Check out the video clip of me running the 20 miles. (The video then moves on to show you other news clips--just reload the page, if you would like to see me run for 10 seconds again, as I know you do.)

Watch the full video at Boston.com

With just two weeks remaining before the marathon, the excitement builds, and the tapering off has begun. On Saturday I ran only 14 miles (Cleveland Circle out to Wellesley and back). Next weekend the run will be shorter still--probably about 8 miles.

The Ultimate Test

It has been a lont time since I have last updated the blog. I have been busy, though I am having difficulties explaining exactly what I have been so busy with. It seems like I spend all of my time doing exactly 5 things:

1. Working out, be it strength training, running, in and out of physical therapy, etc.
2. Eating—muscles need fuel
3. Grocery shopping and cooking (in order to satisfy activity #2)
4. Working—apparently food costs money; so does physical therapy and going to the pool
5. Sleeping—wish I could skip this one but have not yet been able to figure out how

Food is definitely the focus here. It is not just about breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eating for me has been continuous. My desk at work is overflowing with nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate. Occasional family events tend to revolve around a meal. TV watching is almost always combined with eating. Even long workouts imply carefully planned consumption of special “GU” to keep me going. And during those rare moments when I am not eating, I am ultimately planning the next meal.

Of course I run to eat, and I eat to run.

The ultimate test for all of this training is not the marathon itself. The race is more of a celebration after the craziness that the training season brings into runners’ lives. The test for me is coming up tomorrow morning. With three weeks left before the marathon, I plan to do a 20 mile training run.

I am excited and nervous. I am acting on the assumption that my ankle will hold me up. A lot of runners will be doing their last big long run this weekend, and I expect the marathon course will be quite crowded. I heard that some out of town runners come out to Boston to do this run on the marathon course, and that locals come out to cheers the runners on. When I trained for the Boston Marathon two years ago, this is the run I did not get to do because I was nursing an IT band injury then, and it makes me look forward to this run even more.

My "Olympic" Training

While it is true that I have been glued to the TV every evening watching the Olympics, I have also been doing some of my own "Olympic level" training. Here is the last week’s summary of my efforts:

• Two one-hour sessions of deep water running
• Two physical therapy sessions involving running and intense strength training
• Two morning aerobic workouts, each of which involved an elliptical machine and some run/walking on the treadmill
• And the week’s finale—my “long run” (total of 4 hours and 15 minutes):
• 3 x 45 minutes + 1 x 30 minutes on the arc trainer
• 3 x 15 minutes of run/walking on the treadmill
• 1 x 45 minutes on the elliptical machine

As you can see from the above summary, I am slowly but surely starting to run. So now is a great time for you to enter my training mileage and race time contest for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificates. Please look at this earlier post for more information on how to enter the contest.

Announcing Training Mileage and Race Time Contest

I invite you to participate in a contest for a chance to win $25 Amazon gift certificate. All you have to do is make a guess at:

1. How many miles I will run training for the marathon between January 1st and April 19, 2010, not counting the marathon itself.
2. How long it will take me to complete the Boston Marathon.

I will select two winners after the race--one for the closest estimate of my total training mileage and one for the closest estimate of my race time. Please feel free to refer to my running log to help you make the estimates. And here is a hint--my total training mileage for January will not change, but my ankle will be strong enough to start gradually ramping up my miles in February.

Here is how to enter the contest:

1. Please make a donation to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. The suggested donation for a single contest entry is $5.
2. Submit your best guess by filling out this contest form.

You can enter the contest multiple times! The more you contribute to the fight against cancer, the more estimates you can make increasing your chances of winning! Good luck and thank you for your support!

The Rules Have Changed

Two days ago I had to toss my training schedule out the window. It was a very sad moment, and I will preface my explanation of what happened by firmly stating that I am still planning on training for and running the Boston Marathon this year. So what happened?

With just over 13 weeks left till the marathon I managed to fall down the stairs in our apartment building and sprain my ankle. Nick had to come and carry me back to our apartment. There were a few tears, and a few x-rays. Now there are the crutches and a lot of hopping around.

Nick and I have very different memories of the prognosis the doctor gave me on the speed of my recovery, but we agree that my foot is definitely getting better. The swelling is decreasing, and today I have started very carefully putting some weight on it.

Before this accident, I was very much looking forward to getting into the routine of running and strength training. I was excited about being able to add extra miles and track workouts to my schedule this year. More than anything, I was hoping to have a season without injuries.

Since clearly such "utopia" is not to be, I am determined to see the bright side of things. I did not break any bones, nor did I damage any other parts of my body (not even my brain) during the fall. My previously nonexistent upper body strength is growing at lightening speed with every crutch step I take. I have over 3 months before the marathon--the same accident 2 months later would have left me with no chance of running the race. The injury is just another challenge along the way.

More importantly, in the grand scheme of things my sprained ankle is a scratch compared to the suffering the cancer patients endure, and the courage and the strength they muster in their fight against cancer. I will only work harder on trying to heal and rehabilitate while thinking about the people I am running for. They endure radiation and chemotherapy--I can definitely overcome a mere sprained ankle and run the marathon for them.

Training Or Not Training

Many people ask me if I have already started training for the Boston Marathon. Have I? Most marathon training programs are about 18 weeks long. With the race being over 5 months away, I have not officially started on any programs. However I am running.

My goal is to have no injuries, to get stronger, stay strong, and then get even stronger. To do that, I am running 4 times a week for a total of about 25 miles. Each week includes a tempo run, an interval workout, and a 10 mile run. This regimen leaves 3 more days per week for other exciting activities--1 day for rest, and 2 days for stength training.

I will start a yet-to-be-determined training program around mid December, because it is not sufficiently cold yet for all those long runs.