Sleep at night, rest on Rest Days

Marathon training week: 1 of 18
Marathon plan: Rest

Do you ever feel, at night, before you go to bed, I'm too tired to do "x" thing tomorrow? And then you remember that between now and then you get to sleep and so you think, oh, okay, I suppose I can do "x" thing tomorrow...

Well, this morning I woke up thinking, I don't think I can run 8 miles tomorrow. I'm too tired. But then I remembered that today was a Rest Day. And then I decided that I would sincerely respect it as such and made plans to NOT attend a favorite West African Dance class.

Ya'll should be proud of me. Restraint is not necessarily what I'm most known for.

But if I wasn't going to exercise, I was going to think about exercising. So I ordered a new bicycle seat for my Pista. This one. It is much like the one I have on my road bike, which is quite comfy as bicycle seats go. And I read quite a bit from The Anatomy of Hatha Yoga which was quite fantastic and made me really excited about massage AND yoga AND Thai Yoga Massage! I love being excited about learning new things and learning old thing again and more thoroughly.

I also made this Cranberry Sauce With Port and Cinnamon for our Traditional Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner tomorrow. Though it doesn't quite look like the picture. I did the prep work for stuffing (like chopping onion and celery) and as much prep work as a I could for this Apple-Cranberry Crisp with Polenta Streusel Topping.

Oh! And for breakfast I made Scrambled Tofu and Potatoes! Yum! I AM training after all--a girl's gotta eat! And while I was cooking breakfast, Helen Money or Alison Chelsey was being interviewed on eight forty-eight. I love her songs Birds and Song for My Sister, which you can listen to on her website. Enjoy!

Run to yoga!

Marathon training week: 1 of 18
Marathon Plan: 3 miles

Time of departure: 5:20pm
Return: 5:53pm

Sunrise: 6:41am
Sunset: 4:31pm
Phase of the moon: Waxing crescent, 33%
Temperature: 34F. Cold!
Lake Temp: 50F

Route: From Yoga Now down the lakefront, back to yoga class. It's easier to do a yoga class after a 3 mile run than doing a WAD class after a run. Because there's less jumping!

Approx Distance: 3 miles
Running buddy: Just me.
Clothing: shoes, socks, yoga pants, long sleeve t, wind breaker, hat.

The Drive Activity: there were a lot of cars.

People tally, on the path:
0 Walkers
4 Runners, 3 of them were women, 2 of whom I saw twice
6? Cyclists, 5 men, 1 woman.
0? People with dogs

What did I eat pre-run? A salad. It was good.
How did I feel? Good. I started to feel like I had more control today; for instance, I could sense I was bopping along and then shift my stride so that it was smoother. I felt like I could manipulate more where the effort, or lack of effort, would occur in my body.
What do I like about running? It's a good way for me to check in with my body and means to gage how everything is working. For instance, I was feeling a bit of extra tightness or something behind my lateral right knee. And I had a sense that my left hip wasn't quite happy in it's socket. None of this was pain, and nothing would be noticed sitting on the couch, but while in motion I had more of an awareness of the inside of my body.

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These 3 mile runs feel almost ridiculous now, which is kind of cool. It's as if I don't want to get all sweaty and dirty my clothes for 3 miles. It takes me 2 miles just to feel warmed up, and then I only have 1 mile where it starts to be fun. :) Yet I understand their place in a training program. SOoooo...my compromise seems to have become: run to WAD, run to yoga. This way, I only get sweaty once each day! Plus, well, you know me, I love to cross train and do multi sport sorts of things.

It was dark though. I was thinking about safety and what is involved with being a woman out on the path. I was thinking, maybe I should get a foghorn and carry it with me. AND some pepper spray. Or maybe a foghorn would be enough. I kind of like that idea. But interestingly, it was most solitary women I saw on the path.

This was my first 3 mile run on the route where I usually do 6 miles. It was fun! Kind of like those days of school when you only go for half the time. It feels worth it, going to school, just so you can go home early.

Yoga was awesome. I'm really like this Ashtanga yoga stuff. Something about me I've realized is true: I like routine. Ritual. Consistency. I know knowing what's coming next. I also like not knowing what's coming next, if we're talking about life on a grander scheme, but I do appreciate a certain bedrock. I liked that about Army training and certain things about the Army in general. I like taking the monkey mind out of it and learning to do things in a flow. I like being able to witness the most subtle increases in strength, flexibility, knowledge and body awareness which is easier to do when the routine is constant from day to day.

I'm beginning to know the Ashtanga series a bit now. I'm able to make guesses about which posture is coming next, and sometimes I'm right! I feel my body is beginning to learn how to move into postures that 3 weeks ago it was very confused by and ignorant of. Oh, growth is so fun!

the beginning of a journey

Time to bring back the stats.

Marathon training week: 1
The plan: 5 miles

Time of departure: 7:30am
Return: 8:45am

Phase of the moon: It's waxing. There was a new moon...Thursday, I think?
Sunrise: 640 AM CST
Sunset: 432 PM CST
Temperature: 50F
Lake Temp: 50F. Brr. That's too cold for swimming.

Route: Down to Wilson on the lakefront and back up. I hugged the lake most of the time.
Approx Distance: 5 miles
Running buddy: Just myself
Clothing: I wore running shoes, socks, blue pants with white stripes, long sleeve t, wind breaker.

What did I eat pre-run? Oh, I don't think I ate anything. I forgot about this step.
How did I feel? Pretty good. Like I'm finding my running legs. They're a little sluggish about remembering how to run.
What do I like about running? Oh, I like that it takes me out of doors on beautiful mornings like this one.

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Last night I left my mp3 player at my dance class. I think. (I should see about getting that back tomorrow.) So this morning I was sans mp3 player. I am also without running buddy because Matt and I are currently having differences. He wants to run fast. I...well, I don't run fast. He wants to run at night. I want to run in the morning. I want to follow this marathon program to facillitate a successful run of the Rome marathon. Matt scoffs at marathon training programs. And so it goes. We're working out a compromise, but meanwhile, I'm in Week 1 of a training program.

Yay!

And so it is interesting to be running a route that is super familiar to me with nothing but my thoughts. And no one to compromise with or discuss changes in route...so today I stretched near the lake and ran along side it as soon as possible all the way down to Lawrence where the path turns inland a bit. I think, while I'm running, what is it to run without a buddy? What will it be to run this winter essentially alone? Where will my thoughts take me? Will it feel like a fun adventure when it's -2F plus windchill? Or will it just feel like a bad idea becoming reality? How much does the sharing of an event determine the essence of that event?

I don't know yet. But it's mornings like this one that remind me that this is without a doubt my favorite season, that even with the trees half empty this city is glorious, that the colors of burnt orange leaves against a deep blue sky are one of the most miraculous of color combinations and I want to say to someone, isn't this incredible? And I look around, looking to see if there is someone looking for me, looking to lock eyes and nod and smile.

The lake was a deep and glorious blue color, almost completely still. Certainly, it was flat. There weren't any waves, just a textured surface, as if made by the hand of an oil painter. Along the shore it did show like glass, dotted with some mallard ducks and seagulls with their beaks tucked in their feathers...

Anyhow, it was a beautiful morning, by anyone's standards.

Day 2: 3 mile run to WAD

Today I began to remember that a big part of the challenge of training for a marathon is finding the time. Or, shall I say, creating the time. I biked to work, worked, biked home from work. Sat down. And realized I had to be at my West African dance class in an hour. And I had to run 3 miles. And then meet up with a friend.

So I thought to combine commuting to dance and my run by running to dance!

My dance class is about 2 miles away, so with the help of google pedometer I figured out a little addendum. (yay! google pedometer!)

When I arrived at dance, the warmup had already started--so I had no break!--that was tough. Bike, Run, WAD = the new triathlon. It kicked my butt.

DAY 1: Rest Day

Today is Day #1 of Marathon Training. But this feels like a joke, because today is a Rest day. How silly, I first thought.

But then I got to thinking:

Anyone who is good at teaching you how to breath properly is going to teach you to exhale completely first. If you first clear out your lungs of stale air, a full deep breath will occur naturally.

It is best to eat when you are hungry, not when you are full.

My sister and her boyfriend tell me that, back in the day (of biblical times, I think it was) a day actually began with nightfall. First came nighttime and darkness, then came daytime and light. The light moves into the void. But first there was a void.

Perhaps it is only a coincidence, but our new year begins in winter, when much of life is hiberating and resting. Like an empty womb before the birth of a new life?

A fast, a period of time of giving up something, is commonly used by people as a way to begin a new spiritual journey.

And so as I had these thoughts I, of course, realized that it makes perfect sense to begin with a rest day.

(I still did do an Ashtanga yoga class...but it was a beginner class.)

Thinking about Rome...

This is the plan:

Marathon Training Schedule: Intermediate - I:
"Marathon Training Schedule: Novice 2
WeekMonTueWedThurFriSatSun
1rest3 m run5 m pace3 m runrest8cross
2rest3 m run5 m run3 m runrest9cross
3rest3 m run5 m pace3 m runrest6cross
4rest3 m run6 m pace3 m runrest11cross
5rest3 m run6 m run3 m runrest12cross
6rest3 m run6 m pace3 m runrest9cross
7rest4 m run7 m pace4 m runrest14cross
8rest4 m run7 m run4 m runrest15cross
9rest4 m run7 m pace4 m runrest11cross
10rest4 m run8 m pace4 m runrest17cross
11rest5 m run8 m run5 m runrest18cross
12rest5 m run8 m pace5 m runrest13cross
13rest5 m run5 m pace5 m runrest19cross
14rest5 m run8 m run5 m runrest12cross
15rest5 m run5 m pace5 m runrest20cross
16rest5 m run4 m pace5 m runrest12cross
17rest4 m run3 m run4 m runrest8cross
18rest3 m run2 m runrestrest2 m runMarathon"

Monday will mark the beginning of the 18 week training program for the Rome marathon. It begins with a Rest Day. How fun! Today though, Eric and I are planning on doing some running, hopefully more on that later.

I'm hoping to resume blogging on such mundane things as the weather and how my body feels and who else encounter out there. This idea of running a marathon in the spring and training for it over the winter began with the idea that 1) I want to do triathlons in the summer and so don't want to train for a marathon and 2) someday Eric and I would like to do an (heaven forbid I'm jinxing it) but an Ironman. Someday. While Eric has done 3 marathons, I have not done any and one must run a marathon or two BEFORE they swim/bike/run an Ironman. And last year we ran through the winter, driven by the novelty and the...oh, well, the challenge and adventure of doing something we thought a little ridiculous: running miles through slush and snow, crawling up bridges covered with ice, sliding down the other side. But this year, perhaps we need something more than just the challenge of "can we run through the winter? outdoors?" to get us outside, because we know we can.

Some runs I expect to be noteworthy: The 11 mile run will be on my 30th birthday. The 15 mile run will be the day after Eric's 29th birthday. Comparing last winter's temperature stats and this year's marathon plan puts the 18 mile run on what may be expected to be the coldest weekend of the year, ALSO the second weekend of a Thai Yoga Massage Therapy program I'll be attending, so it'll be challenge enough just to find the time for it. My 12 mile taper run is expected to be in Paris, France and my 8 mile taper run in Milan, Italy. And, of course, the marathon itself will be in Rome, Italy. Roma, Italia!

Yea. Okay, time to head out for my last pre-season run. (Sorry, Eric, I'm running late writing this...)

WAD update

I thought I'd mention here that I went to a WAD (West African Dance) class tonight and it was very enjoyable. We did a dance that I had done before in an Old Town School level 1 class. It's a slower song that is a "seduction" dance. There is a greater focus on the slighter, more isolated movements in the torso, and less in footwork and faster, more enthusaistic movements. It was good for me because I felt like I was able to focus more on dancing with the intention of it being a seduction dance (you know, trying to look pretty and graceful and whatnot) than trying to get all the moves. I also felt like I had a different idea of what the dance should look like, compared to some of the other dancers. It wasn't about, to me, being as enthusiastic as possible. There was something more than blatant exuberance to try express and convey. So this was fun and challenging in a new way.

Btw, I love WAD.