Week 2: 12/20/10 - 12/26/10 (16 weeks remain)
I went back home for winter break this week, and so between running around to various appointments that I've been putting off (doctor, dentist, etc.) and trying to get back in touch with friends in nearby cities who I only see once or twice a year (when we're all back in town), I actually did not get quite as many miles in this week as I would have ideally liked.
Monday: Off day. Escaped Cambridge on an 11:00 IN THE AM! Frontier Airlines flight just before we got the first snow of the season (over a foot!). Unbeknownst to me at the time, Frontier had decided to route me through Milwaukee, of all places, followed by another transfer in Denver. Finally made it back to sunny Los Angeles around 8:30, only to discover that I had arrived in the middle of the second-worst rainstorm in the previous decade. Awesome.
Tuesday: Didn't run today (rained out) - spent all day running around town to various appointments.
Wednesday: Still didn't run today (also rained out). Went to Long Beach with Matt for Marissa's Cedar House holiday party; that was pretty slick.
Thursday: Also didn't run (rained out - seriously, AGAIN!?).
Friday: 8 miles, general aerobic. Finally got out and ran today. Decided to go for a run up into the hills above PV, since we don't really have many hills in Cambridge. Run up Calle Mayor to PV Blvd, turned left to run up the bridle trail, and took Via Valmonte down from the hills to Hawthorne, and then Newton back to Calle Mayor.
Friday: 5 miles. Ran the Sepulveda to Ocean loop. Nice day today, not much to report.
Saturday: 16 miles (long run). Ran down Calle Mayor to PV Blvd to Malaga Cove, and then hopped on the fire trail to head up to the cliffs. Apparently the rain has been good to the local vegetation; the fire trail is completely covered in green grass, which I've never actually seen before, but which was really nice. Continued on PV Blvd until Marguerite Drive (where the PV running trail dead-ends). Took a 3 mile detour on the way back to run the PV high school cross country course. Had prime rib for Christmas dinner; pretty good day all around.
Sunday: Didn't run - at Bill and Justina's wedding(!).
Total weekly mileage: 29
So it looks like this week I went more for quality than quantity. I should be able to get a lot more mileage in next week.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Out of Retirement
Week 1: 12/13/10 - 12/19/10 (17 weeks remain)
So this week was my first week back to formal marathon training. After finishing the Austin Marathon last February, I took some time off to frantically finish up writing and submitting my master's report so I could actually graduate on time, and then moved all my shit back to CA and left the country for three weeks. Needless to say, not much running happened over that period of time. But after getting back to CA and then moving my shit ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE GODDAMN COUNTRY AGAIN, I've been running pretty regularly since then in anticipation of starting up training for Boston this week.
Monday: Off day.
Tuesday: 8 miles w/ appx. 4 mile tempo
Nominally, the schedule called for a 9-mile day today with a 4 mile tempo run. Unfortunately, I was unprepared for how cold it was going to be today.
Let me preface this by saying that I've actually gotten used to running in the cold down to 30 degrees or so; a couple of weeks ago, I went out and bought myself some of those black running tights and one of those day-glo green jackets to wear as a shell over my other stuff for warmth, and it's been working pretty well. Unfortunately, we were hit with a cold snap earlier this week, and by the time I got around to going out for my run tonight (after getting out of lab at 5:30, about an hour after it's been getting dark around here) the temperature had dropped to around 18 degrees with a flesh-ripping, bone chilling wind.
The nominal plan was to run down Mass Ave to the Charles, head east along the north bank, cross over the Longfellow Bridge to Cambridge Street, loop around Boston Common, take Commonwealth Ave back to Mass Ave, get back on the Charles River trail by the Mass Ave bridge on the South Bank, (about 4 miles total), and then do the 4 mile tempo run as a loop around the Charles starting at the Mass Ave Bridge, crossing over the second bridge to the west, and then returning on the opposite bank, and then tacking on an extra mile for a cooldown (ha!). Unfortunately, by the time I reached the Mass Ave bridge on the south bank, I had discovered that my face had gone completely numb, my woolen gloves were completely worthless against the wind, and my hands were in excruciating pain to the point that I thought I might seriously be in danger of frostbite. So I decided to cut the run short by cutting out the cooldown at the end and letting my 4 mile (appx.) tempo run consist of getting my ass back to SidPac before my fucking hands fell off. The tempo run itself actually went pretty well given how long it's been since I've done one (pain and fear being powerful motivators); the rather painful process of thawing out my frozen, useless, claw-like fingers after getting back home, not so much.
Wednesday: 5 miles (recovery day). Pussed out and tried my hand (ha! get it :-D ?) at the treadmill today. I swore I would never use one of these things, but to be honest, I didn't think I had the psychological resources necessary to force myself outside in the pitch-black 20-degree temperatures a second time, recalling the horror that had been yesterday's workout. The treadmill turned out to be everything I had always thought it could be: monotonous and boring. 'Nuff said.
Thursday: 10 miles, general aerobic. Today turned out to be a lovely day (bright, sunny, yeah!), and I decided to take advantage of today's heatwave (ZOMG 34 degrees!!!11one!!) by putting in a 10 mile general aerobic run around Fresh Pond. It was actually really nice; parts of the Charles and Fresh Pond are starting to ice over - it's really quite scenic (also, having upgraded my gloves since Tuesday probably didn't hurt either).
Friday: Another 5 on the treadmill. Again, nothing too exciting here.
Saturday: Medium-long run, 14 miles. This was the first semi-long run for this training cycle. I think it went pretty well; I maintained a decent pace throughout, and didn't go into ZOMFG-I'M-30-SECONDS-FROM-DEATH glycogen depletion like I did for the first few longer runs I did when training for Austin, so I think things are looking up. Also, running around Boston Common and along the Charles at this time of year is like running through a Christmas card :-D.
Sunday: Off day (prepping for travel back to T-town).
Total weekly mileage: 42 (not especially high, but it's only the first week back).
So this week was my first week back to formal marathon training. After finishing the Austin Marathon last February, I took some time off to frantically finish up writing and submitting my master's report so I could actually graduate on time, and then moved all my shit back to CA and left the country for three weeks. Needless to say, not much running happened over that period of time. But after getting back to CA and then moving my shit ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE GODDAMN COUNTRY AGAIN, I've been running pretty regularly since then in anticipation of starting up training for Boston this week.
Monday: Off day.
Tuesday: 8 miles w/ appx. 4 mile tempo
Nominally, the schedule called for a 9-mile day today with a 4 mile tempo run. Unfortunately, I was unprepared for how cold it was going to be today.
Let me preface this by saying that I've actually gotten used to running in the cold down to 30 degrees or so; a couple of weeks ago, I went out and bought myself some of those black running tights and one of those day-glo green jackets to wear as a shell over my other stuff for warmth, and it's been working pretty well. Unfortunately, we were hit with a cold snap earlier this week, and by the time I got around to going out for my run tonight (after getting out of lab at 5:30, about an hour after it's been getting dark around here) the temperature had dropped to around 18 degrees with a flesh-ripping, bone chilling wind.
The nominal plan was to run down Mass Ave to the Charles, head east along the north bank, cross over the Longfellow Bridge to Cambridge Street, loop around Boston Common, take Commonwealth Ave back to Mass Ave, get back on the Charles River trail by the Mass Ave bridge on the South Bank, (about 4 miles total), and then do the 4 mile tempo run as a loop around the Charles starting at the Mass Ave Bridge, crossing over the second bridge to the west, and then returning on the opposite bank, and then tacking on an extra mile for a cooldown (ha!). Unfortunately, by the time I reached the Mass Ave bridge on the south bank, I had discovered that my face had gone completely numb, my woolen gloves were completely worthless against the wind, and my hands were in excruciating pain to the point that I thought I might seriously be in danger of frostbite. So I decided to cut the run short by cutting out the cooldown at the end and letting my 4 mile (appx.) tempo run consist of getting my ass back to SidPac before my fucking hands fell off. The tempo run itself actually went pretty well given how long it's been since I've done one (pain and fear being powerful motivators); the rather painful process of thawing out my frozen, useless, claw-like fingers after getting back home, not so much.
Wednesday: 5 miles (recovery day). Pussed out and tried my hand (ha! get it :-D ?) at the treadmill today. I swore I would never use one of these things, but to be honest, I didn't think I had the psychological resources necessary to force myself outside in the pitch-black 20-degree temperatures a second time, recalling the horror that had been yesterday's workout. The treadmill turned out to be everything I had always thought it could be: monotonous and boring. 'Nuff said.
Thursday: 10 miles, general aerobic. Today turned out to be a lovely day (bright, sunny, yeah!), and I decided to take advantage of today's heatwave (ZOMG 34 degrees!!!11one!!) by putting in a 10 mile general aerobic run around Fresh Pond. It was actually really nice; parts of the Charles and Fresh Pond are starting to ice over - it's really quite scenic (also, having upgraded my gloves since Tuesday probably didn't hurt either).
Friday: Another 5 on the treadmill. Again, nothing too exciting here.
Saturday: Medium-long run, 14 miles. This was the first semi-long run for this training cycle. I think it went pretty well; I maintained a decent pace throughout, and didn't go into ZOMFG-I'M-30-SECONDS-FROM-DEATH glycogen depletion like I did for the first few longer runs I did when training for Austin, so I think things are looking up. Also, running around Boston Common and along the Charles at this time of year is like running through a Christmas card :-D.
Sunday: Off day (prepping for travel back to T-town).
Total weekly mileage: 42 (not especially high, but it's only the first week back).
ROUND 3
Hey all,
So after having succeeded in qualifying for the Boston Marathon last year at the Austin Marathon (hey! that rhymes!), several important things happened:
So after having succeeded in qualifying for the Boston Marathon last year at the Austin Marathon (hey! that rhymes!), several important things happened:
- I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May with a master's in mathematics (with a focus in differential geometry, functional analysis, and dynamical systems, particularly geometric mechanics).
- I spent three weeks abroad in China (AWESOME :-D!)
- I moved to Cambridge, MA to start a Ph.D. in CS at MIT (<-- acronyms much?)
- I succeeded in registering for the 2011 Boston Marathon!
- And finally, as of 12/13/10, we passed the 18-week countdown mark to the Boston Marathon (4/18/11), which can only mean one thing: BACK TO WORK, SON!
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