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By: Cait,
on 5/22/2014
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For runners, finding that perfect taper and method to peak right sure can be difficult! Which sounds kinda crazy because taking the taper at face value, one could think, “Well, I just need to cut back. I’ve done all the work, so let’s just coast on until race day and wind up with fresh as daisy legs!”
WRONG. Any runner can tell you tapering is a bit of a beast. Sometimes your legs do feel an extra bounce, other times they start feeling like dead weights and you start to freak out, “What the heck, why am I trucking bricks?!”
Some runners even build a little superstition around it, “The worse my legs feel on the warm-up the better they feel in the race.’ Not going to lie, I’ve experienced that one and can back the logic.
So let’s talk taper. We’ll even start from the most basic of basics up.
What is a taper? Training is done in phases, working backwards from the date of your big race. The closer you draw to your race, the more the goal of workouts shift from ‘building fitness’ to ‘sharpening’ and ‘honing’. A week before your race you’re not going to be able to increase fitness anymore, that work’s been done, so it’s a matter of maintaining fitness and then reducing the volume so your legs feel fresh come race day. [Tapering can be done anywhere from 1-3 weeks before your race, depending on distance and all that good stuff.]
Logistics: Runners who are tapering will cut their overall miles back, the volume of workouts decrease, and you’ll see workouts like 200′s, 400′s, or for marathoners, maybe a few longer repeats (ie: miles) at race pace. Just getting the wheels turning.
Common Mistakes:
1) Not decreasing enough:
If you’ve been training at 110 miles per week and your ‘taper’ is cutting down to 100 miles per week that’s really not going to leave you feeling all that fresh, right? Same goes with pushing your ‘taper’ workouts too much; grinding out your best 6xmile four days before your race day isn’t doing you any favors.
2) Decreasing too much: So the runners who think, oh I’ll just go from 110 miles down to 20 and I’ll feel GOLDEN! Wrong-zo. The body has a crazy way of adapting to us crazy runners and doing what we do. Dramatic shifts, the body doesn’t like that at all. Go too far from one extreme to the other and your body will be like, “wtf is going on?!” In the case of the runner above, they’ll actually be feeling sluggish because their body is used to much more stress. It actually NEEDS more miles to feel better. Crazy, huh? But kinda cool too.
Bottom line: There’s no perfect amount for everyone, it comes back to what works for you and your race distance. But a nice rule is that when tapering your mileage should be reduced by 20-25% of your average training volume.
3) Pre-Race Day Off: Many runners like to take the day before their race completely off. I would like to argue that, they should instead take the day TWO days prior to their race off. Why? Sometimes your legs will feel stale after a complete rest day, it’s better to do a short shake-out run and strides the day before to ‘bust out the rust and creaks.’ You still get a day off, but going into the race you’re not ‘creaky’. This is also why if you’re running a night race, lots of runners like to do a short (10-15min) shake-out run that morning.
4) No Speed-work: Taper logic might seem like you shouldn’t do anything hard…go into the whole week totally fresh and rested. Refer back to number 2 and realize that once your body has become accustomed to a certain degree of work (ie: stress) it needs the stimulus. Going 4-plus days without any faster turn-over will leave your legs feeling sluggish and slow. For races 10k and below, a good workout to do three days before your race is 8x200m with 200meter recovery. Any way you slice it, you still want some ‘sharp’ quality sessions leading up to your race.
Tapering is a tricky science, that’s why I firmly believe runners should have a coach they trust to do the sciencey planning stuff. Then the runner isn’t left ‘thinking’ all this out. Planning and wondering “is this workout right? Is this what I should do?” can get in the way of your workouts, and it can be liberating to give that ‘stress’ to someone else who KNOWS their stuff.
That way, runners can just turn their brain off and stick to what they love to do…run. Hey, running the workouts are hard enough, no reason to add more thinking than necessary to the mix. 
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By: Cait,
on 4/26/2014
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MARATHON, by Boaz Yakin, ill. by
Joe Infurnari (
First Second/Macmillan 2012)(ages 12+). In 490 BC, Athens defeated the armies of Darius of Persia at Marathon. An epochal moment in Western Civilization, its aftermath begat multiple legends of a remarkable runner, Pheidippides or Eccles, depending on whose version you read. In some stories, as the Persians were about to land, he raced from Athens to Sparta -- about 140 miles -- in the hopes that the Spartans would lend their martial vigor to the defense of Greece. In others, he ran from the plains of Marathon to Athens -- a mere 24 or so miles -- to bring news of victory.
In this remarkable graphic novel -- a poignant and compelling historical fantasy -- Yakin and Infurnari square the circle, telling the story of both runs, the tale of the son of a slave, his athletic prowess, and his love for family and country.
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]-->2011 marks the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, perhaps the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, and also a defining event for Western civilization. Available this week in paperback, MARATHON is the riveting history of the famed battle by Columbia University professor Richard A. Billows. We have Richard with us today on the blog to answer a few questions about his most recent book.
OP: The legend o
f the Greek messenger running twenty-six miles from Marathon to Athens with news of victory in battle is the inspiration for our modern-day race. Sources suggest that in reality, the entire Greek army marched this distance to defend Athens. Why does this popular myth persist in spite of its historical inaccuracy?
Never fear! Here's a handy link to both his interview (with a transcript!) and an excerpt of the professor's wonderful book MARATHON: HOW ONE BATTLE CHANGED WESTERN CIVILIZATION.
Our favorite part of the interview with Guy Raz actually occurs right at the beginning, and is a great summary of why the Battle of Marathon is so crucially important to our civilization, besides giving us 26.2 mile runs.
RAZ: Aeschylus was a veteran of the legendary battle at Marathon. It happened exactly 2,500 years ago, and it pitted a heavily outnumbered band of mainly Athenians against the far mightier Persian army. It also lent its name to the famous race, which we'll hear about in a moment. Historian Richard Billows writes about the battle in a new book called "Marathon." And he says that that one day in 490 BC actually changed the course of Western civilization.
Mr. BILLOWS: What we can tell from the way the Persians treated other cities -Greek cities that they attacked in this same period is that if the Athenians had lost the battle, the city of Athens would have been destroyed. The Athenian citizen population rounded up, put on ships and transported to Persia to be interviewed by the Persian king, Darius, at that time and then probably resettled somewhere near the Persian Gulf where they would've been lost to history.
And as a result, all those great Athenians of the fifth and fourth centuries -the likes of Thucydides and Socrates and Plato, one could go on - simply would never either have been born or their works would never have been written and would not have been able therefore to shape subsequent classical Greek civilization and Western culture as we know it.
RAZ: I mean, you say that had the Persians defeated the Athenians at Marathon, democracy would never have flourished.
Mr. BILLOWS: The first democracy that we know of in world history was created by the Athenians just 15 years before the battle of Marathon. It was established as a result of a kind of coup d'etat against a tyrant who had been ruling Athens. And that democracy was a very young and new experiment when the Athenians faced the Persians.
We also love how Mr. Raz chose to end the interview.
RAZ: I'm curious. You emphasize the importance of democracy in the Athenian victory. Why?
Mr. BILLOWS: The way that the Greeks fought was very egalitarian. Every individual soldier fought at his own expense. He paid for his own equipment and for his own upkeep. And essentially voluntarily, they were participating members of the social and political community. They felt that this community, because the democratic system, was theirs, they governed themselves very directly.
We tend to make a distinction between the government and the people. There was no such distinction in Athenian democrac
The Ogden Marathon took place in Utah yesterday. It's
one of the many competitions (mainly triathlons, bike races, and running races) that happens where I live, in a beautiful valley in the Northern part of the state. Here in Ogden Valley (which includes towns Huntsville, Eden and Liberty) we have 3 ski resorts (Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Wolf Mountain), a lake, lots of trails, a golf course, a river, hot pots, a canyon, and yes, even a waterfall--which make these competitions not only challenging, but scenic. It's no wonder the Ogden Marathon is ranked the nation's 9th best in Runner's World magazine.
People train year-round for these competitions and while some do a particular race "just to do it," others take it very seriously. Either way, as someone who has never run a marathon, I find myself wondering why they decide to go for it. What pos
sesses them? After all, it's such a big commitment, and, let's face it, rather painful at times. As a wife of a triathlete (who was in the "just do it" camp when he started last summer and these are some photos of him and his brother) I get that there's a "rush" and that they like the competition, perhaps a sense of camaraderie with the marathon (or bike race, etc) community, perhaps even (if they're really good at it) a sense of pride and excitement as a medal is placed around one's neck ... but as for me, I'm happy being a triathlon cheerleader who goes to spin and yoga classes and fair weather walks to keep healthy.
Then I read in the paper another interesting story. Does "Ella's Pink Lady" mean anything to you? It's the name of the yacht sixteen year-old Aussie, Jessica Watson, sailed around the world. It took her 210 days to cover 23,000 nautical miles. She's the youngest person to sail around the world alone and unassisted. Again I find myself wondering, what possessed her to take on this monumental feat?
I love hearing stories of people who break records (either their own or a standing record), make entirely new records, and succeed in something that at one time they themselves might have deemed impossible. Have you ever taken a leap of faith? Have you ever broken a record or do you have a story about someone who has?
By: Charles Hodgson,
on 9/18/2008
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Although I’ll happily go on a 100 kilometer bicycle ride and in winter regularly skate-ski for 30 or 50 kilometers, I’m not much of a runner. So for many years I’ve teased my friends who are runners by reminding them that a marathon is a race modeled after a guy who ran until he dropped dead.
How much fun could that be?
The reason I said this was that there is a commonly held belief that it was a runner named Phidippides who ran from a place called Marathon to the city of Athens to tell the people there that the Greek army had just won a battle against the Persians. Upon delivering his news he collapsed and died.
I dare say that my friends who like running think I’m wrong in questioning their source of pleasure.
It looks also that I may have been wrong about Phidippides and his run from the battle of Marathon.
The battle of Marathon did indeed take place back about 2,500 years ago. The Greeks were badly outnumbered by a Persian fighting force that had a pretty formidable reputation. That’s where Phidippides came in.
According to Herodotus, a historian writing within a lifetime of the actual battle this Phidippides guy did his running before the fight, not after it.
Because the Athenians were so badly outnumbered they sent him to bring help from Sparta. Supposedly he covered 150 miles in two days but the Spartan troops arrived too late to fight since by then the battle was over.
The Greeks won despite their numerical disadvantage and supposedly 6,400 Persians were slaughtered while only 192 Greeks died.
According to John Ayto the story about someone running the 22 or 23 miles from the fields of Marathon to Athens—and subsequently dying—didn’t appear until 700 years after the battle, so it’s actually not likely to be true.
The first marathon race was run in 1896 during the first modern Olympic Games—it didn’t exist as an event before then. The distance was flexible at first but eventually settled on 26 miles 385 yards. This distance was based on the historical fact that it was that far from Winsor Castle to the royal viewing box during the 1908 Olympics in England.
I guess that’s as good a reason as any.
The guy who dreamt up the idea for a marathon race was a Frenchman named Michel Bréal who just happened to be a buddy of Pierre de Coubertin the guy who started the modern Olympics.
Since the first modern Olympics were held in Greece the organizers liked the idea of a marathon race to commemorate their ancient glory.
They liked it even more when a Greek fellow won the event; he was Spyridon Louis.
Though I’m unlikely to ever run a marathon the thing I do like about marathons is that the guy who dreamed them up— Michel Bréal—his day-job was as a philologist. He wrote things like a Dictionary of Latin Etymology.
Five days a week Charles Hodgson produces
Podictionary – the podcast for word lovers, Thursday episodes here at OUPblog. He’s also the author of
Carnal Knowledge – A Navel Gazer’s Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia as well as the audio book
Global Wording – The Fascinating Story of the Evolution of English.
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By: Rebecca,
on 11/8/2007
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British marathoner Paula Radcliffe’s victory in last Sunday’s NYC Marathon raises an intriguing idea: Might pregnancy be a boon to female athletes?
The notion is compelling not just because it might be physiologically true, but because it challenges the most basic beliefs about women’s bodies, namely that the very stuff that enables them to be moms – estrogen, menstruation and pregnancy – dooms them as athletes. This is not to say that women can’t perform athletically after bearing children – many have – but the assumption is that being female is an obstacle, not a benefit, to becoming and being a first class athlete. (more…)
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I ran the NYC Half Marathon this morning. All week I was a little nervous about the weather--it's been incredibly hot, stuffy, and humid in New York, and although I knew the race started early (7 am) I was still worried about the race conditions. But it turned out to be a beautiful morning for running. A little hot, sure, but overall just gorgeous.
My realistic goal was to beat
last year's time of 10 minute 23 second miles, and my outside goal was to average under 10-minute miles. The
results have just been posted, and I averaged 9 minute 31 second miles! Almost a whole minute better than last year. This despite getting most of my
carbs this weekend via beer.
Rose and I started the race together as we did last year, but lost each other after the first mile. I felt pretty good in the Park, familiar territory.
Early on I run behind a guy in a bright blue
Speedo, knee-high red and white socks, bright blue running shoes, and nothing else. "Full Moon Rising" and "
nakedauthor.com" were written on his back in big black letters. He was holding a copy of his book. I see him all throughout the race and at the finish line. Pretty memorable publicity campaign. Also ran behind a tall man in a turban with a T-shirt stating "Proud to be Sikh." Two girls with bunny ears. "Good job, bunnies!" a woman cheered.
After one lap around, maybe mile 6 or 7, all of a sudden I look down to my right and see this big dog (I think a rottweiler) rotting trotting happily next to me. He's going at my exact same pace, and so we run together for a few minutes. He's slobbering everywhere, but I'm so delighted and charmed that I don't mind. But after a few minutes he gallops ahead. I don't know who his owner was. After he left, the guy next to me looks over and says, "That was the coolest thing ever!" and I agree.
The moment we exit the Park on 7
th Avenue, heading down toward Times Square, is one of my favorite things about this race. Crowds are cheering, and it reminds me of
running the marathon. Makes me want to run it again. Towards 42
nd Street there's a double-
decker bus with a band playing
Greenday's "When I come around" and I can't help but sing along. After the race, Rose tells me that as she passed, they were singing "Eye of the Tiger."
Last year, I remember having trouble on 42
nd Street heading towards the West Side Highway, but this year I'm feeling good and keeping up my pace. It's not until after mile 10 that I start to struggle a little. I realize that I hadn't run more than 10 miles since the marathon in November, about 9 months ago. But then again, I know that I've done it before, so I keep going. At this point, I know I'm going to make my goal, so even though I drop my pace down to 10-minute miles, I'm happy.
Sad/scary moment: around mile 11 I see up ahead a runner down, lying on his/her back with three people huddled around. As I got closer I saw them tapping his/her chest, and a woman runner stopped and said she was nurse and if they needed help. Looked to my left and saw that we were right across from Ground Zero. Two police officers head toward them. I hope all turned out okay...
At 200 meters to go, I pick up the pace, and with the finish line in sight, I start sprinting. Reminder to self for last year--start sprinting sooner. I still had some gas to spare at the end.
Rose and I celebrated the race with a few friends this afternoon with bagels and mimosas on the terrace. Fantastically beautiful day, clear blue sky, nice breeze to cool things off, 6 different kinds of cream cheese.
I just woke up from a short nap. Luxuriating in a free evening to relax.
This was another full weekend. Caught up on
Entourage and
Flight of the Conchords (I love those shows!) on demand. Housewarming party in Soho Friday night with some of the
Randoms. Spent yesterday afternoon/evening in Astoria saying goodbye to some good friends who will be moving away to Australia soon. So sad. But we had a nice time at the
Bohemian Beer Garden. Played with baby Ali who liked to wander the grounds, making new friends. Two
friends from Boston who moved away from NYC a few months ago came down for the goodbye party and stayed with me. Please, nobody else move away! I can't take it! But that's NY for you, I suppose. Such a transitory city. I should get used to it.
Yesterday, in San Diego, CA, my 69-year-old father ran the Rock 'n' Roll marathon. He finished in a little over 6 hours. He was inspired by my roommate and me running last year, and I'm so proud of him. (And part of me is a bit relieved, too--I couldn't help but feel a little responsible for his decision to run, and my mother wouldn't have been very happy with me if he had hurt himself training.) We talked about running one together next year (My mom didn't seem too happy when I told her our plan). We'll see!
I'm sorry I couldn't be there with him, but I saw the pictures on my brother's flickr page. Here are a few:
at mile 10
mom and dad at the finish line
happy to be finished
Congratulations, Dad! You're incredible!!!!
What a weekend! Have you ever put some things off until the last minute (due to so many other things cropping up at the last minute) that you kick yourself into the car and back out again? THAT would be me today. And yesterday and the day before. I can count 5 trips to Archivers (2 in the same day) in the last 4 days and maybe one still to go. I am working on a project which turned out to be more than I anticipated yet a fun project none-the-less that I have to finish in the next few days. Of course, I have never done one quite like this so you can imagine everything that could fobile my plan has, thus the extra trips to Archivers. With today's gas prices I've added a pretty penny to this project as it's a good 5 miles one way. I wish I had a set up like Debby, where everything is at your finger tips. Here work space is incredibly well organized and full of everything one would need. I need to start buying organizers to set things right in my studio, that would help immensly.
The great news is that I am officially going to
Silver Bella hosted by the lovely Bella
Teresa herself and I can hardly wait. I'll be attending along with some of my favorite artists, crafters and business people. The very talented
Debby who teaches for Anna Griffith and who's work (& work space) I admire, will be attending and I look so forward to meeting in her in person. I'll also get a chance to meet
Heather from Present Past Collection who will be a vendor at the event and
Pam Garrison who will be teaching some of the classes. I'd say that's the beginning (as Debby would say) to a
Bellafabulous time! :)
On top of this I have been feverishly planting today and yesterday and still have some to go. I've had the flowers 10 days now and just haven't had the time to plant them due to other priorties and rain. This only includes the current flower beds. Last fall we finished building a deck and put in gardens completely around it and the back of the house. These have yet to be filled and landscaped, another project to do when we return from our trip. It always seems the list of to-do's gets incredibly long prior to a trip. I feel like I'm running a marathon and time is running out!
By: Alvina,
on 7/25/2006
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It's been a week and a half since my birthday, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who made it a great birthday weekend, even birthday week. I don't actually care too much about my birthday, but then again, it's nice to throw a party, and it's nice to see and hear from family and friends. I used my 2nd annual rooftop birthday party this year to also start raising money for Fred's Team. As I've mentioned, I'm running the NYC marathon this November and am raising money for pediatric cancer research. I'll be starting my big fundraising push after I run the half marathon in NY at the end of August, but in the meantime if you want to help me out by donating, you can do so here. I'm running in honor of Grace Lin's husband Robert, who was also the inspiration for the Robert's Snow fundraiser that raised over $100,000 for the past two years. We're not having that fundraiser this year, so if you want to contribute, please donate for me running over 26 miles!
I raised $431 dollars from having a raffle at my party (thank you to everyone who contributed), and when added to the internet donations, over $600 (raffle money isn't yet online) so far. So I'm closer to my $2500 goal. A great birthday present! And on my actual birthday, Sachin surprised me with tickets to see The Producers and took me to a wonderful dinner at Gramercy Tavern--the perfect cap to the perfect weekend, which started off with a cupcake surprise from Grace.
But all that wasn't what I was intending to post about...what I really wanted to post about is CANDY. Candy, candy, candy. For the past two years, I've eaten tons of candy at my birthday party. Most of my friends know why, but a few asked me, "What's up with all the candy?" Well, here's the story. About five years ago I went home for the Christmas holiday. Whenever I go home to Southern California, my mother inevitably takes me to a new doctor or two she's seeing. It may be reflexology, chiropracy, or accupuncture, etc. At any rate, this trip she took me to see two different doctors, and as they were pushing the pressure points on my feet and measuring my energy levels through my fingers, respectively, both doctors asked, "Do you eat a lot of candy?" "Uhhh, well, no, well, maybe, well..." Well, yes, actually, I do. At that time, up until recently I had been roommates with Grace and Jon, and we all loved candy and sweets. There would be pound bags of Smarties everywhere, chocolate, sour candy, nerds, everything. I also had a candy drawer at work, and would eat candy throughout the day. I've always had a sweet tooth, partially spurred, I think, because my parents never had sweets in the house and forbade me from eating candy. So of course I ate it every chance I had.
Well, even though part of me suspected that my mother had tipped off both doctors, I realized that I really did eat too much candy, and it couldn't be good for me. So I decided to stop. Just like that, cold turkey, as one of my New Year's resolutions. I had guidelines, of course, and I didn't give up sweet things altogether, just candy. Candy was defined mostly by whether or not something was found in the candy section of the supermarket, and also by the intent. For example, mints were okay, because the intent was to freshen my breath. Also, if it was an ingredient in another type of food, it was okay. So, for example, I could eat chocolate chip cookies, or even cookies with M&Ms in them, or ice cream mixed with Butterfingers, because the candy in those examples was secondary to the main ingredient. So for one whole year, I didn't eat any candy. None. And to be honest, to my surprise it wasn't that hard. It was hardest when the candy was free (it's extremely hard for me to resist free food of any kind, even when I'm not hungry), such as in the many candy dishes people had at work. So anyway, because I did so well I decided to continue my resolution the following year, but as a reward (because a lifetime without candy seemed a dark life indeed) I decided I would eat candy one day a year, on my birthday. This proved successful, and for the last three years, for my last three birthdays, that is what I've done. (The picture above is from my birthday last year.) I start eating candy at midnight the night before my birthday, and continue until midnight the night of my birthday. And I enjoy every piece. This year, I started with Grape Heads that my 
friend Mat bought me (under my specific instructions--I had spied them in a convenient store on the corner of the where he was staying at the time). I also overdosed on Rainbow Nerds, chewy Spree, Bottle Caps, SweetTarts, M&Ms, this funny "make your own ice cream cone" candy (pictured here) that Saho brought me, and more. I think I'll continue this resolution for as a long as I can. I enjoy the candy more that way--I don't take it for granted (although I must say my teeth and sides of my mouth do take a beating). It has been tempting to watch my coworkers eat the candy in front of me (I've been bringing the leftover candy into work--and there's still more!). But I AM STRONG! I AM WOMAN! And I like to abide by the rules of my own making.
On a related note, CANDY AND ME is a book by Hilary Lifton that I read a few years ago. It's a "candy memoir" about her life and the role candy plays in it, and it's funny, poignant, fully enjoyable, and a book I totally related to. I liked it so much that I went to the Web site for it after finishing the book, and even posted a few of my own candy memories. Mine are about Alexander the Grape (now called Grape-Heads), and Sugar and Jello Mix. See them here. The author got my permission to print my Alexander the Grape candy memory in the paperback edition of her book, but I'm a little ashamed to say that I haven't actually bought/seen a copy to check to see if it's there. I will, though!
I'm going up to Boston this weekend to visit with Grace, Anna, Libby, Meghan, and Linda (I hope), and I'm going to overdose on something similar to Alexander the Grape--it's small and round and cute and delicious: blueberries! We're going blueberry picking. Perhaps my next post will be Blueberries for Al.
By: Alvina,
on 7/4/2006
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I did the full park loop the morning of the Fourth. I didn't wake up as early as I would have liked, because I had gone out on the lower east side to hang out on my friend's rooftop and drink beer. (Also saw Devil Wears Prada that night--liked it! It was exactly what I wanted/expected.)
I wasn't going to go out that night, because I knew I wanted to run in the morning, but I also don't want to start resenting my running. After talking to some people who have trained and run the marathon, some commented that they never want to run it again because it took over their lives. I don't want this to take over my life. I don't want to regret or resent entering. Then again, I also don't want to die when I actually run it. Everything is about balance.
I left my apartment around 9:30 am. It was 79 degrees out when I woke up half an hour earlier, and 81 degrees and rising when I left. But it didn't feel as hot as Saturday--it was overcast and pretty breezy. But I still felt like I was wading through water, sluggish, slow. But as I ran slowly around the Park, I realized that it's so much more rewarding if it's hard. That's obvious, I guess, but when I'm running after not enough sleep, 60% humidity, rising thermometer, I feel that I'm accomplishing something more. Like acquiring a book when the negotiations were a struggle, finding new love and hope after your heart was broken, writing that editorial letter when you didn't know where to start, having fun at a party you didn't want to go to, making it work in a brand-new city or brand-new job. One of the most beautiful moments of my life is getting on the ferry to Cosa Mui in Thailand about 9 years ago after a grueling 10-hour, crowded, uncomfortable bus ride from Bangkok. After waiting, exhausted, in the ferry station for about an hour, we finally got on the ferry to the island and suddenly everything was transformed. The water was impossibly blue, the sky equally so with perfect white fluffy clouds. We could see schools of glittering silver fish skim the surface of the water, and life was good.
My brother and his wife are celebrating their five-year anniversary this weekend in Las Vegas (101 degrees and counting!). They've had some challenging moments in their marriage, especially in this last year, but they've said that will make this celebration that much sweeter. I'm looking forward to being there to share it with them.
I saw the movie Wordplay last night--it had been recommended by several friends, and it seemed like my kind of film: Wordfreak meets Spellbound, with Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton thrown in--how can you go wrong? Despite the fact that for some reason the volume in the movie theater was uncomfortably loud (I watched half of the movie with my fingers in my ears--am I just getting old?), I found it utterly delightful and inspiring, even touching (one woman talked about losing her husband to a heart attack right after the annual crossword tournament. So sad. ) I don't do crossword puzzles myself, but I found myself involuntarily answering some of the clues in the movie. Maybe I'll check out Monday's NYTimes crossword puzzle. Oh, one thing that bothered me about the movie is that parts of it felt almost like an ad for the New York Times--I had to wonder if they helped fund the movie or something.
And just to give a quick running update: I was able to go to bed early last night and wake up this morning to run before coming into work at the library where I am now. I think I need to start actually scheduling in my training--I hadn't run since my symbolic 26 laps over a week ago. I ran past my coworker Sarah in the Park--she's also training for the marathon.
I got a late start so didn't do the full 6 mile loop as planned, instead cutting out the bottom loop and running a little over 5 miles. It was only 75 degrees out at 9:30, but it felt hotter. I guess I'll have to start running earlier to beat the heat.
Happy Fourth and long weekend, everyone!
So, I haven't been posting anywhere for a while, and I've decided that I'm going to stick to Blogger instead of friendster. I hope all of you who used to read my posts there will now visit me here.
I found out this week that I got a bid into the NYC Marathon. I had entered the lottery and found out a few weeks ago that I didn't get in, and even though I had been half hoping for just that, that I wouldn't get in so I wouldn't have to train, I was disappointed. You know how when you decide to flip a coin to help you decide something, and then the coin tells you to do one thing, and you realize that what you really wanted was the other thing? This was like that. So I looked into running for a charity, something that I would have done anyway if I had gotten in, and signed up with Fred's Team to raise money for pediatric cancer research. They didn't have any more guaranteed slots, though, so I had to wait to see if more space opened up, and then on Monday I got an email with the subject heading: Congratulations! and sure enough, I had a slot.
So...it hasn't really sunk in yet, except that I keep telling myself that I have to start running more--I haven't run more than 5 miles since I did the 10 mile Cherry Blossom Race in DC on April 2. So I decided to go running last night. At first I thought I'd start by running 5 miles. But it was a beautiful summer solstice night, perfect running weather, and once I got to McCarren Track in Greenpoint where I sometimes run, I decided I would run 26 laps to represent the 26 miles I'd be running in November. I like to be all symbolic and sh*t.
Running is such a mind game. Sometimes 1 mile seems like nothing, sometimes it takes forever. After 6 laps I was despairing at whether I'd finish, but by 13 laps I felt like I could run forever. The Park was the most crowded I've seen it, and I was constantly dodging soccer balls (kicked three last night) and little kids zooming around every which way on bikes and scooters. Sachin ran a few laps with me and compared it to a video game. But anyway, I finished the 26 laps and felt great. Of course, it's daunting to think that I only ran a quarter marathon, and I'd have to run 104 laps to run the distance of a full marathon! This is why I don't prefer to run on a track for long distances. Counting laps is so much more of a task than counting miles. Or just doing one lap in Central Park.
I have to thank my roommate Rose for inspiring me to run. She reminded me that it was at 
brunch with my father, Lisa, and Rose that I decided I would enter the lottery, and if I made it in, that would decide for me. Before last year, I've never had even an inkling of desire to run a marathon. I've had other friends run, and I've always thought, no way, 26 miles? And watching Rose train last year definitely didn't make me want to run. It was just watching the marathon and watching Rose run, seeing the people in pain but trudging on, seeing the people who were exuberant, smiling, having fun, cheering everyone on, and feeling the electricity of the moment. I wanted to be a part of that.
So, more running posts are to come! Happy summer, everyone.
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Congrats to Gwen!
The NYC marathon is on my wishlist of marathons to run. :-)
Congratulations! What a wonderful accomplishment...and the race is just the reward for all those months of training and dedication and maintaining motivation. Enjoy the moment and cherish the memories!