Time to tackle a half

Posted on June 6, 2012 | 41 comments

Those fabulous folks who have been following me on my running adventure will likely have noted two things: I am extremely slack when it comes to training; and I heart Lululemon (in my defense, I was a very early adopter: Toronto, 1999).

Though I’d probably be content to just run 5Ks and 10Ks for the rest of my life, I figured if I’m going to really challenge myself, I have to at least try a half-marathon. (Although, even as I type this, it sounds completely absurd.)

What better race for me to attempt, then, than the SeaWheeze Lululemon Half-Marathon in Vancouver (August 11). It’s hosted by my favorite ubiquitous sportswear company and it has wheeze in the title. Appropriate, no? I get the feeling that the half-marathon part of this half-marathon may come second to the general Lululemon-ness of the event. But that’s completely fine with me.

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half

Click if you fancy reading the words.

Yes, there will be training

I’m not foolish enough to attempt to “run” a half without putting in the miles beforehand, so I am going to try to follow the Tackle Box program Lulu designed. I am already a few weeks behind, but I hope when I cobble together the bits and pieces I do throughout the week, I can almost arrive at a full week of training.

To help runners with their motivation, Lululemon sent out shorts to everyone who registered early.

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half shorts

Spotty!

I guess there has been some Twitter-verse moaning about these spotty duds, but I think they’re cute as hell, even if they leave little to the imagination (hence the moaning, I suppose).

Anyway, I’m inspired to at least obtain a body that would rock a pair of shorts like this. And the polka dots make me happy.

Here’s a PDF of the Tackle Box Training Program. I’m going to try to report back every once in a while on my progress. This plan is heavy on the yoga, which I don’t do. I’ve substituted with a weekly ballet class, and weights/strength training. My days won’t match up to the schedule, but I’m hoping my activities will get me to an appropriate level of preparedness. (I’ll be happy if I can run three-quarters of the race.) Wish me luck!

June 4-10 (week 3)

Monday: Power yoga

Tuesday: Tempo Run: 1 mile warm up/ 2 miles tempo/ 1 mile cool down

Wednesday: Rest or flow yoga

Thursday: Easy run 2.5 miles

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Long run 5 miles

Sunday: Yin Yoga or optional run (40 minutes)

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 24: Why do I smell wet dog?*

Posted on June 4, 2012 | 19 comments

I believe I entered a new realm of hard-coreness this past weekend. No, I didn’t run any farther than usual, I didn’t PR in spectacular fashion, and I definitely didn’t wear compression socks. But I did run in possibly the worst weather I’ve ever encountered on a race. Just showing up for the P.R.o.N.E. 5K on Boston’s Castle Island was an accomplishment, if I don’t say so myself. Indeed, I can’t believe how many runners came out, given the conditions. But then again, there were a number of small, fluffy enticements …

P.R.O.N.E. 5K

This raincoat-clad pug was the star of the show.

P.R.o.N.E. stands for Pug Rescue of New England, an organization I was beyond thrilled to support. I am the most dog-obsessed person I know who doesn’t actually own a dog. (I’m terribly allergic, which is the tragedy of my life.) Surely, only a pug-fest could draw so many people out of doors in such weather.

P.R.O.N.E. 5K

Awwwwwwwww.

I had been obsessively Googling the forecast all week, but sadly each time I checked, things looked more dire. It was raining only lightly when I left home, though, so I had some hope that things might improve.

They didn’t.

I was especially unprepared for the wind. As I walked with a fellow runner along the water towards the start area, I was shocked at how blowy it was. Then I realized we were traveling along part of the course, and I started to get The Fear. I am terrible at running in the wind. In the annals of things that make me quake in my sneakers, it lies somewhere in between hills and compression socks.

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 23: Runniversary to remember

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 33 comments

It occurred to me halfway through my five-miler at Boston’s Run to Remember on Sunday that it is my one-year runniversary. On May 28, 2011, I ran the Chick fil-A 5K in Newport News, Va., after Hubby signed me up on a whim (there were fuzzy cows involved). Prior to that, I hadn’t run since high school. My sports teacher would likely say I never “ran” at all.

I would like to think that this inaugural 5K sparked in me a deep love and passion for the sport and uncovered an innate athletic talent waiting to be nurtured …

It didn’t do that.

What it did do was plunge me into a brave new world of weekend runcations, early starts, thermal tights, bibs, T-shirts, medals, coconut water, run snobs, compression socks, hills, GPS watches, chia seeds, beer, and weird granola bars. It gave me a physical challenge greater than anything I could have envisioned. It also inspired me to write this blog.

Boston's Run to Remember

Boston’s Run to Remember from above on a glorious Memorial Day weekend. The half-marathoners are coming in on the right.

Running will always be a struggle for me, thanks to my loser asthmatic lungs, but I am getting better. A year ago I could barely run a block. Today I can do 10 kilometers. It’s not pretty, and sometimes (OK all the time) I scowl and swear, and occasionally I want to ditch the whole thing (my 5K to Couch program), but I can do it.

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Shirts so good: part two

Posted on May 29, 2012 | 19 comments

I shouldn’t be surprised that my running-shirts collection is getting out of control (a race a week will do that). But every time I open my dresser drawer to add the latest testament to my lack of skills, I am still genuinely amazed at just how many I have accumulated over the past 12 months.

Back in March, I put together this gallery, but I have been lax in updating it, so here are a few more tees. I love how much they vary in size. I tip my hat to the race organizers who have figured out that “unisex” shirts, i.e., men’s, don’t really work for petite women, or any women, really.

I am in the midst of collecting the ones I can’t really use for donation to a local charity. But they will endure here …

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Posted in Fitness, Running, Sports, The shirt collection

52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 22: Better off Fred

Posted on May 25, 2012 | 13 comments

Rather than give running some space, I decided to crowd the heck out of it this past weekend by doing a double-header. Bad idea? Maybe. But at least I would know how it really feels about me. (And I’d have a run up my sleeve for the 52 Weeks, 52 Runs challenge.)

Someone who has no issues defining his running relationship is Hubby, who on this all-running weekend decided to do a trifecta: a 5K (the previously mentioned Brian Betts run), a 10K trail run (the James River Scramble at the Dominion River Rock festival in Richmond, Va.), and the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon, in Fredericksburg, Va. (Overachiever.) Luckily for me, the Marine Corps folk also put on a 5K, the Semper Fred, thus saving me from potentially three more hours of torturous bib counting.

Marine Corps Half Marathon

The day before. Hence the lack of Lululemon-clad chicks and compression socks.

This was the fifth year of the Marine Corps Historic Half/Semper Fred, and it is one of those events that was organized so seamlessly and had so much energy, it was a joy to be a part of (despite starting at 7am). These guys also organize the 30,000-strong Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va. (October 28), which this year sold out in two hours, 41 minutes, a record for all marathons. Can you believe that? This is one well-loved race series.

Probably because it has a mascot called Miles …

Marine Corps Half Marathon

Hubby and Miles get friendly at the expo.

And bands that play jaunty tunes as you run …

Marine Corps Half Marathon

Jaunty!

And porta-loos as far as the eye can see …

Marine Corps Half Marathon

Seriously! They just kept going.

You’ve got to love a race that provides that many places to go before you go …

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