Exercise Goals for 2008

Can a marathon be far behind?

Ack! Hope she's better soon.

Thomas, You da man!

So, I've reached my goal of one hour on the elliptical. I can do that three times a week and walk 4-miles on the other four days. Weight loss is about 30 lbs. Another 20 to go!

I have new shoes!
Nike Tri-Ds. They are incredibly comfortable and come in wide widths.
(I'm 9.5 EEEE -- think duck feet)

We had hellacious downpours here so I did some crosstraining, a short
session on the rower followed by a short session on the stationary bike.
Not what I wanted, but it'll have to do.

I'll be in Miami for a few days.
Hopefully, I can get some runs in early in the day.

Ha! It took me 2 years to finally make the 10k.

kickboxing and weights today.
still working out 6 times a week, but the weight hasn't budged for quite awhile. to be expected, of course. my shoulders, biceps and butt are filling out with muscle, which we know is heavier than fat. still, doesn't help my patience.
oh well. i'll just keep going. i should do more cardio and less weights, but i enjoy pushing and pulling heavy stuff far too much. and punching and kicking. so i push pull punch and kick.

I was among the 39,000 applicants to be in the NYC Half Marathon which is being held on Sunday.
I was not one of the applicants who got picked.

The following is a curse on all the official name pickers
%&*%*%*%$$*$%&*%$*&%*%*%$&$%^#$#%###^%^^!!!!!
There. I feel better.

So I am going to run my own half marathon tomorrow. I'm starting (for those of you with maps) at the Staten Island Ferry Dock and running North up the Henry Hudson RiverPark Trail to the George Washington Bridge and then to my building on Overlook Terrace. Should take me about two and half hours, I am in no hurry.

Maybe I shall take some pictures of the new section of park near Tribeca.

Joe(there he goes)Nation

Wow. Just running a one-person half-marathon for the heck of it... WOW.

Sozlet was sick, then better, then sick again... she's sleeping now but was fine last night so HOPEFULLY I can actually make it to the track today. (I thought as much on Wednesday though and that didn't work out.) Trackmom had been having some shin problems so she says she's grateful for the rest.

Great going, Swimpy! I'm impressed.

Dagmaraka, yeah, I go through the same thing and it's irritating. I don't think I've lost more than five pounds yet, but my clothes definitely fit better/ differently.

Well, I'm back, showered, breakfasted on an omlet of Eggs and Horseradish Cheese and ready for a nap (It's 10:30 AM)

I was inspired to run the lower part of Manhattan by this slide show.
TriBeca's New View of the River See the attached article for more information. It's really beautiful.

Got a slightly late start but was at the Staten Island Ferry Dock about 6:00am.

I headed North a few minutes later.

I always forget how loud the traffic is in lower Manhattan and was very glad (after touring through the new parksite - I even ran out on one of the piers to try one of the telescopes==very cool---) to get past the Chelsea Piers section and up to the Frying Pan. It is exactly 4.6 miles from the Ferry to the Pan.

I don't know if you can see on this picture of the map.

See the little line at the top left of the map? That's the George Washington Bridge which will be about the 12 mile mark.

THEN the hills start.

But first, here's a shot of some sculpture by the river.


There are several of these along this section (about seven miles in) but I never take the time to stop and shoot them. Someone should do a book on them. You can see the George in the background.

Here's a shot of the GWB I took on the fly.

No stopping when you are getting close to home.

And here's home. Sort of.


Top of the hill, that's my neighborhood up ahead and the barely visable pedestrian crossover. WHICH I could have crossed over but I elected to add a couple of miles on (Hey 13, 14, 15. at this point who cares?) Besides I wanted to get a picture of that map at the top of the bike/run trail.
So.... I tottled on.
I had stopped several times to take a picture or two, look through a telescope, ask if a guy who had fallen was okay -he wasn't. He had stepped in a hole and his friend was on a cell calling for an ambulance. The ankle was gashed and looked broken to me. They were there in really short order.
I'd like to report that early in the morning the johns at Chelsea Piers Northside are clean.
I'd like to report that the fricking fountains I was counting on in Ft. Tryon Park were inoperable. grrrrrrrr.

Final tally: 16.0 miles.
Okay. I admit running past my building and down the hill a little ways to get the tally from 15.72 to 16.00..

..2:48:18 not including the stops, a little over 3:15 with them all.

Joe( I was in no hurry.)Nation

Wow.

I mean...

Wow.




Made it to the track today, but sozlet is better but less patient than usual plus she has some sort of rash/ spots that were getting rashier and spottier every lap, seemingly, so we only ran three (the last one was superfast though).

Still dunno what's up with the spots. (Noddy called sozlet a versatile invalid -- indeed.)

Is anyone good at telling what pain means "stop" and what is "it's just stiffness keep going"?



I have extended my walk to work by 10 minutes, a good hill, and lots of hard pavement.


I have now some shin splints, a sore hip and my lower back sucks.

I usually keep going....but I know sometimes the back pain can mean I need to rest a bit.


But how do I tell?


(The hip could be my lower back being a pain...which happens even without exercise.)

I've had the hardest time with that. (Locating the line between "push through" and "must rest.")

Shin splints are one thing that you just have to rest 'em to get better. Pushing through will make it worse.

May be time for new shoes, too. New shoes + rest + getting back to exercise routine slowly is what worked for me.

(Do you wear comfortable normal shoes -- like Danskos -- or actual athletic shoes?)

I know far less about backs, though.

I wear very good athletic shoes.


The splints are mild...so I am inclined to keep up the distance, but walk a little more slowly on the hard cement bits.

The back is the problem.

How old are the athletic shoes?

I'm surprised by how often you're supposed to replace them -- every 300 miles, I think.

Will let someone else address the back issue though, beyond conveying sympathy!

Yikes!


Well, they seem pretty new to me.


Actually, I think the back kind of causes the splints, cos when my back sucks, I get all kinds of weird leg pains when I walk a lot.



Sigh.....

I was going to mention shoes too. As someone with chronic lower back problems and bad knees I need to change my shoes often. I've also been told to use good running shoes even for walking because of the extra support provided by running shoes.

And, yes, 300 miles is the recommended 'tread life' of a pair of shoes.

Yep, shin splints usually = time to replace shoes, no matter what they look like.

Here, I've been walking (it's how I get to work; bus + walk). Yesterday was different, though, we played frisbee! My plant foot (the foot I pushed off; my right)'s ankle is sore on and off and my right arm is sore at the forearm but it was great fun! Plus it does work the core a bit and my core feels just fine.

I wonder how that translates to running shoes used mostly on elliptical trainers. They never leave the ground -- if that's the right name to call the pedals on an elliptical trainer.

I think it's not just about wear and tear on the soles per se but also shock-absorbing capability. While elliptical trainers are much gentler than running, there must still be some shock absorption. I dunno how that would translate though, beyond "if you start getting shin splints, get new shoes!"



Ran Monday, had a gym interval Tuesday (evidently I can bench press 290 lbs with my legs), ran today.