Archive for December, 2007

• December 30, 2007

  Date: 2007.12.30 | Category: running, Uncategorized | Response: View Comments

  “Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach.”

  I thought the best way to open this blog would be from a quote by George Sheehan, runner and writer. If you are a runner and have not read his essay, “Why Do I Run?”, do it now: http://www.georgesheehan.com/essays/essay24.html .

  I start writing today to chronicle my journey to 26.2 miles, on April 6, 2008 in the St. Louis Marathon, which will be my first. I have done two half marathons, and a 10k. To finish the full has always been a dream of mine. I expect that it will take more commitment and focus than the other races.

  So far, I have been rather haphazardly following the FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) plan, here: http://www.furman.edu/first/2006%20marathon%20training-first%20marathon.pdf. I think a haphazard approach is not the kind I need to be taking. But with three more full months, I think there is still time. The trouble tends to be things like work and sleep getting in the way. As an associate attorney, leaving the office at 5 or 6 p.m. for a run is not exactly encouraged. There is no shower at the office so an afternoon run is not in the cards either. So I am left with the necessity of the morning, and this has been painful for me, mostly because I am not a morning person and also because winter has settled in.

  Yesterday I did six miles on the treadmill, and used it to calibrate my ipod/nike accelerometer. The thing is always off. I have probably calibrated it ten times. It will only calibrate for 1.25 miles max, and yesterday I was hoping to calibrate it for a longer stretch in hopes of improving the accuracy. A tenth of a mile for a one mile run is not terrible, but for longer distances the discrepancy is irritating. So, maybe I will reward myself with a garmin after I finish my first marathon. (I just checked amazon.com for reviews and one consumer called the nike ipod kit a “nice stopwatch!)

  I should also mention that I’ve had nagging IT band trouble. I’ve had it on and off for a year, and finally I saw an orthopedist for it last month. Anti-inflammatories and PT has helped. This is something I will have to pay attention to every day in order to get through the marathon. I signed up for the marathon before my last flare up. I think it will also be essential to cross train and lift weights to prevent injury, something I am in the habit of neglecting.

  Based on my last half marathons, Runner’s World’s Finish Time Calculator has me at 3:56 for my finish time on the full marathon. Maybe after a few more tries I’ll get the time down to 3:40 and fly to Boston….

  Today I took a rest day. This is the haphazard training I was talking about.