Training Plan & Other Stuff

A few of you out there in bloggerville have asked about my training plan. I
have signed up for a half marathon on
May 11th. This will be my 3rd half marathon.


When I first started running races, I would find a training plan on
line and stick to it (or at least TRY to). But now, I have a much easier
approach. Basically, I look at the race day and just make sure I get in a 10
miler the week before. Then I go back each weekend and build up to it (running
my longer distances on the weekend). For example:
May 11 Race Day
May 3 Run 10 miles
April 26 Run 9 miles
April 19 Run 8 miles
April 12 Run 7 miles
April 5 Run 6 miles
Mar 29 Run 5 miles

Then during the week, I just try to get in at least 3 days of running around 3 or 4 miles. This way I am not really on a strict schedule except weekends. I did this for my last half and it seemed to work fine. Of course, I'm no professional and can barely keep my miles under 10 minutes, but it works for me.

Now, since I have hills in this next race, I am going to add hills into my longer runs. I didn't do it this weekend - it took all my strength just to get 5 miles in (a little too much drinking this weekend). But starting next weekend with my 6, I will add some hill work.

In other news, I was tagged by Cara to sum up my life in 6 words. Check out the link to see where this idea came from - pretty cool. Of course, the challenge proved more difficult than it seems on the surface.

The first one that popped into my head was:
"It's never too late to change."

Imaginary Friends

When I was a kid, I had 2 imaginary friends. Mimi was the girl. She was sweet, friendly and always followed the rules. Tada was the boy. He was a trouble-maker, always playing tricks and banging his head against the wall when he didn't get his way.

If they were around today (which I SWEAR they are NOT), I think they would be having a conversation like this:

Mimi: Remember you signed up for a half marathon in May?

Tada: Yea, so? What of it?

Mimi: Well, you really should be training, shouldn't you?

Tada: Sheesh, it's just a half marathon fatty. You can do it in your sleep.

Mimi: Who are you kidding? For one, there are HILLS in this race. And you know how you feel about hills.

Tada: So.

Mimi: And to make matters worse, your family is will be there. You don't want to disappoint them by, say, DROPPING DEAD as you cross the finish line.

Tada: So.

Mimi: That's it. I am implementing a new training program starting tomorrow morning. And there is no getting out of it.

Tada: GOSH! (bangs head against wall)

See. I told you Tada was annoying (but at least he doesn't swear). Anyway, now there's a plan in place, thanks to Mimi.

Fiji in Fotos

As you know, I was in Fiji for work, so I didn't get to have all the fun in the sun that I would want, but there were a few highlights:



I read 3.5 books. Nothing exciting, as I had to borrow from the hotel library.



Went to a private island for the day - AMAZING! (No, this is not a postcard - I actually took this photo.)


I was able to go on a really cool hike to a water fall. The hike was beautiful, but a little easy for me. Definitely better than sitting in the hotel lobby though!

















A little history: Over 40% of the population of Fiji are Indians. We had a "Bollywood" party and I got to wear a Sari for the first time. Of course, I think it makes me look fat!






















I had SERIOUSLY curly hair in Fiji. So frizzed out that I had to buy a headband and wear it EVERYDAY. There was no cure for the frizz - none at all!






















Not sure if you remember my obsession with taking pictures of graveyards. Well, I wasn't able to get any in Fiji - although they have really cool ones. But I channeled my obsession into taking pictures of flowers. Sometimes I think I am an 80 yr old grandma stuck in a 30-something year old body. I honestly have about 100 pictures of flowers in my camera.




By the way - ran with Big G this AM:
Mile 1: 9:14
Mile 2: 9:33
Mile 3: 9:23

We shall get back to our regular scheduled running program promptly. We's gots some races to train for!

Gettin' Down & Dirty in Fiji

BULA! I'm back...

Super busy playing catch up at work. But Fiji was FANTASTIC. I am super tan and probably super fat. I am not steppin' on the scale until Saturday after a nice long run.





More dets to come, but here's a little teaser pic of my hot and dirty action with a local!

Ha ha. Tricked you. This is a pic from a natural mud bath and hot springs! It was terrific!

Fiji

Oh dear readers - you will be proud.
I landed in Fiji at 5am and was RUNNING by 7am. I ran about 4.5 then got a massage.

Now it's time for work. wah. At least I get to see how the other half lives.

Anyway, the internet here is REALLY slow and pricey. So I probably won't blog until i get back.

Miss me.

The Scent of a Run

As a frequent Running Blog Reader, one might notice that runners love to give the play by play of their runs.

I realized this morning that my morning runs have a distinct smell to them. And it's usually the same. So today you get the "smell by smell" instead of the "play by play."

• Smell 1: Upon opening my door in the morning, I am met with the distinct scent of TRASH. Yes, my oh-so-friendly neighbors love to put their stinky trash bins right in front of MY gate. I move it to their side and they move it back. Bastards.
  
• Smell 2: I cross the street to get to the "boardwalk" where I'm engulfed by scent of the BEACH... salty, crispy with a little fishy mixed in.
  
• Smell 3: Just when I'm getting into my grove, the scent of REHAB floats by. One might be surprised to learn that there are probably more rehabs in Newport than there are bars. Narconon has a distinct smell. And no, it's not of aliens. It's like bleachy cleaner mixed with cheap shampoo.
  
• Smell 4: Now this is actually probably the worst smell of the morning. OLD LADY PERFUME. The sweetest little lady goes for morning walks and always says "good morning" to me (major brownie points in my book). I just love her. But her perfume makes me want to hurl. It's a powdery, Rosy scent and that shit lingers like no tomorrow.
  
• Smell 5: By now, I'm hitting the pier where there are restaurants & bars galore. This is a two-punch combo of scentification (I just made up that word). First there is food smell - usually PIZZA, then you're smacked with the SMOKE smell. All the bars have big stinky buckets or ash trays outside and I don't think they clean them out too often. **Note: A third smell can come into play if this is a weekend run - the smell of VOMIT. Occasionally you can tell there's been an "incident" outside of the bar and hopefully you don't see it.
  
• Smell 6: The boardwalk temporarily ends and the run must continue in the alley. The main scent now is CAR EXHAUST and occasionally CLEAN LAUNDRY.

Then I turn around and run thru the same scents again.

What does your run smell like?

Song of the day: Moments by DJ Godfather & Starski

7 Things...

CollegeGirl tagged me so I thought I would indulge since I'm too busy to think about anything else to write:

7 Random/Weird Things
The rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
• Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
• Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

7 Weird Things about me:

1. Running a marathon gave me the confidence that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.
2. I look forward to long plane rides so I don't have to do anything for extended periods of time except read and drink wine. I want to have a shirt made that says "don't talk to me" so I can wear it on airplanes and not have to talk to the annoying person next me about their stupid vacation. I currently do anything in my power to avoid these conversations including wearing my headphones (not turned on) so I can pretend like I can't hear them.
3. I have a really good memory for details/events/situations/conversations, but can't remember people's names to save my life.
4. My friends & family think I lead an exciting life, but I think I'm really quite boring.
5. I love picking at things (especially pimples) - even on other people.
6. I drive an old piece of crap car. I've had it for 12 years. I am really embarassed when I valet. Plus it's ALWAYS dirty.
7. These lame 7 things took me way to long. See, I am boring.

Ran 4 yesterday morning. Very lovely. Will run in morning tomorrow since will be flying for over 10 peaceful hours. Not sure how often I will be able to blog while in Fiji. So, check back later :)

Tagged:

Anyone who needs something to write about :)

And The Next Trip Is...

Hi all

The moment you've all been waiting for....

FIJI here I come!

I will be gone for a while and not sure if I will have time to blog while I'm there. Trust me - I will try and where there's a will, there's a way.

This is my 2nd trip to Fiji. Last time, I went to about 5 different islands. This time we are staying on the main land. My advice if you ever go to Fiji - GO TO A SMALLER ISLAND. The mainland is cool, but the real Fiji is being on one the smaller outer islands.

My main goal on this trip is to keep running. It's so easy to slack when you travel and I do NOT want that to happen.

Song of the Day: Piece of Me(Böz o lö Remix) by Britney Spears

Sunday Fun

I stole this from Laura. You can have a word cloud made from your blog too. Go ahead. Try it. Of course "word cloud" reminds me of a "brain cloud" and I definitely would not want one of those. Anyone remember what fantab movie that term came from?

Basically, these are the words that come up most frequently in my blog:

Not to surprising: Beach, Captain, Eat, Love, Like, Marathon, Run, Runner, Running, Work. But I didn't realize I talked about being sick so often or OLD. What is that about? And apparently I talk about Nancy and Marcy alot. Sheesh, why wouldn't I? (Wink, wink).

Startin' Off Easy

Well, maybe hills are not that bad. Or maybe it was all the fantabulous suggestions from you all that got me thru it. Seriously, I thought of your words, advice and mantras the entire time. Here's the oh-so-exciting, yet short, play by play:

• 2 miles of a nice warm up on my normal route.
• Then I took a detour to get to my "hill." I came, I saw, I conquered it. TWICE! It was about .3 miles up, then .3 down. I would have gone another time but I thought of Danielle's advice to take it easy and not get an injury my first time hill training.
• 2 miles back.

Total: 5.46 miles
Time: 57:06
Calories: 603

I wish I had put on the heart rate monitor. The first time up, I felt it beating. But the second time, not as much.

There's a bigger hill that's next on my list and that bitch is mine!
I'm off now for a delisioso ensalada and to watch The Darjeeling Limited on dvd. So excited. Been wanting to see this movie. I heart Jason Schwartzman. Wierd, huh? Like, I really like him. I would totally make out with him.

I'll post my next work trip next week. I promise.