Sweet Sixteen and Never Been So Unexpectedly Soaked on a Walk

It rained this morning. I was expecting this; I intentionally waited to walk until after noon, because by that time, the weather was supposed to have cleared up. And clear up it did, with the exception of a few moments' sprinkle...until my last lap through Center Drive in Prospect Park (I'd calculated that 16 miles was three laps all the way around the park, two through Center Dr, and the trip to and from my house). Then it started to rain lightly...and then it poured. I hear that's what it does when it rains...At any rate, I walked my 16 miles, and I'm feeling pretty good now, five hours later. And now, for some truths:

Resolved:

- Marathon training on a treadmill is laaame, and even doing it for just four miles last week made me feel like this little dude on the right.

- My new Nike+ sensor is even worse than the first one, and is already acting up. I'm done with these pieces of rubbish, and am planning to get a better piece of equipment of some sort.

- Something funky is going on with one of my toenails. The nail of the longest toe of my longer foot must be clunking into the front of my walking shoes on my long walks (and probably the short ones as well, but without the same impact), and, well, it's funky. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

...And Your Husband Dresses You Funny

If I'm being honest, the only part of what I'm wearing in this picture that Nick influenced at all was a layer of long underwear that you can't see. When he peeked underneath my second shirt and saw only tummy, he was horrified enough that I was going outside in so few layers that I decided to add another foundation garment. But he did try to dress me in several floppy-sleeved jackets (floppy on me--not on him) that I turned down, and it is his proponency* of Turtle Fur that has led me to even consider wearing that neck warmer. But the dorky bottle belt? All me--and Dawn Dais.

Here's the point: I walked 15 miles today! I'm a rock star. A rock star who performs sitting down for the next day or two. I decided to do my walk in Prospect Park, as semi-suggested by the coach I met with on Saturday (more on that sometime soon). So I did four laps of the park, and that, plus 12 blocks on Prospect Park West, plus the distance to and from my house, is roundabout exactly 15 miles--maybe slightly more. I'm proud of my old Nike+ sensor for giving me a good 7.89 miles before giving out. I decided not to use the new one because I still hadn't calibrated it yet, and so I used the old one as far as it would take me, not sweating it when it konked, since I was covering a known mileage. The walk took me around four hours, which brought me within 25-30 minutes of finishing A Thousand Splendid Suns. I listened to the end of it a few minutes ago. Quite a book! Really great stuff.

In addition to being more or less properly dressed for today's outing, I also didn't suffer any bouts with the ol' peg leg, which was a huge relief. After my 13-miler, I was worried. I do find, as far as chafing goes, that it's easier training in the cold than it was in warm weather. There's just more between my skin and my skin, which minimizes the rubbing. I also used BodyGlide for the first time today, but probably didn't particularly need it. And the Fuel Belt worked out great--far better than the water-bottle-with-handle-grip that I used for my walk in Florida. The walk was tiring as all get-out, but doable. Pretty darn cool.


*word coined by me, early a.m. 2/12/08 (Happy Birthday, Mom!)

The Straw That Broke the Walker's Patience

Okay, that does it. I finally went out and got a new Nike+ sensor. I've had it with losing audio support and mileage reports partway through my long walks. Often, after a long-walk konk-out, the sensor will work perfectly on my short workouts in the days that follow, lulling me into a false sense of electronic functionality. But today, even that fell by the wayside. I got the "activity stopped" message twice during my five-miler. I'll show you activity stopped, ya dumb-bunny piece-a plastic. Hopefully the new one, once I calibrate it, will serve me more faithfully than its predecessor--for a couple more months, anyway. At least they're only $30.

In other news, I finally got in touch with the marathon coach that my mom and husband have contacted at various times with the thought of giving me sessions with him as a gift. We've been e-mailing back and forth, and it looks like we're going to meet up over the weekend. The first bit of wisdom he shared with me was that beginning marathoners' long walks shouldn't make up more than half of their weekly mileage. So I should be walking either farther during the week or less far on my long walks (guess which one appeals more?). Interesting. I'm sure I'll return from our first session with lots more to work on and think about.

In Case Anyone's Counting (Other Than Me)

It's been almost two weeks since I posted last. I haven't stopped training! Here's a rapid-fire catch-up:

Monday, 1/21:
Distance: 4.01 miles - Time: 55:15 - Avg Pace: 13:46/mi.
Calories: 467
Soundtrack: Beloved

Wednesday, 1/23:
Distance: 4 miles - Sensor gave out
Soundtrack: Beloved

Thursday, 1/24:
Distance: 4.02 miles - Time: 57:41 - Avg Pace: 14:20/mi.
Calories: 469
Soundtrack: Beloved

Monday, 1/28:
Distance: 4.07 miles - Time: 57:32 - Avg Pace: 14:07/mi.
Calories: 474
Soundtrack: Beloved

Tuesday, 1/29:
Distance: 4.07 miles - Time: 57:276 - Avg Pace: 14:06/mi.
Calories: 474
Soundtrack: Beloved

Thursday, 1/31:
Distance: 5 miles - Time: 1:10:17 - Avg Pace: 14:02/mi.
Calories: 583
Soundtrack: A Thousand Splendid Suns (think this was the first listen)

Saturday, 2/2:
Distance: 5.16 miles - Time: 1:12:41 - Avg Pace: 14:04/mi.
Calories: 602
Soundtrack: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Sunday, 2/3:
Distance: 9 miles - Dumb sensor konked out
Soundtrack: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Super Duper Tuesday, 2/5:
Distance: 3 miles - Time: 42:53 - Avg Pace: 14:17/mi.
Calories: 349
Soundtrack: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Thursday, 2/7:
Distance: 5.18 miles - Time: 1:17:18 - Avg Pace: 14:54/mi.
2 sensor malfunctions
Calories: 604
Soundtrack: A Thousand Splendid Suns