Allo, Guvnah

Great news! Just found out that the course at the Flora London Marathon stays open for about nine hours. So it looks like that's my race!...if (and it's a big "if") I can get a spot on one of the charity teams. Did I mention that if I get one of those spots, I'll have to raise around $3000? Nooooo prob...

The Sidewalks of Newport

Time: 30:22 - Distance: 2.37 miles - Avg Pace: 12:47/mi.
Soundtrack: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

It was sunny out today! And then it was cloudy. And then I took my walk. But no complaints; it was gorgeous compared to yesterday. Everything went smoothly; upped my pace a little, sensor stayed under my laces. I am feeling some soreness in my shins when I walk, and it seems to increase when I move faster. It's not awful, but it might be a bit of an obstacle to walking more quickly. Could be my form--something else to ask a coach about.

Blowin' in the Wind

1. Time: 20:03 - Distance: 0.72 miles - Avg Pace: 27:40/mi.
Soundtrack: This American Life--Unconditional Love, Avril Lavigne
2. Time: 20:07 - Distance: 1:53 miles - Avg Pace: 13:08/mi.
Soundtrack: Once Upon a Mattress

Today's wet, windy weather was the most unpleasant I'm going to have to work out in for the entirety of my training. If I say it, will it make it true? I've always been told that you need to put things out to the universe in order for them to happen. So there it is, Mama Nature; have at it.

I kept waiting for the rain to stop this afternoon, but it kept on falling. Realizing that I was probably going to have to go out in it, we went to EMS in nearby Middletown, RI (we're in Newport for the weekend), where I got this marvel of engineering on the right. The color is called oxblood red, which I'm glad I didn't know until after I'd purchased and worn it (click here for my feelings on ox parts in paragraph three). Also got a pair of rain pants and some gloves, which, combined with the gear I already had, kept me warm and dry on my walk. It's kind of fun to slog through the tempest without getting soaked, even if it is objectively dreadful out.

So today was a 40-minute workout. That first 20 doesn't look so hot, does it? Not the sorta pace that would lead someone to complete a marathon in the time allotted. Well, here's what I learned today: the little Nike bit that the guy at JackRabbit told me to tuck into my laces doesn't stay put quite so reliably when the laces are wet. Maybe eight or ten minutes into my workout, my music (or talk, in this case) stopped and Ms. Soothingvoice said: "Activity stopped. Press the center button to resume your workout." Interesting that she saw things this way, because I hadn't stopped moving. But I pressed the center button to get my Ira Glass on once again. This happened a couple more times, after each of which I dutifully dug my nano out of my zipped pocket and pressed the center button. Then I happened to look down, only to see that the little red-and-white motion sensor was no longer under my shoelaces. Shoot. So I turned around and started walking back the way I came, eyes on the sidewalk. And, improbably, I found it! The part that was plugged into my nano had kept timing me, and so I knew that I was almost at the halfway mark. So at 20 minutes, I stopped the workout and began a new one, because I'd be darned if I was going to puddle-jump for 40 minutes without some accurate reading of what I'd done. So the second 20 minutes are what really happened (as opposed to what happened while the sensor was lying on the ground for 12 minutes). That's a picture of it on the left, by the way, in case it comes out of my laces again and you happen to find it. To make sure that doesn't happen, maybe I ought to get one of those pouches they have at JackRabbit, or else do what this guy did.

So about the walk. Got my pace up! It's still feeling easy, and I didn't have the same pain in my right leg that I had last time. I have noticed in the hours since the walk that I seem to have put a lot of my weight on my left big toe. Gotta look out for that and make sure my weight goes evenly down the middle of the foot. Wouldn't hurt to consult with a coach to make sure I'm doing everything right.

My Teeny-Tiny Marathon Fetus

I now understand more than ever why people wait before telling anyone--even closest friends and loved ones--that they're pregnant. What if the kid doesn't make it? I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what it's like to be with child, but I can tell you that it was with a certain trepidation that I revealed this blog--and with it, my marathon plans--to my parents this morning. These are my parents we're talking about. Word on the street is that they'll love me no matter what, but what if this little baby marathon dream I'm cultivating doesn't survive the winter? I am acutely aware of how deeply I fear failure, and how I let that stop me from trying. There is a bets-hedging voice inside me, telling me that the fewer people I reveal Project Marathon to, the easier it will be to give it up when it gets hard. But isn't that why I should tell everyone? So often I want to play small, to keep the stakes low and easy. Sure, it's about this one undertaking, but beyond that, it goes right to the heart of how powerful I'm willing to be. You've probably read or heard that terrific Nelson Mandela quote: "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" Every time I read those words, it takes my breath away. So get the hell out there and start moving.

Not Cross (Yet), Just Training

My training schedule says that Thursday is cross-training day, which can be anything from lifting weights (which I translate to mean Pilates) to biking to swimming--something exercisey without a lot of impact. The last time I rode my bike, the front tire popped, which was exactly as dramatic as it sounds. My dad is a big cyclist ("big" here modifies "cyclist," not "dad," because my dad is not big), and so he managed to patch the tube inside the tire (I didn't even know there was a tube inside the tire), which enabled me to make it back to where we started. But considering that I got that bike, a blue Schwinn Mirada of which I couldn't find a picture online (although it is mentioned in the Vintage Bicycle Discussion Area), around the time of my Bat Mitzvah and am now pushing 30 and have never replaced the tires...the time has probably come. I rode it (nice patch job, Dad!) to Dixon's Bicycle Shop, six blocks away on Union St. If you followed that link, you'll notice that Dixon's did not get terrific reviews--no bike shop around here seems to--but it's so dang close to home. They were perfectly nice to me, said they'd give Schwinny a couple of new tires and tubes and a tune-up, and told me to come back for her in a few days. So I'll have the old girl back in working order soon, but it doesn't count as 45-60 minutes of cross-training until I actually ride her for that long.

I ended up borrowing Nick's bike, and was somehow able to ride it without lowering the seat (couldn't figure out--nay, find--the quick-release mechanism). I did, however, end up having to French-cuff the right side of my jeans à la middle school (see picture at right) because the flare of the circa-2006 pair I was wearing kept getting wrapped around the gear. I tooled around Prospect Park and through the neighborhood, probably the slowest biker on the road, for juuust about 45 minutes. Too bad I can't listen to my iPod while I bike; Ms. Nikepants would have been more than happy to keep me on track timewise.

Today, like all Mondays and Fridays, is a rest day. Nice. Four days of walking, one of cross-training, and two of rest per week. Seems totally reasonable...at least for now. Eventually (say, Saturday of Week 14, when I'm slated to walk 18 miles), I'm guessing that reason will seem to have slipped by the wayside. But I'm thinking--hoping, really--that it will feel like a manageable step by then. My book says that the workouts during the week are for frequency and intensity, and the ones over the weekend (Saturday in particular) are for distance and endurance. Speaking of books, I just ordered this one on the left from Amazon. I'm looking forward to having some guidance specifically for marathon walking, rather than only resources intended for runners that acknowledge that "oh, yeah, some people walk" or refer to walking as what runners do when they can't keep their pace up. I'll report back on the book once it gets here on Tuesday.

Gotta Start Somewhere

These are my new running/walking shoes, known in the trade as Asics GT-2120. When I went to JackRabbit on Wednesday, they had other shoes with cool names like Cumulus and Nimbus (which tickles the 4th-grade wannabe meteorologist in me), but these were the most comfortable. I also picked up some pants, a wintry weather ear cozy, a promise that the sports bra I was looking for would probably be in on Friday, and this cool new gadget made by Nike and Apple for the iPod nano. Don't be fooled; it works just fine with shoes that aren't Nikes. In fact, the gem of a salesguy at JackRabbit offered to sell me a pouch to clip onto my shoelaces to hold the little sensor in place, but then confided that he stuffs his under his shoelaces and it works just fine. Bless him. So part of the gizmo goes on your shoe and the other part plugs into your nano. It can do all sorts of tricks, but the first time I tried it, I just set the length of my workout and it told me as I went how much time had elapsed and how much I had still to go. At the end, my nano screen displayed my distance, average speed, and would probably have told me more if I had asked.

A couple hours after we got home...I went on my 30-minute first training walk! Five or ten minutes in, I started to have pain along my left backside, and so I stopped to stretch for a moment, and eventually, it went away. I did my best to move at a fairly brisk clip, but didn't push super-hard. I liked the soothing female voice cutting into the episode of This American Life I was listening to, telling me how long I had been walking, and after the halfway point, how long I had left. It also happened to be Halloween, and I was out around 6pm, prime trick-or-treating time in Park Slope. 7th Avenue resembled some of the more congested sections of the London Marathon, I'd imagine, except that no one was trying for a personal best, and so I quickly escaped to the calm of 8th Avenue. About 20 minutes into my walk, I passed some adults out in front of a brownstone, and they cheered as I walked by, exclaiming: "A speedwalker! Hooray! What a great costume!" I think they were joking, but either way, it means I was convincing, right? More than that, it made me feel great, and gave me a miniature sense of what it might be like to have supporters along the route of a marathon. So I need to make sure to participate in one with big crowds on the sidelines. London remains appealing.

I'm even more in love with this Nike doohickey now. It connects you to a whole online world that will plot your workouts, allows you to challenge other people, and a host of other things I haven't checked out yet. Okay, I'm a sucker for marketing and pretty pictures, but it only cost me $29 and I already had the nano, so I'm pleased. I'm going to post the stats for my various training walks, starting with this one.

Time: 30:08 - Distance: 2.21 miles - Avg Pace: 13:36/mi.
Soundtrack: This American Life--Special Ed

I'll put this up at the top from now on, but I didn't think it belonged there this time, since at the beginning of the post, I hadn't yet decided I was doing this thing. And it looks as though now, I have.

First Steps

So here's the thing: people don't just run marathons; they also walk them. I used to walk--fast--for exercise, and quite liked it. In addition to not inspiring fear and anger in me the way running does, walking is also far easier on the joints.

That does it: I'm going to walk a marathon. But which one? Did you know that there's a Walt Disney World Marathon? Boy, does that sound fun, from what I can imagine and what I've read . But it's in mid-January, and my training calendar requires 20 weeks, which, according to my calculations, makes 10+ weeks not long enough. Ah, well. But you know what is just about 20 weeks away? The Rome Marathon. And it gets good reviews, too. I should tell you that the not-insane part of my running that maratona is that we're planning to move to Italy for about a year in late January (click here for details). So Europe's no biggie. Rome is actually exactly 20 weeks from last Sunday, which means I'd have to start training immediately. London is in mid-April, which would give me some time to breathe, and sounds great--good for first-timers, lots of supporters--but there are a couple of obstacles there. First, registration is over and all the regular spots are filled. I might be able to get in if I joined a charity team, which I would be thrilled to do. So not a real problem, provided the charities still have space available. But the other issue is the time limit. Every marathon closes its course after a certain amount of time. This can mean anything from letting cars back on the road to no one's being there when you finish and your therefore not getting a time or a finisher's medal, etc. I've read figures of both 5.5 hours and 8 hours for London, and I don't think I can walk a marathon in 5.5 hours. And even if I could, I don't want to feel like I have to. So I'm working on getting to the bottom of that one.