Fresh

From December 30th till January 3rd, I was asked what my New Year’s Resolution was. I would reply that I had none because, to me, they are meaningless. My New Years Resolution for 2011 was to learn to drive stick. I had one lesson which ended after 20 terrifying minutes. A second try involved a solo attempt to move my boyfriend's manual car into our garage. I stalled every time I tried to drop into gear. It would lurch forward violently and I was able to get the car half way in using this method before it died entirely. Needless to say, I will be keeping my bike ready in the event of apocalypse and both my car and my boyfriend are immobilized. Despite such a crushing failure of determination, I’d say that 2011 was still pretty action packed.  I learned the basics of aerial gymnastics, performed as a fire eater, got two paid TV gigs, set a PR for 5k and ran my first half marathon, was crowned the first female Scareactor of the Year (voted by other actors) and also Performer of the Year (decided by management) for third time in a row for Halloween Horror Nights.

All in all, I’d say pretty damn accomplished.

So I’ve decided resolutions are not for me...

Can't keep a good dog down!

Here we go, 3 months to go till the Women's Running Half Marathon. Officially signed up, no turning back now. Still haven't hit the 13 mile mark but I know I can do it. My only worry is my knee. You see, a few months ago I fell about 10 feet, the outside of my right knee being what broke my fall. I was in a good deal of pain for a few days but after some RICE and two weeks off any strenuous running, I felt fine. I even ran in the Champion's ESPN 5K at Disney's Hollywood (with it wrapped) and did fine. The knee was behaving and gave me no sign of further problems until my runs started going past an hour long. At first it was just a minor twinge, just sort of reminding me that I might be mortal. But the hour and a half 11 mile adventure brought out a protest I could not ignore. It was no longer a whimper of ache that was gone as soon as I stopped moving but as I reached the hour mark of the run, it felt like an rather distinct, sharp tear feeling to the outside tendon. This is alarming. At the insisting of my boyfriend (who is often more concerned for my health than I am), I took some time to give my knee a chance to get over itself. A few days turned to two weeks far too easily but I'm back on the horse with a bit more caution. Since I was off my feet so long I've started over in my training and switched over from Polar to the Active.com training plan, a free offer for signing up for the race through them. Pretty straight forward plan, effort based rather that pace or heart rate with mileage goals at the end of the week that gradually increase and cross training days on the schedule. The 14 week plan does cut it close to race day, my first 13 mile goal the week before the half marathon but I feel that will be plenty of prep. The main trouble I may run in to is keeping on schedule in October, my busiest month of the year. But more on that later, just know I'm still going and I'll see ya at the finish line in St. Pete!

At the foothills

Finally getting the hang of getting out the door before 8am. It’s amazing the temperature difference a half hour can make. I only had a 35 minute run today but it’s the looming 110 minute tomorrow that I was thinking about. 18km/11 miles. This whole “half-marathon” idea is getting more and more real. I’m excited and nervous and just hoping I can push through it. Going to try driving out to a nearby trail because there just isn’t enough uninterrupted space to run that far around here. Also feeling ambitious enough to get up at 6 to get out early enough. Wish me luck and see you on the other side of tomorrow!

Week....?

Somebody turn down this heat already. And don't know what got into me today but took off in a sprint for my warm up. Spent the rest of this interval run trying to recover my pace. At least I made my full mileage, all 10km today. Sorry I haven't been posting too often. I've been a little consumed with another project lately. But my runs are on track and I'm slowly building the endurance I'm going to need come November. A lot of big stuff is currently hanging in the air for me, so just gotta keep moving.

Week 1: aka week 11 from 10k training

The week began with a breezy 8km run. I kept my pace and met my mileage. Now I know "easy" and "8k" sound like the ramblings of a mental patient, but after completing Polar's 10k Training Program, it was a distance I had done before and knew I could cover at a comfortable pace. The phenomena of expectation is a funny thing. I used to look at the idea of anything beyond my comfort zone of 5k as a dream. Now I know what to expect and how it feels to go the distance and it's good to know I can do it. That certainly helped get the ball rolling on this journey to 13.1 miles. If I had woken up that day thinking of trying to run a half marathon, I have my doubts I would have gotten out of bed. Even thinking that by the end of the week I was going to put more miles on my feet than on my car would have been intimidating. I didn't even think "Okay, just 8 kilometers and then you can make a great big smoothie with all the peanut butter you want". Instead, I thought about the route. I thought about the path around the sleepy golf course and through the quiet park that my run would take me on. Places that I'd run through before. Yes I know how far those distances are but it's nice to not have a big number staring you down. So that's lesson one, if a distance seems intimidating, just think about lefts and rights; think about landmarks not mile markers. Figure out your route for the distance you need and then forget about the numbers. Just know "Okay this is my long day route, my short day route, my hill route..." and so on.

The most notable run of the short week was a 30 minute run that I had been putting off all day. For whatever reason, I never got around to running that morning, never made it to the gym, and before I knew it the time was 8pm and it was now or never. The sun had just settled below the horizon but the reflective blanket of clouds would keep the light for another hour or so. I took my time getting ready, hoping the heat of the day would have time to dissipate and not smother me on this quick jog. Laced and wired up, I finally step outside, trot down the three flights and step out from under the awning to be greeted by thick, black clouds that still glowed by the dying sunset. A heavy rumble, like that of some unfathomable beast asserting it's territory, called down and rattled the windows behind me. The trees danced and bowed and shook about as the wind swept up to deliver the smell of not so far off rain. The sky thundered again, daring me to a test of speed. Who will be faster, a mortal or the Lightning Gods? I smirked and took off into the misty dusk air.

The rain quickly turned from a fine spray to heavy drops so I began to follow the cover of the trees marking the boundary of the course. I darted beneath the canopies until a very near crack of thunder reminded me of my elementary days living in Texas and being lectured on the dangers of lightning and proximity to trees. I quickly began to reevaluate my cleverness and charted a new path, weaving in and out of the hallways of the apartment buildings that pressed up along the edges of the golf course. I ran out of apartment hallways at about 10 minutes into my run and the rain had retreated long enough for me to cross the street and reach the shelter of a series of businesses. The connected overhangs that I used as relief from the sun most days now protected me from the threat of Zeus's bolt. Still I knew my return route would be less sufficient and the skies did not look like they had any intention of giving me safe passage. The clouds were gathering together, growing darker and towering higher and higher. The sound of electricity ripping through the air grew more agitated and frequent; apparently the Lightning Gods are sore losers. As I reached the end of the strip mall and met my turn around point, the wind began to kick up again, bringing rain that cooled my brow and sent sweat dripping into my eyes. It wasn't strong enough yet to saturate my clothes or flood the sidewalk and thus was not strong enough to make me give up the contest. As I bounded up a hill there was a sudden flash of light behind me followed by the crash of thunder. I shuddered forward with the shock from the lightning and doubled my pace without a thought to logic or scientific understanding of the speed of sound and light.

With 10 minutes left, I came around the other side of an office building to 500 meters of side walk and empty lot. I paused briefly to scan the exposed horizon; the sidewalk connects two tall multi-use buildings, with nothing on but dirt and wild, patchy grass on either side. On sunny days, this stretch is like running under a giant magnifying glass in the hands of some sadistic, immature ent. That night, however, there was no sun, no killing heat, but also hardly any rain and an uninterrupted, panoramic view of an angry, ominous sky that threatened with voltage and vengeance. Impressive displays of static electricity danced from cloud to cloud and mocked the conductivity of my puny, 75% water muscles. I gathered my energy, thought rubber thoughts, and sprinted across the stretch of deserted land, thunder practically nipping at my heels. I made it to the other side and under the building's overhang and out the other side to cross the street for the home run. And of course in this last five minutes the rain began to come down with impatiences. It gathered on the ground and began to seep onto the sidewalk. Cars began to turn on their wipers. The sweat that was already pouring from me was washed away before even having a chance to cool. I could see the final turn I had to make up ahead and as I came around I came full on into the wind, pushing me at the shoulders and chest and face. I pressed on as the coach voice on my iPod counted down "5 minutes... 4 minutes... 3 minutes". Lightning flashed and thunder shook soon after, warning of the proximity of the storm. "2 minutes... 1 minute," as I came into the neighborhood and as I reached my building the Nike coach announced that I had completed my run. And not a second to spare, soon as I shut the door, the skies finally opened and poured down. I had done it I had raced against the Lightning Gods and I had won.

Follow Me to the Women's Running Half Marathon

The Women's Running Half Marathon and 5/10k is a specatular event. The race takes place in late November in St. Petersburg, Florida, which might be one of the best times to be outside in Florida. It's unofficially an only women race and the sensations of pride, empowerment, and sorority float on the cold bay breeze. I ran last year as a 5k participant and had a ball. This year I will be running the full 13.1 miles around my old stomping grounds. Why did I choose this race to mark my first competitive attempt at distance running? Why try to run a half marathon at all?

Why the swag of course!

It's a pendant, it's a medal, it's a pedal! ...no wait that's not right.

Honestly I want to start traveling more for races. That is my goal with this blog. I want to travel the country, maybe even the world, to experience races all over in all their pomp and ceremony. I want to meet other runners and to encourage others to get out and be active. I want an excuse to make weekend get-a-ways to cities I've always wanted to see. I want to write about these races as the madness on foot that they are in a way that could only be accomplished by gonzo journalism. I certainly can't capture all of that in a 5k run. To drive an hour and a half across town to get on a plane to fly four or five hours on a red eye, check into a hotel in the host city, get up at five in the morning to get to the race site, spend the next hour dwaldling and stretching and muscling for position, then the two hour after party, an unforeseeable amount of time goofing off and exploring the city only to fly back to be back to reality on Monday, all that for only 30 minutes of running? It seems hardly justified. So I've decided to start working on longer distances and running them faster. I'm starting to get close to the top of my age group in most of the 5k's that I run and it suddenly pace and starting position seem like the matter.

I've tried out a couple of web based training programs and I am sticking with Polar. I like doing the heart rate based training because when I feel I'm finished and I need to slow down I can look down at that friendly little monitor and it tells me, "Keep it moving, this is only 75%," and when my power song pops up and I want to run all out during a rest interval it reminds me to hold back. I have noticed my pace has improved since I started wearing a heart rate monitor and I have been able to go further much quicker than with programs I've tried in the past. This week starts off where I left off with my 10k training, with a goal of three runs totaling at just under 20km for the week. Next week I have 4 runs at 28km and gradually building from there. The program includes rest weeks with lighter loads and heart rate targets with warm up and peak periods for each run. I'm very excited to see where this goal will take me and what the journey will be like. Stay tuned! Better yet, try to keep up!

Detox

It's spring, a time for cleansing and rebirth. The earth is awakening and coming back to life, arisening from the winter as often symbolized through ancient spring time customs and beliefs. One third of the year has already passed us, yes New Years was already four months ago, and it is time to take a moment to assess and ask ourselves.... When the hell did it get to be April? Seriously it finally dawned on me that my March 2nd birthday has come and gone and I have been 26 for a month. I feel like someone broke in and rearranged all my furniture. Where has all the time gone, when did time start moving so quick, have I done anything this year, and what exactly have I been doing?

Updating twitter, it turns out.

In a moment of epiphany, I realized how addicted I have become to my media. I find myself compulsively checking my email and social network for something new, even though I have several devices that will alert me if there is anything new. I check first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If I say "Oh, I'm only going to see if she wrote me back," I am guaranteed to find an interesting article that someone has posted, which inevitably leads to time being sucked away in massive chunks as I jump from link to link like a cyber Tarzan with ADHD.

Funny story, when you google "Cyber Tarzan", this is the first image hit.

It's gotten so bad that I find myself compulsively reaching for my phone as soon as I come to a full stop at red lights. It was quite distressing on my latest road trip to find that, despite wearing a bluetooth headset that would whisper in my ear to let me know if I have received an e-mail, call, or text, I still had to fight the urge to grab the device and look just to be sure. Have I become so sunk into the addiction that I no longer trust the devices that promised to free me from being glued to a glowing screen? Is my denial so bad that I question the infallibility of these gadgets whose combined value probably exceed that of my entire wardrobe? Do I truly believe that if there is not an app for that, then it is nothing? Apparently yes. It's gone beyond social media; I can't seem to turn off the tv, the radio, the xbox. I spend so much time scrolling my Netflix list just to pick out something to listen to in the background (which never works; I average one t-shirt folded per 10 minutes of playback). And I am by no means a "gamer" but when I spent an hour playing Kinect table tennis which caused me to almost throw out my shoulder and be late for a date I think it's time to start making some guidelines. My obsession isn't too bad, in fact when I have music or talk radio playing I find myself very productive and managing my time well. It's when the radio is off that I have trouble with racing thoughts, frequently derailed trains of thought, and losing chronological awareness. There is almost always a pair of headphones on my person; I am that girl that goes to the shops with the giant cans on her head.

So as with all addictions, it's time for an intervention. I need to break myself of habit and compulsion and develop a health relationship with media. I've spent so much time consuming other people's creativity that I have not taken the time to develop my own. That being said... how do I do it? After a grueling Google search (consisting of the first 4 links on the first page) I have found hardly any useful information. So instead I'm going to follow the "Quit Smoking" guidelines I keep sending to Andy and treat this just as seriously. I plan to take the next week or two to log my daily habits, be the Jane Goodall of me; keeping track of how and when I access media, why, and what I was feeling. My official detox date will be April 29, from that day it will be one solid week, cold turkey, to just the cellphone with data swiched off and radio without headphones. I will allow for 10 minutes for e-mail only in the mornings and in the evenings and I can watch the news from 6pm-7pm but that is to keep me up to date on the real world and also so I don't miss any bookings for work. Beyond that I'll be friggen Amish. I also plan to write about the experience, which means one tweet a day and at the end of the week I will post what I have compiled throughout the week. Who knows, I may even finish all the race reports I keep promising you! In the meantime I plan to continue the research into breaking obsessive and compulsive behaviour and what is a reasonable plan when I open the gates to the media stream once more.

Wish me luck and if you have any thoughts, suggestions, similar experiences, or references please leave me a comment!