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March 05, 2005
Green with glee
A few folks have have asked how the training is going, and a couple have asked if I'd share some of the advice I've been given, and I'm happy to oblige!
I'm having a blast!
I'd say I'm still at the "building a base" part of the whole marathon endeavor -- I haven't run much more than a mile "in a row" even when I do three miles at a time (running and walking) on the treadmill at the gym. My first goal is to get up to three miles in a row (which would let me run a 5K race) and then six miles (10K) by June. That would put me solidly starting the NYRR marathon training plan in plenty of time for a November race date.
If I don't get picked for the NYC marathon, I've got backup plans. I'll look for another marathon to run, probably another fall one, since I think the training will be most comfortable in the summer and fall. Secondly, I'd still love to run NYC, so I'll plan to gain "guaranteed entry" for 2006. The way you do that is by running 9 NYRR races in 2005 (as an NYRR member, and these can be 5-10K things, not all marathons or anything scary) and then you're in for the next year's marathon.
What worked for getting started exercising was twofold. I started swing dancing last fall, and it turned out I loved it. At first I hoped that dancing would help me lose weight and gain stamina, but soon I realized I wanted to lose weight and gain stamina so that I could dance better! In January I started getting back to the gym regularly to try to do that. My second realization was that I'm no good at deciding on a day-to-day basis whether I "should" go to the gym. So now I just go every day that I work at Yarnivore, which is five days a week. Even if I only go for half an hour, that's still half an hour of exercise, and that adds up.
As a reward for all this absurdly active healthy behavior, I have bought a new little friend to make going to the gym even less painful -- a green iPod mini! It's only about a quarter full, and I already adore it. No more bad techno and CNN for me! Knitcasts and They Might Be Giants and Ted Leo all the way!
In exciting Yarnivore news, I have the new March-April class schedule up, and it's pretty brilliant! Annie Modesitt is teaching wire knitting on March 19th, and I've got several new classes, including pattern adaptation (take control of your knitting!) and an introduction to cables.
UPDATE: I was on my way to the gym this morning, and didn't have time to add in links to some helpful running sites. Cool Running has a page of stuff that's especially aimed at new runners that I found friendly and informative. The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer is a fabulous, practical, and inspiring book that I've been using. I also have The Runners' World Complete Book of Running. A side note about that last one -- they also publish a Complete Book of Women's Running that looked like crap to me -- it had all this stuff about weight loss and body image and pregnancy and clothing and dieting and its tone was just so icky. The Complete Book of Running has a chapter on running for women that includes stuff about periods and sports bras without being condescending and stupid.
Posted by Rose at March 5, 2005 09:17 AM
Comments
You do look like you have lost weight - I checked out both your Ribby Cardis on Bonne Marie's site. Good for you! I would suggest the Chicago Marathon as a backup for NYC. It's in Oct., it's *very* flat and since it's such a large race there are people cheering you on the whole way. I have done it 3x and plan to run it again this year. People ask me what I think about when I run such long distances and, of course, I think about knitting!
Posted by: Sarah at March 5, 2005 02:27 PM
Best of luck to you!
I trained for the Chicago last year. Unfortunately the furthest I made it was 20 miles. During my training run I stress fractured my leg. I am now just getting back to running and am enjoying every step.
Run hard, stay healthy, and ALWAYS listen to your body.
Posted by: Danielle at March 5, 2005 05:50 PM
just found your blog thorugh bonne marie's post of your ribby cardi. i've run the nyc marathon the last two years. i've never had any desire to repeat a course except for nyc. you'll feel like a rock star!!!!! i've also entered the lottery for this year, so if i make it back there, i'll definitely check out your shop!!! if you don't get in, i also highly recommend chicago as your back up. it's a month earlier, but it's the flatest, fastest marathon in the country. that was where i ran my first marathon and it was perfect. i may do it again if i don't get into nyc. as far as books go. i highly highly recommend jeff galloway's book "marathon" and the run/walk training approach for your first race. i'm a coach for the aids marathon program here in los anageles and we base our training on the galloway method. it's very popular and very practical for first time marathoners who have lives (and yarn shops!!) and limited time to dedicate to training. rachael of "yarn a go go" just trained with us at our san francisco program and ran the honolulu marathon. it was super fun to see a fellow knitting blogger for the first time at a marathon event!!! i'm always excited for anyone starting to run, so if you have any questions about anything at all, please feel free to email me anytime. you go girl!!!!
Posted by: monica at March 6, 2005 02:49 AM
Fingers crossed for you for the lottery!
Posted by: Cari at March 6, 2005 01:20 PM
I saw your ribby cardis on Bonne Marie's blog and decided to check out your blog--way to go on the marathon commitment! I just wanted to say that your knitting is beautiful and that the Cool Runnings couch-potato to 5K program worked wonders when I started running a year ago. No marathons in my future, though :). Good luck with the lottery!
Posted by: Jen at March 6, 2005 07:33 PM
Another back-up marathon: Twin Cities (minneapolis/st paul) Marathin is in the end of September or beginning of October. I can never remember. I have never run it, but it is my goal. I don't think that it is a lottery based system, but I could be wrong. Maybe I'll see you there.
Posted by: else at March 8, 2005 03:58 PM
I know that you know, but I just wanna say it again:
You GO! Bad-Ass!
And hooray for all the yarn/marathon connections!
Posted by: Amber at March 9, 2005 04:37 PM
Getting an iPod greatly increased my ability to deal with an hours worth of cardio on the ellipticals every morning! I put on a few playlists of high energy music and found that I managed to get through my workouts easier. Good luck with the training and the lottery
Posted by: elaine at March 9, 2005 09:35 PM
i am jealous the heretic will be giving classes out your way. i recently ordered her book(s).
Posted by: natasha at March 12, 2005 04:31 PM
Another knitter who runs! Hi! :)
Best of luck with your marathon training. I just ran my first half-marathon last week, and am now looking at doing a full this autumn. I'm reading the same books that you are, except that I also have ,a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671017039/qid=1110917541/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-2486384-6304106?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">The Complete Book Of Running For Women. I find it to be more informative that the similarly titled Runner's World women's book.
Posted by: kelly at March 15, 2005 03:14 PM
Good luck on the lottery :-)
Posted by: Alexa at March 16, 2005 09:10 PM
Hey, just found your blog through my husband's discovery of Francis'. I ran my first marathon last year and it's truly an amazing experience. The one I ran, Steamtown, might be worth considering as a backup too--not flat, but fast, amazing crowd support, and small enough to get lots of personal attention (and no question of not getting in!). Since you mentioned NRMT (my training bible), you might be interested in bookmarking my version of the concentration game (Chapter 7) for future reference: http://www.salticid.com/concentration.htm
Good luck with your training and I hope you get to run NY!
Posted by: Hilary at March 20, 2005 01:45 PM
http://www.detroitfreepressmarathon.com/
EventInfo/marathon.cfm
10/23/05.
I'd be happy to show you and Francis around town, or at least what I remember of it before we had kids and lost our social lives.
Posted by: Mark Wade at March 31, 2005 03:03 PM