Running to Stop the Runs -Week 3.1...already!?

Monday - Off

Tuesday - Lifted for the first time since I started training and it was awesome!  Hurrah for weights!

Wednesday - So. Effing. Sore.  And I think I feel the inkling of a cold.  Convince myself that it will only get worse if I run.  Spend twenty fabulous minutes in the sauna.  Mmmmm....

Thursday - Still sore, though not as much.  And I'm nursing not only a cold, but also a raging hangover.  Also, my legs are apparently filled with cement.  Yet another day off...

I did go to a seminar about lifting for distance running.  It was informative, plus I got 15% off at the store and bought the stick.  It's the best thing ever and everyone should own one.

GO RED SOX!

Week 2.2 Harrisburg's Not So Bad

After bitching about suburban Harrisburg's lack of sidewalks, I ventured within proper city limits to see if, like other blossoming metropoli (is that a word?), the city was less pedestrian-hostile than the surrounding area. And actually, it was.

There's a trail that runs along the Susquehanna and it's actually very scenic. You almost forget that an errant step could send you plummeting into a river so polluted it's been known to cause hallucinations and UTIs. But I kept my footing and actually enjoyed the 1 hour, 10 minute run our coaches had generously dolled out. And the domination continues...

Back in NYC, I ran the fabulous Central Park loop yesterday, and was able to fully appreciate the mix of people on the trail. There were hipsters sporting red-headed mullets while they drove pedi-bikes, Italians in sequinned half-shirts, VERY SERIOUS speed walkers (their fanny packs screamed "INTENSITY!"), and, of course, the career distance runners who blew past me while pushing their jogging strollers with one arm. Bastards. But this is New York, after all. There is no judgement. Only enjoyment...thorough enjoyment.

And for the record, my dad came to visit me for the first time this weekend. I've been in NYC since April, but his Crohn's had prohibited him from coming any earlier. Finally, after a grueling July surgery, he made it up. So, let's keep progress going and DONATE!!!!!!!!

Running to Stop the Runs, Week 2.1 - I Hate Harrisburg

Well, well, well.... After last Wednesday's declaration of domination, I got a little too cocky about my distance-running abilities. So cocky in fact, that Wednesday was the last day that week that I partook in any kind of physical activity. So, I only ran two days last week instead of the requisite four. Apparently I'm lazy and think I know my body well enough that I can prescribe a workout of boozing and couch-warming to turn myself into a (half) marathoner. I didn't workout at all and chose to sleep, drink and socialize instead of running. Don't judge me, I haven't give up!

I'm on "sabbatical" from TV right now as I look for my next job, so I came home to good ole HBG, PA for a little R and R and abbreviation abuse. Tuesday was my first run since Wednesday's awesomeness and I was excited to jaunt through my old neighborhood since jogging was definitely not a favored pastime growing up.

This is why I hate Harrisburg, or at least hate this aspect of Harrisburg. I was about 5 minutes into a one-hour run when I realized why suburban sprawl is such bullshit. THERE ARE NO SIDEWALKS!!!!! I was jogging along, listening to my Britney, when the safe, little pedestrian strip I was on decided to end and spew me out onto the shoulder of a truck-happy backroad. Seriously, this is not how Shel Silverstein described the sidewalk ending. So I ended up on the shoulder of this road, 18-wheelers flying past, and decided to turn around in search of a more people-friendly environment.

Here's the deal - I'm running 5 or 6 miles here. I can't just find a quarter mile loop to do several laps around. That's horribly boring and reason number 465,298,482 why I wasn't a distance runner in college. So, I start gallivanting through the neighborhood looking for a consistent path...but there was nothing...anywhere. I had to run through strip mall parking lots and over church lawns. I did find one path around a playground, but it led me right to an effing parking lot. Seriously, this is why our kids are fat. There is no where to run. You have to drive everywhere if you don't want your face on a fender.

It is impossibly hard to get into a rhythm when you're running to survive. Also, I don't know if it was the lack of water or abundance of Hershey's Kissables that I consumed before this run, but during the first thirty minutes every section of my abdomen decided to cramp up...at different times...for seemingly no reason (besides the aforementioned Kissables, of course). Maybe it was the stress of Survivor Jogging, but I thought I was going to throw up three or four times, and that doesn't include the times I thought it was going to come out the other end (ironic for a Crohn's run, right?). All this, coupled with the fact that my shoes are so worn down I'm practically running barefoot, and apparently all the roads here are made of steel and pain, made this an overall unpleasant experience.

Yesterday's run wasn't much better. I went through the neighborhoods to avoid traffic, but every road I took just ended up coming to a halt at someone's house. Literally - running, running, running - front door! Today is my off day, but if I'm sticking around tomorrow, I gots to find another way. I'm not leaving my spine here.

PS - I'm baby-stepping my way to my goal but I need more money. only $3400 to go. DDDDDOOOONNNNAAATTTEEE!

Running to Stop the Runs - Week 1, Part Monotonous Details

Monday - Off
Tuesday - Unscheduled off - shoot days are hard m-fers, so I don't feel bad about limiting my physical activity to that which I am paid for.
Wednesday - Yay 50 minute run! Longest time ever run (by me) ever. Didn't quite dominate as much as Sunday, since I'm a pussy and ran on the treadmill. There was a strong drizzle! But I got to watch The Daily 10 and part of Top Model, so that made it worth it. Suck it, Clark!
PS - Why has no one given me money yet? If you're reading this and haven't donated yet, you better get your wallet out. The ONE person who's contributed thus far has colitis, so if you've got fully functioning intestines, you have no excuse. Do you think maybe if I stopped threatening potential donators I'd get more money?
PPS- I talked to Kimmy and she got the email situation figured out superquick. She's my new favorite person. I know you were all on the edge of your seats about that one, so breathe easy now that I'm able to get emails from the Crohn's coaches...croaches?

DONATE!