oops, socks.

great run again today.  except for my socks. 3.2 miles.  if not for the socks i think i could have gone at least another mile.

it was almost 80 degrees and fairly humid.  generally not my best running weather, but maybe i'm turning a corner.  or at least it feels that way. i mean i was out of breath, sweaty, and yet i still felt good.

i'm not sure what it means to be a runner.  or to be old.  i can tell you, however that i love running. or i do when it feels like i'm turning the corner.  when my legs feel fresh, and it seems like i could just keep going. i'm not running fast. and not consistently, i'm breaking for walking.  but it's ok.  or good, really.  although i think i'm allergic to tree pollem.

i sometimes forget that i need to wear higher socks when wearing running shoes than i usually do. so around mile 2 i started feeling blisters develop on my ankles. by mile 3 they were on fire. so i stopped at 3.2.

i'll keep going tomorrow!

and the bike

i forgot to weigh myself this morning. that's ok, though. i sometimes forget that i need my glasses to weigh myself. i can't see far enough from my head to my toes. 

i haven't biked all year.  ok once. but it was a bit of a disaster.  i was really out of shape, the bike wasn't set up right. my pants were too tight.  i was wobbly.  then i psyched myself out, and stopped biking anywhere. until today.

a good friend of mine and i went out to hudson, ma and biked 10 miles on this trail.  not sure if we did it right, though. we apparently started at the top of a hill. the first 5 miles were easy.  the ride back to the car, however, was not.  man biking uphill is hard.  i'd much rather be running.  

then again running uphill is hard.

either way, i'm happy i did it.  it was a beautiful day.  nice ride.  nice conversation.

should i take a break tomorrow?  or should I go on my long run?  should I postpone til monday?

i guess i'll have to wait and see how i feel.

222 days and 20lbs to go

i'm starting this blog to write about my training for the Disney Half Marathon. it's in january. 2012. not sure, but the world might still be around then.  depending on whose doomsday prediction you believe.

i started running again a few weeks ago.  slowly trying to ease back.  at my age, not quite old but definitely not young, it gets harder to start these things.  if I was smarter, which i'm not, i'd stop taking long 8 month breaks between running stretches.  that way i wouldn't have to start over each time. but then where is the fun in being smart?

i've run 2 half-marathons in the last 2 and a half years. i ran the disney one in 2009. that one was tough.  i wasn't nearly prepared. but i just ran.  and kept running.  it was painful.  i'll write more about that in a later post.

the other half that i ran was in NJ last May.  it was at least 1 billion degrees.  or at least once you got a block away from the boardwalk it did.  people were passing out.  i'm not sure what i did was running. at a certain point you forget about time, and just make sure that you're alive.  thank god for the people who turned on their sprinklers.

as i said, i started running a few weeks ago, and i finally had my first decent feeling run yesterday.  it was 3.2 miles.  some walking.  kept a 12:20 pace.  it's too high, but then again, i'm too fat right now.  so that's ok.  work with your limits.  at least for now. i was running in a new pair of shoes.  I got a pair of asics gel-tarthers from zappos.  they're really light.  they feel great. i might be in love with a pair of shoes. sorry ladies.

so i'm going to try to run a little everyday. for each day i run, i'm going to try to write. i'll also report any milestones. i'm hoping to lose 20lbs before the race.  actually i'd like to lose it faster than that, but i'm not going to do anything crazy. maybe helium pants. that might help. yeah i'm going to invent helium pants so that i don't weigh as much.

there we go.  my first post.