June 29-30, 2002
Visiting Joan
Total Miles for June: 54.98
I took Mom down to Virginia to visit Joan and to check out her new pool. The ride was long and boring but the pool was awesome!
Joan & Steve have an awesome treadmill that I used to do 3 miles on Saturday night. The best thing about the treadmill is that it completely miscalculates your speed and distance, so while I know I did 3 miles at around 4mph because of the Digi-Walker, the treadmill thinks I did about 5.5 at a much faster pace. It really is a good thing I have the digi-walker otherwise I'd have quit early!
Sunday I didn't walk but I did swim a bunch in the pool so I guess that's better than being a total slug.
Oh...and it seems that Sportbrain may be making a comeback! Stay tuned for more details...
June 27, 2002 - 143 Days to Go
Lightening!
Well, no walking tonight --- we had a horrible storm and tons of lightening and rain and wind.
This is probably my last chance to wimp out due to weather. The marathon is 20 weeks from Sunday and that's the official length of the training program I have. That means I have to stick to the mileage per day from now on. Hello Treadmill!
June 27, 2002 - 143 Days to Go
I washed the Digi-Walker!!! I was really worried that all that water was going to really zap it and force me to buy a new one but I got lucky and it dried out overnight. Whew!
I walked 2 miles last night after dinner. I know that doesn't sound the least bit impressive but it was 90 degrees outside and I'm surprised I managed to do anything. I also figured out a good loop walk near the apartment so I have an idea of a measured distance other than Valley Forge. I'll need to work on this and find a more interesting route, but anything is better than the treadmill.
I also discovered that the people who sing the praises of Cool-Max fabric are right! It's awesome! This heat wave as convinced me that I'll never survive this training without it.
I've got the Valley Forge loop on the schedule tonight -- hopefully we'll be able to squeeze it in around the thunderstorms. I'll have a chance to test my theory about the different feel of walking clockwise or counterclockwise there. I'll elaborate on that after the walk. I forgot that my first entry on that subject got zapped by the misbehaving website.
June 26, 2002
I walked 4.3 miles last night before the mole. I got in a 5 miler the other day but I don't have my chart to figure out what day exactly. It's been hard with the crazy weather...I think I'm going to have to start getting up before work and getting my miles in then. That's going to be like pure torture.
This site seems goofy and won't let me add proper entries. I'm adding this here just as a test.
June 18, 2002 - 152 Days to Go
Valley Forge
What is with this rain? It keeps arriving just when I'm ready to go for a walk. I hate that. Got in about 4.5 miles before rushing back to watch The Mole.
Somebody at work came up to chat about TNT after seeing the giant sign in my cube. She did the Atlantic City marathon as a walker several years ago with TNT. She said the race was horrible but the experience overall was good. Then she told me a gross story about losing her toenails. I don't need to hear that right now. Come to think of it, I don't need to hear that ever. Blick!
June 17, 2002 - 153 Days to Go
Walk Don't Run
Walk Don't Run starring Cary Grant and Jim Hutton is the best movie in the world. Rent it or look for it on the late night movie. It's been my favorite movie forever and oddly enough it's about race walking. Perhaps I've been destined for endurance walking all along!
I calibrated the Digi-Walker tonight and wound up walking 1.5 miles in the process.
June 16, 2002 - 154 Days to Go
Back to Walking - the Digi-Walker
I had another group walk with TNT today and once again I had to be at Valley Forge by 8am. Yuck! I made it though and we learned some new stretches and got in a nice 4 mile walk.
There was a racewalking guru guy there who has coached for TNT before and is, from what I understand, a super deluxe, well respected, race walker. His name was Jeff Salvage and he was giving us all some quick analysis of our walking styles and let us know that he has a race walking club that meets on Kelly Drive once a week. He invited us to come and learn how to walk like him.
Now, you're all thinking "It's walking! What kind of special technique could you possibly need?" but let me tell you, this guy has a turbo boost like you have never seen. He's amazingly fast. I think I might try to get down there and learn something from him. I mean, if he can train Olympians, he can only be good for me, right?
In other news, I got my new digiwalker pedometer yesterday. I love it! The basic healthy walking goal is to get 10,000 steps per day. I had nearly that by the end of my walk at VF. It's very cool to see your progress throughout the day. This particular model shows steps, distance and time. I just love it! If you're interested check out the links page because I will link you to the site where you can get one.
I met two more really nice women today at the walk. These TNT folks are really an amazing group. Both of these women have done events before, one the Dublin marathon and the other a Triathlon down in Florida. They're former slugs like me, so who knows, maybe this experience will transform me completely like it did them!
June 15, 2002 - 155 Days to Go
I got a Bike!
I've been wanting a bike forever and today I finally went to the bike shop to investigate the bikes. Not too surprisingly, I walked out of the store with a bike. It was really fun, actually. The guy asked me a bunch of questions, selected a bike for me (on sale!) and let me ride it around a bit outside. He got me outfitted in a helmet, gave me the low-down on the quick release tires and sent me on my way. Sounds great, right?
Well, Aggie and I had quite a time trying to undo the "quick release" tires and wedging the thing into the back of my car. But we finally got it going and I took it for a thrilling spin around the parking lot later. I can't wait until tomorrow so I can ride it for real.
June 14, 2002 - 156 Days to Go
I managed to walk the loop last night -- without any shortcuts and in the rain. Yuck! It's a good thing Brian lives so close to VF because if he wasn't there to go with me I think the rain would have scared me off.
In other news, I signed up for the Philadelphia Distance Run. It's in mid-September and it's a half marathon. Lots of folks in my TNT group are doing that race for charity but I'm just doing it for practice. It's the right length for my long training walk that week and I think it'll be fun to experience a race atmosphere before Bermuda. Plus, I get a cool t-shirt.
Last night I spent a good deal of time creating a spreadsheet to track my scheduled miles and actual miles for the training period. I need to find out what's the most important thing: logging miles per week or miles per session. I think that it's going to be really helpful to really see what I'm doing every day. I ordered a pedometer too so that will add a little more fun to my walks. (Too bad Sportbrain hasn't come back yet!)
I have started to tell people at the office that I'm doing the marathon and today I hung a giant Team in Training poster up in my cube. I see it everytime I walk into the cube and it's a giant reminder to not to dive into the jar of candy on my shelf and to drink more water. It makes me happy to see it and to be reminded that I'm starting this 6 month adventure. Which is great, but I really hung it up because I'm hoping that people will see the sign, ask questions and eventually they'll get behind my effort and make a donation.
Brian & I are scheduled for a Loop Walk at VF tonight so keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. I know eventually I'm going to have to knuckle under and train in the rain but I'm not ready to make that leap yet. I'd better be by the weekend though because things aren't looking good weather-wise for the group walk.
June 12, 2002 - 158 Days to Race
Hydration Systems???
I spent lunchtime today at REI checking out hydration systems. Doesn't that sound like something you'd need for a spaceship or something? Anyway, I settled on this nifty little item: The Camelbak Flash Flow in Ozone Blue. It holds 45 oz of water and a couple of power bars too. I knew there would be an upside to this training: a whole new world of cool stuff to buy!
June 11, 2002 - 159 Days to the Race
Valley Forge Park
Another boring loop around the park. I guess it's about 5.5 miles. It was horrible tonight because it was so humid and hot and gross but I guess it could have actually rained and that would have been worse for sure. I'm worried about tomorrow because there are going to be thunderstorms which means I'll be stuck working out on a treadmill. Yuck.
June 9, 2002 - 161 Days to the Race
Manayunk
Today Brian and I went to the bike race in Manayunk. We walked all over the course and probably by the end of the day we'd logged about 10 miles. It was an easy pace but there were lots and lots of hill and we parked so far away we had to hike through Wissahickon Gorge just to get to and from the car. (no, I'm not kidding about that!)
