50-Something Days Left, Or: I Can Eat What I Want Without Worrying About What I Will Look Like At The Fire Island Pines Underwear Party.

Rainbow at a gay wedding in Massachusetts.

Welcome to the fall. The leaves are turning funny colors, the air is getting dry and cold, the hot naked bodies have disappeared from Central Park, and the oven is on 400F non-stop, doing what it can to satisfy my perma-craving for baked goods. Oh yea, and we're training for the marathon.

You could barely tell I'm training given how little I have been running. It's been by far the most relaxed training season ever. I mean, I don't even know my weekly mileage. I just religiously follow my training plan (most runs are time-based, not mile-based, hence my ignorance), running at most 4 times per week. And I am only up to 14 miles in my long run this week. This is quite a step back since my last running update and it happened for a good reason: the herniated disc which prevented me from running Paris has struck again, so I had to stop running for all of July and half of August. Leading up to it, I was running so much that 12 miles was just something I would run for fun on a Wednesday, often reaching north of 40 miles per week - in June. Obviously my body was like "um, no" and by early July I could barely run at all. Luckily, this happened in early July and not in October.

Olive has been instrumental in motivating me for my runs, since she is the only creature alive who I can run with and not be dropped. Having come back from an injury at a time when everyone else has been running all summer, I am super slow compared to all my friends. It's not that Olive isn't faster than me (in short distances at least). But, alas, she's a dog, and being a human with a leash gives me certain advantages over her that wouldn't necessarily be cool with my friends .. not while running anyway.

So now I'm back at it, with my legs 95% ok, still seeing a physical therapist and doing what I can to get my miles in and cross that damn finish line. After singing up for and missing 2 marathons in 3 years due to injuries, I am determined to finish this fucker. Also, I have made a commitment to raise money for Team Continuum and I am planning to keep that promise. They are a really cool organization that helps out people with cancer as well as researchers and facilities focused on cancer treatment. It's a very personal choice for me, as cancer has struck both in my family and among my friends, luckily with no tragic consequences. And that's kind of the point - I have seen first hand that with the right care and support, cancer can often be treated successfully. So please donate to this great cause.

Cheers,

A

Paris, Bratislava, New York, Philadelphia, Boston.. I'm Back to Running!

After the N-th hiatus, this time caused by a herniated-disc/foot-injury combo, I am happy to report that I am back to running! And not just a casual run here and there, but a semi-regular running routine.

One of the ways you know you're running regularly is when a trip (vacation or work) doesn't serve as an excuse to not run but instead provides new exciting venues to get the miles in. It's been fun tracking these with the Garmin.

And so here, let me present to you:

(This map doesn't quite do justice to the kind of run that this was - here's the elevation map - brutal!)

Yay!

I Like It Wet, Messy and Black.

It turns out the only fun way to deal with a gloomy day like today is to confront it head on: get out there for a run in torrential rain.  Incidentially, it is also the perfect way to get over a hangover from Sugarland, which, in turn, was the inspiration for the soundtrack of my athletic adventure: a loop of Gimme More, Beat Goes On and Bossy.  The run was ugly, wet, messy and sexy.  Once every inch of my body was completely drenched I embraced the shittiness of the conditions and focused instead on getting in touch my inner Lindsey, Britney and Madonna.  At the end, when I stopped by the coffee place downstairs to get a doze, Rodney asked:  

"Milk or sugar?"

"I like it black."

"Ohh, you're making my heart beat."

On and on, on the beat goes.. 

Inspiration.

Even though I don't run marathons anymore, I can still appreciate how tough they are.  When you watch at mile 24, some of the stuff you see is downright jaw-dropping.  Most people, even those with the most intense training, are at a point where their bodies are running on sheer will.  It's no longer about physics or strength or nutrition.  It's pure determination.  In the pic above, my teammates from Frontrunners New York, Kelsey and Chris.  Kelsey is pacing Chris for a sub-3 hour marathon.  They finished at 2:59:31 .. amazing.

Another notable phenomenon worth mentioning was people running with Obama pictures on their shirts.  I bet that those will look quite funny a decade from now.  "OMG, dad! You ran the marathon with Obama on your T shirt?"

Then you have the people who may look funny but you know they are going through just as much pain as everyone else.  This guy in particular is not kidding at all - he ran 3:16 yesterday after running 3:08 three weeks earlier in Chicago.

And then there's Peter McGrane.  If there was an inspiration ad featuring him, it would go something like "Peter - making sub-3 marathons look easy since 2008".  This is him on the way to a 2:49 finish, shaving off 5 minutes from his first sub-3 performance in Chicago last month.  

Speaking of Peter, do these arms look familiar?

One thing is for sure: while I may no longer be a marathon runner, at least I got the cross dressing part down this Halloween!

PLAY: Chicago Marathon + Will it Stick?

elite men at mile 2

In our most recent running-related adventure, Cenk and I flew to Chicago last weekend to watch a marathon we were originally supposed to run. It was my first time in Chicago and I was quite impressed - by the architecture, landscaping and natural setting, at least.  Here are some of photos I took.  While I continue to be uninterested in the incredible and torterous routine of marathon training, watching from the sidelines surely inspired me to start running again.  And indeed, this morning I woke up to do just that.  As I was sitting in the office, I couldn't decide what was making me happier - the heavy doses of endorphins flowing through my veins or the market making the largest up move ever.  As a side note, like Fox over at Time, I am not sure it can stick.