J. H. Authors

One Woman. Three Names. Many Books.

Fitness

The Summer of Kicking it Up

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This AM I went for a 70 minute bike ride and 10 minute run with my Boston Fit peeps. Add a 1/2 mile swim in front, and quadruple the run, add three weeks and ta dah. Cranberry Sprint on the 28th. The swim still freaks me out a bit (though a swim clinic put on by Max Performance helped A LOT). I may be last. It may not be pretty. But I’m going to get this done.

That isn’t the only stretch of the summer. I am joining a blog on Monday–the New Hampshire Writers’ Network blog. Their motto is “Live to Write–Write to Live”. I admire the work of the blog, and am really thrilled to be a part of it.

And theatrically, all of my subscriptions are in. And last week I had some inspiring moments–meeting Doug Elkins (whose piece, FRAULEIN MARIA, will be at the Paramount in September), seeing a dress rehearsal of THE SUN ALSO RISES and then OTHELLO. All in the same day. I haven’t seen as much theatre as I would like to this summer, but I am starting to flex my muscles a bit. This looks to be a very exciting season in Boston theatre. You will be hearing much more about it.

And talk about stretching…despite injuries galore, the Red Sox beat the Yankees last night.

Life is good. Life is great.

Tri Tri Again

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OK, so the plan is not going to work. I am just going to write what I want, when I want and try to make it regular.

So here’s the story. Last fall I ran the BAA Half Marathon. There are posts about that journey. And while it was life altering, I didn’t do it right. I didn’t take heed about the cross training (and strength training). I think I ultimately lost muscle mass. So rather than becoming fitter, I did a huge thing, then nothing.

So this year I thought it would be good to train for a triathlon. Cross training, blah blah blah. I figured I could ride a bike. And swim. And I’d learned how to run. So I joined BostonFit (a great support system), bought a bike and set forth. And I have been humbled. Supported, but humbled. I got my bike fit, and realized that I had to relearn how to ride a bike. I swam, but can’t swim far without reverting to a backstroke. And I realized I have bad form.

Ironically, I am slow at the running, but that is going well.

So the last few days (beginning of July, the tri I’ve signed up for is Aug 28) has been a regroup. I could bow out, keep on with the fitness quest. Or I could crank it up a notch. I decided to crank it up. Which meant:

  • Download THE SLOW FAT TRIATHLETE on my Kindle, and reread it. It is by Jayne Williams (who also blogs) and makes the whole process seem doable.
  • Sign up for a Master’s Class at the Y for swimming. This is a class for people who want to get better at swimming. Hopefully it will help me break through this hurdle. I start tomorrow.
  • Ride my bike to work. I got a space there, and bought a pannier for my bike. I psyched myself up this AM, and then the pannier didn’t fit right. So I transferred everything to my knapsack, then rode around the parking lot a couple of times to make sure I wouldn’t fall over. I got there, sweaty and disgusting, but I got there. Problem was, I had to ride home. Close to rush hour. I ended up walking the bike to the esplanade, cursing the whole thing. But then, the esplanade. I rode for a few miles, then over the Mass Ave bridge to home.

What did I learn? That I am stubborn. The whole bike bag thing would have derailed others. That I should wear bike shorts every time. And, in a related topic, that I have to learn to anticipate bumps and stand up. (ow)

The Day After

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Though I intended to write last week, the mixed emotions and nuttiness of work precluded that. A quick recap of the week. Monday I went to the doctors who did some moving, poking and prodding of my knees. Long story short, he told me to ice and take ibuprofen, and then reffered me for some PT for my knees. He asked how long my longest run had been, and I told him 12 miles. He said "you can do this". And so I changed from "I can't" to wrapping my brain around doing the race.

Had I to do it over again, I probably would have picked a less formidable half marathon to start. BAA was great (people were great, etc), but they are pretty clear about the course closing after 2.5 hours, and 1/5 of the people who signed up don't go. I wonder if some of them panic. I know I did.

Saturday was between Zen and panic. But I was in. Picked up my bib number. Put the D-ring on my shoe. Laid out my outfit. Reread the "It's all about the Medal" chapter in MARATHONING FOR MORTALS. And got to the place where I realized that, duh, I needed to enjoy this as much I as could. Why was I doing it otherwise?

I am still processing the race, but two thoughts. First, it was harder than I thougJulie Half Marathon 5ht it would be. And I thought It would be pretty hard.

Second, I did it. I freaking ran a half marathon. It took me a little over 3 hours, but I started and finished.

As a friend said last night, I can never again say that I can't do something unless I try. And I will keep trying. The tangible goal of a half marathon helped so much. I am going to keep doing shorter runs this winter, and then set another goal for next season. Maybe a sprint tri?

Now to apply all of these lessons to my manuscript and desired writing life. Thing is, after yesterday I think I can do it.

 

Running Lessons

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The perfect storm that was this past spring (weight gain
over the winter, lethargy and feeling a little blue) inspired me to try to run
a half marathon. My ex-grad assistant Julie has become a marathonaholic, and
was supportive and encouraging (as is her tendency) and suggested her running
group, BostonFit. I signed up (something about a registration fee that helps
with commitment) and showed up the first week. We ran 2 miles (since I am doing
the half it wasn’t a pace run), and I thought I was going to die. Literally, my
lungs burned, shoulders hurt, legs screamed, you name it. But the coach hung
back with me, encouraging and supportive. “I won’t always run with you, but I’ll
always wait for you at the end.” And so I went back the next week. And I’ve
been keeping up with the runs all summer.

This first blog post was going to be about this effort, and
how humbling but inspiring it has been so far. How I’ve been getting better,
but still run at the back of the pack. How hard it is for someone who is
usually good at what she tries to come in second to last in her first race. And
how despite that auspicious finish, the medal I “won” is one of my proudest talismans.
 And how hitting the 100 mile mark for
training (Nike plus tallies since June) and having Lance come on my iPod and congratulate
me on my longest run so far (9 miles) on the same day was a huge moment. And on
this up note I was going to conclude.

But, with no small amount of irony, running has humbled me
again. I bought some new running shoes and was trying them out this AM, for my
scheduled ½ hour run. The shoes are lighter, fit well and are fabulously pink, and I
was running pretty fast (fast for me is around 12 minute/mile. I am a John
Bingham apostle.) And I tripped. And wiped out. Got a cut on my nose. Both knees
skinned and sore (and swollen by the end of the day). My elbow is trashed—skinned
with a huge bloody cut. Nothing is broken (I don’t think), but as the day wore
on, everything started to ache.

This is hard. But I will keep moving forward, and run the
half marathon on October 11. And aspire to use the lessons I have learned in
other areas of my life, including my writing. Hopefully the blog will help with
that as well.