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Monthly Summary – October 2008

Here’s October 2008:

Swim: 11,981 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 0.0 miles
Cycling (indoors): 5:55 (hours)
Run: 19.0 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 11 sessions

Approximate monthly total training/racing time: 18:45 (hours)

Weight: 169 pounds. Weight’s up about 7 pounds from last month. Is that because I barely did any cardio training at all? Or is it because I increased the amount of strength training I did? Or is it the five days in Mexico where all I did was eat and drink? Probably a combination of all three. A little extra muscle and a little extra fat. Sweet. I also have a little confession to make. My chiropractor/ART guy (who I’ve stopped seeing for now) recommended taking a low dose creatine supplement. According to him (and my research on-line), it’s just enough to increase muscle mass a little and hopefully help me build strength in my hips and quads. But it’s not so much that it will cause the problems usually associated with creatine, such as dehydration, cramps and muscle pulls. I’ve been taking it for about a month and I’ll take it one more month to see how it goes. Because so many things have changed in my training recently, it’s hard to tell whether – or how much – it’s affected me. This is all a long-winded way of saying that maybe some of my weight is attributable to the creatine.

As for this month in general, I’m not sure what to say right now. I’m having a difficult time thinking of positives in my training, so I’ll ignore it for now and instead focus on the fact that this is marathon weekend in the City, which is very exciting.

I was in mid-town this morning for an appointment and there were tons of tourists (like always), but these were “running” tourists. You could see it in their clothing and their bodies and the fact that many were wearing official marathon gear and doing short runs to stretch out their legs. People are psyched to come here and check out the best marathon in the world. As for me, I’m looking forward to getting out on the course and cheering on the runners. Last year I had a great time watching from 4th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn and that’s where I’ll start off this year. I’d like to get out there early to watch the women’s and men’s leaders and stay there to see my friends. After that, I’ll move to First Avenue in Manhattan (probably around mile 18 or 19) to watch from there and give some friends that extra push to get around the Bronx and to the finish.

Best of luck to Emily, Nick and Sarah (over at Love of Shoes) on your first NYC marathon and to Ron on your 7th? I’ll be looking for you!