RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 2

Image courtesy of Rock n Roll

Before I get into this very short update. I’m definately feeling the message from this meme.

Between a couple of heath issues, work stress, general depression, and political stress, I think that I need a redo for the beginning of the 2025. It has been a rough 31 days, and we are only one month in to what appears to be a very long four years with our new President. I'm not super religious, but I really gotta say: God, help all of us.

Oh, since my Federal Government is planning to ignore this, I'm gonna say welcome back Black History Month 2025.

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Summary of Mileage

Speaking of redoing January 2025, rather starting 2025 in February, I guess I can start keeping track and pretending that I'm going to run 2025 km in 2025. The month of January was a bit of a bust. ;) But if I'm gonna consider February as my January, I guess that gives me an extra month to complete my 2025 km in 2025...and the 1st month of 2026. ;)

Image adapted from Beachbody

I clocked in only 110 km in January. According to simple arithmetic, I'm supposed to clear at least 168 km every month to meet my 2025 km in 2024 goals. So, I guess that I'm a little behind. ;)

In terms of training for my upcoming March marathon, this week was a slow start, but I managed to get in a single 7-mile long run and two easy 3 mile runs. Not ideal for a full training week, but something is better than nothing.

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Training Activities

Lol, we'll circle around to weekly training activities with next week's training update.

• Monday: 3-mile easy.

• Tuesday: Skip

• Wednesday: Skip

• Thursday: 3-mile easy run

• Friday: Skip

• Saturday: 7-mile long run.

• Sunday: Skip

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Long Run Spotlight

There was no biggie for this week's long run. Although the temps are warming up, there is still a bit of snow and ice on my primary running paths. So, this long run took place at my local Planet Fitness. Since the temps are (slowly) going up, hopefully, I can start running outside. I dunno, but this winter has been especially brutal in the mid-Atlantic regions. Eh, I guess this winter has been brutal everywhere. I still cannot believe that New Orleans received closed to a foot of snow last month.

Although treadmill runs can be a bit boring for me, I can power through these "boring" runs because I know I can hit up the gym's hydromassage bed after my run.

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Goals for the Upcoming Week

• Start preparing myself for bed around 9 pm.

• Actually, do all of my runs this week.

• Look into some half marathons after March.

• Do at least two strength training workouts.

• Take some notes from this meme I saw on Instagram

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Playlist for the Week:

Since we are still in national selections season for Eurovision 2025, this week's soundtrack was from Benidorm Fest 2025 (Spain's national selection) playlist. Although I did not like ALL the songs (as one would expect) from this year's national selection, a few tracks from this playlist definitely have made it to my general and running playlists. If you listen to this playlist, I'll let you guess which songs made to my general and running playlists. ;)

RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 1

Image courtesy of Rock n Roll

Looks like we are back at with another round of half marathon training. Also, this will be my second time running Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon. Hopefully, I will have a better experience than last year.

From what I remember, I thought the course was pretty cool giving us a grand tour of Washington DC with a small taste of Virginia. I do remember a huge hill in Rock Creek Park, so I'm not looking forward to that. ;)

Since I'm still figuring out what's going on with my back, I'm taking a "Que será, será" approach to training for this half marathon. Basically, my goal is to run better than I did in last year's half. With a time of 2:39, I do not think it will be that difficult to beat this time. Hey, if I run the half in 2:38, I've accomplished my goal. Also, I am not trying to put too much stress on myself (in particular, my back) training for this thing because I only have like 1.5 months to train.

Training Plan:

I think my training plan is pretty straightforward. I will admit that I asked ChatGPT to help devise a training plan. While it gave me a decent training plan, it was not anything too groundbreaking. I guess that makes sense, since ChatGPT pretty much regurgitates what's already out there. Also the plan it gave me was more or less similar to what I was going to do anyway.

The plan

• Monday: Rest day (from running) / yoga / strength training

• Tuesday: Easy run (3 - 5 miles)

• Wednesday: Strength training

• Thursday : Speed work

• Friday: Yoga / light strength training / rest day

• Saturday: Long run

• Sunday: Easy cardio - biking, row machine, Cize (a dance workout), or absolutely nothing.

For stength training, I'm kind of getting back to basis, and I plan to work through Joel Freeman's LIIFT 4 from Beachbody (oh they go by BODi nowadays). I will admit that I do like looking at a muscular dude with an oblong-shaped head. ;)

Image adapted from Beachbody

The 35 - 40 minute workouts are pretty straightforward with each workout targeting two 1-2 muscle groups. In terms of time, I think the workouts are ok. However, I think that I might start doing two workouts at a time once I start getting into my groove. If I make it through the eight weeks, I'll write a brief review.

Workout update:

So I did not follow my training workout to the T. I hope ChatGPT will not get me. However, I did manage to get in my easy run (4 mi), my long run (6 mi), and a couple of strength training. Unfortunately, the weather as been extremely cold in the mid-Atlantic region so my runs were pretty much treadmill runs.

Unless I absolutely have to, I refuse to run in temps under 35F, so treadmill running was my go-to Also, a lot of the sidewalks and trails have not been cleared of all the snow and ice, and I am not trying to take a spill.

One thing about Planet Fitness, they really know how to motivate me. ;)

Speaking of treadmills, check out our wonderful set up in my apartment building's "gym".

One thing about this building - NOTHING is ever in working order. Also, the gym is a joke because some of our wonderful neighbors have stolen pretty much all of the dumbbells that are under 65 pounds. Ugh! i cannot wait until we move in June.

Since I have other stuff to do, this update was short and somewhat sweet.

Goals for the week:

-Since it takes me a minute to get moving in the morning, I need to prepare my gym stuff the night before.

-Actually pay attention to my alarm and do my stretches on a nightly basis. I have been good with doing my stretches, planks, pushups, and/or situps throughout the day.

-Since I have been pretty good with my 14-hr intermittent fasts, I wanna increase my fasts to 16 hours. To be honest, I accidentally did a couple of 16-hr fasts last week bc I forgot to eat. In the near future, I would like to attempt one 24-hr fast during the work week.

Playlist for the Week:

Since we are in the beginning stages of Eurovision 2025. Well, the beginning stages of the participating countries' national selections, this week's playlist is from the Benidorm Fest (Spain's national selection) playlist.

RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 0

Yikes sometime during the Christmas holiday, I remembered that I registered for this March Half Marathon. My only real goal for this half marathon is to have a better finishing time compared to last year’s. I’m not sure if this will happen because I have about seven weeks until this half marathon. Ok, seven weeks is a decent amount of time to train for a half marathon IF you are already in decent running shape. However, I have not really done anything running-related since Richmond’s Half Marathon (Nov. 16/17, 2024). Also, I was dealing with a back issue from Thanksgiving to about the middle/end of December. So, this might be one of those run just to finish situations. Then again, I think last year’s Rock n Roll DC Half was a run just to finish situation.

Back Pain Updates:

Last week or maybe the week before, I finally had a chance to see a spine and back specialist regarding my lower back issues.

I will say that I thought this appointment was super productive, and I really liked the MD. Why? The doc actually listened to me describe my issues. Extra points because he did not cut me off while I was in the middle of a sentence or a thought – something this annoys the SHIT out of me. Nowadays, I feel like doctors do not have the time to fully listen to their patients due to time constraints imposed by insurance companies. Years ago, someone who worked in health insurance told me that insurance companies highly recommend (or rather, mandate) doctors spend 20-30 minutes with their patients. This is annoying because sometimes, it will take a good 10-15 minutes to really discuss what’s doing on especially if: 1. you have dealing with an issue for years; and 2. if it’s your first time seeing the doctor. After his somewhat comprehensive examination, he came to the conclusion that I suffer from Flat Back Syndrome. However, he would like for me to have an MRI just to confirm a couple of things and to have a baseline. BTW, the copay for my MRI is going to be close to $350! I do not think that I’ve ever paid that much for an MRI (then again, my last one was a good 12 years ago). Also, we are very early in the year, so perhaps, my out of pocket price is so high because I have not met my deductible yet.

Image adapted from Medical News Today.

Simply put, Flat Back Syndrome (as the name would suggest) is a condition where the spine loses it curvature and becomes more flat over time. This syndrome can lead to regular back pain and an inability to stand straight. Let’s check out some of the characteristics.

• An inability to stand up straight ✅

• A bent forward posture ✅

• Bent hips and knees to maintain an upright posture. I did not know I had this but ✅. The doctor told me to stand up. When I did (or thought I did), he asked me to stand up straight without having a slight bend in my knees. Boy, I definitely felt the difference. Once I put my knees a completely straight position, I felt I slight pain in my lower back.

• Fatigue due to strain on the lower back and leg muscles. ✅

• Reduced spinal curvature (my previous X-ray showed this). ✅

• Back pain. ✅ ✅ ✅

What’s next?

At this point, the specialist wants me to focus on doing back stretches and exercises before upping the treatment regimen (e.g., surgery), and I kind of agree. Some exercises that I can/should do include:

Images from Northwest Florida Spine.

The kick in the face:

Since I really want to get my back issues behind me (pun intended), I asked how long would it take to see improvements. He said 4-6 freaking months. BUT, here is the other kick in the face. Since my last back pain flare up (August 2023), I pretty much have been doing these stretches on a daily (well near daily basis). So, I'm kind of side eyeing his recommendation and thinking this regimen might be a way for him to get me out of his hair for a few months. Then again, since this is my first time visiting him, he probably needs a baseline of my situation without hard core medical intervention. Also, maybe doing these these stretches since August 2023 have improved some issues, but the improvements are so small that I have not really noticed it. While the jury is still out, I guess we are moving towards some progress.

Goals for the week:

-Start training for my upcoming half marathon.

-Get on a REAL stretching plan.

Running Topics: Running Topics: Why are you grateful for this photo? Who and what are you grateful for in the photo?

Preface:

After running (pun intended) this blog for a few years, sometimes it is a bit tough to come up with topics to write about. Fortunately for me, Sara Kurth has published a massive list of potential blog topics that focuses on running (check out her blog here, ***).

Updated Preface:

Since there has not been anything too interesting going on in my running life, I thought that I would write some blog posts based on these running topics. Hopefully, my running life will become more interesting once I begin Richmond Marathon training next month.

Open your phone and find a photo you like. Why are you grateful for this photo? Who and what are you grateful for in the photo?

This photo was taken a couple of hours before my first (and what I thought was going to be my last) NYC Marathon back in 2013. Although I lived in NYC for about 11 years before running my first NYC Marathon, I never really considered actually running it. It's kind of funny because of the massive amount of street closures, I kind of "hated" NYC Marathon. During NYC Marathon Sundays, if I left my apt, I would hang out somewhere downtown (e.g., E. or W. Village or Alphabet City) since the marathon route did not go through mid and lower Manhattan, my life would be largely unaffected.

So what changed?

When one of my coworkers (during my postdoc years) found out that I had taken up running, she informed me about New York Road Runners' (NYRR) 9+1 Program. A program that allows folks to obtain a guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon if they ran nine specific races and volunteered for one race. I guess that I'm grateful for that coworker who introduced me to NYRR. From 2010 to about 2015, I lived on Roosevelt Island (the red circle on the map below), which is right in the middle of the East River.

During NYC Marathon Sundays, my activities were affected because the tram that takes you from Roosevelt Island to the (lower) Upper East Side would drop you off near where the marathon runners would enter Manhattan for the first time after running across the Queensboro Bridge. Also, on some Sundays, I would have to go to lab for a couple of hours to complete some work that probably should have completed during the week. If I went to lab during the marathon, which was ALL day, I would have to walk more or less 20 blocks out of my way to get to work. So, I guess beginning to run NYC Marathons was kind of like if you can beat them, join them. ;)

I am grateful the photo above for a few reasons:

1. The calm before the storm: Although I was not smiling in this picture (then again, I rarely smile in pictures), I was in an high state of euphoria. It was "exam day" for me, and I "knew" that I would be successful from all of those months of training. I went for the low hanging fruit and gave myself a goal of just finishing the marathon.

2. New opportunities: Prior to participating in NYRR's 9+1 plan, I had no idea that there were road races all around NYC. Ok, maybe I knew of road races in the city, but they did not really interest me at the time. This allowed me to do something a bit more productive during a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Also, it gave me an opportunity to enter new social circles and meet new people outside of biomedicine.

3. Planning and doing something: Having completed a Ph.D. program, I was no stranger to planning and completing something. Training for this marathon was a bit of a paradigm shift for me because I dedicated five months to train for an optional event in my life. Back then, most of my planning involved figuring which restaurant to have bottomless mimosa brunch.

4. A smaller KOS, Jr.: Sometimes, looking at this old photos makes me a little sad because these pictures show the amount of weight that I have put on over the past decade. I have been working on slimming down for the past few months. But, pictures like this show that I still have a lot of work to do. The funny thing: Back then, I thought I was huge compared to my college (pre NYC) weight.

5. Supportive friends: I was a bit surprised that several of my friends were so supportive of me running this marathon. Also, I was so happy that folks wanted to hang out for dinner and drinks after I finished the marathon. Since I never really heard my friends talk about NYC Marathon, I did not expect them to come out and support during and after the marathon.