Making some plans

For the past couple of years, I try to come up with some things that I can do to get into better shape. Clearly, I'm not doing something right because I have not significantly dropped any major poundage. Usually, this idea comes right off of the heels of the NYC Marathon. After running the marathon, it takes me about 2-3 weeks to care about doing physical activity again. Recently looking at my beer gin gut, I guess now is the time.

For the longest, I have not been happy with my body. Not like sad, depressed unhappy. More like, I want to have a better figure/share. Yeah, yeah, yeah, men can have self-image issues. I'm not super big, fat, thick, chunky (whatever you wanna call it), but I would not mind dropping a few pounds over the next few months. Right now, I am hovering in the 203 - 205 pound range, which is not HUGE (for the average individuals of my height), because I have some muscle. I've even been told that I "hold the weight well" because of my somewhat muscular frame. Perhaps, this was a back-handed compliment. Unfortunately, I have inherited the body type of my mother's side of the family, and all of my uncles generally plump (and that's being nice) up around the age of 40. It's funny, one of my uncles was pretty lean and fit at 37 years old, then by 39, he gained like 50 pounds.

A few things that I plan to do going forward. We'll see how much I screw this up. 

1. Track my calories . . . again. I accidentally updated the Lose It! app to Lose It! Pro (or whatever the hell the highest tier is called). In the past, I've tried (and failed in)  logging my daily food consumption. My biggest issue (aside from not logging my food) was logging my food after finishing a meal. One thing that I realized when logging my food (for the past two days) is that I snack A LOT at home. Since they are little bites to eat here and there (a few pita chips, a small glass of egg nog, a slice of ham, another small helping of dinner), I did not realize how much the little things add up. It's like they say, losing weight is more dieting than physical activity. 

2. I have started intermitting fasting (IF) again. Right now, I'm fasting for 14 hours. Although IF is not really a dieting plan per se, I did find that I got fuller with less food after a fast. Also, it works well because I get drunker too so I spend less money on booze. Yes, I'm a nut. 

3. In terms of my physical activity, I have not really made in any concrete plans. I have been running a bit and going to the gym, but I'm kind of all over the place. I'll need to sit down and think about my goals and plans that I can do for completing these goals. Word on the street is the NYRR is holding its drawing for the NYC Half-Marthon for March 2019. Maybe if I'm selected for that, I can better devise something to help with my getting more fit and losing some damn weight. Actually . . . Why do not I just "pretend" that I'm running a half in March and devise a training plan that way? Yeah, I'll do that. Running 13.1 miles on my own is not as an arduous task of running 26.2 miles. Look, I'm already making some progress. 

Another Day . . . Another NYC Marathon

Let's do this

Quick highlights:

• Due to a foot injury during Mile 17/18, I did not meet my goal of 4:45 :(

• This was the first NYC marathon where I ran the entire length of the Queensboro Bridge. 

• It was the perfect day for a marathon. The previous day and the following day were really nasty and rainy. 

• My new jock strap was AMAZING; I had no groin chaffing. 

• This year more people called me K.O.S instead of "kos" or "cos", compared to previous years. 

Pre-Marathon:

I was a little fearful that I would be too jet-lagged to run 26.2 miles because I spent a week in Madrid, came back to NYC on Friday (technically Saturday), ran a 5K race on Saturday, then the marathon on Sunday. 

The marathon expo

I did not really spend too much time at the expo; I'm pretty much an in and out kind of guy when it comes to being around large crowds of people. Also, I cannot stand waiting longer than 30 minutes for anything. That said, I pretty much received my bib and shirt within 20 minutes. I will say that NYRR really has its stuff together when it comes to the Marathon expo. . . I just wish that it was not so far west. 

The marathon village

Somehow NYRR assigned me a VERY low number for my bib, which meant I was in the first wave of runners. There must be a way to change your bib/wave assignment. The first issue is that last corral in Wave 1 had a predicted finish time of 3:30. Clearly, I am not at that level of running. The second issue is that you have to check your bag with your assigned corral, which means an even longer walk to pick up your bag when you finish. 

Taking the ferry to Staten Island probably is one of my favorite parts of the marathon. I guess because I rarely go to Staten Island. For some reason, I was not as chatty with my fellow marathoners on the ferry as I have been in previous years. Perhaps, this attitude was due to listening to Lana del Ray's first album.

I feel kind of bad because I know that I spent most of the ferry ride rolling my eyes at people. Well . . . In my defense, a pair of women were a little too damn chipper (aka annoying) for 6:00 AM.

But, I did manage to smile . . . somewhat (in my PJs) in the start village. 

The marathon:

Mentally, I told myself that I would run the marathon like this: a 2-mile warm-up, followed by four 6-mile runs. For this marathon, I did not take as many photos as I have done in the past, because I was running kind of strong.  

2-Mile Warm up (Staten Island and Brooklyn)

Clearly, this is one of the best parts of the marathon. Everyone is stoked and ready to tackle running through the five boroughs of NYC. 

Instead of running with the first wave, I decided to start in the last corral of the second wave. I probably should have started with the third wave. 

First 6-mile Run (Miles 2 - 8, Brooklyn)

I was kind of killing it during this "run". Because of my crappy training and a week vacation of eating like a pig, drinking like a fish, and smoking like a chimney, I was basically aiming to run a sub 5-hour marathon. At this point of the marathon, I was running a 4:35ish marathon, without exerting too much energy. The Bay Ridge/Sunset Park portions of the marathon probably are the most energetic because of the freshness of the crowds. 

Second 6-mile Run (Miles 8 - 14, Brooklyn and Queens)

I was still running pretty strong. My music playlist really got me through this section, because the Hasidic section of Williamsburg is really quiet compared to the other neighborhoods. This portion of the marathon was more of a snoozefest for me. The halfway point is right around the Pulaski Bridge, which takes you into Queens. Although my Apple Watch said that I hit a 2:08 half-marathon, I knew that I was running pretty fast and had plenty of energy left in my tank. After looking at my race results, my time for the halfway mark was 2:13. Clearly, I was on track for a 4:45, maybe even a sub 4:45   marathon.  

I do not understand why my Apple Watch's GPS is always off compared to the official results. I know running to the tangent of the course makes a difference. BUT, I was manually marking the 6-mile segments. In the end, it did not matter, because the watch's battery died somewhere around mile 19. Something that has NEVER happened before. I think that I forgot to turn off the watch's WiFi so it spent most of the marathon searching for a wireless connection. 

Third 6-mile Run (Miles 14-20, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx) 

It was during this part where the sh*t hit the fan, but that will come later. My beer club volunteered at the Mile 15 fluid station, and it was quite invigorating to see them. Mainly, to shut up the haters who are always like "how can you run a marathon when you drink and smoke so much?" B*tch, it's because I have evil on my side. That said, it was nice to see a bunch of people that you know, right before the Queensboro Bridge, which is the hardest part of the marathon for me. I would have taken a picture with them, but I did not want to stop because I was making good time. Had I known that I was going to fuck up my foot later, I would have taken a couple of shots with them. 

I was so proud of myself for running the entire length of the Queensboro Bridge, which was a first for me. I even managed to put in a few fartleks on this bridge. 

The second memorable part of this marathon was entering Manhattan . . . for the first time. The energy of the crowds really powered me through; maybe, it gave me too much power. Somewhere around miles 17 and 18, I felt I weird pain in my right foot. It felt like someone was stabbing my right foot every time it hit the ground. This was the first time that I walked during the marathon (aside from the selfies on the Verrazano Bridge). At first, I thought it was a passing pain, but it was clear that I would have to deal with this for the remaining 7-8 miles. Then, I was crushed. At this point, the following thoughts rushed through my head: 

1. Hell no to a 4:45 marathon (my original goal).

2. You must be out of your mind for a 4:35 marathon.

3. You would be lucky to finish for a sub 5:00 marathon.

At that point, I started texting and curing out the marathon on Facebook. Although this part was a struggle, I did see the free beer folks, and they remembered me from last year. 

Since I was in pain and did not give a fuck at that point, I had three "shots" of beer with them. That probably was a mistake. 

More crap hitting the fan (no pun intending). Something else happened to me for the first time during this marathon. I was really gassy (maybe it was the beer) around mile 18. I did not want to risk sharting all over myself. I could not find a porta potty to save my life; I eventually found one around Mile 22. I was quite annoyed with NYRR over this. Throughout this marathon, there were porta potties all over the place. Since upper Manhattan and the Bronx are not as "glamorous", as the other sections of the marathon,  NYRR kind of dropped the ball with the lack of porta potties. 

Last 6-mile Run (Miles 20 - 20.2, Bronx and Manhattan)

The only thing I remember in the Bronx was how much my foot was hurting, and thinking "where the hell is a porta potty?". 

Ok, I finally found a porta potty around Mile 22. I opened the doors to two of them. Looking at all of the poop, piss, and used tampons/pads on and around the seats, made me clinch like nobody's business. Pretty much, I was like I rather poo on myself (or in some bushes in Central Park) than to put my butt cheeks anyway near this.  Basically, I was all about finishing this thing with the pain in my foot. 

Another cool thing about this section was running through my neighborhood (around Mile 22). I probably could have gone home to take my dump. Actually, that would not have worked, because I did not have my keys. 

For some reason, running through my neighborhood gave me an extra boost of energy. I was walking/struggling and someone was like "I see you at the bar, and you better start running". That's all I needed . . . at least that part. 

This is getting long and I have to pee. 

Central Park was Central Park. Basically, you are done but you are not really done. Although I was almost done, I still had to walk a bit so I could not sprint to the finish. Also, I always forget about that little hill right before the finish. It's strange that I forgot about the hill because I ran the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line, which has the same finish as the marathon, the day before the damn marathon. 

Anywho, I completed it in 5:08 so I was a little disappointed with myself. Oh well, feet smell . . . I guess. Eh, at least I did way better than last year, so I guess Operation Redemption was not too much of a failure. 

Another marathon first:

Since this is the first time that I've ever lived near Central Park, I decided to get my medal engraved. In past years, it was not worth it to wake up early and drag my sore ass from Roosevelt Island or Brooklyn to wait in a line and get my medal engraved. This year, I think it helped that my body was still on Madrid time (6 hours ahead of NYC). - I woke up around 6:30 am (thinking it was much later)  the day after the marathon. 

Am I crazy to think this? NYC Marathon medal engraving used to be free, right? Had I known that it was going to be $25 dollars, my cheap ass would not have done it. Of course, I did not know NYRR charged for this service until after waiting about 40 minutes. At that point, I figure that I might as well do it. Did I just make up that engraving was free for previous marathons? 

Another Road . . . Another Adventure

Perhaps, the title of this entry should be "Be Prepared". I know that it has been a while since posting here, but I have had a couple (positive) life transitions over the year. That said, I plan to give weekly updates in the near future. 

This is supposed to be a running blog; but to be honest, I really have not ran much during the past year. Once again, my lower back was giving me problems through most of the year. I was quite upset that my injury prevented me from running the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, which had a brand new route. Additionally, I just was not really interested in running, so I took a bit of a break. 

Now, I am back and ready to do this running thing again, because I plan to run TCS NYC Marathon . . . once again. Fingers crossed for a better marathon than last year's. As of today, there are "only" 149 days left until the marathon, which will be held on Nov. 4th, 2018, so it is time to get moving on a training plan. 

The first step (no pun) of marathon training is to make a plan. I have decided to use Hal HIgdon's Novice Training plan II ( *** ), as a starting point for the next five months. Basically, I will follow the plan's distances and running days (four runs per week), but I will incorporate my own tempo, pace, intervals, and recovery runs. 

Since I am pretty much live by Google calendar for work, I have created an NYC Marathon calendar and scheduled all 80 or runs. 

General advice from the plan:

Each topic had a paragraph of info, so I'm quoting the aspects that meant the most to me.

Long runs: You can skip an occasional workout, or juggle the schedule depending on other commitments, but do not cheat on the long runs.

Run slow: [their] long runs anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds or more per mile slower than their marathon pace.

Walking: It’s best to walk when you want to, not when your (fatigued) body forces you too.

Strength training: For gym rats, continue to work out, but you might want to cut back on the weights as the long run mileage moves into the double digits.

Midweek training: How fast is “comfortably easy?” That might vary from day to day.

Race pace: duh

Rest: Coaches also will tell you that you can’t run hard unless you are well rested.

Endomorph, Ectomorph, Endocytosis, Ecto-cooler ?

As I embark on a new struggle challenge to drop a few pounds, I have been reading up on particular training programs that may work for me.

Endomorphic

Unfortunately for me, I am an endomorph ... Why must life be so tough?

Typically, endomorphs tend to gain weight faster and have a harder time losing it. But hey, we were super cool way, way, waaaaay back in the day. From an evolutionary point of view, we endomorphs were more likely to survive because we could to store fat longer. You know, when starvation was a true threat.

Some famous endomorphs include Russell Crowe, LL Cool J, Chris Pratt, the Rock (I guess he does not go by that name any more), and Bruce Willis.

I have pretty much been working out in the wrong manner (well, diet is an issue too) for as long as I can remember. Essentially, I should be doing high intensity, high muscle recruitment exercises with 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. Umm the 20 reps seem a little aggressive. Here are some recommended exercises based on body part:

• Chest (incline, decline bench press)
• Back (deadlifts and barbell rows)
• Legs (squats and leg press)
• Biceps (barbell curls, and preacher curls)
• Triceps (weighted bench dips and skull crushers)
• Shoulders (dumbbell overhead press and military press)
• ABS (weighted hanging leg press and cable crunch).

The good news is that most of those exercises already are in my Full Fitness app's training programs. I guess that I can just increase the set number from 3 to 5 and not do as much as the other muscle group exercises. Then, I should do 30-40 minutes of cardio after weightlifting. Those lucky ecto- and mesomorphs do not have to do any extra cardio after weight lifting.

Zumba:

I think that I have found a new Zumba home. Over the past couple weeks, I attended three different Zumba classes offered by Crunch Fitness. It was kind of like Goldilocks trying to find the porridge that was juuust right. You know, right before the three bears mauled and ate her.

• Zumba 1: I signed up for the class online but I saw that there were only 3 other people who had signed up. No bueno. So I did not even attend it. Normally, if there are less than 10 people who has signed up for the class then it's probably going to be wack. I peeked into the class, and it did look a little wack.
• Zumba 2: Decent class with a lot of people, but the instructor was WAAAAY into himself. He kept taking selfies and posting them to various Zumba sites. Also, he seemed to be literally admiring his ass.
• Zumba 3: The class that I'm going to stick with. The class had a decent amount of people, the music was excellent (from shazzaming the class, I've already purchased 5 of the songs), the instructor was AMAZING & instruction was on point, and there were guys in the class (although I was the best male, not to toot my own horn). The one thing that I did not like about the class is the instructor made all guys do some routine in the front of the class. I guess that I did a good job, because many of the other students told me that I was really good for my first class with the instructor.

That's it for me. I guess that I should get back to packing.