Running More, Weighing Less is a good title for my blog. The past year I've been a bit of a hack toward both those pursuits.
Well, no more.
About a week ago I started logging my daily meals & activity on Fitday.com. I've learned that if I don't journal I'll just mindlessly shovel food into my mouth. If I journal & see what my caloric intake adds up to, I might eat less.
I've also made an attempt to run virtually every day. I've snapped my current streak at 11 days in a row. Not bad. I had a slight soreness in my Achilles tendon last night after my 5.6 mile run so, that's just as good an excuse as any to take a day off.
It's a good trend. I hope to keep it up.
I'm more jealous than I can express that Jamie & Jenny will be meeting up & running in the Disney marathon in a month's time.
This year I vow to lose the weight (again) & return to marathon form.
A best case scenario would have me in good enough shape to run the the Walter Childs marathon in May, more realistically the Baystate Marathon is a good goal.
Most importantly, I need to lose weight. Get down to 165 & lower & I could probably run whatever distance I want.
Lofty.

It is done

It is done. Priyanka's Nritya Nipuna was this past Saturday night & it was by & large a huge success. She was beautiful & put on an excellent performance. We're all very proud of her. It was a night to remember, a week of much activity, & the culminaton of a very long few months.

A Nritya Nipina,mastery of dance, is a showcase performance put on a student of Indian classic & folk dance. It is the culmination of years of dance lessons & months of practice for this specific event. The Western equivalent of an NP is a combination of a bar mitzvah, a high school graduation, achieving a black belt, & becoming an Eagle scout. Not every student of Indian dance performs a Nritya Nipuna. It takes a person willing to muster the dedication & discipline necessary to do something special.

The show was held at the auditorium of Monty Tech in Fitchburg. Priyanka's show included eleven different dances, four costume changes,one intermission with refreshments, one sitdown meal at the end of the show, three separate slideshows,one speech by a family friend, introductions done by Alka,myself, & Priyanka's guru Jasmine Shah. We hired a videographer, Media Creations, to record the whole thing. Alka's friend, Winston, also took still pictures.

Long time no post.

Sick & Starting Over

Wow. I've been sick. Traditionally I shake flu bugs pretty quickly but,not this time. Last Monday night I couldn't sleep. During Tuesdays run I was beat by mile 4 & there was no denying I was getting sick. A nasty headcold flu. My head felt like a balloon on the end of a string for days. I never actually took a sick day (idiot)but,did go home early three days in a row. I couldn't think straight & probably shouldn't have been driving. In the last couple of days I'm just now starting to feel normal.

Needless to say my running has been nonexistent. I feel like I haven't trained in a month. My aspirations for The Buzz 25K are but a distant memory. Time to regroup.
Rather than run 15 miles, I'll settle for running 5-6 short runs a week two weeks in a row. Why is Winter such a grind? Re-establish a base & take it from there.

Priyanka has been taking Indian dance lessons since she was five years old. This Fall she's going to be performing her Aaramgethram or Nriyta Nipuna. The Nritya Nipuna is an event where a girl performs several dances as a demonstration of her mastery of Indian classical dance. The girl performs solo. It has all the importance as a high school college gradution, a dance recital,& a coming out party. It looks very good on a college application too. It is a Very Big Deal.

Prior to now, all of Priyanka's dance lessons have been with a group of girls that attend lessons given by the Aangikaam Dance Academy. Starting in March she will start taking private lessons from Guru Jasmine Shah. The lessons will be held on Sunday. Each lesson will carve a three hour chunk out the day.

There's the rub.

Most road races are held on Sundays. I work most Saturdays & every other Sunday. It has always been challenging to carve Pete Time out of Family Time that's already going to be gutted by Priyanka Time. Very challenging.

My running is really only enjoyed by me. I'm the only one that really benefits from it. Neither Alka or Priyanka comprehend the whole running culture of road races & training for specific distances. I'm a family man & put the family's weekend plans (translated Alka's plans)before my own. I'm a little irked that I've only been to two bonafide races in two years. I ran no races,except my own, in 2007. What can you do?

No matter how I feel about it there's no way around the fact that running even one race this year is going to be a huge challenge. I can guarantee Alka will be a basket case for much of this year. Taking a rare Sunday off to go run may not be greeted with delight.

I'm probably going to have to settle with running some more of my own "races." Pick a distance,set a date, & train for it. If I can keep up with the training I'm half thinking of running a marathon in late July. It's an evening marathon that may coincide with the Annual Guys'Camping Trip. The race would be on a Friday & I would drive up to Vermont afterwards. That's the only weekend that's truly Mine. We'll see.

I'm a better man for having a wife & a daughter but, running was simple when I was single.

Buzz Aldrin 10K

I'll put it right up front Sunday's 25K turned into a 10K.

Sunday's forecast was for a "dusting" of snow until 3 PM. Then a Nor'easter was supposed to hit Cape Cod & maybe leave 1-3" of snow in the Leominster area.

It was already snowing when I woke up on Sunday morning. Right after breakfast might've been the best chance to go out & run 15 miles. Instead Alka & I went food shopping. We got home & Alka did laundry. The snow had intensified & there was already an inch or so on the ground. No reason for the Town to send the plow trucks out because we're only getting a dusting.

It keeps snowing. Alka hates to drive in the snow even though her Corolla's front wheel drive can go through pretty much anything. I agree to drive her & Priyanka to Hudson in her car. I figure I'll get them to Hudson, clean my Inlaws' driveway, drive back to Leominster,clean my own driveway, & go out for the Buzz before sundown.

Well, unfortunately we didn't leave Leominster 'til close to 4. Priyanka wanted to get most of her homework done before we left. Can't argue with that. She's a good student & don't want to mess with her routine. Long story short: I don't get back to Leominster until after 6. I realize as I start to put on my running stuff I'd left my running jacket in Hudson. No problem I'll wear a fleece pullover.

I hit the road. The temperature was around 27F when I left the house. It is windy. The roads are in horrible condition. At least 3" of snow have fallen. The town made one pass through my neighborhood with a sanding truck. The footing as I make the first third mile loop out of my block is somewhat treacherous. I actually turned around to go back to the house but, then I say "Fuck it. At least get a run in."

As I leave Wildflower & make a left onto Lincoln I realize this is going to be fun. Lincoln St is the main trunk into this stretch of North Leominster & usually gets the best treatment. The road is kind of clear in the middle but, with a lot of slush. The side of the road is either unplowed or slush & ice covered with a freah dusting. Uncertain footing.

I take a right down Flaggler, run past my old house, & am shocked at the condition of my old street. Flaggler is hilly & it looks like maybe one plow truck made a single pass during the middle of the storm. I make the right up Causeway & it's just as bad. Do you run in the wheel ruts & slip on the ice or run through the powder & wait for my feet to get wet?

Back on Lincoln, more slush & snow. A few cars pass me. Another right up on Tina St & another unplowed hill. If I lived in these house I'd be ripshit at the town. It's freakin' dangerous.

Did I mention the wind? I keep getting blasted with gusts of chilly wind & blowing snow periodically. It cuts right through the fleece. I'm really missing my running jacket. I think about turing back. I don't.

Did I mention it's cloudy out? When the moon goes behind the clouds & I'm on an unplowed street I lose depth perception. I'm not really sure where my feet are landing until they actually hit the ground. Fun.

Back onto Lincoln. More slush. More wind. A few more cars. I do the turnaround at the stop sign & head back towards the other end of Lincoln. One loop through Ice House Pond Rd, a nice level stretch through 3"of snow.

Down Causeway & up Flaggler, still can't believe how little cleanup has been done. Up Lincoln some more, down Joslin to Day St & back again to Lincoln. A dark stretch of Road, one part of the road I run with the traffic (luckily there is none). A brief stretch of the road is left hand curve uphill with very little shoulder. With the road so slippery I don't think I could move fast enough to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. Calculated risk. No problem.

After Joslin it's the last uphill up Lincoln. Keep a careful eye out for headlight coming over the crest of the hill. Keep a watchful eye on the shoulders on where to go if I have to make a sudden leap. I run down Douglas to the end of the cul-de-sac, past the house with the big Jeff Gordon banner. Once again, no plowing has been down here. Make the left & run the the north end of Lincoln to the stop sign & I'm on the home strech.

One more downhill, still watching for headlights, a quick jog through Ebury Ct then Lincoln again. One more crest & I'm into the final stretch. I run past my house as I go down Wildflower to the final loop. The footing here is the worst part of the run.

On the final third of the mile I pass one of my neighbors. He's all bundled up out walking his dog. He shouts "Are you fucking nuts? It's too dangerous out!" Yes & maybe's he's right. I've decided I'll just have to settle for running a 10K today.
I ran as hard as I could under the conditions & managed only 10 minutes per mile. My legs felt like I'd been jogging in sand for an hour. An excellent workout but, not 15 miles.

I'll bag 25K the next time my schedule & the weather cooperates. Maybe next Sunday after work & before the Superbowl but, we'll see.

At least I got to run.