Was advised not to do eight miles today, just six. Didn't quite make that. These four miles felt very, very difficult. I hope this is not a preview of race day.
Speaking of which, the stakes have been raised. I can't tell you why just yet, but they have definitely been raised. It is important I finish the marathon and that I do so smiling.
Six more days.
October 27, 2008
October 26, 2008
one week to go
Another weekend spent in New Jersey, painting. Didn't run. will run 8 tomorrow after work, just like I ran 10 last week. My hips do hurt, though, and I think it's from all the strange bending and stretching I've done while painting.
I should have a doctor's appointment this week to get a refill of Aztreonam. I certainly hope so. I'd like to do some PFTs and see what my numbers are. I've been having one day "good" and one day "bad" lately, as far as my lungs go. Today was a good day.
One week 'til the marathon. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I should have a doctor's appointment this week to get a refill of Aztreonam. I certainly hope so. I'd like to do some PFTs and see what my numbers are. I've been having one day "good" and one day "bad" lately, as far as my lungs go. Today was a good day.
One week 'til the marathon. Keeping my fingers crossed.
October 21, 2008
Eleven days left
Weekend before last was the Staten Island Half, which I've run four times in a row, now, and I finished with a decent time of 2:23. Decent because I'd run seven miles beforehand for my last long training run of 20 miles. I think I look pretty good in the pictures, actually.
If I were a person prone to panic, now would be the time, with only eleven days to go before the biggest running event of my last couple of years. I'm looking forward to it. Really, I am. Don't let my doubtful tone of voice fool you; I am actually full of enthusiasm. Really. No second thoughts here; none at all.
I managed to screw up training again and did not do this weekend's 13-mile long run. I got a mile out and decided to pack it in. I don't know what made me do that, but it was probably a combination of not feeling well, being dehydrated, having been out drinking the night before and not having had a good dinner, sleeping poorly, the temperature had dropped 15 degrees from my last run, and the wind was very blustery. It was just too much to deal with on a Saturday morning when my presence was also needed elsewhere.
So I spent the weekend out in New Jersey painting one of my sets.
Last night, though, I made up some of those miles and did the ten mile run from work to home. I was having doubts, especially before I got to City Hall, but those evaporated as I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. Exact same pedestrian battle as usual and that served to help me feel good about the run. I finished up a couple blocks short of my house, actually, and picked up dinner from KFC.
Between all of my work and all of the training I've been putting in, I don't have a lot of time for grocery shopping.
If I were a person prone to panic, now would be the time, with only eleven days to go before the biggest running event of my last couple of years. I'm looking forward to it. Really, I am. Don't let my doubtful tone of voice fool you; I am actually full of enthusiasm. Really. No second thoughts here; none at all.
I managed to screw up training again and did not do this weekend's 13-mile long run. I got a mile out and decided to pack it in. I don't know what made me do that, but it was probably a combination of not feeling well, being dehydrated, having been out drinking the night before and not having had a good dinner, sleeping poorly, the temperature had dropped 15 degrees from my last run, and the wind was very blustery. It was just too much to deal with on a Saturday morning when my presence was also needed elsewhere.
So I spent the weekend out in New Jersey painting one of my sets.
Last night, though, I made up some of those miles and did the ten mile run from work to home. I was having doubts, especially before I got to City Hall, but those evaporated as I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. Exact same pedestrian battle as usual and that served to help me feel good about the run. I finished up a couple blocks short of my house, actually, and picked up dinner from KFC.
Between all of my work and all of the training I've been putting in, I don't have a lot of time for grocery shopping.
October 16, 2008
Who do I run for?
My god. It's been five weeks since I've posted. I have literally been so busy I've had no time to update this blog. My apologies, but I won't have time to fill in the back story until Saturday. Suffice it to say that my training for the NYC Marathon is in fact going OK. Not enough mid-week running, but getting the long runs done all the same. Injured, but minor and am in sports therapy for it. Keeping ahead of the lungs.
Below is a post I sent to the Google Phidip group. I hope you'll give it a read, and then visit my Team Boomer donations page and support my fundraising efforts. Thanks!
---
Cast your iTunes into the Wayback Machine and revisit with me Fdip 135:
"We run for ourselves, for our health, for our family and friends, we run to honor, to celebrate, to achieve, and to accomplish. We run because we can…because at a very basic level we are good animals who were meant to move with purpose. We are runners; no better or worse than those who chose to practice an alternate motion of sport, or dance, or action…but we all have good reasons for being out there…and while we might not always be self aware of why we’re doing it: when someone asks you the inevitable question; you might want to consider what your answer will be…who do you run for?"
For four years, I've worked on entering the NYC marathon. I've earned my number four years in a row - and have cancelled my entry for the last three years, either due to injury or illness. Way back in March, when I heard Steve's words, I thought that this year, I must finish what I start and must do this thing or my pride would never recover.
But in the intervening months, I've realized my run on November 2 will not be for myself at all. I KNOW I can finish 26.2 - have done so once before. This run has to be for someone else - people who will never know I'm running for them.
So I'm raising money for Team Boomer, the athletic wing of the Boomer Esiason Foundation. BEF assists the Cystic Fibrosis community in a number of ways. We have a lot of runners in the marathon this year and we'll even have a table at the expo. You can come by and meet me Thursday or Friday. My run though, is still on my earned entry, not on the "bought" fundraising bib numbers. Those runners HAVE to raise $3,000. I WANT to raise $3,000. So I set up a First Giving donations website:
www.firstgiving.com/crisdopher
More importantly, I want to run with meaning, with purpose. I want something that will help me to stay focused on my task. To that end, I'm encouraging my sponsors to add a name to the list of names I'm inking on my race shirt, to memorialize those who have died of Cystic Fibrosis. Each mile for a different person, many of whom I've known personally.
You don't know me. All you know is that I listen to Phidip and have run the World Wide Half a few times. But I hope you'll drop by either my First Giving donations page or my blog and lend your support, either financially, emotionally, or both. For the dollars mean a lot ("put your money where your mouth is" comes to mind); but the stories and words of encouragement mean just as much.
is a secure website and your tax-deductible donations go directly to BEF.
is my blog. It needs updating, badly, and I'll be getting right on that.
So thank you, fellow runners. And to those of you who will be out somewhere on the race course ahead of me on November 2nd, I say "run long...run long...run long."
Cris Dopher
bib #44510
orange wave 3, corral B
Back of the pack
Below is a post I sent to the Google Phidip group. I hope you'll give it a read, and then visit my Team Boomer donations page and support my fundraising efforts. Thanks!
---
Cast your iTunes into the Wayback Machine and revisit with me Fdip 135:
"We run for ourselves, for our health, for our family and friends, we run to honor, to celebrate, to achieve, and to accomplish. We run because we can…because at a very basic level we are good animals who were meant to move with purpose. We are runners; no better or worse than those who chose to practice an alternate motion of sport, or dance, or action…but we all have good reasons for being out there…and while we might not always be self aware of why we’re doing it: when someone asks you the inevitable question; you might want to consider what your answer will be…who do you run for?"
For four years, I've worked on entering the NYC marathon. I've earned my number four years in a row - and have cancelled my entry for the last three years, either due to injury or illness. Way back in March, when I heard Steve's words, I thought that this year, I must finish what I start and must do this thing or my pride would never recover.
But in the intervening months, I've realized my run on November 2 will not be for myself at all. I KNOW I can finish 26.2 - have done so once before. This run has to be for someone else - people who will never know I'm running for them.
So I'm raising money for Team Boomer, the athletic wing of the Boomer Esiason Foundation. BEF assists the Cystic Fibrosis community in a number of ways. We have a lot of runners in the marathon this year and we'll even have a table at the expo. You can come by and meet me Thursday or Friday. My run though, is still on my earned entry, not on the "bought" fundraising bib numbers. Those runners HAVE to raise $3,000. I WANT to raise $3,000. So I set up a First Giving donations website:
www.firstgiving.com/crisdopher
More importantly, I want to run with meaning, with purpose. I want something that will help me to stay focused on my task. To that end, I'm encouraging my sponsors to add a name to the list of names I'm inking on my race shirt, to memorialize those who have died of Cystic Fibrosis. Each mile for a different person, many of whom I've known personally.
You don't know me. All you know is that I listen to Phidip and have run the World Wide Half a few times. But I hope you'll drop by either my First Giving donations page or my blog and lend your support, either financially, emotionally, or both. For the dollars mean a lot ("put your money where your mouth is" comes to mind); but the stories and words of encouragement mean just as much.
So thank you, fellow runners. And to those of you who will be out somewhere on the race course ahead of me on November 2nd, I say "run long...run long...run long."
Cris Dopher
bib #44510
orange wave 3, corral B
Back of the pack
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