2017 Pittsburgh Half week 0: Another train wreck start.

And I’m back!  After the EQT 10-Miler, I was neck-deep in NaNoWriMo, and then the holidays, and I definitely didn’t run as much as I would have liked to.  But I tried to get back into better habits in January and February, which now brings me to staring down the first week of my Half Marathon training plan.

I had a lot of success with Hal Higdon’s 10-miler plan, so I’m using his Novice 2 HM plan.  I’m super excited to be back on a plan, I really liked having that kind of schedule, although I’ve done a bit of shuffling as needed due to work and other commitments.

Thinking back to my 10-Miler training, the first week was kind of a train wreck.  I have another appointment scheduled at Planned Parenthood, but that’s not until week 3, so hopefully I don’t pass out again!

But that’s not to say this training cycle isn’t off to a rough start even before it officially starts.  One of my new year’s resolutions was to be in more queer spaces.  I love running with the Frontrunners, and it made me realize how much I need to be around “my people.”  We have that instant camaraderie, so it helps to not always have to describe how you’re interacting with the world.

As a way to help meet that resolution, I’ve been volunteering at OUTrageous Bingo, which is a huge bingo game (500 people, the final game pays out $1,000 and usually the 50/50 take home is over $2,000) that supports the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, as well as a wellness program for people living with HIV and AIDS.  It’s a ton of fun, and I love seeing a lot of the same volunteers as well as the players, and I even got a date out of it!

But at January’s game, I was setting up a table and dropped it right on my foot.  One of those really heavy, solid wood, 8-foot church (or in this case Temple) tables.  My first two toes and a bit of my foot turned all kinds of crazy colors and I stayed off it for two weeks.  It still hurts just a little if I move the wrong way, but even that is getting better, but I was not exactly happy I did that to myself.

I also need new shoes, but I think I’d like to explore some options beyond my normal Brooks Dyads, but I don’t want to run with them outside and make them unreturnable if they don’t fit right.

Otherwise though, I’m nervous about this new undertaking (my first half), but excited about it nonetheless!  I’ll be writing about my training and what else is going on in my life along the way!

EQT Training Week 10: Race Week

Travelling for work again, so had to switch up the days on my plan, but got it all in!

Monday: TRX and roll – A good evening of bodyweight lifting and then rolling.  Then early to bed since I had to be in Cleveland early the next morning.

Tuesday: 2 miles and TRX – Our work meeting started early, so we broke a little early.  Got home and went to the gym to get in 2 miles before heading home to lift (back to back days, which felt good).

Wednesday: 30 minutes cross-training – Took it a little easy, did 30 minutes on the AMT.  Looking back, it’s so weird, the AMTs used to intimidate me and I thought they were so difficult to use.  Guess I really have come far!

Thursday: 4 miles – Last run before the race and I did it with the Frontrunners!  My normal running companion wasn’t there so I was in the back by myself, which is fine, although I’m significantly faster when I’m by myself, I like the company.  Found out that a group of them would be manning the third water station at the race (and then heading to brunch, as it is the meal of our people), so I was really looking forward to seeing them (and I think I was the only one of the group running).

Friday: Rest – Left work a few minutes early to drive to the South Hills to pick up my packet.  I hate driving in the south hills.  It’s very confusing and traffic backs up at the weirdest spots.

Pick-up was a running store I’ve never been to, so that was cool to check it out (and grab a light for night running) and the shirt and bag are the nicest I’ve seen for a race from P3R yet!

I felt a little sad, when I walked up to the line (only two people in front of me), one of the volunteer coordinators I worked with at the Liberty Mile asked if I was there to help out, it sounded like she could have used some experienced help, but sadly, I had a game night to get to.  But I’ll be there volunteering for the marathon!

Saturday: Rest – Took it as easy as I could.  Game night went long, and I didn’t sleep as much as I wanted to since I had to get up for a Write-In.  I also had a really hard time falling asleep, I think I was anxious about the race!

Sunday: EQT 10-Miler – Full race report coming this week, but it was a success!

EQT Training Week 9: Hobbits

I’m now a week away from the EQT 10-miler!  I’m a bit nervous, mostly because of newly announced full Parkway closure this weekend as well as trying to be the responsible son and no one else in my family is offering any help.  But we’ll see how it goes.  I have to trust in my training, although I think I pretty much am confident I’ll get to the finish line!

Monday: 3 miles and TRX – My week got all kinds of rearranged, so I got some miles in early.  They weren’t the best, but got them done, then headed home to do my TRX workout with the finale of My Dad Wrote a Porno.  Sometimes I realized how absurd my life really is.

Tuesday: 5 miles – Went running with the Frontrunners.  Not bad, and I’m slowly starting to feel like more of the group.  I got some kudos from some other members for braving last week’s Thursday run in the rain.

Wednesday: TRX – I went to Cincinnati and back for work, so ten hours in the car after getting up at four a.m. to do it.  Not fun (although singing along with my boss was fun).  Managed to get do my bodyweight lifting once I got home, although I think that day has since messed up my sleep schedule.

Thursday: 45 minutes cross-training – Had a doctor’s appointment after work, so I was able to squeeze in 45 minutes of stepping before I had to head out to that.

Friday: Rest – Went to Phipps Conservatory to see the Fall Flower show (and the Pittsburgh 200 railroad).  It was great, especially after the kids who were trick-or-treating there cleared out!  I’ll have to head back if I can one night before the Christmas show opens!

Saturday: 8 miles – That doesn’t seem long to most runners, but it’s the longest I’ve ever ran!  I headed to the Waterfront and plotted out a 2-mile out and 2-mile back route on the Great Allegheny Passage.  The benefit of which was that there was a water fountain at the start/end, so after four miles I took half a minute to grab some water.  I actually did really well, although it was a hotter day than normal, so I liked the part under shade much better.  My calf gave me some problems at the very end, and I’ve been rolling it pretty obsessively since, which has been helping, but not nearly as much as I’d like!

I remember thinking when I had about a half mile left, that each step was the furthest I’ve ever run, and I was really proud of that accomplishment!  Made me think of Samwise from The Fellowship of the Ring!

Sunday: 60 minutes cross-training: I couldn’t fit into my schedule to get to the gym, so again did an hour of stepping with the Wii Balance Board, boring after a while, even more so than other exercise, but it worked, and always helps to stretch out my calf.

Sunday was our kick-off party for NaNoWriMo, and I’m woefully unprepared, so we’ll see how this goes this year, but ready or not, we’re about to start!

EQT Training Week 8: Rain

Monday: TRX and Roll – I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but my TRX days have fallen the same days that new episodes of the podcast “My Dad Wrote a Porno” are released, and it’s become my tradition to work out and listen to it.  I’ll be sad after this upcoming week, as they’ll be on a break before starting season 3.  Check it out (not at work), it’s hysterical!

Tuesday: 5 miles – Ran with the Frontrunners, which is a four-mile route, so I got there early and added a little less than a mile.  I’ll adjust that for next week to make it an even mile.  Didn’t quite time it right and there was more time before the end of my mile and the rest of the run than I’d like, but I’ll figure that out eventually.

Wednesday: 45 minutes cross training – Worked out on the AMT, great chance to listen to the season 5 finale of Zombies, Run.  I picked up on some things I missed the first time through.

Thursday: 4 miles and TRX – My plan called for three miles, but again, figured an extra mile could only help.  As I was leaving, I was hearing thunder, and so I quickly pulled up radar, everything looked to be travelling pretty quick and trending north.  I got to our meeting place and no one else was there.  I waited until quarter after, and then decided to run by myself.  As I was crossing the street (and starting Zombies, Run!) our chapter president showed up, he got slowed by traffic.  He’s much faster than I am, so we took off at different paces.

The route I run (that I was taught) is longer in one spot and shorter in another, so I actually met up with him again at one point, and by then, the heaven’s had opened and we were drenched.  We met up once again after he ran a lap on the track, this time the rain was just pouring and everything I was wearing was soaked.

At the end, he ran six miles (doing a loop around the Cathedral of Learning) and as I was running back to our start/end area, I saw his truck so waited for him to get back.  I stretched and wrung out my clothes.  Of course, it had started to really rain about five minutes after we started, and ended up about five minutes before he got back.

It was fun to have a run like that in the rain, but it took two days for my shoes to dry (even with newspaper stuffed inside them), and I think I’d rather it not be 45 degrees, but hey, at least I know I can survive it.

Friday: Rest – I did end up baking as we had a watch party for PBS’s Hamilton special!  Every time Paul Ryan was on the screen we extended our middle fingers, but otherwise it was great!

Saturday: 7 miles – This was the meet-up for the Zombies, Run! fall virtual race, so I headed to North Park, a place I’ve never run before (but have gone kayaking).  It was cold and windy (again, about 45 degrees), and of course, raining!  Like on Thursday, there were two of us (six had RSVP’d).  We waited until about quarter after, then decided to start our run.  There was a lung cancer event that happened to be there at the same time, so we wanted to get moving so we didn’t get caught up in that crowd as they walked their 5K.

The guy I ran with was a little slower than me, but I enjoyed the company and the pace (he has a much stronger kick than I do, plus at the end I ran an extra bit to hit seven miles, actually getting to 7.25, but my kick has always been weak, something I want to work on).  He runs through North Park a lot, and I have to say, it’s gorgeous!  I wish I lived closer, I’d be there every weekend.  Nice running/walking lane that is separate from the road and the bike lane, and we even saw a heron as we were running!

The rain was off and on the whole run, but not as heavy as Thursday’s.  Once we got to the end, I looped back and got in the extra distance to get up to 7.25 (only planning on seven, but oh well).  And afterwards we had breakfast at OTB!

Sunday: 60 minutes cross training – The last free yoga of the year at Phipps, and it was really good.  Since it was a little cooler, it was more stretching, and it felt really good.  I learned some new poses (half pigeon is awesome), and I want to rename “happy baby” to “overly eager bottom.”  Maybe there’s a new business there: yogay.

EQT Training Week 7: Extra Bits

This week is really week 7, I went back and changed last week’s entry to 6.  Counting can be hard, especially when you have to use a second hand!

Monday: TRX and Roll – Did an upper body workout, I’m still amazed the progress I’ve made with just two days a week of workouts with the TRX.  I’m sure if I put more time in, it would be even more, so maybe once I drop these last pounds, I’ll add more into my schedule.

Tuesday: 4 Miles – Plan called for a step down week with 3 mile runs, but the Frontrunners course goes for four, so I figured the extra bits won’t hurt.

Wednesday: 45 minutes cross training – Did the time on the AMT, which I enjoy, although the placement in the gym is awkward, kind of in the way of everything, but whatever, I usually “re-run” missions from Zombies, Run!.

Thursday:4 miles and TRX – Again, plan called for three but I did four, and then went home and did my TRX.  Obama was in town and left Oakland at 4:30, causing a traffic nightmare, so only four of us at the running group, but was still nice!

Friday: Rest – Not a whole lot of rest, I was at a trade show for work, so standing on hard floors all day did not make my legs and knees feel good.  Took it easy once I got home.

Saturday: 50 minutes cross training – I was running all over the place, taking care of my parents house while they’re on vacation, electronic recycling and a couple other errands, but I squeezed in a trip to the gym to put in 50 minutes on the elliptical.

Sunday: 4.1 Miles – My third time running the Mario Lemieux 6.6K!  A great race, and I’ll have a recap up later this week.  My plan called for four miles, so this fit in perfectly (especially since it was two weeks later than normal).

EQT Training Week 6: Groups

This was a good week for a couple reasons, I’ll probably do an expanded post about Tuesday’s run to go into more detail!

Monday: TRX and Roll – Another good day of upper body and stretching and rolling.

Tuesday: 4.25 miles – I went running with the Frontrunners!  The first time I’ve really gone with a group, and had  a great time!  I’ll be doing a bigger post about this, but I’m hoping to make this a regular thing!

Wednesday: 40 minutes cross training – Didn’t go as hard as I probably should have, but since I had to get up super early the next day, I did what I could.

Thursday: 3 miles and TRX – I was up at four to drive to Ohio to run a training session, which went really, really well!  By the time I drove home, even though I didn’t want to, I went straight to the gym to get in some miles on the treadmill and then the TRX at home.  Had I gotten home later I would have joined the Frontrunners again, but I was more interested in getting my work outs down and heading to bed.

Friday: Rest – Just a rainy day, happy to be home after a long but successful week.  Took it easy after deciding to not run some errands, and that was a good choice.

Saturday: 6.2 Miles – I was scheduled for six miles, so I added the extra .2 to do my virtual Beat The Blerch, where I beat my previous personal best (by over two minutes)!  Super excited to finally break one hour for a 10K!  I did a split time for my 5K, and while that wasn’t a PB (I figured I was racing a 10, not a 5), it was incredibly close to my second half, my first half being 17 seconds faster.

I’ve done this each year at the track, and I always end up having to weave around people, this time before no exception.  I stopped for water twice, and the second time an old mad tapped on my shoulder to make sure I knew to run on the outside.  Which I was doing.  He felt that as a walker he should be on the inside, but he was actually walking straight down the middle.  I ignored him after that, the three of us who were running were not an issue to the walkers, we knew what we were doing.

Sunday: 50 minutes cross training – Had an early day meeting a friend who was in town from the West Coast, so did some Wii Fit walking/stepping while taking care of a few things on my phone.  Not the best, but actually did get my heart rate going, so I’m impressed!

EQT Training Week 5: Flip Flop

Due to work meetings, two conference calls and a doctor’s appointment, this week’s training was (mostly) in reverse, with a couple other modifications.  Took some planning, but worth it to get it all in!

Monday – 3 miles and TRX: My ‘slowest’ day, so I figured I’d get in as much as I could.  Three slow miles and then upper body TRX workout before my abbreviated Scouts for Equality conference call, followed by drinking and yelling at the TV during the presidential debate.  Surely not good for my blood pressure.

Tuesday – 40 minutes cross training: Took it easy after the Great Race and extra miles the day before and did the elliptical.  I find it so incredibly boring, but it was good to work up the heart rate a bit and give my feet a little break.

Wednesday – 2 miles: New mission drop!  We’re getting real close to the end of Season 5 of Zombies, Run! and it’s getting real tense in [SPOILERS]

Thursday – TRX and roll: Big training event at work, although it was nice that I didn’t have to go to Cleveland for it!  Afterwards went home and did an upper body workout.  I had rolled twice earlier in the week after the race, but it was good to take some extra time.  I need to incorporate that more often!

Friday – Rest: Finally actually took a rest day.  Had dinner with my parents and then just veg’d and watched some tv.  Was nice to just relax for once without extra running around.

Saturday – 5 miles: Saturday was Open Doors Pittsburgh, so I spent about about three and a half hours walking around downtown, getting tours of buildings that often aren’t open to the public (shout out to the Harvard Yale Princeton club and the church on Grant Street that let me ring their bells!).  Afterwards, I had thought about running through Allegheny Cemetery of South Side Riverfront Park, but since I was already parked downtown (and from the week before, familiar with construction), I decided to stay there.  I took a very similar route, changing up my path on the North Shore, and got in 5 miles in a pretty decent time!  It was also a great way to run a mission, and a very stressful one as well, so that was extra exciting!

Sunday – 40 minutes cross training: I woke up to go into work, we have a storage area called “The Attic” that hadn’t been cleaned since the 90’s (literally).  My church has an electronics recycling program and I wanted to get what I could out of there.  It turned into 3 hours of pulling dust-covered boxes out of a small cramped space not tall enough to stand in.  I was sweating from that, and had thought that my extra walking around the day before would count for my cross training, but I decided to head to the gym anyway, just to help clear my head.

I’m doing my virtual Beat the Blerch this Saturday, and I’m trying to convince myself to join the Pittsburgh Frontrunners for a run Tuesday, but I’ve never run with them, so I have to kind of build up the courage!

EQT Training Week 4: Cruising

Monday: TRX and Roll – Quickly becoming one of my favorite days.  And as I’ve begun to notice, the upper body work is starting to pay off!  I have just the slightest bit of muscle definition on my chest, something I’ve never had before.  I mean, you have to squint, especially to see it under all the hair, but still, it’s there!

Tuesday: 2 miles – More of Season 4 Radio Mode.  Again, not the best, I liked seasons 1 and 3 the best for Radio mode.

Wednesday: 35 minutes cross training – Did the time on the AMT, watching the World Cup of Hockey!

Thursday: 2 miles – The miles this week are low, this was supposed to be a step-back week.  After three weeks, the plan has a week with a little less mileage to let your body catch up.  More about that on Sunday…

Friday: rest – Went downtown for packet pick-up, so I was on my feet more than I wanted, but forced myself to watch some TV and not stand around that night.

Saturday: 40 minutes cross training – Well, this turned into about seven hours of being on my feet and walking around campus at Homecoming.  It was my ten year reunion so I had to go, even if I couldn’t stay too late due to a race the next morning.  It was decent being up there, ran into a lot of people I was delighted to see.  Was good to go to my school reunion as well, even if the other schools weren’t doing them anymore, since we started them years ago, we’ll keep the tradition alive!

Saturday: 6.2 miles – In the training plan, this was only supposed to be a three mile run, but a friend and I signed up for The Great Race.  I’ll have a race recap post later this week, but it went better than expected!

EQT Training Week 3: Construction

Week 3 of my training for the EQT 10-miler.  Overall, the training is pushing me, but in a good way.  Definitely look forward to the rest days each Friday, and am wondering if I stretch myself too thin (I do for sure, but at least with running and other physical activities, I need to take a hard look at my priorities, but that’s a blog post for another day).

Monday: Strength and Stretch – Did a TRX workout (upper body) and did some foam rolling.  Almost forgot about doing the rolling, and I didn’t really need it, but glad I got it in.  I’ll need it this week for sure!

Tuesday: 3 Miles – I finished up Radio Mode Season 3, so on to Season 4!  I don’t remember exactly where I was in this before I switched phones, so I’m getting some repeat clips (and some of those really annoying long clips), but I’m really curious how Radio Season 4 leads into Radio Season 5, so I’m excited to finish this up eventually!

Wednesday: 35 minutes cross-training – Headed to the elliptical, was feeling a little sore but it was a good workout and a little easier on my legs.  I played with the incline a bit to target different areas of my legs, which actually felt good!

Thursday: 2 Miles – Did the next mission in Zombies, Run! Season 5.  Another good one, some great character development and plot lines going on.  We’re getting close to the end of the season, I’m interested how it will end and what kind of cliff-hanger (hopefully not literal again) we’ll get!

Friday: Rest – Met a friend for dinner (finally had the wings I’d be craving for a couple weeks) and then headed to bed early for Saturday.

Saturday: 4.5 Miles – Woke up at 4:30 to go downtown and volunteer at the Liberty Mile.  I love volunteering with P3R, and since this moved to a weekend, I could help out!  Met up with a friend who I volunteered with at the Triathlon and saw some running friends from Stride for Pride.  We had to bust ass to clear registration by 9:30 so the Farmer’s Market could come in, but we got it done, and I got some compliments from the P3R staff!

We ran over to the finish line and watched the first part of the Men’s Elite heat on Facebook Live until we could see them in the final straightaway, which was awesome.  An Olympian was there as well as other elites, it was really cool!

Afterwards I headed back to the other end of town, switched into my running shoes and took off on what was supposed to be a four mile run.

I found the start of the trail, ran around two people in period dress (couldn’t tell if they were actually Mennonites/Amish/Brudderhoff or some sort of actors from the History Center) and headed towards the Point.  I had turned on Airdrop Mode in Zombies Run, thinking I had hit “there and back,” but only hit “one way” so by the time I got around the fountain at The Point, I had reached the end.  It was cool though, as the radio operator was telling me to run towards a small structure, and I actually was, it was the pump house!

After that I looped through the park, headed across the Fort Duquesne Bridge and down the street to pick up the riverfront trail.  Here’s where things got dicey.  Big portions of the riverfront trail were closed due to construction, which I didn’t know.  I tried going one way through Kayak Pittsburgh, only to hit a gate.  Backtracked and wend down another fork, same thing.  I backtracked even more, headed up the stairs and went next to PNC Park.

Weaved my way through the North Shore, only again to hit construction: an extra road was closed due to construction on the Warhol Bridge.  At this point, I said out loud, “For fuck’s sake!”  I did some mental recalculations, retreated a block and finally headed back down to the trail.  I had planned on running to the Heinz Lofts and using that landmark as my turnaround, but I didn’t make it that far, knowing I had added so much already to my distance.

I turned around at the P3R garage and did some more weaving to get back to the Rachel Carson Bridge and get back to the convention center.  Ran until my phone said 4.5 miles (I had mapped it out to be 4 had I gone further down the trail, but construction), then stopped the workout and walked back to my parking garage.  All in all a decent run in a ton of humidity, but I’m pretty proud of it!

Afterwards I headed to Wigle Whiskey to pick up some vodka and coffee beans (just go with it), and got in line at Brew Gentlemen for their Imperial Oatmeal Stout, but they ran out of bottles half an hour after I got there (still in line outside mind you).

Took a much deserved nap later that day, felt so good!

Sunday: 30 Minutes Cross-Training – Signed up for a free yoga class at Phipps, and thankfully it wasn’t cancelled!  This one (unlike my first yoga class) was more focused on core and bending, I had been hoping for more stretching, but it’s free, so I can’t complain too much.  It drizzled a bit on us (outdoor class), but was nice otherwise.

EQT Training Week 2: Getting into the groove

The beginning of the week I was still shaking off the affects of passing out the week before, but as the week went on, I’ve been feeling more and more like myself.

Monday: TRX and roll.  The rolling felt great after collapsing on the hard floor.  I was still store for most of the week, but this was helpful.

Tuesday: 3 miles.  This run really sucked.  I think the combination of my chest being sore and tired legs just combine to make this miserable.

Wednesday: 30 minutes cross-training.  Did a workout on the AMT.  Was a good workout, I always forget how much this actually works my legs until after I step off the machine.  Legs felt a little unstable, but in a good way, if that’s a thing.

Thursday: 2 miles and TRX.  The heat was rising again, so this was a really gross day by the end of it, although it felt pretty good.  The TRX portion was tough, but I hope that I’m making some progress on my upper body.

Friday: Rest.  We had a game night at a friend’s, although before that I had to swing by Wal Mart to pick up oil.  I had to do an oil change over the weekend, and since my car takes 4.2 quarts (how odd), Wal Mart is the only place I can find the 5 quart jug.  If anyone is familiar with Pittsburgh, let me just say that the North Versailles Wal Mart is a treasure.

Saturday: 30 minutes cross-training.  This was supposed to be a run, but it was hot a humid, so I swapped the weekend days.  Spent 30 minutes on the AMT, again, felt good, and possibly beat my legs up a bit.

Sunday: 3 miles.  Headed to Monroeville Park, which is where I’ve done a lot of running.  There’s plenty of trails and I just kind of loop around the different areas of the park, covering one part twice, to make up the mileage.  Anything past three or four miles and it gets boring, so I’ll be looking for new parks as my mileage increases.  The temperature was cool (about 15 degrees cooler than Saturday), but it was humid.  But one of the things I love is that there’s always something going on at this park.  Two family picnics, a Pickleball league, and setting up for a concert, as well as plenty of other runners and walkers.