Brrrrrrr

Best run time yet!!! Michelle and I did the same route to Game Farm Rd that we did last Tuesday but this time in reverse. The temperature plummeted into the teens today and it was extremely windy. I think that helped motivate us to get to my car, which was parked near the end of the trail, as fast as we possibly could.

Afterward, we met Brian and Melissa at the gym for some more weight training. This time, we focused on our chest, tricep, and leg muscles. I didn't push myself as hard as I did on Monday because I'm going camping this weekend and I don't want to be in pain before the trip starts. Highlights from today's lesson included a debate on whether building chest muscles in women leads to perkier breasts or to a manly chest and an argument over whether it's acceptable to dance between sets while you're waiting for a machine to be free. I don't think Brian will be joining us for weights again, which is too bad because our lessons were fun!

Nike+ run stats: 3.97 miles, 40'12" minutes, 10'07" minutes per mile

Half Marathon Training: Week 2
Week of 1/25/10 red=incomplete; green=completed

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

South Hill Rec Trail

Annie, Michelle, Brian, Melissa, Nori, Jen, and I met at this morning for a Sunday run. It turns out that the South Hill Rec Trail is not plowed in the winter. Running on packed snow was a great workout, but it's a little hard on the knees and ankles so I think we'll avoid it in the future. I guess we'll need to look for a different spot to do our 4+ mile runs. We ran out and back on the trail so we were able to split up and run by speed.

Nike+ run stats: 3.84 miles, 45'40" minutes, 11'52" minutes per mile
(I think I need to recalibrate my pedometer. According to the trail markers, we ran 4 miles.)


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Half Marathon Training: Week 1
Week of 1/18/10 red=incomplete; green=completed

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

Evening run + strength training

I'm finally back on a normal sleeping schedule so I once again have time for weights, sit ups, and push ups in the morning. It helps that all the running wears me out so I can fall asleep pretty quickly most nights.

Michelle and I headed out for a run after work. This time she was the tired one and I was the one who forced us out the door. We did a quick run around campus that went through the insectary, around Beebe Lake, through the arts quad and Ho Plaza, and then back up to Teagle. It was a little short of our 3 mile target, but since we went too far on Tuesday, it works out on average. Afterward, we went to the gym to do our strength training.

Nike+ stats: 2.53 miles, 30'47" minutes, 12'08" minutes per mile

Half Marathon Training
Week of 1/18/10 red=incomplete; green=completed

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

Evening run to Game Farm Rd.

Michelle and I went for a run after work. We got a beautiful layer of snow last night but the roads were clear so it was a great day for a run. I didn't want to run outside at first, but luckily Michelle convinced me otherwise. It was right around 30F which was the perfect temperature once we got warmed up.

We cut through campus to the East Hill Rec trail, ran to Game Farm Rd., and then took back roads back to get to campus. It was muddy and wet, but it was a great run. For a long time, I couldn't run more than 3 miles. I've finally overcome that barrier because we did this entire run without walking, and I had plenty of energy left afterward.

It's just my luck that I finally am able to run the entire distance of the Rec trail, only to get this in my e-mail this morning:

There is an important meeting tonight, Tue, Jan. 19 at 7:00PM at the Town of Ithaca, Town Hall. The first item on the agenda is a vote to decide if Cornell can have approval to do work at the East Hill Recreation Way that will close the trail for at least 3-4 weeks, or possibly a lot longer. This will happen soon. The part of the trail that will be closed is the 1 mile segment between Game Farm Rd. and Judd Falls Rd.

Nike+ run stats: 3.83 miles, 46'47" minutes, 12'12" minutes per mile

Half Marathon Training
Week of 1/18/10 red=incomplete; green=completed

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

Sunday run

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I'm feeling conflicted. I want it to snow more so I can go skiing again, but I also want it to stay above 40F because running outside is so much nicer than running on a treadmill.

This was a great run. My goal was to run the entire distance without walking, and it was easy to do since I started off very slowly. I got to the 2 mile mark and I realized that I was only a few hundred meters from the end of the trail, so I decided to make it a loop and I ran back on the road.

Nike+ run stats: 4.29 miles, 51'05" minutes, 11'54" minutes per mile

Half Marathon Training
Week of 1/11/10 red=incomplete; green=completed

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

Lunchtime run

Michelle and I went for a lunchtime run around campus. We went off-road for a little bit, which was an icy mess because the snow is starting to melt. The plantations are apparently not being plowed so there was quite a bit of snow on the road. I walked over the icy bits because I'm not going to risk injuring myself. I think we went too far or too fast because I was super sleepy for the rest of the afternoon.


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We're up to at least 5 people who are following the same half marathon training guide. In theory, it would be great if we could all do our runs together, but it seems impractical given the variation in running speeds. Nonetheless, Michelle wants to continue to train together*, which is great because running with her is sure to make me faster. She's two weeks behind me in the schedule, so I'm going to repeat those weeks with the aim of doing all my runs faster than I did before.

*I may be slow, but I make a great personal trainer since I can be quite persistent (i.e. annoying) about making my friends work out with me.

Nike+ run stats: 3.65 miles, 42'46" minutes, 11'41" minutes per mile

Half Marathon Training
Week of 1/11/10 red=incomplete; green=completed

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

In other news:

• My new (used) climbing shoes have arrived! I found them on geartrade.com. They were $40 with shipping, which means that I need to go climbing 10 times to make them worth the investment.

• I'm officially signed up for the Cayuga Lake Triathlon. After a lot of internal debating and a little external pressure, I decided to do the intermediate distance. It's a little intimidating since I've never even run a 10K, but I have seven months to fix that (for example, by training for a half marathon).

• There's a new triathlete blog on my list. Amit is a former Cornellian who'll likely come back to Ithaca to do the CLT with the rest of us.

Running while sore

I'm still incredibly sore from skiing. It's a little mystifying... I wasn't even this sore after biking around the lake. I decided to do a run anyway because my muscles needed to be stretched out. The run felt nice, although it was split into two halves because the treadmills were all booked up.

I tried the weight machines between runs. They're not as intimidating as they used to be. I've guess I've finally learned not to be self conscious at the gym.

Poonam, Vikram, and I have a new Nike+ challenge going. First one to 50 miles by 2/11 wins. Three miles down, 47 to go!!

Nike+ run stats: 3 miles, 37'16" minutes, 12'25" minutes per mile

Half Marathon Training

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

red=incomplete; green=completed

Saturday treadmill run

How did I live without exercise for so long? Running fixes *everything*. I'm getting redundant but that was another great run. I was all set to run outside but it started snowing really hard and the roads were a mess. Instead, I ran on the treadmill at a maximum speed of 10'45" minutes per mile with a mix of running and walking.

Nike+ run stats: 4.02 miles, 50'05" minutes, 12'27" minutes per mile

In other news: After I did the AIDS Ride for Life, I said that I wanted to volunteer at a racing event that I couldn't participate in. I finally found the perfect opportunity: the Boston Marathon. I've never been a spectator at a major event like this so I think it'll be fun. Plus it's an excuse to go to Boston and hang out with Asti.

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

red=incomplete; green=completed

Ithaca is small

I didn't sleep well last night so all I wanted to do after work was go home and curl up on the couch. However, I really want to complete my goal for the week so I motivated myself to get to the gym. As always, I felt fantastic as soon as I was there. Exercise is better than caffeine for perking me up. Apparently I'm not the only one in workout mode. Out of the eight treadmills, at least four were occupied by the same people as last night (all people I know through work).

I had to wait for a treadmill so I did 20 minutes on an elliptical (1.75 miles, whatever that means). I did some light weightlifting between the elliptical and treadmill, and then again after my run. For the run, I ran at a max of 11'30" minutes per mile (treadmill speed). Combining the elliptical and treadmill, I'd say that I did about 3 miles worth of running today.

Nike+ run stats: 2.3 miles, 27'45" minutes, 12'02" minutes per mile

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

The gym is open again!

Helen Newman gym has reopened, and apparently the word is out because it was *packed* today. I had to wait 20 minutes to get onto a treadmill, so I biked while I was waiting. Why they decided to open the smallest gym to accommodate the entire campus is unclear to me. The gym was closing up as I finished my run so it was a short workout, but it felt awesome.

Nike+ run stats: 2.25 miles, 25'32" minutes, 11'18" minutes per mile

stretch & strengthen

3 m run

2 m run or cross

3 m run + strength

rest

30 min cross

4 m run

running + dim sum = a bad idea

Poonam, Vikram, and I went for an evening run together. It was right after sunset so the air was cool and a layer of fog had settled over the valley. I seldom feel homesick for California, but this run did the trick. We stayed together for this run, more or less. We had a late and heavy dim sum lunch and my stomach was not happy with this run, so I ended up walking more than I would have liked.

Nike+ run stats: 3.82 miles, 45'01" minutes, 11'46" minutes per mile

I didn't quite meet my weekly goal. I'll aim for 15 miles of running again next week.

Remaining workouts for the week of 12/21/09
1 hour of biking
15 3.84 miles of running
1 mile of swimming

Goal for the week of 12/28/09
1.5 hours of biking
15 miles of running
+climbing (no swimming this week because the pool is closed)

12/26/09: running

Today I went for a quick run on my parents' treadmill. I'm not really on track to finish my weekly goal unless I go for another run this evening or do an extremely long run tomorrow.

Nike+ run stats: 2.71 miles, 29'50" minutes, 11'00" minutes per mile

Remaining workouts for the week of 12/21/09
1 hour of biking
15 7.66 miles of running
1 mile of swimming

12/25/09: running

Merry Christmas!



What better way to start off a major holiday than with a run. This morning, all three Juneja kids put on their running gear and headed out for a run. Vikram went out on his own to do 18 miles. Poonam and I opted for a shorter 4.6 mile route. Both my siblings are in full training mode for their upcoming Mississippi Blues half-marathon in January 2010. It'll be Vikram's second race and Poonam's first. It's amazing that all three of us are suddenly gung-ho runners, but I think it helps build motivation.

It was the perfect day for a run: clear blue skies, a crisp 40F temperature, and my sister as a running companion. With apologies to all my other running friends, no one beats my sister as a partner. We have genetically matched running styles. We're the same speed, have the same endurance, and even have the same right hip and back problems. (Our working hypothesis for this quirk is that we're both lopsided and that our right legs are slightly shorter than our left ones.)

This run put me in such an exuberant mood that I was singing at the top of my lungs while running through my hometown --- I love how my shyness completely disappears when the adrenaline kicks in.

Nike+ run stats: 4.63 miles, 54'59" minutes, 11'51" minutes per mile

Route:

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12/20/09: running

I went for another run with Maddy. I decided to push myself a little further than usual, so we ended up going 4 miles. This is going to sound ridiculous, but I feel really out of shape. I blame that partly on Maddy. She likes to sprint when she runs, so we have to alternate between running really fast and walking. But I also haven't been exercising as much as I was over the summer. Here's a quick tally of my week:

1.5 hours biking
1.75 hours of running (8.5 miles)
1 hour of yoga

Compare that to the summer where I'd regularly bike at least 60 miles a week (~5 hours), plus hit the gym several times a week. Many training guides will tell you to set a daily workout schedule. That doesn't work for me because I get very discouraged when I miss a workout and then give up. What's worked really well for me in the past is setting weekly or monthly goals. Even if I don't meet them, I still feel really good about what I do manage to accomplish. As a test run, here's my goal for this week:

1 hour of biking
15 miles of running (~3 hours)
1 mile of swimming (~45 minutes)
total: 4.75 hours

Run stats for today: 4.07 miles, 53'24" minutes, 13'06" minutes per mile

12/19/09: running

I was incredibly sore on Thursday because of doing yoga the previous day. My hamstrings, shoulders, and upper arms were the worst. I guess those are muscle groups that aren't getting worked in other exercises. That's one more reason to go back to yoga.

After two days of rest, I decided to go for a run ... outside! I'm dog-sitting for a couple of days, and running is the perfect activity to tire Maddy out. It took a lot of willpower to run outside. I actually turned around the first time, came back, added a few layers, and then headed back out. I far prefer skiing outside to running at this time of year, but there isn't nearly enough snow yet.

On a side note, I just redid the layout and added a section for blogs I'm following. Check them out! My brother is training for his first marathon, Asti just did her first half marathon, and my new blogging friend is also training for his first triathlon. I didn't realize that I knew so many budding athletes.

Run stats: 2.01 miles, 21'56" minutes, 10'54" minutes per mile

12/15/09: running

I was a little surprised that I wasn't the least bit sore after spinning. I did manage to aggravate my hip while walking to work a few days ago, so I'm not completely pain-free at the moment. I was a little worried about hopping on the treadmill, but I took it really easy and my hip didn't bother me at all. I slowly worked my way up to a 12'30" pace on the treadmill.

Nike+ run stats: 2.56 miles, 29'22" minutes, 11:27 minutes per mile

12/10/09: running

Apparently my motivation was short-lived. I almost bailed on running today because I was feeling tired, but I convinced myself to go for a short time. I ended up being able to run 25 straight minutes on the treadmill at a 13 minute per mile rate according to the treadmill. I bumped into Melissa and Michelle at the gym. Apparently they've been starting to work out again, so I told them to start bothering me to join them. I'll be more consistent if I have people depending on me.

Run stats: 26'56" minutes, 2.12 miles, 12'41" minutes per mile

12/7/09: running + squash

After an extremely lethargic weekend (if you don't include the dancing that I did on Saturday night), I finally feel like working out again. I decided to give the treadmill another chance, with the vow that I would stop running if my back started bothering me. I also ran at an extremely slow pace so that I can begin to the build my running muscles back. I averaged 14 min/mile according to the treadmill and felt terrific afterward. My back and hip did bother me, so I alternated running and walking. I felt like a little more exercise, so Maddie and I played a few rounds of squash. We were pretty evenly matched -- she won 2 and I won 2.

Run stats: 2.53 miles, 31'38" minutes, 12'28" minutes per mile

Punita vs Poonam, part 2

11/30/09: running

I haven't felt like running lately. Today I went running for impure reasons-- my brand new wardrobe will no longer fit it I don't keep my act together. That being said, the run felt fantastic. Run stats: 2.35 miles, 10'53" minutes per mile

Split times: 1:13, 1:20, 1:19, 1:20, 1:20, 1:19, 1:22, 1:24, 1:23, 1:24, 1:23, 1:26, 1:26, 1:27, 1:25, 1:30, 1:30, 1:34 (18 laps, average time 1:24)