This is not a good idea

Well, my loyal readers, the Great Wiki Karmel is awesome at so many things. I could list all of my virtues, but I don't think the internet is big enough. One thing I am not, however, is patient. Which is why I will never be a teacher.

However, there are certain things I should be patient with. And my training is one of them. Which is why this is a terrible idea: I'm running a marathon in June.

I'll let that sink in for a minute.

The Great Wiki Karmel has laid out an impressive training program on this very website a couple times. This training program will get me ready to run a marathon sometime this fall. Why, then am I running one this spring? Well, I'm not going to run the whole thing. Around the beginning of June, my long runs will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 miles, or a half marathon. I'll run the first half of the marathon and then walk/lightly jog the second half. That will allow me to see my half marathon splits but still give me the experience of the marathon and an appreciation of the distance.

Also, the marathon is in South Bend, IN, home of the official parents (and Grandma) of the Great Wiki Karmel.

Yesterday, Today and Beyond

Yesterday the Great Wiki Karmel ran 5 miles. Today, I plan on running 5 more. Tomorrow I will run 7. I saw a new training plan (I don't remember where and don't feel like looking for it...) that suggests six days a week of running with two long runs and 4 short days in between. As the long runs get longer and longer, the short runs stay at about 5 to 6 miles. One of the long runs should start to get a little longer than the other. Thus my schedule would be 13, 0, 6, 5, 10, 5, 5 in a few months instead of 7, 0, 5, 5, 7, 5, 5 right now (Tuesday is the official off day due to happy hour with many of my loyal readers).

In a week or two, I will start lifting weights. Oy...

Running Update

I ran 8 miles over the weekend. 4.5 on Saturday and a disappointing 3.5 on Sunday. Why disappointing, my loyal readers? Well, I had been planning on making Sunday my long run day (I am running significantly longer on one day each week, as dictated by my training schedule). But I think Monday would be a better long run day since I have a weekly happy hour on Tuesday and don't run. My body, especially my feet, needs the day off...

As it was, yesterday was my long run day. The Great Wiki Karmel ran 7.06 miles in one hour.

Oh Avogadro

Avocado? No Avogadro (though avocados are quite delicious). The Great Wiki Karmel ran three times since my last post. On Friday, I ran 4.05 miles and Sunday 4.0 miles. But the previous Thursday, I was feeling really good. Why? Well probably because I slowed it down a bit. I had been running at 8 miles per hour. That's the speed that I would like to run the marathon at (a bit ambitious, but I think I can get there). That'll get me a 3:15 marathon. However, I'm not quite in shape enough to do that just yet. So I slowed my run down to 7 miles an hour. And what a difference it made! I was cruising along last Thursday when I looked down at the display on the treadmill. I had run 6.02 miles. So I stopped (my training program doesn't call for such a long run yet). It wasn't until I got home that I realized it was the same number as a great mathematical constant (divided by 10^23): the Mole!

This October, the Great Wiki Karmel will lead a Mole Day Celebration! Join me, my loyal readers.

Five is good, right?

I had decided on Saturday that I would take the day off and run 7 miles on Sunday. My schedule had called for 3 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. Should the Great Wiki Karmel have openly defied the wisdom of marathon training experts? Well, as it turns out, the running gods said I shouldn't have. Sunday morning, on my way back from the grocery store, I tripped and fell up my stairs (damn you, running gods, damn you indeed!). (and yes, I fell up my stairs). Do not fret, my loyal readers: I am OK. But I did bruise my knee ever so slightly and thus did not run.

So I had decided to run 7 miles yesterday. However, I am sad to inform you, my loyal readers, that I did not run the full 7 miles. I only ran 5 (PTI went to commercial and an interview with Billy Donovan was up next- I didn't want to stick around...). But it was a good 5 miles. So I am OK with that. And you should be too.

(By the way, I was just reading about PTI on Wiki. The intro/outro music played on the show is based on the song "Cut Your Hair", by our good friends Pavement. Wilbon and Kornheiser, the two hosts of the show, are bald.)

Well it's my blog, so I'll do what I want

As many of my loyal readers know, the Great Wiki Karmel has signed up to do the 2007 New York City Marathon in November. I am loosely sticking to a workout schedule to train for the marathon. From now on, every time I train, I will post what I did on this site.

3/22/07: I ran 3.5 miles in 24 minutes. Why didn't I finish the final half mile (I was supposed to do 4)? I got sweat in my eyes. It burned. So sad for me.