You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2007.
On Sunday November 18th, I made my first attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I run at a pace that on a “good day” would qualify me, based on my half-marathon and 10k paces.
My training this fall was de-railed a little because I was sick for most of September and October, so I couldn’t stick to the training plan my coach gave to me all too well. In addition, I gained about 8 pounds since the summer. Marathon training is generally about 10-12 hours per week, whereas Ironman training is closer to 20, so even though I was still exercising, it was much less and the weather was getting colder so I was eating more.
On the other hand, near the last weeks of the training, I did do some 18-mile long runs and felt pretty good at the end, so I figured I would be okay for the race.
Daniel and I went to Philly on Saturday and I carbo-loaded at an Italian restaurant (there are lots of great ones in Philly!)
The following morning, at the starting line, I joined the 3:40 pace group, led by a nice gentleman named Dan who was holding up a few balloons - one of which said “Boston or Bust”. I think it was the largest group since it is the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon for women 18-34. The beginning was crowded so there was a lot of jockeying/bullying-for-position. I was thinking “don’t lose the balloons no matter what”…so I did have to do some “light plowing” to catch back up a few times. It was cold, so I had on a craft baselayer with a vest and running tights.
The beginning felt comfortable. Once we settled into a pace, my heart rate was exactly where it should have been (159bpm which is the middle of my “zone 3″ for number geeks like myself). The first half took 1:48 and change. I made it okay over the hills and was able to recover well.
It pretty much felt this way until mile 17.5. Then, from feeling comfortable, I immediately went to feeling terrible. It wasn’t a cardio/breathing issue, but a leg muscle issue. They tightened up and I could hardly even jog. Daniel met me at mile 18 - had I been on pace, I would have done 2:28 but I lost 2 mins and it was at 2:30. After that, I had to jog very slowly and stop to stretch a few times until mile 21ish. I got very cold and my heart-rate dropped to 100ish - was happy I wore warmer clothing instead of shorts and a tank top.
I took in some gatorade and eventually at mile 21 I regained some energy. By this time, I had to run 7:55 for the last 5 miles in order to qualify. I was already so tired so I tried my best, but couldn’t do this - the best I could muster was getting back to 8:30ish so I finished in 3:48. I missed by three minutes, but I will try again on March 2, 2008 in Napa Valley.
For next time, I will try to stay healthy so that I can stick to my training plan better, change my body composition a little, and take in more sodium during the race even if it is cold.
(future of web design)…i went to this conference last week on the 7th and 8th. it was a great experience for many reasons. first off, i got to go to nyc and hang out with some old friends. one is a friend from college who i only get to see a few times a year. i stayed over at her place on the lower east side. secondly, through facebook, i’ve gotten in touch with a lot of other old friends who i havent seen for years! one of them is my friend from high school who i hadn’t seen in 13 years.
the conference was very inspirational and motivational. in addition to learning a lot about the (projected) near future of my career field, i saw that i needed to get crackin’ with some business ideas in order to escape the routine of 9-5. the ideas are, of course, web-based products and services that are somehow related to my interests. i figure, keep it fun by doing something related to my hobbies!
as far as new info i learned, some of the topics were along the lines of mobile sites as more and more people are having browsers on their mobile devices - so most of the solutions are goal based as opposed to just being informational (ie schedule appointments, other things that need to be “done” quickly as opposed to just reading/browsing)
secondly, i heard the 37 signals guy, ryan singer, talk about interface design. i reguarly use a few of his products (basecamp, ta-da list) and think his business model is ingenious - its success has a lot to do with its design.
then, there was a lecture about AJAX. i don’t know a lot about it yet, but it was of interest b/c the technology is very powerful and i hope to leverage it for some of my project ideas. it’s nice because it creates interactivity on the browser without having to have a flash player or other proprietary plug-ins.
other topics included email campaigns, using flash for design and applications without it looking “flash-y”, illustration in web design, community sites (threadless was used as an example!), and branding.
one of the topics that was enjoyable was “destroying the web 2.0 look” - thank you!! thank you!! thank you!!
finally, the second day i went to a half day workshop with joshua davis. it was extremely inspirational to a- hear him speak and b- learn about his process. daniel had recommended going to the workshop and it has definitely opened up my eyes as far as where to get inspiration from.
