MAGIC

NOVEMBER 5, 2011

When I was 59 years old, I decided that I wanted to do a half marathon. Of course, I was clueless about the amount of energy this takes, but I figured I had accomplished many things including losing weight, quit smoking and incredible as it seems recovered from two serious knee mishaps. I had exercised every day and thought this would be a great motivator to do a marathon. Since that year I have completed three 1/2 marathons and am on my fourth.

In subsequent years at about this point in my “in earnest” training, I have had the same thought: WHY? I think this year I have figured it out. It is about the “discipline”; the discipline of getting up in the morning [when it is totally dark]; using every Saturday morning for long treks; and most of all keeping the “faith” that YES, I CAN DO THIS .

After all, what other parts of my life are disciplined, really, not too many. I don’t discipline my activities; I do what I want when I want; I don’t discipline my eating [thank God for exercise]; no discipline in my sex life [the rewards of being married 41 years, you can do it anytime you wish because its really good]. I do have some discipline about going to work but only because I like it. A few months back when I wasn’t so positive about it, I was thinking about my next job; although that has passed. So maybe the whole “do the marathon” thing is about discipline.

A colleague of mine said YOU DO IT because YOU CAN. That is partially true and I am damn lucky that I can; another colleague’s son said: its just putting one foot in front of another…..which is also true and I do think of that at certain parts of the 13 miles.

But the very best reason is the feeling I got this morning. I had to do 8 miles this morning and I could not have wished for better weather: clear, crisp, sunny, 37 degrees and rising. That is the perfect weather. There are parts of doing 8 miles that you feel great and other parts when your feet and body are just aching. The magic comes when you go into the 5th mile and something inside of you ignites that second wind; the one that just pushes you into 4th gear and keeps you there for a few more miles: the entire mind and body in sync with itself and its rhythm. The body’s ability to manufacture energy and the brain’s ability to soar into a realm of thought and intensity that rarely happen in the state of rest for me. Maybe it is a meditative state of exercise; whatever it is……it is a “high” that cannot be beat. Medically, we can write it up to “endorphins”…….but me, I rather think of it as the “magic of living.”

WHAT THE TURKEY?

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

My first thought: don’t look around too much. My experience when looking toward the ground is seeing a dead bird or animal here or there. Not cool, you seem to think of it for the next mile or two. Thoughts invade: should I have stopped and buried that poor bird, OMG what an ugly possum, I hate them. Or, shit that was someone’s cat. So my thoughts were don’t focus on the dead things you see. Well about a minute after having that thought, I turned right to see two turkeys–alive. Scared the shit out of me because I didn’t expect them, nor was I looking around. Almost tripped over one. They certainly were not afraid of me.  Remember I live in the city. These two birds were big and just walking down the street–a four lane big street. Taking a trot I imagine. I laughed out loud and continued. A good walk, haven’t calculated the mph hour because I don’t want to focus on the speed yet. Need to do the distance.

Renegade Squirrel or Be Wary of Acorns

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

I live in the Northeast. We have lots of squirrels. So, the norm is that squirrels collect nuts in the fall and hide them away for the winter. I believe I have met the renegade squirrel. Walking the other day–and not paying attention to anything that might be dead on the ground–I looked at a squirrel in the middle of the road. I normally try to stay away from them, just in case I am not moving fast enough and they decide to jump from a tree to me. Well, back to the story. This squirrel had about 5 acorns in front of him and he was sitting there cracking them open and eating them. No squirreling away, but cracking and eating. Consider that the word “squirrelling” is defined as hoarding and storing, this was definitely the renegade squirrel–not doing either–just enjoying those acorns.  

Well you ask what’s the point here and what does this have to do with walking: The moral of this story is: In the autumn, beware of tripping on the acorns–very easy to do. Take it from one who knows. Be careful out there.

When Mind and Body Work Together

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Some days you are just in the groove. You can start walking at a reasonable pace and then get up to a speed where you can swear  you are running, but indeed you are just walking. The legs, arms and feet are just a blur of motion with a slight swing of your rear to make you feel you can do anything. That pace is indeed when the mind and body are working as one and your power to go the distance is a surety.

This morning I left at 6:15 am before the sun came up; walked down to the beach and decided to go until the sun rose and turn back the same way I came. Unusual since I don’t usually like walking the same route there and back but this morning was a day that only a greater power could create–all things in balance including my mind and body.

Oregon: Parking Lot as Gym, Can you Run and Shop? and Finding the right Restaurant

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Title sounds varied but its all about walking. While recently vacationing in Oregon I had to keep up with my 1/2 marathon training–or risk pain. I choose to keep up with the training which at most times is pretty simple.I wrote to the first hotel since I knew it was on a mountainous road and I would not be able to walk on the road [been there, done that in Florence and almost got run down by a tour bus]. I emailed the hotel and asked if they had a gym because I wanted to exercise. The hotel replied [and I quote] “guests use our parking lot.” OK, I thought, a wee-bit boring so I’ll eliminate these two days on the training calendar. There were still other places Ii could map routes.First morning there I awoke to a sun burning off a mountainous fog and very crisp air. I am always inspired and encouraged by the rising sun and crisp air, especially as we approach winter season. I decided to walk the parking lot. Well, to my surprise I was able to do 4 miles without retracing one step–and I probably missed an adjacent parking lot here or there. It was great. Early morning, so not many cars, but plenty of fresh air and surrounding mountains–and best of all, no danger from tour buses.

Next stop: Florence, a nice small town on the Oregon coast. As we drove thru the town on the first day, I mind mapped a good walk for the next morning. This was a Pacific coast small city that has a quaint old town of stores and restaurants. A town of dunes, tall, wide beautiful dunes. Well back to the original premise: Can you Run and Stop? Mikey was surprised that yes, his wife could run and shop.  As I went from the hotel about 1.5 miles into the town and up to the bridge, I turned to head back and found that the shoe store was open. I quickly while jogging in place [not to start sweating] saw a pair of Merrills that were really, really nice. I went into the store, still jogging in place and took a look at the price–reasonable. Ran out of the store and back to the hotel to tell Mike we had to go back into town so I could buy a pair of shoes. Running and shopping–a good thing.

Third city: Corvallis–a university town and we arrived on Sunday. Realized that there is nothing open on Sunday and Monday so would need to investigate places to eat. Since this is about walking–and  not eating–I will proceed to Monday morning walk and finding a restaurant. Went out in the morning and ran into the town, about 1 mile and then along the river about 1 mile. A lot of restaurants down by the river [and a great path to run]. So I started looking at open hours. Found a place called Iovinos that was open only from Friday to Monday. Perfect. Also found a wine bar around the corner from the restaurant. Well it turns out that the chef and owner is Chicago born Regina Iovino. Mike asked a question about pasta and she came out to talk to us. So excited to have visitors from the Big Apple, she started preparing some free food and appetizers for us. She wanted us to try everything and let her know how it was. She insisted that no one in that town knew about food and she needed a check on what was on the menu. We ate, and ate, and ate and gave her our reviews. A fun place, with good wine and good martinis and excellent food.

At any rate, 3 towns and 3 different walking routes all with some charm of their own.

Loved Oregon. Posted some pics of a really beautiful place.

THE REPROCESSED MILE

NOVEMBER 14, 2009

I worked with a consultant a few years back. Keith Siegmund was his name. He taught me a ton of stuff on process and I have been grateful for that education and the tools he passed to me that I use every day.

When I started to teach folks at RRD about process I would try to use this joke that Keith had taught me “How do you eat an elephant?” “You break it into pieces, of course.” I never could pull this joke off, no matter how much I tried. Luckily I was able to bring process mapping to the folks I worked with without the joke.

Well you say: what does this have to do with a re-processed mile.

I did a half marathon in Philadelphia a few years ago and always had a difficult time figuring out how to break up the 13 miles in manageable pieces to think about and train.

Well while training for the Vegas half in December, I finally used my work skills to re-process that last damn mile into something more manageable.

I eliminate the 13th mile by figuring the 12 miles with the extra steps of the 13th mile. Sounds crazy, but no….really cool. There are 2300 steps to my mile; if I make that 2500 steps then I can do the last mile rolled up in the first 12. This means I can break up the training in half 6 and 6; or thirds: 4, 4 and 4 and still complete that damn 13 mile.

At any rate, I thank my process mentor for teaching me that you cannot eat an elephant in one piece, you must break up into parts.

Marathon #3

NOVEMBER 20, 2010

Well, I just made the decision to do another half marathon. Of course, Las Vegas was my choice: FLAT and GAMBLING. Both very attractive.

Started training a little later than I would like, but I think cutting the time short could be a big motivator to the training.

More to come!

Count My Blessings and The Turkey

LATE NOVEMBER 2010

I write the history of this walk as a tribute to my friends and daughter — I love them. 

As long as we are entering the  holiday of Thanksgiving, there needed to be a turkey in my title. In this case, the turkey was my first walking buddy this morning. I made my last training haul this morning before the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon in two weeks. The “blessings” are my wonderful friends and daughter who joined me in this adventure.

Mikey did the role of chaffeur since you cannot walk on the Verrazano Bridge and I needed a ride from the Staten Island side to the Brooklyn side. [So when you look at the map, you can eliminate 2.4 miles that I was in a car]

NINA PICKUP

I jumped out on the Brooklyn side on 92nd Street and proceeded to my friend Nina’s house on 77th Street. There she was, beautiful as ever, pocketbook in hand, looking like she was going to Bloomingdales and quite ready to do a few miles with me. Well she was a trooper and ended up doing more than 6 miles. The entire route from 77th Street to a point around Prospect Park Southwest, at which point Mikey was to pick her up [that is a whole other story].

MEREDITH AND JODI JOIN

Meredith and Jodi met me on Flatbush and Caton and we started the the trek around the park; it would be the last 4 miles for me to make 13. Meredith had brought me a  half banana and an energy drink which helped. So, now Nina, Jodi, Meredith and I were off to tackle the Southeast edge of the Park which would take us up Parkside Avenue and the Parade Grounds. This was a first acquaintance for Jodi and Nina and they walked together getting to know each other [another benefit of walking: the art of conversation].

AND HERE COMES RUTH

As we turned right and started down the southwest edge of the park, my friend and colleague Ruth was walking to meet us. I never put pressure on Ruth to meet me, but invited her since I have missed our walks in Manhattan. The XBRL world seems to have swallowed up periods of time that are never recoverable. She was at her Synagogue working with the adult education program that she administers–and she was playing hookie for a short time to help me get around the park.

We were growing as a group and now we were 5.

AUDREY LAST BUT NOT LEAST TO JOIN

As we proceeded up the southwest pavement, behold, there was Audrey with a wonderful smile and a “Rocky” stance and a cheer. I love Audrey, a one of a kind southern lady with a mind of her own and a passion for living. We hugged. I felt great–what better gifts could one have than friends. We rounded the west of the park to Grand Army Plaza, passed the farmers market busy with everyone stocking up with fresh veggies, fruits and organic turkeys for our “thanks day”. Jodi and Audrey bought some apples, Ruth headed back to the synagogue; Nina on a bench waiting for Mikey and Meredith and I kept moving so my legs wouldn’t cramp.  

Now the final mile on Flatbush Avenue passing the finished facade of the Brooklyn Chidren’s Museum, the glorious Botanical Gardens on the left and the Prospect Zoo on the right. We could hear the seals honking as it was their lunch time and then witnessed a 500 year old uprooted tree stump remaining from the devastation of the tornado that recently wound through this neighborhood. Parted with Audrey who was walking across the park home and Meredith, Jodi and I headed to the apartment on Lenox Road. Jodi and Meredith did a great job stretching my legs and back to help with recovery.  

Unfortunately Ruth and Audrey could not join us for a brunch at “The Farm on Adderley” which was fabulous and worth the hour wait for lack of a reservation. Nina, Tony and Mikey met us and I was ready for the martini and the Aleve: the cure for aching legs and feet.

Beat the Street Cleaners

DECEMBER 11, 2010

In city marathons a lot of streets are closed to traffic. In Las Vegas, they close the strip which is probably detrimental to its business. When you sign up for the marathon, the website indicates you must finish the half or full in a certain amount of time; otherwise they will close the route and you will be off the course.

Well, I have always had a dread about lagging in the half and that the street cleaner would be at my heels. I actually lose sleep over shit like this.  A friend of mine who was interested in joining me asked “suppose I can’t finish” and I calmly explained that there are no marathon police.  Just pop into the nearest casino, play a slot machine and I’ll meet you later.

This year, I was feeling that was what I was going to do. The only thing stopping me were my three cousins at the finish line waiting for me. I had signed up for the text messages for some people which gave them updates of where I was……..it didn’t work [luckily they refunded my  money]. I had three cousins travelling with me: Fran who came last year, Loraine and Jeanine who joined this year. They were my finish line support. I had kidded with them at dinner the night before that  if they didn’t get a text about where I was, they should start worrying. Loraine took me very seriously and when after they received the first text and never received another, was ready to go down the Vegas strip in a search for me. Fran, an old timer at waiting at the finish line, said “don’t be ridiculous, she will show up.” And yes, better late than never, I did show up.

Well, I did finish and had a great time. Even the anxiety in the corrals before the start, did not deter me. Having friends at the finish line is a huge incentive–you want to get there. They had a bullhorn and I saw them there cheering. It was great.

What’s important here: FINISHING.

Lots of folks have said, “I want to do this with you.” I sent invites every year, but am still a loner in this endeavor.

I’ll send out invites again if I decide to do this again. I like Vegas because its flat and I can play cards. Right now, still licking wounds and echoing my husband’s thoughts when I ask why did I do this: “Because you are NUTS!”, but feeling accomplished.