Taken on a drive around the Salton Sea (March 2012)
Month: January 2013
Palm
Posted by miri On 31 January, 2013
Photo finish
Posted by miri On 30 January, 2013
After my first half-marathon with my wonderful walking coach!
Bitter sweet
Posted by miri On 29 January, 2013
Green-Wood Cemetery
Posted by miri On 28 January, 2013
1/27: First half
Posted by miri On 27 January, 2013
Well, I did it. I did a half-marathon. That’s the short story, here’s the long one…
Saturday, I drove to San Antonio and did a Volkssport event. It was on the St Mary’s campus – which is quite lovely, but the weather was awful so I didn’t take any photos other than the one above (with my cell phone). I only did the 5k version since I was going to be walking so much Sunday. I walked with a lovely older woman from Germany who’s travelled all over the world. It was great listening to her share about the places she’d been. Her favorite place? Northern Thailand.
After that, I had to hoof it down to Sugar Land as quickly as possible to pick up my marathon packet before they closed the pick-up site. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. Woot! Then it was off to my friend’s apt, a side-trip to Lush! and dinner at The Hobbit (Blackened Tilapia yumminess).
Early the next morning (very early), I headed back to Sugar Land for the race. I met up with Christine – a very nice lady from the AustinFit training group I’d been walking with. She offered to walk with me to: make sure I didn’t start out too fast and to encourage me to finish. Since she was walking with a broken toe and dealing with a very severe illness, there was no way I could wimp-out while she was still going. She was a fantastically helpful walking partner: doing her best to keep me calm about finishing within our set 4 hour limit (and the limit for the Austin Half) and encouraging me to keep going. Who knows if I would have made it without her. Thank you, Christine.
At about mile 10, I started having the weird heart things again – my heart rate was slowing down rapidly and then speeding back up. Every time it slowed down, I’d get very, very dizzy. At one point, I had to step off the path and bend over a bit to get my equilibrium back.
The hip was…there. It started getting grumpy around mile 6. I took another anti-inflammatory. It started getting really grumpy at mile 9. After that, I was too distracted by the dizziness to let the hip bother me that much.
I can’t figure out my total chip time from the official results, but I know we were under 4 hours since my Endomondo time was under 4 and I started it before stepping on the mat and stopped it after the finish mat. (I think they just lopped 2 hours off my time.)
So, where does this leave me? I’m still not sure that I’m made for long distance walking. But I also keep asking myself: isn’t that what this is about? Pushing yourself to do things you didn’t think were otherwise possible? Should I keep pushing or do my usual when faced with a tough situation:
1. Whine
2. Whine a lot more
3. Try and find a short-cut solution
4. More whining
5. In the absence of said short-cut solution, quit
Should this be the time when I refuse to quit? When I don’t look for a short-cut but instead keep plugging away? I don’t know. But I do know, I have a medal! (And it can double as a bottle opener – bonus!)
Info from Endomondo:
(We won’t talk about how I spent the rest of the day eating away the good I did my body/fitness with the walk….)
Coney Island
Posted by miri On 27 January, 2013
Eleven wants to be free
Posted by miri On 26 January, 2013
Walking tour of Harlem
Walking tour of Harlem
Posted by miri On 25 January, 2013
Tiny curbside toy tools
Posted by miri On 24 January, 2013
Seen in Brooklyn, NYC
On the streets
Posted by miri On 23 January, 2013
At the New York Transit Museum