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February 7, 2010 11:32:25
Posted By gregwagner
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So, I feel good about my training. I got in 2 consecutive days of running this week for the first time this year. I ran Thursday and got out late morning on Friday just as the first sprinkle of snowflakes began to fall. Technically I can say that I ran in the blizzard. But it wasn’t until 10 hours or so after I finished my run that the sprinkle I ran in turned into the largest snowfall that my region has seen since…1899!!!
I walked outside Saturday morning after my family had to nudge mounds upon mounds of snow away from the screen door to simply get outside. I’m a tall guy—6’2” to be exact—and the ubiquitous sheet of snow was no lower than my thigh at any point.
What to do now? You shovel it, you wuss! Heck, if I can’t run I'm going to get a full body workout shoveling more snow than I have shoveled in the last 10 years. And with the abundance of snow in front of me, I was looking at quite the cardiovascular workout too.
What do I mean by that? Three feet of snow blanketed clear across a 15 x 25 foot deck—check. At least three feet blanketed from my porch to the driveway—check. Who knows how much snow piled up on the driveway and around the cars, but yeah that was taken care of, too. If that wasn’t enough for good measure, I shoveled the entire sidewalk on both sides of the driveway…all in the matter of 2 hours.
Just take a shovel full from the top and keep chopping down the wall in those same bite-sized sections. Too many people try and take heaping loads of snow in one scoop. It’s more efficient and less strenuous to break up one gigantic scoop into 2 or 3 manageable ones. Instead of exerting all of your energy on one scoop, you can disperse it across 10 to a dozen shovels. While everyone rests exhaustingly after 2 or 3 shovels, I keep motoring through a few dozen scoops…and then I still don’t rest near as long as they do. Granted, my gym workouts give me an advantage, but I never aspired to be an expert shoveler…I just like being efficient at it so I am out in the snow as little as possible.
Still…if all that shoveling wasn’t enough, my best friend calls me yesterday to let me know that his parents are home alone and asked if I would help them shovel out their yard since his mom is 5 foot nothing and dad has a bad back. Now, Ajay knows he doesn’t even need to ask. I was going to go shovel them out anyways. The fact that I knew his parents would invite me in for freshly cooked Indian food is just a bonus :)
Four to five hours of shoveling between two houses, a delicious potato fritter type snack with hot tea and earning $40 for my efforts makes out for a pretty great day. The best part of it all is that I was able to dig out two houses from this horrendous blizzard—and I got a full day of incredible cross-training in to boot. There is still snow everywhere, but I’m not even tired from all that shoveling yesterday. There’s still snow everywhere, even on the streets, but it is packed enough that I’m strapping my boots on and going for my run through the streets tomorrow. A little snow—or nearly 30 inches of it—won’t deter me from dominating at Boston in less than 3 months.
Besides, once I finish the loop on my course, I’m back in my house. If I can’t put up with bad weather for a 45-minute run, I have no right trying to run 26.2 miles. Call me crazy, but at least you can see why I win. Some people say what I do is impossible, but again, nothing is impossible if you train for that condition. It simply becomes the pinnacle benchmark of your ability…and that’s something we all should instinctively strive for.
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February 4, 2010 05:46:15
Posted By gregwagner
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Punxsutawney Phil can shove it! The Maryland-DC area is supposed to get anywhere from 1 to 2 feet tomorrow evening. Most people hate the snow. I am definitely one of those people now that I have to figure out how I am supposed to run in this mess. I got outside for my run by 10 this morning and the 5.25-mile course went very smooth today. It’s the first time it’s been smooth since training began. Hmmm…my lifting workouts in the gym must be paying off.
Still, no matter how successful I am at lifting in the gym, it doesn’t control how successful I am running outside if it decides to snow. …This year, it seems to be deciding to snow a lot. Lucky me!
If it’s well below freezing when it snows, the snow is so brittle that it is powdery ice on any surface. There is absolutely no traction whatsoever. You can run in packed snow, but your feet are inevitably going to get soaked, not to mention you run the risk of falling face first on any decline…and there are a lot of hills in my neighborhood, if you recall. The third option is just a wintery mess, which is also no fun to run in. Any way you put it, there is no stability running outside when the sidewalks and streets are covered with this disgusting white stuff.
There’s an easy solution, right? Snow or no snow, nobody likes running in winter. That’s why all the treadmills are constantly taken at the gyms when you try and go. It sounds perfect. I can key in my running speed and I wouldn’t even have to worry about pacing myself. The track paces for me…but you see, that’s the issue.
Remember my right side is disabled. My disability impacts me in 6 ways: strength, mobility, dexterity, vision, sensationally as well as…balance! See, it’s difficult for me to balance on my right foot solely for longer than a few seconds. I’m perfectly fine over the course of the stride. However, if you factor into account that, while on a treadmill, I’m not only balancing on my right foot during a stride, but my body is constantly moving because my running surface is continuously revolving.
Unless I hold onto the sidebars while running on a treadmill, I will lose my balance and fall right off that thing. It’s pretty easy to run while holding onto the bars, but it’s extremely awkward and uncomfortable to do so while running 7.5 mph…for 42 minutes.
So, my alternative cardio training method can only be to ride the bike. It’s a different motion than running, but I have to make do with what I can do. At least I’m working my legs, and focusing on them. At least I got in a very solid run today, and I followed it with a strong workout in the gym. I’m just going to have to make do.
As long as I take every opportunity given to me to run, I’ll run. It’s supposed to snow late morning or early afternoon tomorrow. I can get out for a run before it snows and if the streets are clear by Saturday, I can run my route through the streets. Worst-case scenario, I whip out my boots and run through the snow Rocky IV style.
People say what I’m trying to do with my disability is impossible. Anything is possible, especially when you take every opportunity to get your daily training in. And then, if the opportunity isn’t there, you make it available to yourself. Never give in. You dictate your own pace. That’s why I’m choosing to thrive full throttle. It’s no fun to run in snow, but after 45 minutes, I’m out of the snow anyways. I can handle that :-)
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February 3, 2010 04:59:58
Posted By gregwagner
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It’s been really busy this past week and I really want to keep up with my posts here. The whole point of having this thing is to share how busy, and also productive, I’m being with everything that is going on.
Chris, who is developing the website, is working hard with me. We have all the content created, so hopefully the entire webpage will be up very soon. I’ve been spending the past few days giving another round of edits to my book and trying to muster the energy to study for my personal training certification exam.
I’m hoping to have this round of edits done on my book by the time the website launches. That way I can go straight into selling my book to publishers and marketing my marathon story to news channels. I’d already be marketing myself, but this website is going to bring the whole package together. I’m really excited, and if anyone has any contacts for my book or in the news business, please let me know. I really believe in what I am trying to do. All I want is to leave this world better than I came into it. Please help me achieve that if you can.
As for training, it’s been a bit slow this week. I went out for a 5-mile run yesterday before we got hit with roughly 8 inches of snow. I have maintained my gym workouts, but my run was sacrificed today due to the snow. My family needed the snow shoveled. The hour or so it took to shovel the sidewalk, driveway and deck ate up the time for my run. My legs are feeling strong though. I’ll get a solid run in tomorrow and that will make me feel all the better about my timeframe for Boston.
For now, I’m going to motivate myself to get more editing done to the book and get a good night sleep. Our bodies need proper and sufficient rest in order to function. I think having a strong and properly functioning body is a good thing when training for a marathon. I also think I know how I am tackling the rest of my training up to race day, but I’ll explain that tomorrow…and I need to explain why the snow is screwing up my running.
Stay healthy everybody, and keep reaching into that uncharted territory!
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