Stretched

My legs felt really trashed after yesterday's workout. Blisters are proof that my feet aren't used to it anymore. It's going to be a hard transition. I wanted to jog to yoga this morning but I could barely get up. The yoga helps a lot with stretching though and I hope that I will have less problems due to the intense practice.

Today's lunch meeting is going to be another challenge. The pizza we have is so good that I'll really have to control myself.

Some people asked why I decided to do a marathon in three weeks. There's several reasons. I'd like to run at least one marathon a year; I'll have more time to prepare as long as my wife isn't here. Watching the finish of the Chicago marathon was very inspiring. Reading about Yoda-san qualifying for the Hakone Ekiden Select Team made me feel like I should run again too. M.'s boyfriend L. told me about a workout they used to do when he was a rower: running up the seats and down the stairs of the Harvard stadium (it's 37 sections, I haven't managed to complete all of them yet). I didn't want to continue eating crappy food all the either. The start of the registration of the Boston marathon and L.'s comments finally triggered the decision. Unfortunately, the marathon has already sold out. But still, I want to find out whether I can do it.

Sold Out!

Wow, just came back from my workout (4 laps around fresh pond, 1h19m), had some dinner (pasta...), and then read online that Boston Marathon sold out within less than 24 hours. Is this good news or bad news? ;-)

Well, I haven't run a marathon this year yet. Wouldn't want to break the tradition. The challenge stands, I'll try!

Food intake for the last 24 hours:
Sunday: Dinner with big dessert with K. (hadn't made the decision yet)
Monday, breakfast: two apples, half a bread, a mug of milk; lunch: egg&eggplant sandwich, brownie (before the decision...), another apple (thanks V.); dinner: pasta, some more bread, another apple, and a yoghurt
No cookies, brownies, etc. for the next three weeks, no alcohol - sacrifice for a marathon...

Crazy Challenge: Sub-3 in Sub-3?

I haven't run a marathon for a while. While I wanted to qualify for Boston Marathon 2011, an injury (I fell on a jog in Davos, Switzerland, and badly twisted my ankle in mid-August, apparently it took more than a 1.5 months to recover) kept me from any serious training. I tried to jog every now and then but I didn't run much more than twice a week for an hour or so. It's not that I didn't exercise at all: I'm cycling daily and I'm using some of my muscles during yoga (which I just started).

Time is ticking. Registration for the marathon started today. The question is: can I get back in shape to qualify within three weeks? I am definitely not eating as healthy as I did in Japan; a tight budget adds an extra incentive to eat whenever there's free food anywhere (yes, we're talking pizza and cookies).

Here's the challenge:
The time left is a bit less than three weeks until November 7. The (very) optimistic goal is to go under three hours. The hope is to go under 3:10 (which is the qualifying time). And another hope (which is not under my control) is that there are still spots available by that time.

Sub-3 hours in less than three weeks?
Any advice? How should I train?
Who wants to take a bet?
(I actually don't believe that I can do it yet... I hope to know more next Sunday)

Some statistics:
Current weight (using the scale in our bedroom, don't know whether it's accurate): 155 lbs (a bit more than 70kg - damned brownies...)
Previous runs:
last Thursday: three laps around fresh pond (1h)
Saturday: four laps around fresh pond (1h20)
Sunday: jogged to yoga and back (25 minutes per way), ran stairs in the Harvard stadium (half-way)

Going for a jog now...

PS: the reason I need to re-qualify is that only times after September 2009 count. My last marathon (the disaster in Beppu was in February 2009)

PS2: needless to say that I will also have to work hard during these three weeks, no time to focus on running only.