Forget running like a girl, I welcome you to go the distance with me at my new blog. http://www.afhill.com/gothedistance

In addition to this blog, I've maintained a "professioal" one on wordpress for several years. When I first started this journal, livejournal was a great platform.- it incorporated a notion of friending that is still more robust than what most social networking sites currently offer. However, it also has its limitations. I was a paid member for awhile, so I am acutely aware of the features I currently don't have access to. As well, many of the running blogs I read are not on the livejournal platform, so the privacy rules don't really apply (not to mention, I don't really have any need to set any posts to anything but "public").

A few weeks back I had an email exchange with Melanie McBride, who also works in new media and is a runner. We were discussing what we posted to our twitter accounts, how we managed those two different aspects of our personalities and interests. At that time I was using my twitter account exclusively for work and technology purposes. More recently, however, in a bit of a social experiment for work, I've been looking at redefining myself online. My "new" (temporary) profile is a summary view, so it combines the different aspects of me. And I actually like it! My running journal posts themselves (with the exception of race reports) are generally shorter than those on tmy other blog. They seem perhaps better suited to microblogging. As well, I've run into several limitations on livejournal in terms of not being able to add certain widgets (my logyourrun stats) to my sidebar. By hosting my own journal, I'll be able to add and modify at will.
The final straw was a question I had this morning about multiple twitter accounts. I hadn't really considered doing so, since I figured the ability to post to either would be challenging to manage (this is something I'm grappling with now with my work experiment). However, it appears that the twhirl AIR app already manages this, and a survey by Techcrunch France found that 53% of the folks surveyed had multiple accounts. A silly tipping point, but it is one nonetheless. I anticipate a platform shift over to wordpress for my running journal within the next few weeks...

May: Race for the Cure

July: Buckeye Trail 50K (Summer)

August: Edmonton Marathon

October: Columbus Marathon

After I told Mom that I was considering the Edmonton marathon, she received an email from the Running Room saying that May 14th was an early bird deadline. Well, can't miss out on that, can I?

So. it looks as though marathon #20 will be in my hometown!

Tags: edmonton

they say it takes 3 weeks to develop a habit. I don't know about that, since it's been 5 months since I decided to run every day, and yesterday I forgot!

Granted, it was a busy day, and I had the best intentions. Yesterday morning I headed out to hocking hills with my parents, where we hiked around a bit. I had planned to drop them at the airport (their flight was at 7pm) and then hit the gym. We ended up having dinner at the airport before they left, so I went home to digest. The next thing I knew it was 11:45 and I hadn't run! Even a dedicated runner like me was not about to set out at midnight.

So I missed my day of running. To make up for it, though, I'm doing a double today. I just got home from 3 miles and I'll hit the gym tonight. That way I'll have the proper number of workouts, even if in that 24 hr period I didn't run.

Tags: resoluton

As I dropped my parents off at the airport today, my mom asked when we would see them next. My poor parents, they are too trained. My Mom said they were planning to go to Arizona next February or March, which was after the Rock n Roll, but perhaps I could run the Flying Dutchman? They assume that a race is a good motivator for me... and they're right...

I told them that I would rather go home than travel elsewhere to see them, just so that I would have the option to see friends. Last visit home (end of June last year), I only saw a couple friends, but at least I had the option. So I told my Mom that I was thinking about heading home this August. It didn't take her long to realize... "oh, the ING is in August!". She said that if I ran, then she would do the half as well. Ha! Like daughter, like mother :)

As well, my birthday is Aug 21, and the marathon is the weekend before, so that may be a good time to be home. As I dropped them off tonight I was thinking about how the older I get, the more I appreciate my family. I think spending my birthday with them may be a good idea...

Tags: edmonton

After the interesting accommodations in Boston, I'm all about booking early to ensure I get a good place. I haven't even been accepted into NYCM, but I'm shopping! The problem is, I'm hoping I will have someone to share a room with, and I don't know how long to book for. It IS New York, after all!

There is an official transportation listing, and I have my eye on one of the hotels. There is a $25 cancellation fee before September, so if I just had some idea how long to book for, I'd be tempted to go ahead and grab it before the official lottery announcements come out. Better to throw away $25 than have to spend several hundred more per night...

Tags: nycm

The official note came out from the Flying Pig today - the course was .2517 too long. They provided entrants with an adjusted calculator, and Jen's 3:46:17 became 3:44:08 -- she's going to Boston with us!!!

I'm as excited about this race as I have been about any of my own! :)

Tags: boston, flying pig
Current Location: work
Current Mood: ecstatic

At the Flying Pig Expo on Saturday, there was a booth for Body Composition Analysis. Basically you stood on a tanita and answered a few questions, and they tried to sell you a $130 scale.

I always struggle with the "do you workout more than 10 hours a week" question. I don't measure my exercice by time, so I have to think about it. The administrator said it was basically just asking if you were athletic or not, so I said yes.

The results:
weight: 118.8 (I'd like to think this is heavy, since I was fully clothed and over-hydrating!)
% body fat: 15.5% (underfat)
% total body water: 60.5% (just over average)
muscle mass: 95.2 lbs
physique rating: 8 (on a scale of 1-9, "thin and muscular")
basal metabolic rate (calories I need at rest): 1344
metabolic age: 12
bone mass: 5.0 (below average - should be ~5.8)
visceral fat rating: 1 (on a scale of 1-12)

So overall he gave me an A+, but there was some concern about my bone mass. He suggested I do weight training, which I know I should be doing. I already tagged Melissa to help me come up with a plan. (And I picked up a book about short bike rides in Ohio that will help with cross-training)

Also, Wednesday Mom and I are going for massages, I'm going to give the deep tissue massage a try. I'm excited, I already told my Mom if it's good I hope to cry a little.

I'm trying to stay healthy and feeling good. So far things are going well for me, and I want to keep it that way!

Current Music: my parents watching Dancing with the Stars...