In Case of Emergency

Some time ago, my husband bought me a special runners' ID that velcros to the laces of my sneakers. We all hate to think that tragedy will ever befall us, but the ID is a useful piece of equipment for all runners. It has my name, address, home phone number and his cellphone number engraved on it -- so in case (God forbid!) something every happens, emergency workers will know who I am and how to contact him.

Grammy Nominee Playlist

I just came across the 2009 Grammy Nominee Playlist from Fitness magazine (see below) and was impressed by how many songs from this list I already have on my marathon playlist. I think if you like one, you'll definitely like the other!

• "Viva la Vida" - Coldplay (Record of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)
• "Paper Planes" - M.I.A. (Record of the Year)
• "American Boy" - Estelle feat. Kanye West (Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration)
• "Closer" - Ne-Yo (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance)
• "Mercy" - Duffy (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance)
• "I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance)
• "So What" - Pink (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance)
• "Going On" - Gnarls Barkley (Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)
• "Four Minutes" - Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland (Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals)
• "Harder Better Faster Stronger" - Daft Punk (Best Dance Recording)
• "Ready for the Floor" - Hot Chip (Best Dance Recording)
• "Just Dance" - Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis (Best Dance Recording)
• "Give It 2 Me" - Madonna (Best Dance Recording)
• "Disturbia" - Rihanna (Best Dance Recording)
• "Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon (Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Best Rock Song)
• "Swagga Like Us" - Jay-Z & T.I. feat. Kanye West & Lil Wayne (Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, Best Rap Song)
• "Low" - Flo Rida feat. T-Pain (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Best Rap Song)
• "Got Money" - Lil Wayne feat. T-Pain (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration)

Good Food

I'm trying out Prevention magazine's "Flat Belly Diet" this month and having some success with it. I'm not convinced that eating "mufas" is really what's helping me -- instead, I think it might be the sensible eating plan, with plenty of food totaling just 400 calories per meal or snack in four-hour intervals. The meal plans are varied and many of the recipes are fast and quite tasty.

Eating to Train

I didn't lose weight when I trained for my first marathon, which surprised me. I thought that the pounds would easily melt off as my mileage increased. But I was always conscious of needing fuel to keep me going. The write-up about Finding the Right Fuel from More magazine sums up my situation nicely.

FitTV

With wintry weather in force, road conditions don't always allow for a good run. If I can't get out, I like the motivation provided by TV workouts, like Gilad's Bodies in Motion and Namaste Yoga.

More Marathon Tunes

I've posted my favorite running tunes in the past; here's another list from Fitness magazine that I think is worth looking at:

U + Ur Hand" - Pink
"Stronger" (A-trak Remix) - Kanye West
"Big in Japan" (Workout Remix) - Tom Waits
"Oh Yeah" - Yello
"Without Me" - Eminem
"Badlands" - Bruce Springsteen
"Superstar" - Lupe Fiasco
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" - Kanye West
"This Is New York" - Sander Kleinenberg
"Get Ready for This" - Crazy Frog
"Lose Yourself" - Eminem
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn" - Beastie Boys

(See the whole list with links to itunes downloads at http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/music/popular-playlists/marathon-training-playlist/?sssdmh=dm17.359800&esrc=nwmoremarathon2&email=1565504250.)

Having a Cuppa Joe

Having my 2 1/2 cups of coffee each day is a given -- I really miss it if I don't have the caffeine. Timing, though, can be an issue for me. I gave up on coffee when I first had children, and didn't pick it up again until I started running, when it became my reward for a good workout. So for years, coffee has been an after-run thing for me. The trouble is, that as my runs became longer in my marathon training, my coffee rewards were occurring later and later in the day. And on marathon day, given my late start time, I was determined to have coffee first, while I waited around. But it led to real digestive discomfort -- which might have led to bad form which led to me knee problem. I plan to work around this by having coffee before my runs throughout training and seeing how it works out.

Training for the Next Big Race

Since I'm thinking about the More 1/2 Marathon in April, I've been checking out some training schedules to see where I need to be. I've slacked off quite a bit lately and I want to make sure that this is really do-able before I sign up. Most schedules seem to recommend that I be doing 2 or 3 miles at a time at this point, with less than 10 miles total per week. Seems OK, but kinda weird after the mileage I was piling on last summer and fall...

Setting Goals

I find it helpful to have a goal to work toward. So since the odds are against me getting back into the NYC Marathon by lottery for November 2009, I'll need some other races to keep me motivated. One I'm thinking about is the More 1/2 Marathon in April.

New Year's Resolutions

When I first thought about running the New York Marathon, my plan was to do it only once. I wanted a reason to keep myself motivated to run regularly, and having such a momentous goal seemed to be a good way to do it. It worked. But now I am surprised at how much I want to run it again. This time, I want to prove that not only can I finish, but that I can run it faster, stronger, better...

And so I resolve that this year I will keep training. I may not make it into the lottery for the 2009 marathon, but I will keep running regularly so that I can complete my 9 NYRR races and run the marathon again in 2010.