Friday, September 23, 2011

Football Friday

Today is ffffffooooooootttttbbbbbbbaaaaallllllll ffffffrrrrrriiiiiiiiddddddaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!

So I thought since Clemson has a BIG GAME tomorrow, I'd talk about basic things that one needs to know in order to watch. And also because FSU has a really good defense and that's what scares me, I'd focus on Offense.



yeah, not that kind of offense because 1) I do not know anything about that and 2) I seriously doubt any of you come to my blog to read about the inverted wishbone or whatever other offensive plays. (p.s. I'm not saying that's an inverted wishbone, i'm just using that as an example)

Nope.... we're going to talk about this -




That's Mark Sanchez and he is the really hot starting Quarterback for the New York Jets. He played college football for the University of Southern CA. He is super hot, right? 

Quarterback - the QB is responsible for managing the offense. He has to read the defense, makes changes to whatever play they may have initially called, communicate that change to the others and execute. He will either pass the ball to a Wide Receiver or Tight End, OR he will give the ball to a tailback. There are other options but we're not going to go into that for the sake of today. Let's just keep it simple. 





That's Greg Olsen, the tight end for the Carolina Panthers (I don't have him in a panthers jersey, sorry). He played college at the University of Miami and was part of the 7th Floor Crew. He's also pretty hot but you can't see as much through his helmet. I am only using hot guys to illustrate my points :)

Tight End - The tight end is used for blocking and sometimes as a receiver. It depends on the style of offense how much they will be catching the ball vs just blocking. 




Miles Austin, some of you may know because he was dating Kim Kardashian at one point. Miles is a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys and played college football at Monmouth. That is not normally a producer of NFL players, but that happens every once in a while. 

Wide Receiver - A wide receiver is used in a similar way to a tight end although the tight end normally stays closer to the line of scrimmage while a receiver can be anywhere. They can be used in a short route (maybe to the side of the QB or maybe only 5 yards past the line of scrimmage) or they can run out 20 yards. There are a MILLION ways that receivers are used but just know, this is the main guy that the QB throws to. There are usually multiple receivers in any given offensive formation. 




Reggie Bush, another Kardashian ex, plays for the Miami Dolphins and played college for University of Southern CA. I wonder if i could've done a post using all of Kim Kardashian's exes. She's moved on to the NBA. 

Running Back - this is one type of tailback. He carries the ball. He too can be used as a receiver. It always depends on the offensive scheme and that will probably not be discussed on this blog because I still don't know much about offensive schemes. They are complicated. 


Offensive positions we did not cover - half back, full back, and offensive linemen. The offensive line is responsible for protecting the QB and making wholes for the RB. They are usually not very attractive but an integral part of the offense. Clemson has a terrible offensive line. That has been the case for a while. 








Thursday, September 22, 2011

It's Official

I am NOT running the marathon. I talked to my running buddies, Meredith and Justina, as well as a couple of people close to me, Lori, and they all agreed. Actually Meredith & Justina were ecstatic that we aren't running the marathon. Lori said she wanted to tell me that the other day when I was talking about how stressed I was but that she didn't want me to think that she didn't think that I couldn't do it. Mouthful.


After I wrote about possibly not doing the race, I lost a follower. Whoops. I don't have a lot of being with. But oh well, what can you do?

One thing that is super important to me is balance. And right now, I'm not feeling very balanced. I have no down time, I have very little time with my husband, and honestly, that's more important to me than running a marathon right now. In fact, I think had I decided to do it, it would've been ego based and I definitely don't want that to be what leads me to my decision.

So... my races for the next couple of months -

Spinx Runfest 5k, October 29th
Rock N Roll Savannah HALF Marathon, november 5th
Rock N Roll Vegas half marathon, december 4th

Then for 2012, I have the Parris Island Sprint Triathlon and that is going to be my focus next year. Triathlons. I really enjoy cross training and I think it'd be more fun to do a multi sport race than not.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

To Run or Not To Run

If you read my blog yesterday, you know that I am not feeling super prepared for the marathon I have in November. To recap, my issues are as follows -

*yoga teacher training once a month which also includes 2 yoga classes a week
*football season
*work - 50 hours per week
*a HUGE event downtown this weekend
*3 weddings

These are all issues that are prohibiting me from committing 100% to marathon training. I run 3 days per week (which are scheduled, I'm not worried about that), and only have time for 1 cross training day a week. I typically should be doing 2-3 more days of cross training.

So here are my thoughts -

SHOULD I JUST DO THE HALF?


This is a serious consideration. Maybe I'm just not ready right now and while it feels kind of difficult saying that, I've got to do what is best for me. And I don't like half assing things. So I'd rather just do the half which I know I can do, than halfway train for a full and not be happy.

Have you ever had to change your distance? 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I actually got up early

This morning, I planned to meet someone at 5:45 which forced me to actually get up early. I HATE getting up at 5, but once I am in the middle of the workout, I feel better. Now, when I get home to shower, I'm tired and during the day, I feel tired, but at least my workout is over. If I could do it every day, I'd never miss a workout.

Today was swimmy swim



this is kind of what it looks like inside at the Life Center. I can't find any pics online. So weird...


I'm still so new to swimming that I don't have a plan when I go in there. I was using a learn to swim plan on Beginner Triathlete but at this point, I'm just trying to get back in the pool. Today, what I did was this - 

*400 meter swim - this was a relaxed free style just trying to get familiar with the water and remember my form
*10 x 25 meter sprints. I started off a little slower and tried to speed up each 25 m, 1-5. Then I start over
*100 m kicking drills, 100 m pull drills, 100 m pick up drills
*450 meter swim - I wanted to go to 1600 so I could get in a full mile, but I was running out of time and energy so I ended up doing 1400 m. I was like, eh... close enough


So as I have been saying before, I'm having a hard time finding the time and motivation to train for this marathon. Here are my issues - 

1. I am Co-Chairing an event downtown that is taking up a lot of time and space in my mind. I'm super excited about it but it does take a LOT of planning. If you're in Greenville, you should come!!





2. Football Season - as you have seen, I love football and go to all the home games. Because we traditionally are not very good, are games are at noon. So that means, leaving the house at 7 am. My Saturdays are fully dedicated to football. There is no training on Saturday. Period. 

3. Weddings - I still have to write about Ellen & Hamilton's wedding. It was SO fun... as you can see below



My friend Jen is on the left, Blair in the middle and me on the right



I've got at least 2 more weddings but can probably only go to 1. 


4. Yoga Teacher Training - I love this distraction. It's only 1 weekend a month but during that weekend, it's all day and all night so training that day is tough. 


SSSSSOOOOOOO.... right now, I am tired and burnt out. And I am having a hard time. My big fear is that it's going to take me 5 1/2 hours to run this marathon. I know that it's not supposed to be about time, but damn. That's a long time. I just hate that I run so slowly. And my thoughts are that maybe I shouldn't have signed up for a marathon. Maybe i'm just not ready to do something like this. I know I can do it, i just don't want it to take me FOR - EV- ER. So that's where I am right now. 


Monday, September 19, 2011

7 Week Away

First off... Since this blog is dedicated to healthy living and marathon training, and for whatever reason, I really really really want to talk about football right now, I started writing in my other blog again, NCAA lives here. I am always afraid to write about sports because there is so much I don't know, but I figured I could think of some things that were in my safe zone. So, if you like football and/or Clemson, please visit it. My post today was top 4 games I've attended as a Clemson Fan.

To review last weeks training -
Monday - rest
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - morning intervals and evening yoga
Thursday - swim
Friday - run
Saturday - game day
Sunday - 9.2 miles with mom

I'm glad I got in one extra day of cross training but I really NEED to get in 2 days. It's so hard because I've got so much going on right now.

This week -
Monday - rest (not because I want to, but simply because of my schedule)
Tuesday - Swim
Wednesday - Morning intervals and yoga in the evening
Thursday - I've got to figure out a way to ride my bike this day. I don't know how.
Friday - Run
Saturday - I have so much crap going on this day, I don't know WHAT i'm going to do
Sunday - run - I'm going to shoot for 10 miles

Bleh bleh. This is hard. I should NOT have signed up for a marathon during football season, yoga teacher training and putting on this event downtown. The combo of the 3 is making my life hard.


Yesterday's long run. It did not go well initially because as I reached mile 1, I realized I had to poop. Not good. So mom and I decided to run to my grandmother's house. The last mile, we had to walk because I thought I was going to poop in my pants. My issue is that I went before I left the house. What has been my problem lately? I have to go EVERY SINGLE TIME I RUN. It's so frustrating because it can slow me down big time. AAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH.

I know that was gross but it's a serious problem for distance runners and I'd like to figure out what to do other than get up at the butt crack dawn to make sure I go all the way. I hate getting up early. I will NEVER train for a marathon during football season again. You can bet that.