Where is ETT?

Between me and you… I think she’s hiding from us! Or maybe the real reason is that she totally misconstrued her priorities and has been treating her blog like a stepchild.

She has been running though, more than 3km of course…

But she’s been doing most I her long runs here…

I think her running schedule has been interfering with her blogging, but I’ve given her a stern talking to and we’ve got a pretty sweet lineup for you this week:

1. Tour of Old Beijing at Qianmen (前门)
2. Afternoon Tea at Capital M

Stay tuned for plenty of pics and from those events!

Signing off… ETT =)

Because it looked like fun…

… is usually my answer to the question of why I do the crazy things that I do. To be honest… it’s a cover all for most of the questions I get asked. DON’T JUDGE ME!

That Crossfiting fool, Viking Superhero, and I have teamed up to design a marathon training plan. This is a big deal for me, because save my last long distance endeavor… I usually follow some running aficionado’s plan that I found on the Internet or in a magazine. I really enjoyed marching to the beat of my own drum last time and I’m dead set on keeping it that way. Now if only I were a running aficionado. 

I’m excited about this collaboration with Viking Superhero. To me, he is all things athletic and is great with strength training and motivation. He’s competitive and resilient. He seems to think that my short running experience will be beneficial to him in some way since this’ll be his first marathon, but I’m sticking to my “if I did it, you sure as hell can do it” philosophy. 

So far it looks like we’ve got some endurance and strength building loosely laid out for the first two months. We’ve both signed up for some runs (i.e. marathon & 50k) in May, so the plan is to try out our homemade training plan and tweak it as we go along. Once we have everything laid out, I’ll post the particulars. Feedback is most welcome. So is sporadic motivation. I mean, we can’t very well stay entertained by this guy for the entire race, can we???

Signing off… ETT =)

Dragon’s Breath…

If someone say’s you’ve got Dragon’s Breath (around these parts) it usually means you’ve been marked. In a Typhoid Mary, stay away from that germy bastard sort of way. So when I was called that earlier this morning by a colleague, I felt hurt.

You cut me deep… real deep!

As I walked away sulking and coughing into my elbow (so as to deny my germs the chance of infecting another poor soul)… I thought about the new moniker I’d just received. Typhoid Mary is nasty sounding, but it’s pretty much to the point. This chick Mary is carrying around the cooties and now everybody knows. Dragon’s Breath on the other hand could be any number of things. From a severe case of halitosis to a person well versed in “yo mama” comeback jokes. Or maybe people will realize that Dragon’s Breath is really just a zirconium-based pyrotechnic shotgun round banned in most places due to its propensity to burn s[   ] the f[   ] up. Nobody really know’s what I did to get the name, but I’m sure they’re not really willing to find out.

YEAH!!! I’m tough… they call me Dragon’s Breath… I strike fear in the hearts of co-workers and small children. I’m winning!!!

Now if only I could say all of that without sounding like Daffy Duck after chain smoking three packs of filterless cig in 2 minutes, then all would be right with the world.

Enough about all that… I just hope to be rid of this cold sooner than later so that I can get back to my normal running routine. Especially since it seems I’ve convinced The North Face 100 Endurance Challenge committee here in Asia that I can run 50-kilometers without dying. =)

Happy Lunar New Year to all my Chinese friends! 新年快乐 

And Happy Year of the Dragon(‘s Breath)! =) 龙年

Signing Off… ETT =)

Rise & Shine

… all of you late bloomers who haven’t decided what to do with yourself in 2012

… all of you runners who haven’t already mapped out EVERY race you plan on signing up for in 2012

… all of you New Year’s Resolution enthusiasts who haven’t quite made it past the list aptly affixed to your refrigerator

… all of you elite athletes gearing up for Olympic Trials, et al

… all of you novice runners preparing for that local 5k Fun Run

… all of you in-betweenies (like me) fighting to best yourself at that event or distance the next time around

RISE AND SHINE

I’m so happy to see you this wonderful 2012 morning and I want to wish you all the best. May you have strong legs, filled lungs, durable shoes, strong determination, and cute race photos. Stay healthy and always keep your goals in the crosshairs. I’m rooting for you and I’m and proud of you.

Signing Off… ETT =)

Did I Ever Tell You Guys That I Was Crazy

I’ll spare you all my “nut” jokes and just say that I hope everyone has a wonderful & safe New Year’s Eve and the most incredible 2012. I’ll probably be somewhere amongst the Central Park shrubbery with a bottle of champagne and a bag of salty nuts……..What!?!…You see who’s sponsoring the race! Don’t look at me like that! >_<

UPDATE: The Emerald Nuts Midnight Run sponsored by NYRR was great and so were the festivities in NYC! I hope everyone had a wonderful NYE 🙂

Signing Off…ETT =)

The Honolulu Marathon Recap

This was a wonderful experience. Given the opportunity, I would do it all over again. And I would run behind this guy…

Like many other marathoners, part of my pre-race ritual includes reading race reviews. Sadly none of my go-to bloggers had done this race so I had to rely on the regular Internet…UGH. The results were not pretty. Major complaints included too many runners, organizers catered to Japanese runners more than Americans, and too much highway! And that’s only naming a few.

Thank goodness I’m as stubborn as an ox (my mom showed me the test results…this is a proven fact). I just have to experience things for myself. And after I saw the starting line…then the fireworks…IT WAS A WRAP

Those reviews were bogus. There were lots of people running and more than enough room for all of us. There were English/Japanese translations for everything. That was never an issue. And the scenery was beautiful. You’re running in Hawaii!!! Enjoy it!

I started with a pretty even steady pace…I was happy with that. Singing Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes out loud and taking it all in.

Them came the spill…it was an unfortunate accident. Someone stopped short in front of me and to avoid killing her I dove left and my knee made contact with the concrete…HARD. That was at mile 15 and every move was painful after that.

I was moving much slower, trying to incorporate a walk-some/run-some technique, but I couldn’t mask the pain. Then the water came…that rain was good and bad all at the same time. It was refreshing, but it brought a pretty wicked head wind.

The important thing is that I made it…and I was happy. It took 6 hours and 55 minutes, but boy was I happy. So we’re the two young ladies that finished alongside me that burst into tears. It was just THAT AMAZING!!

And then I went surfing…

…ok, I went to a bar to watch football, but in my head I was surfing.

Great race! Great island!

Signing off…ETT! =)

No More Running…

…at least not until New Years Day! Ok, I’m crazy for thinking this… but even though I can barely walk today (two days after the Honolulu Marathon) I’m already planning my next race. 18 days from now I plan on running in the new year at Central Park. What can I say!?! I’m born & raced in NY.

The Honolulu Marathon is complete… It was beautiful, painful, long, eventful, and AH-MAZE-ING. 70 years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it was awesome to see the Japanese turn out for this event. Kama’aina & Malihini… we all ran together. Much aloha to Honolulu for hosting us and Japanese Airlines for sponsoring us and the Hawaiian people for being so hospitable.

Mahalo,
ETT

Funniest Thing I Heard Today…

Q: What lasted longer than CP3’s time as a Laker?
A: Kim Kardashian’s marriage!

That’s just wrong =/

In other news, I got taped up at the Honolulu Marathon Expo…let’s see if it helps with the achilles tendinitis for Sunday’s race.

Signing Off… ETT =)

Spotify, An NBA Christmas, and Stiff Joints…

… these things topped the list of thoughts that ran through my head during last night’s 12-miler. Here’s what I was thinking:

1. SPOTIFY: Anything that has anything to do with music always catches my attention. What can I say… I can’t live without music. That’s the truth and I’m not afraid to say it. [INSERT TANGENT HERE] I once had my car radio stolen (by-product of living in the hood) right before a pre-planned four-hour drive to NYC… it was the longest four hours of ETT’s life, let me tell you. I can’t sing! And I had to sing to myself, out loud… [END OF TANGENT] I digress. I’m sadly not interested in Spotify at all. Why would I want to pay $10/month for streaming audio (that’s possibly not streaming as fast as advertised) when I could just pony up the same amount and support the artists I love by buying their album??? If I’m not guaranteed gapless playback, why bother? Sorry, that’s just how I feel about it. I’m going to continue to buy albums by my favorite artists and those funky newbies until somebody finds a way to give me the same quality while compensating the musicians/artists/engineers/producers/writers/others the way they deserve to be compensated. This took up about 40 minutes of the run… by the way I was listening to Drake’s new album Take Care ❤ 
2. NBA Christmas: Some people wish for snow and presents… I just want to get some Knicks tickets for me and the fam. I think it would be a very welcome change to the normal holiday schedule of events. No?
3. Stiff Joints: I’m not talking illegal substance abuse here… it was more like old lady joint pain. I mean, boy was my right ankle killing me. The crazy part was whenever I slowed down, it hurt more. What kind of sick twisted skeletal-sadism is this!?! What do you want from me, right ankle? What you’re telling me is if I run faster you won’t hurt? I oughta kick you in the you know what, you mean little ankle! Yea… I said it!

Do you daydream about randomness when you run? Most times I just focus on the music and my feet.

Signing off… ETT =)

To Run or Not To Run!?!

… that was the question. It’s already been answered though… Honolulu Marathon, here I come!

While planning a winter vacation to somewhere sunny, I searched fervently for local race information stumbled across a nice little gem. I may be a weirdo, but to me it seemed only right that the Honolulu Marathon was going to take place smack dab in the middle of my island hopping extravaganza. I am most certainly going to hop my silly behind over to the starting line and get my run on. This is what vacations are all about… no?

What? You don’t run a 26.2-mile race when you go on vacation? Ok ok ok… I’m crazy for doing this, but I just can’t imagine when I would spend this much money just to compete in a race. I’ll have ample time to enjoy the islands as I taper my workouts. Right!?!

Speaking of workouts… it didn’t help that I decided to do this so close to race day. I mean, I’ve been running… but not with a real goal in mind. So I had to ramp up the efforts… I threw together a 25-day plan chock full o’ tempo runs, speed & strength work, along with some long runs. I’m six days into and although there is some familiar race preparation aching, my legs feel strong… and I’m psyched!

Trust me… you would be excited too… just imagine watching the sun rise over Diamond Head or running along Waikiki Beach! I’m giddy with excitement. I don’t, however, know how I feel about this scavenger hunt at the end of the race for my finisher’s medal and race shirt… but I think I can deal. It’ll be a new adventure… good or bad, I love adventure!

My goal is to try and catch up to ole Nicky Nick here and get his autograph...

Annnnnnddddd if nothing else, it’ll make for some wicked oceanside bikini pics… YEEEEEAAAAAAA BOYYYYYYYYY

 

Signing Off… ETT =)