Off Season Regimen

It’s the offseason. Not just for running but apparently for posting too. This is the time of year when my running usually takes a backseat to indulging my offseason hobbies of cookie eating and eggnog spiking. Last year I was unable to fully enjoy those hobbies because I was in the middle of training for a marathon but this year my plan to get back on the cookie wagon is in full swing.

In order to impede my poor eating habits I’ve also been doing a lot of cross training this winter in the form of P90X. You’ve probably seen the ads for it all over the place and now that I’ve mentioned it in a post it will probably show up in the ads here too. I’ve never been good at cross training because I’ve never really enjoyed it all that much, and therefore I’ve never stuck to it for more than a few weeks. To be honest I’d rather just go run than spend my time lifting weights or doing yoga or whatever else it is that you do for cross training, but P90X has been different. I actually enjoy doing it.

One of the reasons for doing P90X is so that I can start to look more like the cover models on Runner’s World magazine. I’ve often made mention on this blog of my chiseled Pecs and my rippling abs and it would be kind of cool if one of those things were actually true. Maybe then I could get on the cover of RW, I’d even be willing to wax my chest to help make it happen. Ironically, my quest to look more like a RW runner has led to me running less frequently (as little as twice a week) and doing more cross training, but it’s the offseason so I’m OK with that.

Site Note
Sorry about the lack of posting lately. I’ve been struggling to find the motivation to write something on a regular basis, but I’d like to get back to it because it’s a cathartic exercise for me. I’ll have a year in review post coming up next week that you don’t want to miss. If you’ve been following my race results this year then you know that there are going to be a lot of excuses. A. LOT.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas or a Happy Hanukah or whatever it is that you celebrate in the winter season that allows you to eat stupid amounts of fatty foods. The winter solstice has passed and that means that Spring (and racing season) is practically here!

Confidential to Old Man Winter

Earlier this month when we were enjoying 60+ degree temperatures here in Denver I happily gloated and waived our fine weather in the faces of those of you residing in states that were gripped by snow and ice. It will probably bring you a great deal of pleasure to know that these past few days (the first days of Spring) we’ve been feeling the sting of colder temperatures and my cross training has taken the form of digging out my driveway, building a snowman, and whitewashing 4 and 5 year olds. By the way, whitewashing 4 and 5 year olds is way more rewarding that than it should be.

All of this snow and cold can only mean one thing: Old Man Winter reads Half-Fast and I have taunted him into kicking me in the pants. Fantastic. Well you know what, Old Man Winter? You can get bent! You’re not fooling anyone with this late season snow, your days are numbered and I will dance on your grave when the time comes. (Parenthetical side note: Totally nailed the correct usage of ‘you’re’ and ‘your’ in that sentence. You really have to understand their meanings to see that they’re used correctly there. (Second parenthetical side note: ‘Their,’ ‘they’re’ and ‘there’ also used correctly! High Five!) Totally makes up for the redundancy of pointing out that something inside parentheses was parenthetical.) Where was I? Oh yes, Old Man Winter. Suck it!

If you think that a little snow and wind is going to keep me from running then you’re not paying attention. Did you not see the post about YakTrax? Do you not know that I have a treadmill? I laugh in the face of cold weather and I scoff at your measly 4 - 5 inches. I’ll start forwarding you some e-mails that promise to help you grow to 10 - 12 inches, but even then I’ll keep running, and do you know why? Because I’m unstoppable. I’m like a bad run on sentence or the Enegizer bunny.

Anniversary
Wednesday will be the 2 year anniversary of Half-Fast, so be sure to stop by on Wednesday and if you haven’t already started shopping for a gift then you had better get on it. This is not the kind of blog that is going to let you off easy if you forget its anniversary. And don’t even think about showing up here on Wednesday with a card and a gift certificate. Put some thought into it, if you haven’t been able to figure out what gift this blog wants from its subtle hints then I don’t think you really love it at all. What? Is there someone else? Who is she? WHO IS SHE?

Winter Gear

The end of daylight savings time is depressing. The days feel shorter, it’s colder outside, it’s harder to see when I’m out running, if I didn’t know any better I’d think that I was dying. Of course I’m not dying, at least not any more than the rest of you are. In these cold and dark times I need some advice. What do you wear when you go running in the cold darkness of winter?

Viper has a couple of posts about good reflective wear and how to stay warm. I’m really liking the Reflecto-Vest idea but I need some more ideas on warm gear to run in before I end up freezing. No one wants to see Vanilla, ice. Wow, look at that - the jokes really do write themselves (not very well, but by themselves nonetheless).

I currently own one warm running shirt that wicks away sweat and keeps me warm, the one you see in the picture above. I wear the ski mask thing over my nose so that it doesn’t freeze and so I cannot smell my one and only winter running shirt, which often goes running multiple times between washes. If you’re running the 8 on the 8th, you should be glad it’s a virtual race because you won't have to smell my running shirt unless you live in Colorado or maybe Nebraska or Kansas if it’s windy.

When that shirt is in the wash I usually go with an Under Armor heat gear compression shirt and a hooded sweatshirt. This works OK and has the added benefit of making me feel like Rocky Balboa or LL Cool J “I’m gonna knock you out, Mama said knock you out!”

So let’s hear it. What do you wear when it’s cold out? Oh, and before any of you year-round-warm-climate folks chime in with chippy remarks about how you don’t have to worry about this kind of thing, allow me to invite you to help yourselves to a bucketful of SHUT UP JUICE! Yeah, you know who you are.