NYC Marathon What?

I'm going to say the obvious:

"I can't believe it's almost fall already".

The older I get, the faster time goes by.  By the time I'm 60, I think it's going to be like I'm living in a black hole.  Only less violent.

The fact that it's already August means a few things:
1) NYC Marathon Training Time!
2) If I'm going to do a triathlon in 2012, I better get on it.
3) Greece Trip  (Hell(as) yes).
4) SarahOual had an awesome marathon party and you can read about it here, here, and here.   Love those girls. 
5) My new compression socks came in the mail.

#5 I have all taken care of:

It's hard to express how kickass these socks are.  ProCompression, please make more designs for every holiday and occasion.   I actually got the Orange socks too, but my roommate/friend took them for herself after I told her wearing compression socks is like getting a leg hug.  Considering I accidentally eat her food a lot because I forget who bought what, I'll call it even. 

Marathon Training

I'm running the New York Marathon.  I've always wanted to run this marathon, and since this is the last year I'll get guaranteed entry unless the "elite fairy" visits me, I figured, gotta do it in 2012!

I'm tempted to run NYC without any sort of weekly plan at all.  Sometimes running plans just make me feel bad if I can't keep up with their mileage or workouts.  And I think I'm better at running by feel.  I also don't want to fall into an overtraining rut.

Here's what I'm thinking my early training weeks will look like:

One "long" run,
One semi long run + tempo (I'm thinking 5 easy + 5 tempo)
One straight up tempo or longish intervals

The rest of the days can be whatever feels right.  Hopefully that's more running most of the time, but I don't want to beat myself up over comparing myself to superwomen who run way more than I do.  

I'd like to peak at around 55 miles a week.  And I'd like to have fun.  I want to do a couple long runs with my friends.   I want to continue hanging out on the track on Tuesdays!   And I'd like to buy some new bunny ears.  Black ones would be sweet.

I think reasonably I should aim for a 3:20 - 3:30 marathon.  If I get faster in the fall, cool, but assuming I keep the same capabilities, I think this is a reasonable pace to target. 

If anyone has any suggestions on marathon training, I'd love to hear them!

Triathlon

I've been searching for a Tri to do in Southern California that has an open water swim but where it's short and calm enough so that I probably won't down/die.  Or look like this little fella:

source

I think I've found one!

The De Soto Mission Bay Triathlon 

This one is great because the swim is only 500 meters and it's in a bay.  I think if I continue swimming a couple times a week I can be ready to do this in 8 weeks.  Swimming remains a hilarious experience where people using kickboards pass me.   It's always a humbling experience to learn a new sport.  I'm no expert biker either, but right now, I'd just like to complete a triathlon!  

Anyone want to do this with me?

Greece

I'm going to Greece in late August for two weeks!  Hell yeah!  Right now we're planning to go to Athens, Hydra, Meteora, and Lesvos / Mytilene (where my family is). 

I've actually never been, so I'm super pumped to meet some of my relatives and see the country.  Right now, I'm planning to barely run while I'm there.  Honestly, I don't want to wake up super early and I don't want to inconvenience everyone else with my OCD running habits.   Plus I think some days off would do me good.  I'm one of those people that has to be pretty deathly ill to not work out, and this will give me time to recover and enjoy the time off.  An occasional morning swim in the Aegean doesn't sound TOO awful, however. 

Of course, I'll miss a couple weeks of marathon training, but I figure if I can build a base now, I'll lose less fitness on vacation.

Plus I'm pretty sure being that close to the town of Marathon will make me faster by association. 

Right?  :)