Turkey Trot

Yes, I know, I have been terrible about posting. Mostly this is because I am doing more weightlifting than running, and really, who wants to write about weightlifting? (Boring!) So, I am going to take a holiday break from the blog until I start training intensely again (January!) for my next marathon. BUT, not before I write about the Prospect Park Turkey Trot.

It's so funny. The Cincinnati Turkey Trot is a HUGE deal. I mean, they even have an entire website dedicated to the event. And this year they had 11,558 finishers. It's also cool because you kind of get to preview part of the Flying Pig course.

Well, Bill and I signed up for the Prospect Park Turkey Trot knowing it was going to be a lot smaller, but we had no idea how small. It was like a cute little neighborhood run. It was actually a LOT of fun. And there was no pressure at all.

It is put on by the Prospect Park Track Club, and is a 5-miler in Prospect Park (obviously), which is a very pretty park in Brooklyn designed by the same guys who did Central Park. They had 1290 finishers.

Because Bill and I don't get around to Brooklyn that often we were totally lost. We almost didn't make it to the start. We just started following people with race bibs, and it's a good thing we did, because I don't think we would have made it in time. The whole time I was talking strategy with Bill: "Do you want to run together? What do you think your pace will be? I'm taking it easy...maybe I'll start with a 9:30 and then if I'm feeling good I'll do a 9:00 pace, but I'm not going any faster than that..."

It turns out that it didn't really matter :)

This start was NOT the millisecond-precise, super-anal-retentive NYRR start that we are used to. In fact, I didn't even hear a gun, or a horn, or an announcer or anything. Bill and I just kind of noticed that the people in front of us were moving. So we ran about 20 feet, and then...we were suddenly walking about 10 feet. That's when I was like "FUN RUN!" Forget time, forget everything else, just have fun.

I did end up feeling pretty out of shape. It's not like I felt like I was running fast, just that it took a lot out of me.

The best part was that Santa was at the finish line (everyone kept yelling "Just around the corner and you'll see Santa!") and that at the end, instead of water, they had hot chocolate!!! Perfect!

Oh yeah, and we also got really nice bags from Jackrabbit instead of t-shirts.

All in all, it was a lot of fun, and I think I would definitely do it again!

Running Again!

I finally got to run outside again this weekend!

I can't figure out what I want to do with running this winter...I think I've found out that Bill's job pretty much makes him come home too late to run. I mean, I guess I COULD save my running until after dinner/after Bill gets home. But a lot of times that would mean that I wouldn't get my workout in at all (because I would have to run after 11pm-ish). I also have to be realistic about this...after I eat dinner am I REALLY going to want to go out in the dark and cold and do a run?

The other option is to run in the morning.

I am NOT a morning person. Plus, when my alarm goes off for me to run in the morning I basically just reset it and promise to do my run at night. Plus, my life is a little stressful right now and I am counting my blessings when I actually do get a full night of sleep. So I don't really think I should be skimming off of that end.

But it looks like that might be the only option. So I'd better learn to be a loser and go to bed at like, ten, and wake up early. NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.

It WAS nice to run outside instead of on the machines this weekend. My legs are even a little sore. I think this is because there is no way a treadmill can replicate the workout you get outside. Running outside clears my head, and I was even happy to do the 4-mile loop around the park, even though just a while ago, I was so sick of it.

Well, I am not going to worry about the running schedule thing TOO much, until after Christmas, when I start really training for the Pig. I do have a fun little run in Prospect Park (which is in Brooklyn) on Thanksgiving morning. Bill is running it with me too!

I just couldn't give up the tradition of doing a race on Thanksgiving. Even though it is only a 5-miler, it makes me feel so much better about piling on all those potatoes later in the evening. ;)

Boring

My workout life seems pretty lame and boring when I'm not training for a marathon. Don't get me wrong...I am totally and completely enjoying all of the free time, but it IS rather boring. And I have to pretty much force myself to workout.

Last night I did arm weights and crunches. I am really into testing this whole "muscle makes you lose fat faster" thing. Plus, I would just generally like to tone up. Lifting is SO BORING it makes me want to cry. So I really have to make sure that I am pushing myself as I would do in my running. Last night I was really good and did reps until I was too tired to keep form, rested, and did two more sets like that, for each weight lifting activity. Boring.

I also realized that when it comes to anything but running I am pretty much out of shape. Which is kind of sad.

I think people have a picture in their head of everything a marathoner is...lithe, strong, muscled and pretty much able to do any sport. I think most marathoners I know would laugh at this. I especially would.

One thing I am VERY happy about is that I am losing all of my weight fairly easily (well, as easy as one can do it...). I just remember that it took me 4 months to lose 18 pounds in the winter and 6 months to gain it back. I was so bummed that it would take me 4 months to lose it again.

But I have been pretty vigilant about my diet and working out for the past two weeks and have already lost 5 of those pounds. Thank goodness. I was starting to think there were not too many visible benefits to all the work I keep doing. But at least it is easier to lose all of that fat than it was last time.

I also have been scarfing granola from my stash when I'm hungry instead of cupcakes from the office kitchen. That Bear Naked stuff is actually pretty good (but not as good as cupcakes).

I was planning on treadmill tonight, but I think I'll mix it up. I got this lame (I'm thinking) video a long time ago which I've never tried out. If anything, it will be a hilarious workout.

I did look into Bikram yoga and actually found a great place RIGHT BY MY WORK that is offering 30 days for $30. That is awesome because that is how much ONE class would cost. So I'm going to try it out...but I have to figure out my life scheduling right now. Balance is NOT something that is working out for me this month (ha ha, maybe I COULD use some yoga then).

A Little Late, But...

I decided that I am going to be proud of myself for my Marine Corps Marathon time.

I am NOT trying to be a big-head or be overly braggadocious. But here's the thing. I was pretty darn disappointed with my time. I was like "Yeah, yeah, I did ok. BUT I didn't make my time goal by a long shot." (Even though it was my long shot time goal.)

And Bill just kept telling me "You dropped 26 minutes off of your Pig time. That's a minute per mile!" And I was like yeah yeah yeah.

But I just went back to look at my splits from the Pig in May, and I decided I can be proud of my Marine Corps Marathon time.

I guess that's why everyone says to keep a running log.

So anyway, yay!

On and Off of the Wagon

Well, I have been doing pretty good with my workouts...especially since I have hit some stumbling blocks.

I always find it hard to run in the fall/winter because it gets SO DARK SO EARLY. This is why I originally enlisted Bill to run with me last winter (yes, yes and also because I thought it would be cool if we enjoyed another shared activity). It is basically impossible to run in Manhattan because of all of the traffic, unless you are running in the park. 99% of the time that I am in Riverside Park at night I feel completely safe. HOWEVER, I do not think it is a good idea to run there by myself at night. Bill's been working the crappiest hours ever this week, so in addition to not ever seeing him :( I also have to plan alternate workouts for my running days (I just feel safer running with him in the park). So....I've been hitting the gym in the basement of my building and doing the much dreaded treadmill.

Yesterday was a weights day and I was all psyched to go down and use the weights machines. Trouble is, it is one of those combo type machines. Since the machine bolts were screwed down so d@mn tight, I couldn't adjust them to do "multiple" things. This may be because no one ever uses the machines. Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone use them. Or, it may be because I was doing something wrong. Bill said he's used the machines before, so I will have to have him show me sometime. Sooo...I got to do my hamstrings, but not my quads, my triceps, but not my biceps, etc etc. Now, I know how to use free weights (but for some reason hate them), but some guy was using the ones I wanted. But I am proud of myself...I went back upstairs and did my own free weights (8 pounders) while watching "The Simpsons".

So I've been sticking to my plan.

Except...

That I just scarfed down two platefuls of potato chips that I got from the kitchen at work. Dodging snacks is going to be the hardest thing...

Back into the Swing of Things

Ah, the two-week self-mandated waiting period to start working out again ended this weekend. Which means that I actually ran again this weekend! Granted, it was only 3.4 miles, but hey! It's all about starting easy again, right?

In fact, I may have to keep reminding myself that.

See, I now have a couple of goals looking forward. The first is to lose that awful 18 pounds that I put back on during the marathon season. (Really...gaining weight during marathon season always ticks me off.) Right now, most of it is a carb belly. Yes, my waist has expanded and now (unfortunatly) the two pant sizes that I dropped last spring I got right back into. :(

My next goal is to be a healthier, more well-rounded runner. This includes eating healthier (of course)...getting enough protein for muscle building, eating LEAN fats like olive oil, etc instead of the fats I tend towards, and quitting my once a week McDonald's habit :( Bill and I already started this this weekend. We planned a bunch of healthy meals for the week and went out and got groceries last night. Luckily, we are not sacrificing taste because we got a bunch of really great cookbooks that have delicious, easy, healthy food (this is how I lost all of my weight last winter). I also decided to stop snacking at work. This is really hard because we get free snacks at work and they are SO BAD. Like cheese doodles. When was the last time I wanted a cheese doodle? Well it doesn't matter, because when they're sitting out I eat them anyway. So to combat this, I brought a bag of healthy treats to work today and stashed them in my drawer. In fact, they are pretty much all of the samples of things I got from the marathon expo.

The second goal also includes stretching and a weight program. I KNOW the benefits of weight training, yet I don't participate. Since I want to go even FASTER in my next marathon I am definitely going to have to be vigilant about this. Stretching includes doing yoga twice a week so that I don't become injured.

Oh yeah, and Bill is in on all of this too, because he decided to train for the Pig Marathon with me...that's right, the whole 26.2 miles.

So I made a little weekly schedule and put it up on the fridge. It lists our workouts for every day and also what we are eating (since they coincide...like when I do a weights day we have a high protein meal).

So far, I am not doing so well (and I just started Saturday). Yesterday's workout called for weights and yoga, but when I got home from shopping I was all grouchy and didn't feel like it. I whined and complained to Bill and then didn't do it. Hmmm. Not off to a good start. But then again, I might have been a little overly ambitious with my workout plan for this week too (seeing that it IS my first week back).

I just have to remember: BALANCE.

A Perfect NY Day!

It's so funny. I complain and complain and complain about the marathon season being too long, and then the week after the marathon? I'm out on the course cheering like crazy!

This past Sunday was the New York City marathon. And one of the mentees in my mentee group was running it, so Gina and I and some other TNT friends decided to go cheer. The marathon starts LATE. The elite women's start is at 9 am and then everyone else goes out based on their corral time. It would kind of stink if you were running it, because you have to be on Staten Island by 5am because they close off all of the bridge traffic. All those people, sitting around for 5 hours, waiting to run? Yuck!

Our meeting spot was at 116th Street and 5th Avenue, up in East Harlem. It was mile 22 and we figured it was a good place to see the elites and all of the other runners too. I got there at 10:00, followed shortly by my TNT buddies. We saw a lot of the wheelchair athletes...and then? YAY! We saw Paula Radcliffe, and once again I was starstruck. And then I saw Kara Goucher!!! She is my hero! So I was super super excited.

But I have to say, even though I get a thrill out of seeing all of the superstar runners, my favorite part of watching the marathon is cheering for the normal people...people with times like mine. :) I was also so excited when I saw a Roncker shirt in the crowd. I punched Pam in the arm and was like "HEY! I USED TO RUN WITH HIM!!!" and I started waving to him wildly and he smiled and waved back and then I was like "That was stupid. If I was running a three-hour marathon there is no way I would be waving to some girl that I may or may not remember."

We all went crazy with the cowbells and with our signs and of course yelled out everyone's name on their singlet. We went REALLY crazy when we saw other TNT people. And they usually waved back or smiled. And I think I pissed some people off too. Because when people started to walk I would say things like "You can do it! You look great! Just stick with it." Some people smiled at me, some people started running, but some people smiled at me like "Shut up lady. I don't see you running 22 miles." I also saw Jim, from last season's Biggest Loser (which I love).

It was a lot of fun. We stayed till almost the very end (4:30ish?) and we were the only people left cheering. And now all of us have sore throats :)

Beat The Bridge : The Final Miles

Yes! Finally! I was at the 14th Street Bridge. This was supposed to be the be-all and end-all of the marathon. I had heard it from everyone; Ramon, Christine, even John Bingham. If you made it past the bridge and felt okay, you were good to go. I was trying not to think about the fact that I already felt like crap. In fact, my 19th mile was a 10:19 feel like crap.

I desperately wanted my coaches. In particular, Coach Steve. My coaches had been yelling and screaming and going crazy all throughout the race. That was all well and good. I mean, I felt great at the time. But now I felt like crap and I needed them to run with me. Coach Steve is especially good at this. He says just the right things, and runs with me, picking up my pace ever so slightly to what it should be so that I don't notice, and then I'm running all well and happy on my own. I knew he was coming up, because when I saw him at the 10K mat he said "I'll see you on the bridge at mile 20!" So I kept looking around, like "Where's Steve?"

This bridge...I don't even know what to say about it. It was like a bazillion miles long. All flat. But that kind of flat that drags on forever. Not like a pretty bridge either. This was a highway overpass. Gross. I HATE running on the highway. WHY does EVERY marathon have a section like this? At the END, no less!!!

Yay! I saw Steve. He was on a cellphone, like, coordinating with the other coaches. I heard him say that he saw me coming up and he got off his phone to run with me.

I honestly can't remember everything he said. But he did help me pick up my pace AND he was like "Uh, you only have one 5-mile loop of Central Park left. You can do that in your sleep and I know it because I've seen you run it a million times." And I was like "He's so right!" He also told me Mike (the coach from Brooklyn) was coming up, which made me happy. Another coach!

Back down to 9:54 for mile 21 AND off of the million mile long bridge.

Into Crystal City...our TNT Hotel HQ! For some reason (deliriousness) I felt like I knew this area, so it would be easier. I was thinking of it as my stomping ground even though I've never been to DC in my life and had only spent 1.5 days in Crystal City. Lots of crowd support, lots of pretty, colorful flags and...
what? A turnaround? I HATE turnarounds. Especially at this point, because they are always longer than you think. Plus, right before the turnaround, they had you duck into this circular driveway. What? Mentally this was horrible course planning.

It did make the miles go faster though (at least in my head. Not in timing.)
Mile 22 - 11:10 (OUCH). Uh. And that's when I had to go. Like really really badly. My stomach was in all kinds of knots and I knew I had JUST passed a port-o-let. My time was also bumming me out. I was like "TRY to get back to the 10s."

Mile 23 - 10:47. Come on. I really really have to go. Where was that port-o-let on the other side?
Found it! Not ideal, but I had to cut across the runners going the wrong way to get there. Needless to say, my mile 24 was a slow 13:08.

I was finally out of Crystal City, thank goodness, I never wanted to go back there again.

I was now on to...a highway. Seriously. I am going to beat whoever thinks that it is a good idea to put final mileage of a marathon on a deserted highway.

Yay! I saw Mike and I was so happy!
Plus, Mike had great news. He pointed to the Walmart truck and told me 1. There was a water stop. (Hurrah! I thought I had already passed the last one!) 2. That was mile 25.
I was super energized (well, as energized as I could be. I knew at that point that I WAS going to finish).

Now, in my mind I was kind of cheating. I don't think I really needed the water, but I needed to walk. And I was NOT going to walk this marathon. AT ALL. But...we all know I can't run through the water stops without choking. So the water stop was a perfectly valid reason to walk a little but then have to run as soon as the water was done. I picked up mile 25 to a 10:18.

And right around the corner? Coach Christine! I told her I felt like crap and she was like "What? You're kidding! You look great!" Now with most coaches I do not buy this at all. But she really for real sounded sincere. And I was like "Wait. I am doing great. I screwed up my entire marathon, but I'm still doing 10 somethings." So that made me speed up a bit.

Mile 26: 10:03.

And RIGHT at the 26th mile marker was Ramon. I was SO HAPPY to see him. He was happy to see me too. He grabbed my hand and started running with me and talking to me and asking how I felt. I was like "I'm dying!" And he laughed and was like "Of course you're dying. What? You think this is easy? Are you crazy? Look at all these people cheering. If this was easy, all these people would be doing it. You are doing awesome. You look strong. You are going to run up the last hill...NOT HARD, just real easy. Ok. You can do it." And then he squeezed my hand and ran away and I felt the hill in my calves and I was like "This isn't so bad. I CAN do this hill! This hill is nothing!" And then I looked over my shoulder to my left and I was like "OH SH*T. THAT'S the hill!!!" So I took it easy, felt my heart rate climb to a million beats per minute, looked at the overhead clock, saw it was 4:22 (my last ditch goal from the end of the season, my first goal from the beginning of the season) and sprinted (ha ha) it in as much as I could.

4:22:54.

NOT what I was hoping for, but pretty good all the same.
Plus, I beat Oprah. (And Al Gore and Ted Koppel).

SOS: Trying to Beat the Mental Game, The Middle Miles

I had to go to the bathroom.

REALLY REALLY badly. And I had just passed a port-o-let not too far away, which meant that another one was probably really far away. And I was already losing the mental game with myself, so I tried to tell myself this: It's no big deal to stop now. In fact, it's so much better to stop now, because you are way ahead of pace. If you stop at the end you will be mad at yourself. This just gets it out of the way.

YAY! Wherever it was that the Marines were giving out oranges there were two port-o-lets. Of course there was a line. And one person in line was a non-runner, which sort of made me really angry, like "Hey! Let me in front of you!" But I knew that this was also just my anxiety talking. Sensibly I knew that this man had every right to the port-o-let too. I kept looking at my watch and flipping out and the girl behind me was like "I KNOW, right?"

Back in the game with a 13:38 for the 10th mile. TRIED not to look at the pace bracelet to see how far off pace I was. (And I was off pace, even though I had "banked" time in the beginning, which, everyone knows, you SHOULDN'T do.)

Mile 11 - 9:12. Good. (At this point, I was like, "Yeah. Hey, if it feels good, it's good.")

Mile 12 - 9:21. I would like to tell you about the course, but the honest truth is, that I don't remember. I think at this point I was running by the Mall. At some point it got very very narrow and we could only run with two runners across. It was tense, but at the same time it gave me energy. This was good, because while I still felt pretty good I could tell that I was starting to drain.

Mile 13 - 9:23. I was like "Hey! I just finished a half marathon!!!" Because really, at this point I was still feeling like I had a ton more energy than I did at the Staten Island half and the miles were flying by. But the little devil Emily on my shoulder was like "Uh, well you SHOULD have more energy than your half marathon. For one, you are going slower, and for two you are only HALFWAY finished. Oh, and did you notice that you are gaining time? By the end you will be doing 11:00 miles." I tried tried tried to stay positive, but it is sometimes hard to shut up that little voice.

Mile 14 - 9:47. Panic. Because I was feeling like the "Death Drain" that you see when you are trying to beat Tom Morello in Guitar Hero and just can't do it. And? It was only mile 14. I told myself to pick it up a bit, but not too much.

Mile 15 - 9:19. For some sick reason, this made me feel better. Even though I should have known better because it was not in my window. I was like "SEE! I CAN do it!" At this point I needed all the optimism I could get, so when I ran over the 25k mat I was like "Whoo-hoo!" quietly, which made the guy next to me laugh. I mean, really, I had no idea how much 25K was, but I did know that a marathon was 40-something K.

Mile 16 - 9:44. I was like "That's ok. Pick it up in the next one." This just shows how demented I was at this point. Because what I should have been saying was "Perfect! Right on target!" But no, I was telling myself to speed up.

Mile 17 - 9:35. Maybe I regained my senses because I was like "Perfect!" But I also felt like I was dying. Like "OK. That was a good run. I'm finished." Which sucks. You are NOT supposed to hit the wall at 17. I told myself I was almost at the bridge, which was my next big milestone. Everyone wanted us to "beat the bridge." If you beat the bridge, you were okay.

Mile 18 - 10:00. This seemed like the longest mile of all eternity. I actually felt like if I logged a 12:00 I would have been happy. I was so done at this point. I told myself that I was doing great and that I needed to make <10:00 on the next one and to just focus on that next mile.

Mile 19 - This was also rough. I felt like I was dying. At this point I was like "Come on, Emily. You haven't hit the wall. You are still pretty much on pace. In your first marathon you felt great until mile 22. Let's do that again. Just make it to mile 22." I logged a 9:44 and congratulated myself.

MCM: Ants In My Pants, the First Miles

Isn't our team cute? This was right before we headed out to the metro to catch the train to the starting line. I couldn't have asked for better weather, I got the right amount of sleep (like 7.5 hours!!!), I was all pastaed up...but...I felt so insanely nervous. Like, I felt like I was going to throw up. I kept forgetting my mantra that Gina helped me with ("My spirit fears nothing."), my stomach was off kilter and I pretty much did not feel like I could run 26.2 miles. I tried to suck it up as much as I could though.

We left en masse for the starting line. We lost Gina and Donna and the rest of the team almost immediately, but I wasn't worried. Especially when we caught up to them before we even got to the runner's village. We couldn't find the rest of our team but luckily we ran into Coach Steve, who also couldn't find the rest of the team. He got on his phone and was like "I've got 5 of them here." Which for some reason made me laugh really hard inside, which I attribute mostly to feeling sick with nerves.

Gina, Donna and Pam went to check bags and I decided I should go to the Port-o-let. By the time Bill and I had gotten back, the team was gone, so we decided to book it to the start. It was a good thing we did. It was massively crowded. It took me forever to get to the 6-7:00 finishing time area, and I had to get all the way up to 3:45!!!! (Ramon said we needed to start 30 minutes ahead of our projected finishing time.) I think that number (3:45) made me sick to my stomach as well. Last year I would have been happy with finishing anywhere lower than a 5, so the number seemed way crazy to me (even though I wasn't trying to finish there). It was like swimming in concrete. I could NOT get anywhere. I JUST got to the 3:45 flag when people started moving forward.

I was concentrating on my strategy. Keep it at 9:40s. You can go up to 9:50 or down to 9:30 but THAT is the window. If I did that, I would be able to get my 4:13 I wanted, which was my "aggressive goal". Even though Ramon said that only 20% of the people who try get their aggressive goal, I knew I could do it. In fact, for some reason I had the number 4:11 stuck in my head (which I guess was my secret goal) and to emphasize that, I had the song "Come Original" in my head (I guess because it was by 311 :).

By the way, that's me in the purple in the center.

The first mile felt a LITTLE hilly. It was also crowded. I was frantically looking for the clocks they keep at each mile to see if I was on pace. Well, they didn't actually have those clocks. Just little white signs with red writing marking off the miles. So I totally missed the first mile. But at the second mile I clocked a 19:25. According to my pace bracelet I should be at 19:27. Perfect!

My third mile was 9:06. Whoops. I told myself (out loud) "Em, slow down."

My fourth mile? 9:06. Whoops. Yes, I am good at keeping a consistent pace. This was sort of freaking me out. I tried to slow down and enjoy the scenery. It WAS very beautiful out...kind of foggy. At one point we could see the top of the Smithsonian Castle (I think) peaking out of the fog over the water. It was cool.

(Obviously this pic was taken by Bill, not me.)

My fifth mile I was able to slow down a bit and logged a 9:37. This is when we started running into all of the wheel chair athletes. I don't know if it is just how the MCM was set up, or because I was further up than normal or what, but it seemed like there were a LOT of wheelchair athletes in the middle of the runners. We had to keep "making a hole" to let them through. It was a little strange. I mean, it was very inspirational to see them go through (those wheelchair athletes are truly TOUGH) but it was weird to keep weaving right and left during the race.

Sixth mile? 9:09. WTH??? I was REALLY concentrating on slowing down and I KNEW at this point I was screwed. I really needed to run at least my first 9 miles slow and here I was speeding through. I was so mad at myself. This is the mistake I made at my very first marathon and I definitely paid for it in the end. I did NOT want to have to walk this one at all, and at this rate I was headed for disaster.
I really yelled at myself this time. "SLOW DOWN."

Seventh mile? 10:06. Ok. Too much. I tried not to freak out about it. I also was having all sorts of issues with things visually psyching me out. Like the girl right in front of me. She had a shirt on that said "I'm Going to Beat Sarah Palin: 3:59:36". Or, the 4:00 pace group that JUST passed me. Somewhere around here was the big hill too. It looked huge. But you know what? Because of where it was in the race it really didn't bother me at all. In fact, I felt great at that point.

8th mile? 9:05. I was really freaking out at this point. I was not following Ramon's number one rule: BEHAVE. (It was even printed on his singlet in huge letters). So I needed to make a decision. I kept telling myself to slow down because I was going to screw myself halfway through and be in awful awful pain. But at the same time, if you haven't been able to slow down for 8 miles is it really productive to tell yourself that it's going to suck at the end if you don't slow down? Those first 9 miles are so important and I'd already blown 8 of them. So I tried to fake myself out. I told myself this:

Uh, Emily, you've been training harder than ever. Maybe you are just this fast. You will be fine. After all, you wanted a 4:11. You can do this. You are just this fast. That's why you can't slow down.

I don't think I really bought it. But I just kept telling myself that anyway.

Mile 9: 9:30. Much better. Much calmer. Good job, Em. :)

MCM Weekend: Saturday

Friday night I truly got the best sleep ever. Thank goodness that TNT booked rooms at the Marriott. They have something akin to Starwood's "Heavenly Bed" which I think helped a TON.

We had a nice little 20 minute group run at 8am. The team met in the lobby and I realized that we were now branded as the "New York Team." See, there were like 20 other TNT Teams in the hotel from all over the country. Next to the DC team, we were the largest. And the loudest. And that morning, Coach Ramon herded us all together by whistling really loud and yelling "YO! Let's GO." All the other teams looked at us like "Oh. There's New York." :) How stereotypical of us.

That afternoon we had a meeting/singlet decoration party. I was so glad that Gina brought cool stick-on letters from Michael's to put my name on my singlet. I am NOT good at writing in white-out or puffy paint and I wanted my singlet to look somewhat classy, so this helped immensely. Plus, Gina made cute little bags for all of her mentees with cool stuff in it. Aw. She is so great.

Everyone talked about why they were there, including Tasha, our honored teammate. See, our honored teammates are currently battling Leukemia or Lymphoma AND running our marathons with us. Pretty impressive. Plus, Tasha is one of the most positive people I know. Tasha is awesome, and I've found myself remembering her when my running gets tough. I mean, if Tasha can go through everything that she's gone through AND run a marathon I can make it through my miles when they get tough.

The coaches also gave us some last minute pointers and told us that it was important for us to have our names on our singlets so that they could call us by name when they came up to help us through our miles on the course. Apparantly in the past, the runners look at them like "who are YOU?" Since we DO have a very high coach to runner ratio (and some of the coaches are from Brooklyn, so I wouldn't know them by sight necessarily.)

We then made our way back to our rooms to get ready for the pasta dinner. Everyone from our team was instructed to go out and buy I Heart NY t-shirts to wear to this, which I thought was a really cool idea. Bill and I got ready and made our way downstairs. When we got through the hallway we had to walk through this huge barage of coaches all screaming and clapping and making noise.

The New York coaches were going especially crazy, but then again, they are usually pretty crazy.

We then sat at team tables to listen to the speakers...the first being John Bingham!!! The Penguin himself!!! I was so excited because I LOVE him. Since when I started marathoning I was not the fastest runner I really associated with his whole philosophy of having fun and finishing the race. It's funny too, because I always read his articles in Runner's World like "Wow. This is a really good article." and then I get to the end where he says "Waddle on, friends." and am like "Oh. Right. That's because John Bingham wrote it." :) So I was starstruck, which made me feel a little stupid. And I hung around afterwards to get a pic. Which made me feel REALLY stupid. But I'm glad I did. :)

He was also really funny, by the way.

We also had a really inspiring former marine talk to us. I was getting all pumped up.
Here are some things that are REALLY cool:
• When TNT started in 1988 the survival rate for Leukemia was 5%. Now it is 95%!!!
• Over the years, TNT has raised $950,000,000 to help battle blood cancers.
• The New York City TNT Team for the MCM raised $323,000 this year!

The whole evening was really cool and really inspiring. I was very pumped up and ready for the marathon!

Oh, and here is a cute pic of me and my running friends, Michelle, Donna, Gina and Tasha after the dinner.

Marine Corps Marathon Expo

I have to say, I am so glad I did Team in Training. I had the BEST time at the Marine Corps Marathon. I even had a lot of fun BEFORE the marathon.

Bill and I got to DC on Friday. I was so excited because this meant that I could take my time at the expo. I ALWAYS love the expos and look for things there like cute t-shirts (like the one I got in Chicago from One More Mile that says "Marathon Ho.") The thing that is different about the Marine Corps Marathon is, well, there are lots of marines around. In fact, they basically run the whole thing (not as in "running a marathon" but more like hosting). So it was kind of weird to have them shouting orders at you from the get-go. "MARATHONERS ON THE LEFT, 10K ON THE RIGHT!" And when I picked up my shirt, one was holding it up and said "THIS IS A SMALL T-SHIRT, PRESHRUNK COTTON!" I didn't know how to respond to that so I was like "Ok...thanks?" And he handed it to me and said "GOOD LUCK IN THE MARATHON MA'AM!" It was making me antsy, which Bill thought was hilarious.

Luckily, through the magic technology of texting, we ran into Gina, who had gotten there like an hour before us. She was at the Crocs stand which made me groan because anyone who knows me knows I LOATHE Crocs. I mean, I have gone into tirades about them. Granted, I have said, if any time was okay to wear Crocs it would be after a marathon. But I like Gina, so I just gave her a little grief over them ;)

I usually have a hard time not going crazy and buying everything at the expo, but I wasn't finding much :( UNTIL we found a booth called Tres Ladies. I was drawn in by the shirt that said "1 bottle of wine = 546 calories" with that crossed out and "5 miles" scrawled over the top. Cute. And totally what I was looking for. Until I turned around and saw one that was more appropriately me. It said "I run...(with the elipses as hearts)...because I love cupcakes." And even better? With each shirt purchase you got a cupcake.

We also got taste tests of GUs (I love the new High Octane Orange Vanilla. Best...GU...Ever), our blood pressure taken, free first aid kits with bandaids (including tiny tiny ones that are too tiny to fit on your pinky, for who knows what? Gina said they were for your Barbie), beer (for Bill only), Granola, oh and...

Well...

I DID forget my sandles. And I HAVE been looking for those sandles that they had in the 90s with those little massaging nubbies on them. And really, Gina's Crocs didn't really look like Crocs.

So mine are pink (of course) and brown and flipflops that DON'T look like Crocs.

Grrrr.

We spent 3 hours at the expo.

Then, the three of us grabbed pasta for dinner at this restaurant not too far from our hotel. We are FLOORED by the prices in DC by the way!!! We felt like we were actually saving money by going on vacation :)

Last Post!

Well, last post before the marathon, that is.

I have basically been doing a whole bunch of nothing runningwise, which I guess is good since I AM on taper. I have also been consuming a LOT of carbs. You know, I would have thought that I already ate a lot of carbs during the day, but making 70% of your diet carbs is actually pretty hard. Not to mention that I feel extremely lethargic and like a big tub of lard. It's hard to believe that I used to eat like this all the time. I was going so crazy yesterday that I decided to have a salad yesterday for lunch instead of something so carb-rich like I had been doing all week. I felt like I was cheating, but I was like "PLEASE! All I want is a SALAD!" (I did get croutons on it.)

I had a nice, enjoyable run on Tuesday after Ramon's Course Click, where he described in detail what we would be doing the entire day of the marathon, all of the ins and outs of the course and what our strategy should be if we were going for a time. If that wasn't enough, he sent us an email so long that I couldn't print it out. I had to paste the text into a document. It was 14 PAGES LONG!!!! But I love that kind of detail. It gives me something to focus on instead of freaking out about little crazy things.

And? Guess who is the guest speaker at the TNT pasta dinner? John Bingham!!! The Penguin, himself! I am so pumped.

Looks like weather.com is predicting that Sunday will be sunny and in between 49-65F. PERFECT. I am READY TO GO.



Oh yeah. And did I tell you my goal? It's to beat Oprah's time. She ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 1994 with a 4:29.40.

I Couldn't Make This Up

I have been sooooo careful this season...not falling on the slippery rocks on our trail runs, not losing my footing on all of the trails, avoiding all of the little ditches on the bridal path. So what happens to me today?

A cabinet falls on my feet. Both of them.

It was one of those things that happens in slow motion. I was trying to get some magazines out of the drawers where we store them for a brainstorming session. I couldn't get the middle drawer open because something was preventing the top drawer from closing all the way. I tried opening the middle drawer while simultaneously holding the top drawer closed and the whole thing just toppled over. It pretty much drew the entire 6th floor over, but no one realized that the thing was still on my feet. I was like "Ow. Ow. Ow." And a bunch of people pulled it off.

It skinned the tops of my feet and my ankles, but besides that, I think little damage was done. It doesn't feel broken or anything and I can walk just fine. I am icing and elevating all day now.

It would just figure.

The jury's still out on whether or not to run tonight with the group. We have course click before practice, where the coaches go through the entire course and a bunch of last minute stuff, then a 40 minute run. I am going to see how I feel.

Sneaking in Mileage

OK, well I hesitate to even write this post because I know that my mentor-friend, Gina will yell at me :)

Let me start here: Saturday we had our last "long run" which was only 5.5 miles. It was almost accidentally less because Michelle and I misheard Coach Christine and only did one bridal-path loop. We got back super early and no one else was back yet. We were confused and then figured it out when Coach Christine came back and was like "Wow. You guys must have run really fast." We had shortchanged ourselves 1.7 miles, so we just did a lower loop of the park and made up the difference.

Now here comes the bad part. ;)

This week I am supposed to be relaxing at all costs. No extra workouts, no running around, etc. In fact, my big plans for the weekend included some light cleaning, a haircut and getting a few things I still needed for the marathon trip. One of those things included a book. I am a sucker for a coupon and I had one for Borders. The closest one to my place is at Columbus Circle and since it was such a beautiful day and the train was skipping our stop anyway this weekend, so I convinced Bill that we should walk. Columbus Circle is about 40 blocks/2 miles away. I was totally enjoying the walk/weather until I was like "Oh crap. Bill! I think I'm trying to sneak extra mileage in by walking this far! Gina is so going to yell at me." To which he answered "As she should." I totally didn't mean to. But since my muscles are in recovery I could definitely feel it. To make up for it, when we went to the next store we took the bus. When I thought about walking back to the grocery store Bill said "Emily! No!" I was like "Whatever." And then he told me Gina would yell at me. And so we didn't walk.

He thought this was really funny, how I was being motivated to be good by the fact that Gina might yell at me. It is especially funny because I could never really see Gina yelling at anyone. But I could see her saying "Emily Mason! You are supposed to be RESTING!" and I guess that was motivation enough.

I am finding it really hard to be sedentary though. Not only do I have a ton of energy, but I think running destresses me, so I've been in a pretty crabby mood lately. But despite all of that, I was good for the rest of the weekend. And I AM enjoying the fact that 60-70% of my caloric intake should be carbs this week.

Yum. Carbs.

Doubt

So, last night we had another speed work exercise.

You know how people say that during taper you get antsy because you aren't running enough? I think the people on my team are just getting antsy, period. We had to wait around (in the dark...I hate how it gets dark so early now) for the coaches to send us out on our workout and everyone was getting annoyed. Everyone was like "Come on, let's go. I don't even want to be here. Let's get this over with." I mean, it HAS been a long season. Bill thinks we are all just anxious to run the marathon and it's so close that it's just making us all crazy and annoyed.

Anyway, last night we had to do three lower loops of the park. Each loop is 1.7 miles. Within those miles we were supposed to time ourselves for one mile to make sure we were keeping pace. Ramon's point was that on Tuesday we do speed work, on Saturdays we run easy, and our marathon pace should be somewhere in between. We need to learn what that feels like. So, the task was that our first mile should be marathon pace, our second should be half marathon pace and our third should be our fastest mile, which should be faster than half marathon pace by at least 45 seconds.

Ugh. I was just not feeling like I could do that.

Besides, I have a REALLY hard time switching between paces. I doubted that I knew what each of those paces felt like (well, except the last which was basically a long-distance sprint...that just feels like me dying.) I find pacing the hardest part of running. It takes so much concentration.

The first loop was hard on my legs. I felt so tight from sitting around all day and my calves were screaming at me. I was also a bit distracted from worrying about pace because the whole time I was talking to the girl I met at the very first practice. She was pretty nervous because she just got back from her honeymoon and took 12 days off of running. I didn't mind chatting with her but I was very nervous that I wouldn't be on pace. I logged a 9:50 for my mile though which was PERFECT.

I thought about stopping in the middle to stretch out my legs but figured that it would all work itself out. I picked up to half marathon pace and my calves were screaming at me. As I hit the hills at the bottom of the east side I promised myself I would stop at the end of that loop to stretch. I logged a 9:10. PERFECT.

I did stop to stretch and then took off again. Stretching REALLY REALLY helped. But I did not feel like I could do a sprint after that. I was pretty tired. I knew that I had to do it though, otherwise I would be worrying that maybe 9:50 for a marathon really wasn't my pace, which just opens up a whole other can of worms. So I picked it up a lot. And actually? It felt really good. I was breathing heavy and could tell I was going to be tired at the end of the workout (which Ramon said we should) but I felt great. So great that I started worrying that I wasn't making the correct time (which should be an 8:25). I decided not to look at my watch to psych myself out, until I finished.

My last mile? 8:17!!!!!!!!!

NO FREAKIN' WAY.

I was so happy.

So I guess I learned from this that I need to stop freaking out about everything and doubting myself. I've done the training, I know how to pace and I know what my marathon pace should be.

But I also know myself. And I know that I will still freak out about it for the next week and a half. Poor Bill. :)

Psych Out

I have come to the conclusion that I psych myself out during my races. This should come as no surprise, because when I used to swim I would do the same thing...I would have a great practice and then choke at the swim meet.

I say this because this weekend I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon. Basically, my group had to do a 12-13 mile run this weekend and Coach Ramon gave us the option of running it in the park or running the Staten Island Half as a training run...meaning that we would actually race it but run it just like any other weekend long mileage run. I chose the SIH because I am SOOOOOOO tired of running in Central Park. I welcomed the change of scenery and (here is the stupid reason) I think all of the shirts from the Grand Prix Half Marathons have been kind of cool. I have the Queens one, and I wanted the SI one.

I think not racing a race is pretty hard to do. I mean, there you are, surrounded by people who ARE racing it and there's all kinds of excitement in the air. It's easy to get caught up in it. It's also difficult because they corral you by pace and my pace is listed as 8:15 (even though that was for a MUCH shorter race). Anyway, I decided to just take it out as a fun run and not worry about it and pay more attention to my breathing than my time (hard to do with a huge clock glaring at you every mile. I discussed my inability to go slow in races before the race with Eric, one of the mentors. I told him I was shooting for 10 minute miles and he said I should just go my regular Saturday pace: 9:30. I thought that was probably a good idea.

My first mile I logged a 9:15.
Mile 2 - 8:54
Mile 3 - 9:02
Mile 4 - 9:17

I have to admit, I wasn't "holding back" like I usually do during races. I felt a little blah and tired. But then, now that I think about it, that was probably okay, because that's how I usually feel for the first few miles of a long run. And I don't focus on "holding back" on those, but on keeping a nice consistent pace.

Mile 5 - 10:04 (this was because I walked through the water stop and ate a Gu. I decided not to try the running/drinking thing this time, because I waste more time recovering from my choking.)

Mile 6 - 9:08
Mile 7 - 9:09 (the Gu must have kicked in by now because I was feeling AWESOME)
Mile 8 - 10:01 (slowed down by another water stop)
Mile 9 - 9:14 (and that was stopping for water AND a Gu)
Mile 10 - 8:53
Mile 11 - 9:16

This mile had a big hill, which kind of sucked since we were so close to the end. To make it worse, this lady next to me was like, mooing or something...really loudly. She was obviously having issues getting up the hill. But even after the hill she kept mooing. I find it really frustrating to be running by people like this because they also psych me out. Because there I am, trying to do my own thing mentally to get me up the hill and even if I am making it through the hill sucessfully it is like their loud breathing etc reminds me that I am on a really tough hill and that I should be struggling too. I tried to get away from her as fast as I could.

Mile 12 - 9:36

It was somewhere in the middle of mile 12 that I decided to look at my total time. I realized that I was super close to a sub 2:00 time. I would basically have to finish my last mile in 7 minutes (ha!). I knew this wasn't possible , but wanted to speed up anyway.

Mile 13 - 8:28

Whoo hoo!

I finished strong, with a 2:01:13 overall (grrrr. If only I had been .13 seconds faster!).

But you know, if I would have been racing that, I probably would have gone slower. I've got to get in the mental game for this marathon.

Oh and one funny little story...
To get to Staten Island, you have to go all the way to the bottom of Manhattan and take the ferry. On the 1 train you actually have to be in the front 5 cars to get off at the last stop. Well, usually the only people that go down that far in Manhattan are tourists (it is by the Statue of Liberty) and residents of Staten Island. Add in a 7:30 am time on a Sunday (most NYers sleep until noon) and all you have is tourists. So when the 1 train was packed with runners like it was rush hour (standing room only, shoulder to shoulder) I think we really really really confused the tourists. They looked VERY overwhelmed. Especially when the huge hall to take the ferry was overcrowded with thousands of runners. I felt sorry for them. But I felt especially sorry for the ones who took the ferry back after the race with all of us runners. I'm sure it was a rather stinky ride.

Taper

Well, I am now officially into taper. Hurrah!

Last nights workout was cake compared to other workouts. We still had to do intervals, but instead of doing like 14 of them mixed in with ten million hills, we did three of them, with one big hill.

We started at W90th in the park, ran easy up to 102nd and then started our first push. We crossed the park, ran down to 86th and turned around for an easy run back to 97th. This next part was the hard part. Not only were we pushing, but we were pushing Harlem Hill into Lasker Pool Hill (the toughest hills in Central Park) all the way back to W102nd. From there we ran easy to 97th and then pushed it back to 90th.

Taper is weird for me, because even though you are supposed to feel like you have a lot of energy, I often feel the opposite. Like last night, even though our workout was easy my legs were feeling tired. They were mostly feeling tired on the recovery parts of the run. I'm thinking though, that this may be because it was really my first taper run. I mean, I'm probably still tired from the rest of the season. At least I hope that's it.

I've also been pushing really hard to fundraise my last $1000 for Team in Training. Yesterday I had a pretty successful bakesale at work and today is my last day to turn in donations before I get charged for the final amount. Soooooo...if you'd like to help me out, you can click on the link to the right :)

I cannot believe that this marathon season is almost over! But I'm not too worried. After all, I'll begin training for the next one in December, which really isn't THAT far away. :)

It's the Final Countdown

Yesterday I had my last 20 mile run. I had never actually done more than one 20 mile run during a training season, so I didn't know about this. But I also figured that it was probably good for me.

It was also fun, because we had another fieldtrip run. This one was in Piscataway, New Jersey. We had to carpool and everything. My mentor Gina, was the brave one, and drove us all there.

The weather was perfect. A little cold and a little overcast in the morning, but by the end of the run it was sunny. It was kind of weird because the whole thing was a trail run. At the very beginning (not even a half mile into the run) we were already stopping to walk because there was water running over the mossy rocks and they were VERY slippery. The trail itself was made of tiny rocks as well, so I was just waiting to wipe out and not be able to run the marathon.

I made sure I started out with the 10-minute group so that I would hold back. I felt REALLY good at the pace I was going, until some girl with a GPS started shouting out our pace like every thirty seconds. "Now we're at 9:15. Well, NOW were going 9:30 so that's good. Wait. Now we're going 10:15, we need to speed up." Luckily, her running partner told her that if we were going too slowly for her that she could just go ahead. Problem solved. I did NOT need to be worrying about my pace for an entire 20 miles.

I was feeling really great until about the 9 mile mark. This is when I was having some real stomach issues so I decided to stop (if you think this is just TMI go ahead and skip to the next paragraph). Unfortunately there were no good places to stop on the trail. I slid down a humongous hill filled with prickly bushes (OUCH) and then spent the next few minutes pulling them out of my skin and off of my pants. When I started running again it sort of felt like one had lodged itself into my shoe and was poking my big toe. But after a few seconds I didn't feel it, so I figured it all must have been in my head.

Since I let my group go I was running by myself, which kind of stinks. There were no distinguishing marks on the trail to tell us when to turn around, so one of the coaches said he would make some sort of mark to tell us. I knew we were close because I saw other runners turning back. I just kept running. Until a bunch of girls behind me were screaming "You've gone too far! Turn back!" Whoops. A 20 miler is not exactly a run where you want to go too far.

All the way back I was not feeling so good so I had to keep stopping. This was not good because every time I stopped I could feel my muscles and how tight they were. So when I got to the 4 mile mark (four miles left) I was so glad.

Unfortunately, it was THE longest four miles ever.

But despite everything, I still finished at 3:25, which I didn't consider too bad. Especially since I was SO tired. I will be interested to see how this marathon goes compared with my others. I have definitely trained much harder than normal. I think based on my two twenty mile runs I am going to go for a 4:22.

And now, I'm onto my taper! Hurrah!

P.S. I DID have a sticker lodged into my toe. Now it is under one of my three blisters. Ouch.

20 in White Plains!

Saturday we had another fieldtrip run, this one was in White Plains which is way north of the city. It was an absolutely beautiful day, even a little chilly. It was even MORE chilly in White Plains, even though it isn't that far away from New York City.

Coach Christine was there to describe the workouts to us. I was pretty much dreading doing 20 miles, and she said that we didn't REALLY have to do our 20 on Saturday if we were running the Marine Corps, because we still had time to get another 20 in. But she also said that it was a good idea to get the 20 out of the way. I just figured that I really wasn't going to get any better weather than this for a 20 miler. AND it's not like I would really want to do it any other time either.

My goal was to run easy so that I felt like I could make it through the entire 20. So I wasn't going to get upset if I didn't get a great time. I was trying more to run on feeling. That being said, I wanted to maintain around a 10 minute mile throughout the entire run.

I always love our fieldtrip runs because they give us a change of scenery. Although Central Park is beautiful it sometimes is monotonous when you run it day after day. And White Plains was really pretty. We were running in the forest the whole time and the weather stayed nice and cool. The only bad thing about these runs is that the turnout isn't always great...so a lot of us were running alone. This was actually fine for me this time though, because I could really concentrate on staying steady with my pace.

It was easy to keep track of pace because our run consisted of 5 miles out to the dam, turn around and run back to the start and repeat the whole thing again. My first five miles was 41:32, my second 59:09, my third 49:50 and my last 50:40, for a total of 3:21.14. This tells me that I need to SLOW DOWN at the beginning of my run. I think this is the hardest part for me. But I bet if I would have slowed down I would have ended up with a much better time.

However, I was really happy with my run because I actually felt at the end of my run that I could have done 6 more miles. I've never felt that way before on a 20 mile run. Don't get me wrong, I was SORE, and if I would have stopped it would have been over, but my legs just kept going (I have no idea how). My 20 mile run is usually a pretty good indicator of how my marathon will go. If I feel as good as I did during that run when I run my marathon, I will be in good shape.

I DO think that I will try to SLOW DOWN in the beginning though.

Recovery

I was so glad to see in Ramon's workout email yesterday that we were going to have an easy night. I was still a little sore from racing the 1/2 marathon on Sunday and was looking forward to a non-hill night, even though it's still technically hill month.

He also gave his two cents about the half:
"Congratulations to all those brave ones that got up sooooo freaking early on Sunday to participate in the Queen Half marathon, congratulations on a great show and performance, you made us proud !! I know it was a very tough day out there, hot and humid, totally sucked !! One positive thing about it?

Welllll……let me see…hmmm…. Nothing really !! Just be proud that you were able to deal with such miserable conditions !!"

which pretty much summed up how I felt about it too. But it made me feel better about not reaching my time goal. If Ramon thought it sucked out there it must have really sucked because he usually tells us to not be such big babies about it :)

So last night was a very easy 4.5 mile loop. As usual, we didn't really get started until about 7, so we were basically running in the dark the whole time. (I can't believe it gets so dark so early). I tried not to take it out too hard because I knew it was a recovery run. I averaged about 9:35 per mile, but I guess that's okay because I didn't really feel tired, just like it was a nice run. And believe it or not, I think that little run actually helped my legs to recover.

This weekend I am doing my 20 and I am NOT looking forward to it. In the past I have only done one 20 miler before the marathon. It looks like this season I will be doing 2! I know most marathoners do this, so it's not a big deal, but it's just weird for me. As usual, before my 20s I am a little nervous about the whole thing. BUT it is a "field trip" run, so that might be fun. I just hope that someone else in my group is also doing a 20, because the girls I usually run with are doing the Philadelphia Half this weekend.

Tonight is a cross-training night, so I guess it's back to yoga.

66 Turns

This morning I got up as early as I've ever gotten up for running...315 am!!! Today was the Queens Half Marathon, which is part of a Half Marathon Grand Prix. Each borough has it's own half and they are all spread throughout the year. I can't complain too much about the early start because it is supposed to get up to 90 today which is unseasonably warm. The weather was bad enough as it was for our 7am race....hazy and warm, 71 degrees but with the dewpoint felt like 81 with 75% humidity! And luckily, Bill got up early to come and cheer me on (he is such a good husband!)

We took a cab across the island (it is so weird to me that Manhattan is an island) so that we could catch the NYRR shuttle. Coach Ramon had highly suggested buying tickets for this instead of taking public transport because the marathon was way way out of the way. The only thing that stunk is that the buses left at 4:30am. This got us to the half site at around 4:50, so we still got to wait around until 7.

For awhile there it looked like we were going to have a coachless race. The TNT team was all at our meeting spot but with no coaches. Then, at 6:40, Coach Steve (the coach who spends most of his time coaching the advanced group) showed up. He had JUST gotten there, even though he left to take the 7 train and the free shuttle buses at 4:30am (the same time Bill and left). Yuck. I would have totally been panicking if I was in that situation because I get super antsy before a race.

Just like clockwork the race started immediately at 7.

The start was CRAZY. I don't know if people just lied to get into the wrong corrals or what but it seemed like there was a lot more pushing and shoving than normal and people whizzing past and shouldering people. Plus, of course there was a bottleneck at the first turn. The Queens half is known for it's millions of turns. One guy said on his blog that he counted them last year and came up with 66. I was pretty sure he was just exaggerating, so I decided to count them myself. The course is also pretty darn hilly. I was planning for some hills but there were a LOT.

My strategy for the race was to follow Ramon's strategy. I figured he has helped me get my best times and I haven't had a horrible race yet so it was probably a good idea. In summary, we were supposed to:

• Take the first 6 miles out a little slower than usual. This meant that we should feel like we were holding back. According to Ramon's calculations, this would put me at a 9:10 min mile for miles 1-6.
• Take stock of how you feel after mile 6...if you feel good, take 10 seconds off per mile (a 9 min mile for me) for the next 4 miles.
• Take stock of how you feel , if you feel great, race it in for the last 3.

So I was looking forward to my 1:57.

I panicked a LITTLE at the first mile when I looked at my watch. It said 9:55.22. I figured that this was because of the slow start though, and told myself not to panic, I could pick it up a smidge for the next mile.

Next mile? 8:55.62. Whoops, not that much.

I reigned it back in for the next mile, which was a 9:12.66. Perfect! Now just keep that pace.

When I got to the 4th mile I figured I should stop and get some water. It was also a perfect time to try out running through the water stops. (I usually walk these, because every time I try to drink on the run I choke and cough.) I figured this was my longest practice race before the marathon and I should be trying all of this stuff out now. No go. I choked it down and decided maybe it was better to just walk through the stops. 9:19.64.

I was trying to follow this guy who has this t-shirt on that had written on the back of it, huge, in a Sharpie "WHAT?!!!....I AM THE QUEENS BLVD." I have no idea what this meant, but he seemed to be running exactly my pace....between 9:10s and 9:20s. Lots of turns, lots of hills and lots of confused bystanders. In fact, I think in some places it was only Bill and maybe two other people cheering. And those were the big cheering spots. Mile 5: 9:32.36. Luckily, with all of these turns the miles were FLYING by. Every time I got to a mile marker I was like "Oh wow. Really?" and checked my watch, like "Yeah, I guess that's right."
Last mile to go slow...9:27.69.

At this point, I was wondering if I should pick it up. I was mostly like, "YES." because I could tell that I was holding back a little on all of those miles. But I also thought no, because it just didn't feel like I was holding back that much. I figured that mile 7 would be a transition mile into my new pace, so I was shooting for around a 9:10. I just kept visualizing my legs turning over faster, not necessarily picking up the pace. I got a 9:27.07. Not EXACTLY what I was hoping for, but then again, I didn't really feel like I was going any faster either.

My breathing was still good and not audible, so I decided to pick it up for real this time. I willed my legs to turn over faster, and you know what? It worked!!! I felt like I was going a smidge faster, but not that much. However, I logged an 8:55.04. Hurrah!

The miles were still coming fast at this point even though the hills seemed to be multiplying. I was stupid at the next mile and forgot to push the lap button, so I don't remember what that split was, but the next two combined were 18:53.59. After these two miles I was just like "Forget it. I'm done. I'm not running anymore." I was so tired. Plus, my GU from mile 6 kept coming up which is an awful, gross feeling. My tank and short were SOAKED which was incredibly uncomfortable. I was just done. No more. So, according to Ramon's plan I was dropping out. I meaured how I felt after 10 miles and decided from that point just to finish the race.

It was a pain to run the next miles. More hills and MORE turns. Luckily, there was some funny/friendly banter from the runners ahead of me about Sarah Palin (for and against, despite the fact that in NY everyone is a democrat). It was cracking me up, which was good because it took my mind off of everything.

It was here that this woman came up to me and said "You're doing great. I've been following you from mile 1 and you still look like you're doing good. Keep it up." She of course passed me. But I thanked her tremendously because I totally needed that at this point (even if it wasn't true). I knew I was running awful and tired and I didn't care. Mile 11: 10:04.10. I wasn't even surprised and I didn't care.

Now the miles were DRAGGING. I kept thinking, "Aren't we almost there?" Some guy asked a course volunteer what mileage we were at and he said "11.5" and I groaned audibly.

It was here that I ran into Coach Steve. He ran up to me and started running with me. He asked me how I felt, and instead of smiling through the pain and saying "Oh, just fine." like I used to do in Cincinnati during my practices, I said "I feel like crap." He said "Of course you do." (I was like WHAT?! Really?) "It's really really hot and humid out there. You look good and you're almost finished. Make sure you get water at the next stop which is right around the corner and then just finish strong and we'll be there to cheer you on." The whole time he was telling me this he was running next to me and it didn't escape me that he was increasing my turnaround by just a smidge. Yay. For some reason, all of this made me feel better. Mile 12: 9:22.13. Hurrah!

Here I saw Bill, and even though I was feeling a little better I gave him the thumbs down to let him know that I was completely off my plan, and overall not feeling so hot. He gave me some words of encouragement to push through. And guess what else was there for me? A HUGE hill. Maybe the second largest on the course? Now that was just MEAN.

I was SOOOOO tired. Mile 13: 10:10.93, but I didn't even look at the watch on that one because I was totally focused on the finish.

I finished with a 2:04.17.

I guess it's a PR since I've never done a half before ;)

I definitely wasn't ecstatic, but I felt like considering the circumstances I did ok.

But the thing that stunk? No medals! Pttt. Well, at least the shirts were cool.

Oh, and I lost count of the turns when my race started to fall apart, but at that time it was around 50, so it is quite possible that there really are 66 turns in the Queens Half Marathon.

Hills, or "Inclines"

Since it is Hill Month 2 for our advanced team I guess it was no surprise that last night we had a hill workoutBut instead of doing tons of repeats on steep hills, we did 2 repeats on a bunch of rolling hills.

In fact, Ramon didn't even consider them hills, but "inclines".

What is the difference?

Well, on hills you have to shorten your stride in order to make up for the steepness of the hill. Otherwise you would die. On inclines your stride really shouldn't change at all. And because of this, we were supposed to be running at 90% effort level, which is about a 5K pace. Whew! This was a tall order, especially since our workout last night consisted of 8 miles of these rolling hills. (Of course we did have some recovery time in between, so it was sort of more of an interval workout with lots of hills thrown in).The tricky thing about effort levels is that you have to maintain the same effort for the entire workout. So, you may actually be going slower up the hill, medium on the flat part and faster on the down part, but the effort is all the same. An easy way to measure this is your breathing. When you're doing a workout at 90% you should basically be huffing and puffing. This is EXACTLY what I was doing the entire workout (well, the non recovery parts).

During these workouts I try not to use my watch, because Ramon told us the point of the workout was not to save energy for the end, but to go all out on each one. Therefore, your second round would be slower. Besides, effort levels are not about time. This kind of workout reminds me of the Karate Kid, because you are really really in tune with your body. I'm hoping that this means that I will become a better runner. I KNOW I never paid attention to my body this much before while I was running.

The workout was insanely hard and I really pushed myself. I was even keeping up with some of the insane NYRR classes that were being held in the park at the same time. I was so tired and my legs were extremely tired at the end, but I felt great!

The rest of the week for me is a taper because I am running in the Queens Half Marathon for time. The coaches all say it is a good idea to run a half around this time in the training to give yourself a good idea of what time to expect on your marathon, and just to see how you're going to race in a long distance.

I am excited but also nervous.

Unrealized PR

So on Saturday I ran another 4-mile race in Central Park. It was for Fitness magazine and was the same 4-mile loop it always is. At the beginning of the week I was all set on having a PR. Unfortunately when I woke up on Saturday morning it was super humid. So humid in fact that the race coordinators could not stop talking about it. They told everyone not to go for a PR today.

It always makes me nervous when they keep talking about the weather like that during a race. It makes me keep saying in my head "it's humid out, it's humid out." Which makes me more aware of it. This might be a good thing for some people but for me it's like I can't stop concentrating on it.

So I decided NOT to go for a PR. I DID want to beat my last 4-mile race though, where I was hung over.

I told myself to hold back on the first mile because I've figured out that this is the key to a good race for me. I was feeling a little winded but figured this was just the humidity. My first mile was a 8:27 and I was like "uh oh. Slow down, sister." Plus, I was just way too aware of the girl on my team who was running next to me. I was allowing her to get into my head again.

The next mile was supposed to be my fast mile, which it was. I lost my teammate on this one. 8:00

The third mile was a bear. I hate it because of all of the hills. Plus, at this point I was very very tired from the heat/humidity (did I mention that later that afternoon we had the big "tropical storm?"). I stopped for water for the second time and dumped a bunch on my head which I try NOT to do. 9:30.

The last mile I was just trying to hang on. This is where I usually get my second wind, but I honestly was just trying not to collapse over the finish line. I looked at my watch and figured I would try to make it in at 34:00. I figured that while this was not my PR, it would still do for the race. So I was a little disappointed when I clocked a 34:22.

I called Bill to tell him how I did, which in my words was "I guess not tooo bad, considering the humidity. But I was really really hoping for a PR."

Yeah, well, I just checked my times from my spreadsheet of all of my races at work. I DID have a PR. By three seconds, but still a PR. And the former PR race? That was the one where I was feeling invincible! So that tells me that I HAVE improved.

Yay hill work I guess ;)

Ramon is Trying to Kill Us

So Sunday I got an email summarizing our upcoming September in running. My favorite line was
"Well....the advance group has been thinking all along that they were not doing any hill work, wellll....september is your hilly month...get ready !!" And all of this started out with our first September group workout.

Last night we had 7-10 hill repeats on Cat Hill. YUCK.

I have never done THAT many repeats in one workout. Ramon emphasized that we should not be guaging this workout on what anyone else was doing, that it was a personal workout. We were also not supposed to worry about time (good thing, because I forgot my watch) because obviously you will get more and more tired as the workout progresses. Instead, we were supposed to run at effort levels again. The up hill was an effort level 4 (out of 5...that means at about 85%). I guage these workouts through my breathing, which is what I think you are supposed to do.

It was also a sliding scale of 7-10 because you were supposed to go with how you were feeling. For instance, if you were dying after 4, you should only do 7.

All of these caveats were because (as our coach for the night explained to us) all of the Advanced runners have Type A personalities and think they have to do the full workout even if they are dying and that they have to beat everyone that they usually run with because they are so highly competitive. (Guilty as charged).

The first 3 were not bad at all (I mean, for hill workouts). I was definitely tired and definitely behind the people I usually run with (you can't help but notice), but I was feeling pretty good. I hydrated after these 3 which I think was a mistake, because it sort of took my momentum and motivation to do more away.

So instead of my plan to hydrate after every 3 I decided to play it by ear and try not to hydrate until the end of the workout. This worked out a lot better. Our coach was at the top of the hill making sure that we ran at full effort all the way to the end with great form, so I was really concentrating on keeping my arm swing low and not running on my toes, which I tend to do when the hills get tougher for me.

After 7 I was done. I was slowing down and my recoveries included walking.

So I decided to do two more.

It WAS a good workout. I think all of this heavy hill work will help me out in the marathon for sure.

Test Run

Last night we had a "test run" in Central Park. This is something that Coach Ramon does so that we can see how much we have progressed. Unfortunately for me I wasn't around for the first test run, so I had nothing to compare it with. So I just figured I would run hard and remember my time for next time we do a test run.

The advanced group's test consisted of two two-mile repeats wedged in between a warm-up and cool-down run. The first 2 miles was from East 72nd, up Cat Hill to East 102nd and across to West 102nd. This was tough because it included Cat Hill. I was breathing heavily and trying to not get too hung up on the fact that people were passing me. I just kept thinking of what everyone (mom, dad, teachers, husband) has told me my whole life which is "Don't worry about what everyone else is doing, just concentrate on doing your best." But, as a side note, I think the reason that I push myself to do my best is because I'm concentrating on what everyone else is doing. Ha ha. Anyways, I was happy to see as I was crossing 102nd street that I had caught up to the girl who usually runs just a little bit behind me. I also noticed that The Mentor That Paces Way Too Fast was right by me. So I figured I wasn't THAT far off. When I finished the repeat I was at 17:03 which is roughly an 8:30 pace.

Our recovery (ha!) was Harlem Hill to East 102nd. I had to keep telling myself to slow down because it was a recovery, because I can't help wanting to speed through that hill to get it over with.

The next 2-mile repeat was the same course backwards (West 102nd to East 102nd to East 72nd). The Mentor That Paces Way Too Fast, the girl I run with sometimes and I decided to do the last two miles together. I was a little wary of this since I had a really bad experience with her going out too fast. I think she was trying to make up for it though. She kept giving us running advice and updating us with our pace like every minute via her Nike+ wristband. She was telling us how we could keep pace until Cat Hill and then we needed to sprint in. She was telling us that we all should run together in the Marine Corps and that by our pace tonight (8:30 mile) we could totally do a 3:55 marathon (8:58 mile). Fast pacer was overwhelming me by talking about a lot at once when I was trying to concentrate ("Have your boyfriend cut up oranges for us three at mile 18. Hey guys slow down we're going to die on this pace. You aren't too talkative are you? Guys, slow down, for real!") I also felt like they were flying, so I cut back a little. They flew ahead of me and kept looking back and making sure I was there. I kept telling myself that I knew what I was doing. I needed to take it at a hard pace where I could breath heavily but not too heavily.

They kept being further and further away from me. At Cat Hill though, I was right up with them again. Fast pacer said she was worried about me. I said "Nah. I've got to do my own thing. I have to start out slower and build up."

I think I've been stressing way too much or something, because I found the whole thing very distracting. I mean, it was no fault of the other two girls, who were just trying to help me out and make sure that I had a good run, but I just felt like I needed to do my own thing. For me, trying to improve on my running takes a lot of concentration...especially on speedwork days. I am just not used to people talking the whole time on speed days. Most everyone I ran with in the past is panting too heavily to do so :)

I sprinted in the last 50 feet or so, finishing that one with a 17:17.

I was a little bummed to get 15 seconds off, but all in all I think it was a good run.

Into Brooklyn

Saturday we had a really fun run. I was a little nervous to pick up the mileage again since I haven't really been running all that much. According to my schedule I was supposed to do my 19 miler, but I knew that this probably wasn't a very good idea since I really only ran 3 miles this week and 10 miles last week (btw, both of those were single runs). I decided to shoot for 14-15 but see how I felt along the way.

We started out way downtown in the Winter Gardens (right by the World Trade Center site). We had the option of staying in Manhattan for the entire run, or venturing into Brooklyn. I of course, wanted to venture into Brooklyn. I am always up for a change of scenery AND this would give me some hill work too.

I also decided that if my pace leader was pacing this week I was NOT going to be in her group. Luckily though, she wasn't there. And Ramon was making the coaches pace this week instead of the mentors. This was good because I was really afraid of getting lost in Brooklyn. Manhattan is pretty easy to navigate since it is all on a grid and most of the streets are numbered. But Brooklyn is another story.

What a difference it makes when you're going the right pace! I felt so much better through the entire run. And I truly COULD have added another 4 miles on without much problem (but I stopped anyway. I didn't want to push it too hard).

The run was also a lot of fun. We got to run over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is always great. It was super crowded with people though which was a little frustrating runningwise (I was running in a zigzag a lot of the time to avoid other people). I decided though that you can't get mad at people for wanting to walk/bike/rollerblade/run across the bridge. It is extremely cool and the view is amazing, plus the weather yesterday was great for outdoor activities. Some lady obviously didn't feel the same way. She was out for a leisurely stroll and was talking on her cellphone. I think she was overwhelmed by all of us even though we were being very good and only running one or two across and staying on the right side of the bridge. I was trying to avoid her completely and swerved to the right to do so (just as she swerved to her left) so we met face to face and she threw up her hands and screamed "F*CK!!" in my face, which I thought was a little humorous. I could tell it was her last straw. :)

Anyway, after crossing the bridge we ran through Brooklyn. I had no idea where exactly we were but found it commical how many other people in the group had never been to Brooklyn. We passed the Brooklyn TNT team and our coach yelled "Yeah! Go Brooklyn!" And they hollered back "YEEEEAH!" which made me laugh because it is sort of the stereotypical Brooklyn reaction to something like that (anyone ever see that movie "Newsies"?). Ramon was following the course on his bike because he was super afraid that we were all going to get lost and never find our way back to Manhattan.

We finally got to the Williamsburg bridge and I looked forward. It went STRAIGHT UP. I was like "Oh yeah, this is nice." And the coach said it was good practice for San Francisco (which I am so glad I am not running.) I just tried to enjoy the beautiful view and read all of the graffiti instead of concentrating on the hill.

Crossing Manhattan again through the Lower East Side was NOT pleasant because it smelled like garbage baking in the sun.

But we finally made it to Lafayette to run up Park Avenue for the last time (boo! I hope they do Summer Streets again). I really had time to enjoy it this week since I was on pace instead of flying through the streets tiring myself out. I remembered to stop at the church that everyone was talking about (because they gave out freshly squeezed lemonade...delicious!). By this point though, most of our group had split up. Hardly anyone was running all the way up to 72nd street because most people were not doing 19 miles. I ran all the way up to 63rd with Kelly though and then caught up with some other people from the group to cut across the 72nd Street Transverse.

The rest of the run was on my own since I just decided to head uptown for the last two miles and head home. It was nice to be able to finish right in front of my apartment building.

I had to double check Ramon's mileage count on mapmyrun.com, because I figured there was no way that he could be right (according to my watch). But he was! I did 15 miles in 2:18 which means that I was doing a 9:19 mile the whole way. I was so ecstatic!

I, of course, plugged that into one of those calculators that can predict your marathon times based on your long runs. It says that I can do a 4:14 based on that time. That would be awesome!

So, what did I learn from this? Take it out easy and you will do better than you thought. Yes, every coach I have ever had has told me this, but I am one of those people who has to experience it for myself before I believe it ;)

Give me a Break

So apparently I am not allowed to run or do anything else for myself...including laundry, taking my dog for a walk, etc. Needless to say that I am having a very hard time with work/life balance and I don't want it to screw up all of the training I've done. For instance, tonight I am taking work home. Again. Even though I am jetlagged (from work). It's going to be another 2am night for me I can tell.

In addition to screwing up my training, not running is just bad for me mentally. Running allows me to decompress, and on a certain level, meditate. I definitely need it.

So, even though I have a TON of work to do I am going to try get a few miles in. I probably only have time for three, but that is better than nothing I suppose.

I am really hoping that the first 7 months of my job here were not just a delusion to make me want to stay here. This past month has been crap. :(

Seasonal Clothing Gripe

OK. I know I complain about this constantly, but NOW I even have more reason; I do NOT have closet or drawer space in my tiny NYC apartment to house three different sizes of clothing. And that's what has happened to me this year. I have vacillated between three sizes of clothing. And it's not like I go up a size in my pants and go up a size in my shirt. It's just like all over the place. I lose pounds. I lose inches in one place but not in another, I gain inches in other places. It makes it very difficult.

I used to give away my clothing when it didn't fit, but now I have decided to keep it because I am constantly in between sizes.

It is all due to running.

And I don't know if I am gaining/losing fat or muscle. This winter I was definitely losing fat. I can tell in my midsection which got a LOT flatter, but overall I didn't really look that different. Now, I THINK I gained some fat back, but I can't tell if I really have or if I've just gotten used to looking at myself in the mirror in my smaller size and am being more judgmental. My smaller jeans still fit but is that because they are stretched out or dirty or am I losing inches again? I still weigh the same that I did this winter when I lost all of my fat weight. BUT when I sit down on the couch my thighs slap together and clap AND my armpits did the same thing only LOUDER when I ran down the only hill on the Lunken bike trail. It makes it very hard to shop for/have clothes that fit and are stylish which is pretty important in my job :(

ARGHHHH! It is maddening.

I could probably figure out if I was losing or gaining by the simple use of a tape measure, but I'm pretty sure I'm gaining, so I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. Anyway, it still wouldn't solve my clothing problem.

I'm just going to eat when I'm hungry. (Which is basically all the time.)

I'm Back

Today was my first run (to completion) in two weeks. Long stories but basically work has been hell and I haven't had time to do anything (even sleep) plus my knee still had that tweaky sort of pain.

Today's weather was great for a run. I even thought it was kind of cool out when I stepped out of the apartment. We met at Riverside which is NOT my favorite place to run. Those runs are so boring because you end up going down the West Side Highway. The bikers are mean, the scenery stinks, half of the water fountains don't work and the sun is constantly beating down on you. So I was very very happy when I found out that we were going to take advantage of Summer Streets...Michael Bloomberg's idea to close down Park Avenue for 7 miles on Saturday mornings to traffic so that New Yorkers can enjoy the open street.

So while we started out on the West End Highway we got to cross over to run on traffic-free Park Avenue. Fun!!!

I was feeling pretty excited for my run too since I've been absent for 2 weeks. It was also a down week so I didn't have to be afraid that I was pushing myself too hard. The advanced group was only doing 10 miles. This consisted of running from Riverside at 72nd along the path down to W Houston, crossing over to Lafayette, running up to 72nd and crossing back through Central Park.

I decided to run with the 9:30 pace group but sort of hang back towards the end and do a 9:40 or so. We took off and I was feeling a little tired, but I figured that it was because I had been off for awhile. After the first mile I settled into the pace and felt good. I was running with Kelly though and she kept saying "We're going too fast." Neither of us could tell though, because we didn't know what mile we were on. She had her GPS with her and it said we were doing an 8:40, but she thought it might not be accurate because it doesn't always work in the shade. I told her I would check my watch at 23rd street which was supposed to be the turnaround for people running 6 today (so it was 3 miles). When we got there I looked and my watch and saw it was 23:00. Now, I am pretty awful at calculating splits, but I knew that this meant we were under an 8:00 pace...which I think is just WRONG because the mentor was supposed to be keeping us at 9:30. So we caught up to them and told her and she was like "Oh yeah, I know we're going a little fast." She didn't seem too concerned. (BTW, we were doing a 7:40). At this pace Kelly and I knew we would be wiped out by 10 miles. I also thought that this was bad because a lot of these runners are beginners and don't quite know how they should be pacing, what feels wrong, etc.

When we got to the crossover we had passed the 9:00 pace group (who left a few minutes before us). Their mentor was like "Uh, you guys are going fast, because we're going fast (8:50) and you shouldn't have passed us." Our mentor was like "Oh yeah, we know."

WHAT?!

So we did our best to stay way behind her. She did slow down, but we were wiped out by the time she was doing the real pace. I couldn't even enjoy Park Avenue being closed down because I was just ready to drop. In fact, when we got to 60th street I said goodbye to Kelly, telling her that I had to walk. I just didn't want my knee to flair up or anything. It was feeling okay at this point but I was just feeling like I could curl up on the sidewalk and take a nap.

The advanced coach passed me and asked me how I was doing and I told him what happened. I continued running from 68th street to the end. When I ran into the beginner's coach I told her what happened too. I really don't mean to be an a-hole or get anyone in trouble, but I feel like that really screwed up my run...and I've trained for 3 marathons! I can only imagine how the beginners felt. She said that this has happened twice before (with that mentor being off pace) but never as much as she was at the beginning of our run. So she's going to talk to her.

I walked home and took a looooooong nap.

Tonight I am meeting the team to watch the Cyclones game (minor league baseball) which should be fun, and eat a hotdog and drink a well-deserved beer!

A Crazy Work Schedule is Making it VERY Difficult to Run

or write blog posts.

Hurrah!

Hill month is over!!!! Thank goodness. I also just got Ramon's new schedule and it looks like August is going to be MUCH nicer. We even have some shorter (tenish miles) long runs, and NO running on Fridays.

Last night was tough, but because the run was broken up into different sections you didn't have too much time to think about it because your mind was always going. It was basically a series of tempo runs. The goal was to build up a lot of lactic acid in your muscles and then see if you could overcome it.

The first part was a warm-up, from East 85th to 102nd. I made sure I wasn't speeding on this one, like I like to do. From there we were supposed to run FAST down the Lasker Pool hill and up that mean and awful Harlem Hill. Our coaches warned us that even though we were supposed to be taking this part of the run fast that we should hold back a little on the downhill. Otherwise our quads would kill us at the end of the workout. But overall, we were not supposed to hold back on this hill. It should be at least our 5k pace and if a coach asked us how we were doing all we should be able to get out was "good" and nothing more, because we should be breathing that hard.

I was nervous because the hill defeated me last week. Over and over. Eight times.

So I put in my mind that I wasn't going to let it beat me this time. I had this running conversation in my head the whole time I was running up it.

ME: I'm going to spank you, you *%?#ing hill! Here I come! I'm not even tired yet! This is my FIVE K Pace you *%$#!
HILL: You're not even halfway there yet and you're getting tired
ME: Oh, you don't even KNOW how much endurance I have...and I can almost see the water fountain from here.
HILL: But the water fountain is only halfway.
ME: Well I just hit the waterfountain *&%$ and I STILL have energy.

(Kind of stupid, I know...but I did have a running dialogue in my head).

So I was definitely tired after that hill, and wondering how I was going to make my next tempo run, which was the 1.5 miles around the Reservoir. Luckily, this one was flat AND luckily this one was only at a 10k pace. So I got to slow down a LITTLE. It was still tiring me though. Especially at the end. Kristin was on my tail the whole time, which was great. I think she is right around my pace, so she was pushing me to stay on pace. She passed me at the end though, and I was dying.

I stopped to take a drink at the fountain and had to ask the coach what the next part was (this whole workout was very confusing). The last part was .5 miles recovery. When we got to 90th on the west side we had to run it in with as much speed as we could muster. The problem with this, of course, is that we were all wiped out by this point. So this was the part that was the "test".

You were supposed to be able to get around or better than your last mile test. If you could do it, it meant that your training was going well and that your muscles were strong. If you were off, it meant that you needed to work your muscles more.

I had NO energy. But the recovery did help me a little bit. As we got closer and closer to 90th street I just got that feeling in my stomach that you get when you are going up the hill on the rollercoaster. You know it will be fine, but it's the anticipation of getting there. I had to stop myself from taking the recovery too fast so that I could just get it over with.

When I hit 90th I took off. I felt like I had a lot of range of movement in my legs...like my shins were paralel to the ground when I kicked back (like Bob [Roncker] always said they should be in his running clinic). Don't get me wrong...I was breathing heavily. That mile seemed to last forever. But when I clocked in...8:03!!! I guess my training is going well :)

Now THAT was the kind of workout I feel GREAT after!