New York City Marathon

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Apparently, we will find out on June 6th whether or not I made the lottery pull for the New York City Marathon. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Frustration Workout

I HATE it when I feel like I have a bad run.

Yesterday, Bill and I went for a run along the Hudson. It was just an easy, 30 minute run. I don't know what it was. I was so out of breath the whole time and I really felt like I was working hard. I think that some of this was because we were going a little faster than what I have been running lately with my group, but it couldn't have been JUST that.

I was just so frustrated because when I feel like I am ONLY running for a short time or distance, the whole time I am thinking in my head that it should be easy and I should be able to do it. But my legs just felt heavy, and I just felt tired. It's like I know that I can do better and I can't figure out why I feel so crappy.

At any rate, I am in London again for the whole week...which means that I am missing my group workout tonight. It's too bad because tonight we are learning about Effort Levels. I have never done anything like this before, so I am curious to know how they work. I am really going to have to make an effort to run this week. I have a 9-miler at the end of the week, and if I slack I know I am going to feel it. Right now though, I can't think about it because I am sooooooo jet-lagged. :)

Cross-Training Run

Since my calves have felt all knotty for the past couple of days, I REALLY didn't feel like running today. Especially since our coach, Ramon had told us last week that our fun runs were over with. (Although I can never tell when he is joking or when he is serious).

But when I got to the park I found out that we were starting with an easy 3-mile run around the park, to see places we probably didn't know existed in the park. We were all going to run together as a group instead of our individual groups. Then, when we got back, the advanced group would do two laps around the lake and the intermediates would do 2 laps around the lake. I thought this sounded perfect!

Plus, I met my mentor, Gina, who seems really really nice. In fact, she ran next to me the entire time and we chatted the whole way.

The hard part of the run was when we stopped at every mile to do some circuit training exercises. We did squats at every one. I HATE squats. BUT I probably need to do them because it's my quads that need a ton of work (and it's my lack of quad strength on my right side that led me to my knee problems). All of the mentors started moaning about cross-training runs.

Apparently, Coach Ramon has these cross-training runs where we will do hard core circuit training within the run. I've had two mentors tell me that it is the hardest thing that we do in training and that for the whole week afterwards you feel sore. They both now have personal trainers to help them do this all the time so that they aren't sore when we start doing these runs. They also said the hardest part was after the little cross-training bit getting back into the run.

In some sick way, this made me actually look forward to cross-training runs. I think it is because I KNOW they will help me run faster and I know that they will help me build muscle. Besides I am such a slacker when it comes to any kind of cross or weight training, so I think this will be good for me.

It was cool to do the 3-mile loop because we ran on trails and hills as well as paved pathways. We ran to the highest hill in the park but we also saw some things that I didn't know existed in the park (like waterfalls).

After that we did two 1.6 mile loops which didn't seem bad at all. I guess I could have done the third with the advanced group, but I'm trying to let my body recover until June 1st like Coach Ramon suggested.

Nervously Waiting on a Reply

I feel like I am trying to get into college again.

Well, I mean, that was a much more important decision, but that's how I FEEL.

I just submitted my lottery form for the ING New York City Marathon. We don't find out until mid-June whether we make it or not (actually I think my coach said it would be on the 21st...but there was no indication from the confirmation email I just received). I mean, the world will not be over if I don't get in. And if I don't get in, I still get to run the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. But even so, I would really like to get into the New York City Marathon. It is one of those "life goal" things.

I guess if I don't get in (and I don't get in the next two times I apply) I have guaranteed entry. :) Unfortunately, I joined the NYRR too late to get guaranteed entry for next year.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Best Intentions

Hmmm...so I have been a little lazy with my workouts. One reason can be totally blamed on work, but the second reason is completely my own fault. I went away to Chicago this past weekend and although I had the best intentions to work out (I brought two running outfits, etc.) it didn't happen. I was indulging a little too much in rich foods (who wants to run after that?) and decided that sleeping in was more important than getting my workout in. I also missed my TNT practice last night because there was an "emergency" at work. Grrr.

I can REALLY tell that I have been slacking too. I feel really sluggish and tired and I feel like my stomach is coming back. I've also regained 3 pounds (can you really do that in a WEEK?). But the bad thing is that tonight I work until 9pm. So there will be no running. I just have to kick myself into gear when I get back to the city on Thursday!

Learning to Run (Again)

Saturday I had my second practice with TNT. My first question (as always) was 'how far are we going to run today?' But our coach had a different theory. Apparently a lot of people were asking him this exact same question (at least I didn't ask out loud) because he told us to STOP worrying about mileage and just enjoy our run. We are not supposed to be focusing on mileage at this point. In fact, we had a 40-60 mile run scheduled that day. He told us that we could worry about that when we really started training hard in the next few weeks.

This annoyed me because I am constantly trying to work on making my pace faster. I was also annoyed because I was told to take it easy until June since I just ran a marathon. I have been itching to really start my training again. BUT I really really like our coach AND I figured he knew what he was talking about, so I decided to suck it up and not worry about how far we were running. I didn't even try to calculate it in my head like I usually do.

It turned out that I had a really really enjoyable run! I realized how much I really do enjoy running (again). The weather was great and we had a beautiful run along the Hudson River.

After each practice we have a group stretching session. I usually HATE stretching. It is one of those things that I know that I should do after every run, but honestly (this is so bad, I know) I only do it after my really long runs (like my 18+ milers). I hate it that much. But I realize now that I was actually doing a lot of my stretches the wrong way. AND when you do it as a group it's actually not so bad. So now I actually look forward to stretching because it feels really great after my runs (sort of like it does after a really tough Pilates class).

So I feel like I am actually learning a lot about running again...which makes the whole thing even more fun.

Recovery Run

Last night was the first run that I've done since the marathon...and it was HARD.

I had to meet my fellow TNT members at 6:40 at the fountain in Central Park. Well, I kind of underestimated the time it would take to get there. I had only a slight idea of where I was going, and had to run to get there. (This drives me crazy because I am always super-punctual if not always early). I was running with the intermediate group because I am not supposed to move up to advanced until the first week of June.

I am SO GLAD because that run absolutely exhausted me. I thought we would just jump in with a couple of miles (seeing as that we are starting our training SO EARLY) but we did a regular workout last night: five miles. It was a good thing that I had someone to talk to (that is what I love about training with a group) because it made the whole thing go a lot faster. She found me because she loved my running skirt (my Triks one) and thought my shirt was funny (it says "Marathon Ho"). It is funny because in group situations where I don't know anyone, I always make friends when people compliment me on my clothes. I guess that is why it is always important to wear something cute :)

My legs were so tired. And here is another weird thing...during my past few runs I have gotten so many blisters. And not just regular blisters – blisters on top of blisters, blood blisters and blood blisters under callouses. I don't know what is up with this because I never ever get blisters. I never even got them when I did toe dancing. There is no way that it is my shoes because they only have about 150 miles on them. I am also wearing the right socks. All I know is that it makes running totally painful. And since I've never had them I don't know one thing about them. So they suck. (I know, boo hoo hoo).

The cool thing about TNT is that the coach is SOOOO thorough. He made us all stretch together so that he could make sure we were doing the stretches right and then gave us the whole reasoning behind each stretch. I already feel like I am learning a lot. He also makes me laugh, which is a good thing when you are going through something as painful as a marathon.

There were about 100 people in each of the groups which means there are about 350 people on the team! And that is just the team in Manhattan! That is crazy!

As much as my blisters hurt, it is nice to get back into running again.

(Oh yeah, and I did a 46:08 for those five miles).

TNT

That's Team in Training...not dynamite.

Tonight is my first group practice. I am very excited. According to all of the literature, I am an "advanced runner" which basically means that I can run 8 miles and want to finish under 5 hours. It also means that I will be training 5-6 times a week. That will be good for me. I want that 4:22 more than ever now!

Even though I am supposed to be in the advanced group, my coach said that I should take it easy until the beginning of June so that my body can recover from the marathon. Sounds good to me!

I have no idea how long the run is going to be tonight. It is called a "get acquainted with the park" run. I pretty much am acquainted with it, because of all the training I did for the Pig, but it will be fun to run with a group and maybe I will find out some cool stuff about the park/trails etc. that I didn't know.

I am leaving straight from work in order to make it up there on time, so I will be wearing my training clothes in the subway. That should be funny :)

Pace Groups (And a Pace Story)

Maybe I don't understand what a pace group is supposed to do...

What I gathered from everything that I read about pace groups is that they were supposed to keep a consistant pace throughout the race. Obviously this is VERY difficult to do. I mean, I can understand falling a little off pace in this process. But when I ran in Chicago, we had five paceleaders for the 4:45 group. They all had their little Garmins beeping the whole time and were obsessive about hitting our EXACT pace on every mile.

For the Flying Pig, Bill and I started out with the 4:30 pace group, with the idea that after we split (around mile 9), we would both pick up the pace (for him to run a 2:12 and for me to finish with a 4:22). I thought I would be okay, because most of my training runs I was doing a 9 minute pace. In fact, on my last two long runs it was almost agony to keep a 10 minute pace. So I thought a goal pace of 10:18 would give me a nice finish time.

We started our first mile at 10:15. I was super impressed because there was a lot of crowd to navigate around. The paceleader was great, monitoring our breathing, giving us tips on running up the hill, etc. He had paced 15 marathons before and lives in San Diego, where there are LOTS of hills to train on. So I felt comfortable with him, like he knew what he was doing.

The next mile was 9:07. Okay? A little fast. Especially since we walked through a water stop. But maybe the strategy was to save it for the hills?

Mile 3 = 10:53
Mile 4 = 9:45
Mile 5 = 10:13
Mile 6 = 9:48

When they stopped for water I decided to ditch them. I mentally needed to get up the 4 mile gradual climb and the worst part of the marathon was coming up. I was already starting to feel a little tired (and probably a little antsy since our pace was all over the place). I decided to take it nice and super easy and logged an 11:22 for my next mile. I thought this was okay since we obviously had made up some time in the pace group. I wasn't too worried.

The next mile was 10:53, but the weird thing was that I was AHEAD of the pace group at this point. This was actually the mile that I slowed down to catch up with them again. I figured the paceleader knew best what he was doing.

I felt better running with them because our next mile was 10:12 (only 6 seconds fast). Then 10:07.

Mile 11 = 9:38 and I was starting to get pissed off because my arms were hurting which was slowing me down. I also didn't feel so great in my stomach (which probably had nothing to do with my pacing). I was feeling tired though.

Mile 12 = 10:01
Mile 13 = 10:06
Mile 14 = 10:29

This is where I started to ditch the pace group again. I KNEW that I could pace myself. I had done it a million times, keeping a 10 minute mile the whole way and only ending about 30 seconds off pace. I was feeling like CRAP and had to slow down.
So I logged a 10:52 and for the next two split the difference between 21:38 (I forgot to hit my watch on mile 16).

I was DYING and had no energy.

This is when my times really fell off.

Mile 18 = 12:32

This was not good. However, I knew the 4:45 group was behind me. So I revised my Plan C goal from "just finishing" to "finishing with my Chicago goal time: 4:45".

Mile 19 = 12:02

I was pissed off at myself and willed myself to pick up the pace.

Mile 20 = 11:27
Mile 21 = 11:42
Mile 22 = 11:03
Mile 23 = 13:12

BUT this is where I stopped at the Port-o-let. I had to pee since the 9th mile and was trying to hold it in all this time. I couldn't take it anymore and decided to stop. Well, I guess after waiting that long I couldn't go. I was like "come on, come on, come on". I was watching my watch the whole time. That little trip cost me 2 minutes. (Sorry if that was TMI).

Mile 24 = 12:16 (I was making goal points for myself at this point. "Just make it to that red house and then you can walk a little". Well, let's just say I walked a lot during that mile).

Mile 25 = 14:29 (Ouch!)"OK" I told myself, "NO MORE WALKING!"

Mile 26.2 = 12:41

I THINK the extra .25 was added around mile 22. But I'm not sure.

At any rate, I was just glad to finish. My knees hurt more than they ever have before. My friends near the finish line said I looked "pissed off". I smiled at the end because I knew there would be pictures taken. :)

But I must have looked really bad because volunteers kept asking me if I was ok. Really? For real?

I saw people walking around with ice cream. Brilliant! Calcium, protein, fat, yummy...just what I needed. I ambled to the end and was draped with a blanket, a towel and a medal. (That was cool. They usually just hand them to you).

I saw my parents and Bill and went over to the grass to get rid of my lactic acid. It took Bill, my mom AND my dad to help me to the ground. I am including the picture because it is funny. But I look extremely gross in it. So then I will end with a cute picture of me and all of my friends so that you can get that scary picture out of your mind. :)

Flying Pig Highlights

I have to say, that the Flying Pig is one of the greatest experiences ever! I know that I have only run one other marathon, but I still think that I would vote for the Flying Pig as one of my favorites even if I had run a ton of other ones. I like it so much that it was still enjoyable even though I had to "Plan C" my run.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL and perfect for running...sunny the whole time with temps ranging from the 40s to the 60s.

The crowds were so much bigger (and more supportive) than last year, which was great because from mile 17 onward I was pretty much done :)

Bill, however ran a GREAT race. He was hoping for a 2:11 for his half and ended up with a 2:02!!!!!

I ended up off my goal of 4:22 by a lot BUT it's okay because had the course only been 26.2 miles I might have actually made the goal I had for Chicago of 4:45. (There was a huge fire at mile 22 and they had to reroute the course. By doing that they added on .25 miles. I am SO GLAD that I didn't know that because I was dying at that point and I would have been so mad. I ended up with a 4:48 but with the recalculation I would have had around a 4:46...not that far off of my Chicago goal!).

Afterwards I had a nice big beer, and let me tell you, it was the best beer I ever tasted!

More to come later, but I'm being totally lazy since I'm on vacation. :)

Sparse Posting

I have been very bad about posting to my blog lately. It is completely work's fault :( When I put in 14 hour days the last thing I want to do is blog. In fact, I haven't really been running much this week either, which is BAD. But I remember reading in Runner's World that the week before a marathon sleep is more important than getting those last few runs in (if you absolutely must choose between the two).

That being said, I am so excited about the marathon!
We leave tomorrow for the long drive, and it looks like the weather is going to be great (knock on wood). I am being very diligent about not drinking alcohol. AND I am going to eat pasta only the night before the marathon, even though my friends are going to be eating delicious cookout food. I just can't trust myself to eat it because I have no idea what it would do to my system. I haven't eaten cookout food in sooooo long. So THAT is going to be a test of my willpower.

I am also looking on to my next marathon.

I decided to join Team in Training and hopefully I can get into New York (TNT doesn't have any guaranteed spots) if not, I will be running the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. Our group already starts training NEXT WEEK! Isn't that crazy?


Let me tell you, these TNT people don't mess around. I faxed over my commitment form at 4:00 one day and my mentor called me at 5:00! AND I've already received a big packet with a book and a bunch of info and my training shirt. I only committed on Tuesday! Most of the runners I have met are very disorganized, so this is crazy for me.

I canNOT believe that the marathon is in 3 days!!!