MileMusings

Yikes!

2011-10-12T15:47:00.000-04:00

Ok, I am lame. The last time I posted was before my vacation. I don't even have an excuse because I have had plenty of time to blog (and run) but I just have been spending that time doing other fun things (like playing around with the floorplan of my apartment, making fun cupcakes, knitting, etc etc etc).

I guess running was just one of the main things in my life prior to now, and now, while it is still a big part of my life, I tend to have a million other things going on too.

I spent a lot of time this marathon season being frustrated...not angry...not sad, just frustrated. It seemed like no matter what I did, I couldn't get my times to go back to what they were before I had Liam. I was still working really hard, but I wasn't getting the results. I wanted to basically start where I was at the beginning of 2009. I didn't actually think this was too unreasonable (I'm not even sure if it is now). But I also just kind of accepted that running was going to be harder, I was going to be slower. I didn't know if this was a copout, but I was okay with it if it was. I thought.

Then I ran with my friends Gina and Pam one Saturday and as we were chatting Pam said that her friend (who was also pregnant around the time I was) said that running is hard, things just don't work the same way they did before. This made me feel lots better. And I realized; here I was comparing myself to Kara Goucher again, who is an Olympian, has trainers and nutritionists, runs professionally, and isn't still breastfeeding.

So, a couple of weeks ago I had my 20-miler. My 20-miler always sort of psychs me out because however it goes is the same way the marathon goes for me. I printed out this marathon armband which would have me pacing my miles so that I would end up with 9:00 splits (even though I had been running with the 10:00 min/mile group all season). I had a glass of wine the night before to relax (this has been proven to work for me). I worried worried worried so much that I didn't sleep. When I got to Grand Central (we were doing this run out of the city) I got there so early that the train doors weren't even open. So I stopped at a shop and grabbed two donuts which I inhaled in about 2 seconds. I fell asleep on the train and almost missed my stop. And then, when we got there, Coach Christine informed us that the bridge was out due to Hurricane Irene and we couldn't run our normal route. We actually had to go the other way, which involved running through several house-lined streets and the downtown area of Scarsdale before we even got to the Hudson River Parkway Trail. Ugh. And I am AWFUL at directions.
We had to stick together as a group for the first 2 miles so no one would get lost.

Well, my pace was just going to go way out the window. Whatever. I didn't really feel like I could do it anyway. I was just going to run what I ran and get the mileage in. (I usually call this "Zen Running"). So I kind of stuck with a group of three people going about 10 min/miles. Unfortunately, at the turnaround (5 miles) they decided not to stop. I needed a GU so I decided to run with the group that was slightly ahead of us and still stopped for a GU break. They were obviously going faster, so I would have to see how long that would last.

Their pace actually felt pretty good. And when I looked down at my watch, I saw we did a 9:22 mile. Cool! I stuck with them until the next turnaround, but then I was on my own. They had decided to go the other way (even though the bridge was out, someone had put a plank over the stream so you could go over it if you wanted to...I was NOT in for that. I did not train all this season to fall off a plank and injure myself.)

I got a little lost, but did find my way. I felt great. At the end I felt like I could run another 10 miles!!! And I ended up with a 9:00 pace for the WHOLE RUN! AMAZING! I was so so pumped.

THEN, I ran the Staten Island Half this past weekend. Once again, I ran by feel. I was going to try and hit 8:50s, but I took the first mile out too fast (8:37). I made a concentrated effort to slow down and went 8:22 on the next mile. I really told myself to slow down for the next mile and did an 8:08. Ok. At this point I took stock of how I felt (great) and decided to just go for it. In the end, my slowest mile ended up being an 8:56 and my fastest a 7:55.

I PRed!!!!!!!!

BY FOUR MINUTES!!!! (I got a 1:50!)

Did I just underestimate myself before? Did I just kick it in for some reason? What happened? I have no idea but I am NOT going to change ANYTHING and hope for the best on NYC marathon day.

Getting Stronger?

2011-08-12T19:26:00.000-04:00

So I feel like my body is not what it used to be. This is both good and bad.

On the good side, I am now 13 lbs lighter than I was before I was pregnant. This worried me a little bit at first because my BMI was right on the healthy/unhealthy line, and I felt like I looked a bit skeletony in some of my wonderful brightroom pics. However, now that I have added some more muscle I'm actually okay with my weight. Also, I am really packing away the calories and paying attention to how much I eat (which is a LOT) so I know that I am okay. (This also meant that I got to get new running clothes and also that I am not so annoyed when my shirt rides up a bit while I'm running).

Also on the good side, I am way more flexible than I was before. I can actually touch my toes, and I really don't remember the last time I could do that. I contribute this to taking some time off of running this winter, but my bootcamp teacher said it is also because your body limbers up during pregnancy. (You just can't tell because who is really trying to touch their toes over a huge belly?)

Also, since I've lost some extra poundage now I can see some of my muscles! Hurrah!

On the not good or bad side I can eat us out of house and home. This is good because I love food, and the food I love is not particularly healthy. But it is also bad because I feel like I am eating ALL THE TIME which can get boring and expensive.

But on the bad side, I feel like I am starting over running again. I guess this is okay if you manage expectations (which I have been doing). For instance, my goals have changed tremendously. I am now happy with a sub 10 minute pace on longer races and a sub 9 on shorter races. I am going a lot slower even though I feel like I am working just as hard and sometimes even harder.

In fact, I was so super sore after last week's 16 mile run. Like after-the-marathon-sore. I don't know if this is because I am pushing myself harder or if it is because I am more out of shape than I was running in 2009. (I actually feel more in shape, but that the numbers are lying to me).

I am also really ramping up on the cross-training (which is a lot easier to get in than running because of baby). I am doing lots of old-school exercises...push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, lunges, etc.

I also signed up for a mommy and baby bootcamp class. It's lots of fun. We do all of those boot camp exercises too, but using baby as a weight. Oy. This is HARD. The first class was good and I had that nice achiness in my abs that makes me feel like a six-pack is on it's way (ha!). The second class was KILLER. None of the other moms showed up so I got a private lesson and she pushed me because she knows I am athletic. She didn't give me a break on ANYTHING. I did three burpee sets (of 12) alternating with 12 skaters with no rest in between. By the last set I looked ridiculous. I was like "I can't..." (and I've never felt like that during a workout) and she said "That's okay, just do the modified version." (Yes, that only helped a little.) Liam of course, thought all of this was hilarious. Needless to say I was sore after the workout (no waiting until the next day for me).

Anyway, I kind of got off topic. So I'll reel us back in...

So at baby bootcamp I had to do sit-ups (which I HATE). I especially hate these post-partem because I feel like my tail bone is GRINDing into the floor. It is very painful. I thought that maybe this is because I have less meat back there. But I asked the instructor about it and she said she had the same thing shortly after pregnancy. She said your back kind of gets looser and discs move around and stuff. She told me it would get better though as long as I kept working out. No problem. And it got me out of sit-ups (I got to do crunches instead.)

So yeah. Very sore. Body isn't what it used to be. We'll see how that works out tomorrow. I'm supposed to do 18 miles.

Hill Month

2011-08-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

So last night's practice officially kicked off "hill month" at Team in Training. I was kind of looking forward to the workout (I guess because I am a masochist?) because even though those workouts kill me I always end up feeling like I actually accomplished something awesome.

Last night was a doozie. We ran up the entrance hill at 72nd street at 85% effort and then DOWN the back of the hill at 85% effort and finished with a recovery along the road to do it again. Effectively we were making a triangle. What kind of sucked is that the recovery was all too short. We did this 12 times. Yuck.

I decided this would not be a good workout to do in the Vibrams, even though my Tuesday night runs are usually "barefoot". I am sure glad because I am super sore today.

I really took those hills hard. And I think the downhill part was just as hard as the uphill...at least I took it that way. I have the sneaky suspicion that the rest of my teammates took it as sort of a recovery. I say this because the same people who would pass me on the uphill were easily passed by me on the downhill.

I also figured out something else about my running form. I seriously think that I was built for distance. My stride is so efficient that it almost looks like I am walking when I run (I used to get so mad at Bill for saying this). But I also say this because I noticed in my hill and speed workouts I end up somewhere in the middle of the advanced group, even though I am one of the slowest runners of the group. People will always pass me on the speed part and I end up passing them on the recovery part. I always thought that this was because I was going too fast on the recovery. But when I check my heartrate, I can almost get it down to my walking heartrate. I'm breathing easily, and I feel fully recovered in time for the next repeat. So then I was like, maybe I'm not pushing myself hard enough on the speed part. But I know this is not true because I am really truly busting my butt (sweat pouring from everywhere, breathless, grunting, tired by the end, etc.) And when I ran this idea by Bill he was like "No, I've seen you do speedwork. That's not it." Anyway, these people who I pass on recovery will usually pass me again on the speed part...the first time or so. After awhile I just get too much of a lead on them and they can't pass me. So I start off the workout at the back (sometimes even the last) and end them in the middle or middle top. This just tells me that I am truly an endurance runner.

I guess this is why half marathons are my favorite event. (Bill also mentioned to me this weekend that since having Liam I have already completed 5 half marathons! That made me feel awesome!)

At any rate, at the end of the workout I was super spent and today I am super sore. But I am happy about that because it means I am building my muscles. Sometimes I think I am crazy.

P.S. Speaking of being built for distance, Bill pointed out this cool article to me about how scientists explain how Usain Bolt is truly built for speed. Kind of cool.

Mind Games

2011-07-19T12:28:00.000-04:00

So I decided that my goal for running this year is to (eventually) get back to my corral. I am pretty sure that NYRR must keep your best pace on file for two years, because my bib still says my fastest pace is an 8:03. This is so not true. I have been much much slower since pregnancy and haven't quite been able to get back to the times I was used to two years ago.

I ran the Run for Central Park this week with the idea that I would try to get around a 9:30 pace (baby steps, right?). I had extra cheering from my mom and dad who were visiting, and of course, Bill and Liam.

Liam and Mommy before the race

Unfortunately in the morning rush, I kind of forgot my Garmin. Oh well. No biggie. It was only a four mile race anyways. Bill suggested that I count my strides (now that I know that I do about 90 per mile normally). I was just going to wing it and run how I felt. This is often how I get my best times anyways.

Liam watches for mommy

And it was HOT, so I knew I would be making lots of pit stops for water (I hate chugging and running at the same time).

I felt pretty good, like I was keeping a nine minute pace, but I had no idea if this was true or not.

When I got to mile 2 the heat was kind of getting to me, which I know can make me very drained. So I decided to try the whole counting thing. I figured it was at least a good distraction from the little hills on the west side.

It actually was very distracting, which was great. So I decided to step it up a notch. I would count 100 footfalls on the right side and then start another 100. Each 100 would have to get progressively faster. It actually worked really well! I found it was a lot easier to pick up the pace bit by bit instead of thinking 'I should pick this up soon and then probably a little more'. Because inevitably my next thought is 'But I'm soooooo tiiiiiiiiiiired!' This way the whole pick up the pace thing seemed manageable. Mind games. It's what I've needed to work on with my running for so long and now I've finally figured it out.

By the last turn of the race I was flying! My final kick felt impressive. And I got a 34:01!!! That is a 8:32 pace! Hurrah! I was very proud of myself!

Oh yeah and did I mention that I ran the race in my Vibrams? That was fun too. :)

Highly Efficient

2011-07-12T11:15:00.000-04:00

One of the nice things about having a new head coach (Coach Ramon moved over to Team Determination, so Coach Christine is now our head coach) is that we aren't doing the same old workouts. Coach Christine has a much different spin on things, starting with her emails.

Her emails are quite lengthy but super chock-ful of great information. Each week she details an injury, gives us a sample cross-training workout and gives us something new to work on for our Tuesday night workout.

Last week we were supposed to work on running efficiency.

Even though I've been running marathons with running groups since 2007 I have never ever had a workout to concentrate solely on efficiency. I wouldn't even know what efficient running was.

According to Christine, "running with quick, short steps uses less energy than long strides, decreases stress on your muscles, and minimizes impact on your joints. Increased turnover should lead to improved speed, better efficiency, and fewer aches and pains. The most efficient runners have a cadence (number of footstrikes) of about 180 steps per minute. We want to get as close to that as we can."

So our Tuesday night workout consisted of a five mile loop where we counted footstrikes. For the first minute you would run normally and count how many times your right foot hit the ground for one minute. For the next minute you would try to increase that number to 90 (90x2=180). When Coach Sandy demonstrated to my group before practice she actually looked kind of funny...the goal was to swipe your feet up as quickly as possible. The way she demonstrated it looked very jaggedy and not smooth at all. But I also think she was exaggerating just to show us what she was talking about. Anyway, the rest of the workout would be 1 minute of running normal (not counting) and the next minute running while trying to get 180 footstrikes.

Obviously as you get more footstrikes you also start speeding up.

For my first minute I counted...91 footstrikes. What?

The next minute I counted 96.

Hmmmm.

So I counted the next minute and still got 91.

I was kind of confused about this and asked Coach Sandy as I saw her at 102nd Street if it was okay to go over 90. She said that this just meant I was a highly efficient runner.

Well, me being the competitive person that I am, used my "counting" minutes to get even higher turnover. It was fun. For the last three miles I was actually getting 110 each time. It also felt really good...like I wasn't expending an enormous amount of energy but was flying by.

That is, until I got to the last 1.7 miles. That's when my brain kicked in and ruined me (like it always does). Some new guy who didn't know his way around the park asked if there were any TNT people near (most of the group had dropped off because they were doing 4 miles instead of 5). I raised my hand and when he caught up with me he told me that he didn't know where he was going so he would follow me and then he said "I'll race you." ARGH! Of course that puts that in my mind and now I'm not even counting my turnover but just trying to run fast. Total fail. He was pretty far ahead of me and I was out of breath and feeling the heat by the time my watch beeped signaling the next minute.

So I told myself that I WAS going to beat him by the end of the 1.7 left, but that I was just going to continue on my efficiency workout. I was pretty sure that by doing that I could beat him. And I did! By a lot. He was actually huffing and puffing his way in :)

So anyway, I learned a lot of really good lessons. First, that I am an efficient runner, which is great! It definitely gives me more confidence on my runs. And then secondly that I can beat my mind (that tends to psych me out constantly) by concentrating on something else (in this case, turnover).

TNT Runs

2011-06-28T11:10:00.000-04:00

So already I am slacking because I missed my first long run with TNT to go to the beach for my friend Donna's 30th birthday :) But I think it was worth it...come on...the beach!

I guess I paid for it the following Tuesday though when we had our first speedwork practice. Speedwork...haha, I haven't done that since October of 2009. And it was rough. Mostly (I think) this was due to the weather, which was extremely muggy and somewhat hot.

The workout was a nice little 1 mile warmup and then 2:00 intervals for the upper 5 mile loop. Yuck. It started out okay, but by the time I reached Harlem Meer at the top of the park I felt like I was swimming through Jello. Hot Jello. And I was running with one of the mentors and I couldn't figure out if she was staying with me because she didn't want me to be left behind (I was at the back of the Advanced pack) or if she was struggling too. So I told her she could go ahead. But I did this as she simultaneously told me I could go ahead. After completing Harlem Hill (stopping for water in the middle) I realized that we both thought this run sucked, so I didn't feel so bad about her running with me.

Side note: I absolutely HATE it when I feel like I am holding someone back from their workout. Which is funny because sometimes I will run with someone a little bit easier so that they have someone to run with, and that doesn't bother me.

When I hit 102nd on the west side (we had like 30 blocks to go at this point) I was getting annoyed at the incessant beeping of my watch indicating new intervals. I said "Look, I think I'm going to scrap the intervals at this point." She was like "OK, me too." And I could kind of tell that she was relieved. And then when we finished the little hills on the west side we noticed the group in front of us was walking their slow interval. So she was like "Hey, they're walking!" and I said "I'm okay with that." So we walked the uphill and then ran the rest of the way.

Somewhere along the way MY mentor passed us, along with some other people, which made me feel even better that we weren't the last ones. This is not schadenfreude, it's just that I was feeling that my workout was going so badly because I was severely out of shape, not because it was a hard workout.

And then after a short cool down I was feeling better again. And that I actually did well. I mean 5 miles of intervals in hot muggy weather is hard, no matter how you slice it.

Saturday was a long slow distance run. I stuck with the 10 minute mile group and did a nice, extremely enjoyable 9 miles along the Hudson. And when we ran past my apartment building I had the cutest little boy waiting in the park to give me a kiss :) Liam is definitely a good running cheerleader. Maybe that's why the remaining 8 miles at that point didn't seem so bad ;)

Toe Shoes!

2011-06-21T11:42:00.000-04:00

So I FINALLY got to run in my Vibrams for the first time. I was a tad nervous because the woman at the store said to start off SLOWLY and that I would definitely be sore in my shins afterwards.

I had my first TNT practice, which was a short little fun run. I thought this was the perfect place to try them out. Our run was only going to be 3.4 miles (two lower loops) and we were supposed to take it easy so that we could talk to people and meet everyone on the team. Turns out the shoes were a great conversation starter. I had a million people ask me about them. I thought everyone was trying them out (it sure seems like it when you go for a run in the park). In fact, I felt kind of lame jumping on the bandwagon so late. But it turns out that most people are too freaked out to try them.

Me? I LOVE THEM!!! I actually love the feel of my feet on the pavement. And that's another thing...there is definitely more sole to these than you would think. I am running in the Bikila which has a 3mm sole. So while you get a good feel for the ground it's not like you are running barefoot with lots of calluses (which is what I thought it would feel like).

And it totally does change the way that you run. My turnover was definitely different. I'm not sure EXACTLY how to describe this...I think I will have to run in them a few more times...but I know it is different.

And yes, as a result I did have sore legs – but not my shins, just my calves, and that went away after a day.

But the best (lamest) part about the whole thing? I felt like some kind of modern warrior princess running in them. Especially since I bought into the whole feather hair extension thing on top of the crazy pink toe shoes :)

Brooklyn!

2011-05-24T15:35:00.001-04:00

Me, Gina and Pam post-race (look at my shirt! isn't it cute? it says "running chick")

Okay, so it never ceases to amaze me what my body can do. I say this because my running has not been happening, yet I am able to run half marathons and not destroy my body. And when I say I have not been running I don't mean "I've only done a couple of miles here and there, but not the mileage I'm used to." I mean I haven't been running at all. Three weeks prior to the Flying Pig? No running. And then the next three weeks before the Brooklyn Half Marathon? Also no running.

Now, I would not recommend this, being that it is stupid, but it is pretty amazing that my body can handle this.

I also say this because I only got 2.5 hours of sleep the night before the half. Mostly this was because we had to get up so darn early (start was at 7am...in Brooklyn). But also because I just could not get to sleep the night before.

To top things off, we (me, Gina, Pam) decided to take a cab to the park because it would be so much easier. We must have had the most idiotic cab driver ever. I have no idea why he went the way he did, but we basically ended up making a circle around Manhattan. The whole ride was $50!!! That is more than it takes to get to JFK! Ridiculous. So when we went to drop off our bags some guy was yelling at us that baggage was going to close...so we had to run. And then some other guy yelled at us because we were late and our truck was full (the start was at Prospect Park, but the finish was at Coney Island, so the bags were loaded on trucks according to your number) so we had to go to "late baggage". And then the portolet line was like a million people long. Oh yeah, and it was the hottest day (by like 20 degrees) that I've run in yet.

If this was two years ago this would all have destroyed my psyche completely and I would have probably passed out at the second mile. But I was just in it for the fun this time.

Us three girls just ran easy the whole time. It was actually a great time to catch up. Prospect Park is known for these awful awful hills, and we had to run the loop twice, but it wasn't that bad because we were all just chatting away. In fact, it may have been the most enjoyable half marathon I have ever run.

The coolest part about the race is that it ends on the boardwalk in Coney Island. So it was fun to end on a beach even if we weren't going swimming. :)

And after all of this, plus stopping at just about every water stop AND stopping for a restroom break, we still ended up with a 2:17! Pretty good! I could definitely go for some more half marathons like that.

Brooklyn!

2011-05-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

So I have yet another half marathon this weekend. This one is part of the NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix. It is the only one of the Grand Prix that I have never raced, and the one that everyone talks about. From most people I have heard that this is the best one, but from a couple of friends I have heard it is the most difficult. I am inclined to believe both.

I think it will be super cool because it runs all through Brooklyn and ends in Coney Island where there is a huge beach party. However, it is supposed to rain all weekend, so that probably won't be as cool as it seems.

It is probably the hardest because of all of the hills...mostly those Prospect Park hills. I have run Prospect Park a couple of times and it is always rough. The way I picture Prospect Park is sort of like an Escher drawing. It seems like the whole route is uphill. This cannot be physically possible, because Prospect Park is a loop, but it really truly seems like there are no downhills. And for some reason the hills seem so much harder than Central Park. This is weird too, because I think the hills in Central Park are much steeper and there are definitely more of them.

At any rate, I am still looking forward to it. I really want that stupid patch that they give to everyone that completes at least 4 of the 5 half marathons...AND it will get me guaranteed entry into the NYC Half next year. :)

Flying Piggies

2011-05-10T13:13:00.000-04:00

Yay! Just got back from Cincinnati and one of my favorite races, The Flying Pig. This time however I did the half and not the full. (And boy am I glad!)

Even though this event is hard it is so much fun. I actually went back and forth on whether or not Bill and I should drive the course beforehand so I could see what I was in for. I eventually just let it up to chance though...no need to make myself crazy. I am kind of glad that I didn't drive it, because there were some majorly unexpected hills that might have psyched me out and lots of unexpected down hills which I would have been looking for way too early I'm sure. I was already feeling a bit nervous since I hadn't logged a single mile in three weeks (yikes).

This time my for real goal was 10:30 pace (lately I've been telling people 10:30 and secretly hoping for lower). I figured this was a good goal considering my lack of training and the difficulty of the course.

Of course, it was pouring down rain at the start. Yuck. I don't mind running in the rain, but I hate standing around in it, sopping wet, knowing that I will be uncomfortable because of it later. For this reason (and others) I was so glad that I wasn't in for the whole thing.

Right off the bat, I forgot about the minor hill leading up to the road to the bridge. Small but steep, it reminded me of some of the hills in the Queens half marathon. Bleh. My legs didn't react well and I knew I was kind of in for it.

But here's the funny thing: all of the hills I remembered as being torturous were actually not so bad. It was the little ones I didn't remember that sucked. So I just held back in the first few miles and took it easy.

The thing that is great about the Flying Pig is all of the crowd support. It seems to multiply every year. There weren't really any places on the course that were too deserted, and some places (like in front of my old workplace) were as crowded as they are for the NYC marathon.

I am pretty sure they changed the course a little bit though, adding a killer hill in right before we went into the park. Luckily, my all time favorite water stop was there to inspire me. (In the FP the water stops are manned by different volunteer organizations who compete for best water stop.) For some reason I find the guys at this water stop hilarious. (I think they are the Avondale Running Club). I never know if this is because I am tired/not looking forward to the worst hills on the course or if they really are truly inspirational/hilarious. Anyway, they play music over loud speakers and then the guys were singing "Running on, and running on, and running on. The Gatorade is in the green cups, the Gatorade is in the green cups. And running on, and running on..." and they are very enthusiastic and clap and tell you you are awesome and it's just very fun.

I was so dreading the Eden Park hill, remembering that Gina and I thought it was way worse than Harlem Hill. But you know what? Running it this time I was like "Wait. What was the big deal?" I'm pretty sure there are actually worse hills on the course. And this hill actually has a bit of a plateau in the middle of it. Not bad at all!

At this point I felt great, AND I knew from my segmentation of the course (which was ingrained in my head from so many years/times of running the course) that the worst parts were over!

When I got to the split though (marathoners to the right, half marathoners to the left) I was like "all right already." I also decided that I needed to cut myself some slack...as in, not sign up for so many difficult races. I mean seriously, am I a glutton for punishment? It kind of made me laugh.

On Gilbert some woman was like "It's all downhill from here!" But having heard this a million times on a million courses and found it not to be true I was skeptical. And then I saw a man on the side of the rode that said "Once you hit that cell tower you have about 2 miles of downhills!" THAT I could believe because it was so specific. :) The cell tower looked close, but it seemed to take forever to get there. And boy was he not kidding. There was so much downhill that I had to slow way down in order to make sure I didn't hammer my quads.

By mile 11 I was mentally done. So it was a good thing I saw the Avondale Running Club again. This time they were singing "You can make it, you can make it." Which is, consequently what I had stuck in my head for the rest of the race.

As I turned into the finishing corral I was spent, but spent in a good way. I felt like I couldn't have done any better for that race, so I was happy.

Oh yeah, and I averaged a 10:12 pace. Pretty good :)

Sick of Being Sick

2011-04-18T09:31:00.000-04:00

I think if I make it through this upcoming half marathon with a halfways decent time I will be extremely surprised.

I feel like for the past month I have been on-again off-again sick. Bill and I have just been passing sicknesses back and forth to each other and since we are both run-down they totally take their toll on us. I used to be able to get over something like a cold in a couple of days tops, but now I'm lucky if I get over them in a week. So my running has definitely been suffering.

Last Sunday (the 10th) I did get out for a nine-miler. And it actually felt really great. But I got sick right after that and haven't run in an entire week. I have so many missed runs this season it isn't funny. But I'm not going to dwell on it. It is what it is. And I have found that it is much better to wait until the sickness passes completely before getting back out there to work out. So even though it KILLS me not to go out for a run today I'm going to have to skip it.

I do have two fun upcoming things though in the world of running!

Firstly, I signed up to train with Team in Training again for the fall season. I think this is the best thing I could do. I need some structure to my workout plan because with all that is going on (work, baby, running) I've found that running is often put on the chopping block. Plus, it will be great for me to get out of the house twice a week and be around adults. And of course, Team in Training is also just fun, and it's nice to raise money for something worthwhile. Our first group training session starts the Tuesday after the Flying Pig Half Marathon. Already!

Also, this week I will be covering the JackRabbit NYC Running Show. Its the first year JackRabbit is putting it on, as sort of a kick-off to the NYC running season. It's only $10 for a ticket and for the price of the ticket you actually get $15 off event merchandise (awesome!). There are all kinds of exhibitors plus a lot of cool speakers. I am especially interested in seeing Scott Jurek and going to the Women's Running session. And there is a barefoot/minimalist running panel which should be interesting.

I'm also going to be looking for something fun to run in for the Flying Pig Half since none of my running clothes fit me anymore (in a good way! I've lost a ton of weight!)

Anyway, I am super psyched because I have press credentials for this show which means I get to go early to check it all out! Can't wait for Friday!

The More Half Marathon

2011-04-05T13:07:00.000-04:00

Post-race with my favorite cheerleader

I was so nervous for the More Half this weekend. I have no idea why. I felt totally prepared. But there I was, packing my bag (and Liam's) super early the day before, carb-loading, laying out my outfit, checking my alarm clock a dozen times, going to bed early. Bill was like "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" I said "I must be. I don't feel like it, but I'm acting like it." I usually blow half marathons off as I would any other race but I was treating this one like it was the full.

It's kind of funny how much other stuff you have to worry about when you are racing as a mom. I guess mainly just the breastfeeding thing...making sure all of the timing works out. Luckily it did. I also realized that the days of seeing Bill cheering me on at 50 different places on the course were over. But that is fine by me. I am happy to see them once (especially since Liam is there!).

My plan I announced to the world was that I was going to try to do a 10:30 pace. My plan in my head was that I would be happy with any pace with a 10 in front of it. :)

I knew that I had to run this thing smart because I had some nasty hills scattered throughout the course (it was two and some change loops of Central Park). I also know that I have a tendency to run fast in the beginning and regret it later. I planned on keeping it nice and easy on the first six and then figure out if I needed to go faster after that. I wasn't going to worry about the first mile too much because that's always the "finding your pace in the madness of the crowd" mile. I also was going to only look at my pace on the mile, not my overall pace.

My first mile felt like I was dragging, but nope, I was clocking a 9:48. Whoops. Time to slow it down. I found two girls going at what felt like a snail's pace, but looked like the pace I was supposed to be maintaining. I forced myself to get behind them. Sure enough, the next mile I did was 10:30. Yay! Right on target! But oh no! They stopped for water. So I had to concentrate concentrate concentrate to keep the same pace. Unfortunately I could feel myself getting faster.

I kept the next mile in the low ten range and told myself to SLOW DOWN.

As I rounded the top of the park (the dreaded Harlem Hill) I decided to stop for my GU. It was a little early, but I found that since I've been feeding Liam I need them more quickly in my runs and more often. Let me tell you, it was the BEST GU I'VE EVER TASTED. (It was Strawberry Banana.) I kept putting my tongue up to the top of my mouth to get the aftertaste because it was just that good. Then I started laughing to myself (not out loud) because four years ago I was literally choking these things down and I could only do vanilla.

That mile was a 10:15. I was kind of mad about this because not only did it include Harlem Hill (and therefore should have been slower) but it also included a long water/GU break. So this is where I started staging this inner battle in my head: Should I just run and not worry about pace? I seem to be feeling good...No, 10:30 is an admirable goal considering how I've been running and I need to slow down to do that. But I feel so GOOD! But you are only in the fourth mile. But in the Bronx Half you ran how you felt and got a huge PR! But that was... and so on and so on. In the end, practicality won. I decided to stick with the original plan.

Boy, I am glad I did! Because after I finished Harlem Hill the second time it was game over. I only had three miles to go but I was so tired. My legs didn't hurt or anything, I was just lethargic...like I wanted to go to sleep. Yuck. At this point I was just working on maintaining. I was in the low 10 and high 9s for the past few miles anyway, so I was very happy.

I almost didn't want to look at my watch for the next mile because I knew it was really slow. But surprise! It was a 10:04!

I knew I would see Bill and Liam soon and was soooooo looking forward to that. And Liam really was the cutest ever. If I hadn't been so incredibly exhausted at the point I would have stopped for a Liam kiss. But I knew if I did that there was no way I would finish running.

As I was coming up on the finish I finally looked at my overall pace: 9:58!!!!
Whoo-hooo-hooooooooooooo! I was so proud and happily accepted my medal.

(Later on I checked the results and they had me listed as having a 10:03 pace. Stupid Garmin. It had me running more than 13.1. I am still counting the 9:58 pace.)

Balance

2011-03-22T11:58:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this whole balance thing is working out a little better for me, but maybe that's because I haven't actually worked out in a whole week :) I have had this pesky cold that would NOT go away. I figured out that having a cold while not getting a full night's sleep every night basically makes a cold last about ten times longer. Liam (of course) had a cold too, so neither of us were at our best last week.

However, it seems the whole work thing is working out a little better now. We have a girl coming in to watch Liam once a week so that I can get work done during the day and not from nine to whenever I finish. It makes me WANT to work out again and look forward to those midday runs.

I think that is the best part about working from home -- I can run during the day.

I do feel like I need to kick my butt in gear trainingwise. I have the More Half Marathon coming up in (eek) 11 days and I am feeling very unprepared. Taking a week off due to sickness is always frustrating. But I have to remember that up until last week I was totally on track with my training.

I think this one is not going to be run for time, but to finish. I feel like that is a major copout, but I'm just not feeling it yet...which is one of the things I want to work on this year. I have this theory that running for me is far more mental than physical. That's why I can kick butt in practice but not live up to my expectations for the race. I am still looking for that marathon that I can be happy with. I'm hoping it's right around the corner in November :)

Barefoot!

2011-03-15T19:33:00.000-04:00

So I've been looking for something to get me so totally pumped about running that I just can't wait to go out for quite awhile now. I started by reading Once a Runner (you know, that book that is supposed to be the be all and end all of running?). I must say, I pretty much hated that book. It was terrible! Terribly written and I hated the characters and I only sort of cared if he could make his goal in the mile. Then I realized that this wasn't the book that was recommended to me by all my running friends...Born to Run was! So I went ahead and ordered it, and since I know that after reading it I am going to want to become one of those "barefoot" runners I just went ahead and got the shoes.

After some extensive reading on the subject, I got the model meant specifically for running – the Bikila. And while I was at it, I opted for the magenta ones.

They are kind of a pain to put on, but once they are on they are very comfy. I've only walked around them in the house and they don't feel as barefooty as I thought they would, but I'm sure I will feel differently after I've run in them.

You're supposed to start off super slow with them...like logging only 1-2 miles slow and wearing them only every other day. The girl at Super Runners told me that my calves will definitely hurt. I'm hoping that means I will get some crazy(er) calf muscles. I'm wondering if they will truly make me run differently. And THEN I wonder if I should be running in some less cushiony shoes then I'm used to in my races so that I don't lose my form too much after I've changed it. But I guess I am getting ahead of myself.

I was all pumped and ready to go on a run with them and then I got this disgusting cold that is making me super run down. I'm hoping I can go out tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Oh Freetime, I Miss You So

2011-03-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

I pretty much haven't been writing about running because I pretty much don't have time to write about running :)

I HAVE been running, though not as much as I want to. It's funny because I was going to say that I haven't been running very much, but in comparison to how many days I used to run it's pretty much the same...3x a week. However, I haven't been able to get ANY cross training in. AND those 3x a week that I run seem all the more precious/vital/frustrating because I have no freetime to do anything else (you know, like clean my apartment, which currently looks like a bomb hit it).

Frazzled?

Yes, to say the least. I am still trying to figure out this whole balance thing. I always thought that having the flexibility to work from home would be great because I could have the best of both worlds -- staying at home to take care of Liam, yet still feelling fufilled by working. Instead it just means that I have to work around everyone's schedule except my own. So, even though Liam is getting 12 hours of sleep a night, and Bill is getting 8 hours of sleep a night, I am going going going from the time I wake up (7am) to the time I go to bed (1am on the nights that I work). This means that my runs (and my life) is exhausting AND runs are pretty much the last thing I want to do when I have time to myself.

I am hoping that this will work itself out soon. :( But in the meantime I am trying to back off of myself a little. This means (deep breath) no Flying Pig Marathon. I kind of decided this a couple of weeks ago when I missed two long runs and felt my mileage was now totally screwed up. But I talked to Bill and we decided to "wait and see"...keep training for the marathon, but decide on the day of it whether or not to do the whole or the half. This sounded good at the time.

Then I went through this whole "why do I run" thing. I mean seriously, I was kind of hating on running. A lot. And let's face it: I think I was trying to do this spring marathon to prove to myself that I was still the same old me who could run 2 marathons a year, and to prove to everyone else that I was truly hard core, and to get some kind of crazy body that I've never actually had (more muscular, flat six-packy abs). That's not fun. Running used to be fun. I started thinking about when I trained for my first marathon and how it was so fun and even though it was hard it was kind of an adventure to go for those long runs. I felt so accomplished. And I felt part of a cool tribe of people. I wanted to be like the multiple marathoners in the Roncker's group. They were such cool people. And I also felt like I was becoming one of them. I mean, come on, I used to cry a little sometimes on long runs because I loved them so much and felt so moved by them.

So the new goal is to get back that love. And to run the half marathon. And enjoy it. And not worry so much about all the other crap.

Of course I came to this revelation on a run. (How cliche.)

I also felt like if I ran the marathon and didn't do well I would be crushed...even though just completing the marathon would have been a great accomplishment. That would have made it even harder to run my next one. And since my next one is NYC in November, I want to be in a good place (mentally) with running. I have been waiting to run this race for three years.

Erghhhhhhh. Change. I never deal with it well.
So, we're back to where we started 3 years ago. Not worrying about time, not worrying about past runs, just going out there to have a good time.

12 on 12

2011-02-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not -- I actually got my butt outside yesterday to do my long run! Usually I have no motivation to do this and push it off until Sunday. This week I was motivated by three things: the fact that if I ran on Saturday instead of Sunday I would get a bonus point in my motivation plan for doing 5 workouts this week, the fact that I could have a super lazy day on Sunday with no plans if I ran on Saturday instead, and the fact that I could pig out on bad food with little guilt at the board game party I was hosting later that night. Besides that though, I really had a hard time wanting to get out there.

It was a rather uneventful run except for the fact that in the first six miles I had this immense urge to pee and was pretty sure the public bathrooms were closed. I realized this as I ran by the Boathouse and noticed a white piece of paper on the door (which I assumed said they were closed for the season). Not really sure what to do about this since I had a whole 12 miles to do. When I got to 72nd street, completing my first loop I figured I could run across the transverse to see if Bethesda Fountain bathrooms were open or wait until I finished the lower loop and cross to the Bethesda Fountain on the east side. I really didn't want to add on the extra .5 miles it would take to do this if I opted to go right then, but I felt like I didn't really have a choice. So I ran to the plaza only to find a big sign saying they were closed for the season and I should try the Boathouse. Grrrrrr. So I ran another .2 or so miles and once again noticed the sign. Freakout! But before a total meltdown I decided I should probably get closer and READ the sign before I assumed what it said. And lo and behold, it was only telling me to keep the door closed because the restrooms were heated. YES!

Now I had another dilemma. Do I do the lower loop? Backwards or forwards? I didn't think I could add on anything to my 12 miles because my legs were already feeling tired. And I HATE the lower loop. I will do anything to avoid it. So I ran back and forth on the transverse until I got to 7 miles. Crazy boring, I know, but better than that lower loop. I don't even know why I hate it that much. It's fairly flat compared to the rest of the park, it's definitely very scenic, and it is only 1.6 miles.

Anyway, this meant that I had miscalculated and at the end of my run I still had .21 miles to go. I know, I know, just skip it, right? But no, I didn't feel like I could say I ran 12 miles unless I actually did. So I ran down .1 miles across the transverse and .1 miles back (again avoiding the lower loop completely.)

Afterwards I felt SO SORE...like running a half marathon sore. This is kind of crazy since I was keeping kind of an easy pace (according to my watch 10:42, but that was wrong since I kind of forgot to stop the watch during the whole bathroom debaucle.)

At any rate, I feel like I'm totally in for it now. So I did what I have been avoiding for a month and a half...I signed up for my first post-pregnancy marathon: the Flying Pig.

It makes me nervous to think about committing to this, but here I am!

And It Begins...

2011-02-11T18:29:00.000-05:00

My "official" training for my spring marathon started this week with a 7-miler on Sunday. I made Bill and Liam stay at home so I could go at it on my own and it was kind of nice to run again without worrying about a stroller or how bundled up Liam had to be or how fast I had to run/if he was asleep or not to get him between feedings. And it was so nice out too! 40 and sunny! Needless to say, with all of this, I had a pretty good run.

Ok. Let's not be modest. I felt AWESOME. Especially when I learned that I had done the whole thing in 1:09, which means that I had a sub-ten pace (my first in a LONG time). And I ran the whole way. None of this run-walk business!

So then Tuesday I wheeled out the BOB again for a three miler with Liam. The goal was to do the whole lower loop twice without walking. And the earlier the better because the temps were supposed to go from a high of 37 degrees at 8 am to a low of 15 degrees by 3pm. Yuck. I realized why those temps were dropping so fast on the run: the wind was CRAZY. It didn't help that I underestimated the mileage and needed an extra .3 at the end of my loops...so I had to run up a crazy hill from the park at 72nd street to get to street level at Central Park West...INto the wind. Difficult normally, but worse with a stroller.

But this whole getting back into a schedule thing was making me feel like "Ok. I can do this marathon thing. It's not going to be fun, but I can totally do it."

But then it got cold. Like, too cold to run with a baby outside. So I figured, I'll just run after Liam's morning feeding, which is usually like 6:30. I'll get the mileage in sans-stroller before Bill gets to work. I should know by now, this NEVER works. I am NOT a morning person and it is even worse when I am not getting enough sleep anyways. And then it is even WORSE when I wake up with a scratchy throat and feel like all I want to do is SLEEEEEEEEEP. So guess what I did?

So I decided not to beat myself up and do some cardio weight DVDs. I was not exactly looking forward to this (getting me to exercise lately is like convincing me to get dental work done) but I sucked it up and put in the DVD when Liam was in a happy, sort of sleepy, chill mood. I put him in his crib, knowing that he usually just drifts off into a nice little nap. Hahahahaha. 20 minutes into the DVD he was screaming bloody murder. I decided to make it to the next segment, seeing if he could calm himself down...

Nope! So, I made it 25 minutes into a 45 minute workout. And honestly, I just didn't have the energy or desire to try this again yesterday or today.

So once again, I am going into my long run completely underprepared for the mileage I am going to undertake. Hmph.

On a happy note, I got into the Brooklyn Half Marathon (race two of the Grand Prix) before it sold out...which was amazingly, like, in two days. This was because of my most wonderful running friend, Gina who sent an urgent email telling us on February 7th that the registration was open but they were already saying it would sell out by the 8th (it did). I got the email, got online and signed up. WHEW! I did all this so fast that I didn't even look to see when it was! (May 21st). Luckily, I will be here. And will be running it with Gina :)

Race Schedule

2011-01-31T12:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I think I've got a pretty ambitious race schedule lined up this year...lots of half marathons and of course the crown jewel, the one I've been waiting for, the race I've wanted to do ever since I've started marathoning – the NYC marathon.

Here's what I've got so far:

• Manhattan Half Marathon – January (done!)
• More Half Marathon – April 4th
• Flying Pig Marathon – May 1st
• Brooklyn Half Marathon – May TBD
• Queens Half Marathon – July 30th
• Bronx Half Marathon – August 27th
• Staten Island Half Marathon – October 9th
• NYC Marathon – November 6th

I'm sure I'll throw in a few of my other NYRR favorites here and there. Especially in the summer and especially if my friends join in. Coogan's was fun last year and I always like the Pride Race (mainly for the cool t-shirts, music and popsicles at the end) and there's always a lot of great swag at the Scotland Run. I think it might be kind of easy to get my 9 races if I can do all of this. Then I can do NYC in 2012 too! But I am getting waaaaaay ahead of myself. Maybe right now I should just take one run at a time.

I am going to check out the Pfitzinger plan in Advanced Marathoning. But this might be a little ambitious too. Especially since my points total for this week so far is: 1. Yes, that's right. And that doesn't even come from a workout...it's from eating a healthy dinner. :)

Motivation Plan

2011-01-28T13:33:00.002-05:00

Ok. I'm still working on the plan to motivate myself. I want to make it difficult so that it's worthwhile and I am training to the best of my ability, but I think I also need to cut myself some slack because "the best of my ability" today is way different than it was last year...especially because squeezing in workouts has become a major luxury. So I am going to focus on the things I have a difficult time doing (working out, eating healthily) and give myself points when I do them. I was going to take away points when I do something bad (like drink soda, which I have been doing more and more often) but I think I need positive reinforcement, not punishment. I was also thinking about giving myself points for things like getting sleep and taking care of myself (like taking time for myself everyday) because I have been really bad at doing those things, but let's face it – most of that is out of my control now AND getting a workout in is probably going to by my "taking time for myself".

That being said, here is my rough plan of "points" for now.

1 point items

• doing a run
• doing a cross-training workout
• eating a healthy lunch
• eating a healthy dinner
• completing a week's worth (defined as 5 days between Sunday and Saturday) of workouts
• weighing in at under 140lbs (weigh-ins will be on Friday mornings)
• maintaining a 29 inch or lower waist (measured each month)

2 point items (these are bigger challenges for me)

• completing a hill or speed workout
• eating healthy snacks during the day
• completing a long run
• PRing on a race

Bonus points (can only be earned once and are one point each)

• completing my first post pregnancy marathon
• completing a run over 2 miles with the BOB without any walking
• completing a race without walking
• completing a race over 4 miles without walking
• completing a race over 5 miles without walking
• completing a run over 6 miles without walking

And here comes the best part: what these points are good for!

Mostly these are just things I want that I will not buy for myself. My first level is a Speck laptop shell which is worth 60 points. Next is a pair of nice running sunglasses – 120 points. For 180 points I can take a quilting class at the City Quilter that I have been trying to find an excuse to take for 3 years. And the créme de la créme? An ipad. This is for when I BQ. Yes, I know this may take me years. And I reserve the right to change it to another expensive gadget when ipads become obsolete.

This whole thing might flex too. I will have to see if it works for me/if I feel rewarded enough or if it is too easy.

Starts this Sunday!

Hurray! Half Marathon!

2011-01-25T09:45:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a very special husband who decided that I had trained way too hard (haha, I guess it's all relative) to skip my half marathon and decided to skip his cooking class instead, I was able to run the first of the Grand Prix races this year!

I have to say, I was feeling pretty guilty about this when I woke up on Saturday and it was FOURTEEN DEGREES and I pretty much just wanted to say "forget it". However, I sucked it up and got my butt over to the park. I was so so layered for the whole thing...sports bra, t-shirt, crazy ninja shirt with speedskater hood, fleecy headband, all weather jacket, compression socks, tights, pants and gloves!

I made my way to the last corral (I was planning on run-walking this thing, so if I would have been in my assigned corral I would have gotten plowed over) to stand around shivering for 34 minutes (because I overestimated how much time I needed to get there). I seriously was starting to wonder about my level of sanity. I think it was a mutual feeling amongst all of the runners there who kept saying things like "WTF is wrong with us?" and "WHY was it a good idea to sign up for this?"

I also knew that this could basically last forever since I was run-walking with 3 minutes on and 2 off. I mean, my 6 miler was done at a 13:47 pace and my 9-miler at a 12:39 pace. I feel like I need the run-walk right now though, so it made me a little nervous when I had to run through 10 minutes of the intervals at the beginning because the field was so crowded. I was kind of sort of okay with it thought because it was SO COLD and walking would have frozen me even more.

Oddly enough though, I felt pretty good. And when I looked down at my watch I saw that I was maintaining a 11:38 for those first 2 miles. Awesome! Of course a lot of that was because I ran the first 10 minutes, but even so...

Another strange thing is that when I got to the second water stop and took the frozen water it actually tasted really good. And not just the water but the ice...in fact the ice was preferable even though I was soooooo freezing and it would take me until mile 5 to even start to feel my fingers a little (this from the girl who never used to wear gloves running because I was always too hot).

I made the first loop and it wasn't so bad, but I didn't know about this whole second loop thing. I didn't know if I was up for it. But before I knew it I was at mile 9!!! And I was still maintaining a pace of under 12 minutes (even though it was inching up to the 11:50s).

In fact, at mile 9 I started picking up the pace big time. I felt awesome! And I kept thinking about how I was going to see Bill and Liam at the finish and we would go get breakfast, which just made me happy.

Before I knew it I was in the final lower loop (The race is two loops and then another lower loop...grueling mentally.) I will say that the last two miles kind of weren't the greatest. I was getting tired. But I still felt good enough to run through my last two walk cycles. I kept looking at my watch, trying to get my final pace numbers down.

And guess what? I finished at an 11:32 pace! And that's run-walking!!! I was pretty proud of myself.

So I guess I could do a half marathon with 21 miles of training over 3 weeks. Although I am pretty sure that this was still a stupid thing to do. I am now going to take a couple of weeks off and start training for my spring marathon (or half marathon, I can't decide). I was also so pumped that I went ahead and signed up for the More/Fitness magazine half marathon again.

Hurray! Half marathons!

Nevermind

2011-01-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

So I survived the 6 mile run, Harlem Hill and all. And the next week I even survived the 9 mile run! I was very very sore all day but as I told Bill, it kind of felt good to be that sore again. And the next day I was fine anyway. I will say that it has been a bit of a challenge to get out and running. Some days it is just way too cold to take the baby out, no matter how much you bundle him up.

So I've been trying as hard as I can to bust my butt cross training on the days I can't run. Luckily I got some new DVDs for Christmas that actually push me. But even so, it's just not the same as running. I definitely took a day off from the long run I did on Sunday, yesterday...but it looks like there's no way I can get out today because of another crazy East Coast winter storm. So I'm crossing my fingers for tomorrow.

As for the half marathon this weekend? I think it just wasn't meant to be. When I signed up I forgot that we would need to get a babysitter because of Bill's cooking class, which kind of overlaps timewise with the race. We would need to find a babysitter for a couple of hours, which probably wouldn't be a problem normally...except that this weekend all of our friends are going skiing for my other friend's birthday. Whoops.

Oh well. So is the life of a mother-runner. :)

There is always next year for the Grand Prix, and we are supposed to get more awful weather Saturday anyway. And now I can train properly.

Motivation

2011-01-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

Ok. It's pretty hard for me to get motivated to go out for my runs lately. Today was no exception. I usually wait until about three to do this (because it is the warmest time of the day) but today I knew that if I waited until three I would find some excuse not to go :)

The run (run-walk) wasn't even that bad. Don't get me wrong, it had it's pitfalls. Like, when I got to 86th street it was like someone had decided to take ALL of the snow and pile it up at the entrance to the park. It was all trampled on, so it was kind of a mound of icy footprints. Good thing my stroller has super big wheels with massive treads. Ironically, this happened to be my downfall later, when I rolled right through some fresh dog poop and it got impossibly stuck in the wheels. Yay! This meant that afterwards I had to clean out the tire treads in the hallway of my building. (Come on people, I pick up my dog's poop, why can't you pick up yours?)

I did feel like I had more energy, which is kind of funny because this run definitely had more hills.

As I was getting to the last part of my run I was trying to think of things to motivate me. See, normal motivation techniques ("After the run I can have a candy bar," or "If I do all of my workouts this week I'm treating myself to a pedicure") don't work for me. The last time I had to resort to motivation techniques was when I first started running. I put a dollar away for every mile I ran and then bought myself a Tiffany's necklace.

That's not going to work this time because I need something more short term. I'm thinking of giving myself a points system: 1 point for each workout completed, an extra point for mileage exceeded, 1 point for completing 3 runs a week, 1 point for completing 3 cross training workouts a week...etc etc etc. Only what should I make the rewards? I was trying to think of something I really really wanted for a big point reward -- like a Coach bag. But then I remembered that my new purse is a diaper bag and I have no use for a Coach bag. For the low number prizes I thought of the normal things: a bath, a manicure, a night of ordering pizza. But the problem is that I do these things already...not all the time, but enough that I'm not going to be motivated to get them. So I've got to do some thinking on this whole reward business.

It does help that when I got on the elevator when I got home some lady asked how old Liam was and when I told her she said "You don't even look like you had a baby!" I never tire of hearing that. I guess that is at least some motivation. :)

My next run is Saturday. 6 miles with Bill and Liam. Bill gets to push the BOB this time. My secret fear? That he will kick my butt and that pushing the BOB while running really isn't as hard as I think it is. :)

Don't Try This At Home

2011-01-05T15:05:00.000-05:00

I was perhaps a little overzealous in my signing up for races before Christmas. See, my goal for the last three years has been to complete the NYRR's Grand Prix of half marathons. This includes one marathon in each borough. They spread them out throughout the year so that you pretty much have to be fit for the whole year. It is kind of a big deal to do all five and you get a patch for doing it.

For one reason or another I have never been able to do this (the first year I missed the Manhattan one, the next year I missed Brooklyn because of my sister's wedding, the third year I missed the last two for obvious reasons.) So I decided that this was my year and signed up for the first of the five which is the Manhattan one.

This one happens to be the most boring and one of the most challenging: two loops of Central Park. That's right, tons of hills! Oh yeah, and being in January it tends to be the coldest too. Two years ago it was below freezing and the cups froze right to the table.

My training schedule was going to have to be pretty aggressive, but I figured I could do it. I did it a couple years ago! The plan for my long runs? A six miler this Saturday, a nine miler the following Saturday, a twelve miler the third Saturday and then the race the following Saturday.

Well, I kind of miscalculated. See, the race is on the 22nd. So I figured I'd better get my butt in gear. I have been not so diligent about my runs since Thanksgiving (yes, I've only been out twice). I have been doing lots of weight lifting and cross training, but we all know that is not the same.

Yesterday I waited until the warmest part of the day, packed up baby in the BOB jogger and headed out along the Hudson Bike Trail for a nice easy three miler.

Hahahahaha.

It was HARD. I forgot how difficult it is to run in the cold if you're not used to it. The breathing totally throws me off. I also just kept getting so TIRED. I know that a lot of this is because I am using a ton of effort to push that stroller. But I also know a lot of it is because I am completely out of (my normal) shape. So I will say there was a lot of run-walking.

And I'm pretty sure there is going to be a lot of run-walking during this race.

I'm still planning on doing it, but I will definitely be backing off of the training afterwards so that I don't injure myself for my spring marathon (or half marathon, I haven't decided).

Yes, running friends, I know this is stupid. But I think I can do it. If anything it will put Gina's and my theory to test: if you are a hard-core runner who does marathons and half marathons all the time we think you could probably do a half marathon with little to no training.

Like I said, I would never recommend anyone else do this. :)

Denied!

2010-12-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

Well, just like tons of other New Yorkers, I too was denied entry into the NYC Half Marathon this year. At first I was just like "Boo. Guess I'll try again next year." Then I started going through my facebook feed and realized that out of all my NYC runner friends (and I know a LOT of NYC runners) only one got in! Then, some of my runner friends started posting links to other blogs like this one.

Seems like the entire New York running community was PISSED.

Why?

Well, first of all, we were supposed to know about our status at "the end of November" and this deadline got pushed to December 15th. But more importantly, all of us entered what we thought was a lottery to get into this half marathon. (Whereas everyone had an equal chance of being chosen for this race.) As I understand it (though am still fuzzy on all of the details) there were three lotteries: one for tri-state area runners, one for out-of-state runners and one for international runners with the number of accepted runners being equal for each lottery. Obviously there would be more NY runners applying and not getting in. (Make sense?) And none of us knew this beforehand.

Presumably this is because NYRR is trying to make this a bigger, more nationally/internationally known event.

Here are some stats on what happened which sort of confirms all of this:
• Of the 27,737 tri-state area runners who applied 3,344 were accepted. Of those people 1,000 qualified for automatic entry.
• Of the 5,200 out of state runners who applied 4,300 were accepted.
• Of the 1,710 international applicants 1,500 were accepted.

Seems like the best chance of getting into this half marathon in the future is to move out of the country.

My take on the whole thing?

I am mildly angry that I didn't get in, but I am ticked about the transparency on the whole process.

This is a really great race. There is nothing like running down 7th Avenue in this half marathon. It makes you realize that we really do live in an awesome city. And the NYC running community is a GREAT community. So I guess it just makes me kind of sad that we weren't given a fair shake at this event. We are the lifeblood of the NYRR and spend oodles and oodles each year to run a bunch of less glamorous races. I welcome the opening of our events to a larger audience but I sort of feel like this kind of premiere event should also celebrate the local running community.

I just watched this documentary called Run for Your Life about Fred Lebow, the man who is credited with making the NYRR what it is and also for bringing the 5 Borough NYC Marathon to fruition (and therefore popularizing marathoning as a sport). I can't help but think that he would have handled this differently.

I don't know. Just my opinion.

That being said, I look forward to cheering on my friend Gina, as she crosses the finish line in March :)

Running Misc (Or Not Running Misc)

2010-12-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

I never realized how hard it would actually be to get out and run when you have a newborn. In my mind I was just putting him in the BOB every morning and going out for a nice little jog...you know, since I would have "so much time" since I was on maternity leave.

Hahahaha. I have been choosing sleep over running because I get sleep when I can (since it sometimes only comes in 2 hour increments).

Even on the weekend it is ridiculous. I planned to do a nice 6-mile loop with my friend Gina this weekend. I was so excited because I haven't seen her in forever and I haven't run without the stroller since Liam. Well, all this would involve Liam having a milk supply and since I knocked over the bottle and lost an entire ounce of milk, and I pretty much hate pumping so I don't have a big store of it, the run didn't happen. Of course I didn't know this until right before the run and had to text Gina. Luckily she is a great, super-understanding friend. But I was still very very bummed about the whole thing.

I have actually found that it is MUCH easier to do workout videos. This is not as fun but it means that I am getting a lot of toning in. Which is great because...

...this weekend I found out that I fit in my old clothes! I am not back to my old weight, but I AM back to my old measurements!!! (except for a little more that I need to lose in my belly). Whoo-hoo!!! This made me very VERY happy.

I had planned on doing the Manhattan Half Marathon, because I am really really trying to do all five in the Grand Prix series of half marathons this year. Manhattan is first and is at the end of January. I am not very sure I can do this seeing my current mileage. I would have to have a pretty aggressive schedule from here on out and I just don't know if I am going to be able to count on doing that. It makes me appreciate mom-runners like my friend Lauren, all the more. They are hard core.

I also entered the lottery for the NYC Half Marathon (different from the Manhattan half marathon, but run in the same borough). And get this! We were supposed to know if we got in by the end of November. I just checked the website today and it says the drawing will be on December 15th. Boo! I want to know now!

This week I am going to really try and get some good mileage in...even though it is colder than cold out.

I'm Back!

2010-11-18T18:42:00.000-05:00

Liam's First Day

Hurrah! I'm running again! And guess what? All of that worrying and complaining about my C-section? None of it mattered once I saw my cute little boy. Liam Xander came into the world on October 4th, and I couldn't have been happier. AND? I guess that Exercising Through Pregnancy book wasn't completely wrong...Liam was lean and mean: 19.5 inches long and 5lbs 15oz. My OB said that if I HAD delivered him naturally it would have probably been not so so bad, since he was so little. He is also super smart (I know, I know, I am bragging...but even his pediatrician is impressed). And he somehow missed getting colic. He is gaining weight perfectly and has a healthy appetite...all things that the book promised.

My little future runner

As for me? I've dropped 17 of the 35 pounds I gained, even though I had a c-section (meaning my weight loss will be slower). I recovered well and quickly.

Yesterday, I got the go-ahead from my OB to start working out again. The 6 weeks off were at some times agony, especially when I would take Liam out on a walk and jealously see all of the runners in the park.

So I spent a ridiculous amount of time today putting together the carseat adaptor for my BOB Revolution jogger and Liam and I headed out to Riverside Park. What I love about the carseat adaptor is that Liam faces me while I jog, so I can take in all of his expressions. This is a little distracting (since I just love to see him smile) but I managed to remind myself to pay attention to the jogging path too.

All bundled up in the jogger

We only did 2.5 miles (and I had to walk a smidge). It was quite tiring, but very rewarding. For now I am not going to worry about times or distances. I keep reminding myself I went through major abdominal surgery and took 8 weeks off of running, so I should probably ease back into this whole thing.

Running with the BOB is a whole new experience too. It's weird not to move my arms when I run and also weird to push a lot of weight up and down hills. But very cool to go for a run in the afternoon...especially with my favorite little guy.

Running in Riverside Park is great in the fall

On Hiatus

2010-09-23T15:09:00.000-04:00

Well, the running officially stopped for me two weeks ago. Honestly, I just haven't been able/too willing to get out to do it anyways. At least I got one last race in, and while I didn't break any records, I did end up feeling great about my accomplishment.

And as of yesterday the workouts have stopped as well. I was actually doing really well on these...keeping them up despite the fact that I was done with them mentally. But by direct order of my OB I need to take it easy and not overexert myself. Since this was not really a "clear" directive, Bill even asked "So...no running?" which she laughed at and said "No running, no workouts."

Why? Well, I am scheduled for a c-section because my baby decided to be as stubborn as his parents and not turn out of his breech position despite everything we have tried (back bends, labor lunges, downward facing dogs, shining a flashlight on my abdomen, playing music to my abdomen, and some more serious methods too, like accupuncture, moxibustion and even a very painful ECV) . Since I've been showing a lot of pre-labor symptoms she doesn't want me to actually go into labor before my scheduled c-section.

I can't pretend I am not bummed about this.

Actually, running and working out was the furthest thing from my mind when this whole c-section thing started to be talked about. Well, except for the fact that I was cursing it. All I could think of was that book I read with all of the statistics saying that women athletes have a lower c-section rate, deliver early, deliver easier, etc etc etc. I was just like "It's so unfair! I've done everything right!" In a way I didn't even want to work out anymore because I was like "What's the point? I've been pushing myself to work out even though I didn't want to because of all of the so-called benefits, and I'm not even able to reap them on the most basic thing!"

Plus, I KNOW it is crazy but I was looking forward to labor. There are just so many comparisons to marathons that I wanted to know if it would help me out that I was a runner. I wanted to prove myself just like I do with every race. I knew I could do it, and I knew I could be strong and I knew I could master my body and my mind and I wanted to feel accomplished about it. Throughout pregnancy I have been reminded of how our bodies are so awesome the way that they work and accomodate to things (just like in running a marathon). So I kind of feel robbed, like I have no control over the whole thing. I won't actually be giving birth, my doctor will be delivering my baby. And the only thing I can test is my pain threshold.

Oh well.

I also have to take a much longer break from getting back into working out since this is considered major abdominal surgery. According to everything I read, I shouldn't even think about running for a couple of months. I know, I know, I will be busy with everything else anyway. Even so, right now it sucks.

So yes, a downer post and a horrible way to say goodbye for (possibly) months. I don't mean to be so negative, but writing is therapeutic for me in the same way running is. That's why this is not my last post. I still have to recount my story from the Fitness 4-mile race, which is a good one, even if it was two weeks ago.

Running = Therapy

2010-09-07T13:18:00.000-04:00

I saw this on a shirt once. (Or maybe it was "Running is Cheaper than Therapy"). I never really bought into it all that much, and not because it didn't work, or that running doesn't always make me feel better, but that I just think there are so many other benefits to running for me, that outrank the therapy one.

This weekend though, I came to the realization that during my pregnancy running DOES equal therapy. Maybe its because while I feel like the tangible physical benefits are much less than before I DO feel the psychological benefits.

I actually feel like my long runs with Bill have become my emotional dump sessions. No matter how the runs start, when they get about halfway through I end up dumping all of the stress that I've had. Some of it is just incredibly silly stress and some of it is more substantial stress. All of it is stress that I don't realize I am stressing about until I get out there and run and talk it out. So I think that running has a great psychological benefit to pregnant women in addition to all of the physical ones (earlier births, lighter babies, less back pain, easier sleeping). I mean, everything you read about being pregnant always emphasizes that you shouldn't be stressing out about anything...which, for a type A person like me is sometimes kind of funny. (I think I told Bill "Haha. Try to avoid stress? Just another thing to stress about!")

I am getting slower and slower, but I think I have finally for real come to terms with it. I guess articles like the ones in Runner's World this month help make me realize that it is a huge accomplishment to be running this far along anyways (I just passed the 35th week mark this weekend...that means that next week I will be starting my 9th month!), which always helps.

I am actually now officially walk-running instead of run-walking. It just helps a lot with all of the calf muscle tightness I experience now. But I still logged 4 miles. And I still kept an impressive pace for me. So that makes me happy :)

Enough of These Heat Waves!

2010-09-01T14:15:00.000-04:00

All right. Really? ANOTHER heat wave? This is what...number 12 or something for this summer? And really...it is September now. I am totally itching to go out for a run and having a hard time sticking to the pregnancy rule of 85 degrees and under. I swear, if I have to do my prenatal workout dvd one more time I might just go crazy.

The heat must also be making me crazy because I was working on an image board for work and my task was to find images of athletic women's empowerment. Of course I thought of all the great signs and ads etc from the Nike Women's Marathon and started looking for images of that online. And as I was scrolling through them I saw the identity for the 2010 Nike Women's Marathon (which is so much cooler and much more hardcore than last years). Anyway, it made me want to run that marathon again. I SWORE I would never run that marathon again, but I was seriously thinking about reconsidering that for the future.

This is not the first time I am missing training for marathons. I mean, it has been a substantial part of my life for three years now. Argh. Frustrating.

But I am looking forward to my next race, which is next weekend (the 11th). It is only 4 miles but that is a substantial amount for me now. Besides, it will feel good to "race" again, like I am doing something back from my "normal" life. :)

I Heart NY

2010-08-23T15:36:00.003-04:00

I absolutely LOVE Summer Streets and look forward to it every year. Such a simple concept...close down Park Avenue from East 72nd Street to Chambers Street to anything but bike and foot traffic from 7am-1pm. I'm sure it's not so simple to pull off, but it is really one of the coolest things.

Unfortunately because I seem to have a penchant for sleeping in on Saturdays now, I have missed most of Summer Streets. This weekend was going to be my last chance to participate, so Bill and I made sure we got out there to run.

This year it seemed to be more popular and crowded than ever. It seems like a lot of businesses along the way were offering cool perks too. At several places you could wait in line for a free bike and helmet rental. At another place you could get a free roller blade rental. Whole Foods sponsored a "Picnic in the Streets" where you could get free ice cream and a bunch of the gyms were doing free workouts on the side streets. There was also a lot of fun stuff for kids, like face painting and crafts. It was so crowded with bikers and runners that at sometimes it was a bit frustrating. But at the same time, I love that it is so popular. It just emphasized to me (again) what an active city New York is, and how big of a deal running and biking are here.

I know I say it every year, but there is nothing like running under the New York Central Building on the Park Avenue Viaduct. It is amazing to drive under in a cab at night, but even cooler to run.

The run? It was a little rough. Bill and I realized that I really HAVE to do a long warmup and some stretching before attempting my run/walks now. Otherwise my calves tighten up on the outside and the pain is almost unbearable. I didn't do said warmup/stretching, so there was a lot of stopping and stretching in those first couple of miles or so. So I made the goal to reach Union Square (around 16th Street) and then hit Chipotle for lunch. At first I thought that was a wimpy goal, but as I kept running and my calves felt so tight I was thinking maybe it was an ambitious goal.

So Bill made me stretch on the side again, which actually helped.

I revised the goal to make it to the END of Union Square (like to 14th Street). There was a real bottleneck here with bikers and runners sharing a single road lane of traffic. Some (tourist?) girls who looked like they were maybe just very confused and were walking the WRONG WAY walked right in front of me, and to avoid running smack into them I jumped up onto the curb to bypass them, then jumped right back onto the street and SNAP ! twisted my ankle. Uh oh. Ow ow ow ow ow.

I was so mad at myself. I know that I can't do crazy things like jump up and off of curbs anymore. My joints are just too loose right now. So stupid! Argh! I was cursing myself as I walked around on the curb and rolled it around. (Bill said not to be so hard on myself...after all my choices were a twisted ankle or running hard and belly first into the two girls running into me. Seeing as that I am so pregnant, I guess I made the wiser choice.) And it seemed like after a few ankle rolls the pain was pretty much completely gone. In fact, I felt so good that I wanted to continue to the end.

We were now on Lafayette (Park Ave turns into Lafayette somewhere around the East Village) and I was really enjoying myself. In fact, I looked down at my watch and noticed that I had logged over 4 miles!!! A new record! The last time I did anything more than 2.5 miles consecutively was the last week of June...that's right...my half marathon before the third trimester!

I was really pumped now! So we ran all the way down to Foley Square, (okay, after seeing my friends Gina and Michael across the street on bikes and running over to talk to them for quite a bit). 5 miles! 5 miles! Hurrah! NOW I didn't feel so stupid for signing up for that race on September 11th :)

TNT Reunion!

2010-08-18T15:58:00.000-04:00

Last night I got to go to an "Alumni" practice in the park with Team in Training. I think that this was mostly to get us to sign up for the next season, but knowing that I will not be doing that until NEXT fall season I just used it as an excuse to see my old friends/coaches and get a workout in.

Luckily there was a separate workout for us alums. I guess they realized that we wouldn't be in the same shape as the regulars at practice. It consisted of a lower loop of the park, nice and easy (1.7 miles) and then some running drills.

I was so glad that people were taking "nice and easy" seriously. Knowing that I haven't really run more than 3 minutes solid without a walk break since the beginning of my third trimester, I just stayed towards the back of the pack. My goal was to do the whole 1.7 miles without stopping, but I didn't know how I would feel.

Let's just say I could definitely feel soreness in my legs due to my loosening ligaments. Yowsa. I DID, however, make it 1.5 miles into the workout without stopping. And then I walked for a bit before finishing at Bethesda fountain with the rest of the team. I was proud of myself because I kept up with the back of the pack (one of the alums told me that the only reason she ran fast as she did was because I was right behind her the whole time and she knew I was in my 8th month of pregnancy). And even after walking, I was only like 20 feet behind the last person all the way to the end.

I felt good breathingwise and body tempwise but my legs were SO SORE. Kind of like they were in the first two miles of my last half marathon. (Guess its all of that relaxin causing my ligaments to stretch again.) So instead of joining the team for the calisthenic part of the cross-training (which I shouldn't be doing at this point anyway) I stood close by at the tree and streeeeeeeeeeeeeetched. That pretty much fixed everything (and I'm still not sore today!). I was able to join the rest of the alums for things like walking squats and squat twists, which I could still do with the best of them.

But the BEST part was talking to all of my teammates who are training for fall marathons. It was SO GOOD to see them again! And all of the coaches ran over and gave me big hugs. I have to say, it didn't hurt that all of them thought I looked great/not-as-pregnant-as-I-am and were amazed that I was running. I was especially excited to see Coach Christine because I have been reading all of her articles about pregnancy and running on about.com. (She is one of their running experts.)

We all went out to a bar in our stinky running clothes afterwards, and I devoured a gigantic cheeseburger with fries as if I had run 10 miles instead of 1.7 :)

Running Ptttttt

2010-08-16T10:22:00.000-04:00

I have not had the best relationship with running this past week.

On my Tuesday night run with Bill (same boring course, same low-mileage, same 3 minute run 2 minute walk) I felt like I was ridiculously slow. I THINK it might have been because I felt like Bill was continuously 3 steps ahead of me (which he was for most of the run). But when I checked my time at the end of the run, I really was only 1 minute off of where I normally am. And that's 1 minute for the whole thing, not pacingwise.

I am just really tired of feeling slow. I see other girls running in the park and I want to hit them. Especially when they are wearing cute little shorts and tight fitting tanks. Me, on the other hand? Well, my options at this point are my baggiest shorts from Target, which aren't even running shorts but those generic type "sports" shorts made out of thick synthetic material and any of my longer running shirts which are tight and I can't keep over my belly OR one of Bill's shirts which look ridiculously boxy and male on me. Not attractive. Oh and did I mention that on top of this I am a total sweat bucket during my runs? At this point I am not going to invest in maternity running wear because I have less than 8 weeks to go. So I guess I will stick with my two options and just begrudge the other girls in the park.

And don't even talk to me about my weekend run. Or should I say "the run that never happened"?

I pretty much didn't want to go. Besides I had twelve million other things I needed us to do this weekend (crazy nesting syndrome) so a run was just going to take up precious time that I felt I didn't have. Bill and I even mapped out our distance so that we could run to the park, around the loop and to Home Depot so that we weren't wasting any time. Well, the run to the park sucked. And then I about had a mental breakdown about how much I hated running and felt like there was too much to do to be running right now. I was reminded that it is never good to do a workout when you feel like that, so we revised the plan to just walking to Home Depot. I guess we got some of the mileage in at least. And sadly enough, my legs totally felt it like I had actually run a lot of mileage when I woke up this morning.

I know, I know. Quit running, right? I put in a good effort and if it's not going well I should quit.

But that's not it. I still don't hate running. I just want to go back to the days where I was jauntily sweeping around the park loops at a good pace (without walking) in a cute outfit with some fun running friends, getting excited about my fall marathon coming up. I miss pushing myself to where sometime I felt like I was going to puke, and getting PRs, and (believe it or not) doing hard hillwork sessions. I know I will get back to this again (Bill keeps reminding me that this is why we got a good running stroller) but I am frustrated that it is not now.

I was invited to a TNT alumni run tomorrow, which I am pretty excited about. If nothing else it will be nice to see everyone again. I don't know how much of the actual run I will be able to keep up with, but we'll see.

Lots of Energy

2010-08-05T15:56:00.000-04:00

I don't know where all of this energy is coming from...definitely not from sleep because a full night of uninterrupted sleep is something I haven't had in a long time. Perhaps it is the two iron pills I am taking a day to combat my anemia. At any rate, I am NOT complaining.

I finally feel back on track with my workouts. I am not saying that I am doing amazing things on these workouts, just that the frequency of these workouts is more what I wanted them to be.

For example, Monday I went on a run with Bill, Tuesday I did my prenatal resistance band DVD and Wednesday I even got some weight training in! Tonight I plan on another run with Bill, another DVD on Friday and then Saturday we are planning on a nice, long run. (Long being like 5 miles, which will probably take forever).

I just can't figure out my runs lately though, and I've pretty much given up on trying to do this. I mean, last week I was hardly working out at all and I felt GREAT on my little run. This week it was a bit rougher. I stuck to my intervals (3 minutes run and 2 minutes walk) but it was a lot harder. I do still feel like I'm running up and down instead of forward. It's kind of crazy. At least last time I didn't have any crazy back pain afterwards.

I really really want to sign up for another NYRR race, probably the Fitness Magazine 4-miler. But I don't know. I would be 36 weeks by then, so it's probably not a good idea :) I don't really want to go into labor in Central Park. Unfortunately, August races are few and far between (I'm not really up for any more half marathons :) , so I think my racing career might be put on hold.

Bill thinks that when I do get back into racing next year that I will be crazy. I think he's right. I told him I'm going to come back from a practice run and be like "BILL! I was hitting 6:45 miles! For 5 miles!" and then the next week I'm going to be like "I don't understand...why can't I go any faster than 10 minute miles! For 2 miles?"

Running...My New Sleep Drug

2010-07-30T14:25:00.000-04:00

OK. This week I finally actually feel for-real pregnant. Mostly because I am back to not sleeping again. It is basically just impossible when you get up 7x or more a night (yes, I've counted).

I felt like I had tried everything. I stopped drinking so many liquids after 3pm (I would NOT recommend this to anyone but me...I am a camel I swear) and started just consuming ice instead, I ate at a reasonable hour, I do relaxing activities like reading before sleeping, I even gave up my favorite past-time...three rolls of smarties while reading in bed (which I share with my dog). NOTHING was working.

So last night I made Bill go on a run with me. I think he didn't really want to because he didn't get home until 8. He even texted me like "Are we still going on a run? I won't get home until 8." And I texted him back "YES. I was waiting for you and NEED to go on this run." Seriously, I am going stir crazy. And the workout videos are not even helping anymore.

Usually I welcome a week without running. It gets on my nerves a little, but not enough to actually do anything about it. But it has been too freaking long without a run! Stupid weather. (I am not "allowed" to run unless it is less than 85.)

So last night we went on our favorite short Riverside Park run, which is 2.5 miles. I actually felt pretty darn good (ok, pretty darn good for my new running norms). I notice that I am now running more up and down than forward, but hey, it's still running.

Even Bill noticed. He asked how I felt at our turnaround, and I think he was surprised to have to ask so late in our run. I'm usually huffing and puffing by then.

The secret? I think it is because I'm finking out on my numbers. I used to run 4 minutes and walk two, but now I am down to a 3/2 ratio, which feels much more doable. Oh well. At least I am out there I guess. I figure this is something that everyone goes through eventually because even NYRR said something about women starting off running in their 1st-2nd trimester, eventually moving onto a run-walk, and then a walk-run. (Besides, even with this ratio I am keeping a 14 minute mile, which makes me feel pretty good, because believe me, during the walk breaks I am in no way shape or form walking fast.)

One thing that does suck is that after a run my lower back hurts the rest of the night. I looked it up in my Running Through Pregnancy book but all it basically said was "Yes. Your back will hurt when you run while pregnant." They attribute it to all the relaxin and the fact that my posture is off. Oh well. It is really more of an annoyance than an actual pain, and besides, I will take that any day for the benefits of running.

And? I slept last night!!! I only got up....TWICE!!! That is a record for me.

They say the key is doing a run 3-4 hours before bedtime and that's what I did. Amazing! Makes me want to run every night.

Working Out

2010-07-27T11:56:00.000-04:00

All right. It needs to stop being so damn hot here. Really. I am following my rule of "no running unless it is less than 85 degrees out" which is meaning "no running". It's not even less than that in the morning. I guess it wouldn't make a difference since I feel like I need my sleep more than I need my running.

So what HAVE I been doing? Lots and lots of DVD workouts.

But here are some things that I am calling "accomplishments":

• I am still working out in my 7th month of pregnancy!
• Working out actually makes me feel GOOD
• I am gaining weight and inches perfectly, (according to my doctor) which I attribute to the working out
• I don't look pregnant from the back
• I actually have to make modifications to my third trimester workout video to make it harder (I don't use a chair to balance for the squats, lunges, stretches, etc)
• I can stand on one leg to do my quad stretches for 45 seconds without losing balance!
• My belly is still rock solid! (although like a big, round, rock)

I also have really been digging these things called labor lunges. They are SO COMFY and relaxing. They are meant to be done in the delivery room to relax you, and when I heard this in the second trimester I was like "What?! I don't think so!" But now I am truly considering them for that. (I couldn't find a link to describe what I am talking about...basically it is a wide second position plié where you rock side to side, bending deeply in your knees.)

Some lady at the running store also told me to stock up on GU for the delivery room. Why? You need the calories and can't eat solid food! She said her sister swore by this when she was in labor for 17 hours.

Also, it seems like Kara and Paula are making people realize that you can run while pregnant...well, maybe only in the running community, but it's a start. NYRR even has a pregnancy article now! So take THAT all of you chastisers! (Actually, I haven't met too many, but the ones that I do tick me off!)

Running on Vacation

2010-07-15T13:10:00.000-04:00

Or, haha, maybe I should title this post "NOT Running on Vacation".

This was actually the first vacation I've taken since high school where I actually did pack my running shoes. So that was a good start. I also packed a couple of workout DVDs and my resistance band. All of this was sort of in vain though.

I started out the week in a very positive way, with a run down the beach with Bill. We decided to cut it to a 20 minute run (even before we started) just because running in the sand is exceedingly difficult. The goal was to make it to this pier we saw (which turned out to be a lot further away than I thought). We ALMOST made it. But let me tell you...

Running on the beach is a whole different ballgame. Automatically my legs were TIGHT. It might have helped if I was running with my running shoes instead of barefoot, but come on, how can you not run barefoot on the beach? I did see some other runners that afternoon though, and they seemed to be manuevering better in their running shoes.

It was fun, but I guess I thought that heading to the beach every morning to read my book was more fun, because that's what I did every other day.

Luckily, it seemed to not affect my overall fitness. When I got back to NYC we did a nice little run on Monday and yesterday I was able to get in a decent resistance workout. I'm hoping for a nice 4-miler in the park on Saturday. Now all I have to do is convince Bill. :)

Liars!

2010-06-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

This Sunday Bill and I ran the Stratton Faxon Half Marathon in Fairfield Connecticut. This half marathon had lots of selling points for me. For one, it was perfect timing...the last week before my third trimester. It also was billed as being flat (it even says on the website "The course is flat and very fast."). Also, it is on Jennings Beach, so I was looking forward to spending the day on the beach afterwards. And it is just a short train ride away from Manhattan.

Of course, even being a short train ride away, we still had to get up at 3:30 am in order to be there on time. Yuck. It was okay though, because it's been so hot here and it's made me so tired that I actually fell asleep the night before at 9:30 pm, giving me a full 6 hours of sleep.

Running all of these New York Road Runner Races made me actually forget what it's like to run a non-NYRR race. First of all, they kept talking about how huge this race was...the largest that they've ever had. They were warning us about the course being so crowded, which was kind of funny, because they had a record 4800 runners. The weekend before, Bill and I ran in a little 5 miler in Central Park that had 5000 runners, and that is pretty much typical for summer races.

Also EVERYONE got a technical shirt...even the people running the 5k. And you just went up to the booth and they gave you one. You didn't have to get an "x" on your number or anything.

The port-o-lets were the cleanest port-o-lets I have ever seen...before the race AND on the course (yeah, I had to stop twice on the course...pretty sad).

Also, it is SO NICE to run through pretty, scenic neighborhoods. Don't get me wrong, Central Park is beautiful. But I run there every week and know it like the back of my hand. The whole course actually reminded me a lot of the Flying Pig. I could have sworn we were running in Mariemont a few times. The crowd support was also about equal to the Pig's, which is pretty cool for a half marathon.

The start was kind of weird though, because they had women in one place and men in another. So Bill and I didn't meet up until after the first mile. I have to say, even with my run/walk plan I had a very rough start. My legs were in so much pain because my calves were so incredibly tight. It was probably a good thing Bill wasn't running next to me for that first mile because I was in bad shape mentally. He got an earful though when he saw me.

I was like "I don't know. I'm going to see how this goes, but at this point I'm not finishing this thing." All I could focus on was my leg pain even though Bill was telling me to focus on something else like my breathing, which pretty much just made me want to punch him. (Yes, mentally I was at mile 24 of a marathon.) He asked when we should consider stopping and I said I wanted to go until at least mile 5 and then see. He later told me that he thought this was kind of funny because since it was an out and back course I might as well do the whole thing at that point. Obviously (and smartly) he didn't tell me this.

We stopped on the side of the road in someone's yard and Bill massaged out my calves, which actually did help.

Except, there were SO MANY FREAKING HILLS on this "flat, fast course" that every time I started to climb one again my calves would seize up. So we Plan B'ed it. Every hill, we walked up. This of course, threw my intervals off, so we decided to play the intervals by ear.

We were definitely running at the back of the pack, which I definitely did not like. I know I used to run here all the time, but I was mad that I was running here now. It was so sparse (running populationwise) and it made me feel like I wasn't running a race. Plus I was like "I am definitely not going to make it before the cut-off." AND there were CARS on the road. Ergh. Not something I want to have to pay attention to during a race.

At about mile 6, I started feeling really good. I was even picking up my pace on the running part, and I was able to do 6 minutes of running at a time when I fell off of the intervals because of the hills. I was able to have a nice, fun conversation with Bill without feeling an urge to punch him (I swear, it's just the running thing...the whole time my mind was like "He is just trying to help. He is so supportive. He is the best husband ever." but it was also like "SHUT UP. Just SHUT UP." I am glad that he ran the Pig with me that one year, because he went through the same thing with me, and now he understands. :)

We were actually having a really good time, despite the fact that we were now regularly climbing steep Hyde-Park-Blast-type hills.

We were also doing this back and forth type thing with this other group of runners, who, at about mile 10, decided to change their run to a run/walk. My inner goal was to beat them.

Before we knew it, we were at the end!!! (And we passed the team in black that kept being behind and then in front of us.) And let me tell you, it was the first race where I didn't want to pick up my pace when I saw the finish line. I just didn't have any more left.

I was actually happy with myself even though my time was way off what I am used to. (I got a 2:46.25, which is a 12:44 pace. Last year, in similar weather conditions and on a hillier course in Queens I got a 1:54.07 which is an 8:42 pace. I only point this out because I am amazed at how much your pace can change without you having any control over it.) The medal was also nice, and I wore it all day, even over my swimsuit when we were hanging out at the beach afterwards.

And besides being super-chafed and having swelling feet, I felt pretty good physically. Definitely good enough to scarf down the free after-race food (a hot dog, an apple, two pieces of pizza and a half pint of fruit punch). :)

Lead Legs

2010-06-25T14:20:00.000-04:00

The funniest thing happened in the last week...I feel like my legs are made of lead. It kind of stinks because:
1. I feel energized
2. I feel strong/am not injured
3. I had a great run 2 weeks ago

It is crazy...I don't feel sore or tired or anything, just like my legs are heavy. In fact, it feels like when you have a really hard workout and have a bunch of lactic acid buildup. Bill thinks it is the 17 pounds I have gained, and he makes a good point. I mean that is like over a 12% weight gain.

At any rate, it has made me re-evaluate my workout plans. This past weekend I had 2 long(ish) runs. One eight-miler and one five-miler and I decided to experiment with them. I had been meaning to try the whole run/walk thing, and I found this the perfect opportunity.

We started out with 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. I soon found out that one minute was NOT enough rest time. It seemed like just when I was getting to where I felt "good" we had to pick up running again. Bill suggested a 3/1 combo, but I told him what I really needed was more REST. I already had my watch all set up though, so I wanted to continue the 4/1 for the 8 miler and switch to a 4/2 for the 5 miler the next day.

Yeah, well that didn't really happen. Because when I got to the little hills on the west side of the park they killed me. So we pulled over and I reset my watch and we did 4/2s. OMG what a difference! My energy was back, and just when my legs were starting to feel heavy again I was up for a walk break, which made me recover. Plus, the walk time is a great time to rehydrate. I actually felt like I could have done another 5 miles at the end, so that's good!

The next day in my head I wanted to run the whole thing (since it was a race), but I was willing to see how I felt. Since it was crowded (the first sold-out race of the summer, which meant 5,000 runners) I told Bill we would run through the first run walk run cycle (10 minutes) just to get past the crowd and then see how we felt.

Haha.

I think I should have just stuck with the run/walk and not worried about the crowd.

Oh well, good learning lesson. I was actually pretty happy with my race, even though it seemed dreadfully slow. I just have to keep reminding myself "You are running because it is good for you...not because you love it so much right now."

So the plan for this weekend's half marathon is definitely run/walk 4/2. I am looking forward to the nice flat course on the beach and then just hanging out on the beach afterwards. I am definitely ready!

Pregnancy PR Plus

2010-06-16T13:24:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I ran the Women's Mini 10k. This race is sort of a big deal because it was the first women's-only race I think ever (it started in 1972 and is called the "mini" because it was sponsored by "Mini" Razors). It ends up drawing a lot of elites like Linet Masai and Lornah Kiplagat. But this year I was very excited because Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe were running it as a "fun run" since they are both pregnant (and both due a week before me!). I love, love, love Kara Goucher, so I was very very happy. I was hoping to snap a picture of them before the race and even had my camera on me.

Anyway, I always like this run, because it is very "girl power" AND you get to run up Central Park West for the first part, instead of being stuck in the same old Central Park loop.
It was a muggy day (66 degrees but 78% humidity) but at least it was overcast and a little cooler than I was used to. I had no time goals, but wanted to run with a good effort and just see how it went. Since it was a women's only race I was in the red corral (the second fastest) and I think it kind of screwed me up. Even though I was telling myself to take it out no faster than a 10-minute pace, I think I got caught up in the race pace. I THOUGHT I was holding back, but when I looked at my watch at the half mile I saw I was doing an 8:40 pace...whoops. I slowed down immediately, knowing there was no way I could hold that.

I was glad that I did because those hills were killer. Even the slight elevation on the way to the downhill part of Harlem Hill was tiring my legs out. I was keeping a nice even 10:16 pace though and felt pretty good. I was also making sure to stop at every single water stop because I could tell that I needed them. With my good head start of a 9:48 minute mile and the following 10:16 I decided to make a mental goal of beating my first ever 10k time, which was a 1:09.

The back end of Harlem Hill got me though. I was really fighting the urge to walk because I wanted to run the entire race. I decided to allow myself a little walk break when I got to Lasker Pool, at the bottom of the hill. But then I saw that the 3 mile marker was halfway up the hill and quickly revised my plan to make it to mile 3. That allowed me to run half the hill and walk half of it, and I felt that this was much more justified :)

Even with all of the walking and water breaks I was still not that far off my goal. That last mile was an 11+ pace, but I was getting my energy back now that all of the bad hills were over.

When I hit Cat Hill I didn't even feel like I needed the water stop, but I stopped anyway.

I don't remember what my 5th mile was, but I know it started with a 9, which made me ecstatic. I felt great...great enough to pick up the pace for that last mile.

I did feel like it was the longest mile ever. When I got to the 800m to go sign I was like "Really? A whole HALF MILE?!" I didn't know if I could keep up the pace. I must have though, because I saw Bill just after mile 6 and when I looked at my watch I saw that I was flying! I shouted to Bill "9:20!!!" I was super pumped! I haven't seen those kind of numbers since before pregnancy! I was definitely going to make my goal.

I dug in and concentrated and finished with a 1:02, 10 minute pace flat! I was so happy! So happy that I didn't even really care that I got the ugliest carnation the guy handed me after the end :)

THEN the best part!!!

Bill and I were walking back the race course to cheer on our friend, Bess when who do I see signing autographs? Kara Goucher! It took some needling, but Bill convinced me to stand in line and get my picture taken with her. ( I was like "NOOOOOOOO! I am NOT a ten-year-old girl!")

I think she is probably the nicest professional runner ever.

First of all, she noticed my "Running for Two" shirt, which she said she loved and then started asking me all kinds of questions ("When are YOU due?" "How do you feel?") I told her I got a pregnancy PR which she said was great and then told her that she was inspiring me to keep running. She was like "I don't see why not, right? I mean, if you feel good you should!" and then she said "We'll probably be singing a different song in the 9th month though, right?" Aw. She was very nice and I felt very happy to have talked to her for more than 2 seconds like everyone else. Her husband Adam was there too, but I was mainly just startstruck by Kara. :)

Me and Kara Goucher!

Sadly, I missed Bess' finish, but we all went out to celebrate our run afterwards with some greasy diner food :)

Bess, Gina and Me before heading to brunch

Japan Day Race

2010-06-10T10:22:00.000-04:00

I don't know WHY I am trying so hard to get in my 9+1 races to qualify for the 2011 New York City Marathon. I already have guaranteed entry since I forfeited my guaranteed entry this year. I guess I always need a goal in running and this is it for me. I also like running races because it makes sure that I am still running and staying in shape.

At any rate, after my very hot 6-mile run on Saturday, Bill and I woke up early to do the Japan Day 4-mile run on Sunday. It was still hot, and there was no sign of the rain that they were talking about all week, which kind of made it worse (recorded temps were 75 for the 8am race with 79% humidity).

But I am SO GLAD that we ran on Saturday. It made Sunday so much easier, mentally and physically.

One thing I did forget was that the summer races are CROWDED. Especially in the middle of the pack where I run now. The whole time we were on everyone's heels and there was never any room to pass...not that I really needed to pass anyone.

I felt like I was putting forth a good effort, which made me realize the truth about effort vs pace.

I was telling Bill about this during the run. When I ran competitively it was a whole different ballgame than how I run now. Last year it was all about time, no excuses. Even though people were telling me that things like heat, humidity, whether or not you had a long run, or a hill workout or a speed workout the day before, etc affected your race, I was always trying to PR, no matter what. I remember being really upset with myself last year during the Women's Mini 10k because at practice I was averaging 7:40-8:15 pace on 10ks and on that race I averaged an 8:33 pace. And it was hot that day!

But running during pregnancy has taught me that those things really DO matter. I can tell when my body is pushing hard, and time is not always a reflection of that.

In this race we were doing a consistent 10:37 pace and it felt just as hard as those 7:40s that I used to do at practice.

I have also really been able to tell the difference between pushing it so that I get a good workout and knowing when I need a break. My OB says that this is why athletes do well in pregnancy workouts. She said that athletes have a much better understanding of how their bodies work, and they are the best measurerers (hmmm, not really a word, I know) of their effort levels. Studies have shown that when pregnant athletes need to stop or take a break, they do. So that's what I do...I push to get a hard workout, but not so hard that I will hurt myself. It ends up being pretty rewarding, and I have almost always felt good afterwards about my runs.

I even made it up Cat Hill without stopping (Cat Hill has been my Achilles Heel on my last 2 long runs) even though it was in the third mile of the 4 mile race.

So I was pretty happy with my 41:50 (which averaged out to a 10:27 pace!). And I felt GREAT afterwards. Great enough to walk the 2 miles home and scarf down a sausage sandwich from the corner bodega. :)

Hot Time Summer in the City

2010-06-10T09:58:00.000-04:00

I have to say that I was not thrilled to wake up to 79 degree temps on Saturday morning. Not to mention that it was also muggy and that in the half hour that it took me to get ready it had already climbed up to 83. Yuck.

The plan was to do my 10 miler with Bill (nice and easy, but still...). I guess I should also mention that my pregnancy running book recommends not running when it is over 85 out. This had already screwed up my plans earlier in the week when I was supposed to do a 3-4 mile run and it was 85 out (at 7:30 pm!). Bill and I ended up walking the 3 miles, which made me feel pretty lame, but I figured it was better than not getting out there at all. ( I swear though, it was a good 10 degrees cooler by the river where we were walking on the way down, then in the park, which is elevated, on the way back...and they are RIGHT next to each other!)

Well, we had decided on 2 5-mile loops, or maybe a 5-mile loop in Central Park and then running over to Riverside to run by the nice cool river (but also in the hot sun with no shade). We were going to play it by ear.

Into the first mile I had already decided that 10 miles was out. I had already done a little walking (which I have no problem doing, but have never done before the end of the first mile). Bill and I decided that 6 miles was an admirable goal.

Shortly after that, we decided that 6 miles run/walking was an admirable goal.

I went through 3 and a half 16oz bottles on that 6 miles and a GU!!! (Unheard of! I do not take GUs until the 6th mile AND I usually go through about 8oz of water for every 6 miles).

We did finish our 6 miles. And it seemed to take forever...but even with all of the walking and stopping to get water our pace averaged out to 13:17, which I think was actually okay.

We ran into one of my running friends from TNT on the way back, and she said that it was so hot and unbearable that her group in the morning only did 2 of the lower loops (1.7 miles). Yuck.

If we have a lot more days like this, I think my pregnancy running days are numbered.

Afterwards, Bill and I went to Chipotle and I scarfed down 3 tacos (which I can never usually do) including grabbing a fork to get all of the rest of the meat that fell out. And then when I got home I had to have something else because I was still starving.

Luckily, I was smart concerning my hydration...because my pre-run weight was EXACTLY the same as my postrun weight! Hurrah to me!

Being Sick is the Pits

2010-06-01T14:57:00.000-04:00

So I ended up taking a WHOLE WEEK off of working out because I had a cold. Yuck.

I learned two things from being sick while pregnant:
1. Your immune system is very very much down, which means it is a lot easier to catch things like colds. It also means that it takes a much longer time to get over colds. I caught mine on the 17th (a Monday), and had to take off of work because it was so bad for THREE DAYS. I never do that. It still wasn't fully gone until the following Sunday. And I still have a nagging cough left over. Blah.
2. You can't take any drugs. Oh yeah, and no herbal supplements either...so even Airborne is out because it is an extra dose of Vitamin C.

Normally this awful cold would have been gone with a half day of rest for me...but I was not so lucky this time. As a result there was no running. Also no weight lifting, no stretching, no yoga, no working out. Pretty much I just laid on the couch and watched tv. It sounds like fun but it isn't. I think I was driving Bill nuts.

So when I got back into the routine of things last week about all I could muster at once in the heat was a measly 2.5 mile run. And it SUCKED. It was like I had taken 2 weeks off of working out instead of one. I even had to walk a couple of times, and then stupid things started happening (like my foot cramped up so badly that I had to take my running shoe off midrun. Seems I have a potassium deficiency. While I eat 3 bananas at work a day, which takes care of it, being sick at home I kind of had forgotten to do this.)

I MADE myself do a weight workout on Friday, lifting the lighter weights I have and it was hard too.

So on Saturday I was pretty much dreading our 8-miler.

Luckily I had lots of moral support from Bill and my friends Gina and Donna who joined us for the run. It was muggy out, which made it tough, but we muddled through. I only stopped to walk twice, once being at the killer Cat Hill (but I was proud of myself for making it through the first time...it was the second time that got me). We ended up averaging a 10:29 pace, even with the walking, so I was pretty happy.

It also made me feel like "Yes, I CAN do this half marathon that I signed up for at the end of my second trimester!"

Check THIS Out!

2010-05-12T14:51:00.000-04:00

Seems like my most favorite runner, Kara Goucher, is also running pregnant! My friend Gina forwarded this article to me over the weekend. And her and Paula Radcliffe are due about the same time that I am!

So is it weird that this makes me feel more positive about my future running experiences? I mean, it's definitely not like "Well, if Kara can do it, I can do it." Because I read that she did 70 miles last week. Erg. I did like 10 miles last week. And I like that her "slow pace" is an 8:15 for a 10k. That is like my fast (non-pregnant) 10k pace! (But if her SLOW pace is 8:15, and her racing pace is like 4:58, that makes me not feel so bad about my new 10-11 minute long run pace). That article does make me feel like "Yay! I can do it!"

The other cool thing is that both of these ladies are running the Women's Mini 10k in June, which happens to be in Central Park, which I happened to sign up early for this year.

(Ironically, I think I am going to get in my 9+1 pretty easily this year, even though I deferred my entry to the NYC marathon for this year to the next...so I wouldn't even HAVE to do 9+1 to get in!)

Not Counting Time :)

2010-05-10T13:55:00.000-04:00

I have decided that I am not going to be paying attention to my time too much during this whole running-while-pregnant thing. I say this because I was just checking out my race history for this year and it's kind of demotivating.

The good news is that I've completed another race! Yay! That makes 4 for this year, and I'm already signed up for another one. The nice thing about not training for a marathon (I've found) is that I can run a lot more races because they don't screw up training. I AM still looking for another half marathon to run though (before it gets too ridiculous to do so).

But anyway, back to the title?

Bill and I ran the Mother's Day run this weekend. It was perfect weather and unseasonably cold for May (but nice for running!) with 40 degree temps. Unfortunately there was a TON of wind, but I will take that any day over running in 90 degree temps.

Our first mile was 9:53, which is all well and good, except for the fact that I felt like I was running about a whole minute faster than that. AND (as I pointed out to Bill) kind of demotivating, knowing that I ran an entire 13.1 miles at about that pace two weeks ago. Yuck.

The next mile we picked it up to a 9:09 (whoops, no wonder it felt a lot faster).

Oh yes, and I forgot to tell you. Ever since about 2 weeks ago I start a race or run and immediately have to pee. It doesn't matter that I go right before the run. It doesn't matter that I drink my fluids all at the beginning of the day and run at night. It just doesn't matter. And this past WEEK I feel like I am running with a full bladder the whole time. Like, you know how it feels when you load up on too much water at the water stops and then go to run again? And you feel all heavy in the stomach as it bounces up and down? Yeah, well that's how I feel all the time now.

So I had to stop at mile two. And of course there was a long line...which added on I don't know how much time. But luckily, it allowed us to see our friend Donna and catch up to her in the next mile so we could be chatty for awhile.

Bill wanted to know how I felt and the best way I could describe it was "I'm definitely pushing myself. But I don't need to go slower." Which I think was pretty good for me. Oh yeah, and I had to pee again, but decided to try and finish the race first because seriously, this was getting ridiculous.

When we were around 79th some guy shouted "Only a quarter mile to go!" I said "What? That can't be right!" But here's what happened: I KNEW it was a 4 mile race and I KNOW the park loops like the back of my hand, but in my mind I was doing the 5 mile loop...so I knew that when he said .25 miles, I really had like 1.6 miles (the total of the lower loop). But there was no lower loop!!! Hurrah!

I guess my body was planning for a 5 mile race too, because I suddenly was able to take off and kick it in like crazy.

Which is why I feel like I deserve the 9:50 pace that my Garmin had for the race instead of my 10:36 pace that NYRR had for me. (That bathroom break took a long time).

Yes, I hate people that do that, but come on! Can I get a pass for it this time? :)

The shirt was Bill's idea :)

My Love/Hate Relationship with Yoga

2010-04-29T15:15:00.000-04:00

I can never seem to stay motivated enough to stick with a yoga program and I'm not sure why.

Obviously, it is one of the best things that a runner can do for herself...especially a runner like me who can't even touch her toes (and this has nothing to do with pregnancy...I have always been this way). I am always amazed at how at the beginning of my yoga workout I can't even sit comfortably in the crossed leg position, but by the end this is more than comfortable for me.

This is why I haven't taken any yoga classes. In Cincinnati it was different. There were people of all different skill levels in these classes, and while it was embarassing to be the least flexible person in the class, I could totally deal with it. Here, people are SERIOUS about yoga. I guess they would have to be, because the classes are so expensive. There is also a very unhealthy standard of being ridiculously thin here, and the yoga classes are even worse (so I've heard from all of my friends and co-workers who have taken these classes.)

I KNOW this will help me with my running. I WANT to be a crazy yoga-girl who wears cute outfits and can put my leg up against the side of my head (or really, even just touch my toes) and eats insanely healthy and feels connected with the earth and her body (btw, I loved that article in Runner's World last month about the Zen running camp in Shambhala. I want to go there.)

So I try. And I quit.

I've tried several Yoga videos including Crunch Candlelight Yoga which weirds me out because the girl reminds me so much of Sarah Silverman and she says weird things in a calming voice like "close your eyes...there's nothing to see on your tv screen." I've also tried the MTV Yoga video with Kristin McGee...but she is VERY annoying and doesn't come off and being very athletic OR bright. So maybe that is part of the problem.

My mom gave me this new DVD called Prenatal Yoga with Desi Bartlett. I like it so much that I've already done the workout twice this week.

I've been trying to stay away from prenatal workout videos because I feel like they may be too easy for me (since I have been in good shape for awhile and I feel like most of those are geared towards women who don't work out at all). But this one is great (probably because I am totally a beginner in Yoga and can't do half of the moves). It is 45 minutes long, which is just long enough for me to not get bored, but long enough that I feel like I'm getting a workout.

It also REALLY stretches me out in a way that feels really good. I'm sure that this has something to do with the fact that it's geared towards a very specific segment, but I'll take it! It was a perfect thing to do the day after my half marathon when I was still a little achy in my muscles.

And every night that I do the video? I sleep through the ENTIRE night...like a ROCK!

So I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep up this yoga thing for longer than a month (which is usually my breaking point).

My Adventures in the NYRR Medical Tent

2010-04-28T15:12:00.001-04:00

Before I start this post I just must say: no, it wasn't a big deal, but yes, I ended up in the medical tent after the More Half Marathon. It was actually my first experience of this sort in all of my running career, which I guess is sort of impressive...especially considering my tendency for injury when I ran cross-country in high-school.

Anyway, it all pretty much started AFTER the race. I was freezing cold and couldn't wait to get into my warm and dry clothes since I had been running in the rain for 2+ hours. Bill and I maneuvered this over by bagcheck. He held up two umbrellas and handed me dry clothes while I did a soccer change (this is where you change your shirt into a new shirt without showing any skin...it came from the days when we would get our soccer jerseys the day of the game.) I was so glad I brought lots of clothes. Off came the soaking technical shirt and sportsbra and on went the dry race t-shirt, a dry sweatshirt hoodie and a dry racing jacket. I also dumped my wet socks and shoes for sandles. Unfortunately, I didn't even bother with bringing pants because I figured there was no way to change out of my skirt in a non-obscene way. (Yes, I could have gone into a port-o-let, but I think that's kind of gross and anyways I don't trust my balance these days.) At any rate, I think this whole not-changing-out-of-my-skirt was my downfall. (In my defense though, I DID look all over for those space blankets for afterwards, but I think they had run out by the time I finished.)

We then proceeded to find Gina to cheer on our other friend Bess, who hadn't finished yet. Gina and I were very pumped to go to brunch afterwards. So after we saw Bess finish, I stepped off of the curb to head over to the finish and OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I didn't even know what to call where I was feeling pain. My inner thigh? Was this my groin? My adductor? All I know is that it was this immense, radiating pain and it made it very hard to walk. I have NEVER EVER felt pain like this. We were now way behind Gina and I told Bill we might be taking a cab to brunch, even though it was only a few blocks away.

Each step intensified the pain and I actually started making audible noises. They were so loud that people started looking. Luckily, one nice man said "There's a massage tent back there." We thanked him and turned around. Bill texted Gina to go ahead without us. The massage tent seemed so far away, and I couldn't even tell which tent it was. It was getting worse and worse and I really couldn't move.

Bill then went over to a course attendant and asked where the medical tent was. Luckily it was only about 10 feet away. But those 10 feet seemed like a mile. I barely made it in. I just kept thinking "Maybe they could get a wheelchair and bring me in."

Now, from the minute we got into the tent it was all business. I kid you not. NYRR does NOT mess around.

They made me lie down on a cot (quite a feat) where they covered me in three blankets. They made me wrap one around my head and I felt like I looked like the guys in the sleeping pods from 2001 Space Odyssey.

This lady with a clipboard asked me for my number (of course, attached to my wet shirt in a plastic bag within a bag, so that took awhile to get) and took down a bunch of information from my tag.

Then, they moved me to the "warmer part" of the tent onto another cot. A man asked me what was going on and then called over a doctor saying that it was my hip (aha! my hip) and that I needed it worked out.

So the doctor asked me all about the pain, and I just kept stressing how this has NEVER happened, EVER in all my running. Bill thought that this was funny because he thought the guy probably was like "haha. What? In all your training you did for this half marathon?" I really did feel stupid being there. Like I didn't know what I was doing or something and overexerted myself (which I didn't).

I am very very sensitive about this now. I think it's because people keep asking me "Is it really okay to run while your pregnant? Really? Even all of that mileage?" And believe me, everything I've read says yes, its okay, but most importantly my OB says it's ok. So I'm all worried that people will be like "See, you shouldn't run like that!" and "You have to be more careful!"

Anyway, the doctor was great and only had to work my leg for like 10 minutes before I could move it completely again.

He said that it was just a muscle spasm brought on by the cold. Standing around afterwards in a wet skirt certainly didn't help matters. He also said it was probably also due to the fact that my circulation is much much different since I am pregnant. The solution? Go home as soon as possible, get into a warm bath and just make sure I got warm. I could also alternate cold and warm compresses on it. (He also had no problem with me running a half marathon while four months pregnant.)

When I went to stand up, I could move again without ANY pain! I could walk normally without a limp! It was amazing!!!

I actually made it almost all the way out of the park normally without it seizing up again. But when it did, it hurt LOTS. So we took a cab home. A whole 3 blocks.

It must have just been the cold though, because as soon as I got into the building from the warm cab I was walking with only a slight limp, and once I was out of the tub I didn't have any pain for the rest of the day.

Guess I learned my lesson – body temps drop dramatically after you STOP running. I may have been able to get away with it before, but not anymore: change into ALL dry clothes after a wet run.

The MORE Half Marathon

2010-04-26T14:00:00.000-04:00

It finally arrived! The day of the half marathon! It's kind of crazy because I didn't have a marathon to train for this year, so this was sort of my "big event". However, I didn't really get myself all psyched-up to run or anything. No big pasta dinner, no going to bed super early, nothing like that. In fact, I was pretty low-key about the whole thing. But I think that was maybe because my goal was just to finish the thing.

I will say, the expo for this event was pretty cool. There were LOTS of good freebies. In the race bag alone you got a full-size box of wheat pasta, a full-size Murad moisturizer with sunscreen, a Lady Speed Stick, a bunch of weird (and scary) vitamin supplements, Silk soymilk, a lululemon headband, and a bunch of other stuff that I really can't remember right now. (I was mainly psyched about the expensive Murad moisturizer, which normally retails for $30!). There was all kinds of other free stuff at the expo tables...Lady Speed Stick was giving away free technical shirts! My parents (who were in town visiting) got me this cool florescent green short sleeve hoodie made out of technical fabric. Along the side it said "I Run Like a Girl". I had to wear it Sunday, so I broke the whole "Nothing New On Race Day" Rule. I actually kind of broke that rule a lot because I also was wearing a new sports bra, new Balga socks (my favorite kind!) and new elastic shoelaces.

Of course, that morning it was POURING down rain. And it wasn't supposed to stop all day. I brought lots of extra layers in a plastic bag that Bill so kindly held during the race. I was pretty psyched because I was in the red corral, which meant I was in the group with the second fastest times (of course, I wasn't counting on keeping that kind of pace for this race). Standing in the rain was COLD, and I couldn't wait until we got moving.

The course was pretty packed, but people were being nice. I was actually surprised at the pace of the girls around me (who also started in the red corral) because we were keeping a pretty easy 9:58ish pace for the first couple of miles. I also decided that while long bangs and layers are stylish right now, they don't make very good running accessories in a downpour.

I felt pretty good, but like I was pushing the pace a little. I was having a hard time taking it back though. I couldn't believe I was already up at the 102nd street transverse! Then, a great surprise! Gina was running right beside me! It was so nice to have a friend to chat with, ESPECIALLY through Harlem Hill. We noticed that we were going a little fast though (I had a 9:21 pace). OK, time to slow down for real. I needn't have worried. Harlem Hill really took it out of me.

Unfortunately, I lost Gina at a water stop, when I stopped and she didn't...which was probably okay, because I needed to slow down a ton, and she was going for a sub 2:00.

I did see Bill though, in the lower loop, and smiled and waved. One loop down, one to go! When I saw him on the other side of the lower loop I was still smiling but a lot more tired. It was more like "One more loop? A whole loop to go?"

I think I looked tired too. When I passed the course monitors at 72nd Street on the east side, one of them said "Good job Emily! Water just around the corner!" I was like "OK." Then I was like 'Wait! How did he know my name?' Turns out it was one of my TNT teammates from the summer. Yay! As stupid as it is, it helps me to see people I know on the course.

I started singing in my head to distract myself. I got stuck on Britney Spear's "Radar" (I know, I know! Lame!) which ended up being good because it is nice and easy with a good rhythm...exactly how I needed to run. Before I knew it I was at 102nd Street again!

It was here that I realized that I was sort of kind of cold. Like not hypothermia cold, but just uncomfortable cold. It was distracting me (but not in a good way) on Harlem Hill and all I could think about was how I wanted to get OUT of my wet clothes AS SOON AS the race was over...especially my soaked sports bra that was right against my skin. Ok. Time to stop thinking about that.

Finally I was over Harlem Hill and I started segmenting the race in my head. My next goal was 90th street, where I knew the little rolling hills were over, then 72nd, where I would see Bill again and also only had one more lower loop to go, then 72nd on the east side, where the race was almost over.

I started feeling good again, and my splits went from 11:30s (for the past two miles) back to a 10:15. I was now shooting for a sub-10 pace for the entire race. It was definitely doable.

Oh. Except for the fact that I had this nagging nagging nagging need to pee. The problem was that I had had this need for about the entire race. At this point it wasn't even nerves or adrenaline, it was just downright annoying. MOSTLY it was annoying because I only had 1.6 miles to go. I tried to ignore it more. It just wasn't in the cards...I had to stop. ARGH. Luckily, in a rainstorm in the 11th mile of a half marathon all of the port-o-lets are deserted.

Back on the course, and when I passed the carousel on the east side, I picked it up. I entered the long corral at 72nd street and looked at my watch (I couldn't resist)...looks like I was averaging a 10:03 pace. NOOOOOOO! So I REALLY kicked it in.

But...I couldn't do it. I finished with a 2:12, which averages out to a 10:04 pace. But I was still happy. I ran a good and tough race and now I had a pretty medal to wear all day :)

The Secret's Out!

2010-04-19T12:59:00.001-04:00

Not wanting to run...feeling tired...low energy...slower times...

Yes, these are all symptoms of running while pregnant...which I am...very much so. (My running friend Jen was also confused as to why Bill was checking my energy level so much and being so overprotective in my latest blog posts).

Honestly, I was just happy that I was still allowed to run! I mean I spent a good part of my summer last year studying the Runner's World Guide to Running and Pregnancy and learning just about everything I would ever need to know about running while pregnant (yes, it is safe...no, you do not have to keep your heart rate below 140...etc) but I still had this sinking feeling that my OB would say "forget it". Of course, she didn't. She is a runner herself and her partner is a tri-athlete who only stopped training in the third trimester because she was sick of all of the rude comments and stares. (Not only am I "allowed" to run, but it is recommended that I do at least 30 minutes of working out a day most days of the week!)

The book actually is WONDERFUL and I would recommend it to anyone, because it tells you everything you would ever need to know about running while pregnant and everything you will go through emotionally and physically (or, at least it has so far), which was a nice preparation.

One thing I didn't know? My times will increase dramatically. There is just no way around it. And I'm actually okay with that, although it took a lot of mental prep. I just keep telling myself that it is a whole new ballgame. It gives me "new" goals too. Like running a 5k race under a 10 minute pace. Or doing a long run without stopping. Or running my longest distance ever (while pregnant). Or even just training for a half marathon (which is this Sunday, by the way!)

Luckily, I have a GREAT support system with my friends and family and running buddies. So it's made everything a lot easier.

Bill and I have actually learned to really ENJOY running slower together. He said my attitude towards running is much more balanced, and he can tell that I really love running again (not that I ever didn't, but sometimes it really is more of a chore to tick off of the list).

And now that the secret's out I can FINALLY write about running freely again and not feel like I'm hiding anything :) And boy, do I have a LOT to write about now.

12 miler

2010-04-12T14:17:00.000-04:00

This is it! The longest run of the season before the half marathon! I was definitely excited to do the mileage, but still a smidge sore from a 4-miler I did during the week while I was traveling in Philly. Seems my calves had it in for me.

Luckily, we had a whole group to tackle this task, which always makes running more fun..A bunch of my friends are doing the More Half Marathon and we decided to run it together...EASY, and then reward ourselves with brunch.

It's amazing how much faster it all goes when you are chatting. There were 4.5 of us (Donna only did 6 miles with us because she is not actually running the half) and we never ran out of conversation :)

We also maintained about a 12 minute mile because it was Bess' first 12-miler, Gina said she hadn't really been training like she should and I was nursing super sore calves. Guess what? It totally worked! I was sore up until the evening, but after that, I was fine! I was so amazed. I also told Gina that running at that pace seemed a ton less daunting even though it took a lot longer.

Gina said that taking your long runs at a much slower pace is actually a very crucial part of the Pfitzinger plan which is an intense plan that is heavy on mileage but promises extraordinary results. Gina used the plan to get her first sub-4:00 marathon in NYC last year and ended up smashing her goal! I had told her that if it worked for her then I was going to try it for my next marathon. (So I guess I have to try it now).

But I was very intrigued by this whole long slow distance thing. I mean, Coach Ramon ALWAYS tells us to do this, but the fact is, I run my long runs not THAT much differently than my goal pace for the marathon.

Anyway, we were all proud of ourselves when we finished, and walked another half mile to brunch, where I rewarded myself with a stack of pancakes and a plate of cheese fries (gotta have the sweet AND savory!)

Scotland Run

2010-04-06T14:57:00.002-04:00

This Saturday Bill and I decided to run the Scotland Run, which is a 10k in Central Park.

I figured it would be a good idea to run the loop in "racing conditions" because in the More half marathon I will be doing that twice. It was also my first warm race of the season, so it was a good check on fluid intake, heart rate and all of that good stuff. Plus, I had heard that the Scotland Run was a lot of fun and that I should definitely do it.

I guess most of the "fun" comes from the cool race schwag. I always love races that give you stuff other than the typical white men's tee, even if it's stuff I never use again. I guess I just love free stuff. Kind of wasteful if you really think about it.

This race had a reusable bag with the Scottish flag on it, a plastic Scottish flag, a Scottish flag pin (which I will be adding to my bag full of race patches and pins...yes, I am one of those people), an ugly baseball cap and some Scottish flag tattoos. Plus, the shirt was at least clever. It had the race map on the back in a tartan plaid design.

Bill was a little bummed because we were all the way in the back...the second to last corral. Well, he was. And it was all my fault. When you sign up for NYRR races they base your corral on your best pace for the year in one of their races that is over 2 miles. So my corral is based on my 8:03 pace (and how many people are in the race). Since Bill had lost his NYRR number and had to re-register this year he had no race history...except for the 5k we did in March...where I ran a nice and easy 9:15 pace. I don't think he would have been that far back in another race (I say this because my 8:03 pace put me in the orange corral and I am usually in the green...I think it goes Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Orange, Aqua, Purple, Gray, Pink). I went back into the gray corral with him though, because I completely and totally appreciate him running with me. :)

My goal was 9:30 pace, especially with the heat. I was feeling a little warm at the starting line already AND it was sunny out.

The start was crowded but I was focusing on feeling comfortable and hoping that I could negative split. Despite the crowd, I went a 9:40. Perfect! I felt pretty good too. It was warm, but I felt like the race was manageable. It was also nice because we were running clockwise from the west side, which meant that the bad hills were first, and Cat Hill would be a downhill instead of an uphill.

One thing I do hate about the slower pace is how long it takes to run a race. I mean 8:03 and 9:40 are not THAT different but the miles seem to take FOREVER. It drives me crazy. The whole time I am like "WHEN is the next mile?"

I definitely felt like I should hydrate at every stop, so I did. And it didn't slow us down either. The next mile was a 9:34.

Even on the hill we were keeping a good pace (in fact, we probably should have slowed down a bit). I like running up the back side of Harlem Hill much better, and we ended up logging a 9:14.

Then I felt tired. I was done. Totally done with the race. I told myself to look forward to something mentally, so I tried periodization: Hey! Only a little bit to Cat Hill which is a downhill, then you're already at 72nd. Then all you have to do is the lower loop and you are almost finished!

It worked until 72nd. Bill kept asking me how I felt and all I could say was "tired", but that wasn't even right. It wasn't tired exactly...more like it was becoming an effort to run. It was not quite as easy as the start and I was starting to concentrate on more things (my heartrate, where the waterstops were, how many hills were left, that next spot of shade) which was making me enjoy running less.

I usually feel like I can kick it in at the end, but that wasn't so true this time. I had worked as hard as I could and was content with finishing at the same speed with which I tackled the lower loop. No second wind for me this time.

Don't get me wrong, I felt fine afterwards. Even like I ran a good run.

And I especially enjoyed the chocolate chip bagels at the end along with the cool and funky Scottish music from Whiskey Kiss in the party area. (I always secretly wanted to be one of those girls playing the electric fiddle in those funky Celtic bands). It was also fun to meet up with my friends Bess and Donna afterwards.

I will say, I can't seem to get enough of racing this year...even if it does seem harder. It just seems very rewarding. :)

Long Slow Distance

2010-03-29T15:25:00.002-04:00

Some days running just seems daunting. That's how this Saturday was to me. I was in a bad mood in the morning and the last thing I wanted to do was go for a ten-mile run. Also, Bill was nursing a foot injury, so I would have had to do it by myself. Normally, I wouldn't have minded, but I just did not want to even do one mile.

Bill made me a deal...he would RICE all day and try at least part of the run tomorrow with me. The only bad part was that Saturday was sunny and Sunday was supposed to be gloomy. I also pretty much hate putting my long run off until Sunday, but at the same time, I have learned it is so not good for me to run when I don't feel like it.

Besides, I have been trying very hard to follow Coach Ramon's advice:

"Run only if the run you are about to conquer has meaning and satisfies both your body and mind. stay away from senseless runs, they only damage your confidence and your body."

So, I took it easy on Saturday and on Sunday I actually felt like running!

I was a little nervous since it was my longest run of the year so far. I was also a little nervous because I was trying out some new equipment (my Amphipod handheld bottle) and a new Gu (Pineapple Roctane). But I decided to suck it up.

The plan was a full loop of the park (6 miles) and a middle loop. I wanted to start out at about 10 minute miles and end up with 9:30s-9:40s, averaging a 9:50ish pace. Just some nice, long, slow, distance.

Well, I totally forgot the Colon Cancer 15k was going on, so Bill and I just joined the runners for our first loop, knowing we would lose them at the top of the park when they broke off.

I have a love/hate relationship with doing races when I'm not racing. Obviously it is crowded, which makes it a little harder to find space. But it is also very distracting (in a nice way). There is no pressure to get a good time, so I kind of settle into the rhythm of the race and go with it. This whole thing is pretty funny to me because I am a very high-strung anal-retentive person at other times in my life...but when I'm not going for a PR I tend to be very Zen about running. (This is also something I am trying to do ALL the time in running).

Bill, on the other hand, has a different mindset during the whole doing-races-while-not-racing thing. He turns on his competitive edge (almost like he IS racing). Sometimes it takes the Zen mindset right away from me (Note: Bill and I are exact opposites...so it makes sense that we would be opposites here too. Yes, we drive each other crazy, but I think we would drive each other crazy more if we were exactly the same. So I know it sounds like I am giving Bill a hard time/the most awful person in the world, but its not true.) :)

I have to keep verbally reminding him that "we do have 9 more of these you know." And physically reminding him by just slowing down the pace, and then he eventually realizes that he isn't running with me anymore.

I knew this would all be over at 102nd street though (where I was pretty sure the race would break off as we continued north) so I wasn't tooooo worried. We were consistently taking about 15 seconds off of each mile, starting with a 9:42 (whoops), so I was going to try and pace a little better. I knew Harlem Hill was coming up, so I wouldn't have to worry long.

Harlem Hill has been my breaking point all season thus far, so I set out to exorcise my demons this time. That meant NO stopping! It's rough, because as soon as you hit the top of the park you can feel it in your legs, and that's just the BEGINNING of the incline.

Luckily though, I muddled through. I think I was the one driving Bill crazy now. I was very much trying to stay in the zone, listening to my breathing, my footfalls, concentrating on my body...but Bill kept encouraging me to try and talk. He just wanted to make sure that I wasn't overexerting. But I was trying to concentrate and kept giving him short "yes!" answers. Then he would prompt me, asking if I could say more than one word. Finally I said "Absolutely, I can say more than one word. I am just TRYING very HARD to CONCENTRATE."

The hill was tough, but I managed a 10:00 pace for that mile. I was very happy for that because I have learned that no matter what, Harlem Hill adds 40 seconds onto my pace time. No fail. Every single time.
So I had to be pretty happy with that.

I actually felt very very good during the first 6 miles...the next loop seemed very doable in my head.

And it was...

Except for the fact that my pace was way off. I was hitting 10:18s and thinking "This can't be right...I feel more like we are doing 9:40s." The next one I did pick up to a 9:42, which made me feel better. But then I was back to 10:00. ARGH.

Bill told me he felt great and could pick it up, but I just couldn't. I needed to stay in my pace, even if it was 10:00 miles. Luckily Bill is a nice and understanding partner and we finished it together (with a 1:38/9:50 pace).

I felt quite accomplished.

This was the first long run I did this season without stopping to walk AND the most mileage I've done so far this year. I just kept thinking that adding 3 miles on for the half marathon in a month is totally and completely doable.

My goal for this week is to work on negative splitting my runs. I think I do much better when I do that. But I think I needed to run an entire long run without walking before I could worry about that.

Sometimes I feel like I am learning to be a distance runner all over again. :)

Saturday in the Park

2010-03-22T16:45:00.005-04:00

I think this weekend was the first truly nice weekend that we've had since about October. It was very warm AND sunny! I was looking forward to spending the whole weekend outside and just being sort of lazy.

So, in the whole "being lazy" vein, I decided to not set my alarm to get up and run, but sleep in instead. Normally this would be okay, but I kind of forgot about the heat being more intense as it gets later. I also kind of forgot that every single person in New York City would want to spend time in Central Park. Whoops.

Oh well. :)

Bill and I set off for the park around noon (yeah, the hottest time of the day) for our 8-miler. The plan was one full loop (ACK! Harlem Hill!) and one more lower loop (ACK! Tourist-city!). The plan was also to take it easy since it was in the mid-70s for the first time and also since it was our longest run so far by 2 miles.

Matters were not made easier by the fact that my fuel belt doesn't really fit anymore. It is a small, and it seems in the off-season I have gained a few inches around my middle. Whoops. So I was relying on the myriad of water fountains around the park as well as Bill, who was carrying Gatorade in his fuel belt.

As we rounded the first lower loop I was actually feeling pretty good. I was right on pace at a 9:22 mile and I was feeling pretty hydrated. Maybe too hydrated...so we stopped at the Boat Basin, which is only about 1.5 miles into the run. Embarassing. :) I noticed when I was standing in line for the Women's room (why is there ALWAYS a line?) that I was also sweating profusely. So I took some of Bill's Gatorade too, and we started up Cat Hill, which was kind of cheating I guess, since we had such a long break before it.

We seemed to be able to keep pace, until we reached Harlem Hill. I did have every intention of running it without stopping, but it was just too hot. So I took a mid-way stop at the water fountain (good excuse) and had some of the best and coldest water ever.

After that there really wasn't too much stopping. I just kept telling myself that the first hot run of the year is torture, and you have to listen to your body. I think I ran it smart, and as such, I was pretty happy with myself. We even finished under a 10-minute pace (which includes all of that walking, because I didn't stop my watch)!

Even though it seemed to take forever I was so glad that I did it and glad that I got to spend the pretty spring day doing something that I love anyway :)

Long(ish) Run Triumph!

2010-03-19T10:31:00.002-04:00

Ok, let me start by saying this: I am probably NOT the person to emulate when it comes to training for long-distance runs. I have the best intentions of following schedules, but it never actually happens. Even with a simple training plan like the one I am following for the More Half Marathon, I just don't seem to log the mileage I am supposed to log.

This time especially. I am just not so gung-ho about the whole running thing and finding it hard to get up the energy to follow the plan. So I modified it (big surprise) the way I usually modify plans...I use the long run as a strict guideline that I must do on the weekend. During the week, I try to get in 2 runs. These runs vary in distance, but usually one tends to be a measly 2-3 miles and the other is a 4 miler. On the other days of the week I do some cross-training.

Now, the number of days I do mirrors the training plan, but the mileage, not so much.

Last night I told Bill we were going to do a longer run than normal because it was so nice out (I was even wearing my shorts!). Instead of doing our Riverside run up to our old apartment, we were going to do that run, plus our run from our old apartment to Grant's tomb (which was our old "standard run").

It seemed long. And I didn't realize how long until we got almost to the turnaround and Bill started talking about mileage (which I try not to think about these days). Turns out, I did exactly what I was supposed to do on the schedule last night...5 miles! (We actually did 5.42).

Despite being EXTREMELY tired at the end, it was a good run!

I felt pretty slow the whole time, but we ended with a 48:18, which means we were doing an 8:54 pace!
I was ecstatic with this, since my goal these days is to do under 10 minute miles on my runs. Also, I didn't end up stopping to walk, which I keep doing on distances over 4 miles!

I will take every little victory where I can :)

Slacking Again

2010-03-16T09:14:00.002-04:00

So, I took an entire week off of running. Well, actually, an entire week off of working out. I could say it was because I was traveling a lot last week, or because I felt like it was more important to get sleep when I was stressed than run, or that it was just too cold and rainy, but the reality is that I just didn't feel like it. I even had a day off on Friday and I still didn't run...and then I tried to tell myself that since I cleaned like a maniac all day that that had to count for some kind of physical activity.

So, last night I FORCED myself to run...EVEN THOUGH it was still cold and rainy (and windy). It was rough for sure, it always is after you take a week off. But luckily Bill was battling it out with me. And I do always like running in Central Park. This is probably because I spend so much of my life there, running. This winter has seemed especially long, which I'm going to say has a lot to do with my not wanting to run. I realized this when I told Bill last night "Hey! Maybe on Wednesday I can wear shorts on our run!" It is supposed to be sunny and in the 60s from Wednesday onward, so I'm hoping that will help.

And what do you know? After being exhausted from our little run last night, I slept like a rock!..which is something I can't say that I've done for awhile. I guess that's reason enough to keep it up.

Coogan's Salsa and Blues Festival 5k

2010-03-08T10:37:00.004-05:00

This weekend I ran twice (I haven't done that in a loooooong time). Saturday morning I added on mileage all the way up to 6 :) I can't say that the run went very well. There was a lot of stopping and walking and starting again. I started out at a 7:51 pace and ended with an average 10:18 pace...so you can kind of see what I mean. :(

I guess, this was kind of good though, because it set up my expectations for my first race of the year. I knew not to take it out too fast, at least.

Sunday was also fun because all of my friends were running this race as well...AND it was my birthday! I think all in all there were 10 of us, and for 2 of them it was their race debut! We all basically ran in pairs, which was helpful because everyone had some moral support. I was so glad that Bill ran with me, because that way I didn't beat myself up for my newly-found slower pace.

Here is a (long)video of the race. I actually found myself in the crowd at 1:45. (I'm probably like the only one in a tank top.)

I decided to shoot for 9:30s for each mile...especially since I had heard the course was hilly.

And it WAS hilly...but it was okay too, because it was a beautiful course, and a beautiful, warm day (like the first real day of spring!) and about every 200 feet there was a band playing. I told Bill that if they had that much entertainment during a marathon, that would be the best marathon ever. But that would also mean there had to be like 400 bands. (Actually, I just checked it out and it would be 691 bands).

Our first mile was a 9:22, which made me happy. I felt pretty good, but knew I couldn't push it a ton more. I was really happy that I stayed on pace and didn't push it too much.

Since I did feel so good, I picked it up a smidge (but only as much as I felt comfortable). I definitely felt like I was pushing, but not over-the-top. I did feel a lot slower on the hills. The next mile was a 9:10.

The third mile I felt like I had more energy and could really pick up my stride a bit. I was pushing, but I could still talk to Bill fairly easily. Luckily, he was encouraging me the whole way up the hill. I was watching my heartrate rise rise rise on the monitor as I went up, and go down down down as I went down the hill. That last mile was an 8:15!!! And with all the energy I had left, I really kicked it in for the finish.

I felt GREAT! (It was also funny to see my HR at the end of the race at 173, plunge back down to 89 in a matter of seconds). I was very happy with myself because I knew I did the absolute best I could. My finishing time was 28:10.

It was also really fun to run a race and not worry so much about the time. I think last year I would have beat myself up if I got anything more than an 8:00 pace. Especially since 8:03 was my best 10k pace from last year and I was hitting 7:30s-7:40s in practices for 4-5 miles. But really, this was so much more fun and relaxing. I was happy with myself for setting a reasonable goal and attaining it.

I was also very proud of my non-running friends. The both finished a tough course with lots of hills in their first event ever!

I would have to say that it was a great birthday run!

Upping the Mileage

2010-02-22T16:09:00.003-05:00

It is so weird how your perspective changes once you've been running less mileage. I had my "big" 4 mile run this weekend and I was a little nervous about it. Nervous is not the right word, but maybe just anxious about keeping a pace I was happy with for the full 4 miles.

I also decided to shake it up a little by changing my route, and doing part of the middle loop in Central Park. I knew this would end up with me walking a fair amount home (because I would end up running about 5+ miles if I ran the whole way) but I was all right with that because it was PERFECT running weather (high 30s and sunny) and I could use the walk as a nice cool down. My new course included Cat Hill (yuck!) and all of the little rolling hills on the west side (ugh). But I tackled them with aplomb!

I also noticed something a little strange...

Riding alongside me were 6 black sedans. This is weird because there is no traffic allowed in the park on Saturday morning. Must be someone important. All of the license plates were either from DC or Maryland. Hmmmm. AND there were helicopters overhead. A girl next to me started chatting with me and we were trying to figure out who it was...Obama? Wasn't he visiting the Dalai Lama though? Not sure. We speculated all the way up to 102nd street, where I pulled ahead of her. I hit my 3 mile mark and realized it was 30 seconds faster than my previous 2 miles. Score! I guess I do better when I am distracted while running.

The last mile seemed kind of long, especially with all of those little hills, but before I knew it my Garmin was beeping away telling me I was at mile 4. Hurrah!

(Btw, I asked Bill about the whole political caravan thing, since I knew he used to drive in them all the time in Cincy. He said it sounded like someone big. His first thought was Obama too, but then with the additional information that they were having the Run for Haiti that morning, he thought a more likely guess was Bill Clinton...especially since he lives kind of sort of near there.)

Running Ups and Downs

2010-02-17T13:58:00.002-05:00

A bad run can totally ruin your entire day. Really.

Saturday I had my "long" run of 3 miles...no different than the past few weeks...same course even. The hills got to me again though and I was all panty (hahaha, that looks weird typed out...I meant that I was panting). It was not fun, and I actually had to WALK for a few seconds at around mile 2. Yuck. Needless to say, this put me in a sour mood. I started in a downward spiral mentally too, telling myself 'You haven't even started training Harlem Hill yet, these are the easy hills.' and 'You know, you do have a 3 mile race in a couple of weeks, you shouldn't be walking then.' And then I started blaming things I can't control. 'Stupid snow. If it hadn't snowed last week you would have gotten out more and this run wouldn't be so hard.' and 'Stupid dental surgery. Screwed up my whole winter training plan by making me all tired and not able to train 3 days.' And then I started questioning myself 'Sure, I didn't get out to run very much this week because of the snow, but I did pilates and weight training every night!' But it all comes down to this: you can't have great running days all the time. I know this. Sometimes I think I need to remind myself of this.

Monday, however, running was once again redeemed as I had a fairly successful and quick 2 mile run in Riverside. I actually felt light on my feet and everything. Sometimes all you need is a good run to erase those bad ones!

Second Long Run in Central Park

2010-02-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

This weekend was absolutely crazy (as was this week) and I didn't get as much running in as I had hoped due to my second round of dental surgery. Yuck.

So I made sure that on Saturday I went for my run in Central Park, even though I didn't really want to. Luckily (for running) we had not gotten any of those crazy snowstorms that were predicted, so the paths were clear and I had a pretty enjoyable run. I even pushed myself to run up the Strawberry Fields hill at the end, because it is steep and because I knew it was good for me.

For some reason though, I can't seem to keep a consistent pace. It's the same deal as always...I do the exact opposite of a negative split. This one was very crazily un-negative, and I think it's because I was running by myself.

My first mile was 7:50, and I felt super good. It was mostly flat though. I knew the hills would kill me in the next two miles and I would have to slow down.

My second mile was 9:06 and my third was 9:12.

Hmmmm. Definitely have to work on more even pacing!

Central Park Welcomes Me Back

2010-02-01T12:17:00.003-05:00

This weekend I decided to be a little cheerleader and encourage my non-running friends to train with me in Central Park (we have a 5k coming up soon). I promised we would take it nice and easy and max out our mileage at 2 miles. Afterwards I said we should go to brunch. I also made the run at 10am because I knew people would want to sleep in a little and I made it at 72nd Street because one of my non-running friends would only have to commute half a block for said run. Guess how many takers I had? That's right. None.
(To be fair, one of the girls lives in Brooklyn...so that would have been quite a trek for a little run.)

Considering that I pretty much HATE winter and HATE running (still) this was NOT motivating to me. :(

Luckily, Bill was willing to humor me, and we set off on one of the chilliest mornings of the year (16 degrees) to tackle the lower loop. As Bill very aptly put it, he has a love/hate relationship with Central Park. It is very very beautiful (even in the cold and winter) but it is also very difficult to run because of the hills. The hills are sneaky too. They don't look like hills, but you can sure feel them. By the time we had reached the east side I was panting a bit.

It's funny that Central Park would take that much more energy. I mean, we have been running Riverside Park every week. I guess it's those tricky hills. (I did remember about 3/4 of the way through the run that I absolutely hated the lower loop and used to do anything in the summer to get out of running it, including adding on mileage. Oh well. I guess it is good for me.)Bill and I decided that we needed to run Central Park at least once every week.

We also rewarded ourselves with brunch. Of course.

Running Again

2010-01-27T14:08:00.002-05:00

Yes, it may be trite, but it's true...if you don't feel like working out, you should sign up for an event.

A few weeks ago I signed up for the More Half Marathon. I figured:

• a half marathon is much more do-able than a whole one
• it is all the way in April
• the race is actually run in Central Park...where I train, so there are no surprise hills or anything and I have no excuses if I am not ready for it

But mostly I was wooed over by the More 16-week training plan, which kind of freaks me out because it is much much much less mileage than normal. But I am going to try it, because I have been reading lots about how people overtrain for long distances and it gives me a chance to fit in my cross-training workouts without having to double-up on days or workout for unreasonable amounts of time. In short, it is doable. (To be fair, I am not following it EXACTLY...I am using it as a mileage guide, not so much a pace guide.)

And because misery loves company, I have enlisted a few friends to help: Bill will be my day-to-day training partner. I knew he was in the minute I said "low-mileage". Unfortunately, he does not get the payoff of actually running the half, because it is for women only. Bess, my friend in Brooklyn, is running a 5k for the first time on my birthday (Gina and I challenged a bunch of our non-running friends to train for and run a 5k with us). When I tossed the idea out to the non-running group, she said she would consider it. Gina said if Bess signed up, Gina would too. So, by default, I now have 3 people training with me. Hurrah! THAT is really what will get me out the door and running. :)

Go Team!

2010-01-11T15:36:00.004-05:00

I don't know if I mentioned this, but last fall the Team in Training photographers came to take pictures of our team. These are the pictures that go in the brochures and on all those annoying postcards you get in the mail :) As Ramon said, usually they go to California to shoot which is why everyone looks tan and happy, but this year they decided to go to New York City, so everyone would look white and pasty. They broke us into a million small groups to take the shots, and made us all wear our TNT shirts to practice.

Anyway, apparently everyone (excluding me) is getting these postcards in the mail to recruit for the San Diego marathon and I am in the group shot! Cool!

The winning shot! (It looks like I'm high fiving the guy next to me, but I'm not.)

They actually make you do crazy things like put your arms up so that you look happy

A group with Coach Wanda

Walking back to practice

New Years Resolutions?

2010-01-11T13:12:00.003-05:00

By this time of year I usually have my race/workout schedule all planned out. This year, I am deciding to sort of play it by ear. I haven't really gotten to a point where I want to go out and run again, but it is not a totally unappealing idea to me, which is, at least, an improvement.

I am totally enjoying the wii fit, but I kind of feel like this is a cop-out when it comes to exercising. I have done the wii fit almost every day this weekend and have a great time. The minutes just tick away. Afterwards, I do some (assisted) pullups on our new over-the-door chinup bar. I do see a difference in my arms and shoulders. It's amazing what a little switching things up will do for you.

I also have a fun 5k run planned with a lot of my running AND non-running friends. It is on my birthday too!

I kind of want to look into some trapeze lessons as well. I have no idea how expensive this is (probably $$$) but when I mentioned it to my friend yesterday she said that she was looking into it with another friend of ours. Working out with friends is a definite plus for me, and I have heard that trapeze is a GREAT workout.

So I think the resolution this year is to have fun working out. It is crazy but this week I lost .9 pounds! That is a LOT for me because I really kind of have just fluctuated between 140-142 since college. So I'm hoping my new attitude towards mixing it up and enjoying my workouts is contributing to this. :)

Ptttt!

2010-01-07T15:25:00.002-05:00

Maybe God is telling me not to run for awhile too. I didn't get a winning lottery entry into the NYC Half Marathon in March this year (but almost all of my friends did). :(

On the up side, Wii fit told me that my Wii Fit age is now 24. Now, to find something as fun and engaging as Wii fit that actually does something for me and my muscles!

Wii Fit Age?

2010-01-06T16:49:00.003-05:00

Yes, I have seen the numerous posts on Facebook regarding my friends' Wii Fit Ages (my marathon buddy, Rebecca has a Wii fit age of 72!). I somehow thought I could get closer to my real age, though.

According to my Wii fit, I am 44. Fine. Whatever. I figured that I just needed to get used to the controls and it would all sort itself out. I mean, Bill had a Wii fit age of 43, but when he retested it said he was 29. But no. Last night I did a "workout" and then tested myself again. First, the Wii fit yelled at me for gaining .04 pounds. Then it told me that I might want to weigh myself at the same time every day because my weight could fluctuate 2 pounds a day. THEN it told me that my Wii fit age was....44! Even my little Mii cried. :) (And btw, I do think it is totally a "getting used to the balance board" thing. My weight is 14 pounds under what it could be to be healthy, and my bmi is a perfect 20).

HOWEVER, I do love the Wii Fit!

It is fun. I don't think I will be losing any weight or gaining much muscle doing the little routines, BUT it does make me totally aware of how I am moving. For instance, I found that my center of gravity is a little off (I hold too much weight in my heels) and that my left leg is much stronger than my right. Now, of course, I already knew this due to my running problems with my knee, however, I can feel and see what it is like when I am holding proper balance and using equal strength in my legs.

Cool.

I also noticed that it is helping me do my Jillian exercises more correctly. I am on the third level of the 30 Day Shred and doing the exercises with proper form makes all the difference!

H8 Running

2010-01-05T10:25:00.002-05:00

Every year for the past three years I have done 2 marathons. After the fall marathon I usually take a break, do a 5k or something, but nothing very serious. I stop posting, I stop thinking about running. In January I am up and ready to go, usually training for my next half marathon and on my way to my spring marathon!

This year, not so much.

In fact, right now, I pretty much hate running...and all working out. Oh yes, I was very excited to take some time off and do some cross-training, but now I pretty much hate that too. Working out has become a chore, and something I am only doing because my metabolism will revolt against me if I don't. So, in essence, I have become like most Americans, working out only to maintain weight (I have given up on losing it).

Part of the problem I know is that I have nothing scheduled to look forward to. But part of that problem is that nothing is appealing to me. Manhattan half? Out of town. Bronx half? Who cares? 5ks? Eh. No need to scurry around collecting my 9 NYRR races either since I've already qualified for the NYC marathon.

It doesn't help that I've moved. I feel like I now live in the WINDIEST corridor in Manhattan and am reminded that every day when I walk home. Not much motivation when I already detest going out in the cold/wind. Yes, once I'm out there it's fine...but getting out there is the problem. Last year I would have hopped on the elliptical or treadmill and passed that off as running. But my new building doesn't have a gym, so that's out too. (I wouldn't have done it this year anyways.) And honestly, these things haven't stopped me before.

I could chalk it up to the fact that I'm not doing a spring marathon. But you know what? I just don't feel like doing one.

It makes me sad/worried that I feel this way. I don't want to stop running. But really? I kind of hate it right now. :(

No More Muffin Top!

2009-11-18T14:16:00.003-05:00

Why is it that every time I run a marathon I feel like I can slack off for about a month afterwards and load up on all of the bad food I've been avoiding without working out and without consequences? That is like, the OPPOSITE of what I should be doing.

I do this every year though. And then I get this gross muffin-top that makes me crazy.

Usually though, it is much longer than a month before I do something about it. This time I pretty much decided to stop after this Sunday, when I loaded up on fried food and alcohol. I felt bloated and gross for days afterwards. Yuck. I've already gone back up to my largest size. (I vacillate between 3 sizes during the year.) In a MONTH.

So Sunday night I decided: no more muffin top!

Here was the plan:

• Get back into running. It does not have to be every day, but at least 3 times a week.
• Add in some combo cardio-weight training and plyometrics
• Add in at LEAST a day of yoga for stretching
• Keep a food journal
• PLAN meals out of the Prevention cookbook which has healthy AND tasty options

So far, I have found out that yesterday (when I thought I was good and skipped the 3:00 treats at work) I overconsumed by 500 calories. BUT on the plus side, I had the perfect balance of fats/carbs/proteins, which is a HUGE step in the right direction for me.

I have also found out that I am not a fan of fat-free balsamic vinagrette (low fat is okay though).

I NEED gum to keep me from stress-eating.

Also, I am VERY SORE from doing a double workout yesterday. Yes, I actually got up in the morning to do the Jillian 30-Day Shred (the plan is to do all 30 days over a short period of time, like possibly 2 months, if I am not so SORE like I am now). Then at night I ran with Bill.

I didn't think I worked out that hard, and I was only using 5 pound weights during the workout, BUT I was concentrating on good form and THINKING about which muscles I was using. It must have made a difference. Either that or I am in totally awful shape.

Tonight is Yoga. And for the first time in my life, I am looking forward to it.

P.S. Believe it or not, I can touch my toes now. That's from NOT running. (Running = fit me, but Not Running = more flexible me)

Fast Girl

2009-11-13T12:05:00.002-05:00

OK, so Bill and I always run this one stretch in Riverside Park. It is my easy run and I always feel like a loser when I do it because it is such a short distance that it is almost not worth putting my running clothes on. However, when I pretty much don't feel like running I feel like running this is better than not running at all.

We FINALLY mapped it out on mapmyrun (because I keep forgetting to charge my Garmin) and found out that it is more mileage than I thought. Hurrah! For some reason, I feel like 2.88 miles is much more worth the run than the 2 miles I thought it was.

It also helped because Bill kept figuring out our times based on 2 miles and it just seemed so SLOW. This made me sad, because I felt like we were going fast. Like, it was winding me.

Turns out, we were averaging a 7:59 pace. And that was with some walking when my shoulder cramped up. That makes me feel a LOT better.

This weekend I told Bill we should aim for a "long" 4 miles.

Haha. I love the off-season.

Running Again

2009-11-11T12:38:00.002-05:00

Last night I went for my first run after the Nike Run as One run.

Yes, I have been extremely reluctant to run since the marathon. I think I need a break from it. The problem is that if I'm not running, I find it very hard to do cross-training or anything else productive in the fitnessy arena. Mostly I just sit around and watch TV while knitting socks.

Anyway, it was not a great run for me. First of all, it was only 2 miles. But instead of enjoying it like I should have been doing, I was trying to work out my stress demons in my head. I know a lot of people who love running for this particular reason. However, I am not one of them.

Actually, when I am very stressed I find that it makes the run longer and harder and not enjoyable at all.

At the turnaround, I was feeling crampy, right in my left shoulder/chest area. Yuck.

So I had to turn around and walk back until it went away (which was quickly), but still...

It's too bad, because it's been very warm out.

The NYC Marathon!

2009-11-02T16:09:00.002-05:00

OK. I have a completely new respect for all of the cheerers out there!

This weekend, my friends ran the New York City Marathon. It was so exciting! I watched it last year, but it is so much more fun when you actually know people in the marathon. I had this schedule all figured out with public transit and everything. As I planned, we would be able to see my friends at three places in three boroughs.

Stop number one was Brooklyn, around mile 4. For NYC, it wasn't very crowded, so this was a great place to see the girls. They were wearing these feathery diddly-bopper things on their heads to make them easier to find and THANK GOODNESS because the NYC marathon is so crowded...I mean NON-STOP runners.

Mile 4 is also complicated because depending on which wave you were in, you could be on opposite sides of the street. Bill and I got there early with my favorite sign that I made (I made four of them). This one said "2476 calories burnt = 17 beers!" We got lots of laughs, thumbs up and just general attention for it. Some people even took pictures. And we saw GINA!!! I was so excited and screamed her name as she ran by! Bill and I ducked back into the subway and RAN under the street to see Pam on the other side! Yay! We saw her! Then we ducked back into the subway and RAN under the street again to see Donna. (The girls were all in different corrals). No luck. And we were getting super close to the time we needed to be on the train to our next stop in Queens. I was bummed, but we had to run to catch the train before we saw Donna. :(

Next stop? Mile 15 in Queens.

This stop was majorly crowded. Bill and I were pushy and got up to the front right before the bridge. The cops kept pushing everyone back, which made me think that I was not going to be able to run with the girls for a little while like I had planned. We had separate candy for each of them as requested, and I was trying to figure out the best way to hand it out. Gina would be first, so I grabbed a handful of candy oranges in one hand and my stick of BodyGlide in the other. Hmmmmm. No Gina. No Gina. My eyes were scanning everywhere for their headbands. I told Bill to get out Pam's Skittles just in case we missed her. We saw all these people that were running AFTER her, so I thought either we had missed her, or she was injured. I was really worried then. Bill said now I know how he feels when he is looking for me. My eyes were getting crazy from all of the scanning of the runners. I told Bill when I ran it next year I was going to wear florescent pink. In this crowd, even their headbands didn't help.

I put the oranges away and grabbed Donna's licorice while simultaneously texting my friend Elida, who was at 23, to see if she had seen Gina.

No Donna either. I was getting really bummed. I felt REALLY bad because they had specifically assigned us to Queens because no one was going to be there. Ptttt.

We hopped on the train and headed to stop 3, which was mile 25.

I got a text from Elida saying Gina just past mile 23. Perfect! That meant I had about 18 minutes before she ran by me. I started scanning the runners again.

Of course, Bill and I only saw ONE of our friends at 25 and it was Pam. We frantically shouted her name, but she was in the zone :)

D'oh. Epic fail.

Luckily, we all met at a bar afterwards to celebrate. I found out that:

1. Gina SMASHED her goal of beating 4 hours by getting a 3:56!!!
2. Pam took 27 minutes off of her January marathon time!!!
3. Donna, Miss 11:49-Minute-Miler ran a 4:33, which is why we didn't see her at all!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!! So exciting!

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report 6

2009-10-27T10:44:00.000-04:00

At the end of the loop is a hill. Isn't that mean?

I couldn't do it. I walked it, promising myself I would run after it. Some TNT coach from Pennsylvania looked concerned and asked me if I was okay. I was like "Yeah. I just think it's mean that they put this hill here." And the guy next to me was like "Are you kidding? She's been kicking ass these last miles. I think she only stopped to walk it to make me feel better." I was like "Heh heh. Not quite." The coach looked placated and told us to stick together.

I started running again and saw...Coach Sandy! She asked how I felt and I told her crappy. But I said it with a smile on my face and told her I expected to feel crappy because it was a crappy course. See, I knew at this point that it was flat, which made me happy and gave me a little more energy. Also, my Garmin had died which made me SO HAPPY because I just kept seeing that "average pace" number go up and up which was discouraging. Now I was just running to finish it. Sandy was funny and was telling me that if I PRed here (which I thought I may be able to do) it would be amazing and not like if I PRed somewhere easy like Chicago :)

Sandy dropped me off at Coach Felicia, who ran with me for the next half mile. She kept telling me I was doing great for this course and that I was one of the first people on the team to come through. She dropped me off at Coach Mike.

Coach Mike was mostly concerned about me being injured, which I assured him I wasn't. He told me that Ramon was in the last mile and would run in with me.

I was SO HAPPY to see Ramon. He started running in with me and Bill joined me on the other side. He thought that was funny and said Bill was going to throw up if he kept running with me. Ramon asked me how far off I was from my PR and I said "A lot." And he asked how much 'a lot' was. I said "I don't know...2 or 3 minutes?" He was incredulous. "2 or 3 minutes?! 2 or 3 minutes?! Are you a crazy person? On this course? 2 or 3 minutes?! That is like, amazing!" He ran in with me the ENTIRE MILE, coaching me the whole time.

He kept picking up the pace on me (which I know he did on purpose) and I was so glad. It hurt a lot to speed up, but I was doing it and I knew I would be grateful at the end when I saw my time. He also kept pointing to little dips and cracks in the pavement as he was talking to me, which, for some reason, I found hilarious.

At some point, he was like "Look straight ahead. That is the finish line." I was like "Oh, thank GOD!" THAT was the point that I knew I would finish. I was never so happy to see a finish line. He offered some words of encouragement and told me to push it towards the finish line, which I did.

The clock overhead read 4:23, which meant that I came in under 4:22, which meant that I PRed. Whoo-hoo! (My official time was 4:20, a 2 minute PR!)

I was soooooooo happy to see those tuxedoed firemen handing out Tiffany's necklaces. For once in my life I took my time to go through the finisher's chute because I felt like I'd earned it.

A well-deserved finisher's medal from Tiffany's

Me, in the finisher's tent with my Tiffany's necklace

The coveted finisher's necklace

That night, we went out for the "Misbehaving Party". I had a lot of fun, of course. But the funniest thing was when Ramon asked me how far I was off of my PR. I was like "Actually, I PRed...by two minutes."
His response? "You asshole!" Then he went on to explain to my friends, "I see her at the end and she tells me she is way off her PR, then I find out she is 2 or 3 minutes off her PR, then she PRs. What an asshole." (It is much funnier if you read it in Ramon's Spanish accent and with his dramatic emphasis.)

Very cool marathon. Toughest marathon ever. But I have never felt so satisfied after finishing a marathon.

Rebecca, Lauren and Me at the Misbehaving Party

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report 5

2009-10-27T10:30:00.000-04:00

It was no joke.

The pond was total hell.

First of all, it was this loop that lasted about 4 miles. Right at the end. And it was on a highway. AND it was only about the width of a running path in Central Park. My legs hurt so badly by this point and I was thinking of anything I could to keep my mind off of how many miles I still had left.

I promised myself that when I got to waterstops that I could walk through them. I needed to just WALK for a little bit, but couldn't justify it because I KNEW I would slow down. I was following a girl in pink, but she started to gradually get away from me, and I didn't care about time anymore anyway.

The first mile into the pond loop I stepped on someone's GU wrapper and it stuck to the bottom of my shoe. So with every step I kept hearing/feeling scrape, scrape, scrape. Then this girl behind me yelled out "Hey! New York!" I took all of my energy to turn around. "Let me get that off of your shoe! That must be driving you crazy."

I stopped, and tried to step on it while lifting my other foot up and blabbered "But...I just...it's not...I can't..." I felt tired and stupid. She was like "Don't worry. I've got it." and lifted my leg up so she could get it. "NOW you can run!" I thanked her profusely. It's the little things in those last miles. :)

The rest of the loop was pretty much an uneventful, horrible time. I was glad that there were a lot of TNT coaches from other chapters cheering. I walked a good deal of that loop. I so didn't care about my time anymore.

And when I got to the "Chocolate Mile" at 22, I actually considered eating the free Ghiradelli chocolate. I don't even really like chocolate all that much. But I wanted it badly. I also knew I was having a crap race and that I've never had chocolate during a race and that this probably wasn't a good idea. I wavered between getting it and passing it up for the entire mile. I was also craving homemade Rice Krispie Treats right at that moment. I wanted them more than anything. I skipped them though and opted for my last chocolate GU. Definitely not as yummy.

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report 4

2009-10-21T16:05:00.004-04:00

Whoo-hoo! I was finished with the major hills. Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty drained from them. Like very sleepy. My legs were fine though, which I guess is the important part. I was also ready to take it to my 9:10 pace.

I did this pretty easily and still felt like I was holding back somewhat. It was a weird feeling because usually I do not hold back this long. I looked for Bill at mile 11, but didn't see him because the buses probably didn't get him there in time :( I knew I would probably see him at 16 though, so I didn't worry too much. I was heading into Golden Gate State Park, which is supposed to be the most beautiful part of the course.

I kept my pace, but for some reason, could not shake the tired feeling. There weren't a lot of people in the park cheering either, so that didn't help. Also, Safeway (one of the sponsors) had these cheering stations all along the park. The Safeway cheerleaders were going crazy so it helped. They also had those signs that you read as you go by. But these signs were NOT helpful. The first one said "You own this road because..." and I was all excited because I was like "Good. Distractions. This should be good." The next one was "You skipped sleeping in late on the weekend." Haha. Ok. Then "You nursed all those blisters." NO! Don't remind me of blisters! My feet only are kind of hurting, so I don't need to think about them. Then "You worked until your muscles were sore." OMG! SHUT UP! Who made these signs and thought they were a good idea?! "You went through 3 pairs of shoes." OK. That one was a LITTLE better, but still reminded me that I could kind of feel the road on my feet at this point.

The cool thing though, was that there was a turnaround and you could see your teammates on the other side. I waved to a couple of people on my team. Good distractions.

Coming out around mile 16 I saw Ramon! He ran with me awhile and warned me about the Pond area too. He said I looked good. I should keep my pace. I needed to find someone to follow in the pond area so that I would keep my pace because it was going to suck, but that once I got out it would be almost over and he would catch me at the end.

Then I saw Bill! He ran alongside me awhile and I had a million things to tell him. Like:

1. Pete said I was in 2nd for the team, and although I didn't necessarily believe him, it was still cool.
2. I had hit my 5 mile and 10 mile targets and was 2 minutes off of my 15 mile target, but felt like I could totally make that time up.
3. The hills were WAY worse than the Flying Pig. Like 10x worse.
4. I was still pretty much on track to smash 4 hours (minus those 2 minutes)
5. I still felt good. A little tired, but hey! It was mile 16!

I was super hungry though, so I decided to eat another GU at 18, even though I wasn't due for one until 20. While I was running in a straight line this girl decides to diagonally cut across the course RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I couldn't slow down so I just reacted.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh! Sorry!"

And then my ankle went into a hole while the rest of my body kept running. Nice.

Honestly though, I couldn't feel it (the twist). I WAS getting pretty sleepy though. It was here I ran into Pete again. I told him I was tired, but felt good. He ran with me for a LONG time and told me to find someone to run with in the pond area (again) otherwise I would fall off pace. It is boring. It is a highway. There is no one there to cheer for you.

I knew all this. But I was still not looking forward to it. And I WAS glad that everyone kept warning me because I HATE when people underprepare you for something.

I was getting more and more tired as I felt like I was running along the longest stretch of highway ever...and I wasn't even to the pond yet! I must have been slowing down too, because now my watch said my average pace was 9:28. Hmph.

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report 3

2009-10-21T14:02:00.003-04:00

Lining up at the Start Corrals

Yay! WOMEN'S marathon! There were a million port-o-lets so I only had to wait in a line 2 people deep pre-race. I then headed over to my corral. I was in a pretty intimidating corral. It was the third one and the pace on my wrist band said 7:59-8:59. That seemed like a HUGE window to me. So I stayed way in the back :) I found Bill (or I guess he found me) and he gave me my Garmin with 60% power. Good deal. It wouldn't last me the whole race, but by the time it pooped out I wouldn't need it for pace anymore.

I was MUCH happier after I saw Bill and got my Garmin

My big thing? I was going to run this race correctly, which involved me holding back at the start. I am notoriously bad at doing this. But I kept repeating Ramon's mantra "BEHAVE" in my head. For some reason? I already had to pee again. I JUST went! Geezle. I figured it was just nerves.

I was so good at behaving. So, so good!

My first mile was a 9:21. Second mile 9:20. (So awesome!!! I was shooting for 9:20 pace up to mile 6.) The scenery was great and the weather was perfect. And the coolest thing? At mile 2.3 there was a coat check. There were a bunch of volunteers standing there with bags for you with tags on them. As you ran by, you shoved your sweats or whatever in the bag and they stuck a sticker on you with the corresponding number. Genius!

Unfortunately I still had to go to the bathroom. Fortunately there was a long line of port-o-lets and enough of them that there was no line. I could not BELIEVE I was stopping to pee before 3 miles. But crazily enough, I felt so much better afterwards. Guess it wasn't just nerves.

I was on the lookout for mile 3, which Ramon said was a big hill. Not big on the elevation chart, but it would seem big because it was a quick rise over a small distance. When I got to it, I was glad he pointed it out to us the day before. It was kind of like a Queens Half Marathon hill...no big deal, but a huge deal if you weren't expecting hills until mile 6.

I really felt GREAT.

I kept maintaining my pace and the miles were flying by. Unfortunately it was a super foggy day, so when everyone was yelling for us to get our cameras out (who runs with a camera) to take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, all I saw was gray.

Here it comes, here it comes...Ft. Mason. The dreaded hill. (I am not making this up. It is actually called Ft. Mason.) Now, Ramon said that it took him 9 minutes to climb this hill. This is not cool, because he is super speedy. The hill is over a mile long and super steep. And it is one of those hills that goes up, turns a corner, goes up some more, turns a corner and then goes up some more. It totally drained me.

I understand why, in Ramon's plan, there was such a gap. He had suggested paces for miles 1-6, and then 10-17 and 17-the end. This is because we were not supposed to keep track of pace on the hills between 6 and 10. If we did we would be all thrown off.

This hill took me 11:30 to climb. Yuck. And it was a little less than a mile (0.9).

What was cool though, is that they had these progressive signs along the hill that said things like:

Run like a girl
Laugh like a girl
Kiss like a girl
Achieve like a girl
Love like a girl

etc etc etc.

When I am running I am totally a basket case emotionally, so this got to me. I was almost teary and thinking stupid things like Yeah. They're right. It is so cool to be a girl. I do not understand myself when I am running. :)

The OTHER cool thing is that when you ran DOWN the hill there was this camera recording the whole thing and projecting it onto a huge screen, so you could see yourself. Fun!

I was very careful to run the downhills smart. I was so afraid I was going to hammer my quads and pay for it in the end.

These stupid guys by me would NOT shut up about the hills. I guess the one guy had run it before and he was saying that we got to do hill 6 all over again in a little bit. Now, I KNEW this, but in my head, it wasn't so bad the second time. So these guys were almost psyching me out and I was like "Lalalalalalalalala I can't hear you!" (No, I didn't actually say this out loud, just in my head).

I saw Ramon and heard about every three words of what he was yelling at me. "Way to...Em...just...Em...too...soon...Em...OK!" OK?

While I felt like I was going to die on these hills, afterwards I actually felt ok. In fact, I felt FAST. So I knew I was going to be okay.

I hit the second hill and it was really really tiring me out. Luckily, I saw Rob and Erin from the NYC LLS office and they were cheering like crazy!

When I was almost up the hill I also saw Coach Pete (he coaches the Advanced Group with Coach Steve all the time). I was SO HAPPY to see him. I asked him "This is the last of the BIG hills, right?" He kind of avoided my question. But he did tell me that I looked good, I was right on track, and that I was the 2nd runner from the NYC team. (Awesome!) He also told me that I should enjoy the run now because when I got to the pond (mile 18ish-24) it was going to suck and that I needed to mentally prepare for it, but that he would be there at the entrance. Ok. Good to know.

I was still flying high on the fact that I was doing so well.

I just kept thinking that when I saw Ramon again I was going to tell him how I was behaving.

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report 2

2009-10-21T13:43:00.004-04:00

Our Team, Pre-Race (See the girl allllllll the way to the left with only half of her face showing? My head is right behind hers.)

BeCAUSE I am anal retentive, I had been charging my Garmin since we arrived in San Francisco. It was sitting right on my nightstand. My running friend Lauren thought this was overkill. :) I thought she was probably right, so, the night before the marathon I took it out of the charger and put it on top of my running clothes, which had also been sitting out since we arrived.

I wrote down my pace windows on my right hand with a Sharpie.

Basically what I wrote was this:

9:20 1-6
9:10 10-17
9:00 17-END

Mile 5: 45:30-48:30
Mile 10: 1:32-1:34
Mile 15: 2:16-2:21
Mile 20: 3:02-3:05

It's a good thing that my handwriting is small.

I actually slept well (the perk to running a west coast marathon is the time difference). I woke up to start getting ready and as I was Bodygliding I decided to check the time on my Garmin.

It. Was. Blank.

Completely blank. As in...no charge.

Freak out!!!

Now, let me explain something. Despite what you may think, I am NOT a runner who is tethered to the Garmin and can't function without it. HOWEVER, I had not planned on not having a Garmin. ESPECIALLY since I was trying to break 4:00. My brain does NOT function correctly on marathon day, so calculating splits in my head to make sure I was on track wasn't going to work. As I checked the Garmin charging on the nightstand, I realized that it was only charging about 1% per minute. Uh oh.

So here was the plan:
I take Bill's $9 digital watch, which doesn't have a lap function. Bill feverishly figured out my cumulative paces for the first 9 miles on a sheet of paper which I would carry with me. I go down to meet the team in the lobby, head over, get into the corral and wait for Bill to come with my Garmin with as much charge as it could get by 6:20. If I missed him, I would catch him at mile 11 and he could give me the Garmin.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Not cool.

I gave Bill and hug and headed downstairs. Since I was already pushing my limits to beat the 4:00 mark, I decided to Plan B the time goal too. I just was not mentally there anymore :(

Nike Women's Marathon Race Report 1

2009-10-20T17:07:00.007-04:00

Yay! I'm back from San Francisco!

Since I have soooooooooo much to say and a super busy week ahead, I am going to parcel out my race reports over the week. So this will be the first installment.

I do have to say:
• Although I was well prepared for the hills, they still sucked the life out of me
• This course was the HARDEST course I've ever run (10x worse than the Pig)
• I finally ran a marathon I was happy with, EVEN THOUGH I was no where near my goal of breaking 4 hours
• All the little touches that made this a "women's" marathon were very very cool
• I'm going to have to run with TNT again. I was sort of ready for "retirement" but running with them is just too much fun

Anyway, I will start with the expotique.

It was VERY VERY small. I mean, it took me like 15 minutes to go through, tops. Then I realized why: Nike was sponsoring it. Why would they allow other vendors there? Duh. So the expotique basically consisted of a tent (pictured above) where you pick up your number and chip (no t-shirt until you finish the race). You could also get a free pedicure (Ramon would have had a fit if any of his runners did this, though) and taste some flavored oxygen. If you walked around the corner there were free samples of Kashi. But that was truly it.

Across the street though, was the Nike store. I had already checked out all of the merchandise online, so I knew exactly what I wanted! The other good thing about a women's marathon? No bulky sweats or tees! Everything is tailored towards women (and over the top cute).

How cool is this? All of the participants names were on the outside of Niketown!

Lauren, me and Rebecca in our cute Nike Women's Marathon Hoodies

Across the street at Macy's they had a runner's lounge, which basically consisted of a couch in the juniors section and free Italian sodas.

Macy's on Union Square

The night before the race, we had the famous TNT Pasta Dinner!

All of the New York team had to be obnoxious again, and let everyone know who we were. Strangely enough, we ran into a couple of girls who decided to wear "I Heart SF" shirts from another team. They wanted to have their picture taken with us :)

The dinner was like a million times bigger than the one for Marine Corps. There were 5,000 runners there! It took about 5 minutes to walk through the throngs of coaches and staff members cheering for us. IT WAS SO COOL!

There's Ramon (in the blue) cheering like crazy for us!

Walking through the Cheer Tunnel

It was very inspirational. Joan Benoit Samuelson spoke (which was so cool!) as well as the Penguin. He, of course, made everyone laugh and feel inspired all at once.

About 30 seconds to the end of his speech he said something like "When you are running those 26.2 miles tomorrow..." which is pretty much the last thing I heard because all of the sudden my stomach dropped and I was like 'No. No. Not tomorrow. I do NOT want to run 26.2 miles tomorrow.'

I had never felt that way before. Weird.

Marathon Plan

2009-10-13T12:10:00.005-04:00

It has been quite a busy week! I completed my last speed work session right to the letter, had a nice little 5 mile run on Saturday, with an average pace of 9:38, and got the course overview from Ramon.

Based on Ramon's course assessment, and running all of his numbers based on this course, he came up with three goal times for me.

If absolutely EVERYTHING goes right (including things I cannot control, like weather) I can hope for a time in the 4:03 - 4:05 range. He calls this my "aggressive" time goal.

My "achievable" time goal is 4:06-4:10.

My "conservative" time goal is 4:10-4:13.

Bummer. So close to breaking the 4:00 time wall. Now I am at a real Catch-22, here. Knowing my history of predicting my finishing times, I should be looking at a 4:13 PLUS according to this. HOWEVER, I have learned a TON about racing in this past season...which makes me think that the 4:03-4:05 is actually acheivable and what I should be shooting for. In my mind? I am still breaking the 4:00 mark. This either:

A) Sets me up for huge disappointment, when I don't get it, but actually run a really good race and PR
B) Makes me work harder for it and I smash the goal
C) Makes me work harder for it, which makes me run the race stupidly, which makes me not get it

This is why the mental game is so important...almost as important as the physical part of training.

I also know of some "trouble spots" on the course.

Mile 6 is supposedly the largest hill, lasting 0.9 miles. Ramon said that we are fine on the uphill since we trained so hard on hills this season. The worrisome part is the downhill. Many races are lost this way (by taking the downhill too fast). I am actually not worried about this at all. I run my downhills a little conservatively with my feet under me because so many people have scared me into thinking I am going to "hammer my quads" and not be able to finish in all of my races.

The other trouble spot I'm looking out for?

From mile 19-23.5. Here is where you make a nice little loop around a pond. Coach Steve called it the "attitude changer". He was right at the entrance last year so he could see all of his runners coming in and going out and he said the difference was incredible. Pretty much smiling and happy at the entrance to even the most "proper" runners dropping multiple f-bombs at the end of the loop. Plus, there are the tiniest of hills in here. Not a big deal if it was the beginning of the race, but a huge deal at the end.

Knowing my past races, I expect this to be a huge trouble spot for me.

The third spot is right out of the park. Here, you are running along the oceanside for the last miles. It is flat and the scenery doesn't change, and there's little crowd support. Ugh. Why do all marathons do this? It is like the worst mental test!

Ramon says the key to breaking the big 4, is to be nice, conservative and disciplined during the first 10 miles. (Yeah, this pretty much goes against how I race.) On the flat parts, I should be aiming for a 9:20 pace to mile 6. (On the hills I shouldn't care about pace, but maintain effort.) From mile 10-17 I can bring it up to a 9:10 pace. If I feel okay at this point, I can speed it up and get closer to a 9 min mile pace.

According to Ramon, it's all decided at mile 17.

If I was "good" I will break the 4 hours. If I "misbehaved" I will not break it.

WHEW!

Lots of pressure.

He also has check points for me.

Mile 5: 45:30-48:30
Mile 10: 1:32-1:34
Mile 15: 2:16-2:21
Mile 20: 3:02-3:05

Information overload. Yes, now I AM freaking out.

Are You Freaking Out Yet?

2009-10-09T12:39:00.002-04:00

That is what Ramon keeps asking us.

I was totally not freaking out about the marathon yet. Or at least I didn't think so, until I pretty much talked Bill's ear off in the subway car on the way to work about it. I wasn't sure what my time should be. I feel tired. I feel achy. Am I getting sick? (Probably not.) It hurts to walk up the hill by our apartment. It tires me to run 6 miles, how am I going to do 26.2? I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm not eating right. Should I be doing cross-training next week like I usually do during the week?

Lauren also got an earful on the way home in the subway last night...with her I had more practical concerns; I don't know what flavor of Gu to bring. How many are you bringing? Are you bringing an extra pair of shoes like Ramon said? When are you going to start packing? What are you doing for dinner that Friday?

The funny thing is, I go through this EVERY MARATHON SEASON. And I know that my body gets tired and can't do things it normally does. And I know I feel fat and sluggish and can't sleep. I also get crabby. Extremely crabby. Like everything irritates me. I don't think it helps that I am looking for a new apartment and work is crazy and I have dental surgery next week in the midst of this.

I have also picked up this really bad habit in the last two weeks of drinking soda instead of water. Now, I had pretty much taken soda completely out of my diet except for maybe having half a Coke every 2 weeks with pizza. But lately, I am drinking soda with lunch AND dinner...every day. (I also learned that since I had no caffeine in my diet for so long [I also do not drink coffee or eat much chocolate] that these Cokes were contributing to my insomnia problem...now I've switched to ginger ale.)

On top of this, I am supposed to be resting all week.

I guess I am sort of kind of freaking out. :)

It's the Final Countdown!

2009-10-06T13:05:00.004-04:00

Whoo-hoo!

Last Saturday was my LAST long run before the marathon. Now it's onto the taper!

This run was at one of my favorite places to run: Hartsdale. Since I had gotten my 20 in I decided to do 18 for this one. I think marathon training is more of an art than a science...too many things factor into training to just go by the book. I am in good shape this year but my body has been feeling pretty tired. I have a feeling that not doing 2x 20 this year will be a good thing for me.

Anyway, Hartsdale is beautiful, but it does have a couple of sudden hills. You would think that it would be a boring run because it is 5 miles up and back and then a repeat of the course again, but it is actually so scenic that it is not at all boring.

I don't know what it is about these end-of-the-season long runs, but I always end up doing them by myself...even if I start off with other people. I think this is probably a good thing though, because it allows me to get in the right mental frame of mind for my marathon. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE running with my friends, but when it comes down to marathon day there are just too many things going on in my head and I sort of prefer to run alone.

It was a good run for me.

I averaged a 9:25 pace for the whole time, but it felt really nice and easy (so this was a huge confidence booster). My big wish for the race is that this will be my pace for the first 4-6 or so miles and then I can pick it up from there. Overall, I was very happy.

And you know what I did all day after the run?

I watched TV. ALL DAY. (OK, all day except for the 2 hour nap I took.) This is the first training season that I have actually admitted to myself that it is okay to rest after a long run. Usually I decide to clean the whole house/apartment after long runs, or go shopping, or to a museum, or something else ridiculous. I think for some reason, I used to feel guilty about taking up a whole day of my weekend for running.

Not this year!

This year I am enjoying my rest after long runs, and it is very very awesome. :)

Sweet!

2009-10-01T18:19:00.002-04:00

Remember when I was talking about the whole Human Race thing I went to? Well, I made the photo for the publicity page at Nike! You can see it here. I look like a giant :)

Mental

2009-10-01T15:45:00.002-04:00

According to Ramon, the rest of this season we will be concentrating on the mental aspect of our running. (This is good for me, because this is the part I struggle with most). He said that there is no possible way to get faster at this point, and all of our long runs are just supposed to make us feel like we can do the 26.2 miles. I would have to say, I pretty much agree with him. I mean, first of all, I think he is a pretty great coach, but also, in my experience, I have found this to be true.

So our Tuesday workout was a mental test.

It was three lower loops of the park. Each loop is 1.7 miles.

The first loop was supposed to be our race pace. For me, I have decided that this is 9 minute miles. The next loop was supposed to be FAST. The main objective of this loop was to get us very very tired. In fact, we should be so tired that we wouldn't be able to do another loop. Then the last loop should be as fast as the first loop.

Why?

Well, Ramon says that our bodies are hardwired to react, well, the way they should. So, when you expend all of your energy, say, racing, then your body reacts by slowing down. We want to train our bodies to know what that feels like, but still be able to push after that. Because during a marathon, we will be tired and not want to run any more, and will probably still have a few miles to go.

So I took out the first loop at around a 9 minute pace. But something felt wrong. I was super tired and drained. My legs felt heavy. I felt like I wanted to stop before the loop was over. I felt like I was sprinting, but my average pace for the loop was a 9:15. I felt so exhausted that I didn't even want to do the second loop. I even thought of cutting the workout short and only doing two loops.

I decided to try as best as I could to pick up the pace on the next loop, but I felt like I was going slower. I couldn't tell, because it was so dark that I couldn't really see my watch. I did know that I had lost Lauren on that loop. But the good thing was, that as far as I could tell, Molly hadn't passed me (she started behind me).

OK. By this time I was super exhausted and my legs felt like lead (especially my calves). I decided to just do the last loop as best as I could. It was tough and I was glad when it was over.

Turns out, I did the workout well!

My first loop averaged a 9:15 pace, my second a 8:34 pace and my third was an 8:43 pace. That made me feel better "mentally".

I am chalking up the slower times (because usually my pace would be faster) and the tired feeling to the fact that I did my 20 this weekend and that when I am at peak mileage I tend to tire out.

I guess we'll see for sure on Saturday during my long run.

Confused

2009-09-28T13:41:00.007-04:00

OK. Now I'm all confused.

Why?

Well, because I have no idea how to run my marathon.

I say this because I ran my 20 miler this weekend. I was going to do 2-4 miles at a 10 minute pace, then gradually wind myself down to a 9 minute mile pace and do maybe the last 2 miles at sub 9s. This sounded reasonable to me because I had done my half marathon last week at an 8:40 pace which felt really very doable.

Of course it was raining. I say "of course" because I think it has rained during all of my 20 milers except one. So let's just say, I am very used to running 20s in the rain. :) I actually don't mind either, because it beats the heat any day.

I got up at 6:15, ran to Central Park, down to 86th Street, turned around and went up to the 102nd Street Transverse. It was here that I dropped off my bag, and lined up with the other NYRR for the "Tune-Up" 18-miler training run. It was funny because they set it up like a race (we all had numbers, got t-shirts, had shoe tags, there was Gatorade and water and pace clocks) but it was really just a big training run. The big perk was that it counted as a qualifier for my 9+1 requirement for NYC 2010. Yes, that's right! I ran 2 qualifiers this weekend which means I have my 9 in the bag. All I need now is my volunteer day, which I have already signed up for.

My first 2 miles averaged 9:45. Perfect!

When I started the run, I saw my friend from TNT Molly right ahead of me. I was so glad, because I figured we would be able to keep a good pace together. This was especially good for me because I tend to do backwards negative splits, and I really needed to hold back on that first half of my run.

It was great though, because running with Molly took my mind off of the run, since we were talking the whole time. I wasn't obsessing over the mile markers, or really my splits for that matter. I guess it was a good thing, because with all of the rain it was pretty impossible to decipher what my splits were anyway.

I felt REALLY good, the whole time.

In fact, when I lost Molly at about mile 11 (she told me to go ahead, she had hit a wall and needed to slow down) I did my next mile at 9:04 (we had been averaging about 9:40s the whole time). But then I took it right back down. I guess I was just all about running comfortably. And it was comfortable.

I mean, of course, my legs were screaming at me towards the end, but that's just what happens in a 20 mile run. I actually felt pretty great.

I ended up with a 3:12.30 for those 20 miles, which averages to a 9:37 pace.

Not helpful.

Here's why...

Originally, at the beginning of the season I was killing practices. Coach Christine said she thought I could do a 3:40 marathon. I talked to the other coaches and they said if Coach Christine said it, then it was totally doable, because she tends to be conservative with her estimates. THEN I started racing, and realized a more attainable goal for me was probably to break the 4 hour mark. To do this, I would have to run a 9:09 pace. I considered this totally and completely doable.

Now, I'm not so sure.

If history (of my 20 milers before a marathon) is any indication, this run means that I will do about a 4:11-4:13 marathon.

On one hand, it's nice to know that this is a realistic goal going into the marathon. But on the other hand I am kind of bummed. I mean, I went from thinking I could do a 3:40 to coming to the realization that it will probably be more like a 4:11?

That was my "hopeful" goal for last year!!! And I am so much faster now!

But I am always one who is like "Yeah, it was a PR, but I was REALLY hoping for..." I mean, the only race I can think of that I was super happy with was the Bronx half marathon this February.

ARGH! All of this thinking is making me crazy! I know the game plan should be to calm down and not worry about it, because that is what always makes me run "off" but seriously? That is like telling a super stressed person not to stress out...all that does is make them stress out more! :)

The GOOD thing out of all of this was that I maintained a very consistent pace through the whole thing.
(9:45, 9:45, 10:03, 9:58, 9:24, 9:25, 9:31, 9:41, 9:38, 9:34, 9:22, 9:38, 9:49, 9:04, 9:35, 9:24, 9:29, 9:46, 9:39, 9:07). At least I am learning SOMEthing!

(BTW, today is the last day for donations to my run and I'm still short! If anyone wants to donate, they can, at runemily.com!)

Fastest Mile Ever

2009-09-28T09:48:00.003-04:00

OK. I mean, it's not like I've ever raced a mile before this weekend, so there was no way this couldn't have been my fastest mile ever, BUT I have done miles for time at practice, and I did beat those times. :)

Saturday was the 5th Avenue Mile, which was a straight mile down 5th Avenue (duh). They ran us in heats according to our age (I was in the Women's 30-39 group) with 15 minutes between each race.

Now, I am NOT a sprinter. And I had no desire to run a fast mile in a race except for to see how fast I could go. But I signed up for the race because for some reason, it counts as a NYC marathon qualifier, and I still needed 2 races for this. (If you are a NYRR member who runs 9 qualifying races and volunteers once, you automatically qualify for the next years NYC marathon.) I was desperately trying to get my 9+1 requirement in before marathon season was over, so this was an easy way to do it.

I didn't even know how to approach this thing. I mean, I didn't want to sprint it because it was still a mile...but then I didn't want to hold back too much either, because I would be mad at myself.

This was the first race I've had in a long time where I felt totally keyed up (and was aware of it). In fact, it reminded me a little of my cross-country meets in high school where our coach told us to sprint from the starting line.

I decided to go ahead and sprint it.

Yeah. I am NOT used to running FAST.

My legs sort of buckled underneath me a little bit because the feel of running that fast was so foreign to me. I was flying though. Tears were in my eyes, my nose was a little runny, and I felt like I looked like those astronauts when they do those tests and the skin sort of flies back from their face. I also pretty much felt like I had to puke the whole time.

When I ran past the 1/4 mile marker I saw 1:something on the clock. Whoa. Fast.

Apparently too fast. Now I was like a car slowly running out of gas.

The women I was running with started to get further away from me, and the women behind me started to catch up.

Ugh. I just wanted it to be over. I was counting the blocks as I ran by them (each block is .05 miles).

Dying. Dying. I saw the clock overhead. 6:48. Whoo-hoo! (When I checked the official results though, I saw I actually did a 6:54).

I was coughing and sputtering and breathing heavy all the way to the subway station. I felt AWFUL. It all came back to me...why I hated cross-country so much in high school (yeah, I have no idea why I kept joining the team every year when I hated it so much). I am so NOT a short distance runner.

That being said, I was pretty darn happy to see a "6" at the beginning of my time :)

What Happens When You Work Hard

2009-09-25T16:15:00.010-04:00

I generally really hate those stupid photos they always take of you when you are running. I mean, WHO looks good when they are running? NOT ME!!! And I kind of purposefully don't ham it up when I see the photographers, like I know a lot of people do because usually I am too focused on my run and think it is silly to have photos taken of me at that time.

In the hundreds of "official" photos I've had taken of me during races, I've only ever liked one. (My one runner friend says if this ever happens to anyone, they should BUY that photo because good looking running photos are such a rare occurance.)

These are the things I hate about running photos:

• I usually look like I am about to get sick, or someone punched me in the gut
• I ALWAYS look like I am walking, not running (Bill said that this is because I do look like I'm walking when I'm running. Then I got all mad. But then I realized that this is probably because if you run 26.2 miles you have to do them efficiently. That doesn't really = big strides.)
• I usually look like I have some sort of double chin
• These photos usually make me reevaluate my hair style of the time
• I get to see how truly devoid of color my skin really is :)
• I think it's stupid that they always show the clock time in marathons because unless you are Kara Goucher or Paula Radcliffe, it is always always always about 5-10 minutes off.

But, I looked at the photos from this past weekend's half marathon and noticed some cool things (even though I still do not like the pictures).

1. I am getting some serious muscle tone in my arms! (Check out my forearm!)

2. I am getting KILLER muscles in my legs!

...even compared to my first marathon!

And guess what else?
3. Since I'm running faster, sometimes I even look like I'm RUNNING (not walking).

So yay for me!
(I have also learned that there is no way ever that bangs can look good while you are running.)

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, this:

is the photo I was happy with. (And no, I didn't buy it, although I keep thinking maybe I should.)

Where ARE We?

2009-09-23T10:52:00.006-04:00

This weekend I ran the Queens Half Marathon. The Queens Half is a very unique event. First of all, it is very very hard to get to (since almost no one in NYC has cars). You have the option of spending a bazillion dollars on a cab, paying $15 to take the shuttle from the NYRR HQ, or trying your luck at public transportation. For the last option, you take the subway to about 2 miles from the start and wait for a free shuttle from NYRR. The problem with all of this is that 5,000 people run this event, so the free shuttles are very crowded. Oh yeah, and the roads close at 6 am so, you have to make sure you get on the shuttle before then. Both years I have run this, and a lot of the people who take that option end up showing up about a half hour after the start. That is just too much stress for me, so, for the second year in a row, Bill and I opted for the $15 bus tickets. The last bus leaves at 5am. Soooooooo...we both got up at 3:45am (bless Bill!) to grab a cab across the park and catch the bus.

When we got to the park in Queens, some girl said to her friend "Where ARE we? The end of the subway line was back there, and that was like 20 minutes ago!" Everyone in the bus laughed.

After that? You scramble to find a park bench to sleep on until the race starts at 7am. And it was COLD this year, so there was more shivering than sleeping!

Despite this, I kind of sort of like running this event. EVEN THOUGH it has 66 turns within 13.1 miles (those turns keep me from being bored) and the whole thing is hills. Up and down, up and down, there is no flat part that is more than about 20 feet. And that's only three times in the whole race.

Ramon said not to count on PRing, because you could not PR this event. I realize why now. I do not remember it being THAT hilly last year, but maybe that is because last year it was like, 90 degrees!

The start was crowded, and once again, I was in the corral behind my friends I usually run with. It was SO crowded that my first mile clocked a 9:16. I didn't freak though, because I knew Ramon said no PRs (even though I was secretly still hoping for one). My next mile was 8:25, so I knew I needed to slow down desperately. Luckily, I found Molly (a girl I usually run with). She runs pretty consistent 8:40s in the beginning of races, so I decided to covertly follow her :) And guess what? My next lap was 8:44! Perfect!

In fact, I was pretty consistent the whole race, ranging between 8:16 and 8:51. The miles were flying by, and I didn't really feel tired until mile 11. Which, Ramon says, is an indication that I ran the race smart. Yay! A smart race! I don't usually get those.

In that last mile? There were two of the largest hills on the course. There was actually a collective groan as all the runners around me made one of those last turns to see that huge hill. One guy was like "Now that is just RUDE!" which made me laugh. I had to really dig on that hill. It pretty much sucked.

I was all pumped when I looked at my watch, which said I averaged an 8:33 pace. Whoo-hoo! Too bad my ACTUAL pace was 8:42. Why the discrepancy? Well, Coach Christine said all the turns added mileage on, and that UNLESS you ran on the course line exactly you probably ran an actual 13.33 miles (everyone who had a Garmin had that the course was 13.33 miles).

So my official time was 1:54.04. A PR by 34 seconds. Don't get me wrong...I am happy with a PR, but I am bummed because I felt like I was running a lot faster than my PR in the Bronx Half. :)

Adventure Girl!

2009-09-17T14:39:00.003-04:00

So, despite the fact that I am in the middle of my long mileage days, I decided NOT to run over vacation. I mean, I needed a vacation from training too, right? Running 6 marathons (and 6 half marathons) in three years is a bit draining, no matter how much fun it is.

But that doesn't mean that I sat on my butt all of my vacation (just most of it).

Bill and I got a bit of a workout by doing an all day excursion through Alltournative Off-Track Adventures. And it was pretty cool!

We met in the lobby of our hotel early in the morning to meet our guide and the other people who would be in our group that day (there were 7 of us...they keep the groups small, so you aren't waiting around all day for people to do stuff). We hopped in the van and headed out into the Mayan Rainforest.

Here, we hiked through some VERY rocky (and hilly) terrain. At one point, we had to walk along a skinny rock wall, and I was pretty sure I was going to fall into the pit. In fact, the whole tour I kept thinking "Watch your footing. You can't get injured this late in the season." I sort of felt like the whole day was a pretty good balancing act (good for those core muscles)!

When we got to our first destination, we geared up in harnesses for our first activity...ziplining!

Me, All Geared-Up

We then hiked up this cliff to get ready for launch. No one volunteered to go first, so I did! (I had done ziplining before on an entire ziplining tour, so I was not afraid). However, I looked out over the cliff and it looked MUCH higher. I also realized that when I did this last time there were wooden platforms, and brakes (we had to brake this time by putting a stick on the top line and pulling down to create tension), and I'm pretty sure they launched you backwards so you couldn't see anything. They were also very safety conscious...like "Make sure you hold onto the connecting line!" This guy told us to let our arms go, and not be a wimp. The big expanse and height over the water was a little scary. He was like "OK...Jump!" And I said "Like, now?" And before I had a chance to think, he said "What, you need a push?" And pushed me out! I let go and it was AWESOME. I did have issues braking, and about knocked over two guys as I came in, but that made it more fun :)

Next, we hiked through the jungle again to a cenote (which is basically an underground sinkhole). As we were walking our guide thanked me for going first (from this point on, he only referred to me as "Lara Croft"). He then said "And you're going first for the rappelling, right?" Uh-uh, no way. I could handle ziplining, because I had done it before. Rappelling? Forget it! I needed to see someone else do it first.

Before we went into the cenote, we were blessed by a Mayan Priest in an incense ceremony which was kind of cool.

Then, I had to listen really hard about what to do for the rappelling, because our guide was making me go first. At least this time, Bill and I could go at the same time. It was actually really, very fun! I had a lot more control over the whole thing than I thought I would (like, I could control how fast/slow I descended). At the end of the 65 feet, we dropped into inner tubes where we could explore the cenote. The water was freezing, but very refreshing (did I mention how much I was sweating at this point?). The coolest thing was all of the bats that were flying around.

At the end of our time in the cenote we could either get pulled back up the 65 feet, or climb up a rope ladder. I chose the latter, of course. But here's the thing. You didn't actually use the rungs of the ladder that much because your weight was distributed all wrong. Instead, you went up sideways. It took a whole heck of a lot of arm and ab strength, so I was glad that I was in shape. I was slipping off the ladder at times, bats were flying around my head, and my arms were shaking like crazy. I think I scared Bill to death. And 65 feet is a LONG way. (As I was telling Lauren this story, she pointed to a building and said "That's like 7 stories! That's like THAT building right there." It is weird to put it in that perspective.) But I did it! I was proud of myself.

But oh no, our adventure was only half over. After that, we headed to a lake where we canoed for awhile. Then it was time for our traditional Mayan lunch and back into the van to visit Coba (the tallest Mayan Pyramid).

We went on a little tour with a Mayan guide, who told us about the pyramids and ballcourts on the grounds. It was cool. But to get to the pyramids, he suggested taking a bike or a "Mayan Limo" which was basically a rickshaw. Bill and I opted for the bikes (I haven't ridden a bike in 12 years...and the last time resulted in permanent scarring.) It was AWESOME. I loved riding a bike. (Uh oh, triathlons next?)

The pyramid was so HUGE. And we were allowed to climb all the way to the top, which we did, but then I looked out along the rainforest and kind of sort of freaked out. (Let me mention, there are NO railings or anything...just a rope, if you want. I don't think you would ever be allowed to do this sort of thing in the states because of the liability.) So, I came back down on my butt. Just when it started to pour down rain.

Coming down from the pyramid

Back to the bikes, then back to the van, then back for two well-deserved shots of tequilla. Pretty fun for a day's workout. Plus it sounds impressive, because we did:
• hiking
• ziplining
• rappelling
• climbing
• canoeing
• biking
• more climbing

Awesome. Oh yes, and my arm/back/ab muscles were totally sore the next day from that climb.

Back in the Swing of Things

2009-09-16T13:42:00.002-04:00

Last night was my first run since vacation. Luckily, Ramon had mercy on us and we all did the same workout – a five mile loop of the park. We were supposed to "race" it, but I decided to run it comfortably since I had taken the previous week off.

I honestly felt great for the first 2 miles. Then, I was just tired.

It was a struggle to finish.

Everyone I usually run with was passing me, but I didn't really care because I just felt tired. I estimated that I was doing about a 9:45 mile, but I was okay with that too, because I feel like the first run back after time off you just have to get out of the way. I just kept thinking "too many margaritas!"

I actually ended up finishing with an 8:29 overall pace. So that made me happy.

This weekend I have the Queens half marathon which should be interesting. I am definitely not expecting a PR. BUT the weather is supposed to be perfect, with the high of the day being only 74 degrees! Whoo-hoo!

Yay! Fartleks!

2009-09-02T19:59:00.005-04:00

I usually dread speedwork. But as my friend Lauren says, I usually do well when we have speed workouts. I think it's all a mental thing for me. I don't like competing against myself, especially when I feel (like I have lately) that my workouts are less than ideal.

Last night we did Fartleks around the 6-mile loop of the park. My stomach was giving me problems, so I was not looking forward to the speedy parts of the workout. BUT, it was one of the first genuinely nice nights to run too, so I guess it all evens out.

Our warmup was an "easy" mile. (I use quotations for easy because it included Cat Hill.) For this, I averaged a 9:07 pace. As Lauren and I were approaching 90th street for the first interval I was getting a feeling of dread in my stomach. I told her it was kind of like how you feel when you are going up the hill on a roller coaster. Dread, dread, dread.

But I actually ended up feeling pretty fast. I guess I was, because my average pace for that .75 mile was 7:15/mi. But that one was flat. The next one was going to include Harlem Hill though. I was NOT going to keep that pace for sure.

For the next .5 miles I slowed it down to a 9:36. It actually felt like a nice comfortable pace.

On Harlem Hill I said goodbye to Lauren (she is a super speedster up the hills, and I am probably on of the slowest Advanced runners when it comes to hills). I was glad to catch her by our next slow place at West 90th Street though, because I like to chat on easy runs. For the Harlem Hill section, which was 1.25 miles I averaged an 8:15. Wow! Impressive! I felt like I was doing about a 10 minute mile.

We slowed the next portion (.7 miles) down to a 9:27 pace. But both of us felt like it was still pretty fast. We both stopped at the drinking fountain on the Bridal Path. It might have been nice and cool out, but I was still sweating like crazy.

The last portion (1.32 miles) was supposed to be our hardest. It was definitely the longest of the intervals and included the dreaded lower loop. According to Coach Steve, if we ran the rest of the workout correctly, we would have to dig deep for this last interval and would have a significant amount of lactic acid buildup. I started out hard and strong, but not what I would consider "fast". I felt that this was the only way that I could make it through that last part. I ended up averaging a 7:55 mi, which made me very happy!

I slowed my pace waaaaay down and finished the last .45 miles at a nice comfortable 9:43 pace.

All in all, it felt like a great workout. Now I feel like I can go on my vacation in peace :)

Longest Run

2009-08-31T12:23:00.002-04:00

This weekend I had my longest run of the season (so far). It was an 18-miler and besides the fact that it rained, it was pretty uneventful.

I was actually really glad for the rain. It was a nice break from the crazy heat/humidity I've been dealing with on my long runs, and it made the park a lot less crowded. I was really aiming to keep my pace around 10 minutes for the first few miles and then drop down to around a 9:30. Instead, I pretty much kept a 9:30 the entire time. I felt really good and like I could actually do a few more miles afterwards, so I think it's pretty key for me to feel like I'm "holding back" in those first few miles.

The one thing that was horrible is that when I got home and got in the shower I had to scream. I didn't even realized that I had chafed so badly. It HURT. I just assumed that I hadn't chafed because I had used Body Glide EVERYWHERE. So now I have matching scars on both clavicles, a really really horrible one under my chest on the left side, a circular one around my navel and one on my inner thigh on the right side. I am using Neosporin like crazy so that the scars don't become permanent fixtures (like some of my other chafing marks.

Oh yeah. And I am also hungry ALL THE TIME now. I just can't get enough to eat. It must be all those calories I'm burning :)

Mixed Bag of Complaints :(

2009-08-27T12:29:00.004-04:00

I think this is the part of the season where I get all tired of running and start looking forward to getting back to my normal life, where I can go home after work and not work out. (If you haven't noticed...my blog entries have been kind of complainy lately.) I guess this is sort of ironic though, because my "normal life" pretty much is training for or running a marathon, since I have been doing that from January to the end of October for the past 3 years.

So I was actually pretty disappointed when I had to miss another gruelling workout on Tuesday because I was working late. This one was supposed to be a test, doing mile repeats. I would have loved to see how fast I could go on the miles, (improvement always makes me feel happy about running again) but it just wasn't in the cards.

So yesterday, I talked Bill into running with me. We didn't go out until 7:30, so it was nice and cool(er then it has been), and we ran right along the Hudson, which was nice.

But I have noticed lately, that my calves have been super tight. And not just when I'm running, but all the time. My shins are a little achey too, which is not good. My calves were so tight last night that when we turned around to head back (it was dark! I hate how it gets dark out so early now!) I had to stop and stretch them out.

I don't like feeling so sore all the time, especially since I haven't been feeling like I've been getting a lot out of running lately. To be fair, I don't feel like I've been putting a lot into it either.

I am also kind of freaking out because I have no idea when I am going to get all of my mileage in, since I am going on vacation and am going to be missing an entire week of practice (which includes 2 long runs.) I know, I know, run on the beach. But seriously, I think I need a vacation from working out too. It has been a long time since I've had a "real" vacation that doesn't include working or travelling to a marathon, so I kind of want to put running on hiatus while I am at the beach.

So, this weekend I will be trying to get in my 18 miler, while most of my group is doing an 8-10 miler. And then I think I am going to do another long run on the Friday before I leave for vacation, although that sounds pretty stressful.

I've worked too hard this season to not PR San Francisco, but with my training going as it's going I just don't know. :(

Saturday Sixteen

2009-08-22T19:31:00.003-04:00

This weekend I had my big 16-miler, which has actually been my longest run all season. When I started walking to practice it was pouring and I was happy! It has been nothing but hot, humid and altogether unpleasant for the past week or so, and I was happy we were running in the rain instead of the unbearable heat and humidity that was predicted.

It was also the last weekend for Summer Streets :( so we were once again doing the Park Avenue run (and then across Manhattan to the West Side Highway (yuck) and finishing with a five mile loop in the park.

Since it was a lot cooler out because of the rain I took out my run a lot faster than I meant to. I can't believe I did this, because I was running exactly between the 9 minute pace group and the 10 minute pace group and was going for a 9:30 pace. But I felt great! (When will I learn? :)

(The pace for my first few miles were 8:41, 8:29, 8:07).

As we reached the bottom of Manhattan to cut across Chambers, the rain stopped. I didn't mind though because it wasn't exactly sunny out. But then the sun did come out and you know how people say "you could cut the air with a knife?" Now I know what they were talking about!

Luckily, I had succeeded in cutting my pace back to around a nine minute mile. (For a little while.) The girl I was running with kept saying we could slow down if I wanted, and I kept saying I was totally for that, but neither of us seemed able to do it. (Next few miles 9:09, 8:57, 9:00, 8:44, 8:48).

We stopped for water and I felt dizzy (uh oh). I was also very very tired. My arms were feeling very heavy. The humidity was definitely getting to me. I was glad I had lots of electrolytes with me. In fact, I went through my entire belt full of Gatorade before we got back to Central Park. I figured that was okay though, since there were so many water fountains there.

Rebecca and I DEFINITELY felt like we had done more than 11 miles at this point, and were both dreading the next 5 miles. We said it felt like the last five miles of a marathon, so we knew we had to just run with our guts at this point.

Unfortunately, my guts did NOT like Harlem Hill, which was at the end of my run (since I decided to end my run on my street, unlike everyone else who went back to the start). I ended up walking a fair amount until I felt better and ended up with a 2:29 (which averages out to a 9:20 pace).

I felt so tired and drained, but I was happy with my time. Now only if I can reverse the order and do a negative split next time, I'll be great!

Hot Stuff

2009-08-19T12:54:00.003-04:00

So the past three days have been in the 90s here in NYC. Not very fun for running. So I was very very relieved when, Monday night Ramon sent out this email:

TOMORROW'S WORKOUT:

NOTE: DUE TO THE EXPECTED WEATHER, I AM MAKING A COUPLE OF CHANGES TO THIS WEEK'S WORKOUT

(you see, I do have a soft side and do have a heart )

WE will have 2 Workout options, you make you own decision which one you want to attend:

OPTION 1: 5-6 Miles EASY Hot/sweaty/sucky run !!

OPTION 2: Cross Training Killing Workout + Running !!

You decide which of the workouts/options you want to do, just go to the proper location.

NOTE: KEEP in mind that if the weather gets better, the coaches could/may change the workout at the last minute.

Hurrah! It has been too hot to MOVE so I had not been looking forward to the original workout, which on the calendar just said "Hills."

But when we got to our meeting place Ramon had a bit of a change-up. One group could still do option 1, but the second option was going to be hills.

I really felt like an easy run would be a waste of valuable coaching time/practice, so I opted for the hills. I never get to train with Ramon (we usually just have Steve and Pete) and I forgot that his practices were really really HARD.

Everyone was bitching and moaning about the change-up in the plans, but Ramon said "Didn't you read my email? I said that we could change the workout if we wanted to!" So Ramon's workout was basically the worst of both worlds...hills AND cross-training.

We ran easy up to Harlem Hill and stopped off in the grassy area by Lasker Pool. We were already all drenched. I am not exaggerating. (I actually turned to my one friend and said "Uh, I have sweat running down my back into my butt crack." It tickled.) There we formed two lines to do Ramon's favorites. Squats. Ramon makes you do 90 degree squats...and hold them for a minute. And then he goes around and yells at you if you aren't low enough. (I got called out by name for this. Whoops.) After about a bazillion squats he yelled "GO!" and we had to sprint up either the left or right side of the hill, recover back and do more squats.

Harlem Hill (counterclockwise) was shorter, but definitely steeper. Lasker Hill was longer but more gradual. Both suck. My legs were already getting tired before I even started up the hill! But I sprinted to the best of my capability (I picked Harlem Hill...glutton for punishment.)

For the next round we had to switch hills. I must say, Lasker did seem a ton easier. It also seemed about 20 degrees cooler on that side of the park. I thought I was crazy, but Coach Pete said the same thing to me on our recovery.

We ended up doing 4 rounds of hills and 4 rounds of squats. (I kept hearing from different people "I thought cross-training involved more than squats.")

It was a HARD practice, made even hard by the high 80s temps. At the end I was exhausted and my stomach was growling so much that it hurt.

But I wouldn't have had it any other way. I do love a hard practice.

Human Race Kickoff!

2009-08-18T12:57:00.003-04:00

Last night I got to participate in the kickoff party for the Nike+ Human Race, which will be taking place on October 24th. Mostly I think this was done as a publicity thing, but it was still a lot of fun!

It took place right on the East River at the Water Taxi Beach, and when you checked in (you had to be invited...I got in through TNT because TNT is one of the charities that this run supports) you got a wrist band (for free drinks and food) a red Human Race technical shirt, a glow stick, and a ticket for a raffle. Cool.

The whole point was to get together for a little fun run, flooding the streets of downtown NYC and running over the Brooklyn Bridge en masse.

There were about 500 of us, including Lauren Fleshman the fastest woman in the 5K (15:23....WHOA!) and Alan Webb, who holds the record for the fastest mile (3:46...double WHOA!). They were super nice though, and hung back with all of us normal people for the run.

You could also try out the new Nike+ running shoes, which I did. (I don't think Nikes are for me though...they seem a little too narrow for my feet.)

It was so cool to see all of us in our red shirts and glow sticks running around in a group. It was especially cool to cross the Brooklyn Bridge at dusk all together. I always forget what a magnificent view of the skyline you get going across that bridge.

I think we confused all of the tourists walking across the bridge. I mean seriously, it looked like the line of red shirts did not stop. (All of this was done for publicity photos for the Human Race.) They all cheered us on though and a bunch of them took pictures or video. I felt like an elite runner in a marathon :)

It was a pretty enjoyable run, despite the 86 degree temps (I read on the clock as we were going over the bridge :). And we all got to come back afterwards for Sangria and burgers. Mmmmm.

Quelle Chaleur!

2009-08-17T11:12:00.005-04:00

Sometimes it's pretty funny how my French calendar is right on with it's phrase of the day. Sunday's was "Quelle chaleur!" which loosely translates to "Man, it's hot!" And it was hot yesterday. (Of course, the first weekend we start to see 90 degree temps happens to be the same weekend as the NYC Half Marathon.)

It was actually HOTTER than the Chicago Marathon, but at least NYRR had the foresight to set up many water tables. (According to the National Weather Service, at 7am, which is when the race started, it was 76 degrees out with 80% humidity...by 9am it was 82 degrees!)

The heat and humidity, combined with my stupid corral assignment, combined with the fact that I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before made me think that I just might have to shelve my hopes for another 1:53. I was all agitated in my corral before the race too. People kept stepping on the back of my feet and their hair kept sticking to my shoulder (a huge pet peeve of mine).

Despite all of this, I did try to dodge and weave as much as possible. I was actually quite pleased with my first split: a 9:35. I was thinking for sure that I would be stuck doing 10 min miles from the way it was so crowded. But after I passed a bunch of people in the first mile I got very backlogged. It was kind of like when you turn the treadmill on too slow and you end up stepping all over the front of it. It was pretty frustrating. I decided that I might as well stop for water, because it WAS so hot, and it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to race this one.

Hmmm. Seems there weren't enough volunteers. The tables were littered with EMPTY cups. So it seemed that we had to stand on line while we waited for a volunteer to fill up a cup for each of us, one at a time. We were stopped for so long that my Garmin actually STOPPED because it detected no movement. Not ideal, but I guess at least they had water. That mile was a 10:05.

I tried the whole dodging and weaving thing again, and though it was frustrating, I got back up to a 9:35 on the third mile.

Harlem Hill seemed to weed some people out, and the crowd thinned momentarily. Maybe it was because as we were running up the back side of the hill some guy on the sidelines yelled "That's it! The last big hill!" I was horrified. The worst hill was coming up. Runners around me seemed happy with this so I said "That's not true at all, there's a HUGE hill coming up!" (Gina later was like "Good for you. I hate it when people lie like that." :) That mile? 8:53. Whoo-hoo! Getting my game back!

Same story at the next waterstop. Seriously?

My fifth mile I looked down and noticed something strange...my watch was calculating the miles before I would get to the mile markers. In fact, by the time I got to mile 5, my Garmin said 5.19. Now, I know, I know, there is a bit of an accuracy problem sometimes with these things, BUT every other race I've run in the park is dead on. I was wondering if maybe all of the weaving I was doing was adding on miles. Mile 5: 9:22.

I was getting thirsty and very tired of being in the park. Thank goodness some man shouted "Water just around the corner!" Where? Where? LIAR! (The next water stop was actually OUT of the park, around mile 7. I thought this was a nasty thing for that man to do. :)

Mile 6: 9:08. I was actually feeling a lot better. Besides the whole water thing.

By the time I hit the bottom of the park I felt very very tired. The heat was getting to me and I just couldn't bear to think about the rest of the race which I knew would not be shady at all (running through Times Square and on the West Side Highway. Yuck.) I saw Bill and said "It's HOT." (This was my way of saying to him "I am just going to finish this race now. I am not worrying about time anymore." Luckily, Bill has come to so many of my races that I think he totally understood.) Bill pointed to the exit from the park and told me water was just around the corner. He was NOT lying ;)

Mile 7? 9:04.

This was really when I sort of gave up on the whole thing. I was just too exhausted. It was the heat, not the run. So I sort of started to enjoy myself, smiling and waving at the TNT cheerers. I looked forward to WALKING the water stops. Mile 8: 9:11.

I must admit, it was totally surreal running through Times Square. If it hadn't been so hot I would have been having an awesome time. There were what seemed like millions of fans cheering as you ran through this whole canyon of neon, lights and moving pictures. And there were a ton of bands! It was very cool.
I felt like a sucker, because this is when I decided that I needed a walking break. I also decided I needed a GU (even though my stomach was like "No! Please! No GU!") and it was the worst tasting GU ever, even though it was my favorite, vanilla. Mile 9? 9:43.

When I headed onto the West Side Highway, I was walking and some lady on the course yelled at me. "NO WALKING! PLEASE START RUNNING!" (There were other people walking by me too.) Seriously? Some lady jogging next to me was like "Easy for her to say!"

I started running again, but had to stop when my stomach was starting to turn again. Oh yes, the line of garbage trucks on the WSH, baking in the sun. Gross. As I was walking I ran into a teammate, Charles.
He didn't look so good and he asked if we could stick together until the end. He said he REALLY needed to run with someone. I figured there was no way I was going to finish this fast anyways, and I KNOW I have felt that way before and it STINKS when you feel that way, so I said okay.

We basically walked about 80% of the rest of the way. He kept saying that I could go ahead, but I think he really wanted me to run with him, so I did. I was actually feeling pretty good after about a half mile of walking, and felt like I could pretty much run the rest of the way in, but I thought it would be pretty crappy to leave him to finish the race himself when I said I would stay with him.

So my last mile times were kind of a joke, when I compared them to my first few miles. 11:13, 11:50, 11:39, 12:10. But it was okay. I think Charles appreciated it (he gave me a big sweaty hug at the end) and I just kept thinking how I would have LOVED to have someone with me in the last few miles of my first marathon (or even Marine Corps).

So I finished with a 2:26. CORRECTION: I just checked that out again. 2:26 was my gun time, 2:16 was my official time. Whew! I thought so! Otherwise my Garmin was way off! Definitely my worst half marathon ever, but I gladly accepted my medal. This was a race that I felt was an accomplishment just to finish. :)

Toenail Follow-up

2009-08-15T15:29:00.000-04:00

BTW, my toenail has already grown back.
Yay!

Rant Rant Rant Rant

2009-08-15T15:06:00.002-04:00

I've officially rescinded all of the nice things I've said about NYRR.

I know I am probably being petty, but here is the deal:
Last Saturday I decided to check my "status" on the NYRR website for the NYC Half Marathon (which is tomorrow). Turns out I was in the 11th corral...out of 14. Now, I knew this wasn't right because all of my friends I train with are in the 7th corral. To show you how insane this is, I will be starting on 97th Street. The start is on 85th Street.

So all of my friends suggested that I contact NYRR to see if I could change my number, because it was so off.

So I wrote a nice, long letter.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to ask a question about my corral assignment for the NYC Half Marathon.
I recently checked my registration and saw that I was assigned the the 11th Corral with the number XXXXX. I was talking to my teammates that I normally run/pace with (I belong to Team in Training) and they said they were assigned to the 7th corral.
I am expecting to finish between 1:51-1:53 and am worried that I may be in the wrong corral. My most recent time for a half marathon was the Bronx Half with a 1:54.38.
I know that the half marathon is going to be quite crowded and that the corrals are in place to avoid unnecessary weaving and to ease congestion, so I want to make sure I am in the right corral.
Is it possible that I am in the wrong corral? And if so, would it be possible to change my corral?

Here is my entry information:
Emily Mason
Entry #XXXXXXX
Membership ID XXXXXX
Race # XXXXX

Thank you so much for your time and consideration with addressing this matter.

Sincerely,
Emily Mason

And here is what I got back:

Hello Emily

Bibs were based upon the information you provided on your entry form

Your best time – was listed as 4:25 for the Marine Corps Marathon

This is the time used to assign bibs

Yeah. Thanks for actually reading my letter. AND my time was NOT listed as 4:25, but 4:22. So I was just going to let it go, but I kept getting more and more ticked about it as I talked to more people. I mean, this is my race that I am supposed to use as a checkpoint in my training, and if I'm weaving through 4 corrals of people (there are 15,000 people registered) I am definitely NOT going to have a decent race. I was supposed to be using this race to determine my marathon pace. Grrrr. So I decided since I didn't actually get a real answer I could write back and try to get one. I was fuming, so it was really hard to be cordial in this one, but I tried.

Dear Janet,

Thank you for your quick response.
I do realize that I listed 4:22 as my marathon time. I listed that because I assumed that my half marathon times from NYRR, which were already in the system, would affect my corral placement, like my previous NYRR times do for other NYRR races. I also assumed that my "Predicted Time for half Marathon" (which was listed 1:55) would be considered.
I would not be so insistent except for the fact that I know that my pace is much faster than a 10:12 (from the MCM, which was last year).

My past NYRR paces were:
8:27 for Hope and Possibility
8:42 for the Front Runners
8:33 for the Women's Mini
8:45 for the Bronx Half Marathon

I know that this race is a large one and my coaches and I are concerned that I will not be able to get to where I should be until after the loop around the park.
Are you saying there is no way to change my corral at this time?
I understand that it is very late in the process. But I just want to make sure that there is nothing more that can be done to remedy this.

Thank you,
Emily Mason

Nothing back. Nothing changed. I picked up my 11th corral number for the race yesterday.

I was going to let it all go but then I kept thinking about it. This is a BIG half marathon. NYRR is supposed to be regarded as a premiere racing club. I am not stupid, I understand that they can't change everyone's corral. I also understand that they were probably incredibly busy this week. But at least acknowledge my questions. It would have at least made me feel better about the whole thing and I would have dropped it. (I would have still been disappointed, but I would have dropped it.)

It makes me not even care about fufilling my stupid 9+1 commitment (you have to run nine qualifying NYRR races and volunteer for one event) to get into the New York City Full Marathon next year.

I mean why am I busting my butt in training every week to improve if I don't even get credit for it?

Ptttt.

So I'm really not expecting much (except a lot of frustration) from the race tomorrow...which makes me sad.

Bill, Do NOT Read This Post

2009-08-13T15:59:00.002-04:00

I just happen to know that my husband gets quite squeamish when this subject comes up :) To be fair, I usually do too.

Anyway, I've joined the club of marathoners who have lost toenails!

I'm not entirely convinced that it was a marathoning thing, but I'm sure that all the running I do didn't help.
See, I have been rather lax when it has come to pedicures in the past month (which is very unlike me). I've just been sort of layering polish on top of polish. So last night, I decided to take my time and actually do things properly. As I was removing the polish from my last pinky toenail I noticed it was extraordinarily long. I also noticed that as I wiped the cotton ball across, the toenail came almost completely off.

I started freaking out.

Bill asked what I was doing and I was like "You don't want to know. You don't want to know. Get me the toenail clipper!!!"

I clipped it off and it bled. I cleaned it out and put massive bandaid coverage over it so that I didn't have to see it.

Then it started hurting. Really hurting.

I know I have no business even complaining. I know many people who've lost a lot more than a baby toenail. I don't think I could handle that.

Luckily my toenails grow super quickly. AND my baby toe is super stubby and small...so I'm hoping I won't have to worry about it for much longer.

Mayor No-Show

2009-08-10T13:11:00.003-04:00

This weekend Team in Training was invited to kick off the Summer Streets program in NYC! What is Summer Streets? Well, basically Park Avenue is closed to traffic so that runners and bikers can enjoy a long stretch of the city for three weekends in August. It was SO FUN last year. And TNT was invited to cut the ribbon this year. We were supposed to be running with Mayor Bloomberg but he didn't show up.

We even waited around an hour for him, starting our practice late (which stinks because it gets SO HOT). But, as his aides told our coaches previously that week "He is the mayor of New York City. Something may come up." Uh huh...What exactly comes up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday? Sleeping in? And isn't he the one who spearheaded this whole Summer Streets thing anyway? I mean, this was his little pet project as I remember reading last year.

ANYWAY, that couldn't even get me down too much, because I LOVE Summer Streets. It was crazy too, because there were about 500 TNTers on the road (Bloomberg said he would come if we could promise 200 people). We took over all of Park Avenue!

I was planning on running the 15 miles on the calendar, but after talking to the coaches (who admonished me, since I am running the NYC half next Sunday) I decided to do 8, like they suggested. I really do want to get a PR in the NYC half, so the taper is worth it.

Lauren and I CANNOT figure out our pace on these lesser mileage runs though. We usually keep the long runs to 9-9:30 miles, but we were flying. And it felt like we were flying. We were averaging 8:30s, but it felt REALLY GOOD. I know you are not supposed to do things like this during a taper, but it was actually a real confidence booster for me.

My half PR is a 1:54 (from the Bronx) which averages out to an 8:45 pace, but that was in the winter when it was cold and the conditions were optimal for an "Emily PR". So I was wondering if I could do that again since it is so hot.

After that run, I totally feel like I can. I felt so great. I could have gone another 8 miles!

Shoe Review! The Pearl Izumi Syncrofloat III : Speedwork Test

2009-08-05T11:47:00.006-04:00

So, the coolest thing ever happened to me a couple of weeks ago...the marketing coordinator from Pearl Izumi contacted me and asked if I would like to try out some Pearl Izumi shoes and review them on my blog.

OF COURSE I said yes.

After visiting their website, I decided (with his help) that the Syncrofloat III would be the closest match to what I currently wear, which is the Adidas Supernova Glide. So, even though I was excited at the prospect of trying new shoes I was also nervous for a few reasons:

• I used to have knee pain and after running in the Supernova Cushion (now the Supernova Glide) my knee pain went away
• I spent a long time having my gait and shoes analyzed by a runner/podiatrist and he selected the Supernova Cushion for me
• I have run 5 marathons and countless other races in the Supernova Glide
• Until last year, I was pretty sure that Pearl Izumi was a tri-athlete brand only, and why would you get shoes from someone who specializes in triathlons? Triathletes are looking for something much different.

I was also nervous because from the description it sounded like these shoes had a little less cushioning and a little more stability than I was used to.

I got them in the mail on Monday night.

They looked so much cooler than my shoes.

But we all know...looks aren't everything.

I was excited to try them out for my speedwork practice last night, which involved brutal hill repeats (this time Harlem Hill, which is WAY worse than Cat Hill) until the coaches said to stop. Oh yeah, and it was 88 degrees out. And humid.

Because of our practice time I had to change at work. Walking to the subway I felt all bouncy and airy in them. But I was still skeptical. First of all, they are new shoes, and new shoes always feel bouncy and airy. My real test is when I start running and how much of the pavement I can feel.

The advanced group started on the Bridal Path by the Reservoir to head towards Harlem Hill, nice and easy. I actually felt like there were springs in my shoes...like in the back. It seems like there is a lot more cushioning in the heel than I am used to and this is what I am attributing the springy feeling to. HOWEVER there is not as much cushion in the front of the shoe. But I'm not convinced that this is a bad thing. I say this because I actually feel like I was running differently in these shoes.

This is what I felt was happening...

I got an extra spring in my heel, propelling my leg forward faster, but also providing me with a quicker turn-over. (So I didn't need the padding in the front because I felt like my forefoot was on the ground for less time.)

Now, we did a gruelling 6 repeats of that awful hill. I HATE that hill. I am always far behind the rest of the people I usually run with when I do Harlem Hill repeats (it is much steeper than Cat Hill) and I can't seem to turn on the speed until I'm well past the water fountain (about 2/3 of the way through).

Usually I am a very neutral runner. I don't pronate or suppinate, I don't run heavy, and I tend to be a "midfoot striker". When I do tests on my form the coaches always ask if that is how I always run, because they are surprised I run so evenly. However, when I do hill repeats like this over and over, my form starts to fall off.

I find myself trying to run on my toes to make it up the hill and then try to correct myself because it feels "off." It usually takes a couple of strides to correct this.

I did not have that problem in these shoes. I noticed myself running on my toes on the third repeat and IMMEDIATELY was able to correct it. I have no idea why...more stability? different turnover? who knows?

So the shoe test was a success. For now.

I must say, I'm surprised (as were all of my friends). I never would have tried a Pearl Izumi shoe on my own. Saturday we'll see how they do for a long, slow, 15 miler.