Intro To Trails

This Saturday was my first trail run, and my first run with my Fleet Feet Trail Warriors group. I almost missed it because I was as sick as a dog on Thursday night and felt even worse on Friday. I called out sick from work, which I never, ever do. I slept 6 hours during the day and drank an entire (large) bottle of orange juice, plus some tea. After Bill and I put Liam to bed I was rooting around in my chest of drawers and Bill was like "What are you doing?" And I said "I'm getting my clothes out for my trail run tomorrow." He looked at me like I was crazy and said "You are NOT seriously thinking about going to that." I think I was a little overzealous in saying "I AM. I rested ALL day and I drank so many fluids so that I could go to it tomorrow. I'm going." Usually I get a little push back, but he just resigned. I was like "I like how you don't even try anymore." He said it didn't matter because I was going to go anyway. I am not saying this is smart behavior, but I do think it is pretty typical endurance athlete behavior.

After a good night's sleep though, I actually felt pretty good. I'm glad too, because trail running is HARD. Like REALLY HARD.

It was actually kind of cool how it was set up. Fleet Feet had representatives from Pearl Izumi and Brooks there so that you could try out some trail shoes. I chose the Pure Grit from Brooks, which was described as a lightweight trail shoe. The other trail shoes had more stability and padding, and I figured I was used to a lighter ride, so it was probably a good choice for me.

The coaches gave us a few rules about trail running before we set off:
1. The trail is marked with pink tape and flags, keep the pink tape on your right. Always look for the pink tape or you could end up totally lost in the woods. (I kept thinking about Jenn and Billy in Born to Run and how they got lost and had to drink some sort of animal diarrhea to stay alive. I didn't think French Park was all that crazy, but I also didn't really want to get lost on my first trail run.)

2. Don't be a show off and zoom past people like you would in road races. Always signal to them audibly as you  are coming up behind them so they don't freak out. (I assumed this was because trail running takes a lot of concentration...I was right). Plus, she said, chances are, if you zoom past someone and act like a huge jerk, you're going to wipe out and need someone to help you, and guess who will be coming up behind you?

3. Let the trail dictate your pace. This is not road racing and your pace will vary according to the terrain.

4. It had been raining, so remember, it will be slippery.

So, we take off in this huge group towards a field (just like high school cross country) where the pack easily separates into three groups. I was at the front of the second group. We climb a gigantic hill to get into the woods and seriously, 2 minutes into the run, I have to walk. The hill is enormous, the path is narrow, the terrain is bumpy and the mud is slippery. I felt kind of like a loser, especially since I was out of breath.

But then I noticed...

Even the fast people in front of me were walking. And then I was okay and could run again. And then we came upon some crazy roots and I was jogging super easy...and so was everyone else. It just seemed so crazy. I mean, that seems to NEVER happen in road racing.

I fell in behind two older guys and we all started talking and running together. The one guy was kind of a showboat, which was super driving me nuts...like he was treating the trail like it was one of those urban obstacle races where people run up walls and do flying spinning jumps onto railings and stuff. I kind of wanted to see him fall. I know, that's so bad. I mean, I would come up to a log and STEP over it, or cautiously jump over it if I could see it was clear and unmuddy on the other side. But this guy...

The other guy was a lot nicer though. Sometimes when I had to walk some of the hills and they were pretty far ahead of me, he would circle back to get me. I was like "No! No, please! Go ahead! This is my first trail run!" But he said he was happy to circle back. And he did it like 3 times. I think they were afraid I was going to get lost.

And that's the thing too, it would have been SO easy to get lost. First of all, after we got into the woods, the people in front of us disappeared rather quickly and we had a huge lead on the people behind us (like 5 minutes or so). Plus, you are concentrating so hard on the path in front of you that its hard to pay attention to the markers as well.

Oh yeah, and that's another thing. I was CONSTANTLY adjusting my center of gravity. Also, my feet were slipping big time a couple of times (but I think I figured out the trick...just keep moving...every time I did, I landed on my feet.)

Also, I think my natural gait is totally suited to trail running. As my fellow trail runners pointed out, my heel barely touches the ground and I'm quick on my turnover which is apparently very helpful when the terrain changes so much.

Anyway, that little four mile run totally winded me...even with the walking/jogging/running combo. My muscles were a little tired, I was breathing heavy and I was done after 4...no more! I LOVED IT!

This is exactly what I needed to spice up my boring running routine!

I will definitely need to get some of those Pure Grit shoes though. They definitely helped me grip the terrain where I could tell that my Adizero Aegis would have had me sliding on my butt down a muddy, rooty hill into a fallen tree more than once.

Oh yeah, and I also got a free shirt for attending the trail mixer. You can always win me over with swag. :)

Marathon Signs

Just thought this was a fun post from Buzzfeed. Sure, some of these signs are a little overplayed at marathons, but some of them are really great :)

I still think Bill and my sign from NYC Marathon 2010 was the best. We calculated how many calories you burn in a marathon (on average) and how many calories are in a beer (on average) and our sign said:

26.2 miles = 2224 calories = 14.4 beers!

I wish I had a picture of it because it got a lot of laughs and high fives. Its out there somewhere on the blogosphere though, because a fellow running friend told me he saw it posted :)

Catching Up to the 2011 Bandwagon

OK, so I have a confession. I really hated all of the people who read Born to Run and kept talking about how their lives were transformed by it and everything and then couldn't shut up about "barefoot" running. (Which I think is a ridiculous term because unless you are not wearing shoes, you are not running barefoot.)

This did not stop me from buying my own Vibram FiveFingers and running in them just to see what it was all about. I also, of course, bought Born to Run because it seemed like required reading for distance runners.

But every time I wore my Bikilas to a race I would inevitably get some guy (it was always guys, never girls) coming up to me, commenting on them. They would say inane things like "Ha! I've guess we've seen the light and will be running better than all of these idiots!" And "Looks like we're the smart ones in this corral." There's just some sort of arrogance about all of these Born to Run Born Again Runners. They just reminded me of all of the bikers who think they are Lance Armstrong (you know, pre-doping confession).

And I tried really really hard to read Born to Run. But I could only get a few pages into it before I kept thinking 'BORING!' or 'I DON'T CAAAAAARE!' And I really did want to like it.

So when my friend Maren suggested it for book club, I was like "Yes!" It would MAKE me read this thing.

And I'm so glad I made it past those 19 pages that I had read so long ago. It was SUCH a good book! (Yes, here is where I become one of those Born Again Born to Runners.) I mean, I love how its part training manual, part anthropological study, part inspirational biography, part cookbook, part tall tale that is actually real.

It made me want to try chia iskiate and pinole (I have chia seeds and limes at home but have not done this yet). And it made me drag out my FiveFingers and start running in them again (I did a five miler in them yesterday. Half with a stroller...ergh. Running with a stroller in a minimalist shoe is not easy.) And through that whole run, I couldn't shut up about the Leadville 100, and Barefoot Ted and Jen, and how we were actually born to run, and how it is easier than you think to chase down your meal in the woods. Bill was probably like 'Ok, crazy.' (Or he was probably more like 'Oh, here we go again.') :)

The other cool thing about Born to Run is that it validated a lot of things I was already doing that some people said were wrong. Like, I have an incredibly short stride, have my body almost straight up and down, and run on my forefoot. Yay! I guess I am built for endurance and not speed.

And one more thing before I end. Spoiler alert if you haven't read to the end: I loved the end of the book where they were all cheering on the slowest runners with great aplomb. I think it truly summarizes the whole shared experience distance runners have with each other. I've seen it in every race I've run and I think it is so cool.

So yes, I've turned into a fangirl. Ptttt.

Hibernation

I feel like I'm getting ready for hibernation. I can't stop eating crap food. It doesn't help that it is ever so available at work and every time my stomach growls, or I'm bored, or I'm stuck creatively I go grab some candy, or potato chips or whatever. It doesn't even deter me that I'm upstairs and the food is downstairs. In fact, I think it makes me do it even more because I'm like 'a little walk will be good to take a creative break.' And I can't stop drinking soda! What the heck? I NEVER drank soda before I moved back. Argh! And that's just the food part.

I'm also not working out. After the half marathon 2 weeks ago (2 weeks ago?!) I told myself it was time to get serious about working out again. And then I got sick. And for two weeks now I've been so tired by the end of the day that working out is not an option.

I also feel like I could sleep for about two more hours than I have in the morning.

All of this has made me gain 7 pounds since I've been here. That's sick. It's all in my gut too. This is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because no one can ever tell that I've gained weight. A curse because really, the last place I want to gain is my gut. How unsightly.

I also keep hearing about how it's the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy and THAT makes me mad because it just opens up that whole 'You didn't get to run the New York City marathon and found out at the LAST MINUTE, thank you very much, Mary Wittenberg' wound. Which probably wouldn't be half as bad if I was actually running a marathon this year.

I just want to get over this stupid cold thingy so I can start running and lifting weights again.

On another note, I am obsessed with Born to Run. It makes me want to run barefoot (or at least in my FiveFingers). I also kind of want to be a crazy running vegan. (This may also have to do with me binge watching The Walking Dead.) But then I look at my diet and am like 'Yeah, okay, maybe a crazy barefoot runner, but not a crazy vegan barefoot runner).

I also really want to do a trail marathon, but I'm not having much luck finding a lot that are not out west. I am finding a lot of 50ks. Which makes me wonder...could I run those extra 4.8 miles? I mean, by that point at mile 26.2 your body is already trashed...

Is this how it starts? Is this how ultrarunners get into it?

What am I talking about? I couldn't even get a 2 mile run in in the past 2 weeks.

Cincy Half Marathon

So, this weekend I ran the Cincinnati Half Marathon, which was sponsored by Fleet Feet.

The whole thing was billed as a "no-frills" half marathon. According to the website this meant that you only pay for the shirt if you want it and there would be no entertainment on the course so that they could keep the costs down for registration. Now I also expected this to mean no medals, no Gatorade, no GU and minimal mileage markings on the course, but they had all of those! Pretty good for a "no-frills" half marathon.

I've been pretty lax on training for this. In fact, the goal when I found out our moving timing was to train for the Columbus Marathon (which was this Sunday). I was totally on track with my training and everything all summer, despite the fact that I had a million other things going on in my life. But of course, I underestimated the toll that moving would take on my free time. And then I lost a weekend of training to traveling, to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. After that, I figured that it was NOT a good idea to do the marathon and signed up for this half instead.

Good thing, because in between then (which was in August) and this weekend I've gotten a total of three runs in... a five miler with the stroller in Mt. Adams (ugh), a really boring 6 miler in Miami Meadows park around a 1.3 mile loop and a 10-miler at Lunken Park last weekend.

So, I was not going into this half with any high-expectations for a PR. But I was happy that the temperatures were going to be in the 40s and the course was going to be flat. I was also happy that I would have my cheering squad with me (Bill and Liam, of course).

I also have been reading Born to Run, so I was concentrating on just having fun and enjoying the run while staying light on my feet. I wasn't going to worry too much about time.

I started the race conservatively, but it seemed like it was taking FOREVER to get to the mile markers. I think this is because I have been slacking on my training, because I noticed this on my 10 miler last week too. I guess this also happens to me on flat courses. I think it's just something about the course having no elevation variation. Uh, it could also be that my pace was around an 11:00 mile. I also seemed to have a couple of songs in my head on a neverending loop, which was actually good because it started making the time go by more quickly. (Simon and Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" and Billy Joel's "Root Beer Rag"...don't ask).

I saw Bill and Liam at around mile 4 one last time before heading into No Man's Land on Riverside, which was pretty much an out and back for the last 9 miles.

This is when it started to rain. Lightly. No big deal. I actually started to feel pretty good and picked up the pace.

Then it started to POUR. Like, I was SOAKED to the bone. I still felt pretty good, so I continued to pick it up...especially since I was starting to get COLD. I kind of wanted to just finish it quickly. When we got into International Friendship Park I knew there was less than a mile to go and I really picked it up. I was tired, of course and because my training was not exactly up to snuff I was sore, but I decided I was going to be pretty mad at myself if I didn't push it in.

I ended up with a 2:11, which is by far, not a good time for me, BUT I was still happy with it, considering that over the course of 13 miles I shaved my pace down significantly.

I also promised myself to kick up my training. No excuses now :)

Crickets

I hear them when I run...literally and figuratively.

I don't remember running being this different between Cincinnati and New York when I moved last time, but I think maybe I just got completely caught up in the New York running scene (which is CRAZY huge...and there are multiple races every weekend...which are NOT just 5ks).

One thing that is nice is the huge connection to nature here. I mean, we had lots of nature in Central Park, of course, but in a way, Central Park is kind of like running in a biodome or a terrarium or something. I mean, I definitely did not have bunnies within inches of me on my running path. And I am so not used to it that when I started my run and I heard scurrying in the bushes my first reaction was "Ugh! Rats!"

But here's another thing I don't understand...why is running along the Lunken running path in Cincinnati so much more BORING than it is running along the running path in Central Park? They are both approximately the same size (Central Park is a 6 mile loop, Lunken is a 5 mile loop).

I mean, at first I was thinking it was because I am running by myself and had no one to talk to. But then I remembered that most of my close running friends don't run anymore and I have been pretty much running by myself for an entire year anyways.

Then I was like "Wait! Where ARE all the people? – It's Sunday afternoon! Doesn't anyone need to get a long run in?" But then I also remembered that the first time I went to Central Park to run, I thought 'Hey! Is there a race going on? Why is it so crowded?' And then it was like that the following weekend. And during the week! And then I got so used to it that when some tourist asked me this summer why the park was so crowded with runners I told her "It's actually not all that crowded. Summer Streets is this week so most people are actually out on Park Avenue." And she said "You mean it's ALWAYS this crowded?" I mean, I've told Bill before that every time I run in Central Park it's like some sort of running reunion. I was always running into people I knew from Team in Training, or work, or sometimes I'd even see celebrities (this was obviously not part of my "reunion" since I don't actually know them.) Anyway, I am definitely an extrovert. I get my energy from people, so maybe running two 5 mile loops and seeing only 10 people along the way is a big reason why it is SO BORING.

So, I think I need to turn my runs into quiet reflection time.

No, that sounds like torture.

I think I just need to start running groups again. Trail Warriors cannot start soon enough (November 16th).

That being said, I am super excited for the Cincy Half Marathon this weekend.

But I am also sad that I am not running Staten Island's Half this weekend :( My last half marathon series was three out of five. Wah-wah.

Ok. I know Cincinnati running will be fun again, but right now I am just throwing myself a running pity party.

Something New

I'm always looking for something new to keep running from getting boring. I mean, the next logical step for me would be ultramarathons, right? Well, I'm still not that crazy (or that motivated I guess). I do have friends who have gone that route, but it just really doesn't seem that interesting to me. Plus I cannot even imagine the time commitment needed for that kind of training.

I am also looking forward to running with my old training group at Bob Roncker's. They are such a great group of people and I have a soft spot in my heart for them, since that is how I started the whole marathoning thing.

Unfortunately, since I didn't do a fall marathon this year, I have to wait until January to start spring training. And I am itching to start running with a group NOW.

So, I decided to see if Fleet Feet had anything for this in-between season, and what do you know? They have something called Trail Warriors! 

I have always wanted to try trail running, especially since (according to some quiz I took...I think from Runner's World?) I am apparently built like a trail runner...whatever that means. I don't really know much about trail running, except that a lot of people say it is harder, and that I may need different shoes.

As part of Trail Warriors, you run 6 trail races throughout the tri-state area. Each race has either a 5 or 6 mile option and a 10 or 12 mile option. I'm already mentally signing up for the two loop options, but I guess I should really figure out how much more difficult trail running is before I mentally commit.

Also, my book club is reading Born to Run. I know that every runner known to man has read this book, but for some reason I couldn't get past the first few chapters. So I'm excited that it's a book club pick because it will force me to finish it and see if it makes me crazy obsessed about barefoot running like everyone else (even though that craze seems to be over)...my Vibrams look a little gross on the inside anyway...they are all brown stained on the inside. Gross. Who knows what that is?

At any rate, I am excited for the group to start, I am excited to be reading Born to Run, and I'm probably not going back to "barefoot" running anytime soon. :)

Re-entry Syndrome

Yes, that is possibly an overly melodramatic title, but as I was talking to my co-worker Andy last week I realized that it might somewhat be true (he was the one who suggested that this is what I was experiencing).

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but let's face it, my New York self had little time to run and much less time to write. I did get one last, wonderful 16 miler in, over the Brooklyn Bridge for Summer Streets before saying au revoir to NYC. But even that beautiful run was symptomatic of my need to leave the city. Perhaps it was the various trash smells baking in the sun along Park Avenue, or maybe the tiny mouse in my path in front of the bagel shop (that on my way back was smashed into the sidewalk) or the cops that yelled at me for following the people directing traffic (who apparently weren't paying attention...not my fault, so stop yelling at ME).

I digress.

At any rate I am back in Cincinnati (or at least the Cincinnati area) and I guess after living in NYC for so long I am having a hard time with the simplest of simple things.

For instance, I have become a bad driver. I can no longer parallel park (this was once a point of pride...I could park any vehicle in any spot, easily). I forgot that if you nose your car over into another lane that people don't stop for you, they might just run you over (in NYC this is not true). I feel like my car is going to tip over unless I am driving something that has a low center of gravity (therefore, I am overly cautious when driving my mom's CRV).

I also can't shop. Stores like Kroger and Meijer overwhelm me and I find myself staring at a shelf for minutes at a time trying to decide exactly which peanut butter to buy, or where to find the quinoa (withOUT seasoning, sauce or anything else...JUST quinoa!).

I also don't understand parenting here, because apparently parenting is very different in New York...or at least some things are different. For example, I was at the Mt. Adams playground with Liam, letting him climb all over things, chasing him up the jungle gym, etc and I guess some parent thought I was being irresponsible, letting him climb on the rocks on his own. So, he grabbed his hand to help him up. I had to stop myself from being like "HE CAN DO IT HIMSELF! HE DOESN'T NEED YOUR HELP! I WANT HIM TO LEARN TO BE AUTONOMOUS!" I know he was just trying to help.

I also feel way too edgy to be here (see above). I don't mean fashiony edgy, I mean, I want to jump all over things. I need to calm down.

Which is where running enters the picture I guess.

Running has been my constant between these two cities, and while it is very very different in Cincinnati than in New York (and vice versa) I think it's going to help me keep centered. And I'm going to try and get the blog going again. Although, I think it's going to be more about the rest of my life AND running, and how running fits in to the rest of my life. Because let's face it; my life is no longer all about running as it was when I was sans Liam (which is a good thing).

Yikes!

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?

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

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

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

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

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 ;)