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. :)

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 ;)

The More Half Marathon

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.)

12 on 12

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...

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 :)

Hurray! Half Marathon!

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!

The MORE Half Marathon

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 :)

Scotland Run

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. :)

Central Park Welcomes Me Back

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.

Confused

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!)

Playing in the Mud

Once again, it was raining this Tuesday night. But I'm actually not complaining. This summer has been incredibly mild and if I have to deal with a few Tuesday night runs in the rain because of it, I'm okay with that.

Besides, this run turned out to be pretty fun (okay, maybe not the actual run, but definitely the rain part).

For once, the advanced group got to run on the bridal path. Hurrah! I get so sick of running on the road in Central Park. It is SO BORING after awhile. The workout was pretty tough, but what else would I expect from a Tuesday night practice.

We were supposed to do 4 loops around the bridal path (which is 1.7 miles). The first loop was supposed to be nice and easy. The next loop was an 85% effort. When we got to the start of the third loop we had .5 miles of recovery and 1.2 miles at 85% effort. The last loop was a repeat of the third.

Oh yeah. And the bridal path is mud city. Especially since there are these huge puddles, that sometimes take up the entire width of the path. Steve told us that we'd probably take the first loop dodging all of the puddles but then after that we'd be like "F this" and just go through them. Which is pretty much what happened.

I have to say though, I have GOT to keep my own pace when I am warming up with the advanced group. We all start out nice and easy, then the group sort of divides into two; the guys and faster girls, a big space, and then the rest of the girls. The guys start to take off about a minute or two into the warmup, but they do it so subtly that you don't notice. Eventually Lauren either asks me our pace, or one of the other girls is like "Did we speed up?" or "Are we going fast?" It happens every Tuesday. I guess I can't blame the guys. In the last race most of their splits averaged around 6:45s. But the 5 girls who are always up with them are so competitive that we won't slow down. (OK, I'm speaking mostly for myself here, but no one else seems to slow down either and from what I've seen at practice all of these girls are as competitive as I am).

Anyway, as a result, all of us girls were huffing and puffing by the end of the "warm-up". I don't know that any of us really picked up our pace too much for that first lap. But we all managed to stay together. One of the girls was like "It's so unfair. If we were boys we would be fast too." And another girl was like "No, we'd be faster if you took everything into account, because look, they're not that far ahead." Then we were like "Uh, why are we talking when we can hardly breathe?"

I was not having the best workout. Normally I can keep up with the pack, but as we ended the first fast loop I was starting to lose them. I lost Lauren too, and we stick together ALL the time. :(

But then I did catch up with her on the recovery. This was pretty much our conversation.
"That blew."
"I hate Tuesdays."
"I just feel like crap. And my legs are HEAVY."
"Yeah, mine too. Like sacks of flour."
"I am totally taking advantage of this slow part."
"Me too."

My second fast part wasn't too bad, but I still felt heavy and my calves were really really tight. I just kept telling myself that it was only 1.2 miles instead of 1.7 this time. But when I hit 86th Street on the west side I felt like I should be finished. In reality, I had a looooooong way to go.

When I passed the police precinct I stomped into a puddle that looked like all of the puddles I had been stomping in. But. It was like 3 inches deep. Yuck. Shoes totally soaked. And heavy.

It was okay though, because in a funny way, I liked getting mud all over me. I also liked looking at all the runners with mud caked all over them. It reminded me of all of those Pearl Izumi ads ("Run Easy is an Oxymoron.") It made me feel like a toughie, like they were my war wounds or something. Kind of funny, but in the midst of a speed workout these are the things that go through my mind.

On the last loop I hit the exact same puddle AGAIN (not on purpose).

I did catch up with about 3 of the other girls though, which made me feel good, and Lauren was just a little bit behind me, so I guess I ended up holding my own for the workout even though it felt crappy.

And it was fun to play in the rain, even though we were freezing cold walking back home. :)

(Oh, and I had mud caked all the way up to the back of my knees. But I think the reason that the bus stopped for me and Lauren when it was way past it's stop was because we looked so soaked and mudcaked and probably miserable-looking to the driver. So, it all worked out for the best. :)

The Women's Mini

This weekend I ran the Women's Mini, which is a pretty big women's only (duh) race. It was cool, because lots of famous runners were also participating (first prize was $10,000) including Deena Kastor, Rose Kosgei, Serena Burla, Hirut Mandefro, Catherine “the Great” Ndereba, and USA Half-Marathon champion Magdalena Lewy Boulet. Actually, Runner's World wrote all about this race in last month's issue.

My big goal was to get under an 8 minute pace.

But when I woke up to take my dog out, I realized it was a hot day. There was absolutely no chill in the air, like there usually is in the morning and not a cloud in the sky.

I didn't revise my goal.

The plan was to take out the first two miles at around an 8:30 and to drop from there.

I realized in the first mile that this was going to be impossible. The race was SO CROWDED. I was in the green coral even though my friends were in the red because NYRR had my best pace for a race over 2 miles listed as an 8:45 (not true). So I was stepping all over people and it was too crowded to really pass anyone. I felt like I wasted a lot of time zigzagging. But surprisingly, when I hit the turn into the park (the first mile) I found that I had clocked an 8:29. Awesome. Right on pace.

Me in the background (Hey! I didn't even realize that I was running RIGHT by my friend, Shawnessy...she's in the foreground in the pink)

I decided to keep the same pace for the next mile.

It was still pretty crowded and I think I was annoying people because I was clipping their heels. I really didn't mean to, but it was just because I couldn't get around anyone and I was in the wrong pace category.
My next mile was a 7:58 and I felt really good...breathing steady, still had a lot of energy.

Good thing, because we were now going up the back of Harlem Hill, right by the Lasker Pool. I realized as I was running this hill that we hadn't really trained Harlem Hill AT ALL yet this season. I could definitely feel it. I hate running this hill clockwise. I feel like it is so much harder than counterclockwise. My next mile was 8:14.

This is when it fell apart.

I was DYING. I was sweating like crazy and I desperately needed water. (Too bad I had just passed up some...that meant that there wasn't going to be any for AT LEAST a mile). I didn't feel sore or anything, just hot and tired. I didn't really understand it, because I felt like my Tuesday night runs had been more humid than this, and really, they were only 1 mile less. Now I was throwing up in my mouth (sorry, I know that is gross.) My stomach was in horrible knots.

I had to slow down a lot.

In my head I realized that I was NOT going to get my time goal. This was when I decided to take it easy and just pretend it was a practice run (and not a Tuesday night speed session). It was no use in running my body down when I felt like I would have to pass out in order to make my time goal.

Yes, this felt a lot better.

I even walked through the water stop. Like walked really slowly. This was mostly because I couldn't keep the water down. I had to keep spitting it out and then trying to drink more slowly. By the time I pass the water stop there were no longer any garbage cans (that should tell you how long I was walking...I would say at LEAST 30 seconds). I think my split was 8:14 though, which was pretty amazing. I felt like I was running a nice, easy 10 minute mile.

That actually made me feel better about slowing it down and I REALLY started to slow it down, and just tried to enjoy the run (even though the heat still sucked). Luckily they had a spray station somewhere right before Cleopatra's needle.

I saw Bill! Yay!

One mile to go!

I shouted to him "Did I say sub-8? I totally meant sub-9!" which I think made us both laugh a little.

Did I ever mention that I hate the lower loop in Central Park? Oh, I did? Like in every post where I write about the lower loop? Well, unfortunately this was the end of the race. And they had it marked out in meters (agonizing!!!) And the guy standing by the "800 m to go" sign felt the need to translate that into miles for us ("Just a half mile to go, ladies!"). I was thinking, "No! Don't tell me that. I KNOW that, but translating it makes seem it so much longer."

200 m to go. Are you kidding? I can't run any more.

I finished with a 53:02, which is an 8:33 pace. I do have to say, I was happy with that time. ESPECIALLY after I found all of my friends at the end of the race and talked to them. EVERYONE fell off pace because EVERYONE felt it was the most horrible, hot, disgustingly humid race ever. :)

We got a medal at the end. And when I walked into my building afterwards with Bill, my doorman was like "Hey! You won!"

I just laughed. :)

Long Run

Saturday was my first "official" long run. (I figure that 6 miles is not really considered a long run). Luckily, it was with friends and that made the time just fly by and the pain seem non-existent. My goal on my long runs this season is going to be nice and easy...getting in the miles comfortably and building endurance, not speed. This is what the goal was supposed to be last marathon season, but I never listened to Coach Ramon when it came to that, and just ran all of my long runs at a medium to medium-fast clip. But everything I have read about marathon training plans is that your long run is NOT the time to do this...those are what your medium runs are for during the week. So that is one thing I am tweaking with my training (more on that in a later post).

I met Gina at the park for a slippery 2.5 miles (okay, Garmin says 2.56, but I swear it is really 2.7 miles...) around the full bridal path loop. There were times when it was so icy that I lost my footing. Luckily I never lost it enough to actually fall down.

Did I also mention that it was fah-reezing out? 11 degrees, but luckily not very windy. I was wearing tights underneath pants, a tank under a long sleeve tech shirt under my sugoi speedster under my jacket, a pair of glove/mittens, my fleece headband, and I had my hood pulled up (with ponytail sticking out of the ponytail port, of course). I told Gina that people were laughing at me on the way to the park. She pointed out that even the crazy guys you see on the coldest days running the loop in shorts were not out today. True. And what does the dry-cleaning lady know anyway?

The funniest thing that happened was when we were crossing the 102nd street traverse. I felt like something was down around my butt. Suddenly I also felt like my movement was impeded by what could only be my tights sliding down my legs. I cracked up and told Gina "My tights just fell down my –" as I was feeling in the back to pull them up. "Wait! It's my pants! My pants fell down!" And after that, it just kept happening.

We finished our loop and met Bill for the full 6-mile loop (he got a later start with training than I did, so I recommended that he NOT do our 8-9 mile run).

It was nice, and the three of us were all chatty the whole way, which made the time just fly. Plus, I love running with Gina because she keeps me on pace. AND we had matching green garmins that were happily chirping along the entire way. How cute.

Afterwards? I felt like I ran 6 miles, not 8.5 (or 8.7). NICE.

Taper

Well, I am now officially into taper. Hurrah!

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

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

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

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

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

Unrealized PR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yay hill work I guess ;)

Hurrah!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Run For Central Park

Yesterday was the Run for Central Park. It was a four mile race which started on the east side, crossed over at 102nd and went down to the 72nd street traverse on the west side.

Let me just say, it was the most organized race ever! It was the biggest NYRR race I've seen so far. When you sign up for a NYRR race, they always ask you for a PR for a mile. The mile must be within a race that is longer than a mile. For me, my PR came from my last NYRR race, and was 8:07. I didn't know this at the time I signed up, but they used this number to determine corrals. So I was a little intimidated to be in the third corral with all of the 8 minute milers. (But it was also kind of cool to be so far up front). I was also with my friend Jen, from Cincinnati. The night before, we had decided to run this one as a fun run, sticking together, talking the whole way, enjoying the scenery, and running around a 9 minute pace. We also decided to take it easy and leave our drinking/partying/going out for Saturday instead of Friday.

Stupidly, we didn't really follow this rule. We went out for Mexican the night before (why did we think this was a good idea?), and shared a pitcher of Red Sangria with my husband. We were having a great time and decided to go across the street to get something else from the wine store to continue on our sun deck. We were dead set on hard liquor (once again, why did we think this was a good idea?) and finished off several rum and cokes that night. Around mile 3, Jen attributed our feelings of having the worse race ever to what she affectionately dubbed this the "Mexican Pirate Trifecta" (Fish tacos, rum and insane heat/humidity). It was SO HOT.

It also didn't help that the clock on my first mile said 8:40. Since we were about a minute off of the pace clock, that means I took the first one out around a 7:40. This first mile was also on Cat Hill. No wonder I felt completely tired. The humidity absolutely killed me and make me feel like my legs were made of rocks. At mile three I just chalked it up to the worst race ever and just wanted to finish.

However, I cannot let myself give up at the end and for the final 50 feet or so I kicked it in. I have no idea how I did this because I really felt like I was going to die. I finished with a 36:36. That's a 9:09 pace. I have NO IDEA how we did that because I really did feel awful. :)

Oh yeah, I didn't feel THAT bad about my pace because a lot of the runners in the first corral (I'm guessing that they were faster than 7 minute mile pace) were also finishing around us.

Cincinnati Running

This past week was my first time running back in Cincinnati since the Flying Pig. I decided to hit the Lunken Bike Path, because I wimped out on the Cincinnati hills. Plus, it was conveniently located and I could keep track of my mileage (each loop is 5 miles). So...I realized that running in Cincinnati vs New York is really really quite different!

CINCY: Humidity is out of control
NY: Humidity is WAY out of control (my parents think it is because I live in a concrete jungle).

CINCY:I counted 12 bunnies in my path on my run
NY: The only wildlife I've ever seen in Central Park are pigeons, wrens and carriage horses

CINCY: Bikers who announce their presence politely and stay out of your way
NY: Bikers who try to run you over and then curse you out for something or other

CINCY:About 6 other runners on a Saturday morning
NY:Too many runners/walkers/bikers/tourists to count

CINCY:I can hear my footfalls
NY: I can hear traffic

CINCY: When you are finished you get in your car and drive to get home
NY: When you are finished you get on the subway and try to stay as far away from people as you can since you are disgustingly sweaty

I also noticed that the humidity is DIFFERENT. This was weird to me, because I always thought humidity was humidity, but I guess I was wrong. For the first time, I actually FELT it in my lungs. It felt like it was pressing down on them and made the first mile or so hard to breathe until I got used to it. I was also very surprised that New York seems to be MORE humid. I always thought Cincinnati was the most humid place around. Of course, I am not gauging this through any scientific method...just the ponytail test. My ponytail wasn't soaked through after my 10 miles like it usually is in New York after my warm-up.

Anyway, I'm sure Coach Ramon has some crazy hill workout planned for us tomorrow. So I'm glad that today is a rest day. :)

The Best $3 I Spent

Saturday was so so hot.

In fact, it was so hot that all of my team members (myself included) were sweating BEFORE we started our practice. Our workouts were all over the place (half-marathoners were running 6-7 miles, beginner marathoners 4-5, intermediate 10-12 and advanced 12-14). To complicate matters more we were running in pace groups, not groups by level. Since I was already sweating buckets and knew I had to do at least 12 miles I decided to run with the 10 minute pace group. I was so glad to have a pace leader because I tend to go way too fast at the beginning of my long runs.

Our little 10 minute pace group gathered up before the run and with a quick survey (with a showing of hands) I found out that Nicole and I were the only ones running 12. Everyone else was running less. INCLUDING our pace leader :( She was running 10, which at first I was like 'Two miles of pacing on our own? Cake!'. But then I realized that because of how the loops were set-up we would actually only be running with her for 5 miles. Grrrr. That meant I would have to concentrate on my run.

It was all the more complicated because the Pride Race was going on. So we had to run outside of the race barriers for a few miles and risk being run over by the overzealous cyclists (who are really angry because of a recent article in the New Yorker called "Who Owns Central Park?").

Luckily though, this meant that there was plenty of water out on tables. (Don't worry, I didn't take any until the race was over and the volunteers were cleaning up).

Anyway, our pace group started out great. It was a nice, relaxing pace and I found myself having to slow down a couple of times. Our pace leader pointed out all of the water fountains in the park. We were all having nice conversation to pass the time. Then she left us at 5 miles :(

Nicole and I did our best to keep the 10 minute pace, and we actually did a pretty good job. But as time wore on, we had to stop more and more to get water. It was just too hot. When we finished our first loop we were right around the end of the Pride Race. Everyone had rainbow striped popsicles. Nicole and I were SO JEALOUS. She wanted to stop at one of the vendor's carts to get a popsicle. I was like "No way. I have no incentive to finish if we do that." We started talking about Sno-Cones. At first all this talk was good, but then it just seemed to drag the run on. There were carts with them everywhere (or maybe it was just a mirage...just kidding). We climbed Great Hill for the second time and I was about done with the whole thing. Too bad I had about 4 more miles to go. We were still keeping our ten minute pace.

When we got to 72nd street on the east side I was so happy! 1.5 miles to go! I saw another cart and told Nicole that I decided to get a Sno-Cone when I was finished. It was one of the longer 1.5 miles that I have ever run. I had to stop myself from stopping to get water every 30 seconds.

We finished and went to the bag area where we immediately bought Sno-Cones. Who knew they could be so so delicious? Although it was sort of hard to stretch and eat it at the same time, it was the best $3 I spent all day!