I absolutely LOVE Summer Streets and look forward to it every year. Such a simple concept...close down Park Avenue from East 72nd Street to Chambers Street to anything but bike and foot traffic from 7am-1pm. I'm sure it's not so simple to pull off, but it is really one of the coolest things.
Unfortunately because I seem to have a penchant for sleeping in on Saturdays now, I have missed most of Summer Streets. This weekend was going to be my last chance to participate, so Bill and I made sure we got out there to run.
This year it seemed to be more popular and crowded than ever. It seems like a lot of businesses along the way were offering cool perks too. At several places you could wait in line for a free bike and helmet rental. At another place you could get a free roller blade rental. Whole Foods sponsored a "Picnic in the Streets" where you could get free ice cream and a bunch of the gyms were doing free workouts on the side streets. There was also a lot of fun stuff for kids, like face painting and crafts. It was so crowded with bikers and runners that at sometimes it was a bit frustrating. But at the same time, I love that it is so popular. It just emphasized to me (again) what an active city New York is, and how big of a deal running and biking are here.
I know I say it every year, but there is nothing like running under the New York Central Building on the Park Avenue Viaduct. It is amazing to drive under in a cab at night, but even cooler to run.
The run? It was a little rough. Bill and I realized that I really HAVE to do a long warmup and some stretching before attempting my run/walks now. Otherwise my calves tighten up on the outside and the pain is almost unbearable. I didn't do said warmup/stretching, so there was a lot of stopping and stretching in those first couple of miles or so. So I made the goal to reach Union Square (around 16th Street) and then hit Chipotle for lunch. At first I thought that was a wimpy goal, but as I kept running and my calves felt so tight I was thinking maybe it was an ambitious goal.
So Bill made me stretch on the side again, which actually helped.
I revised the goal to make it to the END of Union Square (like to 14th Street). There was a real bottleneck here with bikers and runners sharing a single road lane of traffic. Some (tourist?) girls who looked like they were maybe just very confused and were walking the WRONG WAY walked right in front of me, and to avoid running smack into them I jumped up onto the curb to bypass them, then jumped right back onto the street and SNAP ! twisted my ankle. Uh oh. Ow ow ow ow ow.
I was so mad at myself. I know that I can't do crazy things like jump up and off of curbs anymore. My joints are just too loose right now. So stupid! Argh! I was cursing myself as I walked around on the curb and rolled it around. (Bill said not to be so hard on myself...after all my choices were a twisted ankle or running hard and belly first into the two girls running into me. Seeing as that I am so pregnant, I guess I made the wiser choice.) And it seemed like after a few ankle rolls the pain was pretty much completely gone. In fact, I felt so good that I wanted to continue to the end.
We were now on Lafayette (Park Ave turns into Lafayette somewhere around the East Village) and I was really enjoying myself. In fact, I looked down at my watch and noticed that I had logged over 4 miles!!! A new record! The last time I did anything more than 2.5 miles consecutively was the last week of June...that's right...my half marathon before the third trimester!
I was really pumped now! So we ran all the way down to Foley Square, (okay, after seeing my friends Gina and Michael across the street on bikes and running over to talk to them for quite a bit). 5 miles! 5 miles! Hurrah! NOW I didn't feel so stupid for signing up for that race on September 11th :)
Showing posts with label summer streets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer streets. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday Sixteen
This weekend I had my big 16-miler, which has actually been my longest run all season. When I started walking to practice it was pouring and I was happy! It has been nothing but hot, humid and altogether unpleasant for the past week or so, and I was happy we were running in the rain instead of the unbearable heat and humidity that was predicted.
It was also the last weekend for Summer Streets :( so we were once again doing the Park Avenue run (and then across Manhattan to the West Side Highway (yuck) and finishing with a five mile loop in the park.
Since it was a lot cooler out because of the rain I took out my run a lot faster than I meant to. I can't believe I did this, because I was running exactly between the 9 minute pace group and the 10 minute pace group and was going for a 9:30 pace. But I felt great! (When will I learn? :)
(The pace for my first few miles were 8:41, 8:29, 8:07).
As we reached the bottom of Manhattan to cut across Chambers, the rain stopped. I didn't mind though because it wasn't exactly sunny out. But then the sun did come out and you know how people say "you could cut the air with a knife?" Now I know what they were talking about!
Luckily, I had succeeded in cutting my pace back to around a nine minute mile. (For a little while.) The girl I was running with kept saying we could slow down if I wanted, and I kept saying I was totally for that, but neither of us seemed able to do it. (Next few miles 9:09, 8:57, 9:00, 8:44, 8:48).
We stopped for water and I felt dizzy (uh oh). I was also very very tired. My arms were feeling very heavy. The humidity was definitely getting to me. I was glad I had lots of electrolytes with me. In fact, I went through my entire belt full of Gatorade before we got back to Central Park. I figured that was okay though, since there were so many water fountains there.
Rebecca and I DEFINITELY felt like we had done more than 11 miles at this point, and were both dreading the next 5 miles. We said it felt like the last five miles of a marathon, so we knew we had to just run with our guts at this point.
Unfortunately, my guts did NOT like Harlem Hill, which was at the end of my run (since I decided to end my run on my street, unlike everyone else who went back to the start). I ended up walking a fair amount until I felt better and ended up with a 2:29 (which averages out to a 9:20 pace).
I felt so tired and drained, but I was happy with my time. Now only if I can reverse the order and do a negative split next time, I'll be great!
It was also the last weekend for Summer Streets :( so we were once again doing the Park Avenue run (and then across Manhattan to the West Side Highway (yuck) and finishing with a five mile loop in the park.
Since it was a lot cooler out because of the rain I took out my run a lot faster than I meant to. I can't believe I did this, because I was running exactly between the 9 minute pace group and the 10 minute pace group and was going for a 9:30 pace. But I felt great! (When will I learn? :)
(The pace for my first few miles were 8:41, 8:29, 8:07).
As we reached the bottom of Manhattan to cut across Chambers, the rain stopped. I didn't mind though because it wasn't exactly sunny out. But then the sun did come out and you know how people say "you could cut the air with a knife?" Now I know what they were talking about!
Luckily, I had succeeded in cutting my pace back to around a nine minute mile. (For a little while.) The girl I was running with kept saying we could slow down if I wanted, and I kept saying I was totally for that, but neither of us seemed able to do it. (Next few miles 9:09, 8:57, 9:00, 8:44, 8:48).
We stopped for water and I felt dizzy (uh oh). I was also very very tired. My arms were feeling very heavy. The humidity was definitely getting to me. I was glad I had lots of electrolytes with me. In fact, I went through my entire belt full of Gatorade before we got back to Central Park. I figured that was okay though, since there were so many water fountains there.
Rebecca and I DEFINITELY felt like we had done more than 11 miles at this point, and were both dreading the next 5 miles. We said it felt like the last five miles of a marathon, so we knew we had to just run with our guts at this point.
Unfortunately, my guts did NOT like Harlem Hill, which was at the end of my run (since I decided to end my run on my street, unlike everyone else who went back to the start). I ended up walking a fair amount until I felt better and ended up with a 2:29 (which averages out to a 9:20 pace).
I felt so tired and drained, but I was happy with my time. Now only if I can reverse the order and do a negative split next time, I'll be great!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Mayor No-Show
This weekend Team in Training was invited to kick off the Summer Streets program in NYC! What is Summer Streets? Well, basically Park Avenue is closed to traffic so that runners and bikers can enjoy a long stretch of the city for three weekends in August. It was SO FUN last year. And TNT was invited to cut the ribbon this year. We were supposed to be running with Mayor Bloomberg but he didn't show up.
We even waited around an hour for him, starting our practice late (which stinks because it gets SO HOT). But, as his aides told our coaches previously that week "He is the mayor of New York City. Something may come up." Uh huh...What exactly comes up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday? Sleeping in? And isn't he the one who spearheaded this whole Summer Streets thing anyway? I mean, this was his little pet project as I remember reading last year.
ANYWAY, that couldn't even get me down too much, because I LOVE Summer Streets. It was crazy too, because there were about 500 TNTers on the road (Bloomberg said he would come if we could promise 200 people). We took over all of Park Avenue!
I was planning on running the 15 miles on the calendar, but after talking to the coaches (who admonished me, since I am running the NYC half next Sunday) I decided to do 8, like they suggested. I really do want to get a PR in the NYC half, so the taper is worth it.
Lauren and I CANNOT figure out our pace on these lesser mileage runs though. We usually keep the long runs to 9-9:30 miles, but we were flying. And it felt like we were flying. We were averaging 8:30s, but it felt REALLY GOOD. I know you are not supposed to do things like this during a taper, but it was actually a real confidence booster for me.
My half PR is a 1:54 (from the Bronx) which averages out to an 8:45 pace, but that was in the winter when it was cold and the conditions were optimal for an "Emily PR". So I was wondering if I could do that again since it is so hot.
After that run, I totally feel like I can. I felt so great. I could have gone another 8 miles!
We even waited around an hour for him, starting our practice late (which stinks because it gets SO HOT). But, as his aides told our coaches previously that week "He is the mayor of New York City. Something may come up." Uh huh...What exactly comes up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday? Sleeping in? And isn't he the one who spearheaded this whole Summer Streets thing anyway? I mean, this was his little pet project as I remember reading last year.
ANYWAY, that couldn't even get me down too much, because I LOVE Summer Streets. It was crazy too, because there were about 500 TNTers on the road (Bloomberg said he would come if we could promise 200 people). We took over all of Park Avenue!
I was planning on running the 15 miles on the calendar, but after talking to the coaches (who admonished me, since I am running the NYC half next Sunday) I decided to do 8, like they suggested. I really do want to get a PR in the NYC half, so the taper is worth it.
Lauren and I CANNOT figure out our pace on these lesser mileage runs though. We usually keep the long runs to 9-9:30 miles, but we were flying. And it felt like we were flying. We were averaging 8:30s, but it felt REALLY GOOD. I know you are not supposed to do things like this during a taper, but it was actually a real confidence booster for me.
My half PR is a 1:54 (from the Bronx) which averages out to an 8:45 pace, but that was in the winter when it was cold and the conditions were optimal for an "Emily PR". So I was wondering if I could do that again since it is so hot.
After that run, I totally feel like I can. I felt so great. I could have gone another 8 miles!
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