Monday, November 2, 2009

NYC Marathon: Spectator Report

Okay, I have a much longer spectator report, but I have to get through the best part first:

Brian Sell waved to me.

I know, right?! I shrieked like a 11 year old girl at a Jonas Brothers Concert. Perhaps it was because, while there were some pathetic claps up and down the Mile 12 water stop (where I was volunteering), I screamed at the top of my girly lungs "LET'S GO BRIAN WOOOOOO". Whatever, I don't care. His beautiful, mustached face looked in my direction while he raised his right hand in recognition of my geeky fandom.

*Swoon*

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Run Fail

Since I'm going for 3 marathons this fall (and the coveted yellow Marathon Maniacs singlet), I've been pseudo following Hal Higdon's Running Multiple Marathons Plan, with 4 weeks between each of my fall marathons (I didn't follow it at all after Rochester and so was extremely disappointed at my 4:35:24 time at Nike Women's Marathon last Sunday). Hopefully, with a flatter course, I can once again stay below four hours again in the Rehoboth Beach Marathon, and get one final push before I take a little bit of a break in December.

Sunday's run called for 2 hours, which I estimated at around 12 - 14 miles, depending on how my legs felt. Long story longer, I barely made it to 5 before turning around in Prospect Park at walking. It was completely mental....I had a cramp, my legs were tired, my body was tired, I wasn't hydrated. I guess I could have pushed through run-walking for another few miles but at that point I was so fed up I just turned around, walked to Fulton Street and got myself a little coffee and read the paper. I was still massively disappointed with myself however. Come on, I just ran a marathon and I couldn't even do an easy 12 miles?

Recently, I've been trying to not be so hard on myself when I don't feel like running. Yet, I have this big crazy goal to qualify for Boston which, unless I start putting in some serious work, I don't know how feasible it is going to be in the spring. Then I think about all those stories of hardcore, dedicated runners who run everyday just because their bodies are used to it. So if it takes 21 days to form a habit, does that mean if I run for 21 days straight I won't feel so debilitated when I try to go long like I did this past Sunday?

Goal Setting: Taking a cue from Lululemon

Recently, I've found myself feeling anxious about my life. Not my actual, present life in the day-to-day things that I do (though my anxiety does often spill over, rendering me unable to relax for a few days, and thus jam-packing my life with so-called "life enriching events". Good thing I live in New York City where it is impossible to not find on any given day at any given time a "life enriching event".) but my overall "life path". My sister says this is what is called a quarter-life crisis, then feels it is appropriate to tell me that at least I don't have babies to deal with while having said quarter-life crisis (see, so the life lesson in here is don't have babies).

Naturally, what do I do when I need to figure out how to handle something? Google it, duh (really, you don't know how many problems I've solved in my life via Google. I think I've self-diagnosed pneumonia. I may have even successfully created world peace from a few Google hits...I mean, I'm just sayin'). What I found, post-Google search, was the blog of a somewhat-well-known-company-at-least-in-the-fitness-world called Lululemon. Lululemon is a yoga apparel company, and while they have received a lot of flack from the serious, zentastic, want-free yoga community for selling $100 yoga pants whose unofficial claim to fame is that "they make your ass look great" (they do. Indubitably.), they have really done a stellar job of targeting the sector of the market who actually funds the current yoga movement (women who have enough disposable income to justify expensive yoga apparel...they're like the Neimen Marcus of female workout clothes). All kidding aside, I fell for their marketing strategy hook, line, and sinker, and while I can't justify buying their clothes, I read the blog (frequently) and see if anything on the website is on sale (never).

One thing I will say about Lululemon is that they really tap into the female psyche, specifically the need for many women to "better" themselves. Their company culture is based around this concept, eschewing little mantras like "drink water every day" to "the pursuit of happiness is the root of all unhappiness" (one of my favorites, because it sort of allows slackers like me to believe that if I am content with my momentary life, then I shouldn't be worried about the proverbial "next step" which is sort of lame-o because I'm 24 of course I'm always worried about where my life is going....hence this post.). Mantras aside, throughout their website, they highlight the concept of constant goal-setting, which I am in love with because they have a fun web application that allows you to archive and track your goals (they set arbitrary timelines of 1 year, 3 years, and 10 years and define the categories as Health, Personal, and Career). So taking a page out of their yoga journal, I've set some short term goals to keep me on track...and since this is a running blog, we'll keep them running/fitness related.

-Complete 5 marathons a year for the next 6 years (duh, I wouldn't have a blog if this goal wasn't already premeditated).
-Qualify for Boston. I'd like to try and do it in the spring, but who knows what winter training will be like. If not, Fall 2010 it is. I have to cut 18 minutes off my PR, and if I put in serious work with my running club I think I can do it.
-Attend at least one North Brooklyn Runners run a week. I'm sort of an anti-social runner, but I know that training with other runners, especially ones that are faster than me, will only help me.
-Cross train more effectively by doing yoga 5 days a week and spinning once or twice. This is also a stretch, but hey, nobody said goals were easy right?
-Learn to surf. I'm already headed to surf camp in May, so hopefully that will push me over the beginner hump into the intermediate level. I'd like to at least be able to get up 50% of the time and not have to be pushed into waves.
-Get certified to be a yoga teacher (really this is just an excuse to do an intensive yoga program in Hawaii for 3 weeks)
-Complete a triathlon in 2010. My brother is really into biking, so he'll probably strong arm me into one anyway.

I'll keep you posted on how these goals are going (especially during the winter when my sense of urgency to run dwindles significantly).

Friday, October 23, 2009

Marathon #3: Nike Women's Marathon

Pat on the back: I am now 1/10th of the way through my 30 marathons by 30 years old goal. That sounds a lot more discouraging than it actually should.

The weekend started off pretty well. I went into work at 7am the Friday morning before the marathon so that I could leave at 2pm and still make it to the airport for my flight to San Francisco on time. However, after staying up late on Thursday night making sure I was all packed and my room was put together, I really had nothing to do before my 6:30 flight. I generally take the train to and from the airport, so I was going to be REALLY early if I left straight from work. So, in typical New Yorker fashion, I needed to find an active way to kill some time (even if we have an hour to kill, New Yorkers are always worried about how they can "productively" spend that hour which, in New York City, is a complete farce since it takes you 25 minutes to get anywhere anyway). I took the A train up to Columbus Circle and dropped into the Borders at the Time Warner Center, where I proceeded to walk around for at least 30 minutes touching books, reading jacket covers, making mental lists of books I want to read, and buying nothing. Productive, to say the least.

From there, I hopped on the E train out to JFK, still making it with at least 2 hours before the flight even boarded. No worries though, because Jet Blue's T5 is probably my favorite terminal on earth. It's like a small city within JFK and, if they had a gym in the terminal, I would probably get to the airport hours before my flight left (I fly a lot and I still love the airport). I sat in the main cafeteria, munched on a Luna Bar and some sushi, and read from my "Teach Yourself Dutch!" workbook (really, there's an exclamation point...Dutch is that exciting). Boarding the plane, I popped some Advil (I always get headaches when I fly) and curled up with my book. Upon arrival, Charnella, my roommate from college, picked me up at the airport and we went back to her house to chat. It was too late to do anything so we just kicked it on her couch, put in a DVD and went to sleep.

Saturday, we woke up and headed down to packet pick-up in San Francisco's Union Square. The expo was pretty exciting, although they weren't actually selling any gear at the expo (they were however selling it at Niketown, right across the street). I'm not a big fan of expos, so I grabbed my stuff, got some free Luna bars and a smoothie, and peaced out. It wasn't until we were back at Charnella's house that I realized I had been given a half-marathon bib. BLAST! I jumped in a cab and headed back downtown. Due to everything being electronic, the switch was actually not a problem at all, and I was on my way in less than 5 minutes. However, I DID stop by the NikeTown wall that had all the names of the marathoners and take some sweet pictures (which I will post once I remember to do it).

By the time I got back to Char's place, she was already gearing up for the Treasure Island Music Festival that we were going to later that day. Though I didn't participate in the pre-concert festivities, I did take some sweet pictures and chug a WHOLE LOT of water. We headed to Treasuse Island, did the concert thing (none of which included anything running related so I will skip that part for now) and I left around 7:30, missing MGMT (blast again!) but still managing to see Brazilian Girls (who I love) and the Streets (who I now love after the concert).

After getting back to Char's, I grabbed my stuff and headed to my friend Lenore's house. She was running the marathon too, so I figured it would just make more sense for me to go with her and not to make Charnella wake up at the butt crack of dawn to drive me into the most crowded area of San Francisco at 6:30am. I had grabbed a pre-race dinner of salmon over salad (which took me like 20 minutes of walking to find! I forget most cities aren't like New York and you can't just grab something from the deli every other block) so by the time I got to Lenore's I was pretty ready for some sleep. I laid out my clothes, jumped in bed, and passed out. It was the most ready for sleep that I've ever been before a marathon. The combination of jetlag, early morning, time changes, and music festivals had drained me of any energy...I barely wondered if this would bode well for me the next day.

Race morning, Lenore and I woke up (slightly tardy) and dressed quickly. By the time we got to Union Square it was only 15 minutes for the gun went off, and boy were we not alone. There were over 20,000 people (mostly women, this IS the Nike WOMEN'S Marathon after all) waiting for their chance at marathon glory. Lenore and I didn't start until at least 15 minutes AFTER the gun went off, and then spent the first 3 miles AT LEAST dodging slower runners and walkers. We were well under a 9 min/mile pace, and by the time we settled in we were still elbow to elbow with a lot of women.

Everything was going okay, except that my legs were so dead from racing so much the past month, so I already wasn't making the splits I wanted to make to try for 4 hours again. Oh well, I thought, at least the scenery was phenomenal. Really, this was the most scenic marathon I've done hands down. At around mile 6 though, there was a hill...like not even a hill, it was pretty much a mountain. I really try not to walk, but this hill was so steep and so long that mentally I couldn't even fathom running the whole thing. This hill made the hills in Central Park look like speed bumps. However, after this hill, the rest of the course was beautiful and after the first 13 miles it was relatively flat. After that first big hill I had kind of resigned myself to not finish under four hours so I just sat back and enjoyed the beautiful views of San Francisco.

Since this was my third marathon, I kind of knew mentally where the difficult spots were going to be, so I wasn't terribly surprised when around Mile 18 I wanted to stop and be driven to the finish, and at Mile 20 when I thought "oooh only an hour left of running!". The one thing I still can't seem to get past is the stiffness that sets into my legs at Mile 18. Maybe I need to train harder or eat more (I tend not to eat many calories before marathons because I have a weirdly sensitive stomach), or run more marathons. This particular marathon especially made it difficult for me to power through. Since, in Rochester, I had already beat my goal of running sub four hours, I sort of relaxed this marathon and didn't beat myself up when I didn't make my mile splits. This also meant that I was more lenient on my body, allowing myself to walk through aid stations, stretch a lot, and run pretty slowly overall. I think I was mentally exhausted for this race, after training hard for Rochester and then racing the three successive weekends, with two weekends being half-marathons, and one a PR, I was pretty spent for this marathon. All that mattered to me as I crossed the finish line and received my Tiffany's necklace (WAY cooler than a race medal) was that I had successfully checked California off my list. Three states down, 47 to go, and only 27 more marathons to go before I hit my goal.

Side note: Since the marathon, I have been receiving astonished looks from people when I tell them that my weekend plans included flying across the country, completing a marathon, and then flying back for work on Monday morning. I guess we all have different definitions of "a productive weekend."

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Fact: I am tired and other observations from Grete's Gallop

I like to do this thing every now and then where I get really into racing and then just race multiple weeks in a row. This happened last April in the weekends prior to my May 3rd marathon, and, while shorter distances (15k, 10k, two 5ks), really wore me out. It wore me out so much that after my marathon I didn't race again until the last weekend in August. However, after such a drought, I forgot how fun it was and kind of went overboard this past time, racing the past 4 weekends in a row. Needless to say, after a marathon, a half-marathon, and a 5k in 3 straight weekends, this weekend's half-marathon was a little.... excruciating.

However, despite my plus 9 minute mile pace and my slowest half-marathon finish in a year, there were a few really awesome things about this race.

Awesome thing #1: Grete Waitz high-fiving me. Yea, she won the NYC marathon 9 times and has an entire New York Road Runners race devoted to her. No big deal except I contemplated not washing my hand for at least a few hours.

Awesome thing #2: Mary Wittenberg handing me a Gatorade at the last rest stop. I wasn't even thirsty, I just wanted to say that Mary Wittenberg hydrated me. I even saved the cup and took a picture (wow, I am a really big dork).

Awesome thing #3: The third place male finisher and I clipped elbows. For some reason the lead bike wasn't leading the second pack where the third place runner was and so when he was breaking away from his pack, he was stuck in the crowd of runners still completing their first lap. I guess he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be following someone, so all of a sudden he decided to cross over right in front of me and enter the finisher's chute, clipping my left elbow as he blew past me (seriously, it was like the guy hadn't just run 6 more miles than I had). At any rate, it was sort of exciting because I don't think anyone else noticed that he was the third place guy except me.

Awesome thing #4: Long-sleeved race shirts. I don't know why this is so exciting to me, but every time I sign up for a race and get a long-sleeved shirt I feel like it's Christmas. I even did a skip out of the NYRR building after I picked up my race packet.

Awesome thing #5: 97% humidity. Okay, just kidding; that was actually horrible.

It was a really fun race, despite the fact that my legs were tired from the first mile. I guess that gives me license to take a break this week, which is fine with me since I have the Nike Women's Marathon two weeks from today. I kind of disappeared from my friends, but today I had a football game down at Brooklyn Tech. We lost (well actually we technically recorded a 'W', since the real team we were supposed to play didn't show up, but then we played pickup with another team that had their own screen printed jerseys and argued every call in our not-really-a-league-game-scrimmage. Really guys? It's touch football. Re-lax.), but what we lacked in football catching and running skills (me, on both counts) we made up for in Category flip cup skills at the bar (me, again). All in all a good weekend in New York, and now only 1 more race for guaranteed entry in the New York City Marathon for 2010.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Queens Half-Marathon: Really?

My favorite SNL skit in the world is "Really?! With Seth and Amy". I basically use the phrase "Really?" on a daily basis. Most recently it pertains to my thought process, as I was waking up at 4am for the Queens Half-Marathon two Sundays ago. As in "Really? I'm up at the ass-crack of dawn to schlep my quote-unquote still recovering from a marathon seven days ago butt to the armpit of queens? Really?" Or perhaps, "Really? After running a marathon last Sunday where my knees swelled to balloon size and I almost cried at mile 18, 13 miles is an appropriate distance to race a week later? Really?"

At that point I was still 3 races short of the 9 required New York Road Runner races for guaranteed entry into the 2010 NYC Marathon (Really, Paula Radcliffe? Really?). So I REALLY thought I could just get another one out of the way while the weather was still fairly warm (If you think it's hard to drag your butt outta bed at 4am on a Sunday in September, think about how awesome it will be in December. Balls.). Yea, half-marathon half-schmarathon, whatever. Yea, apparently I forgot to invite my legs to the running party because it was without a doubt the hilliest course I've ever done (a close second the Rochester Spring Forward Distance Run, a 15k held in my hometown in April, but it's only 2/3 the distance). I was lucky that over the summer I trained mostly in Central Park, which is notoriously a hilly course, but there were times during this race that I distinctly remember pushing myself up hills and feeling the top of my head tingle like I was about to pass out.

The race itself was really well organized and the weather was absolutely perfect. And, despite my grumbling, I actually PRed this race, which I was extremely happy about since a) I had just run a marathon the week before at a faster pace than I thought I could maintain and b) it was was hillier than the other half-marathons I've done. The only gripe I really had about it (despite the really early start time....7am wtf?) was that the mile marker between miles 8 and 9 and 9 and 10 were so off it was excruciating. I had been averaging about 8:30 - 8:40 minute miles up until that point and on my eighth mile I clocked an 9:45. I was really mentally defeated because I was on pace for a PR and then I ran almost a minute slower than my previous mile. However, at mile 10 I clocked a 7:46, which I doubted was due to any great elevation change, and decided that someone had come back from partying the night before and put the 9 mile marker in the wrong location. Either way, when I crossed the finish line my legs felt like soup and I knew I needed to take some time off. The bonus was that it was only 9am when I finished which means I got home around 10:30, napped, showered and changed before half of my friends had even woken up. Kind of a nice kickstart to a Sunday no?

Next up is Grete's Gallop tomorrow morning at 9am (ugh another half-marathon...but BONUS I only have one more race after Grete's and one to volunteer at before I complete my qualification for NYC 2010! Woot!)

Realization: I am a non-iPod runner

Before I really felt like I could call myself a runner, there were a few significant milestones that I felt I had to get past.

Instance one: run a race. A lot of people who call themselves runners don't race; they simply put on their running shoes, run I'm sure much faster than I do, and are content with their status as a runner in the running community. I, however, only felt comfortable actually telling people that I was the proverbial "runner" after having a tangible number to which I could point. My first race was in 2008, the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge in Central Park. I finished it, in some time that I don't remember, which is stored somewhere in someone's notebook. It was the first time I had run outside longer than 400 meters (I had a very brief stint as a hurdler in high school; I only joined the track team so that I could hang out with my high school boyfriend, and only chose the hurdles because somehow jumping while running meant I didn't have to run as much); it was the first time I had run in Central Park. I didn't feel like I could claim runner status then, but still felt it a little more than when I was slogging out three 10:00 miles three times a week on my local fitness center's treadmills.

Instance two: train for a race. As with many of the more ambitious pursuits in my life, I began training for my first distance race to impress a guy. I am sure when I am old and married and, presumably, wise (as I've heard those former two things lead to the latter), I will look back and see how silly it was to take on an athletic endeavor like running a half-marathon as a method to attract the male species, yet I know for sure that now, despite the fact that the aforementioned guy and I aren't together, nor did we ever even date (he does have a lovely girlfriend and we are, in fact, still good friends), it was one of the best decisions of my life. I printed out a basic beginner training program from Runner's World and used to use my hill workouts and long slow distance runs as an excuse to call him and pick his brain (he was a 2-time marathoner and half-Ironman...swoon, even now). Despite the fact that our pseudo-non-relationship ended shortly after I cruised to a 2:02 half-marathon in 87 degree heat and 97% humidity, he inspired me to keep challenging myself at this thing they call running. Less than a month later, I PR'd the 2008 Staten Island half-marathon at 1:55, and haven't looked back, running three marathons in the past 6 months, with one more on the horizon to round out my running fall. The point is before I started my rant d'amour, I trained, planned, iced, stretched, gelled, and worked hard to run a distance race. I was a runner for sure after that, yet rarely talked about it outside my running circle of friends (which was before I had joined a running group, and thus consisted of around 2 people).

Instance three: run a marathon. This one seems slightly self-explanatory. I find it hard to not be able to call someone who has run a marathon a "runner". If you can train for 4 - 6 months (or 10 weeks in my case...oops) and run for the most part a full marathon, you deserve runner status (despite this recent article about slow runners). My next goal in this category is to qualify for Boston. Looks like I have about 18 minutes to shave off and a tough winter workout series ahead of me.

Okay, so for sure, I am a "runner". I am not Paula Radcliffe. I am not Deena Kastor. I am not Brian Sell (ugh, he's so hot. Sorry, had to throw that in there). In the past few months, I've found myself swapping out things in my life that are more in line with my new zen running lifestyle: my traditional crush on superstar hottie Brad Pitt has shifted to a more avant-garde crush on Brian Sell (again, sorry...but please see the awesome article that Amby Burfoot wrote about him running the upcoming NYC marathon, for which, you can be sure, I will be up ass-early to cheer for him at Aid Station #11 on Bedford Ave in Brooklyn); I rarely talk about things like TV and football with guys that I meet in bars, but instead try to chat about the latest goings-on in the professional marathon world; I have contemplated going as Kara Goucher for Halloween...you get the picture.

But recently, on a short 8 mile jaunt in Central Park, I realized that I have also become a completely new kind of runner that I didn't realize I could ever become....I am a non-iPod runner. Partially due to the fact that my iPod is a piece of crap. Anyway, I headed out for this run with it all strapped on only to find out that it didn't work. Well, I guess that just meant I would have to focus on other things like running through Times Square (which, just to make it through the half-mile stretch of Times Square alive is worthy of gold medals and a whole different classification of runner status), and grinding up Harlem Hill with only my inner monologue to get me to the stoplight at the top. And guess what? It was awesome. I focused on trees and crap that had been floating around in my head all day, and upcoming weekend plans. I made a to-do list (which I promptly forgot once I got home) and decided to learn a new foreign language. And best of all, I felt like I had conquered another fear that I had, which was that I was a slave to my iPod and could never fathom doing a training run without it. Now, my iPod (still a piece of crap) has been lying on my desk for weeks, and I still logged a maintenance of 25 miles this week (post-marathon). I feel a little closer to the elites when I run without my iPod, and even a little more zen than I normally feel on a run.

I'm not sure what the next category in "definable characteristics of a true runner" will be for me, but I'll be sure to let you know once I figure it out. Maybe it will have to do with feeling it necessary to sport arm warmers or running barefoot (ick, probably not).

Rochester Marathon: Brief Recap

Things I have learned from last weekend’s marathon:

#1 As a runner, thinking about running 8 miles is not mentally excruciating. Thinking about running 8 miles after you have already run 18 miles is apparently worthy of a short, 10-second-sob-while-running-fest. I would not recommend it, as crying while running makes it extremely hard to do either.

#2 I think two PowerBar energy gels while marathoning is my limit. Three makes me feel like I’ve had one too many pieces of cheesecake.

#3 I may have the ability to run while sleeping. I do not remember mile 23 at all. Like no recollection whatsoever. I did however feel surprisingly well-rested at the end of this particular marathon. Once I figure out how to hone this skill, I will be attempting to bottle, package, and sell it to all of you.

#4 A trophy is a trophy and second place is not the first loser when trophies are involved. Nevermind that there were only 18 people in my age group.

#5 Write your name on your race jersey. I did not do this. Alternately, see if you can have a catchy race number. I lucked out with 89, which people seemed to enjoy yelling even after I had already passed them.

All in all, the race went well: perfect weather, flat route, excellent volunteers, not to mention it was so small that I won second place in my age group and cut 13 minutes off my marathon time from May! Unfortunately, no rest for the weary: up next is Nike Women on October 18th!

2 down, 28 to go! I'll try to publish a more detailed race report, though I have so many post-its all over my room with blog ideas that maybe I should work on writing those.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

And now for some light humor...

Things I wish I had thought of

Meanwhile, I skipped my long run to go to the US Open last night. Though I froze my tush off, I got to watch Venus Williams battle through the FIRST ROUND for THREE HOURS. Unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot of good tennis going on (it was basically Venus effing up, and then getting points back, and then effing up again). And then, at 11:00, when she FINALLY won, Andy Roddick came on and soundly trounced Bjorn Phau(who is a serious hottie. Like I'm willing to give up my super crush on Michael Phelps for a little known half-German half-Indo tennis phenom. Yum.). Which, in terms of running, means I now have to perform my 18 mile long run this evening after work. Which wouldn't be a big deal except for one of the girls I work with called out and now I have to stay until 6, which means I won't finish my long run until 9. AND not only that, but now I'm a day behind in my training schedule which means I don't get a day off this week until Sunday. Oh well, I don't have too many evening plans this week, so I'll just have to bite it and move on.

Wah wah wah, okay I'm done with complaining for today. Not much is happening in the way of running. My Aruban friends are coming this weekend for a beach tennis tournament. Not all that exciting, except I get to hang out and be their fan club for a few days on the beach, and probably get some good running done down there. Oh, did I mention I have friends from Aruba? It comes in handy come November, let me tell you. They are in town all weekend though, through Wednesday, so I guess this weekend will be my taper week (read: heavy drinking week) before the September 13th Marathon. It's a better excuse to taper than I've had in a while!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Run Guilt

Since I've been training for these upcoming marathons in the fall, I've been really really trying to stick to my running schedule. With the exception of the first couple weeks, I have hit my mileage (and then some) for the past two weeks. However, this summer I also made a promise to myself that, in order to maintain friendships I have often been lax about keeping up with, I would never skip out on plans to get a workout in. Now I know that goes against the principle tenet of marathon running - if you don't put the work in, you won't get the results - but I thought that by sticking to this goal, I would get my workouts done in the morning, leaving my summer evenings free to play.

Well, last night, I had dinner and drinks plans with a friend of mine. It was supposed to be an all-night, ragetastic, 1am girlfest. Instead, I bowed out of drinks afterward, claiming exhaustion, but really wanting to get to the gym to do my favorite Ashtanga yoga class and makeup for a three mile run I skipped on Tuesday.

Does this make me a bad person? I feel guilty explaining my athletic obsession to other people, so I have to lie about it. Also, I feel like, she just broke up with her boyfriend and she was looking for an excuse to get her mind off of it, and all I could offer was a burger and a beer and a hug. Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have stayed out and skipped my workout?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mile re-whats?

I've been following Bart Yasso's Marathon Training plan. So after a steady buildup of mileage on both hills and flat terrain, today's workout consisted of Mile Repeats. Now I've read about the infamous mile repeats in books and I can't say the feedback is favorable. But I thought I'd do a little speedwork in Central Park since the weather was nice.

Thanks to Cherie, I found the Great Hill Track to do some measured mile repeats (although I'm pretty sure the track is less than a quarter mile or else I was SERIOUSLY kicking butt on these miles). It felt good to run fast (at first) because I generally don't push my body on my runs - I hold out until I feel pretty comfortable and then I'll kick up a hill or down a hill and try to pass people as part of a little mental competition that keeps me running (ex. "If I can outrun that hottie ahead of me in the blue shorts, he's clearly not a hardcore athlete like me"). The track workout was tough, although it seemed pretty short. Maybe it's because, as I'm increasing my weekly mileage, individual miles seem shorter and much more manageable. At any rate, I think I kept pace (I'm still not exactly sure how long that track is, but it's close enough...we'll call it a wash) and it made me feel good to breathe hard and sweat a lot.

One thing I will say is that I used to do speed work on a treadmill. While it is definitely easier to calculate your mileage and your pace (all you have to do is hit the little buttons!), treadmill running is absolutely snore-tastic. Like I used to be able to run 12 miles on a treadmill in the winter (I know. I effing know.) but now I can barely run for 12 minutes. I remembered that today in the park as I wound up the little path to the Great Hill track at 106th street, right below the behemoth that is Harlem Hill. The foliage along the CP loop up there is so thick that I had no idea that there were even paved trails up there. They're so easy to miss! I finally emerged at the top of the path and it was like a secret society that only runners and small children with kites knew about. It was awesome...like discovering a secret garden (plus, there were bathrooms, and if there is anything that I love more than running it's knowing exactly where the next bathroom is on a particularly long run). As I ran (sans iPod today) I looked up and to the left and to the right and down at my feet. I was running in one of the greatest cities in the world, a city that most people spend all of their lifetime trying to get to or visiting or wishing they could visit, and I was in near silence in the center of it. It was sort of a spiritual moment and, though I'm not a spiritual person (although have been more since I started running so much) I kind of acknowledged the magnitude of the city in which I was running and the sheer smallness of my being in comparison. I was running. In a park. With birds. And trees. End scene. Sometimes, life needs to be boiled down to two word sentences so that you can figure out what the heck you're actually doing with it.

I finished my repeats and jogged on down to 79th street to have some yummy Thai food with my friend Anita. At the beginning of the summer, I swore to myself that I'd never let running get in the way of seeing my friends. I've held pretty strict to that rule and even if I have to miss workouts, I'll always make them up later. Good thing my friends are so flexible and willing to eat around my running schedule (one day I'll become a morning runner...one day). All in all, a good day, despite the inertia at work. In fact, whenever I get a hard run in it's always a good day. Looks like I'll have a lot of good days coming up, since my next marathon is just three weeks away!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Percy Sutton Harlem 5K

This past weekend I was supposed to be golfing in Hilton Head South Carolina. When that fell through, I was supposed to be lounging on the beach in Atlantic City. Instead, I was waking up at 6am on Saturday to drag my butt up to Harlem to run the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K. Nevermind that I hadn't raced since May 3rd (the New Jersey Marathon). I hadn't raced in so long that I missed the change over to the new disposable chip timers that NYRR has instituted. While they seem more efficient, I'm not sure if the effect is "greener" or not. I mean, on one hand you aren't wasting that little plastic bag and the red ties, but on the other it seems like there is the electronic waste from the chip timer.

I was staying at my brother's place in Queens, so I did not have access to my standard coffee, toast, peanut butter, banana breakfast. I foraged through some drawers and found an old box of Maple and Brown sugar Instant Oatmeal. I could do worse. I wolfed it down, grabbed my race stuff and headed out the door. I made it in time to do a quick half-mile warm up (actually, I was late and ran from the 125th street stop to the starting line at 135tb street...sounds better the first way though, right?). It was unbelievably muggy and I was still battling a nagging cough from a few weeks ago. Needless to say, inhaling in 98% humidity with a slight drag of mucus (ew. I know.) in your lungs feels similar to what I can only imagine inhaling paint feels like. Now do that while running. Uncomfortable, to say the least.

It was a smaller race, around 2,000 people, so I didn't feel like I was tripping over anyone to get into my run zone. There were some pretty steep hills on the way up, and I clocked my first mile at around 7:59. Good, but not great, since I was already inhaling Benjamin Moore and my first mile is generally the fastest (because I go out fast and then have to pull back toward the end). However, I didn't take into account the fact that BECAUSE the first mile was largely uphill, a good amount on the back half was downhill. I really didn't think I was going anywhere near fast (because I wasn't calculating my mile splits, only my overall time) and didn't expect a very fast finish. That was, until I got to the 3rd mile marker and the clock read around 24 minutes. I was shocked. I was about 30 seconds from the gun time, which meant that at my current pace, I was definitely under 8 minute miles. That has never happened to me. I crossed the finish at 24:07, averaging 7:46 minute miles.

I'm still on a runner's high about this. After running races for 6 months from Spring 2008 - Winter 2008/2009, I happily watched my times drop dramatically. But all my spring races I paced around the same: 8:15 minute miles, 8:00 minute miles, 8:30 minute miles. I just wanted to elusive "sub-8 minute mile". I ran the New Jersey marathon, took some time off, traveled a bunch, and effectively stopped racing. But my marathon training has effectively put me in better shape -- upping my mileage, combining hill and speed work, doing longer and longer runs. The result has been shaving FOURTEEN SECONDS off my 5K pace.

I'm running a marathon in 3 weeks and I am hoping to run it sub-4 hours. Until the Percy Sutton 5K, I thought it would be tight, but now I'm way more optimistic. Who would have thought that such a terrible weekend for making plans would turn into one of my best racing weekends ever?!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Alter Conditioning

This weekend I spent not one but two days at the beach. No, I haven't come into millions of dollars and bought a house in the Hamptons, nor did any of my friends who have Jersey shore houses invite me out. I have simply discovered one of New York City's most obvious hidden treasures in the world: Rockaway Beach.

Now, everytime I've told someone that I'm going out to Rockaway Beach (even though I've only gone out 3 times so far this summer), they give me a look of shock and horror. Like "Seriously? You're swimming in the Rockaways?" I even had one guy ask me if I had stepped on any syringes. No. I did not step on any syringes in the Rockaways, and neither did any one of the small children running around playing in the water. It's actually a very nice beach and if you take 10 minutes and walk down away from where the subway lets out, it's quiet, not crowded and chock full of...




That's right. Surfers.

As much as I love running, I've kind of detoured into surfing. I sort of fell into it last summer, took a few lessons at the Jersey shore and LOVED it. Since then, I made no progress on the surf front until I went to Aruba in February. There, I met some SERIOUS surfers who, living on a Caribbean island surfed daily. They totally pushed me to start surfing back in New York, so last week I headed down to the fabled surf beach on the Rockaways and signed myself up for a lesson.

And fell in love. Not with a surfer dude (although I'm not ruling it out) but with the sport. I grew up on Lake Ontario, so I've loved the water ever since I was little. However, as I've gotten older, it's less and less fun to just go out and swim around in the water, especially by yourself. Surfing allows me to spend two hours in the water without even noticing that two hours has gone by. It's amazing.

So what has all this surfing done to my running? Well....nothing really except that I haven't been running. I really need to figure out some sort of balancing act between surfing on the weekends and running during the week because by the time I get home from the beach I can't handle staying awake for more than 2 or 3 hours. So, even though I have a marathon in a little over 2 months and I haven't run more than 6 miles since my marathon the first weekend in May, I still think I can do it. Anyway, at least I can chalk up my surfing experiences as "cross-training" and hopefully this won't turn into a surf blog (because right now all I'd have to post is "Today, I got up, rode a wave...then I fell")

Friday, June 26, 2009

Fall Marathon Planning

I am running the Nike Women's Marathon on October 18th. That will be my second marathon of the year (my first was New Jersey in May, which took me 4 hours 10 minutes and 53 seconds to complete...of which it rained 4 hours 9 minutes and 53 seconds) and I have to say, I'm not as excited about the prospect of running 4 MORE marathons before next May. Now, I'm not as hardcore like Laura (but, yes, I am jealous of her marathon confidence...seriously? A marathon on consecutive weekends?!), but I would really like to run a faster marathon. Preferably sub-4 hours. I don't know if the hills of San Francisco are conducive to running a faster marathon but maybe if I train harder and actually did some hill work, speedwork, and long runs (instead of doing one 18 mile run 3 weeks before the marathon and deciding that was enough).

In other news, yes I did the New Jersey Marathon on May 3rd. It was amazing and I almost cried as I crossed the finish line but I was running so fast that it kind of hindered my ability to breathe so I immediately stopped (crying, not running). My hips had started hurting around mile 18 but after mile 21 I just kind of got used to the stiffness in my lower body. The funniest part was, I was running for 4 hours, in the pouring rain, and the second I crossed the finish line and stopped running, I could barely stand up let alone walk. I basically had to limp to the hotel to get my clothes, and couldn't even change into dry clothes without sitting on the bathroom floor (gross I know).

Meanwhile, among running faster, I also need to be a friendlier marathoner. I had started running with the 4:15 pace group, but it felt too slow for me, so after a few warmup miles I took off ahead of them at a more comfortable pace. I was kind of drafting this girl in shorts (although when you're running at an 8:30 pace I don't know if it's considered drafting. More like "plodding behind"). We ended up running side by side starting at mile 5, though we didn't start talking until after the 13th mile, where all the half marathoners peeled off to the finish and left us lonely marathoners to run it out for another 13 miles (note to others considering running a double loop marathon: when 85% of the field finishes when you're only halfway, it sort of kills your morale.) We chatted a little bit, and I'm not going to lie, I mostly run solo, but it was actually nice to have someone to run with for a couple hours. Anyway, Sarah had some knee issues around Mile 19 so she slowed to a walk and while I wanted to stay with her, I wanted to finish as fast as possible, so I waved goodbye and finished the next 7 miles by myself.

All in all, it was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do another one. The fans were amazing and, despite the rain, we had people sitting outside their houses banging drums, highfiving and cheering us the whole time. I think for Nike Women, I'm going to start with the 4:00 pace group and see if I can keep it there. I'm also thinking about running the MVP Healthcare Marathon in Rochester (where I'm from), but it's a month before Nike Women and I don't know if I can recover in time (since after my last marathon I took a week off and then contracted pneumonia. Nice.). I ran the half last year and the course is a bit hilly, but the fans are great, the post race food is amazing, and it runs through my hometown so it would probably be really fun. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Sidenote: I promise to be a better blogger. Promise promise promise.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I really need to learn how to blog better so that people will read this blog

I want to write about so many things, like why I am a disaster runner at water stops or how it feels to eat a Toblerone at mile five of a half marathon when you have no fluid around to take it with (I'll spoil that one now: it feels bad) but I always want to reference other things I read or other people's blogs that I read but I have NO FREAKING CLUE how to do it. Like tagging and all that crap. I'm so addicted to the internet that maybe I should put "Learn to use blogger so that people in the online community may accidentally come across it and read out of shear boredom" on my "To Do" list (right now it consists of "Go to the International Center of Photography exhibit" and "Send package to Zoe" and "Buy shelving"...seriously? Is this what my life has turned into?).

In other news: I am going to Aruba on Friday. I actually spent 35 minutes looking to see if there were any races in Aruba but couldn't find anything. Probably because most normal people go to Aruba to relax, not tire themselves out from running in the 85 degree weather (yea, I said it. And what, Manhattan?). I will have to take a running hiatus and go scuba diving for three days (I know. KILLER.) and then my dad and I are supposed to go deep sea fishing and ATVing (no I did NOT just turn a noun into a verb). I am really excited to try kitesurfing although it's $275 so I may have to pass because getting my next level of scuba certification is already cleaning me out. All in all, I'm stoked for the week, stoked to be in warm weather and stoked that I have an actual marathon to look forward to (okay, maybe I haven't signed up for it yet, but I'm pretty much going to do it because I already told my friends in DC that I was coming down that weekend to do it. So I can't flake out now). And I may even have a running buddy, but I'm not going to say who it is until I figure out how to actually use this online application. What I lack in internet skills, I make up for in running skills.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Race Report: Bronx Half Marathon (or Holy Hills Batman)

So I signed up for the Bronx Half-Marathon yesterday, mostly because it was supposed to be 50 degrees on Sunday and I figured, since I hate running when it's cold outside, it was now or never to kickstart my long-runs for the supposed SunTrust DC Marathon in March. The race overall went pretty well. Unfortunately I was not ready for the surprise hills (I was under the impression this was a flat race) and I was also not ready for a surprise at about mile 10 (more about that in a minute).

I was exhausted when I woke up at 5:15 this morning, mostly because I had worked all day yesterday, then ran around doing errands, then babysitting until 11:15pm, not arriving home until past midnight. Which means I didn't get more than 5 hours of sleep last night. It was okay because I actually get so much adrenaline when I race that lack of sleep isn't generally an issue. I left my house around 6 after downing an English muffin with peanut butter and banana and a cup of coffee (my race-morning standard...sometimes I sub in toast for English muffin, but that's pretty much the only race ritual I have). I jumped on the subway with my backpack, which had some extra dry clothes for after the race, and a few other sundry items (Powerbars and Toblerone, obviously). It was actually the first time I had brought a bad with me to a race because all the other times I just shoved everything in my boobs and took off. However this was my first cold-weather run and I figured that I was supposed to be going to play football afterwards and that I would at least need something to change into so I didn't look like a Sea Monster in front of all the cute boys on my football team (okay there aren't that many but there are ALWAYS cute boys at the bar afterward). Anyway, I sat next to a kid on the platform who was wearing full Underarmour cold weather gear (I am an Underarmour FANATIC and I know cold weather gear when I see it) PLUS shorts and a zip up jacket over the top. He was in good shape and I was shocked that he had worn so much clothing. I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and say "Um, helloooo, have you ever run ever before in your life...like...ever? Because at the rate you're going you'll probably sweat half your face off because it is FIFTY DEGREES OUT AND THAT'S BASICALLY RUNNING SHORTS WEATHER". The best part is that I got through 30 minutes of my subway ride to the BX thinking about his ridiculous outfit. The other hour I covered by thinking about how I was excited to eat the mini-Toblerone's stashed in my running jacket pocket that my friend Felix had given me (because I love chocolate and think running is just an excuse to eat more of it than I already eat) and also about how nervous I was not to PR. This was my 3rd half marathon and the prospect of running an 8:46 pace after not structuring my workout seemed slim. Plus I had some crazy gassy feeling in my stomach that I couldn't shake (again, more about that later).

Pre-race was pretty uneventful: went to the bathroom, check my bag, got in line...but no race jitters. I was actually just excited to run outside since I haven't done it since the Webster Turkey Trot in November. I have been training on a treadmill and actually ran 16 miles on a treadmill one time (although I had to stop and pee a few times). I feel like running on a treadmill is way harder than running in real life because you can't listen to your body about slowing down or speeding up and you can't really tell how either feels while you're busy fumbling with the up/down arrow keys and also trying not to eat it on the moving belt. But I digress.

When the gun sounded (I never hear this supposed gun, I just wait until people in front of me start to move) I got excited and couldn't wait to start running. And since this was the first time I'd been blogging while racing, I noticed things about my running style more acutely than I did when I wasn't blogging and running. I will now list them because I find it easier to organize my thoughts in lists (I'm Type A, what can I say?):

1) I never race with an iPod (but I do train with one). Now I'm not some super snob-tastic-iPods-are-for-amateurs runner. In fact, I derive great pleasure from people who race with their iPods. They get all emotional and sometimes they sing outloud, which, for someone who relies solely on ambient noise for 2 hours, is extremely funny. One older, short, balding white man started to sing "Shady's back...back again" as he was running and I think I giggled so hard that he noticed I was laughing at him. He was huffing to hard to say anything but I immediately felt awful (but got over it like 5 seconds later). Anyway, I'm all about racers with iPods, but I prefer to just run and think. I think about why I am running, what I'm going to do later that afternoon, what I'm going to do later in the race, what type of drink I'm going to get at the next aid station, when I should use a gel, what treat breakfast I'm going to have my brother buy me (since he comes to most of my races...like 3 out of 6 of them...all the half-marathons actually now that I think about it). In fact, I actually do a lot of pace calculating ("how fast do I have to go to get THIS time or THAT time") during running because it comforts me (I know, I'm a nerd, but I like mental math because it gives me something to do).

2) I like to run on the painted lines on the road. I'm not sure why, but I actually almost feel like i'm going faster when I see that little yellow line whizzing by from under me. I do it when I train too. Come to think of it, I have no idea why I do this. Maybe so I can focus on something that never changes and so I have a frame of reference? (Wow, that's like a metaphor for LIFE).

3) I repeat the same line of the same song over and over again throughout the entire race. Again, one might ask "Why don't you just run with an iPod?" I would answer you by saying "I don't know." Maybe because I like to choose a song I think I know all the words to and then realize that I don't and just sing the part that I do...like a meditation mantra (read Eat, Pray, Love if you don't know what I'm talking about). This race I just kept singing "I'm not scared, of lions and tigers and bears. But I'm scared of loving you" from the song "Lions and Tigers and Bears" by Jazmine Sullivan. It's an awesome song and the lyrical jazz class I took last week did a combination to it. It talks about how a girl is so not afraid to do all these really death-defyingly things that are scary to most people but she is afraid to put herself out there to be loved by a boy. Kind of like me (if any boys currently loved me, which, with the exception of my immediately family, I don't think anyone does). Anyway, as I was running I noticed it was in 3/4 time (ONE two three ONE two three) and so I started running in a waltz pace for about a half mile.

The rest of the race I just thought about finishing because I felt really winded and uncomfortable, which usually goes away around mile 4 or 5. Around mile 10 my stomach was feeling a little better, but right as I crossed the 10 mile mark, I realized that the gassy feeling in my stomach was my *ahem* womanly friend rearing it's ugly head. In the middle of running 13 miles. I actually said the F word outload while I was running. Well you can imagine how uncomfortable I was for the next three miles and basically just told myself if nothing else, I needed to get to a restroom (conveniently located at the finish line) and take care of my little issue. Interestingly, I didn't even consider slowing to a walk to take care of it. LIke that thought did not cross my mind. Only that it was going to SUCK to run 3 more miles while bleeding (sorry guys, I wanted to actually be more graphic but I figure if I have any followers at all, I would scare them away with my highly desensitized description of my period). Good thing I was wearing all black.

After I got over that minor hiccup (which was actually horrible) I concentrated on finished sub 2-hours. I had run 1:55 at Staten Island, but that course is like a pancake minus the hill about halfway that makes you want to cry for your mother and three best friends. I was shooting for 1:52, but after mile 10 I had to slightly revise seeing as I was rapidly losing the very thing that was keeping me from keeling over and dying in the middle of the road. I ended up finishing in 1:58 with a per mile pace of 9:03, Not too shabby, but definitely not the greatest. Room for improvement, and I only hope DC is relatively flat (I've heard it is, and also that it's not the circus that the Marine Corps is so that should be fun).

And remember that hot (temperature wise, although he did have amazing blue eyes and the whitest, straightest teeth I've ever seen, and was mixed and had dimples and...*drool* sorry what was I saying?) guy that sat next to me on the platform at my stop then across from me on the L train and then on the 4 train up to the Bronx? Yea, I saw him after the race and upon realizing it's him said 'Hey, congrats, great race" and he smiled (slash melted my bones and I slithered to the floor) and said "hey thanks you too." Would it be creepy if I walked around my subway stop at all hours of the day just to see if I see him again? Did you say no? Oh, no, it WOULD be creepy? Shoot.

Overall, a decent race, GREAT weather, and I went and played AN AMAZING game of football right after I was done (2 completions AND I did a great job of putting pressure on the QB!). Even though we lost, we had a great time at the bar afterwards and I got to kick it with my teammates that I love SO MUCH. I hope we all sign-up together again next season.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Dealing with Jitters

I decided that, due to the 50 degree weather tomorrow, that I wanted to run the Bronx half-marathon tomorrow. I haven't signed up for it, but I'm hoping I can duck out of work for a half hour so I can go get registered. It's so funny to think about how now, after just a year of training and sporadic racing, that I could just sign up for a half-marathon...for fun. Six months ago I was agonizing over having to run the distance. I think I trained for 4 or 5 months for my first one in Rochester. Now, my training consisted of a few 3 - 4 mile runs, a quicker 6.5 mile tempo run, and a 10 mile long run on Wednesday, just to convince myself that I actually could cover the distance. I won't be as fast because I don't have as many miles logged for this one, but at least I can chalk it up to another race and good preparation for my marathon kickoff in March.

Another issue I've been struggling with is pre-race jitters. I always get them and it always takes me at least a mile or two for them to calm down and for me to actually focus and run hard. I don't know what it is. I get knots in my stomach, I have to pee, and my stomach clenches up right before the race begins. No matter if it's a 5k or a half-marathon, it happens and I don't know how to calm down. I think it stems from the fact that I've raced only 5 times in my life, and for each race, no matter the distance, my splits have been better than the previous race. Obviously, if I start running shorter races more often, my splits will fall, whereas my long race splits won't, so maybe I just need to get used to the fact that, the more I race, the better I'll get, but not necessarily in the form of faster splits. We'll see how tomorrow goes (although I still haven't even registered for this race tomorrow but we'll see how it goes.)

Friday, February 6, 2009

I am the worst Blogger ever

Okay so after a VERY long running and blogging hiatus, I've renewed my committment to running 30 marathons by the age of thirty (and if I'm luck ON my 30th birthday). I've been traveling a bunch lately, so I guess I can claim that for my delinquency. I went to Portland in December with my sister and her baby. Portland is like running Mecca, so when she suggested the trip to me, I was so excited to make a pilgrimage. Little did I know that Portland in December is rainy, unpredictable, and hilly (although I guess the hilly thing isn't actually seasonal). I got in a few runs which made me feel awesome that I had sprinted on the same roads as Kara Goucher and the Halls, but when the snow started falling I had to bow down to the weather gods and snuggle up inside my aunt's old Victorian house. After Portland, I went home for the holidays, then traveled to London (where I ran only once due to my inadequate knowledge of how to get around. I keep forgetting that not everywhere is New York City and that if you get lost, you're actually lost instead of in some vicinity of a street with a number on it). After London, I returned to Manhattan and, without any sort of racing plan or next race to look forward to, I stopped running all together.

I started running almost a year ago; started training for races 9 months ago. At that point I had been training for half-marathons, while running a few shorter races in the interim as "tempo runs". After reading a really great blog (AbsolutlyFit.blogspot.com), I was inspired not only to train more actively, but also to race more often. I'm running the Bronx half this Sunday and then the Al Gorden snowflake 5k on February 21 and then the Coogan 5k on March 1. I had originally hoped to run a marathon on March 21st, in Washington DC, and maybe I still will, depending on how my run on Sunday goes. I'm excited to start training and mostly racing again.

Okay, so now that I've caught you up, my Valentine's Day resolution (since it seems to be quite late for New Years' resoultions) is to be more diligent about my blogging.

Keep reading and I'll keep running.