i'm a speedstar

so i tried out a new pair of lightweight trainers for tonite's speed workout...

i've been wanting to get a new pair for awhile...but unlike what i did with my old Mizuno Wave Precision 5's (doing all training in them), I would restrict usage to speed workouts, and races 10K or shorter. My Cumuluses are great for training runs and worked well for the Queens half but feel a little too heavy when trying to push hard in speed workouts and shorter races. (But of course, if I'm feeling banged up at all, I'll retreat back to the Cumuluses.)

So I tried on 2 pairs...the Asics Gel-Speedstar and the Mizuno Wave Precision 6. Though I used to love the Mizunos, they just don't seem to fit me the same these days...the 8 1/2 is too small, and the 9 is too big in the heel, even with lace-locking (seems to be the case with all Mizunos these days.) The Asics in the 8 1/2 fit just right with my orthotics. (Plus even though you don't buy shoes for looks, they look pretty damn sleek.)

Tonite's workout was 9 repeats of the hill up to Tavern on the Green-perfect timing, as that's the finish of the Mini 10K. The repeats started further back...around the exit to Columbus Circle (486 meters, we were told!!)

Splits-2:07/2:14/2:17/2:22/2:19/2:07/2:12/2:17/2:13

It was hot and muggy-I stopped for water during the recoveries after the 3rd and 8th repeat, but the actual hard running didn't feel too affected. However, the 2:22 and 2:19 repeats were slowed by the road being very crowded and me having to dodge others. (Tuesday nites, the park is *packed* since a lot of teams are out doing speedwork.) And during the second 2:07 repeat, I had seen one of our speedy guys out for a run, and he was nice enough to pace me for the remainder of that repeat...guess I do my best when chasing after guys! :)

As for the shoes, it was sorta strange wearing lightweight shoes again, but I felt a lot more "efficient" during this workout. Might need one more run in them to completely make up my mind.

now playing: "don't wanna lose this groove" ~ dannii minogue vs. madonna

heating up

looks like summer has officially begun...

toughest 6 miles i've done all year. not really humid at all, but the temps at 80. i kept stopping for water and i just did not feel good the entire time. and i wasn't overdressed at all-bare basics, shorts and sportsbra (i couldn't believe it when i saw people in long sleeves and pants, meantime i was dying wearing half as much.) yeah, maybe it wasn't smart to wait until the afternoon, but I've been so damn sleep deprived as of late, I just needed a day to not set the alarm.

i know it takes time to adjust to the heat, but for some reason after running in it for 2 months last summer before I had to take a hiatus, I still never acclimated-I think I've gotten very heat intolerant or something! It was bad enough that I had a 2 minute positive split in last year's Mini 10K...i had to walk several times in the second 5K because I felt like I was going to faint if I didn't.

If the weather is just as crappy for this year's race, i'd love to avoid that happening again...and i'd also love to not struggle this summer on training runs. therefore, does anyone have any helpful tips to acclimate to the heat besides "just getting used to it"-as that did not help last summer...

final note-good luck to those running the Vermont City Marathon tomorrow!!

blog makeover

just found a nice template in a very cool blue shade that i couldn't resist trying out. what do you all think compared to the old one-yay or nay?

brightroom hates me, part 2

Brightroom emailed me the pics from the Healthy Kidney 10K...once again, they only got one of me. And said one is so bad I don't even want to post it.

Thank gawd for the Flyer photographers...they love me even though brightroom doesn't. :) And many thanks to Uptown Girl, who nabbed that great pic of me I have posted here!

is monogamy catching?

and why hasn't it seem to have caught me yet?

during the course of the day Saturday...after the race, and later that nite at a b-day party i attended, i heard the news that 3 more Flyer couples (well at least, 3 couples that each have at least one Flyer in them) got engaged. crazy!! where are these commitment-minded males? i can't find them anywhere. it seems to me that these days, dating to males is a reality show to them-it's like The Bachelor to them, how many girls can they kiss, and even if they pick one they don't feel obligated to stay with the girl.

anyway. my dating rant of the day. yeah, it's been awhile. you're welcome.

so, changing the subject, said b-day party saturday nite was a surprise 40th b-day party for a very cool teammate of mine (though i do have to say, she doesn't look anywhere close to 40!) anyway, it was a lot of fun and she looked surprised :) The actual party took place at Cascina, a nice Italian place in Hell's Kitchen-our crew took over the party room upstairs. we got kicked out at midnight, so the party moved next door to Zanzibar, where the party went into the wee hours. i remember quite a bit of dancing-on the floor and on the table (the latter not done by me ;-),) trying to "crash" a bachelor party, and screaming along to "Hollaback Girl" (c'mon, you know this sh*t is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!) what a day/night. i was wiped out on Sunday.

speaking of wiped out, that's how i feel right now. while this speedwork was more tolerable than last week, and i didn't have to cut it short, was still quite tough. the west side hills from 93rd to 86th...4 round trips (8 repeats total), then another mile on the bridle path. man, no wonder those hills kick my a$$ in races. Derek attended his first Flyer speedwork tonite and seemed to enjoy himself very much. :-p

Finally, i leave you with this cryptic note: keep your fingers crossed for me. I can't quite say why on the blog just yet (though some of you who know me "off the blog" may already know.) if all goes well, i hope to have something good to tell soon...

fifty-fifty

or so it said on my watch afterwards! for once, i was actually a little disappointed that my time was actually a second faster according to NYRR...gotta love "novelty times!"

so today, at the Healthy Kidney 10K, we were all lined up besides (or behind) some of the best of the best in men's road racing. As I said in a previous post-and Mary Wittenberg (the CEO of NYRR) seemed to share those thoughts when she was talking up the crowd before the race-it's special to be sharing the road with these great athletes...whether today, or with some of the best female runners next month at the Mini 10K...or even other races where our local elites are also national stars. i'm sure that was part of the reason why this race was so packed today (or it could have been the attraction of a souvenir technical shirt, or for the locals, this was a club points race where everyone comes out in force!)

but anyway, backing things up a little. well first off, the fashion report :) (this one's for you, Skylight) My brand-spankin' new so-red-hot Flyer singlet, my black Nike shorts with red and white trim/accents (Flyer colors!!,) black Flyer sports bra, thin black headband, and the orange/white Asics Cumuluses, coordinating again with yet another orangish and white race bib.

so i got to the race area in plenty of time...dropped off my bag, stretched and did a little bit of a warm-up...but still didn't really feel loose (maybe after-effects from Tuesday, though i took it easy the remainder of the week?) found some teammates and walked to the start...then saw one of my faster female teammates and she pulled me in to line up with her (between the 6 and 7 minute markers again...might as well, this is a packed race. besides, i wanted to make sure my teammate lined up well, as she usually scores for our womens team in the points races.) so, stood through the elite male athlete introductions and speeches (though laughed a little when they said the elites will be around cheering for the rest of us at the finish...they'll be done before I even get to mile 4!) so anyway, eventually we were off.

weather at the start was high 50s, humid, sunny, which made it feel much warmer...my original plan was the run the first mile cautiously, then hard and controlled til the 5K point (or maybe a little longer-like til after that last nasty hill in the 4th mile,) then hammer home. didn't quite work out like that. the mile-by mile replay...

1. 7:59-good, didn't feel like I rabbited this mile. saw Uptown Girl and the rest of her TRD "pom-pom crew" during this mile, as well as one of my teammates standing and cheering nearby (thanks JN!)
2. 7:57-still pretty good!
3. 8:20-first of the Harlem Hill climbs. yuck. (hit 5K in 25:12)
4. 8:45-steeper Harlem Hill-double yuck.
5. 7:56-fun mile. saw the pom-pom crew again, as well as the Flyers' Mr. President taking pictures. Skylight caught up to me before Cat Hill and ran with me for the remainder of this mile before he took off. It definitely helped to have someone to run with when I felt I was fading a little.
6. 8:09-meh, ok, lets just get this done :)
last .21-1:43-caught up to and passed one of our female super-veteran superstars, but the uphill to Tavern always seems to rob me of a finishing kick. But helped to hear the cheering, from my teammates and other teams (yep, Morrissey, I did hear ya!)

So...even though my watch had a cool time of 50:50, according to NYRR, I actually finished in 50:49, 8:11 pace (25:12/25:37 5K splits.)

So, as usual, hung around afterwards with my teammates rehashing the day/race/whatever else. And of course, the blog crew was out in force...saw jbl (was it a PR? ;-) :-p), Sempre Libera with some of her TRD teammates (congrats on what I think is a PR?), Phil (congrats on 1st 10K!) and Brooklyn (congrats on a PR!)

and the PR's...or course PR's extended to the elites-Craig Mottram was the repeat winner of the race with a better time than last year, but missed the course record (and an additional $10,000 bonus) by mere seconds!! Man...don't know what is the lesser of 2 evils-to miss a time goal by a long shot, or just barely...knowing you just...about...had it!!

Anyway, I had a good/fun run today. Still weak on the hills, but nothing I didn't already know. Next up for me will be the Mini 10K in June. Another fun race, however, that is one that the weather can really make or break. (made it in '04, broke it in '05.)

time to nap...got to par-tay tonite :)

drive-by posting

yep, you know i've been under if i've abstained from blogging for a week. i'll spare all the details, but some of the occurances and observations in the past week:

• the whole debate of "is the Great Lawn oval really .55 miles" that was discussed here was sorta put to rest-apparently I wasn't the only curious Flyer after that workout, as the oval got measured by a wheel afterwards-apparently it's between .51 and .52 miles...putting my pace for that workout at 7:50ish which sounds much more accurate. (i don't think anyone really believed the .55 measurement...we would have all run 5K PRs, or close to it, if that were the case!)
• had a first date...the first one in a very long time where i did not want to slap the guy silly by the end of it. i'm taking it as a good sign....for now. i'm just waiting to be disappointed somehow. guys always seem to know how to do that.
• karaoke is addictive. though a few of us said were only gonna partake for an hour on friday nite, before we knew it, it was around 2:30 in the morning.
• and my lack of sleep sure came in handy on saturday-not. the flyers had a volunteer event in central park where we had 2 jobs-pulling up tulips and planting ivy. not surprisingly, we were better at the former...guess we're better at destroying things :)
• and glad i bailed on doing the mother's day 5k...an 8am race start just was not happening for me that morning. since i promised to take pictures, i did so, albeit late...i just barely made it in time to get pictures of our ladies passing by mile 13.
• mother's day dinner with la familia. my mom loved her gifts from me and my brother. and had to listen once again to who the latest people younger than me that are getting engaged/married/pregnant. i debated on whether or not to say that i am looking for a sperm donor instead of a husband. just for kicks, just to get a reaction.
• dinner Sunday night was at a good Chinese restaurant in Queens (yeah, i had chinese twice in one week.) another amusing fortune cookie-this one saying "a distant relative will contact you soon." my money is on the relative mentioned in this post...he'll probably be calling to get back in our good graces.
• i've been pretty quiet about this season of Survivor, i know. Out of the final 4, I wanted Cirie to win it, but if she couldn't, i was satisfied with Aras winning...hey, i'll never complain about a young, cute guy taking the prize :) Just glad it wasn't Danielle (aka Jenna M redux) and that the Terry show was over-gawd, he reminded me of the male Steph (except Steph never won a thing!) Courtney and Shane weren't quite bitter enough in their jury speeches.
• I had my a$$ handed to me on the 91st street hill this evening. the workout was continuously going up and down the hill for 20 minutes, then rest for 5, then go up and down for another 20 (but try and do more laps than the previous 20.) I called it quits after the first 20 minutes as my calf was giving me problems. no need causing more damage than absolutely necessary...

so that's it for now. hopefully it wont take me another week to post again. maybe i'll post a report after the Healthy Kidney 10K. or not. :)

now playing: "feel" ~ robbie williams

round and round and up and down

boy, it seemed things did not stop spinning around for a second today.

beginning with an early-morning phone call before work...

then the B train stopping just short of the Columbus Circle station and everyone having to try and exit the train through the first car. and just as i get near the front, then the train pulls into the station...but i just miss a C train that just pulls out! sigh.

hectic morning...clients and requests and all that jazz...

longish lunch to celebrate EB's b-day...

then group meeting as soon as we get back...

conference call with client as soon as done with meeting...plus handling other requests...barely made it out in time to get to speedwork!!

workout tonite was a tempo run-6 continuous loops of the Delacorte Oval (around the Great Lawn) supposed to be at 5 mile-10Kish pace. first 2 loops were fine, slowed a little on the next 3, really had to fight for the last one. kinda feeling light-headed and sorta "out of gas" by the end...don't know if i maybe didn't eat enough today, or just the hecticness of the day catching up with me. actually had to sit down once the tempo run was over. but feeling better now.

now, trying to figure out exactly how long this run was...getting conflicting opinions as to how long the oval is. i've seen on websites that it's .55 miles-but if that's the case then i ran that tempo run at close to my pre-injury 5K PR pace...which would be a little surprising, especially since I wasn't feeling 100%. GMaps pedometer puts it between .52 and .53 miles which seems a little more realistic. (i think it's more than .5, but definitely less than .55...amazing how a hundredth of a mile can affect pace calculations.)

either way, the splits and stats: 3:53/3:56/4:06/4:09/4:07/4:00/24:11 total.

got an interesting fortune cookie at lunch today...the fortune read:
"soon you will be sitting on top of the world."
little far-fetched, methinks...but it's possible something or 2 may be turning a corner (being vague so i don't jinx it...but like everything in my life, cautiously optimistic...)

now playing: "spinning around" ~ kylie minogue

red is the colour of winners

look what i got in my pretty little hands tonite during tonite's Flyer exec board meeting...



i was the first Flyer to order our new red-hot singlet (or actually, "throwback" may be a better term-we did have a limited edition red singlet long before my time and we decided to give them a revival in '06) so only fitting (no pun intended) that i'd be one of the first to receive it...

can't wait to model this at the next points race (the Healthy Kidney 10k) in 2 weeks.

i'm such a clotheshorse. i get way too excited about new fashions, be it street clothes or running wear :)

now playing: "if you could read my mind" ~ stars on 54

nowhere to run

maybe writing about this will make me feel better. maybe not. maybe i'm setting myself up for a lot of nasty comments. but i gotta at least try...

after a incredibly crappy week which looks to be the first of many for the next few months...i felt i needed to enjoy the beautiful weather today with a nice, leisurely 8 1/2 mile recovery run (my plan was to do the full 6 and then a bridle path loop.) i couldn't wake up in time for the Flyers group run, and honestly, I just felt like going at my own pace and not having to worry about keeping up with a group.

so i started off in the west 80s as i normally do when i run solo...clockwise direction, as i like saying hi to those familiar faces i see running the other way. :) nice and easy, felt good for the first coupla miles. even the first harlem hill uphill didn't feel so bad.

then after the harlem hill downhill, the run went downhill.

i'm approaching lasker rink, which is at the beginning of another steep uphill. and i see a man on a bike shouting at the runners. and for whatever reason, he seems to target me to follow and shout at. i don't feel like speeding up, as the point of this run was not to be doing hill sprints. "what are you doing? why are you slowing down? i'm only in second gear here! pick it up!" i tried to crank my iPod as loud as it would go, but it just did not drown out the shouting (of course, it didn't help that the headphones in one of my ears was out.) i tried ignoring him, but the deadzone approach didn't work and he wouldn't get off my back. i was feeling very, very uncomfortable.

finally, i just stopped in my tracks. i just couldn't deal anymore. "please leave me alone," i begged. i was so near tears at that point. the guy eventually took off and left...guess he found someone else to harass. i looked the other way, praying i'd see one of my teammates running by...anyone who could possibly keep me company for a mile or 2. i didn't care if i'd have to run 7-minute miles, just so i didn't have to feel so alone and trapped, in what was supposed to be my home away from home.

i didn't see any familiar faces after a few minutes, so hoping that guy was long-gone, i continued up the hill...but he was there, thankfully he didn't follow me then...but the damage was done. my run was officially ruined. my planned leisurely 8 1/2 mile recovery run turned into "just finish the goddamn 6-mile loop as fast as you can without it actually being a tempo run and go home."

and yes, i know what everyone is going to say. people are going to be rude. people are going to make inappropriate comments at times. it comes with the territory, and i just have to suck it up and deal with it. fine, i will.

but it doesn't mean i have to like it.

queens half pics

06queenshalf1
Originally uploaded by nyflygirl76.

not the best pics brightroom has ever gotten of me...but they did get quite a few more than they have at previous races (i do sorta like this finish line pic though.)

more can be seen here

cinco de mayo

cinco de mayo
Originally uploaded by nyflygirl76.

cinco de mayo...chelsea market style

no rest for the weary

oy vey. it's only hump day and i'm beat.

my weary legs are getting a little bit of a running break too. nothing but easy runs this week. decided to be smart and skip speed last nite in favor of an easy 5-mile loop, turned out to be the right decision since my legs didn't feel up to pushing fast anyway. i did stop by engineer's gate to say a quick hi to everyone and find out what i missed :)

seems like i never made up my lack of sleep from this weekend. after a too-short nap on Saturday, i set out for a little Flyer event with a twist. Our very creative social chair decided to think "outside the box" a little and set up a pottery painting event at Our Name Is Mud (or whatever it's called now) in the west village. hey, I needed a mother's day gift for my mom (it's too hard these days to think of what to get for the mother who has everything) so hey why not. and we got to guzzle some red wine while doing so (and there were some who accidentally put their paintbrushes in the wine cup and yes, I was that person.) after that was over, we headed to a nearby bar/restaurant for food and drinks-including a coupla bottles of champagne, courtesy of a nice Brit in town for the weekend who wanted a running team to spend a Saturday nite with (and who had no prob using the expense account as well! very nice.)

then on Sunday, as I liveblogged, I went to the Yanks game-my brother has season tix for all the Sunday games this year. Not bad seats, tier reserve, 1st base side. Nice win over Toronto...only thing that marred the game for me was me getting probably the worst allergy attack I've had in years-all the Claritin in the world couldn't help me. i was in misery through the game and after the game when we went back to NJ for a belated b-day dinner for my mom.

but nevertheless, a very good weekend...and has seemed to be the case lately after good weekends, monday morning is a bit of a letdown.

this week at work has been quite hectic so far, and looks like a taste of things to come, as starting next week we are gonna be down 1 man. i'd be lying if i said i wasn't apprehensive about what the next couple of months are gonna bring...man, is it too much to ask that i can have at least 1 summer where i'm not consumed with work and can just kick back and enjoy...?

only good news i've gotten this week is that my rent will have a very minimal increase next year...meaning that the UWS is stuck with me for another year :) as long as i can afford the rent on my current place, i ain't moving...i wouldn't give up a place within stumbling distance from central park if I didn't have to :)

3 days down, 2 to go...

now playing: "say i" ~ christina milian