so where should the miles really count?

So I sit here duping my 2008 excel running log and updating it for 2009 (yeah I still use Excel, I'm kinda sorta old-school like that). The first entry will be all too soon as I plan to do the Midnight Run tonite. But I've wondered, what day should those miles honestly count for? December 31st or January 1st?

A look back at the previous times I did the Midnight Run tells me that I counted it for December 31st one time, and January 1st the other time. So who knows which is right!! At any rate, what I know will happen is that I will be freezing my a$$ off tonite. :-P

I've been a pretty sporatic blogger lately, the end-of-year slowdown is not only hitting the office but outside of work too. Not much to report except the fact that I was able to hook up my new HDTV (a Hanukkah gift) all by myself. Don't ask me why I'm proud of that, but I am :-P (of course, I didn't have much of a choice...it's not like I can do what my mom does and tell my dad to set it up...gotta get used to not being able to depend on someone else.) Only speed bump I have now is my DVR-I have to do the switcharoo to an HD-DVR but don't want to lose all the programs I have saved-anyone know how I can save DVR'ed programs to my computer or to DVD?

Ok enough rambling for now. Happy 2009...

merry xmas

to demonstrate my christmas cheer, i present to you the most disturbing looking (and sounding) santa ever (who resides on the ground floor of chelsea market) enjoy!!



Happy holidays to all my readers...

don't call it a comeback

...I been here for years
Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear...

yeah, felt like quoting a little LL Cool J...sorta fits in a way...

Normally, I would do my year-end wrapup a week later, but my racing year is over and it's a crappy weather day so why not :)

After a few frustrating years, I guess you can say 2008 was a comeback year in a way. Wouldn't have guessed that would be the case back in January, when I got hit by the calf injury, but that was a blessing in disguise, as it indirectly made me change my training-incorporating more cross-training, having things not just be about mileage. And did that work...?

Well-I'll revisit my year in review post from last year-and see the result of the 2008 goals...

"GET FASTER. this is the most important. i would like to just be able to complete one 6 mile loop of the park on a group run without getting dropped or begging people to slow down."

ehhh...sort of. race times, yes. training runs, no. unfortunately, this doesn't look to be easily solveable...as I really don't want to race my training runs at the expense of my own training/racing. I keep my easy runs easy for a reason...

"sign up for the NYC marathon and run it-and hopefully better my 2006 time."

check!! by 14 minutes.

"maybe a 10-mile race in the late spring, as i have never raced this distance before? (i'm eyeing Broad Street, perhaps...)"

check!! ran broad street in may, which was a very fun race-highly recommended!!

"look outside NYRR and Central Park for races (5ks, 10ks, halfs)-and just use NYRR races to get in my 9 marathon qualifiers and use them as training runs if need be. (races like the Mini 10K and Club Champs are the exception, as I can get a decent starting position and they are less crowded.)"

check!! the Broad Street Run. Philly Distance Run and Party With Purpose 5K (Hoboken.)

"PR in at least one distance. With the exception of distances I have only raced once, the majority of my PRs are 3 years old."

major check!!
lifetime PRs in 4 distances (4 miles, 10K, half-marathon, marathon)
"submasters PRs"-and lifetime 2nd best-in 2 distances (5K, 5 miles)
unofficial PR in 10 miles (never did a 10-mile race before, my previous fastest 10 miles was the 10-mile split of an old half-marathon PR)
and I would have been happy with just one PR!! And even though I was glad to get the marathon PR, I felt the shorter distance ones were sweeter...maybe because I have been chasing after those longer?

So yeah-needless to say, I was pleased with how 2008 went. And I learned from past mistakes...I know now to quit while I am ahead, and that a little downtime never hurts :)

Looking ahead to 2009...here's what is on my plate as of now:

• Continue to train smart. Meaning-no racing in January (that's my "off-season!"), and when I do race, schedule things well (no over-racing.) Keep with the HRM on training runs, keep up the cross-training. If it ain't broke...
• Have some fun with racing! I've already started that by signing up for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in April and just like last year, will explore other non-NYRR races. Especially now with the capping thing going on with the NYRR races...
• As of now-I do plan to try and knock 3 minutes and 15 seconds off my marathon time in the fall. This all will depend on the body holding up, and other circumstances allowing me the time to train, but as of now, that is the plan. Not sure where I will be going for it just yet, but definitely won't be NYC, as I'd like to try a different (flatter) marathon...as of now, Marine Corps and Philly are the top contenders.

Unlike previous years, at least I do have an idea as to how to go about all of this!! :)

my running year-the cliffs notes edition

Taking a tip from Johnny's blog...This week's topic from Take It and Run Thursday at the Runners Lounge is a summary of your running year in 52 words or less.

OK-I'll play too :)

2008 started off with a calf injury…but I rehabbed well, ran smarter, and I came back. Stronger than before.
Four lifetime PR’s, two submaster PR’s, and a great first 10-mile race.
A marathon that exceeded my expectations.
To borrow from VH1…”Best (running) Year Ever!”

I do intend to have a more detailed wrap-up before the year is over though!! :)

one can only be good for so long

when. when. when will I ever learn???

work party-well behaved. let other people make out on the dance floor, or rip their shirts off, or down shot after shot. nope, won't be me tonite.

Flyers holiday party-again, well behaved. paced myself, worked the room, thankfully a drama-free evening. with an amusing comment from some random stranger who was witnessing mine and runner26's difficulty at getting a cab...apparently, if we can't get a cab, there is a lot wrong with the world. or something to that effect. :)

guess I had to be a bad girl at the TRD holiday party on saturday nite. that was the time to let loose, nothing I had to be up early for the next day (plus I had to celebrate my race!) note to self: "let loose" should not equal "drink almost a whole bottle of merlot by yourself." (or honestly i lost count of glasses of wine that I had, so it may have been possible it wasn't as much as that, but just too quickly and possibly not enough to eat.) thankfully, with the help of a couple of saviors ;-) I made it uptown, but the effects of the night did not wear off right away, as I spent most of...well, all day Sunday nursing a hangover. fun times...

and to top it all off, I haven't ran or been to the gym since Saturday, and I attacked half a bag of Candy Cane Hershey's kisses this evening.

i think i need to try and be a good girl again. in the meantime, in this post is a picture of me being somewhat good at the flyers holiday party.

finally under 30

can you believe, this goal (sub-30 for a 4-miler), has been one I've been trying to achieve for about 4 1/2 years??

i can't even remember how that even came about. My first NYRR race ever was a 4-miler, and I just barely squeaked in under a 9 minute pace. I guess when I really learned how to race, that became part of a set of goals...under 50 for 10K, under 40 for 5 miles, under 30 for 4 miles (NO under 20 for 5k!! not even close to being there...) And I was able to achieve the first 2, the third just seemed to elude me...

First I tried for it in July 2004-went out way too fast, paid for it on the west side hills in mile 3, finished in 30:28 (though considering that was a PR of almost 5 1/2 minutes at the time, couldn't be too disappointed.) Tried again in November-pacing was much, much better....but just missed by the skin of my teeth, coming in at 30:01!! Ever since then, any attempts hadn't even come close...til now. Figuring the Race to Deliver last month would be too close to the marathon, I felt today's Holiday 4-Miler would be a better attempt to try again for sub-30. And so I did...

Back to the present. Boy it was COLD this morning!! I was much, much more bundled up than I was at the 10K-headwrap, gloves, Flyers short-sleeve shirt over a warmer long-sleeve shirt, tights, the whole nine yards. Didn't care too much about the layering (I actually liked the ensemble :) ), but more concerned about the legs warming up quickly enough in the first mile (though I had done a warmup of about a mile and a half) and if breathing would be an issue, as I remember it was a little during the Colon Cancer 4-miler earlier this year. (Thankfully, I had no bad aftereffects from the Flyers' holiday party last nite, I was very well behaved and paced myself well!) Kept moving around to try and stay warm and loose until the starting horn sounded...thankfully on time!!

Tried to go out hard from the start...but not too ridiculous that I'd pay for it on Cat Hill or something like that. Legs felt a little tired, don't know if it was because they were still warming up, still feeling last week's race or if I spent too much time on my feet yesterday. Nevertheless, the first mile came up in 7:32 and I was pleased, looked to be right on pace. But wait a minute...what's up with Mr. Garmin? He's not letting me take mile splits!! Guess I will have to pace on cumulative time, thank god 7:30s are pretty easy math (7:30/15:00/22:30/30:00) Downhill on the west side and onto 72nd...still felt pretty steady. My 2-mile split was 15:04...ok, guess I am nothing if not consistent!! However, I really thought mile 2 should have been faster due to it being downhill, did I take mile 1 too hard? Either way, I will really have to run a quick 2nd half in order to get under 30 minutes, which includes Cat Hill too...

And just like last week, Cat Hill really didn't seem to do a lot of damage. (Or maybe I was *finally* warmed up!!) I picked it up once I hit the top of the hill...partially because I wanted to be out of the cold, but partially because I knew I was a little bit behind. But now Mr. Garmin was acting even crazier...taking an autosplit every second (even though I had that turned off!)-does he not like the cold? Flyer BC was taking pictures around the 3 mile marker...I'm sure the picture he got was me looking at the watch and trying to make some sense of it...or not :-P Cumulative time at that point was about 22:31...so I made up a few seconds, but boy was this going to be close...

At that point, I was just taking that last mile as hard as I possibly could. I didn't want a "so close" moment this time...I had that 4 years ago!! Was glad to run past the reservoir and see the home stretch...how long is that again? Do I have enough time? Am I going to make it? Just kept going...but then with maybe about a minute or 2 to go, some guy in front of me dropped his hat and had to pick it up-right in front of me. Needless to say i was a little annoyed...I hope this wasn't gonna cost me my race!! However, I saw the final turn with my watch still in the low 29s...beautiful!! I rounded the corner and crossed to the announcer calling out a New York Flyer finish. And Mr. Garmin had to misbehave once more...when I hit the stop button, it tried to keep going until I stopped it again!! So I would have to wait for the official results to be posted, but either way, it was still a PR, it was still under 30!!

Afterwards, I was so cold, I was just dying to get my baggage and head home to warm up and have a hot beverage!! I saw Johnny and a couple of other Flyers and we walked towards the baggage area...which, I have to say the baggage logistics were not good for this race, instead of on the transverse, it was over on the East Drive, meaning that we have to cross the path of runners to get to it!! But finally I got my bag, and headed right to Starbucks for a well-deserved gingersnap latte...

...and waited for the NYRR results to come up...and finally they did. 29:43, 7:25 pace, PR of 18 seconds.

Estimated splits...
7:32
7:32 (15:04 cumulative)
7:27 (22:31 cumulative)
7:12 (29:43 cumulative)

so looks like a negative split of 15:04/14:39, and my fastest mile ever in Central Park with the 7:12...between last week and this week, guess I do better with getting the west side hills over with early!!

And even though I was happy to have gotten a goal that I have been chasing for over 4 years, it seemed a little anti-climactic compared to last week!! Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the Garmin issues...or maybe I just need a nap. :-P

And that brings the 2008 racing season to a close, and was a very nice way to end things this year :) Tonite, I celebrate even more...

party girl

Tis the season...3 parties in 3 days (not to mention a holiday lunch on wednesday that wound up going til 4pm!) First one was last nite, the annual work party. Surprisingly, I drank much less than I did last year-I figured I'd leave that role to other people this year :) As per tradition, the CFO ripped his shirt off near the end of the party (sorry...no pictures!! i know better :) ) I decided to pass on the after-party...as I need to pace myself!! Was a good time-and I know a few of my colleagues thought so too, as indicated in their Facebook status updates this morning (especially those who are newer to the company and this is their first holiday party!)

Round 2 is tonite, the Flyers' holiday party...and I think I will be sticking to red wine tonite and not a lot of it...you know, because of that little 4-mile run tomorrow morning.

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More pictorial evidence from Sunday!!


Yay, NYRR finally got a picture of me actually running!! Not chatting, posing with teammates, hanging out in lasker pool, dancing or any other assorted goofy things. Pretty cool :) Man...I'm all business here!!


My sole brightroom picture, and they just had to get me stopping my watch :-P

powered by blueberries

I'm sure you are wondering about the title, and what it has to do with my race report for the Joe Kleinerman 10K. Would any of you ever predict that 3 pints of Blue Point Blueberry Ale the night before a race-not to mention a crappy night's sleep...could lead to a PR? Hey, stranger things have happened...

So yeah, to make a long story short about my pre-race prep...fellow blogger BrunetteChicagoGal was in town for the weekend, so a bunch of us met up at the Ginger Man to, uh, carbo-load...yeah that's it. And that was where I consumed abovementioned pints of beer (and one of them was bought for me from a guy who was chatting me up...but doesn't even live in NY, just here for the weekend, so that was that. Plus the guy was in his 40s and he thought i was in my 20s!! Man...make it stop!!) It was tough to cut myself off after 3-they were quite tasty-but I did. And I made sure water was consumed, and even got in some real carboloading (pasta) when I got home. But all in all, fun evening, was great to see BCG again.

I tried to sleep, but woke up around 3 am for no reason, and couldn't fall back to sleep til about 5 am...don't know why that was!! (It's not like it was marathon morning or anything.) So of course the alarm going off was not welcome, but I had to promise myself I could nap later...and got up, did the usual pre-race routine, and headed out the door.

Tried to time it perfectly to warm up for a mile, drop off my stuff at baggage (when I realized I forgot to put on my lucky Livestrong bracelet...doh!), and get to the corrals early enough. There was some good music playing on the loudspeaker, which put me in a good mood. Actually didn't see too many Flyers around. I knew some of them were in Vegas for the weekend doing the marathon or the half, but still...little surprising. I did see Flyer BC on the sidelines (where he snapped the picture before the start)...he told me where to look for him on the course. So between him and Crazy Bandanahead, I knew to expect some friendly faces. When waiting for the starting horn, I could tell people were thinking "enough with the speeches, it's cold, we want to get going." And we did...

Mile 1 (7:49)-Once we cleared the start line, the logjam opened up nicely. I tried to run hard but conservative...taking full advantage of the downhill east side Harlem hill, but to save something for the uphill on the west side, not to mention all the other hills waiting for me!! I was expecting this mile to be around 8 minutes, so I was pleased with the mile split. Or did I go out too fast? Or was this just a result of less congestion due to the corrals (as opposed to 2004, where I had to do a lot of dodging and weaving in the first mile.)

Mile 2 (7:43)-Through the west side hills I go. BC was on the sidelines, with camera in hand, and got another pic of me. One of our speedy masters women, CB, passed by in this mile and said "good job" to me...not knowing how far behind me she was lined up, I figured if I could keep her in my sights for the time being it may be a good day :) With one more uphill to go, hit the mile 2 marker...not bad, not bad. As long as I don't fall apart, under 50 minutes may be possible...

Mile 3 (7:31)-The long, sloping downhills were very welcome in this mile, my legs needed a little bit of a break from the climbing. When I hit the mile 3 marker, I saw my cumulative time was 23:03...and a little quick math told me that I was exactly on PR pace at this point, and all I'd need to do for the remainder of the race is to stay under 7:40s. I have negative split this course a couple of times before, could I do it today? I'm gonna go for it...

Mile 4 (7:36)-Down the hill by Tavern and around the bottom of the park. This was the beginning of what I thought were the 2 toughest miles, yes even more so than Harlem Hill...because you are tired by this time. What I tried to do is look for people to pace off of. I noticed a GNY woman and a Hellgate woman who were pretty much running near me the entire way so far. So I tried to-at the very least-keep them in my sights. And it kept me going, was still on target.

Mile 5 (7:39)-Time to prep for Cat Hill. Crazy Bandanahead was on the sidelines taking pictures-he tried to get one of me but some idiot jumped in front of me and blocked the shot. dumbass. (not you, bandanahead!) Finally, the hill. Just get it done. Don't sprint up it, go nice and steady, focus on form, etc...and I reached the top of the hill before I knew it and the legs were actually still feeling good. But the burning question...Cat Hill always does some type of damage to the mile split, how much damage is it going to be this time? The answer-not much damage at all!!

Mile 6 (7:19)-Well, the advantage of not tiring myself out on Cat Hill was that I was able to pick it up for the last 1.2 miles...and my cumulative time at 5 miles (38:18) was just under PR pace...so I knew I had it, the question now was how far under can I go? So time to pick up the pace and give it all I got. Flyer GW was at Engineer's Gate ringing a cowbell and shouting words of encouragement. Reached the north end of the reservoir around 96th street...and with the downhill coming up, picked it up even more. BC was taking pictures again, but no smiles for me...was all business today!! And the mile 6 marker was a beautiful sight.

Last .2 (1:29)-My finishing kick has never been my strength, but it has been something that I have been trying to work on. During the last .2 miles, I thought of Wednesday's workout and how I floored the last repeat...just go all out for a minute and change, you can rest later!! And so I did-and this was the fastest I have ever done that last point-two in a 10K!!

And goodbye to yet another old (4-year-old) PR! Final time was 47:06, 7:35 pace-a PR of 32 seconds. Oh yeah!! I was ridiculously overdue for a decent 10K time...I have not run under 50 minutes since the 2006 Mini 10K and the 10K split in the Philly Distance Run was my 2nd best 10K time ever!! I just knew I had to run one where it wasn't an inferno, and I'm actually in shape and not still recovering from something...so guess this one was perfect timing!!

After crossing the finish, the woman from Hellgate congratulated me and thanked me for being her "rabbit" of sorts in the race...and I did the same. :) And turns out she is a reader of my blog!! (If you're reading now-thanks again!!)

Made a mad dash for baggage, needed my jacket and gloves and headwrap-while I was fine during the race, now that I wasn't moving it was getting C-O-L-D!! Saw Johnny and asked him if he beat his "zero one" today...and indeed he did!! Runner26 and jb24 were also around, having run this together as a "fun run." Chatted amongst ourselves and with other teammates until we decided we had enough of the cold and had to get indoors (and for me, to a local Starbucks for a gingersnap latte.) So our separate ways we went...

Well, I'm damn happy to have yet another distance monkey off my back, and very happy with the execution too-especially considering my longest run since the marathon has only been 8 miles. I really prefer the 10K courses that start in the north end of the park and go counterclockwise-you get the toughest hills out of the way in the beginning and the finish isn't uphill-unlike the ones that go clockwise and start/end at Tavern on the Green...where you get the Harlem hills in the middle of the race wheren you're tired and the uphill to Tavern robs you of any finishing kick. (For what it's worth, this course was my previous PR, 4 years ago.)

And-another nice surprise...I scored 5th for the Flyer women!! This is big, I never score in club points races, as they usually bring out the faster runners. I guess some of our speedier women were sitting this one out...but who cares, I'm taking it, cuz I don't know if it will happen again!! :-D

And the next burning question...Saturday...will the 4-mile PR go down-even if only by 2 seconds? (And will I need to find the beer I drank last night and drink it the night before every race? :) ) Stay tuned...

"plus one"

so the other day, I dropped by the NYRR offices to pick up my bib (yay another red bib!) for tomorrow's Joe Kleinerman 10K. I saw the t-shirt distribution was packed with volunteers...as was the bib pickup. I said "Everyone here to get in their 'plus one'?" and everyone laughed. Yeah...the procrastinators, trying to get in their volunteer credit for NYCM guaranteed entry!! Sure glad I got mine out of the way in April (even though I most likely won't be running NYC next year...but it's good to have the option as a fallback if I needed it.)

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Looks like next year, it may not be as easy to get in the 9 races unless you plan way in advance-as NYRR has announced they are going to be capping races at 5,000 participants.

May not affect me so much, as I usually sign up for races enough in advance (hey, I'm a cheapskate, I want to pay the early bird fee) and I haven't done as many NYRR races lately as I used to.

Even though I know something needs to be done about the crowding, I am not sure this is the best idea. First off-you know the benefactors are going to abuse this privilege, and sign up for everything the minute registration opens, whether or not they even plan to race. Spots wasted for those who for whatever reason, couldn't sign up right away (more on that later). Also, I have a feeling this is only going to encourage much more banditing...

And I found this sentence to be a little obnoxious..."Runners who pay close attention to the opening of race registration should not have trouble registering for races before the cap is reached." Yeah-we all pay attention to when registration is open, yadda yadda yadda. However-there are lots of people who work on weekends, and they might not know if they will have the day off, or be able to get the time off-until it is too late and registration is closed. Those people deserve an honest shot at getting into the races, as much as the Monday-Friday crew....

I know NYRR does a lot, I know we are lucky to have races as often as they are. I really thought the corral system this year was a huge step forward-it was a drastic change, but it really worked. The wave starts at the marathon, there may have been doubts in the beginning, but I was hopeful and they did turn out to be successful (at least for me.) But this...I'm not quite sure about. I only hope that NYRR will evaluate things mid-year and see if this new system really is working, if benefactors are abusing the privilege, etc.

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And time to spend this lovely afternoon holiday shopping (planning to stay away from the crazy zones of NYC!) and deciding on my outfit for tomorrow (long-sleeve black Flyers top? Or short-sleeve red Flyers top over black long-sleeve zip top?) And later, gonna meet up for drinks with a fellow blogger friend in town for the weekend...yay :)

where i'm at

where am i at? well i'm here. for now :-p

yeah, i've been MIA for a week. lotsa craziness going on, not a lot of chances to blog. (and i know i've been bad about commenting too...but i've been reading!)

so turkey day weekend consisted of...
escaping the madness that is the Macy's parade (only day that I curse living on the UWS)
fighting the crowds at Penn Station
NJ Transit doing its NJ Transit thing once again
dinner at the parentals...on the early side (we were done eating by 5!) and quieter than normal. long story, not going into it here...
hitting the shops on friday and saturday (for the record, I waited until later in the evening to brave the black friday sales)
a 6-mile (training) run through the streets of NJ...man, couldn't believe how flat it was compared to central park!
sitting through the first half of the jets-broncos game and getting completely soaked in the process. you know the conditions were bad when my brother was OK with leaving at halftime!!

hectic week at work too...preparing for a client presentation tomorrow. and i took something else home to work on since it's the kind of thing where i need less distractions...but the document is in PowerPoint 2007 and I have 2000 at home. And they don't get along. Damn. In addition, our group head made me a little nervous earlier this week when she said she wanted to meet with us and didn't say why...I guess the current state of the economy makes everyone nervous, I thought it was something big (not in a good way!) Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing to get nervous about.

And tonight in speedwork...I got to see where I'm at, running-wise. The last few weeks have just been easy-effort slogs, so it was tough to judge whether I was truly recovered or not. And I thought I was gonna feel crappy and need to hold back...but that was not the case, in fact I was actually able to do the workout faster than what JS told me to shoot for...and ran negative splits too!! Welcome change compared to 2 years ago at this time, nice boost of confidence going into my last 2 races of the year. Will the 10K and/or 4-mile PRs go down? We shall see...

post-marathon blues

I guess it's normal to have this sorta "letdown" time. Not really feeling sad, just more kinda...blah. Lack of sunlight, lack of goals/direction, don't really feel like going out much, since seemingly everyone's in a relationship and i'm the only single one yet again, dealing with idiot clients (i swear it was "Idiot Clients Day" both last Thursday and Friday.)

Attempted to combat it with some retail therapy-seemingly *everything* is on sale!! Took advantage of 2 wonderful words-"price adjustment"-on a couple of things I bought 2 weeks earlier...so that saved me about another $50!! Another piece of clothing for me (or a gift for someone else!) And I still had my gift certificate to Urban Athletics for pacing the 20-miler, and this past weekend's cooollllddd temps had me wanting another cold-weather top...mission accomplished.

And as I wanted to do a longish run and was sick of loops in Central Park, JS thankfully let me tag along on his long run on Sunday. Was a fun route-some bridle path and park roads, but the bulk of it was Riverside Park and city streets over by Columbia. And those city streets were good for a hill workout of sorts too! I'd see a hill and say "oh sh*t...do I really have to climb that?" But then I'd get to the top and "oh-that wasn't so bad!" (I figure, anything to make Harlem Hill seem less scary...) But all in all, was definitely a fun run and a nice break from the same old same old.

And thankfully the holidays are coming up soon...I'm looking forward to that occupying my time, I already have several parties on the calendar and I am sure there will be a few more when all is said and done.

And running-wise...I feel like I need a goal, like some kind of carrot to dangle in front of my face to keep me motivated (though combating holiday goodies I guess is motivation enough!) Besides the 2 short races next month...I'm sorta coming up with a plan for next year. Stay tuned...

And congrats to all of you who ran Philly this past weekend!! Definitely some great and gutsy performances there...I had a lot of fun tracking you all on Sunday morning!! :-D

global warming? yeah right!

Can't remember last year at this time...but I do remember this time 2 years ago, it was still shorts weather (at least for running!) And didn't have to break out the tights til December. Well not only have I brought out the tights already, last nite the full winter gear was utilized!! I'm so tempted to buy more (this top in pink has caught my eye)...do i really need to? do i or don't i??

And so much for the park being a ghost town once the marathon was over and it got cold-came almost face-to-face with a huge mob of TNT'ers on the east drive. Well not exactly face-to-face, as I was forced to run outside the rec lane as they were taking up all the room!! A little etiquette please? Thank god the cars were out of the park...

In the meantime-this has really gotten me pissed off. My rent I'm sure will go up in 2009, don't expect much of a bonus, if any at work this year, the price of every single consumer good and service has skyrocketed it seems...MTA, please cut us a break!! Must be nice to be the only game in town...

blown away

OK, maybe sleeping in and running in the afternoon, when it was crazy windy, wasn't the smartest idea. And less smart would have been wearing shorts too!! (though better than the rains yesterday-kudos to all the runners who ran the 60K in that!) But it seemed as soon as I got going, the wind became a non-issue, and I actually had my best run since the marathon-all 7.2 miles of it. So yeah-I can officially say I'm recovered from the marathon.

Still not quite race-ready just yet, and in fact I'm glad that I didn't run the Race to Deliver 4-miler today-besides it being notoriously crowded, I heard there were major issues with the corrals (runners being assigned wrong) and baggage (major bottleneck, about an hour wait.) Crazy!!

I'm almost 100% sure I will be racing next month-the Kleinerman 10K and the Holiday 4-miler. The goals for each shall be as follows:

10K-just run a decent race for once. Under 50 minutes at least...but hopefully under 49. If I feel like I can do damage to the PR, go for it.
4 miler-get at least a 2-second PR :)

The nights before each race, I do have plans that involve alcohol. I'll just have to make sure I stick to red wine, as that has proved itself to be a lucky pre-race drink for me ;-) And pace, pace, pace!!

On a different note, I officially want none of the final 4 on this season of the Amazing Race to win...once again the team I was rooting for fall just short :(

lady luck

so, la familia is fans of Gang Green. meaning lotsa heartbreak over the years. And the biggest fan of all, my dad, seeming to be bad luck when seeing a game in person. However, the ladies in my family seem to have better luck. First, my mom was in attendance with my brother (who has season tix) at the game where the Jets scored 56 points.

And I just happened to be in attendance at this past Sunday's game, where the Jets crushed the Rams, 47-3...which was "a rout that was unlike any other in franchise history." I got to view the biggest winning margin ever? How awesome was that?? And of course, I wasn't alone in witnessing that...


Yep, fellow blogger Uptown Girl had scored some sweet tix from her boss (awesome seats!) so to Giants Stadium we went on Sunday and had a great time. Oh and apparently, so did this drunk guy. Yeah, couldn't resist nabbing a picture of that...hehe. I figured I'd do you all a favor and just link to it instead of posting the picture. You're welcome :-P
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So I've actually been back on track, running-wise (no pun intended.) Have been doing an easy run every other day and have felt fine...I think I'll stay away from any hard stuff for at least another week or 2. But I am kinda feeling "now what?" Like a little bit of a let-down feeling. It's crazy, I don't want to do anything hard right now, yet I feel I need a goal or something right now-an actual race goal, not a "keep running so you don't get fat during the holiday season" goal :) Short races in December? I do want to be smart with regards to recovery though...

more nycm pics

remember a coupla years back when i was a little annoyed that brightroom really got no pictures of me from my first marathon? this time...i guess be careful what you wish for...


i think this is early, like brooklyn or queens as i look too happy here.



did i forget to mention that i loved passing people who were in wave 1? especially in the last mile or 2? especially those that were in the local competitive start, like this dude in front.



"now i, i go for mine, i got to shine, now throw your hands up in the sky"-from "good life" by kanye west
perfect quote for the finish line!! :)
(though dammit, so close to having a clock time under 4. but if that was the worst thing to happen to me that day, i have no complaints :) )

more pictures are here

recovery redux

Yep, the same familiar feeling as in 2006. Quads hate me on Monday and part of Tuesday. I couldn't deal with subway stairs on Monday without hanging onto the handrail for dear life. I walked around quite a bit on Tuesday and I think that did help a little. I actually felt fine enough to run 2 miles on the treadmill yesterday-at around 9:30ish pace-but still, much earlier than I attempted running back in 2006 :) So it's looking good so far for easing my way back into it :)

Time to sit back and reflect on my race too!! For fun, a little comparison between 2008 and 2006:


Pretty cool that my slowest 5k split this year was only 9 seconds slower than my fastest 5k split in 2006. Still can't believe I shaved 33 seconds per mile off...2 years ago that would have sounded crazy...

How did I do it this time? Well-I think possibly the biggest component was training with Mr. Garmin-specifically the HRM, as it really helped me keep the easy runs easy and therefore helped build my endurance better-and as mentioned before, i was able to maintain 6 40+ mile weeks (as oppsoed to 3 in 2006) without feeling wiped out. My mileage wasn't crazy high-but maybe that just works for me. Did make sure for the most part to get in at least one quality day (i.e., speedwork) per week, exception being before and after a hard race effort. And again, I made sure my next run would help me recover properly. Cross-training really seemed to help too!

As for during the race, I think my pacing was fine. The wave starts really, really helped-you'll notice this time the slowing in 15k and 20k was not dramatic-didn't have to deal with the bottleneck that I did back in 2006. Near the end-I'll admit it was a little more crowded-specifically 5th avenue, as the spectators were crowding the running lane, plus I had to slow and dodge people that either stopped in the middle of the road or were walking (not to mention those ahead of me who had no business being in wave 1)...and at the water stations closer to the end I had to slow a little as I usually just "grab and go" whereas a lot were walking through. Had those not happened, I'm positive my time would have been 3:43:xx, but no complaints here :)

So-looking ahead. Here is what McMillan says a 3:44:14 marathoner can run for other distances:

A couple that are of note are the 4-mile time and the 10k time...as they are 4 seconds and 9 seconds slower than my current PRs, respectively...meaning there is a possibility they could fall before the end of the year. (keeping in mind both those PRs were set in Central Park.) In December, there's the Joe Kleinerman 10k on the 7th, and the Holiday 4-miler on the 13th. So I'm debating which one of these-if any-to do...yeah, I know the December races are crowded with those getting in their 9 races, but I am hoping that the corrals help with that this time...

And next year? Well-I finally believe that I am capable of a BQ marathon...a 3:40:59, no need to wait til 35 :) The only question is when? Definitely not doing a spring marathon-I prefer to take it a little easier and run shorter during the winter months. Will I do a marathon next fall? I'll play it by ear and see if I'm motivated or not. But if I do indeed do one, it won't be NYC...would like to see what I am capable of on a flat course, and therefore leaning towards either Chicago or Philly. I know each has it's pros and cons...but I have plenty of time to think about it :) (unless Chicago fills up crazy fast again!) And if I don't do a marathon in 2009...you know what, I'll get to Boston when I get there. It ain't going anywhere!! :)

hells yeah, it's my city!!

(aka the official super-long NYC Marathon race report.)

Yeah. Sunday just showed-I totally own this city :)

I'll start this off this long report with the mile-by-mile splits, courtesy of Mr. Garmin...



(my chip time was 3:44:14...so based on my chip splits, looks like 1 second comes off the last .2 and 2 seconds comes off mile 1)

So...as I had mentioned before, I set my goal for the marathon publically at the beginning of August as 3:50. Enough to be a strong PR, and seemed pretty doable for my abilities at the time. However-after the Philly Distance Run, I began wondering if 3:45...although scary, could be doable. After doing Grete's at a 3:45 marathon pace-and it feeling like an easy run and running that at the end of a 7-day period where I racked up close to 60 miles-I decided to secretly make 3:45 my stretch goal. I tapered well and just trusted my training...

So, race day. Despite the fact that I got an extra hour of sleep due to turning the clocks back, I still found it difficult to actually sleep, and woke up before my alarm was due to go off. Fine with me, more time to do the race day routine. Coffee w/ bagel and PB. Listen to my "marathon morning" mix with some of my favorite and/or lucky songs. Roll out the yoga mat and do some stretching. Get dressed, check a million times to see if I remembered everything, then head out the door.

This year, I took the Staten Island Ferry instead of the bus-I highly recommend it, was so easy. Just hopped on the 1 train to go downtown-took 20 minutes. When I got to the terminal, I waited for TB who was coming from Brooklyn so we could get on the ferry together. We both got on the 6:30 ferry-got seats right away, enjoyed the view, and just gabbed excitedly about what was ahead. Once we got to Staten Island, we were also able to get on a bus right away that would take us to Fort Wadsworth-easy peasy. I was very satisfied about how stress-free this process went.

Finally, arrived at Fort Wadsworth around 7:30ish. There was no line for the porto-potties so immediately took advantage of that. After that, we met up with Runner26 who was hanging out with her college friends in a tent in the orange start. Ate, "hydrated," tried to stay warm, gossiped, laughed...the time actually went by pretty quickly. It was almost time for those in Wave 1 (which included TB) to check their bags and get to their corrals, so I took that as my cue to make another porto-potty stop (gotta take advantage of short lines while I can!) and then make my way to the blue start village. once there, i spotted my baggage truck and made any final preps I needed to and checked my bag while the line was still short-I had my throwaway sweatshirt and my heat sheet from the SF Half to keep me warm. From there, I walked over to the corrals. Wave 1 hadn't left yet, so I hung around until they left and Wave 2 was allowed to enter. And I will say-they really did a good job at policing the corrals, I was pleasantly surprised. And they even had porto-potties in the corrals too!! So far-big thumbs up from my 2006 experience.

Finally, it was time to head over to the bridge. The ropes between the corrals were dropped and we all jogged to maintain our position (good, this can be my warmup.) This resulted in an awesome starting spot for me!! Was a little chilly-I had ditched my heat sheet and sweatshirt and arm warmers-was just in my sports top, shorts and gloves but I knew with the strong sun, I'd be warm soon enough. 10 am was getting closer and closer!! Was a little different having someone besides Mary Wittenberg give the "New York City awaits you, the world awaits you" speech-but we still got the ceremonial cannon and "New York, New York" to mark the start. And I crossed the line within seconds!! Here we go, here we go, here we go...

OK-so my plan was to run the first 2 miles in no faster than a cumulative 17 minutes, maybe closer to 17:30. I felt like I was taking it easy, so I was shocked that my first mile was under 9 minutes, and even more shocked to see the 7:40 mile 2. Off the bridge and into Brooklyn, this time on the right side of 4th Ave, so I got to see a different approach this time. The crowds were in effect already, heard a lot more people screaming my name this time around-maybe because I was easier to spot with less crowds? Either way, I liked it. Maybe too much, both mile 3 and my 5k split were faster than I wanted. Honestly-I was doubting the positions of the mile markers, that's how good the splits were looking!! Question is-would this haunt me in the end? What's done is done-I wasn't gonna slow down dramatically to "make up" for that-I thought of something that JS told me once-"Don't try to 'make up' for time, whether you're ahead of schedule or behind schedule. Aim to hit the pace exactly right at the present moment." And that was what I did, going forward, I just tried to stay relax, and shoot for 26:30 5k splits. Before I knew it, I was at the mile 8 merge...it was almost like I floated down 4th avenue in some kind of dream state...I took that as a good sign, and I was thankfully still feeling good :)

Here was where the wave starts came into play-miles 9-13 in Brooklyn were a much, much more enjoyable experience this time around, no bottleneck that I experienced in 2006 and I didn't lose any time and slow dramatically here. Lafayette Ave had a great cheering section, I saw Flyer YP cheering and taking pictures. Was still feeling great through Williamsburg and Greenpoint-saw Flyer JT during that stretch and he commented that I was "flying." Heart rate was a little bit high-at the very top of my easy zone...but that could have been more excitement than actual effort, as I wasn't breathing hard at all. But I had to keep telling myself so many times...eye on the prize, eye on the prize. I might have been on BQ pace at that point, but that wasn't the goal today. I'd rather get the 3:45 and finish strong rather than try for 3:40 and bonk.

Almost to Queens!! I noticed that the playground where a lot of people usually cut across was roped off this year...hehe. Made the turn onto McGuinness Boulevard, just as we did in the bridges run so it all looked familiar...hit the half-marathon point on the bridge at 1:50:43-ok, good. If I lose 2-3 minutes in the second half I can still get my 3:45, so as far as I was concerned, I was right on target :)

Well considering I got knocked down in Queens back in 2006, my goal for this year was to just make it through this borough still standing :) These next coupla miles were actually a little uneventful...maybe because I was thinking ahead to Manhattan already? Either way, I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the Queensboro bridge and had stayed vertical :-P Once again, my training running the bridge had paid off-felt strong and steady, and was still passing people. Mile 16 was my slowest mile so far...only one over 9 minutes so far, but not too shabby considering that it included a bitch of an incline :) Yay for the downhill, I can hear the crowds....

...First Avenue, here I come!! Those crowds were just tempting me to go fast, but I tried to keep it under control...remembering the "last 10 miles run" and the surprising hills. Don't know how well that worked as the splits showed :) That plus I couldn't wait to get to the mile 18 marker, where 2 miles of personal cheering sections would begin. First one being the Flyers at the PowerGel station. I was in great spirits then...one of my favorite dance songs ("Insomnia" by Faithless) was blasting over the speakers at this time, my teammates were cheering for me...as the picture showed, I was definitely in my element :) What a rush!! Next was the 30K point...saw some Harriers by the White Castle, and shortly after that was the family cheering section!! (this year wearing Jets green...hehe.) Next, Uptown Girl and the rest of her TRD cheering section was just past the mile 19 marker. After that, it seemed to thin out a bit-til I hit the Willis Avenue Bridge and saw Flyer PD playing the bagpipes once again. Kinda made me forget how crappy that bridge felt (more the surface than anything else-don't like that metal grating, the red carpet didn't seem to hide it enough this time...)

For whatever reason, I found the Bronx to be much more lively this time around, was kind of a shame that we only ran 1 mile there. Lots of old-school dance music playing...felt like I was at a block party or something. There was also a big screen that showed the runners (I saw me on there!), and "Stronger" by Kanye West playing...always a song to get me pumped to run well!! And I was still holding up very well, much better than in 2006!! At the 20-mile point, I estimated that I needed 8:45s or better to make it under 3:45, and so far so good. Now back to Manhattan...let's finish this thing!! :)

Upper 5th avenue felt like a continuation of the Bronx...good music playing, block party atmosphere...saw the Flyers' Mr. President right before Marcus Garvey Park, was glad to see him as I missed him back in 2006. Then miles 23 and 24 happened. That incline on 5th Ave that would.not.end. Yeah, I knew to expect it, but when you're tired, it's still a bitch. Plus, the running room was limited as the spectators were sorta crowding us...and I had to dodge walkers, and those who stopped and/or walked through the water stations (I didn't stop to walk once-at the water stations I just grabbed a cup on the run)...I didn't want them interrupting my "rhythm" so to speak-as I was afraid if I was forced to slow down or walk I wouldn't be able to start back up. My dad was near the mile 23 marker and took a picture...my mom and my brother missed seeing me, but my brother took off to try and catch me to yell out some words of encouragement. (was sorta glad my mom missed me-as she said she was gonna yell "almost there!"...which at that time, i did NOT want to hear...you know why!) Then almost out of nowhere, Derek pulled up besides me...took pictures, ran with me...I didn't even ask him to but I was so grateful for the support, as I think I went through a little mental bonk at mile 24 (which turned out to be my slowest mile of the race)...at that time, you're just counting down the blocks to the park, but it seems like forever. Finally, Engineer's Gate was within view...I said to Derek then "I got this."

The last 2.2 miles...so many things went through my head. Whatever pain my legs were experiencing at the time was probably nothing compared to what my relative has been dealing with for the last few months, so what's another 20 minutes. I had the same thought in my head that I had in the Philly Distance Run-that I didn't come this far to have another "so close" moment...I was so close to the sub-3:45, no way was I gonna lose it now!! After mile 25...good mile, but I wasn't completely in the clear just yet...gotta hustle for the last 1.2 miles!! Think of how great my last mile was in 2006. Think of that 7:44 mile 13 at Grete's. You can do it, you can do it. Saw Flyers EF and SD cheering on the East drive leading out of the park...was so glad to see a familiar face or 2 at that point, really gave me a boost!! Just kept the intensity up Central Park South...hit the half-mile to go sign and knew I had it...made me sooo happy. And the fact that mile 26, at 8:16 was my 3rd fastest mile of the race? Once again, I knocked that damn wall down...

That hill to Tavern...always a bitch, but I could take it on (and as it turned out-ran the last .2 at a sub-8 pace!) just counting down the "x yards to go" signs...oh yeah. The finish line calling my name just ahead...I felt like I was in that surreal dream state once again-but this was no dream. Or rather, this a dream coming true!! Put my arms up in celebration once again...sub-3:45 was mine, all mine!! Crossed the line and was officially 2-for-2 when it came to running a great NYCM!! :)

Official time-3:44:14 (half splits 1:50:43/1:53:31)
AG%-60.6%

Placing:
7980/38068 overall
1402/12877 females
530/4462 females 30-39

Once again-I was happy to stop running, but my quads hated me. I think I was in a lot more pain than I was 2 years ago! I got a finisher photo taken with my medal, but not sure if I was smiling!! Got my heatsheet and food bag, then started the trek up to the baggage trucks...the entire time I was saying "ow, ow, ow"...my legs were in such pain. I wanted to sit down, but I knew I had to walk it off. I actually didn't mind the walk to the baggage truck, as I had to walk that far to get home anyway :) Finally got my bag, exited the park, met up with la familia and headed to my place to shower and relax, before heading out to dinner and indulging in some fajitas, guac, chips and salsa, and the first of several, uh, "recovery beverages" (aka margaritas.) Continued the celebration across town with the Flyers, which included more margaritas!! Everyone was in good spirits that nite, happy with their times-was very glad to see.
I guess since I was in so much pain after crossing the finish-it took awhile to sink in how everything just went according to plan, everything went so smoothly...that I achieved a goal that over a month ago, I thought would have been "crazy" or "scary." Only thing I may have done differently was run that first 5K a minute slower...but hey, I still got my goal, so ain't complaining :) And I got my goal thanks to my great support system-whether you were cheering from afar or on the course-you don't know how grateful I am that I had you. My training, my mental toughness, may have gotten me to the finish line when I did, but "I get by with a little help from my friends" as well :)

What's next? That's a topic for another day, another post. Right now, just sitting back and enjoying this one. :)

you guys are great at guessing!!

you know that?? :)

once again-the most popular response to the poll turned out to be what happened today!!

turned out a cool 3:44:14. yep, a 14:12 PR. hells yeah.

here is how it unfolded (thanks to the chip):

Location	Time	Pace/mile (cumulative)
5km	0:25:32	8:13
10km	0:51:52	8:20
15km	1:18:26	8:24
20km	1:45:00	8:26
Half-Marathon	1:50:43	8:26
25km	2:12:13	8:30
Mile 16*	2:17:30	8:35
Mile 17	2:24:49	8:31
Mile 18	2:33:16	8:30
30km	2:38:36	8:30
Mile 19	2:41:37	8:30
Mile 20	2:50:19	8:30
Mile 21	2:58:57	8:31
35km	3:05:39	8:32
Mile 22	3:07:39	8:31
Mile 23	3:16:26	8:32
Mile 24	3:25:36	8:34
40km	3:33:00	8:34
Mile 25	3:34:14	8:34
Mile 26	3:42:30	8:33
Finish	3:44:14	8:33

*chip mat for "mile 16" was over a minute after the actual mile 16 marker-my mile 16 split according to my watch was 2:16:19, 8:31 pace-didn't think I slowed that much!!

make no mistake, it was tough, i sure had to fight for it in the last few miles. and i don't know what the hell happened with my first 5k split :)

on the other hand...today just reminded me what great friends i have, and what great mental toughness I have. and that, my friends-is what got me to the finish line when I did :)

more to come-it's celebration time!!

this one's for you

Less than 24 hours to go til game time, til I take on NYC for the 2nd time. Familiar emotions, emotions I experienced 2 years ago, yet different ones this time around.

Unlike last time, I'm not gonna go through the whole rundown of my training. I'll just sum it up by saying I was very happy with how it went this year and it was very drama-free. All I gotta do is have trust in it and know it'll get me to the finish line the way I want it to.

Instead-taking a cue from the Laminator, I'd rather acknowledge those who helped get me here, and those who I'll be thinking about and those who I'll be running for.

Well first off, my teammates...for better or for worse, you guys are "my people" and we've had lotsa good times these past few months. Can't wait to celebrate afterwards and look forward to many more good times and, uh, good times :) And looking forward to seeing those of you who aren't running at the PowerGel station! :)

And as I'm sure most have you had guessed by now, I tried doing speedwork outside my team this year...part of the reasoning being the time being more convenient, but also I really needed a change of pace-no pun intended. And wouldn't you know it, turned out to be a perfect fit, and I think the race times speak for themselves :) And it's great having a coach who really "gets you" no matter if you're at the front or the back of the pack and just being very encouraging. So JS-thank you. Can't wait to have a celebratory drink or 2 afterwards!! :)

To the blogging community, my readers and other bloggers-thank you for reading, thanks for your comments, and it's been great reading about your own individual journeys to your own goal races too!! Keep on writing :)

La familia-they'll be watching from their posts on 1st and 5th Aves...and believe me, the parentals won't trek into the city on a weekend for just anyone :-P Can't wait to see you cheering...love you guys and appreciate your support more than you know.

The rest of my friends...non-Flyer, non-runners, co-workers, etc...whether we chat on a daily basis or just once in awhile, thank you all for your good luck wishes :)

And I am dedicating my race to someone special-I have a close relative who's dealing with an illness right now (I haven't spoken about it on here because well, I just want to keep it sorta personal) and he's been a fighter through the entire thing so well...if he can fight to the finish (and thankfully so far he has :) )-so can I :) So whether you like it or not, you're gonna be with me for 26.2 miles ;-)

So everyone that I mentioned above...tomorrow's race...this one's for you.

For all of you who will be on the course cheering-look for the gal in the red Flyer top who looks like my picture :-) For those further away and interested in my progress-you know the bib number (and it's OK to post updates in the comments, but I have one favor to ask-if you're doing any copying/pasting, please no posting my name-thanks!)

Maybe there will be a mobile update tomorrow morning before the race...but if not, that's all she wrote til I cross that finish line tomorrow at Tavern on the Green!!

Thanks again to all of you for your support-and good luck to all of you in blog-land (or not in blog-land) running tomorrow!!

expo chronicles, part 2...and more!

so much for relaxing today!! renovations on my building had to start today meaning lotsa drilling right outside my window. why does this always happen to me? :-p needless to say, relaxing meant leaving my apartment for awhile...which meant back to the expo!!


That was sorta planned-as I know Ritz, Ryan Hall and Brian Sell would be at the NYRR booth doing a Q & A and signing autographs. They had the Q & A for a little over a half-hour and then signed autographs-didn't get much of a chance to say anything except that I watched them in the Trials last year while volunteering and found the race very inspiring-but they were nice enough to post for a photo op :)


All you Amazing Race fans will recognize who is in the picture with me ;-) He's obviously running a different "amazing race" this coming Sunday and wanted to meet the Olympians too!!

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Flyers pasta party last nite at annual fave Sambuca!! Food was great and plentiful (and there was some left over-I have dinner for tonite too!! :) And there were actually a couple who came in costume...including one trying to be "Joe the Plumber" :-p funny thing-i think there were as many runners drinking as non-runners (1 glass of red wine was the drink of choice for the marathoners...) and i'm sure you can guess who started it ;-)


Flyers MF, TB, Runner26 and me posing at the pasta party. The 2006 NYCM pregaming crew reunited (and discussing plans for this year too!)

and now i'm happily spending Halloween eve carbo-loading, hydrating, and relaxing :)
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Finally, I wanted to post something that a Flyers ex-president had written in our weekly newsletters-I found it to be one of the best NYCM course descriptions I've read and when first reading it 2 years ago, really got me pumped up for the big day!!

For you first timers, have a great time, enjoy the city. It is an absolutely amazing first time experience. When you are on the Bridge for the start - look over to the left if you can - the fireboats will be spraying plumes of red, white and blue water. Look at the skyline of Manhattan - it will bring tears to your eyes. When you get to Brooklyn - look at all those people on 4th Avenue - they are there for you. When you make the right turn at the Williamsburg Bank building (that tall building that has been taunting you for eight miles)and run down that street - listen for a band that plays on the stoop of a building on the right - they will either be playing "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones, or "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivior (ok so they're dating themselves, but who cares!). When you hit the Pulaski Bridge, the gateway to Queens, look left - there is your goal - Manhattan. Try not to look to far in front as you'll see the dreaded Queensboro Bridge.

Yeah - that bridge. You've heard the horror stories. Don't think about it - think about doing a hill in Central Park - think about starting at the 102nd Street transverse on the westside and running the north end of the park - think about anything but that darn bridge. Once you hit the crest, start listening - not to the sound of your breathing (that's boring) - listen for a roar that will get louder and louder. When you start heading downhill and around the left hand bend, stay to the right - there are usually official photographers there. Back to the noise - it will hit you like a wall of water - I'm not kidding - you will tear up - this is your city - this is your race - these people are here to see you. Enjoy the next several miles. Don't get over excited - you've still got those last 10 (remember from last Sunday how easy it felt?)

At mile 18 - look for us - look for Powergel - we are your teammates and we will get you that double tangerine or whatever you want. When you leave us, just think, eight more and then I get a bath! Next up is East Harlem - gets a smaller crowd, but still cool. Then it's that other bridge - Willis Avenue, which if you drive over has potholes that swallow elephants (they put a rug over then for you).

The Bronx - its short and sweet, but they are out there. Back to Manhattan - that little twist and turn onto Upper Fifth Avenue. Past the gospel choirs by Mount Morris Park, to Fifth Avenue. Now you can count down the blocks. Five blocks is a quarter mile, thirty two blocks to home - the Park. It's a an uphill that didn't seem so long last Sunday, but its there. The Park - so tantilizing on the right. For you old timers, there's that turn at 103rd Street (still think they should have kept it?).

Now you're at 90th Street. The noise comes at you again as you turn in. You know this road - this is really home. How many races have you run here, how many loops? Where's that pothole, where's that lamppost. You have your own mental markers here. There's 72nd Street, the start of the Saturday am run. Wait, now here's the tease, you are heading out of the park to Central Park South - it becomes the world's longest 3 avenues. Where are all the horses? Did they get all the manure up? Turn back into the Park, there's the drive, where's the finish? There it is - its that darn uphill again - who thought of that cruel trick, but you can sprint it and finish it looking like a true winner.

As you cross the finish - don't look down and stop your watch right away (one second won't matter) - put your arms in the air and get that official photo of you crossing - it will make the memory so much more real.

expo chronicles, part 1

The bib that just screams "wave 2, blue start" :) And I can't remember the last time I have been a "B"...fill in the blank. hehe!!


Me hugging a coupla of official, Asics-branded NYC Marathon teddy bears :) Cute.


Me and a Flyer friend getting our pic taken with Meb Keflezighi!!

can someone please end this week?

seriously, if there is any way I can skip over to Saturday night, that would be fabulous. thanks in advance.

i swear, it's been a quiet year work-wise, why does all hell need to break loose around the most important day of the year for me? trying to wrap up loose ends, making sure all bases are covered since i plan on taking off thursday & friday to de-stress...yet I have been told that i may need to be reachable if a question comes up on a certain project...arrrgghhh... (even though apparently that is an absolute last resort...)

all this damn stress is not good for me right now...not good...and knowing how stress affects my running, i'm seriously afraid that it is gonna affect my performance on sunday...that i'm just gonna have to take it as a "fun run." we'll see...

did i also mention that it's raining like crazy and i left my umbrella at home?

sigh.

and in other news-is it possible that we may be seeing november baseball once again? though for the sake of certain people (yes, all you Phillies fans ;-) ) i hope that is not the case!

no kickoff for me

For the first time since I started doing NYRR races, I shied away from the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff 5-Miler that kicks off "race week." Either I've been a race participant (2004, 2005, 2007) or a spectator (2006, during our "last 10 miles run.") I had 6 miles on the schedule today, and preliminary plan was to do 3 miles, then meet up with the Flyers with 3 miles to go of their last 10 miles run, so I could also cheer on the runners. However, I decided sleep was much more important...so staying in bed and watching 90210 reruns seemed a lot more appealing :)

I'll do it later, I thought. And indeed I did, around 3 pm, the full Central Park loop. And apparently I didn't need to attend this morning's ridiculously crowded race (6500 finishers???) to get a taste of the marathon mania, there were signs all around. In addition to the bleachers that I also saw on Thursday nite, I also saw the orange medal stands, currently empty, soon to be filled with a helluva lot of medals. The marathon route banners all over the park! My 6-miler was a little quicker than I would have liked for one week out, but once again, my heart rate was in the easy zone the entire time, so maybe the tapering is working...

So my mission for this week-just remain stress-free. Which means just getting through to the end of business on Wednesday. The rest is a cakewalk. Carbo-loading, hydrating, a little running, pasta-party going, expo-visiting (which means lotsa money-dropping), sleeping, dreaming...dreaming of a certain marathon time? Perhaps...

single digits

nope, not the temperature-but the countdown til game day...9 days. 9 days til it's me against the marathon, me against the city, me against me.

And I saw the finish line bleachers being put up during my run last nite...very cool!! Last nite was supposed to be my last "medium-long" run til race day...planned 8 miles, was so tired during the day yesterday that I was tempted to cut it down to 6...split the difference and did 7-it's my taper, I can do whatever I want. :-P And for fun, threw in 4 half-mile pickups/half-mile easy...the pickups being 4:02, 3:45, 4:07, 4:03-that last one included the uphill by Tavern! And the average heart rate for all 4 of those were still in the easy zone-pretty cool!! (I don't know what was up with the 3:45-I'm assuming signal malfunction because I definitely didn't feel like I was running 7:30 pace!) From now til the end, nothing but short, easy stuff...the hard stuff is done!!

And I didn't last long being on the wagon this week, shocker of shockers...after having the afternoon from hell at work on Wednesday, I downed 2 glasses of red wine at the Flyers meeting that evening. You know what-I didn't go on the wagon before Broad Street or the Philly Distance Run (and I even had a glass of merlot the night before!)...didn't seem to hurt my performance now...did it? So yeah-everything in moderation. Still swearing by no appletinis or the like...(those things are pure evil!)

you won!! no you didn't!!

taking a break from taper madness to comment on some of the latest controversy in the running world...

So, the winner of this past weekend's Nike Women's Marathon...well, really wasn't. Why, you ask? Even though she ran the fastest time of all the women, the race organizers couldn't count her as the winner as she did not start with the "elite runners" who had the 20-minute head start. And yeah, people were outraged to hear of this-LetsRun.com even said they "got more emails on this article yesterday than any article we can remember." And this comes on the heels of the man who ran the 4th fastest time in Chicago not being counted as such, or receiving 4th-place prize money because-surprise-he didn't start with the elites. (Apparently the organizers turned down his request to be in the elite start? Not entirely sure. But apparently, the organizers did pay him prize money after the fact...)

Happens once, it's a coincidence. Happens twice in 2 weeks, well maybe they oughta rethink these "elite starts"-or at the very least the reasoning for them. For marathons like Boston and NYC-I believe they gave the elite women a head start to spotlight them more, make sure their race doesn't get lost among the men...though yes, it is possible that a fast female who starts with the main pack could finish pretty highly and yes, even beat most of those women (doubt one would steal the victory, but hey stranger things have happened...) But seriously, what was the reasoning for it in Chicago? And for the SF Nike marathon? Couldn't they just start them up front without the head start...let the masses have a chance to "race" the elites...when it comes down to it, it really should be one race.

So, this article also sparked some lively discussion regarding clock vs. net times...as quite a few races have gone to net times being the "official time," as races get more and more crowded and the start time differential gets larger and larger...there's ways to keep people who shouldn't be lined up in front from doing so and using net time is one of them. (Like in the NYRR races, all age group awards used to be based on clock time, points race scoring used to be calculated by finishing place by clock time.) And I know there are those that say going by net time really takes the "racing" out of a race and turns it into an individual time trial.

My thoughts? Trying to see it through a front-runner's eyes-I do understand that reasoning. You want to know who exactly you are racing, and if you knew that the runner who finished 10 seconds behind you on the clock but just ahead of you on net time, that could have pushed you to work a little harder. And what if the actual person who breaks the tape isn't the one with the fastest time? (I do think that has happened before, FWIW.)

However-changing the view, looking at it through my eyes, a mid-packer...I'm realistic, I will never be a 70+% AGer, I will never be in contention to win a race-for me, the competition is me against the clock. When going for a personal best time, sometimes the net time does make a difference, every second, even minute, counts. Take the Philly Distance Run for example, I was lined up appropriately and it took me over a minute to cross-had that counted instead of my net time, I would have missed out on a PR. Yeah, I know, I can take a net time with my watch. But if that were the case, what would my true time for that race have been? Why should I be penalized because I'm slower and I did the right thing and not gotten in the way of runners who rightfully deserved to line up in front of me? And how about what's going on now with the wave starts for NYC? Do we really want everyone pushing to get into wave 1, even if they don't belong there? We're very lucky to have the chip technology now...use it to the fullest extent, I say!!

So I guess for this latter issue, there really isn't one right answer. But what I think does need to be remembered is that racing-and pushing for a personal best time-happens at ALL levels, not just the 70+% AG group. Just because we ain't in contention for a win, doesn't mean it's just a "fun run" for us...

welcome to my taper madness world

gotta keep checking accuweather, the 15-day forecast is out...ok, yesterday it said cold with snow and rain for 11/2...now today no more snow, but warmer and rain...how many more times is it going to change?

freaking out about my start. are the monkeys really gonna police the corrals, or are all those assigned the green start gonna try and crowd the orange and blue starts? am i going to have to get to my corral mad early?

carbo-loading time...yay! but i'm running less now thanks to the taper...gawd, hope i don't get fat in the next 2 weeks!!

powergel...need more powergel for the big day. why is it nowhere seems to have the plain energy flavor?

4 miles last nite...legs felt fine, but still pretty slow. how am i gonna keep a faster pace during the marathon?

sooo tired last nite...plan was to go home, run, eat, watch "the hills" and then crash...couldn't even stay awake for the hills. pathetic. thank god for dvr...

flyers happy hour on friday. dammit, i don't think i can go, i'm on the wagon til the big day...

oh god, everyone in the office is getting sick. i need to wear a surgical mask at the office or something. i'm already drinking emergen-c like it's water...just need to make it through next wednesday...

And there you have it. Everyone, be glad you are not me right now. These next 12 days cannot go by fast enough...

1st ave has grown some hills

and today was the final dress rehearsal for the big day!! the "last 10 miler" with the Flyers (and some very cool non-Flyer pals too-JS, PM and DN :) ) Unlike 2 years ago when we had it the week before the marathon, I was preferring to run it 2 weeks before, as it was advised that running it the week before is not the best way to get a best performance on the big day. And apparently quite a few agreed with me-so Flyers assistant Coach J was nice enough to organize the "lite" version of the Last 10 Miler-meaning no baggage car, no water stop-or as I called it, "the badass version" :) (Seriously-I did an 18-miler through 3 boroughs without needing a baggage car and a water stop!)

So anyway, this morning getting up thankfully wasn't too painful after not getting home til 1 am last nite after a post-Chicago Marathon celebration party (and I was good-cut myself off at 2 glasses of wine!! That's it til after the marathon!) Did decide to cab it to 59th and 1st, as public transportation to that corner was not kind to the UWS'ers. I met everyone under the 59th Street Bridge, ready to go...

And off we went. Even though I intended to take it easy, our first mile was a little fast-probably due to the 8-8:30 types pulling us along, so we just had to let those guys go. Much better!! Was fun re-living 1st avenue from 2 years ago...though there was something that I forgot. I must have been high on something during the marathon-cuz dear god, I did not remember 1st Ave being that hilly (and that included the Willis Ave Bridge!!)

I think some of us forgot how to maneuver the Bronx, thank god Coach J was there after we stepped down from the Willis Ave Bridge to re-iterate the directions. Once we had that, it was easy to get from there to the Madison Ave Bridge (yay for Yankee Stadium view)...then 5th...then just a countdown to the park...then the last 2.2 miles of the route!! And me and a coupla others felt good enough to pick it up to 8:30ish for the last mile. As we entered the park, I was trying to "coach" my Flyer friend DM a little bit..."come on, you're chasing down 4 hours!! you've got it-just get up that hill!" :) And finally, we saw Coach J, acting as the "finish line" :-p We waited for the last 2 runners to get in, then went home (I think everyone just wanted to get out of the cold-it was perfect running weather, but not perfect weather to be standing around in wet clothes!)

So, averaged 9-flat pace for this run and felt pretty good-my legs didnt really like all the stopping and starting, but then again that will not be happening on marathon day :-) But was sooo glad to have had this refresher course, otherwise 1st Avenue may have taken me by surprise on race day-just in case whatever got slipped into my Gatorade 2 years ago doesnt get slipped in there again :-p

2 weeks!! I can't believe it...of course that means the 15-day forecast is up...predicting rain for now :( but I'm not putting too much confidence in that, I know how often it will change...

And in non-marathon/running news, Shake Shack has finally opened on the UWS!! This could be dangerous...must...resist....til after the marathon...

i still got it

nice run tonite...an 8-miler on the schedule, with a coupla MP miles to make it interesting. (no formal speedwork for now, nothing harder than marathon pace til the big day) A few easy miles (to get myself out of the hills), pick it up around the lower loop, run home.



And when I reviewed my splits afterwards...I had to laugh. Did I really pace the MP miles perfectly? Guess so :) My reward for this will be a rest day and a glass or 2 of wine tomorrow.

Next on the agenda? A few easy miles Saturday, then the Last 10 Miles on Sunday!!

And my registration card came in the mail today!! Little more anticlimactic this time around though, as unlike 2006, I had all the info about my start color and bib # already!

finally, i get my blue bib!!

yeah, i know in the past i've mentioned wanting a coveted blue bib for a NYRR race...meaning i'd be in the first corral (and joking that i'd even frame it too...LOL)

Well, I will be getting a blue bib, but of a different kind...

Bib numbers for NYCM are up (well only if you log into your profile)...and what did it mean for me??

2nd corral of the blue start!! (in wave 2)

And honestly, I couldn't ask for a better starting position. Top level of the bridge, close to the front but not too close that I'd be tempted to go out too fast. Now all I need is for the monkeys to actually police the corrals this year...

(and oh yeah-I'm sure there will be lots in wave 1 that shouldn't be there...and I'll have fun passing them. hehe :-p )

the countdown is now in the teens...19 days!! just a few more days til the weather obsessions start...