number ones

Well apparently this is a March Madness first!! All four #1 seeds in the Final Four!! And even better yet, that means all my Final Four teams in my bracket are still in it :) Kansas over UCLA in the final, let's make that happen!! C'mon, I can use the $$$...

The rest of this post shall be a mishmash of things...

• Had to go to DC for the day last Monday for a client pres that one of our salespeople was making. What a long day-spent more time on the train than we actually did with our client. But thankfully got an earlier train home...the Acela rocks!! As did kicking back with Coronas and pretzels
• The Hills? To quote my brother "Whenever a show goes to Paris, it's usually bad (a la The Real World)" As usual, Gawker sums it up just nicely.
• For a change, I'm not listening to my commenters. In the whole Brooklyn-Broad Street debate, I am going in the opposite direction and leaning towards Broad Street. Brooklyn will just need to talk trash about me for another year. But honestly, I'd rather run a good 10-miler than a mediocre half-marathon, and seriously...is it really a smart thing to run on a surface that has caused calf pain in the past (the boardwalk) while coming back from a calf injury?? Didn't think so.
• me and some other Flyers did some volunteering work in Central Park yesterday morning...a little raking, weeding, bagging and other cleaning stuff. And couldn't believe some of the things we came across...including a syringe. yick. I know this is NYC, but still...
• Took pictures at this morning's race (the Scotland Run)...got another kilt picture for Crazy Bandana-head...not a huge Flyer turnout (either that or a lot of Flyers may have been running incognito) As the boyfriend of one of my teammates said "How much did the Flyers have to drink last nite?" But damn...was there really about 7000 runners there?? (It did sure seem like it...)

decisions, decisions

well, the latest switcharoo on the NYRR calendar has, I'm sure, left plenty of racing plans in flux, mine included...

This past week or so, there was a little controversy with the Brooklyn Half-was originally scheduled for April 26th, then there was an announcement saying it was getting moved, then said announcement went away, finally this week there was an announcement saying it was getting pushed back a week to May 3rd. Supposedly the reason being that it would not have been kosher-no pun intended-to have an event on Ocean Parkway during the end of Passover. (between this, and the scheduling of the Queens Half last year...does NYRR ever look to see when the major Jewish holidays are???)

So now the rescheduled Brooklyn Half falls the day before the Broad Street Run. Part of me wants to continue with my original plan-being that my long run is up to 9.3 miles, I think I will be more than comfortable with the 10-mile distance by that time.

However-Brooklyn is remaining as a club points race, so I think the pressure would be on for me to do that one, even as a training run. And if there were any teammates that were thinking of doing Broad Street (we do get a few Flyers doing it each year), more than likely they'll probably do Brooklyn instead. Also, as you all know...I do sorta have a score to settle with the Brooklyn course.

I figure I have a week to decide, before the prices go up...

like a fly you can't swat

So as Purim is this week, this of course means a plethora of Jewish singles events. NC and I decided to go to one that was put on by the same group that put on the second event we went to here. We were both prepared for there to be lots of men doing lots of groping :-p

When we got inside, we both noted that the crowd seemed a little more tame than the previous event. Good, there may be hope. But of course, we can't go to any of these events without seeing someone we knew, or met once!! One being the guy from the previous event that remembered my LV bag. And another...well this guy took my number at the previous event but never called (I was indifferent to that though)-and apparently he went out with NC once but pretended not to recognize her. And this time he was pretending to not recognize either of us. But man...the entire night, no matter where we were in the bar, he was nearby. As I said to NC "he's like a fly you just can't swat."

No male prospects, unfortunately...but the music was good for dancing-thankfully no groping males! (Oh but there was the one who asked us if we had kissed any guys yet that night...oh jeez ;-) )Oh, and the party was costume optional...didn't feel like going all-out in costume, but thought it'd be fun to wear a tiara...nothing wrong with being a queen for a day (or night!) But the funny thing was that someone on the subway earlier in the evening, and one later too...thought it was my birthday or something because I had the tiara. Hey-doesn't have to be my birthday to channel my inner princess... :-p

oh asics...not again!!

so I'm surfing the various running message boards and came across a post previewing what Asics was gonna be debuting in a couple months...I had to check it out, as my lovely Cumulus 9's are-unfortunately-due for an upgrade. Should I be concerned?

Well...here is a pic of the Cumulus 10:



And here is a pic of my current cumulus 9s:














I will admit I like the red-white-black color scheme...Flyers colors!! But honestly-it looks like a completely different shoe!! Methinks I may have to be stockpiling the 9's shortly. And just when I thought I found the perfect shoe!! Goes changing on me (don't get me started again with the running shoes/dating analogy...)

too tired to think of a title

but just felt like writing down my random thoughts before i forgot...

• purple running tights are a major fashion don't. on that note, purple head-to-toe is a major running fashion don't. The Barney look hasn't been in style since...has the Barney look ever been in style??
• it is never a good idea to laugh and make fun of runners. because, ya know...you could be some dude dressed up in green in the midst of st. patricks day. and in your drunken stupor, drop your phone and wouldn't you know it...one of those runners you made fun of found the phone and graciously returned it to its rightful owner.
• it truly sucks to tell someone something in confidence, and then find out that information is used as ammunition at another time.
• it sucks more for the other people who unfortunately took the brunt of the abovementioned.
• but sometimes, a rave review pops up when you least expect it.
• sometimes the phrase "hope for the best, expect the worst" makes sense.
• and yes, i am being cryptic. for a reason ;-)

yeah, i think those 2 boroughs are one and the same too

i couldn't resist.






hmmm...maybe that's why Queens is currently missing from the August calendar...they are planning a dual-borough extravaganza to just nip those last 2 boroughs in the bud. The day after a 20-mile Long Training Run, no less!! I'm sure lots of people will be quite sore that Monday...teehee :-p

new school meets old school

So, Thursday evening was a "new members social" for the Flyers. The hope was that having an event specially designed to reach out to new members would lead to a great turnout...well it worked, the bar was packed with Flyers...new-school and old-school!! I was already in a good mood-as it was bonus payout day!-and was happy to chat with a bunch of the new peeps-seems like we got a bunch of good people that will hopefully be active this year!! This was a good idea that will hopefully be repeated at other times this year...

Kinda brought back memories of my "new member experience." Was about 4 years ago, I had only run a couple of NYRR races, thought about joining a club to meet more runners...saw the Flyer logo a lot at the races...finally, did one of their "new member" 4-mile runs and had my application in that same day!! But what I really think did it for me was the fact that probably an hour after I had my application sent, I was contacted by the same member who led the run, welcoming me, inviting me to run with several other teammates...sometimes, a personal touch makes a difference. But honestly, I threw myself in to everything from the beginning...group runs, races, happy hours, volunteering, the members were very receptive to that...and the rest is history :)

On the topic of running, hit over 20 mpw for the first time since the injury (21 to be exact), and Saturday's run was my longest in awhile at 8.5 miles. But made sure I kept up the XT-yoga 3 times and 1 spin class and some upper body work and made sure some of that mileage was on softer surfaces. I think for now, I'm content to stay around 20 mpw (give or take) and keeping up the XT. Still have my eye on Broad Street-haven't signed up yet...got 7 weeks to get comfortable with running 10 miles-I think I can do it...

Other randomly scattered thoughts...

Keep going back and forth with deciding whether or not to pay for JDate again (so I can send and receive messages)...do I or don't I? My luck has been mixed before, would this time be any different...?

Review time this week. Its gonna be interesting, to say the least.

And these 2 pictures surfaced from last weekend's race...I swear, if Brightroom had not gotten a single picture of me from this one-where it wasn't *that* crowded-this would have been a new level of uselessness for them. I still like the pics that the Flyer photogs take better though :)

let there be light

Now that I've recovered from losing that hour of sleep, I say bring on DST!! Yesterday I didn't think it would be the best idea to subject my legs to the pounding of the West Side Highway the day after a race...and thank god when I left work it was light, and when I started my run it was still light out meaning...bridle path!! Yep, one of my favorite running surfaces in the park that lately, could only seem to take advantage of on weekends. 3 miles doing a "figure 8" variation of the full bridle path, then a loop of the reservoir-which had the perfect surface at the time...softened up due to the rain, but very few puddles so no dodging necessary. And my legs were happy about that!!

At work today-a bit of a shakedown. We'll be OK, but something happened that...was a bit of a surprise, but also saw it coming a mile away. Ah, never a dull moment...

building from here

Today was as good as a comeback race as they come. Better than my previous ones, in fact...

Even though the Colon Cancer 15K was a "club points" race, I decided to do the 4-miler instead...the main reason being that I wasn't even up to running 9.3 miles, not even as a training run. And I felt I needed a short race to tell me "where I was at"-and had a feeling this one would be less crowded...that the 15K would take the brunt of the crowds due to the points race designation and the later start time. So I could just do my thing, then cheer on my teammates in the later race.

When lining up for the race, it looked like my suspicions would be true...was much less crowded than I thought!! And I didn't even see any other Flyers at first. Finally, Flyer JD came by and we chatted and tried to forget the fact that it was really cold and windy (was glad I decided to wear tights, but dammit, shoulda brought handwarmers for the start.) We got the warning from the race officials that there was "debris on the course due to the windstorm." Great...debris, black ice and crazy wind-this is gonna be fun!! :) Well...didn't turn out as bad as I thought!!

Mile 1 (7:50)-thankfully, not a bad start-it definitely helped that the running lane was wider than it had been in the past. Up Cat Hill...which honestly wasn't as bad as I remembered on the legs, but man...my lungs hated breathing in this icy air. Was pleased when I saw the mile split, so far so good...
Mile 2 (7:46)-this was Engineer's Gate to the 102nd St Transverse...saw Crazy Bandana-head taking pictures at Engineers Gate. Tried to pick it up, but didn't want to too much...since my least favorite mile would be next. Was happy with this split too...and praying that I would not fall apart on Mile 3 as I have in the past.
Mile 3 (8:10)-The wind had really picked up here by this point. Headwind + West Side Hills=bad combination. At least this mile wasn't as dramatically slower than it has been in the past, and I'll blame it on the wind :)
Mile 4 (7:38)-I could have just run an 8 minute mile and still gotten in under 32, but at this point, wanted better. Was all downhill from here...and they had already put up the mile 9 marker for the 15K which actually was good for me, as I knew I only had .3 miles to go!! Before I knew it, was making the last turn onto 72nd St and had finished!!

Final time-31:24, 7:51 pace (and the first time since February 2005 that I have run a 4-miler faster than 31:5x!) And to top it off, the Flyer women got 2nd place in the 4-miler and I was the first Flyer woman...so a silver team medal for me!! Yeah, a little bittersweet-considering I only got anything because all the faster women were doing the 15K instead...but I will definitely take it!! :)

Afterwards, got my bag with my jacket because it was COLD!!, chatted with Runner26 for a few minutes before her race, then went to 72nd to watch the 15K start...which looked like it was delayed a few minutes because a friggin truck was blocking the road. Then went over to the west side to keep Crazy bandana-head company while he was taking pics...and got to see the lead runners come in!! Boy, I can't blame NYRR for needing more race marshalls-the traffic control was horrible at that final corner-I'm surprised there were not any collisions with the lead runners and pedestrians. Finally, when it got too cold for me to bear, I ran home and changed quickly before heading to the east side to a Flyers captains meeting (and picking up a venti skinny vanilla latte on the way!! boy I needed it...)

So, today's race was a step in the right direction...considering I haven't run more than 17 mpw since the injury and have not done any speedwork or hill training...not too bad!! (And I'm convinced it would have been better if it were not as cold or windy...my breathing was still hurting for a couple of hours afterwards!!) Maybe I am better off with less mileage and more cross-training? Most importantly-the calf felt just fine!! At any rate-good to know where I'm at now, can only build from here...

those blue drinks are evil!!

See those drinks that me and crazybandanahead are holding? Those are Blue Moonaritas-just should be referred to as "just plain evil." I hadn't even checked in at the NYRR Club Night yet before I had one handed to me. Yep, just that alone shoulda signaled how the evening was gonna be.

Don't get me wrong, I did have a great time. After a lot of efforts in the last month or so to fill the Flyer tables (it was tougher this year-partially because the price had gone up again, but partially because once again, it was too close to the awards gala)-we got there, and had a pretty good group attending...from the open runners to the super vets.

Our team was the recipients of team awards yet again...our open men won third in their division, and our veteran women won second in theirs (and from what I heard-were very close to first!!) I of course initiated the screaming, I mean cheering when they were announced...congrats again, but next year I want to see both of you get first and get up on stage! :)

Then-the individual awards...and as everyone was quite antsy to get do the dancing, I do appreciate the efforts to move along this part of the program as quickly as possible. Our veteran superstar had won her age group last year, and was up again this year but unfortunately lost out (you'll get em next year!!)

And then came my favorite part...the dancing. And this year, I actually got nabbed on the NYRR site...with what is apparently my "signature arm in the air move" (as I was doing that same move in quite a few pics on the Flyer site!! Need a new schtick...) But by then, those damn blue drinks snuck up on me. Needless to say, there was no repeat of last year's post party, and I was glad I had off from work on Friday :)

All in all? Another fun and inspirational evening (and bandanahead agrees) If I can be running my best times 10 or so years down the line I'd be happy...but next year, stick solely to wine!! :)

monkey business

Oh, I just love the "First Mondays", or the time of the month that the downtown crew runs to beer/other assorted beverages. This month we returned to one of my faves-Brass Monkey. (as always, I know how to pick them!) The two Blue Moons were much needed, and it was fun chatting...and also checking out a fellow Flyer's bling from the Little Rock Marathon-apparently at 6 1/4" x 4 1/2", this is the biggest finishers medal ever!)

But my legs are feeling the brunt of the run today...not re-injured, but...I don't think my legs really like the surface of the West Side Highway path too much. Some elliptical, yoga and foam roller action will definitely be on tap for today...and I'd love to limit my other runs this week to the bridle path but the time of day may not permit that (dammit, can't Daylight Savings Time come already...Sunday is not soon enough...lol!)

But as much as I like running with the downtown crew, I may really need to re-think the Monday night runs...or at least the frequency of them. Throwing a question to all you NYC runners-if you run in both Central Park and the West Side Highway path-do you find that the latter surface is tougher on your legs? Inquiring minds wanna know :)

sugar sweet rum runners

I think these words pretty much summed up my weekend...

• I had quite a few sugar-rimmed watermelon and apple-tinis at Honey on Friday nite (great happy hour specials, BTW!)...and yes, I did briefly chat up a guy at the bar...nothing came out of it, except a free mojito :) And it was a fun girls nite out, which was really the point of the night anyways!
• Sampled some cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine-and let me tell you, their vanilla cupcakes really give Magnolia Bakery a run for their money-too bad it's located in the opposite corner of town from me (down in the Lower East Side!)
• I consumed many rum drinks (no rum runners though!) on Saturday nite-needless to say, Coogan's was NOT happening for me on Sunday. No sirree, as I did not wake up til noon. That's OK, done it once...
• Did the full 6-mile loop yesterday for the first time since the injury-yay!!

On tap this week? 3-day workweek, some "monkey"ing around, schmoozing with the rest of the running world, and running a race that-for me-is pointless :-p

More to come...