the mid-season report card

As of today, I'm halfway done with NYCM training...9 weeks down, 9 to go!! And since they evaluate during the All-Star break in baseball, makes sense for me to do the same, right? :)

So honestly...compared to 2 years ago, this first half of training has been surprisingly drama-free!! 2 good races that basically told me that I was on track. No injuries-thank god. If my only complaint was running in heat and humidity, I'll take it. Only regret was that I really had to do a lot of runs solo. I'd like companionship if possible, but for the most part, if I tried to run with a group, I'd be struggling to keep up-at the expense of my own training. Kinda sucks, but what are you gonna do.

One thing that I had this time that I didn't 2 years ago was, of course, Mr. Garmin :) And he has proved to be quite helpful so far...especially his accompanying heart rate monitor. Yes, I think that has really made a positive change to how I train-really has helped me keep easy runs easy, and determine what my correct tempo zone is...and the fact that my hopeful marathon pace falls in the easy zone is encouraging :) But I think the result of that is that the training hasn't really tired me out yet...I've done three 40-mile weeks so far and felt fine. Back in 2006, 40-mile weeks just wiped me out. I have kept up the cross-training twice a week too...so far so good.

So...9 more weeks to go!! Which includes six more weeks of hard work-including three 20-milers (thankfully, none on consecutive weekends this year!), a half-marathon, and lotsa marathon pace work. Unfortunately I am getting to the point in my training where I feel like eating everything in sight...which for me, is not a good thing. I'm really gonna have to try and keep that in check-and the end of September is gonna be tough between the Jewish holidays (read: mom's good cooking) and my b-day (read: cupcakes in abundance)...if I can get through that unscathed, I will be happy. (though if I could still lose a few pounds between now and 11/2, I wouldn't cry or anything.)

As for the Philly Distance Run...I'm gonna kinda sorta use that as my predictor-weather permitting (if it's a hot day, of course I am gonna adjust.) Whatever time I wind up with if I'm able to race it all-out, I will add 10 minutes to whatever the McMillan calculator predicts...figure that's the safest bet. So to be on track for sub-3:50...that pretty much means running sub-8 pace for the half which I think, in the right conditions I can do. Of course, I'd love to run under 1:43 and get rid of that old half-marathon PR. And my Broad Street time predicts 1:42:55 for a half...so hey, who knows, it may be possible. :) (My highest mileage week for Broad Street was 27 mpw-just for reference sake...)

Marathon pace!! As mentioned before, I will need to make sure 8:45s feel like a cakewalk by November 2nd. I do plan to do some tempo runs that have some MP miles, and try and end some longer runs with some MP miles...I will be doing the 18-mile tune-up and Grete's Great Gallop as training runs...and use the multiple loops to work on pacing (first slow, next pick it up a little, final loop at MP.) But I am really gonna have to work on keeping things in check for the first loop...no doing 8:50 pace like I did in the Tune-Up in 2006.

So there you have it-I got my work cut out for me for the next 6 weeks...then I can relax a little before the big day!

And I kept up the dress-rehearsing this weekend...my long run was 18-and-change miles that included 3 boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) and 3 bridges (Williamsburg, Pulaski, Queensboro)...my point was to try and hit the last 2 bridges with mileage on my legs to sorta mimic the marathon. And boy the Queensboro Bridge felt tough this time...legs were definitely tired. Then again, I did do the run in the afternoon...so the heat of the day didn't exactly help matters :) But still, I hope I do not feel like that on 11/2...

And I wore my new RunningSkirt for this run and it felt pretty good...I don't think I've ever worn a skirt for this long a run before. I am seriously considering wearing a skirt in the marathon...we shall see :)

another fine day at the open

Once again, me and baby bro took our annual day trip to Flushing Meadows for the US Open day session. Hoping there would be some good matches on the schedule yesterday-especially on the men's side for me :)-and indeed...James Blake would be playing-I hadn't been able to see him play yet (last year I got to see Andy Roddick, 2 years ago I got to see Rafael Nadal-who unfortunately was playing the night session this time!) This year, we definitely got our money's worth...

First, proving the latest news, that the Grandstand court is the cool place to be...it was almost impossible to find 2 seats together, in the shade, with an unobstructed view (even if it wasn't close enough) but finally we did. First match we saw was of wildly dressed American player Bethanie Mattek, whose attire of the day seemed to be inspired by the beach volleyball team-or at the very least her sports bra was, with the top over that just as a formality (this pic can explain better than i can) After a while, we took to calling her "Britney"-all those "B" girls are the same :-p Anyway, she was done in straight sets (complete with "a couple of screaming outbursts, one of them including an expletive that invited a warning from the umpire" in the second set)

...then came the match on the Grandstand court that we really wanted to see, that of Brit player Andy Murray. And it was a great first set, both players really on their game, but Murray was broken quickly in the 2nd set. We had to leave during that set to get over to Ashe stadium, as the James Blake match was about to start...

...and it was underway by the time we got some more, uh, refreshments and found our seats. Blake didn't look to be having a good day at all though...he was making quite a few errors and let the first set get away from him. Did appear more dominant in the next set and took that one...then with the third set just barely underway, his opponent retired with a back injury. Damn! If only we had known...we would have been better off staying for the rest of the Murray match, as apparently that turned out to be an exciting one!!

We wound up staying for one more match-women's #1 Ana Ivanovic had her match moved over to Ashe stadium. This was probably the best match of the day that we saw...Ivanovic was playing a French qualifier ranked #188th, but she was having her work cut out for her...as she made a lot of errors and lost the first set. She managed to make less errors and save herself by winning the second set...but lost the 3rd set (even after her opponent squandered 2 match points by double-faulting!)-leaving us to witness an upset (according to the press, "one of the biggest upsets in tennis history!") that no one would have called!!

Finally leaving at 6:30, we called it a day and headed on the 7 train back home. Til next year!!

mini-marathon tempo

now that i'm nearing the halfway point of training, it's time to start perfecting marathon pace...gotta make 8:45s seem like a cakewalk by November 2. But not too much of a cakewalk that I'm going out too fast in the beginning...and not too hard so I can hit it at the end while tired. So...in order to work on that, I did a tempo run as follows...

0.5mi in 4:22 (marathon pace)
0.5mi in 4:22 (marathon pace)
1.0mi in 8:00-8:15 (half-marathon pace)
0.5mi in 3:55 (10-mile pace)
0.5mi in 3:55 (10-mile pace)
1.0mi with 1st half in 3:45 (10k pace), 2nd half in 3:55 (10-mile pace)
1.0mi in 8:45 (marathon pace)

all with short recoveries in between...and I set Mr. Garmin to take automatic half-mile splits so I didn't have to worry about hitting the split button for the half-miles, and to help with pacing the full miles. So kind of like a mini-marathon of sorts :) Pace at the beginning, tire myself out in the middle miles, still try and hit marathon pace at the end. And here's how it turned out (fast parts outlined in blue...)



again...pretty right on, huh? :) A little fast near the end though...need to work on that. Guess my legs still thought they were running 10K pace when they were supposed to run 10-mile pace!! And that at the end, anything slower than 7:30ish pace would seem easy and like a relief. Or maybe it was the awesome weather too...in the low 60s at 6 AM...beautiful!! (I did really try and hold back as much as possible in the 1st two pickups because of that...even if it meant running them slower than 4:22-didn't want the effects of the cool weather to make me go out too fast!) Bring on fall weather, I say!!

And just one more "hard" day to go before the halfway point in training (have 2 short/easy days in there too)...this weekend's long run. I'm thinking something bridgey...

terrific tuesday tidbits

First tidbit is that this is my 500th blog post!! Yep, 500 posts in less than 3 years. And 6 1/2 months to get from 400 to 500 posts. Yes, I do need a life.

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As always, I get a SkirtSports discount code when I really don't need to buy any more skirts. (but maybe I should try the running dress...do I really need it though?) I'm amused at the fact that it's a 23% discount...here's their explanation:

Why 23? Here are a few good-as-gold Olympic reasons...
The number of seconds it would take Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt to run 1 mile.
The combined ages of China's women's gymnastics team members.
The number of times President Bush actually thought about slapping Misty May-Treanor on her bikinied butt instead of the small of her back.
The number of hurdles Lori "Lolo" Jones could knock down and still look smokin' HOT doing it.
The number of Olympics Dara Torres will compete in before she finally gets tired.
The number of Olympic gold medals Michael Phelps will win in London 2012.

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Season 4 of The Hills is underway and hasn't disappointed yet! (The season started at the perfect time...now I have something to occupy my TV time on Monday nights again!) Happy to see all the drama is back. Anyone who is just starting to watch and needs a refresher of the previous 3 seasons...here is one, courtesy of my brother (who I think missed his calling as a celebrity blogger...)

"LC is mad at Audrina because Audrina was mad at Lo for making her hang out less with her, after LC was mad at Heidi, so she spent more time with Audrina after she moved in, but then spent less time with Audrina after Lo moved it because Audrina and Lo don't get along well, and now Audrina is talking to Heidi because she's mad at LC, even though she doesn't like Spencer, who doesn't like LC, even though LC is friend's with Spencer's sister, making Spencer and Heidi mad at Spencer's sister for being friends with LC, even if Spencer's sister used to not like LC because LC didn't like Spencer, and Spencer is mad at Brody because Brody is friends with LC, but LC is still mad that Brody won't settle down with her, and because Brody hooked up with Jen Bunny, thus making LC mad at Jen Bunny, so Jen Bunny be-friended Heidi, but then didn't like Heidi because she told lies about LC...."

Trash TV. Gotta love it.

olympians...they're just like us!!

OK-all you readers of US Weekly, you know how they have their section of "Celebrities...They're Just Like Us!" (aka photos of celebrities doing things everyday people do) I guess after watching the track and field events, I thought some of those runners did some of the same things that we'd do in a race...

• In the women's 100m hurdles...Lolo Jones on her way to certain victory until knocking over the ninth hurdle. And her explanation afterwards was something I've heard plenty of times before, in some shape or form... "I usually hit a hurdle twice a year. It just sucks that it was on the most important race of my life."
• Sanya Richards going out at a blistering pace in the 400m, with her eye on gold...until she had nothing left in the tank at the end-still got a medal (bronze), just not the one she wanted. (How many times are we told in a race...don't go out too fast?)
• Boy, I felt for Jen Rhines in the 5000m final. (Speaking of, what BS that NBC didn't even air it...) I saw her time, and it looked like something was wrong, more than just "having a bad day"-turned out she had an injured foot and still ran on it. Why, I did the same thing once-back in 2005, the now-defunct Mets Run to Home Plate...I was an idiot to run it, but I did-at least it was a wake-up call to me at the time to bite the bullet and take time off. OK, the stakes were obviously higher for Jen Rhines :) But I totally understand the pain she felt during that race...
• Both of the US 4 x 100 relay teams...guys, don't you practice handoffs? :)
• Then in the case of the men's marathon...sometimes, you just have to forget what the leaders are doing and run your own race...which is what the US trio did. (And what I did during the 2006 NYCM-though it wasn't the race leaders that I had to let go!) They all ran great, smart races-it's just unfortunate that it wasn't medal contention that day. But 2 Americans in the top 10 is fabulous... (yay, Ritz and Ryan!)

I'm sure there is more...but those were just some of the things that stood out most in that category :) Yep-they are all amazing athletes, but in some ways, just like you and me :)

(and then there are those like Usain Bolt...and Michael Phelps...who I'm not even sure are human...hehe)

Even though I'm going through post-Olympics withdrawal already, I'm glad to resume a more normal sleep schedule...for now...

And I got my confirmation for the Philly Distance Run (complete with race # and corral #...I got a cool race number!) in the mail today...I'm getting as excited about that race as I am about the big one :)

this ain't no running town

So, any of the long run options with the Flyers this morning were way too early for my liking (as yours truly needed to sleep off more than her share of appletinis and vodka tonics...) But, I figured since this was the last weekend of the Summer Streets...running to City Hall and back would be just perfect for my long run, and all I have to do is be done (at least with the streets) by 1 pm...easy enough, right?

Well, that's how it started off...but as I turned onto Park Avenue from 72nd street (and saw Johnny running the other direction!)...I noticed that things seemed a little different from 2 weeks ago, and it became more evident the further south I ran. Maybe it was the later hour...but it looked like a lot more cross-streets were open to traffic, and there were a lot more bikes out. And it's weird...but as a runner, I kinda felt like I was in the minority...the bikers had the designated "fast lane", the walkers the designated "slow lane"...where's a runner to go?

It got worse once I got all the way to the end, and then added on an out-and-back over the Brooklyn Bridge to get my hill work in :) Again, there was a bike lane, and the pedestrian lane was filled with people walking 4-5 abreast...I swear, I never had to yell out "on your left" or "on your right" so much. And I got yelled at for being in the bike lane...well sorry, but where was I supposed to go-instead of yelling at me, yell at the walkers for taking up the entire lane, so I don't have to edge into the bike lane!

Couldn't believe I was saying this, but I was actually relieved when I wound up back at the park. Maybe the "Summer Streets" novelty wore off...but I felt today, NYC was a biker and walker-friendly city...but runner-friendly? No way...we were like the forgotten group or something. (Yeah, I coulda dragged myself out of bed and joined NYRR at 7:30 downtown...but again, I needed beauty sleep :) ) But whatever, it was what it was...14.7 more miles under my belt. Had to GMap this one, as Mr. Garmin freaked out yet again near Grand Central...saw the distance move backwards more than once!!

In other news, I got my free skirt in the mail today!! Not only did I get this cute pink skirt, but they threw in a free tank top (which says on the back "you've been passed by a skirt!") too!! Thanks again to the ladies at RunningSkirts.com-this was definitely a nice treat!

And tonite will be the USA's last chance for a track and field medal...the men's marathon!! Go Ryan, Ritz and Brian!! (though I know Ryan is the best medal hope!)

submasters PRs!!

OK...humor me a little bit here. I'm indulging myself a little...I figured until I ever get another distance PR, keeping track of my submasters PRs (best times since turning 30) may not be a bad idea... (I'm only using common distances...those I have raced several times and plan to race again in the future...no funky ones like 7 miles or 2.5 miles, etc.)

(list as of 8/8/09)

Distance	Time	Race/Date
5K	22:44 22:25	Party With Purpose 5K-7/15/08 Party With Purpose 5K-7/14/09
4M	30:42 29:43	Run As One 4-miler-4/13/08 Holiday 4-Miler-12/13/08
5M	38:11 36:49	Club Team Championships-8/16/08 NYRR Club Team Championships-8/8/09
10K	50:34 47:06	Naples-New York Park to Park 10K-7/14/07 Joe Kleinerman 10K-12/7/08
10M	1:17:30	Broad Street Run-5/4/08
Half-marathon (13.1M)	1:48:57 1:42:20	Grete's Great Gallop-10/1/06 Philadelphia Distance Run-9/21/08
Marathon (26.2M)	3:58:26 3:44:14	New York City Marathon-11/5/06 New York City Marathon-11/2/08

damn...that awful half-marathon in the rain has been my best since turning 30??? (Not anymore!!)
And obviously I need to run more 10Ks...or actually be in decent shape for one...or not have the weather be inferno-like conditions!! (And that happened...finally!!)
The marathon one shall (hopefully!) go down this year :) (And it did!!)

update 8/8/09-it has happened finally, all best times run as a sub-master are now lifetime PRs...yeah!! :)
will no longer be updating this post, but will keep for posterity sake :)

running more forgiving than life sometimes...

so, the baby bro finally broke down and joined Facebook (though he swore up and down that he never will.) and i was shocked to find on his friends list...was the Ex-Boyfriend. (and apparently the Ex found baby bro via the "email friend finder"...meaning they must still keep in touch. why my brother keeps in touch with someone i broke up with 8 years ago, i will never understand...) So yeah, I had to sneak a peek at his friends list...which of course included his wife...and some other peeps I remember from college, some with their shiny married names, others with their babies as their profile picture...

and it's not just that, it seems whenever i browse the listings of people I graduated high school and college with, that's all I see-peeps with married names, or either their babies or wedding photos as their profile picture. And I think "my god, that's so many...what's wrong with me that I'm just not there yet?" Yeah, no matter how much I may have accomplished so far, there's a part of me that really feels like a loser that I haven't settled down and started a family yet. I turn 32 in a month, it's not like I have all the time in the world...

Then I get to thinking...ya know, we have runners in their late 30s winning Olympic marathons-as was the case this past weekend. Some runners run some of their best times as a masters or vet runner, in fact we're told that improvement comes with time, especially in the marathon. Qualification standards are made easier for us, the older we get (at least for Boston and NYC.) Running is a sport, a way of life that seems so much more forgiving than...well, real life. There's no "hurry up and do something by a certain time" (well, unless you're trying to achieve Olympic qualifying standards, but that ain't me!) Older runners are admired for their accomplishments, not looked down on. Guess in the race of life, I will always be trying to keep up, but maybe in this race, I'll have more of a chance of winning...

harder, better, faster, stronger

Those words, originally the title of a Daft Punk song, more recently sampled in a Kanye West song...ran through my head during today's NYRR Club Team Championships. Did that help? Read on!!

Now I'll reveal what my goals for the race were-and in honor of the Olympics, I'll use medal colors :)

Bronze-beat last year's time (40:10)-get revenge on last year!!
Silver-beat my 2006 time (39:03)
Gold-distance PR...sub-37:51

I was so nervous and excited for the race, I found it a little hard to sleep last nite. (Plus a certain finish of a certain swimming event had something to do with it too!! dayum...) But despite that, I got up right when the alarm sounded, and went through the usual pre-race routine...eat, drink coffee, stretch, get dressed, listen to music, make sure Mr. Garmin is charged...

As usual-I timed my warmup to go up the west side so I could cheer the Flyer guys on during the first mile. And yeah, I was nice and cheered for friends on other teams too :) And they all seemed very appreciative-being that the women's race is not for another hour, I'm sure that part of the course didn't have a lot of cheering support. Everyone was still pretty much bunched together, so pretty much all of the runners passed by in a matter of minutes. So I continued on up to 102nd Street, and found some of the Flyer women who had staked out a spot near the finish to cheer the guys on. Soon enough, the leaders came by...finishing in 23-and-change...are you friggin kidding me? I can't even do 4 miles in 23 and change minutes! Hell, there are times when I can't even do a 5K in that amount of time :) Around 28-29 minutes, we kept an eye out for the first Flyer, who I knew would be coming in around that time...we did think we saw one, but it actually turned out to be a Reservoir Dog-their singlets are very similar to our latest singlet style!! But one by one, the Flyer men passed by, running strong towards the finish.

After a while, I left to go warm up and loosen up and head towards the start...and yep, even though it was a small field-around 500-they still used the corrals...and yay, I was in the 2nd/red one :) It may not have mattered in a race this size, but was still cool. A bunch of my Flyer teammates were in my corral, as was Uptown Girl. Everybody was chatting it up, the starting horn took us by surprise!! Here we go...

Mile 1 (7:35)-through the west side hills...I knew this mile would give me an idea as to what kind of race I will have...I was gonna go for it!! The crowd support was fantastic...and Uptown Girl and I were running together for most of this mile, I knew I was having a good race when I could keep up with her :) Was feeling good, feeling strong...saw my mile split and was pleased...in the ballpark! :)
Mile 2 (7:28)-wheeeeee.....downhill mile!! A bunch of the Flyer and the TRD guys were running in the other direction and cheering. Still felt good!! After this mile I thought "cool, I'm on PR pace!!" :)
Mile 3 (7:45)-always the mentally tough mile!! Around the bottom of the park, so the least support. Plus, it had warmed up to about 70 degrees by then and was very humid...not as bad as it could have been, but this mile was unshaded and it took a little bit of a toll on me. This was when I started playing those words over and over in my head..."harder, better, faster, stronger." Keep me motivated. (Funny...when listening to music pre-race...yeah, I was listening to Kanye, but different song-"Champion"...funny what gets stuck in your head! Anyway, off the subject here...) A couple women did pass me, including one of my teammates, but I was still sticking with others, and even passing others. So all in all, not too bad. Just keep everyone in sight and I'll be fine.
Mile 4 (7:58)-Flyer SD caught up to me right before Cat Hill...she was another good one to use as a rabbit, as when we're both having a good day, we're pretty similar in races. Cat Hill sucked as usual, but I felt strong climbing it, passed a few more women...guess hill work...well...works!! :-D After climbing the hill I edged ahead of SD for good...last time I saw her til the finish. Knew this mile would be slow, but was happy this was under 8 minutes...that hasn't happened in quite awhile!!
Mile 5 (7:25)-OK...I knew a PR was out at this point...I'd have to run under 7 minutes, which I didn't think I was capable of...so do the best I can, whatever that may be-I figured I had the bronze and silver goals in the bag :) As I approached Engineer's Gate, one girl who was running near me said "let's go" to me...we both picked it up!! As I passed the reservoir, I caught up to Uptown Girl and another Reservoir Dog, EV...as we entered the "tunnels of cheering" for the last half-mile (or as several Flyers started referring to it as-the "tunnel of love") I passed EV, then Uptown Girl...I said "come on let's go!" to each of them. OK-there was a method to my madness...let's all work together to kick it in...one picks up the pace, of course I will try to follow suit...you get what I'm trying to say :) Uptown Girl and I stuck together to the finish, where once again, the cheering was fabulous...much better than last year, methinks!! I heard lots of "Go (my name)!" which made me very happy..though my face may not have shown it at the time!! Just around the last corner...go go go!!!

And I wound up with 38:11, 7:38 pace...my 2nd best 5-miler ever and a "submasters PR" :) Very pleased.

So after the finish, I said the usual "good jobs!"...and it was cool...Uptown Girl, me, SD and EV finished one after the other...so I guess keeping them in my sights was a good thing :) Everyone then went to their respective teams' festivities...we had our usual bagel brunch and team picture, and lots of chatting and mingling. (And one of the other teams even shared ice cream with us!! cool. :) )

So yeah...another one coming so close. But once again, my PR was set in 60 degree weather, on an easier course, with no tired marathon training legs. So all in all, I actually think I outperformed that :) Splits may have looked all over the place, but they were actually pretty consistent with the terrain. Kinda wish I had been able to push harder in that last mile, but considering that once again I was breathless and couldn't speak full sentences for a few minutes after the finish, I think I did give it all I had. And once again-I have not come this close in 4 years, so I'm glad that 2008 is looking to be a comeback year. And I think it could mean good things will happen in the half and the marathon coming up!! This predicts a 3:44 marathon (courtesy of the McMillan calculator) so maybe, just maybe, the 3:50 marathon goal will be within my reach...

And on the topic of marathons, I'm psyched to watch the womens' Olympic marathon tonite!! Go Deena! (This is providing that NBC doesn't switch coverage to the trampoline or whatever else :-p)

the excitement is mounting...

Thank god I'm taking a summer day tomorrow, I'd never be able to concentrate otherwise.

First off...all the Olympics action had kept me up late at night (yum...male swimmers and male gymnasts...) leaving me a bit sleep-deprived this week. And to compliment what Uptown Girl said...just wait until track and field starts!! I'm gonna need some uber-strong coffee next week :) Little bummed that the women's 10K will be in the wee hours tomorrow nite, but I guess that's what DVR is for. (And yeah, I'll probably find out the results beforehand, but I won't post spoilers until the event actually airs.) Then the women's marathon on Saturday prime time!! Though I'm sorta looking forward more to the men's marathon-that one is a little more personal to me, as I saw some of those guys qualify in my own backyard!! And that is just the tip of the iceberg!
(And to all the Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte fans...you're welcome for the link to that pic :) There's an even better one in the August 18th issue of US Weekly but I can't find it online!)

Then I know I sound like a broken record, but excited for Team Champs on Saturday!! :) The weather is looking to be as good as it was last year...unfortunately I wasn't able to capitalize on it then, but I'd like to think I'm in better shape now and can get revenge on last year's race. Goals...I have an idea but don't want to say. All I know is-I'm going for it. Only way to know where I'm at!!

And to top it all off-I just found out that I won a free running skirt from RunningSkirts.com!!! Thanks to being a "fan" of their Facebook page and wearing one of their skirts in my profile picture-which was this one from Need for Speed. Hey-who doesn't love free running apparel? A girl can never have too many running skirts... :)

Now if you excuse me, I gotta try and work for the next few hours :)

(Also-can anyone else believe it's been 5 years since the infamous blackout??)

doin' the wave

Wow!!

So the latest/greatest change to the NYC Marathon-this year there will be three wave starts!!

I know there were complaints about the one in the green start last year-but after hearing positive reviews of wave starts from marathons like Boston, I think this may not be so bad. Of course, they'll have to do away with the "F" start, but it's worth it for a cleaner overall start and less congestion on the streets.

This is-of course-providing that they really do police the corrals (as they do with the NYRR races), since as we all know, this has never happened in the past...

Other NYC Marathon-ers...what are your thoughts?

running the streets

My long run yesterday included one of the best ideas that this city has had in awhile-the "Summer Streets" initiative...where Park Ave, 4th Ave and Lafayette Ave were closed to cars between 72nd Street and City Hall. So it made sense to incorporate this into a long run...hey might as well take advantage of this unique opportunity, right? :) So Flyer GW included Flyers that were willing participants to join him and Team For Kids for a long run that would start downtown and go up to the park, and continue with several bridle path loops to get in the mileage. Cool!!

Well the only downside was that we were getting an early start to coincide with NYRR's little fun run-meaning a 7:30 am start downtown, and getting there a little earlier. Meaning leaving my apartment a little after 6 am as the trains are always retarded in the early morning on a weekend. (And it was annoying that the A train I was on kept stopping due to "train traffic ahead"...what traffic???) But I did get there in time.

Despite the fact that it really wasn't that crowded, all the Flyers that were there were kinda scattered. So I was pretty much solo (well, as solo as one can get with other runners around) for the streets portion, which was fine as I kinda wanted to "take things in" and not get distracted. Running the streets was everything I expected and more :) There were even water stops for us too...nice!! There was still east-west traffic at a few major cross-streets so we had to stop every so often but that honestly wasn't a problem. Was cool to run through Soho, by Astor Place, through Union Square...and then my personal favorite part, Park Avenue. Unless you qualify for the Corporate Challenge championship, you don't get a chance to run on a car-free Park Avenue, so this was great. After emerging from the darkness of the underpass by Grand Central onto the open road-kinda felt like 1st Avenue in the marathon!! 72nd Street came way too soon, and to the park we all went.

Around the bottom of the park, TFK had a "water stop" which was where some regrouping took place before hitting the bridle path...I met up with 3 other Flyers and we stuck together for the remaining miles...which was fine-I definitely preferred having the company in the park :) So we stuck together and completed around 9 more bridle path miles, and I ran back uptown from the bottom of the park...making it somewhere between 17-18 miles for the day (Mr. Garmin was going quite flukey on the streets, so not quite sure what the exact mileage was.)

As for the long run, the legs felt fine-the surface of the bridle path and the absence of killer hills on the streets helped with that. I kept it easy (pace between 9-9:30, depending on how hilly it was) the heart rate was in the easy zone the entire time. I felt a little weak and under-fueled though, which surprised me, as I did think I ate enough the day before and the morning of, and I took 2 gels during the run. I didn't have any Gatorade or any other sports drink though, and I probably should have. Also, not that I like talking about female issues, but it was that time of the month and it wouldn't have been the first time I felt weaker or more sluggish because of that-any opinions on that, lady runners...is that common or unusual or something else? :)

Recovered with my usual venti skim iced vanilla latte, in addition to a coupla naps with the Olympics on the TV in the background...needed to get re-energized in order to enjoy some strawberry margaritas and Electric Lemonades that evening :) And after sleeping til noon today, got in a coupla easy reservoir loops before the rains came to close out this running week.

And even though it hasn't been a struggle at all to get in the miles, I still say yay for this week being a cutback week. I'm more excited for Club Champs on Saturday...I think I'm itching a little bit to race and it'll be interesting to see what I can do...

garmin-less

so Wednesday, as I would be going straight to the East 6th street track from work, I had Mr. Garmin in my bag, ready to go when I was. However, the battery was low...huh!! How did Mr. Garmin get turned on while in my bag? Well thank god I still had the old-school stopwatch with me...the Garmin really wasn't as necessary for pacing in a track workout, just means I'll need to find out the distance run from my office to the track the old-school way (GMaps pedometer)

So, the workout. 1200m at tempo, 400m recovery, 800m a little faster, 400m recovery, then 4 x 400 with 200 recovery, even faster. I was told to pace the "7:30ish" group (guess I have a rep as being a good pacer or something?) and surprisingly, everyone for the most part obeyed the pacer :) (well until the 400s where we declared it a free-for all.) And this was the damage...

Interval length	Time	Pace
1200m	5:42.29	7:39.05
800m	3:46.77	7:36.19
400m	1:47.02	7:10.58
400m	1:49.75	7:21.56
400m	1:48.55	7:16.73
400m	1:44.75	7:01.45

For whatever reason, I wasn't as excited about the results of this workout as I had been about a couple other recent ones-I didn't have the same "I so nailed this!" feeling. I think this is really starting to show the effects of those long runs being in my legs. I did actually feel comfortable cruising along at tempo pace for the 1200 and 800, but there was no way I could have gone any faster in the 400s. But on the other hand, I was able to negative split a good majority of these intervals (definitely the 1st 2...and maybe also the last coupla 400s?) so at least the pacing is there. And if the 7:35-7:40 pace felt comfortable...maybe try shooting for that next Saturday?

But, I guess I do also have to remember that I'm training for a marathon, not a 5K...that if I want to run a 3:50 marathon, it will have to come at the expense at other things...and that at this point, speedwork should only be something to sorta "keep things interesting"...and be an excuse to socialize, eat and drink afterwards :)

Thursday became an unplanned rest day-was too tired to get up early, and then I had the Flyers' summer social party in the evening. Was a lot of fun...held at a favorite venue-the penthouse party room in a teammate's apartment building which had an outdoor portion with great views of the city. And of course, wine was in abundance :) Was fun to sip wine and chill outside-though I probably shoulda checked the wind forecast before choosing my party attire (think this effect going on.) I do never seem to learn my lesson about wine hangovers though, thank god I was smart enough to take today off (I do have summer days I need to use up this month, today was as good a day as any to take it!) Will partake in a short, easy run once recovered...

And YAY for the Olympics starting today!! Let the games begin!! :)

status quo

how can it be that things are seriously status quo, drama free? (well with the exception of finding out single women are the enemy. don't ask.)

since i last left you...
easy peasy bridle path recovery run on Sunday
First Monday run with the Flyers, and once again getting dropped by "the cool kids." I guess the only place I can keep up is the bar!
yoga tonite, track workout tomorrow.
long run planned for saturday, including the streets of NYC.
and a coupla other easy runs thrown into the equation for the week.

Yeah seriously, everything is seemingly moving along like clockwork. Next week I get a little break from the mileage, as I will be tapering for Club Champs...plan to race this one all out. Even though the mileage really hasn't broken me down or tired me out yet, I'm sorta welcoming this little cutback. What should I do with all the extra time next week? :)

lucky eights, luckier pace

Even though I was a paceleader for NYRR's Long Training Run and didn't have to register through NYRR, I did need a bib in order to put my bag in the baggage area. And I was amused at the bib number I got-888. Isn't that a lucky number? The reason why the Olympics are starting on 8/8/08? Whatever, I took it as a good sign that this LTR just might go well, unlike the 2 last year.

Once again, I decided to do my usual 9:30 group for 16 miles. Even though I've been averaging closer to 9-9:15s lately for easy/long runs, the slower group is better in terms of pacing, and interacting with the runners. Once again, all the pacers got a free technical singlet...white this year with orange and blue writing, I swear I must have looked like an advertisement for the Mutts :-p All the 9:30 pacers got paired off and assigned to groups depending on how far we were running, and thankfully I got paired with my good Flyer friend TB-as we've paced together before and therefore the problems that happened last year most likely wouldn't happen. And check out the results of the dynamic duo's handiwork!! :)


(For reference sake...Lap 1 included the Harlem Hills. Laps 2, 7 and 13 were from approximately west 102nd to around west 86th-the west side hills. Laps 3, 8, and 14 were mostly downhill, to around west 72nd. Laps 4, 9 and 15 were around the bottom of the park. Laps 5, 10 and 16 included Cat Hill. Laps 6, 11 and 17 were around the east 80s to the end, or near the end. Laps 12 and 18 were because for whatever reason, the mile 11 and 16 markers were before the transverse? More on that later.)

Can you say rock on? Knew you could. :)

Luckily, me and TB had a pretty obedient group for the most part. There were quite a few times when we had to yell "If you're running in front of us, you're going too fast" and "Stay in the rec lane!" but all in all, with the exception of a few who did wind up running ahead since me and TB refused to let them "pull" us to go faster, pretty drama-free. We were hitting our paces well for the first loop and both us and the pacees were happy. We finished the first 6 mile loop, and I grabbed Gatorade and took my Plain Energy PowerGel and before we knew it, we were back out for the 2nd loop.

In previous LTRs, only the first mile markers were on the course, so we were pleasantly surprised that all 20 miles were marked. However, after the first loop, the markers were not accurate...thanks to Mr. Garmin, we were able to re-assure the runners that we were not off-pace. Actually, Mr. Garmin was extremely helpful today...I'd check out our half-mile split to see if we were on pace or needed to adjust. Or TB would think we were going too fast but I was able to reassure her we were fine :) We finished the 2nd loop still on pace...was planning on taking another gel, but the only flavor that was being offered was Strawberry Banana...decided to pass and just have a little extra Gatorade, hoping that would be just as good. (Mental note-bring 2 gels next time...don't assume that they will have my flavor!)

Flyer SD joined us for pacing the next 5 mile loop...as she and I are pretty similar in races, I knew she'd be fine with the pacing. Although we were trying to keep the runners in the rec lane the best we could, seemingly every course marshall was saying "To the left!" Thanks to them, I got that damn Beyonce song (Irreplaceable) stuck in my head..."...to the left, to the left..." grrrr. :) It started raining a little during this loop, which felt kind of nice...it wasn't a brutally hot morning, but it was damn humid!! Since we were all doing 16, we all were happy to be done with the West Side Hills for the last time! And Cat Hill for the last time...after finishing with that hill, we (with the group's approval), picked it up ever so slightly for the remaining mile, as we were all feeling good!!

Finally, 16 and change miles were done. (And including the mile I ran to get there...gave me 17.6 for the day!) I checked out the splits on Mr. Garmin-TB and I couldn't believe what the average pace was!! Needless to say, there were many sayings of "we rock!" And we decided we must be paired together again for the LTR in September.

Did the usual....got water, Gatorade, socialized, etc. :) And yep, the bloggers were out in force for this one too!! Uptown Girl helped pace the 9 minute group...as did jb24, while Jon paced the later loops for the 8's. Mark walked by and said hi to me while we were all waiting to start...saw Moz when his group passed us and on the transverse (dude, I said hi to you when you guys passed but you didn't hear me...had the iPod on :-p )

Didn't stay around too long, as I was exhausted-some idiot (number I didn't recognize) decided to call my cell phone twice around 3:45 AM and leave a blank VM message each time. And I desperately needed what has become my favorite post-long run drink-a venti iced skinny vanilla latte. As well as a shower and a nap. (And was very thankful that the crazy thunderstorms held off until after I was indoors!!)

So I was pleased, after last year I kinda redeemed myself :) Yes, I did do well, but it wasn't just me-it definitely helped have a great co-paceleader and an obedient group...it makes all our jobs easier :) And during the run, I finally decided to say out loud and make public what the marathon goal is gonna be as of right now...3:50. Doable? I'll find out with my 2 tune-up races (Team Champs 5M and the Philly Distance Run.) Stay tuned...