hell week

"Charlotte treated marriage like a sorority she was desperately hoping to pledge."
~Carrie Bradshaw in the season 1 Sex and the City episode "Bay of Married Pigs"

OK, maybe I don't view marriage like that.  Well, ask me again in a year or 2 :-P  But after hearing that line while watching a rerun of that episode...got to thinking about some other parallels...like maybe the "BQ club" is a "sorority" of sorts?  And if so, then this week is definitely hell week.  Yeah, hell week.  If you were a sorority girl or a frat boy, you know.  I was actually lucky in the case that we didn't have it as tough as others, but with the time commitment that week took, I was honestly surprised I still had a boyfriend after all was said and done...ok getting off the topic again.

So this is the last week before taper, the last 20-miler, highest mileage, the whole nine yards.  When everything hurts...legs, feelings...well maybe not as much the latter but seriously, your body is just tired and achy and doesn't want to do anymore, but the mind says to just hang on, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and that is starting next week.  Needless to say, I am treating my legs with kid gloves this week.  Extra stretching, icing the legs, taking the pace easy.  My last 20-miler will be Saturday...will be running Grete's Great Gallop with 7 miles beforehand...and hoping to hit marathon pace for the last few miles.  We'll see how that goes.  And I am gonna treat it as a "dress rehearsal" of sorts for the big one...the clothes, the shoes, the accessories-if they can all work on a 20, they'll work for 26.2.  

What else...tonite was a 5-mile fun run in Central Park, a "benefit" run for the Central Park Conservancy and the cleanup efforts from the August 18th storm.  One of my Flyer teammates put this thing together and did a great job, there was a great turnout.  Was more than happy to swap a hard workout for an easy run for the cause tonite, especially since some teammates who I hadn't seen in awhile were out.  The next 2 days will be morning runs for me...good luck with that, especially Friday as I am anticipating a semi-late nite tomorrow nite...getting all the socializing out of the system before the taper. :)

And all you reality TV fans...anyone else think that The City will trump The Hills this season?  I'm not feeling the Kristin Cavallari love...bring back LC!!  And since when is everyone BFFs with Speidi again?  And can Justin Bobby just GO AWAY?  On a different note, I'm liking this season of Amazing Race so far...

And to sign off, I do have photographic evidence that I suffered through 18-rain soaked miles...courtesy of Crazy Bandanahead.  Thanks, bandana-brain :)  I believe this was on the second loop...why the hell was I smiling?  Oh, I probably saw the camera and just had to fake it til I make it...but I did :)  And I hit a mileage PR in September...204 miles!!  Eek...no wonder I'm tired...

not a white singlet kind of day

With the exception of 2006, sounds like the NYCM 18-Mile Tuneup and white singlets do not mix (at least when I run it!)  Last year, the excuse being "with 93% humidity, you can bet the white one would not be a smart choice today!"  This year?  Rain, rain and more rain.  With a little bit more rain on top of that.  Whatever, I can deal, I'm tough, I ran my first 20 in the rain, remember!!  Plus it's just a long run, not a race.  (Boy, oh boy am I glad that I changed my initial plans to do a half marathon this weekend instead of the previous one!)

So I awoke way too damn early with a "let's just get this over with" mindset.  And waited til the last possible minute to leave...as I wasn't frontloading and didn't want to stand around more than I needed to.  I didn't even bring a bag...whats the point?  It would just get wet anyway, and I planned on leaving ASAP when I was done.  So on my way over...and I realized that I did have to get to the start before the corrals closed...forgot about that!!  Let's hustle a little.  I made it there and even though I had a red bib, I went to the green corral and met up with Runner26, as we were gonna try and run at least a little bit together.  So of course, before we could start, there was another Queen Mary speech about what a great day it is for running, what a great event this is, yadda yadda yadda.  (Personally I wish they'd ditch this and replace it with a 3rd LTR, but I know it's a numbers thang, $$ wise...)  And we are off and running.

So I guess the first few miles were pretty uneventful...Runner26 and I kept a consistent pace of 9:20s (I even said after the 2nd mile "we are nothing if not consistent!" and Harlem Hill didn't sneak up on us like it did last year ;-)  However, the two of us got separated after the water station at mile 3...oh boy was that water station a disaster, i swear there needs to be some etiquette lessons.  I'm one who prefers to drink "on the fly" and not walk through the water stops, yet it never fails, there are always collisions or near-collisions with those walking who will not get out of the way...anyway, as I was saying, me and Runner26 got separated after here, but she wound up running a great race anyways-very consistant pacing and a sweet PR-and she did it on her own! :)  (v. proud of you, girl!) 

So I just settled into nines, give or take a few seconds...I feel the next 6 miles or so were pretty uneventful.  Well for the exception of Crazy bandanahead taking pictures (what else? :) ) near Cat Hill...thank you bandanabrain :-P  Oh, and so after that same water stop, this time around mile 9, there was a way-too-enthusiastic volunteer...while I give her credit for trying, was just not in the mood to hear it...i actually said out loud "I want some of whatever she is on" and a coupla other runners by me laughed :)  And on that lower loop, I saw my friend BC volunteering as a course marshall and he called out to me...was good to see him.  And of course bandana-brain by Cat Hill again, and he even said "i'm gonna get you every time" or something like that! 

But around this time, I was wondering what was going on...I should have been lapped by now...either the field wasn't as loaded today or the rain either kept the racers away or slowed the leaders down?  Well i guess I didn't need to fret, sure enough the leader passed by during mile 11 :)  And I was only lapped by 4 people total (actually just barely 4-the 4th place finisher made the turn onto 102nd right as I passed by.  hmmm so maybe that one doesnt count?)  So yeah, this was prolly like a record for me.  And since we passed near the finish, I heard music playing and "Celebration" by Madonna was on...and hmmmm guess I sped up a little for mile 12.

One more loop to go...I didn't want to race this last loop but I was so ready for this to be over.  I had picked up the pace slightly, but I was still well within my comfort zone, which was good.  Saw BC again on the lower loop and was hoping to see bandanahead again...guess he left-smart guy :)  Going up Cat Hill, I pulled up alongside Flyer JW and we worked together to get up the hill (though surprisingly, Cat Hill was not a problem for me at all each time...in fact, I passed people there on each lap) before he took off once we got to the top.  Only 1 1/2 miles left, all downhill from here.  Thank god.  Flyer EA was cheering by Engineer's Gate...crazy, but much appreciated :)  Finally, the finish was in sight...was great to see the "finishing lane" right before 102nd.  (Now does anyone else think this is sorta a recipe for disaster?  We're told to stay to the right when lapping runners, yet the finishing lane is on the left and the passing lane is on the right...makes no sense, I tell ya!)

By the numbers...

And the Flyer women came in 2nd and I was the 5th scoring female for the Flyers. Obviously a lot of the fast ladies slept in today because under normal circumstances, I would not be in the top 5 :)

So as I said before, I didn't want to stay around too long, but posed for posterity for the NYRR site with Bandanabrain (ah that's where you went!) and Flyers AW and LZ.  By then I was freezing, so I got out of there...and yes I was lazy and took the subway one stop.  Oh and on the way to the subway, a couple of people recognized me from leading their pace group at one of the NYRR Long Training Runs (and apparently one of them was using me as a rabbit for the last 2 loops!)...and on the subway was someone who was in my group at the Bridges Run!  Kinda cool getting recognized like that :)  Anyway-home, hot shower, Snuggie, nap...in that order :-P

So even though the conditions were sucky, still a solid run in the books.  And based on my heart rate data, it is encouraging that an 8:30 pace for the last loop still fell in the easy zone, even after having done 12 miles before.  One more tough week to go...boy oh boy I can't wait to taper!!  And I think my body agrees with that, I will be handling it with kid gloves this week...

happy F33 day to me

my bib for tomorrow...my first NYRR event as an F33! :)  the real day is today, but started it off yesterday with a liquid lunch and some monkey business after work...included a run at the magical MP today and watching some speedy mile races!!  And maybe another yanks win today??

eye on the prize

I almost don't know what I can say after that last post...like any blog post I write after that one is gonna be such a letdown or something :)

4 days out and still feeling pretty good.  However, no resting on laurels for this chick...eye on the prize, and the prize is MCM.  And being 31 days out, gotta keep on rollin'.  If I didn't have a race like that to train for, I'd just take this week as a recovery week...but I still got miles to do, miles to go before I sleep... :)  As much as I would have loved to take Monday completely off, thanks to the wonders of scheduling, I made yesterday my "off" day and ran Monday morning...and Tuesday evening too!!  Just kept the pace and everything really easy, and I intend to do the same for the rest of the week.  Was still a little sore Monday and Tuesday, but not bad, and it had all but faded by yesterday.

So while running Tuesday nite, I ran into a few Flyers on the lower loop, when they were finishing up their speed workout.  And assistant coach J had heard about my race and was trying to predict my marathon time...and yeah, using the "half x 2 + 10 minutes" formula...came up with 3:25 too.  Though I do appreciate his vote of confidence-he had told me about 3 years ago when we were chatting after the '06 marathon...that based on how I ran in '06, and from his experience, he knew it would only be a matter of time before I'd hit that elusive 3:40.  (Why did I never believe it?  For the longest time, I really thought my best shot would be to qualify with a 3:45 as a 35-year old.)

So anyway.  I do feel that unlike the half, the marathon is not the best distance to take chances, or have super-aggressive goals...and considering that MCM is not as flat and fast as Philly was, I do have to adjust for that.  And I do have to remember, "eye on the prize"...which is 3:40-I wouldn't want to lose that to chase down something more aggressive.

And continuing with the "easy does it" theme for this week, I will be running the 18-mile tuneup on Sunday...definitely not racing it-just doing as a long run.  (And you can bet I will not make the same wardrobe mistake I made last year!)  I do hope to run with someone and pace her to a good time...my way of giving back! :)  And while others are running blazing fast miles, I hope to be able to watch some of it...let's see if can actually not be lazy this year! :)

dreams do come true

This has been such a tough race report to write.  How does one put into words....how it feels to just be floating along for 13.1 miles, to have it just seem too perfect, too easy, a dream coming true right in front of my eyes.  I'll tell ya, two days later I'm still riding that high and I hope to be riding it in 5 weeks from now...

Long story short-as you know from my previous post...Sunday's Philly Distance Run went much better than I could have expected.  And yeah of course, there were the tiers of goals before the race...

Main "I'd be happy" goal-Sub 1:45
Stretch goal-under my PR of 1:42:20
Uber secret super stretch goal-1:40...either sub-1:40 or 1:40:xx
 
And which goal did I achieve?  Well once again, I will start this report off with the stats and the splits...
 

And now the story!!  I guess in a way it starts on Friday when I was doing my last run before the race, an easy 3.5 miles with strides at the end...and during the run I found myself daydreaming of running a certain time, envisioning the finish line...the clock saying a certain time...etc, etc, etc :)  Anyway run done, work done for now, time to carb up (which included Rosh Hashanah dinner at the parentals on Friday nite!) and rest up...

Saturday morning came...NJ Transit time!!   But a little different this time-you see, I took up Uptown Girl's offer to crash with her at her parents place near Philly for the race weekend.  (And also, I get to partake in another Rosh Hashanah dinner on Saturday nite...see, I'm not such a bad Jew after all!)  So surprisingly, there were absolutely no NJT issues on the trip there-you see, that never happens, so of course I took it as a good sign  :)  So anyway, made it in one piece, and we were off to the expo...got our bibs and techie(!) shirts!!  Didn't do too much damage to the credit card...the expo was so-so, but when I saw tangerine PowerGels, you can bet I snatched more than a few of them up :)  So done with expo, time to go home, relax, put our feet up, conserve our energy, have dinner...before we knew it, was almost time to get my beauty sleep and knowing there wouldn't be a lot of time to spare in the AM, made sure everything was ready to go...D-tag on the shoe, bib pinned on my top, Garmin charged, all accessories out, etc (remembered Mr. Garmin, but forgot the HRM strap!  who am i...?)...set the alarm on my CrackBerry to 5 AM and after reading and answering some "good luck" texts ;-) went to sleep...dreaming of PRs...

Next thing I knew, it was 5:15 AM and Uptown Girl flipped on the lights in my room to wake me up...holy sh*t why didn't the CrackBerry go off?  Eventually figured out that it might have helped to turn the alarm to "On."  Learning for next time.  Thank god I had everything prepped the night before, as I got dressed and ready in record time, since we had to be on the road by 5:30 AM!  (Figured I can have my bagel w/ white chocolate peanut butter and french vanilla coffee in the car!)  Don't know how I pulled it off, but I did.  And to the city we go...

So...when we get there, there's another treat in store.  Ya see, a friend of Uptown Girl's dad has done this race every year and therefore gets VIP access for himself and others...I think you can see where this is going :)  Yep, how cool was it to be kinda sorta hobnobbing with the elites (Ryan Hall!), not to mention portapotties that we didn't have to wait on line for, water and Cytomax at our disposal (and I caught a peek of some "after-race" beverages...hehe.)  Was still a little chilly then, still had my long-sleeve shirt and pants on and would wait to take those off to let the legs stay as warm as possible.  But was cool with it because it obviously meant perfect racing weather :)  Just tried to relax, had the iPod and listened to some of my favorite pre-gaming songs...yep of course "Pocketful of Sunshine" and "I Gotta Feeling" were on that list...oh and Madonna's new song "Celebration" was in there too, definitely a great song to get you psyched up to run well!!

So it's around 7:20 and us gals decided it was time to roll.  Made any last minute preps and headed towards corral 3 (cool, one up from last year! :) )  Again, they weren't being totally policed...but what can you do.  And not surprisingly, the NYC local running scene was in effect...NY Harriers, CPTC, Urban Athletics, NYAC and others...ah just like another NYRR club points race, plus 20,000 other peeps.  Well not really like that but you get what I'm saying...sometimes it's nice to see that NYC familiarity away from home in a way.  (surprisingly, almost no Flyer representation!!  Only saw one other there besides myself...hmmm maybe everyone preferred to run the Queens Half? :-P)  Anyways, was almost go time!!  Before we knew it, it was 7:45 and the elites and 1st corral were off...a minute later corral 2...then in another minute was our turn!!

So mile 1, that was where these wave starts came into play...where last year I remembered a lot of dodging in the mile, I was really able to settle in right away.  Especially since the first few miles are on the narrower streets of Center City!!  Nothing too crazy, just an effort I felt I could maintain for 13.1...and when I saw 7:30 for the first mile, I had a feeling this was gonna be a good day.  And when I saw my mile 2, mile 3 and 5k splits (while passing other local NYC runners that are usually ahead of me in races) I knew it was gonna be a great day!!  Could it be, my dream race is actually unfolding right in front of me?

So now we were going back in the direction of where we started...looked at my watch at mile 4 (stuck by my rule of not looking at my watch unless at a mile split or a 5k/chip mat split)-just under 30 minutes!!  Remember, it was a longtime goal of mine to break 30 minutes for 4 miles...and now I did it in my last 2 races en route to a longer distance!!  Passed by the start/finish area and heard "Let's Get It Started"...were people still waiting to start at that point?  Either way, that's one of my fave running songs and was great to hear at this point. :)

So now we were on the nice and shady MLK drive for about a 5-mile stretch.  And I was loving that.  The legs knew exactly what to do, they were just totally dialed into 7:30s (give or take a second or 2).  And whereas last year, when I remember that it felt like work...I was still feeling great, was just cruising along.  Hit the 10K point...OMG, that is actually a 10K PR for me!!  Only point where I may have felt the tiniest bit of a "fade" was in mile 8...but my tangerine PowerGel (which thankfully I was able to hold onto!) took care of that :)

Mile 9 brought the Falls Bridge, the first "hill" of the course.  Last year I remembered it being totally unwelcome at that point :)  But this year was a different story.  I thought of what LG would say to me when we would run up the hills in Central Park...or if he'd be cheering me on in a race near a hill...focus on form, lean into it, look to the top...before I knew it, I was at the top and thought "that's all it was?"  It really did seem shorter than last year! :)  So after turning onto Kelly Drive (and even for the previous coupla miles) I was debating whether or not to start picking up the pace a little...but decided to stick to the plan-first 10 miles for pacing, last 5k for racing.  No chip mat at 15K, but I saw a split of 1:09:45...guess I really need to race another 15K, as my PR for that distance is 1:17?  The 10-mile split brought another PR as well! :)  (ahhh revenge on Cherry Blossom!!  I knew I was capable of better than 1:19...)

So remember last year, my then wannabe, now actual teammate DK was running with me for the last few miles, and I remembered I really needed that...but this time was just me...and I was making it happen.  I couldn't believe it when I saw mile 11....I only have 2.1 miles to go?  How did that happen?  This truly was the race I always daydreamed about...when you're just flying high, every mile split coming in better than you imagined...

But during mile 12...dammit, a sidestitch got me!!  Just kept running and tried to breathe through it...under no circumstances would I stop or walk, but it signaled that I needed fluids and decided that even though there's such little distance to go...as soon as I saw a water stop, take something!!  Thankfully, there was one right after the mile 12 marker...and that turned out to be exactly what I needed.  And looks like it didn't slow me down too much, but of course wonder what could have been...

I remembered mile 13 last year as being evil...as it was the 2nd hill of the course, at a point where you did not want one.  And I barely had anything left, it was all I could do to dig deep and run a 7:46 mile (after two 7:41's!)  Don't get me wrong, I felt the incline, but I also felt I still had a little something left to leave out on the course.  Then partially through the mile, KW from the Harriers passed by and said good job, and I said I was gonna try and stick by him...or at least keep him in my sights for the rest of this mile.  Couldn't quite keep him in my sights for long, but it did get me to pick up the intensity even more for this mile...and I see a CPTC girl...hmmm can I pass by her too?  Well I did, and in the process, ran a smokin' hot mile 13!! :)

Well another thing I think I have improved upon this year is a good finishing kick...as last year at this race, I just remembered it being pretty weak.  Well not only did I have to hold off the CPTC chick that I passed, but I heard the announcer encouraging us to "get in under 100 minutes!"  Wow even with the wave start, I have a chance of getting under 1:40 on the clock too?  I gotta go for that!!  And so I did-making it with 8 seconds to spare!!  Wow!! (and just barely finished ahead of the CPTC girl too...hehe)  Was sooo happy....yet in a way, a little sad it was all over!!

Got my medal, my picture taken...then headed back to the VIP area for the real celebration to begin :)  And it turned out I wasn't the only one celebrating-Uptown Girl smashed her PR with a 1:40, and just ran a very well-executed race in the process.  So anyway, remember how I said I saw certain beverages before...yep they were "adult" beverages :-P...downed 3 bottles of MGD 64...which I guess is the equivalent of one normal beer, as it did not even get me buzzed, not even in my post-half marathon depleted state :)  But hey, free beer is free beer!!  And it just felt so nice and celebratory to be tipping those back on such a beautiful day!

I don't think I need to say any more to sum up the race and how I felt about my performance...I think I've said enough :)  I can only hope I can repeat this in a month at MCM.  And oh yeah...of course I had to look up what this time predicts for other distances :)  And the McMillan calculator says that a 1:37:36 half predicts...a 3:25:50 marathon!!!  Ummmm OK.  I do know I have to keep in mind that this was a supah flat course.  But still!!  At first I thought that I wouldn't be drastically altering my goals, as all I wanted was reassurance that 3:40 would be doable.  But is it possible that 3:40 may be setting the bar too low...boy, my marathon goal is really up in the air now!! :)

a pr times 4 day

Well it looked like the poll was in a dead heat 3 ways...so it could be anybody's game...

So short report for now-1:37:36-a PR of almost 5 minutes *and* I set 10k, 15k and 10-mile PR's en route!

More to come...

"dummy quotas"

ok, now there is a random post title.  but it's a term I've been hearing about infinity times 10 times in the last 4 days for this one project I am working on.  I swear, I wish I could tell some people what to do with their "dummy quotas"...but I won't :)  So yeah, stressed out and all, maybe a good thing because it takes my mind off Sunday, right?  Thank god I am off from work tomorrow, otherwise I'd be totally useless...

So actually enjoying this quasi-cutback week of sorts, hopefully it means I will have the legs back on Sunday.  Yesterday I did a usual "before race" workout to get the legs ready prepared to run fast...this time 4 x half-mile at tempo (which I guess would be close to HMP?)...paces I cranked out were 7:56, 7:36, 7:46, 7:37.  Encouraging was that I felt much better than the week before Club Champs...and that 7:36-7:37 is a magic number of sorts...you figure it out ;-)

Oh and anyone think its crazy what they are actually charging for email/text updates for the PDR?  (Looks like it's the same deal for all the "Rock and Roll" family of races...)  Guess I will be telling friends and family to just go to the website on race day...track me for free!!

So short and sweet post.  I just wanted an excuse to use "dummy quota" as a post title :-P

on the rebound

Despite what this post title may hint at, no this is not a dating post.  I have not broken up with anyone recently nor am i looking for a fling to tide me over.  (I don't know about you, but dating on the rebound just never seems to work for me.  Or at least it hasn't in the past.)

So actually, this post is about running (duh) and marathon training (double duh.)  As I had mentioned before, this past Sunday was the 3 boros/bridges 20-mile run that the Flyers and Urban Athletics put on, and would be my second 20-miler of this training cycle.  And after a crappy week, I wasn't sure how this would go.  Especially since I would be leading the 9:30 pace group...oh the pressure!!

So bright and early on Sunday, everyone and their mother gathered at the uptown UA store (no I'm not exaggerating, it really was a huge turnout.)  And guess who's group looked to be the largest...well lookie lookie here, it was mine.  Ahhh...more pressure!!  But thankfully I had Uptown Girl, and the other half of the "dynamic duo" TB in my group, and it was really good to have them there.

So we headed into the park, and then across 72nd...where we had to dodge several obstacles better known as the Race For the Cure.  Thank god we would not be in the park when the thick of it was going on!!  Then over to the west side path, where we got to enjoy running by famous landmarks such as The Frying Pan and the Standard Hotel-the latter being recently famous for exhibitionists showing off for voyeurs on the High Line...written up here, complete with quotes from my coworkers (sigh...so proud!!)  OK, getting off the topic again...

So on this run, I was testing out version 2.0 of the "naked shorts" (speaking of exhibitionists), otherwise known as the 42K shorts by Sugoi.  Faithful blog readers probably remember reading about and seeing the pictures from when I first road tested version 1.0 of the "naked shorts"...felt like wearing nothing and with the wind, looked like wearing nothing!!  Hence their name.  But at UA a few weeks ago I saw they had version 2.0 there and I couldn't resist...tried out once and worked so far...decided to try them out on this 20-miler to see if maybe they would work in the marathon.  But a few miles in, I reached towards one of my pockets...to find nothing there, looks like one of my gels had fallen out!!  I still had 2 left (one in the other shorts pocket, the other in the back pocket of my running top)...will that be enough?  Guess I will have to space them out a little more and hope for the best...hopefully I can hold out til the 1st water stop at mile 8 and the downtown UA store.  Oh, and on the way there, there were 3 people who insisted on running way ahead of the group...we just let them go and as a result, they missed where the rest of us turned when we ran along the water instead of on the bike path...hey, that's their problem, not mine.  Oh and we had to get back onto the bike path at the same spot where I got hit...thankfully without incident, and we made it to the first water stop without incident too...

So at mile 8, took my first gel...and oh yeah, the day before, mini-crisis when I only had 2 gels left, needing 3 for my run.  And it seemed like almost everywhere on the UWS was out of PowerGel, and even if they did have it, they didn't have my current go-to flavor, tangerine.  So as a last resort, I bought a double latte flavored gel...it has double caffeine just like the tangerine does, and it's probably the only flavor available that was least likely to make me feel sick.  And unfortunately, the gel that fell out of my pocket was a tangerine one.  So I had to choke down the double latte one...and boy, I really, really had to force it down.  I love lattes, but that don't translate to gels.  But it's done, now just hope it can last me 7 or 8 more miles...and away our group went, to head over to the next borough...

And remember when I mentioned a few people trying to run ahead?  Well a couple of them told me they were gonna take off by themselves, but one guy stayed with us, but still kept running ahead and "pulling" the group.  And I was none too happy, especially since I'm trying to lead, call out directions...for example, we had to make a right from Chambers onto Centre Street to get to the approach for the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian path, but having to run ahead, he crossed Centre Street, thank god others had enough sense to not follow him and listen to me when I said to turn right.  So I had to nicely remind group to follow the leader...I mean really... (to sorta quote a certain someone) they didn't ask me to be leader because of my good looks...it was because I was good!!  Or at the very least, I could follow directions and know what I was doing :)  So we took on the bridge, being careful...holy zoo, and it was still relatively early!!  Made it to the other side without colliding with any bikers, bladers, strollers, etc...found the right route off the bridge (to the left, to the left!) and down the stairs.

OK-being that this was the first part of the run that I wasn't 100% familiar with my surroundings, I actually had to refer to the map after we got off the bridge to give us direction-but once we found it, was smooth sailing up to the 11 1/2 mile mark and the 2nd water stop.  BC was there with the ObsceneCam™ taking picture after picture, and NS was lounging in a chair, wearing a J-E-T-S shirt and obviously looking forward to that afternoon's game :)  And after a few minutes we were off again...to run through Williamburg and Greenpoint (and having to follow the other golden rule of this run-do NOT cross the BQE!)  And actually, on the stretch along Kent Avenue, Flyer RS caught up to us...apparently he had just gotten back from a vacation about an hour ago and wanted to try and still catch up to our run and he did...crazy!!  But knowing him, I wasn't surprised :)  The group got a little strung out here...so I had to whistle and yell to let the peeps in front of me know to make the right turn onto Eagle St.  And yep, that same guy was the culprit, and he tried to lead everyone on the Pulaski Bridge...but he was like half-walking/half-running (guess not so good at hills?) and since we were all running single file, it looked like people were getting restless, so I made my move to the front and led everyone into Queens...

I could tell people were getting tired here, and thankfully I was still feeling good (especially thankfully since I had to ration my gels!) so I had no problems giving pep talks, being encouraging...ya know, like a good leader should be :)  The next water stop was near the Queensboro Bridge, and I think everyone was thankful to see it (myself included!)  A few minutes here, then we set off for the last few miles!!  OK, so we were at 11th St...and we had to turn onto 23rd St to get to the bridge, but then all of a sudden we see 21st St...hmmm how did that happen? :)  Anyways, the sooner we get to the bridge, the sooner we get to Manhattan...so was all good here. Up the incline, down the other side...BC was snapping pics again with the ObsceneCam™ as we ran down the off-ramp.  Oh and once again, I had to yell at the same guy what direction we needed to go in after exiting the bridge.  I give up...

Along 60th we go...and here I was like Little Miss Encouraging or something "2 miles left!!  We got this.  Only a mile to the park, you know you're home free!"  Or if anyone was dreading Cat Hill "Just think, you will be running this downhill in the marathon!"  And indeed, once we hit the park it was smooth sailing....before we knew it, we were exiting the park at Engineers gate, making the left turn onto Madison Ave and were back where we started!!  20-and-change miles-DONE!!

And as you can see from the looks of mine, Runner26 and Uptown Girl's faces...we were glad to be done!!  And I got a lot of thanks and compliments from the people in my group...really made me feel good :)  And of course I told them they rocked too-it sure helps to have a great group to lead and I did (well for the most part...there was an exception, as you all know...hehe.  Always one of those in every group I guess!!)  Oh, and Liz Robbins was at the store signing copies of her famous book...I actually already had a signed copy, but I said hi to her and thanked her for including me in a Times article she wrote about out-of-town fall marathons...always cool seeing your name in print :)  Didn't stick around too much longer and then me, Runner26 and HM headed west...and if we weren't tired enough from the 20, we had to run for the M96 bus!!  But we made it, and made it back on the better side of town...then shower, iced latte ("recovery" drink) and watching some tennis action for me :)  (the chilled glass of Riesling would wait til later...)

So what does "rebounding" have to do with this?  Glad you asked...I guess after a week of crappy runs, this one was a total 180, or a "rebound" if you will.  (And capped off a 54-mile week...wowza, how'd I do that??)  Fun run, felt good the entire time, even in the last few miles.  And found out that I can indeed do a 20-miler with only 2 gels-though if possible I would like to avoid that.  meaning that if I do wear the "naked shorts" in the marathon, I may not be able to utilize those pockets and use the back pocket on my top instead, like last year...anyway I am tangenting again here.  Even though both 20-milers went well, I'm still not convinced it will translate to a minute plus per mile faster for 26.2...hopefully I will find out next weekend!!

Special thanks to GW and Crazy bandanahead for setting up the run-nice work, guys! :)

hey jealousy

I don't know what the hell is up with me this week.  Maybe it's the rainy weather.  Maybe it's being in the midst of my highest mileage week to date and I'm tired.  Maybe it was the hangover from too many apple martinis at the Flyers 20th Anniversary party Thursday nite (which I'll get to in another post.)  Maybe it's spending yesterday at a vendor doing such frustrating, mindless work and having to keep saying to my self "thank god I still have a job, thank god I still have a job..."  And maybe yesterday in general...in addition to what the day itself meant, but the memories...of that day really bringing out the worst in some people.  (long story...not going into it here.)

But I'm feeling that emotion, that one I love to hate.  Or is it that?  As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm really starting to doubt my training, I feel like I have not been running well lately.  Especially when I hear about how great everyone else's training is going while I'm just slogging out slow miles.  Or those who have their groups to push them to do better or even just for reassurance and moral support whereas I'm really going through this alone for the next 6 weeks.  (again, something else I don't want to go into, but it obviously is bothering me.)  When does this all pay off?  When will I ever feel comfortable leading-or running in-the 9 minute or 8:30 pace group instead of 9:30?  Is what I'm doing really all that impressive?

Hmmm...maybe it's not jealousy that I feel.  I mean, jealousy includes hatred, dislike, right?  And I really can't-and really don't-hate my friends because their training is going well, or because they've BQed and I haven't.  No maybe what it is, is just frustration and insecurity.  That I feel like I can work my ass off, but I'm just average, I'll never be as impressive as someone who does the same and can run a sub-3 marathon or the like.  It's exhausting feeling like I have to try twice, three times...hell, ten times as hard.  And maybe my mileage isn't as impressive as those who are training with 60-70 miles a week or more, but hey these 50+ mile weeks are uncharted territory for me this year, and I'm still afraid if I go higher, I run the risk of injury and overtraining-knowing myself.

I don't know.  I am really feeling like I don't know if my training is on track or not.  I'm trying to not stress out about next week's half but the reality is I desperately need the reassurance.  Yeah I ran a couple of halfway decent short races, but a 5K and 5-miler do not a good marathon time make (who did I hear that from before?)  I know October 25th is the ultimate goal, but I wanna know sooner rather than later if I am going to need to adjust my goals at all.

Do like the training.  Do not like the mental mind games it causes.

fun with numbers

Talk about being on the ball.  We're 6 and a half weeks out and MCM has already assigned us our bib numbers!!  (I seem to remember around this time last year, still having to wait another month for my NYCM number...oh and back in 2006, they waited til the absolute last minute...)  Anyways, I am the proud owner of...Bib # 8092.  So of course, now it's time to obsess about the number and see if there are and hidden (read: lucky) meanings there.  Hmmm...well 8 plus 9 plus 2 is 19...and 1 plus 9 is 10....perfect 10?  Or 1 plus 0...number one!!  Wow, I wonder what else I can come up with....

Enough is enough there.  I just gotta get myself to the start line without psyching myself out or something.  So far this week...my "First Monday" run with the Flyers...and I ran down from the UWS to meet up with the group, so I got 10 total miles for the nite.  Was actually a nice nite...just me and the guys :)  After a lovely sunset run on the west side (and thankfully no biker collisions this time!) we "toasted"...or mourned, depending on your take on things...the end of summer at Chelsea Brewery...great way to spend the evening of Labor Day, before having to get back to reality (aka work) the next morning...sigh.

Some easy miles in the park last nite, some hard stuff this morning.  I remembered doing this workout at this exact week last year, and remembering it went very well too.  So I decided to do the best I could to try and replicate it, being that I don't have access to a track in the early morning (so envious of those who live near the east 6th Street track...)  So I improvised...what I decided to do is use the Great Lawn Oval and have Mr. Garmin take .25 mile splits (.25 mile, 400 meters...close enough.)  Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as I would have liked....

I don't know if Mr. Garmin was acting flukey (I know that at least the heart rate monitor was...some of those numbers make no sense!) or if that oval is actually part downhill part uphill, but as you can see my splits were all over the place, no consistancy...not happy with that (8:32 pace is not tempo for me!!  Or shouldn't be.)  Part of the issue was that even at the early hour of 6:30 AM, the oval had quite the share of unleashed dogs, which I had to dodge more than once and threw me off once or twice or more!  (A friend of mine told me that the Great Lawn Oval is the only place where dog owners can let their dog off the leash before 9 am.  Definitely good to know for future reference.  Wish I had known before...doh!!)  And then for the last quarter mile...I was hoping to close strong and throw down better than the previous 1:37, but with around .05 mile to go, a truck was blocking the road...which forced me to take an alternate route and have to turn around, therefore slowing me down...oh well.

Well, what is worrying me is that this is the 2nd speed workout in a row where I'm not feeling great about it, didn't have that "I nailed it" feeling that I've had before.  And being in the thick of training, it has me a little worried, especially hearing about a lot of other people having great workouts.  And I'm not sure what to do.  Am I overtraining and I should give myself a break from speed workouts and just concentrate on getting in the mileage?  Do something different?  This is where it sucks feeling like I'm going about this alone.  When I start to doubt myself and my training...and don't know what the right path is to take.

Well, at least I have 2 "fun runs" in the next couple of weeks to look forward to.  This weekend will be a reprise of the "3 Bridges Run" that the Flyers and Urban Athletics put on last year.  Last year I led the 9:30 group-and wound up averaging a 9:31 pace overall, aren't I the coolest? :)  So I was more than happy to step up and lead that group again this year.  Then next weekend's half...and dear running gods, please be good to me that day and show me that my training is possibly on track.  That is all.

And ahhh...lotsa sports action tonite.  Derek Jeter tying the Yankees all-time hit record...and now the Federer match is on...the remote is being utilized a lot, flipping back and forth!!  And even though the Melanie Oudin match didn't end the way I think a lot of people (including myself!) would have liked, this will definitely not be the last we see of her!!  And I can say I was there to witness her first upset at the US Open :)  I honestly don't care who wins for the women right now but on the mens side...Nadal FTW!!! :)

"monster month"

So the other day I was browsing the MCM forum on the RunnersWorld message board, and took note of a thread entitled "Monster Month"-which was a reference to this RunnersWorld article...and the initial post in the thread mentioned this:

This month will be your heaviest month of training. Many will be hitting all time highs for length of long run, weekly mileage, and monthly mileage. With cooler weather, your pace will be picking up, and you might begin to feel invincible some days. Be careful. You've worked hard to get this far ... don't do something stupid this month to derail your training.

Even though it's actually referring to the last 4 weeks before the taper...which i guess means now, being that I am 7 weeks out, I feel like it's already started in a way.  This past week...I got through it, but it wasn't easy. 

My speed workout this past week....it was tempo, and I hit the times/paces I was supposed to exactly, but I just did not feel that great about it...kinda like my mind was elsewhere or something.  My runs Thursday and Friday...just felt tired, and they were basically recovery slogs.

I decided to do my 16-mile long run on Saturday, figuring it'd be better to get it out of the way then instead of worrying about running it Sunday with sore legs from dancing up a storm in high heels at my friend's wedding on Saturday nite :)  I wanted to get some MP work in, so I chose the west side highway-nice and flat, and hoped that would help me hit the pace I need for 4 miles (miles 12-15) near the end.  And for the first nine and change miles, it was actually going really really well.  And then it happened...

So for all of you who run on the west side highway a lot, you know there is that one part just north of chambers street where the bikers and runners have to share since the part along the water (which I prefer to run, less crowded) isn't finished yet.  And that you need to be extra careful here.  So I'm running north and am about to make the left turn onto the path to go along the water...next thing I know, seemingly out of nowhere, a biker hits me with so much force that I hit the pavement...and unfortunately he did too :(   Now, I have run this path countless times, I know to be alert, to look before I make the turn-but it seemed like this guy was riding so damn fast that this couldn't have been prevented...and even though I felt bad, and was pretty freaked out, a part of me was so angry, thinking that this isn't the place to be speeding along on the bike.

Thankfully, the worst thing to happen to me was a scraped up right knee, left shoulder and left elbow and nothing was broken and I was, shockingly able to keep running...yeah I know, sick isn't it.  And I was able to get in my MP miles...if anything, probably just to be done with the run quicker.  Was shooting for 8:15-8:20, wound up with 7:45, 8:06, 7:57 and 7:42...hmmm ok maybe a little quicker than I wanted.  I'll just chalk it up to the flat surface.  I doubt that is true MP, but that I was able to hit that with 11 miles on the legs beforehand was encouraging after a few discouraging runs.  Another mile to go and I was done...home sweet/safe home, time to get cleaned up and get beautiful for my friend's wedding.  Unfortunately, a banged-up shoulder does not go with a little black dress, but I did the best I could to minimize the effect.  And the wedding was actually a great time...and yeah, I had more than my share of dance floor action...would you expect anything less of me? :)  And actually when I congratulated my friend, she made it a point to say "I better see you out on the dance floor later!"...lol.

And I expected to be exhausted this morning and today's 6-miler to be dragging...crazy enough, my legs totally forgot they ran 16 miles yesterday and got a workout in high heels last nite, as it actually felt effortless.  My upper body though...oh boy, it was hurting, was feeling yesterday's impact.  Nothing serious, but just something that will take a few days to subside, I'm sure...

And to top things off, I've felt like I've really had to force myself to eat this past week (with the exception of last night)...it seems like all i hear about from people who are in marathon training is how hungry they always are, how they can eat anything, what they think about eating after their runs....and I'm really not feeling the same way, and I don't know what's up with that.  I am aware that a few of my sluggish runs this past week were due to being underfueled-e.g., my morning runs on Thurs/Fri, I overslept a little bit and didn't have time to eat anything before running out the door.  Or I'll usually try and eat something before doing speedwork, but I had to work late and was therefore running late and barely had time to get home, down a PowerGel and get back out the door.  I'm hoping I can just chalk it up to being crazed this past week.  (Though if the result of it is that I can still lose a few pounds between now and October 25th, I wouldn't cry or anything.)

So I guess this week, the "monster month" officially begins.  This week will be my second 50-plus mile week...all in all, over these next 4 weeks, I feel like I'm entering uncharted territory, that I will be pushing myself to limits I haven't seen before, and I'm a bit nervous.  And in a way, I feel like I'm sorta going about this alone and I'm a bit nervous about that too.  But I guess I really will need to trust myself, to know that I have learned a lot, not just from these last 11 weeks, but from my previous marathon outings as well...

And I still cannot believe that the unofficial end of summer is tomorrow..."why do all good things come to an end?"

money's worth

another year, another US Open, another beautiful day.  Baby bro and I did our annual "Thursday before Labor Day" thang in Queenz :)  And always, hoped for the best in terms of what players we were gonna see...little disappointed that Andy Roddick had the night session, and that Andy Murray was playing today instead, but little did we know-we were in store for some exciting matches anyway!!

Oh and in the "we can't go anywhere without seeing someone we know" files...I see one of my Flyer teammates, my brother sees a co-worker, and it turns out our cousin was visiting the Open too...so we met up with him for a little bit.  And of course, we got our usual pic in front of the big tennis ball-holding beers of course...wouldnt expect anything less of the 2 of us!!  That was just one of many, uh, refreshments consumed that day...

And believe it or not, we did actually watch some tennis.  Saw 2 upsets on the women's side in a row-#4 seed Elena Dementieva and then #5 seed Jelena Jankovic.  These two matches...different, but the same.  Both were over 2 and a half hour three-setters, where it could have been anyone's match.  (and my cousin said that watching women's tennis is boring!!  I mean yeah, the men are better for eye candy...and they can play too...:) )

So the James Blake match-which is the one I most wanted to see :)-didn't start til around 5:30-which left us wondering what they were gonna do, as the night session started at 7 pm.  Guess they'd get the match in, but keep the TV breaks to a minimum and hope for a straight-setter!!  Blake took the first set, his opponent the second...so much for straight sets!!  Third set went to a tiebreaker...Blake was playing a little sloppy (lotsa unforced errors) but he pulled that one out.

Oh yeah-did I mention that at around 7 pm, everyone who had day session tix for the promenade (aka upper tier) were allowed to move down to the loge and take empty seats there-in other words, a free seat upgrade for the rest of the match!!  We were sure taking it :)  So yeah, we had a better view for the rest of the match...which Blake was able to take in 4 sets, he dominated that last set!!  No time to watch interviews-we had to get out of the stadium right away...where we saw the mass of humanity, otherwise known as the night session ticket holders waiting by the fountain to enter the stadium...and i'm sure after waiting for an hour and a half, they were restless!! 

As for me-just tired...long day, we were there for over 9 hours...hell, thats almost like a workday and I said that-but as my brother said "this is the furthest thing from work!"  Finally got home around 9:30ish...and couldn't even stay awake to see the end of the Roddick match...

Well, we definitely got our money's worth for our day session this year...some great tennis, a free seat upgrade, our session extended by an hour and a half-I'm sure when scheduling, no one expected the 2 womens matches to be 3-setters-and the second one with tiebreakers up the wazoo!  Ahhh, can't wait til next year :)

what to wear, what to wear...

No, I'm actually not talking about attire for a change, be it running/race/marathon apparel or "dress to impress" apparel.  Nope, I'm actually talking about running shoes...figure while I'm still 2 months out, I can ponder what shoes to wear on marathon day.

So in my first 2 marathons, I wore my regular trainers (Asics Cumulus 7 in 2006 and the Cumulus 9s) in 2008.  I do have a pair of lightweight "performance" shoes, which I use specifically for speedwork and races-up to the half-marathon distance and I love them (so much that I just got another pair, even though they got discontinued last year!)  But...I'm sorta thinking about wearing those on marathon day...

So without further ado, here are the contenders:

In this corner, weighing 9.1 ounces...the Brooks Defyance 2-my "everyday" trainer (which I do love as well!)
And in the other corner, weighing 7.6 ounces...the Asics DS-Trainer 13-my lightweight "performance" shoe

So I'd love some input from the masses...providing I do a 20-miler in them and it goes OK, is a lightweight shoe like the DS-Trainers OK for the marathon distance?  Or is it better to be safe and stick with the regular trainers, as the marathon distance would require a more substantial shoe?  I have a lofty time goal in mind for MCM, as you all know, so it may mean taking some chances (within reason, of course.)  Any words of advice one way or the other greatly appreciated...I'm sure there are quite a few of you out there who have more experience with this than I do!!

And I looked at my mileage for August...holy sh*t, I ran 198 miles in August!!  (to be fair, there were 5 weekends instead of 4, meaning 5 long runs.)  If I had run on Monday, I could have gone over 200 miles for August...but I scrapped a run (but moved it to Tuesday) in favor of a yoga class-as my bod desperately needed the stretching and the quads were still feeling last week's race and the 20-miler a little bit...so decided to listen to my body instead of chasing a number which...how significant really is it?  Either way, still my highest monthly mileage total ever...

guess my half-marathon time-2009 style!!

yep it's back!!  Less than 3 weeks to go til the Philly Distance Run, time for the guessing game to start...check out the new poll in the sidebar!

Realistic guesses please! :) To help with that, here's a little data...

Best half ever is last year's Philly Distance Run-1:42:20
In terms of predictors for now...my Club Champs 5M time predicts 1:42:41. (not using either of my 5K races to predict...too short!)
In comparison, last year's Club Champs 5M time predicted 1:46:30 and I ran 1:42:20.
As always, one of the choices I feel is very unrealistic, but I felt I had to put it in anyway.
My main goal for this race...would like at the very least a PR, but kinda sorta dreaming of 1:40...I'd take either sub-1:40 or 1:40:xx

Vote early. But do not vote often-I once again fixed it so certain people won't try and stuff the ballot box...you all know who you are!

Thanks for playing!