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| harder, better, faster, stronger |
| Saturday, August 16, 2008 |
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)Labels: flyers, marathon, nyrr, olympics, race, running |
posted by nyflygirl @ 5:36 PM |
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| doin' the wave |
| Tuesday, August 12, 2008 |
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?Labels: marathon, nyrr |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 3:55 PM |
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| running the streets |
| Sunday, August 10, 2008 |
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...Labels: marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 8:26 PM |
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| garmin-less |
| Friday, August 08, 2008 |
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!! :)Labels: drinking, marathon, running, socializing, speedwork |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 11:50 AM |
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| status quo |
| Tuesday, August 05, 2008 |
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? :)Labels: marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 9:35 PM |
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| lucky eights, luckier pace |
| Saturday, August 02, 2008 |
 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...Labels: flyers, marathon, nyrr, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 4:30 PM |
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| how fortunate |
| Tuesday, July 29, 2008 |
from a fortune cookie the other day:
"Your present plans are going to succeed."
marathon training, perhaps? (not like I have any other plans in the works!) Four weeks down, and it's been drama-free so far. Feeling too easy so far (well at least compared to this time 2 years ago!) and that worries me-because that's when I get cocky :) Hopefully, I will be kept in check somehow :)
Like today...the yoga class I was gonna take was kinda sorta canceled (regular instructor not there, sub was a no-show)...maybe that was God's way of telling me to take a rest day. :)
And in other random news, I finally joined the ranks of the DVR owners!! Yeah...my VCR has been broken for over a year and being that VHS is obsolete (or almost obsolete!) anyways...need a new way to tape shows and movies...and of course, the Olympics!! And the NYCM broadcast too...Labels: marathon, random stuff |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 10:01 PM |
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| cheering and multitasking |
| Sunday, July 27, 2008 |
Being the good teammate/friend/coworker that I am, I dragged myself out of bed at the crack of dawn this morning (well maybe not that early, but you get the idea) to head over to the park and cheer on the runners in the NYC Half-Marathon. My original plan was to just go down to 7th Ave around Central Park South...remembering Uptown Girl's story from last year about not being allowed in the park. But I decided to give trying to find a cheering spot in the west 80s a shot, as the leaders were due to come by any second. No worries-I got a spot right away and no one bugged me. Perfect timing-the race passed by a coupla minutes later and I cheered for a little bit before I headed for cheering spot #2...
...I needed to get in 4 miles today, and I had my running shoes on...so, of course I ran the 1 1/2 miles to 59th and 7th, and actually got a pretty decent spot there as well. I had unfortunately missed the leaders, though I did get to see them in the park, but I was really there to support the rest of the runners. Saw Crazy Bandana, Uptown Girl, Moz, Chelle, other Flyers and friends, a co-worker who was running...gave them all a good cheer. Some runners looked completely energized as they left the park and hit the streets. Others looked like they were struggling-possibly having gone out too fast in the park (and it was quite humid out!!) But again, it was actually kinda fun to be on the other side again. And the most amusing parts about playing cheerleader this morning:
- I had to tell the women next to me to stop yelling "You're almost there!" 7 1/2 miles is NOT almost there. That is the worst thing you can say to a runner at that point :-p
- Funniest comment from one of the runners-"I'm hot, but you're hotter!" (I think that guy meant it for the women next to me though...)
- Oh, and I think NYRR activated the 10K mats a little too early...as the coupla runners I was tracking had ridiculously fast 10K splits emailed to me, even before the 5K splits...til I figured out that the 10K mats were just past the start and that's the split that was getting captured :)
After most of the runners passed, I ran back uptown, then tacked on another mile...a little over 4 miles done and done!! (Which was a good thing, since between desperately needing to catch up on sleep and the thunderstorms which found their way into NYC this afternoon, who knows when I could have gotten it in...) Was sooo glad I decided to pass on the half again-just doing 4 miles in this humidity was killer. Besides, I prefer my half-marathon attempts to be less expensive and less humid :) But congrats to all those who ran!! :)
So yeah, the fact that I didn't do the half today meant I had to get in a long run yesterday, right? Well that I did, a creative route that included some Queenboro Bridge action. Wasn't sure how it was gonna go, due to starting around noon and not being appropriately carbo-loaded (thanks to a Flyers happy hour the night before) but actually went fine!!
The route...
And the splits...
Pretty satisfied-the legs felt fine, pacing was decent, did feel a little under-fueled in the last coupla miles (probably shoulda taken more than 1 gel-learning for next time), the Queensboro Bridge climbs are less intimidating to me each time I run the bridge...so mission accomplished I guess!!
And next week's long run will have plenty of company!! :)Labels: flyers, marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 6:25 PM |
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| for the love of the team |
| Monday, July 21, 2008 |
Well, I did get in all the mileage that I wanted to this weekend (and then some!)...but also had my share of playing cheerleader in addition to other things...
So my plan for Saturday was to get in 14 miles-originally I was gonna try and get in 6 bridle path miles before the Run For Central Park, then run in the opposite direction of the race to cheer teammates on, then do 4 more. Unfortunately, I did oversleep a bit and only managed 2.5 bridle path miles beforehand. But that actually sorta worked out better, as it gave me time to get over to the east side...so I could see the runners at mile 1, and then again in the last mile. Everyone was sorta bunched together tightly in mile 1, so I wasn't sure if everyone saw me. But mile 4-others did see me and seemed to appreciate me being there (saw Laminator, Chelle, Peter, and other Flyers and friends.) I got to west 86th and decided to wait a few more minutes and cheer more people on before continuing. I saw Runner26 walking and called out to her to see if she was OK...she started running again. :) Flyer NS ran by and asked me to run the last mile with her, so I did...was more than happy to do so...she too, was frontloading beforehand and needed the extra support for the last mile...and for me, running to 72nd and back, meant less mileage I had to do solo afterwards. I left when NS crossed the finish and I ran back up to 86th and hopped back on the bridle path to finish the last 5.5 miles of my run...it was tough, I fought for it, I was so tempted to cut it short, but thanks to some good music on the iPod and just overall stubbornness, I didn't. :) And since Mr. Garmin was switched off for a half-mile, I actually wound up running 14.5...oh well!! :) But I'm honestly glad I decided to not do the race-I think it was more beneficial to my team that they see a friendly face at the end, then to have me run and score 15th for the team or something (I would have had to run a 40 second PR at least to score...wasn't gonna happen for me in that heat!)
Then Sunday, I got up bright and early to head to my usual cheering spot at 72nd/CPW on the run course for the NYC Triathlon. This year, I actually got there early enough to see the first few elite athletes!! Amazing to watch them. Bit by bit, the age group athletes started to pass by...I saw and snapped pics of the Flyers and other friends (unfortunately didn't see Josh!) By the time that the last few waves of 45-49 year olds were passing and the street was getting less crowded, I was getting a little concerned, as there were 2 people I hadn't yet seen. One of them had a swim split that I thought was too long and some other funky times reported on the tracker and I was afraid that meant a DNF-I was glad to see him finally run by (turned out when his wave started, they were fighting the current-and the swim is his least favorite of the 3 disciplines on a good day...) The other one was the son of a work bigwig who was doing his first tri, and I was getting concerned not seeing a bike split after so long-especially since it was getting HOT!! Finally, I did see a bike split and transition time, so I waited at 72nd/Columbus to make sure he was OK...since at that time the streets were beginning to re-open to traffic (the runners had to actually stop if Columbus Ave had the green light!) I finally saw him, walking...I walked with him over to the park-he had cramped up on the bike and was not in good shape-and it didn't help that 72nd st was not shaded. I left him at the park, where I knew he'd have much more support and told him to finish strong...he did finish :) I gave my co-worker who was at the finish an update and I mentioned that I walked with him a little bit and she said "That was so nice of you!" :) I really didn't think anything of it...keeping a fellow runner company almost seemed like second nature-us athletes...we're all in this together.
So, after a nap, and knowing that the evening would consist of margarita consumption, I had no choice but to get in my 3 recovery miles in the heat of the day. And after seeing what I saw today-I had no excuse to not suck it up and just do it!!
Even though it's fun to be a race participant...this was one of those weekends where it was much more fulfilling for me to be on the other side.
And 3 weeks down in my NYCM training!! All mileage has been accounted for, legs feeling just fine, if the only obstacle so far has been the heat and not injury...I'll take it!!Labels: flyers, marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 1:27 PM |
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| it's tracky |
| Thursday, July 10, 2008 |
It's Tracky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that's right on time
It's Tracky...Tr-tr-tr-tracky
(with apologies to Run D.M.C.-but I just had the song in my head and couldn't resist the tiny modification)
Anyway-yesterday brought me to do speedwork at the East 6th St track, which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Actually-forget "becoming"-it *is* a favorite. And like last week-a tempo-paced workout was in order, and not to go all out. So with the help of a certain great pacing partner, we decided to aim for between 7:30-8:00 pace for the 800 meter intervals...then take it from there for the shorter ones, but not to push the pace too much. And how did it work out?
| Interval length | Time | Pace | | 800m | 3:45.90 | 7:34.44 | | 800m | 3:44.10 | 7:30.82 | | 800m | 3:46.24 | 7:35.12 | | 800m | 3:48.49 | 7:39.65 | | 400m | 1:51.43 | 7:28.32 | | 400m | 1:51.49 | 7:28.56 | | 400m | 1:50.34 | 7:23.94 | | 200m | 0:54.20 | 7:16.13 | | 200m | 0:52.70 | 7:04.06 |
Pretty damn consistent, right? The pace actually felt pretty good the entire time-didn't feel like I was "dying" once, even with the shorter recoveries than normal. I don't know what it is about this track, I always seem to have a great workout here.
Oh!! But this workout is not without just a little drama...as the predicted thunderstorms actually did happen, with about 3 repeats to go. Was crazy-the sky looked greenish, the wind and rain blowing sideways, absolutely pouring, puddles forming on the track...at first we all thought this was crazy fun, but by the time we got to the 2 x 200, we just wanted to be done...hence shortening the last recovery and speeding up a bit!! (but again...still not all-out.) And I was grateful I chose to not wear a light-colored sports bra...you figure out why. :-p
And thankfully, some of us drowned rats were troopers and indulged in some "recovery beverages" (aka beer-Blue Moon for me, of course!) and good eats-thanking my lucky stars that I had dry clothes to change into...
Ahhhh...working from home in the AM, Yankee game in the afternoon, great track workout in the evening followed by after-speed drinks...if that ain't a perfect day, I don't know what is :-p
And shockingly-I was awake around 5ish this morning without having to use the alarm...that *never* happens!! Decided to take advantage and run this morning...some nice recovery miles on the bridle path...beautiful morning (but a bit humid!) Leaves me off the hook to squeeze it in tomorrow...since I'm gonna be out tonite as well, not sure if I'll have the same fortune of happily rolling out of bed before 6 am tomorrow!!Labels: drinking, marathon, rain, running, socializing, speedwork |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 1:43 PM |
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| maybe blue moon isn't the best carbo-loading source |
| Sunday, July 06, 2008 |
For the record-despite what the post title says, said Blue Moons were not my sole carbo-loading source last nite. Actually, I wasn't planning to indulge, but I had a request from a coupla friends to meet up for a drink or two so why not. And I wasn't planning on getting loaded with an early wake-up call this morning.
So today, to finish off week 1 of marathon training, I did my long run at Rockefeller State Park. Although I knew other Flyers were doing a long run in Central Park...hmmm, Rockefeller vs. the CP bridle paths, tough decision!! I wanted to do about 12 miles, which I thought was completely doable (never mind the fact that I hadn't run that far since the very beginning of this year.) C'mon, I do 16-mile training runs in Central Park at 9:30 pace!! 12 miles is EASY!
 
Good lord, even though I have run there before, I forget how nasty the hills are. I'm sure you can tell from my splits what the worst of it was (and where the downhills were too!) But man, this was the toughest long run I've done in awhile, and the mental demons definitely did get to me in the last 2.1 miles, I was at the "just move your feet as fast as you can without stopping and walking" point. (Though throughout there was a lot of cursing and "I hate you all!" under my breath :-p) Thankfully-the predicted rain held off...and actually wasn't brutally hot for a change!!
Boy did that long run humble me, I know what I'm capable of and it's better than this...guess I am not as hill trained-or distance trained-as I thought!! I did briefly wonder if I was falling into the overtraining trap again but I don't think thats it (plus my RHR has actually gone down a few beats since I checked last-which as far as I know, contradicts that.) Nope, I just think that if I want to break 4 again, I'm gonna have my work cut out for me for the next 17 weeks-no resting on the laurels of 2006. Wish me luck...
Needless to say, after that run, brunch and then even more beers when returning to the city was just what the doctor ordered. As well as watching a killer Wimbledon final...GO Nadal!!! I so hope I get to see him play again at the US Open this year :)
Man, this has been an exciting sports week!! Even more dramatic moments at the Olympic trials...
- The womens 5K final!! I'm sure Shalane Flanagan thought she had it wrapped up, but guess again...Kara Goucher and Jen Rhines gave a sneak attack at the very end that she couldn't respond to! I was glad to see Kara win after coming in second in the 10K, and I like Jen Rhines because she supports the whole "you-don't-have-to-run-marathons-to-be-a-runner" thing :-p
- And on the topic of Kara, did anyone notice this comment she made in her post-race interview? "I told my husband and my coach that I'd do them both if I won." Yeah of course-she was gonna do both the 5K and 10K in the Olympics!! Some people, who will remain anonymous (well considering they post on LetsRun, of course they'd be anon!) thought otherwise. :-p You be creative and figure out what the misconception was.
- Tyson Gay in the 200m-YIKES!! Here's hoping he rehabs in time for the Games
- Great run by Anthony Famiglietti, he just dominated the steeplechase!! Nice to see one who's a regular on the NYRR race scene win big :)
Now that the trials are over, I can actually get to sleep at a decent hour. At least until August 8th! :) Labels: drinking, marathon, olympics, running, socializing, tennis |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 10:10 PM |
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| tempo is tough |
| Thursday, July 03, 2008 |
ah, the joys of speedwork while training for a fall marathon...dead legs, trying to not let the heat defeat you, dodging other park-goers...good times. So last nite brought a tempo-style workout, all on the bridle path...1.1 tempo miles, some short fast/slow pickups, then an even longer tempo interval...the last one being all uphill. Fun, right? I was to shoot for approximately 8 mpm for the tempo pickups...
I highlighted the fast parts with the red outline to make them stand out better...since a tip I was given was to set Mr. Garmin to take laps every .25 mile to help with pacing. Actually, that was a good idea, it sorta made the workout feel like it went by faster too! So obviously, I paced the first long pickup pretty well. The second long one...not so much!! But to be fair, that was almost all uphill, so probably the effort was the same, though the paces don't show it. (And for the record, the one lap where it said 9 minute pace, I wasted a few seconds to avoid a collision with a biker! grrr...) Or maybe there were places where the signal was dropped...yeah, that's probably what it is :-p
Hard part of the running week almost over...still got the long run to go!! Though if 10-12 miles is gonna give me problems, then I'm in trouble :)Labels: marathon, running, speedwork |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 2:59 PM |
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| day 1: done! |
| Tuesday, July 01, 2008 |
Well this marathon training season started off rather uneventfully. Approx 7 miles last nite with the downtown crew-first run I've done with these guys in awhile (either usually recovering from something or had some kinda conflict on Monday or there were thunderstorms.) Rained a bit before the run, but stopped just as we were getting started. Wanting to save my legs for more quality workouts this week, I didn't go with the rabbits and instead stuck with the "easy does it" peeps. Kept a nice, consistent 10 minute pace-well except for one mile where Mr. Garmin went flukey and said it was 8:02 and that I hit a max pace of negative 0:44 per mile...um yeah, right. All the "funny stuff" in the world wouldn't make that happen. Heart rate averaged around 130, which is actually really low for an easy run!! Well, I guess this means I didn't trash my body and it'll be good to go for the rest of this week!! :)
And yesterday, I unfortunately noted one downfall to my fave running store in the city...no refunds. I brought back my Cumulus 10s yesterday, hoping for a refund but unfortunately got a store credit. Yeah, I'm sure I'll use it eventually, but considering right now, I'm gonna have to drop some cash to snatch up a coupla pairs of the Cumulus 9's, it would have come in handy right now. What can you do...
The Olympic trials are seriously messing with my sleep schedule!! Thank god they are not on tonite, and that I am off from work on Thursday and Friday and can sleep in!! Yesterday was definitely an exciting day in track and field...
- A "come from behind" sprint in the last 200 yards of the mens 800m for Nick Symmonds and Andrew Wheating to finish first and second...and third place-and the final Beijing spot-decided literally by a crash to the line.
- The women's 800m, the 3rd Beijing spot coming down to who could get the A standard...the third place finisher didn't have it, so the 4th place finisher got it-and she may not have even made the final had there not been a protest after the crash in the semis...
- The possiblity of the decathlon AR being broken in the trials...came down to the last event-so close!! Will it fall in China?
But-was not too thrilled about the coverage of the womens 5K semis and mens 5K final being interrupted for the field events...but I guess I do understand that not everyone finds watching running in circles as exciting as I do, and may prefer the field events. But it doesn't mean that the breakaways weren't poorly timed...like for example, they cut away when Jen Rhines took the lead near the end!! (did they take a cue from the 2006 NYCM coverage?) But man...if this is any indication, I am gonna be useless during the Olympics if a lot of these things are being shown late at nite (on tape delay of course!) And it's gonna be sooo tough to avoid spoilers... Labels: marathon, olympics, running, running shoes |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 1:28 PM |
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| pre (training) season is over! |
| Sunday, June 29, 2008 |
And a muggy, humid 3.3 miles on the bridle path a few hours ago ended my NYC Marathon training "pre-season" (Hey, other athletes have a pre-season to gear up for their main season...so I think I should too!) Pre-season also ended with a 10-and-change mile long run on the west side highway yesterday afternoon, smartly done in the afternoon (hey I needed to sleep!! and apparently I need to acclimate too), thankfully right before the skies opened up yet again over NYC. Oh-and I actually saw the Garmin distance go backwards for a sec...weird!! And I wore my trusty Cumulus 9's...compared to the 10s, felt like night and day. Yes, the 10's will be going back to the store.
So. Tomorrow begins the quest for marathon #2. Planning to peak this time at 45 mpw, long runs no longer than 20 miles, and gonna try to fit in 2 cross-training days a week as long as I can (may have to "double" up on a day where I have a short run...) Goals? Well-honestly, I really do want to at the very least, get under 4 hours again so I can prove that 2006 was not a fluke. However a certain someone told me that is the lamest goal ever :-p What can I say-the last coupla years did shake my confidence a bit. Even though the spring was decent, I'm still not convinced that it would translate to a better marathon time. I guess the thing is-I really don't have a recent race time to use as a predictor. The 4-milers are probably a bit of a stretch, I haven't run a decent 10K yet this year, and while I was happy with Broad Street, I can't really use that to predict a time for a hillier course like NYC.
So...tomorrow begins 18 weeks of hard work!! Wish me luck :-p
And on other running notes, I'm really getting into following the track and field OTs the last few days. I am kicking myself for crashing during the womens 10,000m on Friday nite (or Saturday morning, depending on how you look at it...) as I missed what was definitely a fabulous ending to that race. Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher ran expected fabulous races, but Amy Begley ran the race of her life-especially the 2nd 5K!-to get the A standard, to make sure her third-place finish wasn't for nothing. (If anyone can find the video of this race on the web anywhere, please let me know!!) Exciting races in the sprints too (like the 100m that just happened!!) Who says that you have to be a marathoner to be a runner? While I am looking forward to watching the Olympic marathon on TV next month-moreso for the personal connection...I mean, those US guys qualified in my own backyard!-I think the track events are gonna be very exciting to watch as well.
(update-found it!! at least, the last minute or so of the 10K, thanks to nbcolympics.com)
And is anyone else sick of the constant Brightoom emails that clog up the inbox as I am??? Dammit...where is that "unsubscribe" option...?Labels: marathon, olympics, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 8:38 PM |
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| bridges and arches-and celeb sightings too!! |
| Sunday, June 22, 2008 |
 This past Saturday, I participated in a annual Flyers tradtion-the "Bridges and Arches run"-an 8 mile jaunt over bridges, under arches, and discovering many hills that should probably stay undiscovered :) I was tapped to be one of the "shephards"-cute name for one of the run leaders :) I had done that 2 years ago and was glad to do it again! This is definitely one of my favorite runs and I was a little disappointed to have missed it last year when I was in San Francisco. And if the run wasn't exciting enough, while at brunch we had a celeb sighting!! Check it out in the picture below :)
So...this run was the longest run of a 28-mile week (which also included 2 yoga classes and a spin class.) I will say though...the legs did feel tired by today!! Hope that is not a taste of things to come as marathon training begins one week from tomorrow!! In prep for that, I got new shoes...figured this week is as good as any to road-test the Asics Cumulus 10s...see if they feel as good on the roads as they did during the treadmill test run-or if I will need to stockpile several pairs of the 9's. Better to know before training starts, right?
Non-running stuff in the last few days included...
- happy hour with the coworkers at Red Sky Friday nite to welcome the summer interns-oh, and an excuse for an open bar too...
- saw Altar Boyz today-absolutely hysterical. Go see it if you already haven't. If you like boy bands-and/or mocking boy bands-you'll like this :)
- Jury duty is over with, done with, won't be buggering me for 6 years!! Came thisclose to getting picked for a case though...guess I said the right thing to not get picked! :)
One more week to go before it's time to get to work...man, it's so so close!! Though can the weather gods please spare NYC of the constant thunderstorms? :)Labels: drinking, flyers, marathon, running, running shoes, socializing, work |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 9:59 PM |
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| does marathoning a runner make? |
| Wednesday, June 18, 2008 |
This post on Laura's blog sorta brought up a topic that I know has been discussed to death on this blog, but felt like I had to bring it up again...
Seems like lately in the blogosphere, there are people who don't define themselves as runners until they have done a marathon, or run a certain amount of miles in a training run.
As you all know, I strongly disagree with that-and I do believe in the whole "running is not marathoning" thing (thanks jbl!) Hell, I defined myself as a runner long before I even toed the line of my first half-marathon. While it was an eventual goal to run a marathon, I had plenty of time to get there and you know what? Racing shorter distances is actually fun! It doesn't always have to be about the 26.2, though I do respect those who do prefer that.
But outside the blogosphere...I too, have seen the bias towards longer distances. The weekend I did Broad Street, was also the weekend of the Brooklyn Half and several other marathons. You can guess which runners got the most kudos and congrats-yep, the marathoners, followed by the half-marathon runners. Never mind that I ran probably my best race ever to date, still felt like pulling teeth to get any congrats. Not that I was actively seeking them out. But why is it that I have to remind people that racing and personal achievement happens at all distances, long and short-and deserves to be noticed? And an explanation I was given was that "the marathon is the ultimate distance that people achieve to run, that deserves congrats." Does that mean that those who want to focus on shorter races are considered "slackers" or "wusses" and don't deserve the kudos? Would I have gotten more recognition for running a mediocre half-marathon instead of a kick-ass 10-miler, just because it was 3.1 miles longer and had the word "marathon" in it?
As one of the Flyer captains, I do try as hard as possible to be sensitive to that...yep, there are times that when I email my team, I am forced to mention certain marathon-related announcements. But I really try to make notice that I am paying attention to our team's achievements in other distances (e.g., the mile, 5K, cross-country races) Or I'll tell them so in person. I really don't want those who focus on shorter distances to feel like their achievements go unnoticed and just "buried" in all the marathon mania.
So where am I going with this? Well-as someone who will be running her 2nd marathon this year-I will say, I do respect the distance, I respect the time and energy needed to train for it, I respect those who finish, I respect those who's favorite distance is the marathon and like to run them frequently. But guys-please respect the shorter distances too. Just because runners like em short and hard (the mileage and effort...what were you thinking? :-p )-that does not make them slackers or wusses-or "non-runners."
Those are my thoughts on the topic-flame away!! :-)Labels: marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 1:27 PM |
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| better than SATC |
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 |
Original plan for Monday after work was as follows...go see the Sex and the City movie. Then meet up with the Monday night downtown crew at Shake Shack. But those plans got changed when I got an email from a friend asking if I wanted to go to a special screening of Run For Your Life-the documentary about Fred Lebow and the NYC Marathon. As I missed the movie when it was playing at the Tribeca Film Festival, and I had heard nothing but rave reviews about it, I jumped at the chance. And it was worth it!!
First off...as this was a special screening in honor of NYRR's 50th Anniversary and "Running Week"...there were actual running celebrities in the audience too...including Grete Waitz, Bill Rodgers, Kathrine Switzer (and a couple even participated in a little Q and A afterwards!!) I kinda felt like I was at a star-studded movie premiere or something :-p
As this movie has had many reviews...instead of writing up a full review, I figured I'd mention the points that stood out most in my mind.
- How "back to basics" everything was. No CoolMax, no PowerGel, no chip mats, no 5K splits, tearing the tag off the bib, how small the original finish line was, the retro running clothes...it is amazing how far things have come.
- Fred tossing the "clown" out of the way at the start line in Staten Island. He obviously had no tolerance for those who didn't take his race seriously!! (Wonder if he would have done the same to "Mr. Testicles" :-p )
- How I recognized so many things in Central Park...the bridges, the drives...and they really did not look much different than they do 30 years later. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same :)
- Fred's "ladies man" reputation...kind of an "Austin Powers"-esque quality :-p
- All the different neighborhoods in the five boroughs, coming together as they do now on Marathon Sunday.
- Not seeing ING's name plastered on anything!!
- Fred's extreme dedication to his vision, his race...just like a marathon runner.
- Fred running his race for the first (and last) time with Grete Waitz by his side, breaking his own finish line tape...I felt that moment was the most emotional.
After seeing this movie, it's gotten me more pumped up to run the NYC Marathon this year...and very appreciative of the efforts of so many people-Fred Lebow especially-to give me the privilege to run the 5 boroughs in November. So yes-this was definitely worth passing up seeing SATC...I have plenty of time to see that (though PLEASE do not give me any spoilers-thanks in advance), but I didn't know if I would have another chance to see this great movie, about this important piece of NYC running history. (And as it turned out, the Monday nite crew didn't even stick around at Shake Shack since it was too crowded and wound up going elsewhere!) ************************************************************************************
Another race that was mentioned in the movie was the Mini 10K...spoke a bit about the history of that race and how they tried to draw attention to women's running...can you believe they actually used Playboy bunnies to promote the event in the beginning? :) So yeah...that race is coming up on Saturday, and the weather is not looking too good...looking to be a scorcher similar to 2005 and 2007. If the weather had cooperated, I was hoping for at least a course PR (48:59)...but I have a feeling all goals are gonna have to be thrown out the window, and just have to settle for trying to run an even race (more like 2007 than 2005), whatever that may be...I'm sure I'll know at mile 1 what kind of day it's gonna be... Labels: marathon, movies, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 2:15 PM |
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| one weekend down |
| Sunday, June 01, 2008 |
yes, of course in the season that goes by quickest, as does the first weekend of said season. i really hope this is not a trend though!! two highlights of the weekend...
...first one being the first of the Flyers' summer "TGIFF" happy hours. Was the Central Park Boathouse and thankfully, no rain as has been the trend for most of the Boathouse happy hours :) However, there was a sorta conflict this nite-as our team's 40+ runners had their own social event that night, but we all felt the TGIFF party should go on because...seriously, why should the under 40s have to stay at home? But, being the mischief-maker that I am, I made it my duty to let some of our masters men know via text message what they were missing. Or what I made them believe they were missing :-p (c'mon...dancing on tables...that's believable, right?) And eventually, some of those guys did pay us young'uns a visit after their social was over...ah, never can resist the pull of the under-40 crowd :)
Today was another visit to Rockefeller State Park...a different route...little bit longer (around 8.5 miles), a coupla different trails...and one hill that I felt was almost as bad as that one killer kill in the Palisades!! But honestly, I can't say enough about the trail surface, I think as one of my teammates has told me plenty of times in the past, it really does lead to shorter recovery time. Was a fun time...during the run and before/after the run...Harley motorcycles on the highway and on the streets with the drivers fist-butting at every intersection :)...peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes at brunch...yum.
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And got quite a bit of stuff going on, running-race wise this summer!!
- Starting off with the annual favorite Mini 10K...please weather gods, have mercy on us this year!! (In other words, the weather forecast has 6 days to improve...)
- Then for the thirs year in a row, doing my weekend double...Team Black will be back for the Need for Speed Relay...this year I have a different-but still easy-leg. But I'm really just in it for the hijinks in the Team Black van :-p
- Not exactly a race, but still an organized run...the Underwear Run on NYC Tri weekend. I really hope I do not regret signing up for it...lol
- Thinking of possibly doing a weeknight 5K in Hoboken in July...
- Of course, the Club Team Champs 5-miler in August
- And signed up for the Philly Distance Run in September!! (still officially summer) Have been dying to run a flat half-marathon for awhile...and hey, Philly has shown that it can put on a great race ;-)
And in the midst of all this...damn, can't believe NYC Marathon training starts in 5 weeks. Meaning I have 5 weeks to come up with a training plan. In 2006 I peaked at 42 mpw...but then, I didn't really cross-train. I'm sorta thinking this time around that crazy mileage wouldn't be a good idea-peaking at 45 mpw maybe? 50 tops?-since I would like to fit in more cross-training....the quality over quantity idea. Since surprisingly my race times have gotten better this year while running less miles. Dunno if I'm making sense here... :) (doublechecked-actually NYCM training would begin on June 30th...meaning 4 weeks to come up with a plan!! eek...) Labels: drinking, flyers, marathon, running, socializing |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 8:10 PM |
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| green-eyed girl |
| Monday, April 21, 2008 |
For the fourth year in a row, I spent the better part of the workday on Patriots' Day glued to the computer, tracking teammates and other friends running Boston...
A familiar emotion was present...the "go team"...cheering strong starts...sending subliminal messages in the 2nd half to hold on and finish strong...heartbreak for those who either finished seriously hurting, or didn't finish at all. Pride in my teammates who toed the start line once again, and did their best.
But another one was present this year, and I really don't know what triggered it this year, as opposed to the last 3 years. Yep, the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head. To the point that i really felt like just running solo tonite-because I didn't feel like hearing about Boston anymore.
In a way, I think I feel like the girl trying to get in to the "cool clique." With their snazzy jackets, amazing athletic ability, admiration of so many, they're the people you wanna be.
But this is one tough clique to crack, there are standards to meet. I can't just say "oh yeah I'll be there next year"...I may never have a 3:40 marathon in me, my best bet may be 2012 with a 3:45-and even that may be a stretch. I was damn proud of my 3:58 marathon debut, but was it as impressive as those who debuted with a 3:40 or better? But on the other hand...I should be grateful that I am that close...
And on that note, why do we use the BQ standards as the measuring stick of sorts? I can say I'd be more impressed by someone who trained like crazy and ran a 4:30, rather than one who really didn't train but still ran a 3:30 because they had that natural ability...I guess what I am trying to say is that there is so much that the numbers just don't reveal.
Yeah, I know. I'm horrible for thinking all this. But at the end of the day, I really did wish all runners today well, I wasn't hoping for anyone to bonk or anything...can't hate em because they are fast, I guess. :)
(oh and bandana-brain...you done good-just put the camera away next time!! :) )Labels: marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 10:33 PM |
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| 136 dollars later... |
| Thursday, April 10, 2008 |
yeah. :)
goal for now-get under 4 hours again so I can prove that 2006 was not a fluke-then take it from there...
on the topic of NYCM, I have been having some strange NYCM-related dreams the last couple of weeks. Not about the race itself-but more before the race. And in each one, I have some kind of issue before the race...I'm not wearing the shorts/singlet/whatever else i'm supposed to be wearing and i don't have time to go home and change, i don't have my gels and need to bum them off others or look to see where i can buy them at the last minute, i'm not going to make it to the bus to Staten Island in time, and it's 9 AM...strange, huh? wonder what meaning these all have, if any at all...
As for the cost-while I agree that it is ridiculous how steeply the price keeps rising each year (to put into perspective...cost in 2005 was $77 , 2006 was $89, 2007 was $100)-I guess its the "home field advantage" that keeps me coming back...any other cheaper marathon, would still have to pony up travel-related expenses....so it'd most likely be a wash. But I still fear what the 2009 fee will be...Labels: marathon, running |
| posted by nyflygirl @ 10:16 PM |
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