Race Reports
2008
  • NYRR Club Team Championships 5M-8/16/08
  • Party With Purpose 5K-7/15/08
  • New York Park to Park 10K-7/13/08
  • Need For Speed Relay-6/8/08
  • New York Mini 10K-6/7/08
  • Wall Street Run-5/20/08
  • Healthy Kidney 10K-5/17/08
  • Broad Street Run-5/4/08
  • Run as One 4M-4/13/08
  • Colon Cancer 4M-3/9/08
  • 2007

  • Joe Kleinerman 10K-12/9/07
  • Queens Half-Marathon-9/23/07
  • NYRR Club Team Championships 5M-8/18/07
  • San Francisco (2nd) Half Marathon-7/29/07
  • Naples-New York Park to Park 10K-7/14/07
  • WABC Fight Against Prostate Cancer 5M-6/17/07
  • Need For Speed Relay-6/10/07
  • New York Mini 10K-6/9/07
  • Wall Street Run 3M-5/22/07
  • Healthy Kidney 10K-5/19/07
  • Thomas G. Labrecque 4M-4/29/07
  • Coogan's 5K-3/4/07
  • Snowflake 4M-2/24/07
  • 2006
    New York City Marathon-11/5/06:

  • Training recap
  • Brief summary and 5K splits
  • Pre-race
  • The race
  • After the race
  • Staten Island Half-Marathon-10/15/06
  • NYC Marathon 18-Mile Tune-Up-10/8/06
  • Grete's Great Gallop-10/1/06
  • NYC Half-Marathon-8/27/06
  • NYRR Club Team Championships 5M-8/19/06
  • Dash and Splash 5M-7/15/06
  • JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5M-6/21/06
  • WABC Fight Against Prostate Cancer 5M-6/18/06
  • Need For Speed Relay-6/11/06
  • Circle of Friends NY Mini 10K-6/10/06
  • Healthy Kidney 10K-5/20/06
  • Queens Half-Marathon-4/29/06
  • Thomas G. Labrecque 4M-4/9/06
  • Brooklyn Half-Marathon-3/18/06
  • Colon Cancer 15K-3/12/06
  • Snowflake 4M-2/25/06
  • Gridiron Classic 4M-2/5/06
  • Manhattan "Half-Marathon"-1/28/06
  • 2005

  • Joe Kleinerman 10K-12/11/05
  • Race To Deliver 4M-11/20/05
  • Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff 5M-10/30/05
  • Categories!
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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 lengthTimePace
    1200m5:42.297:39.05
    800m3:46.777:36.19
    400m1:47.027:10.58
    400m1:49.757:21.56
    400m1:48.557:16.73
    400m1:44.757:01.45


    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!! :)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 11:50 AM   | | Links to this post
    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 lengthTimePace
    800m3:45.907:34.44
    800m3:44.107:30.82
    800m3:46.247:35.12
    800m3:48.497:39.65
    400m1:51.437:28.32
    400m1:51.497:28.56
    400m1:50.347:23.94
    200m0:54.207:16.13
    200m0:52.707:04.06


    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!!

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 1:43 PM   | | Links to this post
    what the hell is in the water?
    Tuesday, July 08, 2008
    seriously. is the marriage bug catching in my office or something? in the last coupla weeks there have been not 1, not 2, but 3 engagements (2 of the 3 just happening last week!) which i found out about yesterday and today. and my favorite part is being told "you're next." please. i've been hearing that for about 10 years, and it's really getting old...seriously, what do you say to respond to that? "No i'm not!"

    so yeah, i think that left me a little out of sorts yesterday evening. i did participate in the Flyers' First Monday run...5 miles along the west side and around the bottom tip of Manhattan and ending at a great viewing spot to see all 4 waterfalls, then hitting up a downtown bar for drinks. Though I guess it was fun, I made sure to keep it a recovery pace...I dunno, my heart was sorta not in it...more emotionally tired, I think. (Legs surprisingly not sore-maybe there is something to those trail surfaces...) Hindsight, i probably shoulda just run solo and called it a day (night)

    Wouldn't you know it-this was my horoscope for yesterday...
    "Today you may be too overwhelmed with emotions to get anything done. Instead of repressing your feelings, give in and have a good cry. You'll feel better once you let everything out in the open."

    and today...
    "Romance is on your mind a lot today. You want to have a fairy tale love affair, but you're also unsure if you want to risk heartbreak. Keep in mind that a passionate relationship is attainable, but only through hard work, compromise, chemistry and a little luck."

    I swear, how do these people know?

    Yankee game tomorrow with work! This should be, uh, interesting. And speaking of baseball, anyone else see those baseball-themed Statues of Liberty promoting the all-star game that are strategically placed around the city? I snapped this pic of the Detroit one thats in my building...wanna get a pic of the Yankees one! :)

    detroit statue of liberty

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 2:10 PM   | | Links to this post
    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!

    run splits map of todays run

    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! :)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 10:10 PM   | | Links to this post
    white sheets, flashing lights
    Friday, June 27, 2008
    some of the beds at duvetAh yes, a few months have gone by, I guess I was due to hit up another Jewish singles event. And there was one last nite, put on by the same people who put on this last one in March. This one had a swanky "White Party" theme...think Hamptons meets JDate :-p Seriously, I have never seen so much white clothing all in one place. And to keep with that, was held at a pretty swank locale too...Duvet-infamous for the seating being actual beds (and in a SATC episode too-anyone remember this episode when Carrie got broken up with on a Post-It? On a POST-IT?!?!?)

    So yeah, me and NC had on cute little all-white dresses and were both hoping for the best. Though it was a cool scene...and the music was great, I had a lot of fun dancing quite a bit...unfortunately, no male prospects. (the ones that did talk to me...no potential. my favorite was the one who showed me that he has a NJ drivers license even though he's never lived in NJ-and has it to cheat on his taxes. I mean...who tells someone this when they're trying to make a first impression???)

    I swear, am I a glutton for punishment or something? Like why do I still go to these things if I know that it's tough to meet guys there? (meaning relationship-minded guys...no playas, no hook-up artists.) Don't get me wrong, I don't regret going, I did have fun...it's just these events that are meant for one thing usually seem to have the opposite effect!!

    Well...thank god for one thing...no sleazy guys were trying to get me to go to bed with them :-p
    (ok i know that was bad!!)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 2:01 PM   | | Links to this post
    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 :)
    recognize this satc celeb in the photo?
    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? :)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 9:59 PM   | | Links to this post
    no t-shirt this year
    Monday, June 16, 2008
    The past few years, i've picked up a t-shirt from the Father's Day 5-mile race and given it to my dad as part of his Father's Day gift (figured he can always use a new t-shirt for the "rotation"! :-p ) However, he was a tiny bit disappointed this year when I showed up with no t-shirt in hand. (Though I think that disappointment was short-lived when he got his gift of a new Mickey Mantle shirt.)

    Yeah-for the first time since I've been running NYRR races, I decided to bail on signing up for this year's Father's Day race. Even though it's on the friendlier of the Central Park 5-mile courses (clockwise lower 5), the race has been plagued by hot weather the last coupla years and I was not up for a repeat of last weekend. Instead, I figured I'd just get an easy run in and cheer on the guys...might as well, as they were nice enough to cheer for me last weekend :) Turned out to be the right decision, it was humid as hell out and just an easy-paced run felt tough. However, the Flyer guys done good for this race.

    Plus also, I was able to get a longer run in on Saturday...if I were racing, I probably wouldn't have done that...but with marathon training starting in 2 weeks (eek!!) I really have to get comfortable with double-digit mileage runs. Did about 11 and a half miles...down the west side, around the bottom tip of Manhattan, up the East Side a little bit. Was raining the last few miles of my run and it felt great. However, saw lightning near the end and wasted no time in trying to find a subway. And once I got out of the subway on the UWS, it was a torrential downpour...the first of many that evening.

    Yeah, I shouldn't have procrastinated-but I was knocking back a few Boat Basin margaritas at the Flyers' TGIFF happy hour (good lord, I keep forgetting how strong those strawberry ones are) and my body desperately needed an extra coupla hours of sleep. Was fun...big turnout this time, I think partially because the 40+ peeps missed hanging out with us under 40s so much 2 weeks ago :-p

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 1:15 PM   | | Links to this post
    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.

    ************************************************************************************
    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...)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 8:10 PM   | | Links to this post
    the long weekend, in pictures
    Monday, May 26, 2008

    nyc skyline from the met rooftopmy west/east side/bridgy run
    Friday-martinis and admiring the view on the Met rooftop (and oh yeah, looking at some other art)Saturday-long run down the west side, over 2 bridges and back north. West side path and Brooklyn Bridge very crowded. Quite a few seamen were spotted.
    not the martinis i drank sunday, but needed an illustrationmap and elevation of the rockefeller trails...thankfully did not get lost!
    Sunday-2 watermelon martinis, 2 appletinis and some girl talkMonday-almost 8 hilly miles in Rockefeller State Park


    But how is it almost time to go back to work?? I just hope the whole summer does not go by as quickly as this weekend did!

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 7:35 PM   | | Links to this post
    like a fly you can't swat
    Friday, March 21, 2008
    So as Purim is this week, this of course means a plethora of Jewish singles events. NC and I decided to go to one that was put on by the same group that put on the second event we went to here. We were both prepared for there to be lots of men doing lots of groping :-p

    When we got inside, we both noted that the crowd seemed a little more tame than the previous event. Good, there may be hope. But of course, we can't go to any of these events without seeing someone we knew, or met once!! One being the guy from the previous event that remembered my LV bag. And another...well this guy took my number at the previous event but never called (I was indifferent to that though)-and apparently he went out with NC once but pretended not to recognize her. And this time he was pretending to not recognize either of us. But man...the entire night, no matter where we were in the bar, he was nearby. As I said to NC "he's like a fly you just can't swat."
    me and NC pose for a pic...note the tiara on yours truly
    No male prospects, unfortunately...but the music was good for dancing-thankfully no groping males! (Oh but there was the one who asked us if we had kissed any guys yet that night...oh jeez ;-) )Oh, and the party was costume optional...didn't feel like going all-out in costume, but thought it'd be fun to wear a tiara...nothing wrong with being a queen for a day (or night!) But the funny thing was that someone on the subway earlier in the evening, and one later too...thought it was my birthday or something because I had the tiara. Hey-doesn't have to be my birthday to channel my inner princess... :-p

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 3:21 PM   | | Links to this post
    sugar sweet rum runners
    Monday, March 03, 2008
    I think these words pretty much summed up my weekend...
    • I had quite a few sugar-rimmed watermelon and apple-tinis at Honey on Friday nite (great happy hour specials, BTW!)...and yes, I did briefly chat up a guy at the bar...nothing came out of it, except a free mojito :) And it was a fun girls nite out, which was really the point of the night anyways!
    • Sampled some cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine-and let me tell you, their vanilla cupcakes really give Magnolia Bakery a run for their money-too bad it's located in the opposite corner of town from me (down in the Lower East Side!)
    • I consumed many rum drinks (no rum runners though!) on Saturday nite-needless to say, Coogan's was NOT happening for me on Sunday. No sirree, as I did not wake up til noon. That's OK, done it once...
    • Did the full 6-mile loop yesterday for the first time since the injury-yay!!

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

    More to come...

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 3:05 PM   | | Links to this post
    scatterbrained
    Friday, February 29, 2008
    always seems to be the case for a Friday!! boss is on vacay, quite a few other people are out of the office, I have plans after work and just can't wait for it to be quitting time!! i want to be concentrating on work, but really there is nothing pressing. And facebook is the ultimate time-sucker as well :-p

    oh yeah, today is February 29th, and I can't forget what I was told about leap day!! Apparently this is the day where the tables are turned and women can ask men to marry them. Nope-I do not intend on doing that tonite, not at all!! But hey-I say this gives me free reign to approach a guy at the bar and chat him up-right? :)

    and completely off-topic...UWS'ers (esp. those around the 70's-80's)...have you noticed an "E 74th St" sign where there is supposed to be a "W76th St" sign (i think it's that block!!) on CPW? I noticed that when running up CPW last nite...strange. Just as amusing as the Times Square Shuffle (which I really thought was a mistake and was supposed to say "Shuttle"!)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 12:26 PM   | | Links to this post
    party of one
    Friday, February 08, 2008
    I had picked up this week's "Singles Issue" of Time Out New York, and was intrigued by this article. It kinda conjured up memories of my San Francisco trip, where people seemed surprised that I was dining by myself. (I was there solo for the last coupla days of my trip...) Or when people said to me "you're so brave" if I go to a bar or party solo, sans wing-people.

    In a way, I don't get what the big deal is. There are times when it's nice to call the shots as to what you want to eat/drink...or if you meet someone, you don't have to worry as much about abandoning a friend...hell, there have been a couple of times where I just wanted to go sit at the bar, have a drink to toast myself/chase off an uncomfortable happy hour/just for the hell of it. And it's nice during the spring/summer to sit outside at a wine bar, sip a glass and read a magazine/people-watch. And what I have heard before, is that guys are more likely to approach a girl who's solo than try and infiltrate a group of girls.

    But on the flip side...I do feel a little self-conscious, like they're all thinking "she's here solo, what's wrong with her." (Never mind that they probably don't know that I just didn't feel like staying at home because everyone else was either with spending time with significant others/out on "date night"/just not feeling a night out/don't like the suggested scene or venue.)

    Maybe I'm making too big a deal of this, but I thought this was good blog material :) And would be interested to hear other thoughts!!

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 2:53 PM   | | Links to this post
    the best night ever
    Sunday, February 03, 2008
    view from the loft space where the awards gala was
    (post title inspired by title of an episode from The Hills Season 2. :) )

    Not sure about the "best night ever," but last nite's Flyers awards gala was definitely a fabulous night. After the last 2 years's shindigs taking place at the Manhattan Club, it changed venues this year to SunWest Studios Loft-a very funky loft space in way west Manhattan which inside, had the appearance of a trendy NYC loft party, and awesome views of the city from both the windows and the outside balcony. Definitely give this venue change a thumbs up!!

    Anyway, had a new dress for the occasion (which thankfully I was able to fit into-LOL!! I took chances by snatching it up on sale last June...) had all the accessories, shoes, hair and makeup all ready to go...I met up with Runner26 and her husband to share a cab to the party and by the time we got there, it was already packed!! Surprised...in the words of R26 herself "We don't have to be fashionably late-just fashionable!" Guess everyone had the same idea-or just wanted to take advantage of the open bar...knowing my team, I think the latter :)


    After about an hour and a half of sipping cosmos, socializing, posing for pictures, comparing formal attire (and who knew kilts were in fashion this year!! i spotted em on 3 of our guys...) it was time for the awards ceremony. The "Year in Photos" show was always entertaining, especially when I see pics of me in there...I spotted one of me and HC at Urban Athletics after the Snowflake 4-miler, me running up CPW during the Mini 10K (which another teammate commented to me that one seemed to get a lot of applause...), a team picture of Team Blaenjoying the party...and the open barck at Need For Speed...and oh yeah, one of my chest, I mean the Flyers logo (yeah Dr. Evil...sure thats the real reason for using that picture!!) After that, was time for the actual awards, and the two MC's did a great job...usually the natives are restless during the awards part because they want to get back to the drinking and dancing, but they made the awards presentations very entertaining. Wasn't a huge surprise to me, since I was on the awards committee and had a big part of choosing the awards, but was great to see the presentations, and so many deserving peeps win...including quite a few bloggers ;-)


    dancing!
    And very fittingly, the dancing started off with one of my favorites-"SexyBack" :) the final 2 hours seemed to pass by in such a blur...everything from current dance, to 80s to 70s to salsa and then all of a sudden, "Last Dance" came on...mind you, I was not drunk, but I guess time really flies when you are having fun!! Not ready to end the night, we all attempted to come up with an after-party plan...and not surprisingly, Kanvas was chosen...since I think that was probably the closest place-but was way too packed. So...I think everyone scattered after that...I wound up with the group who ended up going nearby to grab some food and just discuss the great night that went by.


    Thankfully not hungover, but useless today-didn't get to sleep til after 3 and didn't move from bed til around 2. Such a great weekend...between the gala and a great time at a friend's b-day party on Friday nite...

    And the dress was a hit, and I intend to bring it out again in a month at NYRR's Club Night!! Looks like we are gonna have a very lively group there again and I'm excited for it. (And hope we reprise the post-party...heh heh.)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 9:49 PM   | | Links to this post
    different, but the same
    Tuesday, January 22, 2008
    well this was interesting. this past weekend, me and my Flyer teammate NC decided to take on a duo of Jewish singles parties...each one with a decidedly different vibe to it.

    The first one on Saturday night, was held at an Equinox gym in midtown...the premise was to get fitness-minded Jewish singles together. And no cover for women, so hey, why not? And honestly-I think it was a good idea in theory. But I think the end result was kinda underwhelming. First off-the only hooch there was wine samples. (Good thing I already had a mojito and a glass of white wine at dinner.) At least it was free, but hey...you need more alcohol to induce mingling!! I'm sure people would even pay for it. Second, the only food available to guests was fruit. Obviously the organizers have never spent much time around runners. And not surprisingly-the crowd was mostly female (well duh...of course, thanks to the free cover!) and the males there...kinda meh. (And of course, I ran into someone I know-a male friend of my friend's sister who i met at the Matzo Ball. There-my "jewish singles are a small world" moment of the night.) Our favorite was the one guy who kept trying to convince us we were drunk and slurring our words. Who knows, maybe he was on to something...after all, we excused ourselves from uncomfortable conversations quite a few times that nite to sample yet another type of wine, til we sampled them all and by then it was time to call it a night.

    And we tried again on Sunday night...this event was one that apparently attracted a more "Euro" Jewish crowd, and was held at a nice bar in midtown. The music was great, the dancing was fun. But the men...oh. mah. gawd. Quite a few of them were pretty aggressive-this was like some of my better JDate emails come to life. (oh, and of course we had a "jewish singles are a small world" moment of the night-we did recognize a couple of guys from the night before...one even remembered my LV bag.) NC and I had to rescue each other quite a bit by either hitting the bar or just going elsewhere til we both had enough!! I think the best thing that we got out of the night was free chocolate :-p

    Well, at least we went into these without expectations...all in all I was fine with what it was...and what it usually is-a good time with friends, with stories to tell afterwards! :)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 2:21 PM   | | Links to this post
    an unlikely turn of events
    Sunday, December 30, 2007
    Friday was my last day of work for 2007, and also the last Flyers TGIFF happy hour of 2007. Should have been a great night, but that is not exactly how things panned out.

    Well it didn't start off so bad, actually. But for reasons that I really don't want to go into here, I had to make an early exit. I got back uptown but really didn't feel like going home...was too...i dunno. i felt like being by myself, but didn't want to go back to my place. so i decided i'd find a place where i could just sit at the bar and sip a drink and just calm my nerves. the first 2 places i thought of looked too crowded, but the 3rd had enough room for me to sit at the bar and sip a mojito.

    I left after a drink, and as I was walking towards the corner, I made eye contact with a very cute guy and vice versa...he finished up his cell phone conversation and walked over...said i looked familiar and asked what my name was...and wouldn't you know it, we did meet randomly once before...once over the summer, when i was on the crosstown bus en route to Skylight's b-day shindig. I let this connection get away back then (since there was someone else in the picture), but let's just say I didn't make the same mistake twice...so we will see what happens! I mean...what are the chances of a missed connection being found again? :)

    so i guess this crazy night had a decent ending :)

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 9:51 PM   | | Links to this post
    jewish singles=smallest community ever-part 2 of ...
    Wednesday, December 26, 2007
    ohhh yeah...i knew it'd happen again.

    so i'm sure you can guess from the title that I did wind up attending The Ball on XMas Eve. I was there solo in the beginning, but then met up with my coworker and her BF and a couple other of their friends and had a good time. I still can't believe how many Jewish singles there are in the tri-state area...this event took place in 5 bars, and everywhere was just packed. ( I wound up going to 3 of the 5...The Park was pretty quiet in the beginning but at least it was easy to get a drink, Hiro (the lounge/club at the Maritime Hotel) was abolutely packed but was playing good music...The Cabanas (the rooftop bar at the Maritime) was packed but a little less so...then went back to The Park, where it had really picked up by that time.)

    But enough of that. I'm sure you can tell there is a story brewing here, and that is what you really want to hear! :)

    So as I know I have mentioned in the past, I can't go to these events without running into someone I know. And actually, later in the evening, I run into one of my ex-collegues from my last job...actually, I think last time I saw him was one of these events a coupla years back. But that's not the real interesting story... :)

    Early in the evening, I catch the eye of a tall, good-looking guy. I walk over and we start talking. He tells me his name, and where he's from and I'm thinking "hmmm...I did know someone by that same name from that same place." When he mentioned where he went to school-same school as me-I put 2 and 2 together and knew that I knew him. When I asked if he was in a fraternity and he said what i thought he was gonna say...I let on that we did already know each other.

    Basically-I was chatting with the Ex-Boyfriend's fraternity "big" brother!! OMG...talk about random encounters!!

    But we actually had a nice conversation, catching up and stuff...he seemed to understand why I hadn't talked to the Ex in 7 years...that I did what I had to do to move on with my life. I then had to leave to go to one of the other bars, but got digits...and told him to tell the Ex that i said hi.

    Please tell me that last action will result in some good karma for me.

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 11:27 AM   | | Links to this post
    and what were you doing on december 15th?
    Friday, December 21, 2007
    Well according to this, you most likely were attending some type of holiday party whose invitation found its way to you via Evite. And I was one of those, in fact, that would have been the last one in my 3-party weekend...

    Thursday nite-work party. (The day of was such a wasted day with regards to being productive-between a long meeting, holiday lunch, and secret santa gift exchange.) Newer, bigger venue this year, consensus was that this was an upgrade from the past coupla years. The mojito was the choice drink of the evening, coupled with a coupla rounds of kamikaze shots (which I felt the next morning...first I was thinking "no more mojitos" then I remembered "oh yeah...i did shots too, didn't i.") which left me just beautifully buzzed and quite happy on the dance floor-but believe me, I was one of the tamer people there!! (though bosslady just had to ask during the evening how many drinks I had...whatever...) yep, it would not be a holiday party without our financial guy dancing to "Baby Got Back"-and ripping his shirt off near the end of the evening. (sorry-no pictures for public consumption!) Thank god I had off the next day, I had a killer headache and was thinking "oh man...I have to do this again tonite????"

    Friday was HM's annual tree-trimming party, each year with a specific theme-this year was Mexican-complete with margaritas, mariachis, and pinatas. (And let it be known, I am dangerous when trying to break a pinata...) And once again, Santa made an appearance and was way too happy to have the women sit on his lap :-p Had fun, but left relatively early (little after midnight)-as I wanted to make sure I got up in time to get a long run in before the Flyers' "meet the candidates" brunch. (Did a full 6, then did the 4-mile loop in the opposite direction of the Holiday 4-miler to cheer the runners on, then did another 1 to get over to the east side.)

    Saturday was SS and DM's tree-trimming party-and combination potluck too, my contribution was a dozen cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop :) (what...you dont think I really used my oven for anything other than storage??) We all wined, dined, and made the tree pretty :)

    Needless to say, I was pretty much useless on Sunday, with the exception of spin class, watching the Survivor finale, and finishing up a work document I had been procrastinating on for awhile.

    The festivities have died down a bit-had a holiday lunch and gift exchange with my group at work this week, and then have my last holiday party of the season tomorrow nite. (Unless you count the 2 things I am sorta on the fence about...The Ball on XMas Eve and the Midnight Run on New Year's...)

    Pictorial evidence from the Friday night party is below (since I have no pictures of Saturday and I know better than to post any pictures from Thursday's party publicly :) )

    margarita in one hand, flower in another, and posing with the band why santa, don't you look familiar...didn't i see you last year?  and the year before?the tree, decorated in all its mexican glory-complete with mini-pinatas!!

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 3:13 PM   | | Links to this post
    it has begun...
    Monday, December 03, 2007
    and it couldn't even wait til December. yep, the holiday season. the holiday parties have already started, and there's quite a few more on the horizon...

    (though i'm not surprised about the early start, considering XMas decorations have been up in stores since after Halloween!! And Hanukkah is early this year...)

    This past Friday, I crashed the TRD holiday party (well not really crashed, as I was invited :-P ) Was fun and quite a late night (cant remember the last time I stayed out past 3 am!) and rendered me useless on Saturday-with the exception of a 10-mile long run where I everso gracefully tripped and fell on the bridle path-and no that was not due to alcohol, I wasn't even hung over!! :-p (my butt still hurts even now from the fall though...and I know I am opening myself up to a lot of comments on that one from my smartazz commentors :-p )

    This week brings the Flyers holiday party, and Hanukkah with the family over the weekend. Then next week has the extended weekend of the holiday party, with my work party next Thursday, and 2 others on Friday and Saturday!! And I just got an invite for another party the weekend after...

    But I'm not complaining at all, I'm glad that I can actually enjoy it all this year!! (Well with the exception of not partaking in eating a lot of holiday treats...booo...)

    And running...well, just finished my 4th week in a row of 30+ miles (too bad that the majority of those miles were done at a snail-like pace...) So it is kinda sorta getting there. Still not expecting much on Sunday though. But running in the cold has not been that bad so far, I think some of my new winter apparel has helped...guess it's all in the attire...

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 5:34 PM   | | Links to this post
    a belated marathon weekend re-crap
    Sunday, November 11, 2007
    me and runner26 at the flyers pasta party
    Yeah-I meant to get this up a lot earlier-it's just been quite the hectic week. So here goes!!

    Thursday-made a guest appearance at the Flyers pasta party-we made another return to Sambuca, as it was great last year. But I really could not justify pigging out when I would not be running 26.2 miles...oh well, at least it was good to see and chat with everyone!! (pic is of me and runner26)

    Friday-had the day off from work, so hit up the expo. Since I didn't have to cancel my entry, I wanted to get my goodie bag-which i was quite underwhelmed with, except for the shirt (though orange is not exactly my color!) And the expo was quite underwhelming too, compared to previous years. But I did manage to do some damage to my credit card-a new pair of sunglasses to replace the ones that broke, a travel-size Stick, a cold-weather Mizuno top, and a pair of capri tights and a jacket from Sugoi (all Sugoi stuff was on sale!) Yeah, may have gone overboard, but have my reasons. Oh, and saw blogger Brooklyn again working at the check-in line!

    Saturday-I already gave my Trials recap in the previous post...

    me cheering for crazy bandana-head as he ran by
    Sunday-once again, was working at the mile 18 PowerGel station. My plan was to get there for the 10 am shift so I could see the elites, but stay long enough to cheer on the crowds too. The weather was a little chilly, but I was still wearing running-type clothes-a skirt and long-sleeve Flyers top-and my bib. Just in case anyone needed me to run with them, I would be prepared. Unlike previous years where I had no clue how the race was going, this year I had my Treo with me and was following along. So I wasn't surprised to see Radcliffe and Wami way in front as they passed by mile 18. Soon enough, the elite men and the masses passed by. Lance Armstrong was quite UTR this year-I didn't even see him!! Crazy Bandana-head passed by, camera in hand (and got this picture of me cheering) on his way to another BQ. Also saw Jon and Danny, but missed Johnny (as he was not wearing Flyers gear.) But also missed Katie Holmes-oh well, I saw enough in the post-race coverage :-p Once again, it was a blast handing out gels and really having a front-row seat for this thing. And congrats to all the runners!

    obviously jon and i had quite a bit to drink by this point.
    Later that night was the post-marathon party...where quite a few of us had quite a bit to drink...as the pictures show :)

    From the stories I heard about the transportation hassles, the wave starts, the baggage nightmares, and the chip times not getting recorded for quite a bit of the orange start...I am glad I decided to sit this year out. And I think I am ready to gear up for next year. The key is going to be not slacking off this winter like I did last year (and hopefully dropping those stubborn 15-20 extra pounds!) Luckily, work isnt as hellish as it was last year, and the new cold-weather clothes will help...hopefully my teammates can help keep me motivated too!!

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    posted by nyflygirl @ 9:25 PM   | | Links to this post
    About Me

    Name: nyflygirl
    Home: New York, New York, United States
    About Me: I'm a NYC workaholic by day, runner and socialista by night...here I blog about my (mostly) daily musings of running, work, dating, social life and whatever else is on my mind...
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