"dummy quotas"

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

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

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

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

fun with numbers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"monster month"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

after the storm...

I know we've had our share of storms this summer, but this latest one was a doozy...

So Tuesday nite. Perfect nite to sip some drinks at the Frying Pan right by the Hudson River...next best thing to being on a boat...oh wait a minute, we were on a boat of sorts :) Not to mention celebrating a certain someone's "prime" birthday ;-) But then we saw the bolts of lightning. And heard the thunder. And why we didn't leave right then and there, I don't know...oh yeah, someone thought this would just be a "heat storm" and there would be no rain. Uh, famous last words, as the skies opened up like crazy. First things first, let's get the hell away from the water!! Ducked for cover under an awning in front of a school and just tried to wait it out...which took about 15 minutes. And not surprisingly, no cabs were stopping so once it stopped raining, we just subwayed it home (wow, the subways were actually running?) Rumor has it the b-day girl enjoyed this so much she was singing and dancing...or was that the sangria talking? Let me tell you, I didn't have a lot to drink but I sure sobered up quickly once the rains came...

But even though I didn't know it at the time, i was lucky I was not uptown, as the UWS got hit majorly hard by the storm-especially Central Park. North of the reservoir, the park drives and bridle paths were just littered by fallen trees and tree branches...I was shocked to read about it and when I saw it with my own eyes yesterday...couldn't believe my eyes.


The tree by the fountain at 93rd st and the west drive...where we've all stopped for water quite a bit, where I've used as a start/finish point for West Side Hills repeats...


The Great Hill track, a popular speedwork place for many...

And yeah, that almost caused our crew to resort to a "plan B location" for speed yesterday but thankfully not the case. Just had to go shorter (length of repeats, that is) and sweeter...yeah it was sweet, as despite the humidity and fighting a cold, I felt I really nailed the workout. Of course I had a good rabbit-thanks so much, Moz! With the halfway point of MCM training approaching, the confidence is still there...

On the topic of lightning bolts...or Usain Bolts...the World Champs 200m today...wow. Just wow. He makes it look too damn easy.

no air

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air...
Can't live, can't breathe with no air...

(ahhh...another product of American Idol. not to mention Chris Brown during his pre-gf-beater era...)

Summer in NYC has arrived once again with a vengeance. I swear, the beginning of this week, there was literally no air in Central Park...definitely made those runs a leisurely pace...not by choice. Which is good, as I did have to recover from not only Saturday's race, but my long run too...

...yeah my long run on Sunday. I got through it, but it definitely was not pretty. First off, I slept a little later than I wanted to...I was quite a bit hungover from one too many sangrias and a Blue Moon on Saturday nite...celebrated my race a little too much, I guess ;-) And just like last month's LTR, I was feeling the effects of it quite a bit. Only saving grace was that it was cloudy and relatively cool. But about 10 miles in, I took a spill on the bridle path...luckily for me I didn't get scraped up too bad and I was right by a water fountain to wash it off. But it was only a matter of time til that would happen :) But I was able to finish it off without any more damage...14 and change in the books.

BTW, I started writing this post on Wednesday and am now just getting to finish it up. Talk about finally coming up for air!!

And what else this week...oh yeah, I was gonna do some tempo stuff on Wednesday morning before work, but the snooze button won out. Which meant I would have to take my off day then instead of today...which honestly I think was probably better and sorta glad I listened to my body (or in this case, ignored the alarm.) Wednesday nite was spent with the team tipping back some yummy pints of beer (2 pints of my favorite blueberry ale, followed by a pint of an apricot wheat beer-which I actually think I liked better!)

And thankfully I didn't ignore the alarm Thursday morning...as I had happy hour plans with work after work, it meant I could only get my workout done in the morning. Off to the Great Hill track I went, with the intention of doing 3 x 5 laps at tempo (just over a mile) Guess I shoulda had my coffee before I ran because my mind was foggy-I was a little confused and thought it was 3 laps to a mile...oops!! Thanksfully I remembered it during the 2nd and salvaged the workout...so it changed to 1 x 3 laps, 2 x 5 laps at tempo topped off with another 2 laps fast...paces for all were 7:51 (legs still waking up a little), 7:32, 7:35, 7:03. Not bad considering I also had to contend with someone mowing the grass in the center and occasionally dipping into the running lane...and today's recovery 5 (done late in the morning-yay for summer days!) felt just nice :)

This weekend is shaping up to be a hectic one (very little coming up for air, i'm sure!)...besides helping celebrate a few birthdays (still can't believe my baby brother is now 30!! damn i am old) yeah lotsa running on the agenda. 18 on tap for tomorrow, and a friend and I plan to take advantage of Summer Streets for the bulk of it. Then Sunday, I will be volunteering at a water station at the NYC Half...downtown, around mile 12. And I have to get there mad early, and I know the subways wont be too dependable...so why the heck not run down there from the UWS? Would give me 5 miles, if not more...so yeah, thats what I'm going to do. For those of you running-good luck, run smart, run strong-hope you all have great races (yeah, especially you ;-) )

adjust, adjust, adjust...

With one month to go in the "unofficial" summer season...like it or not, the weather has finally arrived. Which is great for sitting outside and finally wearing those cute summer dresses but in terms of running...

Not surprisingly, it's made runs more sluggish. And yeah, I know to adjust for the conditions. Still doesn't mean I have to like it :-P Like tonite, for example. I chose to pass on speedwork tomorrow, being afraid of getting too caught up with a group. Plus, figured today...that would mean an extra day of recovery before Saturday. I planned on doing the same thing I did during the week before the Mini 10K-5 miles with quarter-mile pickups at race pace, easy inbetween. When I did this workout 2 months ago, the legs felt pretty good...tonite, not so much. Don't know if it was the heat, or the legs being tired from the marathon training mileage, or something else...but I wasn't too happy with the times for the effort. And in fact, I wound up only doing 4 pickups instead of the planned 5...no need to push myself any harder.

What's done is done. I got 3 days for the legs to bounce back, and I really hope they do. And to top it all off, the race is an hour later this year. Yeah, it's nice to sleep another hour but...a 10 am race start in the summer heat? Come on...NYRR, what were you thinking? I'm not freaking out about the weather just yet, but you all do have to admit a 10 am start in the summer is less than ideal. Well...I was able to deal with the heat for my recent 5K. And hopefully all those cheering guys around the course will make me forget about it :) But yeah...may need to adjust my goals...may not be a PR kind of a day. Just play it by ear I guess...

welcome to the central park zoo

Yeah I know I know...there actually is a zoo in Central Park. But it seemed last nite that the animals all escaped and spread out all over the park drives. Dear god, I know it was a Tuesday during marathon training season but the park seemed more packed than normal...this time Niketown and Team in Training being the biggest culprits. And those teams who decided to take your workouts off the park drives for the night...I thank you and say you were very smart to do so. And of course, it wouldn't be a normal evening without seeing a handful (or more) of Flyers in passing. Loop done and I look like I just jumped in Lasker Pool. And I was taking it easy too as I was planning on doing my speed workout in the morning instead of the evening!

And yeah...that workout this morning. A previous commitment in the evening meant I had to get it done before work. And overnight, Central Park had changed from zoo to sauna. Yeah the park was much quieter, but the humidity was deadly. But facing it head on, it's the only way I'm gonna acclimate. I had decided to do something simple but tough-5 x 2 laps of the Great Hill track (which is not 1/4 mile...339m, i believe?) with 1 lap recovery in between...5k pace or faster. Despite the conditions, it was actually a nice morning for a workout...the track was nearly empty, only 2 other peeps besides me there and concentrating on their workouts too. And sometimes it's nice to do a workout solo once in awhile instead of with a group...as sometimes you may have to fight it out by yourself in the last mile or 2 of a race and this can help prep for that. The conditions were tough, but I just stuck it out and was pretty happy with the workout and the pacing...

...especially since a check back to the logs said I did a near-identical workout back in July '06...and in near-identical conditions too. Only difference being that it looked like the recoveries in that workout were 90-second standing recoveries instead of jogging recoveries (which were over 2 minutes) And I had to do the comparison...

July 2009	July 2006
3:00	2:59
2:54	3:02
2:57	3:02
2:57	3:09
2:52	3:10

And I liked what I saw 3 years later :) Funny how the first interval was very similar...but this workout wound up moving in a different direction, a better direction. I don't know if it was being better heat trained or the mental game a little better but I'm taking it :)

And as for the reason why I had to do the workout this morning instead of the evening...eh, was supposed to go to happy hour with the coworkers...but being at the office til 8 tonite was a little bit of a buzzkill. Yeah I could have stopped by afterwards but after the day I had...was not in the mood for coworkers, especially one in particular and I didn't want to be responsible for "accidentally" spilling my drink anywhere or on anyone. It's all good...means I don't have to worry about being so wasted that I can't run tomorrow morning. (two mornings in a row? who am i...?) And thankfully it also meant I didn't have to run in this evening's torrential rains...

a little change of plans

So I'm pondering re-arranging my training schedule a little. Why you ask? Well...I'm thinking I really want to run the Philly Distance Run again this year, as I had a great time and uhhh...a great *time* last year :) And even though it falls around the time of Rosh Hashanah...I guess I wouldn't be a bad daughter/sister/granddaughter/niece/cousin if I spent only one of the 2 nights with my family (hell, my brother and cousins have done that before...)

Why does re-arranging come into the picture? Well the original plan was a 20-miler that weekend, and racing a half the following weekend. But I am actually a little apprehensive about racing a half-marathon 4 weeks out from MCM...figured a week earlier would be better. And honestly...no training schedules are set in stone. One thing I definitely do want to avoid, however, is doing two 20-milers on back-to-back weekends. So one option I had was to start my 20s one week earlier which actually wouldnt be a problem for me...and it would work out for me as the weekend before the half, there is a bridges run like the one I did last year, and I'd like to be able to do the full 20 instead of cutting out early. And then do my last 20 on the same weekend as I have originally planned it-meaning I'd go 2 weeks between my second and third 20 instead of 1...and honestly, I don't think the extra weekend would make me lose endurance or anything. The other option would be to push the last 20 to the following weekend and have a 2-week taper instead of 3. I'm leaning towards option 1 right now but any words of advice are welcome :)

So yeah, I know hitting times in workouts are fine and good, but I know having good races under my belt-and recovering well from them-are a better predictor and a bigger boost of confidence, as I learned last year. And racing workouts...just pointless. Case in point last nite when doing some tempo on the Harlem Hills. Based on last week's 5K, my tempo pace should be between 7:35 and 7:55. Considering the paces I averaged were 7:44, 7:37 and 7:40, I'd say I nailed it perfectly :) (and I'm telling you, looking at it by the half-mile splits really puts in perspective what a screaming downhill it is...and how nasty those uphills are!) The last repeat felt like a race of sorts, as someone who was supposed to be running with me was kinda sorta racing me. She pulled way ahead on the downhill...but proving that hill training has been working, I caught her on the uphill. But she kept looking over her shoulder and would constantly try to speed up whenever it looked like I was gonna overtake her. Kinda annoying when I'm trying to run within myself, run my own pace (and shouldn't we be trying to work together instead of "racing"?)...but I didn't let it throw me. And you know what? Let her "win" the workout. Race day...that's another story. That's when my "A" game is on ;-) Who'll win now, huh? :)

caught up

I'm so
Caught up
Got me feelin' it
Caught up
I don't know what it is
But it seems hes got me twisted...
I'm so
Caught up
Got me feelin' it
Caught up
I'm losin' control...

I've come to the conclusion tonite that I really need to stay off the main Central Park drives when running the day after a speed workout. I mean, seemingly every single friggin group in the NYC area is in the park doing their workouts...CPTC, Urban Athletics, Nike, NYRR...I'm sure there are others that I am not thinking about right now, but you get the idea :) And believe me, it's not all that bad...there were some good peeps that I was more than happy to "run" into (haha) But for the most part...the lower loop that I stuck to was just a madhouse. And these guys weren't exactly running easy either...and I just got way too caught up in it, got sucked in here and there. Plus it wasn't exactly helpful that I was listening to fast-paced music on the iPod...maybe I need a slower-paced playlist for easy/recovery days?

Anyways, it wasn't a tempo run by any means for me, but it wasn't exactly recovery either. But instead of thinking "wow, I am able to run this well the day after a speed workout"...I'm actually not happy with myself at all. I'm supposed to be keeping easy runs easy for a reason, and I don't want to be becoming one of those runners that I hate :-P I'm actually looking forward to leading the 9:30 group this Sunday at the LTR, I'm glad to have a reason to force myself to really, really dial it back. But now I am paranoid I am gonna be one of those paceleaders doing 8:45s instead of 9:30s...

Alright, focusing on the positive now. Last nite was another speed workout where I had to check back to all my previous running logs to see if I ever did a certain hill repeat this fast, or a certain tempo pace. The verdict was that it was a solid improvement. Bodes well for me, but it is still early to be making any predictions. I am looking forward to the 5K next Tuesday...I think I'm itching to race a little bit and it'd be good for me to see where I'm at...

the "k korner"

believe it or not, this is a running-related post...not baseball. i know, i know, never would have guessed...

So lately 1000m...better known as 1K, has been a distance that's come up quite a bit in speed workouts. It's kind of a weird distance...its like, the first 800m is good and then it hits me for the last 200m, gotta work on keeping the form, keeping the speed up. I find it (as well as its not-so-distant cousin, the 1200m) to be the interval equivalent of a 4-mile race...is a 4-miler a long 5K or a short 5-miler, when it comes to racing style? Is 1K a long 800m or a short mile? :)

On the other hand, I do like the longer distances in speedwork...not that workouts are races or anything. Cuz they're not. But I feel like I always get dusted badly in 200s or 400s, whereas the fact that my endurance is a bit better than my speed can help me in longer intervals...can be a little more "competitive."

So once again, I'm running 1K repeats at my 5K pace....which still, even when holding back a little and not going all-out, is still faster than my PR 5K pace (7:17) I averaged 7:05 pace for the workout, so a 22-flat 5K. I do think that my 5K PR is way overdue for a falling...that and 5 miles, the 2 distances that I still claim "submasters PRs" for instead of lifetime ones and hope that can be remedied this year. The question is when. And will I ever pace them decently instead of running a fast mile 1, slow mile 2 then hanging on for the last 1.1 miles.

I do have a 5K coming up, the Party With Purpose 5K which I did last year and came everso close to my PR. This year I will be running it 2 days after a 15-miler, so I won't be completely tapered or anything. We'll see what happens...if I PR, great, if not...it's still a good race for a good cause and having fun with Flyer friends over a few drinks afterwards...and isn't that what it's all about?

And besides, the shorter race that I really want to shine at is in another month anyways...the Club Team Champs 5-Miler. If the conditions are right, and the cheering from the guys is in full effect as usual...I predict good things can happen :)

And with that, the office manager is barking at us all to get outta here-happy long weekend, everybody!! :)

there will be days like this...

well...I guess the feeling of being fired up was short-lived? :)

ever have one of those days...weeks...where you feel like you can't do anything right? yeah. thats my life this week. sort of. (not going into detail, but i'm sure you can guess. not boy-related for a change though. whew! :) ) and i guess the attitude followed me to last night's speed workout.

guess last week left me with a little too high of an expectation...while i was able to sub-7 the shorter intervals, i didn't feel like i could keep up the momentum for the 1K intervals, and had to run those at my actual 5k pace (as opposed to fake 5k pace :-P ) which, in itself was a great effort, but I still kept thinking "how the hell did I run a 4:13 1K last week?" don't get me wrong, I thought it was a good workout, but I didn't have the "I rocked it" feeling I had last week. But after reflection, thinking, and words of wisdom from others, I felt better about it...all surfaces are not created equal (this week's workout was on a slower surface), it's still early in 'thon training, I am still ahead of where I was this time last year, or even this time last month! Guess it's possibly the attitude from the other stuff going on that was bringing me down, perhaps...

the good thing is that getting in the mileage was been a breeze so far...like i'm actually ahead in my mileage for the week right now-very good sign. some random 5 and change in the park Tuesday nite...which apparently i couldn't get through without being a troublemaker at least once ;-) after said run, I met up with the Flyers on the UES where they were having post-speedwork drinks...so I rehydrated with several Blue Moons and caught up with a few teammates that I hadn't seen in awhile. And as for today...well I was debating whether to make tonight or tomorrow my rest day. But decided to run tonight, as I needed to shake off some of the stuff going on...which led to an easy 4 and change on the bridle path to recover from last night.

Lucky 13 on tap for my weekend long run...and jury is still out on which weekend day to do it on...hmmm maybe I'll run opposite one of the races like I did last week...if I can wake up early enough :)

In non-running news...OMG, what a sad day for the entertainment industry. I remember back in...I think 1984? It was either my birthday or Hanukkah, and my present was a Sony Walkman with a tape of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". And I remember everyone wanting a turn to listen to that tape...my dad, my brother, one of my friends...over and over again :) Was just the "in-demand" thing, I guess. Just so unreal hearing about the events of today...

ready to go

I'm back yeah standing
On the rooftops shouting out,
Baby I'm ready to go
I'm back and ready to go
From the rooftops shout it out

Couldn't think of better lyrics to sum up starting training for marathon #3. 18 weeks til I take on the Marine Corps Marathon. And even though it will be a little bit of a different experience...out-of-town marathon and all, i'm sure in a lot of ways it will be the same. As for training, I think the approach I used last year worked great and plan on something similar this time around...I think it said a lot that even though it was work fitting in the miles, I never once felt wiped out or burned out. Maybe just a little more mileage...and just having more experience under my belt, can make some difference...

And if there was a week to get me fired up for marathon training, last week was it. Was just one of those weeks where every run just felt great. Most encouraging one of all being my speed workout...where I sub-7'ed every repeat. And I looked back at all my logs and I had never ever ran sub-7 pace for 800m...let alone 1K...in a workout. Ever. So am I ahead of where I was this time last year? I sure think so!!

But of course there was time for me to have fun runs too!! Saturday, I once again helped lead the Flyers Arches & Bridges Run (may I also add, the morning after 3 glasses of sauvignon blanc after our thankfully-not-rained out happy hour at the central park boathouse the nite before...) and thankfully the rain held off for most of the run!! Then the next morning, I hooked up with LG (no not *that* kind of hooking up...what were you all thinking? :-P) to run a few miles and watch the 5-mile race and cheer for our own respective mens' teams running hard for points...and whatever else :) Saw lotsa NYF representation, for sure (hi Lam!)...lotsa "go Flyers" were said by this chick. Anyways, wound up doing a few more miles than originally planned...guess time flies when you are having fun ;-) Worth it though!! And even though pace is usually secondary on social runs for me, reviewing the splits afterwards, I was surprised at how quick it seemed for the effort (since I was still able to chat and cheer...) If this wasn't the perfect last "pre-season" run, I don't know what is :)

So-the few extra miles meant I wound up with 35 and change miles for the week...man, you'd think I started marathon training already! :) But I'm still considering today to be the official start. Today is an XT day, and tomorrow will be my first official run of MCM training!! Followed with drinks...ahhh, a perfect way to kick things off!! :) Here's to third time possibly being the charm...?

"suck it up, cupcake!"

i think i read that expression once on (the formerly) Uptown Girl's blog....and just thought about it tonite...

So I ran 3 days straight-Saturday, Sunday, and our "First Monday" NYF downtown run. Nice, flat easy run that ended down by South Street Seaport and had us partaking in drinks at Jeremy's Ale House...which was only worth it for the styrofoam "quarts" of beer. Next time, I will have to partake in one instead of sticking to the pints (right, Laminator?) Oh yeah, it was fun to hang out and chitchat too.

Obviously I was due for a rest day, which I figured I'd do the smart thing and take it yesterday and run today. Of course, I didn't check the weather forecast and see that yesterday's conditions seemed much more favorable...when walking home from work today I was thisclose to bagging it and cross-training instead...figuring I could make it up tomorrow or Friday.

But with MCM training starting in 2 1/2 weeks (eek!!) I had to get out of that mindset. I'm gonna have to get the miles in whether I like it or not, and may not be able to reschedule. So before I lost my nerve, I just threw on the running gear and hit the park. The rain had actually slowed to a drizzle...yet the park seemed empty, strange for a Wednesday nite, even stranger considering it was "National Running Day"! But I just felt like I had the park to myself and it was great :)

And oh yeah, even though I am kinda sorta tapering for a little 10k this weekend, I injected some speedy stuff in there...some quarter-mile pickups at 10K effort while taking it easy inbetween...felt pretty damn good, felt like I could do more but I know to quit while I am ahead...learning from previous mistakes :)

And is it me, or does it seem strange that the first week of June is unseasonably cool and rainy? ;-)

and speaking of passing guys...

wow, another week has gone by and no posts...busy week for me. thank god for the holiday weekend...boy oh boy, do i need it.

but i couldn't resist blogging about something amusing at this past week's speed workout. i actually did wear my "some girls chase boys..." singlet again, hey what can i say, I like it :) But wouldn't I know it, this idiot guy shows up for the speed workout...who hates finishing behind women-even if they are legitimately faster. Always used to try and race me in workouts-and even in the Underwear Run too (which was supposed to be an easy, "fun run", mind you.) And wouldn't you know it, same thing happens this time...either sprinting to try and get ahead and then fading...or even cutting the course!! Lame. (And just distracting when I am trying to "run my own workout.") No etiquette, I tell you!!

But as for me, I actually had a pretty good workout!! I guess the determination of not letting the idiot "beat" me...in addition to wanting to live up to the attitude that I showed on my singlet...wound up with a pretty fast workout (for me)...which won good feedback from the coach too :) The observation was that I was working hard but still looking good doing it, keeping the form well...was encouraging for me (thx again JS!) After all, if I'm gonna get that BQ this fall, I'm gonna have to learn to push the envelope ever so often...

But between this workout and my recent 10K race-does this mean I need a guy to stay ahead of, to push me to run just a little harder when it counts? :) Or maybe just a rabbit in general? I'll be racing a 5K in NJ this Memorial Day, let's see if that is gonna come into play yet again. Just gonna be a fun race, to see where I'm at with the Mini 10K being 2 weeks away-that one being the race where I'd love to post a good time. And no, I'm not freaking out about the weather for the Mini just yet :)

And happy holiday weekend...which for me will be filled with friends, baseball, running...and did I mention 3-day weekend??? Can't get better than that (well unless it was a 4-day weekend. or more.)

off-season, in-season

oops, another week has gone by and no other posts. well, at least it was a relatively low-drama week. (and thanks again for those of you who left me comments, both on and off the blog.)

with the exception of the weather!! i was very happy to dial the IWH (inclement weather hotline) on Monday and find out that the office was closed due to the snow. But apparently, since I didn't check my email, I didn't know until the next day that I was supposed to be online and accessable. Oops.

Running-wise, did feel a little "off-season" in a way. 5K pace/effort is 7:30-7:40 as opposed to 7:15-7:20, etc. Which was demonstrated by Cherry Tree and a track workout last month. However, a workout this past week that included 5K paced-timed pickups was a bit faster than that. Maybe off-season is coming to an end sooner than I thought!! But then again, as I said to JS when we were discussing the workout post mortem...maybe it was the whole "ignorance is bliss" thing...like I just know the effort even if i dont know the pace/distance til afterwards, as opposed to the track where you are locked into "x:xx per lap" At any rate, I do have definitely 1, possibly 2 short races on the horizon before Cherry Blossom-I figure I need to test things out on a more traditional distance (and without that killer Prospect Park hill!)

And these last 3 days were such a nice spring teaser...or hopefully a preview of what will be sticking around in about 2 weeks or so!! I celebrated by breaking out the running skirts for both yesterday's long run and today's shorter run :) The park was absolutely mobbed, but the park drive time was minimal yesterday...and stuck to the bridle path today (yay for it being runnable again in record time after a snowstorm!)

And today was a "spring forward" day...yay for it being light enough after work to run on the bridle path now!! Though it was tough to lose the hour of sleep...as I didn't get home last nite til after the time changed...so didn't get til sleep til about 3:30-4!! Blame the fact that wine (especially riesling!) is just so damn easy to drink...needless to say, my run didn't happen til mid-afternoon. Such a waste of a nice day...

And for my token reality TV mention-The Bachelor. The finale this week brought a whole new meaning to "most dramatic rose ceremony ever."

One final note-I have decided on what my fall marathon will be!! It will be revealed next month, but I will keep the poll up in the meantime for fun :)

the "operation" continues...

Tuesday-actually got to watch the inauguration on TV!! and still made it to the gym in the evening.

Wednesday-long day that consisted of an 8:30 am meeting, 2 1/2 hour lunch, and a killer speed workout. Gawd, I forgot how long 3 minutes at 5K pace can seem...someone remind me how I was ever able to do 3 x 800 on the track at 5k pace last year when it was like 80 degrees out?

Thursday-activity consisted of walking around in heels and hitting the dance floor at our annual client party at Tavern on the Green. And made it home before midnight this time because, for a change in pace I was planning to work on Friday...

Friday-despite many caffeinated infusions, I was practically falling asleep at my desk by 2 pm. very tempted to just crash as soon as I got home, but hit the gym instead...

Saturday-deemed the better of the 2 weekend days, ran 10 miles and change with JS, DN and AU. Very fun, albeit a bit windy!! We came to the conclusion that it probably doesn't matter what direction we choose, we're always gonna hit a headwind when close to the water :-P

Sunday-felt like such a slacker since I didn't run the Manhattan Half. Got out the door in the afternoon with the intent of doing 4 and change. Saw that the bridle path didn't look that icy over on the west side and decided to brave it, needing a change from the roads. But it was bad on the east side and i slipped and fell on the ice :-\ needless to say, i had to walk to engineers gate and hit the roads then...

This week's mileage added up to an amusing number-26.2

So here's a dilemma...I think I am ready to race again (it's been 6 weeks...) The problem is that there seems to be not a lot out there for those of us who want to keep it short...I have the Cherry Blossom 10-miler coming up in April but nothing really on the agenda for February or March. I'd prefer to keep it short...yeah, I know there are half-marathons in abundence but I'm really not up for doing one until I know I'm in 1:45ish shape or better. Something between 5 and 10K...any suggestions? (preferably non-NYRR, if possible) Guess I'm finally itching to do something a little more exciting than slogging out slow miles every weekend...

and something non-running related...i thought this video was amusing so i am posting it :-P

mishmash

Another random smattering of things...

OK, now that The Hills is on hiatus (and we still dont know if Speidi are actually married!) I've had to get my Monday trash-tv fix with The City. It tries, but lightning doesn't strike twice. Though I do like to watch to see what bars/restaurants they frequent (Brass Monkey was in this week's episode! And funny, I was there after the 1st Monday downtown run this past week), especially where Whitney pseudo-works is right by where I work. (Her job is more fake than Heidi's? For shame...)

We were told several times this week at work that 2009 is going to be a "very tough year." Yikes. Honestly...whatever happens, happens. It's gonna be a tough year for a lot of people...

So after threats of rain and wintry mix all day Wednesday, it was actually decent weather for a speed workout. It was somewhat similar to the last coupla weeks-shots of Jack Daniels (short reps and long recoveries!! not the drink :-p)-but for whatever reason, I didn't feel as good as I did the last couple of weeks...I mean, it felt so much harder!! But I kept at it til the end, and then looked at my splits...



No wonder it felt harder-it *was* harder!! And I tried to gun the last one, I really did, but when a hill is at the end, it'll get ya every time. At least I earned the sangria afterwards!! :)

Thanks to everyone for their input on fall marathons. At this point, I think cost may be the deciding factor...so no final decision will be made until entry fee info is posted.

I walked by Westside Brewery earlier tonite and saw it was closed...no sign, everything was dark, but registers were still on, XMas tree still up...very strange. Any NYC'ers know what's up with that? I hope it's not closed permanently...I'll be sad :(

Another snowstorm!! Will this mean another "fun run"? Can't wait... (thank god I did not sign up for that race...gotta love being on racing hiatus!)

And finally, obviously one of the restaurants in Chelsea Market can't wait until inauguration day...they're counting the days!!

where i'm at

where am i at? well i'm here. for now :-p

yeah, i've been MIA for a week. lotsa craziness going on, not a lot of chances to blog. (and i know i've been bad about commenting too...but i've been reading!)

so turkey day weekend consisted of...
escaping the madness that is the Macy's parade (only day that I curse living on the UWS)
fighting the crowds at Penn Station
NJ Transit doing its NJ Transit thing once again
dinner at the parentals...on the early side (we were done eating by 5!) and quieter than normal. long story, not going into it here...
hitting the shops on friday and saturday (for the record, I waited until later in the evening to brave the black friday sales)
a 6-mile (training) run through the streets of NJ...man, couldn't believe how flat it was compared to central park!
sitting through the first half of the jets-broncos game and getting completely soaked in the process. you know the conditions were bad when my brother was OK with leaving at halftime!!

hectic week at work too...preparing for a client presentation tomorrow. and i took something else home to work on since it's the kind of thing where i need less distractions...but the document is in PowerPoint 2007 and I have 2000 at home. And they don't get along. Damn. In addition, our group head made me a little nervous earlier this week when she said she wanted to meet with us and didn't say why...I guess the current state of the economy makes everyone nervous, I thought it was something big (not in a good way!) Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing to get nervous about.

And tonight in speedwork...I got to see where I'm at, running-wise. The last few weeks have just been easy-effort slogs, so it was tough to judge whether I was truly recovered or not. And I thought I was gonna feel crappy and need to hold back...but that was not the case, in fact I was actually able to do the workout faster than what JS told me to shoot for...and ran negative splits too!! Welcome change compared to 2 years ago at this time, nice boost of confidence going into my last 2 races of the year. Will the 10K and/or 4-mile PRs go down? We shall see...

a different playground

With one and a half weeks to go til the taper, I'm just using speedwork as an excuse to make things interesting...break up the monotony of miles and miles and loop after loop. Yep-I'm at *that* point in my training. Where I actually look forward to the long runs, and the greater challenge is fitting in the weekday mileage (especially with the jewish holidays throwing a wrench in the works!) Anyway, getting off the subject...

so yeah, speedwork. the workout was intended to have MP work in there, which was honestly perfect for me. I did a few miles beforehand to frontload (as I had 8 on the schedule)...then the workout location was changed from the rez, due to the rain possibly turning a reservoir workout into a game of "dodge the puddles." So to Riverside Park we went, and found a nice flat stretch to do repeats on. I am always glad to discover any new running venue (or "playground"...hehe), especially on the UWS, especially one that is flat!! Anyway, here is how the workout went for me...



A little bit all over the place, but still felt good, didn't feel like I was pushing hard at all. Which was encouraging, considering that I had almost 5 miles on my legs before starting the hard stuff, and especially since 2 days earlier, I could barely force my legs to do anything faster than 10 minute miles. Looking forward to seeing what the taper will do :)

Long run this weekend? Grete's Great Gallop, with 2 warm-up miles beforehand to make a cool 15. Not racing it-just using it as a training run...will have the iPod with me and everything :-p Now the real question-will the weather cooperate? If you remember, 2 years ago was a washout, last year was ridiculously hot...was the same weekend as Chicago (I didn't run Grete's last year, but I heard stories from those who did run who said the conditions were ridiculous-some even called it a day after the first loop!) So far the weather report looks good...

And this just in-the wave assignments for NYC are up...I'm in wave 2. I figured I'd either be at the back of wave 1 or the front of wave 2. Definitely pros (cleaner start) and cons (might go out too fast) to that...

follow the light

Another month, another return to East 6th Street for another tracky workout. The nite's mission, should I choose to accept it? 4 x 1200m. And honestly-it sounds worse than it really was...cuz I was supposed to do the first 800m at tempoish pace (shoot for 1:55 per lap) and then the last 400m at 5kish pace (shoot for 1:47) I like that approach of mentally breaking up the repeats...makes the workout seem to go by so much faster. And I think I did quite well :)



Another good "i nailed it" workout...one slow split (the 2:01...maybe I didn't recover enough from the first set?) but I'll take it (though a little annoyed at one woman who was walking in lane 1 with headphones on...track etiquette!)...and was great to have a good finishing kick for the last 400m!! Definitely earned the burger and Blue Moons afterwards!! (accompanied with some good chatter, especially about dating. I guess you had to be there :) )

So one more "hard" day to go...Saturday's 20-miler...where I will be using my pacing skills to the fullest extent once again (and the dynamic duo from the last LTR will be back in action with the 9:30 group :) ) Then nothing but easy miles til the half. Just praying the weather will cooperate...

And the meaning of this post title? Well it was a dark night...was dark when we started the workout!! Yet 2 familiar beams of light were visible from the track...



I still remember.