milestone birthdays

“This has been my best ‘milestone’ birthday,” said I a few times last night.

If it were me, I’d be content to let these “milestones” go, but , but society says you need to acknowledge…

I guess my first milestone was 13, with my Bat Mitzvah. Big deal in my family, as I was the first female in our family to get Bat Mitzvahed. The actual party part, I felt was more my parents’ party than my own. While some of my other friends had fun themes that they chose, my parents pretty much called the shots. And at that age, I was quite shy and awkward and just felt like I wanted to dodge the spotlight (and was useless on the dance floor!)

Next milestone…18? I think that one may have been birthday cake and drinks in the dorm (I didn’t have fake ID yet)

21 was a doozy. It was a Friday, I think I started drinking around 4:30. The bar I went to-the one bar that you actually needed to be 21 to get into-gives out a complementary champagne bottle on someone’s 21st b-day. My intention was to share it. I was told by friends “No, you drink it, it’s your birthday.” I’m sure you can imagine how that one turned out.

25 I guess would be next…and I actually was not in much of a celebratory mood for that one, as it was 2 weeks after 9/11. (Plus I think the actual day of was on Yom Kippur…) But did dinner/drinks with some friends and co-workers.

So that brings me to the next “milestone,” 30. A couple friends convinced me to not let it go and to do something. So, I rented out the 2nd floor of Red Sky, sent out an evite, and lo and behold, approximately 50 very cool peeps were joining in the celebration last night. The drinks were flowing, the music the DJ was playing was great, and I was working the room like a good hostess should. (And I used my influence with the co-owner to my advantage…as another party at first was taking our area…but no I was not having that one!) But yeah, when you work the room, you tend to lose track of things (how many Cosmos I had knocked back) or forget to do things (like grab a bite to eat.) I did have to get cut off, and I did have to get some assistance getting home. Not the way I would have wanted the night to end (I felt bad making friends worry like that) but it could have been a lot worse…but so much for me getting smarter with age! hah!

(Surprisingly, didn’t feel too bad today…guess I got most of it out of my system last nite and slept the rest of it off…)

But despite how it ended, I enjoyed myself, I was very happy to see everyone, and glad to see everyone enjoying themselves too. This was the best milestone birthday because the celebration was truly “mine”…if it makes any sense.

Resting up today and hopefully will be OK for the half tomorrow morning!! (and hope the predicted rain holds off too…) I picked up my bib today and saw the “F30″ on it…oh man, it really is official now!!

now playing: “can’t get you out of my head” ~ kylie minogue

catch my breath

crazy week!

Tuesday I had a nice lunch out with my group at work at a cute little Italian place in the Village…though I think some of us enjoyed more the drink than the food :-p And I got cupcakes too!!

And as planned, I did escape work at 5:30 (but barely made it to speedwork on time, thanks to delays on the 6 train!) Our workout was 10 laps of the dog track…

Repeat #	Time	Pace	Repeat #	Time	Pace
1	1:23	6:35	6	1:26	6:49
2	1:23	6:35	7	1:28	6:59
3	1:26	6:49	8	1:28	6:59
4	1:25	6:44	9	1:28	6:59
5	1:26	6:49	10	1:27	6:54

All sub-7 considering I was still feeling that giant (10 oz) appletini I had at lunch? Wonder what I could have done had I not been drinking that day But it was good to see everyone, I hadn’t made it out to speedwork at night in a month and a half! I know I sound lame, but that was it for the night…I was beat and there was still running and work to be done the next day, and the next…

But no fears, I do plan to celebrate my birthday in style, and that will be tomorrow night. Better to live it up on a non-”school night,” right?

Oh, and in deja vu from last year, MS sent me flowers again for my b-day. This year, however, 1-800-flowers did not screw up, and he used a pseudonym on the card…as last year the receptionist called him up to ask why he was sending “I love you” flowers (1-800-flowers’ screwup) to me when he’s married. So the fake name was in case said receptionist was reading again.

And I still need to pick out my big present…a new digital camera!! I have an idea which one I want…recommended by a friend of mine. And my aunt and uncle say a “special 30th birthday present is on the way”…intriguing. And of course, I would not mind a belated birthday present on Sunday.

Final running note…I know this article has been discussed to death, and I’ve commented on other blogs, so I’ll just put what I have to say here…in a central place of sorts.

I do know that it can take a 5 hour marathoner just as much training, effort and heart as a 3 hour marathoner can. It doesn’t make someone less of a runner/athlete because they are not genetically programmed to run 6 minute miles. So therefore, I don’t agree with the author’s point of “slowpokes ruining the marathon.” And everyone has to start somewhere…and as I have posted before, one of the special things in this sport is that ever so often, you can toe the same start line with the best of the best.

However-this may sound a little harsh, what I don’t like seeing in this sport is people who really don’t “respect the distance.” Who want to just run a marathon because it’s the trendy thing to do and really don’t put the effort into training for it. Why do I think that? It’s situations like this why you see groups of people cutting a course to beat a cutoff time (as was shown at last year’s Marine Corps Marathon.) Or even worse…could lead to injury and burnout very early on…it’d be a shame for someone to really not get the full benefit of how much fun running and smart training can be. I know I know-pot.kettle.black. I thought I was doing things right-when I had the marathon on the mind as a goal-I made that a goal for a year or 2 down the line. I started off with shorter distances, before moving up to a half, and wanted to get a couple of halfs under my belt before tackling a full marathon. (And you all know how that story went…)

Then again, I can’t assume everyone is a competitive biatch like myself. And a lot of people tell me that for this marathon, my goal should be “just to finish.” But that’s just not good enough for me, what’s the point of 18 weeks of training for just a 26.2 mile long training run? Yeah, I’m sure I could “just finish” in 5 or 6 hours, but where’s the challenge? How about making the goal “having a marathon performance I can be proud of”? Sounds much better, dontcha think? Set the bar high, but not too high. Hence, the 4-hour mark dancing in my head…

But to each his/her own…(well, as long as you share the road in Central Park! )

officially a submaster

even though i have been the 30-somethings co-captain of the Flyers since this January, I join the age group officially today. (and it will be announced to the world-at least the Flyers world- where our weekly email will say that I am “now a submasters runner.” thanks to Dr. Evil for that one )

official celebration won’t be til the end of the week, but for today my present to myself will be leaving work at 5:30 and going to speedwork (haven’t been able to go in weeks!) we’ll see whatever other little surprises pop up along the way…

fall into fall

yeah, even though the calendar said it was fall a coupla days ago, it hasn’t felt like it. as this morning’s 4-miler felt as humid and muggy as one of the summer mornings.

I decided to do a little re-arranging, as shown by me sneaking in a 4-miler this morning where I previously had a rest day. this week was originally intended to be a cutback week in anticipation of the holidays creating a “washout” of sorts, and this coming week would be the first of my peak 40-mile weeks. However, I really do not want to be racing a half marathon at the end of a 40-mile week, and lord knows I ate enough this weekend* that said short run was necessary. (I was just reminded of why I do not like running around my hometown, the sidewalks are not kept very well.) So 40 down for this week, cutting back to 34 this coming week, with Grete’s Great Gallop at the tail end of the week.

Oh, and for my long run this past week on Friday-I decided on a little bit of a creative route that included some park time (where I ran into Derek and he ran with me for the first couple of miles-though it looked like it was killing him to slow down to my snail-like pace) but eventually headed out of the park to do an out-and-back over the Queensboro Bridge. Decided it would not hurt at all to get in some mental prep…anyway, the bridge really wasn’t as bad as it has been advertised (I think the hills in Lake Placid and the Palisades are much worse)…especially going from Manhattan to Queens…but going back the other way, I can see why it may be tougher. As I said, good mental prep and I intend to do this long run one more time.

*That includes 2 Rosh Hashanah dinners, birthday-specific desserts (ice cream cake, and a tollhouse pie-think a chocolate chip cookie made into a pie!), and dinner tonite with la familia at Sambuca for the soon-to-be birthday girl…

my family is insane

I think these pictures say it all. Rosh Hashanah dinner at the parentals’ last nite, we had a Yanks centerpiece on the table once again. (and my mom was nice enough to buy a Mets one for my uncle.) And the aunt, uncle and cousins bring their doggie as usual, this time dressed in a Mutts jersey. And there was quite the heated discussion during dinner, complete with these words being uttered many times by my cousin: “I hate the Yankees.”

Off to Long Island in a bit for round 2….and L’Shanah Tovah to anyone else celebrating!!

wow. has it really been one whole year?

Well according to this post…yes.

Hard to believe, but today my blog turns one day old. One year ago, I finally got the nerve to start a blog of my own after reading some others for a week or so.

And you’ve read it all…the good and the bad…the pretty and the ugly. (And yet somehow you keep coming back for more. I think you all deserve a medal or something :-p )

As I am one who never doubts the power of the Internet when it comes to networking, meeting new people, learning new things…well all of that came to fruition as a result of blogging. I’ve met some great people, online and offline. I’ve learned things from reading others’ blogs and your comments. And I was happy to see more Flyers taking the blogging plunge too

But this blog wouldn’t be what it is without an audience. So to my faithful readers (and any newer ones)-thank you. Whether you’re a regular commenter, or a silent lurker, good to know you’re there

And what will this second year bring? Time will tell…

is it possible to be allergic to work?

ok, i know i have been bitching about work as of late, but i’m really not kidding about this one. i have major coughing fits in the office which always seem to go away when I go outside. wonder if that is a sign. or something.

anyway, so far this week, i have managed to get the mileage in. today i wasn’t really feeling the speed workouts either group was doing…the nighttime crew were planning on 200-meter repeats…i didn’t really want to be sprinting at this stage of the game. The 6 am crew were planning on Cat Hill repeats…I think 4 times up Cat Hill during Saturday’s long run was enough for me, thank you!! I was craving longer repeats, so I decided on a workout I haven’t done in quite awhile…3 x 1 mile (plus recoveries) on the reservoir. Start at west 86th, jog to the “0″ at Engineer’s Gate, then run a hard mile to the 1760 yard marker back at the staring point. And repeat twice. (Though I have to admit I cheated a little with the recoveries…I took my time with those.) Anyway, was aiming to run the miles in the 7:30-7:40ish range. First was 7:32 so I worried I may have rabbited that one…second was 7:41…pulled it together for the third to run it smack dab in the middle at 7:36. I had almost decided to scrap that last mile in exchange for 2 x 880s, but decided to stick it out. All in all, not too bad. My legs have not totally forgotten how to go fast!! (Though I still think back wistfully to the last time I did this workout about 2 years ago where I ran splits of 7:42, 7:29 and 7:18. Then again, I seem to remember there wasn’t killer humidity like there was this morning.)

And pretty much halfway through the week…just 2 more mornings of “weekday” runs…then my cutback long run will be on Friday due to Rosh Hashanah being this weekend, and I think I will try and make that one a more creative route than 2 park loops. I decided I am getting all my work done by end of day Thursday if it kills me, and taking Friday off to get my long run in at my leisure…then heading home for the remainder of the weekend, meaning 2 consecutive rest days!! (I know there would be no way I’d get in a long run this weekend being with la familia…)

now playing: “ain’t no other man” ~ christina aguilera

i’m…so…under pressure

boy, this Long Training Run was the complete opposite of the one back in August…

And pretty much, a disasterous 20-miler for me. What happened? Well, when you’re pace leading a 9:30 group, and those 9:15-ish types insist on pushing the pace and not listening to you or your fellow pace leaders when you yell to slow down, well you will die in the last few miles.

(Oh, and to add insult to injury, how about also chatting with a very nice, cute guy for the first 13 miles and having fun doing so-until he mentions a wife. Gentlemen, if you’re married, please please please wear your wedding rings. I’m begging you. Have some mercy on poor deluded single women like myself.)

Well, it didn’t start off so bad. After a lot of rain predictions, it looked like it was actually gonna hold off for us. Me and one of my friends who was also going to lead the 9:30s resolved to stick together this time (last time, she had wound up in a group that was pushing the pace and struggled at the end.) So the two of us and 2 others were the leaders at the front of the first 9:30 group. All the plans sorta fell apart in the first mile…as the pace was a little too fast, and the first mile marker was short, so we couldn’t really gauge too well how we were doing. I kept yelling to pull it back, but the next couple of miles were still in the 9:15ish range. I just dropped back, otherwise I knew I was going to wind up dying, but the damage had already been done…

(what I think was going on here…is that for example, there is a pace group for 9:00, and one for 9:30. But where do those types in-between go? In this case, into the 9:30 group and they have a “pulling” effect on the group. I suggested that in the future, maybe the groups should be, for example, “between 9 and 9:30″ and “between 9:30 and 10″ and divide into 15 second subgroups. 15 seconds makes more of a difference than you would think…that’s 6 1/2 minutes in a marathon!)

Unlike the very nice group I had back in August, this group just seemed to be kind of disobedient. The 7:00 pace group had passed us on the second loop, and I yelled for our group to get in the rec lane, as there were others coming through, and to share the park, but nope, once again, no one would listen. (Actually, the only one who listened to me and stuck with me and didn’t push the pace was said cute married guy. OK, so I got through to someone!!)

The 3rd loop was miserable. JD and DL passed by with the 7:30 group and JD said I was “looking good” and I just shouted back “No I’m not.” By that time, I was still maintaining 9:30s (give or take,) but falling way behind, to the point where I wasn’t even leading a group any more. And I was really feeling crappy (no pun intended,) to the point where I had to make a port-o-potty stop around Cat Hill. Felt better afterwards, but completely lost my group. I remarked when I saw Jon pass by with his 8:00 group (and he looked waaaaay too happy for having run almost 20 miles) that “I didn’t even know what I was leading anymore.”

On the transverse after that loop, I saw my friend who was supposed to stick with me…well she looked as unhappy as I felt, and her story sounded a lot like mine. We stuck it out together through the final 4 miles…we didn’t even think we could maintain 9:30s at this point, we’re just like “get the job done.” (I had taken off my pace leader singlet for that loop-partially because it had really warmed up, but partially because I was embarassed by how much I had fallen off the pace.) I was just dragging through that loop, plus even though I had taken 3 gels during the midst of this run (and I know I had eaten enough beforehand and the day/night before,) I was still feeling like nothing would fill me up and give me any energy. Finally, we made it to the end…was never so glad to be done with a training run in my life. I got my stuff from the baggage area, chatted a little bit with my teammate who helped coordinate the logistics for the pace leaders for this run (and thanked her for doing a great job-believe me, I know it is not an easy job.)

Unfortunately, this run knocked me out for the remainder of the day. Despite my intention to get some work done, it didn’t happen, as my body decided it had enough, between this long run and just not getting enough sleep this week. (Not that I ever get enough sleep, so why should this week be any different than any other?) I don’t know. Maybe, in hindsight, I should have dropped back a pace group this time around. But I still think I would have been fine had it not been for those fast few miles in the beginning. However, what’s frustrating is that once again, at this point in the season, I should be feeling stronger and faster and I’m just not. (and to top it all off, getting on my co-worker’s scale the day before and seeing the numbers being at least 10 pounds, if not more, over what I wanted to see…man, I really can’t win here.) I mean, if a few 9:15-ish miles screw up a long run, then how am I ever going to run a sub-4 marathon?

Man, I just feel these days, like there’s a dark cloud over me that doesn’t look to be getting lighter or brighter any time soon. I think BrunetteChicagoGal called the reasoning for it right in her comment to me the other day. The work stress is spilling into all other areas of my life. The next 2 weeks are going to be heavier on the weekday mileage, little less on the weekend mileage, and I don’t know how I’m going to get it all in without falling apart. (I’ve already established that social/personal life will have to be put on hold for awhile…) I’m just not a happy person right now, and unfortunately, I do not see things changing anytime soon…

ok, i give in…

i finally upgraded to the Blogger beta. I’m just glad everything on my blog is still here :-p

(and yay…post labels!)

TGIAF

thank god it’s almost friday. and gawd, not a moment too soon.

yeah, i’ve been quiet (for a change.) didn’t have that much exciting stuff to blog about…the week’s been pretty routine….run, work (or vice versa), come home, crash while watching TV. (little deviation from the routine one night for a Flyer exec board meeting. yeah, completely lived on the edge that night.) all work and no play makes me a dull girl.

and i guess Saturday’s 20-miler took a lot out of me…I was completely dragging Monday and Tuesday. Didn’t even have to force myself to take it easy with the pace, my legs just did not want to go. As a result, probably my slowest runs in an extremely long time. This time of year, especially with the cooler temps, I’m supposed to be feeling stronger and faster and I’m just not-to the point where I’m starting to doubt my training.

Tonight was a little better…anticipating another semi-late night at the office, I just changed at the NYSC near work and did 5 miles on the west side highway and some of the local streets of the West Village and Chelsea. (OK, this run was originally supposed to happen this morning, and I had the alarm set and everything, but my greedy body decided it wanted more sleep than I could afford to give it. grrr.) Felt a little better (then again, I wasn’t really keeping time.) But this route actually worked out well, I might have to look into some creative 6, 7, and 8-mile routes around that area…the days are getting shorter, and honestly, getting to 90th and 5th by 7pm for a group run has not been overly realistic these days. (I have decided my birthday gift to myself, as it falls on a Tuesday, will be to leave work at 5:30 and go do speedwork. heh heh.)

i still remember

sometimes lyrics can say things that you just can’t.

that being said, this song was in heavy rotation on the radio in the weeks following 9/11…

(man…i still can’t believe it’s been 5 years…)

Say good-bye to not knowing when
The truth in my whole life began
Say good-bye to not knowing how to cry
You taught me that

And I’ll remember the strength that you gave me
Now that I’m standing on my own
I’ll remember the way that you saved me
I’ll remember

Inside I was a child
That could not mend a broken wing
Outside I looked for a way
To teach my heart to sing

And I’ll remember the love that you gave me
Now that I’m standing on my own
I’ll remember the way that you changed me
I’ll remember

I learned to let go of the illusion that we can possess
I learned to let go, I travel in stillness
And I’ll remember happiness
I’ll remember (I’ll remember)

And I’ll remember the love that you gave me
Now that I’m standing on my own
I’ll remember the way that you changed me
I’ll remember

(I’ll remember)

No I’ve never been afraid to cry
Now I finally have a reason why
I’ll remember (I’ll remember)

No I’ve never been afraid to cry
And I finally have a reason why
I’ll remember (I’ll remember)

now playing: “i’ll remember” ~ madonna

diving in headfirst

well you can’t say I’m doing things halfway here. i choose my first marathon to be on a tough course, and for my first 20 miler (ever!) to be on a tough course as well. This morning was the Flyers’ annual Palisades run-an out-and-back 20-miler that starts at the GWB bus terminal, crosses the GW bridge, and on the Jersey side we’re treated to a very scenic-yet hilly-run. As Sister Smile once said “If you can do this run, you can do a marathon.” I had actually volunteered at one of the water stops at this run 2 years ago, so from the battle stories I had heard, I had an idea of what I was in for-terrain wise, so I was sorta prepared

So this morning, a way-too-early wake-up call. (This was of course, after I had carbo-loaded last night with 3 different flavors of sangria at Novo in honor of MF’s birthday. Melon, raspberry and black cherry sangria. Yum. Though considering I wasn’t even buzzed, I really question the alcohol content.) I was lucky and there was an A train within minutes (hey at that hour of the morning, you never know.) Once I got to the GWB bus terminal, there was time to kill, so just chatted with some other Flyers. (and one of said Flyers seemed a little disappointed that he has not gotten a mention on this blog in awhile. So yeah…hi, JD. I shoulda had you pace me again on those hill repeats on Tuesday!!)

Around 8-ish, we got going. I tried to start out slow…as something the run coordinator has said before stuck in my head “We suggest that you start conservatively and save some energy for those final few miles. Feeling good at the end of this long run will be a big confidence-booster for your fall marathon. Walking back across the GWB to Manhattan will not!” For the most part I ran with a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in awhile-it was great to run together and catch up a little. There were crazy hills on this course…man, I thought I was hill trained before today!! A fun moment happened inbetween the mile 5 and 9 mile stations…we heard bagpipe music playing and for a second I thought it was my teammate who’s infamous for playing them during some of the races…we got closer and it indeed was him!! What a nice surprise. Skylight was volunteering at the mile 9 water/Gatorade stop and looked to be enjoying himself a lot

After mile 9, however, came the grand puba of all hills. I remembered seeing runners trudge up that hill 2 years ago, I heard horror stories, but I guess its nothing compared to actually running it. It actually reminded me of some of the hills up in Lake Placid. Anyway, just took it slow and steady, knowing there’d be a downhill reward in my near future. Finally, we got to the top-felt like mountain climbing!! Ran back down that hill to the water station that Skylight was at one more time. Miles 12-15 seemed tougher going back the other way-I think I was a little depleted, was really looking forward to the aid station at mile 15 to grab more gel and whatever else. Well something I took in at that aid station did some good…or maybe it was because I followed the advice I was given and started off conservatively…but I flew through those last 5 miles. I wasn’t keeping time of this run, so I don’t know what the pace was, but I remember passing quite a few people in those last few miles.

There’s one part that psyches you out a little…you’re still running on the road….and you see the bridge…and you have to actually run past the bridge for a little bit-until you’re out of the park, and have one more uphill on the roads to deal with before approaching the bridge’s pedestrian path. And not only did I not have to walk across the GWB to Manhattan, but I think I probably ran across it faster than I have driven across it at times :-p Oh, to be able to feel as good at mile 20 of the marathon!!

So, 1 successful 20-miler down, 2 more to go. Next one is next week-will be pacing NYRR’s Long Training Run again. I know it’s not ideal to be doing 20s 2 weeks in a row-but I had a coupla reasons…scheduling-the following weekend is Rosh Hashanah and I know I will not be able to do a 20-miler then, weekend after that is Grete’s. Plus, I’d like to do my 20s with as much support as possible. I think as long as I swap speedwork for an easy run this week, and just take it easy in general with the pace, that I will be fine.

And thanks again to everyone who made today’s run happen. You guys were great.

if it looks wrong…

yep, i knew i was right to question that 23-minute first 5K split in that little 13.1 mile stroll through Manhattan. The latest results have that fixed…so looks like my splits (net time) netted out as follows…

5k-25:45 (8:18 pace)
10k-51:37 (8:19 pace)
“15k”-1:17:57 (who knows the pace…but dammit, if the 15K mat would have been in the right place it would have been a 15K PR.)

so since i wound up with an 8:13 pace, guess i didn’t run as bad a race at the end as I thought. (I’m still too much of a competitive biatch to say I’m completely satisfied though!! :-p )

wish i had more fun stuff to report, but unfortunately I think i’ve been spending more time at the office this week than I have at home. i even had to put a (temporarily) permanent away message on my instant messenger telling peeps to only IM me if it’s business related or urgent (though some peeps seem to have an interesting definition of what’s urgent…tee hee.) i hope to be able to stay awake through the Sex and the City reruns, but early morning and 6 miles will come too soon. sweet dreams, all.

oh, that they could always seem so easy…

was on my own for speedwork this morning. i knew i wasn’t going to escape the office in time for speedwork tonite, and the 6 am crew were doing bridle path hill repeats, which i really wasn’t up for. i decided i need work on that hill by tavern (after all, that is the finish line for a couple of my upcoming races. so i decided on a tried and true workout…6 repeats of that hill (.2192 miles according to GMaps), jogging downhill for recovery.

Repeat number	Time	Pace
1	1:34	7:08
2	1:33	7:04
3	1:34	7:08
4	1:33	7:04
5	1:34	7:08
6	1:30	6:50

Nice and consistent, then hit it hard at the end. The way a good workout should be. Maybe I’m actually getting this pacing thing down… (and an added bonus-no crowds this time!! heh heh.)

Oh if only that hill could feel so easy at the end of those races…

1 more 6-mile weekday run this week, and I’m thinking I’ll sneak in that 6-miler on on Thursday morning. Then my first 20 miler on Saturday, up in the Palisades with the Flyers!! And honestly, compared to how work has been going lately, I think that long run will be a breeze…

now playing: “everything (kaskade’s big room mix)” ~ kaskade

halfway there

9 weeks down, 9 to go.

and i guess at the halfway point, i’d say training is going pretty well so far. wish i could say the same about other parts of my life. let’s just say these next 9 weeks are going to be a challenge, as things at work are going from bad to worse.

yesterday i tried to be a little creative with my long run-i wanted to do something different than multiple loops of Central Park for 16 miles. I guess I was on the same wavelength as Jon was, as I too started my run with the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. My 16.3 miler started with the same route that the Flyers used for their moonlight run back in July, then a little creative maneuvering around city streets and the West Side Highway to get to the park, then a lower 5 loop. Anyway, at the very beginning of the run, I guess on the Brooklyn Bridge descent, I majorly wiped out (and it happened on the Brooklyn side…see, I said Brooklyn will never be my borough…sorry Brooklynites!) minorly skinned both knees, majorly skinned my right elbow, and the top of my navel ring got knocked off in the fall. Still continued on, and made it to the end-I probably should have taken gel twice instead of once (took it around the 10-mile point)…at the end I really didn’t feel like I would have been able to continue on for another 10 miles.

So outside of running, it’s not going to be a fun next few months at all. Blog updates may be less frequent. We’ll see. I just hope to be able to make it to the start line…however I get there…

five years.

Five years ago yesterday (9/1)…a 20-something year old girl packed up the majority of her room in her parents’ house in suburban NJ, and with the help of several people, moved it into a 4th-floor walk-up apartment on East 33rd St and 3rd Avenue.

Oh I remember all too well how excited I was about this…Murray Hill was at the top of my list of neighborhoods, and that I found a place there the first day looking? I didn’t care that it wasn’t in a fancy building-it’s all about location!! And the girl I was moving in with seemed like a nice, fun girl as well-this was her first place in the city too. (yeah, i know it took me awhile to escape the shackles of my parents’ place. I had a car to pay off for 3 years. and also…oops, involves the Ex, I’m not going there…)

The actual moving day…well we found out that the landlord totally overpromised a 9/1 move-in date…as renovations in the building weren’t complete yet. I think our place was better off than some other apartments in the building. I remember moving day was a hot day (apparently some building residents remembered me running around in a sports bra while trekking up and down the stairs…lol) but once the bulk of it was done, my roomie and I hit the 3rd Ave bars and had a fun nite.

But, as I’m sure you could tell from the move-in date…though we wouldn’t have known it at the time, our move-in date was poorly timed. I think my roommate took it harder than I did-then again she was closer to downtown when it happened. Anyways, the next 2 years consisted of a coupla roommate changes (the 1st one wound up buying a studio before the lease was up, so I had a subletter for the remainder of the year, but found a new one for the next year), a job change, some money issues, some male heartbreak, other crap, and I dunno, just a feeling, that I wasn’t sure that I could ever truly make this city my home.

In the summer of ’03, my roommate told me that she would be getting free housing from her grad school and that she’d be moving out. And as I didn’t want to deal with the search for another roommate-I decided to peruse the Craigslist ads and take a chance at finding a studio apartment. I thought Murray Hill was a great neighborhood and I would have loved to have stayed there, but I had a feeling I was going to have to move uptown-be it east side or west side.

The first apartment I saw was on the UWS in the 70s-and was very small…little too small for comfort…I said “next.” Then one Friday night after a long workweek, I didn’t really feel like going out, and that turned out to be a great decision…I browsed the ads, and saw an ad for an affordable brownstone studio in the west 80s, a block from Central Park, with a 9/1 move-in date. I wasted no time in sending an email, and apparently I was the first to respond-so I was the first to see the place. I saw it the next morning and knew it was my place. I had an application in on Monday, confirmation that the apartment was mine on Tuesday, and moved in at the very end of August.

In a way, I think that move was a turning point of sorts. If I hadn’t moved uptown, I may not have taken up running like I did (thanks to my proximity to Central Park), may not have gotten inspired to run the marathon someday, might not have joined the Flyers…and so on. While there is one thing in my life that still needs major fixing (those of you who know me “off the blog” know what that is)…outside of that, I think things are much better 50 blocks north.

And into my 4th year in my cozy studio and as long as I can still afford the rent, I ain’t moving!! I wouldn’t give up a place within stumbling distance of the park if I didn’t have to

now playing: “deja vu” ~ beyonce/jay-z

us open recrap

pretty nice, huh? the view of the unisphere, and some of the smaller courts, from arthur ashe stadium.

well, as I mentioned a couple months ago, i snatched up U.S. Open tix for my brother and I for yesterday’s day session. And thankfully the weather gods decided to cut us a break for this one!!

So I rode on the painfully slow 7 train out to Queens and got there a little after 11-but had to stand on a very long bag-check line before getting in (worth it in the name of security, I guess…) My brother had printed out the schedule for the day and came up with a game plan. Little heavy on the women’s matches, but we got to see one very good men’s match.

First off was Rafael Nadal vs. Luis Horna. This was probably the best match we saw yesterday. Nadal looked great in the first set, we thought this was gonna be a straight-setter-but Horna took the second set. Nadal wound up winning in 4 sets-a very exciting match, some great tennis being played, just very fun to watch. (And Nadal was rocking the capri pants…tee hee)

We saw part of the first set of Daniela Hantuchova vs. Serena Williams-my brother is not a fan of the Williams sisters at all (and I was not a fan of Serena’s outfit…ugh, her stylist should be fired or something.) Hantuchova started off strong, as Serena didn’t seem to have the fire she used to have…but she came back late in the first set. (and wound up winning the match.) We had to leave as there was a more important match to see in Louis Armstrong Stadium

We walked over to Louis Armstrong Stadium, waited on a long line and got seated just as Maria Sharapova was leading Emilie Loit, 4-0. This was a very lopsided match if I say so myself…poor Loit did not stand a chance. Though I think everyone cheered when she stole one 1 game in the second set Anyway, after 52 minutes, Sharapova was victorious and my brother had new picture wallpaper for his cell phone

We stayed to see Amelie Mauresmo play Meghann Shaughnessy. Even though this was not as lopsided as the previous match, this was very lackluster. Mauresmo…didn’t seem to have the spark of a #1 player (as my brother said “she’s overrated.”)

So all in all, was a lot of fun-I think we may make this an annual thing. Something I wish I had done a long time ago…back in the day, I would have loved to have seen Jim Courier and Stefan Edberg play live!!

(some pictures taken from my camera-phone are here…we both forgot our digital cameras!)