testing, testing…is this thing still on?

Oh hi there!!  Yep, I have been MIA in blogland for the past 2 weeks…even better than my recent slackerdom of one post a week 😛  Between the holiday craziness at work (2-day workweek before Thanksgiving?  Still have to do 5 days worth of work since the show must go on, even on Thanksgiving when almost every office is closed!) and running blahs, just hadn’t had much to report.

Oh yeah, that thing…running.  I feel like I really haven’t had consistent mileage since Chicago.  It’s getting tougher with the colder weather, more darkness and people choosing to stay indoors.  (I actually made it to a Flyers group run in Central Park last nite-first one since moving to Midtown…and only 2 other people were there!)  Plus apparently speedwork is on hiatus in December.  I guess I understand the need for a break but part of me is like “well I already had my break in October…I want to keep going, build back up!”  And speaking of speedwork, the hill workouts I’ve had the last coupla weeks showed me that I have committed a serious training error the last few months-too many West Side Highway runs, not enough Central Park runs…hence I am not hill trained.  So even though the West Side Highway is closer to my place now (and has less crowded streets to run through to get there, unlike Central Park where I have to run up 8th or 9th ave…which can be a zoo at times) I’m gonna have to limit those runs and run more in Central Park.

And I hope this doesn’t hurt me too much in the Joe Kleinerman 10K on Sunday.  At the very least, we get Harlem Hill out of the way in mile 1, but Cat Hill in mile 5 may give me trouble.  We’ll see what happens, I’m really not expecting to PR, I’ll be happy to get under 50 minutes.  But I actually have a bottle of Blue Point Blueberry Ale in the fridge…maybe I should drink that Saturday nite.  As I did have that the nite before the Kleinerman 10K 2 years ago…and I didn’t have a bad race at all.  Still deciding on the attire as it looks to be chilly Sunday morning.  Shoes-it’s a toss-up between my Saucony Fastwitches or the Lunar Racers.  Yeah…don’t think I’ll be utilizing the Kinvaras on Sunday-sorry, Kinvara Mafia 😛  Even though they felt good on a regular easy run, I haven’t really loved them in speed workouts, therefore sorta iffy about using them in a race.  Maybe I should just use the Kinvaras on short, easier runs…?

That’s it for now…want to save material for other posts!!  But before I go, I just had to post this:

My dog brother’s first visit to my apartment!!  And he was incredibly well-behaved.  Amazing how much he has grown since you all saw him last about 6 months ago…but he’s still the cutest dog I’ve ever seen! 🙂

on a different track

So 2 weeks down in Chicago training.  I’ve been getting the miles in, but hasn’t been pretty as of late…

13 miles were on tap for my long run this weekend, and Saturday was the better of the 2 days to get it in.  Of course, I had to do it in the mid-afternoon heat, as I did not feel like setting the alarm…and this was after crashing early on Friday nite!!  Slept around 11 hours…hmmm think I needed to catch up on sleep or something?  Anyway not much to report except it was hot, I had to fight for the last coupla miles…only took a gel and water, should have taken Gatorade during the run too…know for next time!  That left me with 4 miles to finish off the week, which were done on the roads around my parents’ house in NJ on Sunday morning…and good god, it was awful-my slowest run in a long time.

So the fact that my legs seem to be stuck in “slow mode”…part of the reason why I decided to pass on the track meet at Icahn tonite.  Besides the fact that getting there from work may be cutting it kind of close, I just don’t feel capable of running a time-especially at a short race-that won’t leave me disappointed and embarrassed.  And my other option for a workout this week is tomorrow nite, at a “different track” indeed…East 6th Street.  I love that track, but I haven’t been there in over a year…so how could I pass up a chance to do a workout there? 🙂 

Oh and why did I have to do my run in NJ this Sunday?  Well was there visiting la familia for Father’s Day…and bonding a little bit with the newest member of my family:

(this pic was from mother’s day actually, but the only good one I had with my parents’ new doggie!)

Tell me this isn’t the cutest dog you have ever seen. 😀

Being in NJ this Father’s Day meant that, for the first time, I wasn’t either running in or spectating the Father’s Day 5-mile race in Central Park-the guyz’ points race (since us ladies had ours last week.) Sorry Flyer guys!! I wish I could have been there to cheer you all on. But I see you did great even without me!! yeah, I was cheering from afar 😉