boston marathon 2012: pre-gaming

Alright-I know this post is way overdue!! Been a busy couple of weeks 🙂

So even though the final time was not what I had hoped for, everything else about the Boston Marathon and the surrounding events lived up to the hype. And then some.

Instead of one long-winded post, I decided I’d break it up into 3, like I did for my first marathon…I think it deserves that respect 🙂

Saturday, April 14

Time to make the train trip up to Boston!  Was Amtrakking it-nice and easy.  And a coupla other Flyers were on my train too…not surprising 🙂

Trip was pretty much drama-free, but in the time between New York and Boston, the B.A.A. had sent us all an email that included the following:

We are now making the recommendation that if you are not highly fit or if you have any underlying medical conditions (for example-cardiac disease, pulmonary disease or any of a number of medical problems), you should NOT run this race.

• Inexperienced marathoners should not run.
• Those who have only trained in a cooler climate and who may not be acclimated (for at least the last 10 days) to warm weather running conditions should also consider not running.

Highly fit?  Yeah I guess.  Inexperienced?  Hells no.  Cool climate and not acclimated…oh yeah.

Not to mention:

Due to the unusually warm weather forecast for the Boston area on Monday, the B.A.A. will defer the entry of those official entrants to the 2013 Boston Marathon for participants who decide not to race.

Wow, now that is huge.  I know it was a controversial decision by the B.A.A., but I think given the conditions, something had to be done to cover themselves.  But I wasn’t considering deferring, I worked too hard to get here.  But I had the premonition that Monday was not gonna be a normal race day at all.

Anyway, got into Boston with no issues and got to my hotel-which was right around the corner from the Back Bay train station!  The hotel was not the most glamorous, but in terms of location, couldn’t be beat-within walking distance of both the finish line and Boston Common (for the bus to the start.)  Also another cool thing was that the BAA was located in the same building!  So after dropping my stuff and getting settled, was time to head to the expo.  Which apparently was in a different place than normal-the Seaport World Trade Center as opposed to the Hynes Convention Center.  And I didn’t find it too much of a pain to get to-Orange Line to Silver Line (or a shuttle)…no different than heading from the UWS to South Street Seaport 🙂

i'm all in-the expo!

the scene at number pickup

 

Expo time.  I was looking forward to this-I’m such a kid in a candy store at running expos 🙂  (Especially since I had some extra spending money from finishing in the money in not one, but TWO March Madness pools!)  But before going shopping, first things first.  Gotta go get the bib.  Being handed the bib, I’m thinking “oh boy this shit is real!  i’m doing this!!”  Then time to get the bright orange bag and race shirt.  Really nice shirt-blue long-sleeve with yellow accents.  But they said we could try it on and I’m glad I did-in keeping with the warnings that they ran small, I had to swap my small size shirt for a medium.  (Hey Adidas-do you assume that all female Boston marathoners have no boobs to speak of? 🙂 )

look what i got!

 

Time to hit the booths!  As I had visited the expo last year when I came up to spectate, I knew what to expect and it didn’t disappoint-great variety of booths-if you want something, they got it!  Expo tip-if you want to get Adidas stuff, go to the booth that is closer to the entrance-NOT the one thats by the number pickup (unless you really want one of those T-shirts)-the booth closer to the entrance is less crowded.  And even though I already had the jacket, I also picked up a hat and sports bra…thought of getting the stuffed unicorn but passed on it 🙂  Did a lap around the expo, picking up other things I “needed” ;-)…then made one last stop at the Adidas booth before I left.  This time I got a pair of flip flops which felt great on my feet (I’m wearing them as I type!), thinking they may come in handy in a couple of days 🙂  And of course I ran into some Flyers-HM (her first Boston too!) and DM (Boston vet, this year just up to cheer.)  After some gabbing I headed back to my hotel to rest up before dinner…

HM and I, shopping til we drop!

 

So I met up with Flyer DK and a friend of his in the North End-aka Boston’s Little Italy.  And he showed up already wearing the Boston 2012 jacket…”Boston jacket etiquette….ur doin it rong!”  Though he did it on purpose to irk me 😛  Anyway, good company, great pasta and merlot at Al Dente-highly recommended!!

So after a long day, headed back to Back Bay for some much-needed rest…

Sunday, April 15

Knowing I wouldn’t get a lot of sleep this evening, I made sure to sleep in 🙂  And for brunch, seeked out my traditional day-before-race pancakes…finally wound up at Five Napkin Burger with a nice outside seat.  Yep, nice day for sitting outside…for running, not so much!!  And I even got a Bellini with my pancakes (don’t worry, I had lotsa water too)-figuring that any “racing” plans for the next day were out the window.  So after brunch, I hit up Newbury and Boylston streets for a little sightseeing and shopping.

At Niketown, I put a little shoutout to the Flyers on the wall.

I also got a sneak peek at the turn onto Hereford….

does this remind anyone else of that "hill" in the last mile in Chicago?

 

and Boylston…

view down Boylston, from Hereford. So close, yet so far away...good to know for tomorrow...

 

And of course, a pic at the finish line.  But I wouldn’t cross it yet-had to wait til the next day! 😉

Soon enough, was time for the “Last Supper”  aka pasta dinner with the Flyers 🙂  We had it at Papa Razzi, which we’ve eaten at before in previous years and this year I took the lead in organizing.  I booked this in February, but the best I could do was 4 tables of 4.  At first they had us all split up, but there was another party that was willing to switch tables with us so they could be near their friends…and vice versa.  (what were they thinking with the seating arrangements in the first place!)

one-half of the Flyer pasta party

 

So again, food and company were great, all exchanged expo chronicles, me and EA had eyes for the cute waiters…and of course conversation turned to this latest email we got from the B.A.A. today:

The weather situation continues to be a significant concern for Boston Marathoners. We have determined that the race will occur in a “red zone” which is considered an increased risk but acceptable for high-level elite runners.  However, it is not considered safe for unfit and novice runners.

We strongly recommend that unless you have met qualifying times for this race that you accept the deferment option from the B.A.A.

Anyone who has not run a qualifying time should also very strongly consider the deferment option.

Again, if you have any medical problems or if you under-trained, then please do not run this marathon.

Those who are running the race should run much slower, adding several minutes to your per mile pace.

Also important, please be sure to complete the emergency medical contact information on the reverse side of your bib.

Remember, unless you are acclimated to the weather conditions forecast for Monday, you should not run.

For those very fit athletes who decide to run, you should take significant precautions.

So while a couple of us (not me!) were debating whether or not to still pursue their original goals, others (including me) were discussing what the revised goals should be.  And reminisced on Chicago 2010-as me, EA, DK, JS and NPT were all Chicago 2010 survivors.

As I said before, deferring wasn’t an option I was considering.  But given that several peeps were making sure I was aware-via Facebook, email, whatever-of this deferrment option, it kind of made me wonder…and I asked Coach T via email “Am I a total idiot for not taking the option to defer?”  His response?  “Run this race.   Your training is in. Relax. You cannot control what the New England weather will be, but you are fit, and tough. Good training trumps bad weather, every time.   Yes, I’ve seen the forecast. I trust your conditioning, and your courage. And you must as well.”

And that’s just what I will do.  There have been other occurances beyond Chicago (e.g., LTR in the Heatpocalypse) that showed that I do know how to be smart when the heat is on.

So after a bunch of good luck phone calls/texts/emails, and laying out the race outfit…

Flyer top, Lululemon shorty shorts, Brooks PureFlows. bailed on the pink compression sox due to the weather.

 

…and all my other necessities for the next day, was time to get my beauty sleep for what will prove to be a helluva day…

Race day to follow in the next installment!

i am a boston marathoner

I’ll always remember my first Boston Marathon.  Not only was it my first, but it saw record-breaking heat.  But hey-I earned my stripes with this one.

3 stripes, as a matter of fact.

As for the race itself, I proudly clocked my slowest marathon evah.

I’ll have a more detailed report later, but in a nutshell, the heat struck me like a ton of bricks.  A hot marathon in October is NOT the same as a hot marathon in April.  Acclimating makes such a difference, it’s insane.  Anyway, if there was ever a day to put ego aside and just embrace the day, this was it.  I wanted to finish in good spirits (unlike NYC) so it meant taking mucho walk breaks, staying on top of hydration, keeping the pace dialed back, and spending a few quality minutes with the Flyers at their cheering station at mile 17.3 for some much needed TLC.

Congrats to all who ran on Marathon Monday-we are all a part of history 🙂

nyc half 2012 race report

So I have been a little remiss with regards to blogging (I guess that’s what work and kinda of a crappy training cycle does to the motivation to write) but I’m sure readers (all 5 of you) knew that I had the NYC Half-Marathon on the agenda.

And to be honest, I was a little apprehensive about it.  Based on how training was going, I knew my previous goals (NYCMQ, PR, sub-1:40) would not happen.  When discussing with Coach T the week before and talking about goals, he didn’t think it was possible for me to not break 1:45 (he was thinking 1:43-ish) but I was even doubting that.  I mean seriously, in what universe does 7:43 pace for 3.2 miles translate to a sub-8 pace for a half-marathon?

But as race week approached I kinda got more into it.  Hit up the expo on Thursday (gotta love that it was right by work and I could go during the day), got my number and tech shirt and did a lap around…not really much to do damage to my wallet.  (I’m saving that for next month. 😉 ) Though I had to get another sparkly headband- ❤ Sparkly Soul!

Sunday morning arrives as does early wakeup call.  I awoke to perfect conditions-in the 40’s and overcast-quite different from the hot, humid summer version of this race 🙂  Did the pre-race routine and headed out the door.  Though I was loving the fact that the start was near Tavern (and therefore less than a mile from where I live), I had to go to the east side to drop off my bag.  So I hit up the N/R train, and it gave me an opportunity to see Times Square “before”…and even saw partiers wearing green staggering home from their St. Patrick’s Day festivities 🙂  Of course the subway was filled with other runners…some more excited to be up at this early hour than others 🙂

I got to 60th and 5th with plenty of time to check my bag and then head west to the start.  I wasn’t really able to get in a true warmup, so thankfully the paths heading west weren’t too mobbed and I was able to jog it a little.  With 20-25 minutes til the corrals closed (7 am for a 7:30 start!) I decided I needed to make one last pit stop.  I thought I was being smart in waiting in line at the Le Pain Quotidien in CP instead of the port-a-potties (figured it would be cleaner and the light would be on too!) but with only 2 stalls, it wasn’t moving as quickly as I had hoped.  (and to top it all off, one woman who wasn’t even running in the race was in line too!)  Flyer DC who was waiting with me eventually gave up and headed to her corral, but I stuck it out, and still made it to the 2xxx corral with a few minutes to spare.

Waiting in the corrals actually went by surprisingly quickly.  I didn’t see my teammates who I expected to be in my corral, I hoped that they had made it in time!  Flyer DK and I chatted away to pass the time before the start.  2 aspects of weirdness I noticed: 1-the announcer pronounced “Goucher” totally wrong and 2-the start clock started running early, there were like 7 1/2 minutes on it by the time the starting horn sounded!

So off and running and by the miles…

Mile 1 (7:58)-time to start executing the plan.  What was the plan?  Try and get to the 10K point and through the park comfortably, try and pick it up a little from 10-15K, then go for it from there.  And of course, this meant letting whoever pass me-especially knowing people may have missed the corral closing and have to line up further back, etc.  Looks like I got off to a decent start.

Mile 2 (7:48)-up Cat Hill and I kept reminding myself not to surge, not to make it into a hill repeat, etc 🙂  Despite that, the split was a little quicker than expected.  Maybe I was finally warmed up?

Mile 3 (7:33)-The time is deceiving, as this includes that long downhill stretch from Engineer’s Gate to the bottom of Harlem Hill.

Mile 4 (8:04)-The start of the tough miles, as this mile included Harlem Hill uphill.  Just kept maintaining the effort, told myself if this mile is over 8 minutes so be it.  Flyer FA was cheering at the top of the hill which was a nice boost!  All in all, the mile split wasn’t that bad.

Mile 5 (7:59)-Last tough section of the course-the West Side Hills.  All I had to do was make it to 86th street and it was downhill from there.

Mile 6 (7:40)-Down the west side of the park, and past the start line!  And with “Stereo Love” playing in the background, the announcers reminding us that we were about to leave the park 🙂  I saw my favorite sign in this mile-“Run faster than Missouri and Duke left the tournament!” 😛

Mile 7 (7:43)-yay, 7th Avenue!  Definitely a lot easier running on the road than dodging people on the sidewalk 🙂  And Times Square was so cool…quite the difference than walking through that area several times a week 🙂  In a way, I think this was more of a novelty now, given I live in midtown as opposed to the UWS in the race 6 years ago…if that makes any sense? 🙂

Mile 8 (8:00)-turn onto 42nd street and kept heading west.  Took my gel around halfway through this mile.  Was a little surprised at this mile split-given the mile was net downhill, I thought it would have been faster. (Garmin said it was 1.2 miles…I don’t think it was that long, but I think was longer than 1 mile!)

Mile 9 (7:53)-heading south on the west side highway…

Mile 10 (7:58)-and south some more.  I felt a little bit of a fade here, maybe the gel hadn’t kicked in yet?  And I thought seeing my office building would make me run faster 😛  (as well as seeing Crazy bandanahead and Flyer SM cheering)

Mile 11 (7:45)-OK, last 5K, time to try and pick it up.  And was helped by seeing the Flyer Nation Hydration Station™ near Canal Street!  After 3 years of helping out at the table, now it was time to be on the other side.  (And they were in a perfect spot this time-as opposed to the 20K point in years past!)  It was great to see them-definitely made this mile feel like it went by faster!

Mile 12 (7:41)-passed by the WTC site, and lotsa cheering crowds in this mile.  And passing quite a few peeps here…guess I executed the plan well? 🙂

Miles 13.1 (7:37, 0:45-6:53 pace)-this part of the course introduced the unknown-the Battery Park underpass tunnel.  Was kinda cool, though I found it a little hard to breathe in there.  Finally I saw the light at the end of the tunnel…literally! 🙂  (And LMFAO’s “Sexy And I Know It.”)  In addition to the 800 meters to go sign!  Oh but wait…to get out of the tunnel there was an uphill!!  Cruel to have it with a half-mile to go but honestly there have been worse things 🙂  But looking at my watch at that point, I knew I was gonna come in well under my hopeful goal time so I didn’t care 😛  Onto the FDR Drive and the South Street exit, which was kinda bumpy-those streets were kept worse than the Coney Island Boardwalk!.  Left onto Old Slip, right onto Water Street.  The 13 mile point was not long after the turn and I could see the finish line up ahead and hear the finish music playing…and what was playing?  “Give Me Everything”!  One of my power songs!  How absolutely perfect was that to finish to?

Finish time was 1:42:26-more than 5 minutes faster than my 2006 time!  Redemption achieved!

And the pacing wasn’t half-bad either…looks like I executed well! 🙂

Split	Time	Overall pace	5K split	Pace per 5K
5K	24:08	7:46	24:08	7:46
10K	48:41	7:50	24:33	7:54
15K	1:13:12	7:51	24:31	7:53
20K	1:37:17	7:50	24:05	7:45
last 1.1K	1:42:26	7:49	5:09	7:33

So after I got past the finish line, i got my bling (aka medal), got my Brightroom pic, my Mylar cape, food bag, then began the trek to get my bag.  Not quite as bad as the death march after NYCM, but this part of the logistics could still use a little work.  I met up with some teammates and headed to Keg No. 229 for some yummy brunch with mimosas, topped off with some “Sweet Action” (beer!  what were you thinking? 😉 )  And already had a congratulatory email from Coach T!  After assembling for a team pic at the Seaport, was time to head home for a much-needed nap and some compression sock action.

So even though I wish I could have gotten under 1:40 again, this race was still a monkey off my back.  First, Boston may not be as much of a struggle than previously thought.  Second, as I said before, much better experience than 2006.  What a difference no downpour during the race makes!  I would actually do this one again.  Well-as long as the lottery lets me in 🙂

cherry tree relay 2012 report

So for only the 2nd time in history, the Flyers actually had a relay team for the Cherry Tree 10-miler and Relay.  And the ironic thing?  After years of me always advertising for relay partners (and having to crash another club’s team twice!) I was actually considering doing the full 10 this time around.  But then I got an email from my teammate AG saying that he and LR were forming a team and wanted to know if I wanted to be “the cream between their cookies” (TWSS!) 🙂  How could I say no to that?  Hence, Team Lickety Split was born.

So race day dawned, probably the warmest it’s ever been for this race (I have memories of being freezing last year-so much that it scarred one of my New York Flyer Gurls relay teammates from doing this one again, hehe.)  Not quite shorts weather, but certainly capris…and…pink compression sox.  In fact, all 3 of us were gonna be wearing them!  (What have I started? 🙂 )

So AG drove me and a couple of other teammates out to Brooklyn-nice and easy (hey bus driver from last year’s Flyer bus to the Brooklyn Half-take note!)  We stopped by the school to get our bibs, souvenirs (fleecey-type caps were ok for something different but I really really miss the long-sleeve shirts-bring them back please! 🙂 ) and the finishing touches on our “costumes.”  AG brought black stuff to put under our eyes (like baseball and football players)…to make us look tough in spite of the pink, methinks? 🙂  We then decided on our pecking order-I’d start off, LR would be 2nd, AG would anchor.  With everything done, we then jogged to Prospect Park for a warmup (well I did, I needed it before something short like this!)

When we got to the relay zone, there was still a few minutes to kill, so I practiced relay slap bracelet handoff with LR-took a couple of tries but we got it down.  In fact, one of the officials wanted us to demonstrate for the other teams…yeah, like we’d give up our advantage?  I don’t think so! 🙂  So then with about 10 minutes to go, I headed to the start…different this year, instead of on the main park drive it was near where the Brooklyn half usually starts-meaning the 1st mile would be a little less downhill than usual-which may be a good thing since I always take that mile out too fast!  So we waited for the starting signal-and it was actually a horn, no “Go!” or something like that 🙂

As for my leg-once again, I’m reminded why I don’t like racing short in the winter!  My legs just felt “tight” and not really warmed up-at least not til well into the 3rd mile 🙂  The 1st mile was slower than expected but that may have been partially due to less downhill than in the past…plus I think I was holding back a little.  Though the mile split may not show it, I actually didn’t feel too bad on the hilly mile 2, and actually had enough to pick it up for mile 3 (whereas in the past I remember barely holding on!)  I see the mile 3 marker and know I only have about a quarter mile left…pick it up a little more.  I pass another relay team runner (relayers had red bibs on whereas the full 10 had white) but as we approached the relay handoff area it was pretty much a dead heat!  I handed off to LR and my job was done.  25:03 for 3.25 miles, 7:43 pace.  Obviously not where I was last summer, but still better than last year’s race…for whatever reason, I never seem to run well here.  Too early in the season perhaps?  But as this chart shows, probably better paced than in previous years?

2012	2011	2010	2009
7:39.3	7:37.1	7:22.8	7:17.8
8:11.4	8:31.3	8:20.3	8:09.4
7:32.3	7:58.9	7:51.0	7:41.7
1:40.3 (.25 mile-6:36 pace)	1:18.0 (.19 mile-6:52 pace)	2:31.8 (.36 mile-6:57 pace)	2:31.5 (.37 mile-6:50 pace)

*Note-2011/2012 I had the first leg, 2009/2010 I was the anchor, hence the .1 mile discrepancy.

So now my role was playing cheerleader for all the Flyers running the 10-miler and being lookout for LR.  But there was a minor freak-out when the bib AG was wearing was a little bent-since he was the anchor, he had the bib with the B-tag on it and it got bent since he was wearing it on a race # belt.  I just told him to take note of our time from the clock in case we didn’t get a final time (but as it turned out, was fine.)  LR finished up his leg with a smooth transition to AG.  And then we got to see and cheer on the finishers…oh but wait, not without incidident, as there was one point where there were 2 horses crossing the roadway-right after where the runners are making the turn to the finish and making their finishing kick!  I think I did see a runner or 2 run into one of the horses, thank god no one seemed to get hurt…but I don’t know WTF those riders were thinking!

So when we began to see peeps that were running near me on my leg, I knew AG wouldn’t be that far behind…and he wrapped up a strong last leg for Team Lickety Split!!  Total time for our team-1:16:19 (though based on a couple of my teammate’s times that I crossed the line with, looks like 14 seconds should be taken off of that…so 1:16:05 unofficial “net” time.)

And afterwards, even though I wanted the bagels and hot chocolate back at the school, the preference amongst our crew was pancakes and coffee (and for me, a mimosa!) before stopping off at Farrell’s for watered-down beer in a 32 oz styrofoam cup…yummy 😛

So yet another fun time in Brooklyn!!  Til next year 😉

 

Flyers representing. With Team Lickety Split and all our pink-socked glory in the center.

 

will run for fashion

So remember that long run I was supposed to do last Sunday?  Yeah, that didn’t happen.  Let it be known that NyQuil is evil when you need to be somewhat productive the next day.  But again, given that I was really trying to get rid of that damn cold ASAP, a long run may not have done me any favors.  The one downside to winter training-seems like it takes longer to shake out illness than it does in warmer temps.

So I threw myself back into it this past week.  Coach T took a little mercy on me on Tuesday and had me do 600s as a “rust-buster” type workout instead of the 1000s that the others were doing.  Which was perfect, my lungs did not feel up to 1000s.  My original plan was to try and run before work as there was the annual Flyers Chinese New Year celebration, and given that it was the Year of the Dragon (my year!) I sorta had to go 🙂  The snooze button won out but I was still able to get my workout done, and me and my workout-mates made it to the festivities in time (well…maybe a little fashionably late!)

Happy Year of the Dragon! Words to live by...and others that I can hope are reality?

 

And then in the middle of the week, the word was out that a certain coveted jacket was available on the Adidas site.  And of course inquiring minds had wanted to know for a while…what will the colors be?  Will it be embroidered or not?  And the answer is…

Once again, a departure from the traditional Boston blue/yellow, but I’m really loving this color! 🙂  I can’t wait to get mine…though I know I won’t be able to wear it til the afternoon of April 16th…bad luck!!

So I guess making sure I will be able to wear said jacket was what got me out the door on a rainy Thursday evening for a tempo which I felt I came up short on, but all things considered, was just glad to get it in.  And even though I got a late start today due to not being able to tear myself away from the Australian Open final, still banged out 17 and change miles (including not 1, but 2 loops of the Harlem Hills.)  Though dear god, if I am as tired after 17 miles in 11 weeks as I was today, the Newton hills are gonna be a world of hurt.

Busy week this upcoming week with final preps for the Flyers awards gala Saturday.  I expect to see lots of Flyers (myself included!) out running long runs Saturday…if last year was any indication, a long run will definitely not happen on Sunday.  In fact, I predict Flyer attendance at the Gridron Classic will be quite low…

the 2011 season finale: ted corbitt 15k

So as you know, even though the marathon didn’t go my way, I was still determined to end 2011 on a good note, race-wise…obviously running another marathon would not be realistic, but I could tear it up in some shorter races.  One that really caught my eye as being the perfect end to the season, was the Ted Corbitt 15K.  Yeah, a 15K in Central Park, nothing special right?  That said, my 15K PR was way, way overdue for a falling.  Of course, that may have been due to the fact that I only ran the race distance twice in my race lifetime.  First time was back in 2006 and was my standing PR of 1:17:39, and the 2nd time in 2007 was more of a glorified training run.  Plus considering I’ve run faster 15K splits in marathons, and I’ve run half-marathons at a faster pace…yeah, I think you know where I was going with this one 🙂

Based on my recent short races, looked like a 7:45 pace, or around 1:12, should be doable.  There were others who were encouraging me to go for 7:30’s…and oh it would have been sweet to break 1:10…but I knew this wouldn’t be the day for it.  (Did I also mention that my longest run since the marathon was only 9 miles?)

So another nicely chilly morning.  Singlet, black long-sleeve…and after flip-flopping between shorts and capris, decided to go with capris.  (Combo worked pretty well, though I think I may have been better off with short-sleeve and arm warmers.  Lessons learned!)  No subway issues heading uptown, actually got off a stop or 2 early to jog to warm up and jog to baggage.  I headed to the red corral, hung with Flyers AG, JJ, EG and SC while waiting for the start.  AG was “stretching” me out, while JJ and I reminisced about RnR Philly when that was the last time we were in the same start corral, and I said I totally expected him to be ahead of me again.  And so the last “9th race” of the year began…

First loop:
Mile 1-7:55
Mile 2-7:28
Mile 3-7:53
Mile 4-7:39

So given that I really don’t race this distance (even a 10-miler, which is pretty close in terms of distance is a pretty scarce race…last time I raced that distance was early 2009) I was a little unsure how to pace it-is this a long 10K or a short half?  But I decided to employ the same strategy I do for halfs…pace most, race last 5K.  And in this case (as there was no 10K marker) the plan would be to pace the first 6 miles, pick it up a little for 7, race the last 2.3.  So if that meant letting people go in the beginning, so be it.  EG and I ran a good part of the 1st mile together but she pulled ahead and I let her go.  First mile was a little slow, but understandable given the hills, and sure enough I made up for it on the downhill mile 2.  Cat Hill did a little damage on mile 3 but again, made up for it with another net downhill mile…so I was at 30:55 through 4 miles and as far as I was concerned, I was executing the plan perfectly 🙂

2nd loop:
Mile 5-8:04
Mile 6-7:37
Mile 7-7:39
Mile 8-7:45
Mile 9-7:23
Mile 9.3-2:16 (7:04 pace)

The 2nd trip through the West Side Hills was tougher than the first, as this saw what would be my only mile over 8 minutes.  The downhill mile 6 was faster, but not as much as I would like…so time to put the plan into action and kick it up a little bit for the 7th mile.  And it helped I had some rabbits to pace off of in these last coupla miles to keep me strong…my friend JW from Urban Athletics and our own running seal (both would wind up having PR’s and great races too!)  Of course, mile 8, my first “racing” mile would include Cat Hill, but I think I held up pretty well, and was still passing people (and the cheers from Flyers NS and PD helped greatly!  In fact, the cheering support was pretty good during this race…)  Cat Hill done and 1.3 miles to go.  Run hard to Engineer’s Gate, then even harder to the end.  I wasn’t sure if I was still averaging 7:45’s at that point, but I knew I was on track for a BIG PR, so let’s see how big it can get.  (That’s what she said.)

Just past the 9-mile marker, I caught up to and passed EG, saying a breathless “stay with me, you got this”…but I know if I was able to finish around her, then I was definitely having a good day.  Not knowing how long that last .32056788 mile should take me, I tried to keep those 600-meter repeats I had done the previous week in mind and just imagine it was one of those…preferably the last one when I leave it all out there! 🙂  Made the turn onto 102nd to the finish, heard the announcer calling my name…and crossed the finish in 1:11:40, 7:42 pace.  A 5:59 PR…damn, had I known it was so close, could I have gotten another second to make it a PR of 6 minutes even? 🙂  Flyer women finished 3rd and I was the 4th Flyer female…so another bronze team medal for the collection (though to quote Kara Goucher after the NYC Half “I’m tired of third…I’m ready to win one!”  just kidding.  I’m happy to get any placing we can get! 🙂 )

So unlike 2010, this season finale was a success instead of being anticlimactic.  And considering my mileage wasn’t really high after NYC, I think this was a pretty good performance to bang out…which as long as I stay uninjured, I think bodes very well for the spring, and other seasons to come…?

overdue race report #2-join the voices 5-miler

Back with another overdue race report!!  (Oh yeah, hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.)

So the Join the Voices 5-miler was the 2nd race in my hopeful year-ending trifecta.  In addition, this was the last team points race of the year.  But not the same as in previous years, you see usually the Joe Kleinerman 10K would be the last points race of the year.  But that was switched with the Fred Lebow 5-miler which was usually held in January.  Little sad about the break from tradition…and additionally, I would have preferred to race a 10K than a 5-miler (my 10K PR is in definite need of updating.)  But it was what it was and maybe for all I know, this would have been better (no Harlem Hill throwing a wrench in things.)

So was a nicely cool morning, shorts, singlet, arm warmers and CEPs were the order of the day.  Warmed up by running to the park (gotta love race starts in the south end of the park) and quickly dropped off my bag and headed to the start, running into (well not literally) Lam and other teammates on the way.  Listened to the usuall announcements…blah blah blah.  Though did anyone notice that they goofed and said this was a double points race? 🙂

Anyway, in a nutshell, this was my race-sorta uneventful as far as races go.

Mile	Split	Comments
1	7:21	Around the bottom of the park…good first mile, but did I go out too fast?
2	7:41	Up Cat Hill…ugh definitely need to work on hills-this was weak compared to my summer races.
3	7:24	Engineer’s Gate to 102nd…and was hoping this would have been faster.
4	7:44	West Side Hills…slow but definitely could have been worse.
5	7:07	Downhills, flats, then the turn onto 72nd to the finish.  Tried to give it all I got!

Final time was 37:17, 7:27 pace.  Definitely way off where I was in the summer, but for less than a month after the marathon and minimal speedwork/mileage, I’ll take it.  Especially since again, still ahead of where I was at this time last year (when I couldn’t even break 50 for 10K.)

And can never complain about getting my pic in the NYRR local gallery once again…

Though gotta love that they made my race time 5 minutes faster…hehe.

So, that was this one.  The report like the race…short and sweet.

NYCM 2011: the good, the not-so-good, the ugly

Well I guess this will be the official New York City Marathon report.  Figure after a week or so of thinking things over, I might as well have stuff in writing, so maybe I won’t make the same mistakes again…

So I will start this off by the numbers:

Mile	Split Time	Mile	Split Time
1	8:47.24	15	8:43.63
2	7:30.04	16	8:31.88
3	8:14.00	17	8:27.13
4	8:15.08	18	8:25.93
5	7:57.00	19	8:42.48
6	8:03.23	20	9:08.05
7	8:07.63	21	10:37.85
8	8:23.78	22	9:43.07
9	8:18.85	23	10:11.45
10	7:58.28	24	10:25.60
11	8:25.70	25	15:25.37
12	8:13.28	26	10:01.75
13	8:21.43	26.2	2:02.81
14	8:28.04	Summary	3:55:30.58

And now, the words behind the numbers.

So again, even though daylight savings time gifted us with an extra hour of sleep, I still found myself awake way before my alarm.  Again, fine with me, more time to do the race day routine and not feel rushed.  Eat, have coffee, listen to music, stretch, get dressed, make sure I don’t forget anything.  And begin the 3-leg journey to get to Staten Island early enough to prevent any MTA or SI Ferry fails.  And within minutes of me getting to the Times Square station, there was a 1 train, which got to South Ferry with no problems.  Leg 1 complete.  Even though I was supposed to be on the 6:15 ferry and I knew I was a little early, I heard announcements that those of us who wanted to get on an earlier ferry could.  So why not.  Turned out to be the 5:45 ferry!  whoa.  Again, just listened to music and zoned out for this 2nd leg of the trip (except when someone pointed out the sunrise to me.)   Then onto leg 3-shuttle bus to Fort Wadsworth.  Then once there, walking into the Fort while showing our bibs to the security peeps, lest we get thrown out…

So inside, past security, in search of the Local Competitive area.  Actually not as tough to find as I thought it was, thanks to the nifty map NYRR gave us-just had to cross a little grassy area in the “open zone.”  And according to a couple of my friends, I actually got caught on camera by the news reporting live from Fort Wadsworth!  I apparently didn’t look like I knew I was on camera…annnnnd I was wearing my glamorous “throwaway” outfit.  Classy. 🙂

Anyway, I got past “security” and found a place in the local competitive area to just chill out.  I was the first Flyer there, but I was shortly joined by my teammate JD and one of my speedwork buddies, KL, where we all just chatted and chilled out til it was time to check our bags.  By then, the “Snuggie Posse” of AK, NPT and JS was there (their throwaway gear was Snuggies!) as well as other Flyers…Lam, DC, CM, EF, SJ and more!  To be honest-hanging with these people was the best thing about being in the LCS.  The food/drink/coffee offered was the same as it would have been elsewhere, the lines for the bathrooms eventually did get long, but having my friends and training partners around was actually a calming influence  (unfortunately it seemed like no one else would have really been in wave 2 if I wound up having to stay there.)  And I didn’t feel intimidated at all..I was owning it (my low bib #), I knew I belonged there.

So at around 8:50, we were given the green light to head out onto the bridge.  I could see the green start runners in their corrals, waiting to be unleashed…they were after we made our way onto the bridge and some of the people with 3xxx and 5xxx bibs got mixed in with us…which personally I was OK with.  I knew I still had a decent starting position (I could actually see the start line from where I was) and my intention was to line up at the back of the corral anyway.  I got separated from KL and the Snuggie Posse, but I found myself lined up with DC, DK, ML and MH (who scored points in my book for wearing Yankee temporary tattoos, in addition to running another great race!)  And again, they were good people to have around me while waiting for the start, especially DC who was taking pictures and giving me “run happy” (a la Brooks) vibes 🙂  We heard the introduction of the pro men and knew it wasn’t much longer.  The National Anthem.  Mary Wittenberg’s annual speech (“New York City awaits you…”)  The cannon.  New York, New York.  It was time.

Staten Island/Verrazano Bridge/first 5k

So the focus here-staying in control.  If others pass me on the bridge…let them go.  Tried to block everyone else out.  And as it turned out, the first 2 miles wound up averaging right on pace, so mission accomplished.  And actually, I didn’t mind being on the lower level of the bridge at all!  (And please let me be known..the supposed “golden showers”?  Total urban legend.)  However, the part of the green course I really didn’t like?  The part between the bridge and when we joined up with everyone else on 4th Ave…seemed like that part was lacking in crowd support, unlike that part of the orange and blue starts.

Brooklyn!

4th Ave and time to lock in.  Once again, I loved the support and cheering crowds here…sorry Manhattan, but I think this may have replaced you as my favorite borough in the race! 🙂  I was just along for the ride, having fun…and I guess some of my splits may have shown I was having a little too much fun?  But this part of the course felt sorta flat/downhill so that may be why.

By then, was still cool but very sunny and I kinda regretted keeping my arm warmers on.  I took my first gel right on schedule at the 10K point, but found myself having more water than Gatorade along the way…seemed more “refreshing.”

So then the mile 8 merge happened and slowed us up a little bit.  So much for the wave starts eliminating that congestion (thank you, “honor system”!)…anyways, just cruised along Lafayette Ave in Fort Greene.  Unlike previous years, I was actually looking forward to the Williamsburg portion of the course.  Why?  In a way, it sorta felt like “home” for me.  First was seeing Coach T cheering along with EK and KS in mile 10.  I realized that in previous marathons, the coach had never been out there on race day…so in a way, this meant a lot.  Afterwards, Coach T told me that I “looked like I was cruising…that I so had it, was right on pace.”  At the time, definitely true!  Then northern Williamsburg and Bedford Avenue, especially the part through McCarren Park was a “homecoming” of sorts…how many times have I walked along that street from the L train to the track?  Definitely familiar territory.  Turned onto the usually festive Manhattan Ave (oh the irony…Manhattan in Brooklyn…hehe)…a right turn, then a left on McGuinness…just like in the 3 bridges run.  And here was the Pulaski Bridge and the halfway point-1:47:34.  Hmmm a little slow for sub-3:35, but maybe I can run a more even 2nd half than in the past?  But at least you can’t say I went out too fast 🙂

Queens

Not to knock all you Queens bees (hey, I was born in Queens!) but in the past, Queens just felt like a “filler” borough…not really eventful (well except for the idiot knocking me down in 2006)  And I guess it was the same this time around.  I remembered seeing Celia somewhere in mile 14 waiting for her friend to run with but that was about it.  And as a matter of fact, I did start to feel a little bit of a fade.  I told myself to try and keep it together, knock out the bridge, Manhattan will make it all better.  So yeah, the bridge was actually a little bit of relief for me, knowing that once this was done, the worst would be behind me.  I knew I would lose some time on the incline, just wanted for once to get that mile under 9 minutes (which I did.)  Our Denver-ite Flyer TB passed me on the uphill…I knew his “taking it easy” would eventually catch up to my racing this thing (though he claimed otherwise beforehand…think there may have been beers at the after-party riding on it?)  Anyway, unlike the 3 Bridges run, the incline on the Queensboro didn’t feel like it increased in length and tried to pick it up on the downhill, but tried to be careful to not trash my quads in the process…still 10 miles to go!!

First Avenue

Always the part I look forward to most…but today it didn’t seem the same.  Compared to 4th Ave in Brooklyn, the crowds here seemed kind of…subdued?  I dunno.  I couldn’t seem to pick up my pace…looks like 3:35 may be out, but keep it around 8:30s and I can still get a sub-3:40 BQ.  8:30s…I can do that.  And I was able to for a coupla miles.  Oh was it great to see the Flyers at the PowerGel station at mile 18.  And my parents around 103rd with their signs (one sign said “Next stop…Boston!”, the other one along with the lettering had paw prints on it for my dog brother…that made me smile at least 🙂 ) 

But after that, upper 1st Ave had more fading…not sure what was going on.  On top of that, my stomach was bugging me a little.  I had taken all my gels on schedule, and these were gels I have used many, many times in training (tangerine PowerGel) that I knew it shouldn’t give me any issues so needless to say it was a little puzzling.  I saw LG right before the Willis Ave Bridge, he had a bottle of water for me which was much needed.  “Keep it up.  You look strong,” he said to me.  Oh if only you knew how I was really feeling…looks are deceiving…

The Bronx

And as always, PD was making his appearance in a kilt and bagpipes on the Willis Avenue Bridge.  That was the bright spot of this borough for me.  (and I didn’t even spot Yankee Stadium this time…damn.)

During Mile 21, I had to do the unthinkable and make a port-a-potty stop.  I’ve never had to do this in a marathon before, but I just hoped that taking care of “business” then and there would just help me gut out the last 5 or so miles.  Well losing a minute or so in that mile lost the BQ for me…down but not out.  Maybe if I can pull it together I can still PR.  I force-fed myself my last gel-just to hopefully give myself some energy-as we left the Bronx and hoped for the best…

Manhattan-5th Ave to the finish line

I had really lucked out in my first marathon.  If there was a wall, I never felt it.  But here today, in the marathon I was best trained for, I was experiencing the wall.  The gel I force-fed myself did absolutely nothing.  I was afraid to take anymore of the too-sweet Gatorade as I didn’t want it upsetting my stomach any more.  I just took water where I could and just kept moving forward.  NPT passed me around Marcus Garvey Park and said “come on, hang in there, you got this”…oh how I wish I could have stuck with her.  But it wasn’t happening.  So the “just PR” turned into “maybe get under 3:50?”  The 5th ave hill slayed me as always.  My parents were just past the mile 23 marker and as they said later, knew something wasn’t right because I wasn’t smiling like I usually would be at that point.  I just wanted to get to the park and finish this thing.

But I began to feel sick again after I entered the park.  I had to ask a couple of times where a porta-potty was, as I had to go AGAIN. :-\  As there was nothing, I was forced to make an emergency stop at the Boathouse, and thank god there was an empty stall.  But even after getting that done, it disrupted my rhythm, as I found it hard to start running again…I’d start up then slow to a walk.  And I was still feeling somewhat nauseous.  All the spectators yelling my name did nothing…and those yelling “almost there”…oh you know how I felt about that.  A mile and a half to the finish still felt like an eternity.

Anyway, with a million sets of goals out the window, I wanted to still salvage one-finish under 4 hours.  I looked at my watch and did some quick math, and made a deal with myself.  Run/walk it to 25, then run it in to the end.  Making the right turn onto Central Park South was a huge relief.  Even though the mile split was slow, the crowds did make it feel like it went by faster…and I heard a certain Katy Perry song that I really liked, but honestly I didn’t feel like a firework right then and there 😛  The half-mile to go sign was in sight and that brought relief, that I was gonna make it under 4.  I saw Flyer CN around there…she had passed me while I was walking but she was struggling here too…we tried to get each other through this last bit and it helped me to see a friendly face.

Milke 26 came and went, and then there was the evil Tavern hill and then the finish line was in sight…but for the first time, I sorta felt numb while finishing this one.  I mean yeah, I had a smile on my face, arms up in celebration for the cameras, but this just seemed…anticlimactic.  Anyway, another one was in the books and thankfully kept up my perfect record of sub-4’s with a 3:55:30.

After the finish line

Got my medal…and I will admit, I love the quote that is on the back of the medal-a quote from Grete Waitz “In New York, everyone wins.”  I had seen that at the expo and that was part of what kept me going in the late, painful miles…I wanted that medal!!  Got the heat sheet, food and drink bag, finisher photo…I immediately tore into the Gatorade recovery beverage but I still felt awful.  Everything was cramping, I still felt nauseous…and I was just being told to keep moving.  I saw a med tent, with a sign saying “last med tent before 77th street exit” (which was where I had to go to get my bag.)  I was supposed to meet my parents and grab a bite with them but I knew I needed some kind of help…I was in bad shape.  So I hit the med tent-where I got the cramps in my legs and one of my shoulders massaged out.  They also gave me chicken soup, a salt packet, and some regular Gatorade (not the sickly-sweet stuff that was on the course)…I was definitely dehydrated and in need of electrolytes. 

Finally I was feeling well enough to get up and go (and according to the medics, had some color back…I looked pale and sick before they treated me.)  Unfortunately, by the time I got to my bag and was able to get in touch with the ‘rents, they had already left…kinda sucked but understandable considering I couldn’t get in touch and explain the delay.  So was just me, replenishing with a Shake Shack burger and fries and cleaning up to head out to the Flyers’ post-party at The Parlour.  (oh and while showering, I noticed a “don’t do anything new on race day” mistake.  The HRM that came with the new Mr. Garmin?  I hadn’t used it on a long enough run and it chafed the hell out of me.  Plus it was giving me wacky readings all day…max HR of 233?  I don’t think so!)

As for the post-party, was a good time.  Hey, misery loves company, right? 🙂  It did help seeing my teammates and friends…unlike the MCM disaster where I had to drown my sorrows by myself afterwards!  Anyway, the emotions amongst my teammates about their races were varied…happiness, disappointment, indifference, acceptance, looking to get revenge in the next race…just to name a few.  But nothing Blue Moons can’t fix I guess 😛

As for my race?  I think the word that sums it up is “inconclusive.”  Meaning I’m not sure what was the cause-or causes-of it going wrong.  Maybe the 3:35 goal was too ambitious, should have just gone for 3:40?  (As I did not go out too fast for a 3:35 goal.)  Something nutrition-related?  Was the Gatorade on the course mixed in a way that was making me feel sick?  And I had been feeling a hint of a cold the day before and even that morning, maybe that affected me?

Well whatever it is, got 5 months to figure it out.  Hoping for redemption on April 16th…

race day approaches!!

Less than 24 hours to go.  In fact, if all goes according to plan, this time tomorrow I will be well into the last 10K of the race…

So the 1st half of the week just wrapping up things at the office for the next few days…and being told by co-workers that I should try and “win” on Sunday so that I could buy our department so we don’t have to work anymore.  LOL.

Then starts what I feel is the best 4-day weekend of the year!!  Starting off on Thursday at the expo…and getting my bib #…thats when it starts to feel real!!

And yes, I know I mentioned a month or so ago that I had gotten assigned originally to wave 2 blue…but thanks to my Philly Half time, I got the NYCM version of the “judges save” and re-assigned to the Local Competitive Start!!  I’m definitely excited about this experience.  I don’t even mind being in green on the lower level…I’ve been orange once and blue once, might as well come full circle no? 🙂  In terms of race day, I know I will really have to rein it in at the start-there are definitely gonna be faster peeps around me, I’m just gonna have to let them go and not get too caught up…run my own race!!

And whether the number is low or high, I always like looking for meaning in my race #’s.  And I’m really liking this one!!  744=7+44=the numbers of Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson-2 Yankee greats!!  How can that not bring me luck? 🙂

As for the expo, was pretty status quo for NYC.  Didn’t stop me from indulging in some running-related loot…hey, the expo is a candy store for runners.  Most excited about my new Sparkly Soul headbands-I wore a thin silver one on my last run yesterday and the thick hot pink one will be running with me tomorrow-definitely will be reviews to come 🙂  One notable abscence at the expo was Nike-now that was big!  I usually get my post-race shirt at the Nike booth…yep, that’s a superstition of mine.  I have to get a shirt that I plan to wear to a post-race party.  Only time I didn’t was MCM…and you know what happened there 😉  Anyway, this time around Saucony or Asics will represent my post-race attire.

Thursday nite was the Flyers’ pasta party!  Change of pace for the venue this year, instead of Sambuca on the UWS where it had been been for the past 5 years-it was at a midtown venue this time-Trattoria Dopo Teatro.  Gotta love that it was within walking distance.  Though I never minded taking the subway to the UWS.  Anyway, once again, food and company were great, and we were treated to a great and inspirational presentation by Bart Yasso!!  He autographed a copy of his book for me (which I’m really looking forward to reading, if his presentation was only a sneak preview!)

"never limit where running can take you"

Yesterday was my last run before the big day…did the last 2.2 miles of the course, and even brought my camera to capture things like the mile markers, route banners, finish line.  Then got my pre-race mani/pedi-Watermelon for the fingers, Borrowed and Blue for the toes, both by Essie.  That’s what I’ve been wearing since the summer for races…and if it ain’t broke 😉  Today is just carbo-loading, chilling, staying off the feet.

As for tomorrow…honestly, I’ve never been this calm before a marathon.  Coach T has truly been a miracle worker with me this year!  And even though the poll results says otherwise…I’m gonna go for 3:35 tomorrow.  I’ll know early enough if it’s gonna be doable or not (I’ve had pretty good judgement of that in the past!) and can adjust but as of right now, that’s the plan.  Thankfully the weather gods are smiling on us again! 🙂

So thanks to everyone who’s read along and supported me the last 4 months and more…and that’s all she wrote til I cross the finish line at Tavern on the Green tomorrow!!  Good luck to everyone else running tomorrow!!

see you tomorrow!

say hello to my (new) little friend

Soooo…I mentioned the other day that Mr. Garmin had his final run on Sunday. Who is his successor, you wonder?

None other than the Garmin 310XT.  Thanks to a 15% discount and having a lot of $$ in the form of gift cards to spend at JackRabbit, I was able to pick this baby up.  Why did I go with this as opposed to the models that look more like a watch?  Well first off, I hate the touch bezel.  And the screen is too small-I like having 4 fields on the screen.  The model with the touch screen looks cool, but since it’s so new I’m sure it’s still sorta buggy.  This model got good reviews.  And it’s water-resistant!  And I love the wireless transfer-beats the hell out of the USB transfer, which was giving me nothing but problems for awhile…

I tried it out for the first time at the track and was pretty easy to use.  I wish I could say the workout was as easy!  Another workout of 1000’s…keeping with tapering, lessening the volume, not the intensity.

Interval	Time	Pace
1000m	4:11.73	6:45.12
1000m	4:11.91	6:45.41
1000m	4:08.90	6:40.57

quite similar to last week!  just over 4:10, then get just under for the last one.  Glad this workout was short and sweet, as I headed uptown to have some drinks with the Flyers, where I modeled one of my newer apparel acquisitions.

 So yesterday I got to test how water-resistant this thing is, as it was raining.  The downside was that it seemed to take forever to get a signal-something I thought was improved over the 305 with this model!  Not exactly fun when it’s raining 🙂  Anyway, it finally locked and I banged out some easy miles.  The device held up well (not that it was raining super-hard) and when I got home I downloaded a device software update hoping it will help the satellite problem…

Looks like it did, as it located the satellites in less than a minute.  Wow, I think that may be a record, especially in midtown Manhattan! 🙂  More 1000’s on the agenda tonite-though tempo.  5 x 1000, minute rest inbetween.  Shoot for 4:30.  (tempo splits outlined in red below.)

I think this was the first time-at least in a very long time-that I actually nailed the tempo.  Could be because it was cool and not humid for a change, or maybe everything is finally coming together, but I was definitely pleased!

So far, so good, I think me and my new Garmin friend will be very happy together.  Though it needs a name, can’t use Mr. Garmin again…any suggestions? 🙂

week 15 wrap-up

3 weeks to go! And you know what that means…

Hey on the topic, might as well throw in some MC Hammer for your listening pleasure…

Getting back to business.  Yep, this was not an easy week at all.  Even 2 days later, I was still feeling my race, but me and my compression socks sucked it up through a set of 4×1000’s.  There was an option to add on another 800 at the end, but Coach T said for me it wasn’t optional.  meaning he was saving me from myself and cutting me off after the 1000’s.

I was supposed to hit 4:10’s…got there eventually 🙂

Interval	Time	Pace
1000m	4:11.64	6:44.98
1000m	4:11.10	6:44.11
1000m	4:12.32	6:46.07
1000m	4:10.82	6:43.66

Thursday was hills, then Sunday was the last 20-miler-the “3 Bridges Run Redux.”  Once again, I’d be leading the “niners.”  Difference this time was a much earlier wake-up call!!  As this run brought around 500 people, it had to be split up into multiple waves as opposed to the 3 waves of 2 weeks ago.  What does that mean for me?  The 9 minute group would be departing for run at 6:45.  AM.  Yes you read that right.  The sun was barely up when we left.  But hey, it means we’d get back earlier to shop at JackRabbit (the run meeting place), right? 🙂  (and definitely was fortuitous that this run left from the west side JR!  meaning no transfers, no MTA fails!)

So anyway, we were blessed with another nice day, albeit a little windy, especially in the early miles on the West Side Highway.  Mental note-if it’s windy on race day, draft off of someone taller 🙂  I was the sole leader for the group this time around, though pretty much everyone stuck together and a couple others helped me at times.  Another great group to work with!  The pacing went well as usual-only miles that were slower were the headwind and bridge miles, and not by much.  In fact, at the water station at the 10.5 mile point in Brooklyn, Flyer PN who was manning the station with his wife said that my group was within a minute or 2 of the expected arrival time.  whoa.  how good is that? 🙂  We hit a bit of traffic in the park, as there was some huge walk going on that was taking up almost the entire 72nd street transverse and the east drive.  Found a clearing and crossed in order to hit the Great Lawn and get over to the west side and back to where we started…though we did have to do a little bit extra around the block to get exactly to 20 miles! 😀  But we were DONE!! 🙂

And the splits:

Mile 2 had the major headwind…and I’m sure you can tell where the bridges were 🙂  But all in all, not bad.

Sooo afterwards I did some shopping…yep I had quite a bit of $$ to spend at JR, since I got gift cards for pacing both 3 Bridges runs and my baby brother got me a gift card for my B-day too.  I’ll eventually reveal what I got, but I will say that Mr. Garmin took FOREVER to get a signal before the run.  He must have known it would be his last outing or something 😛  (and it was a good thing my group was one of the first to finish-no lines!!  By the time the later groups finished, the lines were insane!)  And I hit up 16 Handles because of course, it’s never too early for 16 Handles.  Even at 11 AM.  Especially after running 20 miles 😛

Thankfully not really sore today…compression socks FTW!!  I think the hot pink CEP’s are gonna be part of the marathon outfit again 🙂  Did get a much-needed massage today for good measure!!  And for the next 3 weeks?  It’s all about staying uninjured and hoping to not catch whatever is going around in my office.  Let the taper madness begin!

my first F35-39 race (staten island half report)

So even though I mentioned the possiblity of racing the Staten Island Half previously, I was sorta quiet about it since I wasn’t sure what my strategy was gonna be.  I had signed up just to have the opportunity to use it as a long run, or marathon-pace run if need be, as it falls on the weekend between my two 20-milers.  But after missing my goal in Philly, Coach T and I talked about the possiblity of racing this one, and he did give me the blessing to go for it.  I ran this race only once before-5 years ago, but just as a training run.  I distinctly remembered 1 hill in the beginning, and a biggie at mile 8, but was described by many as a PR course.  The weather forecast was a bit warmer than ideal, but considering I ran great races in the summer heat, I didn’t let that psych me out one bit.

So that Sunday (4 weeks out from the big day, to be exact), I did the routine that most likely would happen on marathon day too.  Woke up way too early.  Breakfast and coffee (Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice coffee FTW!  Perfect since I ran out of Peppermint and almost out of Gingerbread and those won’t be back in the stores for while.)  Put the race outfit on…went with the Adioses again for the shoes, and actually tried out a different racing outfit-Flyers singlet (I usually wear the fitted top) and my Lululemon Speed shorts (instead of my short fitted Nike shorts.)  As the shorts have gel pockets, I wouldn’t need a pocket in my top…so I wanted to try out racing in this combo.  (is it me, or do I use this half to try out new shorts?  Last time it was the infamous “naked shorts”…)

And I left my place around 5:30ish, and barely caught the 1 train at Times Square.  Yep, even though NYRR suggested we take the 7:30 ferry at the latest, I felt that would be cutting it too close.  I took the ferry to a Staten island Yankee game this past summer, and it was almost a half hour late.  If the 7:30 was that late, I’d be missing the start.  So I decided to take the 6:30 ferry…I’d rather get to Staten Island early and zone out rather than be in the terminal on the Manhattan side and stress out.  And given that the ferry terminal had plenty of runners, I wasn’t alone in that assessment (of course, some may have been frontloading with a few extra miles.)  I strategically positioned myself near the ferry entrance, and when the doors opened, was able to get a seat near where the exit would be on the SI side and a window seat too.  I think this ferry left maybe 5 minutes late…not too bad, I just listened to my race morning playlist and enjoyed the views during the trip.  And even after getting to SI, the time seemed to go by quickly…found a place to sit and chill out (beautiful morning to sit outside by the water!)…chatted with Flyer and non-Flyer friends, before I knew it, was time to head to the corrals.

just out of the starting gate-i'm to the right of purple chick

So I don’t know who was on announcing duty today, but I actually missed Mary Wittenberg.  This guy was going on and on about the weather and how it was so hot…oh yeah and the comment about how the ChampionChip is “as useful as a rotary phone” (if thats the case, can I get my $35 back that I paid for it way back when?)  I even heard the guy was making fun of people who were late because they were delayed by the ferry…yeah there was some drama there.  Not only was the 7:30 ferry late, but it couldn’t hold everyone waiting.  There was an additional one added around 8-ish, I believe?  But still there were definitely a lot of people who were going to miss the start.  (wow-am I glad I decided to go on the early ferry!)  Even though they did say they were going to delay the start, Mr. Garmin said I started at 8:32 (original start time was 8:30) so they couldn’t have waited that long…

So we headed out of the stadium and onto the streets…mile 1 was uphill but I felt in control.  When I saw my first mile was 7:23 I was pleased…but there was the possibility I may have gone out too fast.  Oh yeah, we were running on unshaded roads on a warm and sunny day, and remember that supposed “flat and fast” course?

Um yeah.  I remembered there was gonna be a hill at mile 8, but I definitely did not remember some of the others!

I just kept going…at around mile 3 I saw Lam speed past me…apparently he got caught on one of the late ferries and had to weave his way through the field (but no worries, since he still PR’ed!  yay!)  I said to him to “go get it.”  As for me, it’s possible my fast start worked against me, as the next 3 miles were 7:34, 7:44, 7:42.  Uh oh…could I be in trouble?  Somewhere in mile 4 I heard someone cheering for me…I looked quickly and saw AP, our Master Blaster…since he’s our resident Staten Islander, I figured he’d either be running or spectating. 🙂

Mile 5 dropped to 7:55…yeah that was up another hill.  But still.  I could have very easily thrown in the towel but just make the rest of the race a marathon-pace run but I chose to fight.  Being that this was an out-and-back, what goes up must come down, right?  And we were nearing the part of the course that I really liked, as the turnaround as around a mile away I saw people coming back on the other side…then it was my turn to hit the turnaround…I heard people cheering for me and if I couldn’t acknowledge you, I’m sorry-was too focused on the task at hand but know it was appreciated! 

just passed my teammate with a mile or 2 to go...

Then mile 8 brought the hill.  The one that 5 years ago I said was “a bigger bitch than I am.”  Seemed like it lasted almost the entire mile!  “Come on, Flyer!” said a guy wearing a NYC Triathlon top who was trying to encourage me to stick with him.  Relief when we hit the top.  At 8:04, this was by far the slowest mile of the race, and my only mile over 8 minutes.  Even the downhill right afterwards…didn’t feel like a reward right then and there, took about 100-200 meters to recover from the hill.  Mile 9 went through Fort Wadsworth…boy it’s gonna look quite different in 4 weeks, just crawling with runners 🙂  Come to think of it-I’m sure there was a view of the Verrazano Bridge somewhere in these last coupla miles but I didn’t even notice!  Exited the Fort and went back into town…saw AP again with his son, and he was taking pictures…I’m sure I didn’t look too happy at that point though 😛

So up til mile 10 or 11, was just trying to maintain pace.  By this point there were people to pace off of…NYC Tri guy, and a couple of Dashing Whippets (I just hoped I wasn’t being too annoying, my breathing was getting loud by that point…working hard!)  In the beginning, everyone who had started late and weaving their way through the field…didn’t know who was running what pace!  By now everyone had pretty much settled in.  Memories from the backstretch…me saying “Shut up!” to those saying “Almost there!” and having other runners say “thank you!”…the very welcome sprinklers at the water stations and elsewhere…the DJ playing “Rain Over Me” and me thinking “ooh rain would be nice right now” 

finishing stretch!

After the bridge at the beginning of mile 12, I thought the hills were over…ugh I guess I forgot about one more!  But then I really think it’s downhill from here?  And passing by the mile 12 marker, I could hear the announcer for the finishers but I forced myself to not look in that direction, just crank it for the last mile.  Headed down the ramp into the stadium with about a half-mile to go and I knew it was just a straight shot to the finish.  And the clock was saying 1:40:xx…which was just alright by me!! 🙂

Final time-1:40:27, 7:40 pace.  My 3rd fastest half ever (only 2 faster were in Philly) and a soft “hilly course” PR, i guess 🙂 

The deets:

Split	Time	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss
1	7:23.8	17	10
2	7:34.7	32	51
3	7:44.3	14	14
4	7:42.1	45	14
5	7:55.2	68	12
6	7:26.2	0	94
7	7:42.6	13	22
8	8:04.8	105	0
9	7:30.6	0	70
10	7:32.5	13	32
11	7:44.0	0	5
12	7:57.3	61	43
13	7:25.0	39	43
13.1	0:43.6 (6:38 pace)	0	0

As you can see, the elevation changes tell the story of the splits!

And I was 12th in my new age group…my highest age-group placing ever in a NYRR race!!  Maybe there is something to this whole 35-39 age group 🙂  The Flyer women took 3rd and I was the 3rd Flyer female so I got one of these:

And yeah, I know the high placing and finishing 3rd among the Flyer women was only because a lot of the fasties did Grete’s the previous weekend…so a little bittersweet.  I’ll take it though!  Hadn’t gotten one of those team medals in a long time (few years?)…we have so many fast women on the team now, the times I finish top 5 are few and far between!

So even though I would have loved to have run 1:38-1:39…or better if that was where the day took me, I’m still happy with this race.  I could have easily thrown in the towel and “tempoed” it but I fought to the finish.  Unlike Brooklyn, I wasn’t roadkill in the last 5 miles 🙂 And besides, I do remember that it was only a few years ago when I was frustrated at being stuck at a 1:47-1:48 plateau for the half, I was trying to break 1:45 but coming up short…now I can knock on the door of 1:40 in non-ideal conditions on a hilly course?  And of course, eye on the prize and I like that this race predicts a 3:31 marathon…

Next?  Now it’s time to get in that last big week and the last 20 miler, then taper down and stay uninjured before the big day in 4 weeks!

week 8 wrap-up

Yeah, I know this is on the early side, but Hurricane Irene has ended my running week as of today.  The park was absolutely mobbed this morning with everyone trying to get their runs in before the storm hit (and/or before the MTA shutdown at noon)!

Obviously, I was cramming all my runs in this week to avoid the storms.  Tempo on Thursday…originally 5 x 1200m (5:20 target) but when everyone was struggling, got modified to 2 x 1200, 2 x 600, 1 x 1200.  Was still a little off (splits 5:27, 5:32, 2:39, 2:39, 5:24) but was glad to get it in.  Friday morning’s recovery was a crawl…legs were definitely tired from Thursday, maybe the timing wasnt ideal but I wanted to give myself a little more rest before running long…

So my long run on tap was 14, with the last 5 at goal marathon pace.  Which was why I signed up for the now-canceled Bronx Half, that would have worked out perfectly.  But the alternative worked out as I ran the first 9 with an friend I haven’t seen in awhile and it was great to catch up.  (and as I joked, I haven’t seen this many Flyers in Central Park on a Saturday morning since the morning of the awards gala!  just like then, no one expects to get any miles in on Sunday.)  When it was time to take on the 5 MP miles, I was unsure if I’d be able to hit it, as the humidity was absolutely deadly.  I was shooting for between 8-8:15 and I wound up on the lower end of that…or maybe I just wanted to get this over with? 🙂

Mile	Time	Distance	Pace
1	8:03	1.00	8:03
2	8:08	1.00	8:08
3	7:53	1.00	7:53
4	8:03	1.00	8:03
5	7:50	1.00	7:50
5.15	1:06	0.15	7:25
Summary	41:03	5.15	7:58

sub-3:30 pace? ummm yeah.  That definitely is not the marathon goal, but let’s just wait and see, shall we?

So now I’m happily indoors on the couch, watching 90210 and DWTS reruns and hoping the power stays on long enough for me to see if Galen Rupp will medal in the 10,000 at Worlds 🙂  I’m all prepared, here are some of my other hurricane supplies:

I WILL tear into the PowerGels if desperate!

Also made some air-popped popcorn to snack on while watching more entertainment…the trainwreck that is the NYRR Facebook page.  Another day, another drama!  Not only was the Bronx canceled, but there was a 5K race up in Harlem this morning (which was also a team points race, but was planning on skipping anyway) that got canceled yesterday when the city revoked all Saturday permits too.  In a way, this was a situation I can see both sides of.  Mostly for those who signed up yesterday to only be told a couple of hours later that it was canceled-NYRR shouldn’t have been accepting new registrations.  That said, given the state of emergency and the MTA shutdown at noon, planning anything on Saturday would be kind of iffy, given the need for the city’s resources elsewhere (after the half was canceled, I sorta had a feeling this 5k would be too.)  And of course everyone is in an uproar.  “Why no refunds?  Its soooo unfair!!  Why isnt anything being rescheduled?  Why is no one answering our questions?”  And on and on and on.  Finally I had it and couldn’t bite my tongue any longer and responded to a post:

Sorry, it just had to be said 🙂

Anyway-once again, hope everyone stays safe this weekend!  And here’s hoping that come Monday morning, we’re all wondering what the fuss was about…fingers crossed…

make a plan, stick to it like glue

So unlike one month ago, the Heatpocalypse decided to stay away from the 2nd NYRR Long Training Run.  However, this wasn’t gonna be totally challenge-free, as the humidity was definitely on full-blast for this one.  Additionally, this would really be my first true stint in the 9 minute pace group, as we wouldn’t be getting the blessing to take it easier as we did last time.  But I had a feeling it would be fine.  As I had to run 18 total, my plan was to run with the group for the first 3 loops (16 miles), then one more mile on the 4th loop then back to the staging area to make 18.

Unlike last time, the MTA was kinder to me.  Then again, I left a little earlier, not wanting to take any chances.  The A train showed up after only about 5 minutes (as opposed to 20 last time) so I got to the staging area a bit early, but it was nice to not feel rushed.  As we were waiting for the cue to line up with our groups, we were playing with the pace signs…me particularly, the “7:30 pace” sign 😛  Hey, that could mean 7:30 race pace, right…lol.  But eventually I was given my TRUE pace sign and me and the other 9:00 pace leaders went over to our group to divide and conquer.

So, a few minutes after 7, we were off.  The run started out normally…first half-mile a little fast due to the downhill Harlem Hill, make up for it on the uphill.  After that, my goal was to just “lock in” and keep an even effort, regardless of what the other leaders may be doing…and in the first loop I did lag a little bit behind the other leaders, though I was right on pace (and one person even asked me if the others were going too fast)  First loop ended fine, second loop went well too, Flyers and co-paceleaders HM and MR stuck with me through this loop, as did one girl from Dashing Whippets who was training for MCM.  And of course, MR had to mention how much I just loved that marathon…not!!  Needless to say, I did warn her about the so-called “honor system” at the start! 😉  Another guy said to us midway through this loop, “how good are you, everything is within 5 seconds of 9:00!”  yay 🙂

The third loop was a little bit of a struggle…not sure if it was the humidity getting to me, or I felt a little under-fueled, though I had already taken 2 gels (after miles 6 and 12.)  Or it could have possibly been the Gatorade that was being served on the transverse…not sure what variety it was, but it was really watered down and I sure hope they do not serve that at the marathon and stick to the tried and true lemon-lime endurance formula!  But the gel kinda kicked in around mile 14 and I felt fine for the last 2 miles of that loop.  MR had gone on ahead (his excuse-“needed more rest at between this loop and the next…uh yeah right :-P”) but HM was struggling a little.  I felt bad at leaving the group after 17, as she was doing 20 and needed the support, but I was not prepared-endurance wise or fueling wise to do 20…I had to stick to my plan.  Thankfully MR was going to take on the last 4 miles as well.

So I ran out to the 17 mile-marker, wished everyone continuing on well, then turned around and headed back to 102nd.  And still had something left in the tank to pick it up a little for this last mile or so, while I gave the usual cheers to those heading out for the last loop.  As I got to 102nd, I heard Flyers ST and KH yelling for me then JM saying via the microphone “she can’t talk yet…she’s finishing her run.”  LOL.  18 miles down, no worse for wear.  Though I couldn’t chuck the singlet, Brandi Chastain-style, soon enough…that thing was soaked!!  Oh the humidity…

Annddd…how it netted out in the long run (har har)

So I pretty much stuck to plan.  And encouraging that this felt comfortable, whereas the last coupla years whenever I was debating between 9 and 9:30, I felt 9 seemed like too much of a jump and I was unsure if I I would have been able to handle pacing…but the last 2 LTR’s put those worries to rest (well, for now.)  I didn’t feel like “oh I can’t run any more” when I was done, but there was no reason to keep going…quit while you’re ahead, I say! 🙂  And as always-the Flyers kicked butt paceleading and coordinating the event, as usual! 🙂

the club (champs) can’t handle me

Thankfully this year’s NYRR Club Team Championships was a complete 180 from last year.  Was a good day for me, for the Flyers, for lotsa peeps.

Chill nite Friday nite…carbo-loading (and yes I did have another Blue Moon…lol) and watching the Yanks vs. Sox game…hey didn’t the Yanks win 2 years ago the night before this race?  Saturday I did all my usual pre-race preps and headed to the subway…just in time to see the door of a C train close just as I got there.  Doh!!  My hope was to get to da park in time to see the guys in their first mile, but it was in the hands of the MTA now.

Luckily, another C train came shortly…and I got off the train uptown and headed to 90th street to watch the guys pass by before I warmed up a little bit.  Perfect timing-the lead bikes/truck came by just as I got to 90th.  As it was early, everyone pretty much passed by in a matter of minutes, but I was able to spot some Flyers here and there and cheer.  I then continued warming up, headed to the spot that the Flyers staked out on the east side near the finish for our post-race festivities.  A few minutes later, the leaders approached…the usual suspects were in front (WSX, NYAC, etc) all running ridiculous times.  And of course we were anxiously awaiting our first male and BK said that we should just all cheer like crazy when he runs by.  Sure enough, Lam runs by and the (Flyer female) crowd goes insane.  Strong finish to what was apparently a great race for him!  he was followed shortly by JD, and then Crazy Bandanahead who looked like he was passing lotsa guyz in the final stretch.  But man, the looks on these guys faces…they did not look happy at all.  And I couldn’t tell if it was because of the conditions (it was in the mid-70s and quite humid…probably the toughest conditions we’ve had for this particular race in awhile) or if it’s just the normal “pushing hard at the end” discomfort…

At around 8:35ish, I headed over towards the transverse and the corrals for the women’s start.  So Flyer LH says to me that he “expects me to finish top 10 for the team”-as this time around, the open women’s scoring for this race went 10 deep (like the men’s usually is.)  And of course that expectation is based on my performance on the 4-miler last month…and honestly, this wasn’t what I wanted to hear before the race!  One of the good things about the 4-miler was the fact that there was no pressure beforehand…just ran.  And also this time, there were quite a few fast Flyer ladies who would most definitely finish ahead of me.  Our “master blaster” CM, who always leads the team whenever she toes the line.  Our ultra-chick DC, this would be just a sprint for her.  JR, another quick chick who consistently runs sub-7 pace for these races.  EG, who’s been on a PR-setting tear this year.  And of course EA, AK and NPT, the ladies I do speedwork with…I’ve never beaten them in a workout or a race before.  So there I counted 7 Flyer women that would most likely finish ahead of me and I’m sure there were others I hadn’t seen yet.  Thankfully my Flyer friend JW put her hands over my ears as a sort of sign to tell me to block it out.  Thanks JW-I needed that 🙂  And soon enough it was time to start…took some deep breaths to calm myself further before the starting horn.

Mile 1 (7:18)-so despite the whole “bibgate”, my starting position was actually fine (and in fact, supposedly I missed a pile-up that happened in the first corral!)  Me and EG stuck together for a good part of this mile, weaving our way through the West Side Hills.  And I was pretty pleased with this mile split, showed that last month definitely was not a fluke!  That said, given the warmer and more humid conditions, did I go out too hard?

Mile 2 (7:08)-Down the hill, still running at a good clip.  I felt that I was still keeping it together, in the heat and humidity, and the mile split did reflect that.  I knew that this race was definitely legit and was just gonna go for it from here…

Mile 3 (7:17)-what is usually the most mentally tough mile of the race with the least crowd support.  I had several women to pace off of…a Harrier, a fast woman from Moving Comfort or Running Divas or whatever they are called now, a coupla PPTC women, and I had NPT in my sights up ahead-in fact I have had her in my sights the entire way.  But I really tried to not worry about what they were doing, or where I was place-wise…I said to myself just the fact that I was sticking with these women means I was having a good day.  I was here to run for time, not place.  But the fact I was running with them may have helped a little-I usually lose a little bit of time in this mile and this time, I didn’t.

Mile 4 (7:32)-Cat Hill time.  Just a hill repeat and you’re done with the tough part.  I’ve seen peeps actually climb up onto the cat statue to cheer, today was no exception.  This time it was Flyer TD, encouraging me up that last part of the hill, and it definitely was a relief to be done.  Cat Hill does its usual damage to this mile, though possibly a tiny bit less than before?  Quick check of the watch says I’m at 29:1x though 4 miles (my 2nd best 4-mile time ever!), so all I need to do is kill it on the last mile.

Mile 5 (6:45)-So after keeping NPT in my sights throughout the race, I caught up to her.  “Come on, N,” I said to her as I pulled alongside.  “Let’s work together.”  We did run side by side for a little bit until I edged ahead for good around Engineer’s Gate.  And here was time to crank it up a gear.  And give it everything.  I passed by several other women in the stretch from Engineer’s Gate to the top of the reservoir…and then the real fun part begins, with all the guys from all the teams cheering.  And of course I gotta look good and fast for them 🙂  I wasn’t letting up, no smiles, total game face.  Even when I passed the Flyers’ contingent with around a quarter-mile to go…I heard the cheering, but I couldn’t even tell you exactly who was there, I was so focused.  I saw the orange tape lining the finishing chute and I felt it calling me home.  Rounded the corner…and surprisingly, the woman in front of me stopped after crossing the mat a little before the finish (which I believe gives name/bib numbers to the announcers at the finish)…but I wasn’t falling for that!!  No stopping for me til I hit both mats at the finish!!  And I did hear the announcers call my name as I finished!  And finished up with my fastest mile split ever in a race…like whoa!!

Final time was 36:00, 7:12 pace. Wow-had I known I was so close, could I have given that little something extra to get that second to get me under 36?  But still-cannot complain at all about a 49-second PR, an 8th-place finish for the open women (who finished 8th overall) AND redemption from last year’s underwhelming race!

So afterwards was the usual mingling, picnic, photo-taking, catching up with Flyers old and new…and oh yes, a certain baby Flyer girl made her Flyer event debut 🙂

So this race, I think, was a huge weight off my shoulders.  For several reasons.  1-the 4-miler definitely was not a fluke, and in fact even surpassed that one.  2-finally able to pull out a good race time in non-ideal conditions.  Though I think partially that was due to getting through that 5K last month in 90-degree weather and my long run during Heatpocalypse 2011…I mean if I could get through those…I could get through this.  3-McMillan predicts a 3:31 marathon from this race, and I wasn’t really tapered for this one.  Therefore, training appears to be on track so far.  Which is why for the next 6 weeks, I’m putting the racing shoes away and just concentrating on continuing the NYCM buildup, and STAYING UNINJURED.

Some pictures from the day, thanks to our fabulous team photographers 🙂

the Flyer gurls in the yellow corral

right after the start on 102nd

in the home stretch with the game face on!

me with the Flyer men after the finish

lotsa hotties, running long

and it was getting to be that time again…time for another installment of paceleader goodness in NYRR’s Long Training Runs.  My mission, should I choose to accept it…lead the 9 minute pace group for 16 miles.

9 minute group?  What, what?  Yes, I know I previously have been the self-proclaimed “queen of the 9:30 pace group”…but I finally felt I was ready to move up a group.  Of course, it also helped that Coach T told me in response to “well I usually lead the 9:30 group”…”no you’re not! 🙂 ”

double fistin'

However, what I didn’t expect for this initial run in the 9 minute group was for it to fall during Heatpocalypse 2011.  But then again, I have had experience paceleading during unseasonably hot weather.  Remember the 2009 More/Fitness Half-marathon Fun Run?  Where actually I didn’t finish too far off the 2:00 target?  Plus-and this was truly a blessing-NYRR made it clear that pace restrictions were going to be relaxed, up to as much as 30-60 seconds per mile.  Very glad they did that…no need risking training on a run early in the going, right? (in my case, 15 weeks out.)

And how did I prep for this long run?  By hydrating at Studio Square with other Flyers…hey sangria is one of the less evil drinks, right?  Red wine is good for you!!  As is the (alcohol-soaked) fruit in there!  But no worries…for each cup of sangria consumed, there was also a big-ass cup of water too…plus sitting outside in 100 degree weather…yeah, I was feeling no effects of the liquor consumption.  For realz.  Quite a change from the last coupla times I’m indulged in what I have lovingly referred to as “liquid crack” at Studio Square…

Up early, ready to go.  Oh but of course the MTA must throw a wrench in things…waiting 20 minutes for a train-not fun.  Yep, this was the first LTR I’ve done since moving to midtown…and it was either add on 3 more miles, MTA it, or cab it.  (I have a feeling for LTR #2, I’ll be cabbing it…)By the time I got uptown, I hustled over to the staging area, my singlet already ditched.  We did get new pretty orange paceleader singlets to wear (yay for no see-through-ness), and I obliged-both so I can look all official-like, and also because I’d scare the whole population of Central Park if I went “topless” for this one.

niners ready to go!

So me and the other “niners” went to line up…and I think there was a little confusion going on between what group we’re leading, and what we’d actually be running.  Were we running 9’s or 9:30s?  What was the official 9 minute group?  Why are we even doing this?  Are we all insane? 🙂  But not enough time to dwell on that, much sooner than I anticipated, we were given the cue to go.

And as always, as the first half-mile is down Harlem Hill, it started off a little quick but we made up for it on the uphill.  That first mile was right in the 9-9:30 range as I was thinking “ok perfect.”  But for the rest of this loop, the other paceleaders really pulled ahead…and I just let them go (though another Flyer who wasn’t pacing kept me company for this loop-thanks BK!)  If NYRR was giving us the blessing to take it a little easier, you can bet I was taking advantage of it.  No need to be a hero and say “oh yeah, I kept 9’s even when we were told to go slower!”  If it happened, it happened, but I had 16 miles to get through, and I was gonna get through them feeling strong at the end.  And with the exception of Cat Hill, looks like I actually wasn’t too far off?

takin' a breather inbetween loops

One loop down, hit the transverse to gel, hydrate…and grab a sponge at a sponge station that NYRR provided for this run.  GENIUS.  I kept mine with me to re-soak at the water stations and that-plus the eventual cloud cover-did a helluva job helping keep me cool for the remaining loops.  Maybe loop 2 was a little slower, but still not bad?  (Part of it was slowing at the water stations-where I prefer to “grab and go”, a lot of others took a cup and walked with it…understandable given the conditions!)

Another 5 miles down, and as we were at 102nd long before 9:30, we were given the go-ahead to do the 5-mile loop (as the cutoff time was 10 AM, I believe any group who didnt get there before 9:30 either had to do the 4 mile loop, or were stopped from proceeding further.)  And going out conservative on that first loop helped, as I was able to finish the last 5 miles pretty strong and I didn’t feel like I was gonna die once…what a difference from the previous weekend!!  As we approached the transverse to finish off the 16, “Empire State of Mind” was playing over the loudspeaker…kinda appropriate? 🙂

By the numbers:

So even with relaxing things at the beginning, I wasn’t too far off with the pace, especially at the end…encouraging!  (And given that I was dancing around to the music that the DJ was playing in the staging area, some probably felt I didn’t run hard enough 🙂 )  And I survived my first stint in the 9 minute group.  I’ll be back next month for LTR #2, let’s hope there isn’t a repeat of Heatpocalypse 2011 for that one! 🙂  Though seriously, given the conditions, I think things went very well…for myself, for my other co-leaders and for everyone involved!!  The organizers-both in the NYRR and the NYF camp…outdid themselves as usual 🙂

week 2 wrap-up

So, 2 weeks down in my quest towards the NYC Marathon.  So far, so good, but I am keeping in the back of my mind that it’s still early and anything can happen in the next 16 weeks…

So obviously I did some other running besides those races on Tuesday and Saturday…

Wednesday was just meant to be a chill recovery 5.  Since I wanted to sneak in a yoga class too, I decided to do what I’ve done before-run uptown on the West Side Highway to get to the NYSC.  Great idea in theory, however about 2.5 miles in I felt what at first I thought was maybe the waters of the Hudson River being blown sideways (was very windy!) but soon enough it turned into an all-out downpour, complete with hail.  But the fortuitous part was that I was not far from the gym at all…so what do I do?  Get to the gym and finish my run there…drenched and all.

Thursday was hills, and me and others who were racing on Saturday got let off the hook a coupla repeats early…I just focused on form…

Sunday was long run day, and I had 15 on the agenda.  The Flyers were having an organized long run up at Van Cortlandt Park, so I decided to join in on that.  I’ve only run in VCP once before, around 5 years ago…and took a tumble on the trail.  So obviously I was hoping to stay vertical this time!!  However-I underestimated how much a hard race effort can take out of me.  That plus I got my first taste of the hills on the XC course…oh boy, those were so not a good idea.  I opted for loops of the flats instead of a 2nd hilly loop…but that was right in the sun and the heat was definitely getting to me.  Coach T ran with me for the last 6 miles on the flat trail portion which was much better…being shaded, plus downing a bottle of Gatorade faster than a shot helped too.  Wouldn’t you know it, I almost took a fall on the trail again!!  However, I managed to stay upright…maybe all the dodging the soccer balls at the track helped my reflexes? 🙂  However, I think VCP and I really don’t mix…

I wound up with 11 and change, and Coach T gave me the blessing to cut this one short, given the race effort the day before.  You know I don’t like cutting long runs short, but it’s still early in the going, and I can just chalk this past week up as more of a “quality” week than a “quantity” week.  Maybe that’s a sign that I’m actually maturing as a runner…a few years ago I’d be panicking if I had to cut a long run short, now I’m actually OK with it.

Another week in the books.  This week looks to be a battle against Mother Nature, as every day (including planned long run day!) looks to be a scorcher.  But I raced decently in the heat…and actually had a good track workout today (to come in another post)…maybe I actually am acclimating?

she’s fire burning, fire burning on the race course (run for central park 4m report)

This post title has been brought to you by one of quite a few songs that rocked the summer of 2009…

So…originally the Central Park Conservancy Run for Central Park 4-miler wasn’t really on my radar.  Yep, it’s a club points race and being a good little Flyer, I should run it, but I had Hoboken on my agenda earlier in the week and felt my chances were better with a flat 5K than a hilly 4-miler.  But with Tuesday being an inferno, I thought this race could be a good backup in case I have to dial back the effort, or if the organizers made Tuesday a fun run.  But you know how Tuesday went-seconds from a PR in non-ideal conditions with me not feeling like it was an all-out effort.  So I took a coupla days to decide if my legs felt OK enough to give it another go on Saturday…and by Thursday I decided they did and I was gonna go for it.  (Oh and I did have a coupla Blue Moons the night before…I may have to have one the night before all my short races!)

So Saturday’s conditions-low 70s, low humidity were like a dream compared to Tuesday…good sign #1.  Another good sign was that I got a red bib for this race!  When I am normally yellow for points races.  Red hot baby…i’m on FIRE!  🙂  Warmed up for a mile or so to the park, felt good to go.  Headed to my corral and of course found other teammates to chat and pass the time to the start with.  (And a blog reader was lined up next to me too-hi, H!) Until the pre-race announcements came on.  And I had to laugh…when Mary Wittenberg sounded disappointed that we weren’t sounding “more excited” to be out there that morning…OMG, she sounded like one of my bosses this past week!  Then the usual…national anthem, final pre-race announcements, starting horn!

Mile 1-little crowded in the beginning, but opened up by the time we got to…yep, Cat Hill.  Flyer JS and I were running together for this first part (she said beforehand that she was gonna try and stick with me this time!)…then GW passed by right before the hill…I don’t know why, but I thought I could latch onto him…which lasted all of 5-10 seconds.  But it did sorta help me power up the hill a little more.  Was expecting this mile to be somewhere in the 7:20’s-7:30’s, based on the effort I felt I was putting in.  But that was not to be-this mile was 7:17.  I actually said out loud “holy shit” when I saw that.  That’s a time I expect more to see near the end of a race, or on a flat/downhill.  But going up Cat Hill?  No way.  Was it legit, or is this gonna come back and bite me in a mile or 2?

Mile 2-nice flat/sorta downhill section…like the last mile of the Club Champs 5-miler.  BC passed by me and we sorta paced off each other for the remainder of this mile.  Definitely helped, and was still feeling good (or as good as you can feel while running a race!)  This mile split was another shock-7:02.  I’ve run this course several times, so I knew the mile markers were right…maybe it was just my day to be on fire!  Fire burning, fire burning on the dance floor race course… 🙂 A PR was not just a possiblity, but could be a reality at this point as long as I don’t screw up the next 2 miles.  But still, I felt in a way, I was in a whole other world today….whole different level than where I normally am…

Mile 3-the West Side Hills.  Always my weakest mile in these 4-mile races.  I kept saying to myself “attack, attack, attack.  maintain, maintain, maintain.”  This was definitely not the time to make my move…just take one hill at a time to get through this mile.  With about one hill to go, I passed BC but he stayed right behind me til around the end of this mile when I went on ahead for good…he said something like “you don’t have to wait for me” and I said to him “dude, this mile is a bitch for me too!”  Relieved to see the water station near west 86th in the distance and the mile marker…this mile was 7:32-the fastest I have ever done this mile, I think, but still a little weaker than ideal…

Mile 4-definitely still on PR pace through 3, with one fast mile to go, one I know I can push it on.  However there was another number in mind that I never thought could be a possibility…could I go under 29 minutes?  I didn’t feel like doing the math in my head, but just give this mile everything and whatever happens, happens.  Flyer SH was cheering just past 86th…”great job!! you’re doing this, girl!”  Flew down the hill and time to take on the last half-mile.  A guy in a Front Runners singlet who was running near me was really trying to encourage me through this stretch (ahhh…why are all the good men taken or…)  I could see the turn for home and knew it wasn’t that much longer.  KG was cheering and yelling out form tips to me just as I turned onto 72nd…from there, I gave it everything I had til I hit the finish line!!  (if Mr. Garmin was to be believed, that last bit on 72nd was at a sub-6 pace!)  And I ran my fastest mile in a Central Park race-6:52!  (wow, how do you sub-3 marathon peeps do that for 26.2 miles?  that took so much out of me for 1 mile… 🙂 )

Final time-28:43, 7:10 pace…PR by 52 seconds!!  (And new best pace for NYRR races…yayyyy!!)  And if that wasn’t enough, I was the 4th Flyer female…always such an honor to score for the team in points races!  Yeah, I know some of our faster women were either injured or away or perhaps having an “off” day, but I’m still taking it!! 🙂  Another tidbit-if I were actually 35 already…I would have been in the coveted top 10 in my age group!  One thing to look forward to about “aging up” in 2 months?

So caught up with Flyers and other friends afterwards…seemingly everyone I talked to was in good spirits, lotsa Flyer PRs up in there…including but not limited to GW, Lam, EF, DB, BC (guessed pacing off each other helped us both!), AK, CK, CO, HM (and hers was right after preps for a Flyer event!)  Needless to say, I was definitely walking on air after this one, and the good vibes followed me to a fun scavenger hunt that the Flyers had…I teamed up with CK and BC (and being dubbed the most competitive team of all!) and we had a great time running around the park in search of clues (yes we were still running, good thing none of us took off our racing shoes!)  We placed third with a good effort, and enjoyed a picnic after that.  Following the picnic, a couple of us toasted our PRs with beer…and me and another one did even later with margaritas!!  Fun day!

So-was Saturday a fluke or a breakthrough?  I don’t know, but given the the frustrations I had racing last year during my training for Chicago, it makes me appreciate days like this even more…as you never know if the next one will be amazing or heartbreaking.  And this was the first race that had any similarity to my glory days of 2009.  Next race for me will be Club Champs and I’ll see if I can repeat the magic from Saturday there…but in the meantime, keepin’ on keepin’ on towards NYCM…

maybe i should mentally write off races more often (2011 mini 10k report)

Hi again!!  Yep, I know this race report is 2 weeks delinquent.  Ya think life has gotten in the way or something? 🙂

Soooo…the Mini 10K.  It’s a race that, for me, was a “must run” for several reasons.

1. It was my first race as a New York Flyer…way back in 2004!!
2. It’s the only NYRR race that I have run every single year, without fail…so this year would be #8!
3. Club points race for the ladies.  Even if I don’t score, I still wanted to be out there in some shape or form…
4. Ladies-only race=blue race bib (yay for first corral!)
5. Ladies-only race=lotsa men on the sidelines cheering 🙂
6. Plus this year’s race had a coupla special aspects-the 40th anniversary of the race and was dedicated to Grete Waitz.

As for how I was gonna run…I seriously did not know.  I was having a conversation with Coach T a week or so beforehand and he asked me if I had any time goal in mind…I said “you know, I’m honestly afraid to make any goals.”  Between last year’s Mini, and the disaster that was the Brooklyn Half, may have been better for the psyche to not have any numbers pre-define my race day.

So what does the post title have to do with things?  Glad you asked…

So the nite before the race, I had gone out with some coworkers to celebrate a a birthday of someone in our group.  Original plan was to have 1 glass of wine, maybe 2 tops, and then go home early and rest.  Said original plan did not happen.  With the conditions for the race supposed to be crappy (either almost 100% humidity or raining), I thought “f*ck it, whatever happens tomorrow happens, I’m gonna have fun tonite.”  Hence me tipping back a few pints of Blue Moon and staying out later than planned (though I did carbo-load properly at home.)

So the next morning…no rain, but the humidity was indeed close to 100%-thank god it was cooler than normal.  Did feel it though during my warmup (boy did it feel different, warming up for this race by running up 8th Ave instead of down CPW!)  I headed to the blue corral and lined up with Flyers JS, EG and CK…within striking distance of the elites too!  cool!  Though when we are all supposed to move forward, me (and CK too) made sure we stayed behind the mats…for reason that we both forgot a few days later 🙂  but also I knew there were others who deserved to be in front of me, and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting caught up in a too-fast first mile.  Anyway, after a few speeches, some tributes to Grete, and one of the Harriers singing the National Anthem (and doing a great job too!) it was go time…

Mile 1 (7:28)-Similar to 2 years ago, I tried to hold back just a little…being a little cautious with both the conditions and knowing the hills were up ahead but also just knowing that a 10K is more of an endurance race than some give it credit for.  Others were flying past and I’d let them go…I sorta tried to keep JS in my sights, who was a strong runner making her first comeback race after injury.  I figured if I could stick with her I’d have a good day.  One treat for today was some of the men (and women not racing) from the local clubs cheering at the mile markers.  Looks like mile 1 was CPTC’s, as I saw a coupla familiar faces 😉  Thanks for cheering, guys!  And I was pretty happy with this mile split (and I think it may have actually been a second or 2 faster-was a little distracted at the mile marker 🙂 )

Mile 2 (7:41)-just kept going up CPW…smiled to myself as I passed my old block on the UWS, and all the buildings I used to walk or run by every day.  Entered the park at 90th and got to work on the hills.  Not time to make my move yet…maintain, maintain, maintain.  Even though this split was a little slow, I wasn’t really getting passed, and I had something left for the 2 biggest climbs of the race ahead.  (And thanks to North Brooklyn Runners for their great cheering at the mile 2 marker! 🙂 )

Mile 3 (7:37)-first climb.  Attack the hill, don’t look at the watch.  If I get passed here, catch ’em on the downhill.  And that was exactly what I did.  While running downhill, I actually heard JS chatting with Mary Wittenberg…and Mary passed me on the second uphill-she was running the race with Grete’s husband 🙂  I said something about how great the race was, the cheering stations were a fun touch…or something like that because seriously, who’s mind works well while running a 10K race in conditions resembling a swimming pool?  And speaking of cheering stations, Front Runners sure brought it at the mile 3 marker!!  Fun!!

Climbed a little more to the 5K point…which was 23:39.  Hmmm, pretty good!!  I know I’d have to run a major negative split to PR (and mile 4 always makes it hard to negative split), but maybe I could get close to my course PR from 2009 of 47:27.  That said, 2009’s race had much better conditions…and briefly, 2008’s race flashed into my mind.  Where I kept it together through the first 5K in bad conditions, only to lose it during the second 5K.

Mile 4 (8:06)-So I just kept climbing.  Up to 102nd, and up the sneaky incline to Engineer’s Gate and the mile 4 marker, where I saw Flyer SC and a coupla other clubs cheering.  I sorta breathed a sigh of relief here.  I’d still love to be able to get this mile under 8 minutes, but the fact that I was still keeping it together said a lot.

Mile 5 (7:32)-the same thought as every year…worst is over, all downhill from here.  And maybe not killing myself on the hills was a good thing, as I was able to pick up the pace more than usual this time around.  CPTC was back at mile 5 cheering, along with some others…I passed by CK at the end of this mile and was hoping she’d stick with me for the final stretch…

Mile 6 (7:28)-just keep on working hard…think of all those intervals at the track.  I’m still passing people, guess my strategy of holding back on mile 1 pays off again.  Hit the 800m to go sign and I think of running 800’s at the track, and Coach T telling me to “hit the pace”, and indeedy, hitting the pace.  Don’t think I’m gonna be throwing down any 3:20 half-miles as I have been doing during track workouts, considering I had 5.5 hard miles already on my legs, but it could help me close strong.  Finally, I see my team at a cheering station-yayyyyy!!!

Last .2 mile (1:32)-again, not looking at my watch, even though I hit the split button.  No idea if I’m near a real PR or a course PR or way off.  400m to go sign-I think “just a lap of the track”…though of course the track doesn’t include an annoying uphill to Tavern on the Green 🙂  I see Flyer DM up ahead and try and finish as close to her as possible…passed by just before the finish…gave it everything I had!!  (and gave it so much, I almost ran into someone who stopped short just after the finish line…)

Final time-47:24, 7:38 pace. 5K splits of 23:39/23:45-most evenly I have run this race in a very long time (with the exception of 2004, where I negative split by 1 second)…and 3 second course PR…not too shabby!  Not bad for a race I had mentally written off the night before…lol.

Got our medals (really nice ones this year!) and pink carnations, and did the usual posing for pics and mingling…thankfully everything was before the rains came 🙂

And I do not endorse getting wasted the night before a race…but maybe, occasionally, some Blue Moons won’t hurt…LOL.

Some piccys from the day!

Me and JS cruising up CPW in mile 1

mile 6-i totally look i'm walking but i swear i'm running

finish line!

near collision past the finish!

cute runner guy, will you accept this carnation?

running shoes, medals and flowers. guess which shoe is mine?

more flowers! with flyers in the background

hot mess on ocean parkway (brooklyn half 2011 report)

Damn.  Gotta face the music I guess.

Well, as I mentioned previously-the Brooklyn Half definitely did not go well.  Even though I was not expecting a PR (thanks to my actual half-marathon PR being a complete and total outlier) I thought maybe I can salvage a halfway decent race.  Not sure if last year’s 1:42 would be in reach, but did feel that 1:45 was a reasonable goal.  And I was ready to take the race on.

So I don’t know, even the morning of felt “off” in a way.  Thankfully, I didn’t have too much trouble waking up (before 4 AM!) since I did go to sleep reasonably early the night before.  Even though I’m in midtown now instead of the UWS, I still elected to take the Flyers‘ bus from the UWS, as we all know how unpredictible the MTA is on weekends, especially early mornings on weekends, especially in Brooklyn.  And that also meant I would be cabbin’ it uptown.  But it didn’t help that seemingly every cab was off-duty and of course I got nervous.  One off-duty cab stopped but after I told him my destination, said he couldn’t go to the UWS.  Eventually there was one who figured it wouldn’t kill him to drive 30 blocks!  So I did get to the bus in time.  However, once the bus was en route to Brooklyn…more nerves and unsettledness.  Instead of taking the West Side Highway to the tunnel as has been done in the past, the bus decided to trek through the city streets to the Manhattan Bridge, just adding more travel time.  As we were advised to check our bags by 6:20 and be in our corrals by 6:40 (race start was 7), we were really cutting it close.  Finally we got to Prospect Park, but it seemed like the driver had no clue where to let us off…I think everyone wanted off the bus by that time.  Figured it out, and once we we got off the bus I made a mad dash for the baggage area.  Seemed like I barely had enough time to check my bag and get to my corral (thank god I didn’t have to take care of other business…may have been no time for that!)  So yeah, waitin’ for the start…

And it began.  Knowing mile 1 would be a little downhill, I tried to keep it cool, and not get caught up with what others were doing, given there were quite a few miles worth of hills for me to deal with.  And as my mile 1 split was only 1 second off from last year’s race, I felt it was off to a good start.  And then mile 2 and evil hill, part 1 happened.  Looks like my long run of 4 trips up that hill didn’t work this time, as this mile was about 15 seconds slower than last year, and I had a feeling that it was going to be a tough day.  Just figured I could make up the time on the downhills…and bide my time til Ocean Parkway.  And once again, I decided it was gonna be a 2-gel day, as the humdity was deadly (close to 100%?  not sure if i quite believe that though…)  So all in all, I was through 7 miles in 56:06…7 seconds behind goal, but I could make that up in the remaining 6.1 miles right?

Ocean Parkway. shoot me now.

Or…not.  Mile 8 included the on-ramp to Ocean Parkway (which definitely felt more uphill this year) and that was 8:15…OK, now 22 seconds behind schedule.  I’d have to do 7:55’s or better for the remainder in order to get 1:45.  Given that I negative split this race last year, I thought it could have been doable, but not today.  I don’t know why or how, but my legs just went dead.  Nothing I could say or do could wake them up.  No water, Gatorade or PowerGel.  They were just stuck in that one slow gear and couldn’t seem to shift gears and go faster.  I was roadkill on Ocean Parkway with everyone and their mother passing me and I just wanted this to be over…but it couldn’t be over fast enough, as every single mile split was getting slower.

evil on-ramp to the boardwalk. and not smiling.

Thankfully, somewhere in mile 12, Flyer JA caught up to me and as I kinda had signs I wasn’t doing too well, he kept me company for a mile, was encouraging while just letting me run (though I was somewhat amused when he told me at mile 12 that it was just “4 1/2 laps of the track to go” 🙂  OK, maybe that may make the last 1.1 go by faster!)  It did help, as I was able to speed up a little bit for miles 12 and 13, though sub-8’s were definitely out by that point.  Finally, Ocean Parkway came to an end and we were able to turn right onto Surf Avenue, then up an evil on-ramp to the boardwalk (which again, definitely felt steeper this year…or maybe my legs were just shot by that point!)  Dr. Evil was taking pictures and had to comment afterwards that I wasn’t smiling whereas others would…um if you were feeling as crappy as I was, you wouldn’t be smiling. 

on the boardwalk...so close, yet so far away...

So, on the boardwalk I did remember one thing I learned from last year, and stayed on the straight boards as long as possible, as they were much, much more stable than the slanted ones.  I looked down at Mr. Garmin at the mile 13 marker and saw that I may possibly be able to get under 1:47, but I’d have to hustle…so I did the best I could given the boardwalk surface…but missed by 2 seconds.  1:47:01, 8:10 pace.  So glad this was over.   But I guess there’s nothing like a Coney Island beach party to drown my sorrows…which may or may not have included dipping my legs in the ocean several times, eating Nathan’s hot dogs, hanging out at Beer Island (which didn’t open til 11 AM this year!), riding the Cyclone (which was scary but less torturous than running the race, lol!), chilling out on the beach, not getting back to Manhattan until it was about time for the much-rumored Rapture….

…and given it was a long day, I crashed mad early for a Saturday night and slept like a baby.  But Sunday, and the day after, and the day after that, the disappointment of the day just came back to me.  If I had to have a bad race, I would have liked for there to be a fixable reason.  But this time?  There was no excuse for my legs to have just gone dead as they did.  And even though it was humid, it wasn’t brutally hot, therefore I most likely can’t blame the weather.  Plus, I was hearing stories of people who PR’ed without really training, or not putting in any double-digit runs…dammit, I put in the work.  Compared to last March/April/May, my mileage was higher this year.  Long runs?  All there-10 miles, 11, 12, 13-even 14 and 15 miles.  And since March, I had been doing speedwork twice a week.  Torrential storms with lightning?  Hit the dreadmill for intervals (and I never do speedwork on the dreadmill!)  Can’t make the workout for whatever reason?   Get the plan B to do in the morning (thankfully this time around it’s not quite pulling teeth to get that info!)  Despite the struggles this winter, once I got over the hump I wasn’t slacking off-little discouraging to be “rewarded” with my slowest half-marathon time in a few years (not counting the ones that were strictly training/MP runs)

But I really wanted a race that would have shown that I’m not kidding myself thinking I can BQ this fall…to BQ means I would have to run the pace for this half-marathon for a full (I really don’t think 3:40 is going to cut it for me, i’m gonna need 3:35 or better)  So not exactly a confidence booster…