I'm heading for that golden gate

Getting settled in here on the West Coast. All of our stuff got here this week which was great. Sleeping on an air mattress is fine for a few nights, but for over a week kinda sucked. It was also a bit colder than expected so Loren and I were huddled up with the cats for most of the night. Poor cats. They're not gonna be too happy when the dog gets here.
I was really excited about the bikes showing up. Not so much to get out and go for some long riding (though I was looking forward to that) but mostly to be able to commute around the city on my beater. While I was very use to riding around NYC and all the ups and downs that comes with, San Francisco has a very different culture around commuting by bike. It's much much more common and accepted. Lots of bike lanes and bike racks and places with indoor/covered parking. It's a lovely way to get around this city. Except that hill longer than a half mile I have to ride up to get to my place, but I'm sure I'll get use to that.

It looks like this week marked the actual start of my Ironman training. It's about time. I'm not terrible concerned about my running since I just ran a marathon, I know I can let the running take a bit of a back seat. Honestly, I'm not crazy about that. I've spent the last few years really focusing on my running and I rather enjoy it. I do, however, need to work on the other 2 events. Luckily, I started doing triathlons over a decade ago. Swimming and cycling come back to me very quickly. So here's a run down of what my week looked like:
Tues- swim .9 miles. I planned on swimming a mile but miss counted my laps. Close enough. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I was in the pool.
Wed running 5 miles. I went with my friend Anna and Loren to the Sports Basement fun run. I feel like most of my group run days are behind me. I like to run at my pace and when/where I feel like it. But hey, I'm in a new city and don't know my way around running wise well yet and don't know a lot of runners so what the hell.
Friday swim 1 miles. I must say, I'm really glad I can just get in the pool and swim a mile without any trouble.
Sat run 5.62 miles. Loren and I tried out a new route before coffee club. 20 mile fixie ride. My friend Emily from coffee club wanted to take her bike out for the first time this spring. My fix bike was the only one ready to go. It was actually a really nice ride to the beach.
Sun ride 44 miles ride over the Golden Gate with Loren and Anna. We had planned on going with a local club (see my note about running groups, that's mild compared to how I feel about cycling groups. But again, new city, new people, but sadly, same douchebag attitude coming from other cyclists. That's one I know I won't go back to). The ride itself was beautiful and hilly. It'll take a little trial end error to learn the local routes, but that's also exciting.
This doesn't include what probably amounts to 15 or so miles of incidental riding. I'd say a pretty solid week to start. All my runs since Boston have been under 6 miles, I plan on changing that this week.

Fools and horses Running their courses

My first week as a master is not going at all like I planned.
I turned 40 last week. For my birthday, I did a birthday triathlon that consisted of a run, a trip the Russian Baths, and sushi. I did this last year as well and it's a great time. I get to do things I love with people I love.
One down side this year: Loren got terribly sick and missed the whole thing. And upside: my BFF Tracy surprised me at dinner, which was awesome. She lives in Philly so we don't see each other all that much. The day after my birthday, however, I too got sick. BOOOO.
I missed 4 days of running. Not that big of a deal, but ya know let's be honest. Runners are addicts. At least I am anyway. I don't like to miss my runs.
I was getting back on track this week, running with Loren and the dog a couple of times.
This weekend is the Manhattan Half, the first in a series of halfs in NYC, one in each borough. For a while now I've had plans for this race, plans I've kept in my head until now.
1. have this be my first race as a master
2 run the qualifying time for the NYC marathon, which is sub 1:44.
WEll...
these things may not happen. I'm feeling like crap again. I've run sub 1:44 before though I'm not really in shape for it. Before getting sick, I as prob. right on the edge of that. I was getting my milage up and starting to do speedwork again. Tomorrow's weather at race time is 15 degrees with a windchill of 1. I'm not too worried about that. in 2008, the race had similar conditions and I PRed. My hair also completely froze.
What's making me really think about just sleeping in is we're leaving for Hawaii on monday to climb Mauna Kea . Yes! The high point of Hawaii!!! This trip is more important than a race I'm really not in shape to race the way I want to.
I do, however, have a hard time letting go of races I've signed up for. I don't know why. If I feel like crap in the am but feel better later in the day, I can still go out and get a long run in. I guess I feel like I'm missing the jump start to my Boston training, even though I know there's nothing I can do about getting sick.
I just keep telling myself my first week of training will be done in Hawaii. And will be done in shorts.

I can gather all the news I need on the weather report

June has come and gone. Don't know how that happened. It came and went with very little running milage for me. I ran 52.6 miles for the month. Yes, the month. During marathon training, that would be for a week. I'm not concerned. I intentionally took time off when my foot started flaring up. The flip side, with getting ready for timberman, cross training is a must. Duh. I logged 280 miles on my road bike, throw in incidental riding around town ( I cut way down on this during marathon training and now I'm back to it. Boy did I miss it!) I rode well over 300 miles in June. I also swam 5+ miles. I also got a very high compliment when I went to get my bike tweaked by Lori. She had me on my bike all wired up to a machine that checks wattage and cadence and all kinds of stuff I never actually think about. She said to me where did you learn how to pedal? Damn your smooth and efficient. Fixed gear city riding people. They're not junk miles, they make you a better cyclist.
This week I saw PT Pete again and we have a plan of action. I do think my foot is getting better. I am feeling it creep up a little in my OTHER foot. The plan is: New shoes. I switched to the Brooks Adrenaline. Are they the lightest shoe in the world? No. Do I care? No. I can't be concerned about shoe weight right now. It doesn't matter how light my shoes are if I can't actually run. When I did the tri a few weeks ago, I raced in my DS trainers so I think I can still race in those. For right now, however, no racing flats. Period. Also, for the time being, I'm adding super feet insoles to my shoes. I've run in the news shoes but haven't added the insoles yet. So far so good with the shoes. I like them. I'm also stretching every morning before I even get out of bed. It takes less than 10 minutes and I'm not having that first step out of bed pain. Arnica gel 3x a day, ice, and all my PT stuff on top of it. Pete said if it's not better in 2 weeks, we look at another shot in the foot. I'm really hoping I can avoid that.
I ran 15 miles last week, my longest being 7 miles. Feeling good, I think much like before, I can't really run more than 3x a week and maybe not more than 25 miles a week. With the cross training, I'll think I'll be ok. How FIRSTish.
Yesterday, Loren and I went on a long hilly ride. I haven't done this ride in....I actually have no idea. It's very possible it's been 10 years. It ended up being just about 69 miles door to door with lots of climbing.

It's a beautiful ride but man, it got hot. Our plan was not stop until about 50 miles but by 46 miles, all 3 of our water bottles were totally dry. It got hot and hot fast. Luckily, there was little humidity. I felt really really good the whole ride. Of course I spent the rest of the day rehydrating. Today my legs are tired but not at all sore. My cycling form is really coming along, I'm very happy about that. My new bike is so awesome. Have I said that before? I'm gonna say it again. I love it. I so look forward to riding, it's amazing.
This week looks like it's going to be terribly hot, like high 90s up to 100 all week. Ugh, Running will have to be at crack of ass AM. Those few days of cool weather last week, oh how I miss them already.

The temperature's rising, it isn't surprising,

The heat. Yes, blah blah blah, you all know the drill. It's hot, it's humid, the running sucks. But I did run today. First time since my tri about 10 days ago. I should have gone out earlier that 8:30, when it was already over 80 degrees with high humidity. Loren's outa town, however, and I like to give Bea as much time outside in the morning as I can. I can deal with the heat better that she can and she's been feeling a little cooped up. Even though I have the AC on, I think she likes being able to be outside for long stretches of time. In this heat, she just wilts and her little tongue hang downs to the ground.
Anywooo. I've been giving myself time off from running, trying to get this foot under control. PT twice a week is now down to once a week along with stretching, icing, taping, and all that stuff. Really, I'd like it to just be better. And of course there's the fear it's going to hurt when I run. It did a bit when I started and loosened up a bit. I'd say it's about 80-85%. I ran 4 miles. I easily could have done more but I didn't want to push it and it was disgusting out.
My half ironman is in 8 weeks. The good news, I have some serious running fitness coming off of Boston (still!) Would I like to be running more? Yes. And I will, but it's not going to be high milage. For one, clearly I can't right now. Also, I do have 2 other sports to work on, so silver lining. I don't think I'm going to give up too much running fitness though I would like to run more. Right now, I'm thinking 3 runs a week (maybe 4 with a brick).
My cycling form is coming along. I rode over 100 miles last week. Sat. Loren and I did a great 50 mile ride with some serious intervals and hills. I love love love my new bike. The swimming is coming around as well. We headed out to Coney Island on Sunday for a nice open water swim. For me, I don't even worry about time on these swims, it's just practicing in the open water which is totally different than the pool.
So right now, the thorn in my side is running, which does bum me out. I am planning on an easy fall, but man, I'd like to have it under control!

shoutout "go Brooklyn", they representin it

On Sunday, I ran the Brooklyn Half. I didn't make a big deal out of this since I hadn't trained at all for it. I was just piggy backing off of my Boston fitness. Last year I ran it 3 weeks after the NJ Marathon and PRed. This year, it was about a month after Boston. I did exactly 1 double digit milage run before this race.
I've run the Brooklyn half 6-7 times. People get very excited about this race and well, Brooklynites get very excited about Brooklyn so that's pretty cool. The course use to start in Coney Island and end in Prospect Park which was a bit of a killer since the last 3-4 miles of the race were hilly. Now they've reversed the course so it starts in the park and then heads along Ocean Parkway to Coney Island.
It's a nice course but not with out it's issues such as:
1. 2 loops of the park. While not hilly, there is a hill and some rolling. Last year was a disaster with people getting lapped but they seemed to have fixed that this year with tweaking the course a bit.
2.7 am start with train that goes to the start not running. Luckily, I got a ride. I still had to get up at 5am.
3. 6 miles on Ocean Parkway. It's just endless. And people claim it's flat. It's not. You can see by running on it and seeing nothing but the road ahead of you it's not flat. You can see the mile markers coming but it's difficult to tell how far from them you really are.
4. Ending on the board walk. It can be sketchy trying to kick on the board walk!
But I digress.
So I decided I was going for it. I really want to break 1:40 and I am a firm believer in throw away races. Yes, I have a goal, but this is not a goal race so why not take it as an opportunity to just throw it out there and see what happens? If I blow up, so be it. It's an opportunity to see where I am and what I need to do to get to where I want to be.

I started with Rayk and Da PIng, both also have the sub 1:40 goal. Ishii started with us too which surprised me since she claimed to not want to run that fast.
Mile 1 8:00 nice start, not going crazy on the downhill
Mile 2 7:54 hill
Mile 3 7:36 some down hill, trying to work that. All 4 of us are still together
Mile 4 7:33 more down hill, 2nd lap of park
Mile 5 7:52 climbing again. Rayk asks me if I wanna run even in the park and pick it up on the parkway, I say yes. Get these 7 miles done then run the last 10k like a 10k
Mile 6 7:52 how consistent. I notice I'm looking around to see who's still with me. I see Da right on my shoulder and say to myself "stop looking!" they're either with me or they're not.
Mile 7 7:21 down hill leading out of the park on to the parkway
Mile 8 7:37 Da come up in front of me, I keep my eye on him
Mile 9 7:41 I think this is when he started pulling away and I just couldn't stay with him, but I keep him in my sights.
Mile 10 7:46 yup, this is my pace right now. I know coming up to mile 10 Team Cheers Beers and Coney Island will be there (they've were Team Cheers Beers and Chowdah in Boston, Team Cheers, Beers, and CHeesestaeaks in Philly. Convenient all those Cs). Generally, I can take or leave crowd support, but it's TOALLY different when it's people you know and you know where they'll be.
Mile 11 7:45 I just don't have any power to go any faster. Hello no training.
Mile 12 7:55 Here Ocean Park way turns right and then there's a nasty sharp left up a steep ramp up to the board walk. Like she was last year, Sandi was standing at the ramp cheering her head off. See above comment about people you know cheering.
I'm trying to stay on the straight part of the planks which are easier to run than the slanted ones.
Mile 13 7:47 I have an idea where the finish is but hello I'd like it to be here now. I look at my watch and see how close I am to my PR (1:41:07) and am a little annoyed that I'm going to miss.
.1 43 seconds.
Finish: 1:41:28
Da broke 1:40. Ishii PR by 3 minutes, and Rayk ran a really solid race coming off her own spring marathon campaign.
I'm really happy with my time all things considered. I know I need to get some speed work in and I'd like to try and solve the piece of the puzzle of looking for more when I need it. That might just come with speed work. I do think by the time the Philly distancerockandrunhalfmararoll rolls around in Sept, I'll be read to smash 1:40.

I must say, it's nice to not have a marathon on the horizon. No long crazy runs (except with Sharon) no feeling like I'm totally beat up and more time for other things. Don't get me wrong, I'm still loving my running, it's just nice to have a different goal that I can recover from relatively quickly and try again sooner if the goal race doesn't go well.

swimmin, swimmin in the water

I feel a little bit all over the place right now, trainingwise. I took 7 days off of running and my first run back was yesterday. It was ok. 5.5 miles with Rayk and Ishii. I have no foot pain while running, and a hint of it after. It's frustrating. I'd really like to try and get to the bottom of this. The upside is I don't have any huge distance races (like, ya know, a marathon) in my future so I don't need high milage. As I've mentioned before though, I've gotten use to running a lot. I just have to switch my mindset a bit. I think I'm going to go back to PT next week and just get really worked on. I've been extremely tight ever since Boston even with all the stretching I do.
In other news, since I'm not running what I normally do, I've gone swimming several times this week. This morning I dragged Loren around the pool for a mile. Quite a change from how it goes when we run together. Being in good running shape has gotten me into decent swimming shape. Obviously totally different muscle groups, but aerobically, no problem what so ever. I also went for my first real bike ride this week. River Road is just over the George Washington Bridge and runs along the Hudson. It's a beautiful road to ride on with almost no car traffic. It's a good work out with some nice climbing and a 26 mile round trip from my house. I admit my quads are a little sore, those cycling muscles have ben hibernating for a while.
So yea, I'm staying in shape. I'm getting ready for that that tri next month. I would like to be running more. I think low(er) milage is in my future for the time being, but clearly that didn't hurt me in Boston so I'm sure it'll all be ok in the end.

right here right now

Well, we're a few weeks out from Boston and I'm sure many of you are sitting there thinking....hhmmm...I wonder what Doggie's doing?
I've done several 4-5 mile runs since the race and was feeling not too terrible. The I started getting the PF feeling in MY OTHER FOOT. Unlike last year when this started happening after NJ, I decided to take a week off. No running. At all. I hate it. I've become so accustom to running. Better now by choice than latter by force. Since I'm not doing a fall marathon, I don't have anything of that level coming up and right now is the perfect time to do it. So here goes (only 3 days left).
What have I been doing instead you may ask? Well, Loren and I are signed up for 2 triathlons. The Pat Griskus which is an olympic distance race and Timberman which is a half ironman, a distance I love. I did my first tri about 11 years ago , so it's not like I don't know what to expect. The last few years, however, I have been pretty much just a runner. Sure, I'll sprinkle a ride in from time to time and maybe go for a swim, but I am not in tri shape. So, I've gone swimming twice this week. To my surprise, I can swim a mile fairly easily. It's been at least 6 months since I've been in the pool. In the next few days, I'll get back on my road bike as well. I'm waiting for my Calfee to be built up. I'm actually pretty excited about that.
With all the pure running I've been doing over the last few years, it should be interesting to see how I do in these races. The weight loss won't hurt either. I do, however, expect Loren to pass me in the first few miles of the run. Well, maybe I can hold her off in the Half, that's totally new territory for her.

everybody's gotta learn sometime

Happy New Year all the faithful readers and runners.
Here's on the East coast, we're starting of the New Year with arctic winds and below freezing temps. All the time. This is not fun. I'm continuing to plod along, running every other day. I have hit 2 mild milestones:
1. I'm up to 6 miles. I'm going for 8 tomorrow.
2. I had my first run where I averaged under 9 minute pace. So I'm making my way back. My HR was a little high, but I'm not going to worry about that. It was really cold and I'm just getting back into something that resembles shape.
I do seem to being having a little trouble getting motivated about Boston training. There are a couple of reasons for this.
(this is my entry of lists).
1. IT'S COLD. Ok, yea, so what. It was cold last year when I trained for NJ. Which brings me to #2.
2. Lack of the Eye of the Tiger as my pal Dr. Abbott put it. Last year, after several near misses for my Boston time, I was very motivated. Now, a bit less motivated. Makes the cold actually seem cold where as last year I was like cold? BRING IT!!!
3. I am a bit fearful about re-injuring myself. I know that's totally normal and I'm making my way back in a way I feel is smart so I need to just keep doing that and let go of worrying about my foot flaring up again.
I do think some new shoes are a good idea. I'm going to go and start from scratch and see what that does. My current every day shoes have a little over 300 miles on them anyway.
4. I haven't set my mind on a training plan. My plan right now, is to base build for a few more weeks. I was thinking of then going to Pfitz 12/55. Then Girl in Motion got me thinking about Higdon's advanced plans. So perhaps I'll spend some more time looking over those and adjust.
What it comes down to is (here we go again)
1. I'm not going to have a super high milage training cycle.
2. Boston may be more of a victory lap than a let's go for a PR here. That's fine with me. I have to work with what I have right now. Being that I'm about to age up, I have 5 more minutes for my BQ so I can always BQ again. Though given my feeling about the city of Boston, I dont think I'll need to run it again. But who know.
In other news, I've started the Hundred Push up challenge. That's going well and I hope the new found strength will help me when I finally get back in the pool.

And FINALLY one more thing. Last year, a buncha people over at RWOL started a New Year's weight loss thingie. Support group? Challenge? Whatever? Anyway, at the time I was going between about 125-128lbs. Yea, I know that's not a lot, but it was a lot more than I had ever weighted. I didn't think too much about it. I just figured, oh well, you get older, you gain weight. You move to Esalen, for a year, you gain weight. It's true. Just about everyone I know/knew there gained weight. There are a lot of reasons for that, but perhaps some other time. In short, that happened to me. About 10lbs actually.
My initial goal was to gain some where around 5lbs, get down to 120. I started monitoring what I ate, nothing drastic. I didn't completely cut out anything. I'm sure my higher milage help as well. I go down to 120. And it kept dropping. I think I got down to 114 or 115.
Here we are, a year later. I weighed myself for the first time in a while yesterday. 117. That's about where I've stayed, I bounce a bit between 115-118. Even with running less, the weight has stayed off and I'm really happy about it. I do believe this has also really helped my running. 10lbs or so is a lot to carry around.

Ok, enough on line therapy, now I'm really going to get new shoes.

Everything is Everything

Ok, so a few things:
I should not even be posting this. I should be in Africa, jetlagged out of my mind, trying to figure out where I am and what day it is.
I'm not. There was a problem with the bikes and customs so the trip got put off, for Loren and I, possible canceled.
So here I am.
Another thing, today is the anniversary of this. Warning, if you click that, you will read about poop and people who poop themselves while running and continue to run.
I am not that person.
Anyway.
So yes, since I am here and since Grete's is always a friggin points race and since I never run it well, I ran it. (note to Flo, I did not RACE it).
It was an awful 65 degrees with 95% humidity. I had no intentions of racing it, I was treating it like my long run. I did 1.5 miles before hand to warm up.
Long run it is! I felt fine til, oh mile 3. Seriously, I phoned in the entire run finishing in 1:56:21. 8:52 pace, which is just dandy for a long run. But boy did it SUCK. And poopy pants (sans poop this year) passed me at mile 11.5.
Ok, ok, I should let it go. The woman is 76 years old and I can only hope and dream I am running like at in 40 years.
Oh my god, she's a lot older than I am!
Anyway...
Now for my dark cloud that I alluded when last I graced you with my wit:
I am seriously thinking of not running NYC.
I will now pause for dramatic purposes.
Everyone digest that?
Good.
My foot hurts. It hurts after I run. It's been hurting WHEN I run. I haven't run a week with more than 40 miles since July. While I'm getting quality workouts in and have had some good solid races (a great PR in Philly a few weeks ago) I'm not running the way I want to be running. I dont want to limp to the starting line just to finish this time. If I run, I want to run well. I want to be able to run with RayK so she can come to Boston. I dont wanna be out there in pain waiting to see my peeps at mile 24 and hoping I get to Tavern on the Green.
This is not an easy decision for me to make, though for anyone who is capable of making a sensible decision it should be (um, that would NOT be me. Remember when I ran it 3 weeks after Steamtown last year? Yea, hi.) So no doubt I will wrestle with this a while longer but that's what I'm thinking.
I want to start training for Boston healthy which means maybe really cutting back for the next month or so.
In the mean time, I'll be over here mourning my NYC marathon.
Please send cake.

In GOOD NEWS, a few shout outs:
1. Janice-way to finally get under 2 hours and PR today.
2. Anthony, same to you, great PR
3. Hikergirl 3:28:49 in St George...REALLY? Please pull me along in Beantown in April. Girl, you KILLED IT.

you give me fever

First, here's a picture of loren and I from the Philly Distance Run.
It's actually not bad! I certainly look better then I felt a few minutes before.
I think I found something to help my foot. Pete had been taping the bottom of my foot with kinesio tape. It had been helping. After the race on Sunday my foot was just killing me. When I got home, I saw a free sample of tape in the goodie bag. It also came with a chart showing how to tape every injury you can think of. I tried taping my for PF. It almost instantly felt better. So this will be my new taping course of action. I've run twice since, 2 days in a row, with much less pain after.
So about those runs. Tues I ran up in Van Cortlandt on the cross country trails. It's getting dark so much earlier that the 2nd time around it was pretty much trail running in the dark. That was kinda fun. I've run up there so much I know where every railroad tie is and every little crack, even in the dark. Though I really would not recommend doing this. It was a sorta slowish 5 hilly miles.
I know everyone is boohooing the end of summer and all that, but really, last night as the sun was fading, it was 80 degrees with 75% humidity. SO while I could do without the lack of light, I'd really like it to be a bit cooler!
I had an ok 7 mile run. Until I finished. I felt pretty light headed after. I was walking home and stopped to get some food, thinking maybe it was low blood sugar. As I'm standing in line to pay, the guy in front of me looks at me and says "Audra?". I slowly say yes. He explains to me who he is, a friend of an old girlfriend's. I say ah yes and exchange how are yous and all of that. After he leaves the woman behind the counter says oh it's so funny when that happens. I say yea, I have absolutely no idea who that guy is, he's going back in time a good 12 years.
I couldn't believe anyone would even recognize me since I felt like was about to crowned the prom queen of Hades.
When I got home, I was a bit feverish. I really felt like crap. I figured it was a combo of the weather and some side effects of the yellow fever vaccination I had the day before. I felt crappy for a few hours and by 11pm (though I wish I was asleep by then) was feeling much better.
Now that I think I have a handle on my foot, the rest of my week will look like this:
Thurs: off
Fri: 5-9 miles, I'll have to look at my half assed plan.
Sat: off
Sun 18 mile tune up, plus 2 miles to make 20.
I need to figure out how to run this. Last year it was my last long run before Steamtown so I ran it easy. This year, I think I want to do it as progression, starting easy and finishing close to MP. Rayk we should talk about this!

could it be magic?

My week...well, as you all know, I've had this heel issue for a while now. I have to plan my weeks so I get my most important runs in and not run too many days in a row. I also have a team race this weekend and also have the Philly Distance Run next week. There was much planning to do to make sure I got everything in, wasn't running too much too soon, and giving myself a chance to taper for next weekend.

Initially, my goal for Philly was a sub 1:37, the automatic qualifying time for the NYC marathon. Loren was going to run with me and pace me. Well, that's pretty much out the window with my training being where it is. I have auto entry for next year so that's no big deal. In 2011 I turn 40 and my qualifying time goes to 1:44 which I already know I can run. So this was just a goal I had. Philly is a flat fast course but I still think it's a bit outa reach. After talking with Loren this weekend, we also decided she's going to run her own race. She's only run 1 half (1:35:31 in Central Park) and is running pretty well now so I'd like her to go out and do what she can. Plus, as she pointed out, I never run well when she paces me. This is pretty true. We just run differently. She tends to go out faster than I'm comfortable with and then I SUFFER. 

So now I've adjusted my goals:

outa this world: 1:37

holy crap yes: sub 1:40

Ok, that's great: sub 1:43:40, my PR which I ran in Brooklyn 3 weeks after the NJ Marathon.

So with all my special planning, my week looks like this so far: Sun I ran on trails in CT which was awesome. 7 miles and not another person for the entire run, a rare treat for a city runner. Bea was not happy I left her with Loren so on my way back, she joined me for a mile and a half. She had run 4 miles the day before so it was her first time running 2 days in a row!

Monday evening I did 9 miles with 5 at tempo.

Tues my heel really hurt. I thought maybe I did too much. It hurt all day. Then I woke up this morning and it was fine. I debated my 20 miler for today or tomorrow. I wanted to get it done in plenty of time to be recovered for the weekend and have a mini taper for next week. 

I did it today. I didn't get out the door until noon, but I got it done! Longest run since NJ. 

I started by running the last few miles of the NYC marathon course just to mix things up. Around mile 11, I ran into Ishii and ran with her for about 5 miles. Always nice to have some company during these runs that can seem endless.

So now, I'll take tomorrow off and maybe Friday too or maybe just something short and the 4 miler on Sat. 

Feeling pretty good!

Armageddon - come armageddon!

I have returned to NYC. While I was away, NYC was hit with a microburst storm. It hit mostly Central Park and Riverside park, I live between the two and run in both of them. I'm willing to bet I've run close to 1000 miles in Central Park this year alone. It is the back yard to New Yorkers. This storm lasted about 15-20 minutes. 100 trees were lost in Central Park alone. 500 through out the city and 2000 damaged through out the city. This was the worst devastation Central Park has seen in over 30 years. While away, I had seen pictures on line of the park but was really shocked as I ran through there this morning. As Loren rode home from work the other night, her usual route taking her through the park, she told me parts of it looked bombed. So true. It mostly hit the north end of the park, where I enter. Tree and branches down everywhere. Yellow warning tape. Trees that have stood for decades upended by there roots. Simply horrible and I felt very strong emotions as the landscape I am so use to was changed so instantly. Not that this is the first time the landscape of the city I have lived in for 20 years (20 years this week!) has changed quickly and drastically. 

On the East side, I stopped to touch a tree that had been pulled out of the ground completely and had fallen across the Park Drive. The root base was at least 10' across. This was a very big old tree.

Emotional response aside, I had a good but tough run. I'm not sure where Hudson came up with this workout, perhaps from a small corner of hell. I warmed up for 6 miles then did 5 miles of 1 minute 10k pace 1 minute recovery. The 2 miles easy then 3 miles hard. It was tough. The good thing about it: it makes 16 miles more interesting than running just 16 miles. I did seem to get the 1 minute on on every hill in the park. It was pretty humid and we did get rained on a little bit. Luckily the heat was not what it had been last week. This run was WORLDS BETTER than my long run last week.

All of last week, I was doing a week long stained glass intensive at Snow Farm in MA. I worked 10-12 hours a day on my project. I haven't done something like this in years. It took me to a new level of exhaustion. I only ran twice all week. As I've said before, my training isn't where I hoped it would be but when I'm running, I feel like I'm running well. We'll see. I still am unable to do consecutive days due to my heal though I should be able to manage at least 30 miles a week. A far cry from the 70 I was hoping to hit this cycle. 

And in other news from my vacation. Loren and I got hitched while in MA. Yes, it's legal (seems to be the #1 question when I tell people) and recognized in NY. Some day our government will get its head out of it's ass and repeal DOMA. It's was quick and simple, with just us and my friend Diane. You know Diane, the one who told me to run that 10k. She came to take pictures and gather info to tease me with for the rest of my life.

Vacation all I ever wanted

Ya know, it's really lovely to wake up early on and august morning in NYC and have the weather say it's 68 degrees outside. I mean really, who doesn't love that? So up  I was. Have to take advantage of the day. Long Run.

As you all know, I'm running every other day and keeping the miles low for now. So I headed out for 14. Foot felt fine. A twinge for the first mile but an ok twinge. 

This morning I ran down the West Side Highway instead of in the park. Figured I'd go flat and give my legs, which are a bit tired from Tues' workout a break from the rolling of the park. Ya know what? I was bored. I really was. I dont do a whole lotta out and backs and this felt endless. Even with This American Life and Dan Savage keeping me company. I keep the pace easy.

Tomorrow Loren and I are headed off for a much needed VACATION. We're kicking it off by running the Bridge of Flowers  10k in MA with some friends of mine that I've known longer than I'd care to admit and haven't seen in longer than I'd care to admit. I am very bummed that I will not be in NYC running the Club Team Championships with my team but alas, Loren and I actually did plan our trip around the date of that race and then NYRR moved it. And they moved it for a big money making race. But anyway, all ye Front Runners know I'm running with you in spirit (and I'm running farther than you are damn it!)

Then it's on to NH and Mt Washington! I'm so looking forward to this. It's going to be so nice to leave the city behind for a while. 

So my dear readers, updates will be few and far between for the next few weeks. Good running to all!

And I ran

Yesterday I went to see Pete again. He does such a nice job working on my legs. He gave me the ok to run. So the plan right now is to not do consecutive days and to not go over 30 miles a week. He said it might hurt and that's ok, I'd be able to tell the difference (HA) in this hurts dont run and this is just a little flared up because I ran.

Last night was hill work with the team. 4-5 times around the Harlem hills with the 102nd st transverse as a recovery jog at half marathon pace. (here is a pretty cool map of CP, we were above 102). It was hot and sticky, though I've decided whenever I think it's hot here, I think of my team mate Bryce who's settling into his new home in Kuwait. I'll take the weather here. The section of active running is about 1.17 miles, none of it flat. I averaged 7:36 pace for 4 times. it actually felt pretty good. It's a bit faster than my last half marathon pace though I felt I could hold it and certainly could have done another. Not that I wanted to. So I ended up with 8.25 miles for the night. Not bad. Foot felt good.

This morning I could feel my heel when I woke up. No surprise there. It's a little tender but doens't seem to be anything to worry about. I'll try it out on a longer run tomorrow morning.

This one goes out to the one I love, this one goes out to the one I left behind.

This week felt tough for me, not sure why. Maybe too much intensity in a short period of time.  Last sat I had that tough 4 miler in the heat, followed by a (slow) 16.5 mile run the next day. I took Monday off, did hills on Tues, had a progression run on Wed that was suppose to be 10 that I cut to 7 due to heat and humidity that made me want to throw up.  Thurs was a totally different day. Lots of rain and it really cooled off. I had a nice run with Loren and Bea in the rain. Fri I did a pretty good 10. Most of my problem through the week was this stupid PF that's come back stronger than ever. It almost never hurts when I run, it's the more usual once I wake up and after I run. I did some research and found some new stretches I'm trying out. My usual routine just isn't doing the trick. After 3 days, this already seems to be helping.

Today's workout: 12 miles, with 10 at MP +10/20 seconds. Right now, I'm basing my MP on the Brooklyn half I ran a few months ago. I ran a 1:43 which gives me a 3:38 marathon, 8:21 pace. Today's forcast: High chance of hell covered in wet blanket. I wanted to get and early start as to not suffer too much. The NYC Tri was also happening in Central Park so I got to have my own duathlon: work out+cheer for team mates. Loren came with me and ran 8, which is great, since she's going to do the Philly Distance Run with me this fall (hi!). Over all, my workout portion, I averaged 8:36 pace and never felt too horrible. Every part of me was soaked when I was done.  My legs felt the best they've felt all week. I took yesterday off and I think that helped. 

In other news NOT ABOUT ME (oh my god, can you imagine?) My training pal and neighbor across the street and frequent guest here at movingdogward enterprises RayK ran the SF Marathon today. After running NJ on May 3rd and posting a HUGE PR, she out did herself today running a 3:42:54, taking another 10 minutes off her time. Rachel, you're moving ever closer to that BQ. I see it coming in NYC. I leave you with me and RayK running in NJ.

upside down

45 minutes of hill running.

This is why the NYC Marathon is not hilly to New Yorkers.

keep on moving dont stop

I took 2 days off from running. This morning I went out for an easy 4. I felt fine. Nothing's sore, nothing hurts.

I ran 2 on my own then came back and got Bea (the dog) and ran 2 with her. She had a toe injury and hasn't been able to run so today was her first day back too. She didn't seem to have anything hurt either. I really love running with my dog. She gets so focused on what she's doing and really seems to like it.

It's such a weird feeling to have this training cycle over. I'd been at it since Christmas. My first few runs in the unseasonably warm weather of Birmingham with Loren. I'll maintain the next few months. I have a few races coming up then I'll start looking ahead to the fall.

A couple things I'm shooting to do for the fall:

Peak at 70 miles a week

Go sun 3:40 in NYC.

I can say these things out loud now that I nailed NJ.

Just like a heatwave

This morning was my last long run before NJ. I ran the More half marathon. This event is women only and there's a full marathon for women over 40. I had no intentions of racing, just getting the miles in. When I got to the race, I found out they called off the marathon and made the half a fun run. While people were not happy, it was the right call. Even with that being said, most people still decided to run.

My plan was to run easy. It's a 2 loop course so I would pick it up the 2nd lap but still run with in my long run pace. Man, some of these women still went out guns blazing. I was a litte surprise by that. I was warm for April, low 70s at 8am. None of us have had a chance to acclimate to this. I know later in the summer we'll be begging for such weather. 

Before the race, I drank a whole bottle of electrolyte drink and took a salt pill. I took water/gatorade at the first few stations. Yes, it was warm but I felt fine. I just went out with the mindset if I needed to run slower due to the heat that was fine. Just a training run. There were several Front Runners out there volunteering and cheering and that was great to see. Thanks guys!

At mile 6 I took another salt pill. Mile 7 I took my clif shot. It was warming up. I was surprised by mile 8 the runners had really thinned out. I think a lot of people slowed down or just decided once around the park in this heat was enough. And I started to lap walkers. At first it was fine. Then it was insane. If this were a race, I would have been pissed. By mile 10 some of them were walking 4 across and the runs had to go wide. Not really want you want to do. 

On my 2nd lap I saw 3 people down on the ground. The heat was totally taking it's toll. Another woman was down at the finish. The heat, it's no joke! When I was walking back to the train, the clock above the park said 78. It was about 10:30 am.

When I finished, they were pulling walkers off the course as well, saying they were shutting it down at 11. While I ran how I wanted to and felt really good the whole time, it was getting hot. I did not want to be out there any longer than I was.

I crossed the line in 1:53:22, which is about 8:40 pace. A tad fast for a long run. Actually, a bit faster than I had intended on running. I'm not going to let myself get crazy about that. I didn't have my heart rate monitor on since I just wear a watch in races. I wish I did have it, but I was never breathing hard. I was never WORKING which leads me to believe, even in this heat, my pace was fine. Since finishing, I've just been pushing fluids to recover quickly. I took an ice bath and feel totally fine. I feel like I did a long run, not a hard run so that's a good sign.

Just one more week. It is expected to cool off before next weekend which is great.

I'm excited and trying to stay calm.

This is it people!

Time is like a clock in my heart

Taper week 2. 

Yesterday was my last real speed workout. 8 miles with 3x1 mile thrown in there. I went to the track with RayK who was doing 800s. Man, it was humid, though not warm so that's ok. I was aiming for around 7:15s. First one was 7:16, the next 2 were 7:06. Ooops. Though I felt fine, wasn't killing myself. 

The taper madness is starting to set in a bit. 

To quote Green's FB status:

"The Tapering Marathoner will be irritable, anxious, nervous, overly emotional, short-tempered, restless, tired, cranky, depressed (even more than normal). Sounds like a great three weeks doesn’t it? It is not unlike the addict going cold turkey. This is a span of time where most Marathoners go a bit crazy."

Yup. Sounds about right. And there is only one cure for taper madness.

So as I spend these days muttering to myself and thinking over my race place and avoiding anyone who even looks like they might be thinking about having a cold, I try to keep my eye on the prize.

I am surrounded by people who all believe in me, who all believe this is my race, this will be the one where I qualify for Boston. And I am so lucky and grateful for that. I do, however, still have to run the thing. Marathon days, anything can happen. Though I too believe this is my race. I'm very excited about it.

Stick with me for just another week and a half! We're almost there!

No parkin on the dance floor

So far, I am surviving week one of the taper. I did manage to kick a door which resulted in a lot of cursing, a bloody toe, and according to Loren, a bit of drama.

I had an easy track workout on Tues, just some 600s. To my surprise, there was actually a track meet happening on the track. Oh those high schoolers did not look happy to be out there on a chilly rainy day. I did my 600s on a straight away by the track. Everything else was some easy running. Today was what I consider my last long run. 16 miles. Due to celebrating the lovely Annie's birthday last night, I was out later that usual (ok really I blame Liz) so I was a bit flat.  Also, it was in the 60s, something we haven't seen in a while. No worries though, it was still 9:19 pace and it's done.

On a more serious note, there is something VERY serious happening Monday. And that is the Boston Marathon. All my RWOL girls who have been working so hard, I know you're going to kick some serious ass. And all my Front Runner boys, make this race your and look beautiful doing it. Or you'll have to answer to Kelsey. I'll be home watching.