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!

Balancing on one wounded wing

Let's pick up where we left off shall we?
Last week, I ran a 10k. Ok, I ran a mile and a half of a 10k then jogged to the finish line with a foot in a lot of pain. I thought for sure this was more than the usual PF I've had off and on and I'd be taking a nice long running vacation. On Monday I went to see my trusty physical therapists to see if I could get to the bottom of this (har har, bottom...of...my foot...ok, never mind). John saw me and work on my foot and my calf and thought I had perhaps strained something a little deeper on my foot. He figured at least a week off of running. On Thurs. I went back and saw Pete. It was feeling better. I have been doing everything I'm suppose to with this foot of mine and also decided to started 10 days of ibuprofin to try and blow out the inflammation. We talked about what caused the flare up, Pete didn't think it was just running. It could have been aggravated by running in flats that day but the most likely culprit: walking the dog. I walk the dog at least 90 minutes every day and while I wear good shoes, clearly my fairly flat foot isn't getting enough support. He suggested putting superfeet insoles in my dog walking shoes. I have a pair in my hiking boots, so they're going in my dog walking shoes. I asked about maybe running this weekend. Pete looked at John and they both sorta shrugged. I signed up to do an Olympic distance tri as a tune up for a half ironman Loren and I are doing in Aug. I hated the thought of paying so much money for a race and not doing it or doing just the swim and the bike. My plan was to do the swim and the bike and see how I felt in the run, if it hurt, I'd stop. They were both fine with that. They figured I might aggravated it a bit but not do any harm.
Being totally honest, I really hadn't trained for this race. An Olympic distance race is a 1500m swim (I've been swimming again for about a 6 weeks), 24 mile bike (I've ridden maybe just over 100 miles this year and they had to cut the bike 2 miles), and a 10k run (which was about a third of a mile short, very annoying).
We spent Friday night at Loren's friend Marge's house and drove to the race very early Sat. morning. Triathlons, require so much stuff which makes them kinda a pain. We checked in, unloaded the car of bikes, and crap, squeezed into wetsuits and got ready to go. It's been about 2 years since I've done a full on triathlon. This should be interesting.
The women were the 3rd wave of the swim. All the girls gathered at the edge of the lake and got ready for the start. Once we were off, I settled into a rhythm quickly. I was also in a nice little pack, trying to avoid feet to the face. We were swimming into the sun which made it very hard to sight. I knew this wasn't going to be my best swim ever since I'm just getting back into swimming shape. As I got out of the water, I looked at my watch, just over 34 minutes. Not terrible, I should be at least 2 minutes faster. Out of 29 people in my age group, I was 19th. There was long run from the swim exit to the bikes. I wasn't too happy about doing this in my bare feet with my foot feeling the was it was.
Get into transition, get off wet suit, put on helmet, put on shoes, go. Transition took me 1:54.
Off to the bike.
Immediately, I started powering on the bike, passing people just settling in. Faster guys from the swim wave behind me passed me in the first 2 miles or so of the bike, but that was generally it. I've been cycling for about 15 years. That really really helps. Cycling relies a lot on muscle memory so even when I'm not in top cycling form, it comes back very quickly. This was a tough bike course, there was a lot of climbing. On every hill, I just settled in...a passed a ton of people. I would pass women and notice them trying to hang on. Nope. Nice try.
One woman passed me on the bike and stayed in front of me.
It happened at mile 13 and it was Loren. I was actually surprised, she usually passes me, but it's in the run. She's getting better at swimming and hilly bikes courses are her strength. About 22 miles in 1:20. I had really hoped to have a faster bike split, but those hills...ugh. I had the 4th fasted split in the bike in my AG (Loren had the 2nd as far as over all women, Loren's was 8th, mine was 14th). Off the bike, rack bike, off with helmet, off with bike shoes, on with running shoes. Ok, I wasn't sure what to expect here. It felt ok. It was a little sore. I figured I'd just see what happens. The run is a 2 loop course so if it sucks, I can drop out after one loop or sooner and just walk or hobble back. I think it was really nice and warmed up from the bike and swim. First mile, I look at my watch: 8:18. Ok, that's pretty good. It's a little funny trying to get land legs after a bike and difficult to gauge how I'm actually running. Plus, the first half of the first loop was down hill. Before the turn around, I saw Loren heading the other way, she looked really good. After half a loop, I knew I was going to be ok and started targeting people to pick off. It was a little more difficult on the 2nd loop because I didn't know if I was passing people or lapping people. There were also only 2 miles markers so after the 2nd turn around, I wasn't really sure where I was. I was ready to be done, that's for sure. I started doing runner's math, which is never a good idea. I figured maybe I'd get in under 50 minutes for the 10k which I thought was a little crazy given the week I was having and the fact that I had a hill to run up before I finished.
I was really really happy to be able to actually run. Seriously.
Last straight away then a left to the finish. PHEW! 2:47:08. Really really not bad. My run time was 47:48. The course was short. If it was right, I may have edged in under 50. What's so annoying though is there was another women (in my AG with the same run time who I think came in before me so she was placed ahead of me. There was another women 1 second ahead of both of us.) I was 9th in my AG on the run. Loren? Well, Loren was first in our AG on the run. Oh yea, she also had the fasted run of any woman that day with 41:13. Hot damn that girl is fast!
So when all is said in done, this is what it looks like:
Loren 2/29 in AG 14th woman over all.
Me 6/29 in AG 23rd woman over all.
This race was the regional qualifier for the Olympic distance Nation AG Championships, we both qualified. I'm pretty ok with that result all things considered!
My foot really held up. It was a little sore after, but not bad. There was someone there doing active release after the race and he worked on it which I think really helped. I think I'll take another week off of running and go to PT 2x again this week and take it from there.
With the half ironman 9 weeks away, I'll start hitting the pool and the bike just a wee bit more seriously. I'm not too concerned with my running fitness so while I'd like my foot to be 100%, it's not and I can deal with it as we go along.

rusted wheel can't move on

I had some high hopes for the NY Mini 10k. I really like this race, it's women only and has a very unique course in NYC, starting on Central Park West out of the park. The first mile is fast and flat. It also has a huge pro field and a great history. There's a really cool video about it here. After missing my 10k PR by 2 seconds right before Boston, I was targeting this race. The last few weeks I've done specific speed work on what's the 3rd mile of this course as it historically gives me trouble. And there's something else that historically gives me trouble: my foot.
It's felt fine. I ran low milage going into Boston, I've run lower milage since, adding swimming and biking. After a hill workout this week, it really flared up. Frustrating as I've been doing everything I'm suppose to be doing to take care of it. There is a theory that perhaps swimming and biking is aggravating something. While it doesn't hurt while doing either of those things, perhaps it's just manifesting when I run. I'm going to PT on Monday, I want to get this taken care of and if that means no running for a while, fine.
Anyway, back to the race. Since this is all women, I get a nice start up in the front (blue bib as those of us in NY call it, since first corals have blue bibs). Historically, I run the first mile way too fast. I found my pal Megan to start with. We had talked during the week about trying to keep that first mile under control. And we did. 7:33. The pace felt great, I thought it was a good way to start. Then I just got this terrible pain in my foot. I felt like I was altering my gait and it just plain old hurt. I decided to ease up. I ran a 7:44 2nd mile and decided to phone it in. Stopped to stretch (miles 3, 4, and 5 were in the 9s) and finished with an 8:28 mile 6. Total time 53:27. Meh.
After I was very frustrated. My friend Sharon asked if I was frustrated because of the pain or because I didn't run well. It's the pain. I don't really care that I didn't PR. It's a 10k. Not something I've ever specifically trained for and not like a marathon that if you blow it, you can't try again for months. If I was totally healthy, I could do it again next week no biggie. I can easily (well, sometimes) just let the race go if it's not going my way, chalk it up to a throw away. Not to mention I can look back to a time when this was my race pace and now, my HR wasn't even up for the last 5 miles.
So PT Monday and we'll see where we go from here. The next big just running race I'm planning on isn't until Sept. I do have 2 triathlons before that, one isn't until the end of Aug so I have time to just cross train, I know my running will come back quickly if I have to be on the shelf a bit. Plus, I have this totally beautiful new bike that I'm really enjoying getting to know.
And finally, Megan's smart start today really paid off. She ran 43:40 (7:02 pace!!!!) for a big PR. Girl, you're inching ever closer to that sub 7 pace. I hope I'm there when you do it.

Everybody cut footloose

ok, yes, so I ran the other day. While there was no pain while running or right after, it did act up a bit after. And through the weekend. Now I know being on my feet and all over the place on Sunday at the philly marathon didn't help. I was debating running on it again to see what happened then decided not to. I call my Dr this morning to tell her what's what. This is the plan:
No running until I get back from Africa, which pretty much means 2 more weeks off.
Start going to PT again.
If when I run when I get back from Africa I have the same issue, another shot in ye foot.
She's encouraged that it didn't hurt when I ran, so she thinks we're on the right track.
As I've been saying (for far too long now) better now than into my Boston cycle. If I'm gonna rest, let it be now. Oh and I keep pulling out that old Esalen chestnut, trust the process. At least I learned something in the fog of Big Sur.

I was down in philly yesterday to cheer on my BQ ladies and my beloved FRNY team mates. I had such a blast. There should be a marathon maniacs for cheering, this was 3rd marathon cheerathon this fall. It leaves me almost as tired as running does. So many amazing people I finally got to meet in person. Us BQ ladies have been online together for....over a year and a half? So nice to put faces to screen names.

All of you had awesome races yesterday! From gutsy performances (FLO!) to Prs, BQs (Kevin, no lie I almost cried when i saw you and your mom both BQed), to first times, to runs to get back in the swing of things, to cheerleading like you wouldn't believe. It was an awesome weekend, can't wait for the Boston Reunion.

Shot through the heart

Today I went back to the Dr. With the xray negative, like her, my PT, me, the dog, and some random guy on the street knew it would be, she recommended a steroid shot to the irritated area. She doesn't think it's torn or anything, still just irritated. Perhaps after my week of drugs (when if felt good) I returned to running too soon.
Her course of action: steroid shot, no running or anything else that causes it to hurt, for 2 more week, when I return to running, short runs on the DREADMILL. I have the treadmill. I dont even have a gym membership to go an use one. Oh well. If it still hurts after this, MRI and possibly another shot. There's a 90% chance this will do the trick. I hope so!

These streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, Let's hear it for New York

The 40th NYC Marathon is in the books and did not disappoint.
Sat. morning I went to the FRNY pancake breakfast, a Front Runners tradition. It was here I really realized I was not upset about running. All that tension and stress I normally feel the day before a marathon was gone. I wasn't worrying about the weather, every little ache and pain, if someone was giving me some unknown cootie. I got to just wish everyone luck and relax.
Race morning, Loren and I rode over to our friend Marge's house to watch the pros. I'm usually in the park to see the pros go by mile 24. While that is totally cool to see them in person I then miss the end of the race which is pretty cool to see. So this time I watched in on TV.
Watching Meb win was totally amazing. He ran a really smart race. Incredible to finally see an American win NYC.
Shortly after, Loren and I high tailed it over to mile 24. Riding our bikes, we were there in less than 10 minutes. With the range of runners our team has and with the new wave start, I knew it was going to be a long day. I had to pace myself. The mile 24 water station is also a FRNY tradition (click here for a lovely photo from the '82 crowd). As I've mentioned before, I do it the years I dont run and since a marathon is out of the question for the wifey, this was her 8th year of service. If you run NYC, look for Loren in the Ithaca is Gorges Tshirt. She's use to hugs, hellos, and the stray kiss.
We got there just as our first runner came through. Rich clocked a blistering 2:41. We spent the next several hours handing out water and cheering. It's a long day but so worth. It's so much fun watching everyone come though. I know from my experiences running NYC that it is so cool to get to mile 24 and see someone you know, even if it's just one person, it can make all the difference.
All in all, FRNY, had 108 people run, times varying from 2:41 to 7:11 and everything inbetween. PR, BQ, first time, and even some devil dogs that made it the whole 26.2.
I'm proud of all of you and I hope you're proud of yourselves!


Ok, now on to me.
Still not running. I had an xray this morning to rule out a stress fracture which neither my PT or my DR think I have but in order to get an MRI, I need an xray first. Totally stupid. There's a chance I have a tear in my facia. I'm hoping it's just really irritated. I haven't run in close to 2 weeks. Well,if I need to take an extended break, let it be now so I can go into Boston ready to kick some ass.
I'll keep you posted.

no parking on the dance floor

After another 4 mile run this week (the run itself was GREAT) followed by a sore foot, I put myself back on the shelf. At least another week of no running and more anti inflammatories. I am thinking of actually not running for 2 weeks. This way, all my running pals are tapering for NYC this weekend and then will be having an easy/off week the following week. Then we can all start up again together. We'll see. John did tell me if there's still pain after this go round, back to the Dr.
Since there's no running right now, I have been on my bike more. With high running milage, I tend to ride around less. Like less city riding. So now, more city riding. I actually really like that and since I ride a fixed gear around town, my pedal stroke gets smooth and it's like adding cycling strength without a whole lot of work.
Today Loren and I hopped on the road bikes and did the 26 mile River Road loop. It was a beautiful day. All the leaves are changing out there and I just felt really really good.
So I'm trying to turn a negative about the running into a cycling positive.

fools and horses running their courses

An update:
1. Canceled NYC. Totally fine with it. Actually glad cause now I can escape taper madness.
2. Running a bit, usually about 4 miles. I take Bea with me when I can cause her limit right now is about 4.5 so I know I wont be temepted to do anything crazy.
3. having PT 2x a week. Seems to be helping.
4. I am having a bit of pain but I think it's getting better. It's still under the 3 scale while running. I am thinking about taking some time totally off again to see if that helps.

Other than that, not much going on.

And the bus and the tourists are gone

20 miler #2 of this cycle. This time around, it was an easy 2 followed by an "18 miler tune up race". Quotes because, well, I'm not going to race an 18 miler. It's great that NYRR puts on this race (with just for historical context, use to be a 30k). My plan was to do it as progression, since it's 3 six mile loops, it gives a great course to do such a thing. I did this last year while getting ready for Steamtown, it was my last 20 miler.
I started with RayK just below 9 minute pace and planned to speed up after. Once I got done with the first loop, I decided I was going to just stay right where I was. It was raining and I was tired. Maybe from my half last week. I just didn't feel like speeding up and decided that was ok. This is just a long run and no point in killing myself out there. Plus my foot hurt. I think that was in part due to the rain, maybe the slant of the road looping Central Park, maybe Mercury in retrograde. Who knows. I dont really care. Around 9s it is!
And that's what I did. 9:05 pace for 2:43:43. I was happy coming in under 2:45. Not a PR but another long run in the books.
Central Park was a complete ghost town this morning. Yes, it was a 7am start but that usually doesn't keep people out of the park. The rain, however, chased everyone who wasn't racing away.
A shout out to my teammate Rich who finished 2 over all with a blistering 1:48:33. People, that's a 6:01 pace. Thankfully he didn't lap me, I only got lapped by the overall winner. Better than last year when I also got lapped by the first woman...

To tell you the truth I've said it before tomorrow I start in a new

So tomorrow, the Philly Distance Run. I had to miss this last year because I sprained my ankle at Reach the Beach. This year, Reach the Beach is this weekend and I am sitting it out. After 5 years of doing it and running a team, I really needed a break. But a shout out to the Ladies Tea Society who as I speak, is on leg 25.

My running this week has been like a cut back week, but not bad. I went and saw Pete on Monday and he told me what I knew. I have some bursitis in my heel and if I want it to stop hurting I have to stop running. Well, we all know (including Pete) that's not going to happen. So he ultra sounds it, workout my calves, ice, stim, on my way. It felt much better after. Ran Tues with Loren, ran Wed with Bea. Not too much pain for consecutive days. Took Thurs off, ran and awesome awesome 7 yesterday and saw Pete again. He's got a new laser toy so he added that to the mix. And ya know, my foot feels SO MUCH BETTER. I'm hoping I've turned a corner.

I'm feeling something I rarely feel about races: I'm feeling a little nervous. Quite a while ago I set a high goal for myself for this race. I'm pretty sure that'snot going to happen but I really dont know what is. I love this course, it's flat and fast. It was my PR for a long time. I have had an amazing transformation in the half. For a very long time, it was my goal to break 1:50. I did that in Feb in Da Bronx. Then I set my goal to break 1:45. I did that in May in Brooklyn, 3 weeks after the NJ marathon. Now my goal is to go under 1:40. Will it happen tomorrow? I dunno. The half may be my favorite distance. If I could let myself not marathon for a while (and I really should. Maybe after Boston), I think I could run this distance really well. But that's for later to think about.

So we'll see what tomorrow brings. I'll be out there with Flo and Loren. Who I know will both be far ahead of me. This is Loren's 2nd half. I love that she's stepping up the distance. And will still kick my ass.

Pain, I can't get enough

Ok. I'm sick of my foot hurting. After my 20, I took 2 days off. It's totally unpredictable how this thing is going to feel on any given day. It actually hurt for those 2 days. It should be noted, I'm also PMSing so I dont know if that's making it worse. It might be since my body is all full of fluid. 

Yesterday was the Fitness 4 miler, a team points race. I left my house and ran the 3 miles down to the start. It was 63 degrees which was nice. With 93% humidity which was not nice. The boys ran first so I got there as most of the men were finishing. Foot felt fine on my warm up.

I like it when the men's and women's races are separate, so much more room! As usually, I started with Megan and near Rayk but I knew she'd be getting smaller and smaller as she pulled away. I felt mostly ok. It's tough when it's that humid. The FRNY boys stuck around to cheer which is great. It's such a boost. I can usually gauge how far ahead I am of a team mate by how long it takes for me to hear "go Front Runner" after I hear them cheer for me. 

This happened right after mile 3. I turned to sneak a peak to see who was so close to me. I figured it was Megan but it was Lenny. Lenny is fairly new to the club. When I noticed how close she was to me, 2 things ran through my mind:

1. I am more than twice that girls age

2. I could actually be that girls mother.

Lenny is 18.

My goal for the day was to get under 30 minutes, I hit my watch at 29:58. That'll do! My foot didn't hurt at all. So 7 miles for the day.

Fast forward a few hours:

My foot is killing me.

I check the results and I'm not listed in them. NYRR decided to go with the Dtag for this race. I hate the Dtag. I emailed them and didn't hear back. Then this morning, the results were changed, but they put someone else in what I believe is my finishing time (another FRNY).

UGH. So as I've said, I'm PMSing which in and of itself makes me insane, my foot is killing me, and I ran a race that it looks like I didn't run.

Boooo.

I'm debating my running. I think I'm going to see Pete this week. I'm thinking of not running til Wed or Thurs and letting my foot really rest before the Philly Distance Run. I'm thinking of not running NYC or just phoning it in. I dont know. I'm sure this will all change tomorrow.

Oh and here's some proof I actually did run yesterday:

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.