Running – Page 11 – East Coast Appetite

Week 5 of NYC Marathon Training

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016Posted in NYC, nycm, Race Recaps, Running, TrainingTagged 8k, NYC, nycm, Races, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

This post is late because I was attending a work training for 2 days. I now have a White Belt in Lean Six Sigma and actually have thought about how to apply some of my newfound process improvement skills toward marathon training (namely, morning runs). Look out, world!

Monday 8/15: Red-eye back from Vegas was rough, so I slept until 11am then napped in the afternoon. Meant to get a run in but didn’t. Still had some desert sand on me from the hike.

Tuesday 8/16: My usual snooze struggles were coupled with a touch of jet lag. I brought my running gear to the rock climbing gym but ended up just climbing for several hours. I completed my first 5.7 (and then my second) and tried a couple of 5.8s that I did not summit.

Wednesday: The final Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series 5K. I wanted to try for even splits of 8:20-8:30 but had some digestive unrest for the first mile, so hit 8:55 (this mile has the big hill, too), then sped up to 8:15 for the second (mostly downhill) mile and was feeling great. I saw some teammates ahead and hung back for a while before passing them in the last 250 meters then sprinted it in for a barely sub-8 final mile. I don’t think I’ve seen a sub-8 mile on my Garmin since I raced the Fifth Avenue Mile last year. The last 0.1 was sub-7, so I guess I have some untapped sprinting speed in me yet. I did a warm up and cool down mile as well to bring it to 5.3 miles for the day.

Thursday: Quick run-commute jaunt to book club, picking up some duck liver mousse and buffalo cheese on the way for tartines. 2.5 slow miles with my running backpack on. I contemplated running home but had some wine and a lot of tartines, so enjoyed a leisurely walk.

Friday: Off day.

Saturday: 8ish mile long run to celebrate Summer Streets. The last time I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge was on a run was last September and it was rough; my Achilles were acting up and I got water on the Manhattan side of the bridge then turned around to shuffle home. This time, I was loving life. Endorphins all over the place. We took a few moments to appreciate the views at the top, then paused at the start of Summer Streets for free coconut water. My Garmin got confused after the Brooklyn Bridge and gave me an extra mile (at a blistering pace). I peeled off the route at 59th St. and got a Sprinkles cupcake and some blue Gatorade before taking the subway home. I wish Summer Streets was every week (in the summer or otherwise) and Citibank replied to my Tweet about those sentiments.

Sunday: France Run 8K plus 2 miles warmup and 1 mile cooldown. I’m not giving either race this week the full race report because I’m trying to focus on the marathon. But I’m inclined to agree with whoever called this the France Swim. The rain began right as we were still in the corrals, then intensified in mile 1. I took my glasses off and put them in my pocket (yay for my Lululemon Speed Track shorts and their ample pocket space) and tried to take the Harlem hills as best I could. I stopped for water only after mile 4 because I had foolishly eschewed it before. Overall, my pace sped up just a touch from Team Champs 3 weeks prior.

I later visited the Museum of Ice Cream and mainly got my money’s worth in candy.

total: 23.8 out of 26-29 total recommended. Not bad but I do wish I had squeezed in a few more Thursday night or you know, made my Tuesday workout happen.

Week 4 of NYC Marathon Training

August 16, 2016September 2, 2016Posted in nycm, Running, TrainingTagged marathon, nycm, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

I knew that my trip to Las Vegas would pose some issues for my workouts (aka move them to the treadmill) but it sounds like my runs would have been brutally humid and hot in NYC.

Monday: Rest day running-wise. I took a Pure Barre class after work after not doing barre for a few weeks (trying to use that rock climbing gym membership wisely). I felt strong during the plank portion and held it for all 90 seconds.

Tuesday: Quick auto-belay climb at the rock climbing gym, then ‘regular run’ around the Long Island City waterfront after work. I did 5 miles but didn’t realize until after that the training plan called for 6.

Wednesday: Annual ice cream run with my running club. It was disgustingly humid so I tried and succeeded at taking it easy on the warmup and loop itself, then ran downhill with abandon toward Ample Hills. I ended up with 6 miles total because I was at 5.8 and refused to stop there.

Ice Cream Run 2016 — I’m in the white in the middle row, cheesing with Lillian

Thursday: Rest/travel day. I had a morning flight out of JFK, dropped my stuff off at the hotel, then I met up with a coworker for some shopping time. I mainly took cabs and Uber everywhere but hit over 11,000 steps with all the walking through casinos and outlet shops. We ate at a Guy Fieri restaurant for dinner and had Trash Can Nachos among other delicious junk.

Friday: Woke up at 9am EST/6am Vegas time, so I headed to the gym to get some miles in in part to make up for the 2 miles I missed earlier in the week. I decided to make it a progression run each mile then stretched a planned 4 into 4.5. I then did a stroll of The Strip with friends during the day (with more shopping and eating) plus some trivia competitions. I bought a 2nd pair of the Lululemon Speed Track shorts because they are amazing and chatted with one of the sales reps about NYC and running. I ended up hitting 26,654 steps total for the day, not including the 4.5 treadmill miles.

Saturday: I was dreading my treadmill long run, especially after staying up later than planned (drinks are free even if you’re not gambling so long as your friends are!). I brought my remaining ShotBlocks and podcasts and tried to lock into a nice, easy pace. The first hour went pretty well, so I ate 2 blocks and stepped up the pace per mile for the final 4 by just a bit. My final mile was momentous in that it turned this into my first double digit run since last October! And also because I sped it up by the 0.10s from 6.0 mph to 6.1 to 6.3 to 6.4 and survived. Then I didn’t stop it exactly at 10.0 and figured I should go to a full 10.1 miles so that Strava’s calculations would be better. The things we runners do when we know others are watching. I recovered with an apple and pork jerky, then had a delicious lunch of Del Taco and a Dairy Queen Butterfinger Blizzard.

Sunday: After feeling pretty Vegased out overall, I headed out toward Mount Charleston with some teammates where it was a solid 20 degrees cooler. We hiked the Cathedral Rock loop, which was 2.8 miles total. The area itself was amazing and I hadn’t seen desert and plant life like this since I was at the Grand Canyon 5 years ago. It’s sort of otherworldly compared to the East Coast landscapes I’m used to.

Total miles: 25.6 miles out of a recommended 23-27 miles from the NYRR Virtual Trainer. Not including the hike.

With all that said, I’m a few weeks out from needing a new pair of running shoes. I’m planning to stick to the Brooks Ravenna but might switch to the Ghost.

Running Into the Void

August 12, 2016Posted in Musings, RunningTagged distance running, murakami, Musings, Running1 Comment

I originally wrote this in April and it’s more appropriate than ever with marathon training in full swing. I’m currently in Las Vegas for the Trivia Championships of North America and am squeezing in some treadmill runs because of the 100+ degree heat.

—

As I slowly and cautuously add miles to my runs over the weeks (which is really fun to visually examine on Strava and MapMyRun), I’m finally getting to the kinds of distances where the psychological benefits of running take hold. I was perusing http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/04/how-neuroscientists-explain-the-mind-clearing-magic-of-running.html a few weeks ago and found myself nodding in agreement.

I purchased Haruki Murakami’s book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running in April 2012 when I wasn’t racing and my longest runs ever were a 5K. I was in an objectively not-great place in life, done with grad school and still looking for gainful employment while my student loans accumulated interest. I was unsure if I was going to stay in NYC but desperately wanted to stay and put down roots here. My personal life was a bit messy and confusing but I was hopeful. My runs reflected the rest of my circumstances somewhat; brief uneven jaunts along the East River. I moved from the UES to the LES that May and started a longer-term temp position that temporarily quelled my job anxiety. And I read this book. I had read Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles for a book club in 2009 and quickly followed suit with Norwegian Wood and my personal favorite to this day, Kafka on the Shore (loved 1Q84 as well but that came later). But this was different. It was about running. And Murakami as an author. I’ll be honest; I zipped through it but didn’t really take away much, possibly because my runs weren’t very long. Or because I wasn’t running to find anything. Or to escape anything.

I re-read What I Talk About… last year while training for a half marathon and suddenly, it made sense. Whether it’s age and experience, loss, or just double-digit long runs, I had a much firmer grasp on his feelings this time around and was able to identify some of my own. I had a run at night (on a Monday after barre class because that opens up my hips and activates my glutes) a few weeks ago where I was running in order to escape. It was also a little bit of running to celebrate that I could. After so many months off, it feels amazing to go again. The first mile brought with it the small victory of knowing that my total run would be 3 based on where I turned around. But then came the feelings I was trying to escape. The lump in my throat rose and I tried to swallow it down while choking back tears. I felt like I had run straight into what I was trying to avoid. My emotions subsided after the second mile when I was on a downhill final mile home. I had failed to (literally) run away from my problems, even temporarily. Runs that start and end in a perfectly neutral place are my norm (well, for long runs, not speed training). But maybe sometimes I won’t be able to escape.

From Murakami:

“I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void. But as you might expect, an occasional thought will slip into this void. People’s minds can’t be a complete blank. Human beings’ emotions are not strong or consistent enough to sustain a vacuum. What I mean is, the kinds of thoughts and ideas that invade my emotions as I run remain subordinate to that void. Lacking content, they are just random thoughts that gather around that central void.”

It feels weird (a little refreshing too if we’re being honest) to write about feelings and not just times and numbers on here, but I would love to hear everyone else’s takes on running, voids, and/or Murakami.

Week 3 of NYC Marathon Training

August 9, 2016August 9, 2016Posted in nycm, Race Recaps, Running, TrainingTagged nycm, Running, Training2 Comments

After being just 0.2 miles shy of my training goal on week 2, I entered Week 3 ready to get closer. Then I stumbled.

Monday: Rest day. Went to my current preferred rock climbing gym after work, took the test, and got belay certified! I used the auto-belay to try some new-to-me routes. Then I went out and sabotaged myself for the next day.

Tuesday: Snooze button overload and was double-booked for dinner at night. Yes, I had 2 dinners and desserts (and 3 drinks).

Wednesday: Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series 5K. I had Shake Shack for lunch (Shackburger, fries, and a concrete) and was still feeling kind of gross at 6:30pm. I jogged a warmup mile and asked people their different pacing plans in the “corral”. I quickly figured out who I should not bother trying to keep up with and who I could try to use as a rabbit. But it didn’t quite work out that way because most everyone went even faster than they planned to. I was hoping for steady 8:30s across the board to test my fitness.

One thing of note with these races is that there’s no chip time mat differential, so your time starts when the gun (horn?) goes off. I tried to get up closer to the front but didn’t want to be run over, so I guess my time includes an extra 20 seconds or so. I bucked the 5K trend of having a fast 1st mile, slow 2nd mile, and struggling speedy final mile. Instead, I had a slowish 1st mile up the hill, then sped up with the 2nd mile’s downhill, then kind of had trouble pushing in the 3rd. Gabby came back around for me and we kept the last half mile pretty fast (I made her tell me stories to keep my mind occupied) then really sprinted in the final 100m. Final average pace was 8:45 for a finish of 27:07 but that’s less than a minute off my PR, so I think I’ll be fine.

Between the run there, the race, and my cooldown, I hit 5.3 miles.

Thursday: I did a run-commute home with the more scenic route which also had fewer lights. I ran into a couple coworkers walking or cycling home, which was cool. The weather was great overall and I made it home in time to shower before seeing Hari Kondabolu live. 6.3 miles total.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: I thought about a quick 3-5 miler in the morning but am glad I saved my energy because I went hiking at Breakneck Ridge in the afternoon with some coworkers. When I heard there would be some rock scrambling, I imagined less steep angles than what actually appeared. It was seriously much harder than I thought it would be. But it was awesome! I think our hike (white trail to red to yellow) was 2.8 miles total.

Sunday: Long run day. My NYRR plan called for 9, so I jogged a mile to the usual meeting spot then did 2 park loops with half of the group. Some of the miles were faster than my plan called for (those downhills!) and some were right on target. I could feel some foot tiredness in the final mile home but nothing to worry about. I foam rolled after then headed out to the beach for some swimming, lounging, fish tacos, and frisbee. Total of 9.0 miles.

Total mileage: 20.7 miles out of 25 (not counting the hiking). This is 17% less than prescribed by NYRR Virtual Trainer, so I’m hoping to not miss that crucial Tuesday run again.

Week 2 of NYC Marathon Training

August 2, 2016August 2, 2016Posted in nycm, TrainingTagged marathon, NYC, nycm, nyrr, Races, Running, Training6 Comments

Monday 7/25: Rest day.

Tuesday: 7/26 Ugh, overslept/hit snooze for 6am marathon training again. After work, I did 3 x 800s on a treadmill at the rock climbing gym with a half mile warmup and recovery jogs in between. I was pressed for time because of my 6:30pm belay class but glad I got in some speedwork. Less than 3 miles overall, though.

Wednesday 7/27: 5.2 miles of a park loop in the morning. I only had 2 ShotBlocks for breakfast instead of my usual frozen waffle with almond butter (ok, cookie butter) so I was struggling a little. I did 5.2 to compensate for Tuesday’s 2.8 miles.

At night, I went to the rock climbing gym and climbed with friends for a couple hours. I tried a 5.6 and 5.6+ route and was pretty sore the next day.

Thursday 7/28: I planned to run commute to work, but ended up run commuting home from work. I took Google’s recommended route home from a bar in Long Island City (after drinking just water and eating only cake). It went along the BQE for a while as well as the Orthodox South Williamsburg area and there were a lot of long lights, so I will try a more pedestrian-friendly route next time. I did get a feel for the Pulaski Bridge, which is part of the NYC Marathon route. 6.3 miles total and I ended it at Bklyn Larder to buy fondue provisions for a work lunch the next day.
Friday 7/29: Rest day. Ate a ton of delicious foods at work because we had an international food potluck. Went out at night with coworkers and ‘carb loaded’ with ddukboki and budae jigae at Pocha 32 (along with some watermelon soju). Then wisely drank lots of water at the bar.

Saturday 7/30: NYRR Teamp Champs Race! Virtual Trainer suggested 7 total miles, so a mile each of warmup and cooldown before and after the 5-mile race, but I didn’t have time for even a half mile warmup. The womens’ race began at 7:30am this year (moved up an hour because of heat), so I knew I would have to do 2 miles after.

I originally had loftier time goals for this race (sub-9 or close for every mile) but my current conditioning plus the humidity led me to believe I should adjust my goals toward something more reasonable. I asked a few pals what their pacing plan was and latched onto a teammate’s who was trying for 9:15ish then dropping for the last 2 miles. We ran 4.8 miles of the race together and her positivity was so helpful during it. Well, we took the first mile a little too quick and the hills on the next 3 were not great.

I got confused by the last 200-400 meters of the race and accidentally hit stop too early on my Garmin, then restarted. But my official race time was 46:51, so that part is right.

Team Champs Strava Splits — Strava Splits and the GAP tell the story of some rough hills and pacing

I ended up with 2.3 after because I got confused on the bridal path and around the reservoir. I expect to hit up Central Park for my long runs more soon, including the dreaded 18-mile tune-up in mid-September.

So glad to be done and cheering on the men

Sunday: Quick 1.2 mile shakeout run to Bagel Pub, where I got an everything bagel (toasted) with bacon scallion cream cheese and a peanut banana smoothie.

Total: 22.8 miles out of a recommended (by NYRR Virtual Trainer) 23 miles. So close! This was my highest mileage week ever, but they will of course continue to increase.

Week 1 of NYC Marathon Training

July 26, 2016September 2, 2016Posted in nycm, TrainingTagged nycm, Running, Training5 Comments

I took the plunge and bought NYRR’s Virtual Trainer. I was already planning to use Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 as well as my running club’s marathon training schedule and weekly speedwork, but I really like having something so customizable. After inputting my recent race times from this spring and my current amount of running AND the fact that I’ve had a soft tissue injury in the last year (sigh), the trainer spit out a time goal for NYCM of 4:37-4:45. I’m not going to lie, my original time goal was sub-4:30, but I think this makes a lot of sense given all of those confounding factors. I’d only been running 3 days a week (plus spin and barre) this spring and am still very cautious of getting injured again. The great thing is that I update my paces and distances and times into the virtual trainer and it will update my goal.

Monday 7/18: Off day and I mean really off. I drove to DC (well, Northern Virginia) and popped by. Pacers Running to peruse hand-held water bottles. I ended up buying a new Camelback water bottle for my gym/class workouts (my favorite one from the Nike Womens Half has some mildew) and a Virginia is for Runners shirt. (Our old tourism state motto was Virginia is for Lovers). Then I took a long bus ride back to NYC and had most of a slice of Artichoke’s pepperoni pizza for dinner. Off day, y’all.

Tuesday 7/19: I skipped the 6am speed workout with the team but did 3 miles total with some soccer field laps for speed solo. Easy and breezy and way less hot and humid than my Sunday run. As the first official workout of training, I was very pleased, though I should have made it closer to 4 or 5.

Wednesday 7/20: 4.4 miles with part of a park loop. Not too hot at all despite it being closer to 9am (weird work schedule some days).

Thursday 7/21: Accidental off day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Friday 7/22: HIIT workout with Gabby at the Propel Lab. For almost an hour, we cycled through different bodyweight exercises and cardio plus some 250m repeats on the Erg. Fortunately, they supplied us all Propel electrolyte water and a sweat towel. After collapsing on our mats, we headed downstairs for a nice breakfast, complete with smoothies and a braid bar. I’m so glad the nice folks at Propel let the bloggers bring a friend! I had glute and ab DOMS the rest of the weekend. The swag bag is the perfect gym bag, too.

28190063710_abfaee2470_o — At the smoothie bar, grabbing the chocolate/banana option with more protein

Saturday 7/23: 8 mile long run solo. It was hot, so I took it very slow and steady. I stopped a lot at water fountains and didn’t pause my watch so most of the miles were around 11:00 min mile. I did take a stretch break (ahh, the DOMS!) by the lake for a hot second.

Sunday 7/24: 4.5 mile run for food. We were on city streets and it was pretty sunny, so I reached new levels of face sweat with my visor on. Had a watermelon slushie, jian bing, a couple crab soup dumplings, and a mango smoothie after.

13725000_10154328173441870_4115745446042039350_o — The final 100 meters to deliciousness. Rocking my Lululemon Run From Work backpack with a 2L Platypus bladder and Run Times shorts

13775391_10209942613270880_8283184064712154253_n — Slushie #2 from Mango Empress for the road

Total miles: 20 (out of 22 recommended by virtual trainer).

The final weeks before marathon training

July 8, 2016Posted in ClassPass, Running, TrainingTagged ClassPass, Running, Training1 Comment

I haven’t run a race since the Mini 10K, but I’ve been trying to build my base mileage before I start marathon training for NYCM (November 6th). I’m also still a ClassPass member and am now part of the Core pan, where I can take up to 10 classes per month. Plus I still have a gym membership at Blink, but I think the last time I stopped in was to stretch before taking a Mile High Run Club class back in May. I know, I know. What happened to my pull-up goals? I guess they’re on hold for now. I feel like I’ve been doing enough bodyweight during all my barre classes that I’m still pretty strong overall. Just not pull-up strong yet.

I am somewhere between a Robin Scherbatsky and an Elaine Benes at the gym. Less grunting than Robin, less preening than Elaine.

But back to running and ClassPass. In June, I took 5 barre classes and 2 spin classes and logged 40something miles. Not bad, but I will eventually be running 40+ miles in a week. I’m trying not to add too much of any one thing in my running (whether that be miles, hills, or speed) in fear of tweaking my bursitis. I’m optimistic but still nervous about marathon training overall. I’m hoping to find a half marathon within a couple weeks of Labor Day to fit into my training plan (Hal Higdon Novice 2 but also buying into NYRR’s Virtual Trainer) and am taking suggestions.

I also played some tennis the other week at the West Side Tennis Club. Remember when I took tennis lessons on a clay court in summer 2011? Yeah, my backhand and racket haven’t seen much time on the courts since. I’m hoping to take some tennis clinics through ClassPass in the upcoming weeks to improve a smidge.

I’m going to hit publish on this post even though I feel like I have so many more words possible, (both on marathon training but mainly this week’s news events, but I feel like I’ve largely said my piece on Twitter and Facebook and now need to work on being a more active ally IRL.

Mini 10K Recap

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016Posted in NYC, Race Recaps, RunningTagged 10K, NYC, Races, Running2 Comments

After realizing I wouldn’t quite be in the shape I wanted for the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K, I decided that the Mini 10K on June 11th would give me a much-needed extra 4 weeks of training along with some girl power. I’ve run one other (almost but actually not entirely) women-only race, last October’s Nike Women Half Marathon in San Francisco. I was looking forward to the sisterhood vibes with the bonus of some of our club’s men setting up a cheering section. Unfortunately, I developed a sore throat the weekend after my birthday (June 2nd) then got major congestion that Monday and Tuesday. Things had cleared up by race day, but I still had a lot of phlegm.

I (we?) got so lucky with the weather; 63 degrees with 63% humidity, but I knew the humidity and temperature would keep rising throughout the day. I dropped off my stuff (post-race brunch means checking a bag for me, plus I still like to wear a layer there since it’s cooler in the morning), then I found a teammate in the corrals. On the way, a teammate and I watched the Girls’ Race and also spotted Molly Huddle. If we’re being honest, I got a little emotional. A teammate had posted a brief synopsis of this event (started in 1972 as the first women’s race; Katherine Switzer helped start it in her fight for women’s inclusion in racing, this Runner’s World article helps illuminate more). The history of women in sport, and especially in running, tends to get me choked up. Case in point: I can’t re-watch the U.S. Women’s 4 x 100 relay team win and set a world record at the 2012 Olympics without crying a little. I can not wait for the Olympics Trials in early July! Said teammate Gabby is a preschool teacher and I used to teach, so we were so happy for the girls running the 2.25 mile Girls’ Run race. We cheered for them and knew that soon we would be cruising down the same finish route.

I was hoping to PR, but knew that my congestion might get the better of me. This was only my 5th 10K ever, as I’m still fairly new to distance racing (my first was in December 2014 and that was the longest distance I’d raced at that point). I really like this distance because of its unique pacing challenges. I have to pace myself and keep something in the tank more than a 5K, but can try for faster speeds than half marathon pace (which admittedly, I would still like to improve upon greatly). Interestingly, NYRR’s new corral system use’s Hill Runner’s pace predictor and according to my 5K PR, I should be able to run a 10K in 54:45. But I’m nowhere close to that (yet). I’m slowly trying to hit more consistent splits of 9:15, then hope to shoot for 9:00 event then break into the upper 8’s. I think I’m just a proportionately faster “shorter” distance person, but am trying to work on races longer than 5Ks this year. I hope to see improvements while marathon training for sure, even though my goal for that is very conservative.

On with the race: It was most of the usual Central Park loop, but we started on Fifth Avenue instead of the loop itself. It was pretty crowded at first but I started to fall into a groove by the time we passed The Met front steps, then entered the park at 90th St.

My paces for the first two miles were the same and very close to my A Goal pace (9:18) according to my Garmin. Unfortunately, both parts of Harlem Hill got the better of me. I slowed way down and my legs felt heavy on the flat parts. I chugged some water and Gatorade while sort of shuffling past the aid stations. I tried to open my stride on the downhill but wasn’t very successful. I figured a PR was out of my reach but chose to press on hard because I knew the PPTC cheer section would be on the last mile. Can’t slow down then! I’m chuckling at my grade adjusted paces from Strava because that 9:47 really does feel like a 9:07, but it’s not. I ran the tangents pretty well and only added on 0.07, as opposed to a full 0.1 from my last Central Park 10K.

I high-fived the cheerers and felt great on the last mile and was able to pick up the pace, but not sprint it in.

My final time was 58:36, which is a solid enough shave off my 59:04 from the NYCRuns Halloween 10K in October.

“Will you accept this carnation?” Bachelor joke material

I got my medal from a volunteer teammate, picked up a carnation (the top of which later got lobbed off in my backpack) and grabbed an apple instead of a pink bagel. After stretching and relaxing in the shade with teammates, I ate an enormous Juicy Lucy burger at brunch. I was one of many PRs Saturday, which gets me jazzed for the next one.

UAE Healthy Kidney 10K Recap

May 20, 2016May 20, 2016Posted in Race Recaps, RunningTagged 10K, NYC, Races, Running1 Comment

When I realized back in March that I maybe was really sort of mostly healed and could run again, I signed up for this race, hoping for redemption from the 2015 version. That day was a sweaty slog through 6.2 miles of humidity and strong sun (historical weather site says 75 and 71% humidity). This Saturday was luckily 68 degrees with 70% humidity. I was unprepared for the sun (time to start running with a visor?) but the temperature felt pleasant overall.

The view of Bethesda Terrace was very different than last week’s pouring rain and features many adorable off-leash dogs.

I arrived early (around an hour before the start) and got my on-demand bib very quick. I spent my last $3 cash on a blue Gatorade from a cart then checked my bag and ran into some friends and teammates. I forgot how big this race was and how far the start was from the race village. I headed to the corrals 16 minutes before the start and luckily met up with and spotted many similarly paced teammates. We had a nice little pod of 5 that started together and got called out by the announcer.

The first 5K went really well but I remember this also being the strongest part last year before I fell apart in the second half.

I eschewed water the first few miles which was probably unwise, but I really had to pee and was feeling quite hydrated already thanks to the first half of that blue Gatorade (blue is the only flavor I like, but either the regular or the frosty blue will do).

My first mile was slow as planned and I was very proud of my second and third miles because they still felt pretty loose and easy. My tangents were getting worse each mile from the tangents and running around people in the crowd so I tried to remind myself there would likely be an extra 0.2 total.

Screen Shot 2016-05-19 at 9.42.52 PM — My splits make a W shape but the grade-adjusted tell more of a story

The fourth mile is where the semi-struggle began. I knew I couldn’t hang on to my breezy lower 9:00 paces and there were lots of sunny spots, so I slowed my roll. I grabbed some water at each of the last 3 water stations and managed to dump some on the top of my head in the worst of the sun. After the Mile 5 marker, I knew I could push the pace a bit more and try to enjoy the rolling hills. Crowds increased on the South side of the park but it was mainly confused tourists hoping to cross the road. I sprinted in the last 0.2 in part because I saw a teammate and wanted to reel her in.

Happily reunited with teammates after collecting our medals

Overall, this UAE 10K went much better than last year’s where I had my worst 10K ever. I like this distance and am hoping to whittle down my PR for the Mini 10K next month. More reporting on my workouts (McMillan’s and otherwise) to come.

I’m going to be out of town this weekend and have the biggest Brooklyn Half FOMO. To everyone racing (and to those cheering), have so much fun! I hope to get in next year but might also volunteer for a guaranteed spot in 2018 (it feels so weird to type out dates that far in advance. Let’s figure out when I’m running this darn marathon first).

Training and General Update Post and brief Japan Day Run race recap

May 13, 2016May 13, 2016Posted in ClassPass, Race Recaps, Running, TrainingTagged 4 Miler, ClassPass, Races, Running, Training2 Comments

Now that I’m in better physical health and running semi-regularly again and racing, I feel very energized about the next few months of running. Jazzed, even. But I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, knowing that I need to prioritize preventing re-injury and trying to make it to the start of mid-July marathon training for NYCM, much less that November 6th actual date. I ran (haha) an analysis via my data on Strava and MapMyRun (which I used for a few years before getting my Garmin 220 in June 2015) to see what my highest weekly and monthly mileage is historically. I knew that my mileage never got as high as it should have been for any of my half marathons in 2015 due to both injury and falling off my training plans. I have a tendency to cut long runs short and skip that 3rd or 4th run of the week, even when uninjured. I also don’t document my cross-training particularly well digitally, but all those ClassPass spin sessions and strength at Blink lives on in my paper planners, Google Calendar, and vaguely in my memory. All of the apps are interconnected in that Garmin uploads to Strava and Strava uploads to MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal. I’m going to try to increase the inputting of my spin sessions going forward since FlyWheel tells you how many miles you biked.

For my paper planner, I bought a couple sets of these running and barbell stickers from FayeCreates’ Etsy. This is the only decoration my planner (a $15 one from Sugar Paper’s Target collection, I might add) receives. But it’s so satisfying to see an array of pastel running stick figures and weights fill up my calendar, especially now that I’m running more frequently. This is also where I let you all know that I’m fascinated by planner communities, having once been part of (but never posting to) the LiveJournal community for organizers and sometimes browsing the YouTube planner gurus.

The general update is that I DNS the Run As One 4 Miler.I was coming off a very busy week and hadn’t slept well that Friday night (the night before the night before the race is a crucial sleep night, right?) and was dogsitting Elle’s pup Bandit and just wasn’t feeling it. Had much more fun sleeping in and doing a brief run on my way to Smorgasburg with some runner friends in Prospect Park. I got to eat my beloved Outer Borough again, try some fries with duck confit on top, and sample a few flavors of Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Still on my must-try list are Big Mozz’s mozzerella sticks, Jianbing, and Wowfulls. I think I can skip the rainbow cake, but let me know if it’s any good.

I did, however, end up completing the Japan Run on Sunday, May 8th. The skies opened up and poured down rain as I was picking up my bib at 7:15AM. A bunch of us hung out under the Bethesda Terrace and I ran into a PPTC Teammate then checked my bag and hid in the Meet Hello Kitty tent. Sadly, Hello Kitty didn’t appear until after the race and I wasn’t feeling very photogenic.

They let up for the first couple miles of the race, then began pouring again during the final mile. My third mile had been slower than I planned and I knew I was no longer in the running for a PR (had been feeling hopeful after the first 2 miles but my fitness just isn’t there yet). I had to remove my glasses and put them in my jacket pocket because they became too foggy and streaky for me to see. I managed not to run into any fellow racers since my vision isn’t too bad, and had a great sprint finish. NYRR and MarathonFoto did not capture any pictures of me (probably for the best). There was a guy running with his long hair down and in only a leopard-print Speedo who passed me on the third mile. I had hoped to be in some of his pictures but didn’t make it.

My next race is the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K. I had originally wanted this to be a PR attempt, but I think I’m going to instead shoot for the Mini 10K on June 11th instead. That’ll give me enough time to increase my long, slow runs and also try some of the mile repeat 10K workouts from McMillan. I’ll be gambling with the weather but am hoping to be out there more often in heat and humidity in the next month anyway. I feel like my barre and strength classes and spin are helping me get stronger (I kind of love forearm plank pushups now?), so we will see.