Tag: Running

Training Update

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Several days after the high from the Cherry Blossom 5K wore off, I was feeling pretty good. Aggressively ignoring the 10% rule, I joined my team for a Brooklyn Half training run on Saturday, April 9th. There were 5 mile and 8 mile options and free swag from New Balance, so I showed up at 7:50am, already having done my PT-prescribed dynamic warm-up and foam rolling. I obviously chose the 5 mile run and jumped in the 10:30 mile pace group with some friends. And it went really well! The hill was rough but I had been chatting with a potential member for the third and fourth miles, so it was a nice distraction. I forgot to stop my Garmin at the top after we paused to coordinate breaking off and heading to the coffee shop, but my splits seemed pretty even. I foam rolled and stretched plenty after,  bookmarked a 9am spin class for Sunday, and rested on the couch, feeling accomplished and optimistic and full of endorphins.

So obviously I signed up for some races.

I’m of course already signed up for this year’s NYC Marathon, since you have to pay NYRR the big buck$ in February. I hope to know early on in training whether or not I’ll be able to run it and plan to consult with a sports doctor and my PT accordingly. So I figured I should set my sights on some shorter distances for spring.

I’ll be running the Run as One 4 Miler on Sunday, April 24th in honor of my late Uncle Werner. I hadn’t realized last year that this race’s charitable contributions go toward a foundation that supports lung cancer research, specifically named in honor of a never-smoker like my uncle. I donated some extra money to the cause in my NYRR cart. The Run as One is a 4-miler, which I feel tentatively positive about, training-wise. I can probably PR (my last one was February 2015), but hopefully just have a positive race with a meaningful (and personal) cause.

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I also want to try for a new 10K PR. I just missed out on the Queens 10K signup, so I bought in to the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K on May 14. I had such a miserable time last year and am hoping for redemption. It’s 2 weeks earlier this year, but I will still try to prepare for potential humidity and the waterless mile 5 water station. I might take a crack at the Mini 10K as well, but mid-June feels like an awful long ways from here. I’m sort of surprised this weekend’s More/Shape Women’s Half Marathon hasn’t sold out yet. I’d been hoping that would be my spring goal half (or the NYC Runs Queens Half on the same day) after a strong showing at the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, but obviously that didn’t come to fruition. Maybe a fall half will happen? Maybe I’ll fall in love with summer racing? Possibly I’ll travel 3,000 miles for a race again? No telling.

Weekly training recaps to come, I suppose. When did I even start my weeks again?

Cherry Blossom 5K Recap

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Yes, you read that correctly. I ran a race. Also, it was not the race I originally signed up for (that would be the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, not the “5K Run/Walk”). But after 5 months of no racing (time has flown! and yet gone so slowly), it felt great to race again.

It was free to switch to the 5K ahead of time, but my bib from the 10 Miler remained the same. I  would have been in the light blue corral because I was planning to go for a (high) 1:20something time back when I entered the lottery in December. I had foolishly assumed that regular physical therapy in addition to a grueling ClassPass schedule and gym time could help me shave a minute per mile off my Bronx 10 Mile time or keep my 10K pace for an additional 4. We may never know! I deferred my Broad Street Run entry to 2017 and am no longer planning on a spring half, so the 10 mile distance will have to wait until I am marathon training this summer and fall (or not).

Back to the recap. I went with two teammates from NYC and we hopped to the expo late morning. One was also running the 5K with me and the other was completing the 10.


The National Building Museum was beautiful and I need to come back to see the regular exhibits.

Meb was speaking, so we watched him then picked up our bibs, sadly missing the cutoff to get in the line for his autograph. We had paid extra for the tech tshirt and they’re so nice! A well-fitting maroon New Balance v-neck (for ladies) with a Capitol building visually constructed out of cherry blossoms. We had also paid extra for race medals, assuming we would be running the 10 Miler. Oh well.

 

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 Hi Meb!

Then there was shopping. This race expo, held at the National Building Museum, had over a dozen vendors of the usual performance wear, shoes, and accessories. I made a stop at The Stick’s booth for some muscle relief, then we bought coordinating long-sleeve New Balance tech shirts with the logo. I’m still reasonably well stocked with the basics for spring running and didn’t end up needing a vest or down-filled jacket for winter training since I wasn’t really running. I do have a cool new running backpack for run commuting and bringing essentials to the gym, but that’s been my only 2016 gear purchase so far.


Running backpack picture not in action on Saturday at the National Portrait Gallery.

women_heathered_lsurchin_lgBought this and wore it on the cold bus ride home.

Morning of the race, the winds were whipping. I wore a tech long-sleeve with a windbreaker (Lululemon Go the Distance)  over it, and  longer Nike crops. I brought and wore my Brooks Ravennas because I usually run shorter distances (4 miles and under) in my Brooks Pure Cadences, but figured I could use the extra support of the Ravennas for my first race back. I found myself really wishing I had purchased a pair of running gloves this winter. Or just some throwaway gloves. I had my bare hands jammed in my jacket pockets during most of the walk to the start and pre-race time, but it wasn’t enough.

 “Corral” selfie (there were no corrals). They let people have heat sheets before the race but then they had to give them back. Also, dude to the left was in 4th as of the bridge, so I guess we weren’t too, too far back.

We waited until the 10 mile runners were off the 5K part of the course and the gun went off right at 8:40am. The 5K was a short and simple out-and-back from the staging area, over the bridge, a small loop then return. My teammate Tanya lined up not too far from the start and apparently had an 18 second delay from the gun to our start. We’re both coming back from injuries and kept the pace slow for the first mile how our respective knees and butt/hamstring felt. Once on the bridge, we were feeling pretty good (there was only a tiny slope to get on it). We saw the leaders pass us after the turnaround with huge lead times (the Belgian guy was flying and won the race). I had been “drafting” a couple for about half a mile, but finally decided to pass. We pressed the pace pretty easily from 10:00 to 9:25 for the second mile.

Once off the bridge and after our second mile, we knew we could pick up the pace safely. And we did. I was breathing a bit more heavily but held steady close to 8:30 then figured 8:00 for the last half mile should be fine, reasoning to myself that all my spin classes were at least this long and I always have something left in the tank for the final sprints there. Tanya suggested I go on ahead in the last quarter mile, then I flagged a bit before sprinting in the finish. I ended up with a 28:16 which is a couple minutes off from my PR, but still pretty amazing considering my injury status.

There were many other folks in this race who also had 10 mile bibs as well, but I assume we were a fun mix of injured and untrained. I was the 70th female and 159th total out of 1,770. RunPix has no photos of me from the race, but they have a fun little infographic showing me way toward the front of the pack. Top 5% of women in a race? I’ll take it. Now to actually recover and get faster.

We walked back to our hotel as a cooldown and I was honestly thinking about running it in, as my energy was still pretty high and I wasn’t sore yet. We’d had Nando’s for lunch Saturday and I’d stuffed myself with pretzel bread at District Commons the night before, so a huge plate of Roti at Union Station ended up being my main meal after. It felt good to eat something lighter and full of veggies after a race. I also partook in my recent favorite DC-area Starbucks tradition of getting Sweet Potato Loaf with my iced coffee before getting on the bus home. I wish we had this stuff in NYC Starbucks, but I usually content myself with cinnamon swirl coffee cake.

Desserts and snacks posts to come along with ClassPass updates.

January-March Injury Update

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I think the title of this post says it all. I started drafting it in January during twice-weekly physical therapy. I tried a 0.75 mile jog in early January and felt fine during (great, even!) but despite stretching after, my hamstring was very aggravated the next couple days. I gave it another 4 weeks and tried a mile on Super Bowl Sunday but was met with the same effects the week after. In the time since, I read something, somewhere, about people performing marathon training on largely on an elliptical just to reduce impact. While I have no plans to take it that far in terms of mileage, I’ve decided to incorporate the elliptical and hopefully a super cushioned treadmill into my game plan, along with the Alter-G at my PT’s office. I’m happy to report that I ran 6.5 miles on the elliptical this week (with 2 runs and around a 6 mph pace). Pain-free.

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I downgraded my Cherry Blossom 10 Miler (in DC) entry to the 5K and while I may not PR, I’m really excited to be doing a race for the first time since Halloween. After that, I can better assess my ability to run the Broad Street Run (also a 10 miler, in Philadelphia) on May 1.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2016:

  • the possibility of a late spring half (Brooklyn is out but maybe something else in that time period)
  • Run commuting to/from work (new job has showers! Also it’s about time I get a running backpack with a water bladder.)
  • NYCM training? I had to pay for the registration (goodbye $$), but am still a ways out from being able to assess whether it’s going to happen or not
  • Trying more of the workouts and moves from (Dr.) Jordan Metzl’s book Running Strong.

ClassPass updates and reviews to come. The new job has made me switch up my gym and class routine and locations quite a bit and I’ve struggled to get into my preferred spin days and times. On the plus side, I’ve been trying more yoga classes and have improved my planking and push-ups thanks to barre classes.

December Injury Update

Posted in ClassPass, Cycling, RunningTagged , , 1 Comment

 So, the rest of November and all of December has been busy for me, but not with running. I stopped after the 10/31 10K to give my Achilles tendinitis some rest. I’m delighted to report that pain there has eased off, but unfortunately I have been experiencing more pain in my right hamstring and glute (and piriformis). I finally went to a renowned sports doctor (musculoskeletal care and all) and he diagnosed me with ischeogluteal bursitis. So I’m not running for the rest of the year. Come January 1, 2016, I plan to dip my toe back into it (or do a Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island, effectively dipping my toes into the Atlantic Ocean after a quick sprint on the beach) slowly.

I wisely did not sign up for any winter races or early spring ones. I’m hoping to be well enough to do the Cherry Blossom 10 miler (I won lottery entry) in early April, then squeeze in either a later April half or the Brooklyn Half May 21. My new physical therapist assures me this is all quite possible.

I’ve been filling my running time with other fitness, mainly through ClassPass. I’m at the 3 times a month maximum at RowHouse and approaching it at Flywheel. I’ve also taken a few dance classes with friends. Despite my few years dabbling in ballet, tap, and jazz back in elementary school, picking up hip hop dance choreography is not one of my strong suits. It’s more fun with friends because I can laugh at myself and my inability to shake it during the Hotline Bling Remix.

I also have hopped on a real bicycle (not just stationary ones in spin class). I rode from TriBeCa to 125th St. and back with a friend during the amazing weather this past weekend, where I took the picture above. I’m coming for you, George Washington Bridge and Little Red Kighthouse!  I rode 15.5 miles roundtrip (and usually hit over 20 miles during spin class), so actually going somewhere will feel great in that distance will feel great. I just had to add a cycling tag to this post because this was only my 4th time out on the bike this fall, but I foresee more of it in my future (weather cooperating).

Friday Link Post (featuring cold weather running)

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Winter 2014-2015 was my first “real” winter of running and training outside. I still hopped on the treadmill when it was particularly blizzard-y outside, but I invested in real tights (Sugoi Midzero Tights), an ear warming headband, and a running jacket (which is a little too big at the bottom, so I’m still on the hunt for the Goldilocks of running jackets). This year, I’m looking at toques to keep my head head trapped in, plus gloves that will wick sweat, since my wool blend touchscreen ones tend to let the sweat marinate. Since I’m on a low-mileage plan for the rest of 2015, it’s going to be sort of a shock when I hit the road in January to start training for the NYC Half. I find the following links very helpful with regard to colder-weather running.

Running on Lentils’ Guide to Cold-Weather Running Gear

For the 32-40 degrees Fahrenheit range. Looking forward to the next step down, as it were.

Runner’s World What to Wear

This is helpful no matter the season. With experience comes better ‘feel’ for knowing how your body responds to different temperatures and conditions, but this tool is a really good place to start.

The Cost of Winter Running

This article intimidated me a bit at first last year until I realized the author is an Alaskan. In NYC, most of my usual routes remain pretty defrosted throughout the winter, so I’m not quite in YakTrax territory yet.

Running Starter Kit

In slightly less frigid running gear, I loved Gretchen’s recommended running starter kit. It was only a couple of years ago that I was jogging along the East River in my cotton t-shirts and chafe-heavy Champion via Target gym shorts.

Five Fitness Bloggers Share Their Favorite Tights

Tights galore! I mainly have crops in my running arsenal (and a few pairs of shorts), so this guide shows a few more tights and leggings options.

Bonus, non-weather related link:

What Happens to Your Body During an Ultramarathon

To those running the NYRR 60K this weekend, I salute you. I’m just hoping to make it to and through the marathon next fall.

NYC Runs Haunted Island Halloween 10K Race Recap

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Since I had bonked in the last mile of the Staten Island 5K and had a ‘take it easy’ half marathon in San Francisco, I really wanted just one PR this fall. My last two 10Ks (UAE Health Kidney on 5/30 and Queens 10K on 6/21) were painful, humid slogs. This 10K featured slightly more crisp weather and the experience of more speed training and cross-training.

I came up with A, B, and C goals in 2-minute increments (55-57, 57-59, and 59-1:01) based on mental math, and my C goal would have me PR. I had ran the 5K version of this race last year, a 10K last December, and another 5K on Roosevelt Island on Memorial Day (where I got my 5K PR of 26:16), but the course had changed just slightly based on construction. Roosevelt Island is very flat, which really helps in the PR department. NYC Runs doesn’t have corrals for this race, so there is some definite bottlenecking at the start of the course, but it gets a lot less crowded by mile 2. I knew to be aware of sidewalk dipping and some uneven footing, but overall I’m a big fan of races on Roosevelt Island and it feels like a pretty known entity.

I took a 70-minute restorative yoga class on Friday night, so I felt pretty relaxed going into this race. The 9:30am start time really helped, too. I had my usual breakfast of 2 mini frozen waffles with cookie butter, some iced coffee, and plenty of water. I sometimes use almond butter if I’m feeling healthy, but speculoos works just as well. It also tastes great with bananas and I have Wafels & Dinges to thank for this combination.

I entered the start corral toward the middle/back with some friends, one of whom (Gabby of Marathons & Macarons) wasn’t shooting for a PR but was still going to race it a lot faster than me. Our teammate Johnny was way in the front, where he rightly deserved to be (coming in 4th overall and 1st in the 20-29 age group). I wasn’t running with music because I wanted to be hyper vigilant of my breathing and my body.

This being a race held on Halloween, there were some great costumes. But I was glad not to be wearing one. I wore my long-sleeved team shirt and planned to roll up the sleeves as needed. I definitely could not have handled the extra bulk of a tutu or the head warmth of a character hat. A teammate who ran the 5K kindly took photos of us 10K runners. I didn’t see her the first time, but then I caught on to where she would be.

RI run 1

I was stuck behind several couples on miles 1 and 2, but decided to keep drafting them until the path got wider. Then came the Minions and the penguins. I noticed 3 separate groups of people dressed up as Minions and am delighted to say that I only finished behind 1 group of them who passed me around mile 4.5. The couple dressed in full-body penguin suits kept with me during their selfies, then sped up and stayed ahead.

RI mile 2-5

I saw some teammates after the 5K, which gave me a little juice for the fourth mile before I inevitable slowed during the fifth. My splits had been looking so good, but my overall average pace from this was 9:30 which means my Garmin (Forerunner 220) and I have some issues to work out.

Ri run mile 3-5

RI run mile 5

My Achilles felt ok and my breathing was fine, so I finally took it up a notch on the final mile. My Garmin was off by 0.2, so when my watch beeped for mile 6, I knew that I really had 0.4 miles to go. I managed to stay ahead of a pack of piñatas, much to my relief, then caught and passed the girl in front of me before attempting a sprint finish. My watch had somehow gotten so off time (I saw splits of 9:10-9:24 but nothing slower), that my final time of 59:04 felt a little slow. But it is a PR! And a negative split! I’ll take it!

RI finish watermark

The finish line photos are not taken from a flattering angle.

I got 48th out of 137 ladies in the 30-39 age group (and 307 out of 646 total finishers). Top half, all right! I grabbed a lot of candy for immediate and later consumption, then we got a very filling brunch. I rested my laurels the rest of the day and foam rolled so that I could make my Halloween debut as Angelina Ballerina later that night, then cheer on NYC marathoners all day Sunday.

Ri group finish

Post-race celebrations with candy in my backpack. We are not in costume.

RI 10K strava

Look at that flatness! I know my first pace spike was in response to cheerers, but I have no idea why I picked it up so much at the 4 mile mark. I think that was when I was struggling with water and tried to take an unnecessary ShotBlok and dropped it.

The shirt for this race was the same logo as last year’s tech t-shirt but was a cotton long-sleeved shirt and I love it. They ran out of (unisex) mediums so I grabbed a small. It’s very fitted but I can still wear it over a tank, as seen below before my rowing class.

hauntedislandshirt

This was possibly my final race of 2015 because I need to heal my tendons, so it was nice to go out on a PR.

Nike San Francisco Women’s Half Race Recap

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I found out that I got into this race via lottery in early July and decided to take the plunge. I wanted at least one fall half (and was still planning on running the Richmond Half). This was my first destination race and my first that wasn’t NYRR or NYC Runs. I asked around and everyone who had run the race before said it was an amazing course and that they had a great time. I felt overdue for a trip to the Bay Area, so I decided to make it a full 4-day trip, from Friday morning to the last red-eye out Monday night. I’ll make this post focus on the race and other activities (and swag), then make a separate “what I ate” post because y’all know I went HAM out there before and after the race.

The pre-race activities were fun and helped instill a bit of the ‘community’ feel for such a big race. I enjoyed the Friday Get Focused workout and bonded with my Airbnb housemates who were also running. I ended up skipping the Saturday morning shakeout run because I had walked over 5 miles Friday and close to that on Saturday.

niketownstore

Posing after packet pick-up during the swag purchasing point #1 at Niketown. I needed a Dri-fit hat anyway.

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I found my name on the Niketown store window pretty quickly as well as a friend’s who I didn’t know was running the race.

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Stretching to Hotline Bling with my housemates during the Get Focused workout.

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My goal for this half was just to finish without Achilles pain, since I knew a PR was out of the question and my eventual goal for sub-2 will have to wait a little longer. I ended up going even slower than I planned on and after the first few miles and hills, decided to not have qualms about stopping for pictures or walking through water and snack stops. I don’t usually race with my phone (just my Garmin Forerunner 220), but used both so I could enjoy some tunes and snap some shots. I ran my running club’s singlet with Lululemon Top Speed Crops because they have a zippered pocket as well as smaller waistband pockets. I wanted to bring shot-blocks with caffeine and keep the free gel along the course in there in case I didn’t need it.

I was at the front of Wave 2 because my housemate was going for a 9:10 pace, but I wisely decided to step to the side and drink more Nuun (cup #2 of 3 pictured below), so I ended up more in the middle of the pack. The first wave took off right at 6:30, and I crossed the start line around 6:41am.

solostartline

nuunstartline

The first few miles had some uphills and I was trying to reconcile the course map in my head with the neighborhoods I had already visited Friday and Saturday. This was a pleasant distraction for the first 5K or so.

Nike Womens Half 2015 Course Map

We entered Golden Gate Park, which was my favorite part of the run. I had hung out there before when visiting and loved the waterfalls and bison, so I actually did take some quick shots this time. There was some crowd support and bands, along with ample enough water/Nuun stops. I grabbed a small peanut butter bar close to the 10K mark but didn’t eat it because I was a smidge thirsty. As seen below, I was clearly grooving to my tunes.

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I felt pretty strong exiting the park and took a Vanilla Gu I had grabbed, but definitely slowed on the first of the 2 hills out. The crowds were picking up a bit as we headed to the Presidio. I remember passing the 10K mark back in the park, but not the 15K mark. There were lots of twists and turns through the neighborhood; if I had been really racing this, I would have tried to run the tangents better.

halfrunhill

I tried to focus more on making it past THE hill and enjoying the downhills, along with admiring the scenery. I’m not good at running selfies and didn’t want to mess up a high-five or pass my sweat to a stranger, so I kept my arms to myself but grabbed a few shots at good pause points.

nikemiddlehill

niketopofhill

After the hill, I knew there were only 2 miles to go and that they would be a mix of downhill and flat. What joy! I felt strong during these, took my final 2 shot blocks, and shoved the chocolate truffle into my zippered pocket for later. I definitely wasn’t flying by the water by any means, but I had a pretty good pace going here. There were a few music groups out, including taiko drums and a Chinese dragon dance.

The finish was around a corner and snuck up on me a bit because my watch was over 0.2 miles ahead. I went for the flat-out sprint for the finish but moved myself into the middle so I could have a good finish photo (not usually my strong suit).

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Nailed it (but please do not look at the knees of the poor guy behind me). I finished in 2:25:34, which is over a minute per mile slower than my previous two halfs (NYC and Brooklyn, both this year). But I guess I did stop for a picture of the bison paddock in Golden Gate Park. And I did shuffle slowly up those hills. So, my sub-2 hour half might have to wait until 2016.

The exit went really smoothly in part because they handed us large reusable grocery bags from Whole Foods (with lots of goodies inside), so I could throw everything else into there. Tiffany’s necklace in a box? Throw it in the bag. Hot pink water bottle full of cold water? Drank a lot of it, then threw it in the bag. There was no wait for the Portapotties, so I headed there first. I then got into what would be closer to a 1-hour line for Finisher gear, not knowing everything would be available back at Niketown or on the website. Fortunately, I befriended a couple of other ladies in line and they got the following picture of me. I did not want to wait in line for the official finish photos in front of the light teal backdrop. These motivational words would just have to do.

nikefinish

Then there was a long, slow, painful walk to the shuttles. I snacked on my banana, chocolate milk, and peanut butter bar before the bus, then was able to shower and nap and move on with my 3 post-race meals.

I would try another Nike Women’s event for sure, especially if running with friends. In fact, I might enter for their Toronto 15K next June. I’m planning to run the NYC full marathon next November, so I probably won’t be able to race SF next year at that point in my marathon training, but we’ll see.

Training Recap 10/5 – 10/11

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After last week’s tumbleweed gif, I’m tempted to post one of EVEN MORE tumbleweeds representing my nonexistent miles, but will refrain because then I’m just pushing this metaphor too far.

Monday: Running club meeting, where we focused on upcoming marathons. I had 2 slices of pizza but made the mistake of watching MNF after and drinking.

Tuesday: 1 mile warmup and cool down for my 3-mile tempo run after work on the West Side Highway, with plenty of foam rolling before and after at the gym. I grabbed a peanut butter protein smoothie from Gregory’s Coffee then headed to a book launch party and reading for Slaughterhouse 90210 at my beloved .Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. There were free drinks but I wisely did not partake.

Wednesday: After a very intense and lengthy dentist appointed, I tried a Boxing Burnout class at Overthrow. Their description on ClassPass: “Overthrow New York is to boxing what soul cycle is to cycling, creating a training experience and filling a need for a functional, efficient, and group oriented boxing workout in the fitness world!” Needless to say, there were no candles or encouragements to ride as a team. I got there early but they were out of wraps, so the front desk guy advised me not to punch too hard. OK, can do. We learned the basic punches and had a cardio warmup in fighting stance, then got to hit the bags (3 to a bag). I’m left-handed but it just made more sense to do everything right-handed with lots of left crosses. We did this in HIIT circuits, which was pretty cool because I knew that by the 5th set, I could really wail on the bag. We then formed two lines facing each other and did a mix of planks, push-ups, mountain climbers, and crunches. It was pretty brutal on the knees and the floor was both wet (from sweat and/or spilled water?) and managed to chip off in small pieces onto my back when laying down. I would definitely try this class again but wear a t-shirt to encounter fewer floor mysteries. I was so glad that I filled my water bottle up in the sink before class because it was pretty warm and musty and everyone without water looked like they were dying. Also, there were about 20 people in the class and 19 were female. I could tell some were regulars, but the instructor was pretty good at helping us newbies acclimate.

I stupidly stopped by Juice Press after and should have gotten a smoothie with more protein, but instead grabbed a $10 bottle of Fountain of Youth. I really need to re-join people for Saturday morning long runs so I can #willrunforjuice.

Thursday: Normal gym time, with a rowing warmup (2000 meters), then lots of back, chest and arms strength. Grabbed Korean fried chicken and beer after at WA Bar & Kitchen with my lifting partner. Their wings are on the saucy side, so I might just stick with BonChon which has more combo options.

Friday: My favorite 6:30am ride with Nikole at BYKlyn. Easy on the knees and Achilles with the added bonus of hills and a great soundtrack. I was exhausted after and might have taken a little nap before work and after my much-needed shower.

Saturday: I walked around Prospect Park and the Greenmarket, which were both overflowing with participants of the Brooklyn Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I met up with some friends who had run it for brunch and felt both inspired and terrified for my upcoming San Francisco Nike Women’s half.

Sunday: Staten Island 5K. I wanted to PR and go for sub:26 (a logical next step, my current PR is 26:16 from NYCRuns Memorial Day 5K), but I went out too fast (like 20 seconds per mile too fast on the first 2 miles) then crashed on the third during a slight incline for a bridge. The finish was spectacular, but I knew I had missed my PR. I ended up getting an extra 4 miles in while waiting for the Staten Island Half finishers to come in, then was rendered pretty much immobile because I had stupidly raced in my Brooks Pure Cadence instead of my Brooks Ravennas. I really feel the difference after more than 4 miles, mainly due to the heel-toe drop difference. Race report to come later this week before I leave for SF.

Friday Link Round-Up

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Some fitness and running related links from around the web:

A Sampling of the Gross Shit That Has Happened to My Body Since I Started Running

It me, especially the toenails. Last fall, I got a wet massage and body scrub at a Korean spa with a dangling pinky toenail. When I went into the massage/scrub, the toenail was still there. When I emerged, it wasn’t.

Strave Launches New Interactive Running Data Tool

Good job, NYC. Sorry my longer runs are slowing you down. I started using Strava in June after getting my GPS watch, having used MapMyRun on my iPhone for the years prior. I love how connected I feel to all my friends and followers and club members. But boy are my non-marathon training missed-a-workout ways ever apparent on there.

Ronda Rousey’s Next Fight Body Image in Hollywood

I don’t really follow UFC, but this has certainly been Ronda’s year for more mainstream media attention. I’m now deep int a rabbit hole of looking up the different weight classes for UFC (there isn’t yet one at my weight for women).

Hallie from Coral and Cognac’s Fitness Instructor Guide to Workout Gear

Yes, finally! Hallie is a SoulCycle instructor, so I’ve been waiting for her recs. I definitely have different activewear (and shoe) needs based on whether I’m running, spinning, lifting, or doing yoga. On that note, I wore these mesh panel crops to the gym and to spin and felt super cool in my first foray into mesh. Only $30! I got a M and the hipband required some stretching, so I think I’d go for the tall M next time. Now for some strappy sports bras to show off under racerback tanks.

Training Recap 9/28-10/4

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Mileage? What mileage? I’m not tapering quite yet, so this week was painfully short on runs but high on wedding-related fun. And sleep. I went to bed before 11pm every night (wedding night excluded) but somehow just didn’t wake up early to run. Gif below is of “nth week of training # of runs”. Nothing to see here, folks. It is also the longest tumbleweed .gif I’ve ever found.

I managed 2 miles of speedwork on the treadmill Wednesday, then an Open Align class at Bend and Bloom Yoga after a light dinner. I had tried out Gentle Flow and Restorative the previous week and found it very relaxing and gentle on the Achilles. This one promised to be “a great class for those recovering from injuries”, but more active overall. The instructor was a substitute but I liked her blend of being both soothing and spunky. We finished with working on shoulder stands, which I haven’t tried in months. I had a few awkward collapses, but ended up getting into it and eventually into plow pose. I’m planning on trying their Sweet Relief class next, which has an hour of vinyasa flow, then 30 minutes of yin and stretches. Too bad it’s on Friday nights.

I’m excited to announce that this workweek will include a belated long run, tempo run, strength training, and my first crack at a boxing class. Oh, and the Staten Island 5K on Sunday.