Category Archives: running

Burn Out

Posted on by
Reply

So I went AWOL again.  The truth is, I totally burned out on marathon training.  I didn’t want to run (far, anyway), I didn’t want to write about running, and I didn’t want to read about running.

I spent too many Saturday mornings in soaking wet socks.

I got my butt kicked by the move.

I couldn’t stand the thought of losing any of summer’s last weekends to long run recovery.

Consequently, I allowed myself to run 60% of my training runs for a few weeks and dropped blogging altogether.

Instead, I got to enjoy taking life a little slower.  Charlie and I set up our new apartment.

I read a few good books:The Night Circus, which I LOVED; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close a worthwhile read, but not my favorite; The Hand and the Fist which I found both eye-opening and inspiring; and my current read Water for Elephants, that 100 pages in has me hooked.

I’ve also taken time to catch up with friends, enjoyed some of the less healthy pleasures in life, and finally got a damn haircut!

Anyhow, I’m back on the wagon- determined to get my mileage during the last three weeks of training before the taper begins :)

The Best Part of My Week

Posted on by
3
I’m a pretty lucky person.  I don’t know a lot of things, but that’s one thing I am absolutely, positively confident about.  I lead a charmed life, filled with loving, wonderful, intelligent people.  I’ve never had to go without something I needed.  I’ve been given (and worked my toosh off for) an excellent education.  I am healthy.  I have everything.


I imagine most of the folks who read this blog (all 5 of your wonderful selves), like me, live in a world that is filled with opportunity.  For a long time, I thought everyone saw the world this way: full of potential, available to everyone.


Boy was I wrong.


For lots of people, opportunity doesn’t exist.  The world is harsh, full of predators, and it’s going to chew you up and spit you out. Whether its because of the conditions of the environment, challenges at home, or an internal battle, not everyone lives in a world with potential.


This is heartbreaking.


I think everyone deserves to feel like tomorrow can be a better day.  Everyone deserves to feel like they can change direction and believe that things can be better or different.  That’s why I am so lucky to be involved with Back on My Feet.

BoMF is a “national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to creating independence and self-sufficiency within the homeless and other underserved populations by first engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.”  

They let me run, three days a week, with an incredible team of runners.  Some of my teammates are residents at a local shelter, some of my teammates are runners from the neighborhood.  We get up at an ungodly hour, start our warmups before the sun is up, and it is the most awesome thing I’ve done in years.  I look forward to waking up at 4:30am to run with this team.  

Some of the individuals I run with, didn’t feel like the world held a lot of opportunity.  BoMF literally gets folks back on their feet and into a supportive community of runners.  There’s a lot more to it, but the team running alone has already inspired me and some of my fellow runners into believing that one day at a time, with one foot in front of the other, we can move forward into a future full of opportunity for everyone.  There are second, third and fourth chances for all of us.  Even if you weren’t lucky enough to be brought into the world in a perfect bubble like mine, you can have a bright future.

I am so grateful to BoMF.  They’re not solving all the problems of the world.  They’re giving individuals an opportunity to see what’s possible.  They’re empowering individuals to set goals and reach them.   That’s pretty powerful stuff.  

Thank you BoMF, and thank you to my fellow runners, for making the 5:30-6:30am hours the best of my week. 

To learn more about Back on My Feet (or to make a donation!), visit 
http://www.backonmyfeet.org/
.

My Accidental PR

Posted on by
Reply
You know that race I thought I was unprepared for?  I SET A NEW PR! A significant one for me, too.  I’ve wanted to run a 10K in under 50 minutes for awhile now, but I wasn’t sure if I could.  Well check me out you guys, because apparently I got faster!

To be honest with you, this is the first race I ever let myself really push from start to finish.  I tend to adopt a cautious pace until I’m mile from the finish, because I’m afraid I’ll burn out. On Saturday, however, the weather was perfect, I had no expectations for myself, and I figured if I burnt out it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

I ran without a watch, didn’t check the time clock when I crossed the start, and just went for it.  I knew there were a handful of hills (Central Park can be a beast), so I made sure I wasn’t wearing myself out right before each of them, but otherwise I just ran.  I kept repeating the phrase “keep following your feet, keep following your feet.”  In a lot of ways this race was completely about me listening to my body and turning off my brain.  It went like this,

Brain: This is kind of hard.  We should probably slow down a little bit.  I’m afraid you’re going to wear out.

Body: I got this.  Take an hour off and just follow the feet.

Brain: …….

It was actually pretty great.  After the race I literally got a water, did a U-turn and got on the subway since I had to shower before my family came in to sight see for the day.  I knew I had just run a great race, but I didn’t think about my time; I was feeling good and I just went about my day.  Imagine my thrill when I checked the race results yesterday and found that I shaved almost 3 minutes off my best time!

The whole thing has me wondering what I can accomplish if I really go balls to wall.  Could I run a sub-2 half?  Can I shave 20 minutes off of my marathon time? Run an ultra (…..ummmm stop.)?  Ok, so some goals might be more realistic than others, but it’s cool to think that I’m improving as a runner, even though I’ll probably never win a race.

What are some of your fitness goals?  Do you prefer to strive to do your best instead of setting benchmarks?

Motivation: Lost and Found

Posted on by
Reply
Remember back in January when I was supposed to run the Manhattan Half but it sort of got snowed out/I was too lazy to run it if I didn’t have to?

Well I was very much not ready to run that race.  I took a bit of a break from running over the holidays and it took me all of January and February to get back on the horse.  Now I am by NO means in training mode, but I’ve been getting in a consistent 15 or so miles every week, which, for my “off-season” is acceptable (not ideal, but life goes on).

Anyhow, my first actual race (that I AM going to show up to) is tomorrow and I’m pretty excited!  It’s a 10K, so it’s small beans and I’ll be slow as molasses, but I’m psyched because… (Run on sentence much?)  I’m using this race as the kick start to my half marathon training for the BROOKLYN HALF!

This popular NYRR race, that I’ve been trying to run for the past three years is always sold out before I get the memo.  This year, I stalked that registration site like a cat on a piece of twill and I got it! So on May 19th I will run from lovely prospect park down to the coney island boardwalk to devour a nathan’s hotdog before 10am.

Sometimes all you need to motivate yourself is within you…other times, you need a reward.  Do you give yourself rewards for consistent training and strong performances?
What works? What doesn’t?

Working from Home

Posted on by
Reply
Last week I finished my internship and began life as a freelancer.  Nowadays, I work from home for two companies on a project basis.  It’s been…an adjustment.  I’m a little bit high strung, so being in the house all day can be a challenge.  When I’m not doing work, I’ve found lots of ways to amuse myself. 
Up first, LOTS of running.  The weather outside had been gorgeous and I’ve been taking advantage of it.

Sometimes a run will make you hungry.  If you have a midtown meeting, you can meet your favorite person for lunch at a diner and order this amazing dish:

This was by far the freshest most delicious gyro with greek salad I’ve ever gotten at a diner.  It was incredible.  Maybe if you walk past a Bikram Yoga place every day, you could pay $20 for the unlimited introductory week and learn the glory that is lying in your own sweat (overshare, sorry).

I liked it, but at the regular price, I won’t be able to afford to go week after week.  Le sigh.

Do you ever work from home?  What do you fit into your day when you don’t have to go into the office?

What do you do when your race is snowed out?

Posted on by
2
So I was supposed to be running the Manhattan Half Marathon this morning, but because NYC got its first snow of the year, they made it a “non-competitive event” that you didn’t have to run to get credit for. If I was a good runner, or lived near Central Park, I would’ve bundled up and gotten out there to run 13.1 miles in the snow for fun…but I’m not a good runner.  I’m a bit on the lazy side, and getting that 9 + 1 credit for 2013 from the warmth of my own bed… well that’s just awesome.  So at 5:30, I went BACK to bed to the sound of plows pummeling down the street.  
At 9:30 I got up for real, made myself a delicious cup of coffee from the french press (this is my new favorite thing EVER), 
 made some toast with peanut butter, apple and cinnamon, and eased into the day.
 
Since I played the snow day card on this morning’s race I resolved to head to the gym.  I knocked out an hour long vinyasa class, ran a mile on the track and did a 20 minute plyometric workout in which I sweat like a (insert expletive here).  Yay sweat! 
This afternoon I’m headed to Cafe Glechik, a Ukrainian restaurant in Brighton Beach with my fabulous grad school classmates.  I’m sure I’ll have some fantastic food & friend photos for you later!
Do you still run outside when its snowing?  How bad does it have to be for you to call it a snow day?

Where are my post marathon blues?

Posted on by
Reply
I’d read so many articles about the post-marathon blues, I half expected to get them, but a week out from my big race, I’m feeling GOLDEN.  While I’m no expert, I think these factors have contributed to my post-race glow.

1) It was my first marathon and everyone I’ve seen this week has congratulated me.  Let’s be real folks, the praise for this race is a big part of what makes it worth the AGONIZING PAIN of running 26.2 miles.  I’m more proud that I survived the damn thing than anything else, plus I kept an average 10 min per mile pace which ain’t too shabby for a first marathon.  Additionally, a bunch of my running friends have told me how inspired they are to try a marathon or half, so now I can look forward to training with friends for future races! 

2) I’m super busy.  When I decided to run a marathon over the summer I had  a LOT more time than I’ve had the past few months.  My fall schedule went from packed to INSANE when I put “train for a marathon” into the mix with full time grad student, full time job, teaching an undergrad class and searching for a permanent full time position.  I haven’t felt the same empty space that many runners experience when training ends.  I’ve felt relief.  Enormous amounts of relief, a return to my social life, and can you say 8-9 hours of sleep every night?

3) The holidays.  Thanksgiving was hectic, but it’s still great to see friends and family, and the start of the Holiday season is a great distraction from well, anything.  I swapped multi hour runs for christmas music and baking.  Not a bad trade eh?

4) Other forms of fitness.  The last month of my marathon training I was DESPERATE to mix some new fitness routines into my running but I 1) didn’t have time to meet my necessary mileage and do other workouts and 2) wanted to avoid injury.  Now that I don’t have to hit 35-40 miles a week I can roll a spin class, strength training, yoga and dance back into my life.  Yay!! 

Do you get post-race blues, post race highs or both?

I Survived my First Marathon!!

Posted on by
Reply
I haven’t blogged in a few weeks, and frankly it’s because I was too overwhelmed to articulate all the things I’ve been doing.  With this morning’s race over, one of the biggest challenges is behind me and I feel ready to share again!

So the Marathon.  The First Ever Bucks County Marathon to be specific, consisted of 26.2 miles of trail along the Delaware Canal Tow Path in (where else) Bucks County, PA (this happens to be my homeland).  We kicked off a little after 9am in Yardley and plodded north to New Hope.  Let me just say, this is one of the most beautiful places in the country and I highly recommend a stint in a Bed and Breakfast to rejuvenate your soul. 

I’m in the weirdly short person in the blue hat and purple shirt.  I swear I’m not that small irl.

Miles 1-12 were easy peasy.  I carried along with a pace between 9 and 9:30 min miles and soaked up some lovely views. 

Miles 12-14 got a little bit warm and sunny, but weren’t bad, and then 14-16 was golden again…then I started getting tired…and sore…and really, really over running. 

My dad was Captain Camera today… also, told you it was beautiful.

I carried on pretty well until about mile 19.  I stopped, stretched a little and then carried on.  The last 7 miles were a mix of running, walking, and shuffling.  After mile 25, I decided to just power through whatever pain came my way. 

I wasn’t thrilled, but I finished strong and crossed the finish line under my goal of 4h30m with a final time of 4h25m38s and promptly found a patch of grass on which to plant my sore bum.

I did it.  I ran my first marathon.  I am a marathoner.  It hasn’t all sunk in quite yet, and thanks to a tip from my parents, I took a couple advil right after and I am feeling FRESH right now.  I imagine the crippling soreness tomorrow might help me process the event :) .

Thanks a million to my parents, who managed to make it to EVERY spectator spot along the course with signs, cowbells and words of encouragement, to all my friends who’ve reminded me that this is something to be proud of, to all the AMAZING bloggers whose tips, tricks and recipes I have shamelessly stolen and utilized, and to all you runners out there who inspire me each and every day.  We rock, and we really can accomplish anything. 

Now I’m going to sit on the couch with my purring heating pad :)

What are you proud of this week?

Holy Overwhelmed

Posted on by
1
The past few weeks have been crazy.  To be fair, much of my obligations have been self imposed and for fun (blowling with friends, going to see shows, marathon training runs), but since there isn’t much wiggle room in my schedule, thing’s have gotten a little…errr tight.  Given my need to mental free time, coupled with the demands of school and work and sleep, I have NOT been getting up before work to run.  I know.  It’s pretty bad.  My weekly mileage looks more like that of someone training for a 5K than a marathon.  Ooops.

Not to fear: Groupon has come to my rescue!  New York Sports Club offered a one month “passport” membership for $24 and I jumped on it.  There’s a NYSC in the building where I work, which means I can squeeze in a few miles and a shower during lunch or between work and class whenever I can spare the hour.  Awesome, back on track!  (I’ll give a full report on how it works out.)

Since I havevn’t been running enough, I’ve been dealing with my emotional and mental overwhelm-ed-ness in other, not so productive, but equally fabulous ways:

Retail therapy!  Who doesn’t feel great when they have on some cute new underthings and new makeup? 

Malbec!  I got halfway through that glass, put it in the fridge to finish tomorrow and went to bed.  Nothing like a little resveratrol for your health, right?

Expensive greek yogurt!  Umm, just yum, so much yum.  Plus, all I need to do is throw it in my lunchbag and breakfast is made.  Quick, delicious and full of much needed protein to start my day off right.

HUGH JACKMAN! This Friday, LIVE on Broadway, with these wonderful ladies (my grad school classmates, Melayna drew this on the board before our design class last night, mad skills, no?). 

What do you do when you just need to cut loose?