Monthly Archives: February 2011

The mojo appears to be back!

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I’ll admit it…I had to fight with myself to do my running workout today. Had it been pretty, I likely would have gone back to the “scene of the crime” so to speak and either psyched myself out or just done it. But it was gross out, so I opted for the gym and the treadmill.

And I figured what the hell…let’s just go for it with inclines. So run intervals 1-8 were done at inclines anywhere from 2-6!! Speed for 1-7 was 4.8mph and for 8 was 4.9mph. Then interval 9 I dropped it to 1.5 incline but bumped it to 5mph.

And I made it!!!

Of course I’m now pooped and looking at going to bed earlier than I’ve done really since I was a little kid. But i’m thinking sleep will be good.

A really good run…

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No, I didn’t go for a run today. This is more one of those thoughtful posts.

I went to see Billy Elliot today. It was part of my reward to myself from the Disney World Half. I’ve seen it before (in NYC, in London and in Chicago), but when the cast it on it’s a great show and the music for the most part is great.

Well, there’s one scene when Billy’s at his audition for the Royal Ballet School and “the voice” asks him if he can say what he feels when he dances. The show being a musical, of course this leads into a song. It’s powerful enough on its own (and allows Billy to do the dance he’s ostensibly developed for the audition), and most people do only think of it in terms of relating to dancing.

But listening to it today it hit me. It perfectly describes a great, or even a really good run. At least for me. How I feel when I’m in it.

So… Elton John’s lyrics for “Electricity”…

I can’t really explain it,
I haven’t got the words
It’s a feeling that you can’t control
I suppose it’s like forgetting, losing who you are
And at the same time something makes you whole
It’s like that there’s a music playing in your ear
And I’m listening, and I’m listening and then I disappear

And then I feel a change
Like a fire deep inside
Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide
And suddenly I’m flying, flying like a bird
Like electricity, electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I’m free I’m free

It’s a bit like being angry,
it’s a bit like being scared
Confused and all mixed up and mad as hell
It’s like when you’ve been crying
And you’re empty and you’re full
I don’t know what it is, it’s hard to tell
It’s like that there’s a music playing in your ear
But the music is impossible, impossible to hear
But then I feel it move me
Like a burning deep inside
Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide
And suddenly I’m flying, flying like a bird
Like electricity, electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I’m free I’m free
Electricity, sparks inside of me
And I’m free, I’m free
I’m free. Free I’m free

Hopefully that’s how I’ll feel in the NYC Half in three weeks!!

Still here, still training!

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I am still here! Life has gotten in the way of posting if not of training! :D

I did get a run in while in Florence! It was gorgeous!! I’d planned an hour or so but cut it at 30 minutes because those cobblestones while pretty will really do a number on your legs. I definitely got in foot time on the rest of the trip though! Including two days of massive steps – 487 one day and 463 another. That was climbing the campanille and the duomo respectively. VERY worth it, but definitely a challenge!!

Today was the Al Gordon Classic 4-miler. And I had a bad feeling about it from the start. Nothing specific…I was just grumpy and whiny. Then while I was getting ready, I tweaked my mid-back while I was pulling on my compression tights. Ouch! Almost fell on the stairs to the subway. But I made it there in one piece. They seem to be going to B-tags (where the chip is on the bib) with NYRR which does mean you don’t have to worry about forgetting to put the D-tag on your shoe, but it also means that if you put the bib on your shirt you cannot layer as it cannot be covered. And the ability to layer today would have been nice. Also it makes wearing a SpiBelt a bit of a challenge as you’re not supposed to have anything over the bib – so you’d have to put your bib way up over your chest (totally awk for those of us with boobs). I did it without the belt today, but that meant that I didn’t have my inhaler. And while I’ve not been needing it as much lately, today of course I needed it. So I ended up race-walking almost the whole thing. I did consider just stopping a few times, especially when I was passing the pathway to our baggage (also considered just taking the time penalty and running up there to get the inhaler, which I probably should have done), but at the same time, I knew I’d be really mad at myself if I didn’t finish and wasn’t injured.

I’m thinking in the future I’ll either pin the B-tag to my pants or I’ll thread the SpiBelt under the bib. NOT running without it again that’s for sure!!

So I ended up with a time of 54:55. Which sucks, but I finished it under less than ideal circumstances. Hopefully I’ve gotten the crappy race out of my system for a while!!

Monday it’s back on the training wagon full-steam!

Yay for a breakthrough run!!

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This week officially marked the start of formal training for the NYC Half (meaning I’m done with the recovery weeks after the WDW Half and jumping back into the training plan)! And it didn’t start great – Monday I felt like death warmed over (yeah…probably shouldn’t have fully run that race on Sunday…) so I skipped my run. Did yoga Tuesday and Wednesday. Then there was all kinds of fun at the doctor’s office on Thursday (he’s a jerk…seriously, who says “Oh, you have stretch marks here.” and follows that up with proving he’s not listening to a word you’re saying with this exchange: “Hmm. Do you wear sunscreen?” “Yes. I burn way too easily not to.” “You really need to, you know. You have almost no pigment in your skin.”) – I’ve about decided that other than GYN stuff (and maybe for that too, but I really have had only good experiences with that department) I’m done with Callen-Lorde. Both doctors I’ve seen have been utter and total assholes. It’s just such a pain to find a new one. Ugh! But I digress… So Thursday was a wash other than wandering around Union Square waiting on another scrip to get filled (yeah, there was Duane Reade fail as well…the woman who dropped her scrip off directly before me (she was at the window when I got there) was able to get her scrip a good 20 minutes before me, which is ABSURD). Yesterday I hit the gym for 12 reps of 3:1 and it went well.

But today???

There are these things called “breakthrough runs”. Where you (duh) break through some kind of barrier – distance, time, etc. I haven’t really had one of those before. I mean, I’ve had some great runs, but never one that I’d call a breakthrough run.

Well…I finally had one today! Legit! I went over to Prospect Park to run:walk for 2 hours (plus a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down) at a 3:2 interval (24 reps). If I looked at my training plan, it was 7-9 miles, but while training for the NYC Half, I’m looking more at foot time than distance. So two hours, and whatever the mileage turned out to be, so be it.

Well…at the end of 2 hours and 10 minutes, my distance was 10.31 miles!!! But that’s not the breakthrough!

Well, there were two really.

The first was that I ran every second of every one of my run intervals!!! I didn’t drop to a walk in any of them!! Now, granted, my pace was a bit slower than my shorter run paces and for sure my race pace, but still, I ran them!! The second, and in my mind bigger, breakthrough was that those run intervals included time either going from flat to The Beast (that evil hill in Prospect Park) or starting while on The Beast. INCLUDING a run segment during rep 22 and restarting running rep 23 (out of 24) while on the hill!!!! I’m so proud of myself!!!

And as I’m looking to the NYC Half in 5 weeks, that is a HUGE confidence boost, especially since the last miles there are flat to slightly downhill!! And especially as my pace without pushing hard was still a minute and change under the minimum requirement for the NYC Half!!

I am pumped!!! :D

(And this was day 43 of the 100 Day Challenge! I’ve done at least 30 minutes of something every day so far!)

Sliding into a new PR!! (My Gridiron Classic 4M race report)

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Well, on Wednesday I started feeling a tickle in my throat and fighting a cough. Thursday it seemed a little like it might go away, but no go. So Friday I invested in some Nyquil and Dayquil. Got some good sleep Friday night and felt good yesterday…then last night was awakened from a Nyquil coma a couple of hours after falling asleep and never really felt oriented after that. Sleep, yes, but even when I woke up I had that head swimming feeling whenever I moved my head.

So I had no clue what the Gridiron was going to bring. Honestly I thought about just starting it and then leaving – I could get my Marathon Qualifier in (what they do when they know you participated but they get no finish time for you) and come home to rest. But my pride wouldn’t let me do that. I decided to give it what I had to give and see what happened.

Semi-skated to the porta-johns when I got there, then chatted with running club teammates for a while and cheered as one of our women threw the football for 69 yards!!! (Yep, she beat some of the MEN participating in the football throw.) Finally decided to strip to race gear, drop off the bag, and head to my purple (slowest – but hey, I’m doing it!) corral.

THAT was an adventure. The main road was mostly ok ~ we had been warned to be careful of the edges, especially the inside edges as there was some black ice there. The park service had done as good a job as they could clearing the main roads, but the rain yesterday and above freezing temps caused some melting that made the areas next to the snowbanks pretty slippery. But the inner paths to GET to the main roads were a nightmare! I ended up going the long way around just to avoid skating (and probably falling) over some ice that pre-rain probably would have been walkable but the rain had washed away the slight bumps that would help with traction so it was like a rough skating rink – at least an inch or more thick in places.

Finally made it to my corral and chatted with some women around me – two of whom are just coming back from injuries. At around 9:07 we started moving, but we had no clue if it was the corral collapse or if the race had started. We got about halfway to the starting line and saw that yes, it had started but because the speakers were set up facing the starting line, we didn’t hear anything. NABD as we were shuffling along at that point.

I got to the starting line, hit my Garmin and headed off. Once I got going, I felt amazingly good and was VERY proud that I started and completed a running interval on Cat Hill. I managed to keep up a good running pace for the first mile and a half or so, and then the fatigue of this cold or whatever it is started to set in and I started walking a little more. I also did have in mind that I’d like to finish strong if possible, so conserving was a smart move. By this point, I was thinking “finish” and that just finishing would be a victory.

I opted for the Packer’s chute – happened to be on the inner side of the course anyway, so that worked out. (In a fit of cuteness, they divided the course on the 102nd St. transverse and you were to pick your favorite team. I went with the political statement of not supporting a team captained by someone multiply accused of sexual assault, but that’s neither here nor there.)

Once I hit the Delacorte Theatre, I knew I could finish, and decided to push. I was going along at a good clip and passed some running club teammates who cheered me on (and later said I looked really strong). I could see the finish line and wanted to run all the way in, but I started my push slightly too early, and the hill we had to run up messed with my mind. I opted to walk for a few yards before running to the line just so I wouldn’t trip and fall, which felt like a possibility. I did cross the line running.

Per my Garmin, I covered 4.42 miles in 47:46 – an average pace of 10:49 . I’m willing to bet that mileage is close to accurate because I avoided the icy tangents like the plague.

My official time per NYRR was 47:32 – which was a 13 second PR over my Jingle Jog performance which gave me a baseline of 47:45! Since they base their time off the assumption that you hit all the tangents, their pace for me was slower (11:53), but that’s ok. It lowered my bib pace by 3 seconds. Woo!

Overall I felt good about it. I really couldn’t have asked my body to do much more than it did today. I’ll look forward to the next race – the Al Gordon Classic – which is 4 miles over the same course as the Jingle Jog. We’ll see what I can do then.

But 13 second PR with icy tangents and fighting a cold? I’ll take it!

Still working it!!

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I’m in the last week of “recovery” from the Disney Half, and feeling good and strong.

Yesterday I did 8 reps of 4:1 on the treadmill. I had to walk a little in the central intervals, but I made myself run the last one – that whole finish fast and strong thing Koach Kelsey talked about at the women’s team meeting last week. So I feel good about that.

Today I combined Bob’s Butt and Balance workout with his Yoga Abs workout. So my core and lower body are definitely fired up.

Tomorrow is Wild Women’s Wednesday at Front Runners – but we’re supposed to have an ice storm all night tonight…so who knows what Central Park will be like tomorrow. I’ll see. Technically it’s an SRD for me, but I’ve been known to swap the Wednesday SRD and the Thursday run day. We’ll see what the weather is and what I’m feeling. I may just go for dinner…but we’ll see. It’s a really late dinner even with a workout, so without… IDK.

Sunday’s the Gridiron Classic – a 4 miler. I’m hoping to improve on my baseline, but we’ll see what happens. I’m not going to get distraught if I don’t PR as long as I’m close. Once I’m done with the NYC Half, I’m going to work on this whole “race pace” and “training pace” differential thing. Because right now? They’re pretty darn close to each other. Hee?

Anyway…I’ve done 32 days of the 100 Days Challenge so far!!

Oh…have I mentioned that I’ve signed up as a runner in the EiF Revlon Run For Women? It’s April 30. It’s a 5K. I’ve done it before, but as a walker. I’m really excited to do it as a runner!! IF – and please don’t feel obligated to do so – but IF you would like to sponsor me, you can visit my page. Thanks!