Monthly Archives: April 2012

Broad Street Week 10…and Race Week Starts

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Ok, so I did get a couple of training runs in last week…I just didn’t have time to blog them. Thursday morning I got 3.46 miles in and then Saturday I did 5.71. I just sort of went out Saturday with my garmin set for intervals that would give me 10-12 miles, but I promised myself I’d listen to my body, and that’s what I did. Right around 5 miles, my piriformis started hurting again. Now…should it do that Sunday in spite of all my stretching, I will push through. But on a training run I didn’t want to damage myself. So…as of week 10 the mileage is…

BSR training mileage: 133.07

And now we’re at race week.

And I’m sad to say that I’m getting less excited about it and more worried that this is going to turn into a giant cluster a la the RnR debacle at Las Vegas. The apparent disorganization is really terrifying.

First, we were initially told we would get our bib numbers and corral assignments and instructions mid-April. Then it moved to April 26. Then to April 30. And earlier today it was “by the end of the day”. Ok, granted it’s not quite midnight yet, but I seriously doubt anyone is in the office frantically sending out emails. I went to the actual website to see if there was any new information. The only thing there is that the deferral period has been extended yet again to May 2.

Yes, our bib numbers are on the confirmation page. But nothing about corral assignments or any kind of final race instructions.

And that’s not all. Last week I got an email that was sent to a lot of us who signed up for day-of pick-up. It stated that there had been some kind of error with the spreadsheet and we wouldn’t be getting the letters in the mail. Yet somehow we would be getting our card to indicate that we were running for free transit on the Broad Street Line? That actually did come today for whatever it’s worth. And on their facebook page, someone posted that they got an envelope and day-of information for someone else who’s not them.

I’m really sad at all this disorganization. I’ve previously heard nothing but good things about the race. I don’t know if they decided to massively expand the numbers allowed in this year or what’s going on. But it hardly seems like a race would have gotten this big and this popular if it’s always this disorganized.

I guess the best I can say right now is I’m hoping for the best – that I’ll be pleasantly surprised at how things go. But I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for the worst.

Blech.

A decision made!

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I haven’t said a lot about this before, but for the past few weeks I’ve been mulling over doing something.

I had originally said I’d save up any charity running for Boston. But the more I’ve looked into it, those teams are hard to get on and the money required is a lot.

My friend Rick and I had talked last summer about running Chicago together in 2013, and I was set for that. Then he decided to run it this year. I wasn’t sure about doing it this year, and I missed the window for signing up.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I got an email from the American Brain Tumor Association about the chance to run Chicago for them. And the wheels started turning.

You see, brain tumors are a cause close to my heart. The summer I turned 5, my best friend Philip and I took swimming lessons together. The day we were learning about jumping off the diving board, Philip got sick. Like, really sick. His mom dropped me off at home (we carpooled, and it was her week to drive) and took him to the doctor. They were almost immediately sent to the hospital where Philip was diagnosed with a brain tumor and admitted. In the short course of treatment, a blood clot developed and he suffered an aneurysm and died. Even though I was only 5, losing him completely rocked my world ad in a lot of ways shaped how I relate to people when I first meet them now – if can take me a while to warm-up in friendships, and I’m sure a lot of that is due to losing my best friend so early in life. At any rate, because of Philip, brain tumors are a cause close to my heart, and I pray that one day there will be a cure and no one else will have to live with or die from them.

And now I’ve got the chance to help make a difference!

Today, I made the commitment to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon for Team Breakthrough.

I’m excited and a little scared – I’ll have the Tower of Terror 10 miler just a week before. Eek!

If you want to support me, my fundraising page is here. I’d really appreciate anything you can give. No amount is too small.

And hey…you’ll get all kinds of training updates here too! :) Just a little bonus!

At any rate…it’s something I feel strongly about and am excited and proud to do. Thanks for your support, however you provide it!

Broad Street Week 9 Run 1 (and Stoopid Piriformis!!)

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It was a pretty slug-like week here in Beth-land. I started out doing as much resting as possible with some stretching thrown in there since it seemed my piriformis was acting up after the 10K.

I meant to get up and run on Thursday morning, but ended up waking up overly late and having to dash around to get ready for work. So before going to sleep Friday, I laid out all my stuff so I was 100% ready to go.

Thankfully I got up, talked myself into it, and did the run! I decided to try 3:30/1 run/walk intervals, and it went well! Maintained pace pretty well throughout and had an average pace of 12:42. Everything felt ok. I got back to my apartment and stretched out really well…but by the time I’d gotten to school, Mr. Piriformis was all ouchie again.

BOO!

One advantage of teaching in a special ed school is you’ve got OTs and PTs in-house. I talked with the PT about if there were any other stretches I could do beyond what I was doing, and he said that I’m already doing the only ones that really do anything. He did give me this half-ball thing that’s a litte squishy but has nubs on it to sit on when I’m sitting. I’m also doing a heating pad off and on at home, and ibuprofin to calm the inflammation.

AND foregoing this weekend’s planned 11-miler.

Super BOO!

I was fretting about it on ROTE yesterday, but they all said I was definitely doing the right thing. It’s far better to be (maybe) slightly undertrained (the maybe is in parentheses because I’ve already done a 10-miler and I’ve got next weekend to do another long run…one advantage of using a Half Marathon training plan for a 10 mile race) but healthy (or healthier) than to go out and push it and probably injure myself worse, thus having to possibly/probably DNS.

So today it’s all about sitting as much as I can, doing some stretching out, and bonding with the heating pad.

And hopefully I can run some next week.

BSR training mileage: 123.9

Broad Street Week 8 Run 2 – the Clare Fund Run 10K

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My training plan called for a 10K this weekend, and this one fit right in. It also let me start to explore some non-NYRR races.

It was a definite change – there were 148 people who participated in the 10K. Not sure how many in the 5K or the 1 mile walk. So teeny! Our timing chips were these foam things with a metal reader in them that had been put in numbered ziplock baggies. We were instructed to pin them on our shirts or shorts/skirts. Interesting.

We all headed to the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach where the start and finish were. There was a loop that made up the 5K, so those of us doing the 10K did that twice. Luckily I always carry my Nathan handheld (because the pouch is just right for my inhaler) because there were no water stations anywhere along the course.

The weather was supposed to be in the 50s at the start time and climbing through the 60s, but I’m pretty sure we were well into the 60s by start time and it just climbed. It was hot and no shade (shades of the out and back at WDW for sure). Also, my allergies have been acting up, so the inhaler ended up being used a couple of times. Still, I felt like I was starting out well. I might have taken off a little fast, but I thought I could hold that run pace. Well, with the heat and the wheeziness, I wasn’t able to fully hang on. So insert some more fast walking – I really try to keep my pace up walking when I have to drop to it in a run interval.

I knew approaching the turn to go around the course again that I was pretty far back in the crowd, but I wasn’t sure exactly where. I felt a little better when I passed one guy and saw a few people coming back towards me. I just kept reminding myself that DFL (Dead F-ing Last) is greater than DNF (Did Not Finish) and that is greater than DNS (Did Not Start) any day and kept on going.

What I am most proud of is that as I went around the dog leg and could see the turn around at the end of the boardwalk, I could also see that the volunteers who had been there the first time around weren’t there. I knew there was no timing mat to check. I did know that there was at least one person behind me, but I wasn’t sure how far. I admit, I did consider turning around when I knew that no one was coming towards me with a chip pinned onto them. But only for a moment. Because I knew that I’d feel completely down on myself if I did that – like a total fraud. So I committed to do it, no matter what my time was. So I went to the end of that boardwalk and did the whole course!

My official time was 1:16:06 – which is slower than my PR (which was set on hills) – and I finished 138 out of 148, but I’ll take it. I completed the whole course. I also learned that smaller races, while it’s nice not to have the hassle of the corrals and stuff, smaller races are tougher if you’re a back of the packer. I was running on my own much of the time, and it was harder to find someone to “chase”. As the morning went on, I also had to do a bit of weaving among people just out on the boardwalk for whatever. But all in all, I’m happy with the race and my results.

Oh yeah…after it was over, we went back to the bar where number and shirt pickup had been. We each got a drink “coupon” in our bags, and I’d been hoping they’d have their taps going as they have Magners on tap, but they didn’t. So I had probably the best tasting Heineken I’ve ever had. Funny how being a dirty, SWEATY, smelly princess – and add thirsty to that – makes even beer taste good. LOL. Also wonderful Irish “Soda Bread” Scones. YUMMY!

3 weeks and a day to Broad Street!

BSR training mileage: 120.28

Shiny shiny!!!

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RunDisney finally released the medal for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler!

Isn’t it pretty?

The elevator moves, and as the right side of the picture shows, there are GLOW IN THE DARK features!!!!

I cannot wait to get that around my neck!!!

Of course, that’s a little ways away. Specifically it’s…

Woohoo!!!

Of course I have a few things before that!

Like the Clare Fund Run 10K tomorrow. I’m ready I think. I’ve got my route there plotted out – definitely a challenge considering the MTA is doing their usual fuckery with the trains on the weekends. I’m hoping I can do well in it. My PR is 1:14:57, which is a 12:05/mile pace – that’s from the Mini 10K last June, which was in Central Park and included Harlem Hills. My NYRR bib pace, which was set at the Japan Day Run (4 miler), is 11:16. If I can hit somewhere between those two, I’ll be extremely happy. Given that it’s a flat course on the boardwalk, I’m hopeful! (For reference, at Coogan’s 5K, which also included hills (oh did it include hills), my average pace was 11:54. I could definitely live with that.) I still try to be in the camp of “have fun and finish”, but I’d really like to be able to get into a timed corral for Tower of Terror (I doubt I’d be able to move up for Broad Street), and a sub-12 minute mile would definitely do it. So that’s what I’m shooting for.

My leg is feeling better today, and I’ve toyed with maybe doing a gentle run later on, but I’m leaning towards stretching, maybe some yoga…just chilling for another day and really giving it my all tomorrow. I’ll update you with what I end up doing.

I did go over to the More/Fitness Women’s Half expo for a little while today. I remembered from last year that it was a bit better than the expo for the NYC Half (skipped that one this year) – though it’s still minute compared to Disney’s. I managed to get some nice samples – a Jenny Craig snack bar, which I think I’ll have pre-race tomorrow; some Playtex Sport tampons (sorry boys…they’re a necessity…well, some form of protection is); a little recipe book for grapefruit stuff that looks YUMMY; some Aveno products; and a couple of NoGii bars, but I had to be careful with those as out of the 5 samples they had out of the adult bars, 3 of them contained peanuts. You’d think that if they’re going to worry about gluten allergies they’d worry about peanut allergies as well, but apparently not. Even the “Chocolate Caramel” has peanuts in it. Not cool NoGlii. Not cool. (Though the berry paleo bar was good I must admit.) I doubt I’ll spend money on them and put it into Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s pocket, but it was interesting to try. I dropped my name in some drawings – not that I’ll win, but it’s nice to try. And tried the wheel at SkirtSports – where I got $5 off any purchase today, which would have been awesome if I could have bought anything. Oh well.

Now it’s just chill-out time. :)

Happy running!!

Broad Street Week 8 Run 1. And a URD today.

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Run 1 of week 8 was yesterday. 5.1 miles along the Hudson. In the wind – which should be a good practice in case there’s wind off the water on Saturday.

It most definitely wasn’t the easiest run I’ve had. I really struggled with myself to keep going sometimes, even finding myself thinking “Oh, I’ll just cut it short. I’ll be ok.” But I kept going. I had opted to listen to part 1 of Marathon Talk’s interview with Kathrine Switzer, and honestly that’s what kept me going. Even though I’m far slower than she was/is, listening to her talk about her struggle to bring women’s running into the public eye really put my little 5 mile run in perspective. I should be celebrating my body’s ability to run and the fact that I can enter races and just love running, even if I know I’ll never be in a position to win anything.

And so I kept going. I miscalculated the number of reps I’d need (should have gone with 15 rather than 12), and so I wasn’t at 5 when I hit the “cool down” period. I had a choice then. Leave the run at 4 miles and change or go on my own to get to 5. I opted for the second choice, and while I didn’t necessarily stick to my 3/1 ratio I didn’t simply walk to get to the 5 mile mark.

So overall, though it was a pretty rough run, I’m proud of myself for sticking it out and doing it.

And now we’re at today, where I’m taking an unscheduled rest day (URD). Sometime yesterday, my left…I’m guessing piriformis started screaming at me a bit. So today’s a day to rest it and stretch it gently (like I should have been doing all along but have been bad). Tomorrow will be the same as on Saturday I’ve got a 10K race – the Clare Fund Run. The nice thing is it’s along the beach so it should be relatively flat. Fingers crossed that things feel ok and it goes well.

BSR training mileage: 114.04

Broad Street Week 7 Run 3

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Yes, yes. This was Sunday. Just writing about it now. I’m being a bad blogger lately. I shall do my best to be better.

Anyway…

This run wasn’t as easy-peasy as the past ones have felt, but I think that’s a good thing. I need challenges and having to push through tougher runs. And it was good for me to get one in with less than ideal days leading into it. First off, I was tired. I’d been woken up early Friday morning thanks to tow trucks moving cars from the street and hadn’t managed to get a nap in. I worked at Disney Store from 5pm until 1am, then was back for opening Saturday (meaning at 9:45am) and worked until 5, then there was a party for my friends Megan and Blossom who got married from 7-10. And the eating and drinking at the party wasn’t exactly ideal run preparation. So when my alarm went off around 4am Sunday to get up, dressed, and ready to head out…well, it wasn’t all that fun.

But that’s ok because going into Broad Street I won’t necessarily have a lot of sleep – especially not with a 1:15-3:15am bus ride!

So I dragged my butt out of bed and got dressed. The trains were running ok this weekend, so I went to Prospect Park. I figured the hills would slow me down a bit, which would be good since this was to be a long SLOW run.

I started off and it was rough. I was doing my run intervals, but they were struggles. At first there weren’t too many people in the park, but as the morning advanced it got more populated. Also there were preparations going on for a tri – the bike transition area was in the park, so I got to see that get progressively set up. I did walk during one run interval on The Beast the third time around, but I’m not going to dwell too much on that. Things happen. :)

Somewhere along the line, things started feeling easier…and continued to do so to the point that the last few run intervals felt great and like I could have kept going. I didn’t though. I stuck with the training plan and ended with 10.7 miles.

Still feeling good about my training so far. Like I said, a kinda rough run every once in a while is a good thing. Especially when you can push through it.

BSR training mileage: 108.94

Broad Street Week 7 Run 2

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It was theoretically going to be nice to sleep in this morning. However, it ended up being nice to wake up with no alarm. Sleeping a bit later would have been nice, but I guess my body is used to being up at around 5:15. Well, that or one of the tow trucks that was towing cars whose owners didn’t bother to move them in spite of the signs up saying no parking Friday or Saturday. It never ceases to amaze me how people apparently live close enough to park but can’t hear all the racket the tow trucks make. Anyhoo…

I piddled around the apartment for a while, then decided to suck down a GU and go for my run. Beautiful if slightly chilly morning. Prospect Park was nice – not too busy for the most part. About halfway around a group came in all running (and chanting) in a pack. I didn’t have my contacts in, so I couldn’t see what it was, but it looked (and sounded) like possibly some ROTC group. Thankfully they were going the same way and were soon out of my sight. (Bad, bad memories of the ROTC boys from high school makes me want to avoid those packs at all costs.)

But I still had a great run. All my run intervals done. Finished strong. A textbook training run. I’m starting and ending them with strength, and I’m feeling good throughout the run. Can’t really ask for more. Although…

I’m really starting to hope I’m not peaking too soon for this. But I’m feeling really strong and prepared!

BSR training mileage: 98.24

Broad Street Week 7 Run 1

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aka Beth v. Harlem Hills

I do not really like the Harlem Hills. No matter which way you go you have a couple of not nice uphills to contend with – and the downhills don’t always make up for it. Still…running hills is good for me, and I know I get to deal with them for the Mini in June (and also the Pride Run later in that month I think), so I might as well get used to them.

I started out somewhere between Columbus Circle and 72nd. Turned left and started my warm-up. Had to dodge and watch for the tourists on bikes who have little to no control, so that in and of itself was a success. I started out determined to run my segments on the Harlem Hills, but early on I was seriously doubting that I’d be able to do it. After my warm-up it was a rough start. I felt draggy and like I just couldn’t get my stride no matter what. Still, I was determined to at least try. I buckled down and went for it.

And I did it!!!!!

All my run segments on Harlem Hills were done successfully!!! And I did all of my run segments afterwards too. Granted one of those was going down Cat Hill (the reward for going left is you get to go down Cat Hill), but still. I did it!

I’m pooped and about to crash now, but woohoo!!! Gotta celebrate, you know? 5.74 miles at 12:54 average pace. AND run segments on Harlem Hills! Hooray!!

BSR training mileage:94.28

Broad Street Week 6 Run 3

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Yes, yes. This happened on Sunday. And I’ve been crazed since with Disney Store and teaching and just flat out trying to rest. So ready for Spring Break – which starts at 3pm tomorrow!!!

Anyway… Saturday I’d thought I’d get my butt out there and run. However, three trips back to the apartment for things forgotten combined with the cold drizzle seemed like a sign. At least it made me think about it hard. While yes, I will run a race in cold rain or drizzle, I’ll also have warm and dry clothes to change into. Because of the hour I was leaving, I had nowhere to drop off my bag with warm, dry clothes, and that would have meant a couple of hours of running in the cold and drizzle or rain and THEN at least an hour’s ride on the subway, still damp/wet and cold. And given how I get chills as I cool down anyway, I figured I was asking for hypothermia.

So I moved the LSR to Sunday.

Got up early and was on my way to the subway just before 5. I’d already decided to run along the Hudson – yes it’s flat, but it’s convenient, and I know where my Starbucks points are once I’ve finished.

It was a good run! 9.58 miles! Not quite the paces I’ve been having, but still a good steady pace. And all the run intervals were done. Yay!!

Definitely feeling good about the big one (Broad Street) at this point. We’ll see what the race on the 14th looks like. :)

BSR training mileage: 88.54