Category Archives: broad street

2012 Blue Cross Broad Street Run

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So yesterday was finally it! The Blue Cross Broad Street Run was here!!! All of my training was about to come to a head.

Goals…
Going in, my base goal was the same as for any race I run: finish and have fun. My “I can live with it” goal was to finish in 2:15. My “reach goal” was to break 2 hours – that was big as it would put me with an average pace of sub-12 minute miles, something I hadn’t yet done in a race longer than 4 miles.

The set-up…
In a “crazy runner” effort to save money, I made the decision to pay the $20 fee for day-of pick-up and take MegaBus down early Sunday morning. Well, the one early morning option was scheduled to leave NYC at 1:15am and get to Philly at 3:15am. Not exactly ideal, but by doing that and skipping an overnight stay, I essentially gave myself at least one race registration fee. So I did it. The bus was a little late leaving, so it was a little closer to 4am when we got to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. I went in and got changed into my running gear – pink SkirtSports running skirt and my Team Breakthrough tech shirt, socks and shoes – then wandered to find a table to sit and read for a little. My plan was to start walking towards the subway’s Broad Street Line so that I’d get there at 5 or a little after. (I’d been given a card to show for free admission to the line since I wouldn’t have my bib yet.) Packet pick-up was to start at 6, and I wanted to be there early given how chaotic some other things had seemed through the whole preparation process. Well, I managed to hit one of the express trains, so I was there WAY early. One other woman was with me, so we hung out until pick-up opened. I ate my Luna bar and drank my Starbucks double shot while we waited. Got my bib and got it all situated, then got my bag ready to check. Took it to a school bus where I was given 2 wristbands – one for me and one for the bag. The bag was then put on a school bus in a seat based on its number. Then I headed to the Pink corral, which was way in the back. I think I’d read somewhere that there was going to be a certain time to enter the corrals, but people seemed to be going in anyway. I didn’t see anyone really checking bibs going in, but then again, being in the last corral it’s not like we were in a corral too fast for us. (Well, unless you shouldn’t have been in the race with a 15 minute mile pace requirement anyway.) I chatted with a few different people – funny how a runDisney mylar blanket makes a good conversation starter! – and nibbled on a ginger chew. My friend Johnny from FRNY called me and I went over and chatted with him and his partner for a few minutes before they headed to their corral. It was almost time!!

The race…
The race was scheduled to start at 8:30, and I can only assume it did. There were no speakers in the back corrals, so I have no clue what all happened before the race. The green corral – which was kind of in the middle – had been staged on a side street, and once they moved out and up we in the back three (gray, yellow and pink) finally started moving forward. And a little after 9 we finally got started. This was by far the largest race I’ve been in – around 40,000 people were registered – but I never really felt crowded in. Sure there were some places that got narrower than others, but even there I never felt pressure to go faster or slow down. Crowd support was great, even for us in the back. People were out on their porches or sidewalks cheering us – even church congregations were on their church steps! It’s a net downhill course, but there are still some ups, some of which are pretty long and gradual. Still, I kept plugging on with my 4/1 run/walk interval. On the longest uphill, I did walk a little more just to try and conserve some energy. The fluid stops weren’t as bad as I feared on spotting the first few tables at the first one. As long as you went towards the back tables you were fine. Those who stopped at the front tables were having to stop and wait for water to be poured. As I got to the Mile 9 marker, I looked at my garmin to see where I was with time, and after some quick mental calculations I realized that I could make my A goal, even if it was just barely. I’d have to push, and I didn’t have a lot left as I’d pushed hard through the rest of the race as well. I’d done what I could to stay cool (it wasn’t hot hot, but it wasn’t cool either once we got going) – dumping water on my arms, head and back – but there was still a toll taken there as well. So Mile 9…time to buckle down. And the biggest fights my brain and heart had with my legs. Every time I’d drop to a walk, my brain was screaming “Come on! Move!!” The people cheering us in definitely helped…but it was hard. When I saw the 1/2 mile mark, I checked the garmin again and knew I’d have to run it in if I wanted to break 2 hours. And run it in pretty hard. I just kept moving forward, pushing hard so I’d know that I’d done everything I possibly could. I got across the finish and beeped through the unused segments to end the workout. As I was walking towards the medals, I got up the courage to look at the history and find my time, knowing that there would be some difference as the beeping through took a little longer than usual.

1:59:43 on the garmin!!!!!

I knew at that point – especially having been on the front row of the Pink corral and having started the garmin a split second after crossing the mat – that I’d done it. I’d broken 2 hours!! I was totally spent, but thrilled.

After…
I got my t-shirt and my food bag, then got my bag from the bus and headed to the line for the shuttle bus to the subway. That was kinda crazy, made moreso with Philadelphia having a team in playoffs with a game yesterday afternoon. Still, I managed to get back to the 30th St Station and get changed into clean, dry clothes. Then I went across the street to Slainte for cheese fries and a black velvet. I should have probably gone with the burger or something with a little more protein as later on while I was wandering around being tired and just feeling off after deciding I’d try to walk to Independence Hall…which was further than I’d thought from the map. I got tired and the little distance back to the station just kept growing. I finally got back and got some diet coke…and a donut to get some sugar (the protein thing hadn’t occurred to me yet). Then headed out for the line for the bus back.

Overall…
I had a great time! I would like to do the race again…but we’ll see what they end up doing with registration next year. I do think I’d probably splurge on a hotel room the next time. It was rough being on so little sleep…moreso afterwards than before or during. But I had a great time!!

Oh, oh OH!!!!! I forgot the most important part!! Official time 1:59:21 for an 11:56 pace! First time at a race longer than 4 miles that I’ve gone under 12 minute miles average!!

Broad Street Race Week

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Finally got all the emails I was supposed to. Hooray!

I’m in the Pink (read: LAST) corral. Bib number 35199. For those who are facebook friends or who follow me on twitter, updates will be posted there. I’l obviously do a race report Sunday evening, but if you want to track me, go to the race site and click on runner tracking. I’m Elizabeth Strickland. :)

I’m still excited about the race and cautiously optimistic that the apparent disorganization is solely a behind the scenes kind of thing. Of course, I’m also learning from friends’ experiences at races that were disorganized and chaotic (yes, I’m referring to RnR Vegas again) and carrying my own water and stuff. Better to be prepared and learn that I don’t need it than not have it and do.

I just made my list of what all I need to have in my bag for my bus ride in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I don’t want to forget anything. And as I don’t plan to travel in my race stuff I need to make sure it’s all there. I’m still deciding on my outfit. I’m about 95% sure I’m going to wear my pink flowered skirt and my brand new Team Breakthrough tech shirt…but that could change. Also deciding if I want to run in my Ravennas or my Defyance. I’ve done long runs in both during training and am ok with either. So as long as one complete pair makes it into the bag, I’ll be good.

The only little glitch so far is I can’t seem to find my phiten necklace ANYWHERE! I’ve turned the apartment upside down and cannot locate it. My only guess at this point is I wore it to Disney one day and put it in my locker outside of a bag and just forgot it. I doubt it would have been turned in, so unless it shows before Friday, I’ll be hitting Paragon for a new one. It may just be psychological, but I DO feel more energetic when I’m wearing it. And for a 10 mile race, I need all the energy I can get!

I’m going to get in bed here in a moment and try to get some sleep. I’ll see what I feel like in the morning and if I’m feeling ok, I’ll go do 2 or 3 miles just to shake out the legs. Don’t want to do anything to damage myself, but a shakeout run shouldn’t hurt.

Race day is almost here! EEE!!!

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.

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