Uptown Girl

Holy smokes!  I just looked and the last time I wrote here?  Over a month ago?!  Where the heck does time go?  I've been super busy with preparing for the big move.  As I mentioned, I am in the process of buying a place over in Brooklyn!  That's right - I'm moving to that far off land of Brooklyn:-p I'm super excited and now wait for my board interview then the check writing exercise also known as the closing;)    So it looks like sometime in mid/end of May I'll be a homeowner! Woohoo!

Running wise.  I signed up for marathon #6.  I'm heading back to the scene of my best marathon: Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC.  October 25.  I'm finally getting back into the running thing as I've just been swamped at work and dealing with the apartment stuff.  I also was burnt out from last fall.  But now it's time to go back in and get focused.  I don't think a time needs to be mentioned on where I'd like to be as I cross the finish line;-)

I ran a couple of races in the past few weeks: Mudders&Grunters and Cherry Blossom 10 miler.  I didn't race either. My time for Cherry Blossom was a respectable 8:19 pace.  I never felt like I was hurting and had someone come up to me at the end and say "Great race, thanks for pacing me."  See, even when I don't mean to I'm a pacemaster!

I've got the Brooklyn Half coming up on May 30th!  Hopefully it'll be a real short commute to Prospect Park;-)

Just figured I'd post since some of you may wonder how today went. I'm satisfied with the effort today but don't worry, I'm not done knocking on that 3:40:00 door. Just for now - I'll be back in 2009.

Oh and I've decided, if you're not into extreme weather running, give me a shout out before signing up for a race. I have a feeling now that I've covered extreme heat and cold that rain may be in the forecast next time...

I think not.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are confirmed as a registrant for the 2009 ING Miami Marathon or Half-Marathon!

Nothing wrong with a trip to Miami at the end of January:)

Chicago Weather:








This would be a beautiful thing!

Wow I've been a bad blogger.  Things have been pretty busy around here but here we go.  Last weekend I ran the Philadelphia Distance Run strictly as a marathon tune up.  Unlike 2 years ago, there would be no attempt at shattering the PR today.  One cool aspect of this race is my dad's friend has run the race every year since it's beginnings (31st year in a row!).  As such, he gets VIP treatment for himself and friends.  We were able to hang out in the area with the elites before the race and have our own personal baggage check!  Sweet!  I ran into nyflygirl at the corrals and AH was there too.  I told nyflygirl that she should finish way ahead of me today;-)  I was looking to run 1:45-1:47.  The national anthem started and all of a sudden it was like "wait, those aren't the words."  Whoops!  Finally we were off.

Immediately, within the first mile, my stomach started to give me issues.  I just thought it was nerves or something and just needed to run it out.  By mile 4 I was still feeling pretty uncomfortable but continued to ignnore it.  As we got to the Park Drive I started to look for a pit stop as I knew there was no way I could finish this half without stopping.  It was that BAD.  Finally just passed the 10K point I made my pit stop for 2.5 minutes or so.  I felt a bit better and knew I'd be able to finish the race.  Given the stopping, etc I made my new goal sub 1:50. 

I started back up and ran a very controlled 8:10-8:15 pace.  Final time: 1:49:21 with the pit stop.  Not too shabby.    The photo is from the Ben Franklin Parkway - just another walk in the park home;)  I've started to utilize the hat again as a repellent from sweat in the eyes.  I'm thinking that will happen for the marathon too.  Yellow cap anyone? ;-p

Since the last time I've also finished up two more 20 milers and a 55 mile week.  One twenty miler is shown on the left.  We ran from Columbus Circle, around the tip of Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge to Prospect Park, a lap of Prospect Park before heading back and ending on the LES.  As usual, a training season would not be complete with me wiping out somewhere.  I managed to wipe out on a sidewalk in Brooklyn and now sport a lovely wound on my left knee (good job by the photographer not to get that knee in the photo!).   It was nasty humid with essentially 100% humidity as when we got to the tip of Manhattan you could not see Brooklyn!  It was eerie as a cruise ship was coming in it looked like it was coming from nowhere out of the fog.  Surreal.  Finished that run in a shade under 3 hours. 

Yesterday, for my final long run I joined a group for the bridges run.  The first four miles I realized it was definitely going faster than I needed to be at.  I was running closer to MP then LSD pace! I dropped back a group and feel great today.  Ran another solid 7 today.

Two weeks to go.  Unbelievable.  So far the weather is good but we all know what happened last year in Scranton and Chicago (both turned into Steamtown Marathons literally!).

With the big day coming sooner than later, I've fallen into a bit of a lull the past couple weeks.  More from outside factors than me but it's kept me from some of my runs.  It may be a blessing in disguise as I feel fresh and ready to dive back into training for the last month and  a half.  I look at last night as day 1 as official back into training mode.  Just take a look...


This is the time I kept my watch on.  My route: I ran from Midtown down to the 14th street area to meet a friend.  Once he joined me we ended up doing 7.29 miles of tempo at 7:56 pace!  I felt pretty good and it was just what the Dr. ordered to get me back into the swing of things.  Overall I put in a little over 12 and that's after 15 on Sunday which felt like poo.  It's amazing how you can feel a zillion times better depending on the day! 

Today marked my first 20 miler of the season. With the urging of flygirl, I signed up as a pacer for the Long Training Run in the park. As it had been all week, the humidity was 70-80% and temps near 80. Gross. However, Mr. Sun stayed in his clouds!

I volunteered to lead the 9 min/mile group and was placed in the third tier of them. It actually worked out for the best as later I found out how the earlier groups became rabbits. How good am I? Try 8:59 pace for 20. Not bad, right? I felt really good and I'll be curious to check out my official stats on my computer (I'm in Philly right now). I wore my heart rate monitor and I have a feeling it never rose too high as I was able to maintain conversations the entire time.

Why are my pace skills for sale? I was asked by at least 5 people if I would be at the LTR in September as well! Who knew? I had promised that I would be able to get them to the finish line safely and those that did 20, we would be as fast as our slowest person. I'm really glad I had a good run as it erases last week's 13.1 crappy run.

With tomorrow's run I'll have put in 54 miles this week - crazy.

Oh, I think I can announce the true reason I was exhausted for the half. I was actually up in Providence, RI taking a certification exam for my job. I'm happy to announce that I've passed the exam and now have fun letters after my name (RCDD®:)

This past week I reached 50 MILES for the first time ever in my running career!  Crazy, right?  How did I do it? 11.25 miles on Tuesday, 3.75 miles on Wed morning, 11 miles Thursday, 18 on Saturday and another 7 last night.  How do I feel?  I actually feel good and healthy!   Definitely want to eat a house all the time now.  LOL.  I was with LS and MS for my big milestone.  Funny part is I think LS was more excited about it then I was;-) 

The 18 on Saturday certainly was a war of attrition.  It was brutal!  I started at 6:30am knowing that later in the day 95 degrees loomed!  You know how you start to run and you can tell it's not going to be a good one? That was this one.  Not good when it's 18 on the plate.   I actually felt pretty awful for the last 6-7 miles and that's with taking 2 gus.  Fortunately with the help of the group run I had a couple of great friends drag me through the last portion of the run.  I could tell how bad it got since my ankles/lower legs were caked in dirt which means I had issues picking up the legs.

Yesterday I volunteered for the NYC Triathlon!  What an amazing experience.  I was by the Swim/Bike Transition.  It was pretty amazing to watch people run along the west side path in BARE FEET to head out for a 25 mile bike ride.  It made me realize I never want to swim in the Hudson, EVER!  First, every person coming out was b**ching about the jellyfish whether they swam through a sea of them or got stung!  Yuck.  Second, some came out with a lovely Hudson River mustache. Yikes!  Although one of my friends suggested perhaps you get a facial from the oils in there?  Kind of like a mud bath?  Hmm, not sure how much I buy of that!  Anyway, I was in charge of making sure no one crossed over into the bike lane and vice versa.  After everyone left from the yellow transition, I filled Accelerade cups like it was my job (well, it was for the morning!).  I tried it again and I'm still not a fan!  Congrats to all that raced yesterday.  Looked for Josh out there but didn't see him - sounds like he was going too fast for me to see him!

This week marks a reduction of mileage to somewhat prepare for the 1/2 on Sunday morning.  I'm looking to get a good run in - and look at it as a preparation for October.  I'll keep an eye on the forecast but I'd love to shoot for 1:45.  We'll see how I feel as the week goes on.

Whoops, it's been a while again!  That's what happens in the summer with a hectic schedule including a marathon schedule which is ramping up big time these days.  Last week brought a 45 mile week and this week another one.  And next week? My FIRST 50 mile week!  It was supposed to be the following week but with the NYC half and a hectic work week I'd rather save  my low 37 mile week for that;-)

Anyway, this week I found myself down at the E 6th track for a tempo based workout.  I was scheduled for a 9 mile run with 4 miles at half marathon pace.  Perfect!  I wanted to shoot for 7:30 pace to keep it to a pace that wouldn't kill my legs but tough enough to push a bit.  See below and I'd say I succeeded!  Good to see the pacemaker is still in shape;-)

800m	3:45	7:30min/mile
800m	3:42	7:24min/mile
800m	3:45	7:30min/mile
800m	3:45	7:30min/mile
400m	1:50	7:20min/mile
400m	1:48	7:12min/mile
400m	1:47	7:08min/mile
200m	:53	7:07min/mile
200m	:47	6:19min/mile

The last 400 and 200s were spent running through horizontal wind blown rain.  That's an experience to say the least or as Coach Sponge says, a "sprinkle." It was fun but by the last 200m my feet felt like huge concrete blocks with the water.  White t-shirts would not be a good idea for a workout like this:)  I never went anywhere near my maximum effort for this workout which is extremely encouraging.  I'm thinking the next time to try closer to 7:15 pace and see how that feels. 

And in this week's "I never win anything" column, I actually did win something besides a running lottery!  A couple weeks ago my work was holding a raffle for Red Sox/Yankees tickets on July 6.  Since it was the holiday weekend, the tickets needed to be used by someone and why not:)  So, as we were having a get together to celebrate the office move in a couple weeks, a name was pulled out of a hat and what do you know?  It was me!  What an experience and even though the Red Sox lost (sorry, NY.  You will never get my support for your sports teams!), I had a great time.  I forgot to mention this came after a 15.5 mile run that day.  Whew.

I also found out yet another reason why to be weary about bridges.  I was driving back from NJ and using a GPS device.  I had thought it was smart and having us go around traffic.  However, I'm not sure how going over the Verazzano and getting home via Brooklyn is fast:-p  I got a good kick out of it and hey I got to drive part of the NYC Marathon course.  Damn, that bridge is steep!!  I also saw the waterfalls by the Brooklyn Bridge.

And in this week's odd occurrence in NYC:  I went to dinner with a couple of friends at a local diner.  After finishing (which included finding a bug in my salad! yuck!), 3 women in mini skirts were walking around handing out free cocktails.  I have no idea.  I'm just saying...

Coming up tomorrow?  17 miles on the agenda ending at Grimaldis in Brooklyn.  Mmmm....
91 days to go.  Who's counting?

Training like a mad woman I got peer pressured (not really;-)) to run the race yesterday.  A 5 miler run by the Front Runners New York running club as part of their celebration of Gay Pride week.  In an attempt to show our "pride,"  LS, MS and I dressed in the colors of the rainbow.  Well, at least we attempted to.  I looked more like a commercial for McDonalds or perhaps a sampling of ketchup and mustard?  You be the judge.

So the race.  With between 6 and 7 put in Friday afternoon and another run for Sunday, I knew this was not going to be an all out racing attempt for me.  The conditions were less than optimal (and that's being nice!).  It says it was 80 with 67% humidity at race start but I'd be willing to say it was warmer.  I ran to the start at the 102nd transverse and was dripping in sweat by then.  Yikes!  LS and MS met me by baggage and we all started together.  I figured this would be good so I wouldn't be tempted to race.  Plus, our fun colors went together!

So the race was pretty uneventful.  I never dipped into 7 min/mile pace and stopped for water whenever possible.  Fortunately, there were several people out there with hoses which was a touch of heaven.  The finish had ice pops waiting for us!  I think they should have this at every event:) 

Final time: 41:29 (8:17 pace) - Considering I had run the day before and a tough speed workout on Wednesday, not too shabby!  It was right where I wanted to be - I figured somewhere around 8-8:30 pace. 
We stayed around to wait to see if we would win the raffle for free airfare.  While none of us won that, it turns out the TRD women finished third in the race!  That meant $100 for the team!! YAY!  Had I not come out to run, we may not have won 3rd. Pretty darn exciting!

So this morning I woke up hoping to get my 14 miler in but I should have thought better knowing the tough workouts I had put in since last Sunday in hot/humid weather (trail half Sunday, speed work on Wed, and a race (even if it wasnt all out) on Sat).  My body caught up with me and my right quad cramped up badly after just a few miles:0(  Rather than risk making anything worse, I stopped and came home to rest it.   October is my goal, not getting miles in for the sake of miles.  I still managed 33 miles this week and did I learn anything? Yeah, the body is not invincible.  Tomorrow is another day:-D

So I'm sure everyone remembers those silly "Run Easy" ads Reebok had last year.  Well, it appears Pearl Izumi has a response: Run Easy is an Oxymoron.  I first saw the ad in The Running Times.  I like it.  It's geared towards more serious runners.  Notice, I'm not knocking anyone but just saying that by advertising in that kind of magazine you're drawing more serious runners than the go out and exercise type.  I like it. 

Anyway, week 1 of marathon training is in the books with just over 33 miles.  It proved to be super challenging with 100+ degree heat at the beginning of the week and super humid conditions by Sunday.  I feel good so far and I'm looking forward to 8 in the morning as long as mother nature plays nice!  The rest of the week plays out with a 10 spot on Thursday most likely and my long run being a trail half marathon up in West Chester on Sunday.  

Here's my response to the questions posted on nyflygirl's blog:

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

Hmm, 1998?  Non-existant.  I didn't run in high school.  I was a band geek and stuck to softball and basketball.  I played catcher if you can believe that!  One memorable play?  I blocked the plate with one of the biggest girls in the league barreling down the line.  I held onto the ball and she was out.  I was too...

2. What is your best and worst race experience?

Best- I would say either the Marine Corps Marathon in 2005 with my dad or the Philly Distance Run in 2006.  The Philly Distance Run because I was probably in the best condition in my life to this point and just ran a great race given the horrendously humid and hot conditions.  MCM is easy - my dad and I ran it together!

Worst- the Mini or Coogans 2006.  The Mini 2005 and 2007 - ugh.  Reason enough for me not to sign up this year!

3. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

Best-Listen to your body.  It knows when to say "no."
Worst-usually it's more of the issue of not taking the advice;-)

4. Why do you run?

I run to keep my sanity.  I run to keep from getting fat by sitting in front of a computer and sitting at meetings daily (you think I'm joking?:-p).  I run to eat.  I run to be happy.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

I came oh-so-close to moving out of New York winter of 2004.  After the NYC Marathon my training partner got pregnant and I felt very alone.  I also was dealing with the post marathon blues and didn't know very many people.  My first roommate was getting ready to move out of the city.  It was a very tough time for me and thanks to finding other crazy runners at TRD, here I am 3 1/2 years later still kicking and running strong!

Just 18 weeks til I give 26.2 a run for its money again.  18 short weeks which will contain runs of joy, pain, and everything in between.  We shall see where it leads but one can only hope mother nature is a bit more cooperative than this weekend.  94 yesterday, 95 today. See the graph below and you'll see the fun times NYC is having right now:


Seeing that the weather was less than ideal for racing, I "wussed" out of the mini 10k (aka race from hell) this year and did 5.25 miles with the team instead.  I forgot how rough it is to run in the three terrible "H's": Hazy, Hot and Humid (actually very similar conditions to last October 7).  It just zaps any energy you have and my face turns the color of a lobster.  No, not from sunburn but from the rigorous activity.  Not to worry though, no heatwave will stop me!  I stayed to watch the women running the 10K.  Saw a bunch of TRD teammates as well as flygirl (haha, yes I was smart to stay out of this one and cheer!) and 'chelle (looked way too happy given the weather!).  The times showed the weather as the elite women were even off their usual speedy selves.  Crazy to think a 32:30 10K is "off" pace...

Today I headed up to Rockefeller State Park with 3 others for a longish run.  Talk about survival of the fittest.  This was one tough run as within a mile it just felt really hard.  Yes, it's hilly and hard to run there but worse than usual.  The max ascent was 300 feet!  That definitely gets the heart pumping.  In total I got 7.99 miles in which is right on the money.  We also saw pheasants, turtles, vultures and pigs while running the trails. 


Total mileage: 34.7 miles for the week.  I'm ready for the Pfitzinger plan to begin.  Week 1 calls for 32 miles.  I think I'm going to wait til Tuesday morning to start and go for x-training tomorrow...my body needs a break from this heat!

5:30AM…do you know where your running shoes are?

Actually, more like, 4:15AM and are you really dopey enough to get out of bed to run a 5 mile race? The answer. Yes. It was the 50th anniversary run of the NYRR!

My alarm rang out the tunes from a CD and the cobwebs shook their way out of my head and it was time to see if it was worth the pain of getting out of bed. It was pitch black outside with the sound of rain drops hitting the trees in the courtyard behind my apartment building. My mind definitely was beginning to say “screw this, go back to bed.” However, thanks to the coercion of a friend ("Suck it up, Cupcake!”
Me: "ok this better be worth it " Friend: "Running almost always is!") off to Engineer’s Gate I went. Leaving at 4:45AM I ran the lonely streets of the UES. I saw one homeless man and one doorman along the entire path to Engineer’s Gate! This definitely made for the sounds of “you’re an idiot” and “you’re a moron” to creep through my brain. However, since I already had made the pain start by getting out of bed and now, soaking wet, no turning back now!

As I met JR and CM we jogged another 1.4 miles to Tavern on the Green where the race would start. It began to rain harder which furthered the questioning of coming out to run. I knew this was not going to be a “race” for me as I had flashbacks of Grete’s Great Gallop from two years ago. If you recall, this is when the calf issues started and kept me out of action for 6 months! My goal? Go for a jog and cross uninjured.

Upon arrival, I stood under a tree as it began to rain even harder. Awesome. I saw ST and it worked out great because she wanted to take it easy as well. As we headed to the corral, I ran into LD as well. Mary W. gave final instructions and it was time for the insanity to begin.

The race itself wasn’t all that exciting. ST and I ran together. Shortly after we began running I saw EV who was actually all out racing and she mentioned that KP was looking for us. Oy, more power to her. Once we found KP we settled into an 8:30-8:45 pace and chatted the entire 5 miles. It was great to catch up and I made sure to thank the volunteers. I’m amazed that there were people willing to stand in the rain, let alone run. Made me feel wussy:-p

Anyway, my time was 43:16 or something. 8:39 pace I think. No injuries and 9 miles later it was time to hit the shower and get ready for work. Right now I’m ready to conk out. I think I’ll sleep very well tonight.

Finally, I’ve done another silly thing. I signed up for a trail half marathon in a couple weeks. Good thing I have 13 miles on the schedule anyway. Yikes. No 10K mini for me this weekend. Especially happy now that they are calling for 90+ degree weather. YUCK!

Tuesday night I ran the Wall Street Run.  A 3 mile run through the narrow streets of the Financial District.  My gameplan?  Again, just run and see what happens.  I had been in Chicago the week before and had put a huge 9 mile week on the board.  Oy vey.  My day was hectic and not the best of days so this run is just what the doctor ordered. 

The start was by the World Financial Center with thousands of others ready to tackle the narrow, pothole, slick streets.  I got as far as I could up front but still managed to be stuck behind walkers!  As I started running, I remember looking around and thinking "wow, this is really cool."  We ran by the WTC site, Wall Street, FRB-NY, amongst other heavy hitters for our American economy.  As you can see from my Garmin, it went a bit nuts.  At least it didn't have me running in the water.  I've had that happen before.  However, rest assured I didn't run onto the FDR Drive.

I felt pretty good during the race and passed RK and flygirl along the way.  I even ran into an old TRD teammate, Marco.

My splits?  Your guess is as good as mine as the mileage from my watch said I had run 3.42 miles which is completely wrong.  It was a 3 mile race.  My time came to 22:13 (my watch said 20;06 which I knew was wrong!), or a 7:24 pace.  Not too bad.  I had to slow on the turns big time otherwise there would have been a down goes uptowngirl going on.

After the race, I headed to a local watering hole for some liquid refreshment.  Good time had by all and I think I'll make sure to include this run next year.  It's really a lot of fun to run around the streets down there.  It kind of reminded me like a scene from Pamplona and running with the bulls, only this time it was people!

140 days til Chicago!  Official training starts June 9th.  I'm bringing the Pfitzinger book to my parents with me to start studying the plan.  I signed up for the Philly Distance Run on September 21st.  I also signed up for the 5:30AM (yes, AM!) race on June 4th.  Needless to say, I may be dragging at work a bit that day.

My love for peanut butter is obvious.  It all started almost three years ago with the first run for food: peanut butter style! Today was the first run for food of the year but it wasn't supposed to be.  My original plan was to join a few people for a trail race up at Van Cordlandt this morning.  However, thanks to some late night festivities I decided better of that and opted for a long run with MS and LS down the West Side Highway.  Our destinations (oh yes, destinations!) were Peanut Butter and Co. and La Columbe Cafe.  LS wanted to go to La Columbe Cafe after hearing about the great coffee they serve there.  It's amazing what can make runners happy!

So my morning started off with a 1.3 mile jog warmup to get to Columbus Circle to meet up with everyone to hit the subway up to 190th street.  Excitement was in the air as MS had never run down the West Side Highway and both LS and MS were being initiated into the PB club! On our way up, we forgot to check the service advisories and naturally the A/C line stopped at 168th street so we got out and took the shuttle bus up to 186th street.  LS had warned us about the "mountain" to cross in order to get to the riverside path.  She was right but fortunately there was a resident willing to help us get around the mountain!  The photo is what the stairs look like to get up and over the mountain.  However, we found the elevator inside the subway station to get across.

The next obstacle was trying to figure out how to get down to the path by the water!  The squiggle on the map is us running around trying to figure that out!  After close to a mile of running we were off and running down the West Side Highway! Yay!  It was actually a pretty nice day as it was overcast and not terribly windy.  Shorts and a windbreaker did the trick with a hat. 

Along the way, we told stories of really anything that came to our heads.  That included our favorite Halloween costumes (I think LS as a taco wins!), what we're going to be for Halloween this year, strategizing for the ultimate milkshake competition after the MNR, "I don't joke about flashcards", etc.   Yes, long distance running definitely can be interesting.  I also found out LS has a great speech delivery.  She can make things totally funny that if anyone else said - so not funny!  Of course there was a bloody nose and near death experience.  All part of the long run experience, no?

Our final destination was supposed to be Canal Street first but since we ended up running a squiggly at the beginning we ended up running to Houston and heading for PB first.  I got the Cookie Dough Surprise, MS the Cinnamon Raisin, and LS the Elvis.  It was kind of like the old days when I ran with SL and AB down to PB.  LS and MS were not convinced that the sandwiches were filling and got milkshakes on top of the sandwich!  They realize how filling it is now;-) 

The coffee was fabulous at La Columbe.  It reminded me of being in Europe.  The coffee was no joke and I definitely will need to patronize that place again!

Overall, I put in close to 13 miles and felt great.  That put me at 31 miles for the week.  Back on track and the training continues.  My plan is to be hitting 30-35 a week going into marathon training in June.  I'm planning to follow the Pfitzinger 18/55 plan.  More on that as the time draws closer but I think this will help me run a better marathon and be better prepared to show 26.2 who's boss!

It's funny how you can be so busy but running seems to slide into the schedule somehow.  Over the past couple weeks I've been busy studying, working, and getting ready for that little trip over the Atlantic;-)  This time next week I'll be getting ready to spend a week and a half way from here.  YAY!

I didn't mention it previously but I bought a GPS watch, the Forerunner 305.  I hate first generation technology items and so I didn't go with the 405.  It also helps to get it for less than half the price <grin>.  Anyway, my reasoning for the watch?  I wanted to start training a little smarter over the upcoming year.  I think I tend to get too comfortable with pace and don't give it the little extra push occasionally.  I think it may go a long ways towards the goal.  I've had a ton of fun with it so far on runs (yay fun graphs and numbers!).  For example, today I ended up doing Harlem Hills twice.  See graphs below of the 6 mile loop then the improvised 3.35 mile loop.  That's elevation in green and heart rate in red...hmmm;-)  The 6 mile loop was much more consistant as the hills/declines even out.  The 3.35 mile loop contained 3 solid hills as we went from west to east.  Nasty, nasty, nasty...

The good news from the training is I seem to be getting back into my training zone.  This week I was back to the 8:45-8:50 zone which is where I want to be consistantly/  I've also been throwing in a few improvised pickups.  I'm hoping that I'm done hibernating for the winter:)  The ~10 mile run put me over 30 for the week! There's a lot of work to be done before October 12, 2008.

Anyway, last weekend I ran Coogans for the 3 year in a row.  Knowing that this is not my favorite course, I ended up staying back and running with my friend that is on her way back from a broken leg.  We averaged 8 min/mile for the first 2 and a 7:25 pace for the last 1.1.  Finished under an 8 min/pace.  Eh.  However, one has to love having a Guiness before 12pm.


What's next?  Why I'm glad you asked!  I'm heading to Europe next Sunday to visit AB and will be gone until the end of March.  How crazy is that?!  I'm thinking about doing the Broad Street Run in May but we'll see how April goes. 

I'll try to get more into updating this thing again.  Like my running, updates have been sporadic...

Still messing around with how to export the data but here's the speed fun for tonight:)



Numbers went like this:

Recovery	0.32 Mi	3:02	3:02	9:29
Interval	0.41 Mi	3:00	6:02	7:20
Recovery	0.27 Mi	3:00	9:02	11:07
Interval	0.41 Mi	3:00	12:02	7:20
Recovery	0.27 Mi	2:57	14:59	10:56
Interval	0.41 Mi	2:59	17:58	7:17
Recovery	0.27Mi	2:59	20:57	11:03
Interval	0.44 Mi	3:00	23:57	6:50
Recovery	0.27 Mi	3:01	26:58	11:11
Interval	0.42 Mi	3:00	29:58	7:09
Recovery	0.29 Mi	2:59	32:57	10:18
Interval	0.41 Mi	3:00	35:57	7:20
Recovery	339.4 m	2:00	37:57	9:30

Total: 2.5 hard/1.9 easy + another 3 or so miles to the workout and home.


I'm pretty happy with the effort considering I ran a race on Saturday, ran another 55 minutes on the deadmill Sunday (including 8min or under for the last 20 mins). I was hoping for sub 7:30s so the 7:20ish pace for the most part works for me in Central Park. Coogans will be another tune up for the spring with my big goal being Broad Street it appears: May 4.

As advertised in the last post, I will be running the Chicago Marathon this fall.  My original plan was to run Philly next November.  However, peer pressure is a female dog sometimes;-)  Instead I'm heading to the midwest with several other teammates!  Hopefully coming home with a BQ this time.  If it's 90 degrees again, well the world has much worse things to worry about than a marathon!!!! 

I also saw Spirit of the Marathon on January 24th!  Yet another sign that I should run Chicago!  I thought it was very well done and made me VERY excited to get back out there.  I've definitely hit a rough patch since Steamtown.

It's been said that life has a funny mix of work, social life, living arrangements.  Generally one never has all of those aligned at the same time.  Guess what? I definitely have not!  Work has OWNED me.  Social? Suffered.  I think all the stars are aligned right now to throw it all on me at the same time.  Boo.  Time to get some semblance of balance back...

Anyway, I'm finally getting back into a running/fitness mode again.  I signed up for a couple of races in the meantime - including the Cherry Tree Relay in a couple of weeks!  I'll also be taking part in Mudders & Grunters this year.  Let's just say they don't lie about the mud part;-) No more excuses it's time to get back.  I've been doing weights 2x a week and getting my running back to 25-30 mpw.  This included getting a 6 mile run on the bridle path today including some hillwork.  On the hills, I ran harder.  No excuses - just do it!

You may ask who I'm rooting for in the SB?  GO COMMERCIALS!  And I have cookies 'n cream cupcakes in support of the calorie rich tradition of Superbowl Sunday!  Yippee!

I've been in a not-feeling-like running state lately.  I'm sure most of that is due to the insanity of the holiday season and too much work, not enough play!  I think I need to figure out what I want to do next.  I mean it's nice to run but I feel like I have no goal to work towards and I have no motivation.  So what do I want to do? I don't know and I guess I need to think about it.  2008 is around the corner and even if the goal changes I'd like to have something.  It's been 2 1/2 months since the marathon so it's time to get back on the wagon.  Perhaps a half marathon sometime?  Concentrate on some speedwork?  I don't know. 

Merry Christmas everyone!  I'm loving today as I've been able to be lazier than lazy - if that's possible?  Now, if you'll excuse me I have to attend to my Washington Apple Bread with Streusel topping;-) 

Whoops, I've neglected the blog again! Darn life taking over again;) Hope everyone had a food friendly (or is that toxic?) Thanksgiving. As for me, I'm back in PA spending some time with the folks. I always forget how funny my dad can be. Case in point:

Yesterday they have the annual Turkey Trot race a short drive away. Since it's my dad's neck of the woods, he took care of when/where/etc. The plan was to just jog it and just do it for spirit. My calf acted up just slightly enough on Tuesday to make me a little hesitant to run hard on it and my dad's hamstring has been bothering him. So we decided we just wanted to run together and do the 5 miles at around 9 minute pace. It's about time to leave and my dad can't find his key to the car! He looks everywhere: the counter, the jacket he thought he wore the night before, in drawers, etc. No where to be found! It's past 8:50 at this point and my mom says to take her car. Off we go and that's when I realize "hey it's 8:57am, doesn't the race start at 9?" My dad at this point goes "yeah but the clock is wrong." No it isn't! So, fortunately we didn't pre-register, and we turned the car around to hit the road by foot. Turns out my dad's key was in the jacket he HAD worn the night before. Go figure.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we ran through the state park and the trees were in all their color glory. It was simply amazing to run through the colors and just smell fall. The only thing missing was the weather but hey I didn't mind the 60 degree weather. I'll take it:) All in all - we covered about 6 miles at about 9 minute pace which for this park is cookin'! There are portions that you go through 1/2 mile uphills:) My dad and I loved every minute of it though:) It made me thankful to still have a dad to run with when I come visit! He's already planning to be out there with me for the Broad Street Run in May and Philly Distance Run in September. I told him he can't slow me down though or I'll see him at the finish line;0) He laughed!

Happy Black Friday!