I’m sure you’re all wondering how the race went. Well I’ll cut to the best part: I totally kicked Queens’ butt! Guess that cupcake/pasta/beer method worked! Here’s how it all went down:
I woke up at 5am (with the new hat in tow) and took a cab with some other runners out to Queens. I got there around 6 and met up with my friends in the really long port-a-potty lines. We lined up at the start line for the 7am start. I always get excited right before the start of a race, but I was trying to keep it in check. It was already warm and I wasn’t expecting to perform that well. Around 7:15, we were off!
I ran the first mile in about 10:40 and I was already getting a little discouraged. The next mile was about 10:15. This was a little better, but it still wasn’t fast enough if I wanted to meet my goal time. At mile 6, I was still behind my goal time. I told myself to relax, and whatever happened would happen. Then something magical happened. As soon as I relaxed, I started going faster. Mile 6 to 7 was my fastest mile. When I reached mile 7, I realized I was on track to set a personal record (PR). I checked and rechecked my watch to make sure. I was magically a few seconds under my goal time. Now that the PR seemed like a possibility, I wanted to give myself a little wiggle room. So I continued on, remembering to relax and have fun. That seemed to be the key
I started feeling the heaviness in my legs around mile 9. I was still ahead of my goal time, and by now I was about a minute or two ahead, so I figured I could take a walking break at the next water station. I was also pretty tired of accidentally pouring Gatorade up my nose. Running and drinking isn’t that easy, so a walk break seemed like a good idea. After my little break, I felt renewed and kept going.
At this point in the race I was passing a lot of people. I just have a cheap watch from K-mart so it doesn’t give me my pace per mile. I have to do the math at each mile to figure it out. Since I was getting tired, I didn’t want to do math. I figured if I just kept passing people, I was probably running about the right pace.
By the time I reached mile 12, I knew I had it. I had 14 minutes to reach the finish line and still have a PR. I started to tear up, then hyperventilate. Just breathe and keep it together, Lisa! Can’t lose it now! The last mile had the most spectator support and was a lot of fun. I pushed myself to the end and finished in 2:07:33, two and a half minutes ahead of my previous best. I felt pretty freaking awesome.
At the end, I found my friend Carolann (she PR’d too!) and we decided to go play in the unisphere fountain.
Source
This was the best part of the whole morning. I jumped in in my sports bra and splashed around. It felt like I was a kid at a water park. It was so cold and wonderful. The water was up to my ankles and soaked my feet. We were playing in the fountain and saw our friend Robyn coming around the corner and we cheered her on from the fountain. It was a really good way to celebrate a great race.
All in all, this was a better race than I expected. It wasn’t as hot as I was planning for and there were tons of misting stations (basically GIANT hoses) to cool us off. The course didn’t have great spectator support, but I actually really like the park and the course wasn’t bad. But that’s not what I was so happy with this race. I didn’t get a PR because the weather was good or the course was nice. It happened because I ran a really smart race. I knew when to push myself, how much to push myself, when to just breathe, and when to take a break. It was still hard and there were times when I couldn’t breathe or when things were hurting or even once when I thought I might throw up. But I was able to push through it. So basically, I kicked butt. Take that Queens!
The rest of the day, I indulged myself and relaxed. I ate a GIANT cheeseburger (yum) and A LOT of drinks. Drinks are more effective after running. Next was a nap, followed by S’Mac for some decadent mac and cheese (more yum) and even MORE drinks. Someone even bought me some flowers.
What more could a girl ask for?
Breaking news! I'm a huge doofus. I packed all my stuff for the Queens half and went to Josh's place downtown. It's much easier to get to Queens at 6am from his apartment. I was having a nice relaxing evening when I realized out of nowhere I forgot my hat. Normally, it might not matter, but I know for a fact that a large part of this course does not have a lot of shade. I don't want to fry on my run.
So it's 8:30 and I'm running around like a maniac trying to find a hat. I remember there's an Adidas store on Houston and I run over there. That store sucks. It's not actually for anyone that participates in sports. It's for people that want to look like they do. So no hats.
I call Josh so he can help me figure out where to find a store. All the running stores I can think of close at 8. He finally found a Sports Authority on 6th Ave and I headed over there as quickly as I could. I ran into the store frantically asking if they had hats. And yes, they did. Lots of hats. The lady was really nice and tried to show me all the different kinds, but I didn't care. I just wanted to buy a stupid hat and go home. The hat was acquired, and now I'm safely back home. I hope this hat is worth it.
It seems this week that my carbs of choice have been beer, pasta, and cupcakes. We’ll see if this was effective Saturday morning at 7am. I did go for a quick run this morning. This was my taper week, so I haven’t run all week. It’s supposed to make you feel like a caged animal so you have tons of energy for the race. My run this morning was nice and easy, just to loosen my legs a little, and it felt pretty good. Maybe the cupcake/beer/pasta method is working!
The Queens half is officially tomorrow. For those of you that are not familiar with Queens, I’ll be running here.
This is Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The site of the 1939 and 1965 World’s Fairs. Near Mets Stadium and the US Open. Most of you will recognize it as where they filmed Men In Black. The whole thing has a weird Jetsons vibe. The course looks like really complicated footwork instructions for a dance. Turn left. Turn right. Go straight. Go around. Hop on one foot. It should be…interesting. I know that I can physically do the distance, and for once, I’m not worried about that. I’m worried that I’ll get lost. Or that, with the predicted high of a nice, balmy 91 degrees, I’ll be super slow. I was hoping to beat my last time, but with the heat and all the confusing turns, I’m not expecting that. I’ve only done one previous half marathon, so this race will either be a new PR, or the worst I’ve ever done. I guess I have to be ok if it’s my worst but hope for the best.
Either way, I’ll post a race recap later this weekend. Wish me luck!
The Queens half marathon is now less than a week away. This brings me to my favorite part of the training- CARB LOADING. Ah yes. Carbs. A runner’s best friend. My usual strategy is to eat any carb that crosses my path, until I’m about to burst. Turns out, that’s actually not the right way to do it. So I’m going to attempt to do this the right way for once. This means that about 70% of my calories should come from carbs, not that I should consume more calories. I will also cut down on my fats and eat only lean proteins. I’m also trying to cut down sugar, mostly because it gives me an upset tummy, and to avoid beans and broccoli, for… obvious reasons. This sounds a whole lot less fun than just eating any carb in sight.
So that pretty much leaves me with beer.
Beer is totally a carb.
It’s been hot. REALLY HOT. So I’ve been talking a lot about staying hydrated. Guess I need to take my own advice.
Friday was a high of 103 and Saturday a high of 99 (plus humidity), so Sunday’s high of 91 felt downright pleasant. I ran my usual Sunday errands, followed by my usual Sunday Bikram Yoga class. This class, however, did not feel very usual. After about 5 or 10 minutes, I was dizzy. SUPER dizzy. That’s when it occurred to me that while I was out running those Sunday errands, and while I was out on Saturday evening, I hadn’t really been paying attention to how much water I was drinking. I drank some, but definitely not enough. That's not a mistake I usually make. The class became a huge struggle. I did a whole lot of sitting.
So let this be a lesson to you, boys and girls. Even if it’s a little cooler, it’s STILL hot out. Keep drinking that water. And don’t forget about electrolytes!
Yesterday it was too hot to run, but somehow not to go to Bikram yoga. It was hot, but I survived. When I got home, I hydrated, ate cold foods (yay frozen grapes!), and hydrated some more.
The Queens half marathon is next Saturday (WHAT?) so this week was my down week. I was happy that my Saturday morning run was only 5 miles because it’s still crazy balls hot out. I drank a nice cold smoothie for breakfast, downed some water, and headed out. Yep. Still hot.
I met up with my DetermiNation group in Central Park for our regular Saturday morning runs. The coaches were all at a triathalon and I was somehow the unofficial leader of the run. We told everyone to go slow and drink more water than you think you need. I was honestly expecting the worst, like kill-me-now heat, but the run wasn’t that bad. There was a NYRR event so we “borrowed” some of their Gatorade, water and misting stations. Misting stations are THE BEST. I finished 5 miles in an awesome 58 minutes.
It was good to have my run done, but I think the heat is making people a little crazy. That brings me to my next As Seen On My Run.
As Seen On My Run: A Hot Mess
In all fairness, the following did not happen during my run. I was on the subway on the way home. There were some teenaged boys, a teenage girl, and an older lady in the same car with me. Out of nowhere the old lady started yelling at one of the boys “Don’t you fucking touch her! Don’t fucking talk to her! That’s my granddaughter!” She pulled the girl and they moved a few seats away. This upset the boy. He was curing and yelling “Can’t even pay someone a compliment. She’s beautiful. She has a beautiful face. Get off my fucking back. I don’t want people telling me what to do. She’s beautiful.”
He basically yelled variations of the above for at about 10 minutes. I blame the heat. It's clearly making New Yorkers crazier than usual.
I’m going to eat some more frozen grapes and stay cool.
If you live anywhere in the US, you probably realize it’s hot. Not just hot. Crazy balls hot. Since I only ran once this week for all of twenty minutes, I wanted to get in another run this morning. I woke up at 6:30am and the guy on the radio was saying it’s dangerously hot and that we should not run outside. I took that as a sign and went back to bed for an hour.
It’s crazy balls hot, but I’m still thinking of going to Bikram. I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Or maybe just lazy. How is it too hot for 30 minutes of running, but not too hot for 90 minutes of hot yoga? Somehow it isn’t. I feel like when I do yoga later in the day I actually have time to hydrate (and rehydrate) so that makes it OK. It’s all about hydration and I have a plan.
For the first time, I measured how much water my little metal water bottle actually holds. It can hold about a half a liter. On hot days when I plan on exercising I need to drink at least 4 liters of water. So that’s 8 water bottles full. It’s about 10am and I just finished my first water bottle of the day. Only 7 more left.
Let's all stay hydrated!
On today’s run, I almost came home with a kitty. About two minutes into my run, there was a cat just sitting by the basketball courts staring at all the birds in the trees. He was all black with yellow eyes and looked like he was maybe 6 to 9 months old. I called him a few times, and he started coming towards me, but always got distracted by a bird or a leaf blowing in the wind. Then he ran behind a bush and started attacking something. He was super duper cute. Now that I’ve seen him there, I’ll probably always look for him when I run by. I even thought about getting one of those pouches of cat food so I could carry that in my fuel strap when I go on morning runs, just in case I see him. Would that be a bit much?
Since this isn’t a blog about how I’m future a crazy cat lady, let’s talk about running. I gave up on rescuing the kitty (for now) and actually did some running. I decided maybe I should try some speed work. I’m not very good at following complicated workout instructions, so I kept it simple and sprinted between light posts. I sprinted for two light posts and recovered for one. I hate speed workouts and even at 7am it was still crazy hot, so I just did sprints for about 20 minutes. I feel like I should have done more, but damn it’s hot. Plus I kinda wanted to go back and look for the kitty.
PS I've just decided the cat's name is Speedy! (I know. I'm a dork)
Ok good news. The Apple store genius bar was a mad house, but my computer had been behaving so I just went home. My computer is 95% better and after a weekend away, I’m back to writing about my adventures! So now for the adventures…
This weekend I went to Northern Virginia to meet my boyfriend’s family. On top of that, I had to squeeze in a 12 mile run. Super fun.
We took the train out on Friday, and we grilled steaks for dinner on Friday night. Turns out, they were all super nice, so I didn’t have to worry about that. Now I just had to worry about my run Saturday morning, then I could relax and enjoy the rest of my weekend. I was told there was a really nice running path along the Potomac that would be a good place for me to go. I got up early on Saturday, put on all my gear, and headed out.
The path was not at all what I expected. I thought it would be more like running along the Hudson. There’s a river, some park benches, and some little vendors, in case I needed an emergency Gatorade. But this trail was more like running through the straight up forest, and someone sort of slapped a path (and sometimes some wooden bridges) right in the middle of it. It was pretty cool. There were tons of trees, viney things, spider webs and my run ended in this swamp.
The bikers on the path there were so much more polite than the New York City bikers. They do things like ring their bells or call out to let you know they’re passing, instead of just nearly running you down. Someone was also nice enough to put out giant coolers of ice cold water and Gatorade. I don’t know who did it, but I was grateful. I even saw a beaver. I said “Hi” to him. He said “Hi” back.
Or maybe I was just delirious from all the running.
The run ended well, and I think I'm going to survive the Queens half coming up in just two weeks. The rest of weekend consisted of the following:
A nice relaxing visit to the swimming pool
Lots of food and drinking
A boat ride on the Potomac, complete with weird sunburn
Peeing in the woods
More food and drinks, including a Belgian Waffle with candied bacon and maple bacon ice cream for dessert (yea, it was as good as it sounds)
True Blood
A visit to Mount Vernon Plantation
More food (sans drinking)
Train ride back to the city
All in all, it was a really nice trip and a much needed break from the city. But I’m still glad to be back.
Ok. After a great yoga class and a super relaxing night of backing up all my computer files, I felt finally recovered from my Ice Cream Meltdown. I got up early and went out for a run. It was seriously one of the most beautiful mornings we’ve had in a long time and it felt good to be outside. Since it was so nice (and cool), I decided to tackle the hill again. This time I didn’t do as well as my last hill adventure. About halfway to the top, the gentle breeze turned into a gust, and it was hard to keep moving forward. I also wasn’t able to conjure my imaginary Coach Ramon, so I had no one to yell at me to keep going and push harder. It still felt good, but I think I could have put a little more effort into it.
On an un-running related note, I want to apologize in advance if you don’t hear from me for a while. Remember I spent a relaxing evening backing up my computer files? That’s because my computer is sick. I’m taking it to the doctor today, but I don’t know if I’ll have to send it in for repairs. I’m also going to DC to meet the BF’s parents (eek), so I might just be a little busy for the next few days. But don’t you worry. I still plan on doing my long run on Saturday, but this time it will be along the Potomac. It should be lovely.
PS I get a four and a half day weekend. Don’t you hate me!
In general, I don’t talk about food here. There are so many other blogs that do a much better job of discussing food, nutrition, and recipes, so I generally stay out of the discussion. This time is the exception.
Hi. I’m Lisa and I have a problem. I can’t say “No” to free food, especially when that free food is dessert. Sometimes my coworkers bring in little goodies to share, like mini cupcakes. Sometimes there are leftover cookies or pastries when a meeting is over. Today there was free Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream bars in the lobby. It didn’t matter that I had just eaten lunch. It didn’t matter that after lunch I had one of the above mentioned mini cupcakes. (Yesterday I ate two of those mini cupcakes. WHY WON’T THEY JUST GO AWAY?) I still went down and got myself a free Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream bar.
I got to the lobby and it was mayhem. People had 5 or 6 bars each. Everyone wanted one. I saw that they had Half Baked Ice Cream bars and had a minor flashback. For those of you that don’t know, I used to be unhappy and overweight. When I would get a little extra unhappy, I would drown my sorrows in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked ice cream. (It has cookie dough and brownie bits!) I basically haven’t had this flavor since I lost the weight. The old me really wanted one so I let the old me have one. I went out to the park to relish in my (free) ice cream. I took a bite, and it was good, but I just kept thinking about the old unhappy me. About the times I would eat my ice cream until I was numb. About how guilty and disgusted I felt after. I started to hate my ice cream bar, but I kept eating it. It was free! Then I started talking to my ice cream bar. “Why can’t I throw you away?”
Wait, why couldn’t I throw my ice cream bar away? The trash can was right there. It would be easy. Before I changed my mind, I ran to the trash and threw away my mostly uneaten ice cream bar. I settled back down on in the grass, this time to relish in my book and enjoy laying on the grass in the sunshine. You know? I was happier with the book. It caused a lot less anxiety.
I still can't say "no" to free desserts, but at least I know I can always throw them away.
I was totally planning on going for a run last night. You know what I did instead? I took a nap. The very fact that I even wanted a nap helped convince me that maybe I should be nice to myself and just take a damn nap. Did I run when I woke up? No. I went to have girly drinks and fried food with my friends.
Since I took the night off, I figured I should get up early for a run this morning. I’m still sore from my long run on Saturday, so I went for a nice, easy 25 minute run. Since my unplanned run in the rain, my headphones have been on the fritz, and I haven’t had time to go get new ones, so I’ve been thinking more than usual on my solo runs. And what do you think about when you’re running? Why, running of course!
Here’s a few recurring thoughts from my music-free runs:
- I’m a slow starter. A REALLY slow starter. I curse myself for at least the first 10 minutes of any run before I submit to the running.
- I recently learned that running shorts are meant to be worn without underwear. I’m really enjoying my newfound freedom.
- Running isn’t exactly glamorous- unless you consider swallowing bugs, chafing and black toenails glamorous.
- Because of said black toenails, I should ALWAYS keep my toenails painted. No one wants to see that.
- Distance running is an odd hobby. When you think to yourself “Gee. I could really use something to fill my free time” I’m sure the first thing that leaps to mind isn’t exactly getting up at 6am to slather yourself with Body Glide and Vaseline so you can go run for 2 hours. Not sure how I picked up this hobby.
- I didn’t know I had so many muscles in my legs until all of them started hurting.
- Some people seem like they’re born to be runners. They have that perfect runner’s body, never seem to get an injury, and can run really fast. I’m not one of these people.
- It doesn’t matter if I run for 20 minutes or 2 hours, I always seem to end up DRENCHED in sweat.
Despite all of this, I still get up 4 days a week to go for a run. I’m still not exactly sure why. Maybe I secretly like to torture myself. Maybe I relish the challenge. Maybe it’s just a way to sort through all the random thoughts that jump through my head.
I guess I’ll have to think about this on my next run.
I did manage to make myself go for a run on Friday morning. It was completely uneventful, so let’s just skip ahead to Friday after work. I went by Jack Rabbit to stock up on running supplies. This included another pair of running shorts. The cheap ones I got at Target were fine, but not good for long runs. So I went to the professionals.
Jack Rabbit is like a toy store for runners. And the lovely ladies that helped me out informed me of something I didn’t know- running shorts are made to be worn without underwear. WHAT? REALLY? I always struggled with what kind of underwear I was supposed to wear when I ran. Nothing really worked for me. So this made me super duper excited. (Is it sad that this made me so excited?) I also picked up some energy gels. I tend to get nauseous from super sugary things when I run, so I like the Honey Stingers because they're made with natural sweeteners.
The pink package is a chew, kind of like gummy bears. I eat these before my run. The other package is literally honey, fortified with good things for runners. I eat these during my run.
Saturday was a beautiful morning to go for a run. It was sunny, with a light breeze and low humidity. I still wasn’t particularly looking forward to it because of my previously discussed general ickiness. And because I was supposed to run 12 miles. That’s a whole lot of miles.
I met up with my DetermiNation teammates for our long run. Michelle and I decided to be rebels and went on a different route than everyone else because we were planning on running longer than everyone else. So off we went. It’s nice running with a friend. We had enough to talk about to help pass the time. It went by faster than I thought. And when I was feeling like I couldn’t make it up the last hill, she kept me going. Yay for running buddies!
After my runs I’m basically ravenous. It’s estimated that the average person burns about 100 calories per mile. So if I run 12 miles that’s about 1200 calories that I burned, and therefore, get to replace. Usually I use these extra calories wisely, but sometimes it’s nice to splurge. I spent the rest of the day eating, drinking beer, eating more, drinking more, etc, etc. By the end of the day I was so full of beer and food (especially taco truck tacos!), I ended up falling asleep on the couch around 11pm.
Ah yes, the life of a runner really is exciting isn’t it?
First and foremost, scroll up. See that? I have a new header! And what’s even cooler is that I pooled my limited graphic design skills and did this myself! I think it’s pretty awesome. Don’t even argue with me about that one. I will win.
Now to the running. There hasn’t been a whole lot of that. I did get to run at our Tuesday DetermiNation practice and it was a little awful. I remember this workout from last year, and I remember that it hurt in the same exact way as it did on Tuesday. We did out an out and back course practicing our effort levels. Run out at an Effort 4 (that’s a 4 out of 5) and back at an Effort 1. We did that for about 30 minutes. It sucked, but I think it was supposed to suck.
That was Tuesday night. I was totally planning on getting up this morning for a 3 mile run, but I didn’t. I feel very blah today. I’m sure this is TMI, but I also feel super low energy and blah during my “lady times.” I don’t want to exert myself and I get dehydrated and crampy really easily. And since I can’t just lock myself in a hole and not move for a week, this doesn’t exactly suit my lifestyle. If anyone has any advice on any foods to eat, supplements to take, etc, to make this super exciting time a little easier, I would greatly appreciate it. Sometimes, being a lady runner sucks.
That being said, I solemnly swear to drag my butt out of bed tomorrow and go for a run…unless I feel icky.
Well, this has been an eventful July 4th Weekend.
Saturday I got up early for a run, as usual. But this time I was just going to go for a quick run so I could come back to get ready for my friends’ wedding!
These are my friends Chung and Amy. Aren’t they cute?
I had a great time at the wedding on Saturday, but then I had to get down to business on Sunday. I woke up early for my long run, but my bad weather luck struck again. As I was getting ready with my pre-run snack, the sky opened up with a huge KABOOM and it started to pour. The sky was telling me to go back to bed. I slept a little more but when I woke up it became clear that I was not going to run this morning. There was a steady stream of rain that looked like it wouldn’t let up for a while. Instead I grabbed a bagel and watched Wimbeldon. A good alternative in my opinion.
That afternoon it cleared up a bit and I was able to head out for my 10 mile run. The sky was still spitting a little, but that was fine. It was like running with a mister. I ran from my apartment about 2 miles to the park, one loop around Central Park, and back. That brings me to my next edition of As Seen on My Run.
As Seen On My Run: Tourists
I entered the park at Harlem Hill and went to the left, so I didn’t have to run up the bad end of the hill. I’m not used to being in the park at this time of day, and I found it oddly quiet. Until I got more south. There was literally a line that I crossed somewhere around 96th St. THIS is where all the people were. I can’t even count how many lost tourists I saw. They were all wearing silly ponchos, standing in the middle of the running path in groups of 4 or 5, huddled around a map, arguing if they were here or there. I think next time I run in the park I’m going to wear a shirt that says “LOST? Directions! Only $5!” I could make a fortune.
The park was the park. I struggled. Then I felt amazing. Then I got a Gatorade. Then I ran next to this lady for about a mile and pretended like we were running together. Her presence was very comforting. I left the park strong and headed home.
One of the things I like about running in my neighborhood is finding cool things I don’t normally see. There are two new beer gardens not too far from my apartment that I don’t think I would have found otherwise.
I was nearing the end and feeling really good. Actually feeling even better than when I started. I could see the big yellow Deli sign that’s on the corner near my building. That sign is always like a beacon pointing me home. It’s how I can tell I’m almost there.
I finished my run strong (10 miles in 1:37:49) and was doing my stretches on the park bench. A guy across the street yelled, “Do that yoga, girl!” His friend corrected him and said, “That’s not yoga. That’s some stretching shit.”
Ah. It’s good to be home.
The rest of the weekend consisted of eating, drinking, and more eating. There’s nothing more American than that.
Remember a while ago a posted about joining Social Workout? Yea, me neither. To refresh your memory, Social Workout is like Twitter meets the gym. You can set lifestyle goals and you and your friends can challenge each other and log progress. I set two goals:
1. No after dinner snacks
2. 20 pushups a day, even if I have to do them like a girl
I’ve (for the most part) stuck to my goals, but I totally forgot about logging them on the site. I thought having someone to “report” to would make me feel more accountable, but not really. I still think it’s a really good idea, but maybe it would be better if it were integrated with Facebook or Twitter. I don’t want to have to sign into ANOTHER site.
Plus, I think my arms are looking pretty good.
There’s a muscle there, right?
