Take that, evil hill!

I was feeling great after another kick-my-butt yoga class last night (thanks Caroline!) so I got up early for another run this morning. I figured since the Queens Half Marathon is about a month away, I should at least attempt hill repeats. My neighborhood is basically one hill after another, but there’s one in particular that I will go to great lengths to avoid. It’s long and steep and EVIL. So naturally this was the hill I decided to run.

I got up before my alarm (it’s my weird 6th sense) and headed out for my run. I did a quick warm up, then stood at the bottom of the hill, sizing it up. It didn’t look as bad as I thought. So I took off HARD up the hill. In my head, I was going pretty fast, but in reality, I was barely moving. I was trying to remember all my hill training techniques- keep my head up, don’t lean forward from the waist, take small, quicker steps- and I was trying to imagine Coach Ramon yelling these things at me, as he’s been known to do. But about half way up the hill, I just wanted to pass out. I couldn’t think of anything, except stopping. I told myself I would do at least 20 minutes on this stupid hill, so I recovered down the hill and went back for more.

Every time I headed back up that hill, I tried to imagine Ramon yelling at me. I’m not usually that motivated to attempt unpleasant workouts on my own, so this helped. I asked myself “What would Ramon say?” He would tell me to keep my head up and RUN HARDER. I have this little mantra I repeat on hills. I just say “baby steps” over and over. It helps me keep my stride short and quick. There were people sitting on a stoop and they must have thought I was totally crazy talking to myself and running up and down this hill, but I don’t think I cared. I did the hill for about 30 minutes and went for a quick cool down run. You know what? I felt great. I felt like I wanted to keep running. The morning was beautiful and cool and my legs felt light and loose. If I wasn’t already running late for work, I probably would have kept going.

I don’t know why, but whenever I have a butt-kicking, gonna pass out workout, I always feel AMAZING after. I think I’ll be subjecting myself to this hill more often.

Yoga and Pringles

I finally made it to yoga! It was a super tough class and I felt all empty after. The good thing about that yoga drunk feeling is once it passes, you feel all shiny and new. Since my hard run on Saturday, I sort of didn’t want to think about running. But since I felt all brand new, I thought I would give it a shot.

This morning I got up early for a nice easy run. My legs still felt pretty heavy, but they weren’t as tight. I think a few more yoga classes might do the trick. I might even try hills tomorrow. Eek!

This might be really random, but I was in the drug store today and there was literally a whole aisle with every Pringle flavor known to man. Now I love me a good Pringle, but since when do you need Buffalo Chicken or Pizza flavored chips? If you wanted something that tasted vaguely like pizza, wouldn’t you just eat pizza? Anyone?

Harder than you think

I was both wary and excited for Saturday’s long run. My feet were starting to hurt and I was getting pretty stiff, so I was a little worried, but I had arranged a small, informal group run with some fellow ACS DetermiNation Mentors and a few of my mentees. (It was nice to finally meet some of them!) But you know what I was probably most excited about?

I got to try out my hydration backpack! Pretty, huh?

I got this as a free gift for fundraising for the New York City marathon. We had our choice of a few gifts, and seeing as how I didn’t have a fuel belt, I thought this was a good pick. I just never liked the idea of the fuel belt. Especially running in the city, there were also water fountains, coaches with water bottles, or even the occasional NYRR race. They never seemed to mind when we “borrowed” their water. But I was planning on doing about 9 miles so I figured hydration (and a place to carry my stuff) sounded like a good idea.

When I put it on I felt like I was seven going to my first day of school, if school was really dorky running school. It’s basically a backpack with a giant straw sticking out of it. (You can immediately see all the awesome uses for such a contraption, right? ) I think all the people on the subway thought I looked pretty cool. I could tell they were jealous when I didn’t have to fumble with a bottle, twisting and untwisting caps, trying to sip slowly in case the subway takes a sharp turn. No. All I had to do was stick the straw in my mouth and sip.

I had five other lovely DetermiNation athletes meet up with me for our informal run. We set off and things started well. The hydration pack was a little jumpy, but I adjusted the straps and tightened it around my waist and it seemed to be fine. I was definitely loving the ease of drinking. Not loving the sweaty back. About 3 miles into it, I started feeling icky. (Curse you, Harlem Hill!) I was going back and forth between feeling amazing, and feeling simultaneously light-headed and heavy. Not good. We (meaning me and Carolann) promised ourselves a Gatorade when we finished our first 6 mile loop. Let me tell you, that was the coldest, tastiest Gatorade I’ve ever had in my life. We drank our Gatorade, and waited for the rest of our DetermiNation buddies to catch up.

I struggled through the rest of my run, finishing at about 8.5 miles. My hydration pack fared well, but I don’t think I can say the same for me. I don’t know why, but I somehow thought that after training for a marathon, training for a half would be easy. You know what? It’s not. It’s still hard. My feet still hurt. My calves are still just as tight. My thighs are just as sore. I thought this would be easier, and I was a little down on myself because it's not. I’m just hoping to make it through the next 5 weeks and through the Queens Half and still be able to stand.

On that note, I did have a pretty awesome dream last night. I had a dream that I was in a race. Not sure what race, or why, or even where. It seemed to be through the halls of a building. But I ran this race and I WON! I won by just seconds, but I won! I remember breaking through the finish line tape and feeling A-MA-ZING. Maybe my mind was trying to give me a little pep talk. I know I'm not going to really win any race, but I can still get out there and give it my best.

But first, I need a GOOD yoga class.

Beating the Rain

Anyone in the northeast (or most of the country for that matter) knows that summer afternoons usually mean thunderstorms. I wanted to try to get in a run, so I had been watching the weather all day Wednesday. It was looking good for squeezing in an after work run.

I got home and got all ready before stepping out. In the 15 minutes it took me to get ready, it had begun to sprinkle. I remember the forecast called for light scattered showers. I looked at the sky and figured the light sprinkles would hold, so I set out.

And I was right… for about 10 minutes. It started raining harder but still wasn’t pouring. I didn’t mind because the slight mist was refreshing and keeping me cool. I thought I should just keep running so I could beat the heavy rain. I wasn’t planning on going on a particularly long run, so I just ran a little faster. When I’m literally at the furthest point from my apartment, the sky lets loose. People were scurrying for shelter, and here I am, like a crazy person, running in the rain. I usually make it a point to run with my MetroCard (in case I ever get hurt, or just plain don’t want to run any more) but since this was a short run, I didn’t bring it. I had no choice but to run home.

I just kept running and running and it kept raining harder and harder. It was raining so hard, water was getting stuck in my ear and I couldn’t hear my iPod. I ditched the headphones and just kept running. My shoes were making squishy noises. I leapt over puddles and rivers in the street. My clothes were sticking to me. Something about this whole thing suddenly struck me as hilarious, and I began laughing hysterically. It felt like when you were a kid and you didn’t care about getting wet or how your hair looked. It felt like I was playing and my wet run turned into something fun. So now I’m the crazy person running in a torrential downpour, laughing hysterically, having tons of fun.

The last 5 minutes was a little less fun. My shoes felt like they weighed 10 pounds each from all the water, but I still found the squishy noise they made hilarious. I made it home as quickly as I could, and wouldn’t you know, by the time I made it safely upstairs, the rain had stopped altogether. Just my luck.

I felt kind of like a wet puppy, so this is my sad, wet puppy face.

This goes to show- you may not beat the rain, but you don’t have to let the rain beat you! (That’s corny, I know, but I was trying to be positive.)

Summer is Here!

This has been a long LONG winter, but now, summer is OFFICIALLY here! One of my favorite things about Summer Solstice is free yoga in Times Square. I work in Times Square, so went to the lunch time Bikram session.

Yoga in the middle of Times Square is a totally weird experience. Here’s why:
1. Sirens pass constantly.
2. Tourists take pictures of you when you’re half naked and sticking your butt up in the air.
3. The street isn’t exactly even. I was standing on a huge incline.

But yoga in Times Square is also really awesome. Here’s why:
1. You get to be on the jumbotron! (I even saw myself)
2. It feels good to do your back bend and see sun and clouds above you.
3. It gives people a chance to experience the awesomeness of yoga for free.
4. With so many yogis in one place at one time, the energy is amazing.

See? This is about 1500 yogis in Times Square. We took over Broadway between 45th and 48th St.

I did a shortened class (because I can’t take two hours for lunch) but it still felt pretty great. I went back to work feeling energized and relaxed. My slanted mat was a bit of a challenge, especially when it came to balancing, but it was a good challenge. The whole experience was a practice in extreme concentration.

Later that day I went to my usual Tuesday night yoga. I’m not crazy, I just happen to work at the studio Tuesday nights. I was feeling like a rockstar from the Times Square yoga. My poses looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, and I was even offering posture advice to some of the newbies. But something must have happened between noon and my 8:30 class. I spent a lot of the class sitting or just trudging through the postures. Then I started thinking something must clearly be wrong with me. Why can’t I do this right? Why do I feel like I’m a beginner again? This is what I like about this kind of yoga. The struggle is good for us. It’s how we learn.

The good news is, it wasn’t just me. Everyone was having a hard time. Some people blamed the humidity. Some people blamed the solstice. I don’t think it really matters. The important thing is it was hard, but we all did it and I don’t know about everyone else, but I felt pretty amazing after- and starving. I rewarded myself with a slice of pizza the size of my head. Even after that, I STILL felt amazing.

All in all, a good first day of summer.

Traveling Lisa - Part 2

Last time, on the Adventures of Running Lisa…

When we last left off, I was trying to get to Sacramento but ended up in San Francisco with my very good friend that I hardly ever see. We spent our Saturday hanging out at the lake, herding geese and just talking. That afternoon I was able to catch a ride with my uncle and FINALLY arrived in Sacramento- well, Lodi to be precise.

I arrived just in time for BBQ, followed by birthday pie!

In case you can’t tell, that’s my Pop Pop standing in front of three different kinds of pie- lemon meringue, chocolate crème, and coconut crème. Yes, I tasted them all.

The next morning I knew I had to run. Since I only did about 3 miles on Saturday, the Queens half marathon is about 6 WEEKS AWAY, and I ate all that pie, I knew I had to squeeze in a long run. I don’t really know my way around Lodi, so for this run, I had to face my greatest foe- THE TREADMILL!!!

Scary huh? I turned my iPod to the Go! Team’s “The Power is On” and hopped on the treadmill. This song makes me feel like I should walk into a room in slow motion and do a roundhouse kick to a bad guy’s face. I figured it could help me get through my treadmill run. AND You know what? I kicked that treadmill’s BUTT! I did 7 miles in 68:49. Take that!

I decided to follow my run with a quick dip in the pool. I figured it would be like an ice bath, except not cold and much more pleasant. I just floated for about 10 minutes. It was wonderful.
Finally, no trip to California would be complete without a visit to the local In N Out.

This is a number 2 animal style. I scarfed it down.

The flight back to New York was very uneventful. I was SO tired and as soon as we got on the plane I passed out and woke up about 5 minutes before landing. I’m not exactly sure what day or time it is, but this weary traveler is happy to be home.

Traveling Lisa - Part 1

Well this weekend was…an adventure.

It began with trying to get from NY to Sacramento for my Grandpa’s 80th birthday, but the weather had other ideas. Everything seemed fine at check-in but just before boarding, they posted that the flight would be severely delayed, causing me to miss my connection. Perfect. Of course no one made any announcements, so it was mass chaos. I found the right line to rebook my flight and there’s only one person working at the counters. My mom and I double-teamed it- she was on the phone with the airline while I was in the line. It was looking grim for getting to Sacramento, but then I remembered, I have a friend near San Francisco that I never get to see! Several text messages and lots of waiting later, I had my flight rebooked to San Francisco.

Of course that couldn’t be all. Just before the flight was about to board again, it was like the heavens opened up and said “Lisa, you shall not fly.” Thunder, lightning, and hail delayed the flight again. I’ll spare you all the details, but after 7 hours of waiting at the airport, I was finally on my way to San Francisco. Andrea is a super awesome friend and came to pick me up after midnight and let me stay with her for the night.

Since this is a blog about running and not a blog about travel nightmares, let’s get to the running. Saturday I was planning on running 7 to 8 miles, but seeing as how I didn’t really know where I was and I’d been traveling for 13 hours, I just went for a short run. Running in a suburban neighborhood is totally different. There’s nothing to look at. No crazy people. No weird pizza-eating squirrels. Nothing. One thing suburbia does have are speed radars. I was clocked at 8 miles an hour. I spent the rest of my run trying to figure how many minutes per mile that was. I still never figured that out.

Because of my unexpected visit, I had the day to spend with Andrea! We went to Merritt Lake and went for a nice walk. There were LOTS of geese.

Why did the geese cross the road?

To get to the other side, of course!

Ok. I’m still exhausted and need a nap and some food. Stay tuned for the rest of my weekend adventures!