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.
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.
Today was my first long run in the snazzy new shoes and I set out to do 6 miles in Central Park. Somehow I figured that I would manage to do 6 miles without hitting Harlem Hill. How silly of me.
The run began as any other Saturday morning run. I met up with my DetermiNation buddies at the mall in the park. There was a 10k this morning, so the park was a little crazy. On a side note, this race was a women’s only 10k. I got off the subway with hoards of other women runners, which was kinda cool. It’s great to see the ladies represent. Anyhoo, back to the run.
So I met up with my running buddies, we divided into pace groups and we were off. A few minutes into the run, the elite lady runners passed us. They really are a thing of beauty. They have such nice form. Back to my run again. There was only one other girl my pace that was doing 6 miles so we decided to stick together. Turns out she runs more like a 9 minute mile and she quickly left our group behind. Everyone else left me at the 102nd street transverse and I was left to do Harlem Hill- alone. Awesome.
For those of you that don’t know Central Park, Harlem Hill is a big giant hill at the top of the park. You stand at the bottom of the hill and you see this steep, twisting, never ending incline. It’s pretty scary so I try not to look at it. When I’m running alone, especially hills, I like to do two things:
1. I like to focus my eyes on the white lines on the road. It’s somehow very zen. It gives me something to focus on that is not the top of the giant hill. It makes me feel like I’m being led somewhere. If I just follow the line, I’ll be ok.
2. I remember from my previous hill training that we’re supposed to take shorter, quicker steps on hills. This helps to lessen the impact. To remember to do this, I always repeat to myself “Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps” over and over. Again, it gives me something to think about other than how much this hill sucks.
So using these two techniques, I got over Harlem Hill, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as the last time I attempted it. Running Harlem Hill alone also gave me some good thinking time. I’ve decided to add a new segment to this blog called As Seen On My Run. Why? New Yorkers are weird. They’re even weirder when they exercise. So here’s the first installment:
As Seen On My Run: People and their pets
I was coming towards the end of Harlem Hill and I’m approaching this woman from behind. This lady has a jogging stroller and I think “That’s pretty badass.” Harlem Hill is hard enough without pushing extra weight. I started to pass her and looked over to her stroller. I wanted to see if the kid was enjoying his ride. But there’s not a kid in the stroller. There’s a Chihuahua, just chilling. It’s nice that you want to take your dog for a run, but I think the dog should probably run. Otherwise, you just look silly.
I was laughing to myself about this crazy lady and her spoiled non-walking dog, when I came up behind another lady, this time on a bike. It looked like she was talking to herself, until I realize she has a green parrot climbing around on her shirt. She was trying to get the parrot to settle on her shoulder, but he was climbing all over her. I’m not really sure what to say about this one. I guess if bringing your pet with you will make exercise more fun, then who am I to judge?
This has been As Seen On My Run.
The rest of my run was pretty uneventful. I was getting a cramp in my foot around mile 5 so I decided to cheat a little and take a shortcut through the mall. I still did about 5 and half miles, so all in all. I say it was a successful morning.
Now I have to refuel and get ready for Amy’s bachelorette party tonight. That’s a totally different kind of adventure.
OMIGODOMIGODOMIGOD...Do you know what Saturday was? The first training run of marathon season! YAY! Sure, I’m not running a marathon this year, but a lot of my DetermiNation buddies are, so that means I have a ton more friends to run with! We met up in Central Park early Saturday morning for introductions and the whole training spiel from Coach Ramon.
We all look super excited don’t we? Hey, it was early.
Saturday was a great day for a run. The weather was perfect. There was a nice breeze in the air. The sun was shining. Everything you could hope for. I love group runs because you find a whole group of people that run at your pace and you quickly become BFFs. Or at least BRFFs (best running friends forever).
So here’s the run recap: Since pretty much everyone else is training for the NYC marathon and that’s not until November, they started off slow, with one or two lower loops of the park. Since I’m supposed to be training for a half that is now less than 8 weeks away, I did three lower loops (total about 5.1 miles). The first two loops were super fun. I was meeting new people, chatting with old friends, and the running felt great. The last loop was a little more intense. There just so happened to be a race in the park at about the same time that I started my last loop so I was running alongside people that are much faster than I am. I know I’m not as fast as they are, but there’s something about running next to fast people that makes you go faster. My last loop was slightly under a 9 minute mile. Oops! Needless to say, I was pretty tired. Luckily there were bagels waiting for us back at the meeting spot. I slathered one with cream cheese and shoved it in my face, then went home for a nap. All in all, it was a good morning.
What better way to round out my National Running Day celebrations than with the DetermiNation Marathon kick off party? For those of you that don’t know, DetermiNation is a group of athletes that runs to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I’ve been running with this group basically since I started running so I know how terrified all the new runners are at the thought of training AND fundraising. This year, I’m acting as a mentor to the runners to help answer all their questions about fundraising, group practices, etc. It was great to see so many new people so excited about running a marathon, and most of them for the first time. It made me a little nostalgic. Just a year ago, I was one of them, all giddy and nervous and wondering “Why the hell am I doing this?” Our first group practice is Saturday and I’m super excited to run with them again. I love running for a cause. It makes me feel like my own hard work, physical pain, and discomfort is for something greater than myself. It makes me almost want to run another marathon this year…almost. *SIGH* I’m going to save that for next year. Chicago 2012 better watch out.
I’m sure you’re all aware by now that the Rapture did not happen, but something as equally improbable did. I’ve been converted to a morning runner. I know, not that long ago I said I hated it. Well I was wrong. I like it. I actually really like it. The world seems so different in the morning. Birds are singing. Dogs are extra happy. The trash is less smelly. It’s all so wonderful. I even found a little animal oasis in the park. There were cranes, turtles, the tiniest little ducklings EVER, a cormorant, cardinals, and fuzzy goslings. It was like a nice reward for dragging myself out of bed so early. Now, I can’t wait get up and run to check on the tiny ducklings. I might even bring them some bread crumbs. (Yes, I’m a giant dork. I know this.)
Since Saturday was supposed to be the Rapture, I decided to go out with a bang. I had a ton of friends running the Brooklyn Half, plus all the other DetermiNation runners, so I got up at 6:15am on a Saturday to cheer for people. I know. That’s just silly. But this was SO MUCH FUN! For those of you that have never tried it, I seriously recommend grabbing a cowbell and heading out to your next local race. The energy was amazing. It’s always great to see total strangers cheering each other on and giving advice and pep talks to people that are struggling. It’s rare to see people be so nice to each other, especially in the city. I started off in Prospect Park and then headed down to the finish line on the Coney Island boardwalk. It was a beautiful day and all of my friends did such an amazing job. Then comes time for the best part- the after party! We went to this bar with outdoor seating, giant beers, and BBQ. I had three beers and a hot dog all before noon. It was perfect. Except for the hangover. Stupid non rapture.
Even better, I actually took real life pictures. We had Girl Scouts at our cheer station. They were fun. They would have been more fun if they brought me some cookies.
