More East Side Escapades

In the last 24 hours, I’ve done a lot of sweating.

Some of you may find that gross. I find it pretty awesome.

Last night I hit up the gym, as promised, to get back to spin class and a little jaunt on the dreadmill. This has sort of been routine in the last few weeks, so you probably don’t care to hear the deats, but I thought I’d let you know last nights instructor was pretty kick-ass. She was almost up to par with the first-ever spin instructor I came across almost a year ago (you know, the one I thought was an Army Seal fitness coach). I’m pretty sure I was one of THOSE people who left a few drops of sweat on the floor under my bike. I used to be grossed out by THOSE people. Now I’m pretty proud of a sweat that good. Bahaha.

Cycling split up two, two-mile runs on the treadmill, and by the time I got home I was worried that I’d jumped back in the saddle too quickly after my foot had finally started feeling better. Aka, I was worried that I’d slow Laura down this morning, as we jogged over to the East Side for a Fat-Blasting Cardio sesh at the Athleta of the upper east side.

I’ve never done a bootcamp class of any kind before, so when Laura asked if I was up for this, I was a little hesitant. Aside from my recent enthusiasm for spin, group classes have never been my forte. But the class was FREE and it involved cardio, so I figured why not? A plus, was picking up a new running friend on the UWS (wootwoot).

Well the class was indeed free (and the people hosting it were all super nice and peppy at the lovely hour of 7 a.m., and provided free bottles of Hint and luna bars on top of the freeee class) and it certainly involved a bit of cardio…but it also involved a LOT of lunges, planks and push-ups. Within the first 10 minutes I was dripping in sweat and cursing myself for not doing more weight exercises over the last few months. My muscles were feeling the burn. Fortunately (or not, if you’re the kind of person that likes it when your quads and shoulders scream at you so early in the morning), the hardcore stuff only really lasted through the warm-up–not that that makes any sense. I think our super peppy and friendly instructor got a little intimidated when his tai-chi kicks weren’t having the desired effects on the class, and he slowed things down and slowed them down fast. Overall though, I’d give the class a thumbs up, and would definitely go back for more…after I spend some quality time in the weight room. Big thanks to Athleta/Zeel for fitness for the people

And after this whirlwind day of work I’ll return to the UES (forget twice in one week, twice in one day?!) to pick up my race packet for tomorrow’s 10k. *This may very well result in us perusing the restaurant options in the neighborhood, as we continue to try to figure out where we head next (thought more and more people have been cheering for the UWS these days). I’m debating wearing my marathonwiner tshirt for the road runner race (courtesy of the JD) that I sported on real Race Day (duh), but not sure how fast I’ll be, and therefore not sure if I’m brave enough to draw attention to myself during the run. We’ll see what happens…

Afterwards I’ll head straight to a Gotham Writer’s Workshop for the rest of the day. I purchased a Groupon for half off a class back in July and I’m finally cashing in on it! Better late than never, eh? And Saturday night is set aside for a special dinner date for me and the JD. I can’t wait

Sunday morning will (foot-permitting) bring another 6-mile run with the lovely Laura and some other ladies she’s rallied to hit up Central Park for a jog, followed by a Cassoulet Cook-off at Jimmy’s 43 in the east village. What better way to top off a nice run in the park than by stuffing our faces full of….(hold while I look up what cassoulet is)….bean stew and casserole?!  That’s right, I jumped on board for this event without having any idea of what the food I’d be consuming was because I figure you can’t go wrong with combining running and a cook-off of any kind.

So that’s the weekend line-up. It’s busy, busy, but filled with lots of fun events. Just a few more hours of work til it all kicks off!

Have a very happy Friday, and an even better weekend

Empire State of Mind

A few weeks ago when I was fueled with ego and courage and excitement (most of which was maaaaybe provided by a few drinks) after my big Ashlee Simpson-inspired return to karaoke, I also signed the JD and myself up to do JayZ and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind.” Unfortunately, even though I very patiently waited [read: whined like a little girl "when is it myyyy turn"] and waited and waited, the mean karaoke DJ announced he was shutting down for the night JUST as it got to our line on the very long list. Not cool mista dj, not cool.

I wanted nothing more than to belt that song out into a mic in front of a room full of strangers and a few close friends. In hindsight, it’s probably better for all involved that that didn’t happen. It would have been painful for them, and highly embarassing for me. So I’ll stick to waiting until the apartment is empty and belting it out at the top of my lungs for only myself and my kitty to have to bear.

The song has been my theme song for a while now.

While the JD and I mulled over where he should take the bar exam (i.e. where we should live for five years post law school), everytime JayZ and Alicia came on the radio I’d get a little thrill and say “that’s it! that’s it! New York is where we belong!”

And it turns out, it was it.

And New York is where we belong…at least for now (I still miss my fam too much to ever commit to this amazing city 100%. So I’ll stay at 98.9%)

This city helped me run my first marathon. I don’t think I would have been able to train the way I did had I lived anywhere else for those 16 weeks.

And Empire State of Mind brought me to this city.

And the Empire State Building helped me fall in love with it.

(I used to get tingles every time I got off a bus or came out from the LIRR at Penn Station and looked up and saw that glorious piece of architecture. And grr. After I got drinks with Katherine last night I took some awesome photos of it covered in fog, but of course I forgot to grab them off the camera this morning).

So to bring my whole love of NYC/theEmpireStateBuilding/EmpireStateofMind/running full circle…it makes perfect sense that I signed up for the lottery for this “race” this morning:

this may actually invoke more fear in me than the idea of running 26.2 miles. wait--yes, yes it definitely does.

Getting a winning lottery ticket into this race may be just the kick in the toosh I need to focus on non-training fitness for the next few weeks/months. Yes, this is still a race. And yes, I’d need to train for it. But that training would entail taking the stairs up to my office on the 11th floor every single day, and spending my mornings racing up and down the stairwells in my apartment building (instead of lapping Central Park), and using that scary stairclimbing machine at the gym (instead of the boring old elliptical). It could totally shake up my workouts, while providing a new goal to work toward. This excites me.

However, the act of actually racing up 1,576 steps does not excite me so much….details, I guess. Details.

Anywho. That’s that. Outta sight outta mind until…Monday. NYRR has a VERY short turnaround time on selecting the random winners for this guy. Luckily Monday, I’ll be in the Dominican Republic. Likely laying on the beach with a margarita in my hand when NYRR alerts me whether or not I get to tackle this mammoth of a race. Regardless of what that message is (yes, you DO get to attempt and likely fail this feat or no, you were not chosen, go back to your idle non-training fitness slump) I will likely chug whatevers left of my margarita when I find out.

Crap, I just said outta sight outta mind. Oops.

Let’s focus on the fact that I’m going to the DR next week!

Don’t worry, I’ve spent zero time fishing out my summertime clothes from under my bed or packing in any way shape or form and lots of time trying to figure out how I will continue to keep YOU entertained in my absence (because you will still be sitting at a desk and I will be sitting in a beach chair. That was mean, I’m sorry) and how I will be able to get all my runs in. I wish Central Park had a sister park in Punta Cana.

In the meantime, I’ve been working to keep my workouts strong leading up to my departure. I ran 6 very happy, albeit wet, miles yesterday morning (all of which were basically killed by the wine consumed at HH with Katherine followed by a JMU Alumni meetup in midtown last night–any other dukes out there?), about 4.5 this morning, and I’m really hoping to hit another 8-10 tomorrow or Friday morning. Or both? No, calm down Katie.

Have a very happy Wednesday kids!

And keep your fingers crossed for me on this whole 86-flight race…:)

– Would you participate in a staircase race like this? Did you sign up for the lottery?

– If I can’t find a good place to run a good distance while in the Dominican next week, any recommends on how to keep my cardio up? Thanks in advance

You Know You’re a Runner When…

Since yesterday’s workday turned into a bit of a whirlwind, and I was unable to give you the details of my stellar morning run until later in the afternoon yesterday (all of which I’m sure you were so anxiously awaiting)…

And in the hours since that recap all I’ve really done is sat on a bus to New Jersey, went to sleep, at on a train to New York and come straight back to the office…there’s very little marathonwiner running news to share with you today.

With any luck, I may make a quick appearance at the gym tonight. But now that I have two boxes of Christmas decorations and tree trimmings under my desk:

my coworkers think i'm so cool. i bet you do now too.

…and a free evening ahead of me, chances are…the gym won’t make the cut. Que sera, sera. At least I’m hoping to knock out a 10-miler with some lovely ladies tomorrow morning!

In the meantime…

I will entertain you (not that anyone really reads this…especially, on Fridays) with thoughts that often pop into my head while traversing Central Park loop.

That I’ve been meaning to collect over the course of many runs, and put into one big post, and dub it:

You Know You’re a Runner when…

1. You see the name “Tebow” all over the newspaper and ESPN and think “OMG whyyy do they keep spelling Fred’s name wrong?” No seriously. I’ve been told who this Tebow guy is but I still get a little flutter of “omg NY running news on TV again?! Why’d they spell it wrong AGAIN? Oh wait, I’m dumb. It’s just stupid football” every.single.time.

2. Every time you go away for a week, weekend, whatever, you’re left with a suitcase full of workout gear and no room for “street clothes.” (this will be me in one week) This drives #3 home even more so.

3. You’d rather go to an event (dinner with the boyfriend, holiday shopping, etc) stinky, sweaty and embarrassing to all other parties involved than skip a run. Better than canceling completely, right?

4. You’d rather go to an event work stinky, sweaty and embarrassing to all other parties involved of your coworkers than skip a run. Or call in sick altogether…Oh, please. Like people haven’t called in sick for worse reasons. Don’t guilt me!

5. Your entire Christmas List consists of running gear or money to go toward race entry fees (this goes for almost any other shopping you’re involved in a yearly basis). Race fees are the better option (hint, hint, Christmas shoppers), because there’s no more room in the average runners closet for any more shoes. Or if you’re a New York runner, there’s really no more room anywhere for anything. Gifts bigger than a $20 bill (or 50, or 100…) are difficult to find a home for. See #6.

6. You have no room in your closet for your winter boots and/or new work shoes because you have 4-pairs too many of running sneaks. But you cannot let yourself part with any of them because they all serve a very important purpose. What hurts your toes more, blisters from heels or blisters from a long run?

7. You’ve woken up at 4 a.m. to get a run in rather than forgo it completely. Because why sleep when you can run?

8. When you see bad weather outside your first thought is not “back to sleep” or “there goes my workout for today.” It’s “guess I’m wearing the visor to keep that rain out of my eyes” or “better whip out the Under Armor so I don’t freeze to death in that snow.” It’s normal, really.

9. You have more Clif Bars and GU in your cabinet than “nonfuel” [read:real] food. This makes your friends and family very happy a bit grossed out when they visit and need a bite to eat.

10. While most people spend their web time staring at their outlook calendars, googlemaps, and nbcny.com, you’re filling out your calendar on runningahead, clicking away on mapmyrun and perusing nyrr.org. Obsessed? No, not at all. You’re perfectly normal…

I actually had many more relevant thoughts (i.e. #1 above), but of course forgot them before I even got into work yesterday. So perhaps this will be reoccuring as my muddled brain remembers things.

Next up on the “I have no running news to post” chain? My Central Park (and other sweatastic environments) Pet Peeves. That list is very long, and seeing as its peeves, not very nice. So perhaps we’ll hold til after the holidays.

Have a very happy Friday, kids! Can’t wait to hear how everyone’s weekends are! And more importantly, can’t wait to post pictures after the grand illumination of the Charlie Brown christmas tree being erected in our living room tonight!

And the winner is…

New York City!

….for being the best at hosting huge and amazing events in small cramped spaces [read: the streets of Manhattan].

(If you got all excited thinking that was a drumroll of the Chobani giveaway…well, you were partially right. Because that’s announced at the very end of this post. But be kind and read your way through, rather than scroll to the end, eh?)

This morning I wanted to stick to a shorter run–I went to bed far too late last night, but not because I was up packing for Richmond. I was at Lionshead Tavern bringing my super-nice neighborhood friend up to speed on what keys would get her into the apartment this weekend and what weird tics my cat has, as she was kind enough to promise to check in on the little monster. So this morning, to avoid the temptation of a longer run (that Central Park so often offers) and also to avoid the reservoir, which I imagine was a field of puddles and wet uncomfortableness.

So I took to the streets of this fineee city, and even though it was a little miserable weather-wise, I had a great run.

Just like seeing the stands set up in Central Park in the days leading up to the marathon made me giddy like an 8-year-old on Christmas eve, the risers being erected for tomorrow’s parade had a similar effect. Because like an 8-year-old, I religiously watch every second of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I get pumped reading about new floats to take to the skies and anxiously await the arrival of old favorites. And I call every single one of the 20-something people in my house on Thanksgiving morning to watch the arrival of Santa Claus.

Yes, I realize I’m a nerd.

I may never actually BE in New York City for the parade (because if I have things my way, our Thanksgiving traditions in Richmond will continue until it’s no longer a holiday or I’m no longer around), so it was nice to at least be here the day before, and feel the excitement in the air as the ground crews worked–with Christmas music blasting, no less.

Disappointing that I ran the parade route this morning, rather than later today when the actual inflation begins? A wee bit.

sorry i can't see you rise outta the streets later today kermit. instead, i'll be waiting in line to board a chinatown bus. awesome!

But seeing the bleachers packed onto the sidewalks like sardines and being forced to run on the bike path gave what would have been a pretty dreary morning a little bit of flair. And NYC and the tons of people who work on huge events like the parade and the marathon deserve a giant pat on the back for makin’ the magic happen. It’s pretty impressive to see the behind the scenes and realize how much manpower goes into productions of this scale.

Now rather than hear me continue to gush about the parade and count down the hours until I’m home with my favorite people in the world…I shall let you see which of you lucky readers is getting a free box of Chobani delivered to their door.

[Drumroll, please....]

 

Yay Krissy! Congrats! Please shoot me an email or DM on Twitter with your mailing address and what sort of assortment of yogurt you’d like. You get your choice of 12 flavors, all of your choosing!

We all know what Krissy is thankful this holiday…how about the rest of you?? What are YOUUUU thankful for this Thanksgiving and all year round?

Now What?

Runner’s World sent an e-blast this morning that essentially mirrored one of my post-marathon write-ups regarding PMD, and essentially every other thought that’s crossed my mind since Nov.12th:

i've asked myself that question every day for the last 10 days. holy crap. it's been 10 days??

Apparently I’m not the only one who equates race-day excitement to Christmas morning. And post-race depression to the after-holiday haze.

And my being one of those people is the reason it’s taken me until 11:30 to get myself writing a post for today.

I spent a good hour or so covering the dirt paths of a quiet and overcast Central Park this morning, racking my brain for ideas of something to write about once I finished.

I didn’t do anything cool and NY-ish last night. I had a late night at work, plugged away for a bit on the elliptical and went home to have a bowl of cereal for dinner. Not exciting at all.

I wanted to try a spin class as part of my plan to “use this month of downtime to train in fitness areas outside of running.” Spin class was filled. Fail.

I banged out 6-ish miles on my favorite running route this morning. Big deal. I’ve done that a few times in the last two weeks. It wasn’t part of a marathon training plan so I can’t even mention Hal’s name when rehashing it to you. And you’re probably bored by the rehashing.  You probably don’t care or need to know that I was way overdressed for the warm weather this morning or that my glutes are still a little tight from The Marathon but overall, I felt comfortable, and good. And like my legs are getting back to normal and I really, realllly want to hit a distance higher than 6 in the near future.

So last week PMD left little hints that he was planning on making an appearance in my life in the near future. I acknowledged those hints for about 5 seconds, then pushed them aside and started gushing about my marathon again. If you want to see another picture of my medal, I’m happy to show you. Or perhaps you’d rather take a peek at my sweet marathon-worthy tshirt:

this shirt won me two awesome friends on Race Day. their names are larry and tracey. you knew that because i talked about them 24/7 last week and still hope they will stumble upon this blog some day and say hi to me.

But this week, despite my trying to convince him not to come–my NYC apartment is way too tiny, and my life is too busy since I finally have a real job and the holidays approaching–PMD moved in anyway. The jerk.

Luckily I’m only one more boring run around the reservoir (please note that my whining about my “monotonous” runs these days have nothing to do with how I feel on them or the route–I love them, just hate boring you), half a workday, and one very long and potentially frightening Chinatown bus away from the greatest holiday of all time with the most fun fam in the world:

raise your hand if YOUR thanksgiving includes props?

there are no words. but everyone’s welcome. so if youre interested in having the best turkey day of your life, let me know and book a chinatown bus ticket.

I’m 100% positive that this weekend will convince PMD that I don’t need him in my life. I have plenty of other things to make me happy. Like the people you see above, and many, many more. Not to mention…the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, pumpkin bread, delicious food, board games and of course, wine.

 

I plan to come back happy, refreshed and miles away from that nasty PMD. And I plan to come back with a gameplan on how I’ll tackle this next month of non-running focused fitness, but also a gameplan on how to get back up to 8 miles, and 10 miles and more. Not just for me, but for you reading about my recaps on it.  

 

In the meantime, for putting up with me and my PMD-afflicted self, you get the chance to win free delciousness. Friday’s giveaway is still on, and readers can continue to enter until it closes tonight. A winner will be announced in the morning!

 

Have a very happy Tuesssssday kids! I may not, thanks to the unwanted guest I’ve got, but I still certainly hope you do!!

On a Monday I am waiting

Tuesday I am fading and by Wednesday I can’t sleep….

Little Ashlee Simpson to start your morning! Because I think she’s an amazing singer and I love every one of her songs? No. Because I belted out this particular song during karaoke at the Grisly Pear on Saturday night and now it’s stuck in my head? Maybe….

But let’s back up a bit

Friday night after my first  work happy hour at the new job, the JD and I met my friend off a bus from Baltimore. A new megabus stop left her at Port Authority, right near where we already were, so we grabbed a drink then headed back to the UWS for a low-key night of catch-up.

Since this is the friend whom I credit for helping me become a runaddict, I knew she’d have her sneakers packed, and on Saturday morning we laced up so I could introduce her to the reservoir. I’m pretty sure there’s a big chunk of non-New Yorkers who have hit up Central Park during one visit or another, but don’t know much about Jackie’s beautiful dirt path because it’s so far north. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall morning and perfect for an easy run with an old friend. It was soooo strange passing runners from the NYRR Knickerboxer 60K (holy crap, 60k!!) and thinking how only a week before I had been one of those crazy distance runners, up on a Saturday morning running for hours and hours just for the fun of it. And it also made me a little sad. Good thing training starts for the National Half (which same visiting friend is also running) in just a few weeks.

And while our jog may have been a weee bit shorter than a 60k, we still kept the mileage up by spending the rest of Saturday walking all over the city. We hit up the holiday market at Union Square, checked out the dressed up windows and Lord & Taylor and eventually made our way up to Bryant Park for some more seasonal shopping. The JD met us there and we ended the day by introducing our guest to the gloriousness that is Wafels and Dinges, coupled with a hot toddie from the Southwest Porch. If you haven’t been it’s a small outdoor restaurant/bar in the SW corner of the park. There’s lots of comfy chairs and swings and best of all…heat lamps at every seat.

We met up with yet another college friend who was in the city and segued into Saturday night in the west village…where somehow or another, we wound up at the Grisly Pear, signed up for karaoke. I’d only done karaoke one other time in my life–after which I had sworn I’d never do it again–but this west village watering hole turned out to be a pretty good venue for the spot. The mic and stage (if you can call it a stage) were set up in the back room of the bar where lots of tables and chairs were set up. Most people were there with a group, and if one of their own wasn’t on stage, you didn’t have to worry about capturing their attention too much. We paired up girls vs. guys and had a blast belting out the words to silly pop songs like the aforementioned Ashlee number and Miley Cyrus’s Party in the U.S.A. It was an amazingly fun night, and a much-needed let-loose after all that serious marathon training

Sunday we took the crew to the neighborhood jaunt we take everyone–Tom’s. You may know it better as, “The Seinfeld Restaurant.” And the rest of the day was dedicated once again to traipsing all over the city. I played tour guide and pointed out all of my favorite running routes (Riverside Park and the rest of Central Park), we made a quick trip down to the new World Trade Center site and came back through Times Square, because what visitor doesn’t want to make a pit stop there?

After my friend caught the bus back to Baltimore, I still had some fun lined up. Thanks to the new job, there were two tickets waiting at the box office at Playwright Horizons, for me and a friend to see Maple and Vine. I grabbed dinner and drinks with my aunt at Reunion Surf Bar (SUCH a fun place) and the two of us headed down the street to catch the show, which is still in previews this week. It had a lot of zingy one-liners and was an overall clever and enjoyable story, but we weren’t happy with the ending. I won’t go into details why just in case you plan to see it

Now it’s time to settle in to this oh-so-short work week…I can’t believeeeee Thanksgiving is just days away!

Hope you have a very happy Monday!

And if you want to be made even happppier, enter to win Friday’s giveaway. What’s better than free deliciousness arriving at your door?

Holy Marathon Weekend

I’ve got my own marathon weekend coming up in just four short days. But before I bore you with my anxiety over that, let’s back up so I can recap the adrenaline rush I’m still riding from a marathon I didn’t run [yet]…the ING NYC Marathon.

I made an entire weekend out of this event–or at least, running in general. As you know, it all kicked off on Thursday afternoon when I went to the expo at Jacob Javits Center. I came home with lots of goodie bags filled with free treats and bangin’ good dollars spent.

On Friday, I made my way down to David’s Bridal and ordered a beautiful pool blue dress for one of my best friends forthcoming weddings, and spent the rest of the afternoon “crosstraining”…read: walking all over Manhattan. I was given out more marathon freebies in midtown, in the shape of a bright orange cowbell and racecourse maps. Hot dog! And as a last-Friday-of-Freedom splurge, I treated myself to Rice to Riches. I’d been intrigued by this 16 Handles of rice pudding for quite sometime now, and holy moly, was I impressed with what I found. I never thought I’d see the day when I found somewhere to give my froyo mecca a run for its money, but this rando-ricepuddin’ shop did the trick. I wasn’t even sure I liked rice pudding when I went in, and I came out completely in love. Especially with the espresso chocolate chip flavor. Ladies and gents, do yourself a big favor and go here…NOW.

From Spring Street I scurried home for my last night of working at the restaurant. No exciting details to share there, except I made a nice chunk of moolah for my farewell shift, did a quick clicking of the heels and headed home. Things got awesome once I got there, because I had an awesome piece of mail waiting for me from my cousin, whom recently left me for Chicago. Big sad face. But even from there, she’s an awesome cheerleader, and her card said something along the lines of “CongratsongettingthroughyourmarathontrainingandgoodluckonyourveryfirstmarathonandIknowyou’llkickass” and some other sappy/super nice things. Bottom line: my cousin kicks ass.

I went to bed happy. And on Saturday morning I finally got my butt out of bed for an “early” a.m. run (early only in comparison to the times I was running while in the restaurant world) with Katherine, Ashley and Kristine. These lovely ladies were kind enough to cross over from the east side so we could all head south along the Hudson River together. We all had different distances planned for the day, but banged out a big chunk of them together from 34th street down to Battery Park, South Ferry and the Brooklyn Bridge. I stopped at about 10 miles right under the bridge and u-turned to find a train back uptown. Once home, I was greeted by another marathon-inspired surprise, this time from the JD:

hello pretty flowers. that match fall foliage. that colors the richmond marathon course.

Have I mentioned how great my boyfriend is? Because he’s pretty effin great.

After admiring my flowers, I inhaled some delicious coffee, showered and headed out for another delightful NYC day with the boy.

We went shopping for fancy work clothes–me for the new job, and the JD just because Afterwards we caught an early movie (50/50 with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gorden Levitt–both funny and touching, highly recommended) at the Loew’s at Lincoln Center (which may be my new favorite NYC theater) followed by dinner at Cleopatra’s Needle. I’d been dying to try this place for a while simply because I liked the name of it. I liked the name of it even more when I learned it was shared with the mini-Washingtonmonumentlookalike in Central Park.

what's that? dc is too far a run? fine. i'll get a glimpse of my monument in central park.

Unfortunately, while the restaurant has a swanky fun name, and some decent mediterranean fare, I don’t think I’ll be making a return. Not quite enough bang for the buck in my opinion, but there was some fun jazz music, and it was the first time in a long time the JD and I were able to squeeze in a datenight. So, success all around.

And then came Sunday. Oh, Sunday. Because of the time change I literally woke up  like a kid on Christmas morning–super early and super giddy. I was annoyed that marathon coverage wasn’t starting until 9 a.m., but got over that disappointment rather quickly, as PBS was repeating the Fred Lebow movie “Without Limits” over and over again. I only got to see a few minutes of it before switching back over to NBC, but anything marathon related was okay in my book.

I had originally anticipated going for a short run or making a return to the gym (oh by the way, my NYSC membership is BACK BABY!) before suiting up to cheer on friends actually running the race, but the elites got the best of me and I was literally glued to the TV for 2 hours. Never in my life would I have thought watching people run on TV could keep my attention, much less for such a long span of time. But kids, I was ENTHRALLED. Eventually, I managed to pull myself away and head over to first ave, where the JD and I were meeting up with some fellow cheerers. As soon as we got off the subway on Lex I could feel the change in the air, and once we hit 3rd ave, I could see the crowds in the distance. By the time we made it over to first, I was ecstatic.

We were easily able to find our friends as the ran by, and stopped for some sweaty hugs and well wishes. From there, our group traveled down the east side of the park toward Mickey Mantles where we popped in for a quick drink (well, they sipped, I dutifully abstained) because you know, spectating can be a tough job!

After hydrating we went right back out to the crowds to cheer our friends on as they came down around mile 25, the cowbells were ringing and the Mr and Mrs were smiling and going strong (I have an amazing picture to prove it, but not sure on their thoughts on sharing with the internet world)! We screamed and yelled and cowbelled for them to keep on going, and once we knew they had it in the bag moved down to Faces and Names to wait for them. Once the achy but happy couple made it in, I pulled up a seat to congratulate them and immediately set in on their thoughts, feelings, advice and any other peep they could muster on marathoning. It was the mister’s first-ever race (his wife was on her 5th), so I was thrilled to learn that he loved every second of it, said it was the most amazing experience ever and that he had no doubt I’d feel the same come Saturday.

(Provided that’s true, and I don’t end up LOATHING 26.2….ING NYC Marathon, I’ll see YOU next year!)

We stayed in midtown munching on delicious pub-food and talking running for a few hours before heading home. I finally pushed the thought of a workout out of my head and instead focused all of my attention on making some peanutbutteroatfudgies–a recipe recently sent to me by my mother. With the marathon four days away, and my first day of work at the new job a few hours away (well, now its more like 40 minutes), peanut butter goodness seemed the best line of defense against all anxious thoughts and jittery feelings.

So with that FINALLY said. I’m off to the first day on the new job. Followed (hopefully) by a return to my favorite NY gym so I can zone out for a few more hours. And once I get home tonight, I may have a nervous breakdown.

Happy happy Monday kids!

It’s in the Air

Manhattan is buzzing with all-things marathon this week. And it is awesome. Even for someone NOT running the ING NYC marathon. I can’t help but get completely caught up in the excitement–and get pumped for my friends running the boroughs on Sunday, and for my own marathon less than a week later.

In fact, that excitement carried me down to the Jacob Javits Center yesterday afternoon for a little expo action. Hey, it’s open to the public!

hiya, expo. next year, i hope to visit you as a nyc marathon runner. not spectator.

The expo provided me with a lunch of freebies–powerbar samples, Gatorade chews, Odwalla protein shakes–you name it, I tried it. But worry–I did not make a name for myself as a spectating freeloader. I tried those samples, and then I opened up the wallet and stocked up for my own marathon needs:

those little oatmeal raisin powerbar balls may be the best thing ive ever eaten. go try them.

words can't describe how happy i am about this purchase

I stocked up on lots of running fuel–both because it’s important to have while running, and because it was all delicious.

I also purchased some new Brooks running gloves after having lost mine during a random McDonald’s bathroom break last winter. These are amazing gloves for so many reasons. They are reflective, have mitten covers to shield the wind, and are super warm and comfy. A must have for winter running!

After the expo I decided I wanted to squeeze in a quick shakeout run after Wednesday night’s 12-miler. I have been reading that it’s important to do practice runs in your race day gear. Since the JD can’t make it to Richmond for Race Day (sad face), I definitely want to race in the shirt he had made for me, so yesterday I suited up in my marathonwiner/Richmondmarathon tee and went for an easy jog down Central Park West.

the crazy/terrified look on my face is due to the fact that the next time i rock this shirt will be marathon morning. eeks!

As it turns out, this shirt is good luck! Well, whether or not it’s good luck as far as crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles is yet to be told, but it I was wearing it during my first-ever, legitimate NYC celeb siting! While cruising down CPW in the 80′s yesterday I SAW ALEC BALDWIN! Holy bigtime siting. If there is a celeb to see in NY, I can’t imagine a better one than that! And perhaps the greatest part of the entire event was that I kept my cool–didn’t get all googly-eyed and trip and fall on my face. I’ll take that as a win!

After my star-studded run I was super late to my second-to-last shift at the restaurant. After a considerably uneventful night there I came home and stalked the internet for more marathon tips, tricks and other reads. It was then, that I stumbled upon one of many lovely little articles that talks the big 5 marathon courses (Boston, NY, Chicago, London and Berlin) and read this little gem:

The toughest: New York

The London, Berlin and Chicago marathon courses are all almost completely flat. Boston has its famous Wellesley Hills, but the course is a net downhill and it has hosted some pretty fast times. The toughest course among the Marathon Majors is New York’s. It features three significant hills and a lot of small ups and downs. And cruelly, the toughest part of the course is the end, where tired runners are slammed by the rolling slopes of Central Park.

This was a big confidence boost for me, because taper time has made me feel slow, undertrained and undermileaged (yes, I just made that word up). And even though I may have blacked out during it, I must remember that I DID in fact, run 18 miles through the “rolling slopes of Central Park.” And if those same slopes help dub that one of the trickiest marathon courses in the world, than I feel so happy and proud to have them under my belt. And I hope, hope, hope, that means I’m ready for Richmond on November 12th.

Today I will try everything in my power TO NOT RUN. And to fully take a rest day (even though I’ve still got runner’s guilt over two rest days in a row last Saturday and Sunday). I’ve got a trip to David’s Bridal (don’t get excited, it’s for a bridesmaid dress and not a wedding dress) and piles of laundry to hopefully distract me until MY LAST SHIFT AT THE RESTAURANT tonight. Then its a weekend full of running with friends (Katherine, let’s talk about tomorrow–and anyone else who wants to join) and watching friends run in the 2011 ING NYC Marathon on Sunday. Good luck out there runners!!!

Have an awesome weekend kids!

- And as always, I’m getting boring with my questions/requests. But any and all last-week-of-taper advice is more than welcome!

Nightrunning

I officially have the song nightswimming by R.E.M. stuck in my head…anyone?

Anywho. As I mentioned yesterday, I had attempted to wake up early and get a run in before work, but sleep got the better of me. I pushed snooze and lounged almost until it was time to walk out the door.

My original plan to wake up early had had many reasons. I really want to get myself back in the habit of early morning runs before the new job takes off on Monday morning. I also really wanted to get myself in the habit before November 12th, when I’ll have to wake up at 5 something in the a.m. before running 26.2 miles. Eeks.

But I’ve been told sleep is just as important–if not more important–than mileage during taper time. So I took the mini fail in stride.

As often happens in the restaurant business, I didn’t get out until a full hour later than I had anticipated. This meant I had to tell Katherine to run without me, rather than continually keep her waiting (sorry again, Katherine!) and change up  my own Central Park attack plan. Since it was getting dark out and I had gorged myself on a gross amount of spinach dip before leaving the restaurant, I didn’t think the 12 miles I had planned would have been the greatest idea. Instead, I figured I’d see how busy the park was (I’d never really run it at night before) and if it looked like there was a good sweat crowd out, I’d do one outer loop and then head home.

Well, you know me. I’m stubborn.

I had 12 miles on the brain yesterday, and so 12 miles is what I ended up doing. Oops.

In all fairness, the park was probably just as dark as it would have been had I made it out at 6:30 a.m. (watch this be the one time my parents decide to read the blog and go apeshit when they see I DARED enter the park after dusk), but it was ALIVE with runners, bikers, tourists and who knows who else!

There were lots of glowstick-clad pace training groups sandwiching me in every segment of the run, and I felt 100% safe. And I guess the “newness” of a nighttime run super charged me, because the spinach dip as fuel did not have any negative impact on my run. In fact, it was best run I’ve had in a couple of days–I felt great!

I did one outer loop as planned, including the full scale of Harlem Hills, and then stuck around for one more 4-mile jaunt around an inner loop.

There were more bats than the birds I’m used to seeing. So that was weird. And I did get a little confused by the corral-like structures lining the west side of the park for this weekends marathon and had to retrace my steps a few times, but the run was otherwise a dream. Awesome views of the city skyline lit up, great weather, and an overall feeling of excitement from the other groups of runners and the entire west side of the park, but specifically, this little gem:

again, dumphone quality. but if you're a runner, you likely already know that this is the finish line of the ING NYC marathon. annnnd says "run for life" on it. LOVE.

I figure last night may have been the last chance I’ll have to get that close to the finish line…until maybe next November? We’ll see.

Once I got home I tried to be better about stretching and foam rolling and then spent the remainder of the evening stalking every single page of the Richmond Marathon to see if there’s anything I’m missing. It appears that the elevation for the course is considerably flat though, so I’ll be good to go if I keep my runs from here on out along Riverside park or even just the neighborhood streets. Because other than an 8-10 mile jog on Saturday, I really, really REALLY want to keep the distance down to Hal’s taper time recommendation. If you see me post about any other longer runs, leave your computer, hit the streets and track me down. And then punch me in the arm and drag me home. Because taper time means rest time.

Not sure what’s on the agenda for today, but very likely some wandering around the city until my shift at 4:00, because its beautifulllll outside If there’s time, perhaps a VERY EASY 3-4 mile shakeout run, or maybe even a spin class to switch things up a bit! Who knows. Recommendations welcome!

*All this of course…AFTER I watch Hoda (and KLG, if that mention is necessary. sorry, that was mean). It’s my second-to-last morning of non-office freedom to enjoy the Today Show, so my butt will be glued here for a few. And I just found out Hoda and KLG will be reporting from Orlando [read: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter] next week. Maybe I should have put my work start date off a few days? Bahaha/Sera, sera.

Have a very happy Thursday kids!

Holy Wow

I finally took a break from the June Cleaver to-do list yesterday and made it out for a jaunt around the beautiful Central Park that I devoted a lot of gushing words toward. While my knees may have preferred the comfort of the bridle path, I opted to do the outer loop–ALL of the outer loop [read: Harlem Hills]. To the park and back adds about 2 miles so I finished up at 8ish for the afternoon.

From there, I scurried home to shower as fast as humanly possible, because I had yet another interview in midtown. This was round 2 for this particular company, but since I’ve made it to second and third rounds of interview approximately 4323643 times with no good news to follow, I certainly don’t have my hopes up about this one [but let's be real, I sort of do].

I thought maybe the achiness in my legs could have been from me finally sissing out after Friday’s long run/once again falling behind on strength training and stretching. And since I was in midtown anyway, and the JD alerted me he likely wouldn’t be home until midnight or so (really, the lawyer life BLOWS) I scooted over to the gym to hop on the ellip and pump some iron (go ahead, chuckle at the thought)!

So this morning when the alarm went off at the lovely hour of 6:30 a.m. and then again at 6:45 (I do so love the snooze button), it was difficult to drag my butt out of bed. Luckily, I had secured plans last night to run with Katherine. And the beauty of a running buddy is, as much as you want to be lazy, you can’t leave a running friend waiting. Oh but wait.

I pulled the ultimate runwithafriend fail, and rather than spring up an at ‘em, I texted Katherine attempting to get out of a run. Luckily, she is awesome. And agreed to postpone it until later in the afternoon when we both feeling a little more up for it.

I believe Katherine and I both deserve some epic pats on the back, because it’s really not easy to coordinate runs between two people who live on far opposite corners of Manhattan. We’re both a little crazy, and I was trying to squeeze in this weekends long run early and Katherine is upping her mileage base BEFORE she starts training for her marathon…in April. She is a nice running buddy to meet me for 10 miles when she really, really does not need to.

We finally met up around 1 p.m. at Engineer’s Gate (after I spent the morning continuing to clean and pack like a madwoman). The weather was–as it has been for a while now (knock on wood)–amazing. The perfect fall day, and the type of day I hope I wake up to on November 12th.

I felt a bit sluggish at first, but I believe thanks to spending the earlier part of the day dancing around the apartment in my compression socks and having company while running, I finally fell into a good stride. Katherine stayed with me through one and half 5-mile loops of the park and we distracted ourselves talking (as usual) running, blogging, life in NYC and (not always the usual) the wedding I’m attending this weekend

Circles around the park are much more fun when you continually pass by all of the lovely workers setting up bleachers and other necessities for the marathon in just a week and a half! I’m so excited I’m like a kid on Christmas morning, and I’m only spectating in this one!

excitement in the air or just noise from bleacher construction? all the same.

[Note: this photo was stolen from Shannon, who posted it on the NYC marathon FB page]

Funny enough, shortly after Katherine headed out of the park I bumped into none other than my new BFF Paul! This time we were running in opposite directions and [I believe] b0th nearing the ends of our respective runs, so we smiled and yelled some encouragement to one another and kept going. I can’t stress it enough, I love this city and all of its runners!

Since I’m still pretty sure Paul is far too busy of a business owner/father/marathoner/etc to ever read this blog, I do hope we’ll bump into each other again on a lunchtime run, because he is a nice man.

I headed out of the park after finishing my second loop and by the time I reached home had hit 12.65 about miles. I actually wanted to keep going because for the first time in a couple of days, I felt FANTASTIC. Holy wow, what a run! I felt refreshed and revived and ready to tackle more miles. But seeing how its taper-time and I still plan to knock out a few shorter runs over the weekend, I told myself that’ll do for today.

And while I was starving mid-run and have been plagued by taper hunger these days, I did not go home and pig out (get it? “that’ll do pig, that’ll do” okay. dumb babe reference). Instead, I feasted on a lunch of nuun (turns out it actually tastes okay if you only do a half tablet at a time) chased by a bowl of brussels, carrots and hummus (welcome back healthy Katie! your body has missed you) and some more water/nuun. Yum!

It’s on to tackle the to-do list and the day/stalk my email to see if I’ve been hired anywhere (fingers crossed).

Next time I talk to you, I’ll be running around Richmond (both in my sneaks and on wedding errands) gearing up for an awesome wedding weekend!

Happy hump day kids! Get jazzed about something today!