What Running Has Taught Me

Most of you probably don’t know me, so let me introduce myself! My name is Katherine and I started running a little less than a year ago and started a blog to go along with my running journeys. Nice to meet you all

I always hated running. No “hate” is too kind, more along the line of “loathed.” I clearly remember throwing up in 6^th grade when being forced to run a mile in gym class. As I grew up, I slowly started picking up running in spurts as a means of fitness, but never got above 3 miles and never really enjoyed running per say.

Well, all that changed last January 2011. A couple of my friends were talking about running a half marathon together and I was mad that I would be missing out on the fun just because I “couldn’t” run. I’m not a big fan of “can’t” and I figured if they can do it – why CAN’T I? I decided a little motivation would push me along so I signed up for a half marathon (giving myself 2.5 months to go from 0 – 13.1 miles).  My goal was to finish and I finished at a 10:10min/mile pace and was ecstatic! I was hooked on running from that point on.

A little less than a year later I have 3 half marathon’s under my belt and am training for my first marathon – the Paris 2012 Marathon in April! Running has been an eye opener for me and it’s taught me a lot about life and myself.  So let me share…

It’s OK to talk to strangers

I’m completely against teaching kids not to talk to strangers – sure, don’t talk to kidnappers or perverts, but not all strangers are bad. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people through meeting fellow bloggers and runners (Katie being one of them!) who I wouldn’t have met if I were afraid to talk to strangers. I’ve also heard a lot of interesting stories and met some great people just by randomly chatting up people during a race or while on a run in the park. It’s funny, because I’m not normally an “extroverted” person, but I guess boredom on a long run will pull it out of me.

I’m competitive

I grew up always playing a sport – I was mediocre at all of them, but not great at any of them. I didn’t have that competitive edge and I didn’t care enough about winning in order to put in the effort. Running has taught me to challenge myself.  I know I’m never going to win a race and there will always be others who can run faster or farther than me, but every run and every race is a small personal challenge. I compete with myself and push myself harder to in order to beat myself.

I get in ruts

For someone who in the last 4 years has had 5 jobs, even more apartments and has moved across the country and back – this is a little strange to say. But it’s true! Ever since I’ve started running it’s been hard for me to get into other exercises such as weight training and swimming, which I used to do regularly. I also get in route ruts and tend to run the same paths over and over – there’s something comforting about knowing what’s to come.

Cars run on gas, bodies run on fuel

I haven’t been on a “diet” since high school, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t watch what I eat. When I’m training, though, if I’m hungry I eat. If I’m still hungry, I eat more.  My body needs fuel to run.

Slow and steady wins the race

Seriously, it’s true – did you watch the NYCM this year and notice how Mary was ahead in the women’s race until the very end? I’ll never complete a marathon by racing the first 10K. In the same respect, relationships take time to foster and grow; it takes time in a job to prove yourself and be promoted; it takes a lifetime to learn J

If you never try, you’ll never succeed

I think you get that one…

Only the wicked witch melts in the rain

…I can be “witchy” sometimes, but I don’t melt J. I’m a baby about the cold and bad weather, but nothing’s going to stop me from a run!…besides maybe a hurricane, snowstorm, or broken leg (let’s hope none of these happen)….

I don’t settle

OK, this I kind of already knew about myself. Nothing is ever good enough and nothing ever will be good enough because when we stop pushing ourselves, we stop living. There will always be a new PR to beat.

I’m proud of myself and that’s perfectly OK

I’ve accomplished a lot in both life and running. I’ve always thought that by recognizing this I was “bragging,” but for some reason running specifically has taught me that it’s OK to acknowledge my successes. To date I’ve run 16 miles further than I ever thought I could and I’m proud of that.

I can do anything I put my mind to

I’ve been lucky and have had parents who fully fostered this belief. When I crossed the finish line at my first half marathon, though, it all made sense. If you asked me a year ago if I’d ever thought I’d run a marathon, I’d say I could NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER , but in April  2012, I will.

So I leave you with this:

The Marathon.

In case you missed my sneak attack weekend post and have not been brought up to speed on what’s happened in MarathonWinerworld over the last few days, let me fill you in.

I ran.

26.2 miles.

…in 3 hours, 57 minutes and 53 seconds.

i'll likely wear this for the next month or so. nonstop.

I’ll give you a second to get back up because I’m sure you just fell out of your seat. I know, I know, it’s completely unexpected. Maybe not my crossing the finish line, but definitely the time on the clock when I did. So here it is…that post that the bloggerworld loves so much…

My First Ever Marathon Recap

When we left off on Friday I was getting pumped to go to the expo at the Arthur Ashe Center in downtown Richmond. It was actually even bigger than I expected it to be as far as vendors and fun things to look at, but lacking a bit in the free sample department. Cause you know, I like to get a meal out of an expo visit.

I did, however, manage to spend way too much money on stickers about running, a way-overpriced jacket that reads “Marathon FINISHER” on it and awesome gloves that I planned to use to keep me warm while waiting for the race to start and toss shortly into it (spoiler alert: that didn’t happen. yay! I still have very marathonwiner gloves).

thank you onemoremile, for your awesome apparel

After the expo my sister (who was running the 8k) and friend (in town for the half marathon) and I headed back to my parents house, where mom had whipped up some spaghetti and meatballs, and my older sister even got fancy with some homemade manicotti. A few loaves of Italian bread and side salad later, and we had carb-loaded our faces off.

Seeing as how I was already in a sleepy food coma, I thought I might actually have a shot at sleeping well on Friday night. But I thought wrong. Very very wrong. I started to doze when we hit the hay around 11, but at 12:30 woke up and essentially never went back to sleep. When the alarm went off at 5:30 though, I didn’t dare give the snooze button a thought.

I hopped out of bed and went through the get-ready motions in an eerily calm fashion. Even driving downtown with my tub of peanut butter, I felt oddly at ease–minus the fact that it was FREEZING outside. 28 degrees as we made our way out of the burbs and into the city. Not cool November, not cool.

We had a few hiccups trying to find parking, but eventually made it into a deck and got my little sis to the start line of her 8k with 7 minutes to spare (she was starting at 7, the half at 730, and the full marathon at 8). But just as the gun was about to go off for the five-miler runners, panic started to set in a bit. My stomach was a hot mess of nervousness and I became seriously worried about what tricks it was going to attempt over the next 5hours or so.

Distractions were easy to find while I hung around with my friend before she needed to get in her corral for the half marathon–we snapped photos (something we stupidly forgot to do at any point during our first half  together in Philly last year), chatted and looked for ways to warm up. I got my first taste of the “friendliest” race when a nice woman gave me her trash bag to wear as she shed it. Yes, to all you non-runners out there, we wear trash bags sometimes. Trendsetters to the max.

Once Maryland friend was off and running her own course through the streets of Richmond, I lingered nervously near the start line for the full marathon waiting to see where I’d be corralled.

Somehow, I was in wave 2 of 4. With the sub-4:00 groups. Registration mistake? Perhaps. Fate? I think so.

I decided it’d be fine to start with that group even though I knew I didn’t belong there (I did, after all have a goal of sub-5 and a pipe dream of 4:30…yes, I can finally share that information with the world) because I could back off at any point and fall in with the people I was meant to run with.

The cold/stomach that was a knot of nerves left little room for pre-race stretching or warming up. But I DID manage to do what the emcee said and smile as I crossed the starting line. We were off!

For the first few miles I was so cold all I could honestly think about was whether or not it was possible for a pinky toe to fall off inside a sneaker without the foot owners knowledge of it. I legitimately could NOT feel my feet. It was super strange, but I guess helped take my mind off what was really going on…the whole, running a marathon thing.

It probably took a good 4 miles or so for my feet to really warm up and the hypochondriac side of me to believe that all toes were still in tact. From there, I tried to focus all of my attention on my surroundings–seeing parts of my hometown city that I had never seen before. It was pretty freakin’ cool. And every time a thought along the lines of “holyshitthisisit, I’m running a marathon” tried to creep their way in, I pushed them aside and told myself what I was doing was no different from anything I’d done over the preceding 16 weeks–it was just another “long run” through Central Park.

Throughout all of these mind games, I was also taking time out to say thanks to the many people who jogged by and commented on how much they loved my shirt. Big kudos to the JD for a job well done. By the end of the day I had more comments/funny remarks/questions about that tee than I could count.

as it turns out, lots of other richmond runners love red wine too. and were happy to let me know.

By mile 7 I knew I was going far too fast, but not sure by what exact numbers (as we all know, I’ve been running sans watch for quite some time now). I vaguely remembered passing the 10k split that had a clock attached to it, but paid no attention to what that clock read (turns out, it was 54:27).

It was around then that I got another question about my t-shirt–what was it all about? I explained to the nice man asking that I had created a blog to document my training for my first marathon, and marathonwiner was the name of the blog. We chatted a little more about blogging and social media (he was looking into ways to use it for his business) and then fell out of step. For only a few steps though.

From that point on, the nice man (whom I would later learn to call Larry) was periodically checking up on me in a very coach-like fashion saying, “Blogger, how you doing back there?” and “Looking strong blogger!”

Before long, we were back in step and stayed that way….for more than ten miles.

Along the way, I learned that Larry is from Illinois and was in Richmond running his 27th marathon. We picked up Tracy, a very nice lady from DC who was tackling her 13th. I was running with the big kids and loving every second of it.

Both Larry and Tracy were so incredibly supportive and the best two people I could have had by my side. They shared their running wisdom, cheered me on, kept the crowds rallied.

Ahh the crowds.

Richmond really is the friendliest city. The entire course was lined with live music and party zones where masses of people were gathered with their posters and noisemakers. I think it was a little like first ave during NYC’s marathon day, just broken up and scattered around the city of Richmond. There were hilarious posters (one of my favorites threatened a wedgie to anyone who walked), so many people who brought their own snacks and waters (and Coors light, and yes, runners drank it…what!?) down to the street and just a really great vibe overall.

And Larry hooted and hollered and personally thanked every single one of them as he ran by. It was awesome.

Some of the best cheerers of all happened to be at mile 16…waiting for me with a similarly awesome sign–one that my niece helped decorate and put a giant homemade owl on top so I’d be sure to see it. And I sure did.

do you know what kind of people are awesome? the kind that will drive over 300 miles to watch you run over 26.

I caught my mom and aunt (one of the people who had traveled from NY) from a long ways away as we approached the 16 mile marker and caught a new surge of energy. I sprinted a little ahead of my two friends so I could throw my arms up with screams and smiles, give mom a kiss and throw my lovely (and at that point VERY sweaty) wine gloves at her.

From there we traveled across our second bridge of the day (overlooking the James River surrounded by GORGEOUS fall colors) to where Larry’s wife was waiting, at mile 17. We then met Tracy’s husband at 18.

Holy crap, 18 miles of the course done already? How was this even happening?

Here’s how. According to Tracy’s fancy watch, we had apparently been averaging a pace of about 8:45–up to mile 16 it was closer to 8:30 and with all of the family stops it slowed down to closer to a 9. But 8:45?? For 18 miles?? Slow down cowboy!

It was at that point where my very seasoned marathon running coach Larry asked if we were ready to “pick things up” a bit.

I had been hanging with the big guns for so long and so badly wanted to say yes, but I knew I had went out too fast and stayed too fast. I bid farewell and let them go catch their sub 4 (probably closer to 3:45…those speeddemons) and tried to settle into a calmer pace.

But my friends had been what carried me. And as soon as they were gone I started to fall apart.

*Sidenote: Larry and/or Tracy, if you ever find yourself reading this, please know that you are what made my first marathon the success that it was and I think you are amazing. Many, many, many thanks and well wishes your way!

I realized I hadn’t had much fuel for a while (a GU around mile 9) and didn’t want to take one too close to the end, so I got one out and ready, but could not find a water station to save my life. I passed the sign that said 19 fully expecting those glorious tables of water to be waiting on the other side, but instead I found a hill.

The most giant hill I have ever seen in my life (yes, that’s delirious marathonwiner talking).

I told myself to be strong because if I could make it up that hill, I’d likely be rewarded with a decline on the other side. And even if that didn’t happen, mile 20 would be on the other side somewhere. And with mile 20, came water and my dear friend who had offered to run the last 10k with me.

I powered up the hill and sort of felt like I was going to leave my morning dose of peanut butter and nature valley bar all over the sidewalk. But mile 20 was so close.

Once again, I spotted my spectator from afar and she was all dressed up in her running best jumping and waving and screaming as I approached. I’m not sure if in my state of delirium it showed, but I was SO happy to see her! I was also so happy to see that I had hit the 20-mile mark in just under 3 hours…if I needed to do 10-minute miles the rest of the ride I could and would still have a shot at an amazing final time.

For the first time that day I slowed to a walk as I went through the water station and took my time with a GU (which at that point I didn’t want at all but forced myself to choke it down) and sipping on a cup of water, then I was off again–but with a friend in tow (or more likely, taking the reins and dragging me).

She very quickly reminded me that it was just a 10k left–a walk in the park for me. And per Shannon’s reminder, I told her she was dead on–it was exactly one loop of Central Park. Surely I could handle that?

Ahhh but I couldn’t. Every. single. one of those last 6 miles was absolute. torture. I was hitting the wall I had heard so much about, and if it hadn’t been for having a friend beside me, I very likely may have just walked the rest of the race. I had hit the 20 mile mark in three hours, that was enough of an accomplishment. Who really neeeds to run the whole marathon? Mind games at this point were NOT on my side.

Luckily, my friend was. And her cheers won out over the thoughts in my head.

best friends are the ones that pull you through a 10k of torture. and help you slap on a smile while you do it. oh and this man in the wheelchair was near me for the whole 26.2. he was badass. and beat me to the finish.

How was this photo taken, you may wonder? Oh because I had a sneak attack of a cheer squad waiting at mile 21 or 23 (I’m  not quite sure which). After finishing their own races earlier in the day, my fellow runners met up with dad and waited to hoot and holler (yes, that’s Richmond talk for cheer) at a point when I REALLY needed it. Thanks guys!

I walked maybe 3 more water stops in those last few miles, but we otherwise pushed out a pace under a 10-min mile.

And somehow made it to 26.

At that point my mind was pretty fuzzy with delirium and sheer exhaustion as we cruised down Cary Street. And when my friend asked if I wanted to push it for the finish, I only half-heartedly said yes. But then I looked up and saw that there was still a 3 on the clock. In fact, I actually screamed “holy shit….there is still a 3 up there!” And I was gone.

I sprinted across the finish line, arms up in the air, a giant smile on my face, and the shock and amazement of getting over it in under four hours.

I did it.

and my favorite person in the world surprised me at the finish line, cowbell in hand

I ran a marathon.

A giant, giant thank you for all of the text messages, tweets, phone calls, snail mail deliveries, emails, running company and sideline well wishes and cheers that were sent my way all weekend. I am so, so lucky to have such awesome friends and family

Have a very happy Monday kids

Marathon Love

I should maybe take a few minutes to chat about my first day at the new job yesterday and thoughts as I prepare for day 2. Or brief you on my return to NYSC last night and the fact that I listened to Hal and only ran 3 easy miles this morning. But I have more important things on my mind.

Like taking a second to say a big fat thank you to so many supportive, awesome people in my life, but more specifically [at least this week] in my marathon training.

So here goes.

Thank you to the “healthy living” blogging community…or whatever you are called. If it weren’t for you (and the many hours of boredom at my first NYC job), I may never have devoted 43243 hours to reading up on Garmins and discovering what the term “negative splits” means. And therefore never gotten hooked enough on the subject of running to ever want to hit that “register” button for the Suntrust Richmond Marathon.

Thank you to my NYC running friends and the random runners who I’ve met along my miles. Whether I met you through NYRR, randomly on the streets of the UWS, through blogging or some other weird and sweaty means, I’m so glad I did. Without you, I’d lose every early battle with my alarm clock, drive all of my non-running friends bat-shit crazy with all of my talk about road runner races, GUs, compression socks and bathroom stops and never have conquered 15, 18 or 21.5 miles.

Thank you to my friends and family who (at least at this point) may even be more excited about Saturday than I am (what can I say, I’m currently more scared shitless than I am giddy with anticipation…). So excited that they are also making the trek from New York to Richmond to come cheer me on. That’s right. I have three very awesome people who are traveling by plane and–even more impressively–by car, to watch me cross the finish line. Words just can’t express how cool that is.

Thank you to my friends and family who my not entirely understand why I run, or the magnitude of attempting a 26.2 mile, but support me and cheer me on anyway by sending me adorable “rah! rah! you kickass!” cards, or reply to my inquiries about whether or not they’ll be able to line up along the racecourse with emails like this: ”Even though I think its ridiculous, I know its important to you duh, and I would be out there at some point to watch, but I have to work.” And then promise to come celebrate the second they get off work. There are also those friends who DO have off, and even though they just tied the knot and are likely still riding the honeymoon high, offer to take a timeout from married life and come to said race. And not just to spectate, but jump in the race to pull me through the terrifying nomansland that is the last 10k. Yeah, I have awesome friends. Really, freaking awesome friends.

Thank you lastly, but certainly (by far) not the least, to the JD. My absolutely 100% amazing bf. Who suffered (and continues to suffer) through my whining for 18+ weeks. Eighteen long weeks of early nights that lead to earlier mornings, long runs, laments about nerves and doubts, unnecessary levels of excitement over PRs and nerdy glove purchases, talking about Hal Higdon as if HE were my boyfriend, and far too many hours spent overanalyzing my training plan/running log. Most normal dudes would have probably peaced out long ago. Or atleast gone crazy and/or turned into a raging alcoholic. But the JD has the patience of a saint. And through all my marathonwining, told me not only that I can run a marathon, but I can kick ass while I do it. And in case that didn’t get me pumped up, he had pretty flowers ready to distract me from my scary marathon thoughts.

I had a stressful first day of work. Amplified by the fact the my nerves are a little on edge with Nov.12th fast approaching. But thanks to virtual and real cheers from friends and family–by way of blog comments, cards from Chicago, phone calls from 10k runners in Richmond and hugs from the best bf in the world–I’m feeling good about Saturday. I may not hit the time goal I secretly have set in my head, but I will cross the finish line of my first marathon with a big fat smile on my face. And that’s a good enough goal for now.

 

Oh hi. I ran 20 miles today.

That’s what I’m going to say to every single person I come across for the rest of the day. And tomorrow it will change to “Oh hi. I ran 20 miles yesterday.” And so on, and so on. Because guess what…I RAN 20 MILES TODAY! Actually, according to MapMyRun I did 21.58, but who’s counting? Oh, I am. Because if 20 is cool 21.58 is 1.58 times cooler!

Word vomit over. Let’s recap correctly.

I didn’t get home from work last night until about 1 a.m. and it was straight to bed. Rather than attempt a big run this morning off zero sleep, I decided to forego the alarm and let myself wake up when I wake up. Unfortunately, I had a lot of pre-marathon nightmares dreams going on and didn’t sleep that well anyway. Oh, well.

I rolled out of bed a little after nine and was pretty hungry since last nights work dinner was a simple PB&J. I decided to risk switching things up a bit and rather than doing my normal pre-run snack of a nature valley bar (or two) or a honey stinger (keep forgetting to buy) smothered in peanut butter, I lathered up two Van’s low-cal, low-fat waffles instead. They were filling enough and I figured had just about the same amount of fueling ability.

After letting that settle a bit and doing some half-assed attempt at stretching (my legs were still super sore and tired from lots of running/working/etc) I laced up and headed out the door!

The plan was to do four of the 5-mile loops around Central Park (102nd street driveway looping around the southern tip and back up). During the first 10 miles/2 loops all I could think about was how much more enjoyable that distance was two days ago with Katherine. However I got myself through it mentally by reminding myself we covered that distance in the rainnnn, so surely today–a beautiful (albeit slightly overcast) fall day in NYC–two loops would be a piece of cake!

Cake? Maybe not. Slightly enjoyable red velvet cake flavored yogurt or those low-fat dark chocolate decadence jello pudding cups? Maybe.

About halfway through my third loop (this is maybe mile 14?) a fellow runner strided up alongside to make a bit of conversation regarding my compression socks. Do they work? He wanted to know. I told him the same thing I tell people about the knee bands I occassionally wear: I’m not so sure that they do anything, but in my head, they are life-savers.

Compression sock question answered and fellow runner stayed in stride. And here is where we get to the part of my 20+ mile recap where I gush about HOW MUCH I LOVE NEW YORK. Where else, other than Central Park, do you just make friends with other sweat /self-induced pain lovers? My new bff (his name is Paul) was out on a lunchtime run as part of his taper period before the NYC marathon in two weeks. This is his 5th time running the race after about a 3-year hiatus. And from mile 14-about mile 19, I got to pick his brain, chat marathon training and gush to each other about our mutual love of Central Park. I doubt Paul reads my marathonwining blog (afterall, with a full-time job in Manhattan and a family out in Jersey he’s a very busy man…and yes, I gleaned this information and much more somewhere between miles 17 and 18), but Paul, if you’re out there, please know you saved my run today, and without you I may have never ever finished this distance. You Paul, are an angel.

Not only did my new friend Paul help me through some particularly tough miles, he encouraged me to switch up my plan of four 5-mile loops, and together we tackled HARLEM HILLS. This came at about 17 miles in…when I had NO desire to climb any unanticipated hills. But we did it. And we did it at what I’d call an impressive pace for mile 17!

We both let out giant pants sighs of relief coming back down around the west side and stayed together over the 72nd transverse. From there we exchanged names, thanked each other for the company and gave giant high-fives and well wishes for our respective marathons. Paul headed back south to the office, and me back north toward home.

I pulled out of the park and walked the mile or so back to my hood–only after lots of internal turmoil debating whether or not to jog it. My conscience finally told me 20 is enough to be proud of. And if I broke my ankle at any point after that just because I wanted to feel a little more like a badass, I would be a very, very unhappy (non)marathonwiner. I dragged my toosh back home, but not before stopping at Westside market and getting myself the BIGGEST salad known to man, a bottle of raspberry-lime HINT water annnnd a mini chocolate-chip muffin loaf…just in case As it turned out, the waffles were wonderful pre-run fuel, because I accidentally forgot to fuel as much as I should have during the run. In fact, while Paul and I discussed our favorite fuel tactics and failures (more so in my case, as I the marathon is three weeks away and I still don’t know what my plan is), I assured him that I had already had 2 vanilla GUs. But when the run was over and I was digging through my gear belt for my cell (so I could text everyone under the sun about my accomplishment), I found two full GUs and only one empty one. Oops. Told you guys, I really think I black out when I run and forget MANY, many details of many, many miles. Better luck next time? Oh wait, next time is THE MARATHON.

In the meantime, taper begins NOW. Which means I’ve got the next few weeks to carbo-load (no problem there), stalk the marathon website/course elevation chart/everything else related to Richmond, figure out EXACTLY what I will be wearing/consuming/every other detail of raceday overanalyzing, and probably lose so much sleep due to nerves that I’ll spend the month of December catching up. Good plan?

Happy happy Friday kids, have an excellent weekend!

- Are you running NYC? I’m getting so pumped to watch everyone!!

- What’s your max mileage/taper period like? I feel like after doing 15/18/13/18/14/20…three weeks of taper maxing out with a 12 mile run just isn’t enough before the marathon. I KNOW it is, but it FEELS different. Gah!

- Any other exciting weekend plans? My favorite running friend and the JDs sisters are all in the city this weekend Good times!

Sweatastic.

Zomg. So I just wrote an entire post. Included links and everything. And lost it. I’m a REAL classy blogger. GRRR..

Lets try this again. Forgive me if I’m not fun and witty, that was all lost in the first attempt at recapping the last 24 hours.

So last night I met up with my soon-to-be-a-Mrs. friend Anne and we tackled her and her soon-to-be-hubby’s favorite 4-mile loop around the fan (for all of you non-Richmonders out there, it’s an adorable neighborhood downtown). It was a gorgeous night for jogging while simultaneously catching up with an old friend (thanks, Anne!) And the icing on the cake? A good chunk of those 4 miles were logged along the Boulevard and Monument Ave, two historic streets in downtown Richmond that will certainly be part of the marathon that I am running. In less than 100 days. Eeks.

Afterwards we took speed showers because we had a date with some lady friends at Joes Inn. More time to catch up with friends, and this time over good food. The restaurant was packed (which I consider a sign of a great food waiting when its a random Thursday and there’s a wait at 7:30). Once we were finally seated I began drowned myself in water and downed about 5846 pounds of carbs via delicious bread and veggie lasagna. Best thing about having a long run planned for the night before? Using the term “carb-loading” as an excuse to eat every amazing morsel of food in sight. Success.

While I was having a great time with the gals, I had to head home early for some shut-eye because Squigs was game for an early start this morning. We got out of the house a bit before 7 and made a last-minute decision to head towards my grandmother’s neighborhood, which has a pretty [albeit, manmade] lake to circle around. We actually had no destination in mind (or no clue of what direction to go), and since I was donning a mostly broken watch on my wrist, the plan was to just run based on time.

Now, I know I’m no speed demon. But I also know that for longerish runs I can usually maintain at least a 9 minute mile. And we ran for about an hour and 40 minutes. I’m also know mathematician, but I know that means we covered closer to 11 miles. Huzzah! More than the 10 I had planned, and more than the 9 Hal had planned. And I felt great!

I think it definitely helped having Squigs nearby on the bike. It may have even kept my pace a little faster than I would have alone. Thanks little sis! A lot of the miles were covered alongside the previously mentioned lake (curses to my lame phone that does not take pretty pictures), so it was nice and cool. I felt really good–strong even–up until the last little leg when I lost the trail and Squigs (who had turned around to go get the car).  I ended up on a slanty grassy strip that made me think I was going to roll my ankle with each step, but made it out alive. The end of the run synced up perfectly with my reaching my grandmother’s house (who will henceforth be known to the blog world as Nanny). I used up every last drop of water in her house, borrowed a t-shirt because mine was saturated beyond use, and headed back to the homestead feeling SUPER great to have knocked out that sweatastic run so early in the day.

In my earlier post that has since disappeared I included lots of links explaining how the JD’s new job kept him from coming with me on this trip (big sad face), went into some deats on the fun plans on the agenda as the week/weekend draws to a close, and asked some “bloggy” questions about running/riding with friends. But all of that will have to wait now because a. I’m annoyed that I finally wrote a non-lazy post with lots of links and “this is exactly how my run felt” info and then LOST it all. and b. I want to go take advantage of the jump on the day given by an early morning 11-miler.

Happy Friday, kids! Hope your weekends a blast!

Tuesday Trickled

This week seems to be going by WAY slower than the last few. And I am surprisingly a-okay with that. Why you may ask? Because I’m hoping it means next week will also trickle by…if not even slower. Next week being the week I am visiting Richmond for a full nine days! Woohoo!

After what felt like a foreverrrr long day at work yesterday, the JD and I met up with our friend from college who lives in Astoria and her bf–who she picked up over on the Emerald Isle a few years ago So it was fitting that we started out at The Perfect Pint. We went to the one on the east side, but just because there’s a location in Times Sq.[read: tourist town, I'm allowed to say that now] does not mean this place deserves a bad rap. Afterall, it’s an Irish pub approved by our two friends who know their Irish.

After a quick catch up there, and without a real plan in mind, we wandered down 3rd ave. in search of a place to grab a beer and a bite to eat (beer? is the marathon WINEr allowed to talk beer on this blog? i fail you not. i was THAT girl, who ordered a glass of wine at the perfect pint). We ended up at Wharf Bar and Grill, which is exactly what it sounds like…a bar and grill with some cheeky surf and turf decor. The food was good though, and a big plus for midtown, affordable.

Sadly, I have no running report to dispel this morning. I spent alllllll day yesterday trying to figure out how I wanted the rest of my running week to go. After reading the solo comment on yesterday’s post (thank you, Kelly) and chatting with a few other RB’s, I decided it was best to scrap the a.m. run and p.m. yoga planned and make today a cross-training day (this has a lot  nothing to do with the fact that I really don’t like yoga). I considered going to the gym this morning and keeping the evening free, but I’ve had some awkward experiences there in the wee hours of the morning (public showers are really just not my thing). So I’ll be looking forward to spending some QT at the gym after work and heading home to relaxxxxxx [read: finally make dinner, catch up on TrueBlood and pack for RICHMOND].

I promised myself that as soon as marathon training really started to pick up I would force myself to do yoga at least once a week. I went once, during the first week of training and it actually was not so terrible. I always get myself super hyped up and psyched out over yoga, but it’s never that bad. 

Sooo hopefully I will get a quick session in after work tomorrow night? We shall see. I’m hoping to do a shorter run distance-wise tomorrow but maybe add in some hill intervals or speedwork (RB-I have not asked you about this yet…) I actually have yet to try hills or speedwork, but I feel like if I’m going to rein back on the mileage I need to find new ways to challenge myself. Hopefully I’ll  knock out the long run early on Friday (I’m off work and there’s a LOT of fun stuff planned–stay tuned) so there’s no pressure to tackle it when I arrive in Richmond this weekend. Yayayayay!

Happy hump day, folks…and hopefully this week’s going at a pace you enjoy as well!

- Do you incorporate yoga into your running routine? Do you notice a difference if you do or don’t?

- What’s your favorite Irish pub in Manhattan?

Taking It and Running With It

Apparently I’m an extremist. And never really knew it (or admitted it to myself?).

I rarely have “one piece” of chocolate or “one cookie” or “one glass” of wine. I have 5. Of each (normal behavior?).

And when sites like Groupon and Living Social shower me with “deals” I scoop up every one in sight. Which is how the JD and I ended up out on the town yet again last night. A little diddy from BuyWithMe (purchased about 3 months ago) was on the verge of expiring…and by verge, I mean it was done-zo after midnight last night. So after his very long yet successful first day on the job (yay! he likes it), we met up back in my stomping grounds in Midtown east for dinner at Gyu-Kaku. We had been to the east village location a few years ago while visiting the JD’s sister, but I had forgotten how delicious and FUN this place is.

Anywho, Gyu-Kaku is a Japanese BBQ restaurant where you do all of your own barbecuing on a mini grill built right into the table! Not bad for a charcoal-loving couple that doesn’t even have access to a patio, much less a grill. After starting off with a massive bowl of edamame, we ordered steak, sausage and shrimp, alongside some zucchini, asparagus and garlic fried rice. A superbly satisfying meal that rang up at just $6. Thank you BuyWithMe.

I actually pretended to be a foodie blogger and took pictures. Here’s a little diddy, just so you get the idea:

why hello, meat lovers paradise. i promise veggies came later.

Chocolate, cookies, wine and coupons aside, I’m apparently also an extremist when it comes to running (I ran one…read it, ONE, half marathon and automatically decided to sign up for a full).

That, or I’m just a big bully (or billy…if Corky and Squiggs are reading this). To myself.

I met the RB at our usual spot to cover about 5 miles in the park this a.m. (the outer loop minus Harlem hills = lovely). Hal said to do 3, but as I’ve mentioned, the idea of back-tracking hurts me.

So I set out for 5. I think we actually covered a lot of that 5 at a really good pace. Not sure if it was the nicer weather or what, but we both thought we were cranking things out a little (a lot?) faster than usual. The RB felt so good she wanted to take on a bit more mileage at the end of the run by hitting up the reservoir (yes, this is the same RB who had just ran 8 miles the night before. She is hardcore). But since one of my biggest fears with marathon training is burning out too early, I “smartly” declined and peeled off for home.

And during my [considerably slower] mile run home, I bullied myself. And told myself I was a weenie for having left my RB.

So when I hit my corner I did not head back to the apartment. I continued on. For an extra mile. And ended up covering a smidge over 8 miles this morning. Oops. I’m just so antsy to finally hit some reallll long runs I think. Que sera, sera though. It felt good and I had plenty of time to stretch afterwards. When I made it back to the apartment the nice man who does a lot of maintenance work on our street told me I “have good condition” and I “do not need to worry.” I told him for now I might, but in a few months I am running 26.2 miles. And he just chuckled…haha.

Do I need to think about toning it down a bit and sync up with Hal’s plan rather than wait for it to catch up to me? Or can I chalk it all up to taking advantage of nice weather? Not sure, we shall see.

In other news. My dress for one of my oldest, bestest friend’s wedding finally arrived yesterday! Woohoo! And speaking of old friends, I’m meeting up with one after work tonight for the first time in aggeeeesss and I can’t wait!

*A very happy birthday to our fake-leo roommate who did not even ANNOUNCE that it was his birthday. But a little bird told me anyway. Hope its a great one!

And to all of my nonexistent followers:

- What do you recommend for a first-time marathoner: doing what feels right or doing what the “coach” says? When you are surrounded by seasoned runners in Central Park or addicted to blogs about badass athletes, it can be hard to figure out whats right for you.

- What are YOU looking forward to today?

Mischief Managed

Happy Monday, friends! And it IS a happy Monday. For so many reasons–first and foremost, the beautiful weather! While the sun isnt out quite as vibrantly right now, it did wish me a good morning and managed to stick around for a nice, breezy, six-mile run! Thank you, Mister Sun, and thank you mother nature for toning it back a bit on the heat and humidity. This morning’s weather was absolutely perfect for running–not too hot, not too cold and a wee bit of wind now and then (just when you needed it)!

My RB wasn’t able to make it this morning, and while I missed the company, I was a-okay with that because it meant I could hit snooze a few more times before heading out to the bridle path and reservoir. Guess that extra hour really makes a difference because I definitely did not see the normal crowds of early a.m. runners. I went at a bit of a slow pace (not sure what that pace was because my watch is nearly broken and I’ve been leaving it at home lately) and took it easy. Given the nice weather I probably could have kicked things up a notch, but since my last few runs were in immense heat and humidity, I decided to enjoy the easy weather with an easy run. Besides…Hal had a “rest day” on the sched. for today and I still knocked out about 6 miles.

Why you may ask? Because I [as has been the case with me a lot lately], overindulged during my awesome weekend on Long Island/Fire Island. New York is a tricky city because there is always delicious food to be eaten and delicious drinks to be consumed. But with a half marathon fast approaching and a full marathon 8 weeks later…I need to work on tapering my indulgences. Hence the title of this post–gotta get a cap on that mischief for a bit!

Friday afternoon I hopped a train to Farmingdale where I met up with my pseudo-aunt (pseudo because she is actually my moms college roommate and close friend, but for as long as I’ve known her she has been [and always will be] Aunt Doreen). We ate at a great southwestern restaurant, where we chatted through two glasses of wine, great dinner specials and an amazing dessert that involved real thin mints and oreo crumbs. Highly recommended.

Afterwards we continued to chat back at Aunt Doreen’s but hit the hay early because we had a Fire Island ferry to catch the next morning! In anticipation of a quiet, laid-back afternoon on the beach, we decided on Sailor’s Haven–a part of FI that’s family friendly and considerably less crowded than other areas (especially when compared to weekend crowds at Jones beach).

There were no crowds as far as people are concerned…but sand flies were another story! After spending the first half of the morning/afternoon swatting at our own skin, jumping and squealing and trying every anti-sand fly tactic imaginable, we let them win. And Aunt Doreen said since the bugs were biting, and it was my first time at FI, the next best thing to do was let me get a real taste of the place…at Cherry Grove. So  off we headed, just a mile stroll down the beach.

If you’ve never been to CG, you may want to enter it via ferry for the first time, and not via sand. Because even though I had been warned, I don’t think I was fully prepared for the number of naked people I saw, and their many piercings on their many private parts. I’ll leave it at that.

Since the sandflies were no better a mile down the beach (and well, we wouldn’t have really wanted to set up camp right there anyway), we decided to hunt down a late lunch…and perhaps a cool drink. And thank goodness we did!

We arrived at Island Breeze per the friendly suggestion of a FI regular we passed on the sidewalk and grabbed some seats at the bar. More friendly suggestions were made by our neighbors at the bar as we pondered what to order, and moments later we found ourselves sipping on refreshing Arnold Palmers…with a touch of Citrus Vodka. The perfect beverage for a hot beach day. Before we knew it, we were three AP’s and 2 shots deep (remember, how I don’t do shots? Thank you, too-nice bartender. Thank you for making me go back on my word) and best friends with the couple sitting beside us (who confessed after 5 drinks that they had thought Aunt Doreen and myself were a “cute couple” when we first saddled up to the bar, haha). We had an awesome afternoon sharing all kinds of stories from the sad and serious to hilarious and happy. Cheers to new friends at Cherry Grove!

Saturday night we were WIPED out from an afternoon of sun, sand, and beach bars and went to sleep early again. Which worked out well because I was up bright and early for a run Sunday morning. Running in Long Island can be super nice because every other house has a sprinkler going (makes for plenty of misting stations during hot summer runs) and it is very flat. Running in Long Island can also be super hard because it is very flat.

While I have been known to curse a hill or two, sometimes its nice to have a downhill to look forward to. Anywho, knocked out 5 miles (I had been aiming for 6 but my sweat-laden clothes were weighing me down too much), closing up week 2 of Marathon training with around 26 miles. Meh, I’ll take it.

After the sweltering run, Aunt Doreen whipped up some yummy waffles and we scooted over to Aunt Kathy’s house (no pseudo here!) to spend the rest of the afternoon swimming in her pool, eating delicious food and hanging with friends and family. Great way to end an great weekend! 

*Want to know what else made it GREAT? My cousin got engaged Congrats to you both, I’m so so happy for you!

JD gets a job, cousin’s getting hitched…good things come in threes right? Wonder what’s next…

What good newssss have you heard lately??