Counting Down

Posted on October 19, 2012 by scoopsontherun

This means it is real and also close.

According to New York Road Runners there are 15 days until the marathon. Gulp.

Time from here on out will fly by. It seems like marathon day will never get here when you are starting to train in July. All those long runs on hot and humid days are long gone and now we have a slight fall chill in the air. Well, occasionally we do if the weather in New York would make up it’s mind.

But seriously, before you know it we’ll be heading over to the marathon expo to pick up our bibs and make our final preparations for race day.

I’ve been sidelined a little bit this week because I am fighting off a cold, a great way to start my taper. But better now than the week of the marathon.

I am looking forward to my 12 mile run tomorrow. It always seems like a piece of cake after 20 miles. I’m starting to get that antsy feeling which I think is more from me taking it easy with the cold rather than a result of the taper.

Overall things are looking good and I’m getting psyched for this marathon.

 

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Orange Duct Tape

Posted on October 6, 2012 by scoopsontherun

Officially under a month until the marathon. Not freaking out at all.

According to the New York Road Runners site there are 29 days left until the marathon. In my mind it alternates between, “why is it taking so long to get here!?!” and “oh my god it’s here already!?!”

Next week is my 20 mile long run and then I begin my taper. It seems like last week I just started training for this thing. Wait, no it doesn’t. It really does feel like I have been doing this for months. But I am starting to get anxious about this day — in a good way.

It is at that point where I start planning out things I do in the weeks leading up to the marathon. It started last week with my annual viewing of The Spirit of the Marathon. I always watch that a week before the Chicago Marathon. When it gets to the point when all of the runners are getting ready for the 20 mile long run, I always getting giddy. That 20 mile long run is  a big deal, especially if you only do one during your training.

I’m running the Staten Island Half Marathon tomorrow morning so I won’t be able to watch Chicago on the Internet like I have in the past but I will be thinking about all my fiends running it as slog my way through Staten Island. It will be nice to see the island on something other than marathon Sunday.

In three days I’ll start re-reading Liz Robbins’, A Race Like No Other, one of the best books written about the New York City Marathon. The 26.2 chapters is perfect for a chapter a day leading up to the race.

I already know what I’ll be wearing so that is easy to get together. But I will be heading to Modell’s to pick up my throw away sweats so I get the best selection. Although it is fun to see all the marathoners there the week of marathon looking through all the sweats. I’ve got my Gu and other race day items so I’m all set and trust it is nice to have that peace of mind.

If there is one thing I can recommend to a new marathoner, start getting all of this stuff a few weeks before your marathon. This will save you from running around the week of your marathon and you can think of others things like what if I have to pee during the race.

My one new addition will be adding my name to my shirt. For the past two years I have been a purist by not doing that. But, every year I run in a couple of races that personalize the bibs and it is always a nice boost when a total stranger yells out your name in support. So, for my biggest event I will be doing that. I have hunted down the perfect orange duct tape that matches what I’m wearing and will stand out beautifully. Again, I got it early enough so there will be no worries race week.

My countdown continues with a little 5k in my village today, one block from house. It is such a nice feeling knowing that I can just stroll on over to a race. Then tomorrow is the half.  I plan on easing into this marathon with as little stress as possible.

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Black Plastic Bags or Things That Look Scary at 5:00 am

Posted on September 26, 2012 by scoopsontherun

One of the great things about this time of year is that it’s not crazy humid outside when I go out form my run in the morning. One of the not so great things about this time of year is that it is dark out at 5:00 am.

You’d think that with the amount of property/village taxes I pay that my village could actually replace the burned out bulbs in the street lights or maybe put in one or two extra but no. So now when I head out before the sun rises I’ve got several reflective thingies and a flashlight. The flashlight is mainly used so that I won’t trip on people’s trash on curb side pick-up days and so I can scan the bushes for killers.

Thankfully, I haven’t come across any killers but I’m guaranteed to freak myself out at least once every run thanks to errant tree branches and those damn black plastic bags that no one seems capable of disposing properly, like in a trash can or recycling bin.

I’m not really afraid of tripping over them it’s more about the shape these things can take on in the dark when I’m not wearing my contacts. Last week a tree branch resembled a hunch-backed four legged creature that was just waiting to pounce on me. The week before the black bag looked like a dead creature. Today’s black bag resembled a person’s decapitated head. Go ahead and laugh at my active imagination.

I’ve had some fun checking my running stats from my Garmin when I wear my heart rate monitor on these particular mornings. Yup, I spike to the top of my threshold and have to end up slowing down because I’m out of breath.

I’m just hoping that I only have to worry about imaginary critters trying to attack me and not real ones.

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NYRR ING New York City Marathon Tune-Up 18M

Posted on September 24, 2012 by scoopsontherun

I ran 18 miles on Sunday and I got a 22 minute PR.

End of blog update that’s all I need say.

No, I’m going to give you details because holy crap a 22 minute PR needs to be talked about!

Going into this weekend I was really worried about logging these 18 miles. Three loops of Central Park can monotonous and hard thanks to all those hills. The first year I did this event my knee hurt so bad that I had to stop. Last year was really hot and I remember chafing on my thigh where my shorts were rubbing and having a weird ankle thing for two miles. But I finished that better than any of my other 18 mile long runs.

Look at us in the starting corral. It’s still a little dark in the morning before 7:00 am and that’s sad. (c) Stacey Cooper

I just had no idea how this was going to turn out. So far I’ve had some real challenging long runs and some kind of effortless ones. I think in my mind I prepared myself not to have a great time but just to keep close to last year’s. Fair enough I say.

But Mother Nature and the running gods decided to help us out by providing some nice cool fall weather and I think this played a role and I am not complaining. It was nice not having to start a run when the sun was at it’s brightest and not desperately needing some water right after you start running.

My quads felt a little tight at the start and having to run the part of the course with Harlem Hills right off was not exactly fun but a good way to get a good sweat on. Overall the quads loosened up and only complained once or twice in the later miles which is totally expected.

I kept telling myself to make sure that my run segments felt easy and that I could keep that conversation pace throughout. I never felt as though I was going to die if I did not stop running right this minute and my splits confirmed that I kept a very consistent pace for each mile. There were one or two slower miles due to extra stops for getting my Gu down with water. I always seem to sallow my water the wrong way if I don’t stop to walk through a water station.

As for the massive PR, while I was vaguely aware that I could PR I wasn’t focusing on that too much instead just looking at my Garmin for my current pace. At one point during mile 9 I did think that a decent PR was possible but I quickly put that aside knowing that the wheels could easily fall off on the third loop. I was more aware of making sure I took my gels at the proper time and coordinated those pretty well with the water stations.

But, as one friend put it, I’ve been putting in the training so these are expected. And another fiend that this totally unsurprising because he saw me on one of the Harlem Hills and thought i looked in good shape. So maybe I’ll just listen to you guys from now on.
It certainly was nice to get this PR at a substantial distance if only to give myself a mental boost for my upcoming 20 mile long run.

Can’t get to an ice bath right away? No problem, get a couple of these disposable ice packs and have people give you strange looks on the train! (c) Stacey Cooper

It was also nice, not be in the last group when finishing this event. I didn’t have to deal with grumpy baggage people and there were still plenty of post-race refreshments, although there wasn’t any Gatorade at the end.

Having the bag check meant a chance to get out of my running shoes and sweaty shirt, drink my own bottle of Gatorade, and wipe the layer of salt of my body. Margaritas anyone?

One of the smartest things I did for my post long-run recovery was bring my own disposable ice packs. Since I live in Westchester I don’t have the option of getting into an ice bath quickly after my run. By the time I get home it could be around two hours since I have stopped running. The instant ice packs that you can pick up at any drug store are a good alternative. I’ve been known to stick these in my calf compression sleeves and in between my regular shorts and compression shorts. Trust me, your legs will thank you.

This week is a step-down week (thank you, Jesus!) and the week after is the Staten Island Half Marathon then I’ve got my 20 mile long run. I’m planning my route now since I won’t be doing my running clubs Blue Line run of the last 20 miles of the marathon course. Any suggestions from New Yorker’s on some good routes besides Central Park and Hudson Greenway that have decent access to water fountains/beverages?

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Namaste…Ouch

Posted on September 19, 2012 by scoopsontherun

I did this and it hurt.

I’m not sure what it is about us runners but most of us are very bad about actually doing that cross training thing that is always recommended and even included in most training plans. Even though we know we should cross train we just never get around to actually doing it. Oh, we always have good intentions and say that this time we will definitely do that cross training but that damn sofa is so comfortable.

Actually, I think the reason is pretty simple — we love to run. For most of us, running is our drug and passion and going to the gym is not.

I know that some of the aches and pains I have gone through lately may most likely be due to the fact that I only run not that because I am 40 years old. So with that in mind I bought a yoga for runners DVD and it sat on my desk for three weeks before I actually put it in the DVD player before I did the workout. This in itself is amazing if you keep in mind that it took me an entire year to launch my 100 push-ups app on my phone.

With my yoga mat, yes I have one, rolled out I hit play and started my breathing exercise. I always find this to be very hokey and this is probably why it’s a good reason I don’t actually go to yoga classes. I don’t really get all that namaste shit. I also drop the f-bomb on a regular basis when something hurts like when we got into Downward Dog and that lunge thing before you get to go into Child’s Pose. By this time I would have preferred the fetal position.

The DVD I used, pictured above, isn’t bad at all. Again, it’s namaste stuff, which is really at a minimum here. Most of the stretches are similar to other post run stretches I already do and yes, when I did the poses the second or third times they got easier. The DVD is about 50 minutes long and is for beginners. You do get a good workout as I was sweating a lot near the end. There are couple of routines that require you to use a wall which I did not have the ability to do because I have furniture against all of my walls. Having to move my mat near the door wasn’t realistic so I tried to modify those as best I could.

If you are a beginner and are looking for something to help stretch all those muscles out this is a good DVD. There is also an intermediate DVD available by the instructor.

And yes, I hit stop when that namaste crap came on at the end.

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16 Miles With a Race in Between

Posted on September 16, 2012 by scoopsontherun

Another week, another race.

Typically, I don’t like doing races during my marathon training. It can be really hard to add all those extra miles in an efficient manner but the Fitness Magazine 4 Mile race is one of my favorites. The men and women have separate start times and I have to admit I enjoy some of the all female races.

My Higdon plan had 16 miles on tap for the day and the tricky part for me was figuring out how to add the miles on to this. With the race starting at 9:00 am I wasn’t thrilled with adding the remaining 12 miles at the end. That always seems a little too daunting. So I decided to run at least four miles before the race and then add the remaining seven or eight miles at the end.

I got to Central Park around 7:30 in the morning and headed to the reservoir some flat easy miles and I figured running back towards the start of the race would give me close to five miles. I planned it perfectly, by the time I met up with my pal Lori my Garmin had a lovely five miles staring back at me.

Lori and I kept an good pace as I was showing her how I do my run/walk intervals and she kept my mind of all these extra miles I still had to plan and then after we met up with her friend Kristal who was also crazy enough to join us.

We headed back up the reservoir, again for easy flat miles. Lori was only planning to do one or two extra miles because she’s coming off an injury and slowly building up her mileage for the Staten Island Half Marathon in October. This left Kristal as my lone running mate. She normally runs around a 10 minutes mile so I was worried about keeping up with her. She even told me that if she was going too slow I could go on ahead. Funny. But what did happen is that I did run a little faster than I normally would have and felt good doing it. I only had to add 5.5 half miles by the time we got to the reservoir and let me tell you those miles flew by thanks to the great company.

Kristal, coming back from her own injury, left me with two miles to go on my own. I tried to maintain the pace that she had me at and was able to do that easily for the next mile. The last mile was harder but I just kept focusing on my intervals. Just get through each run interval and recover for that one minute. It was hard, but I did it.

I was happily covered with a good portion of dirt from the reservoir and even more happy that iPad successfully completed my plan for getting these 16 miles completed. I found a good tree to stretch, hit up the Gatorade man and made my way back to Westchester. My legs felt pretty good afterwards and the same thing this morning. Well done for a long run.

According to my plan, this upcoming week is supposed to be a down week mileage wise but since the NYRR 18 Mile Tune-Up is next week so I’m reversing my step down week with the 18 miles. This 18 mile, timed run will give me a good idea about where I am with my training. I’m a little nervous about doing all those loops in Central Park and being a slower runner by the time my third loop gets going I have to deal with tourists, pedi cabs, and other obstacles getting in my way. It can be lonely but this is a good event to see where I’m at.

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Bronx 10 Mile Race Recap

Posted on September 16, 2012 by scoopsontherun

It’s not often that a 10 mile race is offered in these parts. The only other I regularly take part in is the Cherry Tree 10 mile race in Prospect Park sponsored by the Prospect Park Track Club and I’ve only ever done that as part of a relay team. So this was my first real 10 mile race — automatic PR!!!

Look at how awesome that number is. So many number ones because I am so numero uno!

The course was for the most part a nice flat out and back on Grand Concourse with a few “hills” here and there but a very nice change of pace from all of our Central Park races.

Knowing that I would be adding on an additional five miles at the end of this one I really tired to keep telling myself not to race and keep a consistent pace that would leave with enough to finish the extra five. For the first half this worked out well and then those competitive juices started to flow and I started picking people off.

I was eventually able to stop doing that and even avoided a sprint to the finish. After grabbing my medal and some Gatorade I headed back up the street to get this extra mileage in. One of the hardest parts of running along the sidewalks in the city are traffic lights and the whole having to stop and all so you can avoid getting hit by a car. The constant start and stopping really too it’s toll on the final two and half miles.

I made the mistake of running back on the sunny side of the street. You’d think I would have has enough sense to cross back over to the shady side of the street but I obviously could not think clearly after 13.5 miles. The last 1.5 miles hurt. I ran out of water and just couldn’t stop to get another Gatorade, I just wanted to finish the damn thing.

Finally the site I had been waiting for, 166th Street. You never looked so beautiful. I somehow managed to stumble into a store and get my giant Gatorade and celebrate this grueling 15 miles. It was done and those five miles hurt. The race felt good and I’m looking forward to run another 10 mile race without having to add extra mileage.

Hal Higdon’s app said I ran 16 miles. As much as I like the tips and the automatics logging of the miles in the app the inaccurate mileage is just too much of a distraction. In addition to the lack of a proper pause function. Currently, if you hit pause and want to resume it restarts at zero miles. My Garmin records a very accurate distance, has wonderful distance and time alerts, and my new favorite used feature — auto-pause. That is great for city running. All of that has made the Bronx race the last time I’ll be using the app for my marathon training.

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Taking Nothing for Granted

Posted on September 8, 2012 by scoopsontherun

Today was one of those days when it was just really hard to get my run in. One it was Saturday, a rare day when I get to sleep in and for me that means I slept until 8:00 am. After having breakfast and easing into my day it was time to get dressed for an easy three miles. As soon as I got dressed it started to thunder and lightning. It was pouring but eventually it stopped lightning so I was getting ready to head out the door again when I got the weather alert that there was a tornado warning for my area of Westchester. I ate lunch and finally around 1:30 I was able to get out apparently during another tornado warning. Oops.

I don’t like taking my runs for granted. As many of you know, I wasn’t planning on running the marathon this year mostly because I didn’t want to deal with the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that was really bad for me last year. My mother had wanted me to run again but I said no. Then she got sick. For two weeks I sat by her bed in the ICU at Greenwich hospital. During that time the person in the room next to her died and I saw more people who had legitimate reasons for not running a marathon. My reason was looking more wimpy by the minute. It was during that time that I registered for the marathon. This will not be my last one.

It has been a long seven months for both my mother and me but the marathon my mother is going through has more challenging than the ones I have ran. She went through a period when no one would believe that she was still ill and was told that she would never walk again. It was such a challenge to get people to listen to us when she was nauseous, loosing her appetite, and losing weight to believe that something was indeed wrong. It wasn’t until she actually started throwing up blood that they paid attention and sent her to the hospital. That was Memorial Day weekend.

During that time and now my mother made great progress and then something else would happen that would keep her in the hospital. I seriously hope that no one has to get that scary phone call in the middle of the night. One was enough but I got two of those. But the odd thing was it gave her more time to get completely healthy. The infection that she had been dealing with since February finally left and she got stronger. I think this put her in a better position when she got to rehab. She’s walking now, something the other facility said she would never do again.

Everyday she walks a little farther. She’s confident about what she is doing and believes she’s going to get better. The interesting thing is that the tips I have given her from my running experiences have helped her tremendously (so has the anti-anxiety meds). The mental tricks that we runners have to use to get through our long runs also work for people trying to learn how to walk again.

Watching my mother go through everything she has gives me strength to push harder and not complain about having to do hill or speed work. Long runs can still be challenging but so can trying to walk down a long hallway when you haven’t done that since February.

How can I take running for granted when I know my mother would give just about anything to be home right now and walking around her house. I can do things that others legitimately can’t do and I owe to to myself to never ever take that for granted.

Running has helped me celebrate the great days, feel normal on the ordinary days, and heal me on the really bad days.

Oh, and a really large glass of red wine helps too. I will never take that for granted either.

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Stress

Posted on September 4, 2012 by scoopsontherun

I think my body is finally telling me that I need to get some order back in my life.

Since my mother has been in the hospital my normal routine of eating healthy has taken a back seat to just eating. The good news is that my mother will be going home soon and will be up and about almost back to her old self. The bad news is that my body is fighting back.

This is a happy kidney. My left kidney does not look like this, I don’t think it has hands or feet.

Aside from following the strict instructions from my doctor to keep running I haven’t been as great at making sure I eat healthy and now it’s catching up and my body is beginning to rebel.

When I was 10 years old I fractured my right tibia and two days before I was supposed to get the cast removed I ended up in the hospital with a kidney stone. The doctors determined it was due to the extra calcium my body was producing to heal the fracture. Ever since I have been prone to kidney stone attacks. My last one was 7.5 years ago, right before I had my appendicitis and right when I changed my diet for good. Prior to that I would get an attack when eating the least healthy food possible and high stress moments.

Last week I woke up in the middle of the night with that tell tale sign of the kidney stone attack. Thankfully it was a mild one and passed within an hour or so. Now I’ve got a pain from my right kidney. Before this the attacks were always on my left side. This time it’s a little different with pain only in the back. Don’t worry, I’m keeping a close eye on it and will get to my doctor if it doesn’t pass soon. Let’s all hope it does.

Either way, this was the sign to get back to eating right. I may not be able to get back to eating at my usual schedule but if I can eat properly that will be a start.

I am so ready for life to get back to normal!

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Panic Time?

Posted on September 3, 2012 by scoopsontherun

If you train for a spring marathon this means that a good portion of your training will take place during winter, if you train for a fall marathon you’ll be training during the hottest months of the summer. Either way it stinks.

Two years ago when I was training for my first marathon I was so dejected with my training. It seemed that I did not have a single good run during the month of August. It seemed like it was one of the hottest summers that we ever had. That time did not instill any confidence in me whatsoever.

This year, I am convinced that Mother Nature is out to get me with hot and humid days whenever I have a long run. Last week I didn’t hydrate as well as I should have for my long run and this week it was just hot and miserable. I struggled to get through my 10 miles and for a while felt a lot like I did while training for that first marathon.

I think my mistake was running the 10 miles in Central Park. I really don’t like doing long runs in the park as it can get monotonous having to do multiple loops of the park. I know it’s a mental thing because I can say the exact same thing about doing an out and back along the Hudson River. But for some reason that works for me. I know someone else who trained for her marathon by doing several loops of the reservoir and bridle path. You really need to have a comfort zone for your long runs. Yes, you can give me a lecture about the Hudson Greenway not having any hills but that is what hill repeats are for during the week.

When I got home I noticed that next week is a 15 mile long run. With the 10 mile struggle still fresh in my mind panic started to set in. The usual thoughts of “I had a really hard time today running 10 miles how am I going to 15 next week” were very loud. But reason settled in. I’ve run 15 miles plenty of times before, i know I can do the distance and the weather will get better.

So no, I’m not going to panic, I’m pushing those evil thoughts out of my head. Next week is the Bronx 10 mile race as part of the NYRR Fiver Borough Series. It’s good to know that I will have on course race support for the 10 miles but I have to figure out where I can get those extra five miles in since I am not familiar with the area.

Last year this was a half marathon that got canceled due to Hurricane Irene. So far the weather is looking fine, although on the hot side because it is a long run for me. Mother Nature wants me to sweat. But there’s no need to panic. The weather will cool down and I will get back to my long run comfort zone. I’ll save the panicking for the American League East play-off race.

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