Marathon Photo Recap

One whole week has passed since the marathon!  I promise that I will stop talking about it soon, I do have some more substantive posts planned, promise.  Anyways, today I had my first real workout.  I am excited to start ramping it up for November and December, the beauty of the freedom to do whatever type of workout I please is quite loverly!  All I want is a spinning class.  Sorry, got sidetracked once the My Fair Lady soundtrack started running through my mind.

So today I did my first actual “run.”  I fought for every step of the first 2 miles.  I actually thought I might be able to walk faster.  Once I got to the Socrates Sculpture Park (mile 2), I decided to take a walk around.  The exhibition was rocking my world.  So I plopped down in the gorgeous sun and stretched a little while I took it all in.  Fortunately, the 2 mile run home was much easier.  I was breathing like a maniac, but at least I felt like I was moving.  Wow, this Turkey Trot is going to be interesting.

After the four mile run, I did a nice 25 minutes on the elliptical and felt completely exhilarated.  I am going to bust out one segment of the 30 day shred and call it a day.

So I caved to the brightroom photos of the marathon, and while I feel like kind of a jerk for posting so many sweaty pictures of myself, I figured I would at least try get my $107 worth.  There were actually about 40 shots that I was tagged in, although many of them I don’t think I was actually in.  I was shocked that I was in as many as I was since I didn’t have my bib displayed until mile 25. There were so many people running, finding myself was like a big game of where is waldo.  Maybe I should have worn a robe.    However, they also included some great photos of the start…. so here we go

The Verrazano pre start, check out all the buses

The race begins

Another shot of the start, this is just the runners on the upper level of 1 of the 3 waves!

This may be my favorite sot, I love the two level view

 

 

There I am somewhere around 6 miles in Brooklyn I believe

 

 

 

This is a shot of runners coming down 4th Ave in Brooklyn

This is another shot of the bridge, I couldn’t seem to move it up where it belonged

My favorite pic, taken by Miss Elizabeth as I ran down Vernon

This is around mile 22-23, talking with Sue and Derek

 

Sue was either psyching me up or distracting me, either way, I was grateful. Smile Derek!

I am not actually in this shot, it must be just after I left Sue and Derek at miles 25, it’s a cute pic of them though

So close (wow, my lag time to the start was 41 miles

 

 

 

 

Even closer

Can  you taste it?

I ran through mat 1, but I wasn’t done

I finished by jumping on the second timing mat with both feet just to make sure!

 

The end…until 2011

The Race

I woke up at 4AM wide awake.  The first thing I did was check to see if the Yankees won.  I didn’t even have to move to do this since I sleep with my blackberry.  They had!  I debated going back to sleep at catching a later bus, since 4:30 or Bust left a great comment that they don’t check bus times. But after 15 minutes of lying in bed, I knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep. Once I am up, I am up, so I decided to start getting ready.  I put on my tank, thermal and sweatshirt, my capris and fleece pants.  I put my stuff in a whole foods bag to make it easier to carry.  I gargled with salt water. 

And I headed out to the subway.  The bus stop is only two stops away from me, so really that is like 5 minutes in transit once you are on the train.  Unfortunately, the manhattan bound train was not running on the correct track, so I had to cross the street and enter the other terminal.  We just missed the train.  Another train came about 10-15 minutes later (pre-5am on Sunday is not peak hours).  They were definitely not checking reservation times at all at the bus stop, which is  annoying, since I could have definitely got on a 6:30 bus no problem.  Oh, I also had 3 times more stuff with me than any other runner! Or even a ferry, since they don’t check there either, even though 5 different official people at the expo swore to me up and down that there was no way to board a ferry without a reservation.  No ferries for the public! Apparently, they mistook a whole bunch of drunk people in costumes for marathoners then because lots of runners reported riding over to SI with hard core halloweeners returning home.

Anyways, I was on Staten Island by 6AM latest with 4 and a half hours to kill.  For a little while people were sitting on concrete in a parking lot until someone pointed out the tents.  I was really glad I brought my beach towel, so I layed down and rested half asleep until about 7.  Then it was getting pretty noisy.  I had a tiny cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and mixed my emergency in an 8 ounce poland spring water (thank you sponsors) and started to talk to those around me.  I will say the time passed faster than I though it would.  4 hours is a long time to be in a cold, muddy, rainy place, but I took it for part of the NYC experience and met two really nice guys.  They made fun of my pants and my huge bag of supplies.  Around 8:00 I ate as much of the bagel and PB as I could with my stomach feeling okay.  I also took 3 ibuprofen (with dr.’s approval) and a cough drop.  I was feeling pretty good, the best I had since Thursday.  Then I downed the red bull.  I hate red bull and have like 4 a year, but I consume a ton of caffeine in my daily life and I was afraid not to have any on race day.  Red bull is a good concentrated form of caffeine as gross as it is.

After more waiting and talking, I check my bag, pinned on my bib, threw out all the stuff I didn’t need anymore—towel, whole foods bag, etc.  At this point it was so muddy everyone had garbage bags tied around their shoes.  It was pretty fashionable with my hot pink pants. 

Finally it was time to get to the corral.  To the Marathon’s credit, navigating SI and the corral, start villages was really easy.  The wave starting was also great, there was less congestion at the start than most road runner’s races.

I took the first mile easy, after mile 1, the bandaid on my toe was driving me crazy, so I decided to stop, right next to a bunch of men peeing over one side and take off the bandaid and change to a thinner sock.  After that I had to make two quick stops to get my shoes to feel comfortable and kept going.  It was really just fun, I passed someone giving “free hugs” and every once in a while there was a great band which always pumped me up.  I was being really conservative because I knew I had to make it to 10 fresh as a daisy if I wanted to have a good race.  At mile 6 I put on my ipod and listed to three songs, all from a mix that Gena made for me before I left for South Africa.

• Catastrophe-Rainer Maria
• Off the Record—My Morning Jacket
• Sleepyhead-Passion Pit

Not high energy songs, but very special to me since they are from my dear friend.

At around mile 7, Greg jumped in with me.  I was so thrilled. I knew it probably sucked to run so slow with me, but he kept me company and we chatted through Brooklyn.  Greg is an amazing runner.  He trained for Philly in 2005, but had to withdraw just a week before due to injury.  But I saw him run Marine Corps in 2006.  I made him talk about it, since he really struggled in a way.  He said at mile 13 he blew by the 3:20 pace group and thought to himself, “if I am running significantly faster than 3:20, my body probably can’t handle this, but I don’t care.”  So around mile 17, he said he “collapsed inside.”  He could just not do it.  He kept going until he just stopped.  Then his friend came up to him, put his arm around him and said, “you have to walk greg.” Greg said he couldn’t.  And Paul was like, “just move your right foot, now your left.”  Despite being in pain, Greg finished the marathon in 3:28! He is now a serious biker, but he said he if he was more cautious, he could have finished in that time in way less pain.  Believe he was toasted after.  But I was so so so proud! 

Anyways, I was really holding back, probably too much.  Around mile 10 or 11 we passed a great church choir in Brooklyn.  It was fun to run through williamsburg and greenpoint.  And I was so so excited to hit the Polanski Bridge into Queens!  I was literally dying with anticipation to hit Vernon around mile 13.5, the street I walk down many times a day!  My heart pretty much burst with Long Island City pride and I was dying to see my roomates and cheer squad.  As I hit the corner of my street and Vernon there they were!  In costume with many many signs!  I screamed when I saw them.  In case you couldn’t tell from my idiotic grin in the photos!

 

I handed them my hat and gloves.  And then my heart rate monitor!

You guys rock my life!

Then I kept going.  My friend Debbie joined Greg and I as we head toward the Queensborough Bridge.  People say this is the hardest part of the marathon, but it really isn’t that bad.  Of course, I was going pretty slow.  The bad thing about being slow is that at every mile you have to run over piles of water cups and get your sneakers totally sticky from spilled gatorade.  It was pretty treacherous and gross at points. I mean 40,000 runners is a lot of cups!

We entered Manhattan just after mile 16.  I was freaking out because so many people start suffering at 17.  But I was excited to meet Sue.  I couldn’t believe Greg was still with me!  I only asked him to run a mile!  He said to me at one point, “ I think I could finish this thing!”  He ran until I met Sue at mile 18.  Sue was carrying a fuelbelt of supplies for me like the goddess she is.    My stomach was really bothering me at this point, I had two chomps at mile 6, a gu at mile 13 and grabbed half a banana from someone on the street at mile 17.  The banana seemed to help, but every time I drank water I got that queasy feeling. But I decided to worry about that later. 

Sue really pumped me up.  We chatted steadily into the Bronx.  I had to stop and readjust my shoe for a minute or so, but then the weird pain went away and all was good.  I would say mile 18-20 were probably were I felt it the most, but really nothing bad.  I was being really conservative and just enjoying running with my friends and the street party all around me.  Sue was amazing sharing her water and offering me pretty much everything.  I took 3 more ibuprofens around 20.

We chatted through the Bronx, I knew I was slowing a little, worried about the hills of Central Park.  Derek met us at 22 or so and I made them entertain me, so I could take a break from talking.  Sue really pumped me up, counting down the blocks to the park, describing the finish etc.  The park was not nearly as bad hill-wise as I expected.  The hill at 23 kind of sucked, but I finally realized, I was almost done and totally fine.     I couldn’t believe it!  Had I held back too much?  How did I get to 23 in no pain and with no walking?  I finally trusted myself to push the last couple miles, I took of my thermal to display my bib at 25 and said goodbye to Sue and Derek.  Then I pushed on to the finish. I passed pretty much everyone around me.  Lots of people were cheering my name.  It was amazing.  I finished strong and felt like I could have kept going, which is probably not a great thing.  The only silly thing was that I got really nervous about my chip tag, since my friends said it wasn’t reading my intervals.  So after i had walked 50 or so feet past the finish, i went back to stomp on the mat a few more times.  I got yelled at by an official.  I am not sure if that screwed with my time, since my watch said I finished in 4:46:48, and my official time was 4:48:50, but I really don’t care. 

After the race, I got my medal and had to stand in what was a silent death march to the baggage.  Everyone seemed so down and beaten.  I couldn’t believe it. I felt like a caged animal and I just wanted to run my UPS baggage truck.  I did start weaving through the crowd since I couldn’t take it anymore. Be happy, we’re done people.

I somehow made it beyond the crowds.  On my way to Derek’s, I stopped at Ann Taylor and the Gap since I realized I need to go to a bar and to work and I really only had sweats.  I couldn’t find anything so I showered at Derek’s and ran down to Banana Republic and bought a few things.  At this point, I realized that while my stomach wasn’t feeling great water and a hunk of baguette was in order.  Then we headed down to Pete’s Tavern for Heather’s post-marathon party. I had a glass of champagne and a few piece from the appetizer trays. But I had to be at work at 7, so I could stay long.  Work was just judging a preliminary hall talent competition and everyone was so supportive of me, lots of hugs and more congrats than I was comfortable with.  I had some dinner there, eggplant parm and ziti. 

After that I took a cab home , I assumed the cabbie would take the midtown tunnel, but almost symbolically he took the 59th Street Bridge that I had run over hours before. 

I got home to the greatest surprise of all.  My windows had been postered.  Tell me I don’t have the greatest roomstars and friends ever!  Amazing!

I am so glad they celebrated the day with me.  When they said the were having a mimosa party, I baked a cake for them.  From Emeril’s recipe.  I don’t know how it turned out, I might not use the glaze next time!    

And my friend Jessica sent me these gorgeous flowers.

I couldn’t sleep much last night.  Still energized I guess.  I ran out to get the NYTimes just in case they decided to extend the 4:30 cut off for finishers.  But sadly, I just missed it, 4:44 was the last time published.

Oh well, it was a fun day and a great race.  Afterthought to come another day. I am looking out my window at the 59th Street Bridge and I can’t believe it’s all over!

 

I am off for a massage and to meet Heather for coffee before she heads back to London.

HUGE THANKS TO YOUR UNBELIEVABLE SUPPORT THROUGH ALL THIS!  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Grete’s Great Gallop Take 3

So I had the doctor’s permission to run the half today, although he did say that it was fine to skip it because having a good long run next weekend was more important. 

However, I decided to just go and see how it went.  No pressure. Despite forecasts of 100% chance of precipitation and thunderstorms, there was neither.  It was 67 degrees, with 93% humidity and overcast–I am cool with that.

I woke up with a lot of pain in my foot.  Far more than usual, things were not looking good.  Typically I will have a little pain, but really it’s during and after when the pain is really bad.

But I headed out the door anyways.  I picked up my pre-race “coffee milkshake” aka iced coffee with skim and hoped on the subway.  I love the energy of getting off at 68th and Lex with tons of runners silently acknowledging each other. I arrived at the park, since there were lots of different races and events as part of the Norwegian festival, there was lots of activity, booths,face painting, asprey water, bagels with lox and the infamous berry covered waffles.

BEFORE THE RACE

I got my number, shirt, safety pins, retied my shoes for the millionth time and went in search of baggage check.  After stripping out of my unneeded sweats, I pinned on my number, secured my time tag, put on my heart rate monitor, used the facilities and got in the corrals.

I was pretty surprised to see that I was placed in the last corral.  I have never been in the last corral.  My 9:28 pace is not super speedy, but I guess this year the other slow people stayed home.

Whatevs.  As you know, I am not overly concerned with time or PRing, I am just not competitive with running. I don’t want to sound like a jerk, I love seeing those of you who run to excel PR and improve, it does inspire me, but it is not what running is about for me. I like to enjoy the process and the race experience and that alone has always satisfied me.  And that’s pretty lucky since if I cared about time, with my pace, I would really not enjoy running! I actually don’t know if I will continue to run if I am still experiencing pain post-marathon, it really takes the fun out of it. I will probably focus on other activities I enjoy or switch to tris.

Anyways, there was still pain shooting through my foot as I stood in the corral.  I really didn’t know what to do.  I kind of wanted to cry.  I had already been in minor discomfort for 40 minutes and I hadn’t even started running.

So I decided it was time for a little talk with Jesus.  I folded my hands (ipod in between) at my chest and started praying.  About midway through my chat with Big J, I realized my ipod was still on and Hot Chicks was playing.  I apologized turned it off and finished my little holy moment.

Mile 1-2.

The race started and I actually felt okay.  It was better moving than standing still. I waved to Grete Waitz (the only female to win the NYC marathon 4 times) and kept going.  Between mile 1 and 2, I had to stop and readjust my laces three times.  One shoe was too tight and the other too loose.  This was getting really old fast.  Finally, the third time was the charm and I was comfortable enough to keep going without stopping for the rest of the race.

Miles 3-6

These went by quite well.  I would feel random bouts of pain in all different places, but nothing stabbing, just dull. It’s funny thinking about pain the whole time takes the focus off boredom or exhaustion.  It’s like a total trade off. Oh, I also gooed up after mile 6 with a CLIF MOCHA ENERGY GEL. I really didn’t feel like consuming anything  somedays my stomach doesn’t love eating on the run, but I knew I might need that fuel for the final 7. Fortunately, it gave me a great kick and no tummy trouble at all.

Miles 7-8 (technical malfunction)

I was happy I had made it to 7 without any real issues.  I noticed my Garmin was flashing low memory, so I deleted all the old activities, but apparently something went wrong because at mile 8 it had stopped recording my race states and said memory full.  Fabulous. I am really not too obsessed with my Garmin, I typically only look at it when it beeps the mile, but I had hoped to have my splits and see how accurate it was with distance.  Oh well.  At some point I figured out how to delete everything and restarted it, just for fun I guess. TIP: if you are ever really struggling, playing with your watch or ipod is a great way to forget how much you hate your life. I swear, perfect distraction tools. (here are 15 more tips to get through a workout)

Miles 8-?

At some point, I totally forgot where I was.  I was actually enjoying myself enough that I “woke up” and realized I had no idea where I was, I kind of forgot it was even a race that I should focus on finishing.  I also had no idea where I was mileage-wise. At some point, I unconsciously started singing out loud—really loud, and got some really angry looks. I piped down quickly.

Miles 10-12

I guess I wasn’t gone too long because I saw mile 10 and I was pretty happy I only had a 5K left.  I was having some pain that came and went, but nothing too bad. At mile 10, I needed a change of pace, so I pulled out my secret weapon: GIRL TALK!  Yup, I always save girl talk for the end of my race.  This was a great way to really charge up my last few miles. Before that I was listening to this:

and this:

Mile 12-13.1 (Mind Games and the final push)

I knew I had a lot left in me at 12, unlike a lot of people who have trouble moderating their pace in the beginning and dying at the end, I tend to hold back too much and then am frustrated at the end, when I really could have gone harder.  So I decided to give it all I had for the last 1.1.  This is really the worst part of races in the park anyways, lots of hills and congestion to the finish. Here’s a secret, at mile 11 I always convince myself of how much the last mile is going to feel, how hard the hill is, how it always winds forever seeming like 3 miles.  This crazy tactic actually makes it seem shorter and less miserable than it really is.  Mind games, I know.

So the last mile was hard.  It really does seem long.  But I pushed and pushed to the finish line, I got a little bit of the I might throw up right at the end, but I crossed successfully. 

Post Race, Stats, and Pain

Immediately after I finished, serious pain shot through my calf.  I walked it off for 3-4 minutes.  I am certainly in no way pain free, my knee, foot an ankle are pretty sore, so I am icing and resting, but need to start moving pretty soon.

Post-race

I like this race because they don’t have donated bagels that I usually pass on, they have great fresh bagels (with or without lox) and the most amazing spreadable cheese I have ever had—it’s called Snofrisk naturell.  I took a lox-free bagel and a triangle of the cheese.  They call it cream cheese, but I don’t like cream cheese, it is more like laughing cow without the swiss taste and much richer.  Yum, the perfect brunch!  I also took a plum for later.  The bottled water and waffles were gone, but that was fine, I had my refillable, environmentally friendly water bottle in my baggage.  Oh, I drank maybe 5-6 half cups of water along the course.

Stats.

So I have run this race three years in a row—2007 and 2008.  I PRed today, not just for the race either, overall.  It is kind of bittersweet.

I got 2:10:11.  Last year I got 2:10:14, so not a huge difference, but it was something, and it would have been at least 3-4 minutes faster if I hadn’t kept stopping to play with my shoelaces in the beginning.

Like I said, I tend to hold back too much.  My overall pace was 9:56 min/miles, but my last 4.7 miles (the ones post-garmin disaster)  were much faster 9:20, 9:31. 9:28, 8:48, 6.10 (.7 miles).

I am glad I did it.  I hope things only get better as I start to use my orthotics! I didn’t use them today. 

Talk to you soon folks!

ABrooklyn Half and BBQ Fun

The county of kings was alive with nearly 10,000 runners yesterday morning.  I am sure you have been reading recaps from all my fellow NYC bloggers as so many of us ran it! Congratulations Heather, Ashley, Sarah, and anyone I forgot!  I realized it was going to be quite packed when I found out 4 people on just one floor of my office alone were running! 

Since it was a bit more of a trek to BK than my usually park races, I made arrangements to stay at a friend’s in Brooklyn the night before, but at the last minute, I decided I wanted to sleep in my own bed and not have to adjust my morning routine.  Getting to the race wasn’t too bad, but I had to run over a mile to baggage drop off and back because it was closing a few minutes after I arrived in the park.  Then I had to wait while at least 400 other runners stood in line for the numerous, but not numerous enough bank of port-a-johns.  That took at least 15-20 minutes, however, I really didn’t have to worry too much about getting into my corral as things were slow to get moving, on the walk there I saw a co-worker and Heather waiting to start!

I am going to be honest, this was not a great race for me.  I did not run nearly enough since the More Half last month—make 5 times and never more than 4 miles—so mentally, I was not feeling physically prepared. Physically, the first two miles were tough, but then it was kind of autopilot from there.  However, the mental battle was exhausting.  I was so mad at myself for not properly training, for not making an effort to improve my speed; consequently, I spent a decent amount of time questioning whether running is even a good sport for me as I have maintained the same 10 minute mile pace since pretty much the day I started. 

I was also sad because I had been really looking forward to the great course, and I couldn’t even enjoy it because I was mad at myself the whole time.  I also had a very annoying sock bunch going on and my foot fell asleep for over a mile before I finally decided stop and loosen my laces, which helped.

On the bright side, I did make one very smart decision that morning: I decided to wear my fuel belt.  I like my fuel belt, but I bought it a size to big, so it can be a little annoying and a wee bit heavy, so if I want to be fast (humor me) I don’t wear it.  But when I looked at the course map I noticed that there were very few water stations, so I felt safer having my own water so I didn’t have to worry about getting dehydrated or clogged water stations.  This turned out to be a great idea because it was a hot day and the water stations were very far apart and under stocked.  I have never ran a race where people were waiting for water!  So that was a good move.  I also like to bring my fuel belt because it always makes me sad to see 50,000+ paper cups smashed along the road.  I am not an environmental goddess—I use way to many plastic bottles, but I do try to help out where I can.

I was excited to reach mile 12 and know that the Coney Island Boardwalk was right around the corner! The Boardwalk was a little wobbly and harder to run on than I had anticipated but the ocean view, the smell of wet sand and sea salt and the sound of the water made it all worth it, I happily jaunted along until I saw the finish line and sprinted as hard as could to the end. By this point, my fuel belt was much lighter (cause it was 75% empty) and was riding up to the point that it was practically a sports bra. Time wise, it was not my best or worst half, I got 1:12:43.  A very steady 10:07. 

I did find out that my coworkers are far too modest about their mad running skills; they got 1:41 and 1:49—girls btw!

 

After the race I started thinking about whether I wanted to really train for one more race before South Africa, and on  ways I could get motivated to train for NYC.   I realized over the course of the last month that I really miss running with people.  So here is the motivation plan I came up with

• I am 90% sure I am going to sign up for the Jack Rabbit Sports Marathon program, which meets twice a week from July 14-Nov. 1st. 
• I have three friends that have (separately) expressed interest in running with me, so actually making that happen will be extremely beneficial.
• Doing on Urban Run or Niketown training runs at least once a week
• Wearing a watch and actually paying attention to pace and time.  I actually ordered the Garmin FR60, and I am very excited to receive it.  I returned the Forerunner 305 because it was just too darn big, and I think the foot pod will be more accurate in the long run.

Today I decided against doing another race before SA because my June calendar is pretty booked on all possible race dates, and the one possible exception is the mini (10K) on June 7th.  Today I decided against it, one because it is the morning after my roommates birthday extravaganza and two because today I went for a run and my ankle was feeling very tender.  During my hike last week I turned my ankle several times—I have very turned out feet and my ankles like to roll, but it was never sore enough to notice, since I really didn’t run much last week, mostly elliptical.  However, I felt it a little yesterday and all the pounding was enough to make me decide that an all out race would be too much.  I am icing right now (this is the second time I have ever iced anything!) and I might get a little stabilizer bandage.  It’s not severe pain, but it is the first time I have ever felt anything enough to decide to walk the last mile home.

So sorry to be a downer, I  have off days occassionally! However, all of this made me really commit to an idea I have been considering for a while, I am going to switch from marathons to triathlons after the NYC marathon.  Many people have suggested it to me, and it makes a lot of sense.  I am a swimmer, which tends to be the hardest part for most people. I am a decent biker, or will be when I get over my fear of city biking.  And running is my weakest link, but clearly I can muddle through when necessary and I have come a long long way endurance-wise in the last few years. So just thought I would let ya’ll know even though it is way in the future at this point!

Moving on, THANK YOU to everyone who gave me a response to my white dress question.  I truly appreciated your input.  On the way back from the marathon I stopped at Macy’s and got a pair of nude boy shorts—I haven’t found a decent half slip yet—and the shorts seemed to do the trick!  I also bought what I thought was a really cute BCBG dress, but since I wasn’t going to try it on in the store post-race (not exactly daisy fresh at that point), I waited until I got home and it looked awful, so much for the back up!  In the end, I much preferred my cheap-o Forever dress! 

No underwear (or anything else) showing day or night:

 

Last night my roomies and I had our second annual roof deck party followed by water taxi beach and I got lots of compliments! The party was fun, I always worry because I have so many small groups of friends from different circles (NYU class, NYU roommates, high school friends, TNT friends, coffee shop friends, study abroad friends, Martha’s Vineyard friends, and now blog friends too), and I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable.  Fortunately, all the circles represented seemed to mix, mingle and have a good time.  A few bloggers even made the scene! 

Me, Gena, Missy and Ashley

and I got to meet Missy’s boyfriend Nick too!

Shane came a little bit later—no pic, and was so sweet as to bring me a great book and Grey Goose! Love those bottles!

 

Coming up tomorrow, I am going to tackle all the Italian upgrade requests from so long ago!

In other news, I am BEYOND EXCITED to hear about Meghann’s first marathon!

Running decisions, recipes, and reviews

 

Another long week behind us!  Yay.  It’s finally starting to feel like summer  is on the  horizon!  For some reason the word horizon just reminded me of a quote from one of my favorite books, Their Eyes Were Watching God, "Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see."

So anyways, I decided to sign up for the Brooklyn Half marathon at the end of the month.  I won’t really have time to do long runs in preparation, but I think I will be okay with a fair amount of quality training runs over the next two weeks. I was convinced to do it because it is supposed to be a fun, flat, beautiful course.  Any run with both Prospect Park and Coney Island in its course has to be scenic and fun!

For everyone doing the Healthy Kidney run this weekend—GOOD LUCK!

So on to some reviews.

First, Tiger Balm! 

I had kind of heard of Tiger Balm when I was offered the chance to try it, but didn’t really know what it was. However, upon arrival I instantly loved the marketing materials, who doesn’t want a massage on the go? 

So in case you are also new to Tiger Balm, here is what it is supposed to do:

Tiger Balm Neck & Shoulder Rub is great for executives on the go, providing fast, soothing relief to neck and shoulder aches and pains anytime and anywhere. Simply massage this topical remedy onto the affected area, and its pain relieving properties will work quickly to deliver the desired relaxing effect. This water-based cream gives a clean, non-greasy feel to the skin, and the calming fragrance makes it even more pleasant to use in any stressful situation.

I do love the clever marketing integration, relief for sore office workers!  Check out the results of a survey of 500 New Yorkers who live and work throughout Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs was commissioned by Tiger Balm and conducted by Promark Research:

• Three-quarters (74%) of New York office workers feel they are under more stress than those who live elsewhere.
• Two-fifths (43%) of respondents feel they are working harder or working longer hours now compared with a year ago because of the economic crisis, and 61% say they are currently feeling more stress than they were before the recession began.
• Though all respondents spend a portion of their day sitting behind a desk and/or computer, the majority of workers surveyed (60%) spend six hours or more at a desk and/or computer.
• More than half (53%) of office workers believe that spending time at a computer causes stress on the body and related physical pain.
•  The largest number of office workers who are experiencing work-related stress and pain feel it in their neck and shoulders (39%), while 29% feel it in their back and 15% feel it in their arms.
• Approximately one-quarter (24%) of office workers experiencing work-related stress and physical pain say that it is affecting their productivity at work.
•   New York office workers are cutting back on luxuries and indulgences, including self-pampering activities such as manicures, hair maintenance and massages (57%). They’re also using coupons and relying on sales to save money (48%), and limiting the number of days they buy lunch at work each week (45%).
• A large majority of New York office workers (69%) think that a regular massage, concentrating on the neck and shoulders, can help them manage stress and relieve associated pain. However, a relatively large number of respondents volunteered that they didn’t know if it could or not.

I definitely related to the ones in blue!  I think we all our more worried about job security and feel the need to step up our game at work! As for spa treatments, I would say I am less likely to go to a fancy spa and still with the cheaper, low frills places for waxes, nails, hair, etc.  I rarely splurge on massages, so I think that will remain the very infrequent treat.

As I know everyone in my office was feeling the end of academic year push, and we have all been pretty stressed lately, I brought Tiger Balm to several of my co-workers.  They were all really excited.  One person did ask me, “do i look like I am in pain?”  But a few days after I brought it in, people were coming to my desk asking if I had any more for their stiff necks!

I tried Tiger Balm on Tuesday night.  I followed the suggestion for neck and shoulders, and since it also said joints, I rubbed some on my knees as well.  As soon I opened it, it reminded me of Bengay and Icy Hot.  It was not as greasy, fragrant or intense as either of those products.  While I wouldn’t call it a massage, it definitely relaxed me and there was a nice tingly, pain relieving sensation for hours and hours after I put it on.  I really liked the menthol-esque smell.  I woke up and could still feel it working.  As I didn’t really have much pain before, I am not sure if this would be effective for someone with significant neck pain, but for my stress-related soreness, it did it’s job.

If you are looking for a massage with a sweet ending, I wanted to post the recipes for the Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Date Muffins and Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies I recently made, that you may have seen on Meghann’s blog.  I got a few requests, so I thought I would share.  I adapted both of these recipes from ones I found on the web.  I thought they both came out great, especially considering how healthy the ingredients are for the most part.  While I never worry about making cooking healthy, there is always a slight hesitation that baking was meant to be gooey and indulgent, but my worries were put to rest with the first bite.  I was also shocked that they held up through trips to Florida and Ohio—I sent some to my sister for her birthday!

The WW Sweet Potato Date Muffins were very closely adapted from the recipe on The Wednesday Chef.  I had been wanting to make these forever, and was happy to find even with less butter and sugar, they were delicious. Next time I make them I may add more sweet potato and make sure to have all the suggested spices on hand, so I get an stronger flavor. 

Whole-Wheat Sweet Potato Muffins
Makes 12

1/2 pound sweet potatoes (also known as yams)-I used 1.5 huge ones, could have used 2.
Vegetable oil spray for coating the tins
2/3 stick butter+2 TBSP applesauce
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 TBSP Pure Maple Syrup
3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup soymilk+1/2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
9 Medjool dates, pitted and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces-I should have added some raisins to make up for having less dates on hand, use the full 12.

I followed the directions on the Wednesday Chef website with minor changes to the ingredients, as you will see above, they also only took about 22 minutes to bake.  As I said these were very yummy, and I think will be out of this world with more sweet potato, spice and dates—and even less butter!

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

 

While not the prettiest cookies on the block, these were pretty addicting. I kept the in the fridge, so they maintained their fudgy richness.

I had been wanting to try  Ellie Krieger’s Breakfast Cookie recipe, but it had a lot of ingredients I didn’t have on hand, so I did some googlin’. When I came across this bfast cookie recipe, it sounded so good, I couldn’t resist.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1-1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 of a bar Newman’s Own Organics 70% Cocoa Super Dark Chocolate-chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup PB and Co. Crunch Time Peanut Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the first nine ingredients (through the chocolate chips) in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, vanilla, applesauce and peanut butter together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.

Roll dough into 16 to 20 balls, pressing down to flatten in the shape of a cookie. Place dough on cooking spray coated cookie sheets one inch apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes.

Makes 16 to 20 cookies. (I made about 22)

That Newman’s Own Organics Dark Chocolate is amazing btw, it rivals my long time love of Dagoba.

And just in case you don’t have time to bake, I recently tried Enjoy Life Soft Baked Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and was shocked by how yummy and healthy they are!  I am a chewy cookie girl and these were large, soft and dense, just how I like ‘em.

 

 

While I have to admit I didn’t recognize the first ingredient—sorghum flour—a wheat free grain, these cookies are 100% natural and you can certainly feel good about eating them! They contain some sources of sugar, but come on, they’re cookies! They are great for vegans and those with gluten, nut or soy allergies as they contain to wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, or soy.

ingredients:

Sorghum Flour; Grape, Apple and Pear Juice Concentrates; Brown Pure Cane Sugar; Date Paste; Chocolate Chips (Evaporated Cane Juice, Chocolate Liquor, Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter); Expeller Pressed-Vegetable Oil (Safflower Oil and/or Sunflower Oil); Water; Natural Rice Dextrin; Xanthan Gum; Baking Soda; Salt; Vanilla; Rosemary Extract

While the texture has a very subtle graininess, I thought they were delicious and very satisfying, you certainly can stop at the serving size of two. Two cookies contain, 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram protein and 2 grams fiber. 

Enjoy your Saturday kids!

Not always as planned+half marathon recap

Before I start, a couple event worth mentioning, I have wanted to share so many things and I feel awful when events and deals pass unmentioned!

Jack Rabbit Sports/Runner’s World 8 Week Faster Five Miler Speed Workshop.  $125 for twice a week training on how to improve your speed for distance running.  Comes with a shirt and a one-year subscription to the mag.

New York Road Runner’s Eat, Drink, Energize Workshop: FREE!
May 6, 200, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Robert Wagner Middle School–220 East 76th Street

This lecture event has an amazing panel of nutrition, running and health experts!  I wish I could go but I have a work event that night and a HUGE presentation the next day

 

New Downtown Exhale  membership options: exhales monthly membership at $170.00 per month, or our annual membership for $150 a month! First time guests can also take advantage of our DT $30 for 7 days of unlimited classes + 10% off retail. Includes all Core Fusion, Core Fusion Energy Flow and Core Fusion Sport Classes.

 

Be warned: this post is LONG!

Not much has gone as planned this week.  Although, as you know, I am type z, so I don’t really plan anyway.  Overall it was a good, very productive, and relatively social week. I planned to do a bit more posting, but group project meetings, dinner plans, South Africa orientation (can’t wait to share more soon), lots of time at the internship office, work and school got in the way.  But 10 day countdown until I am back in blog action.  Woo-to the Hoo!

As you know I had the More/Fitness half marathon this weekend, and while I hadn’t planned to taper—since I was just treating it as a long run, all the plans I didn’t realize I had made, kind of got in the way, so my normal workout schedule ended up being halved.  I did either core fusion or 40 minutes cardio every day. That was fine, usually when I am busy I use my lunch hour for workouts, but this week I opted for gossip therapy and scheduled several lunch dates with fabulous people, such as Gena. 

Friday morning I had a truly amazing core fusion class—I find morning strength workouts make me feel blissful all day long, whereas when I do cardio in the morning I often fear I will fly off the treadmill.  However, I pushed myself so hard in class, that I woke up Saturday sore from head to toe.  Pretty much every inch.  I had planned to do an easy 4 miler and hit another core fusion class, so I strapped on my sneakers.  Oh wait, I forgot my sneakers at the office!!!!  Not as planned. So I put on a really old pair of shoes that I bought way before I realized that you need to have your running shoes tailored to your foot, gait and stride.  I made it about 2/3 of a mile and gave up, they were dead as doornails.

So I decided to head into the city, pick up my sneakers and head to core fusion before heading to my internship.  On the way in, I realized my body felt like lead.  I was struggling to get up the subway stairs.   So I decided to stop at my favorite store, Jack Rabbit Sports.  I treadmill tested  and had my gait analyzed for 5 different pairs of shoes before I decided on an updated version of my current Asics gt 2130’s.  Meet my fourth pair of GTs, the GT 2140!

While I tried on some nice saucony progrid glides and mizunos wave inspires.  I decided to go with the Asics mainly because I am still using my pair from Christmas and it didn’t seem like a good idea to run in two different styles of shoes.  Plus, as soon as, I put them on they felt familiar, like home.  Maybe after the marathon I will try something new.

After that I picked up my 2130’s and went to the rooftop track (the 7 flights of stairs to the top is always the hardest part of the workout) for some light running and stretching.  I decided against core fusion since my body was definitely not having it. 

After that I walked downtown to my internship.

You would think my treats to myself for the day would have stopped there, but this was waiting for me when I got home.

Yes, I bought the Garmin!  See companies? blog advertising really does work!  Please feel free to send my any health/fitness related product you need tested or reviewed! Okay seriously, I am actually afraid to try it because while all of you love your ‘Mins, a few of my friends say the GPS isn’t NYC friendly.  But it was $50 less than the polar, which had so few reviews that I decided to go for the G!  I also want to note that my friends also warned me it was HUGE, and clearly I didn’t take them seriously enough.  It is a monster.  That guy on the box must have a hulk hogan arm!

Anyways, I won’t be buying myself anything for a long long time, but if I could I must say I am loving these super cute running items: 

Brooks Viva Jacket

New Balance Tempo Tanks—OMG these are so cute!!!!!!

Livestrong Graphic Tee  I don’t know why, but people always look HOT in these!

 

So enough shopping.

Back to RACE PREP.

Last night I went to bed around 11:30, very reasonable for me.  At 12:30AM, my phone rang.  It was a good friend, so I picked it up, and was happy to learn he was sober.  But sad to learn he was sad and needed to talk.  So while pre-race sleep was less than planned, around 5 hours when I got up around 6:15 this morning, I was happy I could be there for someone.

Race Day

Anyways I got up decided on race ready shorts—because I really like to be packed in the back—and headed out the door.  I felt NAKED without a jacket or wallet or phone.  Just a couple mini clif bars, metrocard, some cash, my bib, chip and safety pins, my key and my spandex covered ass. Yes, I find 80 degree NYC mornings quite freeing!

I got off the subway at 68th and Lex and was completely a buzz from my prerace iced coffee and Girl Talk on the ipod.  I was in a great mood, which was only made better by finding  Park Ave in immaculate and picturesque glory.  The tulips were standing gorgeously at attention, the cherry blossoms lined the center of the street all the way down to the Met Life Building which was shimmering in the sun.  Even the Central Park East brownstones seemed statelier than usual.  I wanted to remember the scene forever! While I couldn’t take a picture, it was something like this:

So as planned I met Ashley and her friend Sarah at 7:20 on 72nd and 5th.  We took care of last minute race business and go into the corrals.  Just minutes before the race, they announced that the marathon was canceled due to the heat!  I felt so bad for all the women who must have trained for months!  Then they said the half would be an untimed “fun run.” Umm, yeah, not so fun!  Especially since I didn’t have a watch or anything.  I was annoyed, but like I said it was just another long run to me.  All pressure GONE! But definitely not as planned!

I totally respect that they want to protect our safety, but don’t people in the south run in much hotter weather?

Ashley and I did the first 6 miles together.  It was great chatting and getting to know each other better.  It was a rough first loop.  I was extra glad that I had trained running clockwise, which is actually noticeably harder hill-wise than counter-clockwise, which is how all races are run. We didn’t feel the need to be competitive since very few people were taking it seriously and everyone was going pretty slow. 

After six miles, Ashley and I decided to strap on our ipods and run solo.  I definitely felt like the last 7 miles were faster and easier.  Girl Talk was my Gatorade!  I actually burst into song a few times, but quickly realized that was NOT appreciated by my fellow ‘thoners. I never really pushed myself, I just kept my insanely steady and consistent pace and the miles slid by.  It was a very crowded race and the walkers definitely slowed me down as they really didn’t care about staying to the right.  Also, in races, I really don’t walk unless I need to stretch, so I was constantly finding it hard to run through the water stations with everyone at a dead stop. 

The park couldn’t have been lovelier with the blossom in full and radiant bloom all around us.  I tried to concentrate on that and forget that I was tripping over people left and right and zigzagging all over to avoid nipping ankles.  Usually races start like this, but I have never had the congestion last for the entire race before.

I love that I know the park like the back of my hand.  It helps know exactly what is coming and get excited to see the reservoir, Cat hill, the boat house, the 72nd street transverse.  However, the last mile of the race is always hard in the park. The turns just keep coming and you think you are at Columbus Circle making the final turn for the Tavern on the Green finish, when actually you are just hitting the Plaza. By the time I was at this point it was quite hot.  I was also really hungry since I had only consumed a mini clif, the milk in my coffee and a cup of Gatorade.  I realized about 30 minutes from the finish I needed some calories, but it didn’t seem worth it since they would digest that fast anyways.  Eating on the run is all about planning to fuel ahead of time.  Normally I like gus because they digest so quickly that they are like an instant jolt. However, I checked the date on the one I had in my running bin this morning and  it expired in May 2008, so I chucked it. I also recommend gus for adding needed calories without getting used to eating more, you will never crave or miss gus!

Since I was seriously expecting it to be the longest mile ever, I was shocked when I saw the finish and had a lot of fuel in my tank.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t sprint the last few tenth because I couldn’t get around the runners ahead of me no matter how I tried to maneuver and it didn’t seem worth it to trample anyone for an untimed race.

So I just crossed the line.  It was weird to cross without the timing mats.  I just got the race pictures from bright room, it shows me crossing the at 2:19, which means that my time was 2:12 adjusted for the lag.

I realized I could have pushed harder because I never even broke a sweat despite the heat. ooops.  I wanted to play it safe and it was probably the right decision, but I think I will sign up for a short race, so I can try actually pushing myself in a distance I know I can cover without dying.

Anyways the best part of the morning was getting handed a medal! 

I have never gotten one before, in fact, I forgot they give them out at marathons at all.  So that was kind of exciting.  After that eating a third of a chocolate chip bagel on my way home way exciting!  I think I may have been a bit dehydrated because my stomach was seriously angry for a few hours after the race.  When it semi-calmed down, I made a delicious banana oatmeal pancake for lunch, served with almond butter! 

 

 

Super yum.

 

Answers to Running Questions

I typically email people back when they ask questions, and also try to remember to put my response in the comments if it will help others.  But I know I sometimes miss questions, so here are a few great ones that I have received a few times.  Topics: pain, injury, music, preparation the week of a race. 

 

Ouch!  My knee hurts when I run.  Do you have any tips for easing the pain and avoiding injury?

 

I have been lucky to have avoided any real injuries throughout my running experience.  This is probably due to the fact that I never over train; I typically run 3-4 times a week. I also don’t push myself to the edge for more than a short distance.

 

However, I occasionally will get a sharp knee pain right between the joints and, also occasionally, mild ankle pain.  While these are rare, I have found two things to nip the problem in the bud immediately: buying new shoes and stretching.

 

These are the four stretches I have found to be incredibly helpful for nixing pain asap.  I recommend stretching before and after.

 

1. The IT stretch where you cross your left leg behind your right and then reach over your head to the right with your left arm, hold at least 10 seconds and reverse.

 

1. The cross-legged toe touch-especially and oddly good for knee pain.

 

1. Runners lunge- lunge forward, knee at 90 degree, back leg extended, raise arms over head.

 

1. One Leg Squat Cross- cross leg over your knee at 90 degree angle, so your ankle is on your opposite knee and you lower into a squat.

Many runners that experience knee pain or have “bad knees” wear a Jumper’s Knee Strap-Patella Support.  They are only $8, a great investment. I bought one the first time I ever had knee pain, wore it once and never needed it again.  Still a worthwhile purchase.

 

*forgot to add an important one!  New shoes!  Whenever, I start feeling slight pain, it is almost always around the time I need new shoes! Replacing shoes frequently is incredibly important.  I really need to get better about wearing running shoes only for running.  It is my worst running mistake!

 

Do you have any advice for the week prior to a big race, half or full marathon?

 

My marathon coach (and the coach over thousands of successful first time marathons each year) gave me some great advice for week before and race day preparation (Sunday race):

 

 

• Wednesday do not run. If you must do something stretch….nothing else, no lifting, no yoga, no cross training, nothing. You want to conserve the energy, prevent sweating (dehydration) and make your body/mind hungry for exercise/miles.
• Thursday go for a 30 minutes easy run.
• Saturday run 20 minutes and stretch 20 mins stretching
• Starting yesterday concentrate in nutrition and hydration, especially hydration.   Drink plenty of liquids, you can/should add a sports drink per day, or add a little extra salt to your meals (this guarantees that you have a good level of electrolytes so you retain the liquids) just don’t over the hydrating.  If you have to go the bathroom every 30 minutes you are overdoing it,  if so stop hydrating for a while and resume later on.
• 60-65% of your calories should come from carbohydrates.   Remember it is not about eating more, it is about making sure most calories come from carbs, eat normal size meals. This is by far the most common nutrition advice offered by experts.
• Sunday morning you should be done with breakfast by 5:00 am (at most you can have something very light at 5:30 am).   What to have for breakfast?  Don’t try anything new, just have your usual breakfast, it should include some kind of carbs (PBJ sandwich, cereal, bagel, banana,etc. are good choices) and YES coffee is allowed ! (just keep it to one cup!)
• Continue to hydrate up to 5:30 am. After that make sure you get rid of the excess of fluids (aka   go to the bathroom as often as you can).  5-10 mins before the start have your last 6-8 oz of liquids (bring a cup/bottle of water to start line).
• Before your leave your house, ‘force’ yourself to go to the bathroom (nothing better that being in the comfort of your own house to take care of business.
• The first thing you’ll do when you meet us will be going to the bathroom, lines are going to be huge. Do not wait to the last minute to go the line.
• It’s common to have strange twitches, if your left knee usually hurts, your right knee will hurt. Suddenly your right eyelash will start cramping, it’s nerves, relax.

 

How do you find new work out music to keep your playlist fresh? 

 

I find music all over the place. I obsessive check the music section of itunes for best of store, essentials and any other cool things I see.

 

I also like to use MTV Video picks and VH1 morning jumpstart for ideas.

 

Gossip Girl and the Hills/City have great music, so check out their websites to see what great new bands are being featured in each episode.

 

z100 playlists will give you the top 40 mix.

 

Fitness Magazine has a plethora of great playlists  to suit any and every taste!

 

You can check out my sidebar (which needs to be updated) and music and playlist tags for some of my favorites.

 

I look at other bloggers playlists and I ask you guys for ideas.  That is how I found out about Girl Talk. Best.workout.music.ever.

A Tale of Two Races

Sorry sorry sorry for being so so so MIA! I have actually had responsibility at work, plus a full class load, and I just accepted the world’s most perfect internship–that happens to require that I give up a full weekend day every weekend from now until June, plus lots of friends in town, trying to help friend find apartments, and become mary kay ladies…you get the idea.

In any case today I ran Grete’s Gallop Half Marathon. I ran this race last year and it was definitively, the worst race of my life. I stopped several time and wanted to cry a few times! I had never had this happen, but the humidity was around 90% and it was HOT and miserable.

This year was a very different story. This morning it was COLD! Well, around 48 degrees when I left the apartment. I was wearing long black yoga pants, huge sweatshirt pants, my OBAMAthoner dri fit tee over a long sleeve waffle t-shirt, and a retro nylon nike jacket, and a scarf for good measure. I am ridiculous! I checked everything in baggage except my Obamathoner shirt, yoga pants, and fuel belt.

Miles 1-2-awful, I was stiff and my feet were sore from doing extensive walking around the city in heels yesterday, but that wore off after a bit.

Miles 3-4 kind of awful, but not too bad. I was really regretting going out last night, but I hadn’t seen one of my very best friends in months, and we had rescheduled like five times. So I had one small glass of wine and a few hours of great conversation.

Miles 5-6- finally hitting my stride, not feeling super energetic, but at least I was no longer seriously concerned that I was going to suffer for 8 more miles.

Miles 6-7-Flying high! At around halfway I started to feel euphoric. I was running a very steady pace and generally joyful. I knew I could finish no question.

Miles 8-11-still rocking it but I felt my first rain drop around mile 6. By mile 8 it was definitely raining…but at least no one had spit on me, like I thought with the initial drop. Nevertheless, I was kind of cold. However, the rain made me run faster and stronger. I wanted to finish before a downpour could start. Of course, it wasn’t like I could do five miles in 15 minutes, so I knew I might have to be uncomfortable for around 50 minutes. Fortunately the rain stayed very very light.

Mile 11-13.1-my ipod ran out of gas. I took the time to try and focus and run with my arms. I was annoyed because my playlist was awesome and the battery was supposedly full charged! Luckily, it didn’t really effect my run, even if it was less fun in silence. I continued running strong and got my best time ever for a half 2:10:15. Last year, I got 2:25:45, so clearly today was much better.

I finished feeling awesome! So good, that really want to run a marathon this fall, but I need to start putting school first. I recently had an honest reflection about my future career, and I have been putting my social life and my job and time wasting activities first, and those really can not be my priorities. I can excel academically, but I have to work incredibly hard to do it. I have always been jealous of those who can do no work and get 4.0s. So for now academia must come before my beloved friends; my beloved, therapeutic blogging; before my current job and job search; and before running marathons. However, I will still blog a few times a week with new ideas, workout and deals.

However, this race marks my 9th Road Runner Race this season….which means, I AUTOMATICALLY QUALIFY FOR the ING NYC MARATHON 2009! Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!!!!

This post is getting long, but I wanted to mention a couple cool things.

First, I got my fabulous tee, pictured above at Jack Rabbit Sports. Where I have been 3 times this week, first buying my new amphipod, and then some shot blocks, and then the OBAMAthoner tee. It is really my very favorite store, the staff are so cool! Plus, 10% off every time I go!

Second, the Jack Rabbit Sports Indoor Tri Series is starting, sign up! It’s so cool!

Thirdly, did everyone see that Kelly Ripa is once again talking about Physique 57 in a magazine? I love it but three covers? Shape, Fitness, and now Shape again.

A fabulous reader let me know that in addition to the video of Kelly at P57 on the Physique 57 website, Marie Clarie also has a few clips straight from P57 founder Tanya Becker. She also mentioned that there is a new dvd with a similar workout called the Tracy Anderson Mat Workout based on Gwen Paltrow’s and Madonna’s workouts. It could be worth checking out.

All right off to clean and study study study! xoxo

Please excuse any errors. I was typing really fast.

Anything that can go wrong….and a little bit of luck

Okay, today’s race was a challenge almost from the start.
I hadn’t planned on going out last night, but my roommate and I each got invited to parties in the building, and went to both. Lappin up the vino, not a great pre-race plan–thank god the Fitness Women’s Race start time was 9:30…late for races! I had to be there before number pick up and registration closed at 9:15

8:06 So this morning I woke up feeling okay, but a little less than 100% on the clarity side of things. I brushed my teeth, removed last night’s mascara (finally tried my givenchy phenomen’ eyes–good, but not worth the hype), threw a few things in a bag, and was running a little late. I made down a few floors in the elevator when I decided to go back and grab some cash, just in case.

Good news, there was no hurricane and it was not pouring, or even raining! But there was at least 90% humidity! Thank god for my ultra thin Hind running shirt, this thing is so light I almost feel naked in it!

When I went back up I got my key stuck in the door. I was definitely not happy because I hate hate hate to be late. I am extremely laid back, but something about being late freaks me out! So I went to the front desk and the maintenance guy was right there! So I asked him to go retrieve my key and leave it for me at the desk. The guy being right there was super lucky!

8:32AM I ran out of the building got a much needed SF Red Bull and the Duane Reade downstairs, and alternated that and water on my run to the subway.

8:36AM The train was pulling in when I arrived.

8:41AM I arrive at Grand Central and transfer to the 6 uptown-holla JLO

8:45AM I get off the subway and my ipod speakers stop working! WTF PS My ipod made a miraculous recovery after the white screen incident! So now I am ipodless for my race! I really was hoping to get a good time as I had been training a lot and had a good shot at improving!

8:46-9:05AM-I search desperately for a Duane Reade to buy new headphones, but on Lex, Madison and Park on the upper east side, Duane Reade does not mix with Dolce and Gabbana. So I make a last ditch effort to head east–out of my way–to see if the less classy 3rd ave has a DR.

9:06 No luck. There is nothing open that would sell headphones, so I hurry west to the park and check in around 9:10, enough time to pick up my goody bag and a t-shirt and an extra bag for my roomie, they said it was fine! (see below)

Magazine, Quaker Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bar, Mini Luna PB Cookie Bar (ate it on the way home), Body Wash Gel, Quattro Razor, Girl Scout Alumnae Registration Card

Function Light Weight Acai Pomegrante drink with ECGG. Tasted just like Diet Snapple Raspberry Iced Tea. Fine tasting, but nothing special.

9:15-I put on bib and secure chip to shoe. and head to corrals

9:30-Race starts. Despite the fact that I had no tunes for the first time in forever, I actually liked being aware of what was going on around me. I could focus on finishing. I could listen to others conversations. (People listening on the run.) There were a lot of first timers in the race!

Mile 1 I took easy

Mile 2 I was feeling good so I speed up

Mile 3 I concentrated on short strides and low arms during the uphills. Lifting my knees and flicking my feet back to make the hills easier. Then widening my arms and my stride during the downhills. You really run with your arms as much as your legs, the legs will do what the arms do as Ramon says.

Mile 4 I tried to speed up a bit, even though I was breathing harder than normal for me. I tried to relax my face, arms, shoulders and hands and put the energy in my legs. I was actually freezing at this point because I was so soggy, most people were just pouring sweat from the crazy humidity!

10:15ish At the end of the race, I felt pretty good. A girl came up to me and asked me how the race went. I said pretty good and asked her how hers went. She said she didn’t feel very well and it was her first race. I made sure she got some water and told her that it was common to feel a little sick to the stomach in the beginning. She asked if I had run any races or marathons and I said that I was doing the NYRR races to qualify for the NYC Marathon in 2009 and I had run the Nike Women’s last fall. She was signed up for this fall’s Nike Marathon with TNT. I lost it! I was so excited for her, I probably scared her. I told her it would be the best experience of her life; the TNT coaches would be right there on the course; there were massages, pedicures, chocolate and Tiffany’s, and it was basically the greatest race ever. I wished her luck and assured her she would be fine!

I ended up getting my best time of the season, and the worst Age/Graded Percentage of the year. Kind of funny!

I am slow, but clearly training more helped. Imagine if I had my ipod! lol

Here is a look at my NYRR Race History–I am not a speedster!:
Race Name, Date
Distance(miles)
NetTimeOverallPlace
AgeGraded %

Fitness Games Women 4M September 6, 2008
4.0
37:54
50.7 %
Run for Central Park July 19, 2008
4.0
39:08
49.1 %
WABC Fight/Prostate Cancer June 15, 2008
5.0
49:56
48.4 %
Japan Day June 1, 2008
4.0
38:26
50.0 %
Run As One, TGL Classic April 13, 2008
4.0
38:29
49.9 %
Scotland Run 10K March 30, 2008
6.2
1:00:47
49.9 %
NYRR Fred Lebow Classic January 12, 2008
5.0
48:07
50.2 %
Norwegian Festival Grete’s Grea… October 6, 2007
13.1
2:25:41
45.1 %
NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix: … September 23, 2007
13.1 miles
2:14:00
49.1 %

12:00ish When I got home I had my 3rd shower in 24 hours–so humid and made a big salad ( i never use ice berg, but somehow I got it and had to use it before moving onto my beloved spinach and purple cabbage) and two big oat bran, kamut flake, double vanilla kashi oatmeal pancakes with banana.


Check out this CRAZY variety of sprouts from the Sproutman!

I have about 50 different oatmeal pancake versions. This was the first time I used oatbran, it was a bit dry, so use oatmeal to increase moistness. Plus I got a call during the first one and forgot to add in the sliced banana!

Here is the recipe–I don’t measure anything, so these are estimates:

1/3 cup oatbran, about 11/2 TBSP kamut flake and kashi creamy vanilla instant oatmeal, a dollop chobani vanilla (plus another big dollop to top), two egg whites, pinch baking soda and celtic sea salt, 1/2 banana, best to add before flipping or mashed in.

My classic recipe is

roughly 1/3 cup oats, generous sprinkle kamut flakes and coconut flakes, 1/4 cup egg whites, dollop plain yogurt (although flavors are yummy also), dollop whipped cottage cheese, pinch cinnamon, sea salt, baking soda.

Fruit of choice added to top while cooking first side and before flipping.

Favs include: banana, berries, sugar free apple pie filling or sugar free cherry pie filling-so creamy and delish for special indulgences, fresh chopped peaches, dried unsulphured cherries.

Depending on type of fruit I usually top with about two teaspoons ( i estimate)of high grade 100% maple syrup or raw almond butter.

Not too much to say this week. I’m a little tired from traveling home and starting classes last night.

But here’s the weekly buzz!

Physique 57 Specials (aka a discount-yes, a bargain-no)

September 1 – September 15, purchase 57 Days of Fitness and receive 57 days of unlimited classes. The investment in your fit and shapely physique is only $750 (that’s $23.50 per class if you visit 4 times a week!).

Pair Down Deal
When you and a friend who is new to Physique 57 both take 14 classes within 4 weeks, you receive a few special gifts. One $50 Gift Certificate to Le Pain Quotidien and 10% off your next Physique 57 class package.

Yoga Challenge

Om’s Yoga Challenge is back! They challenge you to attend 30 classes in 30 days in October, joining is free, the $139 monthly unlimited class package suggested. Not a bad deal! If you join the class, you get 10% off other special workshops, including Yoga Cook Eat.

http://www.omyoga.com/workshops/2008/03_Challenge.htm

Nike Clearance Picks

Here are a few cute pieces of apparel on clearance at Nike.com!

Nike Base Layer Short Sleeve T-Shirt now just 14.99

Nike Border Tennis Jacket $31 from $65

Nike Knit Acceleration Shorts $13 from $38

Great read of the week: The Perfect Fit from Trying to Heal

I totally related to this because pants NEVER fit me! I have loved wearing skirts and dresses all summer because they always fit and hide everything! But fall is here, and I now have to face putting pants on fresh out of the dryer, which often requires a lot of sucking in, wriggling and hopping! On the bright side, if the worst thing I have to face this fall is tight pants, life’s not that bad!

Great info of the week: What is the Best Running Shoe? Very informative article by my fav sports store: Jack Rabbit Sports.
Don’t forget to try the Shoe Dog Shoe Finder or the Runner’s World Shoe Finder for some running shoe options tailored to you. But always go to the store to test them out before purchasing!

Personal Buzz

I am doing the Fitness Mind Body Spirit Games 4 Mile Race in Central Park tomorrow. And tut tut, it looks like rain, yuck!

I also need to find time for my long run this weekend. I just don’t have the energy to do it after work. I don’t think I want to run 12 miles in the rain tomorrow. So if it is going to happen, it is looking like early Sunday before a 12:30 brunch.

This is the test to determine if I want to sign up for the Philly full marathon in November. I have a lot on my plate with work (and looking for a new job that involves considerably less soul sucking), school (I have an econ class this semester which is no joke for liberal arts Meliss!) and wanting to have some type of social life! But we shall see, I do love the glory of training and that beautiful finish line.

TGIF Folks!