Test 3 - 2 Mile Repeats

Not too much to say here except that I miss Kat (maybe we can all petition her boss to let her out at a reasonable time on Tuesdays)! I went to practice and did my 2-mile repeats by myself and was the last one. Sandy ran with me on the last one but I ended up chatting with her and it probably cost me a few seconds. It was probably the fastest I've run for a longer than 1 mile. I averaged about 9:34 per mile. Let's see if I can sustain that for 6.2 miles in this weekend's Nike Human Race. There's a concert after (All American Rejects) and I can get a few companion tickets for $20 so let me know if you're interested asap :)

Trailing Behind Thomas

Since my last night run, I decided it might be wise to find a running partner. The problem is that almost everyone I know is faster than me :( . I got Thomas to agree to a short 4 mile run around the inner loop of CP with a warm up from Columbus Circle to 72nd and then cool down (walk) back from 72nd to Columbus Circle. I didn't time it right but I think I was going super fast because:

1-I couldn't really talk
2-I had to stop at every fountain
3-We actually did pass some people (even if they were senior citizens walking their dogs ;) )
4-My heart rate was around 200 :(
5-I was about 1/2 foot behind Thomas the whole way and he was trying to slow down from his usual pace :P (but I guess that's how you get faster right?)

I had fun though and ran past (they were travelling the opposite way so I definitely didn't pass them) Coaches Kelly and Steve from last season's TNT session. I also saw Ramon but of course it was on my WALK back to Columbus Circle. I swear he's going to think I'm a walker and not a runner because he always catches me walking...

Pier Side Paranoia

So normally long runs are on Saturdays but there are so many non-profits and so little time that this Saturday, I had to skip group training. I got to play on the playground with a bunch of the kids from the mentor program I'm a part of through NY Youth At Risk. Their moms are the mentees and it's really amazing so please check it out if you're interested in learning about yourself and helping to shape a younger person's life.

Anyway, since I missed training on Saturday and was dead tired after playing with kids all day, I decided I would run on Sunday night. The run was only for 10 miles so it shouldn't take me too long and I figured it didn't get dark that early, right? Well, sort of right.

I mapped the run out so I knew I would run from my apartment west to Riverside, up to 91st and back down to 14th street. I started at about 8pm and the sun was still up. I got to about 21st when it really started to set and I began to question if I would complete my run. I decided that I was determined (though not very smart) and that I would be able to finish the run in no time. After all, there were plenty of people around, even though it was dark. I get to the 60's or 70's and I realize it's not just a little dark, it's very dark and there are no lights. I'm under the west side highway and it's just me and one other runner on the trail. I pass this other runner and realize it's probably not smart to run in front of some strange guy at night with my headphones on so I take them off. That scares the hell out of me though because now I can hear him breathing and running behind me. NOT GOOD>I should tell you that I'm a Law & Order addict and was raised by an extremely paranoid mother and grandmother so I'm basically freaking out at this point. I find an escape down a better lit path and realize that there's a concert going on up ahead. At this point I'm out of breath because I've picked up the pace quite a bit.

A few blocks later, my phone rings (I sometimes run with my iphone/ipod) and it's my grandmother. Why I answer, I'm not sure because I'm sure she'll rattle off all of the news stories about females found dead or raped in the park and I begin to have visions of some kayaker finding my floating corpse during their free lesson. (Again a very "Law & Order" opening scene). I hang up w/ her and continue my run...is that Police tape I see? My imagination is running pretty wild by the time I'm finished and at 14th street at 10PM! At least I'm back to civilization by the time I hit 10th Ave. Oh yeah and I'm alive. From now on, I think I'll stick to running with the group :)

What's Your Twinkie?

I had to miss group practice today so I could travel from Chicago to DC for work. :( One of the reasons I joined TNT was for the "T"eam part of the training but sometimes duty calls and so I was off to DC when I could have been off to CP (Central Park). In order to not fall behind, I ran my workout on the treadmill in the hotel gym. Fortunately for me, it was equipped with an individual television so I could at least be entertained while I ran on a revolving wheel like a hamster.

My channel of choice was playing back to back "Family Guy" episodes. In case, you've never heard of it, it's one of the funniest animated shows on television. I'm into my second mile when I realize that I've seen the episode already and it's oddly appropriate. Peter tries to get Chris to lose weight by running but Chris doesn't want to run, nor can he really. Peter being the genius he is sticks a plunger on his forehead with a twinkie tied to the other end and you watch Chris try to "catch" the twinkie for the remainder of the episode (other things happen too but they're not relevant here). This got me thinking about motivation and what my "twinkie" was or is. Here is my list.

Possible "Twinkies" for running:
1- Losing weight (x - actually gained weight from training/eating for training so that's not going to work)
2-Being able to run for the subway, up the stairs, or out the door without getting winded (definitely exciting but I don't remember that when I have to go train)
3-Raising $$ for TNT (of course! but I could also do that through tri-athalons, century rides, or just plain fundraising...don't forget to visit the link to the donation page :) http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/nikesf08/round2fight)
4-Runners high - this has to be it but I'm going to need to run a lot more and a lot longer to sustain it :)

What's your twinkie? (post your comments) :)

the charity cases

well, first things first, i should admit that i am the worst co-blogger ever... but i'm working on it! and rather than attempt to catch up on the past few weeks when i should have been contributing, i'll just tackle the past 24 hours.

yesterday was one of those beautiful running days that you hope and hope and hope and hope for but typically get stuck with 85+ degrees, 90% humidity and sweat dripping off parts of your body you didn't know could actually sweat (inside your elbows anyone?). with our beirut tournament fundraiser scheduled for the afternoon, lana and i got up at the crack of dawn to get our miles in... 16.5 miles before 10am isn't too bad, though my legs are currently telling me otherwise.

anyway, the beirut tournament went great, except for the fact that i'm pretty sure we didn't make much of a profit (we'd hoped our team name, the "charity cases," would have helped people feel more generous). but i guess that happens. as i woke up inexplicably this morning at the crack of dawn, i attempted to do the math of how much we spent on the party and took in yesterday and realized that even though we might not have brought in a huge sum, this whole marathon-training and fundraising thing is about baby steps. you don't go from 2 miles to 26.2 miles overnight, just like you can't raise thousands in one event. so stay tuned for more fundraising ideas and events... and for lana and i to eventually make it to our goals :)

p.s. for three saturdays this summer (august 9, 16, 23) an almost 7-mile stretch of park avenue is closed to traffic, which is pretty cool. we ran up from 14th street to the upper east last night on the last leg of our long run. lana has some interesting pics of us in front of grand central on park ave... we both look like we just ran gajillions of miles so we'll see if she'll actually post them...

Secret Smiles

I knew today was going to be quite busy with the fundraiser running around and the running around for training so I tried to get an early start. I set my alarm for 5am and had everything set up for my run. Unfortunately, I didn't hear the alarm until 6am and didn't get up and ready and out the door until about 7:30 :( . The team was meeting at 8am at Riverside park and I'd planned on running from my apartment to meet them at 66th Street and Riverside. I realized I was never going to make it when it was 7:55 and I was only at Riverside and W. 10th. I was waiting for the light to change and felt pretty bummed about being late, being slow, etc when a woman came running toward me from the east side. I didn't know her and she didn't know me, we didn't have anything in common (if you can tell that by appearance) and I was wearing head phones (a sure sign I'm not that friendly) but she gave me this big wide smile anyway and I smiled back. It was a smile I'd seen before. It's a smile that says "This running thing is great, isn't it?" or "Great morning for a run!" or maybe it just says "hey, we're here, we're strangers, we're runners, we're connected". It doesn't seem to matter if you're fast or slow, man or woman, runners have a community of their own, a secret society if you will with secret smiles. The running community is not exclusive like most secret societies. In fact, I've found it to be extremely inclusive and the only thing that keeps people out is their own judgements about running or their own abilities. I encourage everyone I know to try it just once...I bet you'll be hooked and soon you'll have secret smiles of your own.