The 5th Avenue Mile: mile long races are actually fun! (RR)

Background: I somehow managed to avoid doing any timed miles in PE class over the years, so I went into this race with no idea of what to expect. The fastest I had done a mile was at 7:43 during speed training. Based on my HM time, McMillan told me I would finish a mile in 7:37 or so. I didn't know how accurate predicting a mile time based on a HM time was, but I figured that I would be happy with anything below 7:45

Race Day: I had 11 miles on tap for today, so I figured that I would complete 3-4 before the race, and do the remainding mileage afterwards. It was very humid out, so after 3 miles I headed over to the race. I missed heat #1 (media people) but I got there in time to see the lone person in the wheelchair/handicycle division take off. Heat #3 lined up (8-14 year olds of both genders) and my heat got ready to go right behind them (15-29 year old females). As soon as the kids took off, we lined off in the starting area. It was one big corral, so I wasn't quite sure where to line up, so I got towards the back so that I wouldn't be trampled on.

Race: And we're off! The first few seconds were a bit cramped, but I quickly settled into a groove. But then disaster strikes - my left shoelace decided to come undone 100 meters into the race. . Since stopping wasn't an option, I kept going and hoped that I wouldn't trip. Since the field was spread out, no one was close enough to me to be tripped.

Running down 5th avenue was such a treat, and it was something that few New Yorkers ever get to do (without risking being run over)! I started off very strongly - about 1/4 of a mile in I was on course for a sub-7 minute mile. Then we hit a hill that lasted almost until the halfway point - the avenue never seemed this hilly before! I recovered quickly but I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep a sub-7 pace for the whole mile. Still, I gave it my all, and pushed as hard as I could to the finish. I crossed the line before the gun time said 7:15

Result: Official time was 7:04! Much better than I could have hoped for. My AG percentage was a 59.4% - my highest yet!

After my race was over, I ran a few miles and then came back to watch my friend compete. Overall, it was an amazing experience. I learned a few valuable lessons along the way:

1. A mile race can be at least as difficult as an HM to do correctly (if not more so!)
2. Retie the shoelaces before starting just in case
3. Warm-Up miles are crucial, but they become less effective when you have to stand in your heat for a long time

Unfortuantely I have no pictures of the actual race - I didn't take my phone with me. I just took one of me afterwards before I changed. If I get any brightroom pictures I will update. Thanks for reading!

Reflections on a Juggling Act

I have been very spoiled this summer. Since I was on vacation from school, I was able to increase my mileage and still get to bed early enough in order to get enough sleep at night. I was actually able to fit in a social life, and it was a very fun experience. I also played my instrument with my pops group a few times as well, and got a bit of practice time in.


However, all of that ended last week when I started school again. Getting enough sleep to wake up for morning runs between 4-8 miles during the week has been much more difficult now that I can't get to bed before 11pm at least two nights a week. In addition, I will be starting up Wind Ensemble next week, meaning that I will be out late three nights during the week.


This wasn't as much of an issue last year simply because as a newer runner, I wasn't as dedicated, and I did maybe 20 miles per week at most. Now, I am following a training plan for a half marathon in October that averages close to 30 miles per week, and it is much harder to make up runs if I miss it. Even without factoring in a social life, my schedule is looking pretty daunting, especially since both of my classes are reading and writing intensive.


So this brings me to the question of the day - have I bitten off more than I can chew? I pride myself on being the girl who can "do it all", but when is it time to say that something has to give? If it's too much, what has to give?

I'll have a lot to think about over the next couple of weeks, but I will do everything I can to keep all of the balls in the air. Hopefully my time management skills will be up to the task.

Which brings me to wonder - how does everyone else juggle all of the things going on in their lives?

The Best Laid Plans...

So, by this time tomorrow I had hoped to at least make, if not achieve, another sub-2 hour HM attempt. However, a certain someone named Irene had other plans.

So instead of a race report, I'll briefly discuss how my Cape Cod Half Marathon Training is going!

Three weeks have gone by so far, and already, I'm doing a better job training this time around. Not only have I hit my long runs on schedule, including a HM long run on Friday night to make up for the Bronx, but I have finally executed two tempo runs. I was supposed to do about 9mm and I did within the 8:50s across 3 miles with very little variation, so I was happy about that.

My speed work is also slowly progressing. I have only done one workout so far, and while I ended up taking my fast workouts too fast, it made feel better knowing that I could do my upcoming mile race at a sub-8 minute pace. Still, when I attempt my next speed workout next week, I'll try and reign it in a little. I've also been advised to vary the interval lengths a little bit, so I'll look into doing that as well.

Last weekend, I attended Long Training Run #2, which NYRR held in Central Park. I met up with Kathy and Wallis, and the three of us ran with Wallis' friend. The pacers we started out with went too fast, but on our second loop we had a pacer who stayed steadily at a 10:30 pace. I got 11 miles in successfully, and probably could have eked out another couple of miles had I wanted to.

On a different note, I discovered that doing a long run at night was more difficult for me than I thought it would be. Even though I completed the 13.1 miles in lieu of doing the now cancelled Bronx half, it was far more difficult to do so without either the race or company as a motivator. Still, the miles got done, and now I am watching the rain pour down in the city.

This represents a major mental shift to me - when I first started out back in November, I wouldn't have thought that missing a run was a major deal, but this week, I felt that missing my long run was simply not an option, so I did what I needed to do to ensure it didn't happen, even if it meant running at a time that was not ideal to me. I guess I've finally become an addict :P

I'm probably going to order a couple of running books to read - I'm thinking of getting the Pfitz book and the Glover book - I've heard great reviews from several running friends and I know I still have a great deal to learn.

Next week is a cut-back week for me, so I look forward to getting some quality cross training in before NYSC shuts down the pool for its annual cleaning. I hope the hurricane doesn't do too much damage this weekend!

The Queens Half Marathon: Around the World & Through the Maze

This past Saturday, I ran the Queens Half Marathon in Flushing Meadow Park, and I had a completely different experience than I had for the Brooklyn Half. If you look at finish times alone, you would think that Brooklyn went better for me since I got a 2:05 in Queens and a 2:02 in Brooklyn. However, the times don't tell the whole story.

I went to number pick-up Thursday, and ran into Amy as I was coming down the stairs, and we talked about our goals for Queens. In my head, I still had the unrealistic goal of doing a sub-2 half, even knowing that it would be an impossibility in the heat, but I figured that a girl could dream. My thought was that if I found myself doing 9mm at the beginning, and felt ok, that I would hold on to that as long as possible.

I had Rachel over Friday night and we grabbed Italian, along with bagels for the next morning. The bagel place had some amazing looking frozen hot chocolates, and we decided then and there that those would be our reward for finishing tomorrow. After getting to sleep by 9:30pm or so, I woke up before 5am to shower. I had never tried that before, but I figured it would wake me up. It wasn't completely successful but it was a start. We made sure to pack our waters, fuel, etc, and then we picked up our friend Wallis in a cab. Of course, out of all the cab drivers in NYC, we got the one driver who didn't know his way around Queens.

Nevertheless, we arrived at the start at around 6:20, dropped off the baggage and used the porta-potty before splitting up into our corrals. To my pleasant surprise, I saw someone I had paced with in Van Cortlandt park, so we decided to run together at least in the beginning. After the national anthem, there was a 15 minute delay, but then we finally got to start the HM.

The course looked very confusing on paper, but on the ground, it was very easy to know where you were going. Besides, not being in the front of the pack certainly helped, but the course marshals were very good at directing everyone. I wasn't necessarily sure where I was, and there were a few points early on when we were teased with the higher mile markers, but overall, I enjoyed the course. It was flat for the most part, and had this race been held in April, then it would have been a great opportunity for most people to PR.

According to NYRR, the temperature was 77 degrees with 60 percent humidity. I decided to try and not look at my watch for the first mile to see where my pace naturally fell. Of course, I still looked at the watch anyway, but I didn't let it affect my pace. When it beeped (as usual, ahead of the actual mile marker), I noticed it said 9:40 (the first mile would actually take 9:50. It was at that moment I realized that a sub-2 half was NOT happening. I was finally able to let that delusion go.

Unfortunately, I lost my friend to the porta-potty, so I continued on alone. I remember passing the zoo at some point, and I heard an elephant roaring in the background. Sometime during mile 5, I looked up to see faster runners going towards me - we hit an out and back loop and the runners coming back were wearing red and yellow bibs for the most part. I kind of glanced over to see whether I knew any of the faster crowd, and I didn't, but I still cheered them on. I didn't realize it at the time, but my friend from Wind Ensemble saw me running, and she was about 15 minutes ahead of me overall. As I was running back, I saw my friend again, and she waved to me, but that was the last time I saw her. Apparently Lady Gaga was watching her friend somewhere around the mile 9 mark, but even if I had known in advance, I might have not seen her. Knowing that she was watching us run is still pretty cool.

After an hour of running, I took three shot bloks. Two of them were the margarita flavored ones with extra sodium - they all would have been that flavor, but I ran out and they didn't have any more at the Jack Rabbit store. I had a 22 ounce handheld with me, and the misting stations on the course were very effective in keeping my body temperature down. I had not planned to stop at any water stations to save time, but sometime in between the mile 7 and 8 marker, I realized that I was running low. I decided to keep a little in the tank in case I really needed it between water stations. I ended up walking through the water stations for about 10 seconds - just long enough to pick up a water, drink most of it, then dump the rest on my head. I barely lost any time on it, and I think it was a good strategy.

As I got closer to the finish, I realized that a sub-2:05 finish was a possibility, so I gunned the last mile or so as fast as possible. Alas, I missed it only by a few seconds and got an official time of 2:05:02. Although this time was slower than my Brooklyn time, there were several things that I did this time around that I didn't do during Brooklyn that probably cost me my sub-2 finish a couple of months ago
1) Handheld water bottle - did not have one for Brooklyn
2) Race nutrition - I didn't have any nutrition during the Brooklyn half other than water. The shot bloks definitely made a difference in terms of energy levels
3) Good pacing - if you compare the Garmin Splits between Queens and Brooklyn, it is obvious that the Queens splits were far more even. I clearly went out too fast for Brooklyn (something I wouldn't admit back then), and then lack of nutrition ensured that I bonked around mile 10.
4) Better training - I followed a Smart Coach plan, and although I didn't do the amount of speedwork that I should have done due to the extreme heat, I felt that this plan played a role in my improvement.

So that's why I felt I did a better job in Queens even though my time was ultimately not as good. After the race, I took a couple of more shot bloks, had a piece of fruit, and waited for my friends to come along. I had been worried about Rachel since she had been under the weather, but she and Wallis finished, and Amy finished around the same time as they did. The four of us navigated the subway system - which is always SO fun during the weekend, and once we got back, Rachel and I rewarded ourselves with our promised frozen hot chocolates.

There is still plenty of room for improvement
1) Better eating habits - now that I have a roommate who cooks, I might be able to pool in with her for healthier foods and groceries. It's hard to eat healthy when I don't have time to gocery shop, especially during the school year.
2) Body glide - I managed to notice that my thighs were red during the race and prevented further damage by pulling down my shorts, but I should start incorporating that.
3) More speedwork /tempo runs

Since I'm on vacation in Cape Cod, I have a light week of running, and am focusing more on biking, but next week, I will start a 12-week training program for the Cape Cod Half Marathon on October 29th. I'm gunning for sub-2 again. Although I know it will eventually happen, I hope that it happens in 2011. Only time will tell!


Wallis, Rachel and I at the finish

Boomer's Cystic Fibrosis Run to Breathe (10K)

Last Saturday, I ran the Boomer's 10K in Central Park. This was the first 10K that I participated in that went counter-clockwise, which is my direction of choice. I had no expectations of a PR, but I at least wanted to get below my worst time at the Healthy Kidney race. My manager picked up my bib for me, and I was pleased to see that I was once again in the 3000 corral.

I left a bit later than I wanted to after eating a few shot bloks, so I took the train down to 68th street and then jogged to Central Park from there. I headed over to meet Nicole and Abbey at baggage check, and the three of us headed to the starting corrals. I was going to start with Abbey, but since she decided to warm up a bit more, we missed each other in the corrals, especially since they broke down so quickly. After Boomer Esiason spoke about his son's struggles with Cystic Fibrosis (and called us all crazy for running in this heat), the National Anthem was sung, and we were off!

Mile 1, which included Cat Hill as usual went pretty well, and I felt good, but as I finished, I knew after 8:53 or so that it would not be a PR day. I would only get slower when confronted with Harlem and the west side hills. Nonetheless, I kept going, and during the course of mile 2, I saw Abbey and caught up with her for a brief second before she got ahead of me once more. I was pleasantly surprised to see a misting station up ahead of me, and as I ran through it, I felt a burst of energy which helped me to complete my fastest mile of the race at 8:44.

By the time I approached Harlem Hill, the heat and humidity started to get to me, but I at least stayed at the same pace throughout the hills of mile 3 and 4. Unfortunately, both miles were at 9:25 so any chance at a PR was long gone. There was a misting station, but it was a smaller one and did not have the same effect.

I picked up the pace over the last two miles though, and completed mile 5 in 9:03. After I crossed that mile marker, I went all out and completed mile 6 as fast as possible on my tired legs. I completed mile 6 in 9:00 minutes flat, and then proceeded to completed the remaining .24 in 2:03. My total unofficial time was 56:36, and my official time was 56:33. Although I was over 2 minutes slower than my 10K PR at the Mini, I felt that I ran a smart race. I stayed consistent on the hills, and I pushed my pace, but not to the point of injury or illness.

After a fun race, I found Abbey and Nicole at baggage. I met up with a coworker at the festivities. My manager was unfortunately under the weather and could not participate. Nicole and I went to get some post-race coffee and hung out by the 68th street train station before we went our separate ways. Although I didn't PR, I had a great time doing the race and would consider doing it next year if it works with my marathon training schedule

Next up: LTR #1 - my first attempt to run 15 miles. I will have better pictures since my hair is now straight, and hopefully my bib will have arrived in the mail by then!

Fourth of July Trail HM

The last time I ran in Van Cortlandt Park, it was Christmas Day, and I had been running for less than two months, so suffice to say, the 10K loop was quite the challenge. Now, several months later, I was there to do twice that distance. I had no time expectations because of the difficulty of the course except to just finish it.

I travelled up with my friends Wallis and Vicki and we arrived at the site fairly early. I met up with my other friend Rebecca, who only planned on doing one loop. We hung out for a bit, collected some free stuff they handed out, including a free bandana, and made sure we used the bathroom beforehand. After taking some pictures, we were ready to go.

Looking back, I probably should have warmed up a bit more (or rather, at all) but you live and you learn. At least I got the nutrition part right. Next time I'll jog from the train to the event.

Wallis and I stuck together for most of the first loop, and it was far more difficult than I anticipated. We were going slowly at first due to the traffic, but as we progressed, I realized that the trail itself was getting to me. I wasn't used to running through the woods, much less the muddy trails, and quite frankly, I was acting like a little girl. Several times, I considered quitting, but I plodded through. There were some very rough hills which I had to walk up, but as I finished the first loop, I felt some of my energy start to return, and I knew I'd be ok for at least most of the second loop so I continued. I stopped for a water refill, and ate a few shot bloks before continuing.

Since the public bathroom was closed, I snuck into the golf club bathroom. After that, I got back on the trail to complete the second loop. I started to tire by mile 9, but by then I found someone on the trail ahead of me who was running by themselves, so I joined them and started a conversation. The last four miles would have been horrible without my new friend, but we made it through. My finishing time was almost 2:35. about 30 minutes more than my usual HM time, but as my friend put it, XC courses deserve their own PRs. You can see my splits here. It's pretty clear which mile I used the restroom - without that time I probably would have gotten a 2:30 but during a race, time doesn't stop for anything.

It was a difficult course, but if I could complete it even with a later starting time, even on a much tougher course, I know that I can handle the Queens Half. Although it was technically a free race, I donated $10 since I would like to break my XC PR on Labor Day, and they need the funds to hold this race! I'm already looking forward to Labor Day!

My further adventures in cross training!

So, I said I would be posting my 30 mile bike report shortly. Over two weeks later, I still hadn't done it. Oops! I apologize to those who were eagerly waiting my report. I will write about it now, and I will also include some other cross training highlights.

Biking
Even before I started taking my physical fitness seriously, I always enjoyed biking. I have done 30 mile rides on my old mountain bike, plus several trips on the Cape over the years. But after I started running, I noticed that biking became far easier. It also helps that I was able to use my mother's hybrid bike, but my improvement in physical fitness played a very large role in my successes over the last few months.

So, I did my 30 mile bike ride with my parents. It was a very fun experience. It was well organized, and there were a few rest stops along the way. Some highlights included biking across the World's Longest Pedestrian Bridge. The picture on the left is of me and my mom as we waited for the rest of our group to catch up. Other than that, there were some nice back roads towards the end. The rest stops were well organized, and I split a couple of PB&Js with my dad along the road. Despite some hills and having to go slowly around people, I averaged 5 minute miles per my garmin splits. I was a little disappointed to discover that the course was only 27.66 miles. Also, some of the course was on main roads where the shoulders were dangerously narrow. The t-shirt I received was way too large, but I can always use that as a nightgown since there were no extra smalls.

On the whole, I have gotten better at biking. I've also done a couple of longer bike rides. This past weekend, I went on a 15 mile bike ride. The last mile is the one I'm the most proud of. The road leading up to my parent's upstate place consists of three hills, and I managed to ride up all three of them without stopping. It was an amazing moment. If you look at my garmin splits, you'll appreciate how tough this elevation was.

I plan on continuing to bike whenever I go upstate, which is hopefully once a week, and in September, I am signed up for the 30 mile Twin Lights Bike ride in New Jersey with my parents. My mother's friend has done it before, and said that it is a great experience. I'd like to do a longer distance someday, but they didn't have a 44 miler, and 55 seemed to be too much.

Swimming
I have never been much of a swimmer. In fact, when I took lessons in fourth grade at school I was always by far one of the slowest. However, whenever I visited my grandparents in Florida over the past few years, I started swimming some laps while I was there. My form probably still isn't the best, but I can probably swim about a quarter of a mile. I would like to get stronger at it, so I recently switched back to NYSC so that I can get into a pool twice a week. It's a small pool, but getting the distance in is key, especially now that I have a new goal for next year.

Strength Training / Gym Routines
As a new member of NYSC, I was given the opportunity to have a free fitness evaluation with a Personal Trainer. I had very good stats, including a good resting heart rate and blood pressure. I managed to do 25 pushups in one minute, which surprised me considering I'm terrible at them. I also managed to do 54 crunches, 30 lunges, and 17 burpees (never heard of them before today lol). I also learned how to use a foam roller. I know my running friends will be scandalized to know I've never used one before but there you go. I also learned some weight routines I can try out as well.

So what's my new goal for next year? In addition to the NYCM next November, I will also be doing the NYRR Sprint Triathalon in July 2012. It involves a 400m swim, a 13.1 mile bike ride, and a 5K. I am capable of doing the second two parts easily, but I need to improve my swimming, which is one of the reasons why I switched gyms. Also, there is a NYSC location near my parents upstate, so in the winter, when I can't run outside up there, that's where I'll be.

Now I just need to adjust my running schedule so I can factor in running 5 days a week, swimming 2 days per week, biking 1-2 times a week, and strength training / routines 2-3x per week. Wish me luck!