Well today I wanted to sleep in but instead i went to yoga. I was so amazingly tired yesterday. I did have a glass of wine with my dinner (frozen veggie dumplings from Trader Joes- delicious and like 5 cents each of something insane.) The yoga class was a decent class- except at the end everyone ignored shavasana and left. Ugh. People- you're not as quiet as you think. Why can't you just lay there and rest and seal your practice for three freakign minutes. It's also just rude. I was mildly annoyed to say the least. THEN I realized I didnt have what I needed to shower at the gym (missing one key item, rhymes with draw) so I had t ohead home which meant I would most likely be late to work- awesome! Happy Tuesday to me.
However, despite the subway doors slamming in my face 2x (yes, 2x) and the connector bus (which I take only when I'm late- otherwise I walk the 0.5m) leaving me with dust in my face (proverbial not real), I was still on time to work. How does that happen?
The workplan (please note the lack of running- my shin is bothering me so I figured spin was a better option this week pre half as to not aggravate it further):
Today- eat healthy i had a banana and a bar this am and im having a wrap w egg whites now. ill have yogurt as a snack pre lunch. lunch w be the cold bar from across the street- asparagus, mango, avocado, greens. snack will be almonds. dinner will be 1 glass of champers and something semi healthy bc im going out.
Tomorrow- its an ambitious plan. 615 spin. 7am trainer. busy day of meetings.
Thursday- there is yoga in the am i'd love to get to.
Friday- i could use another spin class- not a super tough one either...
Saturday- off day
Sunday- half marathon.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
and so begins the running season...
a PR!
1:39:27 (10:45 pace) according to NYRR for the Colon Cancer 15K which I ran this am. My 'secret' goal was to be able to run in 100 minutes. Unclear why I set this goal, but it's kinda where I thought I would end up. I have to admit I am enthralled that I made it (even by a hair) especially since my training has been crap at best. All in all I have put in deminimis mileage with hardly any speed work, absolutely no hill work (in fact I favor the reservoir because its flat!!) and my age graded result was 46.6%. My highest ever was the 5miler the weekend before the marathon last fall at 50.3%
I was not in the mood to run this am when I woke up never mind race. I had spent most of yesterday with a pounding terrible sinus headache and took a lot of meds including allergy pills, Excedrin and Tylenol (not at once!). After my terrible marathon (which I honestly chalk up to the meds in the weeks leading up to the race), I am very wary of what meds do to your system/tissues which only are exemplified when you're pushing your body. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much from this run and in fact I was using it as a training run for next week's More half marathon. I took a cab to the park (lame), went to baggage, porta potties, chatted with some old TNT friends and headed to the start. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people were running the 15k (I was concerned I would seriously be the last person in the race) and then surprised and happy when I crossed the start only 4 minutes after they started the clock.
The course was counterclockwise starting on the east drive at 65th street. My miles broke down as follows:
m1-10:45 (east 65th to 85th street- for the cat hill inclusion i thought this mile was entirely too fast albeit it comfortable... i tried to keep pace in m2 and decided during this mile I would make it up on m3 which would be on the west side along the beloved three bitches of hills) I ran with my headphones the entire time, something I haven't done in forever. I needed motivation today though.
m2-9:56- you hit the m2 marker just under 100th street. I love m2 in this race, flat/downhill and fast. Running in the park so much really makes you understand the ups, downs, where the pavement is crooked, where the holes are etc. I am also getting really good at running tangentially (is that a word) which is to say that I avoid running up the curve with cat hill and instead run straight.
m3-11:41- you hit m3 at east 90th street. I was quite tired and realized really quickly I needed to eat my gel (crank sports!!!)because I hadn't eaten enough for breakfast- what a silly mistake. Total rookie, but I was so tired this am I wasn't thinking straight. I knew this mile would be slower because of the walk up the hill (to eat my gel) and just in general I was dragging. At this point I was pretty down in my performance and on how I was feeling.
m4-11:04- the m4 marker is just at 72nd street. I abhor w76th street to about w65th street. I find the incline to be uncomfortable and have never appreciated this part of the park. 11 min pace was my goal though and I knew I only had a few 'banked' seconds if I wanted to be near an acceptable time goal. I hadn't decided on my 100 min goal yet.
m5-11:07- we hit m5 right about e64th street. I realized then that if I didn't get a Gatorade I was going to hit a wall as I came back around the park. I also realized that I hit m5 in 54:30 and remembered I only had 4 more miles to go. I realized then that 9 miles in 99 min was totally do able and got excited. I gauged when I should purchase a Gatorade (yes, I ran with $5 in my back pocket) and realized the closest vendors were on e70th and then e85th. I went with e70th because he had no other customers and e85th usually does. I veered off course really quickly and prob only lost about 10 seconds. I def got some stares from people but I was OK with that.
m6-10:57- We hit m6 right at 80th street. I started to feel like I was in a groove. I am a person who just needs Gatorade and more sugar/salt than others. Read my summer entries when I almost die from dehydration every other week. It's tough to be as delicate as I am. I'm still learning about what my body needs, for sure. I def realized that I needed to pick up the pace and make sure I bank a few extra seconds to pick up any delay from the west side. I also realized that I miscalculated. 9.3m at an 11 min pace needed 102 minutes. I was so pissed at myself. I work in Finance for Christs sake. How can I still be so terrible at running math?
m7-10:30- we hit m7 at e100th street. I was a bit bummed this mile was as slow as it was. I have no idea why it was, but it was. I had hoped to bank a minute with this mile, but figured 30 seconds had potential. I needed to make up 2:45in order to beat my 100 min goal. I knew I had banked a minute at this point and I knew I was coming into the part of the course I struggle with the most.
m8-10:40- we hit m8 at w93rd street and quite honestly I was in the mode. short strides, pumping my arms, swigging Gatorade when I needed it. I passed a ton of people, I felt strong, I know I looked strong comparably. I just felt alive. I can't explain it more than that. Even at that pace, I was working hard, but I had my goal in mind. I knew I had to book it in the last part of the race to even come close and decided I wasn't going to just accept my fate, I was going to give it my all. I knew I had just over a minute banked before this mile and 1:20 wasn't cutting it. I had 1.3m to make up 1:20 at least. YIKES. At least there was only 1 hill and then a lot of downhill before m9.
m9-10:07- m9 was just before the transverse- say w75th street. I knew coming off m8 that I needed to run close to a 10 min mile to even be in contention for my goal... I didn't look at my watch, I just ran. I controlled my breathing, I pumped my arms, I didn't flail as I came down the downhill and I def wasn't paying attention to anyone else, I was picking people off left and right and knew there was potential.
0.3m-2:38 When I hit the m9 marker I started my sprint. I've done enough yassos to know how what 0.3m feels like (yassos are speed repeats for 0.5m at your marathon 'goal'. Bart Yasso defines 'goal' in a fun way. If you have a 4:30 marathon time goal you run 0.5m repeats 6-10x in 4min 30 seconds with equal rest periods. Sounds easy, it's pretty hard.) Anyway, I ran my little heart out without looking at my watch (a hard thing for me!!) and crossed the line feeling nauseated. Isn't that the goal of each race? Give it your all and feel sick at the end as the sugar/salt sloshes around in your stomach? Well, I always felt like it should be.
Anyway I crossed the finish line and my watch said 1:39:29 and I, being the math genius that I am, was immediately bummed. Then I realized instead of being 29 seconds over, I was 31 seconds under. VERY PROUD. I set a goal, stuck to it and pushed through when my math was wrong. I know I'm not in the best shape I've ever been in, but I'm not in as bad shape as originally anticipated.
Next weekend: More Half Marathon. It's 2 loops of the park (harder than most courses) so it's unclear what sort of goals I will set. Stay tuned!
1:39:27 (10:45 pace) according to NYRR for the Colon Cancer 15K which I ran this am. My 'secret' goal was to be able to run in 100 minutes. Unclear why I set this goal, but it's kinda where I thought I would end up. I have to admit I am enthralled that I made it (even by a hair) especially since my training has been crap at best. All in all I have put in deminimis mileage with hardly any speed work, absolutely no hill work (in fact I favor the reservoir because its flat!!) and my age graded result was 46.6%. My highest ever was the 5miler the weekend before the marathon last fall at 50.3%
I was not in the mood to run this am when I woke up never mind race. I had spent most of yesterday with a pounding terrible sinus headache and took a lot of meds including allergy pills, Excedrin and Tylenol (not at once!). After my terrible marathon (which I honestly chalk up to the meds in the weeks leading up to the race), I am very wary of what meds do to your system/tissues which only are exemplified when you're pushing your body. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much from this run and in fact I was using it as a training run for next week's More half marathon. I took a cab to the park (lame), went to baggage, porta potties, chatted with some old TNT friends and headed to the start. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people were running the 15k (I was concerned I would seriously be the last person in the race) and then surprised and happy when I crossed the start only 4 minutes after they started the clock.
The course was counterclockwise starting on the east drive at 65th street. My miles broke down as follows:
m1-10:45 (east 65th to 85th street- for the cat hill inclusion i thought this mile was entirely too fast albeit it comfortable... i tried to keep pace in m2 and decided during this mile I would make it up on m3 which would be on the west side along the beloved three bitches of hills) I ran with my headphones the entire time, something I haven't done in forever. I needed motivation today though.
m2-9:56- you hit the m2 marker just under 100th street. I love m2 in this race, flat/downhill and fast. Running in the park so much really makes you understand the ups, downs, where the pavement is crooked, where the holes are etc. I am also getting really good at running tangentially (is that a word) which is to say that I avoid running up the curve with cat hill and instead run straight.
m3-11:41- you hit m3 at east 90th street. I was quite tired and realized really quickly I needed to eat my gel (crank sports!!!)because I hadn't eaten enough for breakfast- what a silly mistake. Total rookie, but I was so tired this am I wasn't thinking straight. I knew this mile would be slower because of the walk up the hill (to eat my gel) and just in general I was dragging. At this point I was pretty down in my performance and on how I was feeling.
m4-11:04- the m4 marker is just at 72nd street. I abhor w76th street to about w65th street. I find the incline to be uncomfortable and have never appreciated this part of the park. 11 min pace was my goal though and I knew I only had a few 'banked' seconds if I wanted to be near an acceptable time goal. I hadn't decided on my 100 min goal yet.
m5-11:07- we hit m5 right about e64th street. I realized then that if I didn't get a Gatorade I was going to hit a wall as I came back around the park. I also realized that I hit m5 in 54:30 and remembered I only had 4 more miles to go. I realized then that 9 miles in 99 min was totally do able and got excited. I gauged when I should purchase a Gatorade (yes, I ran with $5 in my back pocket) and realized the closest vendors were on e70th and then e85th. I went with e70th because he had no other customers and e85th usually does. I veered off course really quickly and prob only lost about 10 seconds. I def got some stares from people but I was OK with that.
m6-10:57- We hit m6 right at 80th street. I started to feel like I was in a groove. I am a person who just needs Gatorade and more sugar/salt than others. Read my summer entries when I almost die from dehydration every other week. It's tough to be as delicate as I am. I'm still learning about what my body needs, for sure. I def realized that I needed to pick up the pace and make sure I bank a few extra seconds to pick up any delay from the west side. I also realized that I miscalculated. 9.3m at an 11 min pace needed 102 minutes. I was so pissed at myself. I work in Finance for Christs sake. How can I still be so terrible at running math?
m7-10:30- we hit m7 at e100th street. I was a bit bummed this mile was as slow as it was. I have no idea why it was, but it was. I had hoped to bank a minute with this mile, but figured 30 seconds had potential. I needed to make up 2:45in order to beat my 100 min goal. I knew I had banked a minute at this point and I knew I was coming into the part of the course I struggle with the most.
m8-10:40- we hit m8 at w93rd street and quite honestly I was in the mode. short strides, pumping my arms, swigging Gatorade when I needed it. I passed a ton of people, I felt strong, I know I looked strong comparably. I just felt alive. I can't explain it more than that. Even at that pace, I was working hard, but I had my goal in mind. I knew I had to book it in the last part of the race to even come close and decided I wasn't going to just accept my fate, I was going to give it my all. I knew I had just over a minute banked before this mile and 1:20 wasn't cutting it. I had 1.3m to make up 1:20 at least. YIKES. At least there was only 1 hill and then a lot of downhill before m9.
m9-10:07- m9 was just before the transverse- say w75th street. I knew coming off m8 that I needed to run close to a 10 min mile to even be in contention for my goal... I didn't look at my watch, I just ran. I controlled my breathing, I pumped my arms, I didn't flail as I came down the downhill and I def wasn't paying attention to anyone else, I was picking people off left and right and knew there was potential.
0.3m-2:38 When I hit the m9 marker I started my sprint. I've done enough yassos to know how what 0.3m feels like (yassos are speed repeats for 0.5m at your marathon 'goal'. Bart Yasso defines 'goal' in a fun way. If you have a 4:30 marathon time goal you run 0.5m repeats 6-10x in 4min 30 seconds with equal rest periods. Sounds easy, it's pretty hard.) Anyway, I ran my little heart out without looking at my watch (a hard thing for me!!) and crossed the line feeling nauseated. Isn't that the goal of each race? Give it your all and feel sick at the end as the sugar/salt sloshes around in your stomach? Well, I always felt like it should be.
Anyway I crossed the finish line and my watch said 1:39:29 and I, being the math genius that I am, was immediately bummed. Then I realized instead of being 29 seconds over, I was 31 seconds under. VERY PROUD. I set a goal, stuck to it and pushed through when my math was wrong. I know I'm not in the best shape I've ever been in, but I'm not in as bad shape as originally anticipated.
Next weekend: More Half Marathon. It's 2 loops of the park (harder than most courses) so it's unclear what sort of goals I will set. Stay tuned!
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