Well I'll start by saying that post race I developed a low grade migraine. I call them low grade bc it didnt fully develop. My nose spray and allergy meds basically keep me with a low thud in the lower right hand corner of my head. Lovely.
Unclear how I always thought this was hydration related.
I didnt run the race to race, I ran to run with other people. By 8 am it was already in the 80s in the sun and it was hot out. I havent been running outside so it was more hot for me! YUCK. I walked up all the hills and tried to not 'push' it, to avoid any headaches which clearly didnt work. But oh well I tried.
My time was a miserable 46minutes. Hey, honestly with all the walking to not over exert myself (and cause the swelling which causes the headaches) I thought it would be worse.
Onwards and upwards. Surgery is Thursday morning. I think it would be beyond comical if I had the surgery and afterwards had such a great air flow to my head that not only did I not get headaches I also ran faster.
Hey a girl can dream!!
Showing posts with label Race Reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Race Reports. Show all posts
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
More half marathon RACE REPORT
Here is my not so exciting race report:
My splits:
m1-11:11
m2-10:37
m3-10:34
m4-11:15
m5-11:24
m6-10:35
1:15 bathroom break
m7-10:55
m8-10:50
m9-10:53
m10-11:27
m11-11:13
m12-10:43
m13-10:26
0.1-00:58
Overall my time was 2:24. Not terrible for this slow-poke.
We started on the west side near w64th street which means that the m1 marker was on e 68th street as was m7, mile marker 2 and 8 were at e85th street, mile markers 3 and 9 were on e 104thish street, mile markers 4 and 10 were right past the 102 transverse, mile markers 5 and 11 were near w86th street, mile markers 6 and 12 were right by the start and m13 was on e72nd street.
If I re-order my splits here is what they look like-
What a difference though with a field of all women. No pushing, no meanness, lots of cheering, the porta potties even smelled pretty clean, It was amazing. The race was organized, started on time and just had a good vibe. A lot of women ran in groups and I was jealous I was alone. Also of note was how many spectators there were! SUCH a nice change!! I loved that. The park was packed and the field was pretty large. I also loved how far up I was in the field. SUCH a nice change as well.
My splits:
m1-11:11
m2-10:37
m3-10:34
m4-11:15
m5-11:24
m6-10:35
1:15 bathroom break
m7-10:55
m8-10:50
m9-10:53
m10-11:27
m11-11:13
m12-10:43
m13-10:26
0.1-00:58
Overall my time was 2:24. Not terrible for this slow-poke.
We started on the west side near w64th street which means that the m1 marker was on e 68th street as was m7, mile marker 2 and 8 were at e85th street, mile markers 3 and 9 were on e 104thish street, mile markers 4 and 10 were right past the 102 transverse, mile markers 5 and 11 were near w86th street, mile markers 6 and 12 were right by the start and m13 was on e72nd street.
If I re-order my splits here is what they look like-
Here is my not so exciting race report:
My splits:
m1-11:11 m7-10:55
m2-10:37 m8-10:50
m3-10:34 m9-10:53
m4-11:15 m10-11:27
m5-11:24 m11-11:13
m6-10:35 m12-10:43
m13-10:26
0.1-00:58
Looking at it this way it's not that bad. Although only the m5/11 had a 'negative' split (when compared against each other) My first 6 miles were run in 65:36 and my second 6 miles were run in 66:01 so pretty close albeit it not negative. My average pace during the first 6m was 10:56 while my second seven miles averaged 11:05ish. Oh well.
Overall the half marathon was awesome. The expo was meh but I did try Silk Chocolate 'milk' and it was awesome which was worth the expo in and of itself. It was downtown which was a bit of a pain but that was that. I got to the start super early on Sunday. To be honest, I prefer Saturday races, get them done with. It was pretty cold on Sunday esp because it was so early in the am but warmed up a ton so I wore my NIKE wind vest and cropped pants with a cap which was perfect. It was nice and sunny but there was def some wind.
What a difference though with a field of all women. No pushing, no meanness, lots of cheering, the porta potties even smelled pretty clean, It was amazing. The race was organized, started on time and just had a good vibe. A lot of women ran in groups and I was jealous I was alone. Also of note was how many spectators there were! SUCH a nice change!! I loved that. The park was packed and the field was pretty large. I also loved how far up I was in the field. SUCH a nice change as well.
The run overall was nothing to really write about. I know that sounds silly but it was me working with what I had, some training but not a ton and I woke up with a not great stomach after a super busy Saturday. Never a good combo. The first 6 m I really tried to just run and take a break when I needed one but never really slowed down much past my pace. I didn't really have a goal but didn't want it to be worse than 2:26. If I hadn't stopped to pee (full bladder but made it quick because I held it until I hit an open portapottie near the start where there were a ton of them) my time would've been 2:22:30 which is on par with the Bronx half this summer. Now, clearly that was a Bronx bomb (can't help the joke!) but I was in such good shape then so I'm pretty proud that I made it through the winter in not such shitty shape. This is the first race of the season after a tough winter for me in terms of work, foot and some medical things last fall that made me quite out of commission.
I only had two gels and they were Crank gels. I really do think the extra calories in them are worth it. I also had a ton of Gatorade which was great too. I love when races have Gatorade. Because the 15k didn't have it which was crazy. Anything exceeding 10k should have Gatorade.
I am not sure what my next race is. Any suggestions? I thought I'd be out of commission but now that my foot wart problem is healed (plantars wart on my cushion of my foot which I thought I would have to get cut out but now do not) I can run at my hearts desire.
My only plans:
Bronx half
Gretes Gallop
WHAT ELSE DO YOU SUGGEST?
Also, I am taking the week off running. What do you do when you've just run a 'big' race?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Time flies!
It's been over a week since my last post -clearly indicative of how busy I've been.
Long story short I owe a post about the More half marathon from last weekend. In summary, not a bad race- 2:24. My best CP race was clockwise directionally and was 2:20. My Manhattan half in 2009 was a counterclockwise like the More and was a 2:25 so that was encouraging (even if it was freezing that day).
Last week I worked out every day but Thursday and Saturday. This week so far I have not skipped a day and I am not sure if I will. I know I need rest but yoga is basically rest. Actually Sunday I'm goign to a yoga conference so that's a rest day.
More to follow. Switched to an hour of trainer sessions (vs 30 min max program) and its exhausting!
Onwards and upwards my friends. No running this week to give my legs a 'rest'. That's what I will do each time I runa 'heavy' race. Week off, rest the legs.
Race report to follow. I promise.
Long story short I owe a post about the More half marathon from last weekend. In summary, not a bad race- 2:24. My best CP race was clockwise directionally and was 2:20. My Manhattan half in 2009 was a counterclockwise like the More and was a 2:25 so that was encouraging (even if it was freezing that day).
Last week I worked out every day but Thursday and Saturday. This week so far I have not skipped a day and I am not sure if I will. I know I need rest but yoga is basically rest. Actually Sunday I'm goign to a yoga conference so that's a rest day.
More to follow. Switched to an hour of trainer sessions (vs 30 min max program) and its exhausting!
Onwards and upwards my friends. No running this week to give my legs a 'rest'. That's what I will do each time I runa 'heavy' race. Week off, rest the legs.
Race report to follow. I promise.
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!
Monday, November 8, 2010
NYCM #2
I didn't think I would ever have the energy to really write about what happened yesterday. But I feel as if perhaps I just write it will all come flooding out... I can't believe its just yesterday. I didn't go to work today 1) because I needed a day of wallowing and 2) because I can't quite walk. HA! I can walk, don't worry, but I certainly hobble along at a pace that is not quite NYC ready. I will have to leave myself 15 extra min to get to work, FOR SURE!
In summary it was a disappointing day. Not only did I not come close to my A B or C goals, I felt like crap through most of the race.
I took a car service to South Ferry at 6:15 marathon morning. I had been assigned the 7 am ferry. I really am a firm believer that one bad act sets off another and was desperate to break the chain by the time I stood in the corrals at 10:40 Sunday am. The car went to the wrong address. Then they tried to blame me. Why did I get a car you ask? Well I was nervous about getting a cab because there aren't many up where I live nowadays. I figured I would sleep more soundly if I ordered a car service. So when I finally called the car service about being nearly 10 min late the woman corrected their mistake and the car picked me up on Broadway, not even the street I lived on. I huffily made my way to the car only to have the guy slow down at 35th and the WSH and say 'WHERE IS THIS PLACE YOU'RE GOING TO' Uhm hello? South Ferry? marathon day. Girl wearing sweats carrying a clear bag. Haven't you seen this marathon army which is gathering all around the borroughs??? What does this have to do with 34th street? And why are we driving 30 mph while other runners in hats, sweats and gloves carrying their clear bags go whizzing by!! By the time I got to the ferry station, shuffled along to Door 1, was denied, Door 2 was denied because the Ferry arrived at Door 1 and shuffled my way to Door 2 again I was mildly annoyed and ready to go back to bed.
Staten Island was whatever. I made it to the TNT tent even though I had no charity bracelet- I still dont know if thats my fault or not. I sat with some TNT friends and we chatted about the race, ate breakfast #2 and got ready. The tent, short port a potty lines (significantly so vs last year), the corrals worked well for me even though they closed insanely early and we barely made it. I found a girl from TNT who I had run with before and we set out together with no promises to stay together. I definitely appreciated the company at the start. I always have too much nervous energy and I was scared I would race out again... I started off slow (as you saw) and even though my legs felt super heavy I chalked it up to nerves and taper. I knew I wanted to go slow and I wouldve rather lost a minute off my total time to that vs feeling shitty at the end. M2 was in control especially for a downhill. Slow and steady wins the race had already been nominated as my mantra. M3,4,5 were fine, on pace and I saw my first group of friends at m5 and had a few pretzels and took a few pics. I had decided pretzels were going to save me, save me from dehydration and my salt issues, save me from sloshy belly and save me from boredom/sweetness of gels; little did I know what was ahead. M6 felt like it was a mountain I had to climb. I don't know how you can deteriorate at m6 in a freaking marathon when you've trained well, BUT, whether it be the salt, the antihistamines, the oral steroids, who knows, I did. By m8 when I knew I would see my bf I was about to cry. I saw his parents first who were violently shaking a sign in my face and all I could say is 'Where is he?' I really needed to see him at that point. I needed someone rational to tell me whether or not I should drop out or stay in. It shouldnt have been that hard. For crying out loud it was m8!! I had 18 more to go. I seriously wanted to quit but I thought DNF was really too lame to call at m8. I mean, I do live in this city, there would be permanent scarring. I ran 9,10,11 and 12 half heartedly. I kept trying to tell myself I could save this race. I took (count them) 3 salt tablets between m6 and m11. One I had and two I took from the next aid station. I've never taken 3 salt packets back to back. I took one and when it didnt work I didnt know what else to do. I felt naseated and a bit dizzy and I know in my gut thats dehydration or too little salt. Since I was so well hydrated I had peed 4 times that AM I knew it was the latter. I also had had 2 gels by m9 and had had pretzels and gatorade and water. No sloshy belly though which I guess was good. I saw a group of TNT'ers that I knew ran 11-11:30 pace ahead of me, pretty significantly so, at about m9. I caught them at m10 and again, almost burst into tears. I needed someone to pace me. Some group to hold onto. I knew it was that, or take the subway home in Queens, honest, it was that bad. I made myself a mental deal to just run with them. I let my 4:53 dream die in Brooklyn and for that I will always resent/be grateful. I ran with this group of women until about m12 when I left them (not even on purpose, it was just hard to run their pace).
At m13 I saw Julie from TNT who wanted to run a 4:45. I had run 16m with her in the park a few weeks before. I told her to have the run we were both meant to have. I hope she did. I kept looking for Coach Wanda hoping she could boost my spirits but never found her even though she was supposed to be policing the Pulaski. I saw my mom, brother and cousin at m14 and I knew she was worried because I was about 10 min behind my pace AND I had started 6 min after my wave time. I told her I was feeling better but the racing part was over. I walked the Qboro bridge (arguably pretty quickly) and jogged down into Manhattan. I ran into Kelli again and saw 2 sets of friends right away. I stopped to eat my pretzels and have an extended chat- hey might as well enjoy it right? I started to feel like myself on the Qboro. Sure I had just 'run' through 16 miles but I felt better than I had at m6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12. How sad is that?
Coming off the Qboro was the same disappointment as last year. It's just really not that loud. I saw my friends on the south side of the Bridge and took gatorade and pretzels and then stopped just a few blocks north to visit with friends on the West side of the Ave. Hey, I hadnt seen them in a while and I needed to eat more pretzels. Now I realize I hadn't eaten a gel since m12? I dont know. I know I took 1 at m3 shot blocks... (yes, lame) and 1 real gel at m7. I took another margarita shot block at m10/11/12? On 1st ave I even stopped to sponge my face. It wasnt as awesome as last year but I was super salty so I was glad.
Heading up first ave was awful. I felt MUCH better but my poor form in the earlier miles had taken its toll, my hips felt the beginning of the end. Little did I know the next day (today) I would feel as if my legs were shredded). There were SO MANY drunk fans lining the bars that my name (jen) was ringing through the air. It's an easy name, sure, but OMG annoying. I saw my BF and his family at 89th and 1st after a few waves to other friends on the Ave and picked up Nicole at m19. She graciously accompanied me (and distracted me) through the trek uptown and into the Bronx. I really quite frankly wasnt in the mood. I walked up the Willis Ave bridge (hey, if you can walk almost as fast as you would run, why waste the energy running?) We smiled and hopefully took awesome pictures, although I do miss the orange carpet! I knew the race was gone and while I suppose in retrospect I shouldve pushed more, I just didnt see the point in injuring myself (again little did I know how I would feel today). I even stopped to pee!! We made it through the Bronx, back into Harlem, saw the parents and BF again AND learned that Jared the subway guy was less than a mile ahead of us.
Now, I respect Jared for losing weight. But as an able bodied, healthy female woman, I wanted to beat his lame ass. I couldnt tell if Matt was kidding but I kissed him, took my long sleeve shirt (with a new name (my last) on it, HALLELUJAH) and we went on our merry way. Running up 5th Avenue is pretty tough. It always is and always will be, but it wasn't that bad lung wise, just hip wise my left especially felt like a creaky old door. I was really really glad to have my last name on my shirt. I was done with JEN and done with runners calling out my name in general but take what you can get. I also had started to get a bit cold, which happened last year too, so it was nice to be prepared. Ironically runners kept saying my full name (meaning my first and then my last) which really threw me for a loop. We then figured out that apparently you could see through my shirt to my first name which conveniently was displayed above my last. GRRR. Nicole left me at 93rd (post hill thank you very much) and really I can't thank her enough. I was in piss poor spirits (imagine) and she was doing her damnedest to help me along! I saw my mom right before Nicole left me and took a huge swig of gatorade which I think really helped me get through the last few miles. Arguably I shouldve had another gel but I am terrible at remembering late in the race. I did at some point take my last gel (I think m20?) and that was 6 'gels' but clearly it wasn't enough.
As I entered the park, I felt awesome. Unfair or thankfully, I felt pretty damned good for having run 24 miles. My legs were not happy but that's to be expected. I felt in better spirits than at the beginning, I mean, hell, I pulled myself out of a really big hole. Like honestly, for that I am proud. I was running along right before the bottom of the reservoir and I heard a voice in a thick French accent 'hey, you're the girl I started with last weekend'. When I turned my head it was the woman with whom I had spoken about the marathon with just the Sunday before at the 5-miler KickOff race start line. She had wanted to run 4:50-5 as well and was trudging along with me on pace for a 5:10-5:15.... It was nice to see her even though by all standards she was a complete stranger. We chatted a few sentences and then it happened. I started hearing people on the sidelines talking about Jared... and I realized.... the sucker was right in front of me.... I started asking people in the crowd how far ahead of me he was and people kinda just stared and said 'a bit' or 'uhmmm not much' In retorspect it must have been ridiculous. Here I am, sweaty, gross, marathoned out, screaming back at the crowd 'WHERE IS JARED?' But people, I needed to know if he's catchable or no chance in hell. Finally some guy on Cat Hill (can I also mention thank God we went down and not up at that point? Theres no way I couldve made my legs do that!!!) told me Jared was walking about about 50 yards ahead (see football does come in handy)... I decided then and there I was going for it. Eff you Jared and your stupid subway and weight loss ads. Eff you for thinking you're so in shape and talking crap about how you're going to run a 4:30 marathon and Eff you for not giving the NYCM course the respect it deserves! (I got all this off some blog which said Jared wanted to run a 4:20-30 marathon and how it was work but not too bad blah blah) Finally at the m25 water stop I saw him. Jared. He wasnt walking. He was, however, as sick of having his name called as I was. Now mind you, the guy is tall. Way taller than I expected with a huge NAME plate on his shirt and subway signs all around. He was running with two guys, I assume his bodyguards? or trainers. Major props to him for running and training. I just don't like the shit talk. I flew by him and any time I wanted to stop from there on out, I just kept thinking, don't let Jared beat you.
I saw my friend on CPS and at that point was running a good clip. I ditched my long sleeve shirt coming into the park and a park worker casually yelled 'yay jen you can do it girl'. I know I looked strong and happy and healthy anddddddddddd way better than most runners I was passing. AND I passed a lot of people let me tell you. I had a great time in the park, the support was nice but the bleachers were empty which was disapointing and yet another reason I want to be faster... At one point I went to check a chafed spot (why I had to do that then, I do not know) and some guy was like 'JEN YOURE NOT CHAFED KEEP RUNNING' very funny- I had no intention of stopping but I suppose 200 yards from the finish line, why check for chafing? I was just very comfortable in the pace I was running. I mean why not right? I ran hundred of miles at an 11 min pace to train! I finished in 5:13 which ironically ended up being 8 seconds slower than Jared (a-duh I have last years time too!!!). I got my medal, pic, heat blanket and bag and ran into Rich, the older guy from TNT. We death marched it out of there and I met up with my family on Columbus. I didnt think the death march was nearly as terrible as last year but perhaps that was because I was expecting it and because I wasnt feeling as much as crap as I did last year. I drank the recovery gatorade and had more pretzels.
We took the subway home which was brutal. Stairs=brutal. I had an apple, 2 slices of pizza, champagne, a choco covered apple and some mango plus a chocolate milk, a gatorade and 2 bottles of water when I got home/before bed. Not a ton given the day's activities.
Today, my legs are shredded. I don't know why I keep using that term but that's what they are. I can hardly walk. Never mind curbs. HA. I remember after NJ Shore I couldnt sit on the toilet. This time thats no issue. Funny how the same run can be so different. This year I remember all of the park and the last 3 m, last year I didnt. Last year I loved Brooklyn, this year I cheered the guy on the Pulaski with the Get out of Brooklyn sign.
I saw all my peeps this year, I can't say I had fun, but I'm in great cardiovascular shape and while I'm not happy I refuse to say I regret it. I know a lot of people who PR'd yesterday and of whom I'm very proud. It was not my day. My PR came a week too early at the 5-miler Kickoff Run.
positives:
-I met my mentor and go to coach this season, both of whom I hope to stay friendly with
- I pulled myself out of a gargantuan hole and have not shed one tear
- salt tablets no longer make me gag.
-no blisters after all the blister drama this summer
-my friends and family (more of them) got to see me run
-perhaps i inspired people i dont even know
-i raised money for tnt
- i have yet another medal
yea so that's about all I've got. I'm trying to focus on the positives and just go with it. this week will be all about recovery (esp my legs! yikes!) and next week I'll look to set some goals, both in terms of future runs and also in terms of general fitness. I am pretty sure I am done with marathoning. This really was the ultimate defeat. I am humbled, embarrassed and ultimately defeated by the greatest event the greatest city has to offer and I don't know if I'll look to fight this beast without knowing I will dominate.
In summary it was a disappointing day. Not only did I not come close to my A B or C goals, I felt like crap through most of the race.
I took a car service to South Ferry at 6:15 marathon morning. I had been assigned the 7 am ferry. I really am a firm believer that one bad act sets off another and was desperate to break the chain by the time I stood in the corrals at 10:40 Sunday am. The car went to the wrong address. Then they tried to blame me. Why did I get a car you ask? Well I was nervous about getting a cab because there aren't many up where I live nowadays. I figured I would sleep more soundly if I ordered a car service. So when I finally called the car service about being nearly 10 min late the woman corrected their mistake and the car picked me up on Broadway, not even the street I lived on. I huffily made my way to the car only to have the guy slow down at 35th and the WSH and say 'WHERE IS THIS PLACE YOU'RE GOING TO' Uhm hello? South Ferry? marathon day. Girl wearing sweats carrying a clear bag. Haven't you seen this marathon army which is gathering all around the borroughs??? What does this have to do with 34th street? And why are we driving 30 mph while other runners in hats, sweats and gloves carrying their clear bags go whizzing by!! By the time I got to the ferry station, shuffled along to Door 1, was denied, Door 2 was denied because the Ferry arrived at Door 1 and shuffled my way to Door 2 again I was mildly annoyed and ready to go back to bed.
Staten Island was whatever. I made it to the TNT tent even though I had no charity bracelet- I still dont know if thats my fault or not. I sat with some TNT friends and we chatted about the race, ate breakfast #2 and got ready. The tent, short port a potty lines (significantly so vs last year), the corrals worked well for me even though they closed insanely early and we barely made it. I found a girl from TNT who I had run with before and we set out together with no promises to stay together. I definitely appreciated the company at the start. I always have too much nervous energy and I was scared I would race out again... I started off slow (as you saw) and even though my legs felt super heavy I chalked it up to nerves and taper. I knew I wanted to go slow and I wouldve rather lost a minute off my total time to that vs feeling shitty at the end. M2 was in control especially for a downhill. Slow and steady wins the race had already been nominated as my mantra. M3,4,5 were fine, on pace and I saw my first group of friends at m5 and had a few pretzels and took a few pics. I had decided pretzels were going to save me, save me from dehydration and my salt issues, save me from sloshy belly and save me from boredom/sweetness of gels; little did I know what was ahead. M6 felt like it was a mountain I had to climb. I don't know how you can deteriorate at m6 in a freaking marathon when you've trained well, BUT, whether it be the salt, the antihistamines, the oral steroids, who knows, I did. By m8 when I knew I would see my bf I was about to cry. I saw his parents first who were violently shaking a sign in my face and all I could say is 'Where is he?' I really needed to see him at that point. I needed someone rational to tell me whether or not I should drop out or stay in. It shouldnt have been that hard. For crying out loud it was m8!! I had 18 more to go. I seriously wanted to quit but I thought DNF was really too lame to call at m8. I mean, I do live in this city, there would be permanent scarring. I ran 9,10,11 and 12 half heartedly. I kept trying to tell myself I could save this race. I took (count them) 3 salt tablets between m6 and m11. One I had and two I took from the next aid station. I've never taken 3 salt packets back to back. I took one and when it didnt work I didnt know what else to do. I felt naseated and a bit dizzy and I know in my gut thats dehydration or too little salt. Since I was so well hydrated I had peed 4 times that AM I knew it was the latter. I also had had 2 gels by m9 and had had pretzels and gatorade and water. No sloshy belly though which I guess was good. I saw a group of TNT'ers that I knew ran 11-11:30 pace ahead of me, pretty significantly so, at about m9. I caught them at m10 and again, almost burst into tears. I needed someone to pace me. Some group to hold onto. I knew it was that, or take the subway home in Queens, honest, it was that bad. I made myself a mental deal to just run with them. I let my 4:53 dream die in Brooklyn and for that I will always resent/be grateful. I ran with this group of women until about m12 when I left them (not even on purpose, it was just hard to run their pace).
At m13 I saw Julie from TNT who wanted to run a 4:45. I had run 16m with her in the park a few weeks before. I told her to have the run we were both meant to have. I hope she did. I kept looking for Coach Wanda hoping she could boost my spirits but never found her even though she was supposed to be policing the Pulaski. I saw my mom, brother and cousin at m14 and I knew she was worried because I was about 10 min behind my pace AND I had started 6 min after my wave time. I told her I was feeling better but the racing part was over. I walked the Qboro bridge (arguably pretty quickly) and jogged down into Manhattan. I ran into Kelli again and saw 2 sets of friends right away. I stopped to eat my pretzels and have an extended chat- hey might as well enjoy it right? I started to feel like myself on the Qboro. Sure I had just 'run' through 16 miles but I felt better than I had at m6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12. How sad is that?
Coming off the Qboro was the same disappointment as last year. It's just really not that loud. I saw my friends on the south side of the Bridge and took gatorade and pretzels and then stopped just a few blocks north to visit with friends on the West side of the Ave. Hey, I hadnt seen them in a while and I needed to eat more pretzels. Now I realize I hadn't eaten a gel since m12? I dont know. I know I took 1 at m3 shot blocks... (yes, lame) and 1 real gel at m7. I took another margarita shot block at m10/11/12? On 1st ave I even stopped to sponge my face. It wasnt as awesome as last year but I was super salty so I was glad.
Heading up first ave was awful. I felt MUCH better but my poor form in the earlier miles had taken its toll, my hips felt the beginning of the end. Little did I know the next day (today) I would feel as if my legs were shredded). There were SO MANY drunk fans lining the bars that my name (jen) was ringing through the air. It's an easy name, sure, but OMG annoying. I saw my BF and his family at 89th and 1st after a few waves to other friends on the Ave and picked up Nicole at m19. She graciously accompanied me (and distracted me) through the trek uptown and into the Bronx. I really quite frankly wasnt in the mood. I walked up the Willis Ave bridge (hey, if you can walk almost as fast as you would run, why waste the energy running?) We smiled and hopefully took awesome pictures, although I do miss the orange carpet! I knew the race was gone and while I suppose in retrospect I shouldve pushed more, I just didnt see the point in injuring myself (again little did I know how I would feel today). I even stopped to pee!! We made it through the Bronx, back into Harlem, saw the parents and BF again AND learned that Jared the subway guy was less than a mile ahead of us.
Now, I respect Jared for losing weight. But as an able bodied, healthy female woman, I wanted to beat his lame ass. I couldnt tell if Matt was kidding but I kissed him, took my long sleeve shirt (with a new name (my last) on it, HALLELUJAH) and we went on our merry way. Running up 5th Avenue is pretty tough. It always is and always will be, but it wasn't that bad lung wise, just hip wise my left especially felt like a creaky old door. I was really really glad to have my last name on my shirt. I was done with JEN and done with runners calling out my name in general but take what you can get. I also had started to get a bit cold, which happened last year too, so it was nice to be prepared. Ironically runners kept saying my full name (meaning my first and then my last) which really threw me for a loop. We then figured out that apparently you could see through my shirt to my first name which conveniently was displayed above my last. GRRR. Nicole left me at 93rd (post hill thank you very much) and really I can't thank her enough. I was in piss poor spirits (imagine) and she was doing her damnedest to help me along! I saw my mom right before Nicole left me and took a huge swig of gatorade which I think really helped me get through the last few miles. Arguably I shouldve had another gel but I am terrible at remembering late in the race. I did at some point take my last gel (I think m20?) and that was 6 'gels' but clearly it wasn't enough.
As I entered the park, I felt awesome. Unfair or thankfully, I felt pretty damned good for having run 24 miles. My legs were not happy but that's to be expected. I felt in better spirits than at the beginning, I mean, hell, I pulled myself out of a really big hole. Like honestly, for that I am proud. I was running along right before the bottom of the reservoir and I heard a voice in a thick French accent 'hey, you're the girl I started with last weekend'. When I turned my head it was the woman with whom I had spoken about the marathon with just the Sunday before at the 5-miler KickOff race start line. She had wanted to run 4:50-5 as well and was trudging along with me on pace for a 5:10-5:15.... It was nice to see her even though by all standards she was a complete stranger. We chatted a few sentences and then it happened. I started hearing people on the sidelines talking about Jared... and I realized.... the sucker was right in front of me.... I started asking people in the crowd how far ahead of me he was and people kinda just stared and said 'a bit' or 'uhmmm not much' In retorspect it must have been ridiculous. Here I am, sweaty, gross, marathoned out, screaming back at the crowd 'WHERE IS JARED?' But people, I needed to know if he's catchable or no chance in hell. Finally some guy on Cat Hill (can I also mention thank God we went down and not up at that point? Theres no way I couldve made my legs do that!!!) told me Jared was walking about about 50 yards ahead (see football does come in handy)... I decided then and there I was going for it. Eff you Jared and your stupid subway and weight loss ads. Eff you for thinking you're so in shape and talking crap about how you're going to run a 4:30 marathon and Eff you for not giving the NYCM course the respect it deserves! (I got all this off some blog which said Jared wanted to run a 4:20-30 marathon and how it was work but not too bad blah blah) Finally at the m25 water stop I saw him. Jared. He wasnt walking. He was, however, as sick of having his name called as I was. Now mind you, the guy is tall. Way taller than I expected with a huge NAME plate on his shirt and subway signs all around. He was running with two guys, I assume his bodyguards? or trainers. Major props to him for running and training. I just don't like the shit talk. I flew by him and any time I wanted to stop from there on out, I just kept thinking, don't let Jared beat you.
I saw my friend on CPS and at that point was running a good clip. I ditched my long sleeve shirt coming into the park and a park worker casually yelled 'yay jen you can do it girl'. I know I looked strong and happy and healthy anddddddddddd way better than most runners I was passing. AND I passed a lot of people let me tell you. I had a great time in the park, the support was nice but the bleachers were empty which was disapointing and yet another reason I want to be faster... At one point I went to check a chafed spot (why I had to do that then, I do not know) and some guy was like 'JEN YOURE NOT CHAFED KEEP RUNNING' very funny- I had no intention of stopping but I suppose 200 yards from the finish line, why check for chafing? I was just very comfortable in the pace I was running. I mean why not right? I ran hundred of miles at an 11 min pace to train! I finished in 5:13 which ironically ended up being 8 seconds slower than Jared (a-duh I have last years time too!!!). I got my medal, pic, heat blanket and bag and ran into Rich, the older guy from TNT. We death marched it out of there and I met up with my family on Columbus. I didnt think the death march was nearly as terrible as last year but perhaps that was because I was expecting it and because I wasnt feeling as much as crap as I did last year. I drank the recovery gatorade and had more pretzels.
We took the subway home which was brutal. Stairs=brutal. I had an apple, 2 slices of pizza, champagne, a choco covered apple and some mango plus a chocolate milk, a gatorade and 2 bottles of water when I got home/before bed. Not a ton given the day's activities.
Today, my legs are shredded. I don't know why I keep using that term but that's what they are. I can hardly walk. Never mind curbs. HA. I remember after NJ Shore I couldnt sit on the toilet. This time thats no issue. Funny how the same run can be so different. This year I remember all of the park and the last 3 m, last year I didnt. Last year I loved Brooklyn, this year I cheered the guy on the Pulaski with the Get out of Brooklyn sign.
I saw all my peeps this year, I can't say I had fun, but I'm in great cardiovascular shape and while I'm not happy I refuse to say I regret it. I know a lot of people who PR'd yesterday and of whom I'm very proud. It was not my day. My PR came a week too early at the 5-miler Kickoff Run.
positives:
-I met my mentor and go to coach this season, both of whom I hope to stay friendly with
- I pulled myself out of a gargantuan hole and have not shed one tear
- salt tablets no longer make me gag.
-no blisters after all the blister drama this summer
-my friends and family (more of them) got to see me run
-perhaps i inspired people i dont even know
-i raised money for tnt
- i have yet another medal
yea so that's about all I've got. I'm trying to focus on the positives and just go with it. this week will be all about recovery (esp my legs! yikes!) and next week I'll look to set some goals, both in terms of future runs and also in terms of general fitness. I am pretty sure I am done with marathoning. This really was the ultimate defeat. I am humbled, embarrassed and ultimately defeated by the greatest event the greatest city has to offer and I don't know if I'll look to fight this beast without knowing I will dominate.
NYCM Non race report
I don't quite have the energy to post a full race report.
I had a bad race. By M6 I knew it wasnt happening. I almost dropped out at M8 I felt so terrible. I've really struggled this season with salt and electrolytes. I finally started feeling normal by M14 and kept running with a lot of breaks to see my friends, pose for pictures and just make it through.
5:13 something is my official time. I didnt even check because I don't really care.
Yea, I ran another marathon, it feels like a waste.
I really dont know what happened. M1 was purposely so slow, my legs were lead. My 2 was right on pace. M3 and 4 average out. M5 I saw my friends and slowed down. M6 was where I started to not feel well... m7 I couldnt keep it together M8 I sped up because I knew I would see Matt. m9 I almost quit. I felt like I was running through molasses. m10 I walked a bit but finally caught up with some TNT'ers that I knew. m11,12,13,14 was just trying to hold onto a race that wouldnt be a complete mess. I saw my mom before I walked up the Qboro (m15,16). M17 I stopped to talk to Ali and Kelly, in retrospect not my best idea. M18 I saw Matt. M19 I stopped to pick up Nicole. I felt like we were flying when we obv we not. M20 was the Bronx, we walked up the Willis Ave bright. m21 I went to the bathroom, m22 started the hill, m23 I just was slow. M24 I was trying, m25 and m26 I didnt want Jared to pass me. What a day.
The splits:
1-12:37
2-11:01
3-11:47
4-10:21
5-12:03
6-11:33
7-11:50
8-10:39
9-11:50
10-11:46
11-11:29
12-11:40
13-11:50
14-11:45
15-13:18
16-12:20
17-13:04
18-12:01
19-12:15
20-12:24
21-13:15
22-13:15
23-11:54
24-12:23
25-11:19
26- 11:15
0.2- 2:19
I had a bad race. By M6 I knew it wasnt happening. I almost dropped out at M8 I felt so terrible. I've really struggled this season with salt and electrolytes. I finally started feeling normal by M14 and kept running with a lot of breaks to see my friends, pose for pictures and just make it through.
5:13 something is my official time. I didnt even check because I don't really care.
Yea, I ran another marathon, it feels like a waste.
I really dont know what happened. M1 was purposely so slow, my legs were lead. My 2 was right on pace. M3 and 4 average out. M5 I saw my friends and slowed down. M6 was where I started to not feel well... m7 I couldnt keep it together M8 I sped up because I knew I would see Matt. m9 I almost quit. I felt like I was running through molasses. m10 I walked a bit but finally caught up with some TNT'ers that I knew. m11,12,13,14 was just trying to hold onto a race that wouldnt be a complete mess. I saw my mom before I walked up the Qboro (m15,16). M17 I stopped to talk to Ali and Kelly, in retrospect not my best idea. M18 I saw Matt. M19 I stopped to pick up Nicole. I felt like we were flying when we obv we not. M20 was the Bronx, we walked up the Willis Ave bright. m21 I went to the bathroom, m22 started the hill, m23 I just was slow. M24 I was trying, m25 and m26 I didnt want Jared to pass me. What a day.
The splits:
1-12:37
2-11:01
3-11:47
4-10:21
5-12:03
6-11:33
7-11:50
8-10:39
9-11:50
10-11:46
11-11:29
12-11:40
13-11:50
14-11:45
15-13:18
16-12:20
17-13:04
18-12:01
19-12:15
20-12:24
21-13:15
22-13:15
23-11:54
24-12:23
25-11:19
26- 11:15
0.2- 2:19
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Poland Sping 5m Kick Off Run
I had been told that the race course is notoriously crowded and that it was for the first mile at least. I had in the back of my head that I wanted to PR and that it wouldnt be too difiicult given that I've only run 2 5m races previously as follows:
-Fathers Day 5m- 52:48 and I pushed a bit
-Hope and Possibility 5m- 55:48 that's more of my normal pace
Both races were this summer, 6/20/10 and 6/27/10 so the weather was much much different than today which was sunny and 54 degrees.
Regardless, I was psyched with my final time. 49:01. YAAAAHOOOOOO!!!! A PR by 3 min 47 seconds unofficially. The course was a clockwise loops starting right before the NYCM finish line.
Spilits:
10:30
9:57
9:53
9:29
9:11
When I started and saw 10:30 given the west side hills I figured 'Hey! Maybe I'll break the 52:48 I set in the summer, that would be nice'... When I hit the second split right by the 102 transverse I was like, Huh sounds great. I did mess up the splits a bit so m1 and m2 were more like 10:23 and 10:04 but whatever. I decided then I wanted to pick it up a bit and saw the 9:53 for m3 and decided that I wanted to break 50 min. 49:01 is a dream!!! I think my ultimate 5m goal is going to be 45min but we'll get there with training etc. 2011 is the year of training runs. I am going to set 4m, 5m 10k goals and we'll hopefully get to 9 min pace for the 10k, 8:45 pace for the 5m and 8:30 pace for the 4m.
YAY SUNDAY! Here I come NYCM!
-Fathers Day 5m- 52:48 and I pushed a bit
-Hope and Possibility 5m- 55:48 that's more of my normal pace
Both races were this summer, 6/20/10 and 6/27/10 so the weather was much much different than today which was sunny and 54 degrees.
Regardless, I was psyched with my final time. 49:01. YAAAAHOOOOOO!!!! A PR by 3 min 47 seconds unofficially. The course was a clockwise loops starting right before the NYCM finish line.
Spilits:
10:30
9:57
9:53
9:29
9:11
When I started and saw 10:30 given the west side hills I figured 'Hey! Maybe I'll break the 52:48 I set in the summer, that would be nice'... When I hit the second split right by the 102 transverse I was like, Huh sounds great. I did mess up the splits a bit so m1 and m2 were more like 10:23 and 10:04 but whatever. I decided then I wanted to pick it up a bit and saw the 9:53 for m3 and decided that I wanted to break 50 min. 49:01 is a dream!!! I think my ultimate 5m goal is going to be 45min but we'll get there with training etc. 2011 is the year of training runs. I am going to set 4m, 5m 10k goals and we'll hopefully get to 9 min pace for the 10k, 8:45 pace for the 5m and 8:30 pace for the 4m.
YAY SUNDAY! Here I come NYCM!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
ING Marathon 18 m TUNE UP
The day before is really important to a long run. Fo rme at least. Friday night I was up until 1 am packing since I move Oct 1 and can't really do anything during the week between work and working out. Saturday I went to ivengar yoga (read: easy) and then my mom came. We went up to the new apt to measure some stuff and then drove down for brunch and then did some apt errands (brita, curtains etc). Basically the point of me telling you all this is that I was on my feet all day, didnt hydrate enough, didnt eat too much, and didnt know where my running junk was until 10 pm when I went to get ready before going to bed.
Sunday am I got a roll w jam which I ate in the cab on the way uptown. I'm over the subway. Stresses me out. I got to the park at 6:45 and the course marshals were yelling at us that we were late. YAWN. I'm not interested in being stressed out when the race hasnt started yet! The corrals were all closed and I was legit one of the last to start. TOuche. I dont care!
I followed the plan OK until my blister (I've packed all my running socks!!!) developed and always killed me. I would post the picture but I think you'll pass out, like, honestly. I've worn cotton socks before but OBVIOUSLY this was a terrible idea.
I really wanted to follow my race plan so off I went but I had GI distress and stopped for about 4 min at the 81st street real park bathroom because the portapotty lines were soooo long (like usual). One thing to note: the gatorade on the course was not mixed well, it was too strong which also leads to GI distress.
Lap 1 of the park was pretty good:
m1-11:10
m2-11:08
m3-10:52
m4-10:54
m5-11:40
m6-10:49
the 11:40 was me trying to slow down from running 2m a little too fast and then m6 was me being like, ugh i suck at pacing.
Lap 2 here we come... I was happy and ready t opick it up. I felt GOOD. I ran into some TNT girls and started up harlem hill. They were apparently running 12min pace which I didnt realize. OOPS. m8-10 is the west side, the 3 bitches (the hills) and then up to almost tavern on the green. i rocked it!!!! 10:35 and 10:02!!!! M 10 wa sme trying to slow down because I had been giong a bit too fast... m11 i always stuggle in that part of the park, I am unsure why!!!
m7-13:36- harlem hill, ran with the tnt girls who were running really slow, needed to be on my own!!!
m8-10:35
m9-10:02
m10-11:05
m11-10:40
m12-10:44
LAP 3:
m13-11:59 harlem hill with mike, not too bad considering i walked a bit... stupid ear!!!
m14-11:46 (stupid rolling hills)weird guy screwed up my splits
m15-11:48- walked the water breaks and couldnt get into a groove
m16-10:35- lower part of the loop trying to get back in the groove
m17-12:31- cat hill killed me, walked a teeny bit
m18-10:17 (fastest and flatest mile of the course)
very inconsistent on the 3rd lap. I ran into Coach Mike and I was quit eobviously hitting my hydration issue. Or rather, it was hitting me. I had my swollen fingers again (not quite as bad as the Bronx) and was all goosebumpy. The temp was only about 68 at that point but it was starting to get sunny. I had sunscreen on, which I'm wondering if that adds to the distress, like maybe I can't sweat as I need to?
Coming off of Harlem Hill this man starts talking to me. SInce I was running by myself I sparked many a convo with people because I was bored etc. He turned out to be uber creepy! After telling me he was a pilot for a wealthy famil ybased in Paris (why this would impress me is beyond me) he asked me (verbatim) "so how did you get such a hot bod" Now people. I am not that gross, this I know. However, we are in a race with a bunch of runners, many of whom (read: most) have 'hotter' bods. I responded (no judgement!!) by saying "I don't eat cupcakes" Anyway I tried to lose him on the 3 bitches and somehow managed to. But UGH!!!! Gross!
In a nutshell I had a good race. I shouldnt paid attention and kept up the pace the 3x around but was being 'good' about hydration etc. I shouldve just stuck with it and had the excellent race I wanted. Overall I know I coudlve kept it up but didnt because I wasnt in the mood. HA! I ran 10:35 and 10:17 in the last 2/3 miles. Cat Hill and I have never been friends so I accepted defeat on that one!
I don't think my 4:40 marathon goal is plausible, however, I am goign to keep pushing until taper and see what happens. If you dont give yourself a chance, then you definitely won't get there!
Here's to a great week!!! Week 13 of training for me!
Sunday am I got a roll w jam which I ate in the cab on the way uptown. I'm over the subway. Stresses me out. I got to the park at 6:45 and the course marshals were yelling at us that we were late. YAWN. I'm not interested in being stressed out when the race hasnt started yet! The corrals were all closed and I was legit one of the last to start. TOuche. I dont care!
I followed the plan OK until my blister (I've packed all my running socks!!!) developed and always killed me. I would post the picture but I think you'll pass out, like, honestly. I've worn cotton socks before but OBVIOUSLY this was a terrible idea.
I really wanted to follow my race plan so off I went but I had GI distress and stopped for about 4 min at the 81st street real park bathroom because the portapotty lines were soooo long (like usual). One thing to note: the gatorade on the course was not mixed well, it was too strong which also leads to GI distress.
Lap 1 of the park was pretty good:
m1-11:10
m2-11:08
m3-10:52
m4-10:54
m5-11:40
m6-10:49
the 11:40 was me trying to slow down from running 2m a little too fast and then m6 was me being like, ugh i suck at pacing.
Lap 2 here we come... I was happy and ready t opick it up. I felt GOOD. I ran into some TNT girls and started up harlem hill. They were apparently running 12min pace which I didnt realize. OOPS. m8-10 is the west side, the 3 bitches (the hills) and then up to almost tavern on the green. i rocked it!!!! 10:35 and 10:02!!!! M 10 wa sme trying to slow down because I had been giong a bit too fast... m11 i always stuggle in that part of the park, I am unsure why!!!
m7-13:36- harlem hill, ran with the tnt girls who were running really slow, needed to be on my own!!!
m8-10:35
m9-10:02
m10-11:05
m11-10:40
m12-10:44
LAP 3:
m13-11:59 harlem hill with mike, not too bad considering i walked a bit... stupid ear!!!
m14-11:46 (stupid rolling hills)weird guy screwed up my splits
m15-11:48- walked the water breaks and couldnt get into a groove
m16-10:35- lower part of the loop trying to get back in the groove
m17-12:31- cat hill killed me, walked a teeny bit
m18-10:17 (fastest and flatest mile of the course)
very inconsistent on the 3rd lap. I ran into Coach Mike and I was quit eobviously hitting my hydration issue. Or rather, it was hitting me. I had my swollen fingers again (not quite as bad as the Bronx) and was all goosebumpy. The temp was only about 68 at that point but it was starting to get sunny. I had sunscreen on, which I'm wondering if that adds to the distress, like maybe I can't sweat as I need to?
Coming off of Harlem Hill this man starts talking to me. SInce I was running by myself I sparked many a convo with people because I was bored etc. He turned out to be uber creepy! After telling me he was a pilot for a wealthy famil ybased in Paris (why this would impress me is beyond me) he asked me (verbatim) "so how did you get such a hot bod" Now people. I am not that gross, this I know. However, we are in a race with a bunch of runners, many of whom (read: most) have 'hotter' bods. I responded (no judgement!!) by saying "I don't eat cupcakes" Anyway I tried to lose him on the 3 bitches and somehow managed to. But UGH!!!! Gross!
In a nutshell I had a good race. I shouldnt paid attention and kept up the pace the 3x around but was being 'good' about hydration etc. I shouldve just stuck with it and had the excellent race I wanted. Overall I know I coudlve kept it up but didnt because I wasnt in the mood. HA! I ran 10:35 and 10:17 in the last 2/3 miles. Cat Hill and I have never been friends so I accepted defeat on that one!
I don't think my 4:40 marathon goal is plausible, however, I am goign to keep pushing until taper and see what happens. If you dont give yourself a chance, then you definitely won't get there!
Here's to a great week!!! Week 13 of training for me!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Race Report- Bronx HALF
Well folks I wish I had better news. I really do. Let’s start with the positive- I course PR’d by 4+ minutes with a finish time of 2:22:28 or a 10:52 pace. In Feb 2009, I ran the same course in 2:27:12. So yes, that’s a huge improvement. However, that day I stopped and had stomach issues so really most of that time differential is in that. My goal was really to beat my longstanding ½ marathon PR set in October 2008 at Grete’s Gallop, 2:20:18. So here’s what happened.
I woke up at 5 am on the dot, got ready, ate a roll with jelly and met TNT peeps to share a car (which was ridiculously overpriced by the way at $20 a head for 5 of us in a shitty minivan. SCAM! Regardless, I was there at 6:25 which is better than most people can say. D, from TNT was supposed to pace me, but didn’t catch up to me until m2 because of train issues. I was nervous but ran m1 with S from TNT who I met the first day. We went out a bit faster but I felt comfortable, m1 10:14. M2 there is a bit of an incline but I felt great, legs felt springy and happy 10:29. M3 still felt great, felt like I was getting into a groove, 9:58 which is obviously too fast. M4 we were on the moshulu pkwy uphill section, 10:37, it’s a tough hill. M5 had some downhill 10:21. M6 was partially uphill but all I could think was ‘wow I’m doing this, this is awesome’ 10:26. M7 we turned onto the grand concourse, I was mentally prepared (or so I thought) to hang on to this pace, I really was so excited to be on pace for a 2:13 half. It was at this point that really knew at that point I would be able to BREAK my PR. BUST THROUGH. KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK.
M8 was the 2nd half of the first out on the grand concourse 10:45 and I started feeling heavy. I ate a gel at the water stop. M9 was the turnaround part on the grand concourse, which starts with a hill. I needed a break bad at this point so I took a 90-120-second walk break figuring it would invigorate me. BAD IDEA. M9 was 11:25, which is so slow in comparison to what we’d been running. But with a huge walk break it’s not so bad. I was out of my groove at this point and started experiencing major swelling. I don’t know if I over salted or underwatered or what but my hands were bright red and swollen.
I couldn’t even make a fist!!! M10 which is the middle of the back on the concourse was a pathetic 12:40. I stopped and started a bunch. Drank water, felt my hands, blew out my ear- I was a MESS! M11 marked just a bit more on the concourse and then the turn off to the moshulu. I knew if I would run 10:30s back I would still break my PR, however, minimal the breakage. I took off knowing what I needed to do. I made it all the way to m12 and died. The time is deceiving because I didn’t run all of m11, 11:43. M12 I pushed, then walked, pushed, then stopped. I couldn’t get my body to buy in. I felt like I ran out of gas, 11:06. M13 was the most pathetic but also a sure sign I just didn’t have it in me, 11:31. Usually I can hack it but I just couldn’t this time around. The 0.1 was 58 seconds. I gave it all I had.
I was and still am very disappointed. While it was humid I shouldn’t have had those issues. In addition, please don’t tell me I went out too fast. My race plan was to stick to 10:15s and 10:30s and hike it up to 10 and 9:45 after the ‘back’ on the grand concourse. With the exception of m3 (which we made up in m4) I followed that until I died. Now, perhaps my race plan was flawed but at least now I know I can make it 8m at that pace!!
Honestly though, I was really upset. I didn't cry, but I was pissed and bummed. More so that I couldnt do it, even with such a strong start AND now that I have to tell people I didnt do as well as I had hoped.
I woke up at 5 am on the dot, got ready, ate a roll with jelly and met TNT peeps to share a car (which was ridiculously overpriced by the way at $20 a head for 5 of us in a shitty minivan. SCAM! Regardless, I was there at 6:25 which is better than most people can say. D, from TNT was supposed to pace me, but didn’t catch up to me until m2 because of train issues. I was nervous but ran m1 with S from TNT who I met the first day. We went out a bit faster but I felt comfortable, m1 10:14. M2 there is a bit of an incline but I felt great, legs felt springy and happy 10:29. M3 still felt great, felt like I was getting into a groove, 9:58 which is obviously too fast. M4 we were on the moshulu pkwy uphill section, 10:37, it’s a tough hill. M5 had some downhill 10:21. M6 was partially uphill but all I could think was ‘wow I’m doing this, this is awesome’ 10:26. M7 we turned onto the grand concourse, I was mentally prepared (or so I thought) to hang on to this pace, I really was so excited to be on pace for a 2:13 half. It was at this point that really knew at that point I would be able to BREAK my PR. BUST THROUGH. KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK.
M8 was the 2nd half of the first out on the grand concourse 10:45 and I started feeling heavy. I ate a gel at the water stop. M9 was the turnaround part on the grand concourse, which starts with a hill. I needed a break bad at this point so I took a 90-120-second walk break figuring it would invigorate me. BAD IDEA. M9 was 11:25, which is so slow in comparison to what we’d been running. But with a huge walk break it’s not so bad. I was out of my groove at this point and started experiencing major swelling. I don’t know if I over salted or underwatered or what but my hands were bright red and swollen.
I was and still am very disappointed. While it was humid I shouldn’t have had those issues. In addition, please don’t tell me I went out too fast. My race plan was to stick to 10:15s and 10:30s and hike it up to 10 and 9:45 after the ‘back’ on the grand concourse. With the exception of m3 (which we made up in m4) I followed that until I died. Now, perhaps my race plan was flawed but at least now I know I can make it 8m at that pace!!
Honestly though, I was really upset. I didn't cry, but I was pissed and bummed. More so that I couldnt do it, even with such a strong start AND now that I have to tell people I didnt do as well as I had hoped.
Monday, June 21, 2010
fathers day 5 m run
i signed up for yet another race on a seemingly unstoppable quest to race 9 races this year even though i've already promised myself it's my last marathon. why struggle to qualify for next year then? is it a good option to have? i don't quite know.
anyway the race was sun am, always a wkd killer. i am terrible at having a glass of wine and waking up early feeling spiffy.
it was 80 at the start and pretty humid so needless to say it was a hot race.
52:48 was my time and i did have to work to get there in that time. Not a too terrible pace esp give my quad (which did feel stressed after) and the JPM challenge wednesday.
My splits for JPMCC were as follows:
mile1- 9:55
mile2- 10:03
mile3- 11:27 (WHAT?!)
mile3-3.5- 4:51
it was a clockwise loop starting at w76th street coming back around to 72nd street transverse
My splits for the Fathers Day race were as followS:
mile1-10:42
mile2- 10:21
mile3- 11:04
mile4-10:38
mile5-10:03
It was a clockwise loop from w68th lower 5 m loop.
anyway the race was sun am, always a wkd killer. i am terrible at having a glass of wine and waking up early feeling spiffy.
it was 80 at the start and pretty humid so needless to say it was a hot race.
52:48 was my time and i did have to work to get there in that time. Not a too terrible pace esp give my quad (which did feel stressed after) and the JPM challenge wednesday.
My splits for JPMCC were as follows:
mile1- 9:55
mile2- 10:03
mile3- 11:27 (WHAT?!)
mile3-3.5- 4:51
it was a clockwise loop starting at w76th street coming back around to 72nd street transverse
My splits for the Fathers Day race were as followS:
mile1-10:42
mile2- 10:21
mile3- 11:04
mile4-10:38
mile5-10:03
It was a clockwise loop from w68th lower 5 m loop.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
san diego race report
I had my race in SD. It wasnt great but it wasnt bad. My leg acted up so I didnt finish until 2:31 which is my worst time to date but it's ok. I walked when I had to because of my leg and did an 11 m pace otherwise which was whatever.
It was not a good winter for me in terms of training. I was sick with swine flu which really compromised my lungs for quite some time. THen between losing my job and having to find another running took a backseat. I also was coming off literally a year of marathon training so I'll be damned if I am upset :)
I had a great time in San Diego and enjoyed myself and the scenery immensely which was fun.
Next race is this wkd- 5 m and the wkd after as well- same deal.
I am pretty sure I am doing NYC. The marathon that is. SCARY.
It was not a good winter for me in terms of training. I was sick with swine flu which really compromised my lungs for quite some time. THen between losing my job and having to find another running took a backseat. I also was coming off literally a year of marathon training so I'll be damned if I am upset :)
I had a great time in San Diego and enjoyed myself and the scenery immensely which was fun.
Next race is this wkd- 5 m and the wkd after as well- same deal.
I am pretty sure I am doing NYC. The marathon that is. SCARY.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
NYC Marathon Race Report
The few days before the marathon I was retardedly nervous. Well maybe not retardedly but i was worried about everything.
Went to bed around 1145 on Saturday night knowing it was really 1045. Woke up at 6 and was out the door by 630. Scarfed down an egg white sammy at the deli and Nicole picked me up in a cab, which we took down to the ferry. It was really windy when we got there but I had enough layers to melt anything so I was actually sweaty. We caught a 7:50 ferry (dont ask) but didnt get to the staging area untli 9. There was a lot of congestion overall. The one thing that stuck with me was that the port a pottys and the buses which took us from the ferry to the staging area were from all over- CT, NJ, NY. Was very interesting and caught my eye.
I hated the crowds but loved the energy. Sitting on NY avenue (we were assigned 2 different corrals so decided to spend the time not in the corrals) on my sleeping bag and trash bags, we started w the gu, the rearranging of the belt (for me) and the no rub stuff on the toes. At arond 9:40 they closed wave 2 corral (well I guess maybe a bit later) and we saw the first of the runners take off, what a scene for everyoen to stop and cheer them on- the looming Verrazzano in the left background... I dropped off my bag witht he race truck after a teary eyed goodbye to nicole. I couldnt believe i was going to do this on my own.
I was Orange, Wave #3 Corral C but didn't get anywhere near C. We were jammed in like sausages. The one good thing about this jamming was that I hit up the porta potty about 2 min before I crossed the start which was a god send. i didn't stop once during the race, I can't believe it!!! I certainly thought I would have to given that I took a gatorade and a water almost every single mile. I ironically ran with my water bottle until mile 21- this was supposed to be through mile 3 only to prevent my ear from going out. The bottle was actually a godsend bc my ear did go out (on mile 14) so I did end up needing it.
Highlights:
-I rocked the beginning
-I had a blast
-Every picture taken has me with a smile
-I dont hurt 48 hrs later
-I met some cool people
-I tried my strategy, failed but didnt freak out
-I saw my bf and friends in multiple places and that all worked out
-I finished strong (10 min miles) and really believe you can do anything
-Everyone screamed YOU CAN DO THIS JEN- was amazing!! !
- My shirt came out awesome
Lowlights:
-My ear blowing out quite a bit, mile 8, mile 14, mile 19
-Feeling like bumpkiss at the end, and not remembering (now looking back) miles 24-26.2 in any sort of detail, i was so in the zone!!
-The after finish line mess.
What else... I learned I am pretty good now at eating, drinking and salting. I couldnt believe that miles 1-8 went so quickly- mainly 1-6. Miles 1 and 2 on the Qboro wre pretty terrible. I ran WAY too fast and really was freezing. I had ditched my fleece and my pants but did have a long sleeve, arm warmers and tank on. I did have a fleece hat on but still, was soooo windy and cold. m1 was 10.27 m2 was 10.14
m3 10.46- 5k was 33:38 which was right on pace for me... 10:50 pace... I started running with some guy from colorado, wish I knew how he finished... it was his first race...
m4 11.17- Enjoyed the sights, thought I might have to pee but didnt. Tried to slow it down a bit but obviously can only run 10:45 or 11:15 nothing in between.
m5 10.42- Started my lookout for Brandt- didn't recognize the neighborhood so was really scanning crowds, sights etc. Was quite overcast still so I remember thinking it was cool that we were divided by a divider and that people were dancing and having a blast as spectators already.
m6 10.47- 10k time was 1:07:22 which is pretty great for me.... I remember thinking wow this was a fast 10k (meaning time felt fast). I ran for a little while with a daughter (5th marathon) and dad (first marathon) who were cop counting. They were at 100 when I left them.... moving on....
m7 10.39- I knew I was going to see Matt and Felix so I think I unknowingly sped up... Was flat and fast here and the crowds were so awesome.
m8 11.11- i believe its uphill here and i almost blew my ear out (my ear has this issue where my sinuses get swollen and then i get a blocked eardrum- not fun while running. I know I walked a bit here... hence the slower mile I'd imagine.
m9 11.37- see above. I think clinton hill was where all the townhouses were- was awesome, walked through the water stop... knew i needed to pick it up.
m10 11.02 williamsburg. loads of name calling, someone had donuts, loads of 'hipsters and champagne. right on pace.
m11 12.09- slow mile. no idea.
m12 11.24- greenpoint. no idea.
m13 11.21- remember hitting the half marathon marker at 2:26:12 which is pretty standard for me...
m14 11.43- saw my mom. walkd a bit, talked a bit... ear blew out AGAIN.
m15 12.57- queensboro. came around the corner and thought 'hot damn thats a hill' chkd out the pedestrian side and noted that the grade was completely different. sneaky sneaky- so much for practice! my ear was shitty at this point so i decided to walk the hill and clear out the ear, paid off big time.
m16 12.16- walked a bit of this mile, also walked the water stop. was amazed that first ave wasnt quite a roar.... or perhaps just a dull one... i did wave my hands a few time and people picked it up a bit. its amazing to have people cheer for you. i loved it. Saw matt and felix right at mile 17 and stopped for a second.
m17 11.12- pretty great pace given the timing and the hills.
m18 11.35- trying to pick it up but couldnt.
m19 11.11 saw rina here, felt awesome. thought i could pick it up a bit more heading into the bronx. had my ipod on.
m20 11.45- this mile sucked. the ground was uneven, walked through the water stop. i didnt like the bronx at all.
m21 11.43- saw matt and felix. starting to get tired.
m22 11.24- trying to keep on pace but couldnt hold on... this mile is 122st through 103 street... knew the hill would kill me.
m23 11.39- kept my head down, couldnt move the legs any faster. threw fuel belt at mom at 23.5. was REALLY cold.
m24 12.07- ha! laughable. effort level was 150% stopped for walk for a bit.
m25 12.06- i knew this mile would suck. couldnt hack it. walked a bit.
m26. 11.27- knew i had to pick up my legs to finish in under 5 hrs... the mental struggle was quite intense.
m0.2 2.07- ran my ass off. knew i had seconds to spare and this was no laughing matter.
Went to bed around 1145 on Saturday night knowing it was really 1045. Woke up at 6 and was out the door by 630. Scarfed down an egg white sammy at the deli and Nicole picked me up in a cab, which we took down to the ferry. It was really windy when we got there but I had enough layers to melt anything so I was actually sweaty. We caught a 7:50 ferry (dont ask) but didnt get to the staging area untli 9. There was a lot of congestion overall. The one thing that stuck with me was that the port a pottys and the buses which took us from the ferry to the staging area were from all over- CT, NJ, NY. Was very interesting and caught my eye.
I hated the crowds but loved the energy. Sitting on NY avenue (we were assigned 2 different corrals so decided to spend the time not in the corrals) on my sleeping bag and trash bags, we started w the gu, the rearranging of the belt (for me) and the no rub stuff on the toes. At arond 9:40 they closed wave 2 corral (well I guess maybe a bit later) and we saw the first of the runners take off, what a scene for everyoen to stop and cheer them on- the looming Verrazzano in the left background... I dropped off my bag witht he race truck after a teary eyed goodbye to nicole. I couldnt believe i was going to do this on my own.
I was Orange, Wave #3 Corral C but didn't get anywhere near C. We were jammed in like sausages. The one good thing about this jamming was that I hit up the porta potty about 2 min before I crossed the start which was a god send. i didn't stop once during the race, I can't believe it!!! I certainly thought I would have to given that I took a gatorade and a water almost every single mile. I ironically ran with my water bottle until mile 21- this was supposed to be through mile 3 only to prevent my ear from going out. The bottle was actually a godsend bc my ear did go out (on mile 14) so I did end up needing it.
Highlights:
-I rocked the beginning
-I had a blast
-Every picture taken has me with a smile
-I dont hurt 48 hrs later
-I met some cool people
-I tried my strategy, failed but didnt freak out
-I saw my bf and friends in multiple places and that all worked out
-I finished strong (10 min miles) and really believe you can do anything
-Everyone screamed YOU CAN DO THIS JEN- was amazing!! !
- My shirt came out awesome
Lowlights:
-My ear blowing out quite a bit, mile 8, mile 14, mile 19
-Feeling like bumpkiss at the end, and not remembering (now looking back) miles 24-26.2 in any sort of detail, i was so in the zone!!
-The after finish line mess.
What else... I learned I am pretty good now at eating, drinking and salting. I couldnt believe that miles 1-8 went so quickly- mainly 1-6. Miles 1 and 2 on the Qboro wre pretty terrible. I ran WAY too fast and really was freezing. I had ditched my fleece and my pants but did have a long sleeve, arm warmers and tank on. I did have a fleece hat on but still, was soooo windy and cold. m1 was 10.27 m2 was 10.14
m3 10.46- 5k was 33:38 which was right on pace for me... 10:50 pace... I started running with some guy from colorado, wish I knew how he finished... it was his first race...
m4 11.17- Enjoyed the sights, thought I might have to pee but didnt. Tried to slow it down a bit but obviously can only run 10:45 or 11:15 nothing in between.
m5 10.42- Started my lookout for Brandt- didn't recognize the neighborhood so was really scanning crowds, sights etc. Was quite overcast still so I remember thinking it was cool that we were divided by a divider and that people were dancing and having a blast as spectators already.
m6 10.47- 10k time was 1:07:22 which is pretty great for me.... I remember thinking wow this was a fast 10k (meaning time felt fast). I ran for a little while with a daughter (5th marathon) and dad (first marathon) who were cop counting. They were at 100 when I left them.... moving on....
m7 10.39- I knew I was going to see Matt and Felix so I think I unknowingly sped up... Was flat and fast here and the crowds were so awesome.
m8 11.11- i believe its uphill here and i almost blew my ear out (my ear has this issue where my sinuses get swollen and then i get a blocked eardrum- not fun while running. I know I walked a bit here... hence the slower mile I'd imagine.
m9 11.37- see above. I think clinton hill was where all the townhouses were- was awesome, walked through the water stop... knew i needed to pick it up.
m10 11.02 williamsburg. loads of name calling, someone had donuts, loads of 'hipsters and champagne. right on pace.
m11 12.09- slow mile. no idea.
m12 11.24- greenpoint. no idea.
m13 11.21- remember hitting the half marathon marker at 2:26:12 which is pretty standard for me...
m14 11.43- saw my mom. walkd a bit, talked a bit... ear blew out AGAIN.
m15 12.57- queensboro. came around the corner and thought 'hot damn thats a hill' chkd out the pedestrian side and noted that the grade was completely different. sneaky sneaky- so much for practice! my ear was shitty at this point so i decided to walk the hill and clear out the ear, paid off big time.
m16 12.16- walked a bit of this mile, also walked the water stop. was amazed that first ave wasnt quite a roar.... or perhaps just a dull one... i did wave my hands a few time and people picked it up a bit. its amazing to have people cheer for you. i loved it. Saw matt and felix right at mile 17 and stopped for a second.
m17 11.12- pretty great pace given the timing and the hills.
m18 11.35- trying to pick it up but couldnt.
m19 11.11 saw rina here, felt awesome. thought i could pick it up a bit more heading into the bronx. had my ipod on.
m20 11.45- this mile sucked. the ground was uneven, walked through the water stop. i didnt like the bronx at all.
m21 11.43- saw matt and felix. starting to get tired.
m22 11.24- trying to keep on pace but couldnt hold on... this mile is 122st through 103 street... knew the hill would kill me.
m23 11.39- kept my head down, couldnt move the legs any faster. threw fuel belt at mom at 23.5. was REALLY cold.
m24 12.07- ha! laughable. effort level was 150% stopped for walk for a bit.
m25 12.06- i knew this mile would suck. couldnt hack it. walked a bit.
m26. 11.27- knew i had to pick up my legs to finish in under 5 hrs... the mental struggle was quite intense.
m0.2 2.07- ran my ass off. knew i had seconds to spare and this was no laughing matter.
Monday, August 17, 2009
NYC Half was a complete let down
So yes, it was hot. So yes, I had mini food poisoning on Friday. So yes, my back was a mess on Saturday. So yes, not ideal.
Regardless I thought I could pull it off.
It was hot as hell. Humid as hell. I woke up at 520, got ready, did my biz, ate some total (my usual) and took a cab up to 97th and 5th. Check in/baggage was a breeze and I was in my corral by 6:25. Terrible. We didnt take off until about 7:16 which was ridiculously late and I was hungry. The first water stop- no water or gatorade. I had my fuel belt thankfully. Second water stop- no water or gatorade..> I kept chugging along; third water stop- no water nor Gatorade!!! Come on NYRR!!!!
I thought I could hack my time if I could make it out of the park, but I just couldn't, it was like there was no energy store from which to draw... I took a salt tablet at mile 6... I was starting to feel not right. By 7th avenue I had full blown goosebumps and felt terrible. I drank most of the diluted Gatorade my mom had to me at mile 9... but was disappointed, knew unless I could pick it up I wouldn't be breaking any records.
Down the West Side Hwy was even worse, my ear blew out and I couldn't hack it, I walked a bunch. Usually I can avoid my watch for a while, yesterday even 45 seconds I was back looking at it. Terrible.
Finished in 2:26. 5k was a 33:20 and the 10k was 1:08 so not too too terrible but fell off wildly.
Was NOT ok at the end. Ate more salt, took 2 glasses of Gatorade and sat for a few min before feeling OK enough to walk to the baggage claim. People were dropping like flies so I was happy that didn't happen. But still, sucked.
I was in tears yesterday pm. It's like my body has a mind of its own, cooperates when it wants... etc. My legs weren't even tired!!! I wanted to go to the gym after the run, that's how 'easy' it was. (except for the almost dying part). I had a heat rash all on my face and neck so that's also indicative of heat exhaustion.
I'm not as upset after crying on Matt's shoulder, but I'm still not happy. It always feels like the more I put in the less I get back. I had SUCH good runs on Wed and Thurs I was so pumped. To fall flat on your face is the worst!!
Anyway onward and upwards I suppose. I need to think about what my running goals really are... because to be honest, I'm not quite sure anymore.
Regardless I thought I could pull it off.
It was hot as hell. Humid as hell. I woke up at 520, got ready, did my biz, ate some total (my usual) and took a cab up to 97th and 5th. Check in/baggage was a breeze and I was in my corral by 6:25. Terrible. We didnt take off until about 7:16 which was ridiculously late and I was hungry. The first water stop- no water or gatorade. I had my fuel belt thankfully. Second water stop- no water or gatorade..> I kept chugging along; third water stop- no water nor Gatorade!!! Come on NYRR!!!!
I thought I could hack my time if I could make it out of the park, but I just couldn't, it was like there was no energy store from which to draw... I took a salt tablet at mile 6... I was starting to feel not right. By 7th avenue I had full blown goosebumps and felt terrible. I drank most of the diluted Gatorade my mom had to me at mile 9... but was disappointed, knew unless I could pick it up I wouldn't be breaking any records.
Down the West Side Hwy was even worse, my ear blew out and I couldn't hack it, I walked a bunch. Usually I can avoid my watch for a while, yesterday even 45 seconds I was back looking at it. Terrible.
Finished in 2:26. 5k was a 33:20 and the 10k was 1:08 so not too too terrible but fell off wildly.
Was NOT ok at the end. Ate more salt, took 2 glasses of Gatorade and sat for a few min before feeling OK enough to walk to the baggage claim. People were dropping like flies so I was happy that didn't happen. But still, sucked.
I was in tears yesterday pm. It's like my body has a mind of its own, cooperates when it wants... etc. My legs weren't even tired!!! I wanted to go to the gym after the run, that's how 'easy' it was. (except for the almost dying part). I had a heat rash all on my face and neck so that's also indicative of heat exhaustion.
I'm not as upset after crying on Matt's shoulder, but I'm still not happy. It always feels like the more I put in the less I get back. I had SUCH good runs on Wed and Thurs I was so pumped. To fall flat on your face is the worst!!
Anyway onward and upwards I suppose. I need to think about what my running goals really are... because to be honest, I'm not quite sure anymore.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
RR- My first marathon
Well. I did it! I ran my first marathon. My official time is 5:23:23... this is a bit off from my 5:05-5:10 goal but I am OK with it.
so here's how the weekend went:
BEFORE THE RACE:
Friday was a very stressful day at work. Instead of leaving at 2 pm I didn't get home until almost 8 pm. I was extremely upset and discombogulated because I hadn't really packed and wanted to go to dinner with matt and co. I ended up staying in to do my Ipod and get organized and really, to decompress. Sat I woke up with a cold sore on my lip. How depressing. I get them from extreme stress and from sunburns so it was a huge let down to get one... if not only because they exhaust me and the meds for them, also dehydrate me. Sat the TNT bus was late and we finally got down to Long Branch around 130 pm. Nicole and I pulled a fast one and were the first to check in, top floor room, very pretty views of the finish/start line. My mom met us in the hotel lobby and we headed to the expo to pick up our race numbers. The Expo was absolutely nothing to write home about especially after the wonder that is the NYC expo. This Expo actually seemed to cater to the half marathoners, which makes sense since only 1726 people completed the marathon itself. (There were another 8000 or so relayers and halfers). My mom and I went to have a quiet lunch and then to drive the race course again. It was nice the day of to know where we were going and what to expect. Like, really nice.
At about 4:45/5 pm on Saturday Nicole and I went up to the room to decorate our singlets. I had JEN and ROCKSTAR on the front/back and she had NICOLE and BRING IT!. We went down to the pasta dinner (the food was excellent, I must say, and I was nervous!!!) and it was amazing to see all the coaches etc cheering us on as we walked into the ballroom. I almost burst into tears. It's amazing to think that the 350 persons in team in training running the NJ Shore Marathon raised over $678k!!! It was emotional all around to think of all I had given up in terms of weekends, running, squeezing in runs before dinners, money spent on gels, sneakers, massages etc.... The inspiration speaker was this Triatholon guy who currently was in remission and was running the full marathon that weekend... his story was very emotional as he described how he ran home from each chemo appointment. As in, after sitting there for hours with chemicals dripping through his bloodstream, he found the energy to zip up his jacket and lace his sneakers and run the few miles home. Like, talk about inspiration!!!
After dinner we headed up to the room to get really organized and figure out what we were wearing. The forecast was all doom and gloom. 50 and rainy basically the whole time. I didn't fall asleep until about 11 but slept amazingly through 5:45 am and at 6 am heard the race announcement start! HOW EXCITING!!!
SUNDAY: RACE DAY
At 6:15 I was still running the hallways (literally) trying to decide which shoes to wear. I had brought 3 pairs with me but had narrowed the field to 2 pairs by this am... I finally decided on the shoes which sometimes give me some knee pain over the ones which made my right shin really tight... I said a mini prayer that it was the right choice and moved on.
My mom was in the hotel lobby at 6 am! She's a bit crazy and wanted to make sure she had parking and knew what was going on. The energy in the hotel lobby was amazing. We didn't come down until about 6:45 but it was packed and fun. She brought us extra tissues, ponchos and other things to keep us dry as the start was delayed about 30 min all in all!!!
MILES 1-8
We finally crossed the start line at about 8:03... so all of my pacing charts for my family were way off... There was a very very slight drizzle as we headed off... Nicole and I were both a bit nervous but seeing Ramon at mile 1 on his bike with a microphone yelling obscenities put us at ease... we ran through a residential neighborhood relatively soon after the start (mile 1.5-2ish perhaps) and people had music blasting and were out even in the early hours making some noise. We hit the first water stop and took a cup per Ramon's instructions. The lines at the port a potties were already 10 people deep so we were very thankful we made the last minute decision at 7:50 to pee again. VERY SMART!!! At about mile 4 we saw Jill and Aly (with their hats and coffees!how cute!!) which was a huge pick me up.... turning down Long Branch Ave right by the hotel there was a huge crowd... loads of cheering and my aunt and uncle which was nice!!
My aunt and uncle somehow drove their van right on the side street so they were hanging out sitting in the back of it, resting until they saw us on a wide and flat street... My aunt had water and Gatorade for us which was nice-- we were at mile 5.5 at this point, and I took a sip of the water (in retrospect I must have been severely dehydrated... ) Right after we saw them we headed up into the more ghetto working part of Long Branch, and I ate an orange.. so much for nothing new on race day! As we headed down 2nd ave I started to feel a little loopy, a little dizzy and overall not so great. I couldn't tell if I was dizzy or if I just wasn't used to such flat open stretches where you can see really far (and perhaps think you should be seeing further bc it is so flat)... we hit South Lake Drive over our 5 hr pace for mile 8 and I really started to feel ill. I took gels at 45 min but I think I was dehydrated vs. not having enough sugars/etc. We passed my mom and brother (Eric was the WORLDS best cheerleader, really loud, yelling- THAT'S MY SISTER, SHES MY HERO, I almost burst into tears yet again).... Miles 8-11 are basically a double loop and at mile 11 you pass over the same bridge as you did in mile 8 (my mom and brother were hanging out at that interpass)...
MILES 11-13.1
Miles 8-11 did me well and I started to feel a little better. At mile 10 I took another gel and started to feel a bit more normal. At this point we hadn't taken any sort of walking break (which for us was unusual)... Mile 11 and more cheering from my mom and bro helped a bit... Miles 11-13 were basically a straight stretch up Ocean Blvd and then Ocean Ave into Pier Village and the half marathon mark. My knee started flaming fire ball practice, alternating with the arch in my right foot... fabulous and just in time. We FINALLY saw Felix and Matt at mile 11.5-12 (in their defense they were on the phone with Jill and Aly and missed us 2x before they finally saw us... they used Larry the Lighthouse as a marker- damn him!!!!) and that was a huge pick me up for me... It started to rain a bit more at this point and I really felt shitty... better than the dizzy mile 8 but worse than I would feel on the second loop. At mile 13 we saw Ramon (Godsend coach) and he walked us through the second loop-- keep hydrating, its still early, distract yourself for the next 5 miles- you can do this... He really helped and I felt a bit better turning my head to watch the Ocean as he recommended and not paying attention to the 7,000 finishing half marathoners!!!
MILES 13.1-17
This section of the race was very up and down for me. The second loop was desolate compared to the elbow throwing in the first few miles... While the original bands were gone the residential neighborhood still had music blaring and a few outrageous Marathon parties that helped a bit. At about mile 14.5 there was a water stop with high school cuties yelling 'chafing, Vaseline, water, Gatorade) which always makes me chuckle. I am pretty sure I took a gel here, but can't confirm. I did take 1300 mg of Tylenol 8 hour release. I was really struggling with feeling full and still a bit dizzy. At this point we were almost on 3 hours... I don't really know why the 12 min mile pace felt so damned hard! but it did. The rain also really started... we hit a bridge at about mile 15-15.5 and stopped to stretch. I popped my hip flexor on the left side and it was amazing!!! Coming over the bridge there was absolutely no one in front of us or behind, so I'm pretty sure we got some amazing Bright room shots... I might also mention that people were yelling our names by far more than others... I think our iron on letters were a huge hit! Even in the pouring rain my amazing friends Jill and Aly were there and had found balloons. They were joined by Matt and Felix and all of them were sooo nice to see at that point. Felix ran along side me and gave me some Gatorade which seemed to help a bit. More notably I said to them as I ran by "if I ever say I'm doing this again, remind me of this moment' It was my lowest low of the race.
MILES 17-21
In this section... it was all rain. Real rain. And wind... OMG wind. I saw my Aunt Diana and Uncle John again right on Cooper on the opposite side of Ocean Palace... grabbed some water... shortly after we saw some more TnTers which REALLY helped. TnT is absolutely amazing. Have I said this enough??? I felt like I finally hit my stride. Once we turned onto Broadway (mile 17.25ish) it's like something clicked. There was a huge line of half marathoners waiting for a bus to go back to what I assumed was the parking area.... It was me and Nicole and 2 men who were walking up the "hill" and this huuuuuge long line (I'm talking easily hundreds of people) who had just run the half... all of whom were staring at us... staring at us running in the pouring effing miserable weather!!! I started clapping and when I got little response I yelled "COME ON YOU JSUT RAN THIS ONCE... WE'RE RUNNING IT TWICE CHEER US ON!" the crowd erupted and it was like a fire was lit under my soggy dragging ass. I mean, the entire crowd was clapping and yelling our names (again with the iron on letters!!!) It was AWESOME. We grabbed some oranges and water and moved on. We ran into Phil again, which helped Nicole and turned onto the long stretch that is 2nd ave... Once we passed Monmouth Medical we ran into my cousins!!! More water for me. And then, a crucial moment, we ran into the Brooklyn Coach. I don't know his name, I only know that he wears a beret and has a long narrow beard, like really long. He looks really cool, and for lack of better descriptive, really Brooklyn. He asked us... when did you guys last have a gel... I told him 10 min ago to get him off our back, but by this time it was prob about 3:55 in and we hadn't had a gel in a good 55 min. Usually I'm all over this, but Sunday I was very much off my game... Right after we passed him we hit a water station, and i took a gel. BK coach saved my marathon. He is brilliant! (I was happy to send a shout out thank you at mile 25 when we passed him again!) I felt GOOD. Like GOOD. Unfortunately Nic hit the beginning of a long wall for her... We ran into Peter (another coach) at about 19.5 and talked with him about 1/4 of a mile... he told me I looked strong, which I definitely felt despite the awful conditions... We turned at Surf Taco and all I remember thinking is, I can do this!!! We hit my mom at mile 21. With her was my brother (still yelling his inspiration which I later found out was the talk of many TnT coaches!!!) Felix, Jill, Aly, Matt and two other TnT coaches! I felt amazing, like ready to rock, amazing! Nicole took about 4 minutes to stretch (I think IT band was shitty) and meanwhile I talked to Felicia, my mom, kissed Matt and did a pirouette. I honestly was ready to race.
Miles 21-24
At this point in the race, it was desolate... You turn onto South Lake back down around to Elberon Ave and then come up and around the Elberon train station before heading up an empty stretch of Ocean Blvd until you come back up to the bridge. My mom and I had planned for them to leave and head to the finish, but boy did I regret that once we hit mile 24. Miles 21-23 almost killed us. Nicole was not doing so well and I was trying to talk her through it but didn't know if I was annoying the shit out of her or helping.... We both took gels at 22 which I think helped her (I took a half) but we did have to stop a bit for her to stretch (i actually kept running up and down the block because I was scared to stop!!) I had a feeling that there was only so much energy left in me and was scared I would run out unless we just went for it... I never hit a wall.. Unless you count miles 11-17 a wall... i think it was dehydration from all the allergy/cold sore meds. Once we rounded mile 23 right by the water, I was ready to run... like 3 miles, puh lease, 2 reservoir laps, we can do that in our sleep, drunk, or blindfolded, I didn't get any laughs from Nicole. I was worried. At mile 24 I told her to put on her Ipod. I didn't know what else I could do... I couldn't keep expending all my energy talking and trying to get her going... I knew there was only a finite bit left in me!! We threw on our ipods (ironically mine was covered in red gunk which I later attributed to the Tylenol 8 hr I took at mile 14). My first song was Infinity and it's a fast pace trance song, helped a ton.
Maryellen joined us at mile 24.... to run us in. TnT is amazing. Mary Ellen is my mentor and she ran over 15 miles on Sunday to run her mentees into the finish line and to see us all. She was really phenom.
Miles 24-26
I felt amazing. Like AMAZING. Overall from miles 18-26 you wouldn't have thought that I had been running 4 hours. I felt better in these last 8 miles than I did the first 18. I guess that in and of itself is a major accomplishment. Right? I am happy I didn't hit a wall the way I did in my 21 and 20 milers in practice. Mile 24 felt long.... Ironically we picked up the pace from our easy (yet hard) 11:20-12:30 pacing depending on what we were feeling to a cool 10:45... If that wasn't good enough we actually ran the last mile in a 10:15- really? Who speeds up at the end??? By that much??? Ramon was right, those pacing bands are for the birds!! I saw Jess and Co at mile 25.25-25.5ish and threw them my race belt (my number was on my leg) I felt like everything was heavy and wet and I just wanted everything off me. Ironically even though the belt weighed less than a lb- it helped. I would've taken off my soaking wet jersey had it not been for the finish line picture. Felicia joined us at mile 25.25-25.5 I can't remember if we were past my family wet, I did take a water from Steph and that really helped clear my head... my stupid ear problems were on and off the whole time, esp in the middle miles... and my stomach Gremlin popped up a lot in round 1... I actually have a bruise under my rib cage where I kept pressing in!!!
Felicia was awesome... she talked us through it, told us we were rockstars (a duh) and told us we had 4/10ths of a mile to go. They kept asking us how we felt (N
ic was ipod'd out and I had taken mine off already bc it was annoying) and I just kept saying FINE. Felicia asked if I was sure and i wanted to yell UHM YES, I AM EXHAUSTED BUT I'M FINE FOR a 5 MIN RUN, LEAVE ME ALONE, all I managed was a glare. We made it over Pier Village and saw Ramon. Tears almost came-- it was the fucking end!! F-I-N-A-L-L-Y. My finite energy source was drawing thin, we kept speeding up (i think we crossed the finish at a 9:30 'sprint' which was about 3 min faster than our average pace) and I just wanted to be out of the rain. All I really remember was Nicole and I shouting G-L-A-M, O-R-O-U-S and Ramon asking me if she was singing. When I said yes, he asked if she had been doing it for long... if only Ramon had seen the role reversal at mile 21!!! I said no and he gave me a high five on the fact that we were about to be marathoners... We crossed the finish line singing.... "we flying first class, up in the sky, we flying first class, living the life...." and I could here my friends and family cheering me on.... what an amazing feeling
After
After I crossed the finish line (ps. was STILL raining) I got a medal (don't remember this) and went into the tent for juice. They had minestrone soup so I drank that but felt super claustrophobic so left the tent. My aunt gave me a blanket (no mylars at this event) and Matt was my umbrella holders as everyone posed for pics with me. I was proud yes, but cold and a bit overwhelmed. Like HOLY SHIT I JUST RAN A MARATHON overwhelmed. I went up and showered after talking to the fam (I was shaking by the time I got into the shower) and met them for a yummy lunch at McCloones. Then we drove home. And I rested. My legs were dead.
Things I learned:
so here's how the weekend went:
BEFORE THE RACE:
Friday was a very stressful day at work. Instead of leaving at 2 pm I didn't get home until almost 8 pm. I was extremely upset and discombogulated because I hadn't really packed and wanted to go to dinner with matt and co. I ended up staying in to do my Ipod and get organized and really, to decompress. Sat I woke up with a cold sore on my lip. How depressing. I get them from extreme stress and from sunburns so it was a huge let down to get one... if not only because they exhaust me and the meds for them, also dehydrate me. Sat the TNT bus was late and we finally got down to Long Branch around 130 pm. Nicole and I pulled a fast one and were the first to check in, top floor room, very pretty views of the finish/start line. My mom met us in the hotel lobby and we headed to the expo to pick up our race numbers. The Expo was absolutely nothing to write home about especially after the wonder that is the NYC expo. This Expo actually seemed to cater to the half marathoners, which makes sense since only 1726 people completed the marathon itself. (There were another 8000 or so relayers and halfers). My mom and I went to have a quiet lunch and then to drive the race course again. It was nice the day of to know where we were going and what to expect. Like, really nice.
At about 4:45/5 pm on Saturday Nicole and I went up to the room to decorate our singlets. I had JEN and ROCKSTAR on the front/back and she had NICOLE and BRING IT!. We went down to the pasta dinner (the food was excellent, I must say, and I was nervous!!!) and it was amazing to see all the coaches etc cheering us on as we walked into the ballroom. I almost burst into tears. It's amazing to think that the 350 persons in team in training running the NJ Shore Marathon raised over $678k!!! It was emotional all around to think of all I had given up in terms of weekends, running, squeezing in runs before dinners, money spent on gels, sneakers, massages etc.... The inspiration speaker was this Triatholon guy who currently was in remission and was running the full marathon that weekend... his story was very emotional as he described how he ran home from each chemo appointment. As in, after sitting there for hours with chemicals dripping through his bloodstream, he found the energy to zip up his jacket and lace his sneakers and run the few miles home. Like, talk about inspiration!!!
After dinner we headed up to the room to get really organized and figure out what we were wearing. The forecast was all doom and gloom. 50 and rainy basically the whole time. I didn't fall asleep until about 11 but slept amazingly through 5:45 am and at 6 am heard the race announcement start! HOW EXCITING!!!
SUNDAY: RACE DAY
At 6:15 I was still running the hallways (literally) trying to decide which shoes to wear. I had brought 3 pairs with me but had narrowed the field to 2 pairs by this am... I finally decided on the shoes which sometimes give me some knee pain over the ones which made my right shin really tight... I said a mini prayer that it was the right choice and moved on.My mom was in the hotel lobby at 6 am! She's a bit crazy and wanted to make sure she had parking and knew what was going on. The energy in the hotel lobby was amazing. We didn't come down until about 6:45 but it was packed and fun. She brought us extra tissues, ponchos and other things to keep us dry as the start was delayed about 30 min all in all!!!
MILES 1-8
We finally crossed the start line at about 8:03... so all of my pacing charts for my family were way off... There was a very very slight drizzle as we headed off... Nicole and I were both a bit nervous but seeing Ramon at mile 1 on his bike with a microphone yelling obscenities put us at ease... we ran through a residential neighborhood relatively soon after the start (mile 1.5-2ish perhaps) and people had music blasting and were out even in the early hours making some noise. We hit the first water stop and took a cup per Ramon's instructions. The lines at the port a potties were already 10 people deep so we were very thankful we made the last minute decision at 7:50 to pee again. VERY SMART!!! At about mile 4 we saw Jill and Aly (with their hats and coffees!how cute!!) which was a huge pick me up.... turning down Long Branch Ave right by the hotel there was a huge crowd... loads of cheering and my aunt and uncle which was nice!!
My aunt and uncle somehow drove their van right on the side street so they were hanging out sitting in the back of it, resting until they saw us on a wide and flat street... My aunt had water and Gatorade for us which was nice-- we were at mile 5.5 at this point, and I took a sip of the water (in retrospect I must have been severely dehydrated... ) Right after we saw them we headed up into the more ghetto working part of Long Branch, and I ate an orange.. so much for nothing new on race day! As we headed down 2nd ave I started to feel a little loopy, a little dizzy and overall not so great. I couldn't tell if I was dizzy or if I just wasn't used to such flat open stretches where you can see really far (and perhaps think you should be seeing further bc it is so flat)... we hit South Lake Drive over our 5 hr pace for mile 8 and I really started to feel ill. I took gels at 45 min but I think I was dehydrated vs. not having enough sugars/etc. We passed my mom and brother (Eric was the WORLDS best cheerleader, really loud, yelling- THAT'S MY SISTER, SHES MY HERO, I almost burst into tears yet again).... Miles 8-11 are basically a double loop and at mile 11 you pass over the same bridge as you did in mile 8 (my mom and brother were hanging out at that interpass)...MILES 11-13.1
Miles 8-11 did me well and I started to feel a little better. At mile 10 I took another gel and started to feel a bit more normal. At this point we hadn't taken any sort of walking break (which for us was unusual)... Mile 11 and more cheering from my mom and bro helped a bit... Miles 11-13 were basically a straight stretch up Ocean Blvd and then Ocean Ave into Pier Village and the half marathon mark. My knee started flaming fire ball practice, alternating with the arch in my right foot... fabulous and just in time. We FINALLY saw Felix and Matt at mile 11.5-12 (in their defense they were on the phone with Jill and Aly and missed us 2x before they finally saw us... they used Larry the Lighthouse as a marker- damn him!!!!) and that was a huge pick me up for me... It started to rain a bit more at this point and I really felt shitty... better than the dizzy mile 8 but worse than I would feel on the second loop. At mile 13 we saw Ramon (Godsend coach) and he walked us through the second loop-- keep hydrating, its still early, distract yourself for the next 5 miles- you can do this... He really helped and I felt a bit better turning my head to watch the Ocean as he recommended and not paying attention to the 7,000 finishing half marathoners!!!
MILES 13.1-17
This section of the race was very up and down for me. The second loop was desolate compared to the elbow throwing in the first few miles... While the original bands were gone the residential neighborhood still had music blaring and a few outrageous Marathon parties that helped a bit. At about mile 14.5 there was a water stop with high school cuties yelling 'chafing, Vaseline, water, Gatorade) which always makes me chuckle. I am pretty sure I took a gel here, but can't confirm. I did take 1300 mg of Tylenol 8 hour release. I was really struggling with feeling full and still a bit dizzy. At this point we were almost on 3 hours... I don't really know why the 12 min mile pace felt so damned hard! but it did. The rain also really started... we hit a bridge at about mile 15-15.5 and stopped to stretch. I popped my hip flexor on the left side and it was amazing!!! Coming over the bridge there was absolutely no one in front of us or behind, so I'm pretty sure we got some amazing Bright room shots... I might also mention that people were yelling our names by far more than others... I think our iron on letters were a huge hit! Even in the pouring rain my amazing friends Jill and Aly were there and had found balloons. They were joined by Matt and Felix and all of them were sooo nice to see at that point. Felix ran along side me and gave me some Gatorade which seemed to help a bit. More notably I said to them as I ran by "if I ever say I'm doing this again, remind me of this moment' It was my lowest low of the race.
MILES 17-21
In this section... it was all rain. Real rain. And wind... OMG wind. I saw my Aunt Diana and Uncle John again right on Cooper on the opposite side of Ocean Palace... grabbed some water... shortly after we saw some more TnTers which REALLY helped. TnT is absolutely amazing. Have I said this enough??? I felt like I finally hit my stride. Once we turned onto Broadway (mile 17.25ish) it's like something clicked. There was a huge line of half marathoners waiting for a bus to go back to what I assumed was the parking area.... It was me and Nicole and 2 men who were walking up the "hill" and this huuuuuge long line (I'm talking easily hundreds of people) who had just run the half... all of whom were staring at us... staring at us running in the pouring effing miserable weather!!! I started clapping and when I got little response I yelled "COME ON YOU JSUT RAN THIS ONCE... WE'RE RUNNING IT TWICE CHEER US ON!" the crowd erupted and it was like a fire was lit under my soggy dragging ass. I mean, the entire crowd was clapping and yelling our names (again with the iron on letters!!!) It was AWESOME. We grabbed some oranges and water and moved on. We ran into Phil again, which helped Nicole and turned onto the long stretch that is 2nd ave... Once we passed Monmouth Medical we ran into my cousins!!! More water for me. And then, a crucial moment, we ran into the Brooklyn Coach. I don't know his name, I only know that he wears a beret and has a long narrow beard, like really long. He looks really cool, and for lack of better descriptive, really Brooklyn. He asked us... when did you guys last have a gel... I told him 10 min ago to get him off our back, but by this time it was prob about 3:55 in and we hadn't had a gel in a good 55 min. Usually I'm all over this, but Sunday I was very much off my game... Right after we passed him we hit a water station, and i took a gel. BK coach saved my marathon. He is brilliant! (I was happy to send a shout out thank you at mile 25 when we passed him again!) I felt GOOD. Like GOOD. Unfortunately Nic hit the beginning of a long wall for her... We ran into Peter (another coach) at about 19.5 and talked with him about 1/4 of a mile... he told me I looked strong, which I definitely felt despite the awful conditions... We turned at Surf Taco and all I remember thinking is, I can do this!!! We hit my mom at mile 21. With her was my brother (still yelling his inspiration which I later found out was the talk of many TnT coaches!!!) Felix, Jill, Aly, Matt and two other TnT coaches! I felt amazing, like ready to rock, amazing! Nicole took about 4 minutes to stretch (I think IT band was shitty) and meanwhile I talked to Felicia, my mom, kissed Matt and did a pirouette. I honestly was ready to race.
Miles 21-24
At this point in the race, it was desolate... You turn onto South Lake back down around to Elberon Ave and then come up and around the Elberon train station before heading up an empty stretch of Ocean Blvd until you come back up to the bridge. My mom and I had planned for them to leave and head to the finish, but boy did I regret that once we hit mile 24. Miles 21-23 almost killed us. Nicole was not doing so well and I was trying to talk her through it but didn't know if I was annoying the shit out of her or helping.... We both took gels at 22 which I think helped her (I took a half) but we did have to stop a bit for her to stretch (i actually kept running up and down the block because I was scared to stop!!) I had a feeling that there was only so much energy left in me and was scared I would run out unless we just went for it... I never hit a wall.. Unless you count miles 11-17 a wall... i think it was dehydration from all the allergy/cold sore meds. Once we rounded mile 23 right by the water, I was ready to run... like 3 miles, puh lease, 2 reservoir laps, we can do that in our sleep, drunk, or blindfolded, I didn't get any laughs from Nicole. I was worried. At mile 24 I told her to put on her Ipod. I didn't know what else I could do... I couldn't keep expending all my energy talking and trying to get her going... I knew there was only a finite bit left in me!! We threw on our ipods (ironically mine was covered in red gunk which I later attributed to the Tylenol 8 hr I took at mile 14). My first song was Infinity and it's a fast pace trance song, helped a ton.
Maryellen joined us at mile 24.... to run us in. TnT is amazing. Mary Ellen is my mentor and she ran over 15 miles on Sunday to run her mentees into the finish line and to see us all. She was really phenom.
Miles 24-26
I felt amazing. Like AMAZING. Overall from miles 18-26 you wouldn't have thought that I had been running 4 hours. I felt better in these last 8 miles than I did the first 18. I guess that in and of itself is a major accomplishment. Right? I am happy I didn't hit a wall the way I did in my 21 and 20 milers in practice. Mile 24 felt long.... Ironically we picked up the pace from our easy (yet hard) 11:20-12:30 pacing depending on what we were feeling to a cool 10:45... If that wasn't good enough we actually ran the last mile in a 10:15- really? Who speeds up at the end??? By that much??? Ramon was right, those pacing bands are for the birds!! I saw Jess and Co at mile 25.25-25.5ish and threw them my race belt (my number was on my leg) I felt like everything was heavy and wet and I just wanted everything off me. Ironically even though the belt weighed less than a lb- it helped. I would've taken off my soaking wet jersey had it not been for the finish line picture. Felicia joined us at mile 25.25-25.5 I can't remember if we were past my family wet, I did take a water from Steph and that really helped clear my head... my stupid ear problems were on and off the whole time, esp in the middle miles... and my stomach Gremlin popped up a lot in round 1... I actually have a bruise under my rib cage where I kept pressing in!!!
Felicia was awesome... she talked us through it, told us we were rockstars (a duh) and told us we had 4/10ths of a mile to go. They kept asking us how we felt (N
ic was ipod'd out and I had taken mine off already bc it was annoying) and I just kept saying FINE. Felicia asked if I was sure and i wanted to yell UHM YES, I AM EXHAUSTED BUT I'M FINE FOR a 5 MIN RUN, LEAVE ME ALONE, all I managed was a glare. We made it over Pier Village and saw Ramon. Tears almost came-- it was the fucking end!! F-I-N-A-L-L-Y. My finite energy source was drawing thin, we kept speeding up (i think we crossed the finish at a 9:30 'sprint' which was about 3 min faster than our average pace) and I just wanted to be out of the rain. All I really remember was Nicole and I shouting G-L-A-M, O-R-O-U-S and Ramon asking me if she was singing. When I said yes, he asked if she had been doing it for long... if only Ramon had seen the role reversal at mile 21!!! I said no and he gave me a high five on the fact that we were about to be marathoners... We crossed the finish line singing.... "we flying first class, up in the sky, we flying first class, living the life...." and I could here my friends and family cheering me on.... what an amazing feeling 
After
After I crossed the finish line (ps. was STILL raining) I got a medal (don't remember this) and went into the tent for juice. They had minestrone soup so I drank that but felt super claustrophobic so left the tent. My aunt gave me a blanket (no mylars at this event) and Matt was my umbrella holders as everyone posed for pics with me. I was proud yes, but cold and a bit overwhelmed. Like HOLY SHIT I JUST RAN A MARATHON overwhelmed. I went up and showered after talking to the fam (I was shaking by the time I got into the shower) and met them for a yummy lunch at McCloones. Then we drove home. And I rested. My legs were dead.
Things I learned:
- Pace bands are for the birds- you never know what you're going to feel on race day. Case in point. My best miles were 18-25.5??
- Rain still sucks. Wind, even more so
- Family and friends and crowds cheering you on can get you through A LOT
- Porta potty breaks 10 seconds before the start- pay off!!
- Drink water at every station- you might be dehydrated like me
- Running a marathon has higher highs and lowers lows than you can imagine, even if you did 3 over 20 mile runs, its just not the same
- I love running and I'm def addicted
- Your first marathon should be done with TnT. Hands down. They were amazing/life saving/the best ever!! honestly!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
my third half
I feel like all I have after every race is an excuse. I'm starting to realize however that running really is a precise sport. Sure anyone can do it in theory and you can wear just about anything and survive, to thrive there is a precision that is not for the weak of heart, or brain for that matter.
It's a tightrope I have yet to master.
Thsi past Sunday should have been fantastic. I slept a lot during the week (despite the start of an icky devastating cold sore, migraine and fever- not all at once but rather alternating throughout the week), hadn't run too too much, had done yoga, and had cooperative weather. And then folks, the stomach kicked in. Apparently I ate too much fat/etc the night before. My stomach felt like it was hosting a revolution around mile 4 and WWII by mile 9. I just didn't feel right if that makes any sense.
My time sucked. 2:27 I mean I did stop 2x because I thought i was going ot puke etc but REALLY!?!?
It's a tightrope I have yet to master.
Thsi past Sunday should have been fantastic. I slept a lot during the week (despite the start of an icky devastating cold sore, migraine and fever- not all at once but rather alternating throughout the week), hadn't run too too much, had done yoga, and had cooperative weather. And then folks, the stomach kicked in. Apparently I ate too much fat/etc the night before. My stomach felt like it was hosting a revolution around mile 4 and WWII by mile 9. I just didn't feel right if that makes any sense.
My time sucked. 2:27 I mean I did stop 2x because I thought i was going ot puke etc but REALLY!?!?
Monday, February 2, 2009
A Racing Wkd
Sunday I ran in NYRR's Gridiron Classic 4 miler. 41:06 was my unofficial time. Unofficial because I num nuttedly deactivated my chip during my warm up run- stupid- but I wanted to know where the finish line was.
So, although it doesnt REALLY matter, it does because it was an improved time (some 30 seconds faster than in December) and because the race won't count to the 9+1 guaranteed entry to NYC2010 which I want the option on.
Regardless, I was proud of my time and even more proud that I dressed light with just a hat, light gloves, a dri fit and a long sleeve tshirt w tights for 30 degrees and wasnt cold. My shins were a bit tight (as were my legs in general) but overall felt ok given my 35 mile 7 day total (thurs-thurs I'd run 35 miles as I think I previously mentioned) and given the fact that Matt and I did a cooking class which ended at 11 on Saturday night and that we went out Friday and drank.
Overall, thumbs up. This week I'm going to train a bit but not hard. Tonight it's a few miles (it's SO nice out, I can't resist) and tomorrow more hills. Wednesday I hope for yoga and Sunday I might run a loop. Overall that should be 3+3+6 which will be a 25 mile week. I'm OK with that :)
Nothing else to report. Back is icky but need more yoga!
So, although it doesnt REALLY matter, it does because it was an improved time (some 30 seconds faster than in December) and because the race won't count to the 9+1 guaranteed entry to NYC2010 which I want the option on.
Regardless, I was proud of my time and even more proud that I dressed light with just a hat, light gloves, a dri fit and a long sleeve tshirt w tights for 30 degrees and wasnt cold. My shins were a bit tight (as were my legs in general) but overall felt ok given my 35 mile 7 day total (thurs-thurs I'd run 35 miles as I think I previously mentioned) and given the fact that Matt and I did a cooking class which ended at 11 on Saturday night and that we went out Friday and drank.
Overall, thumbs up. This week I'm going to train a bit but not hard. Tonight it's a few miles (it's SO nice out, I can't resist) and tomorrow more hills. Wednesday I hope for yoga and Sunday I might run a loop. Overall that should be 3+3+6 which will be a 25 mile week. I'm OK with that :)
Nothing else to report. Back is icky but need more yoga!
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