Race Recaps: Baby, it's cold outside

Reality check...

Call me a masochist (okay, many of you have), but winter is my favorite running season. The crisp air, the quiet solitude of Central Park, frolicking through freshly fallen snow... cue romanticized daydream of NYC winter.  Whatever. Even the latest snowpocalpyse and ensuing infrastructure melt down hasn't dampened my winter adoration. After months of training in the heat and humidity, the cold is a welcome relief. So it was with great excitement that I launched into the winter running with two races - the Joe Kleinerman 10K and the Ted Corbit 15K. Did the races live up to my internal hype? Errr, not quite. For those uninterested in detailed recaps, here's the bottom line: end result was one PR and one DNF. Win some, lose some?

Ready to start

In 48 hours, Kim and I will be enjoying a free beer and massage courtesy of the Marine Corps Marathon after finishing our first marathon, insha'allah.  Wow.  26.2 miles finished.  Damn, son. To be quite honest, I can't really wrap my mind around what happens after we finish.  Eating 2,000 calories? Sleeping for a week? Comrades training? Time will tell but I'm pretty sure the first two are safe bets.

Heads up - I usually keep the blog nice and light (and occasionally downright profane) but it's gonna get a little personal for a second. Feel skip down to the OMFG YAY RUNNING SO MUCH PAIN ending if feelings make you queasy. No judgment, I suffer from the same affliction.

Why MTA is the bane of my existence

This past Sunday, Kim and I put on our gamefaces and braved New York's northern most borough for the NYRR Bronx Half Marathon. The race itself went remarkably well. The weather calmed itself down to the mid-70s, Kim didn't die of an asthma attack, and I restrained the urge to run fast, keeping a consistent, slow pace throughout all of the very hilly 13.1 miles. The course was a little...interesting. Took place mainly in residential neighborhoods, some sketchier than others, with quite a few turn-around points and unexpectedly lots of hills. Overall, it was solid training run and I would have given the whole experience a gold star if it weren't for the SUBWAY RIDE OF DOOM.

And so it begins

One week from today training for the Marine Corps Marathon officially begins! Rationally I should be nauseatingly nervous, but quite honestly I'm downright excited for training to start in earnest. Like schoolgirl on prom night excited. For the past year, I've run consistently - slowly building my base and tackling distances that this time last year I would have scoffed at. While I've talked about running a marathon for years, I never took the leap and committed myself to the actual running part of the dream. Minor details. This time is different though. My registration fee is paid, marathon tech t-shirt has arrived, and most importantly I'm now confident in my ability to log the miles necessary to pull this off. That's not to say I don't envision moments when I will want to burn my Brooks sneakers and quit. Thankfully the combination of a detailed training plan, tons of NYRR races, and my amazing race partner Kim should be more than enough to keep me on track.

Too hot to handle

After over a week of 90degree sweltering days, it's official - summer has hit New York City. For most New Yorkers, that means cranking up the A/C, escaping to the Hamptons, or searching for entry into the city's elusive private pools. For runners, though, it's the time of year that most of us dread - a potent combination of long training runs for the fall marathon circuit and suboptimal weather (to put it mildly).

Luckily the folks at Runner's World complied some tips on surviving long, hot runs. Adjusting your schedule to take advantage of cooler mornings, bringing some speedwork onto the treadmill, and finding creative ways to avoid dehydration are all solid ideas to train safely in the summer heat. A big challenge for a lot of runners is staying hydrated, which is critical to running in high temps. If your running route isn't littered with water fountains, then you might want to considering investing in a hydration belt. While it's not the sexiest fashion accessory out there, the belt holds up to four small water bottles and also has a small pouch to store your keys, Metrocard, and snacks for those extra long runs. Definitely very practical. Kim and I even bought matching red belts at the Broad Street 10 Mile Expo a few months ago! Sadly they were out of hot pink...

Summer in the city

Annnnnd I'm back. After a month long sabbatical from "Couch to Comrades," steel yourself for weekly blog spam. The radio silence doesn't indicate a lack of running, I promise. Last weekend Kim and I ran the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon (recap to come in a second!) and I've been plugging around 30 miles a week for the past month in preparation for the start of marathon training in July. But to be honest, my ongoing premature quarter-life crisis has left me with little motivation to write about the same old, same old runs.

As most recent graduates will admit, this time in our lives is an exciting, promising, debaucherous chapter but still quite full of uncertainty. Friends move in and out of your life, apartments change seemingly every month, and five year plans rarely pan out as we envisioned. And for the first time, we're left without an obvious next goal to work towards. High school and college rolled by in a blur of standardized exams, college applications, club elections, job hunts, and theses, but now the next step is less clear and pursuing our true passions can often feel difficult, if not downright impossible.

Pepita says time for a RACE RECAP!

Okay, sorry for the obnoxious inside joke title but had to give a shout out to Team Pepita (aka Kim, Tim, Mike, and I) for the great hustle at Sunday's Broad Street 10 Mile in Philly! Despite horrendously hot and humid weather, the race was fantastic and the perfect excuse for a Georgetown reunion. After fetching my hungover self from the Boltbus station on Saturday afternoon, Kim took me on my first real tour of Philly, making sure that we hit up all the important cultural and culinary sites. Mmmm Amish apple dumplings are definitely my new favorite way to carboload!

After loading up on food, Kim and I headed over to Lincoln Financial Field to pick up our bibs and packets from the race expo. Luckily by the time we arrived, most of the runners had already come through so we were able to grab our packets without a hitch and then spent a little time wandering around the expo searching for free schwag. Not much in the way of free goodies, but Kim and I did come out with our AWESOME NEW HYDRATION BELTS. These will be a much needed running accessory as we delve into marathon training this summer. Obviously we got them in matching colors, although we did restrain ourselves from purchasing them in highlighter pink. The ridiculously good looking photos of us modeling the belts will be posted shortly...

MCM history lesson courtesy of Kim!

So as Monica announced, the two of us are now officially committed to running the 35th Marine Corps Marathon on Halloween in Arlington and Washington, DC. I’ve been set on running it since about December, and am super excited that Monica will be joining (I can’t say I expect to be able to keep up with her…I have no desire to do anything but finish, and maybe not be picked up by the stragglers’ bus at mile 20). I’ve been marginally involved with the MCM for the past two years through running the MC10K, which is held at the same time as the marathon, and ends up at Iwo Jima a couple hours before the first marathon finishers cross the line.

The MCM bills itself as “the People’s Marathon,” primarily because it doesn’t do anything to try to attract professional runners—there is no prize money, and no appearance fees paid to the professionals who boost the standing of some other marathons which will remain unnamed in case I ever decide to run them. As a result, I think the MCM is about as unintimidating as you can get for marathons (you know, one you get over the fact that it’s a marathon and all).

Broad Street 10 Mile!

So turns out after all I AM signed up for the Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Mile race this Sunday! Confirmation was lacking until this morning when Kim found my bib number on their website (thanks, dear). Like many other long distance races, the Broad Street 10 miler sold out for the first time in its 30 year history. Online registration closed earlier than expected in March so I was forced to snail mail in my application and wait for written confirmation that I had a spot. Radio silence. However, according to their website I got in and am all set for Sunday! Lesson learned that I shouldn't procrastinate race reg in the future so all this confusion can be avoided, especially since more and more races are filling up faster than ever.

Really looking forward to this race as first and foremost it'll be a lovely Hoya reunion to run with Kimi-chan, Mike, and Tim! This is the second of many races Kim and I will be running together in preparation for this fall's Marine Corps Marathon. Woot! Also this is my first trip to Philly (I know, total East Coast fail) so Kim and I will do a little exploring on Saturday. Perhaps we'll even run into a veryvery drunk Greg who's skipping out on this race to go to his friend's 4 day bar-hopping bachelor party. His liver may never be the same again.

Anyways, if any of y'all live or find yourself in Philly this weekend, we'd love to see you at the finish line!

Live and learn

After a week off the blogging train in order to pay a little attention to life/work/drinking (my liver was feeling a little too healthy), I'm back with running updates that are: a.) fun, b.) interesting, c.) intellectually stimulating, d.) psychotic or e.) all of the above. I'll leave it to y'all to decide.

1. After over a month of responsible running, knee straps, ice packs, and an obscene amount of ibuprofen, my knees no longer drive me to long for amputation on every run. Victory! Knock on wood they stay this way. I'm restraining the urge to ramp back up to running 6 days, however. Until I'm forced to log killer mileage during Comrades training, I will be sticking to running a mere four times a week with crosstraining/yoga on the other 3 days.
   
   
2. As you can see (or probably not given the suboptimal quality of a BlackBerry camera), I busted out the old graph paper and charted my training plan for the next 9 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love the Runner's World Smart Coach training plans, but since my schedule is so wonky and I have some traveling coming up in the next couple of months (Italy!!), it's often difficult to put together a plan that I can consistently execute. My new schedule sticks to the aforementioned 4 runs a week, focusing on quality miles over quantity. Each week includes a tempo run, speedwork, long run, and one recovery run. Mileage increases every week by 10% then drops back in the third week to allow for additional recovery or to accommodate a race. The goal for the next 3 months is to maintain a base mileage of around 30 miles/week, AVOID injury, and incorporate some good fast running to keep my times down and sanity in check.
   

Great success!

Highlights of a fantastic weekend:

1. Engaged in healthy decisions for once and pregamed the 15K with a trip to the Korean spa in Flushing with the girls on Saturday. Sweated out any residual toxins/alcohol and loosened up my muscles in the 195degree sauna! Despite a brief freak-out when forced to go into the naked only shower/bath area, yesterday was delightfully relaxing and a great way to rest up before a long race. On the way back, there was no way Dasha and I were going to pass up a return trip to the Golden Mall (aka the most amazing place in the world) to get some authentic Chinese food. Yummy hand-pulled noodles and stuffed pork bao buns were the perfect carboloading for today.

Spring is in the air!

And I've fallen in love with New York City all over again. Something about hyacinths and outdoor runs in shorts and a tank top restores my faith in humanity.

On Friday, I took the day off from work (!!!) to take care of some long overdue errands / get my life in a semblance of working order. Mission moderately accomplished; however, the 70 degree weather distracted me from getting a new passport. After two hours in the DMV line, the prospect of another encounter with bureaucracy at its worst was unimaginable. Instead, I was lured over to the East River Park to do some of serious speed work. Did two miles warm-up at half-marathon pace (9:20) then did 6 x 400m at 5k pace (8:45) with 200m recovery. Followed that up with a one mile cool down along the East River.

All in all, didn't feel horrible, which isn't saying much considering I haven't done any serious intervals for a few weeks. Last week, I limited my runs to a few short, slow 4-5 milers. Not very fun, but practical considering the state of my knees. However, with this weekend's 15K rapidly approaching I wanted to gauge where my pace was at and also decide if I needed to sit this race out. As much as I've been looking forward to running a race that ISN'T during a snowpocalypse, can't justify blowing out my knee due to stubbornly ignoring my pain. My (overly?) ambitious goals of running my first marathon this fall and the Comrades in 2011 are just slightly dependent on having functioning joints.

Getting back on the horse

After taking the last week and a half off from running in a futile attempt to nurse my knee back to health, I AM BACK. Well to blogging that is. The first run back last night was rather frustrating as 1. it was NOT very springlike out aka far too cold/windy/rainy/nasty to be running in shorts and t-shirt outside and, more importantly, 2. my knee started flaring up literally half a mile down the Westside Highway. I carried on and did around four miles, not nearly as far as I would have liked to go but I didn't want to overdue it and miss out on gorgeous outdoor runs later this week. It's going to be 68 degrees on Thursday!!! This fact warrants many many exclamation points.

What are you looking forward to as the weather finally starts to warm up?

Either way, I think it's time I bite the bullet and go see a sports therapist to get my knee checked out. It feels like cotton balls are being pulled apart under my knee cap - that's not normal right? Clearly proved that I'm capable of running through the pain but it's not exactly an ideal or sustainable situation. In the meanwhile, I'll limit my running to only 2 times a week (super sadface) and continue crosstraining. Unfortunately, my forays into non-running workouts over the past week have by and large left me unsatisfied and longing to lace up my shoes and go for a jog around Tompkins Square Park. I've tried to focus on activities that will maintain my aerobic fitness while targeting key muscles that need to be rebalanced. In other words, loosen up my calves and hamstrings.

Weekly revelation: Missed runs equal cranky Monica

Apologizes for being a total slacker at posting over the past week. A manic week at work devoured all free time and any motivation to even look at a computer at night after living in front of one at the office. Promise to inundate y'all with my word vomit at least a few times this week.

So. About that running. Forced myself to take last Monday and Tuesday off after the back-to-back races. My knee has been acting up a bit the past couple weeks so I figured it was best to give it a little rest before throwing myself back into training. 4 weeks till the 15K and given my recent times I think it's totally possible to hit a sub-8:45 pace if I stick with the training plan. Oh and don't blow out my knee. Last thing I need is a case of ITB syndrome. Unfortunately, speaking of injuries, Smithies was taking it easy last week and sat out Sunday's 4 mile race in Prospect Park as it's looking more and more like he's got a bad case of planters fasciitis, which does not bode well for his running mission. Hopefully with a little more R&R he'll be back out on the road! I don't know how he's holding up - literally two days sans running had me going bat shit psycho. More so than usual.

You are cordially invited...

...to come running with me! Let's be honest, slogging through long runs is infinitely more fun with a friend or 10. Sometimes you really need to dig deep and retreat inwards to gut out a hard run, but more often than not any distraction is a welcome one.

Even if you're not a runner (yet), be warned that I will most likely attempt to harass you into doing a race with me. Just ask my roomie. Christina's been such a good sport, tolerating my spandex taking up every free hook in the bathroom not to mention my uncontrollable irrational post run HUNGER. Now she's let me heckle her into some races. Edling's committed to doing a few 5ks once the weather warms up a bit. Can't wait! Time to get the rest of the NYC Georgetown mafia to trade in their drinking stilettos for sneakers on a Sunday morning. I promise we can still go to AYCD brunch after.

Sadly in the post-college life, I'm separated by more than just a quick subway ride from most of my closest friends. However, planning reunions around races combines the best of both worlds - quality time with my friends and more training/racing opportunities to take my running to the next level. Super excited that Kim will be joining Smithies and I for the 15K in March, and glad she wasn't scared off after our first 15K experience back in December during SNOWPOCALYPSE v1.0.

Speaking of which, a trip to Philly in May for the Broad Street 10 Mile has just been added to the spring racing schedule. Kim, Mike, and I will brave the 30,000 (!!!) other runners to take a scenic, and hopefully fast, tour through Philadelphia's diverse neighborhoods. Kim and I are also flirting with the idea of popping down to DC the day before to join Emily and Kenneth for RunAmuck Mud Run. RunAmuck is "a challenging 5K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, walls, ropes, and MUD." Come on - mud pits and a costume competition? That sounds like SO MUCH FUN! Yes, I am basically a five year old.

Any races you're especially excited about this spring?

Coming up this weekend is the NYRR Al Gordon Classic, a 4 mile race in Prospect Park. Greg, Kristy, and I will be there and hopefully you! My muscles cringe a bit at the thought of climbing those hills again, but after last weekend's 10 miler this should be easy peasy lemon squeezy. Please, please, please go watch In the Loop IMMEDIATELY if you do not get that reference.

Yes, we're just that hardcore

Overheard in Prospect Park
Random runner guy: So are you running the 3 mile relay or the 10 mile?
Spandex clad runner girl: Oh, just the 3 miler. I ran the Run for Haiti in Central Park yesterday so didn't want to overdo it.
Random runner guy: Good call. I saw the NYRR email about the Run for Haiti but didn't sign up since I had the Cherry Tree today. You'd have to be an idiot to do two races in a weekend.
Spandex clad runner girl: Absolutely - who would be that stupid?

Answer: Greg and I. That wasn't necessarily the most inspiring conversation to eavesdrop on as we waited in the cold to start the Prospect Park Cherry Tree 10 mile race this morning. 14 miles and a few minor/major injuries later, I'd say they weren't TOTALLY correct. Yes, I'll be quite sore tomorrow and probably should take the next two days off from running, but these were two of the most fun races I've ever done, not to mention both PBs.

Started off the weekend with NYRR's 4 mile Run for Haiti in Central Park on Saturdayy morning. Ah-mazing experience: 10,000 plus runners and walkers pitched up and raised over $400,000 for the Haitian Relief Fund. Smithies and I met up with Kristy to complete the GTS runner's trio. With lovely unseasonably warm weather and great energy from the crowd, it was hard not to get pumped up for the race. We all clocked in at a comfortable 36 minutes for the 4 miles. Despite being sick with NAIMUN plague, legs and lungs felt really solid and I'm sure I could have gone faster if the route hadn't been so packed with runners and I wasn't running another race the next day. Minor details.

Run for a cause!

New York Road Runners is partnering with New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to raise money for NYC’s Haiti Relief Fund in light of the recent tragedy that's befallen the left half of Hispaniola. 100% of entry fees will be donated to organizations providing aid in Haiti. Join Greg and I in Central Park for a quick 4 mile jaunt on Saturday, February 20th. Guaranteed to be a fun, albeit chilly, run followed by a yummy brunch in the UES with the GTS Runchers (aka drunkie brunchers with a running problem).

Even if you're not going to be in NYC, you can still donate to the relief fund and participate "virtually" by running a 4M between February 19 and 24. Click here for additional information and race registration!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves

Before we leap feet first into marathoning, obviously we need to complete a few races in advance. New York (and the East Coast in general) is a bit of runner's Mecca with practically a race every weekend so narrowing it down to a reasonable and financially feasible number will be difficult. Luckily as New York Road Runners members we get a super nice discount on most NYC races. But one of my favorite parts of running is the opportunity it gives you to explore new neighborhoods or view a city from an entirely different perspective (usually a sweaty, exhausted one...). So expect our race schedule to lead us off the island and into outer-boroughs and to a city near you!

Personally, I want to use these next couple of months and races to really bring my time down on middle distance races. I just completed my first half-marathon last Sunday(!!) and am feeling pretty solid with my base mileage. Now it's time to take it up a notch with lots of fun (read: painful) tempo runs, fartleks, and speedwork. We'll be running a lot of 6-10M races this winter/early spring as Greg gets ready for his first half-marathon in May. I'd love to break 1:23 for the 15K and 1:50 for next half-marathon but that may be slightly ambitious. No pain, no gain right? Feeling more than slightly inspired to tackle middle/long-distance excellence after meeting Bernard Lagat on Wednesday at a NYRR happy hour. Sadly I don't think I'll ever run a sub-4 mile, but a girl can dream right?

Tentative Race Schedule:
February 20 - 4M Run for Haiti
February 21 - Cherry Tree 10M
February 28 - NYRR Al Gordon 4M
March 28 - NYRR Colon Cancer Challenge 15K