NYRR New York City Marathon Tune-Up: 18 Miles

I think I have mentioned it but if not, my long runs this cycle have been shit-tastic. Seriously. Struggle bus for the majority. Just NOT inspired. It has been more about my heart just not being in it and having to will myself through the miles and to not walk. Boredom? Idk. But there has been a serious mental block.

For that very reason, with 2 weeks of long runs left before taper for the Hartford Marathon, I decided to run the NYRR 18 Mile Tune-up (and luckily with TFK for NYCM we get a free entry!!! They are the BEST!). I needed the inspiration of the masses. I am a solo runner but a good environment is helpful.

The only thing NOT happy about, was the start was on the UES and that is a plain BITCH to get to at the crack of dawn.

Alarm clock threats ensued.

#seriouslymustmovetoNYCasap

I was out the door finally around 5:25. That was fun. Although to be honest I am out the door around then most of the week. I guess I just get some anger about doing all week and then all weekend? Not sure.

Anyways. Realized once I got to the PATH that I didn't have breakfast. Oops? Luckily I had packed a Quest bar for post run so ate that before.

I finally got to the park around 6:50 (7am start) only to find a MASSIVE line for bag check. It was total shit show.

Which led to starting the run 20 minutes after the official start. NBD. Thanks NYRR.

I was nervous - 3 loops of Central Park. I have been doing about half my runs on the treadmill and as we all know, there are just a FEW hills in the park. I was surprised the first hill up was Harlem hill and went up it like it was nothing.

My strategy for this run was to take it easy, and run based on perceived effort (easy) versus trying to maintain specific pace. Also I planned to take in water at the majority of water stations to practice for the marathon. I have not been drinking a lot during mine or really fueling. Oops? So I planned on 2-3 gels as well.

The first mile was slow but I guess as I warmed up because my pace started to drop under 10 and would pretty much stay there.

I spent the majority of the race waiting for the bottom to drop out (awful I know) but figured there was NO WAY that my legs should feel this good with 35 or so miles on them already this week and no rest days (XT days but I ran I think 6 days? I have to recap that...)

With the first loop done I again headed up the hills on the west side feeling good. And it was a great feeling. There was some nice energy out there today and as always am impressed an inspired by the variety of runners pounding the pavement. Kudos to those who have many years on me and are doing it still. I aspire to be there.

I took my gels at miles 9 and 14 with no incident. For a moment around mile 11 I thought things were iffy and made a pit stop but all was good. Thank you stomach!

Right before finishing the 2nd loop I was actually on the phone with my sister while running because she had sent me a text and I figured since I was running "conversationally" to call her and that mile wound up splitting under 9! While I was talking to her. A big note of improvement on fitness.

Third loop began and was definitely a bit more fatigued going up Harlem hill and a little achy in the glutes but I just kept running. I was happy I walked while getting water (because I will seriously choke running and drinking) but other than that ran consistently.

Once we started down the south end of the park I got really excited. I knew with 3 miles left that I was finishing up the 18 really strong.

And strong it was. That final mile I pushed. I wanted to finish at MRP. Only downfall was that I totally thought the finish was sooner than it was - and then realized I had about another 1/10 of a mile to go. Oops.

Maybe this wasn't totally slow enough but I feel marathon ready right now. Whatever happens on next weeks 20 I am confident that I am ready to go for it and race the crap out of Hartford. And could not have done it without my coach. I have full trust in her and do what she tells me, and clearly if you put in the work you improve.

Without further ado, splits:

Mile 1: 10:25
Mile 2: 9:52
Mile 3: 9:56
Mile 4: 9:49
Mile 5: 9:44
Mile 6: 9:37
Mile 7: 9:33
Mile 8: 9:32
Mile 9: 9:11
Mile 10: 9:51
Mile 11: 9:54
Mile 12: 8:57
Mile 13: 9:33
Mile 14: 10:17
Mile 15: 9:36
Mile 16: 9:39
Mile 17: 9:51
Mile 18: 8:51
Mile 19: 8:10 (.15)

Couldn't be happier with that! And all done by 10:20 and the glorious day ahead (and seriously what a frickin gorgeous Sunday!!! Running perfection).

And of course this:

Time to eat ALL THE FOOD.

Happy Sunday - and GO GIANTS!!!!

Oakley Mini 10K: Recap

I don't think that I have ever prayed so hard for rain on the weekend as I was on Friday night. 

I legit did not feel like running this race.

For some reason all Friday my stomach was just OFF. I was bloated and it was rumbly and the last thing on my mind was trying to race a 10K - potentially in the rain, in Central Park, on Saturday morning.

I didn't pick up my number ahead of time and left things with my friend who was driving in that she would text me in the morning and I would let her know if I was in or not.

Insert Saturday morning wake up. To birds chirping and sunshine. I actually cursed a little bit. I couldn't say no. I was not feeling that fantastic but couldn't justify not going in...especially when I knew I would run at some point regardless Saturday.  Mine as well be in a race I had paid for and worked towards 9 + 1.

And do it in neon style. 

Obviously. 

Sigh. If not excited to run at least get excited for a new outfit! Pretty much story of my life. New outfits get me out of bed in the morning. My body thanks me, my bank account hates me.

Can I get an amen for driving in versus public transportation from Hoboken? I was picked up around 6:40 and we were in in 20 minutes, with numbers picked up and gear checked bathroom done by 7:30. I have never had so much leisure time before a race.
My stomach still didn't feel great so I hung near the bathrooms as long as I could before making our way to the starting line about 10 minutes before we were to be off.
All I can say is WOW. This race was BIG.

View in the front.

View from behind. And let's just say I was happy to be in a front corral! Holy women.

After announcing the elites and a such, 8:00am and we were off!

Originally I had totally planned to race this sh*t out of this. Off the bat I knew that I would push but it wasn't going to be pretty. 

My stomach was iffy and my right calf was so so tight.

I just choose to start at a pace that was sustainable, but be able to push. Not crash and burn. 

Mile 1: 8:57

It was so cool starting this race in the street instead of in the park. Last year I started this race solo since I was in the bathroom for the gun to go off, so I was all sorts of disoriented beginning. I literally ran solo until at least mile 1.5 last year! This year I was just focusing on trying to get in a groove and enjoying the spectators.

Mile 2: 8:44

Stomach was hurting and so was my calf but this was feeling like a good pace. We were into the park now and seeing Jen was a huge burst of energy!!!! So nice to see a familiar face out there cheering! I was also already sweating buckets. WTF. Also I remembered yet again just how much I hate running the park this way. Give me Harlem hill any day. At least it ends. Making your way up the west side just seems interminable. 

Mile 3: 9:06

The hills were really killing my calf. And also my right glute. It felt like a pulling sensation. Not good. I made the executive decision to walk some of the bigger portions of hill. A quick walk was better than running for absolutely no reason and potentially hurting for real. Whether just tight or what I wasn't about to risk it. Also insert me almost killing a woman. I was walking and she with a lot of pep goes "you are almost there it will all be downhill from here!". 
Okay I love the encouragement but has she ever run Central Park before...I just smiled like oh yes why thanks for the guidance. Yippee no more hills after 2.5 miles! Moron. 

Mile 4: 9:35

There was a bit of walking and a bit of thirst. But while I was okay with walking uphills, I didn't feel like stopping for a bathroom...and was pretty sure that water would have me running for one. I was actually scared for a bit with the running because it was really hurting. 

Mile 5: 9:36

Well at least my walking inserts were pretty steady. I was actually walking and stretching out my calf. SO gosh darn tight. This race was really putting forth a solid argument for stretching and foam rolling, I will tell you that. I got a little infusion of pep seeing my friends boyfriend - who was running a loop going in the opposite direction. He yelled out for me I got wayyyy excited. I love people cheering!!

Mile 6: 8:51

All I have to say is I was FINALLY warmed up. And now was at the point of wanting to run forever. And was trying to keep my pace down. My legs were tired but they also felt ready to run. Only took them the whole race. Way to show up guys. 

Mile 7: 8:07 

I was just gunning for the finish at this point. I saw I was going to PR (and couldn't really do the mental math until mile 6 to be honest) and wanted to just bust it out and finish strong. I was pretty surprised I was taking a decent chunk of time - over a minute - off even with the walking and stretching and hills (last PR was from a flat course a month ago).

Official time: 57:08

 
Overall, not too bad. And I didn't over run the course THAT bad! I had wanted to PR and based on it all should be running a 10K way faster, but the cards didn't all fall in line for this race between not feeling well and the soreness but fitness is improving even on tired not so recovered legs (I may or may not have run all week including 7 miles on Thursday...and a squat day Friday...typical). I swear I can see myself busting out a few minutes faster under more "ideal" conditions. 

The next 10K up is Queens. It was 80+ at the start last year and my slowest per mile race pretty much ever - but if it isn't deadly I will probably see what I can do! So I have a month to work on this. 

I was happy I went in for this and didn't bail I would have been really sad had I skipped out. It was absolutely gorgeous in the park on Saturday and the race is a lot of fun. 

Also, I need to figure out how to "race" a 10K. I think it is going to involve an actual "warm up" and not just going into the race cold. But it really is a distance that is lost on me strategy wise.

Any insight on this would be more than helpful. 

Did you race this weekend? How did it go? Turned out to be such a lovely weekend after all!

Final Long Training Run + More Fitness Women's Half Marathon

How's that for a post title? Long enough?! Plus I am about to PR in blog post length.

Happy Boston Marathon Monday! While I am unproductive watching coverage I figured now is a great time to recap the fun that was had yesterday! **Note all that marathon watching was interrupted by impromptu meetings from 11-1. FAIL**

The NJ Marathon is now 20 days away, and I have entered the taper. I have been so concerned about my running ability the past month or so for this that I actually started totally doubting I could finish and considered dropping to the half.

Needless to say having this doubt clouding my mind was not what I needed when I woke up around 4am on Sunday to start getting ready for race and mileage. It took several pep talks to get out of bed, but finally I did.

I had to be on the PATH at 5:38 so that I could get the extra miles in prior to the More Fitness Half Marathon beginning at 8:00.

I was actually feeling pretty good though. I had packed my bag (sisterly fun post race in the city) the night before and really just needed to get on my gear and head out. I made two kashi waffles and filled a water bottle with Nuun and without much ceremony was out the door.

I got to the park nice and early around 6:15 so I took my time in bag check, used the restroom and finally got down to business of running at about 6:40 or so (I was definitely procrastinating my run!).

Early Morning Central Park.

THIS is how early I was

I decided to stick with the lower loop instead of doing one full loop since we would be doing that twice during the half.

I just set about at a comfortable pace, my goal not to look at my garmin and just keep it slow.

Well that kind of backfired on me when after doing a bit more than a loop I realized I had failed to start my garmin so have no idea what I ran for the first couple miles but sure it is comparable to what I ran the next once I began because I was more "jogging" than running at that point.

I just kept on frolicking around until I was getting close to 5 miles on my garmin (plus those couple missing) and then headed to the corrals with a minute to spare before they were closing.

I sadly missed seeing my sister or any of my friends because of my running before. And also missed any bathroom opportunity. However, I was feeling fine and tried to not think about that.

I had a gu at this point, took off my gloves and long sleeve shirt and got ready to "Run the World" as was the theme of the day (and I had Beyonce stuck in my head half the damn race!).

Bib numbers were LOW yesterday! Mine was 2012, always fun. But lower than my 8:23 pace usually gives me. That meant that there wouldn't be too much crowding at the beginning (in theory). My sisters bib = 107!

So the race begins and we were off! I love this race for a couple reasons, obviously the unique aspect of being an all women's race - so many friendly people! My sister was telling me she didn't know anything about the DTag all of her races have had bib chip timing and some lovely woman in her corral took it off for her and literally put it on her shoe to help her out!

And the crowds - definitely a unique crowd for this race - lots of families. I actually got a little misty eyed starting seeing some of the signs of support and kids. I'm special, I know.

Anyways the first few miles I was getting in a groove. Legs were feeling good, I was feeling good, I was enjoying the run and not paying attention to pace, or trying not to.

We hit Cat Hill for the first time and I wasn't feeling lethargic or out of breath. As I was psyching myself out for the long run I was talking to another woman who said to not look at the top of the hill, focus on one step at a time and look down and in front of you. Umm totally works, I used this approach the whole time. I also tried to be a little more strategic and actually run the downhills and open up on them more.

Since I was going long I wasn't racing this at all. I was just running comfortably.

Then, I got to Harlem Hill and all of a sudden a feel a tap on my shoulder and one of my friends and awesome runner, Barbara was beside me. She is pretty speedy but was just running for the hell of it so decided to stick with me for the duration.

This turned out to be so great for me. I was running without music so it was nice to have a buddy and also, she started to kick my ass into gear! I know I would have been easing up more on the west side hills that go round but having her with me and knowing I wasn't tired kept me moving. Plus I stopped glancing at my garmin. And the few times I did I was seeing paces that had I been alone...I would have been telling myself no way I could be running those paces that far into a long run.

Around my mile 11 and around mile 6 of the half I took a gu and we both took a bathroom stop. We actually didn't waste that much time because she told me we managed to split that mile at 9:34! Way to be hustling - but also strategic because we were in a downhill/straight at that point and cruising through the crowds.

I was still feeling really good and once we hit mile 7 we were just happy - more than half way done! Bring on Cat Hill again! We made pretty good time up it. We were semi delirious and talking about strategy for picture taking with him...just how you hike up there to the statue...a couple of women overheard and laughing joined in our conversation. Gotta love runners and distracting yourself!

I started taking water at most of the stops from mile 5 on since that is going to need to be happening with the marathon and left to my own devices I really won't stop. But we were really good about not wasting too much time.

The flats and downhill leading up to Harlem Hill again we were really feeling good and kept up a good pace. I was happy for the company. I can't lie I did steal looks at my Garmin and was seeing us drop under 9 at times and was okay with that. It felt good.

Harlem Hill the second time though. Oy. She was charging up and I definitely used more energy than I would have on my own. I was happy even at this point in my run around 17 miles in my splits were all under 10!

Once we got to the top of the Hill I was just focusing on getting to mile 11 of the race. I actually had plenty to give but was just kind of tired of running and hate the rolling hills on the West side.

I also took another Gu at this point and water knowing we had less than a 5K left. And Barbara at this point said no more stops for us! We were going after it and ending the race strong.

I told her now that I had some hate for her as we upped the pace and that I was probably going to stop talking now and she could give me tough love and motivate all she wanted. Just to not mind if a swear or two came out of my mouth.

This portion of the race sucked - since we were trying to push it, we not only had the runners we had been with to contend with but now walkers and people on their second loop. DEFINITELY expended a lot of energy weaving and chasing her to stay on pace to the finish. She would continually yell that I had better be right behind her. I totally appreciated the tough love she was dishing out!

And FINALLY we were in the home stretch. I ended that race so HAPPY with how my long run had gone. I had energy left in the tank as well even though we dropped the pace for the last 2 miles. My splits for the race are off from what she was clocking since I had the mileage before but the last 2.1 were paced under 9 mins! Umm hi tired legs not so much.

A beautiful example of Negative splits! For once.

My official half time was something like 2:06 I don't even know for sure. But, I was happy I ran it, SUCH a great atmosphere in the park yesterday!

All I can say is - just wow. I am SO happy that she found me for this run. I never would have been pushing anything lower than high 9's. I learned a lot during this.

First - I am 100% capable of this marathon.

Second - Stomach issues are definitely improving ONE stop! One. Speechless. And I ate breakfast and fueled.

Third - I think my Garmin makes me mental. I am obviously too reliant. Every time I saw what we were pacing internally had a minor freakout of oh this is going to explode sooner or later and you'll be walking. Umm no. Direct opposite. Finished STRONG.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to enter this taper. Strong, confident and feeling good.

My sister was in from Miami for the half (side note: I told her pre race to "enjoy" it and after she goes I know what you mean - those hills! still finished in 2:00 even though she walked at some hill points she said!) so after the race I had her take the trek down to our other sisters apartment (all the way down on 23rd hehe) to shower and then get some well deserved brunch + bellinis at The Smith. I am sure anything after 20 miles taste great but seriously...it was great. We then did a jaunt to McSorley's and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (although sadly none for me...alcohol and then ice cream...not a good mix and ice cream in general is a no go).

My body today is feeling great. I am not sore even after 20 miles and hills. I hit the bike and weights this morning and will do a little shake out tonight and probably swim.

If you have stuck with this post this long, you are amazing!!! Thank you.

Anyone else have a long run this weekend - and anyone else training for NJ?! I can't wait!!!