H Is for Holy Crap

Holy crap, my muscles are really tight! I’ve stretched morning & evening for three days straight and they are all like little bags of cement (and not because they are toned, either).

Holy crap, is it really going to snow a foot tomorrow? Are we really going to have blizzard-like conditions? Holy crap, I am freaking out–I am supposed to run 8 miles at race pace!

Holy crap, today was another killer day at the office. For every one task I tagged & bagged, there were three more getting in line waiting to get IDed for their wristband at the all ages show. Er, or something like that.

Holy crap, I thought for sure I was coming down with a cold before lunch today. I skipped the tweet-up speed workout because of it. Luckily I seemed to have knocked that one out early.

Holy crap, I ran home over the bridge tonight and it was absolutely crystal. Perfect temperatures, clear air, light traffic. I managed the 4.25 miles in 38 minutes, not bad for a woman who was ignoring a headache and exhaustion moments before she broke into a jog.

P.S. — Holy crap! I totally left Little G at home this morning so I ran home untethered to that big Garmin satellite in the sky. I felt like I could have skidded down the slope, rode off the rails, without that invisible filament guiding me like a cable car.

Songs I ran to: “Head Rolls Off” by Frightened Rabbit, “Heads Carolina, Tails California” by Jo Dee Messina, “Heart of Glass” by Blondie, “Heartbreaker” by Led Zeppelin, “The Heat” by Anjulie, “Heaven Tonight” by Hole, “Hella Good” bu No Doubt, “Henrietta” by the Fratellis, “Her First Mistake” by Lyle Lovett, “Here’s to the Meantime” by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Apologizes, crew–I recently ran to the letter H, in December (and here’s the December 2008 “H” playlist).

SO Is for Social Circle

Mostly, I run alone, but last week I had three social runs, with MT, AG and LL.  When I started running, I did it for health and fitness, and it was a solitary pursuit for me, primarily because I didn’t know how to find other people to run with. Also, I was intimidated–everyone seemed faster than I was. Later, though, the social aspect of running was one of the primary reasons I signed up for my first marathon with Team in Training. At that point in my life, I had made some poor choices about who I was spending my time with, and I needed a new group of friends–quick! In so many ways, deciding to train with TNT is one of the most pivotal, life-changing choices I have ever made. Running has brought a steady stream of positive, good people to me. That first season, I became fast friends with KW and DT, and we are still girlfriends today. My second season with TNT, I met EN, who is one of my dearest friends now. Other special people have entered my life through the Green Mountain Relay, and through blogging and tweeting about running. I met all three of the above-mentioned guys because I blog about my running (MT is a podcaster, and AG and LL blog as well). If I was not a runner, my social circle would shrink down to a mere dot on the page, an ad hoc collection of (still remarkable) people who have stuck with me through the decades. I suspect that some of the runners I have met and am getting to know now will stick with me through some upcoming decades, too.

Sunday’s run was a solitary run, but I was thinking about the ripple effect my running buddies and friends who run (because we all know there is a difference) have on my non-running relationships. Sometimes, it’s a boon because it means my friends who don’t run aren’t subjected to my ceaseless yammering about my training, my body’s aches, my PR dreams, etc. Other times, it’s a drain. For example, I’ve invited Husband many times to meet my running friends but he always declines precisely because he knows all we’ll talk about is running, and that’s a big snooze to him. Sometimes it seems to him that I puff up my schedule with social runs, only to leave him home alone. It’s a tough call, as you all know. No matter what I gotta get the run in–so why not in the company of like-minded hoofers?

Sunday’s run was also a bust. I was supposed to run 8 at race pace but ran out of time and wound up with 40 minutes to squeeze in as many miles as I could. I couldn’t run at speed since my heart rate immediately spiked and I felt like I was going to pass out. Forced to slow down, I decided to meander through Sunnyside Gardens, a beautiful landmark neighborhood full of adorable houses and trees. I enjoyed this very much, and was on track to complete 4 miles until my left ITB decided to freeze up and I limped up 46th Street to Skillman Avenue, sadly aware I would have to walk the rest of the way home and bag the run. I didn’t panic; I’m not injured I am just tight. But I was crestfallen; in nearly every way my run for the day was a complete failure. But at least I’d given it a shot, and at least I was able to imagine my pack of encouraging running buddies as I headed home for a stretch and a shower.

3.17 miles in 31:20. Average pace 9:53; fastest mile 9:18; slowest mile 10:48.

Songs I ran to: ”So Hard” by Pet Shop Boys, “So High So Low” by Ben Harper, “So Much for the Afterglow” by Everclear, “So Much to Say” by Dave Matthews Band, “So Nice (Summer Samba)” by Bebel Gilberto, “So What’cha Want” by The Beastie Boys, “Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crowe, “Soft and Wet” by Prince, “Soma” by The Strokes

Laminating Queens

I feel badly for that tree.

At the last tweet-up run I attended, I met up with a couple other runners from Queens and we agreed that one of these days we should just have a Queens-exclusive tweet-up to share our respective corners of the borough with each other. When the time came, though, it ended up being just me and LL setting out for my 16-mile long run together through Eastern Queens. I met him at the 7 train’s CitiFeld/Arthur Ashe Stadium subway station. (That brought memories of when I was there for the U.S. Open last year. I had never attended the Open before–I know nothing about tennis–but I loved it.) It was freezing Saturday morning. We didn’t get any of the snow that other parts of the country are contending with, but temperatures were frigid and the wind was a bitch. I couldn’t wait to get moving to defrost.

So LL led us away from CitiField and through Flushing Meadow Corona State Park. Did you know Queens has its own zoo and art museum?! Yes, we do! Also, there are about 6 miles of trails that could be run in that park! Okay I am definitely returning there for a morning run, especially since it only takes 15 minutes to get there on the 7 train that early in the morning. Another thing I could do (okay, stream of consciousness blogging will commence…) is run all the way there up Roosevelt Avenue, that’s just a little over 4 miles. I’d have to do it early in the morning to avoid all the auto traffic since it’s a main road, but it could be done! Wow, I live less than 5 miles from the home of the Mets! I love living in Queens! (Stream of consciousness blogging over.)

LL led us along the Green Trail, which was originally designed for bikers but he shrugged and said that he never sees any bikers on it. (As my friends from my year in Sacramento, CA used to say when they found something marvellous that had been forsaken, “MINE NOW!”) This trail skips from park to park, and took us evermore east. We ran through the Queens Botanical Gardens (I know! Boh-tanical Gahr-denz! So fancy! Who knew?), Kissena Corridor Park, Kissena Golf Course, and Cunningham Park. For the most part, running through park trails meant we were protected from the wind, but there were a few parts where we had to battle it. Not only did it tucker me out, it also froze my hands. (LL wisely wore double gloves.)

I have known about and sporadically read LL’s blog for a couple of years, and I’ve met him twice (at the second blogger meet-up, and at the last tweet-up I could make it to), but never had the opportunity to really talk with him and get his whole story. Born and raised in Flushing, he is a poet and a scientist; he both reflects and analyzes. Additionally, he’s an extrovert, and clearly sets out to do the best he can in everything that interests him. He is a couple years younger than I am (lately it seems like everyone I meet is younger than I am;  when the facialist told me today I didn’t need to start using anti-aging creams I could have kissed her. Hell, maybe I did. I’ll never tell). We both went to college in Baltimore; we shared stories about dealing with ultracompetitive peers in our programs of study; I tried to explain to him what my day as a marketing director comprised of but the best I could come up with was I get dressed up, and wear make-up. I either go to meetings or work at my desk on projects or email. Weak! Maybe I had runner’s brain, and admittedly, it is hard to put my job in a nutshell for someone who has never worked at a corporation, but still–I should be able to describe my job better than that. I’ll try again later.

Apart from the congenial company and surprising scenery, this run was a bit of a challenge. Maybe it was the wind, the cold, my general exhaustion (I overslept and rushed to get out of the house). Or maybe the endurance build is the unexpected challenge of this particular training cycle. I wouldn’t have thought it; I have been so concerned about getting reinjured through my faster running that I haven’t given much thought to the effect the long runs may have on my body. I’d say I felt pretty good through Mile 12 or 13, then I started to tire. The hills all winded me, which I didn’t dwell on at the time but now that concerns me. My next long run on February 13th will be 17 miles; I’ll do that one alone and really have the opportunity to listen closely to my body.

But back to my estimable host. LL is a fast and talented runner, and he has a big, generous heart. If you don’t read his blog and you are a runner or a dreamer, you have to check it out. He is a beautiful, thoughtful writer–it’s clear that he loves words as much as he loves running. And even though he’s hella fast, he had no qualms about making our 17+ miler a LSD run for himself that day, just like Matty did for me the week prior. Love that! If you’re on Twitter, he’s fun to follow as well, since his optimism and positivity rivals that of EG (Bridges Runner).

When all was said and done, we went 17.23 miles, at an average 9:23 pace (fastest mile (the 13th) 8:50; slowest mile (the 1st) 10:09). We ended up at the last stop on the 7 train, in the heart of Flushing. There were dim sum restaurants and pedestrians toting red grocery bags as far as the eye could see. LL suggested that for our next Queens run, we invite the whole crew out and have dim sum afterwards. I’m IN! I can tell my body is adapting to these long runs; I am glad I have a lot of them on the schedule before London; I have five more runs over 16 miles between now and race day.

Late Eight

Wednesday after work I was going to run 8 miles with my friend LW, except she was home sick with tonsilitis. It’s always dicey for me to leave the scheduled run until after work. If I don’t have a date to meet someone, it is much too easy for me to get sucked into a vortex of work and never leave my desk, which is exactly what happened Wednesday. Before I knew it I was neck-deep in a project–which was overdue anyway–so I worked until 9 PM and then took a cab home, both exhausted and frustrated. But luckily for me, my running buddy AG saw my awful change of plans on Twitter and assured me that he and I could run 8 miles the next morning, since we’d already made plans to meet along the West Side Highway for a pre-work workout.

We set out running south along the West Side Highway, from 48th Street, at 6:45. In just a short time, the sun had risen and we were running towards a glittering downtown, with the buildings of Midtown West and Chelsea standing stylishly off to our left. When we reached Stuyvesant High School (which I had always assumed was somewhere near Stuy Town just north of the ABC’s on the east side!), we broke right and the beauty that is the Battery Park Esplanade revealed itself to me. It was like a secret garden! Even in the winter, the thoughtful landscaping, arrangement of sitting and walking areas, and views of the Hudson River and (yes, even) New Jersey were very pleasing to the eye. There was the Colgate Clock of Jersey City; there was the Statue of Liberty! But best of all was the simple fact that we were running in daylight. By the time we’d reached the part of the rec path that goes under the Brooklyn Bridge, we were ready to turn around, and I said to AG, After months of running in the dark before work, this run in the sun is so great it feels like I’m playing hookey!

Running with AG is great for two primary reasons. He’s terrific company, and his chat pace is faster than my chat pace so that I always end up running faster (without necessarily noticing it) than I would have on my own. You all should check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter. (He can’t help it if he’s a Yankees fan; I like him anyway.) Including the mile trot to the WSH from my gym, I ran a total of 7.56 miles in 1:06:05. Average pace 8:44; fastest split 8:06 pace; slowest mile 9:03.

(Since my Wednesday run got pushed to Thursday, I did my Thursday workout on Friday. 4.29 miles around Sunnyside–no sign of Yellow Shorts–in 39:38. Average pace 9:14; fastest mile 9:02; slowest mile 9:18.)

Three Cheers…

…for my friends who competed in the Empire State Building Run-Up yesterday! I have nothing to say other than I can’t believe I “know” three people who have had this classic, unique New York City experience. Few events capture the imagination or drop the jaw the way a run-up does. Without futher ado, I encourage you all to click over and read their race reports.

TO BADWATER — Robert

BRIDGES RUNNER — Elyssa

GO, TRACY, GO — Tracy

D Is for Destroy

‘Rawr’ is totally a thing.

Any Christopher Moore fans out there?

Mama Said Knock You Out

That MTV Unplugged video is horrifying. Anyone remember the chunks of deodorant in LL’s pits?

SMLT*

JR, my best friend from high school, is The Original Ass-Kicker

Sometimes, people, you just gotta put aside the Nice and bring on the Ice. Usually, I have no problem throwing up the stony wall of NMP and SOL. Lately, however, I’ve developed a soft spot that has yet to callous over and it’s costing me my tranqulity and my colleagues my most efficacious self. I now see that there’s no way forward with everyone still smiling. Someone’s going to have to bite the big one, and it ain’t gonna be me (I know better than to use my teeth).

Spicy! Or, if you prefer–icy. My pre-dawn run around Sunnyside, Queens was unremarkable, except for the fact that it’s another bale of hay in the barn, another penny in the piggybank. 4.68 miles in 43:08. Average pace 9:13: fastest mile 8:41; slowest mile 9:24.

Songs I ran to: “Days Aren’t Long Enough” by Steve Earle, “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” by The Police, “De Perros Amores” by Control Machete, “December 1963″ by Frankie Vail & the Four Seasons, “Defense & Desire” by Blues Traveler, “Delirious” by Prince, “The Denial Twist” by The White Stripes, “Destination Unknown” by Rebel Soul Band (I didn’t even know this song was on my iPod–have I even heard it before? Who knows but I love it! Great beat for running. Check it out), “Diamonds on the Inside” by Ben Harper, “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” by Paul Simon, “Distance” by Cake, “Do What You Wanna (Mr. Scruff’s Soul Party Mix)” by Ramsey Lewis

*Suck My Left Tit

Sweet Ellipses…

Congratulations to my friend LL, who has just become a Saucony sponsored athlete! He is fast, and he also has a generous heart. Here’s an excerpt from something he wrote recently on his blog, but you all should go read the whole post. He suggests that runners should 

view speed not as a dichotomy (fast and slow) but as a continuum bounded by nothing but your own imagination, dedication, and hard work. 

I like that, an awful lot… Here is a very interesting examination of how premier races set qualifying standards for women and men. The real meat is in the comments… I am pleased to announce the winnders of my Terrible Twos giveaway! Winning the CUPCAKES are @luau and @runamyrun; and winning the alphabetized MUSIC MIX are Krista (choosing the letter “K”) and Tracy (choosing the letter “B”). Your prizes will be in the mail next week, my pretties!… The current’s been pushing my rudder towards the negative lately, and I’ve had to push awfully hard to even get back towards neutral. When those days happen, I like to remember my One-Word Resolution. I chose CELEBRATE, to remember I should feel triumphant. What’s your word?… One of Husband’s Christmas presents was a cardboard moosehead to hang over our fireplace mantle in the Poconos. He’s been semi-threatening for years to get us an actual dead animal head to hang there, but I have philosophical objections… My Twitter followers may remember how a couple of months ago I was asking for songs that began with the word “sweet” to complete a playlist of Sweet Songs I was pulling together. Here, dear readers, is the result of that query! I think this is a pretty eclectic selection of songs, about half of which were completely new to me… 

Math Class, 1.10

Meant to do this last night except I was winging it home from Colorado. I am bummed I didn’t blog more, primarily because I like it!

RUNNING
Total Mileage: 128.53 (+14.2%)
Total number of workouts: 21 (nc)
Average distance per workout: 6.12 (+14.2%)

BLOGGING
Total Posts: 20 (-13%)
Total number of views: 4,424 (+17.9%)
Average daily views: 142ish (+4.4%)

TOP POSTS
*you say it’s your birthday
*yellow shorts
*new year new you

Coal Creek Trail

I waited all day for my 5 miles. It wasn’t so bad at first, the waiting. I lazed in bed, tweeting and pinging until my niece, who was sleeping in her baby bed across the room, woke up and crawled into bed with me. I read her You Can’t Bring a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum for the third time in two days, and we snuggled until she said, “Tia how about we get up.” So we did, and soon the whole family was trekking into Old Town for a diner breakfast, Colorado-style (huevos rancheros). The morning mosied by, first playtime then swimtime and naptime. Sometime between the swim and the nap I started to get restless–it was runtime.

Temperatures had warmed up to 40 degrees as the sun shone like a show-off. Lucky me, still in Lafayette, CO instead of in NYC where the temperatures were at zero and holding. I changed into my aspirational capri tights (aspirational because they are just a little too tight for me still) and two blue tech tees (one short-sleeved, the other long). Got my route from Little Brother–I had to drive a bit to get to the Coal Creek trailhead but once there I could run a peaceful out and back towards Louisville. Trail running! How western! How outdoorsy! How un-urban! Naturally, since I was running unescorted off the [Manhattan] grid, I had a fear I would get lost, even though I had been assured it was an obvious path. Yes, dear readers, you know what comes next.

The path itself was beautiful, well-groomed dirt sections alternating with paved sections. It curved delicately along Coal Creek, it arched up and swooped down like a supine woman stretching beneath a sheet. There were snowy, muddy patches but mostly it was clear, with sure footing. It was bordered by patch forests, and after a while I was running along the back of peoples’ property. (How cool would it be to have your house abut an actual running trail?) I ran over a couple of cute footbridges and through a field riddled with cutie patootie prairie dogs. A couple hopped across the trail, but most of them stood stock still and called to each other with a strange gulpy chirp. Running chick coming through! She’s a city girl, watch out! Then the trail took me across a street, around a switchback and up a hill. The path split, and I could hear my brother’s advice echoing in my head “Use the Force.” Oh no, wait, not that advice; this advice: “Stay to the left.” So I went left, which took me into some gazebo picnic area and the end of the trail. I retraced my steps, and was now thoroughly dazed. I had completely zoned out during my run and had absorbed little in the way of landmarks. All I took in was a general impression of beautiful and altitude sucks. So, I ran in what I though was a part of the path I hadn’t yet gone; when I got to another street to cross I thought, Hhmm, let me turn around here. I looked up, and there were the snow-capped Rocky Mountains stoically asserting themselves from hundreds of miles away. The sky was as blue as blue as blue, and fields rippled golden and brown between the two.

I continued on, running up another hill and switching another back, until I was moving quickly along a dry, windswept ridge that looked down over a farm, and shared the hint of the developed areas of Lafayette. I thought I was running back the way I came, except none of the terrain rang the faintest bell. I started to worry. I ran back the other way, to sort out the intersection to the gazebo area–had I missed a trail there? No. So I ran back along the ridge until finally I got angry and stopped. I asked directions of two people out for a stroll. I had to go back down the hill, re-switchback, and cross the street again to head back towards where my car was parked. Does twice up and down the same hill count as a hill workout?

Finally headed in the right direction, I tried to relax and enjoy the rest of the run. And suddenly I remembered–I’d been here last year, with my brother, as part of a long run. Cool! That made me happy, to think I’d run this way before with someone I love.

The rest of it was uneventful, except that I greeted a dozen dogs, had to slow up through the snowy, muddy parts to avoid slipping, and felt less weary than when I began. Why? Had I finally warmed up, had my heart and lungs finally accepted the fact that they weren’t going to get any more oxygen? No matter. I ran my 5.38 miles in 50:32 and returned home. Average pace 9:23; fastest mile 8:55, slowst mile 9:57.

If I Lived Here, I’d Get to See These People All the Time (& that’s a good thing)

It’s been far too long since I’ve made it to Colorado to visit my little brother, his wife and their two wonderful children. I come to visit them, to just merge into their suburban nest for a few days, but inevitably I always revel in other things: the weather (always drier and more hospitable than NYC), the shopping (grocery stores are so spacious, and stocked with designer health foods), and the scenery (really now–a view of the Rockies from their front porch? Hello?).  My niece is nearly 4, and she is just a perfectly verbal creature, stopping me in my tracks with expressions like, “Actually Tia, it’s better if you use the downstairs bathroom” and “I am just so happy to see you!” My nephew is nearly 2, and he is just a little ball of boy energy; I have no idea what to do with him yet. He bangs, he shouts, he demands. When he was 9 months old he just nestled into me, but now he’s all sorts of fiesty so I think I’ll just wait it out and see if I can figure him out when I’m here next, for Mother’s Day (the Title 9k is a tradition with me & the sis-in-law). Endearing herself to me even further (as if she isn’t already the #1 little girl in my heart), this morning my niece said as I got ready to drive to Denver to run with Matt (the voice of the DRC), “I’ll just quickly get dressed and then how about I go for a run with you too?” She said this standing at the top of the steps, gazing at me placidly in her pink pajamas, as if there was no possible way I could refuse such an offer. So I scooped her up, gave her a million kisses and told her one day that’s exactly what we would do.

Then I headed out the door, warmed up the family jalopy, found the country music radio station (yesss!), and peeled out for Denver. I was nervous; Matt is a fast runner and I am an average runner from sea level suddenly trying to do my thing at altitude. Silly me; it was just Matt, my favorite podcaster, running buddy, and teammate for this year’s Green Mountain Relay. He opened his front door and I immediately noticed his Jingle Bells race tee-shirt; I remember when he podcasted his race report on that. I used his bathroom (had been chugging water since my flight took off from Laguardia in the hopes of avoiding altitude dehydration) and smiled to see the copy of Advanced Marathoning and a few back issues of Running Times in the cabinet (it had glass doors, people–I’m not a complete snoop). And so we were off, for 10 miles.

We started off around his development, which is well-known in Denver (I learned from my brother & suster-in-law after the fact). I loved how there was a sandy trail that ran through the neighborhood, just steps from his front door. I loved how when I lifted my chin and looked around, I could see for miles. I loved how there was a nature preserve we could just pop into and swirl around over the trails, and then pop back out for some street running. (Matt was wearing some stylish trail running sneaks; I would have worn them as just regular ole around town sneaks, they looked that good.) I loved how there was a paved rec path that ran along & below the highway, so theoretically you could run into the city without having to deal with the dangerous clusterfucks I must contend with when I run home from work. I loved how Matt didn’t rush me, kept up the conversation, and felt free to disagree. It’s funny and great how we “know” people in common through this wonderful world of online social networking (Joe, Sarah–you both came up).

The only part that I less-than loved was the extra 2 miles we ran. You all know how it works, the mental preparation for the distance. Plus, I am embarrassed to admit, the last two miles were hard! I got a cramp in my side which I blame 100% on the altitude, (aren’t those cramps all about lack of oxygen?) and my lower back started to ache which only meant one thing: I was pushing too hard. But I’ve done it myself–you are running, plotting the route as you go along, and all of a sudden simple mathematics become much more than your brain can process. So I understood about the two extra miles, and as soon as I inhaled that pint glass of blue Gatorade Matt gave me after our run, I was back in form.

Context. That’s what I got this morning when I saw his office where he records his podcast. So now, whenever I listen to the newest episode of the Dump Runners Club, I will always imagine Matt sitting at his big black desk, in front of his giant Mac monitor and silver microphone, waxing philosophical about his training, his racing, and the elites’ performances. And, whenever Matt tweets about one of his tempo runs or long training runs, I’ll be able to imagine him dashing alongside the highway on that dun colored path, or weaving through the trails of his nature preserve as he startles small animals and slow joggers alike.

And I hope, that whenever he reads my blog, Matt will now be able to imagine my pigtails and saucy attitude as I shoulder my way through New York City traffic, chasing down a new marathon PR.

12.38 miles in 1:51:57. Average pace 9:03; slowest mile 9:18; fastest mile 8:49. Damn woman.