The Honor Roll Begins Anew, plus the Scotland Run 10K, The Run as One 4-Miler, and did I mention I love Vibrams?

With the start of the 2010 training season comes the start of the

2010 FRED'S TEAM HONOR ROLL

But first, apologies to all those amazing people from last year, who I never sent a thank-you card to. I'm going to be a lot better this year, thanks to MSKCC's new and much-improved website. If there's a way to get at you 2009 folks, I will soon!! I promise!!

And now, without further ado, the first person on the 2010 Honor Roll is...

DR. KAREN THORNTON

That should remind you all to go get a check-up before starting any exercise regimen.

Dr. Thornton is closely followed by
CARL and REVA TAIT
JIM SEMMELMAN
FRED WEINER
and
THE GeBAUER FAMILY

bringing the total going so far to the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Research in honor of Liam Witt so far to a cracking
$400
That's a great start, but we've got miles to go -- literally!

I will repeat and reiterate my promise slash threat to run both the NYC AND Chicago Marathons if I can raise $6500 by September. Did I mention I hate running marathons? I sure do! But I do love the idea of a world without cancer, especially pediatric cancer, and if that's what it takes to get people to donate, then that's what I'll do.


So if you want to help me honor the amazing Prince Liam, or just enjoy the idea of me running two marathons in three weeks, when I can barely do one a year, just click here to make a secure donation on my Fred's Team website.


(that's my VFF-clad foot next to Fred's feet at his statue in Central Park, by the way!)

Also in the works -- and this time I kid you not -- an actual podcast. Details to follow.

So I did a couple of races since last we spoke. The first one was the Scotland Run, a 10K that's a clockwise loop of Central Park. I sort of prefer the clockwise loop to the normal counterclockwise run -- it's more uphills, but the hills aren't as steep. And you get to go down Cat Hill instead of up.

Now, I come to the Scotland Run having run a grand total of three whopping miles in the previous two weeks. Conventional wisdom would dictate that I sit this one out. But I am neither conventional, nor wise.

Wore my VFF KSOs (KSO = keep stuff out) with rainbow-colored injinji socks, which made me look like even more of a buffoon than just wearing the Sprints. I don't care -- I LOVE MY VIBRAMS!! But there's a seam in the Sprints and the KSOs that keep giving me blisters. Covering the seam doesn't work -- the tape doesn't stick -- and covering the spot on the foot doesn't work -- the Band-Aid doesn't stick. Other than that, did I mention I love my Vibrams?? They have put the spring back into my step. So I must wear toe socks to go with the toe shoes.

I get to the Park on race morning. I figure I won't go fast -- like I would anyway, that's a laugh, but I won't push, and I'll walk when I need to. Just get through it. I run into many Teammates, including a few who are in my boat, so I don't feel too bad about my slacker ways. They're planning to do the same as me, and we all head to the corralls together. I have my iPod with me, and I put on a "This American Life" podcast. I have been training myself to run iPod-free, but my strategy for today was to listen to something soothing, so that I would stay relaxed and not start pushing my pace, like I do when I listen to one of my patented race-day mixes ("Bat Out of Hell," anyone?)

The race begins, and though my Teammies and I have the same game plan, it becomes clear right away that either a) I am not paying attention to the game plan, or b) they are going to take it even easier than I thought. Most likely, a) and b). Hindsight being as 20/20 as it is, I should have probably stuck with them longer -- like maybe more than five feet past the starting line -- but as soon as I started running, I knew it was going to be a run pretty much all the way.

That being said, I did manage to do at least some self-preserving by going even slower than my normal turtle pace, and by really walking the water stations, and by that, I mean getting my cup, moving to the side, and walking for at least a minute. I think there were four stations, and I walked them all. But I ran the rest of the race. That danged competitive streak, I can't let it go! I see someone in a shirt I don't like, or for whatever reason, and I simply must pass them.

Side note -- one year, my bestie Laura and I did the Midnight Run together. Part of the fun of the event is the pre-show costume contest, and a lot more people wear costumes anyway, just for kicks. Laura is not a runner, by the way, and the run isn't even timed. So we're doing as much walking as running, and everything is great until a group of people dressed as the components of a McDonald's Happy Meal pass us. I will NOT be beaten by french fries!! I made Laura run that last mile, but we couldn't catch them. Oh, that broke my heart.

Anyways, I finished the Scotland Run in 1:07, a PW (personal worst,) ending up with some pretty sore calves, but at least not too much the worse for wear.

Which inspired me to get a little bit more of a groove on for the next race, which was the four-mile Run as One. That's the run sponsored by the Thomas Labrecque Foundation for Lung Cancer research. I like this race, and figured four miles would be more my speed.

Ran into Teammate Emily in the corrall. She's back in action after a nasty fall (tripped over the toes of a pair of improperly-sized Vibrams and broke her wrist. Love me them Vibrams, but they need to fit you right! Get them fit by someone who knows how to size you properly -- they are indeed very different from a normal shoe.) She read this here little ol' blog and said, "So if you may run Chicago, doesn't that mean you need to train like you're going to run Chicago?"

Oops.

Changed the iPod setting from NPR to Meat Loaf, and for all intents and purposes, we're off!

Not much to report on this race that's noteworthy, but to say I didn't really push that hard until the final couple hundred feet on the transverse, and finished in 37:28.

That gave me a LOT of hope for this training season. Where I am right now is about where I was two years ago, where I had a HUGE improvement in my running during the training season. So knock on wood and God willing, if I can buckle down and put the work in, I'll see similar improvement this year, too. Hey, it couldn't get any worse...

About Those Resolutions...

Good morning, and Happy New Year, folks!

As you read on my previous post, I'm raring to go with my New Year's resolutions...after the weekend (too much steno to crank out, and it's 20 degrees out there.)

However, I did ring in the New Year in a way that I think is unique to NYC, the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run. There's dancing and a costume contest beforehand, then at the stroke of midnight, a huge fireworks display and we're off for a four-miler, from 72nd to the 103rd St. transverse, around and back. There's champagne -- excuse me, "champagne" at Mile 2. We run as a team, and even if we get split up, no one runs alone. As someone who's spent more New Years in cabs going from one party where she didn't know anyone, to another party where she also didn't know anyone (ah, those friends of friends!) it's a great, low-stress way to ring in the New Year.

Our team has a new tradition of starting the evening at Rich and Lynn's apartment, which is close to 72nd, enjoy some sangria and goodies, then at 11:00, all the ladies crams into the bedroom to change. We run, and then return to the apartment for further merriment.

Last year, it was zero degrees out. Not with the wind chill -- that's before the wind chill. We bundled up like walruses and headed over. Of course, as soon as we started to run, we all started sweating, and that made the walk back to the apartment from the finish line a treat. This year, it was raining all evening, but warmer, in the low 30s. It was still raining when we left the apartment, but by the time we got to the Park, it had changed to snow. It was gorgeous. There were only about ten of us running -- there were a lot of folks still recovering from marathon-related injuries, and a few with other parties to attend afterwards. I was going to run with David and his girlfriend. Meg. Meg's got no cartilage in her ankle, and other ankle-related issues, and she hasn't run since July. But David cajoled her into doing the run, and she relented. As they were going to be more my speed, I stuck with them. Hooray, fifth wheel!!

We got there about ten minutes to 12, and the transverse was packed. We were so far back, we were practically on the west side. Either this run's gotten a lot more crowded, or we were super-late. Either way, we didn't move for the first fifteen minutes after midnight. However, that meant we got to watch most of the fireworks display, which was FANTASTIC. I don't know if the fireworks are a Road Runners thing or a NYC thing, but either way, they are among the best displays I've ever seen, almost twenty minutes long, and with finale after finale. The year I had my bunionectomy, I volunteered at this run, and I got to watch the whole thing. I know I've said it before, but the only real problem with this run is that you're running away from the fireworks, so you don't get to see it unless you run backwards -- which is not easy, given the hills in the Park. Take it from me.

Meg, as someone's who's both injured and hasn't run in months, was at a perfect speed for me, so while we quickly lost the rest of our speedier crew (making promises to meet at the champagne) I stuck behind with her and David. Though in pain, she was determined to run the whole thing, because if you sign up to run a race, you run it. My kind of gal! I did this race with Laura, my best friend and non-running ex-roomie. I knew we'd be walking as much as we ran, and that was fine -- until we neared the end. Remember, there's a costume component to this event, and as we hit mile 3, we came across people dressed as a McDonalds Happy Meal. Fun run be damned -- I was not going to be beat by french fries! I dragged Laura that last mile, to her chagrin and my relief.

This year, our speed kept us in pace with a group dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, complete with Shredder and April. I know that now, along with the TMNT song, since I must have heard it over a dozen times.

It took us about an hour to complete the run, which is (thankfully) slow for me, but amazing for Meg, who really toughed it out. Pretty amazing that her first run since July, with no cartilage in her ankle, is a four-miler. Not so amazing that my legs were sore after that. I really AM out of practice. But that's not the point of this run. The point is to have fun and celebrate a new year by doing something that makes you happy and feels good. And that's what I did.

There's a New Year's saying that whatever you do on New Years is what you'll be doing all year round. That means I'll be spending 2010 with friends and family, working a lot, running, and eating lots of fried food. All good things, no?

New Years Resolutions

Well, since I haven't been doing much of anything except working these days, I've been a bad blogger. BAD blogger!!

So here's a quick holiday update, along with a few small resolutions.

Firstly, I always knew runners were amazing, but here's another reason why: we had a Fred's Team holiday party at the P&G, and our exceedingly generous hosts, Holiday and Steve, pledged to donate a dollar for each drink sold to the Aubrey Fund. We also had a toy drive AND a bake sale. And if that weren't enough, our good friends at Coke donated a lovely gift basket full of Coke tchotckes for us to raffle off. Well, we got about ten toys, sold a lot of raffle tickets, brownies and, thanks to my friend Sharon, who is not a runner but equally amazing, devastating chocolate-bacon cupcakes. Yes, you read right. Our livers also took one for the team, and at the end of the night, we raised $313 more for the Aubrey Fund!!

Running is strange. I've been trying to get out every other day, and will also be participating in the Midnight Run. For those non-NYers, it's a 4-miler in Central Park that starts at the stroke of midnight. There's dancing and a costume contest before and after, and champagne -- well, maybe more like "champagne" -- at mile 2. The Team runs as a group, as fast as its slowest member. Which is me. So be prepared for turtle mode, folks, because that's where we're at these days!!

It's been getting pretty cold in NYC, and I love running in the cold! I am having a little trouble getting used to it, though. I went out for a run a couple of days ago -- just a 3-miler -- and I had to stop three times, not because my legs were tired, but because I couldn't breathe properly. So strange.

Why is my body rejecting running?????

(and why don't I listen?)

I haven't biked outside in a couple of weeks, it being snowy and slushy. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to, but I can see from my forays out that snow and slush doesn't deter some folks. So maybe I will get some winter riding in.

Swimming, I've been a little lazy. I need to get back into the pool. But my legs are really dry, and shaving them is so irritating...bad excuse. I've just been both lazy AND pressed for time. Excellent combo!

Pressed for time because, unlike last year, I am supremely busy as a court reporter. Who knew that people would be so litigious during the holidays? I've been working every day for the past two weeks, and some jobs are expedites, meaning due in three days, which pushes other jobs back, which creates a backlog that I'm trying to get rid of over this holiday weekend. Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm grateful for the work, I really enjoy it, and feel lucky to be finally making some $$ for the first time in 14 years. I just need to get a little better with the steno practice to get my speed up so that my transcripts aren't so sloppy that it takes me a long time to fix them up at the end of the day.

Which leads to the resolutions.

1) more steno practice. I want to pass at least one leg of the RPR (national certification) this year.
2) more consistent running in the off-season. Do I think I'll get faster this year? Doubtful. But can I make an easier time of it? Definitely.
3) get my arse back in the pool. A must if I want to finish the Nautica Tri.
4) more blogging. And start the f-ing podcast already, like I've threatened for years.
4) send out my THANK-YOU NOTES from the marathon!!!!!!

I hope you all have the happiest of holidays, and best wishes for the New Year!