I've Got the Boogie Oogies! and Race Report!!

Let's hear it for the latest amazing people to join the Fred's Team Honor Roll:

IRENE KUTHER
SHIRLEY LOH and ART CANNON

The total thus far:

$5186

I cannot wait to get to Mile 18 this year with all of your support behind me. Simply amazing.

I wanted to hop on real quick and give y'all a couple of updates of the last Team session, and today's 18 (really twenty) miler, the Marathon Tune-Up.

Normally the Team meets Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7pm. Being that we are not in Alaska, and fall is here, it is getting darker earlier. By the time we began our Thursday night workout, the sun was already half-set. Not a problem when we're at the track, where it's well-lit. More of a problem on the steps, where the one light that would make the steps safe and easy is perpetually burned out. But dig we must, so despite my night blindness ... up the steps, down the hill, around to the water -- mix, match and repeat. The best part are the hill drills -- running up the hill backwards, and the BOOGIE-OOGIES!! What's a boogie-oogie, you ask. It's like a sideways gallop, I guess, is the way to describe it. I actually did attempt to write a whole description, but it confused me, and I know what it looks like. Suffice it to say, a sideways gallop. Chanting, "Jump, shout, boogie-oogie-oogie" is mandatory. Swinging your arms like an enthusiastic dairymaid is optional.

Thursday night was also Generic Birthday night. We've got a lot of September babies in the group (makes sense, right?) me being among them. So I figured, everyone's got a birthday at some point, rather than single out the 4 or 5 of us whose birthdays fall in September, let's just have a generic birthday party after training. So off we go to the best bar in NYC, P & G. It's on 73rd and Amsterdam. Unpretentious, unassuming, and just a great old bar. That link will take you to a NY Observer story from May about how the landlord of the building is trying to shut the place down. Yet another attempt to generify everything that's great and interesting about the city and turn it into a strip mall. Anyway, we brought in pizza and snacks (P & G doesn't serve food except for sometimes cheeseburgers and fries) and had a grand old time. Sadly I couldn't drink -- still on medication. But at this point I could barely get half a beer in me before feeling drunk. So no great loss there.

Commercial interruption number two: here's another commercial I hate. The one for Rhapsody, where the guy talks inanely about the soundtrack of his life, and then thankfully explodes before he can say any more.

And I am unashamedly excited about tonight's ROCK OF LOVE finale. That's right. Unashamed.

Today was the NYRR Marathon Tune-Up, an 18-miler -- 3 full loops of the Park. I was so not looking forward to it not because of the hills, but because of the boredom factor. The Park is lovely, and I am so grateful to have it available, but at this point I know every nook and cranny on that route. Then again, when they have the Olympic Marathon Trials on Nov. 3, the runners are doing five loops. Five! Yikes. The Team added 2 miles to the run for 20 total. I thought I'd do something novel, and listen to Jeff's advice about starting slow. Yes, even slow runners can start too fast, which is what I tend to do, I jump right into a 9:30 pace and then I'm sunk by the end. So here's how my mileage broke down:
Miles 1 & 2 (pre-race:) I decided to run from my house (well, 62nd St) to the starting line at 102nd and timed it to get there with enough time to put my bag in bag check, grab some Gatorade and get to the starting corral. Took it super-slow, plus which I had my stupid bag with me. Also decided to stuff my iPod and goo container into my RaceReady shorts instead of wearing a fuel belt, and needed to get used to the bouncing. TIME: 23 minutes, or 11:30 mile. A little slower than I thought, but I had a bag with me. Bad excuse.

Loop 1 (miles 3-8:) Felt great. Consciously pulled back and made myself not pass too many people for the first 4 miles. Water stations about every mile, with Gatorade at at least 3 of them. A close approximation of the marathon, which is the idea. The "regular" Natural Living guy wasn't there -- at the races, there's this guy who wears a singlet that says "Natural Living" (I am guessing he works for a company that promotes natural living) who runs the opposite of the race, cheering people on. If ever there was a good advertisement for your product, this man is it. He is built like a brick you-know-what and has a smile on his face that lights up the Park. I know it's race season when I see him. And Larry the Lighthouse. Alas, neither were there. But there was another Natural Living guy stationed mid-way up the Great Hill (the one at the north end of the Park) cheering people on. TIME: 58:23, or a 9:44 minute mile.

Loop 2 (miles 9-14:) Listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," one of the podcasts I enjoy listening to on long runs. Depending on my mood, I like Phedippidations (as y'all know. Oh, and yes indeed Steve did mention me at the end of the Fred Lebow story. A real honor, and completely unexpected. If any of you are here because of Fdip, thanks for stopping by, and it's been a pleasure running with you!) Also "The Extra Mile" podcast, which was created specifically for people training for the Fdip Worldwide Half Marathon and Kick the Couch 5K (aka C25K) -- more on that in Loop 3. When I need humor and distraction instead of motivation, "Wait, Wait," "Car Talk," and Garrison Keillor has his weekly News from Lake Wobegon stories (not the whole Prairie Home Companion, alas. In my pre-iPod days I'd time my weekend runs to listen to him.) And for hills -- MEAT LOAF!! Picked up the pace a little, started passing people. It's so interesting watching people's running form. Not that my own form is a model of perfection, but there are some people, I'm amazed that they manage to propel themselves forward. There was this one girl I passed, she not only had what I call "duck feet" -- when the feet flap out to the side instead of going forward -- but it looked like her legs weren't moving when she ran; in other words, that she ran from the hips without bending her knees, like there was a beach ball between her knees that she was hanging onto. Freaky. TIME: 56:18, or a 9:23 minute mile.

Loop 3 (miles 15-20:) So much better than the Palisades Run! By this point in that run, I was mentally writing my will. As I passed the 102nd Street transverse (and the elite runners were starting to come in) I still felt strong. And as we pass the transverse I see that the clock is reading 2 hours. Can I make this last loop in under an hour? Can I really and truly do a negative split? It's challenge time!

Now, here's the thing, and it will sound a little like self-sabotage, but hear me out until the end. At this point in a race I will start thinking about my exit strategy -- I let the voice in my head start saying, "You know, you've walked in races before. You can walk up the Great Hill." True enough. Every time I ignore the voice, I feel like I've won a little victory, and it motivates me. It's just knowing I can listen to that voice, somehow makes me more determined not to. It's sort of like when I quit smoking. Believe it or not, I was a smoker, up to a pack a day at my peak. I've been quit now for almost 15 years. Amazing, since I'm only 29, right? Yes, I started very, very young. Hee hee! Anyway, for the first year of my quit, I carried a pack of cigarettes with me everywhere I went. If I wanted one badly enough, I could have one. The question was, how badly did I want a cigarette, that I was willing to screw up the quit? Just knowing they were there and available kept me from panicking, and oddly enough, from smoking. Now, if only I could do that with candy...

Feeling good, pouring on the sauce when I can -- the field is still fairly crowded, and this being a race that not a lot of newbies run, I am with a lot of people who are at my pace, I'm not pushing to get around a lot of people. The highlight of loop 3: I was listening to The Extra Mile podcast. The WWHM is something that Steve Runner came up with on Fdip last year -- a weekend where everyone runs a half-marathon, either a sanctioned race or make up your own -- and it's like we all ran it together (this year he added a 5K for newbie runners.) So everyone has been training together, tracking our progress on his website, the Worldwide Half site, and the Buckeye Outdoor site (that's where I got the sidebar with my training from.) The TEM podcast came from people training for the WWH; they have people send in audio bits talking about their training. A couple of weeks ago I made an audio file while on the run, and talked about the first time we did 12 repeats of Cat Hill. Well, they used it, and that section came on just as I started up Cat Hill for the third time. Hilarious! I was smiling so broadly, people must've thought I was nuts. The Brightroom people took my picture at the top of the hill, if they post it, I'm buying it! My right hip started feeling "soft" at mile 19 -- like if I lengthened my stride, that my leg would wobble out of the joint. This happened to me a lot last year. It was disconcerting, but I did feel that my hip was tight before the run, despite extra stretches. I was glad it held off as long as it did. Because of that, I was afraid to pour on the last bit of sauce as we headed into the home stretch. And, amazingly, I had that sauce. However...TIME: 55:31, or a 9:15 minute mile. Crossed the finish line on the clock in around 2:56:00 (the chip time was 2:52:54)

So.. 18 miles in 2:53
20 miles in 3:16

Today, for the first time this season, I felt I could run a marathon.

After the race, a lovely brunch at Teammate Rich's apartment. Thanks, Rich!! The perfect end to a great day of running.

Happy Birthday to Me! and other thoughts

First and foremost, the latest editions to the Fred's Team Honor Roll:

DR. KAREN THORNTON

DEB VANDERGRIFT

ANTOINETTE HARVEY

my amazing roomie and bestest friend LAURA QUINN

and

NOLA STUDIOS and the incomparable TUCKER HEWES

making the grand total to date:

$5,036



Wow.



I am honored to have so many people donate so generously to the Aubrey Fund on my behalf. Please know that I am not taking that commitment lightly. If you can dig deep into your pocket, I can dig deep into my soul and my energy reserves. And I am. Read on...

Last time I posted was the day before the 15-miler. On my Buckeye Outdoor training log for the 23rd, which may still be on the sidebar (if it's not, you can check it out by clicking on the "View My Entire Training Log" link at the bottom of the sidebar scroll. Or not. Reading a training log is as much fun as, um, reading a running blog let's move on quickly...) So anyways, I wake up Sunday morning, go to the bathroom, eat my pre-long run success meal of a bagel with honey and a banana, go to the bathroom, get my gear ready, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, go to the bathroom. Can you see a pattern here, ladies? Ladies will "get it" because ladies will get it. Give up? Keep reading...

So I head out to the meeting point at the Fred Lebow statue (where else?) at the Engineer's Gate. We're doing 15, 3 5-mile loops, an informal run because it's the day after Yom Kippur and also there was the Queens half-marathon that day. PS: I am bad, and didn't fast. Plus, I had dinner Saturday night at Peking Duck House. Then again, it was Chinese food...but I digress. The informality of the run meant we could kind of mess with the route a little. I wanted to end the run at 58th Street, so I decided to do a 6-5-4, so I could get off at my house. One full loop, one five mile of the upper loop, cutting off at 72nd, and then do the upper loop, but instead of cutting off at 72nd Street just keep going south to Columbus Circle.

The run begins, and all is well until about mile 3. Then I notice that every step sends a knife through my bladder, that immediate stinging pain that feels like you have to pee NOW. It's like (step) ow, gotta pee (step) ow, gotta pee.

I'm talking about a bladder infection, people. TMI, I know, but lemme tell you a fun fact or two about bladder infections. First off, women get them more than men because our urethra is much shorter, giving bacteria and other bad news a much easier way to get in. And while there are a myriad of disgusting ways to get a bladder infection, one of the more amusing ways involves a lot of bouncing up and down. Sex. Or in my case, running. That irritates the bladder and the urethra, and when you combine that with sweaty shorts or underwear, and whatever bacteria lingers after a run -- or a roll in the hay -- well, there ya go. For those lucky few who never experienced one, one of the more annoying symptoms is what I described above -- the never-ending feeling that you have to go to the bathroom, even though you really don't. And when you DO go, it doesn't provide any relief. You feel like you have to go again almost immediately.

No fun in general. Less fun when you have to run 15 miles. This has happened to me before, when I've done a long run with a bladder infection, but at least that time there were a lot of restrooms around (it was a race day, so portapotties abounded.) On Sunday, only the Loeb boathouse toilets were available, and there was only TP in one of the 4 stalls. Somehow I was able to keep my pace up until the end, when the annoyance of my bladder wore me out.

I was hoping that it was a mere bladder irritation, as the moment I stopped running, it stopped hurting. So I spent the rest of the day drinking water and cranberry juice until I became a regular fountain. No fever, nothing hurt -- when you've got an infection, you can actually feel your kidneys, it's pretty freaky.

What was more irritating than the irritation is that ever since the first infection I have been so careful about staying clean that I went to the extreme of changing my underwear right out in the open after the 16 miler in the Park a couple of weeks ago. Unashamedly dropped my drawers, covered only by my jacket. How could this happen again? So I decided it didn't.

Monday the fountain continued. Didn't help that it was the first day of school, and I was leaving class literally every 15 minutes. Again, no fever, nothing hurt -- why am I telling you all this? Who wants to know about my bathroom habits? And why am I even sharing them?

Brief intermission. You know what commercial I hate? Marie's dressing. The one where the woman daydreams about salad for dinner with Marie's bleu cheese, then her husband calls her wondering when she'll be home for dinner, and when she says after she picks up some salad dressing, he goes into his own little bleu-cheese reverie, this one about hot wings and the ball game. This commercial disturbs me on so many levels, but here are the three biggest ones. First off, the husband is sitting at home literally feet from the kitchen and he can't make dinner? Secondly, both the husband and wife's idea of a perfect evening don't involve their mate. How sad is that, the wife prefers a salad to her husband. Lastly, if you have the "pleasure" of watching this commercial, look in the background behind the husband. It's their son, staring forlornly into an open refrigerator. Why are neither of these people paying attention to this poor boy? There he is, wasting away in front of them while they indulge their selfish cheese-fueled fantasies.

Okay, Tuesday was my big old BIRTHDAY. Amazing how many times I can turn 29! How did I celebrate? With a trip to the doctor's office. If I can't get a simple toothache without it turning into a wisdom tooth extraction, why should I expect to have a simple irritation? So I gave up and called Dr. Thornton. Yes, that's her on the Honor Roll. How many people go to the doctor and walk OUT with a check? But that's because she's a great doctor, and a cool person.

Medicine in hand, I went to the evening workout. Nine repeats of Cat Hill, three sets of 3. First set easy, second medium, third set -- first repeat hard, second medium, third slow. Tonight was a big team night on the Hill, lots of running clubs there; it was a big assembly-line up and down the Hill. Kind of like the Zipper ride at the amusement park, only you don't spin upside down. I went to it with new vigor, remembering what I read in Psychology Today about learning to embrace the challenge, to love the uphill better than the downhill. I decided that for my birthday present, I wanted for my fast repeat to get up Cat Hill in less than 2 minutes. Normally I'm just over 2 minutes on my moderate-hard ones. So when it was time for that repeat, I put "Paradise By the Dashboard Lights" on the iPod (thank you, Meat Loaf!!!!) and charged up that hill like the proverbial bat out of hell (pun intended.) Three-quarters of the way up it really started getting hard to keep the pace, but as hard as I tried to convince myself to slow down, I refused to listen. I literally said, "You can do it!" and pushed even harder.

1 minute 43 seconds.

Happy birthday to me!!

Fear Of the Unknown

Instead of editing the previous post, here's a brand new post, just for you!

Today's latest Fred's Team honor roll member:

MICHAEL GRAZIANO

bringing the Fred's Team total to

$4296

We are almost at my new official goal of $4500, and just a little further away from my idealistic goal of $5000. Won't you help me raise money for Fred's Team by making a donation to the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital on my behalf? Click here for more information -- that link takes you right to my Fred's Team homepage, where you can make a secure, online donation and learn about Fred's Team, the Aubrey Fund, and MSKCC.

You can also learn about Fred Lebow by listening to Episode 115 of Phedippidations, the running podcast started by goofy little podcaster Steve "Runner," and my constant companion on long runs. I am not sure if a certain blogger is mentioned in the podcast itself (I'm saving it for tomorrow's long run) but this blog, and the link to the Fred's Team site, is in the show notes. GO FRED'S TEAM!!!

So, a little steno practice avoidance whilst I talk for a couple of minutes about, well, myself.

I've been thinking again about the parallels (can't tell you how many times I typed that word, trying to remember -- 1 "L" then 2 "L"s? Two, then one?) between steno practice and running. In May, I was having trouble getting through a steno speed -- I tested every day for 2 weeks straight with no success. I had a breakthrough about steno speed once we began Team training, and that is that steno speed is like running speed -- you need to push in order to improve, but you can't push it too hard or you will hurt yourself. You will get faster when you're ready to get faster (click here for a link to the complete post.) I mention this because this past Tuesday, when we did our speed workout at the Riverbank track, I broke an 8-minute mile not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES. Now, for some of you out there, a 7-minute mile is a leisurely stroll, but for me, that's like the friggin' WIND, baby. Of course, I couldn't hold that pace for much longer than a mile, but it really boosted my confidence. I was thinking about the running-steno connection during this workout and how cool it would be if getting fast in one makes you get fast in the other. Why not? I had set a loose goal to pass my 140 speed test by the end of the trimester, so I could start the new school term in the 160-180 class.

Well, guess what I did on Wednesday? The second to last day of the trimester?

You may all worship me. Well, maybe not. Just send candy. Or donate to Fred's Team. Or donate candy to Fred's Team. I like licorice allsorts (sorry, but I do.)

So yeah, I start both the new school term and the "crunch" time of marathon training at new levels. Both will demand a lot of hard work and a lot more of a time commitment, and reaching these new levels makes the goals for both a more tangible reality -- for steno, finishing school and actually putting this training to use; and for running, my marathon time goal. I know I have it in me to do the work, but I do have some fear of the "unknown" -- what happens to you when you reach a new level. Fear may be the wrong word. Trepidation? Shpilkes? I guess just knowing what it's going to take to keep moving along the path towards the finish line of both goals is a little daunting right now.

I re-read the post I wrote in May about running my own race, and it does help, remembering where you were physically and mentally, as compared to where you are now. We were talking about that in school the last couple of days -- remembering back to when testing at 50 wpm was terrifying, and now 100 wpm sounds slow. It does help to hold onto that when you start a new speed. I need to do the same thing with my running -- remember what it was like not too long ago, when I was first coming back from foot surgery and couldn't do 20 minutes without stopping, or even when I first began running 4, 5 years ago and the idea of even running outside, let alone for more than 20 minutes, was inconceivable.

I recently read in Psychology Today a story about the benefits of exercise, and they profiled a woman who said, and I quote: "I love the challenge of powering uphill -- beating the beast; it's almost more fun than going downhill." I tend to dread our hill workouts, but love them once we begin, because being able to power up that friggin' hill so many times while pushing the speed, well, there's nothing you can't do after that (except walk, maybe!) Instead of dreading the work that will go into reaching the next level of whatever I want to achieve, I am trying to learn to embrace it as a challenge, and enjoy the journey as much as the reward of reaching the destination.

L'Shana Tovah, good Yom Tov, and a happy and healthy New Year. May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming year. Much joy and naches to you and yours.

MG