Seven Days and Counting...

I have really been pushing hard these past couple of weeks, which is my poor excuse for not blogging about my training.

My schedule for the past couple of weeks has been slight variations on this:
Monday -- bike or swim
Tuesday -- run
Wednesday -- swim or bike
Thursday -- run
Friday -- off
Saturday -- long run
Sunday -- long bike + swim

And best of all, I have REACHED MY FUNDRAISING GOAL FOR THE TRIATHLON, with a grand total of
$5023

Of course, I am still looking for donations for the marathon, so if you want to help me honor the memory of Prince Liam the Brave by making a donation to the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research, just click here!

Swimwise, things are going really well.  Everyone who's done the event tells me not to worry, it's the easiest swim ever.  That's good to hear, but one person's easy is another person's flaily-drowny.  However, last week in the pool, I came to a realization, and maybe this will be helpful to any of you that are swimmers.  I was doing a drill where I had one of those kidney floaties between my legs, so I was only using my arms to propel myself across the pool, and I was cranking out the laps like nobody's beeswax.  No breathing problems, no exhaustion, nothing. 

So I lose the floatie and start a regular crawl stroke.  Sure enough, two laps, and my breathing is messed up and I'm exhausted.

Lightbulb -- must be something I'm doing with my legs!  And that something was kicking like a crazy person, as fast and hard as I could.  Instead of propelling me forward, it was only exhausting me. 

I don't know much about swimming, but I feel that I do most of the work with my arms, with the legs providing just a small amount of propulsion.  I'm not saying that that's how it's supposed to be -- I honestly don't know -- but that's how I feel I swim.  So why am I knocking myself silly trying to get my legs to work harder, when they're not my main source of propulsion?

So instead of kicking hard, I relaxed my legs and kicked gently, and what do you know, I did ten laps easy.

Good thing I figured this out now!  Can you imagine what my swim would be like had I got it earlier?  Oh, well.  The swim will be fine.

Bike will be okay.  I am mainly worried about things like the hairpin turns at the turnarounds, and literally just getting onto the West Side Highway (up a steep hill almost immediately after getting on the bike.)  Two of my Teammates told me the hardest part of the bike course is avoiding bottles and crap that fall off people's bikes.  So I feel that with my training in Central Park, navigating around annoying tourists, I should be okay there, too.

And the run is, well, the run.  It's only a 10K, but it should be interesting after the bike ride, and, of course, it's uphill for the first two miles. 

Two Saturdays ago was the first NYRR Long Training Run.  The LTR is an untimed run, with pace groups heading out for distances of 6-20 miles (a loop of 6, two loops of 5, and a loop of 4.)  Do as many or as few loops as your training requires.  It's a great way to pace yourself and see where you're at.  

It was also the last day of a heatwave that sent temps soaring into the triple digits through most of the week.  The night before, it only dipped down to 85.  Despite NYRR's taking extra precautions -- extra water stations, adding Gatorade to the stations, slowing the pace groups, adding three misting stations and having cold sponges on the transverse -- Coach Ann and Jeff instructed the Team to do six miles instead of our scheduled 14, and go home.  Better to scrap one long run then to knock yourself out to the point where your training for the rest of the week is affected.

Teammate Jonathan and I went out with a 9:30 group.  He's a faster runner but is coming back from injury, and I'm, well, not a faster runner.  The 9:30 group should have been running at a 10-minute pace.  I'm not really a chatty runner, and neither is he, but we would thumbs-up each other every once in a while, and it was nice to have that companionship.  Another good thing that they did for this run was to have the pace group leaders walk the water stations, which they sometimes don't do on these runs, and that means I lose the pace group. 

My only quibble with the run was that all the extra water stations were on the east side of the Park.  It seemed like there was one water station on the west side, and then one every 45 feet on the east side.  Yes, I exaggerate, but the group did wonder where these mythical extra water stations were as we trundled down the west side.

Jonathan broke away on mile 4 and finished ahead of me.  He told me afterwards that the pace group was actually going at a 9:20 pace, and he was feeling good, so if he was only doing 6, he was going to do it as his pace.   So I'm happy, because I felt pretty comfortable with that pace.  I don't think I could have sustained it for 14 miles, but it was fine for 6.  And I feel that I could have done maybe another 5 in that heat, but I was starting to cramp up, and it has taken me a long time to learn to listen to what the coaches tell me.

We also had our first speed and hill workouts over the past two weeks (I have to do the step workouts on my own, alas.) Our first speed workout at Riverbank was one mile warm-up, 5 x two laps hard, one lap easy, then 3 laps cooldown.  This was during the heatwave, so it was really exhausting.  I had to hit the snackbar for some salt so I could keep going, because all the Gatorade in the world wasn't helping.   I really tried not to slack on the hard ones, so my easy laps involved some walking.  That's okay.  If you don't push, you don't improve the way you want.  I thought of sweet Liam every time I started to flag, and I swear to God, every time I thought of him, a breeze would come up and cool me off. 

And lookit what we did -- the next day, Riverbank's sewage plant cought fire, sending millions of gallons of sewage into the Hudson a/k/a my swim course next Sunday.  All because of the heat we generated on the track!

Same thing holds for the Cat Hill workout.  We did a warm-up of the lower loop, then 2 sets of four hill repeats -- easy effort, easy, medium, hard.  Break between set 1 and 2. 

It's so tempting to hold back on the medium and the hard of the first set, because you're thinking you have another set of four to go.  It's almost frightening to commit to doing what the coaches ask, because you wonder -- do you have it in you?  And if you don't, what does that say about you?  Ultimately, what you have to do is push until you can't push it anymore, whether you have completed the task or not.  If you bonk, you bonk, but at least you do it in training, not on the day.  The year I had a 30-minute improvement in my marathon was the year I did everything the coaches told me.  And I would not be honoring Liam properly by slacking.  Set 1, I felt I pushed the last repeat to maybe 90 percent.  Sort of disappointed in myself.  Set 2, I felt myself falling back in the last repeat, regrouped, and pushed to 100 percent up the second part of the hill all the way to the end, running full out the last 100 feet or so.  Had to walk most of the way back down the hill, and could barely complete the cooldown.

This past Saturday was the infamous Great Hill run -- 10 loops of the wretched thing, for 15 miles.  The first time we did this workout, we did it as a Tuesday night workout.  Jeff didn't take the length of the transverse into account, and by the time we finished, it was pitch black outside.  Sounds stupid, but I've been in love with this workout ever since.  Last time I did this workout two years ago, I could not do the full ten, and I was crushed.  So I was both anticipating it and dreading it.

Jeff and David told me to take it easy and cut it short, because apparently I get to have a little bit of a taper this week for the marathon!  Hooray!  Who doesn't love a taper?   So instead of ten loops, I did eight -- and I definitely could have done the full ten, and done them strong.  So now I'm back to loving this workout again.

Today was a nice 12-miler on the bike -- and completed in under 50 minutes -- followed by a really positive swim session.

Holy crap, I think I'm ready to do this triathlon!!

Run for the Parks Four-Miler, Why Bikes Don't "Fit," and The Perils of Early Hydration

Hello, devoted readers!  Good to be back!  I've been working hard, but not blogging much (as you can tell). I will try to be better.

Triathlon training is going well.  It's still a little early to push, but I'm trying not to slack.  Liam deserves no less than my best.  And you all agree, as so far, thanks to you, I have raised
$2275
for the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on behalf of Prince Liam the Brave.  If you, dear reader, want to support my first triathlon effort, honor the amazing Prince Liam, who fought so hard against neuroblastoma, and help cure pediatric cancer -- three things for the price of one!! -- simply click here to make a donation.  Any amount you can give is a step closer to a cure.

Thanks to Fred's Team, I have a new training program keeper thingie, called "Training Peaks." It tells you what to do every day as a beginner to prepare for your first triathlon. Some of it is a little basic, even for me, so as per usual, I've been ignoring it. If I figure out how to get it on the blog feed, I will replace good old Buckeye Outdoors. I've been trying to swim twice a week, run twice a week, and bike ... well, I'm waiting for the bike. I ordered it from Toga Bikes two weeks ago. It should be here any day now. I hate biking indoors more than I hate running on a treadmill, and I loathe running on a treadmill. 

I'm excited to get the bike, because I had so much trouble riding the old one (much as I loved it,) as it did not fit properly.  I bought that bike off Craigslist, a beautiful orange Cannondale.  Please understand that the bike I had before the Cannondale was purple, had a banana seat and purple streamers on the handlebars, and her name was Jennifer. What I knew about "fit" was -- could I get on it and reach the pedals?  Fit!  No, apparently, there is a lot more to it, like how well you reach the handlebars, where your knee falls in relation to the pedals, how wide you have to grip, etc.  I wish I had known this before.  I rode it for the better part of a year, and it was always uncomfortable.  I felt too high off the ground, and my back would be aching after two miles.  I finally asked some of my triathlete friends who said that just wasn't right.  Anyways, the good folks at Toga explained to me when I brought the Cannondale in that there would be no way to make it fit me properly, that fixing one thing would create problems with another.  So they sold the old bike, and ordered me a hot new Cannondale Synapse Women's Alloy 7 Sora.  Whatever that means.  Alls I know is, it's hot. And I want it.

Swimming, I will talk about some other day. Just hoping to survive it, for the moment. I have the form, but not the endurance.


Today's race.  Just got home from this AM's Run for the Parks four-miler.  I was not signed up to do this race, but my friend David left me a message last night wondering if I was going.  I decided to let the fates decide.  If I woke up in time to get to the race to sign up by 7:30, I would.  Spot woke me up barfing at 5am, so I went.

Got there just before 7:00 to register and get my race number.  Then I had to sit around for close to an hour.  I knew some of my Teammates were going to be there, but I didn't see any of them. My plan was to hydrate well prior to the race, since it was a four-miler, I didn't feel it necessary to take a water stop unless I felt I needed to.  So before I left the house, I had a Nuun (my new favorite pre-run drink of choice -- it's an electrolyte tablet that dissolves in water.) I also had coffee when I woke up.  And when I got to the bandshell to register, turns out that one of the race sponsors was Zico coconut water, so I got a bottle of that.  I bided my pre-race time by going to the bathroom.  A lot.  Those of you who have actually read this blog know that I am obsessed with the amount of times I can go to the bathroom before the marathon (7 is the number to beat)  but for a four-mile race -- three times.  In under an hour. 

And then it's 7:50 and I head to the corral, and wouldn't you know it -- have to go again! What the --?   Well, I figured it would add to my urgency.

And...we're off!

I'm in the pink corral, which is more towards the back.  It was actually a good one to be in, so that I would start slow.  The course is the four-mile inside loop of Central Park, from E. 68th up to the 102nd Street transverse, over and back down the west side, finishing at the 72nd Street transverse.  This means that mile 1 has Cat Hill, which is the biggest hill, getting it over with early.  On Wednesday, I did my first set of hill repeats in a year, so I was prepared to just head up this bad boy once.  Mile 1, mostly uphill -- 9:30.  I was surprised, I thought I was going slower than that. 

Mile 2, mostly downhill, and I'm finding my pace  (and I have to peeeeee!) was another surprise -- 9:00.  What?  Didn't feel it.  But I knew mile 3 was hillier, so I wanted to take mile 3 a little slower, to give me juice for mile 4. 

For thems who don't run, there is a concept called the negative split that I ascribe to, where the second half of the race is run faster than the first half.  The theory is, instead of getting all the speed out early and hanging in there for the last part of the race, you start slow and speed up, leaving something in the tank for a push at the end and a strong finish.  That's why, a lot of times, big races like the marathon come down to the last mile, or even half mile, or even 10 feet.  The runners hold something back for the push at the end.  The question is, when is it going to come, and how long can the runner sustain it?

My issue isn't the slow first half, it's the not speeding up in the second half.  But I digress...

Mile 3, a hillier mile -- and the one that has, for some reason, the toughest hill, which is the one right by the ballfields in the West 90s.  Don't know why I find it harder than Cat Hill, which is a steeper hill and a longer one, but there you have it.  9:10 for mile 3.

Last mile, mostly downhill, and here's where the problem with being a slower runner is -- you're surrounded by slower runners.  So I want to go pedal to the medal, but I keep getting caught behind packs of slower people, and having to maneuver around them.  It's funny, I know this course like the back of my hand, but I never know when to start pushing.  I push a little harder, but make my move at 79th Street.  I open up my stride and really start to motor (at least for me, anyway).

Turned off my watch just  before hitting the finish line, but I looked down and saw this:

WHAAAA?  Wow. For some, a bad day at the office.  For me, everything just came up roses. 

My actual time was 36:08, and that last mile was more like an 8:20ish, but still, that is my fastest time for a mile since last year, maybe more. 

What does this mean?  Two things.  One -- if I can stay injury-free and train smart, this is going to be a great year.

And two -- I need to learn how to better pace the middle miles of a race.  If I have that much gas in the tank that I am able to hit that pace at the end, I need to use up a little more of that in the middle, and not be afraid of maintaining a faster pace over a longer distance.

So I'm off to the pool now for a swim.  Please donate to Fred's Team by clicking here, and good luck, Boston runners!! 

In Which Marci Goes ChiRunning, and Other Important Things

Hello, dear reader.

There hasn't been that much going on with me until this past week. Hence, the lack of posts. Now that I've taken my first ChiRunning workshop, and attended the Fred's Team kickoff party, I've got some info to share.

But first, a break from our regularly scheduled programming for some supremely important messages.

First, let's show some love to the newest members of the FRED'S TEAM HONOR ROLL, otherwise known as TEAM LIAM:

JEROME and SHEILA ROBINSON

DENNIS SEKALOFF

ESTHER and MAL NEWMAN

SANDRO SEGALINI

ROBERTA NEWMAN

MICHAEL COLTON

ILISA SULNER

HOWARD SHIAU

TOBY COBRIN

RON TAUBER (my endodontist!)

LARRY HELFER

ADAM WHITE

and

MY PARENTS

bringing the total going to the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research in honor of Prince Liam the Brave to (wait, I have to do some math; not all of these are up on the website yet) ...

$1550

Words fail.

That's amazing, but there is still a long way to go, and the need is so, so great. Let me share with you part of Gretchen's latest blog post on Prince Liam (click to read the entire post) because she says it so well.

The words of Dr. Cheung, one of the brilliant oncologists who works so hard on Liam's behalf, haunt me day and night. "It's not science that's holding us back, it's funding." Great. There's a price tag on my son's head. Isn't that just dandy? Can I even begin to tell you how that feels? My son is priceless. Evey child is priceless.

In another part of the post, she asks "What do we need to do to inspire people to get involved?" She's already done so much, starting not one, but two organizations focused on providing support and raising funds to battle pediatric cancer, Band of Parents and Cookies for Kids Cancer. Gee, I wonder where Liam gets his spirit from?

So what can I do? I can, as in years past, run the NYC marathon with Fred's Team, and unashamedly ask you all to donate to the Aubrey Fund in my name. But that's too easy now. As if running the NYC Marathon was easy. It's not. But I've proved to you, faithful friends, that I can do it.

How can I show you how serious I am about this, and how far I'm willing to go to ensure a bright future for Liam and all of the kids at MSKCC?

Like this.

I promise to run BOTH the Chicago Marathon AND the NYC Marathon. Three weeks apart. IF I can raise the money in time.

This is what I can do. Can I ask you to help me with this? I'm not too proud to say it -- I need to raise $5,000 by September to run both races. I want to help provide Liam, and all children, with the treatment that will allow them to live healthy, full lives. Just click here to access my Fred's Team webpage and make a secure donation.

Still not convinced that your donation makes a difference? Allow me to be shameless here, and share this picture with you.

Liam's sixth birthday would not have happened without the love and support of people like you.

Click here. You know you want to.

In order to prepare for this insanity, I signed up for a ChiRunning class last weekend. ChiRunning was developed by Danny Dreyer. Far be it for me to pretend to be an expert on the subject, so I promise to explain everything badly, but it's based on the idea that running can be effortless and injury-free, if you allow gravity to do most of the work. I remember years ago hearing running described as a "controlled fall," and that's at the essence of the ChiRunning form.

Another essential is proper posture -- crown of head stretching straight up, pelvis tipped up, shoulders and hips aligned with ankle. Now, this is the exact posture that my PT goddess Miri Ingwer has been trying to get me to commit to for years. When I'm standing correctly a la Miri, it feels like my shoulders and arms are floating away from my body. So while I can't say this comes naturally, it's a welcome reminder of what I learned from Miri and need to consciously put more into practice.

The other main essential of ChiRunning is the midfoot strike, and by that I mean landing on the ball of your foot, as opposed to landing on your heel and rolling down the foot. This is something that I now do almost automatically thanks to my Vibrams (we love you, Vibrams!!) and just wearing these shoes has improved my running tremendously. With ChiRunning, the twist is that you don't swing your leg out in front of you when you run.. You keep your legs relaxed and, leaning from the ankles, allow yourself to "fall foward" and catch yourself by placing your feet down. Basically, your body is tilted forward slightly and your legs are moving behind you, instead of in front of you. This propels you forward. Did I mention I would explain it badly? Go to the ChiRunning site for videos and a much better explanation.

Last weekend, I took a one-day workshop with Danny and his instructors, and he went over the basic principles of the technique, and then we did a series of short runs to put them into practice. So of course, the next day I was ready to try it out.

Oh, yes. Forgot to mention one of the larger components of the technique -- cadence. It's not turnover rate -- the amount of the times your feet hit the ground -- that affect speed with ChiRunning, it's the amount of lean. The more you lean, the longer your stride, and the faster you'll run, with no extra exertion. Your cadence, or strides per minute, remain the same. Only the lean changes. Pretty amazing! There are ideal cadences for running, which for someone of my height is between 85-90 strides per minutes. So the first day, I set my metronome at 90, and off I went.

Hit the bottom of Cat Hill, and the legs felt great. I figure let's do a mini-hill workout and see how this technique works. So up the hill I go.

Get to the top of the hill, and I have to stop and catch my breath. Holy frijoles. Legs felt fine, but I couldn't breathe at all. This is not normal for me after one trip up Cat Hill, even when i'm at my worst. Head back down and get some water.

Second try up the hill. Trying to breathe through my nose, and not lean into the hill too much. Still, by the time I hit the top of the hill, same thing -- gasping for air. Again, legs were fine.

Third attempt, really concentrated on posture and lean. Slightly better, but still need to stop and catch my breath before heading back down.

Different from the past, I was able to run home after the hills, although I only did three repeats, so I probably could've done it regardless. However, after finishing the run, buying a pretzel and getting home, so about five minutes after the run, I got a HUGE case of the dry heaves! Why did that happen? Not why did I get the heaves, but why did I get them five minutes later? That was weird.

I did not wear a watch for that first workout, and I mention this because I went out running again today, and did wear a watch. I needed to see how much faster I was, because that was the only explanation for my breathing difficulties, as least as far as I could see. Dialed it down to 85 and tried again.

The distance from my house to the bottom of Cat Hill is about a mile. I am, at this point, around a 10-minute miler. Excuse me -- was. Running at an 85 cadence got me to Cat Hill in 8:50.

No wonder I was gasping for air.

Had to stop again at the top of Cat Hill, which I ran up in around 2:10. That's normally a moderate effort for me. All I was doing was trying to keep my breathing regular. Again, no effort from the legs, just the lungs.

Set off again, to the Fred statue at the Runner's Gate. Normally, using this route, it takes me about 18 minutes to get there. Today -- 16:50. Gasp, gasp. So after I caught my breath, I dialed it down to 80 and set back out. It felt better on the lungs -- I was able to complete the rest of the run without further incident -- but my legs felt it was a little slow. They kept trying to push the pace. It was strange. It was like they wanted to go on their own. I had to work really hard to slow down, if you can believe it. I would concentrate on one thing -- cadence, arms, ankles, lean, etc. -- and everything else would kind of fall apart. Frustrating!! I know that soon it will become more automatically. But right now, ChiRunning is mentally exhausting. And the beep-beep of the metronome will shortly drive me mad. But I completed a 5.38 mile run in 50:50, or about a 9:30 pace. Thirty seconds per mile faster than I was, oh, a week ago, and but for the breathing, it felt amazing.

There is definitely something to this method, and I will be working it for all it's worth! The legs feel great -- no pain, no fatigue -- and once the breathing catches up, I think (hope!!) this will be a really good training season! It has to be -- it's going to be a bruiser.

More anon.

Liam's home, My Week of Running, and FIRST CONTEST!!

Check out this face!!

Liam had his surgery last Thursday. Eight-plus hours on the table, including an inter-operative radiation treatment, a procedure developed and perfected at MSKCC. Went into the ICU recovery, woke up, and immediately pulled out his respirator tube. A day and a half later, returned to MSKCC (his surgery was at MSKCC, his ICU recovery was across the street at Cornell.) Two and a half days after that -- home. Can you believe the will of this kid? Is it any wonder why so many people love him? And why I'm such a fan? You can become a fan of Liam's on Facebook. Look for "Prince Liam the Brave." Or read his mom's blog, also called "Prince Liam the Brave."

Speaking of which, the latest members of the Liam Witt fan club, also known as the FRED'S TEAM HONOR ROLL:

SARA SOTO
and
GREG COHEN

bringing the total going to the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Liam's honor to an amazing

$2,492

Who's going to bring me to $3,000? A prize to the person who does!! A prize, I say!! Who doesn't like a prize? Simply click here to be taken to my Fred's Team donation page, or click the link to the side and bottom of the page. As you can see by the smile on Liam's face, the money is put to very good use.

Speaking of prizes, there will be a CONTEST again for this post! It's an easy one, and anyone can enter. It's at the bottom of the post.

Lots of stuff going on, or gone on, over the past week.

First off, in the non-running news, I advanced a production of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" for the Cape Playhouse. Basically, I rehearse the show for two weeks, bring it up to the theater, train the crew, help the stage manager, and leave. Don't get to actually call the show, which for you non-theater people means calling all the cues for the lights and sound and set shifts and anything technical that happens during the course of a show. Calling a musical is a lot of fun. Ah, well. Anyway, the show was a breeze to rehearse -- the actors couldn't have been nicer, or more talented, and the director, Mark Martino, was even nicer and more talented. Plus which -- I only had 5 suitcases and a boa for props. Heavenly!! The tech was not without its moments, but I am continually amazed at the Cape Playhouse crew, who manage to drive through every tech with a positive attitude, and achieve miracles in 48 hours.

Anyway, it was strange to be back in the stage management saddle, and have a 9 to 5 schedule again (actually, 8 to 6). It was kind of refreshing. Plus, I was able to get in my favorite run while at the Cape (which is in Dennis, on Cape Cod) -- a run to Chapin Beach, and also up Setucket Road. I needed to get 16 miles in. There's a little backstory to that, which I'll get to in a minute. Anyways, I have waxed poetic over Chapin Beach in past posts, so I will refrain here. I started my run from the Briarcliffe to Chapin Beach, to say goodbye to the beach (sigh.) Then I headed off down 6A to Rte 134, and then to Setucket Road. I like Setucket Road for three reasons -- one, it's kind of hilly, so it's a good mimic for the Park. Two, there's lots of good house porn. I love looking at those gorgeous houses and fantasizing about owning one. Third, it's the ONLY SIDEWALK IN ALL OF CAPE COD, at least as far as I can tell. No wonder people are getting so fat, there's no place for them to walk safely.

It was also the weekend for the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike ride across Massachusetts to raise money for the Jimmy Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Center. A cause after my own heart. The riders go down Setucket Road, so I wanted to see the riders and cheer them on. Let me tell you, it is not easy to clap as you run, but I had a lot of fun on that section of the route. Most of them ride in teams, and each team puts something different on their helmet. One team had stuffed Kermit dolls.

Here's something I notice about running in Dennis -- I'm the only one with water and Gatorade. Hmm....

Backstory -- Reader's Digest version. I had a long talk with Coach Jeff about my crappy long runs. He gave me a lot of good advice. The first is to get more sleep. That's true, I am not sleeping enough. Second, he told me to relax, and not be so hard on myself. With a career change, things are on a different level, and I have to recognize that. He recommended for my long run, don't worry about miles or anything, just run for about as long as I thought 16 miles should be. Don't worry about the clock. Just run and enjoy it. I did have a time limit, because I needed to shower and get to the theater by 9:15am, but other than that, I made sure to run my favorite route, and really took Jeff's advice. I didn't worry about the pace, I just tried to find the fun in the run. And I did.

We started Tuesday and Thursday workouts, and we've had a hill workout, a couple of track workouts, and steps! The hill workout last Tuesday was a typical Tuesday during marathon training season, as Cat Hill was super-crowded. Plus which, those damn pedicabs were loitering right at the bottom of the hill, getting in everyone's way. The workout -- three sets of two repeats. First set easy, second set medium, third set hard. Bonus -- Dr. Mark was there, my running buddy. I always have a good run when he's around. he ran with me, as I had a watch. First two, we ran a 2:20 up average. Second set, 2:10, and the third -- 2:00 even, both repeats. After each of the hard repeats, I had to take a breather at the top of the hill, because I thought I was going to hurl. It was pretty humid out. Those were better times than I was expecting. Thanks, Dr. Mark! He cracked me up after the first hard repeat by telling me that in med school he was known for being the best person at handling vomit. You know, some people brag about making really good chocolate chip cookies. Doctors -- I don't get it.

Last Thursday was Coach's Choice. We were at the Riverside steps. Ann led the workout, which meant we were in for it. Ann looks so sweet and innocent, and her workouts are cruel. An iron fist in a velvet glove. She puts a lot of running into the step workouts, and most of that running is uphill. I had run a couple of miles beforehand to warm up. Between the heat and the constant uphill, my legs were wobbly. Also, my knee was paining again.

Went to the PT on Friday. Diagnosis -- I'm a mess. Seriously, folks, it's the right hip. It sits funny, and it makes my knee not track properly. So Ed Mancini. PT extraordinaire (it was he who introduced me to Miri Ingwer, PT goddess) really worked out my hip and knee and gave me some exercises to do.

Sunday was the aforementioned long run at the Cape.

Tuesday was a track workout, again led by Ann. One mile warm-up, then 8 repeats of one fast lap, one slow lap. Two lap cool-down. 5 1/2 total miles. I brought the little doodad Ann gave me last year to help correct my form, and got down to business.

The track was supercrowded. Zogsports was there, all of their teams playing soccer, plus the usual batch of children, other soccer players, and various other folks walking and running the track. In fact, I got hit not once, but twice, by soccer balls during one lap. A record!

Warm-up lap was 10:45. Then here are my fast laps -- 2:16, 2:11. 2:07, 2:10, 2:05, 2:08, 2:01, 2:04. That's not bad at all for me. Bonus, I think I finally "got" the arm placement. Let's see if it sticks.

PS: NO IPOD.

Thursday was a step workout at our old stomping grounds, the steps at the Bethesda Fountain. Again, super-crowded. Jeff led this workout, which consisted of sets of 3 and 6 repeats of variations of going up the stairs one at a time, two at a time (easier than one step at a time) and three at a time (not for the short of limb) and the infamous "in the bucket" where you squat, jump up two steps, land and squat, etc. etc. Turns your quads to jelly. I don't do the hopping up the stairs, it's too hard on my hips. The whole idea of a step workout is to train your hip flexors for the pounding, but I discovered after my first Fred's Team year that hopping up the stairs knocks both my hips out of alignment right quick. With the other exercises, my hips have a fighting chance.

So I signed up for swimming lessons starting in September, which means I need a bathing suit. Yup, don't own one. Yuck. I hate the way I look in a bathing suit. My giant pasty white thighs will shock you. But they don't let you swim in jeans, so I went to Modell's and tried on a few. Now, pasty white thighs aside, I am not a hefty woman. However, the way this suit was cut, with a really low back and sides (it goes down all the way to the butt) made all the flub from the top half of my body pop out the back of the suit, giving me love handles all the way around my back. Exceedingly unattractive, and emotionally devastating.

Quick tangent -- I worked a show once where one of the stars had, over the course of the first part of the run, had lost a great deal of weight. Once the show started to tank, she started to put the weight back on. However, she kept asking the costumers to bring IN her costumes, to corset her up. I had stopped working on the show, but came back one night as a sub. It was her number, and she was out there in an outfit where the top half had a low back. Well, all the flub was pushed out the back of the shirt, making it look like she had a second set of boobs attached to her back. Horrifying.

Anyways, that's what I flashed on when I saw the horror that was my back. On the one hand, nobody's going to be looking at my legs if I wear that thing. On the other hand, er, no. See, that's why I don't swim!!!!!

Tomorrow, we're going to participate in the Summer Streets program, where they close down Park Avenue from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge. We're going to run the whole shebang and back, for 13 miles. Then I head out to Camptown, PA for a summer camp reunion, which I will tell you all about next week.

And thus comes...
THE CONTEST

It's an easy one:

How many official water stops will there be on Park Avenue during the Summer Streets program?

E-mail your answer to mgcontest@earthlink.net by August 13.

One person, picked at random, will win something.

Have a good weekend!

Liam Update, and My Cr*ppy Long Runs

Liam update:



On Thursday, Liam goes in for his surgery. It is going to be a very invasive procedure. His dad, Larry, goes into more detail in the family's blog, Prince Liam the Brave, which I suggest you all read. I will pull out this one excerpt, because it sums up all of what makes me -- and everyone who meets him -- fall in love with this exceptional little champ, and why I will run for Fred's Team as long as I can run:

"He is an amazing little boy and has taken all that has been thrown at him in perfect stride, never complaining, and always full of love and kindness. He has every right to throw things, scream, yell, cry, and to be miserable but then we would not be talking about Prince Liam. Liam is in for a very rough couple of weeks. Our hearts ache for our precious son who deserves none of the pain and suffering he has been chosen to endure (no child does). He has had more than his fair share and what lies ahead for him over the coming month weakens my knees. I would take it all for him if it was at all possible. Take his cancer away and give it to me....As his father and his mother one of the most painful aspects of this journey for us has been the inability to protect our son from further harm. To protect him from the cancer that keeps trying to take him from us all, the toxic treatments required to keep him with us but that we know are harming him in other ways, and the uncertainty of what tomorrow holds for him...We are tired, saddened, weak, and working to muster the strength to get through the next few weeks to be strong for Liam when he will need us most. Your prayers, good thoughts, and random acts of kindness have given us added strength in the past and why I felt the need to bring everyone up to date on Liam regardless of how difficult it is to share the news above. He needs us all once again to cheer him on and to focus all of our positive energy in his direction. "

Any amount you can donate to the Aubrey Fund, which has paid for all of Liam's treatments, is amazing. If everyone who read this just gave $5, think of how much money could be raised to help fight pediatric cancer. And your money means more than a dollar sign -- it's hope for Liam, and all the children being treated at MSKCC, that there will be a day that they will not just imagine a world without cancer, but live in it as well.

So far, I have been able to raise, thanks to amazing people like you, and like the latest members of the FRED'S TEAM HONOR ROLL:
RUSSELL TREYZ
and
HOWARD SHIAU
a grand total so far of
$1892
but there's a long way to go.

Regardless of whether or not you can donate, please offer up your prayers, thoughts, good wishes, white light -- whatever positive energy you can send Liam's way, as he and his family undergo the next portion of their journey.

Thoughts of Liam have kept me going through some pretty -- there's no nice way to say it -- crappy runs. I don't know what it is, but I have lost everything, all my stamina, my strength and most distressingly, my speed. Where did it go?? I want it back!!

I had some pretty good midweek runs, so imagine my surprise when, at last Saturday's team long run (14 miles) I totally bombed. I had to do a few miles beforehand, to make to a 10:30 rehearsal, so I already had 2 1/2 miles down by the time I met the Team at 7am. The course was a simple one, and one of my faves -- from 97th Street up to the GW Bridge, then down the West Side to 40th Street, then back up to 97th. Scenic and flat, a great combo.

The trouble began almost immediately. I had to go to the bathroom. Of course, I had to go from the moment I left my house, but the park bathrooms don't open until 7am. Sigh. So I chugged along until we got to the first possible bathroom by the uptown tennis courts and there was a guy just opening them up. Teammates Ernie and V had also veered off, and we took a brief pause.

The rest stop, though needed, disrupted what little flow I had. I started falling further behind, and soon, I was dead last. Last. What the hey? I know it's not a race, but I've never ever been this slow. It was getting hotter and more humid. I kept fluids with me, because there's only one water fountain between 97th and the GW Bridge, but they weren't helping. My breathing was fine, again, it was my legs. They felt like lead. I couldn't turn them over. Worse, I started getting a shooting pain in my right knee that I couldn't shake, and I kept having to stop and rub it out. By the time I got to 97th Street (mile 8, or in my case, mile 10 1/2) I was in pain, I was dehydrated, and I was PISSED. Coach Jeff gave me a few words of encouragement, advised me to see a doctor (which yes, I am doing next Friday) and sent me on my way. I hobbled off. Just get through it. Just get through it. Got to 40th Street, turned around, came back up to 59th Street and -- as planned, because I was shorting the course, having run some beforehand -- turned off and went home. No time for an ice bath, had just enough time to shower and head over to watch the final rehearsal of the Cape show, before helping them load out and retaping the floor for my show. No nap for me...

Took Sunday and Monday off, trying to really refresh my legs. I did the first Team track workout on Tuesday. We were up at Riverbank, as always, and there was a light rain throughout the majority of the workout, which made things feel better, but didn't cool it down much.

The workout -- a one mile warmup, and five repeats of one fast lap, one slow lap. Finish up with 3 extra slow laps cooldown. Four miles total. The fast laps were meant to be about a minute over your normal pace, so if your normal pace is a 9:00 mile, push the lap for an 8:00 minute mile. Before the workout, Coach Ann pulled me aside and told me that she noticed my form was shot. She had really helped me last year getting my arms in the right position, but now they were even worse than last year. I wouldn't doubt it. That's probably part of the reason I'm running so badly. She also said that the one things that would help me a lot is ... getting rid of the iPod. For a number of reasons, it is bad for you, and I know this, but I use it for motivation and rhythm. She said that ditching it would help my form. So I agreed to give it up (sniff), and really concentrate on my arms. I think by the end of the workout, I was getting the hang of it. I could feel what Ann was talking about in both my arms and my hips, and it was, I dare say, helpful to hear my own breathing through the fast laps. It helped me get in a good rhythm, as demonstrated by my times for the fast laps, in order: 2:14, 2:15, 2:13, 2:08 and 2:05.

Took Wednesday off, to finish some transcripts.

Thursday was supposed to be a step workout, but because it was raining heavily, Jeff cancelled it. Did I go to the gym and work out instead? No. I thought, why don't I just do my long run on Friday morning instead, before rehearsal. My thinking was this -- I had taken Wednesday off already. Why not take the rest of Thursday off and do the long run on Friday, with somewhat fresher legs? Even though I had mentally blocked out Thursday night as Team time, I could use that time to finish up the rest of my transcripts instead -- so in theory, it made sense. Otherwise, I'd either have to drag myself to the gym on Thursday night in the rain, or do something on Friday, which I didn't want to do prior to the 15-miler. And since I was ready for bed by 8pm, it seemed the logical choice.

So at 5:30am Friday morning, I set out for a 15-miler. Decided to keep it in Central Park, where I felt safer -- yes, there are a LOT of people in the Park then, and it was already getting light out. The plan was a 6-mile loop, a 5-mile loop, and breaking up the five-mile loop by getting two loops of the Rez (1.7ish miles a pop) in, heading down the west side towards home, and then crossing the transverse at 72nd Street and heading down the east side for the extra half mile.

First six miles felt pretty good. I must say, and I'm going to hold to this, that I do pretty well on hills. That being said, I was debating two 6-mile loops, with the Rez loops in there, and ixnayed it after I hit Cat Hill the second time. Didn't feel like testing that theory with a second loop of the Great Hill.

Had the iPod (sorry, Ann!) but spent a lot of time really concentrating on my arms, and I figured out a couple of things. First off, I realized that when my arms were in what I believe to be correct form, I felt lighter, like weight had shifted off my hips. I also realized that having my arms in correct form pulled my back up into correct alignment (you can slouch when you run.)

So while it was not 100 percent there the whole run, I finally became aware of the difference between proper and improper form, and every time I felt myself falling out of form I would snap myself back in. And even though my time wasn't great -- averaged just over 10 minute miles for the 15 -- I physically felt better about the run. A couple of times I was tempted to short the course, just run down the west side instead of cutting over the transverse, but I thought about Liam, and as corny as it sounds, it gave me the strength to keep going.

Of course, spending the rest of the day in rehearsal, aching and desperate for a nap wasn't pretty. Oh, well. I'm in rehearsal right now for SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, and we work on Saturday, so I'd be saying the same thing if I waited until Saturday.

On My Soapbox, More Lessons Learned, NYRR Long Training Run, and What is a Fartlek?

A few weeks ago, Liam's mom Gretchen asked everyone if they knew a way to get a hold of Mike Rowe, as "Dirty Jobs" is one of Liam's favorite shows. She hoped Mike would be able to come and visit Liam. I know a few friends who work in TV, and they gave me a number, who led me to someone, who led me to someone, who led me to someone, who led me to someone...anyway, I gave the info to Gretchen, and I don't know if the following picture is the result of those phone calls or something else, but does it matter?

Look at that smile!!

I haven't been receiving any donations lately, so the amount I've raised so far for the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research in honor of my little friend Liam Witt remains at
$1742
which is a great number, but I want to double it! Triple it! Nay, TENFOLD it!!

Can you help me reach that goal?

Remember, the ultimate goal is to eradicate cancer. But we can't do it just by wanting it. It takes money. And the way I raise money is by doing stuff like running marathons for Fred's Team and having amazing people like you donate money to the Aubrey Fund, either because they believe in the cause, or support me no matter what stunts I pull (thanks, Mom and Dad!) or just think it's funny that a former pack-a-day smoker who would drive a car from the bedroom to the bathroom if she could fit one through the front door is running marathons. (PS: I don't "buy" my marathon entry through Fred's Team, I run the races to earn it, so that someone else can use the guaranteed entry and raise additional $$ for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. )

Almost off the soapbox. Here's how you can help:
-you can click here and make your secure donation via credit card.
-if you'd rather send a check, just leave me a comment and I'll be happy to email you my address and the check info.

Regardless of whether or not you can donate, please please please pass my blogsite (or merely my donation page if you find my blitherings dull) around to all your friends and family -- make me a viral sensation!! The more people get involved, the closer we get to a cure.

Onto the running portion of the show!!

Being the good little runner that I am (not,) I realized that I do need to get my arse back into the gym and start weight training again. Two years ago, the combination of weight training and biking on some of my days off from running led me to my PR marathon, and since my mom says I have to run 3:53, I thought it prudent to train like I did two years ago.

The day to pick weight training back up is not, however, the day before a 14-mile run.

Why must I learn every lesson the hard way?!?!?!

Saturday was the Long Training Run #1, an untimed run (not a race) in Central Park, where you can run between 6-20 miles, depending on where you are in your training. All loops start and end at the 102 Street transverse. You start with a six-mile loop (the full Park,) two five-mile loops (cutting off the Great Hill) and one four-mile loop (cutting off at the 72nd Street transverse.) It's broken down into pace groups, each group led by a member of the NY Flyers running club, and they do an excellent job of carving order out of the running chaos.

Walked up to the transverse and met my Teammates at bag check at 6:30am. Coach Ann advises me that where I am in my training, 13 or 14 would be good. I decide I'll do 14 -- start the third loop and walk it back once I hit Cat Hill. Or something like that. Was teased about bringing a Fuel Belt, but if you recall from this run last year -- and really, why wouldn't you? -- my only complaint last year was that there wasn't enough fl;uid on the course, and Gatorade was only available on the transverse. I sweat like a moose, and need all the electrolytes I can get.

Get into my 9:30 pace group and set my Nike+. I've got a few episode of Phedippidations saved up (an excellent running podcast, check it out!!) And we're off!

Sort of.

I had no hint of soreness as I was walking to the start -- and you'd think that in those two miles, I might have felt something -- but as soon as I started running, I knew I was in trouble. This was not the soreness of legs that just needed a few minutes to warm up. These were legs that were done for the day. Though I had only done two sets of the leg machines on the Nautilus circuit, and with barely any weight on them, just enough to recognize that there was weight, it took its toll. The correct term, as I stated previously, is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS. The term I prefer is Holy Sh*t. Or Oh, Crap. Any fecal-related term, actually.

First loop -- spent most of that time fervently hoping that the soreness would, in fact, go away. No such luck. Fell behind the pace group fairly quickly. Also, the pace leaders don't walk the water stations, which dropped me further back. Decided during the first loop that I had runner's knee, even though I'm not exactly sure what it is.

Second loop -- After a slug of Gatorade and a stop in the loo, decided to drop back to the 10:00 group, but instead of waiting for them to come in, I went out at the tail end of a 9:30 group. My own 9:45 group. Funny, even though cutting off the Great Hill and running the lower loop makes for an easier five-miler, I prefer it the other way -- keeping the Great Hill and cutting off the lower loop. Don't know why. Masochist? Spent most of this loop trying to decide what I was going to do. I was fully ready to stop after 11 and call it done, but that nagging voice in my head kept saying no. I figured as long as I didn't have to run Cat Hill a third time, I would be okay to keep going, and spent much brain time devising a route. I would go out for the third loop and cut off at the transverse instead of continuing down the West Side -- no, that means I have to run Cat Hill again to get the 14 miles in. Okay, how about we do this? Or this? All that time, my body was saying, "Shut up and just stop at 11." And I was starting to listen. Decided to take a bit of a break at the 102 Street transverse and see how that made me feel...

...until I got there, and saw a group going out, and before I could realize what I was doing, I went out with them for #3.

I think my mind knew that if I took a break, that would be it for the day.

I started out loop #3, and decided to just make it 1 1/2 miles out-and-back, for 14 total. However, as I approached the mile 12 marker at the south end of the Reservoir, legs said, "done," mind agreed, and I stopped. I stood there, panting, for a minute or two. I saw the hill just past the Res and decided that I didn't want to go down it if it meant I'd have to go back up it. I could either cut across the Res and continue back up the east side to the finish (which I should have done) or simply go to just before the hill, then turn around and go back from whence I came (which I did do, because it was more downhilly than the other way.)

Thirteen miles in 2:10. A ten-minute pace. And a mile shorter than I wanted.

Not a great day, but I'm glad I did it.

Still sore now, but managed to get a speed workout in yesterday morning. When not with the Team (we haven't started Tuesday-Thursday workouts yet -- next week!) I do fartleks of the lower loop, using lampposts as the markers. "Fartlek" translates to "speed play," and it's a loose kind of speed workout where you use whatever markers you choose, and you go fast from marker 1 to marker 2, then recover to marker 3, then fast to marker 4, etc. etc. There are enough lampposts on the lower loop to get a good speed workout in, and I highly recommend fartleks as a great speed workout, and the lower loop of Central Park as a great place for NY runners to do them.

I did two loops. I started by doing the fast sections at barely pushing the pace, and by the middle of the second loop I was running them at an all-out sprint. I had to keep stopping for water, because I was panting so much my throat kept getting dry, and I also needed the extra recovery time between fast bits. I think this is a good thing -- Coach Jeff said that I would need to push past my comfort zone, and that might wear me out to the point where I'd have to stop and rest. While that wasn't such a triumph with the long run, for this workout, I felt good about having to stop.

Speaking of pushing past comfort zones, I don't have to be at work until 1pm today, so it's off to the gym for further punishment. More anon!

A Poem, Running is a Contact Sport, and Sneakers for Sale on eBay

Central Park is beautiful. A few weeks ago, sprinklings of yellow, blue and white flowers started popping up along the roadway. Now they're in full flower.

And to celebrate, a poem.

I call it "To The Person Who Stole My Water Bottle"

I left my bottle

nestled in the tree trunk

at the bottom of Cat Hill

where it awaited me

as I did hill repeats.

Why did you take it?

You suck.

What makes it suck was that it was my MSKCC bottle. Who the heck would want my bottle? And also, everyone knows that the bottles left there are left by people training on Cat Hill. I did two sets of three easy repeats, by the way. I could've maybe done one more set, but talked myself out of it, knowing it was just a little too early in the season to push it. And I'm glad I stopped, because I'm really sore today.

Ah, the bottle leaked anyways. And if you, oh stealer of my bottle, want to promote MSKCC, please -- by all means.

As you can see by the Cat Hill training, I've started getting a little more serious about my running, considering that I've got a half-marathon coming up in a few weeks (the More Half-Marathon.) So even though this past week was a KILLER in terms of transcriptions -- not complaining, the more, the merrier! -- I did manage to squeeze a few runs and gym workouts in.

So this past Sunday, I go for a 10-miler, along Riverside Park. It's a gorgeous day. I love this run, more so than Central Park, even though it's usually way more crowded. It's flatter, for one thing. And I love the scenery, getting to look out over the Hudson.

It was a great run. I could have kept going. I'm literally about three blocks from finishing, turning off of the Park onto 59th Street, under the overpass, when I trip over a piece of chain-link fencing sticking out into the sidewalk, and --

NOOOOOO! (say that in slow motion)

Of course I do the dumb thing and start speeding up, thinking I can run it out.

Then comes the slow-motion falling. And I'm thinking -- NOT MY MARATHON FEET! NOT MY STENO FINGERS!

Too late!

Witness the damage, and keep in mind these were taken three days later, with a cell phone camera. They don't begin to do justice to the pretty colors:

Plus my left hand hurt for two days, like I overstretched the fingers.

Who said running isn't a contact sport?

The kicker is, as I'm heading back to my house -- both legs caked with dirt and blood, and my hand bleeding, who do I run into but my doctor, who takes one look at me and says, "Eww!"

This is the same doctor who laughed in my face when I told her I needed my vaccinations for school. Kidding aside, she's great.

In other news...

I have the New Balance sneakers I tested up on eBay. I only wore them twice. And all the money from their sale is going to MSKCC! Check out the listing by clicking on that.

I need to revamp my Fred's Team homepage, but you can visit it now if you want, by clicking right here!! Can you beat Howard and be the first person to donate?

Happy Pesach, Happy Easter, and any other holiday I may have missed!!

Liam Update, I Kick My Own Ass, and Team Workouts Begin

Liam update:

As you know from my previous post, Liam Witt, the amazing little four-year-old boy I'm dedicating my marathon to this year, had to go into the hospital on Friday for exploratory surgery. Though his blood tests were cancer-free, there was a spot on his kidney, the site of his original tumor, that needed to be tested. Well, they tested it, and while it is 95% "junk," the doctors discovered a few rogue cancer cells that need to be, in their words, "mopped up." So Liam is probably facing two more rounds of high-dose chemo, which will cause him to lose his appetite, lose his hair, and lose his energy. But one thing about Liam, says Gretchen, he will not complain.

And what makes Gretchen equally amazing is her drive, spirit and attitude. This is from today's blog entry:

As anyone who knows neuroblastoma understands, this certainly is not characteristic of the disease to do nothing. If I take a glass half empty view, this would be unbearable. If I take a glass half full view, we are incredibly lucky to have caught whatever this thing is in such an early stage that it doesn’t even register on any test. This is a manageable bump. This we can deal with. This we can handle. This, though, also serves as yet another reminder of how much we need to take e-v-e-r-y day as an incredibly special gift. Time is the most precious commodity and it needs to be celebrated and savored. And not knowing what the future holds, something none of us knows but that has a special poignancy with us, we’ve decided we need to step up our commitment to raise money for pediatric cancer research and cherish even more every day we have with Liam and Ella. This news didn’t defeat us, it rededicated us.

What an amazing woman Gretchen is. She co-founded Band of Parents, and you can click on that link, or the one to the right of the page, and read about what they do. She's the one who had the idea to have BOP bake and sell 96,000 cookies for Christmas and give the proceeds to MSKCC. And they did.

And as she has re-dedicated herself to raising funds to help MSKCC eradicate pediatric cancer, so too am I re-dedicating myself. Not just in raising money, which is hard enough, but in rededicating my desire to run the best marathon I can, because Liam deserves no less.

So, if you are a dear reader and want to honor Liam and his fight by contributing to my marathon effort, please click here, or on the link to the right or bottom of the page. It means so much more to Liam -- and all the people at MSKCC -- than a dollar sign.

Whether or not you can donate, please send friends and family the link to this blog. The more people contribute, the closer we get to not just imagining a world without cancer, but living in it.

Speaking of which, here are the latest members of the FRED'S TEAM HONOR ROLL:

John Felix

Carolyn Jacobson

Fred Weiner

Elissa White

Bringing my total to an impressive

$1355

I have a couple of unprocessed checks still to add, which will bring me a little closer to the $6,000 I'd like to raise this year. Those wonderful people will be added to the next scroll of the Roll.

We've had our first few Team workouts, but the week before I organized the first Felafel Run. There are a few people on the Team -- okay, Rich and Harrie -- who have differing views on what felafel place is the best place in the city. So last year we said, let's do some runs that end at a felafel place, and then we'll vote. But we never did it. This year I, as unofficial social director, revived the notion of the Felafel Run, and the first place we were to visit was Sido, on the Upper West Side. Now, there are two Sidos on the UWS, mere blocks apart. I didn't know which one to go to, but I charted the course -- starting at the 79th Street entrance, a clockwise loop, and then out and to one of the Sidos. Alas, neither Rich nor Harrie showed (losers!) but David, Sara and I give Sido a big thumbs up -- very good and also very inexpensive. Mamouns in the Village is next.

I missed the first Team long run because I was in DC visiting Laura, who will always be known as my roomie, even though she is no longer in the apartment and will most likely never return for more than a week or two every other year. She will be heading to the Ivory Coast -- excuse me, the Cote D'Ivoire -- next month as part of her new career in the US Foreign Service. Right now she's in DC learning French. So I went down for a weekend visit and we did the monument and memorial tour. I took no pictures, you can see pictures of these monuments, oh, everywhere, but wow are they impressive in person. The size, the scope, the symbolism. The Korean War Memorial is particularly moving; it's a series of soldiers on the march. And the Vietnam Memorial is beyond words. Laura was a good tour guide; she had info on a lot of the stuff we saw, plus her own memories of visiting them as a child (she grew up in VA.) I really miss Laura, but I'll get to visit her, and that's a more interesting vacation destination than, say, Boca.

The first Team hill workout was a little crazy -- Cat Hill was wicked crowded, between us, the other teams, last-minute NYC Triathlon training and the Philarmonic concert. I took pictures, but I haven't loaded them up yet. I call Cat Hill the "Zipper Factory" because at its worst it reminds me of the Zipper amusement park ride, which rotates up and down in a tight oval. It's also the only ride I ever tossed my cookies on, but that's another story. And it's a factory because it's so crowded you have to jump into any opening you can find and join the throngs running up and down. We did six easy repeats. I did two at a time to make it a little harder, which worked. Normally I can do three at a time, but it was really hot. Saw a spectacular bike vs. pedestrian crash, and I mean spectacular not in the good sense of the word. It was an older woman, they both went flying, she and the bicyclist. Both were at fault -- he was going too fast, she stepped out in the street without looking to her left. Thankfully neither were too hurt; the cyclist got scraped up and the woman lost a stone from her ring. The cyclist was super-apologetic, and we felt bad for him, since he was doing the Tri that weekend and scrapes and bruises wasn't going to make it any easier. Between the economy and gas prices and everything else, there are a LOT more people staying in town this summer, making an already crowded Park even that much more crowded. Coach Jeff observed that the Parks Department should post signs or extra personnel on the days when the Philarmonic is playing in the Park; it might help avert some of those accidents.

On Thursday I missed the first step workout because my school decided to test at my speed (for those of you new to this blog, I'm studying to be a court reporter. I'm in the final speed class and I need to pass six more speed tests before I can graduate. Testing is a good thing!) and I wanted to take advantage of it. But I wanted to get that workout in, so I went to the steps (the ones by the Bethesda fountain) at 6:00am Friday to get it in. Now, I don't know if I was harder on myself than Jeff would have been -- hard to believe, I guess -- but I kicked my own ass. I forgot how hard this workout is. It's probably the same kind of memory loss they say women get after the pain of childbirth, they forget how hard it was, so that they'll have more children. Same thing. My hips were so sore the rest of the day I looked like I had just stepped off a horse.

And then Saturday, not 24 hours later, two loops of the Park. My hips were still achy and it was super-humid by 8:00am (we started at 7:00) so this run was not much fun. I had to stop at every water fountain. I don't know how some of my 'Mates can skip a fountain or two. I'm old and can't deal with the heat as well as they can, I guess. Still, I was at about 1:47:00 for the run, not counting the water stops, so I'm happy with that. Unfortunately, no rest for the wicked after that, I went to see the final studio rehearsal for Cape Playhouse's "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," helped them load out of the hall and into the car, then went to meet my parents for dinner.

Sunday was the NYC Triathlon. We had a lot of Teammates doing it, so Ashley and I went to 72nd Street and West End at 8:30am to cheer them on for the start of the running portion. It was a lot of fun, and I confess I got a little jealous. I think I'd like to try a triathlon one day. I can't swim, and I don't own a bicycle, but other than those two minor issues, I'm game. I really should suck it up and learn to swim properly and ride a road bike and just do one. I'd like it to be the NY one, just to say I swam in the Hudson. Most of them got bit by jellyfish this year, which was unexpected. And the men started so late, it was nearly 10:30 by the time we saw David come through, and we didn't even see Joe or Yan. Joe's wave started so late, and the current was so strong at that point that the police boats pulled them out of the water after 45 minutes and took them back to shore, no DQ, because they weren't moving. After seeing David, Ash ran up 72nd with him (she was in flip-flops!) I tried to keep up, but I had a coffee cup and a bag and I wasn't as fast. It's so sad that I'm slower than David after he's swam and biked, but whaddya do?

I shoulda done something yesterday but I was still too achy, plus which I had my first day of rehearsal for "Leader of the Pack" for the Cape Playhouse and school later that night. Bad excuse. I'm mad at myself for not doing something, but after a full day of rehearsal and school I didn't want to hit the gym at 9:00pm. So I'm trying to forgive myself and remember this Sunday is the Nike NYC Half, and I want to make sure I'm good for that because I'd like to race it.

Tonight's the first Team speed workout, and I'll keep y'all posted.

Contests coming soon!!

If you are the praying kind, please keep Liam and his family in your thoughts.

More anon.
MG

An Altogether Great Day

Dadgum, but that Hot Chocolate 15K was a cold race!

Yes, I said DADGUM!

Yesterday was a crazy day in a good way. It started with the aforementioned Hot Chocolate 15K in Central Park. First really cold day of the season -- 31 degrees and windy. Got there around 9:00 for a 9:30 start. It was super-crowded. For those who don't know, if you're a NYRR member as of January 1st and run 9 qualifying races during that year, if you are still a member January 1 of the following year you get an automatic entry into the marathon. So a lot of people have a lot of catching up to do, and the last races of the year are packed. There were about 5,000 people signed up for this race (normally it's closer to 4,000.) The problem was, they had a teeny-tiny little bag check, and of course, everybody brought a bag. And for security reasons (their term) they cordoned off a huge section of grass right behind the bag check. Because it was so crowded, all the NYRR coordinators were yelling at everyone not to hang out in the baggage check and not to linger in the road to get INTO the baggage check, and then also yelling at those of us who crossed through the cordoned off area simply to toss our bags into the check area without either lingering on the road or in the baggage check. Aggravating.

By 9:15 I was freezing and miserable. I don't even know why I was there, I already had my nine races. Not true, I do know why I was there. I was very curious to see how I would do on a longer race at my new and improved pace. And a bunch of Teamers were going to be there, and I promised my friend Tom I would run with him. I run slower than him, but he says he tends to go out too fast and crash, and he wanted to run a smart race. It's been so long since I ran in the cold that I couldn't figure out what to wear. I had a hooded coolMax shirt under a long sleeved cotton race shirt, pants, socks, etc. but the question was, what, if anything, to wear over the shirts? I had a sweatshirt and a running jacket. At the last minute I decided to keep the jacket on, I figured I could take it off and wrap it around my waist if I got hot. Also, today was the debut of my Hanukah present, the Nike+. It was a choice between that and a Garmin. Hmm, $29 vs. $299. I wonder what I'm going to get? Oh, and PS: 2 pairs of gloves, a running pair under a throwaway pair.

The course: 2 loops of the Park starting at the 102nd Street transverse, the first loop without the Great Hill, and the second loop without the Great Hill and cutting across at the 72nd Street transverse.

So we start, and the first mile is PACKED. The transverse is kind of narrow to begin with, and they had cordoned off the finish line area there, making it even narrower, so a lot of jockeying for position. First mile took us 10 minutes.

Then Tom took off. I kept up with him, but he was weaving in and out of the crowd. Our second mile was 8:20. I told him I had to slow down, he says, "Sorry, I'll walk the water station." I said, "I can't run 8 minute miles and walk the water stations for 30 seconds." He apologizes and slows. A little. Mile 3 was 8:33 and at this point I was getting mad. My goal was to run the first 2 miles at 9:15 and then start knocking 10 seconds off each mile. I told him I could not keep this pace for 6 more miles and he should go, but he kept apologizing and tried to slow, and because he was trying I ignored the voices in my head telling me to ignore him, and kept up. There would be no negative split for this run, which is what I really wanted to do, and my anger at this actually fueled me for the rest of the race. I tried to turn it around, saying, well, you ran 8:08 average for the Race to Deliver, maybe this is your new "slow time," but I could tell. I wasn't enjoying the run the way I wanted to. It wasn't that I was struggling with the speed, I wasn't. It was just that the whole race was a little push, instead of starting easy and then progressively pushing.

Let me show you:

Actual times per mile: 1 - 9:56, 2 - 8:26, 3 - 8:33, 4 -8:41, 5 - 8:25, 6 - 8:51, 7 - 8:35, 8 - 8:41, 9 - 8:11, and the dividend (what is it, .32 miles or something) -- 2:29.

Had I run it my way, it would have ideally been more like this:

1 - 9:45 (nothing you can do about a crowded start), 2 - 9:15, 3 - 9:10, 4 -9:00, 5 - 8:50, 6 - 8:40, 7 - 8:30, 8 - 8:20, 9 - 8:10, and the dividend -- 2:15. End result -- maybe a minute slower, but for me, it would have been a lot easier.

To top it off, I started getting hot almost immediately, and because I had put the iPod in the jacket pocket, I didn't want to deal with taking off the jacket and the iPod and everything. So I unzipped it, took off the second pair of gloves, took off the hood, and dealt.

Even when I was slower I was still good on hills. Not so much speedy as consistent. Don't know why. Miles 4 & 8 -- you can see a little slowdown, those are the Cat Hill miles. On the second ascent up Cat Hill Tom started falling behind, and I had to slow down to wait for him. He told me after he was getting a side stitch there (and not to belabor -- even though I will! -- but the first and only time I got a side stitch was the Staten Island Half, where I ran 7 miles beforehand at a pace much too fast for me, and bonked hard at mile 6 of the actual race, reinforcing my respect of negative splits!!!)

Hey, ever wonder why Cat Hill is called "Cat Hill?" It's because this statue is hanging over it:

Still and all, there was enough left for a big finish, as you can see by the last mile and change. But here one more thing happened, and now I understand what some people mean when they say they hate it when spectators say things like, "C'mon, you're almost there!" -- as we were sprinting towards the finish line I started breathing audibly, and Tom started saying, "C'mon, you can do it, almost there," and I don't know if he was talking to me or to himself, and he is the SWEETEST person in the world with all good intentions and not a mean bone even near his body, and I wanted to PUNCH him! (sorry, Tom, but I did!)

So we cross the finish line, and I stop the Nike+ and it tells me -- "Distance -- Point oh seven miles."

HUH?

Long story short -- did a LOT of searching through the Nike and Apple databases, and realized that I was wearing the sensor upside down. I don't wear Nike shoes, I put the sensor in a chip pocket that attaches to the shoe. Apparently the logo needs to be face up. The sucky thing is I downloaded the run to the nikeplus website, and I can't figure out how to edit it. Grrr.

Anyways, time for the race: 1:20:53, or 8:40/mile average, which I am thrilled about, and even though I didn't run the race the way I wanted to, maybe it was good to do a tempo run. I will think of it as a good training run for the ING Miami Half (which I am doing January 27th, by the way!)

Lessons I learned:

1-negative splits rule

2-run your own race

3-repeat numbers 1 and 2, maybe even stitch them on a pillow

I need to embrace not being a good running partner. I'm just not into running "with" other people. I can run alongside them, of course, but unless they're pacing me for speed I would much rather be on my own. Yes, there are times when I do enjoy it, like when I got to run alongside my friend Greg in the Rock and Run this summer, in honor and memory of his brother, and running with Lynn, Harrie and Rich when we did the final 10 miles of the marathon course as our last Fred's Team run. And I do love our group long runs. I guess I like knowing that I have friends on the road with me. Even if I run by myself the entire time, I don't feel lonely, like I do if I do a long run solo. But in general, I don't like to talk much, and I don't like feeling that I have to keep up with someone. I just want to be in my own head, maybe working through a problem that'd been bugging me, maybe listening to music or my running podcasts (Phedippidations, The Extra Mile, and The Final Sprint are my faves) or just enjoying being outside and running. So no offense, but the next time I am asked if I'd like to run with someone, the answer is going to be "no." I'll race you, though. And who knows, maybe I'll let you win!

As soon as the race was over, I had to hightail it home to get ready for a bridal shower. My roommate's friend Margaret is getting married in February (she's my friend too, but I know her through Laura) and Laura and Shirley, as the bridesmaids, threw the shower. it was at a great little restaurant, Bistro 1018, and I had a really nice time. Very girly. We ate little sandwiches and salads, and made Margaret open her presents for all to see. Who knew that garbage cans could be so entertaining? But they were.

As soon as the shower was over, I had to get home and prepare for the evening's activity, a Fred's Team potluck dinner at Rich's apartment. It's where we had that great brunch after one of the longer races, the Tune-Up, I think. Anyways, it was so nice. About a dozen people were there, and who knew that there were some great cooks in the group? Not wanting to kill people, I brought salad. It was also Lucy's birthday, so we had 2 cakes (Karen made a homemade strawberry shortcake, and I had to ignore my lactose intolerance to have some of that!) as well as some killer chocolate-chip cookies and the real surprise of the evening, Martin's -- well, I'm not sure what to call them. They were little squares, the top half was solid dark chocolate, the bottom half was a combination of Rice Krispys and melted Milky Ways. Oh. My. Gawd. They were the most decadently and devastatingly amazing concoction. It was difficult to limit myself to just one (but I did, sigh.) Martin is Scottish, and apparently this dessert is a Scottish invention. I remember when Lynn (also Scottish) brought those Scottish candies to our workout, and if it's possible to add sugar TO sugar, that's what these candies were. What is it with the Scots? I asked if Scottish children were prone to hyperactivity and the two simultaneously said yes. Wonder why?

Anyways, great people, great conversations (some not even about running!) and just a great day. I hope y'all had an equally good one.