Race Day Recap

Jun22

Yes, Sunday was Father’s Day.   Yes, I had another race.   That being said I didn’t realize it was Father’s Day when I signed up and my husband was fine with me racing again, so all was good.   I will say that it feels good not to have another NYRR event on the calendar till September  for the Bronx 10 miler and then October for the Staten Island Half.   Then I’m done and will have my nine!   That being said though, it’s not like I’m going to go into rest mode over the summer as Marathon training is starting but that is a discussion for another day.

Today is all about race day!

Queens 10K-4

Going into this race I had no real plan.   I had some ideas, but no plan.   Part of the reason that I didn’t have a plan was because according to the forecast we were going to be experiencing major storms.   The forecast was so dire that NYRR even pushed back the start time an hour the night before.   That was nice for the extra sleep but bad because it meant a later return home.   Although we really didn’t sleep much later as the clown car still left at 6:30ish.

I was prepared for the monsoon.   Even cutting up a garbage bag the night before for a throw away poncho.    Luckily, I did not need it but it is good to be prepared.   I also decided not to wear my Hoka Ones as I didn’t want to ruin them.    I fear this was a mistake because by mile 5 my left foot was screaming.   I won’t make that mistake again.   I also thought since this was going to be a wash out that I would just make it a fun run and not push it at all hence not needing the Hoka’s.   Then a funny thing happened.   The weather forecast was wrong.   Not just a little wrong, but majorly wrong.   We had some showers in the evening and barely a sprinkle when we arrived.   Other than that, no raging storms.   It ended up actually being VERY hot and humid.   Very similar to last weeks Oakley temperatures.

Queens 10K-3

We arrive at Citi-field and the horrors of the parking we heard about from last year thankfully did not happen.   So we had some time to spare.   We walked to the corral area meeting some other Mama’s along the way.   For some reason, I don’t know if it was the daze of the morning or what; but it seems that we failed to get a group shot.   I’m not sure how we let that happen.   Boo us.   Boo.

I will say that the Corrals this week were tight and moved up quickly on each other.   Last week they had people checking to make sure that you were entering your correct corral.   Not so much this week.   I’m wondering if they had volunteers bail because of the “weather”   as we seemed to be all mixed together and smooshed.   I did not enjoy it, but I do think it helped me start strong as I’m not a big fan of the crowds like that.

Standing in the corral gave me the push I needed to get moving.   I still had no plan as far as pacing, but just took off when I crossed the start line.   My goal was to get a little space.   I glanced at my watch here and there during the race, but for the most part kept a consistent pace during the entire race without really trying.    Although it would have been much easier to do if it wasn’t for people strolling in the middle of the course, but that is for a different days discussion.   There was also the dodging of the potholes and puddles.   So according to my Garmin, I ran 6.35 not 6.2.  I’m thinking that is from the weaving.

Queens 10K

Mile 6 was my slowest because by that time my foot had really decided that although I was running in good shoes, that these shoes were not the shoes for me.   Not enough cushioning.   Not at all.  I pushed through it though telling myself the faster that I got to the finish line, the faster I would be able to rest it.   I will also say that the slow down wasn’t attributed to any other factor as I felt good otherwise.  Hotter than Hell and drenched in sweat, but overall good.    I even managed once I hit the six mile mark to sprint to the finish.   There is something to be said for doing that.  Try it sometime and you will see what I’m talking about.   I can’t wait to see those race photos even if I don’t purchase them:)

I’m still waiting on NYRR to post the “official” time and give me my check for the 9 plus 1 and my third borough race. My “unofficial’ NYRR time is

1:00:48

If you notice, my Garmin time is only one second off.   Not too shabby.

Queens 10K-2

What did you run this weekend?

Friday Five – Five Things That Make Me Happy

Jun19

Friday Five Link-up with by Eat, Pray, Run DC,   Mar on the Run, and You Signed Up for What?

Today’s Theme

5 Things That Make Me Happy

Now, I will say these are not in order of importance, but the first one does help me enjoy the rest of them:)

1.  Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

As long as it’s light and sweet, I am good to go.    Be it iced, hot, latte, cappuccino, or even ice cream.

coffee

2.   Running Friends

Running is enjoyable in and of itself, but I know that I would not be getting as much out of it without my running friends.   We encourage each other.    We really do want to hear about what your running.   Most importantly, we enjoy hanging out and laughing together.

Oakley4

3.   Vermont

Yes, I know this was on my last list; but I can’t help it.   I really love it.   It is a beautiful place to go and it is a special place for my family.   My husbands family has been going there for 30 plus years.   My family has been going since it was just my husband and me.  I think in our 17 years together, I have missed 2 trips and one was because I was 8 months pregnant with my third child and my husband took the older boys.

Camping isn’t for everyone, but I do love it.   I say it forces us to be a family.   There is no tv, computer or such to keep us “busy.”   Therefore, we play cards and other such games together.  Sometimes we just sit by the fire or lay in the hammock. There is no cell service on site and it is nice to disconnect from the world.   One of the best things is the ability to get away from the 24/7 news cycle.

Vermont11

4.   Family and Friends that are like Family

Life would not be the same without them and they are really what makes it worth it.

5.   My Dogs

There is something to be said about dogs.   They love you unconditionally and really all they want is to be with you.   Maybe some treats, but they love you even without them.    As I’m typing this my little guy is literally at my feet just happy to be hanging out with me.  Although, he does like to get out and have some fun too!

Finn18

What are five things that make your happy?

Word of the Week – Mile

Jun17

Definition of MILE

1.  any of various units of distance: as

2.  a race of a mile
3. a relatively great distance, degree, or interval —used chiefly adverbially in plural <was miles ahead of them in education>
Yes, a mile is a physical distance.
Yes, we often ask other runners, “How many miles did you do?”
Yes, sometimes one mile can feel like a never ending distance.
Yes, sometimes we get caught up in the numbers of them.
And
yes, some people can run an amazingly fast mile leaving the rest of us in the dust.
BUT
As one of my favorite and oh so truthful saying goes….

.

12minutes
I will never see the day where I come remotely close to a 6 minute mile, but I can still run a mile.   I can actually run a lot of miles now.    Although when I first started, I couldn’t even run a half a mile.   Truth be told, I probably couldn’t run a quarter of a mile.    Now my normal runs average about 4-5 miles and the mileage is only going to go up as I begin marathon training.  What I once thought was impossible to do, I do on a regular basis.   I am not saying this to toot my own horn (toot, toot), but to encourage you  to push yourself to do what you think might be impossible.   Little by little.   Day by day.   Chip away at the things holding you back and you will be amazed at how far you can go!
Don’t forget that each mile good or bad is a blessing.
Enjoy the air in your lungs, the sound of your feet on the pavement, and enjoy the view.
Us runners are a lucky group:)
What is holding you back?

Monday Morning Race Recap

Jun15

Another Weekend.

Another Race.

At least that is how it seems of late.

  Even causing my 8 year old son to question me saying , “Another one? How many races are you doing and haven’t you already done enough to get into the NYCM?”

I agree.   It does seem like it’s been a lot, but really I’m only on number 6 with 7 this coming weekend.   Then taking summer off.   Ok not, off; but off from NYRR events.   This will leave me 2 in the fall to do which will get me not only into the NYCM, but also the NYC Half Marathon.   Yeah!

Back to this past weekends event – The Oakley New York Mini 10K.

I thought the mini was odd in the name, because how do you have a “mini” 10K.   Wouldn’t that just be a 5K then?    I thought maybe it was a mini because it was an all women’s race (although if you look at the finish stats for some reason it lists 3 men finishers).   I was wrong though.   It is called a mini because it the first one was ran in 1972 with just 78 runners compared to this last event with 7,784 finishers.   In 70’s fashion, this event was actually called the “Crazylegs Mini Marathon” due to the fashionable miniskirt at the time.   Well ok then.  I guess it’s good that I ended up wearing a cute mini running skirt over my running pants.   If only I knew that I was paying homage to the first event.

So back to the event at hand.   This was fun on so many levels.   First, it’s a race and they are always fun especially when running with friends.   Then there was the fact that it was my one friends, Geniine’s, first time running a 10K and running  in the city.   She likes to say that I talked her into, but I disagree.   I know her well enough to know that she is not going to do something she doesn’t want to do.  (so there:).   That being said, I did make it relatively easy for her (not taking into account the running) by securing her a place in the clown car and making sure that she was in on the bib pick-up.

I think that this may have been the very first race that I have ever done where I actually got a great night sleep the night before.   I was tired and went to bed at 11:00 sleeping soundly till the 5:00 AM alarm.    I think I like getting a good night sleep the night before.   I’m sure it was fluke, but I’ll take it.    Even though Genine wasn’t picking me up till 6:00 and I had all my running gear together the night before, I still like the time in the morning.   It gives me a chance to have my coffee, wake up, and not feel like I’m rushed.

The Clown Car left Teri’s at 6:15 and we were good to go.

Once to the City, we took our pre-race photo and off to our corrals we went.

Oakley2Dawn, Teri, and I were all starting in the same corral.   My plan was to try to do the first 4 miles at a 9:50 pace and then see what I had for the last 2 miles.   Dawn and I planned to stay together as long as possible, but we each knew that we would run what we needed to run.   I will say that it was HOT, HUMID, and really yucky that morning.   Those not running might say that it wasn’t so bad, but those actually running might disagree.    Plus this was a hilly course.   The hills were a slow grade, but they were there.    As far as staying on pace, once again I had technical issues in that I didn’t clear my Garmin previous run.   My bad.   So the calculations were a little off, but I tried to stay on pace.   I really was hoping to finish under an hour, but alas I didn’t.   Still had a good time.  Finishing in 1:01:17.   I honestly don’t think it was the technical  issues.  I think it was the heat.

The race itself was nice.  I took a prerace gel 15 minutes before which I think helped.   I did like the course and I think it is fun to start on the street and not the park.   We started on West 61rst street running till 81rst and then entering the park.   This is the first race in a while that I’ve used music during and I’m conflicted on it.   I think it might be best if I work on my playlist for this coming weekends 10K because my music was not matching what I needed to do.   I might have been better off without it.   Hmmmm.     I also didn’t take any additional fuel during the race which I think was my mistake.   I should have taken my second gel at the 5K mark, but I didn’t.   Lesson learned.    They did have spray stations but unfortunately due to my phone, I really didn’t utilize them to their full advantage.    I smartly brought my own water bottle as I really hate the stop and go of using the water stations as it’s always hard to weave in and out with everyone else.   I also didn’t run with my Fitletic Hyradtion belt but a smaller spibelt which I’m not used to on race day.   That was the reason I couldn’t easily access my second gel.  I was feeling drooping towards the end, but still managed to push it the last 400 meters with a pace of 7.29 according to my Garmin which I REALLY have a hard believing.   Think it might be off.

Anyway….

Finished strong.   Got my medal.   Got my Flower and then got some much needed cold water and tried to catch my breath.

Teri finished first and found the perfect meeting spot high on the hill by a statue.   Plus we got a nice breeze up there.   Then as everyone finished literally within minutes of each other.  We all met up for, of course, more pictures, race recaps and meeting up with the second MRTT Clown Car that came.

Oakley 3 Oakley4

By the way, you can’t tell in this picture but Dawn’s tutu was adorable!Oakley6 It was a great way to spend the morning even if we didn’t get our cupcakes and the ice cream store was closed when we stopped.    This is such an amazing group of women and I know that I would not be able to do the 9 plus 1 without them.

What did you do this weekend?

You Do What You Have to Do

Jun14

Running doesn’t come easy to me.   I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again as it’s the truth.   I, honestly, don’t know anyone that it comes easy to.   Yes, there are those athletes who are blessed with natural ability; but they still need to work for it.    Yesterday, I ran the Oakley Mini 10K which I will recap tomorrow.    Today is about Recovery.

recovery-

As I just said, running doesn’t come easy to me but for some crazy reason I really have developed a passion for it.   I could not imagine not running anymore.   It brings calmness to my life while at the same time giving me killer leg muscles.   Win. Win.  There is just something about putting on my running shoes and getting out the door that just makes things better.    So I take the good with the bad as the good out weighs the bad by a long shot.

Today I am recovering from yesterday’s hard run.   It’s not that I was running a crazy distance.   It was only a 10K and my training runs of late have been longer by miles.    The difference was that yesterday, I was pushing it.   Not as much as I would have liked, but there is a difference in running a training run and running a race.

Recovery began once the race was over with some stretches although I find that I do not stretch as much as I should after a race.   Then once home a nice shower with some foot scrub to ease the pains.   Followed by my water bottle massage and foam roller.   For some that is enough but due to my Plantar Fasciitis, I need to do a little more.   I tried to sleep in my foot splint to stretch out my foot, but half way through the night I had to take it off.   Then there was the morning stretching, ball rolling, and anti-inflammation cream.    This will be followed by more stretching, ball rolling, and foam rolling through out the day.   To be honest my foot is not as bad as it has been and I truly believe part of that is due to my new regime of taping my foot before each run.   So today I will do all these things, so that tomorrow I can go out for a nice long, slow training run.

It may seem like a lot.   It may seem stupid to some as I could really avoid this all if I stopped running.   To me though, this is the price that I pay for the ability to put on a pair of good running shoes and the joy that it brings me.

What do you do to keep running?

Friday Five

Jun11

Friday Five Link-up with by Eat, Pray, Run DC,   Mar on the Run, and You Signed Up for What?

Today’s Theme

5 Favorite Summer Activities

I will admit that one of the things that I love, love, love about Summer is not to have a schedule.   This is especially nice after the crazy Spring sport end of year activities.   That being said, I do love to do things on these non scheduled days.

1.   Jersey Shore

Beach  Last year we went to the beach a lot.   There is just something about having the sand between your toes which is so nice.    Please don’t think that I spend all my time on the beach because I love jumping the waves as much as the next person.

2.  Roller Coasters!

roller coaster   Yes, I’m still a big kid at heart.   Last year we went to a few different parks and by far my favorite was Dorney Park because of not just the number of roller coasters, but the number of times that I got to ride them with the boys:)

3.  Day Trips – love to surprise the boys with a trip to the zoo, aquarium, or any such place.   It breaks up the week and is always fun to go someplace that you don’t get to go to often.

4.  Visiting Momo

Momo's

   We always have a great time when we go out to Momo’s AKA as Grandma to the boys:).   There is swimming, making smores by the fire pit, tire swing, and usually lots of goodies.

5.   Vermont

vermont7

Some people don’t understand my love for Vermont as we go camping, but we go camping right on a lake.   We are able to disconnect as there is no cell service at the campsite.   We spend our days laying in the hammock, relaxing, and just being together.   Plus it’s really pretty.

What are your favorite Summer Activities?

Word of the Week – Badass

Jun10

If you’ve been around running for a bit, I’m sure that you’ve either heard the word of even used it yourself.

Bad

I think on any given day, any of us can be a badass.    I know that there are various degrees of being a badass, but that does not take away from yours on any given day either.    We need to just recognize this trait in others, but also in ourselves.   We need to take pride in what we do.   A lot of the time instead of embrassing it, we do the opposite.   We talk it down.

Oh, it was just a 5K

I only ran a mile.

I came in last

I came in the middle.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah

Yes, there are people that we know that doing amazing things.   Things that we can’t even imagine doing.   Things that we may never even want to do.   That’s ok too.

We need to embrace what we are doing and take pride in it.   Now I don’t mean that we should go to the opposite extreme and think we are the best thing since sliced bread which we can all admit is awesome.   We just need to recognize that we may not be the fastest, strongest, or go the farthest; but that doesn’t take away from what we are doing.

On the best of days, running is hard.   Getting out the door is hard, but we get it done when we need to.

That is enough:)

Are you a BAMR?

Friday Five – Five Ways to Have Happy Feet

Jun5

Friday Five Link-up with by Eat, Pray, Run DC,   Mar on the Run, and You Signed Up for What?

Today’s Theme in honor of National Running Day this past week,

5 Ways to Have Happy Feet when you have Plantar Fascitis

or as Happy as our feet can be:)

1.  Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

Hoka One

Don’t skimp on your shoes.    If your lucky, you can even find last years model of a normal $170 pair of shoes at DSW for only $70.   I love my Hoka One’s.  The joke in my MRTT group is that they are made with magical unicorn horns due to the price.   I will say that I do think there is some magic in them.  These are the shoes that I was meant to run in!   Every foot is different, so you need to find the one that your foot was made to run in but I love mine:)

2.   Roll, Roll, Roll your feet

Rolling Foot

This was recommended by my podiatrist and it is one of those things that hurts so good.   A iced water bottle.   This is probably the cheapest trick in my bag of tricks, but it feels so good.   Plus, I can pop the bottle out of the freezer and roll my foot out while making dinner or any time of day.

3.   Stretching

I usually start off the day by stretching my calf before I even get out of bed.  Then there are a few that I do during the day, but by far, my favorite stretch is to have my toes on the stairs and just bring my heals down.

4. Taping feet before running

Taping feet Taping Feet

I just started doing this and it has already made a huge impact on my feet.   It only takes a few minutes to do and I haven’t even noticed the tape while running.

5.  Orthotics

I had a pair made and they are in the process of tweaking them because the arch was made too high on one which was making the pain slightly different.   More in the arch of the foot, but still not alleviating the heal pain.   That being said, I could tell it was making a difference overall.   I was sorry to give them back, but hope to have them back in my shoes in another week.

Have you every dealt with foot pain?

What have you done?

Word of the Day

Jun3

Definition of MARATHON

1:  a footrace run on an open course usually of 26 miles 385 yards (42.2 kilometers); broadly :  a long-distance race

2a :  an endurance contest

b :  something (as an event, activity, or session) characterized by great length or concentrated effort
528b52c0ec3c4e9772640c2da7a2b451
My mother like many non runners does not know the distance of a marathon.  She’s getting better.   When I first started running, she called all my races marathons and would tell everyone that her daughter was a marathon runner.   It used to make me feel like a fraud until I actually ran one.  Now she can say it.   She’s learning now and asks how far I’m running.  If your a runner, you know that a marathon is 26.2 miles, but you also know that it is so much more than that.   It is a run that will test your endurance.    It will test your dedication and determination.   It will test your sense of reason and logic.   It is so much more than miles.
So Much More!
I have only ever completed one marathon, The Philly Gortex, and crossing the finish line was an amazing experience made more special by the surprise visit of my mother and sister.    It was a total surprise and I really don’t know if I could have finished without their support as I was thinking of just doing the half instead of the full.   You can read more about Philly in my Hang on Snoopy post.
This was the moment where I went from thinking of giving up, to the moment where I knew that I had to finish.
Philly Video
My Mother’s excitement was contagious and I heard her over the announcer saying, “Half Marathoners finish to the right”  which made me stay to the left.   Running a marathon is more than just putting one foot in front of the other although at some points you must remind yourself to do that.   A marathon is a mental game from start to finish.
It is mental game just with the first thought of signing up and it only gets more intense.
In 2014 according to Marathon Statistics there were 590,145 marathon finishers for races in the U.S. and Canada.
Here are the Statistics from the 10 biggest Marathons again in the U.S. and Canada

Finishers (2014):

Race Finishers
New York City Marathon 50,564
Chicago Marathon 40,802
Boston Marathon 31,926
Honolulu Marathon 21,824
Los Angeles Marathon 21,506
Marine Corps Marathon 19,689
Walt Disney World Marathon 19,235
Philadelphia Marathon 10,363
Twin Cities Marathon 8,853
Houston Marathon 6,945
When you are in a running group where so many of the Mama’s have run multiple marathons, you start to think that everyone has done one.    Then you realize that is not the case as the numbers don’t lie.   I am happy to see that the Philadelphia Marathon made the top 10 list of largest marathon finishers and happy to be in that number.   This year I am running the Marine Corps Marathon and in 2016 I hope to run the biggest marathon, the New York City Marathon!
Hmmm, then maybe I should start making travel plans for the other ones:)    Wouldn’t that be nice.   I can dream the dream.   One never knows as the oldest woman marathon finisher just competed a marathon last month at the age of 92!
OldestFinisher
For now, it is nice to know that I’ve completed one, am training for my second, and will run the ultimate marathon in 2016.
  One marathon at a time:)
Have you ever run a marathon?
Is it on your bucket list?

Just Running In the Rain

Jun1
I’ve run in rain before. I’ve run in snow before. I’ve run on sweltering summer days.  I’ve even run on nice days and  in all types of weather.   Today though was something I never experienced before.  It was not just rain it was torrential downpour rain.  When I left I really, really, really thought the rain was just passing quickly as the weatherman assured me that the rain was coming this afternoon and we all know that the weatherman could never be wrong.   Shockingly, though he was wrong.   He was very wrong.   I realized that about mile 3, but what was I supposed to do.   I was already wet and I needed to get my miles in.
rain2
I needed to get my 9 miles in and really the only time I had to do them was this morning anyway.   We all know that I hate the treadmill and I really don’t think that there is ANY way that I could have done them on it.   I prepared for running in a normal summer rain.   I wore my water repellant jacket which is very different I imagine from a waterproof jacket.  I had on my hat with a blinkie for visibility and I had on my reflective vest.   Thank God I also wrapped my phone in a zip-lock bag before putting it in my Fitletic belt.  I was good to go.
Flood
Now this was the first long run that I wasn’t supposed to use any fuel.   I wasn’t sure how that was going to go and I actually think that the rain may have helped with that as it both kept me cool the entire run and it also gave me something to think about.  I will say as far as not having fuel goes, I think I did ok.   I kept my pace pretty much the entire run.   I did falter a little during mile 8 as around mile 7.5 my legs were starting to feel heavy.   That being said, I still stayed literally right under 12 at 11:59.    I was able to pick up the pace for the last mile as I could feel the pull of home and it kept me going.   It didn’t hurt that the Emergency Alert went off on my phone warning of flash flooding.   Although at that point the rain was finally starting to slow down.   It was completely stopped by the time I got home.   Yup, that’s the way Mother Nature works.  Good times.
Rain3
I wish that my phone was water resistant so that I could have taken some pictures along my run today.   Running in some spots with water up over my shoes.   This was usually as I was crossing a street near the drains.   In the beginning of my run, I tried to avoid them.   Then I realized that there really was no point.   I was saturated from head to toe.   This is no lie.   This is no exaggeration.   When I came home, I had to put my clothes in the bathroom sink as they were dripping wet.  Due to this, I am dealing with a bit of chaffing.    Again, good times.
worth it
I’m sure that there were those who saw me running that probably thought I was crazy.  During the run there were moments that I thought so too.   I began to wonder why I put my body through it.   I’m not training for the Olympics.   I’m not a front of the packer.   I’m not a sponsored runner.   I’m just a Mama who likes to run.   Then I realized that none of that mattered.   Not the rain, the soggy shoes, the drenched clothes.   What mattered is the sense of accomplishment that I get from each run.   A run like today was not an easy run.   Part of me will admit that there is something fun to be running out on a day like today.   Anyone can run on a nice day, but only a BAMR will run on a day like today.
Do you run in the rain?