Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Recovering.....
Well, the 1/2 marathon was 2 days ago. I am feeling a little sore in the quads, but other than that i'm feeling good. Tonight we had another hill repeat on our training schedule. However, I decided to join the other 1/2 marathoners with an "alternative" workout. Basically we did the hill workout, just on flat ground. We put in some good speed effort for 100m, and then returned with a nice easy jog. I'm hoping to rest up and work out the soreness before saturday. Now that I made the jump from 10 to 13.1 miles, I'm aiming for 14 this weekend!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I did it!! NYC 1/2 Marathon!!
Well, I did it (on sunday!) I got up at 4:30am, braved the thunder, lightening and rain. Well, it was all gone by the time the gun went off, but I managed to stay dry beforehand underneath a very sleek black garbage bag! I started and finished the NYC 1/2 marathon this past sunday- humidity and all. A day that had called for near 90 degree and sunny weather turned out to be mid-70s and overcast. Much better than expected.
I was a bit nervous going into the race, not really sure about how I would do. Before Sunday, my longest run this season was 10 miles....3.1 shy of sunday's race. Well, by the end I didn't have anything to be worried about.
I started off cautious, thinking that I would approach the race as another training run-easy, and not doing anything fancy. For the first three miles I was on pace, holding steady. During mile 4, I somehow dropped 25 seconds off my mile pace!! A whole lot of worry went through me. Could I keep this pace for the next 10 miles? And on top of running 25 second faster, I was on the hillest part of the course. How could that be?! Well, I listened to my body, it was feeling good, didn't feel as if I was putting in tooo much effort. So i went with it. Figured, let's see what I can do. The worst thing that could happen was that my body hated me before I crossed the finish line.
So I ran the first 3 miles very conservatively through Central Park. Then the next 4 miles through Central Park I was testing myself, but still feeling good. I exited the Park on 7th Avenue and headed down to Times Square. The crowds were good, and I enjoyed the wet, cold spounges at Mile 8. As I cruised down 7th Ave through Times Square I was greeted to a huge stage and people singing Karoke to "It's raining men" (too bad it wasn't literal). It was hillarious!! At 42nd street, we took a right and ran to the west side highway, to be greeted by another stage- this time it was some sort of latin dance. Down the west side highway for the last 3.5 miles. Still feeling good, but this is somewhere where I never enjoyed my runs-the west side highway. The crowds were starting to pick up again, and I just kept telling myself to hold steady, and wondering if I could keep this pace up.
The last 2 miles I was starting to feel the effects of my pacing, but figured, what the heck, it's only 2 miles. So I held steady until mile 12. The last mile i picked up the pace a bit more, and the last 800meters just gave it everything I had. But boy, i was glad to be done. 2 hours, 6 minutes and 28 seconds after I had started. And about 3 minutes faster than my last 1/2 marathon.
The race was awesome! I had a great time. The crowds were wonderful, especially the 3 cheering Team in Training cheering sections and the other random TNTers spread over the course. They were wonderful teammates cheering us all through our 1/2 marathon!
Here's a couple pictures from the race:
I was a bit nervous going into the race, not really sure about how I would do. Before Sunday, my longest run this season was 10 miles....3.1 shy of sunday's race. Well, by the end I didn't have anything to be worried about.
I started off cautious, thinking that I would approach the race as another training run-easy, and not doing anything fancy. For the first three miles I was on pace, holding steady. During mile 4, I somehow dropped 25 seconds off my mile pace!! A whole lot of worry went through me. Could I keep this pace for the next 10 miles? And on top of running 25 second faster, I was on the hillest part of the course. How could that be?! Well, I listened to my body, it was feeling good, didn't feel as if I was putting in tooo much effort. So i went with it. Figured, let's see what I can do. The worst thing that could happen was that my body hated me before I crossed the finish line.
So I ran the first 3 miles very conservatively through Central Park. Then the next 4 miles through Central Park I was testing myself, but still feeling good. I exited the Park on 7th Avenue and headed down to Times Square. The crowds were good, and I enjoyed the wet, cold spounges at Mile 8. As I cruised down 7th Ave through Times Square I was greeted to a huge stage and people singing Karoke to "It's raining men" (too bad it wasn't literal). It was hillarious!! At 42nd street, we took a right and ran to the west side highway, to be greeted by another stage- this time it was some sort of latin dance. Down the west side highway for the last 3.5 miles. Still feeling good, but this is somewhere where I never enjoyed my runs-the west side highway. The crowds were starting to pick up again, and I just kept telling myself to hold steady, and wondering if I could keep this pace up.
The last 2 miles I was starting to feel the effects of my pacing, but figured, what the heck, it's only 2 miles. So I held steady until mile 12. The last mile i picked up the pace a bit more, and the last 800meters just gave it everything I had. But boy, i was glad to be done. 2 hours, 6 minutes and 28 seconds after I had started. And about 3 minutes faster than my last 1/2 marathon.
The race was awesome! I had a great time. The crowds were wonderful, especially the 3 cheering Team in Training cheering sections and the other random TNTers spread over the course. They were wonderful teammates cheering us all through our 1/2 marathon!
Here's a couple pictures from the race:
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
another tuesday night of hills and the NYC 1/2 marathon!
Well, here I am again. This time i'm going to fill you in on tuesday's workout. Another Hill workout. Surprisingly, I don't mind hill workouts so much. By no means do I love them, but I find them a challenge. More of a mental challenge than anything. People are usually afraid of hills, I've learned to appreciate them, and almost to "beat" them by focusing less on speed and more on form to get me up the hill. It's a time when "slow and steady" is a prefect tactic.
Usually we run hills with a shortened stride, close to the ground. This time the coaches has us fun hills the "wrong way" and i dont' mean down them. We basically sprinted up the hills and then used the down hill for a slow recovery. After about 30 minutes of hill running, I could feel my legs screaming from all the lactic acid build up. Not very much fun. But with my legs burning, I focused on swinging my arms to get me up that hill, and well it worked! I felt great and stronger after the hill workout!
Today, I took a day off from running and did some stretching.
This weekend I am running in the NYC 1/2 marathon (Sunday!). The rest of this week I wont' put too many miles in, but rather just some shorter runs to loosen my legs and to rest them before Sunday. I am looking forward to the 1/2 marathon. I get to run through Central Park and Times Square, all the way down to the tip of Manhattan to Battery City Park. I am a little nervous because my longest run thus far is only 10 miles, and Sunday I will be jumping up to 13.1. I'm waiting to see how i feel this weekend to decide if I will race for time or just make it part of a long run. I still have 3 more months before my San Fran 1/2 and the NYC full marathon! Time is flying!!
If you would like to get updates for the NYC 1/2, please let me know. Or you can track me online by signing up at http://useralert.nychalfmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx , my race number is 7916. The race takes off at 7am, nice and early! Hopefully I will beat the heat, as they are calling for an 80 degree, muggy day.
Much love! p
Usually we run hills with a shortened stride, close to the ground. This time the coaches has us fun hills the "wrong way" and i dont' mean down them. We basically sprinted up the hills and then used the down hill for a slow recovery. After about 30 minutes of hill running, I could feel my legs screaming from all the lactic acid build up. Not very much fun. But with my legs burning, I focused on swinging my arms to get me up that hill, and well it worked! I felt great and stronger after the hill workout!
Today, I took a day off from running and did some stretching.
This weekend I am running in the NYC 1/2 marathon (Sunday!). The rest of this week I wont' put too many miles in, but rather just some shorter runs to loosen my legs and to rest them before Sunday. I am looking forward to the 1/2 marathon. I get to run through Central Park and Times Square, all the way down to the tip of Manhattan to Battery City Park. I am a little nervous because my longest run thus far is only 10 miles, and Sunday I will be jumping up to 13.1. I'm waiting to see how i feel this weekend to decide if I will race for time or just make it part of a long run. I still have 3 more months before my San Fran 1/2 and the NYC full marathon! Time is flying!!
If you would like to get updates for the NYC 1/2, please let me know. Or you can track me online by signing up at http://useralert.nychalfmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx , my race number is 7916. The race takes off at 7am, nice and early! Hopefully I will beat the heat, as they are calling for an 80 degree, muggy day.
Much love! p
it's been far too long...
Those are true words! I said I would be better at keeping up with my blog this season, and well i was doing so-so, until July. Rather than playing catch-up, i'll just fill everyone in on the past week and keep on going. This past Saturday the TNT team participated in a NY Road Runners 4 mile race to benefit the Central Park Conservatory. Because I had felt that I hadn't been getting in as many quality long runs, I decided to make those 4 miles a part of a little longer run.
I got up a little bit early on Saturday morning and run 1-1/2 miles before heading to the start line. Then the gun went off. I decided that I would pick up the speed a TINY bit for those 4 miles to see how it would go. Surprisingly, I felt great and was able to hang out to a little bit faster pace for 3 of the 4 miles. My splits were: 9:40, 9:20, 9:55 and 9:07. Not what i would call consistent or by any means good pacing, but decent for a 4 mile race. The starts are always a little bit slower due to the mess of 5000 or so people. Mile 2 I found a decent pace that felt good. Mile 3 is always my trouble spot in these shorter races. I get worried that I was going to fast, that I will poop out at the end etc, not to mention that mile 3 graces me with 3 mild inclines, or hills. I have recently heard that they have been called "the three bitches". and that leaves mile 4, and well in addition to a nice gradual downhill, i'm ready to get to the finish and see if i can push myself. That's what i did, finishing at 38:02. The heat was not exactly lovely, but not horrible either. I stayed hydrated and made sure to grab ice at the end to cool off my body. I finished up with about another mile or so, to make my mileage roughly 6.5 for the day.
I treated myself with a trip to the beach for the rest of the weekend, filled with food, sun and ocean kayaking!
I got up a little bit early on Saturday morning and run 1-1/2 miles before heading to the start line. Then the gun went off. I decided that I would pick up the speed a TINY bit for those 4 miles to see how it would go. Surprisingly, I felt great and was able to hang out to a little bit faster pace for 3 of the 4 miles. My splits were: 9:40, 9:20, 9:55 and 9:07. Not what i would call consistent or by any means good pacing, but decent for a 4 mile race. The starts are always a little bit slower due to the mess of 5000 or so people. Mile 2 I found a decent pace that felt good. Mile 3 is always my trouble spot in these shorter races. I get worried that I was going to fast, that I will poop out at the end etc, not to mention that mile 3 graces me with 3 mild inclines, or hills. I have recently heard that they have been called "the three bitches". and that leaves mile 4, and well in addition to a nice gradual downhill, i'm ready to get to the finish and see if i can push myself. That's what i did, finishing at 38:02. The heat was not exactly lovely, but not horrible either. I stayed hydrated and made sure to grab ice at the end to cool off my body. I finished up with about another mile or so, to make my mileage roughly 6.5 for the day.
I treated myself with a trip to the beach for the rest of the weekend, filled with food, sun and ocean kayaking!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Hills Hills Hills
Yesterday was our first Hill workout! They aren't my favorite, but they aren't my least favorite workout. In the next 4 months I will have to learn to really love running those hills- none of which will be nearly as long or as steep as the ones i will be running out in San Fran for the 1/2 marathon. If anything, it'll make my butt look real good:)
All in all, yesterday was a pretty good workout. I felt strong, and one of our training captains said that I looked strong too. Maybe this hill thing isn't so bad afterall!
Happy 4th of July!
All in all, yesterday was a pretty good workout. I felt strong, and one of our training captains said that I looked strong too. Maybe this hill thing isn't so bad afterall!
Happy 4th of July!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
here comes july
Well, July is officially here, but just barely as I write this. This weekend was another hot one. It seems as if that is the way this summer is going to go, whether I like it or not. As i geared up fro this past Saturday's long run, I made sure to hydrate-lots of water and soe gatorade to keep the salts in me. It paid off! This past saturday, I paced our 10min per mile group for the long run. A bit of a scary assignment, but it went fairly well. We ran 10 miles over two loops in Central Park. This is my longest run of the season and surprising, I feel pretty good. And even felt pretty good Sunday and Monday afterwards. I still haven't gotten in as much mid-week running as I would like. Hopefully that will change next week. This week will be a bit tough with the long holiday weekend. I will be heading to DC to visit some friends, and likely will not get in runs. But i will give this week my best shot and get on the bandwagon for sure when I return.
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