Category Archives: Marathon

Boston Is Less Than a Month Away!

Posted on March 20, 2011 | 2 Comments

I have NO CLUE how the Boston Marathon got so close so quickly, but it is a mere month away and I am in scramble mode. I’m scrambling to get all my training in, firm up my travel plans and make a dinner reservation. EEK – I can’t believe one month from today I’ll have run the Boston Marathon (knock on wood).

So I guess it’s best to provide a training update. I am rolling into week 15 of training and coming up on my second 20+ training run. I’ll briefly recap my first 20-miler that I ran with my friend two weekends ago. I traveled upstate for the weekend and mapped out what I thought would be a nice run. WRONG!! It was a disaster.

It started off okay – I ran from my house to my friend’s house and picked her up. We then headed up a gigantic hill and did pretty well. Things started to get hairy around my mile 14 or so when we moved off the main road and on to the local bike path. The problem was that the snow hadn’t been cleared yet! Without a back-up route in place, I suggested we push on. I thought the snow-covered path would probably last about a mile.

It lasted about 3-4 miles!! Although part of me felt pretty tough and Rocky-like, the other part of me just kept cursing my stupidity. We made it through eventually, but not without a twisted ankle, sore hips and a gash on my friend’s leg. It was a lesson learned.

This coming weekend, I will be heading upstate again for a 22 miler with Lauren and I will be sure to keep us off the bike path and on a clear road. This weekend was 14 miles, half of which was run with my co-worker. It really helped break up the length and make it tolerable. And then today I cheered on the NYC Half Marathon runners and hopped in with my friend Rachael for a mile in Central Park.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the past few weeks of my training and where I’m headed in the last few leading up to Boston…


As you can see, I haven’t been sticking entirely to my plan, but I still feel like my current 385 accrued mileage isn’t too bad. I think I will still be prepared.

How do you deal if you don’t hit your training targets – either in mileage or time?

Last training I would have really beat myself up. But this time around, I am feeling more flexible. Happy Sunday all – I wish tomorrow wasn’t Monday!!

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March Already: Week 12 and 15 Mile Run

Posted on March 5, 2011 | 7 Comments

I really can’t believe it’s already March. I’m not exactly sure where February went, but all I recall is that it was cold, snowy, icy and not at all fun to run in. February was undoubtedly a tough running month.

Here’s to hoping that March is a better running month. With the Boston Marathon approaching quickly, it’s time for me to make sure that all my long runs happen as planned and put forth the best effort possible.

Week 12 hasn’t been all that great for me as far as week-day runs. I didn’t get out on all the days I wanted, but I definitely made up for part of that during my long run today.

15 Mile Run
Today was actually only supposed to be a 13 mile run according to my training plan. However, apparently I had some residual guilt from missing one of my long runs and decided to add a few extra miles to this run to make up for that.

I headed out to Central Park around 10 a.m. and was greeted by an absolutely lovely day outside! Before leaving, I fueled up with oatmeal, two large glasses of water and a cup of coffee.

I made my way to Central Park and encountered numerous runners heading the same way. During today’s long run my legs felt extremely heavy, but I managed to power through. Here are my stats:

Even though I didn’t feel that great while running, I am pretty happy with my stats overall. And it was so gorgeous outside that I think that played a part in me staying out a little longer. I decided I needed to take advantage of the nice day.

I headed home from Central Park and then refueled with Gatorade and Chobani yogurt with Kashi Go Lean. Now it’s time for laundry, cleaning and a bit of relaxation.

Lastly, I want to give credit to my friend Lauren who I convinced to sign up for the Boston Marathon this year through a charity program. She has been trying to raise money like crazy and she’s currently at 93%!!! She has been totally awesome in helping to keep me motivated and I’m so glad that she has nearly reached her goal!!

Wohoo!! Boston here we come. Oh and we are running our first 20 miler together next weekend. Can’t believe it’s already that time!

Now – I need some good recommendations for an Italian restaurant in Boston’s Back Bay area!! Time to book a pre-race pasta dinner. I have a feeling Boston will be crazy busy the night before the race. Any suggestions?!!

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Epic 18 Miles

Posted on February 27, 2011 | 14 Comments

Hi blog world. I’ve been mia for a VERY long time. Things have been very busy. I was promoted at work and that means a lot more work with some additional pressure. So I’ve been spending quite a bit of my time on work stuff, including even on the weekends. :-(

Plus, I hit a bit of a running slump. The past two weeks were really tough. Hubby and I traveled to Utica last weekend and because of the freezing temps and a boatload of snow, I wasn’t able to get my 11 mile run in. I hate missing long runs – it makes me feel less ready and confident.

So I knew that I had to run my 18 miles this Saturday, come rain, snow, laziness or whatever.

Week 11 – 18 Mile Long Run
I headed out to Central Park around 10:15 a.m. after a lazy and procrastinating morning. I was nervous but didn’t want to admit it. Long runs usually go one way or the other for me, really great or really bad. So I set off and right away things felt good.

I was having some major issue with my sneakers a few weeks ago. For about three years now, I’ve been running in Asics Gel Cumulus 11. Well – they stopped making the 11 model and I had to move up to 12. They did not work with my feet. The ball of my left foot was constantly sore and my toes were blistering like crazy. After much research on underpronators (I roll to the outside edge of my foot), I ended up tossing the Asics and buying the Saucony Grid Ignition 2. At a mere $59, these sneaks were much less expensive than the $100 Asics and my first long run with them put them to the true test. The result – a win for me! They felt great and my feet were comfy cozy.

Anyway, back to my run. After being delighted by how my sneaks were performing, I found myself entering Central Park for two full loops. I decided to bring my iPod along this time, since a nearly 3-hour run can get very boring. After mile two I turned on some tunes and rocked out around the CP loop twice. My first loop was fast! Way too fast if I’m being honest. But running up the big hill at the north end felt easy, so I just went with it. The second time I went up that hill, things slowed down quite a bit and began to feel some tension in my quads.

As I made my way around my second loop and back to the UES, I knew that completing my 18 miles was no long a question – it was going to happen. I had it. I exited Central Park at 90th Street and headed to the East River Promenade to finish things up. For some reason, the last two miles of my run were rough slow-going. My legs felt so heavy, there was just no picking up any speed.

But at last, I made it back home and finished up my epic 18 mile run in just under 2 hours and 38 minutes!

Here’s my route and splits:

And now I’ve got my running mojo back and am more excited than ever for Boston! I needed that epic run to get my mind right. Next weekend is  a scale back to 13 miles, but then the weekend after will be my first 20 miler!

After my run I rolled my legs out like crazy, but am still feeling some residual soreness today. Hubby and I had a low-key night last night, which included a fabulous steak dinner with potato wedges and salad and a bottle of wine while we watched The Other Guys. Gotta say -  not so impressed with that movie. I kept waiting for it to get really funny and it just never did. Disappointing.

So how is everyone else out there doing with their running?! Are you guys as ready as I am for winter to be over?!!

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Fabulous 14 Miles and Marathon Training Week 7 Recap

Posted on January 29, 2011 | 12 Comments

Good evening all. Well wow – how is it already evening? It could perhaps have snuck up on me when I was lazy and lounging for much of the day after my run. However, it was a pretty awesome run, so I felt like I partially deserved the down time.

This morning was a nice 14-miler. I was nervous all week as the snowfall mounted and the storms just kept coming. Was I going to have to run my long run on the dreaded treadmill? No my friends, I did not. I was up at 8 a.m. and had a nice bowl of oatmeal before braving the slush. I worked my way to Central Park, only stomping in one large puddle along the way, and began my long run for the day.

I’m not sure about other runners, but I try not to have any expectations for my long runs. I don’t expect it to be a great run, a fast run or even an enjoyable one. I just get started and see where things go. And not every run is a great run – I’ve had my fair share of pretty bad ones. But today was a great one.

Two loops of Central Park for once did not feel like torture, this 14-mile run did not seem like it took forever, I only burped a few times, and my snots were quite manageable. Today was a good run. Here are my stats:

Mile 1 – 9:27
Mile 2 – 8:38
Mile 3 – 8:35
Mile 4 – 8:56
Mile 5 – 8:22
Mile 6 – 8:31
Mile 7 – 8:40
Mile 8 – 8:22
Mile 9 – 8:31
Mile 10 – 8:43
Mile 11 – 8:18
Mile 12 – 8:21
Mile 13 – 8:52
Mile 14 – 9:02
.21 – 1:52

Total mileage – 14.21 in 2:03: 18. Average pace – 8:35 minute miles

In all honestly, this run was the training highlight of my week. It’s easy to explain why – my other runs were all done inside on the treadmill this week because of the ridiculous snow. Here’s how it was broken down:

The blue row below is intended and the white row is actual mileage. YAY, I hit my intended weekly mileage (35 miles)!

Week 7 of Boston Marathon training was definitely a struggle. Running those 7 miles on the treadmill was pretty annoying. Here’s to hoping Week 8 is spent with me running more miles outside.

In other weekend news, Hubby and I have been pretty low-key. We watched The Town last night, which was okay. Not fabulous, but better than I expected. I’ve also decided that I think my hubby kind of looks like Ben Affleck when Ben’s hair is cut that short. Hubby categorically denies this, but I think he’s just being modest. :-)

Now I might as well share my mini reviews of Black Swan and Easy A.

Black Swan: Loved it. Was terrified and loved every minute of it. This psychological thriller had me jumping, covering my eyes and trying to figure out what was real the entire time. But I loved it. And I totally have a girl-crush on Natalie Portman, I think she is amazing. I am trying to convince Hubby that he should see this movie before the Academy Awards and have offered to go with him.

 

 

Easy A: This one totally surprised me and I really liked it. Emma Stone is definitely choosing some pretty fun roles. Between this and Zombieland, she might be my new favorite young actress. She is sarcastic, witty, gorgeous and down-to-earth. I see her going far. As far as the story goes, it had some kind of ridiculous parts, but I still thought it was pretty funny.  I hope to see Emma Stone in more movies soon!

 

So that’s Saturday all. The rest of the evening will probably be low-key and involve some wine. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Have you seen any great movies lately? And you are on Oscar-addict like I am?

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Boston Marathon Training – Week 5 in Review

Posted on January 18, 2011 | 3 Comments

Hello blog world! How was your long weekend if you had one? Mine was very good. Just the right mix of busy and relaxation. Before I get into that, I want to do a quick recap of my fifth week of training for the Bostom Marathon because I felt as though I made it over a mental and possibly physical hump this week.

I had a rough start to training. My first two weeks, I could only summon the energy to run 14 and 17.5 miles in total. Not ideal and not how I wanted to start this training process.

Things started to get better in week three – for weeks three, four and five, I hit my weekly mileage total and ran five days a week. And then finally, last week I started to hit a groove where every run didn’t feel so tedious and running five times a week was almost actually routine. Here’s how my training is looking so far:

Last week, I ran 3.5 miles at the gym on the treadmill on Monday; 6.12 miles outside in Central Park on Tuesday morning; 4 miles at the gym on Thursday; a frigid (I’m talking under 5 degrees) 12 mile long run with Lauren on Saturday; and a 5.29 mile run outside again on Sunday.

I’m finding that mixing the treadmill with outdoor runs is keeping me from becoming bored with either one.

A quick word on the 12 miles run upstate this weekend. That was officially the coldest weather I’ve ever run in. Lauren and I took the cold weather VERY seriously and bundled appropriately. I wore my arctic tights (the warmest things ever), ski socks under my tights, a Nike base layer, a really warm hooded sweatershirt, a hat, gloves and a neckwarmer that I actually pinned to my hat so that it would stay up and cover my face. We looked fabulous:


We may have looked ridiculous, but I was very warm and toasty with alll of this on. The neck warmer covering my face was crucial! I was so happy I brought it and thought to pin it up.

For any people training from spring marathons out there – what are your winter running tips and tricks?

I’m feeling like winter is looking particularly messy this year and I can’t seem to remember how I made it through training last winter. I’m taking it week by week and coping with each weather set-back as necessary. I will say that winter training definitely makes you appreciate it when the spring weather finally rolls around. :-) Happy winter running all!

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Help My Friend Run the Boston Marathon in 2011!

Posted on January 13, 2011 | 3 Comments

We’ve made it past hump day and through the toughest part of the week!! Thank goodness! As usual, this week has been a pretty busy one. Here’s a bit of recap

Rangers vs. Canadiens Game
On Tuesday, Hubby and I went to the Rangers vs. Canadiens game at Madison Square Garden. I bought him tickets for his birthday. He is a big Canadiens fan, so we got some dirty looks as he rocked his sweatshirt proudly. We had pretty good seats, only a few rows back from the ice, which made for great viewing, but also kind of chilly.

When we got there, we grabbed a not-so-healthy, but oh so expensive dinner at MSG. The game was really good. I’m not a huge hockey fan, but I think being closer to the action helped me to be able to keep up with what was going on. In the end, the Canadiens won 2-1 and Hubby was very happy. Everyone else around us, not so much.

Boston Marathon Donations Needed!!
While we were at the game, I got a message from my best friend that sounded a little bit stressed and worried. I started thinking about all the horrible possibilities and then soon found out that she was worried because she had gotten into the 2011 Boston Marathon through a charity program and was worried she wouldn’t be able to raise the money.

Phew – I thought it was something terrible. But this was GREAT NEWS, I told her!! If you recall, she tried to qualify for Boston back in October and missed it by only a few minutes. Deep down, she still really wanted to run.

So a few weeks ago, she began applying to every charity possible that claimed to still have room–by the way, that was very, very few. Even the charity spaces filled up super fast this year.

When no charity responded, we both finally gave up on the idea of her running it with me. Sadness. :-(

But then…she heard back from the American Liver Foundation’s (ALF) Run for Research Team - she was in! The really interesting part is that this was the one group I insisted she apply to because the ALF is very close to our hearts (Hubby and I). We try to support the ALF however possible because a close family member had a successful  liver transplant in 2000. We understand how important research is and are so thankful that the transplant was possible and successful.  It seemed almost a bit like fate that the ALF miraculously had a spot open for Lauren.

So now the real fun begins – raising $3,250 in donations by April 18th! Time for me to beg on Lauren’s behalf. If you’ve ever raised money through a charity program, you know it can be a bit stressful if you don’t get the donations you need. So please, please consider donating to help my friend reach her goal! I thought, what better place to ask than the blogosphere, where so many people understand what it’s like to dream of running Boston, and at the same time raising money for such a worthy cause. I hope that you will consider donating! Visit: http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/LaurenBeaver and click on the “Click here to Sponsor Me” button above the status thermometer. Your donation would be so greatly appreciated. And don’t feel weird about donating to someone you don’t know because I check her donation status daily (okay hourly) and fill her in whenever anyone I know donates.

So there is my unabashed plea for money. :-)

The rest of my week so far involved some running, work, snow and a movie. So coming soon…my review of Black Swan and some details about the book club I joined! Fun stuff.  Have a great Thursday!

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Hello – Is Anyone Still There?

Posted on December 15, 2010 | 15 Comments

Hello blog world – is anyone still reading? I know – I’ve been away so long. Things have gotten so hectic, as I’m sure you all are feeling as well. The holidays have hit like a ton of bricks and work hasn’t exactly been a piece of cake either. Oh and did I forget to mention that 2011 BOSTON MARATHON TRAINING HAS BEGUN!!

Yup – it started on Monday and so far so good. I banged out a great almost 6 mile run on Monday morning before work and have hit the treadmill on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m going to try to make tomorrow an early morning run, but you know how I am with those. :-(

For those of you interested, here is the link to my training plan. I’d say it’s a middle-of-the-road plan. It’s not a beginner approach, but it is by no means as aggressive as some I’ve seen. I plan to run 600 miles between now and April 18th, 2011. My highest mileage week will be 45 miles and my longest run will be 22 miles. So game on!!

So what have I been up to lately? Well, our gas is still broken, so no baking really to speak of. I’m currently reading two books. I know – I’m usually not the type. Well, I was already into Little Bee, but then I picked up Ultramarathon Man – Confessions of a Midnight Runner, for some running inspiration and the first 5 pages pulled me right in. I’m thinking one will be a commuting book and one will be a before bedtime book.

In running news – I have been running even pre-training! Hurray. It hasn’t been a lot, but it’s been better than nothing. My friend Lauren came down to visit two weekends in a row and we raced both weekends. Here we are running the Joe Kleinerman 10k…

We ran the 10k in 50:13. And then the next weekend, we ran the Jingle Bell Jog with our friend Rachael in Prospect Park and we were very festive…


Like the socks?! NYRR provided us with the jingle bells for our shoes, so we just took it to the next level. We ran this 4 mile race in 31:59. P.S. – I am officially qualified for the NYC Marathon in 2011 through the NYRR 9 +1 program (run 9 NYRR races and volunteer at 1)!

And then, I also experienced Santacon for the first time ever…


Hundreds of drunken Santas and elves running around NYC – definitely interesting. Unfortunately, we missed the “reindeer games” that happened in Central Park – we showed up just after things ended, but I can only imagine. And no – we were not dressed up, we simply wanted to see what this Santacon was all about.

All in all, it’s been a very busy past few weeks. I apologize for the lack of posting and commenting. Although my posts may be sporadic right now, hopefully I will get back into a routine after the holidays. Hope all is well with everyone and you are enjoying the holiday season. I’ve got to find the time to check in on the blogosphere to see what’s new!

So tell me – what’s new with you (if anyone is still reading). How are your holidays going?!

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Posted in Books, Holidays, Marathon, NYRR, Races, Running, Uncategorized

So Long Daylight Savings – Back to the Gym

Posted on November 9, 2010 | 5 Comments

Good afternoon all. Today I’m doing a lunch post since the morning completely got away from me.

I’ll do a short recap of Monday – it was a tough one. For some reason, I was just feeling a little down and frustrated. There are a bunch of things contributing to it, but I don’t really feel like talking about them.

I started off Monday with a breakfast of raspberry oatmeal.

Lunch was leftovers from the pasta the night before. I’ll tell you right now that I did not get up and run on Monday morning or this morning. Why is it soo hard for me?! Unless I am meeting someone for a run, my bed and sleep seem to win over every time. Can someone please sprinkle some magic morning-person dust on me?

During my lunch break yesterday and after work, I read a few Foodbuzz and  NYC Marathon recaps. Love them! I also convinced my friend to participate in the Marathon Monday Mania thing that ING was doing, whereby if you registered for the 2011 Marathon and completed a scavenger hunt item, took a photo of yourself doing it, and posted it to their wall between 12-3 p.m. you had a chance to qualify early for the 2011 NYC Marathon. Did anyone else out there do it?

In true sneaky fashion, they didn’t say how many people would be selected until after 3 p.m. Only 50 people! Alas, my friend was not selected. Bugger.

Not only was I feeling a little down yesterday, but then the crappy weather took it to a whole new level. Sleet/snow already?! I can tell this winter is going to be rough. As such, I figured it was time to face my fear of the dreadmill and head back to the gym for a post-work run.

My gym was pure insanity! Thank goodness I got there a little early, because by the time I was leaving, there were no machines or lockers available! I felt guilty running much more than 30 minutes (the gym limit on a cardio machine), so I pounded out 4 miles in 33:18. And the sweat was flying off of me. For all you runners out there, have you made the end of nice weather trip back to the treadmill yet? I avoided it as long as humanly possible.

We I got home from the gym, I made the lazy man’s dinner…

Yup - that would be grilled chicken (on the Foreman) with a side of corn and peas. Oh and by the way, it’s a poor man’s dinner, but also a stove/ovenless woman’s dinner as well.

Hope you’re all having a great Tuesday!

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