tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44633146115803609252024-03-13T14:21:12.210-04:00Surviving the Philly Marathon and BeyondAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-63370384031258194232016-06-01T17:03:00.003-04:002016-06-01T17:03:37.021-04:00Why I'm not running on National Running DayNational Running Day!! It is certainly the holiday of holidays for runners. Yet, I am probably one of the few runners who is not running a single step today. Am I injured? Nope! All is well. I simply don't want to run today.<br />
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Yes, you heard that right. As much as I love running, trying to race two halves this month (and the lack of a race recap for the BK Half should tell you how stellar that went!) has left me mentally exhausted. I am so glad I haven't committed to a fall marathon, because running 10 miles right now seems miserable. I am the first to admit I am burnt out, and I'm glad I can use the summer as an excuse to put distance running on the back burner, and focus on some other activities.<br />
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I'm so excited to have started a <a href="http://renaissanceperiodization.com/">Renaissance Periodization</a> weightlifting program, and I'm looking forward to getting back into some sort of regular yoga routine. I have neglected lifting weights for a while, and I definitely missed it. I love lifting heavy shit and seeing muscles in my shoulders. I love feeling strong. I'm hoping that I can build some quads (#quadgoalz) and overall strength in my legs, and crush some 5k's this summer. That's about all I have as far as goals for now, and it feels wonderful. I do have some idea of what I want my fall goal to be, but it's far enough to where I don't need to think about it. Not right now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-8339978274005602062016-05-16T14:23:00.000-04:002016-05-16T14:23:16.274-04:00What's in a number?I feel like I've been making a big deal about Saturday's race. My 30th half marathon! Holy crap! But then when I really thought about it, I couldn't pinpoint why this number seemed so significant. I don't really remember which race was my 10th, or even 20th half marathon. So why does 30 seem so different?<br />
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Maybe because now I am actually in my 30's? The age that used to loom over my 20-something head is now here, and well, it just is. Maybe there's some sort of weird symbiotic relationship? I've known people who try to hit 40 half marathons when they turned 40, or 50 when they turn 50.<br />
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Or it could just be, Brooklyn. Brooklyn was my first, and I'll never forget it. In fact, I think ANY time I every mention the Brooklyn Half, I mentioned how it's special to me.<br />
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Case in point: <a href="http://www.pushthroughphilly.com/2012/05/nyrr-brooklyn-half-marathon-aka.html">My 2012 race recap.</a><br />
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I wish I was blogging back in 2009 when I ran my first half, but luckily I was keeping track of my workouts on Daily Mile, and I was able to search through SEVEN YEARS of workouts, to find my race recap. Lucky you for guys, I didn't edit out all the weirdness, though I did enjoy making some parenthetical comments, in red.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The full write up -</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Brooklyn Half marathon 2009 - The Long Version</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0758em;">Let me first say, this was my first half marathon ever, and this was also the longest I had ever run. (My longest training run was 10 miles, one week before the half) Let me also say, that the 2:26:21 minutes that it took me to finish was the quickest 2:26:21 of my life. I cannot believe that the run is over! It's already a past memory!! </span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">(What? Samantha, you're drunk. Go home.)</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0758em;">Let me also say, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Michelle, Kenneth, Ted, Jessica, my mother, Lydia, and everyone else who wished me good luck, and told me I could do it and believed in me, even when I wasn't sure that I believed in myself. What I accomplished today makes me teary eyed. </span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.0758em;">(Samantha, crying at the end of every important race is something you STILL haven't </span><span style="font-size: 17px;">outgrown</span><span style="font-size: 1.0758em;">.)</span></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.35em;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I slept poorly last night, and in fact, my alarm never even went off. (Thanks a lot iPhone) but, I managed to wake up at 5:30am, had my Luna bar, some water and went off my way to meet up with Michelle and Ted. There were some dramas along the way (no money for a Metro Card....15 minute line to use the most disgusting porta-potty EVA!) but nothing major, and the race ended up starting late, anyway. We cut in to the corrals (oops!) so we started about 5 minutes after the horn went off.</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.35em;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #404547; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></span><span style="color: #404547; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">We were off!! I'm really doing this!!</span></span><span style="color: #404547; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547;">For the first mile I was having some sort of weird shin/calf tightness that seems to literally only happen when I run in Prospect Park. Usually when I stop and stretch it out, I'm okay, but I kept running, because sometimes it goes away on it's own. By mile 2, it was gone. Okay, so mile 2....where's the water? It's warm, I'm thirsty, where's my water!!</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547;">Finally, as we're approaching mile 3, there is a loud surge of cheers...the elite runners are running their second lap </span><span style="color: red;">(</span><span style="color: red;">In 2009 the course was slightly different--two loops of Prospect park, followed by the stretch on Ocean Parkway)</span><span style="color: #404547;"> in the park.....jesus..FINALLY 2.75 miles in Gatorade and water!! At mile 4 I lost Michelle and Ted at the water station, and the rest of the race I ran solo.</span></span></span><span style="color: #404547; line-height: 1.35em;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547;"></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I felt exceptionally strong in the park, which gave me great confidence that I was going to finish the race, and I was going to beat my goal of sub 2:30, and I was right on track for my other goal 2:24. Got a great surge of energy at 6.5 - 7 as we were leaving the park. There was pretty good fan support in the park, and other then that first water station, I think they were all spaced pretty well.</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.35em;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #404547; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547;">I don't know what happened around mile 8 - 9, but i started feeling pretty fatigued. I knew I was more than half way done, (only 6 miles left! only 5 miles left! I kept trying to remind myself) but I was tired. I think at the 8 mile water stop I forced myself to gag through half an orange GU. (Have I told you how much I despise those retched things?!?!) </span><span style="color: red;">(Sorry kid, they never get better.) </span><span style="color: #404547;">There were misting stations at mile 8 and 10 which were FABULOUS! I was worried that I would get wet and it would make me all blistery </span><span style="color: red;">(Ew)</span><span style="color: #404547;">, but the ice cold water felt sooooo goooooooood!</span></span></span><span style="color: #404547; line-height: 1.35em;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0758em;">By mile 10 I had felt less fatigued, though my legs were starting to feel sore. I remember stopping to walk some point at mile 11 and I guy said to me, "It's only two more miles! You can do it!" And I knew I could. So close. We were passing Kings Highway! Avenue U! The water stations were chaotic, but organized somehow. </span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1.0758em;">(</span><span style="font-size: 17px;">Whut?</span><span style="font-size: 1.0758em;">) </span></span></span><span style="color: #404547; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0758em;">The volunteers were dipping cups into large lined garbage bins of Gatorade. (In addition they filled up a pitcher and you'd just serve yourself) </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 1.0758em;">(Good to see in 7 years NYRR still can't figure this out.)</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">By mile 12, I was feeling almost euphoric. So little left!! DON'T STOP SAMANTHA!!!!! At this point, I did kind of want to get this over with, but in a good way. My legs were still feeling stiff, but no pain. Coming towards the Q train over pass on W Brighton was totally overwhelming. There were a lot of people there cheering, and I could hear people cheering ahead, and there tears that started to well up my eyes. I tried to calm down, because I could feel my throat starting to tighten and I needed every last ounce of air I could get into my lungs.</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.35em;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547;">I did not run up the ramp to the boardwalk. </span><span style="color: red;">(What???) </span><span style="color: #404547;">You must be crazy. No effin way. I walked up the ramp </span><span style="color: red;">(What???)</span><span style="color: #404547;">, took a deep breath, and tried as hard as I could to "power" through that last half mile. And it was not easy, that last half mile was probably the toughest half mile of the entire race. When they tell you "Only 1/4 mile left!!!" it's no consolation, because you see the finish line up ahead and want it to be done, NOW!!</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Overall, I really enjoyed the race, and I think NYRR did a pretty good job organizing it. It was no where near as crowded as I thought it was going to be. Of course I was happy to end at Coney Island, with it being home, but it was so nice to get those hills out of the way in the beginning, I'm not sure how I would have felt about the race had it been backwards.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #404547;">Right now, my calves are soooooreeee. I also have one blister on my toe, which hurts a little, and I'm a little sun burned on my shoulders. In a few days all that will fade, and all I will remember is number 10119, the good times I had on this day, and the great people I met today. </span><span style="color: red;">(Still true.)</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 1.35em;">It's funny how things change, but it's even funnier is how much stays the same. The after party will still include my friend Michelle, but it'll also include so many other wonderful people that I've met over the years. I'll be running with my friend Lou, who I've been coaching for the past few months, and I may be running with a Oiselle Bird or two. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe that's what I'm so excited for. 30 incredible races in their own right, but most importantly, 30 opportunities to celebrate with 40+ of my best friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you see me at Peggy O'Neals/Coney Island Brewery, say hello! Beer's on me.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-29628125180635406482016-05-09T11:43:00.000-04:002016-05-09T11:43:09.112-04:00The Power of Confidence There have been some big changes in the Push Through Philly world since I last posted. For those of you not keeping track, that was nearly SEVEN months ago when I ran the Mohawk Hudson Marathon. Good gravy. The biggest change by far is that after 6 years, I have a new running coach.<br />
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I'm not going to go into the hows or whys in a public forum, but I have only love for my former coach. There was no drama, no messy fall out. I just knew my body and mind needed a change.<br />
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I'm excited to say that the past 6 months of running have felt pretty solid, and although the new plan is not radically different from my old one, there are lots of little tweaks that have me feeling stronger than I've felt in a long time.<br />
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One of the biggest changes has been in my confidence. The new coach hasn't done anything super specific to help with this, it's more a byproduct of the dynamics of working with a coach that has clients spread out across the country.<br />
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Along with my online teammates, I have the amazing team support from the Oiselle Volee. Even though I have all these new teammates, I don't feel like I'm in competition with any of them. We each have our own training plan, train for our own races, do our own thing. This was so much more freeing and liberating than I could have ever imagined. I have run with teammates that live in NY, and it's been great. Some of them ARE faster than I am, but I don't feel like we're in competition with each other. It's precisely that lack of competition that's given me the confidence in my own ability.<br />
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That, coupled with lots of "fast finish" workouts has made me feel (and run) stronger than I have in a long time. So strong in fact, that when I ran the NJ Half two weeks ago, I ran my final 5k in 26:30. That's only ONE MINUTE slower than my PR, and my last mile of the race was in 8:22. Mile 13. 8:22. I am still blown away by that number. Even though I PR'd by a very small amount, executing my race plan to a T, even when the race conditions were against me, was a huge boost.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUkYCs5pRtIUO7AqdptJ5xcki3pjyqHXnd16QM7LkZjJkyvekW2DXwUuRIlAQfGz2prvDIJBD81O6_BPSb61xQYGeZQZn0PNUw2isvD7RGt8piWbBQ-8fQ52-gqmjJZ9w0jQHxls5xh1S/s1600/0029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUkYCs5pRtIUO7AqdptJ5xcki3pjyqHXnd16QM7LkZjJkyvekW2DXwUuRIlAQfGz2prvDIJBD81O6_BPSb61xQYGeZQZn0PNUw2isvD7RGt8piWbBQ-8fQ52-gqmjJZ9w0jQHxls5xh1S/s400/0029.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No one said running a PR in the rain was pretty</td></tr>
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I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and for the first time in a while I approach every run with happiness. (Ok, almost every run. If I have to run in the rain one more day I'm going to scream.)<br />
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I'm so excited to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon in two weeks, and celebrate my 30th half marathon. And of course, I hope the weather cooperates a little more, and I can tear up Ocean Parkway and make a bigger dent in that PR.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-49883851045747300432015-10-13T16:10:00.002-04:002015-10-13T19:02:52.503-04:00Marathon #7 - Mohawk Hudson<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
I wasn't going to do a race recap---I haven't done one in so long, it seems kind of silly to start again. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try and capture what happened this weekend in hopes that I can learn something about myself and racing the marathon.<br>
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The short version:<br>
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On Sunday I ran my 7th marathon, Mohawk Hudson, and ran a 7 min 49 second PR, and couldn't be any happier. </div>
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The long version:</div>
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<u><b>Pre-race - AKA Downtown Albany Is Weird</b></u></div>
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I got to the Albany train station around 1:30, by the time I got to the hotel and settled it was closer to 2. I figured I'd have a small lunch and then I could have a normal dinner. I did lots of research on restaurants in the area, the problem is I didn't check their hours. Apparently "downtown" Albany doesn't mean what I thought it did. Most places that I walked by were closed at 2:30, opening at 5pm for dinner. Hm. After a quick walk around I unfortunately decided to just get room service. I stopped by the Rite Aid across the street from my hotel (which closed at 5pm Sat and Sun!) to pick up an armband for my iPhone because that was the *one* thing I forgot, and the race expo was so small they didn't have any. </div>
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I did a little bit of sightseeing before a super low key dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant, and enjoyed a glass of wine in hopes that it would make it easier for me to get a few hours of sleep. (That sort of worked)</div>
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Before I spoke to my coach that night, I had a simple race plan in mind: Just get to mile 20. I wasn't going to worry about running 26.2 miles, I was going to focus on running to mile 20, which I've done 3 times in training, and then I'd assess/refocus on the rest of the race when I got there. To some of you this might seem absolutely ridiculous, but for me, this put my mind at ease and I was able to get to the starting line confident. My last 20 miler was great, at around a 9:45 average pace, so I thought "Let's focus on doing that again, and worry about the last 10k when I get there." I knew I was going to try and take advantage of the downhills on the course and my coach assured me that the pace I was thinking of running on the flats was totally doable, and I shouldn't fear seeing low 9's if they were coming easily. </div>
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<b><u>Race Day - Unexpected Friends</u></b></div>
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I had mixed feelings about traveling to this race alone. Mostly, I didn't mind it since I thought there would be less pressure and it would be less stressful, but after seeing all the buzz around Chicago it definitely made me wish I had a few people on the course cheering for me. Luckily, I made friends with the guy sitting next to me on the bus to the start and we chatted while trying to keep warm. I was definitely a bit shocked to see it was 43 degrees when I left the hotel at 6:30am, and even though I had a warm Old Navy sweater as a throwaway, my teeth were chattering and my feet were getting really cold the longer we stood around. The race started at 8:30, and at 8 I decided to jump on the port-a-john line since they were starting to get long. Somehow I started to chat with the woman behind me, and at one point I asked her what her goal was. </div>
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She replied 4:15. Me? 4:10? 4:15? Somewhere around there. The woman's name is Francine and she had run the race 5 time previously. We ended up running the first 14 miles together. I am so grateful for her company and chatter. She really helped the first half go by so quickly. </div>
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I came through the half point at 2:04:54, and here are my lovely splits</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGeU5RA23slIscLDwwXEMUMM7mXrqGpIyv_sbVwKmpn9zgp7rTYAuNKj6Lu-V9bdymSMFfVpG2BeHq1JopSIwsCevbDsgguI4npW8oRTlpvfJjEYCJ7zy0n9_RKuovtThq_C-OTVptNeS/s640/blogger-image-754926482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGeU5RA23slIscLDwwXEMUMM7mXrqGpIyv_sbVwKmpn9zgp7rTYAuNKj6Lu-V9bdymSMFfVpG2BeHq1JopSIwsCevbDsgguI4npW8oRTlpvfJjEYCJ7zy0n9_RKuovtThq_C-OTVptNeS/s640/blogger-image-754926482.jpg"></a></div><br></div>
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Mile 12/13 were weird. We had just spent the past 7 miles or so running on a straight flat bike path, and then we had to briefly get off the path, run on a few streets and up two small hills before we reconnected with the path. For some reason the two hills really confused my legs, and I really struggled. I felt like my right hamstring was going to start cramping up and a quick flash of fear went through me. Oh my god, am I freaking hitting the wall at mile 13?? Is the rest of this race going to go downhill?? (No pun intended!) I knew I was running a 4:09ish marathon and got excited, but tried to keep all my feelings and emotions in check. I finished my gel, took two enduralytes and tried to keep the pace up, but it started to feel hard. At one point there was a bit of a downhill, and I started to pull away from Francine. We had been playing cat-and-mouse for the past mile or so--I would stop to walk at the water stop but then catch up to her, etc, but this was the last time I saw her during the race. She knew I was trying to go a bit faster and didn't want to hold me back, so I slowly drifted ahead. It was around this part that I put my headphones in and tried to zone out. I briefly saw Josh had texted me some encouraging words after seeing my half split and that made me smile. I was looking forward to the downhill section that I thought was between miles 14-18. I was really hoping the downhills would give me legs a boost and I'd be able to get back into the 9:20's again. </div>
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The problem is, I never really felt the downhill. There was one STEEP downhill just before mile 18, but other then that, it was so subtle, it was hard to tell that you were actually going downhill. I tried to not let my disappointment affect me. I was definitely starting to slow down but I felt like I was getting into a more manageable pace. </div>
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Mile 18 - 21 or so were pretty brutal. This was the one part of the course I did not like at all. This is the only time you're running on the side of the road, which I didn't mind, however I wasn't thrilled that the condition of the roads and sidewalks was so shitty. The roads were open to traffic and runners had to stay on the inside of the cones. Again, that didn't bother me because at every intersection there were at least two police officers directing traffic and stopping cars, so I felt 100% safe, but with fatigue starting to kick in, I was getting frustrated. My mile 18 split doesn't show it, but I was starting to lose my mental toughness here. I walked once in frustration. (And then when a few people passed me I realized I needed to move my ass) Somewhere in these miles the 4:15 pace group passed me. I tried to keep up with them, but honestly, I didn't try that hard. The pacer only had 2-3 runners with her, and being in a bad space mentally I didn't even try to keep up with her. That's probably the only thing I regret in Sunday's race--I wish I would have put in the effort to quicken my stride just enough to keep her in sight. </div>
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The last 10k of the race is a bit of a blur. I remember running into a woman towards the end and somehow we started sharing a few words with each other--we must have been shortly before mile 25 because I remember us both saying "I cannot wait to see mile 25!!" </div>
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Thinking about it later, I realized I had never raced a marathon before--I had just simply been running and relying on my fitness to run faster. There was never a strategy or plan involved. Yet this didn't feel like a "plan", it just felt like what I was supposed to be doing. Mile 20 wasn't easy but I couldn't stop smiling. My hips, glutes and low back were so tight, yet I kept moving. Even knowing that my pace has slowed down quite a bit, I was still looking at a 7 minute PR. I was determined to NOT WALK. No matter how much I slowed down I knew it wouldn't hurt me as bad as it would have if I just started to walk. It felt good to know that deep in my bones, my muscles, my heart, I am a marathon runner. Crazy, control freakish, determined, unstoppable. Those late miles weren't nasty like they had been in the past, they were golden. </div>
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They were a celebration of everything I've worked so hard for. My last two marathons were in 2013 and they were brutal. I suffered through both of them, and one of them was 5+ hours (on an extremely hilly course) In 2014 I wanted nothing to do with the marathon. I just wanted to focus on running faster, and though I did accomplish that, I only managed a tiny PR in the half marathon distance, while everyone else I knew seemingly dropped huge PRs on the marathon. I started to doubt myself. Maybe marathon running really wasn't for me. In a lot of ways, this race was the one that was going to determine if I ever ran another marathon. If I had yet another bad race I don't think I would have ever attempted the distance again. </div>
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The last 6 miles of Mohawk Hudson were my redemption, my strength and soul out there for everyone to see. I couldn't stop smiling. The joy of the PR I knew I'd have, the joy of finally realizing my strength, and yes the joy of almost being done!! The joy of completing a solid race that I could finally be proud of. </div>
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Also something I learned, I ran the last .3 @ 8:30 pace. Goddammit. </div>
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2nd half splits (2:13)<br>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-2894659712524208192015-08-01T18:47:00.000-04:002016-05-09T10:01:23.597-04:00Introducing...Push Through Training<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2829/11912145235_0b3c6e8927_o_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2829/11912145235_0b3c6e8927_o_d.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkALhVJTzfgZXN4dzpgIgPRIKXJjMzXkkTIReZwSTNNzJj2NQoRTn6LB4pj6MWB2MKhp8kycHmm7uXXd_-uxQb7_93ZJONzbdFEyQ4zsgXtM3H7Nm_X1ecogTTzEvRxLGKRbqR2yBsk0G/s1600/blogger-image-2066671280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>My Mission:</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">My goal is simple. I want to use my knowledge (as an RRCA Certified Running Coach/ACSM Certified Personal Trainer) and experience as a runner (including 26+ half marathons, and 6 marathons) to help you push through your boundaries and help you reach your running goals. Whether that goal is to run your first 5k, or to PR at your next half marathon, I can help you achieve it. All of my workouts are carefully planned to suit your fitness level and your goals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Why "Push Through" Training?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Everyone has their issues. Lack of self confidence, never taking a rest day, not pushing yourself hard enough in a workout, or maybe you're new to running and you're not quite sure what to do. Each of these are a barrier that you need to "push through" in order to achieve your goals. (It goes with the theme of my blog too!)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Personalized Training:</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Live in NYC? Awesome! That means not only can I create a customized training program for you, but we can schedule in person training sessions, so I can correct your form, help you keep track of those splits, and motivate you throughout your workout too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">Don't live in NYC? Don't worry, I can still create the same customized training program for you, but instead of weekly workouts, we can email, GChat, tweet, Facetime, Skype or communicate how ever else you'd like to! I will always be available to answer your questions and review your workouts with you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>What are your training sessions like?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It all depends on YOU. Your goals, your fitness level. As a general rule, there's a warm up, followed by a specific workout, a cool down, and some core work. There will also be some days which are rest days, and some days that are XT (cross training)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Contact:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ready to get started? Or just have a question about rates and scheduling? Email me at: samantha AT pushthroughphilly DOT com</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>What people are are saying:</b></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;">Samantha was great! I needed advice about my form, she watched me on the treadmill and recorded me so that I could see what I looked like. She had a lot of great suggestions that I'll be using going forward. <br />-Maritza</span></span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;">I worked with Sam over 4 months to get my time down
for the Staten Island half-- this included an in person meeting once a
month, and a weekly training schedule. She was always available for
advice and support via email, and even came to race/keep me on pace
during some long runs (including a 10 mile race). In short, Sam really
knows her stuff, and is exceptionally down to earth. I definitely know
that without her help, there's no way I would've gotten my pace down
almost a full minute! I can't wait to work with her again this coming
spring.<br />-Jenn</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />I'm really pleased that Sam is my running coach. I
was coming off a running injury so my goal was to successfully train for
a half without serious injury. I wasn't quite sure what i needed out of
a coach but knew I'd feel better having some guidance along the way.
Sam's been great in that she is able to flex to my needs and she has
been thoughtful about my training. She put together a training program
that she constantly monitors and adjusts based on my performance and any
travel, health, work interferences. Sam recently ran part of a race
with me and another client to help with our pacing and then to cheer us
on. I'd definitely recommend Sam as a coach who cares about what she
does and about her clients goals. </span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />-Elisabeth<br /> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Coach Samantha was great. Very thorough and patient.
I'm a new half-marathoner in my early 50s, and she had lots of helpful
advice and guidelines for me to consider. <br />
-Phil <br /> </span></span></blockquote>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-51447443448814637702014-03-11T13:05:00.000-04:002014-03-11T13:09:07.144-04:00Why not run fast?I'm sure by now you've all read about Kayla Montgomery, the teenage runner with M.S, whos legs go numb at the end of the race, causing her to collapse upon crossing the finish line. If you haven't read the article, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/sports/for-runner-with-ms-no-pain-while-racing-no-feeling-at-the-finish.html" target="_blank">NY Times did a great piece about it here.</a><br />
<br />
I was reading this article the other day, and with the NYC Half coming up in just a few days, there was something that Kayla said that stuck with me.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">‘Coach, I don’t know how much time I have left, so I want to run fast — don’t hold back,’ </span></blockquote>
<br />
And I thought (in a somewhat morbid way) isn't that true for all of us? Why am I scared of going fast? Why do I fear that by going fast I'll get injured? What's the point of racing when you're not letting your legs and heart be in it 200%? None of us know how much time we have left to run, and we shouldn't let anything hold us back from giving it our all every time we run.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-42456721715354896362014-02-05T11:04:00.000-05:002014-02-05T11:05:06.396-05:00WinterIs there really much more to say? Winter.<br />
<br />
I was tallying up my miles for January, and I realized more than 50% of those miles were done on a treadmill. A necessary evil. Training is going well, but I hope that in the next few weeks the weather calms down a little bit. At least for March 16th.<br />
<br />
How are you all dealing with this weather?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-29667228820166413792014-01-20T17:22:00.000-05:002014-01-20T17:22:44.833-05:00A New WeekI'm really glad that Monday is the start of my training week. I'm in week 3 of my half marathon training, and I'm not sure what to expect. The first week was pretty good, but by Saturday night, I was feeling sick and run down. I spent all of week 2 being various degrees of sick (fever, sore throat, full blown laryngitis) but after three solid night sleeps, I am finally feeling back to "normal".<br />
<br />
Even though last week was a complete disaster, I am trying to be positive about this week. It's only week three, and it is a brand new week. Yes, every run last week sucked, but it's got to get better. Despite the fact we are supposed to be getting another "Arctic Blast" I know I can workout at the gym. For most people that probably sounds like a punishment, but when the temperature is below 20 degrees, I'll take the treadmill. It also means I have no excuse to not do my leg/core exercises. And I also find doing speed work on the treadmill easier (relatively), because I have no other choice but to hit those splits. Otherwise I'll end up on my face. (Or ass. I've never fallen off a treadmill, so I'm not sure which end you end up on--but I never want to find out!)<br />
<br />
So there are two positive things about my workouts for this week. What are you looking forward to this week, even if you're battling the elements (or yourself!)?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-89792006758711043322014-01-13T10:50:00.005-05:002014-01-13T10:50:58.949-05:00Happy New Year (right?)It's only January 13th, so I think it's still appropriate to say Happy New Year....especially when I haven't blogged since....yeah.<br />
<br />
There's lots of stuff coming up for me running wise this year, and I'm really excited to share it with you. Though, most of you know already, I got into the 2014 NYC Half Marathon! I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but this was my first time entering the lottery for this race (the last time I ran it was in 2010, when it was in August and not even a lottery) The timing of the race is perfect, and the fact that I don't have to pay for travel/hotel is nice too. So, I got extremely lucky, and I'm really excited to train for this race and feel like I'm back in shape again. I have an A goal in sight, and after a year of flop races, I am really looking forward to celebrating some new PRs.<br />
<br />
Speaking of travel and hotel however, I did sign up to run the Atlantic City Fool's Half Marathon which is the first Sunday in April. I signed up for this race a few weeks back, before I even found out about the NYC lottery. Unfortunately in my excitement to sign up, I totally forgot that this race was on the same day as the Cherry Tree 10 miler in DC, which I really wanted to enter as an excuse to see my favorite cat Livia, and her human Tracy.<br />
<br />
There's also some new stuff coming to the blog in the next few days. Hint....it has to do with the fact I changed the header of the website!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-43726667350775535112013-11-18T20:51:00.000-05:002013-11-18T20:51:19.632-05:00Surviving the Philadelphia Marathon With A Smile...AgainThis weekend was such a whirl wind, it's hard to believe I ran a marathon yesterday. The weekend started off great, my Megabus was on time, I got to Philly half an hour early and I was able to check into my hotel before noon. Philly is one of my favorite cities, and I loved being right across the street from Reading Terminal Market. I ended up meeting up with a few friends and we went through the market, went to the expo, and had a hearty pasta lunch.<br />
<br />
Later that afternoon I decided to text Josh, and ask him what he thought my predicted time would be. It's sort of a joke at this point, because he can usually predict his athletes time within 60 seconds. Though I haven't officially been training with him this season, I wanted to get his opinion and test his powers. After all, I hadn't done much speed work, and I was going to run it stress free with no time goal. Just have fun.<br />
<br />
Josh turned my question around on me and asked what I thought my time would be, to which I replied 4:30's, which was true. It wouldn't be a PR but I knew I could keep a 10:20 pace for the race. Of course Josh had a reply to that. "Really? I was thinking high teens" to which I laughed out loud. 4:18? 4:19?? I asked him what pace that translated to, and when I found out it was sub 10:00 I laughed again. Virtually every long run I'd done this year was on the other side of 10:00. Could I really pull off a 5 minute PR Sunday? We spoke a little more about how I needed to grow a pair of man-balls and race fearlessly. I admit I liked the idea. What's the worst that could happen? My legs would feel sluggish from the start and I would slow down. Best case? Shiny new PR.<br />
<br />
I went back to the hotel room after dinner and made sure I had everything I needed for the race. I also grabbed a pen and wrote two things on the inside of my right wrist: STRONG. (The best mantra I've come up with is telling myself how strong I look and how I am so much stronger than I think I am.) MARBLES. (To remind me to grow a pair) And then I drew a little heart. (To remind me of my boyfriend, and how I knew he was rooting for me even though he wasn't with me)<br />
<br />
Predictably, I did not sleep a wink that night. But that's okay, I know by now getting a good night sleep before the race doesn't mean much. <br />
<br />
In the morning I met up with Jonathan, Eugene and Kate, and we all walked to the start of the race coffees in hand. The security line we were so worried about and warned about took us about 30 seconds to go through. (At least at 5:30am, when we got there) The porta potty lines on the other hand where out of control. We all decided to hop on line for a final time at 6:15, and unfortunately Kate and I didn't get into the corrals until 7:15. Yes, we waited an hour on line for the bathroom, and we were far from the last in line!<br />
<br />
Starting the race, I felt great. I was trying my hardest to not look at my watch for pace because I didn't want to freak myself out, either way. I was just running with the group, my legs felt light, the air was chilly. Around mile 2 I looked at my watch and saw I was running a 9:38 pace. HOLY CRAP. I tried to slow down a bit as we were running by Penn's Landing. I kind of hoped there was a 5k checkpoint, so everyone tracking me could see how I was breezing through the first few miles (Ridiculous logic, I know) Finally around mile 4-5 I was able to settle in to a much better groove of low 10's high 9's.<br />
<br />
My pace was fluctuating a little bit through miles 5-9, but I hit the 10k in just under an hour, and still felt amazing. The crowds on Arch Street were amazing. I try not to do too many high 5's, because I feel like it wastes energy, but I couldn't help it. My legs felt great, the endorphins were flowing, and I thought to myself, "Holy shit! I can do this!"<br />
<br />
The zoo was slightly less brutal than I remembered, however coming back on MLK Jr. Drive was awful. It seemed never ending, and I hate to admit it, but my legs were starting to tighten up. My pace was still in the low 10's, but it was starting to creep up. I just kept trying to focus on my music, getting to the next mile where I'd take some salt or a gel, and just keep moving. I hit the half in 2:12 and I told myself that I was doing great and on track to PR.<br />
<br />
If I thought those last few miles were tough, the way up Kelly Drive was brutal. By mile 16/17 my legs were so tight/dead. My left hamstring/piriformis was bothering me. I was tired. I knew the last 9 would be ugly, but I kept chugging along, trying my hardest to keep my walking to a bare minimum. I kept thinking about the turn around at mile 20 and just tried to focus on that. I hit the 30k in 3:13 (10:20 pace) and knew I had to try my best to not lose any more time.<br />
<br />
The crowds at Manayunk were awesome, but I never got that huge surge of energy that I had gotten in 2010. I was miserable knowing I had six freaking miles more. I was grateful that my hamstring/butt had stopped hurting, because my quads were fried, and my lower back was aching. I tried to keep moving as best as I could. I stopped to stretch a few times but it didn't seem to make much difference. The worst part about it all is just watching the seconds slip away and feeling like you have no control over it. I mean, I know I am literally controlling the pace, but I think most of us know that feeling in a race where you just give up your goal, and force yourself to shuffle along, and if you walk you walk.<br />
<br />
I must have had a burst of energy at mile 26, because it was the fastest of the last 7 miles, at a whopping 11:03 pace.<br />
<br />
I crossed the finish line, giving Mayor Nutter a high five, and just started to cry. I was so upset. I was glad that I didn't have a friend waiting for me at the finish, and my boyfriend didn't pick up his cell phone on the first try, because I would have just lost it. I was so sad that it all fell apart in to what I would almost call a disaster. I cried because I was sad the race was over. I cried because I was ecstatic the race was over.<br />
<br />
Having a little time to think about it, I realized I'm proud of myself for trying. Those first 17 miles were by far the best marathon start I've had. What difference would it have made if I ran 10:20's-30's the whole race and finished in the 4:30's? No PR is no PR. I'm glad I tried to go for it, and for all those miles I believed in myself and let myself believe I could do it. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3EolODphPpSz8-HrXhGnqzLTm7LMR1iyWfqsSPQnuMj5mc4kdlxJ28h5Xm4_AtVe7fb4oErw3KBZ4gQ4klfbgFkDEOb3q5RFvLHeyDlbhnx9e5iZ1mFzwpVv_ge7HN_7K548YC_jGUpVO/s640/blogger-image--346599659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3EolODphPpSz8-HrXhGnqzLTm7LMR1iyWfqsSPQnuMj5mc4kdlxJ28h5Xm4_AtVe7fb4oErw3KBZ4gQ4klfbgFkDEOb3q5RFvLHeyDlbhnx9e5iZ1mFzwpVv_ge7HN_7K548YC_jGUpVO/s400/blogger-image--346599659.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This years giant medals vs the medal in 2010</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchzYJr8ZucKl5kU9G_C8S8PXRIL0Nsr8qWcPclB1yE9mBiOwFHXw6_88tPqsozWaZEpc5PDmpzHJbSV1_oq_J1SRn3Hr9hr46PtS1qXK_62bxyKsk5kcP1c2rWJihI4OyhiUhW0TraEzL/s640/blogger-image--1371147823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchzYJr8ZucKl5kU9G_C8S8PXRIL0Nsr8qWcPclB1yE9mBiOwFHXw6_88tPqsozWaZEpc5PDmpzHJbSV1_oq_J1SRn3Hr9hr46PtS1qXK_62bxyKsk5kcP1c2rWJihI4OyhiUhW0TraEzL/s400/blogger-image--1371147823.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This years giant medal vs MCM 2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the medals, all lined up</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-19728014761995308922013-10-28T12:16:00.000-04:002013-10-28T12:16:09.627-04:00Priced OutMy mind has been on the Spring lately. I'm already thinking about a spring marathon or a spring half. Immediately, when I thought of a great early spring race, I thought of the Atlantic City April Fools race that I did back 2012 with my friend Vee. It was close to home, flat, and I'd get to do a little shopping too!<br />
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I went to the website to look at registration, and I was floored. The fee was already up to $80! (from the base price of $70) I checked back in my emails, and indeed I had a reason to be surprised. I had a receipt from Active.com dated 2/20/12 for a $65 race fee (plus a $5 processing fee) So, last February I was able to register about 45 days before the race for $65, and now it'll cost me $80 to register for a race in 6 months. For a better comparison, if I waited until February 20, 2014 to sign up for the race, it would cost $90.<br />
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I can't possibly be the only person who thinks race fees are getting out of control. I understand wanting to get races full earlier, but I've lost count of how many times I've been scared off by a $70+ race fee for a half. And then there's the possible hotel/travel fees. Sometimes it's just not possible to plan my life out 6-8 months in advance for a race, and sometimes I don't even learn about these smaller race until a few weeks before the actual race.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-6867196541700593602013-10-26T10:27:00.001-04:002013-10-26T10:27:04.936-04:00The Fault In My Logic<div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">This week has been fabulous. I did some yoga, ran a few easy miles, and tried to catch up on as much sleep as I could. By Wednesday I'd say I was feeling about 95% recovered from the marathon. Yet by Monday I realized, I can't do my usual post marathon pig out, nor could I take as much time off as I wanted. I was still in <em>training.</em> Shit!</div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Realizing that next week (ahem, the day of the NYC Marathon) was my last real long run was a little bit of a slap in the face. <em>You mean I have to run another 19 miler? Shit!</em> You must all think I'm crazy. "Samantha, how could you not have known you'd have to do another long run before Philly?" Well, dear reader, I guess I did. But I figured I could get away with something relatively short, like a 16 miler. Then I spoke with Josh, who said <em>he</em> would do a 19 miler. Obviously we are two different people, and what he would do is not nessecarily what I should do, but I guess it made me think I should try and go a little bit longer.</div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I'm excited to run the marathon, but running more trainng runs? Ugh.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdsh2pjs8UDEBuEnJj_eCIfnWFGPWNB6-xkcZ-gvSaNq0GjLq-BUEFscMcVPJczCS35X1E6vErUsGz__n5_qLWB94_PB3X_ygSyEnNpmj4kX4xmt5jZ1E-u71DTSaeIP1gLgWsl0NV0hU/s640/blogger-image-2066671280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdsh2pjs8UDEBuEnJj_eCIfnWFGPWNB6-xkcZ-gvSaNq0GjLq-BUEFscMcVPJczCS35X1E6vErUsGz__n5_qLWB94_PB3X_ygSyEnNpmj4kX4xmt5jZ1E-u71DTSaeIP1gLgWsl0NV0hU/s640/blogger-image-2066671280.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Just a few more weeks.... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-82492164515998263462013-10-21T13:25:00.001-04:002013-10-21T13:25:01.761-04:00Surprise! I ran a marathon this weekendI see I've neglected to post in my blog since the end of August...so what better way to come back than with a surprise marathon?<br />
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It all started early last week when I was trying to find a half marathon to run as part of my long run. Every race I came across was up in Syracuse, Albany, or somewhere that was at least a 5 hour drive. No thanks.<br />
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Then while searching on the Runners World website, I came across the Habmletonian Marathon and Relay in Goshen, NY, which is only about an hour of the city. Huh.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do elevation charts mean anything to you? Because apparently they don't to me!</td></tr>
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I emailed my friend Joe, thinking that running a warm up marathon before your goal marathon was something that would be right up his alley. (Have I mentioned we are both Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics?) There was a short email exchange between him and our friend/coach Josh, and by the end of the day we had both agreed to run a marathon in 4 days.<br />
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I must say, I was a little nervous before this run, mainly because my 17 miler last week started out so terrible. At the same time, I had no time goals, and I honestly wasn't even sure I would finish the race. My goals was to get 19-22 miles in that day, and whatever happened after that was a bonus. I did pay for that finishers medal though...<br />
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<b><u><i>The Race</i></u></b><br />
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4:30am alarm. It must be Marathon Day! </div>
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The drive up to Goshen was quiet lovely. I think I must have remarked at least three times how I'd like to live in that area, and then I realized, what do people do up there? And then I downgraded my thoughts to maybe just owning a "weekend" home.</div>
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We arrived to the race a bit later than we both had wanted. We basically had time to get our bibs, I dashed to the porta-potty line and hustled over to the start. Luckily all of these things were very close to each other. </div>
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The first 6 miles were pretty lovely, and all in the low 10's/high 9's. ( If I would have kept up that pace I would have PR'd. I tried not to think about it, because I did remember a giant red bar on the elevation chart at mile 15) We saw a family of deer running through someone's front yard. Unfortunately, Joe was having some stomach issues around that time, and actually did a spectacular puke and rally and caught up with my by mile 7. The next few miles I started to slow down and settled into a mid 10 pace. I didn't know why my legs were starting to feel heavy, but they were. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting to feel tired....at mile 10. Also, FREE RACE PHOTOS without watermarks.</td></tr>
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My left hamstring/hip/glute was starting to get really sore and uncomfortable. Joe and I ran together till mile 11 or so, when I decided to take another gel, hoping that it would give me the energy to power on. Unfortunately, I kept feeling worse. Has anyone ever hit the wall at mile 13 of a marathon? I guess I sort of did. I felt awful. Everything between my lower back and left hamstring hurt. And I thought about all the upcoming miles (and hills) I didn't know how I'd even make it to mile 17. I walked so much. I tried to put on my favorite songs, but even Ke$ha couldn't get me going.</div>
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I texted my boyfriend at mile 15, basically saying I was so exhausted, I don't know how I'm going to do this. A few seconds later a got a little beep on my phone, with some encouraging words. I could feel a lump in my throat and cursed at myself. NO CRYING RIGHT NOW. Just move.</div>
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I hit that giant hill at mile 15 and just laughed. Think of that mile long hill in the Palisades, except shorter and steeper. I walked up the entire hill, and was still out of breath by the top. I told myself I had to run at least all the downhills, which felt a little better on my leg.</div>
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Mile 16. Mile 17. Started to feel a little better and forced myself to try and run more than I walked. Mile 18. Mile 19 we ran by a farm that smelled so badly of cow dung that I had to use my t-shirt to cover my face, because I feared I would puke. What can I say? I'm a city girl.</div>
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Mile 20 was pretty glorious, because by this point I realized I could shuffle my way to the finish, and that I would finish my 5th marathon that day. Mile 21. I celebrated. Mile 22 I texted my boyfriend to let him know where I was, and that I had kept going. The volunteers were amazing. I still walked a lot. Mile 23. Mile 24 I was starting to get bored on this little trail. I had miraculously passed a few people, and there was no one ahead of me. I saw what was either a beaver or a raccoon. Mile 25!! By this point my long sleeve shirt (that had my bib number on it) was off and tied around my waist, which meant when people saw me running they couldn't tell if I was part of the relay or running the full. (Relay had white bibs, the marathoners had yellow bibs) I hit the water station at mile 25, and as I passed them one of the guys said "She IS a marathoner!" and I did a lame attempt at a fist pump. I had long realized this race would be a PW but I didn't really care. Mentally I had felt really good, and I was so proud of myself. I realized it was a big deal to me that I finished another marathon, and honestly? Despite the fact the first half of my race kind of sucked, I had a lot of fun.</div>
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I chatted with runners as we ran/walked up hills. One woman had on a 100+ marathon singlet, one woman was running her first. I got people to yell "I love sweat too!" as I ran by. I had volunteers ask me if I was okay and if I needed anything. (I replied, yes, I need a nap, at mile 15.)</div>
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The last .2 of the race was on the Goshen Historic Track, which was really nice. It was softer footing, and I pretended like I was at a Tuesday night speed workout and I was busting out my last repeat. For what it's worth, I ran the last .4 of my race at a 9:13 pace.</div>
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Surprisingly, I don't feel too beat up today. However, I wish I could take a nap. With Philly in just under 4 weeks, I'm obviously feeling a lot more confident in the distance. I know I have a few weeks to try and strengthen up what's been bothering me, but with a flatter course, I'm hoping that maybe I can squeak out a PR after all.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-152442247707146622013-08-29T12:28:00.001-04:002013-08-29T16:51:09.490-04:00"Can I give more?" The answer is usually yes. The subject of this blog came from a quote by Paul Tergat, which was in today's "Daily Kick In The Butt" email from Runners World.<br>
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It's true. Often times when we're running, or racing, or doing whatever sport we choose, we can always give a little bit more. There are always those moments where we let up almost an imperceptible amount, but it's just enough to give us some relief.<br>
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Last night I ran the last of the PPTC 5k Summer Series. I had one (okay, two) goals. My main goal was to not hold back and race with everything I had. My second goal was to PR. I did 6x800's + 1/10 mile sprint on Friday to gauge where I was. My total time for the simulated 5k was 25:51 (8:20 pace) This is pretty much dead on my PR, which was interesting to see. and gave me a boost of confidence.<br>
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However, I almost bailed on this race before it even started. Sunday I had a slogging, fairly miserable 16 miler. Then I had the work week from hell (yes, I know yesterday was <i>only</i> Wednesday) I hemmed and hawed, and then told myself it would be more beneficial to just run 5-6 miles. I conferred with Josh, who of course told me I should race. "You'll learn something" he said. Well, fine.<br>
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It was humid and I got to the start of the race at 6:50. I had to pee terribly, but was afraid I'd get stuck too far in the back of the crowds, so I told myself I'd skip the bathroom. I'd probably run faster anyway, right? Luckily enough I spotted a porta-potty by the transverse of the park and ducked in.<br>
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I changed the screen on my Garmin so it only displayed my average pace, and my total running time. I told myself I wouldn't obsessively watch my Garmin, that I would focus more on running hard. In the past 3 weeks I've run the big hill in Prospect Park no less than 4 times, so it pretty much was my bitch last night. Mile 1 ticked off in 8:21. I was pretty satisfied, but I knew the hardest part would be to hold this pace and not slow up.<br>
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Of course, shortly after this point, my ankles started to hurt/burn?cramp(?). I've had this issue a loooong time ago, and it always came up when I ran too fast without a proper warm up, which is exactly what happened last night. I also wore a new pair of Ravenna's, and I don't think the laces were tightened quite as tight as they should have been. I knew the burning would go away in about a mile or so...but should I keep going? I could hear my feet slapping the ground with every step. I was afraid of getting hurt. Should I walk for a bit? Should I stretch? Should I keep going?<br>
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I decided to push through and keep going...mile 2 was 8:25, which wasn't too bad. I was annoyed that going down the big hill I couldn't pick my speed as much as I had planned on. I was breathing heavy, and my ankles were still burning. Mentally I knew I had to try and keep my pace up once we went around that turn by the tennis courts. That seemed to be the spot in past races where I've fizzled out. I finally switched screens on my Garmin to see I had less than I mile left! Hurray! I knew I was probably going to miss out on a PR by a few seconds, but I just tried to focus on pushing myself as hard as I could. Mile 3 was 8:19. I sprinted the last little bit going up the hill, feeling like I was going to die, puke, pass out etc, and crossed the finish line in 26:17.<br>
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I knew I was about 20 seconds off a PR, and that was certainly annoying, but I also realized I ran this race almost a full minute faster than I did a month ago. And I didn't give up when it was tough. So I'll consider this race a success,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-85390936434704085472013-08-19T11:11:00.002-04:002013-08-19T11:11:30.056-04:00Battle of Brooklyn 10-Miler This weekend I decided to run the Battle of Brooklyn 10-Miler as part of my long run. I love to incorporate races into long runs, mainly for the fact that doing a supported long run with water/gatorade can make it so much easier. You don't need to worry about how many water fountains you're going to hit and when you can refill. Running in a pack and with people cheering you on helps a lot too. I find I'm a lot more motivated and a lot less likely to take walk breaks if I'm in a race.<div>
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There's not a lot for me to say about this race. Okay, there is one thing I can say: How the hell did I run 6/8 loops of Prospect Park in 2011 for the Brooklyn Marathon?? I did 3 loops of the park on Sunday and by the time I was done I was tired of running in the stupid park. With its stupid hills. Adding in an additional two miles before and after the race, I was really tired of the stupid hills.</div>
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Though my overall pace for this race was nothing special (except for a 9:19 mile, and my overall pace being :15/mile faster than last weeks 12) this was a pretty solid run. I started to fatigue mentally and physically during the last loop, but I got a surprise. About a half mile from the finish, I saw about 8 teammates from Gotham City Runners, and they let out this huge cheer that I heard over whatever I was listening to in my headphones. It completely surprised me, took me off guard, and lit a fire under my ass. I took off down the hill and I know I passed a few people along the way.</div>
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I found a few friends post race and chatted for a few minutes while I had some lemon-lime ices. I debated running another two miles. I chatted some more. I looked at my watch to see what time it was, and said the heck with it. Go run those two more miles. It's funny how much two miles can mean to you. Those extra two miles gave me a total mileage of 14, which is the longest I've run since I finished the Brooklyn Half in May and then had to take some time off due to injury. It was a big deal for me to pass the 13.1 distance. No doubt I was sore, and still am sore from all those (stupid) hills. Although I will still work on stretching and strengthening, I think I can finally put all those thoughts and doubts about the injury resurfacing out of my head.</div>
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I'm not injured, anymore. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-31285611955927881752013-08-15T11:22:00.001-04:002013-08-15T11:39:51.804-04:00Going StrongYou guys!! I have been so busy the past three weeks. I have started about three different blog posts, all abandoned in my drafts folder, never to see the light of day.<br />
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But I wanted to jot down a quick blog post because some exciting things have happened.<br />
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- I passed my Road Runners Club of America coaching certification exam! Woohoo!<br />
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- I ran TWELVE miles last week, during summer streets!<br />
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- I'm pretty sure I'm actually going to be able to finish the Philly Marathon!<br />
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I absolutely love Summer Streets. I'm not sure why, but I always seem to have a good run, and I have fond memories of running 16 miles @ 9:30 pace last year during a rainy Summer Street run. I ended up having last Saturday off work, and decided to take advantage and meet up with my friends and enjoy Summer Streets. Granted, I started out the day thinking I'd take it easy that week and only run 6-8.<br />
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I stopped before the Brooklyn Bridge to take a gel (side note: spilling Mocha gel all over yourself....not attractive) and told the group to go ahead. Before I knew it I was at mile 8, and felt pretty good, certainly better than the previous week. Mile 9....mile 10! I was at my favorite spot of Summer Streets, Grand Central. I stopped to take a few photos like a silly tourist, and did a loop around Grand Central before headeing back south. Mile 11 hurt, and I knew I would hit Union Square right around mile 12. There was good food, and my train was there. I knew if I kept going I would have to run all the way down to Canal Street, and I didn't think I could make it that far. To put it lightly, my ass hurt, and I'm still afraid of re-injuring myself. It seemed like the perfect time to end the run.<br />
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Which leads me to my last bullet point. This silly little 12 mile run gave me the mental confidence I needed...I know the marathon is still 13-14 weeks away, but I was getting scared that I wouldn't have the time to build up to where I need to be. So maybe it's time I book that hotel room, after all.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-13954100237540867192013-07-17T11:18:00.003-04:002013-07-17T11:18:40.051-04:00Winging It<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I was on such a blogging roll, and then I fell off the wagon. Or the blog wave. Or whatever. I've been running here and there, my weekly mileage topping off at about 15-16 miles, which I'm actually happy with. I ran a 6 miler on Saturday and I was so hot and uncomfortable. I actually stopped in my gym to refill my water bottle and throw some cold water on myself.</blockquote>
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I started the above blog post about ten days ago, and that's where I ended. Funny enough, I ran 7 miles on Sunday and it pretty much went/ended the same way. Grapefruit flavored Enduralyte water never tasted so good.<br />
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I know most of my friends who are running NYCM are in their 2nd or 3rd week of training. (I think) I have no idea what "week" I am in for Philly training. I have no idea what my plan is, I have no idea what my goal is. And the reason is simple, I just don't care. I've realized the past few days that I don't care about my training this cycle. Things in my life are hectic and everything is up in the air. Frankly, running the marathon isn't my top priority. (I wish I would have realized this 3 months ago before I registered for the darn thing) Don't get me wrong, I feel lucky and fortunate that I <i>can</i> run and that I'm <i>healthy</i> enough to run. But the stress of training for months and months to try and PR? No thanks. I can't deal with that right now.<br />
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This realization is kind of nice, and freeing. Of course, just because I'm registered for the race doesn't mean I even have to train for it. I could DNS. I don't really like the thought of that though. Summer running isn't enjoyable, but it still helps give me a tiny bit of sanity that I so desperately need.<br />
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So onward to summer training, or something like it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-29219730673278333262013-06-28T11:09:00.003-04:002013-06-28T11:37:45.611-04:00The Wendy Davis Sneaker<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I don't write or speak about politics much. It's not that I don't have opinions, but I often feel like I'm not articulate enough to put up a good fight/debate against others. And most of the time arguing politics feels like you're bashing your head into a wall, and honestly I get enough of the wall during marathon training. Hyuk hyuk. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But, something happened this week, and I think it's relevant that I post about it on my blog. On Tuesday, this happened: </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; line-height: 24px;">The Fort Worth Democrat (Wendy Davis) stood and spoke for nearly 11 hours Tuesday to run out the clock on a sweeping bill that could have closed all but five abortion clinics in the Lone Star State. Under the quirky rules of the Texas Senate, Davis wasn't allowed to eat, drink, sit, use the bathroom, speak off-topic or lean against any furniture for the entirety of her marathon <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/video-of-texas-state-senators-efforts-to-block-abortion-bill/" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4774cc; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">filibuster attempt</a>.</span> </span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This little blurb barely describes the enormity of what Wendy Davis did on Tuesday. The Internet being the way it is, tends to pick up on funny things, and for some reason, they picked up on the "Candy Apple" Mizuno's that Wendy was wearing. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">The perfect sneaker....when you need to run 2 marathons, or defend your reproductive rights from crotchety old men!<br> Image from Amazon.com</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If you have a moment, you can read through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mizuno-Womens-Wave-Rider-Running/dp/B008KFY53K/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" target="_blank">all of the comments on the Amazon product page here</a>, they are hilarious and clever. Admittedly, though I haven't liked the Mizuno's I've tried on in the past, I would give these a shot. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; "><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; ">There was one comment however, that really struck me as having the perfect spirit of both the marathon runner, and of politicians like Davis. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">989 of 999 people found the following review helpful</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin-right: 5px;"><span class="swSprite s_star_5_0 " style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/common/sprites/sprite-site-wide-3._V375430972_.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 65px;" title="5.0 out of 5 stars"><span style="left: -9999px; position: absolute;">5.0 out of 5 stars</span></span> </span><span style="vertical-align: middle;"><b>I'm only gonna run a half marathon in these: Who do you think I am, Wendy Davis?</b>,<nobr>June 26, 2013</nobr></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1DBI4H3AEZUYO/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdp" style="color: #004b91;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bryan Berry</span></a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1DBI4H3AEZUYO/ref=cm_cr_pr_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview" style="color: #004b91;">See all my reviews</a></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="h3color tiny" style="color: #e47911;">This review is from: </span>Mizuno Women's Wave Rider 16 Running Shoe (Apparel)</span></b></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I bought them in pink with green stripe. I will put them on my feet when I need to run far. When I am tired, I will ask myself: WWWD?! Then I will keep running.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We will always keep running. </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-69711513053185803322013-06-24T11:04:00.003-04:002013-06-24T11:04:48.340-04:00Governor's Island 10k - Race Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Sunday started off like most Sundays during summer marathon training; alarm goes off at 5:30am, you curse at the alarm, at yourself for making these plans, wonder the age old question of "Whhhhyyy?" And then you get up, get dressed, make breakfast and head out to the race. </div>
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I am pretty anal about checking the MTA Weekender site, especially when I knew there were only two ferries to catch to get the race on time. I had planned to take the 4/5 to Bowling Green, but when I got to Atlantic Ave, the platform for the 4/5 was roped off....lovely. A woman saw my race bib and frantically asked me how we could get to the race. An MTA worker overheard us talking and told us to catch to 2/3 to Wall St and walk. Ok, fine!</div>
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Made it to the 7:00 ferry, ran into Jonathan and some others from Paragon, had coffee and chilled out. This whole time I noticed how it seemed to be quite hot and humid, and the race was still an hour away...</div>
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Like I mentioned previously, I had no goals for this race except to finish in under an hour. Even with the heat I knew this shouldn't be an issue. I thought about my PR, knowing it was a 9:00 pace and didn't think I'd even be close to it. </div>
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The starting horn blared and we were off! I didn't have much of a plan for this race. For those of you who don't know, the course is 2 mile loop which you complete 3 times. I didn't want to go out too fast, so I wanted to take it easyish on the first loop and see how everything felt. </div>
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About half a mile into this race I realized it was going to be brutally hot, and I kicked myself for not taking my own hydration with me. (There was only one water station that you passed at the end of each loop)</div>
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The sun was beating down on me heavily, and I also kicked myself for not wearing sunscreen. What can I say? I was very unprepared. </div>
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I got to the first mile marker and the clock said 8:33....I looked at my watch and it had the distance at about .87. Hm. My Garmin's first mile was 9:13. We approach the second mile again a bit before my Garmin. </div>
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At this point I was actually really excited about my pace. I've never run a race where my Garmin was "short." Usually it's long which can make pacing tough. In this case I was actually running faster than my Garmin said. </div>
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Finishing loop 1 I was desperate for water, and approaching the water station I had to come to a complete stop. There were two people filling up water cups for 1,000 people. What?? It must have taken me at least 10 seconds of standing there before I was able to get a cup of water. Drank half of it, poured half of it on my head, and continued on. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post race, looking...less than thrilled</td></tr>
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Though I was already suffering from the sun/heat I wanted to try and keep my pace up knowing that I could be close to my PR. By the end of loop 2 I was miserable. The water situation was still the same. I continued on to lap 3.</div>
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I kept reminding myself there were only two miles left, but I had definitely slowed down. My legs felt relatively fine, but I felt exhausted, depleted, and you guessed it, hot. I finally took a walk break around mile 5 going up a hill (again, my Garmin said it was only 4.xx) Doing the math at the point, I knew I was still close, and tried to keep my legs moving. Every time we ran in a sunny spot with no breeze I felt like every last bit of energy was being zapped from me. </div>
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We rounded the 6 mile marker, and I blew past the water station. Getting closer to the finish line I saw the clock said 56:30. I used every last bit of energy I had to kick, and crossed the (shaded!) finish line in 57:00. Needless to say I was thrilled, but then I realized, did I just miss a PR by a few seconds?? After checking I realized I missed it by 24 seconds. It was apparent the two walk breaks and the water station fiasco had cost me.<br />
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My legs felt fairly good throughout the rest of the day, a little sore, but nothing too serious. Overall, I'd say that the day was a win.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-38228514145575488462013-06-21T15:13:00.000-04:002013-06-21T15:13:10.300-04:00Friday Wrap-UpI couldn't think of a more creative title for this post, so there you have it. It's been a good week, dare I say a great week for my running. I've run TEN miles this week. I had a glorious 5 miler in the rain on Tuesday, took an unintended hot yoga class Wednesday (it wasn't a Bikram class, but man, the room was just hot and stuffed with sweaty bodies. And a hot yoga teacher that looked like Dax Shepard) and then Thursday I decided to test my legs by going into Central Park and seeing how they fared on the hills.<br />
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It was kind of glorious, and I laughed that I ran a 8:59 mile, going down Cat Hill. But let me be honest...it was a really tough run. And I stopped to walk a few times. And after 2.5 miles I was exhausted. And my hamstrings were so sore, and my butt was kind of sore. Did I mention I was completely exhausted?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at me! I got this shirt from my coach a month ago and haven't been able to wear it since the Brooklyn Half. I am so happy to be wearing it that I took an embarrassing bathroom selfie.</td></tr>
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But I did it. I ran 5 miles. It felt so good, that I think I'll sign up for the <a href="http://www.getoutsidegi.com/" target="_blank">Get Outside Governor's Island 10k</a>. It's flat, so it shouldn't aggravate my leg much. I'm hoping I can make it under and hour, and continue to run pain free. That's about the only goal I have right now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-37032903324787957992013-06-17T11:00:00.000-04:002013-06-17T11:00:47.674-04:00Crunch TimeHello blog readers! Not much has changed from my last post. I have been able to do a few short runs and I feel fairly good. Not 100% pain free, but not in serious pain either.<br />
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Sunday I rode my bike 20 miles and then ran 2.5 miles. Holy crap, THAT'S what a brick workout feels like?? Talk about dead legs. But at the same time, I was just so happy to be running, even though my heart rate felt very high, I was happy to run the farthest I have in 2-3 weeks.<br />
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I've also been working on my hamstrings, and have been doing dead lifts, squats, bridges and curls. Needless to say I'm a little sore.<br />
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Reading through my Twitter feed this weekend was a little tough. Apparently this weekend was the first long run of the NYCM training season for many of my friends. Not only did it suck that I couldn't be out there running with them, but this really made me think how far behind I am this year. I can barely run a 5k right now, how am I going to be able to run 26.2 in November? I haven't made any final (or rash) decisions yet, but I know I have about a month. If I can't run a 10k by the middle of July I know there's little chance I'll be able to train for the marathon, especially if I want to PR, and not "just finish." I'm mentally prepared to drop down to the half, train well for it, and crush it. That would certainly wouldn't be ideal, but it's better than not running in Philly at all. In a way, that would relieve a lot of the marathon pressure. I'm not saying I want to be injured, or I don't want to run the marathon, but it would just be less pressure. Yanno?<br />
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I'm trying not to stress about it, or worry about the injury flaring up again in the middle of training. I'm just going to focus on running day by day and see what happens.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-7495144264901923772013-06-13T11:56:00.004-04:002013-06-13T12:49:44.465-04:00Ennui<div>
Ennui. It's been one of my favorite words for a while, ever since I found out what it meant (and how to pronounce it). On a rainy, miserable day like today I find myself sinking into it. It's been a really long week, where I've woken up extra early nearly every day, and it's not even over yet.</div>
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This wasn't the blog post I had intended to write today. </div>
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I saw my chiropractor on Monday and after him asking me what my "regular" routine was, and me telling him 3-4 miles would be considered an easy run, he said I could run TWO miles! Well, fair enough. I was really excited to run two miles last night, even though I had to fight through the crowds doing the Corporate Challenge, and almost got run over by a delivery man on a bike riding on the sidewalk. I was feeling great walking around, and walking up stairs had become pain free. </div>
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The good news is, I managed to run 2 miles at a 9:00 pace, and I felt great for the first half mile to mile. But as I went up each hill in the lower loop I realized I wasn't 100% yet. By the time I reached the hill going up the transverse I realized I was definitely experiencing some nerve discomfort in my glue and hamstring. I'm glad I have yet another appointment with my chiro tomorrow morning, but I'm disappointed that I'm not back to "normal" yet. I keep thinking about the Philly Marathon, how far away it is, but yet how far I have to go before I reach the finish line. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-60876854411094587922013-06-10T10:52:00.001-04:002013-06-10T10:52:21.067-04:00Still sidelinedSo, it's been 10 days since I've last run. Okay, technically I ran <i>one</i> mile on the treadmill on Saturday. I'm feeling much better, at least my glutes are, but there's still something in my hamstring that isn't quite right. I'm assuming it's some sort of tendonitis/strain/minimal tear. I'm not sure there's anything I can do right now besides rest, and keep riding my bike so I don't go insane. I'm really hoping I can run a little bit this weekend, I miss being out there.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-81522228621466208352013-05-31T10:02:00.002-04:002013-05-31T10:02:34.409-04:00Denial in Injury LandIf you were ever curious, it's really weird to have <a href="http://www.tensunits.com/" target="_blank">TENS/electronic muscle stimulation</a> treatment on your butt. Also, it's probably my favorite thing ever. You basically get to lay there under some warm blankets and take a nap for 10 minutes while the machine does it's magical work.<br />
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Wait a sec, I think I need to back up a bit. I ended up getting another recommendation for another chiropractor who was certified in A.R.T (active release techniques) who happened to take my insurance! They were also able to squeeze me in bright and early, at 7:30 this morning. Who was more thrilled than I to get up at 5:45! (My boyfriend was sweet enough to be my personal alarm clock to make sure I actually did get up)<br />
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So I made my way into the office and filled out the myriad of paperwork that always seems to accompany a trip to a new facility. How was my pain? Was it dull? Or aching? Or gnawing? Or perhaps throbbing?<br />
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Dr. Williams seemed very attentive and asked me about how I got the injury, what movements hurt etc etc. The he poked a few spots on my lower back, left glute and hamstring to see where the pain was and wasn't. Then, he gave me the diagnosis that I pretty much expected, piriformis syndrome, coupled with sciatic nerve entrapment. BUT, there's was a twist. He was saying one or two of the symptoms that I was experiencing MIGHT be a sign of a torn hamstring. Holy fucking shit. He said that we would treat the PS and if it didn't improve within a week or two I would have to get an MRI to rule out a tear. HOLY FUCKING SHIT.<br />
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And then he said I shouldn't run. And I definitely shouldn't be doing yoga (if your hamstring is torn you definitely don't want to stretch it!!) Though, he said I should be running by the end of next week, of course I was bummed to hear that he didn't want me running. "But I ran 5.5 miles last night and felt.....okay" I told him, and he actually shook his head at me. Oh dear. I was really looking forward to this weekends run up in Rockefeller....I guess I could walk for a bit, but I wont.<br />
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This was also my first experience with A.R.T, and Dr.Williams warned me it could be a bit painful, which didn't really scare me. If you have been to Gail like I have, I was pretty sure I could handle whatever pain he threw at me. So he starts digging into my piriformis and asks me to move my leg this was and that way and he said "Does this hurt? Or are you just being really stoic?" and I kind of laughed, because did it hurt? Yeah, kinda. But it also felt kind of good. Like a good stretch. Okay, well there were parts he dug into that did not really feel good, or nice, and I feel kind of sore now, but at the time, it wasn't terrible.<br />
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So, that's that. Don't do anything that hurts. Roll my quads out, stretch my piriformis, and see him again on Monday.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463314611580360925.post-51141849488628197152013-05-30T10:44:00.002-04:002013-05-30T10:44:27.667-04:00It's the little thingsMemorial Day weekend came and went, and I'm glad to say I was indeed able to run a few miles. 1 very tentative (and slow) test mile on the treadmill on Saturday, 4 miles on Sunday, and 3 miles on my way to yoga on Monday, to be exact. I'm also glad to say I'm feeling 95% better. However, I can tell that despite a week of stretching, my muscles are still extremely tight. I haven't done any sort of speed workout in about two weeks, and knowing today will be 90 degrees out, I'm not sure today is the day to try!<br />
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So I guess that's where I am as of right now. Hopefully next Tuesday I will be getting some ART done on the area. I hope when I speak with the doctor he will be able to explain what's going on and what weakness/imbalance/tightness is causing all these issues. Marathon training is right around the corner, and I definitely don't have the solid base I feel like I've had the past few years.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09540440810449410755noreply@blogger.com0