Priced Out

My 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!

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.

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.

The Fault In My Logic

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 training. Shit!

 

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. You mean I have to run another 19 miler? Shit! 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 he 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.

 

I'm excited to run the marathon, but running more trainng runs? Ugh.

Just a few more weeks.... 

Surprise! I ran a marathon this weekend

I 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?

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.

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.

Do elevation charts mean anything to you? Because apparently they don't to me!

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.

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...

The Race

4:30am alarm. It must be Marathon Day! 

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.

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. 

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. 

Starting to feel tired....at mile 10. Also, FREE RACE PHOTOS without watermarks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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 only 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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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,

Battle 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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm not injured, anymore. 

Going Strong

You 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.

But I wanted to jot down a quick blog post because some exciting things have happened.


- I passed my Road Runners Club of America coaching certification exam! Woohoo!

- I ran TWELVE miles last week, during summer streets!

- I'm pretty sure I'm actually going to be able to finish the Philly Marathon!

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.

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.

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.

Winging It

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.

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.

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 can run and that I'm healthy 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.

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.

So onward to summer training, or something like it!

The Wendy Davis Sneaker

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. 

But, something happened this week, and I think it's relevant that I post about it on my blog. On Tuesday, this happened: 

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 filibuster attempt. 

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. 

The perfect sneaker....when you need to run 2 marathons, or defend your reproductive rights from crotchety old men!
 Image from Amazon.com

If you have a moment, you can read through all of the comments on the Amazon product page here, 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. 

There was one comment however, that really struck me as having the perfect spirit of both the marathon runner, and of politicians like Davis. 

989 of 999 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm only gonna run a half marathon in these: Who do you think I am, Wendy Davis?,June 26, 2013

By 

Bryan Berry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mizuno Women's Wave Rider 16 Running Shoe (Apparel)

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.

We will always keep running. 

Governor's Island 10k - Race Recap

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. 

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!

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...

But there were baby goats!

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. 

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. 

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)

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Post race, looking...less than thrilled

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Friday Wrap-Up

I 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.

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?

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.

But I did it. I ran 5 miles. It felt so good, that I think I'll sign up for the Get Outside Governor's Island 10k. 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.