I ran last night in the hood for the first time in a while. since the injury i started running in the morning but last night wasn't too hot, so i headed out at 8:45. i forgot how nice it was running at night in the city! In the winter at night it's really quiet, but in the summer it's still pretty crazy. the bball courts were full last night, and there was a little league baseball game going on.. car doors open with music pumping. there is not the stench of garbage baking in the sun like there is in the morning, and the homeless guy i see sleeping on audubon and 181st was actually awake this time.
The craziest thing was that I ran the entire 3.5 miles without having to stop for one traffic light! I am not sure how that happened, but it was fun!
miles run: 3.5
red lights: 0
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
river run
saturday to change it up a bit we ran on the west side of manhattan along the river. We gathered in Riverside Park at 72nd street, and then depending on how long we were scheduled to run they gave us our turn around point. I was set to run 8 miles. So, they said to run down to Houston Street and back. 4 miles each way.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day. not too hot, very sunny with a little breeze. I set out with a 10 minute pace group which turned out to be a bit too slow and after a mile i broke out on my own. The run was great, i got back to 72nd street feeling strong and that it actually went by a bit too quick.. made me wonder...
there were a few mentors at the meeting spot so i asked, 'is houston street at 4 miles?' they informed me that it was more like 3.5 and then told me excitedly 'you ran 7!' I was sooo disappointed because i felt great thinking i had run 8. 7 is still respectible. another girl turned up a minute later and asked the same thing. upon hearing that she had only run 7 she had the same reaction i did 'damn! i was supposed to run 8!'
i've since checked it on google maps and it is infact 7.85 miles from 72nd street to houston st and back again. YIPPEE. 7.85 definitely rounds up to 8!
my other good news is that this past week i got a new puppy. he's completely amazing. a french bulldog, 8 weeks, named Cash. I've attached a picture so you can all be jealous.
miles run: 7.85
times i heard my entire playlist: 2
new songs i must add to playlist before next weeks run: 10
It was a BEAUTIFUL day. not too hot, very sunny with a little breeze. I set out with a 10 minute pace group which turned out to be a bit too slow and after a mile i broke out on my own. The run was great, i got back to 72nd street feeling strong and that it actually went by a bit too quick.. made me wonder...
there were a few mentors at the meeting spot so i asked, 'is houston street at 4 miles?' they informed me that it was more like 3.5 and then told me excitedly 'you ran 7!' I was sooo disappointed because i felt great thinking i had run 8. 7 is still respectible. another girl turned up a minute later and asked the same thing. upon hearing that she had only run 7 she had the same reaction i did 'damn! i was supposed to run 8!'
i've since checked it on google maps and it is infact 7.85 miles from 72nd street to houston st and back again. YIPPEE. 7.85 definitely rounds up to 8!
my other good news is that this past week i got a new puppy. he's completely amazing. a french bulldog, 8 weeks, named Cash. I've attached a picture so you can all be jealous.
miles run: 7.85
times i heard my entire playlist: 2
new songs i must add to playlist before next weeks run: 10
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
the workout i love to hate
whoa, i forgot how much i hated the mid-week training sessions!
tuesday nights are spent concentrating on technique to build us into stronger, better runners. this week that meant hill repeats.. or should i say HELL repeats. explaining this in detail will not even help you to understand how not fun this is. i'll just say that we ran out to 102nd street in central park, and then ran back and forth (UP and DOWN) the hill for about 45 minutes.
my legs were still kind of tired from saturday's run, but that wasn't even the worst part of it.. it was monotonous, and i had no music to distract me.. instead i just watched the people ahead of me and hoped it didn't get to the point where they lapped me all together! luckily that never happend.. i made it to the end, did my quick stretch and headed home to get some work done and go to bed early!
today i'm trying to remind myself why exactly i thought running a marathon would be fun...
i'm sure i'll remember by october.
miles run: 4.5ish
tuesday nights are spent concentrating on technique to build us into stronger, better runners. this week that meant hill repeats.. or should i say HELL repeats. explaining this in detail will not even help you to understand how not fun this is. i'll just say that we ran out to 102nd street in central park, and then ran back and forth (UP and DOWN) the hill for about 45 minutes.
my legs were still kind of tired from saturday's run, but that wasn't even the worst part of it.. it was monotonous, and i had no music to distract me.. instead i just watched the people ahead of me and hoped it didn't get to the point where they lapped me all together! luckily that never happend.. i made it to the end, did my quick stretch and headed home to get some work done and go to bed early!
today i'm trying to remind myself why exactly i thought running a marathon would be fun...
i'm sure i'll remember by october.
miles run: 4.5ish
Monday, July 16, 2007
6.2 = 10
saturday i ran the naples run in central park.. it was a 6.2 mile race which i later found out is a 10k!!
i'm new to this race thing so i am slow to make the mile to kilometer conversions, but when i found out it sounded much more exciting! This is the furthest i've ever raced.. i think it's the furthest i've ever run.
wednesday we had a group training run in the park which i was very excited for. coach ramon was taking us onto the side paths for a more leisurly scenic run through central park. i knew that it would fly by, and we'd end up running further than we realized. to top it off it was pouring rain. that great summer rain where the air is warm and the drops are huge. the park was all ours and i had alot of fun. we ran at an easy pace for an hour and 15 minutes taking a few 'breaks' to do squats and lunges. this part was not so fun, but it allowed the back of the pack to catch up to the front and in the end is only better for my bootie. turns out we ran just over 5 miles.
the run on saturday started out great. my goal was to average 9 minute miles. i followed the coaches race strategy.. take the first 2 miles easy (slightly off your goal time) then hit your goal time for miles 3-4 and speed up on 5-6.. this plan was working perfectly until the end of mile 3... hmmm, maybe i shouldn't have had the coffee, i kinda have to go to the bathroom... pops into my head. but as my friends know, when it comes to bathroom trips i'm a master at mind-over-matter. i was fine for mile 4, still sticking to my strategy and then at mile 5 things really got uncomfortable (the water stations were not helping either). i told myself i could make it to the finish, it was only about 15 minutes longer anyway.
so mile 5 and 6 seemed like an eternity, and i had no ipod to distract myself. mile 5 is also filled with the long incline of cat hill so these 2 obsticles caused me to slow down. i decided not to worry about my finish time, just worry about finishing. period.
i made it. i looked at the clock which said "59:00:00" at that point i couldn't remember what the time was when i crossed the starting line, so i was just going to have to wait to check my results online.
turns out, i reached a new personal record.. averaging 9:10 miles! and considering everything i was dealing with i'm quite happy. if i had my ipod, and if i didn't have to go to the bathroom i think i could have broken the 9 minute mark... so now i have a new personal goal!
miles run this week: 14
times i swore never to drink coffee before a race again: 8
i'm new to this race thing so i am slow to make the mile to kilometer conversions, but when i found out it sounded much more exciting! This is the furthest i've ever raced.. i think it's the furthest i've ever run.
wednesday we had a group training run in the park which i was very excited for. coach ramon was taking us onto the side paths for a more leisurly scenic run through central park. i knew that it would fly by, and we'd end up running further than we realized. to top it off it was pouring rain. that great summer rain where the air is warm and the drops are huge. the park was all ours and i had alot of fun. we ran at an easy pace for an hour and 15 minutes taking a few 'breaks' to do squats and lunges. this part was not so fun, but it allowed the back of the pack to catch up to the front and in the end is only better for my bootie. turns out we ran just over 5 miles.
the run on saturday started out great. my goal was to average 9 minute miles. i followed the coaches race strategy.. take the first 2 miles easy (slightly off your goal time) then hit your goal time for miles 3-4 and speed up on 5-6.. this plan was working perfectly until the end of mile 3... hmmm, maybe i shouldn't have had the coffee, i kinda have to go to the bathroom... pops into my head. but as my friends know, when it comes to bathroom trips i'm a master at mind-over-matter. i was fine for mile 4, still sticking to my strategy and then at mile 5 things really got uncomfortable (the water stations were not helping either). i told myself i could make it to the finish, it was only about 15 minutes longer anyway.
so mile 5 and 6 seemed like an eternity, and i had no ipod to distract myself. mile 5 is also filled with the long incline of cat hill so these 2 obsticles caused me to slow down. i decided not to worry about my finish time, just worry about finishing. period.
i made it. i looked at the clock which said "59:00:00" at that point i couldn't remember what the time was when i crossed the starting line, so i was just going to have to wait to check my results online.
turns out, i reached a new personal record.. averaging 9:10 miles! and considering everything i was dealing with i'm quite happy. if i had my ipod, and if i didn't have to go to the bathroom i think i could have broken the 9 minute mark... so now i have a new personal goal!
miles run this week: 14
times i swore never to drink coffee before a race again: 8
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
the comeback kid!
i am finally back to where i left off.. running up to 6 miles!
saturday i ran the full loop in central park. i concentrated on pacing myself.. coach ramon explained to us that the long runs on saturday are about endurance and we should be running a bit slower than our racing pace. now, i have no idea what the heck my racing pace might be but i'm figuring it will be about 9 minute miles (like to hope for 8:30, but i'm going conservative for now). the theory is that if you practice at a slower pace your body will be used to running for a longer ammount of time. then on the day of your race you will finish before your body knows it's done.. in theory. in reality i have a feeling my body will know it's done long before the 26th mile!
it was a great day, the park was full and i was happy to have a goal of 6 miles again. during this run though i was really fighting myself. this time around i am finding the urge to just stop and walk is much stronger. i am conscious of every pounding step i take, every ache, every pain. always worried that i will step on uneven ground and end up injured again or that i will just push myself too far, too fast. there is no way to tell why i got injured last time, so i don't really know what to do differntly this time. just keep trying to follow the rules, take calcium and as coach ramon says 'behave'!
after practice i stoped to say hi to ramon.. i reminded him that i was a 'san diego reject' and that i was finally back to training with the group. i of course didn't need to remind ramon of anything, he knew just who i was and quickly asked how the recovery was coming along. he told me that the biggest hurdle would be getting my confidence back and not to worry. every ache is not an injury. sooooo right. i was having much stronger runs last time and have been frustrated that it is more work this time around. but he also reminded me that i WILL make it to the race in october, and when i DO cross that finishline it will be that much sweeter.
i've started a new list on this blog.. nutrition is an important part of running distance. the right foods can power you through the race, but the WRONG ones can wreck you! sooo, this list is based on research that i am conducting. foods that are not good choices the day before a run. you can thank me later.
miles run this week: 15
song that got me up harlem hill: 'tango' by lady soverign
saturday i ran the full loop in central park. i concentrated on pacing myself.. coach ramon explained to us that the long runs on saturday are about endurance and we should be running a bit slower than our racing pace. now, i have no idea what the heck my racing pace might be but i'm figuring it will be about 9 minute miles (like to hope for 8:30, but i'm going conservative for now). the theory is that if you practice at a slower pace your body will be used to running for a longer ammount of time. then on the day of your race you will finish before your body knows it's done.. in theory. in reality i have a feeling my body will know it's done long before the 26th mile!
it was a great day, the park was full and i was happy to have a goal of 6 miles again. during this run though i was really fighting myself. this time around i am finding the urge to just stop and walk is much stronger. i am conscious of every pounding step i take, every ache, every pain. always worried that i will step on uneven ground and end up injured again or that i will just push myself too far, too fast. there is no way to tell why i got injured last time, so i don't really know what to do differntly this time. just keep trying to follow the rules, take calcium and as coach ramon says 'behave'!
after practice i stoped to say hi to ramon.. i reminded him that i was a 'san diego reject' and that i was finally back to training with the group. i of course didn't need to remind ramon of anything, he knew just who i was and quickly asked how the recovery was coming along. he told me that the biggest hurdle would be getting my confidence back and not to worry. every ache is not an injury. sooooo right. i was having much stronger runs last time and have been frustrated that it is more work this time around. but he also reminded me that i WILL make it to the race in october, and when i DO cross that finishline it will be that much sweeter.
i've started a new list on this blog.. nutrition is an important part of running distance. the right foods can power you through the race, but the WRONG ones can wreck you! sooo, this list is based on research that i am conducting. foods that are not good choices the day before a run. you can thank me later.
miles run this week: 15
song that got me up harlem hill: 'tango' by lady soverign
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