Wednesday, January 30, 2008

holy lazy!

ok, so due to a head cold and a busy schedule i slid into a bit of a lazy spell. I have to be honest and say that I haven't run since my 10 mile run last weekend.. eeek!

i am determined to get back on track so today i ran a quick 3.5 miles and will run 4.5 tomorrow. friday i will hit yoga after work and rest up for a 12 mile run on saturday. i am so used to being in major pain at this point in my training that i'm a little scared of these long runs. as i head out i always think 'i hope this isn't the run where the injury comes back' but so far so good.

tonight I'm sending out my final fundraising email.. most of my friends and family have generously donated, and i am overwhelmed at the support i've gotten.. but it's my duty to raise as much for the leukemia society as i can so i'll give everyone one more reminder. it's a new tax year, so i might even get some repeat donations :)

i bought my plane ticket to paris this week! roxy and i are planning on flying out on wednesday night so that we have thursday and friday to adjust to the time zone and sight see before the group comes in. then we'll hang out til tuesday which gives us a full day of recovery and french wine to ease the pain!

miles run: 3.5
weeks til paris: 9
best part of today's run: NO SIDE-ACHE!!!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

perfect 10

well not really perfect, but i can't really think of another title. i was super lazy this morning and missed the group training session, but i fought through the urge to stay in bed all day and headed to the park at 10am. I saw some of the TNT members which is always nice.. good to know you've got partners in the torture. Later in the run I ran into a woman I used to work with and stopped for a few minutes to catch up. This was a very welcome break because i had been running for a mile with a side-ache. Been getting them on every run.. about 3 miles in. It's insanely frustrating.. i don't know what i'm doing wrong, but i have to fix this or i'm never gonna make it through these long runs!

Had a few things on my mind today.. one being that i just found out that pro-skater danny renaud fell from a 9 story building in florida.. miraculously he survived. he severly broke both his legs, ruptured his kidney and they had to remove part of his spleen and gallbladder (i think.. i know it was 2 organs). I can't even begin to imagine how you fall from a 9 story building, and then to survive.. seems almost impossible. I kept thinking about how it must have felt like slow motion. you know when you're in a car accident and it feels like it's happening forever. I don't know danny personally, but he skates for stereo skateboards and i'm friends with a few people over there so it felt close to home.

hope he's ok. i know he's got a lot of friends around him to help him fight through the brutal recovery that i'm sure he's facing.

miles run: 10
song of the day: severed hand

Thursday, January 17, 2008

to be continued...

snow and rain somehow always make my runs better. i think it's because it's quiet in the street, and i'm not thinking about the run so much.

tonight i tried to figure out why he's such an idiot.. and then, why i still care. this is proving to be more difficult a question than can be solved in a 3 mile run.. so i will continue with this topic on saturday when i will have 10 miles to work it out!

snow + ipod + radiohead = lovely

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

it's a new dawn. it's a new day.

tonight on my run i thought about how bored you must be with this blog by now.. i mean how many times can you read about how sucky my runs were, or which foods were not good pre-run choices or which bathrooms are open in central park in the winter (the boat house and the tavern on the green). i spend my runs actually thinking about all kinds of other things.. so i decided that from now on i'll share with you the things that kept me occupied during my mileage. some days it will be politics, some days it will be boys, some days it will be bags, and unfortunately some days it will still be about the bathrooms in central park.

miles run: 4.5
question: how come side aches go away when you push on them, and cant someone invent something to push on it so you have both hands free while running?

Saturday, January 12, 2008

wheeeeeeeeeeee!

ok, it's not often i can say that i had a good time running. But today i had a good time dammit!

this morning instead of our normal training run we ran the Fred Lebow 5 mile race in central park. it was a beautiful morning for a run. high 40s, sunny, not much wind. perfect! i haven't run a race since the cow harbor 10k back in sept., and if you remember that was pretty brutal. i was feeling good when i got to the park, but once i was lined up for the start i started to freak a bit. i am so used to feeling shitty when i run that it's almost like i am bracing myself for the pain before i take that first stride.

roxy came to the park with her friend demps who i have read about but never met before. it was nice to finally meet the man behind the legend. roxy is battling a sprained quad, so she told us upfront she would be slow and if we needed to take off we were allowed. i ran the first mile with them, but then needed to break away. i've been really curious about what kind of times i am running and this was the day to work out my pacing. seems like i am running slower and more cautious than before the injuries. speed is not a major concern this time around, i really am more focused on completing the mileage that will get me to the finishline in paris!

this was my strongest race yet! my first mile was a slow one, and i tried not to over compensate in the next 4.. just picked up the pace and listened to my ipod. it was a little tricky because i was now running among a slower pace so there was alot of maneuvering. once i got going i pretty much was hitting someplace in the 9+ minute range which is back on my old pace :)

cat hill shows up in mile 4 which kind of sucks, but seriously i took it fast. had a slight side-ache at the top which sucked but i knew i deserved it cause i should have taken the hill a bit slower. but i was feeling too good to slow down. the last mile was probably my strongest. and by the end of the race i was running so fast i felt like my legs were on autopilot.... so much fun!

remember, i'm the girl who hates running!

tonight i checked my time, and my average was 9:41 minute miles which is great to see! i'm going to stick to my training, try to hit yoga to keep my legs loose and hopefully i'll be strong come april.

it's good to be back. thanks fred lebow!


miles run: 5
album of the day: pearl jam 'pearl jam'

Friday, January 11, 2008

watch out obama, beck is running!

i was waiting to make my announcement until i had a better idea of how strong i was this time around. but after completing a very strong 8 mile run last weekend I feel it's safe to say I'm training for a marathon again!

after my last bout of tendonitis, and my second drop out of the marathon, i wasn't sure i'd give it another shot. and i might not have had it not been for the promise of wine and cheese at the finishline. this time i am training for the PARIS marathon. yes, you read that right.. P. A. R. I. S. in april no less! since i've already raised over 6,000 dollars for the leukemia society i have met my minimum donation requirement and now just have to concentrate on the running.

this does not let you great friends of mine off the hook.. it's still a good cause.. and it still helps thousands of people battle a difficult disease.. and i still need you to donate if you haven't already.. and if you have donated, it's a new year and a new tax deduction so lets get that check book out again! your accountant will thank you!

so as usual I will update you on my progress here each week (sometimes more often) and you can cheer me on when the mood strikes.

tomorrow i run my first race of the new season.. the fred labow 5 mile race in central park. i'm not gonna try to win, i just want to finish strong and treat myself to a waffle!

marathons trained for: 2.3
marathons completed: 0
longest run this season: 8 miles