After only running a couple miles on Saturday I’m feeling great this week. Tuesday it was supposed to storm…I should know by now not to listen to NY1 TV channel. It will be pouring rain outside and I’ll turn on NY1 weather on the 1’s and they’ll be saying something like, “It’s dry right now, but it’s going to rain tonight.” And it will be 12 noon, POURING RAIN. Well anyway, since it was “going to rain” Tuesday, I decided to take the day off and catch up on some work.
Wednesday, I went to Central Park and ran around the lower loop (1.7 miles) 3 times. I did the first half speed walking/running slow, then I did the second half running as fast as I possibly could like I was racing or running for dear life. I repeated this three times. Each time I finished the fast half, I felt so energized and pumped. It was a really nice, breezy day…just beautiful! This is my variation of a speed work out and should help me get faster. Afterwards E-man and I visited the children’s park in Central Park full of all kind of fun-looking kid’s rides…something to do next summer…he’s a little young for it now (only 5m).
After our run we got stuck on the train for an hour…no announcements or anything just sitting there and sitting there and sitting there. E-man, after being his normal sweet, patient, happy self all day, just lost it after a 20 minute bout of sitting and sitting and sitting on the tracks about 30 seconds outside our stop. He was hungry and tired and stuck on this crowded train next to this guy who wouldn’t stop farting and he suddenly just decided to voice everyone’s feelings and began screaming and screaming and screaming uncontrollably.
This guy sitting down next to us was just sleeping right through it and here I am standing there next to his comfortable self with my screaming baby and my big stroller and diaper bag trying to keep my balance and finally I did something I never did before…I was like excuse me sir, would you mind giving me your seat. I mean how could he sleep through all that?! I hate when guys pretend to be sleeping so they don’t have to be courteous and offer a mother holding a screaming baby a seat. It is just so wrong! But anyways, I finally sat down and was able to feed him and then he was okay. He is really a very happy baby as long as he’s not hungry and stuck on a stupid train with a bunch of rude people.
Oh, I have to tell you about this morning. He had cereal for the first time. I mixed some rice cereal with breast milk and apparently I’m supposed to feed it to him in a bottle, but I didn’t know this. So I mixed it in a bowl and fed it to him with a little baby spoon. For the first couple bites he opened his mouth wide like a little birdy waiting for a worm. But then he started closing his mouth and making faces….so cute…this little personality! So I thought well maybe he was full. I changed his diaper but then he started acting like he was hungry again, you know trying to suck frantically on my arm and stuff. So I tried to feed him again. This time he would open his mouth but he just kept fussing and looking for the boob. So I put the cereal away and gave him some more boob. But he had a little taste. I’m going to try it again over the next couple of days, but in a bottle next time.
I was thinking that if I don’t manage to wean him before November, I’m going to have to take nursing breaks during the NYC marathon. I wonder if they will allow that. I think I would have to start like two hours early to make up for it, because I’m a slow enough runner as it is. :-\
So yesterday we all (E-man, E-man’s daddy and I) went to a little park in Astoria under the Tri-borough bridge where we often hang out by the water, watch the motorcycles, have pic-nics and eat Mr. Softies ice-cream. But as I was exploring it the last time we were there, I realized they had a track. So yesterday we went to the track. My BD walked around the track and talked on his old faithful phone and I pushed the jogging stroller and ran around two for his one. I did about three miles, I’m estimating.
I always over-estimate for psychological purposes if I don’t know. I figure, running a marathon is partly physical but a much bigger part psychological. If you think you can, then you can. If you think you’ve trained enough then you have. So if I’m not sure if I did two or three miles, I tell myself for psychological purposes that I’ve done three miles. So yesterday I did three miles.
Today I’m taking a day off.
Tomorrow I’m volunteering to tell people about my experience with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraising and running a marathon. It was so worth it. E-man’s going to come along and offer to be their coach…lol.
Sunday morning I’m meeting my running buddies in Central Park for a 12 mile run. The best part about the 12 mile run is meeting in the diner afterwards for brunch. The faster we get our run in the sooner we get to go to brunch! :-D
I’ll let you know how it goes…but you can’t join me for brunch unless you first put in 12 miles of running…that’s the prerequisite! ;-)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
I Love New Yorkers
I’m back! I took two weeks off to recover from the NYC half on 7/27/08. I really was fine the next day – mostly I was just trying to get myself psyched up again and also trying to get some work done. But today I decided no matter how much or little I get done in a given day, I must make it my priority to run so that’s what I’m doing. Running is my therapy. If I don’t run, I go stir crazy no matter how busy I am doing other things. It’s my therapy, rejuvenation, revival, memory retrieval, attitude booster, stomach trimmer, cellulite sucker and so much more…got to have my running.
So Sunday I met my friend Michelle in Central Park and we took it easy. We just did a 10k. We were laughing at the fact that when we first started out, a 10k was such a monumental task and now we’re like oh we’re not really doing much today. Just a 10k. Sunday and today, I felt great during the run, but starting with Sunday…;
Michelle was struggling because she had worked out hard in the gym the day before and was still aching, so we just took it slow which was fine with me. I could have ran that pace all day. We just did a full loop of Central Park which happens to be a 10k (6.2 miles). Next week we’re going for two loops.
Now the funny part is always after the run, getting the stroller on and off the subway. The F train which I normally take was not going back to Queens so I walked another ten blocks (total of twenty blocks = one mile AFTER I ran the 6.2 miles in Central Park). Now the train that was working (the R train) does not have an elevator going down to the platform, so I carry the stroller down three flights of stairs only to get to the bottom and realize that there’s no way to get the stroller through the turnstile. So I have to carry the stroller back up to the top and across the street to where there’s a gate to take the stroller through.
And this is the part I love. This woman comes walking up the stairs – I’m already half way down carrying my jogging stroller, my baby, my diaper bag, etc, etc, and this woman without looking first comes walking up the stairs right bellow me instead of on the other side where it is completely empty. Then she finally looks up and notices me when she’s about to crash into us and at this point she glares at me like what am I doing walking down her stairs! I love New Yorkers!
But other than that the run was uneventful and totally boosted my confidence which was good because after the half marathon I was thinking no way am I going to be able to complete the full. Now I’m confident that I’ll do just fine!
Now today was great. Actually I ran into an old friend today and we we’re chatting online, as a result I got very little done this morning. 4:00 I said if nothing else I’ve got to run – so I grabbed E-man, the jogging stroller and my over-packed diaper bag and we headed to the train station to Central Park.
Today was all about hill training. I picked a hill in Central Park which is about six or seven blocks long and I ran up and down that hill eight times. It was great – something about the day. We’ve been having a lot of rain over the past couple of days, so there’s that jungle like feeling in the air that you get after a good rain, and it was about sixty-five degrees, breezy, plenty of oxygen, just felt great. I ran up and down that hill feeling so psyched and after I finished I was ready to run a loop in the park, except for those thunderclouds brewing in the sky and I hadn’t brought a rain cover for the jogging stroller.
I was laughing because walking home I was exhausted and I realized I’m so used to training less than I should and being exhausted after every run that if I have any energy left after my run I feel like there’s something wrong. I think I didn’t train hard enough or something. I feel like I got to go run off all my energy until I can barely drag myself and my baby home. I was laughing today thinking, “It’s actually a GOOD thing that I have enough energy to get home and I don’t want to bite everyone’s head’s off when they don’t go running out of my way.”
So yeah, I’m feeling good about this running thing. Some days are good, some are bad, and the last couple days have been good. I’m going to make it a goal to run three days every single week, no matter what, cause like I said, everything is better when I run. And mostly running is better when I run more often because you know that famous idea that we so often forget – everything gets better with practice! ;-)
And my baby – he’s doing great. He loves the runs he loves anything that takes him out of his crib, outdoors and into the fresh air. And he loves being around people. On the train, in the park, wherever, he just loves blowing bubbles and talking to everyone and laughing – he’s such a charming little fellow – I’m so proud of my sweet, social little boy.
On the way to the train station after the run, it started pouring rain so I’m running as fast as I can (and that’s actually much faster than I ever go when I’m running just to run) trying to keep him from getting soaked, stopping under every awning to take a breath and he was just laughing and blowing bubbles, he thought it was hilarious.
Under each awning where we stopped, there’d be a group of people huddled up waiting for the rain to stop and he’d look around and smile and start blowing bubbles and making faces and talking to everyone…it was just great. And in turn they’d laugh and talk and start pulling pictures of their little ones out of their wallets. I love New Yorkers when it’s raining. That’s the thing – New Yorkers will be so jaded and then you’ll share this moment like a rainstorm or an especially creative “money-requester” on the subway or something and all of the sudden you become the friendliest person. I love it. And my five-month old baby fits right in. He just loves talking to everyone.
Well back to running…I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading. Your comments appreciated!
So Sunday I met my friend Michelle in Central Park and we took it easy. We just did a 10k. We were laughing at the fact that when we first started out, a 10k was such a monumental task and now we’re like oh we’re not really doing much today. Just a 10k. Sunday and today, I felt great during the run, but starting with Sunday…;
Michelle was struggling because she had worked out hard in the gym the day before and was still aching, so we just took it slow which was fine with me. I could have ran that pace all day. We just did a full loop of Central Park which happens to be a 10k (6.2 miles). Next week we’re going for two loops.
Now the funny part is always after the run, getting the stroller on and off the subway. The F train which I normally take was not going back to Queens so I walked another ten blocks (total of twenty blocks = one mile AFTER I ran the 6.2 miles in Central Park). Now the train that was working (the R train) does not have an elevator going down to the platform, so I carry the stroller down three flights of stairs only to get to the bottom and realize that there’s no way to get the stroller through the turnstile. So I have to carry the stroller back up to the top and across the street to where there’s a gate to take the stroller through.
And this is the part I love. This woman comes walking up the stairs – I’m already half way down carrying my jogging stroller, my baby, my diaper bag, etc, etc, and this woman without looking first comes walking up the stairs right bellow me instead of on the other side where it is completely empty. Then she finally looks up and notices me when she’s about to crash into us and at this point she glares at me like what am I doing walking down her stairs! I love New Yorkers!
But other than that the run was uneventful and totally boosted my confidence which was good because after the half marathon I was thinking no way am I going to be able to complete the full. Now I’m confident that I’ll do just fine!
Now today was great. Actually I ran into an old friend today and we we’re chatting online, as a result I got very little done this morning. 4:00 I said if nothing else I’ve got to run – so I grabbed E-man, the jogging stroller and my over-packed diaper bag and we headed to the train station to Central Park.
Today was all about hill training. I picked a hill in Central Park which is about six or seven blocks long and I ran up and down that hill eight times. It was great – something about the day. We’ve been having a lot of rain over the past couple of days, so there’s that jungle like feeling in the air that you get after a good rain, and it was about sixty-five degrees, breezy, plenty of oxygen, just felt great. I ran up and down that hill feeling so psyched and after I finished I was ready to run a loop in the park, except for those thunderclouds brewing in the sky and I hadn’t brought a rain cover for the jogging stroller.
I was laughing because walking home I was exhausted and I realized I’m so used to training less than I should and being exhausted after every run that if I have any energy left after my run I feel like there’s something wrong. I think I didn’t train hard enough or something. I feel like I got to go run off all my energy until I can barely drag myself and my baby home. I was laughing today thinking, “It’s actually a GOOD thing that I have enough energy to get home and I don’t want to bite everyone’s head’s off when they don’t go running out of my way.”
So yeah, I’m feeling good about this running thing. Some days are good, some are bad, and the last couple days have been good. I’m going to make it a goal to run three days every single week, no matter what, cause like I said, everything is better when I run. And mostly running is better when I run more often because you know that famous idea that we so often forget – everything gets better with practice! ;-)
And my baby – he’s doing great. He loves the runs he loves anything that takes him out of his crib, outdoors and into the fresh air. And he loves being around people. On the train, in the park, wherever, he just loves blowing bubbles and talking to everyone and laughing – he’s such a charming little fellow – I’m so proud of my sweet, social little boy.
On the way to the train station after the run, it started pouring rain so I’m running as fast as I can (and that’s actually much faster than I ever go when I’m running just to run) trying to keep him from getting soaked, stopping under every awning to take a breath and he was just laughing and blowing bubbles, he thought it was hilarious.
Under each awning where we stopped, there’d be a group of people huddled up waiting for the rain to stop and he’d look around and smile and start blowing bubbles and making faces and talking to everyone…it was just great. And in turn they’d laugh and talk and start pulling pictures of their little ones out of their wallets. I love New Yorkers when it’s raining. That’s the thing – New Yorkers will be so jaded and then you’ll share this moment like a rainstorm or an especially creative “money-requester” on the subway or something and all of the sudden you become the friendliest person. I love it. And my five-month old baby fits right in. He just loves talking to everyone.
Well back to running…I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading. Your comments appreciated!
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