Half of the Marathon Completed

I’m at that point in the marathon training where I’m just done…I just want it to be over…and my buddy Michelle who’s been training with me most of the time is also at that point, so we decided to do a half marathon with New York Road Runners to get some extra support.

We started out pretty slow, running together, doing a 13-14 minute mile, but I wanted to see how far I could push myself today…not such a good idea when you are only running on the weekends and you’re so close to the big event because let’s face it I am risking injury…but I was up for some fun.

At around mile five, I ran into this really cool couple from New Jersey who are also training for the NYC marathon. They were doing this run/walk thing and as I’ve said before, I always wanted to try it. I believed it would give me more energy in the long run…literally! ;-) I also believed I would be able to run faster because I’m not just running and running and running until I can’t run any more but rather I’m running with purpose for 3-10 minutes and then getting a walk break where I get to recover and start all over again with renewed energy.

This couple was doing a run for 3 minutes and then walking for 1 minute and it worked great! I ran with them for about 5 miles…so much fun! It makes it much more interesting when you get to take walk breaks…it breaks up the monotony of running long distance. So yes it is everything I expected and more and I’m sold. I’m doing this for the marathon. In fact I think I will do the exact same time I did with this couple…run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute.

You know another thing that I love so much about running marathons and half marathons, is you get to meet new people all the time. That’s what makes it so interesting. Just when you’re feeling down and like you’ve just had enough you run into some other runners and learn something new, exchange stories and have renewed energy.

And speaking of learning, I learned a lot from this couple. They told me they learned from their coach that there’s three kinds of running paces when it comes to running marathons: 1) commuter pace, 2) warm up pace, 3) all in pace…show what you’re made of ;-)

For the commuter pace, you are running a pace that you could maintain all day. For warm up pace, you pick it up a bit, but just a bit, your still not running as fast as you can. Then for the all you got pace, that’s exactly what you do, give it all you got…go as fast as you can…we’re not talking race speed though, because you want to keep it up for a few miles. Their goal was to run commuter pace the first sixteen miles, then warm up pace for about 4 miles and then run the last 10k giving it all they got.

I do something a little similar to that but not quite. I always knew your were supposed to start out slow. Like when I did the half, I started off with my buddy Michelle because I knew we would keep a slow pace (and we’re good company for each other!). Then I did the 2nd 5 miles with this couple running at a moderate pace, picking it up a little. Then I took off at about mile 10 with my buddy Roxanne who does about an 11 minute mile.

Roxanne was always faster than me, but after I had the baby and took a break from running and she continued to run she became MUCH faster than me. I always bust my butt running with her. I ran with Roxanne for about a mile, and quickly lost my breath and had to spend the next two miles recovering.

At the finish line, I did what I love to do best. When I see that finish line in the distance I start sprinting. I mean I pick up my feet and swing those hands and run that last dash like a Kenyan to the finish line. I always feel like superwoman in that last moment. I love it!

In all it took me 2 hours, 45 minute to run the half marathon. Not the fastest race I ever did. But much better than the half marathon I did in July which took me 3 hours and 7 minutes.

What’s more important is how I felt AFTERWARDS this time compared to in July. I felt great and was able to walk back, catch up to my buddy Michelle, run back with her to the finish line (about another mile) and then walk an additional mile back to the train station. Whereas after the half in July I sat there on a stump when I crossed the finish line and waited for Rock to come pick me up and I was in PAIN and EXHAUSTED!

Also it was really hot in July whereas it was pretty cool today. But it rained for both races. Ah and as for making comparisons, this entire race took place in Central Park (lots of hills) whereas the ½ in July took place the first half in Central Park and the 2nd half on the very flat but also desolate-except-for-lots-of-cars-and-exhaust-West-Side-Highway.

But most of all I know what really killed me last time versus this time (well besides the fact that I had done 0 training for the half whereas I did a bit of training for this one). I started out with my buddy Roxanne who is much faster than me and was feeling half dead after only a mile in July whereas this time I started out with my buddy Michelle who is a bit slower than me and that was the way to go!

Note to self. Run long runs with someone a bit slower. Run short, speed runs with someone a bit faster. But at the end of the day, it’s all up to me. Me, myself and I will be running the NYC marathon come November 2. Any support or company I have will be nice, but they will not be able to run for me. My two feet will stomp out every step of those 26.2 miles throughout NYC. I’m looking forward to it.

And then comes ELECTION DAY! If you haven’t registered to vote yet, stop reading this blog and go register! Time for Change! God bless!

Oh one more thing (for those of you who have already registered to vote). Yeah, my hubby stayed home with E-man today so I wasn’t pushing the jogging stroller. It felt so nice to not have anything to push…now I see how all that training with the jogging stroller has come in handy and made me into super-woman.

And E-man and his daddy had fun hanging out together, eating real food and doing guy stuff. Oh and you know what else, I smelled that food in his diaper the next day…that’s for sure…that was one stinky diaper. But all worth it. And E-man loved the carrots…at least the part of it that went in his mouth and not all over his face, on his shirt and on his sheets…lol!

Nap Time

Well it’s been tough going for the last couple weeks because my running buddy Michelle has been MIA. But I’m strong! That’s what I keep telling myself and it’s what got me through 17 miles this Monday.

Actually I had a lot of fun running on Monday, 9/29. Now Let me say first, I do not at all recommend being a weekend runner. In fact I speak very strongly against this. However it’s a lot of what I’ve been doing. Last weekend I ran 13 miles on Saturday and 5 miles on Sunday and then nothing all week. In my defense it was freaking pouring all week and while I have no problem running in the rain, I do have a problem bringing my baby who already has the sniffles out there in the rain.

It rained all weekend to, so come Monday it was the first nice day and whether I felt like it or not (I did NOT) I had to get out there and do my long run. So I made it to the park by noon and did a loop, slow but steady. Then…ah this is the worst part of pushing a jogging stroller and not having a running buddy. When it comes to bathroom breaks, I have to find a bathroom in the park that is wheelchair/stroller accessible. And there is only one that I know of. So I had to run/walk/struggle/backtrack 2 miles getting ready to pee my pants to the one bathroom. Then E’man had fallen asleep but the noise of the loud toilets flushing woke him up (poor baby!). So after that I decided to take him on a fun little detour.

We stopped at the central park carousel. It was only $2 and it was so much fun. He just loved it. He just kept looking all around an you know the really cute thing. Before that he never even noticed the horses going by. But after that every time a horse rode by he pointed at it and laughed. It was just adorable. I only wish I had taken some pictures. But some moments, you just can’t stop to take a picture…you just go with it and I will always have that adorable, sweet picture in my mind.

So then on and on I continued running around and around the park. I set out to do 18, but what stopped me at 17 was it was getting dark and E-man was starting to loose it. I mean come on he hung out in the jogging stroller all day while I ran 17 miles like such a sweet, patient little guy…I think he earned the right to start fussing after 17 miles.

You know he’s been kind of fussy lately but today he went to sleep around 10:30 and he’s still sleeping and it’s almost 2pm. I can’t believe it. I was headed out the door to stop in at the office and then go for a 6 mile run in the park, but he’s fast asleep. I can’t believe it. He must have been tired. And if my baby wants sleep, he gets sleep, because believe me, he earned it. He’s the first child of a mama that’s struggling to get about three different businesses off the ground, running marathons and doing so much. He’s really such a sweet, patient boy. I am so lucky!

Recipe for The Perfect Long Run

Wow…yesterday was just a fantastic run! I planned to just run a 10 miles ez since I hadn’t run all week and then leave my friend Michelle to do the other 4 by herself. But after running into our old MIA Elys, and being told that the “TNT beginning runners were doing 18” we decided to push it a little and do 15. And I was so surprised at myself. I didn’t have any aches and pains, was a little tired that last 5 mile loop but finished strong.

And E-man was back to his old charming self. I’m telling you he was looking so handsome yesterday in his new outfit. Brown denim shorts and a striped orange, brown and cream shirt…these are like his perfect colors I mean he just looked adorable. He was a charming little guy, cried when he wanted to nurse, laughed when he was full and kept on strolling, even fell asleep twice!

So I’ve been thinking what made it work so well today and I decided to make a note of all the things I believe contributed to this wonderful run, both on the day of the run and the day before. Ok so here goes, 1) two servings of lentil soup and a side of meatballs for dinner the night before, 2) stayed dehydrated the day before, drank a high electrolyte drink throughout the day, 3) afternoon sex the day before, 4) took it pretty easy the day before and had a good night sleep, 5) didn’t get up early in the morning, in fact slept in and didn’t even get out to the park ‘till after 11am, 6) ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast with another glass of high-electrolyte drink, 7) ate one of my special bars about 20 min before we started running (for more info, go to http://anna.iLoveSuccess.net), 8) snacked on lemon-lime gu (no caffeine!!! – that was very important for me and E-man) about every 30-45 minutes, 9) stayed hydrated!, 10) had another of my special bars 3 hours into the run, 10) ran/walked.

OK this is how I did the run/walk. I walked up all the hills. I ran the rest of the way. Saved me a lot of energy and was able to spurt the last two miles when E-man started showing signs of fussiness.

So that’s my 10 ingredients to a perfect run. Oh I forgot one thing. The weather. It was supposed to rain but it never did. Instead it was overcast and very humid all day but it wasn’t too hot and it was even a little breezy.

I don’t have any crazy train stories today. Would you believe the F train actually worked going there and back. I couldn’t believe it! It was running local. But it was running. And coming back when I was exhausted, these two young guys both got up and offered me their seat. I can’t complain…it was like I was in an alternate universe today where young New Yorkers are kind and thoughtful.

Oh and after the run, the eggs and pancakes just couldn’t get the job done. Had to go with something more substantial. Went to the same diner and had a big juicy burger called the Hunter (because the diner is by Hunter college, although it took me a minute to realize…I thought it was named the hunter like this is what hunters eat after they’ve been out kicking ass hunting all day). Anyway it has peppers, mushrooms, sautéed onions, mozzarella cheese and fries on the side. And they were some good fries too. And of course the tomato juice. I got home around 6, went to bed by 7 and slept until 9:00 the next morning.

This is my schedule for the rest of the season…I changed it up a little after running into our professional running buddy Elys: Mon and Wed: hill training and speed running mixed with a short EZ run, Thu run 4-5 miles EZ, Sun, Tue, Sat off. Maybe do some stretching or something like that. Sat, 9/20: 13 miles. Sat, 9/27: 18 miles. Sat, 10/4: 13 miles. Mon, 10/13 (Columbus Day?): 20 miles. Sun, 10/19: 12 miles. Sat or Sun, 10/25 or 10/26: 5 miles EZ. Sun, 11/2: ING NYC Marathon! ;-)

Not Sure About this Marathon Thing

Today had me rethinking this whole marathon thing. Michelle and I planned to meet in the park a little later since it’s getting nice and cool and don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat. We planned to meet at 8:30 but I didn’t make it out there ‘till 9:30. When we started training I was always the one sitting in the park waiting, but the last two times she’s been sitting there all perky and ready to conquer the world, just waiting for me.

We got off to a nice start. Did a five mile loop, skipping the big ugly monstrous hill up at the top of the park, but running all the smaller ones nice and solid. We were both feeling good. Then turned out Michelle had to leave early right after we had started the four mile loop and I was all ready to go too. But after she left I was like why I don’t have to go…so I’m feeling like Super Woman and all and I’m like I’m gona run these fourteen miles. The next seven miles went great…I did a loop then started another loop…matter of fact I decided since I was by myself I was finally going to try that run/walk thing. I had a nice little thing going. I walked up the hills and ran the rest of the way. Actually it seemed to be saving me a lot of energy. I was like, “I’m gona finish this strong!”

Well right around mile 12, E-man just lost it. Usually he starts crying, I feed him, he’s happy and I put him back in the stroller and keep running. But not this time, I fed him and put him back in that stroller and he looked at me like, “You’ve gota be kidding! Not the stroller again!” and just started whaling. I mean he was crying with tears and everything…I just felt horrible. But I had nowhere to go but on because at this point I was stuck at the top of the loop far from any train or anything…at least from any train that was going to Queens. I was ready to sit down and start crying myself. I would have called my BD to come get us right then and there but he was in Europe at the moment working so I picked up my baby and I carried him the last two miles. Those were the two most back-breaking miles. He was trying to be okay but he really just wanted out of the park, out of the heat and in his crib or to go crawling or whatever. He was better when I carried him but still a little fussy.

By then, my back was killing me, I was starving, I was exhausted, I’m holding my at-least-18-lb-baby and pushing the jogging stroller with the other hand. That was some workout. I barely dragged us to the diner next to the train station and sat down with a big sigh of relief and ordered a plate of eggs and bacon with French fries and toast, a grilled cheese sandwich with a pickle and coleslaw, a glass of tomato juice and a chocolate milkshake. The waiter looked at me and said, “So you want the tomato juice AND the milkshake!?”

I ran/walked a total of 14 miles, but with all the hills and with carrying E-man the last two miles and all, it was more like doing 18-20…that was some workout. But it got me to thinking, I’m all about pushing myself to the limit and all, but I can’t push my baby. And the problem is my BD would be happy to watch him, but I’m still breastfeeding. So I don’t know if this marathon thing is gona happen or not at this point, I really don’t. I just can’t put my baby through that, it’s so not fare to him. I just don’t know. It’s been one crazy week. I haven’t ran all week and it’s Thursday now. My BD has agreed to take us back to the track tomorrow. And then it’s supposed to rain all weekend except for Saturday afternoon so we’ll see about getting a long run in then. I guess I’ll just run ‘till E-man starts fussing or ‘till I can’t run anymore. And do a small loop that’s close to the train so I’m not stuck out in the boondocks when one of us looses it next time. We’ll see. I could sure use some motivation at this point. I just don’t know. I’ll keep you posted.

Speed Training, Slow Subways and Feeding Time

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! ;-)