2013 Running Thread

Firstcall!

Thanks for the fun, cute video!



Congrats on your race. I recall last year when you were still actively organizing that race right at the end of chemo.



3 babies delivered too. Awesome!!

Go Piper!!



Dallas, you'll be back in no time....

Dallas - hope things go very well for you on Wednesday!

Wonderful report Firstcall and congrats Piper.  Lulu hope the 'almost' is short lived. : )

Surgery went great. No pain hardly at all. Incision starting to hurt a little put tolerable. Two weeks with no running will be hard but I hope to get out and at least walk some by the weekend.



Hope everyone is doing great.



Happy running!

Groovygirls yea! I was so hoping they would do that. Excited for y'all to get to finish next year.

Wonderful news Dallas - so glad it went well!



And yay for the BAA and the Boston runners here - know y'all will kick butt next year.

Great news all around.

Lovesto........awesome share. This newbie didn't know to look forward to missing toenails.

Hello to everyone!  I've been scarce around here - battling a head cold that turned into a chest cold that turned into a messed-up chest (pulled muscle? cracked rib?  whatever, it hurt like hell and still hurts some).  I barely ran last week, couldn't run at all last weekend, and wasn't sure I would be able to line up at the Brooklyn Half today . . . but I did.

So is this going to be one of those "triumph over adversity" narratives?  Not quite.  I missed my goal of 1:48:30, but feel OK about finishing in 1:52:13 . . . especially after making every bonehead mistake in the book along the way.

The start, as with most things New York Road Runners - except, oddly, their computer system and communications, which suck - was superbly organized.  If I'd trusted them more, I could have slept in an extra half hour (but since they'd screwed up my confirmation email, I was a little low on trust).  I was expecting chaos, but I got to my corral without a hitch.  No complaints there.  Conditions were perfect - cool (upper 50s) and cloudy with no wind to speak of.

The starting horn sounds, and . . . nothing.  Then a slow shuffle.  This is a big race - something like 20,000 runners in two waves - and even though I was in the first wave and in a middle corral, it took me 8 minutes to hit the starting mat.  But once I did (and this is where the NYRR race organizers really excel), the roadway widened and I was able to run at pace from the start.

First mile - a long downhill followed by a sharp turn and a long uphill - was 7:55. 

Second and third miles were 7:57 and 7:46.

(Sound the alarm here!  The pace I needed to reach my goal finish time was 8:17.  I rounded that down to 8:15, and then gave myself permission to run 8:00s if I was feeling good.  But I had no business running 7:46.  Bonehead mistake number one - went out too fast.)

The fourth mile involved a turn onto a narrower part of the course that created a bottleneck.  I slowed to 8:00 (the pace I should have been running anyway).  The next couple of miles included some uphill segments, which slowed me to a hair over 8:00.

As I approached mile 6, I started to feel faint rumblings of intestinal distress.  This didn't seem like a good way to run the next 7+ miles, so I decided to sacrifice a couple of minutes and make a quick bathroom stop at the portajohns  right after the mile marker.  I stupidly stopped my watch, so I don't know how much time I actually lost - something that would come back to haunt me.  My actual running time for the next mile (which involves a screaming downhill) was 7:31.

That brings us to mile 8.  At this point we've exited Prospect Park (my home turf) and are on a long straightaway toward Coney Island.  I'm still clicking the miles away - this one was 7:49 - but I feel as though I'm starting to lose it.  I am also becoming a mental wreck.  You know how people always tell you to listen to your body?  That's generally good advice, but sometimes what you end up listening to isn't actually your body, but the nagging and depressive voice inside your head.  That voice is telling me how tired my legs are - but instead of offering constructive advice (like, "slow down slightly to your goal pace, dummy!), it's telling me that there's no point, I'm cooked, done, that bathroom stop cost me, I'm not going to make my goal, why even try.

Bonehead mistake number two - I listened to that voice.  It just so happened that the fluid station after mile 8 also provided power gels.  I decided that since I was losing it anyhow, I might as well stop, take a gel, and see if that helped.  And hell, why not loiter around washing it down with water.  If my goal was out of sight, at least I could cadge a little rest. That mile, including the stops, came in at 9:30ish. 

The next mile, more of the same: I stop at the fluid station to collect myself and suck down more water.  Looking at my watch after the fact, I discovered that even with the stop, I still managed 8:23 for that mile . . . so really, I wasn't losing it physically at all, only mentally.

Ah, but now we're approaching mile 10, and the gel I took at mile 8 is working its way right through me.  I realize I've committed bonehead mistake number 3: don't do anything on race day you haven't done in training.  How long since I've used Hammer Gel?  Oh, maybe 6-7 years?  And guess what - they always upset my stomach back then, too!  A second bathroom break and some recuperative walking lead to a 12:17 mile.  Ouch.

So now I've hit mile 11, and I am getting heartily sick of that nagging, depressive voice in my head.  I basically tell it to f*** off: I'm running this thing whether it likes it or not.  So I take off.  And damned if I don't find the legs to run the next 2.1 miles at exactly my goal pace . . . which tells me I'd probably had it in me the whole time, if I'd held it together mentally. 

Finishing on the Coney Island boardwalk was awesome, and because of the 8-minute lag at the start, I was able to make a game of trying to beat 2 hours on the clock. 

So, all in all, a good race.  I feel like I ran a respectable time and learned a lot.  I didn't make my goal, but that leaves it out there for another race.

Linda

Yes, goldlining, come to Brooklyn!  We'll show you a good time!  I'll try to get it together to take & post a picture of the medal, but this year's version features a medley of Brooklynia: the Coney Island parachute jump, a bridge, a rooftop water tower and the arch in Grand Army Plaza.  Runners get a nice sampling of the borough, there's excellent support along the course - and of course finishing on the boardwalk is very cool. 

This year the packet pickup was turned into a party with live music and local food and beer. 

Really, those of you who like destination races - give this one some thought!

Linda

Ran the local 5 mile race today - 2 minutes faster than last year! First in my age group and only 37 seconds slower than first in the age group below me:-)

Thanks, Tammy . . . and congrats, 301724, on the age group first!

Left foot is hurting a bit today, so I'm icing, but I don't think it's a serious injury.  (I was feeling twinges as soon as I finished yesterday and tried wading in the Atlantic to settle it down, but yowza!  There's icy and there's icy!  I was only able to keep my foot in the water for maybe 30 seconds.)

Linda

L

So wonderful to read such inspiring stories this morning!  Congrats to everyone on their recent races, and accomplishments.  I am grateful every morning that I wake up, which prompts me to try to run (every run is a good run, right?)

Broke down and bought new shoes, which are making a huge difference in my endurance.  Cut way back on mileage so I could be happy (P.O.'d when I can't run for five miles, so let's concentrate on 2 for right now, and then work our way back up, 'k?)  Shin splints sidelined me AGAIN so I purchased some cheap compression sleeves to see if they help.  If they do, even a tiny bit, then I'll invest in good ones. 

Just gotta keep moving...!

Nancy, just read your blog--it's really wonderful!  It's such a gift to be able to express what you've been through.  It helps me a lot.  I am going to be starting Tamoxifen soon, like in a week, and I'm nervous about side effects that will make me unhappy and make running hard.  Thanks for your honesty.  I hope to keep following your story.

RunFree I totally agree w/ksm.  I had no side effects from the tamoxifen when I was on it (2002-2007) - kept running and working out thru that and the radiation.  Don't worry about it ahead of time. And the running will help keep your head on straight and keep you stronger to deal with any issues that may come your way.  Good luck!!