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Brooklyn Half
I did it!
I finished the race in 2:47:29, I met my second goal of the race which was to finish around 2:45.
Here are some of the more technical details of the race.
The starting temperature was 65 degrees with 75 percent humidity. I felt the humidity at the start in Prospect Park. The park itself nearly kicked my ass. It just seems to be one rolling hill after another with very little chance of recovery time. Perhaps if I ran in that park more often I would feel different about it but right now, it's not my favorite place to run at all.
The water stations all along the route were a nightmare. We had to wait at each one for a cup to be filled with Gatorade or water. At one in Prospect Park I lost about 45 seconds because there weren't enough people manning the station to keep filling cups. The water stations along Ocean Parkway didn't have much of a wait but at one we had to straddle over huge puddles to reach the cups. The misting stations caused the puddles but perhaps next time spacing between the misting station and water station can be greater to avoid the puddles.
Running along Ocean Parkway was my savior. Flat and straight, although somewhat boring scenic-wise. I am glad I did the baby blue line run last week so I knew what it would be like. But it was even nicer to know that we literally had the entire parkway to ourselves.
The finish on the Coney Island Boardwalk was kind of neat but running on the slats of the boardwalk was interesting. I totally enjoyed running along and being able to see the ocean and feel the ocean breeze. I was even happier to see the finish line!
Today, my quads are a little stiff, but not sore. I think this can be expected after running 13.1 miles.
I'm still processing this whole experience. I don't think it has fully sunk in that I have accomplished what I have. Perhaps in a day or two I'll be able to write about all of the emotions that went along with all the technical stuff above.
// posted by stacey on 1:34:00 PM // |
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Loss of an at Work Wife
It has been a week since I lost one of my at work wives. For the record that leaves me with two at work wives, one at work husband and one at work boyfriend. We practice at work polygamy here.
So Zaida up and quit last week, no notice, just see ya later, peace out. Now it's really hitting me that she's gone and it's very sad. She was a very good wife in that she nagged me when I needed to be nagged and sometimes when I didn't need to be nagged. Even more important, she baked for me. One year she made me a chocolate cake for my birthday. Now tell me, how many at work wives will do that for you!
Brandy has been promoted to at work wife #2. At this moment I am not seeking applications for a replacement. I need time to grieve.
// posted by stacey on 1:47:00 PM // |
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Prop 8 protest
// posted by stacey on 6:30:00 PM // |
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Prop 8 Protest Tonight in NYC
aka you suck California!
I'll be going to the Prop 8 protest this evening in Sheridan square here in NYC. There are a bunch more taking place or already have taken place through the country today. Go to http://www.dayofdecision.com/#cities to find a location in your city.
I will try to live blog here or post things to my twitter account as the evening progresses. You can follow me on twitter by searching for @scoops1227.
Another way to protest today's decision is to call your New York State Senator and urge them to support the same-sex marriage bill. We need to be visible and loud to make sure that what happened in California does not happen here in New York.
// posted by stacey on 4:20:00 PM // |
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Saturday, May 23, 2009
The Last Long Run
Today was the Baby Blue Line run for the Brooklyn. Nothing official about it, just a small group of us who decided to run the first 10 miles of the Brooklyn Half Marathon. I now know what my body is going to go through for this race. The second loop of Prospect Park is going to kick my ass. Today it forced me to slow my pace down quite a bit. If it is hot next week, this going to eat up a chunk of time.
This means that I'm going to have to run a smart race for these two loops. I'll need to save my energy for the second half of the course which goes along Ocean Parkway down to Coney Island. At today's pace, I'll finish in about 2:43 minutes. Ultimately, I would like to finish in 2:30 but I would still be very happy with 2:43.
I am now in official taper mode. No more long runs, just some easy little runs from this point forward. My alcohol consumption will also decrease to almost nothing this week.
This week will be about managing my energy levels and trying not to get to excited about the race next Saturday. I can't believe the Brooklyn Half is right around the corner.
// posted by stacey on 7:21:00 PM // |
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
Half (Bloody) Mary Mix
I took today off to go to the Liberty pre-season game. You can do this when you have 48 PTO days. I took advantage of the extra free time I finalized my playlist for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon. It's a part inspirational, part songs with the word run in it, and part good tempo to keep me going.
Drum roll please....
The Half (Bloody) Mary Mix:
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
Machine Head - Bush
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Champion - Kanye West
Better Days - The Goo Goo Dolls
You're All I Have - Snow Patrol
Rehab - Amy Winehouse
Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
Last to Die - Bruce Springsteen
Saturday Night - Ozomatli
Nervous Breakthrough - Luscious Jackson
Lullaby Of Clubland - Everything But The Girl
The KKK Took My Baby away - The Ramones
Funplex - The B-52's
Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Everybody Finds Out - Fleetwood Mac
Beat Goes On [Featuring Kanye West] - Madonna
Unforgiven - The Go-Go's
Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley
Ticket To Ride - The Beatles
LaLuna - Funky Nashville
Canned Heat - Jamiroquai
Eyes Wide Open - The B-52's
In God's Country - U2
It's the Same Old Song / Reach Out I - Boyz II Men
Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
This Old Heart of Mine - The Isley Brothers
Revolution - The Beatles
I Run for Life - Melissa Etheridge
Touched - VAST
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
All Of My Lovin' - Valley Lodge
Home - Collective Soul
Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) - Gnarls Barkley
Damn Girl - Justin Timberlake
Good Life - Kanye West
Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Extraordinary - Liz Phair
Dance 2night - Madonna
Keep This Party Going - The B-52's
Won't Back Down - Tom Petty
// posted by stacey on 7:50:00 PM // |
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Dear Kara Goucher
I'm in love with you. I just need to get that out of the way. When I'm on my long runs I often think about touching your abs. Although I do have to be honest I think about touching Dara Torres' abs more. You have to admit that she does have quite the six pack. Plus she's older than both of us and I have a thing for older women. Oh and she's really tall too - six feet. That's a lot of ab expanse to run your hands over.But don't worry, I still love you. I like that you used to run in 5 and 10k races and jumped to a full marathon. That is inspirational.
However, I don't think this quote of yours is going to encourage people to start running. "Running is something that hurts. It's a wonderful thing." You may need to rethink that a bit but the rest of the article is really good and motivational. Although I will not EVER run a full marathon.
Apparently my insanity does have limits which I suppose is a good thing.
// posted by stacey on 10:55:00 AM // |
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Easy Recovery Run
aka the American Heart Association Wall Street Run - 3 miles
Today was supposed to be an easy recovery run after Saturday's 10k.
However, my mind didn't get the message.
This is an event that easily has 17,000 runners and walkers. It is
just one huge mass of humanity on very narrow streets. One does not
aim for PRs in this event. You run it, enjoy it and go out for drinks
afterwards.
My brain forgot all that after I crossed the starting line. I don't
know if it was because this is the anniversary of the first race I ran
last year or if I was still riding the high from the past few days.
Either way, I pushed too hard for a recovery run.
Really, I don't think I'm made to take things easy. Stroll through the
park, can't do it, too slow. I don't do easy well.
After pushing tempo for the first half of the race I got my wake up
call in a big way. Cutting across the street, in front of lots of
runners, came the pizza delivery guy on his bike. He slammed on his
breaks and came to a dead stop right in front of me. I had to slam on
my brakes and barely missed crashing into him and avoiding injury.
This was not supposed to happen on an easy recovery run.
That was when I yelled at myself, "Scoops, this is an EASY. RECOVERY.
RUN. What don't you understand? EASY!!!!"
It was hard to slow down after that due to the adrenalin rush of the
near crash but eventually I got it under control.
Aside from the pushing, I ran well and the quads felt great.
Especially the right one which was the worse of the two. Good news
indeed.
Today I learned that sometimes you do have to get inside your head to
get things right. Such a difficult balance. Sigh.
Sent from my iPhone
// posted by stacey on 9:55:00 PM // |
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Connections
Well, the pain has pretty much gone away. After a pretty emotional second half of last week I got through the Healthy Kidney 10k.
So far I have only told one person about all the ups and downs of the week and the ups and downs of the race. I've shared so much on this blog for the past five years now (wow, it has been that long!) I hope you will forgive me if I don't share that moment with everyone.
From last Thursday to yesterday it seemed that the key word for me was connection. Not just connecting with other people but, more importantly, connecting with myself.
The one person who got to hear the whole story was the one person I felt who would just get it with little explanation. Someone I could trust completely and who would feel those emotions I was describing. Because of that, I want to hold onto it for a bit longer. I want to channel that energy more and be a bit selfish in that story and all the feelings that went along with it. Those moments are rare and need to treated with care and respect.
What I will say is that I fought through the injury, the race and still managed to set a new PR by two minutes and change.
I a few minutes I will put on my running gear for yet another race. This time the American Heart Association Wall Street Run. It's only a three mile trip through downtown. I'm not expecting to PR due to the large amount of people participating but I'm anxious to get out there again. I want to hit the pavement and propel myself forward.
In 11 days I'll be hitting the streets of Brooklyn for the half-marathon. I have mostly had good to great training runs and am feeling very much at peace with myself. I'm in a good place emotionally and am looking forward to what the next couple of weeks will bring.
I promise that I will try and share everything that goes into that race. But be prepared for just a quick and dirty update in case it takes me a while to process those emotions.
// posted by stacey on 4:16:00 PM // |
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Thursday, May 14, 2009
Pain, Please Go Away
I've been trying to think of the best way to describe the level of pain that I am experiencing in my quads right now. On the old on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most severe, I'm at about a 7 when doing anything but sitting. It's a 9 when I have to try and sit on a toilet to pee. I somehow think that my resting heart rate now is not as low as it was back here when I made a not of it on this blog.
The pain is so severe that I am shutting down all the training involving my legs. This is not easy for me to do. I know posting things that say I am a runner now, but this is just another example that I am. I can't imagine not going for a run and I don't know what is worse right now, the pain in my quads or the fact that I can't run.
The Healthy Kidney 10k is on Saturday and my training was moving along so well that I felt that I could set a new PR. If I wake up on Saturday still in pain, I will have to pull out of the race. Even thinking about this makes me want to cry.
Thankfully, this is happening now and not the week of the Brooklyn Half. That sort of makes this seem a little better but I am still very down today.
// posted by stacey on 8:57:00 AM // |
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Daily Randomness
Today was health fair day at the office. It was kind of lame this year, none of the fun stuff like glucose, cholesterol or bone density tests. I did get a massage, but it wasn't the same as Jane at NYTHC. Jane knows my back and has the right touch.
The guy who sits in the cube next to me is addicted to Vicks vapor inhalers. He inhales deeply all throughout the day. Most days I can just ignore it, today not so much.
I realized today that I have been attracted to white women lately. This is most odd and perhaps worth exploring.
I'm looking for Miss Atomic Bomb magnets other than 1957.
I need a vacation.
// posted by stacey on 5:44:00 PM // |
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Saturday, May 09, 2009
Observations From a Twelve Mile Run
OMG, TWELVE FUCKING MILES IS REALLY FUCKING LONG! I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE I LET FUCKING ED, FUCKING TALK ME INTO DOING THIS FUCKING BROOKLYN HALF FUCKING MARATHON. WHAT THE FUCK WAS I FUCKING THINKING WHEN I FUCKING AGREED TO THIS! FUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!
OK, I feel better now.
My twelve mile long run on Friday went well in spite of the impression you may have received from above. Really, I am in awe that I can do this.
We ended up with great weather for the run which was not the case for our last two long runs (rain for one and extreme heat for the other). I even felt great. I was worried at the beginning of the week because my abs were really sore the day after I started a new strength training program. The soreness made an easy 3.5 mile run excruciating. I continued with the strength training and luckily no pain whatsoever on the run.
The first 10 miles were pretty easy and effortless. Yes, I said that. My pace was consistent, even going up the Harlem hills, so I was very happy with that. The second time up the Harlem hills was a different story. Both my quads and hamstrings started to tighten up causing me to slow down and take it easy. My goal was to get the run down and not push tempo.
While I was happy to reach the end at East 90th Street I really did feel that I could have gone another mile, which is exactly how I want to feel when I finish.
So overall, it was a good run and I am very happy with results even though I may swear my way through it.
// posted by stacey on 8:04:00 PM // |
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Thursday, May 07, 2009
As if I Needed Another Reason To Love Jennifer Beals
I did know that Jennifer Beals ran in a half-marathon and a triathlon, but to get to read about it in Runner's World makes me love her even more.
Excuse me while I get myself composed again.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-410--13135-0,00.html
// posted by stacey on 12:29:00 PM // |
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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
24 Days to Go
This post is going to ramble and bounce around a bit. I apologize, but this is actually helping me process everything and if you choose, get to suffer along with me.
I'm almost on the verge of getting a little obsessive about the Brooklyn Half. I'm in the process of plotting out the final training schedule. I have two long runs left – a 12 mile run on Friday that I'm playing hooky from work to do and a 13 mile run on the 17th.
I also have two races coming up. On May 16, I'm running in the Healthy Kidney 10k in Central Park. I haven't decided if I'm going to use that to push my pace or do that on May 19 for the American Heart Association Wall Street Run 5k. I would like to PR in both but will wait to how the training is going first.
This past Sunday, Ed and I headed to Brooklyn to get acquainted with the hills in Prospect Park. The initial goal was to do two loops around the park (approximately 6 miles) but it was raining and well, we've been working hard and not giving ourselves any breaks so we just did one loop. At least it's an excuse that seems logical. Work with me here!
The park itself seems to be mostly one hill that never really ends with very few down hills to recover. While doing the loop I kept thinking that it will eat up a lot of time, especially if it is hot on race day. I didn't feel great during the run and really felt it in my calves. I was not feeling confident at all and didn't even look at my time because I didn't want to get even more upset. When I got home I checked the time and I was actually a few seconds below my average pace. OK, maybe I just need to get out of my head a bit and trust that I'm physically ready for this.
I found an email on this exact date last year from my running coach with our homework for the week. We were to run intervals of four and five minutes. I vaguely recall running around the park by my house and thinking I was crazy, there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with the class, maybe I should just quit. Then the four minutes was up and I walked for a minute then did the next interval and the Capricorn in me kicked in. We don't quit – EVER. We set a goal and we stick to it. I finished that run and actually felt good. Now I'm planning a 12 mile run. I don't quit.
Speaking of my running coach, he told us to always have three goals in mind when doing a race; something I have let slip during my winter races. The idea of the three goals is to have something to aim for but to also have some leeway so that you still feel as though you accomplished something.
Last year our big race was the FRNY five mile Pride Run at the end of June. For just about the entire month of June he kept stressing the need for us to finalize our goals. If I remember correctly, my goals were to:
- Finish the race without stopping to walk
- Run four miles without stopping
- Finish the race no matter what
I accomplished the second goal.
I've been pondering my goals for the Brooklyn Half and they certainly have changed since last June. While not set in stone here they are:
- Finish around 2:30
- Finish around 2:45
- Finish strong with a sprint to the finish
With goals like that, there is no doubt that I am a runner.
// posted by stacey on 10:32:00 AM // |
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Monday, May 04, 2009
Random Firsts
I saw this on another friend's blog and thought I would shamelessly copy this. Here are some very random firsts.
First time I ever got drunk - Don't remember the year but it was sometime in high school.
First time I skipped class - 7th grade, Lincoln Junior High in El Paso, TX. Cut the entire day of class with Mike Fenner and some girl named Keisha. We hung out in the ditch across the street from the school because we were afraid to get picked up by the truant officer. We also didn't want to go too far away because we had to make it back in time to catch the school bus home.
First time I skipped three weeks of class - 1994 Mercy College. It was a very dumb intro to computers class that was required. When the three weeks started the class was learning how to create a spreadsheet. When I came back they were still doing the same thing. I wasn't totally goofing. I went into nerd mode and actually worked on my senior thesis.
First time I travelled to Europe all by myself - 1998 London. My first business trip at ASME. Three days of business and one day to tour the whole city. I have since travelled to Europe by myself on several occasions.
First time I had sex in a public place - 1992 restroom at Crazy Nanny's. So totally worth it.
First time I broke a bone - Summer before 4th grade. The one time I tried to be a daredevil on my bike. Went up a curb, flew in the air and broke my tibia. Had to walk myself home. Also delayed the family vacation to Disneyland. I think my brother might still be a bit pissed at me for this.
First time I cut myself in the kitchen - 1999 making guacamole. Slapped the knife on the avocado pit, knife slipped and almost went through my hand. Totally damaged a nerve in my figure and still don't have complete feeling on one side of my finger. Julie the poodle thought she made out like a bandit because she caught the pit. Thought it was a great treasure but had no idea what to do with it. She kept hiding it through out the house for a week.
// posted by stacey on 5:27:00 PM // |
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