Walking through MLB history and listening to my body, week of 7.23

By | July 29, 2018

Definitely light on the running this week as I recovered from my trip and slide. On other notes:

  • The Sarah Marie Design Studio shirt came and I was initially excited to see it’s a Bella Canvas shirt as I love that material. However the shirt is cut really small and I’m kind of disappointed. I suppose it’s an aspirational shirt like the idea of maybe running a marathon. ETA: whee, I heard from the store & they’re willing to do an exchange.
  • I read Andrew Kastor’s Running Your First Marathon and found it a really interesting read. The mileage in his plan is way too high for me as is the running frequency, but I liked how he set up the training with general advice, suggestions and tips from the elite athletes he knows.Ā  The first half of the book is good for any runner and it puts the training schedule in context. If I opt to run New York I will almost certainly do a modified Hal Higdon novice as I did for my Half
  • Major League Baseball ghosts live on in the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan. More on that below.

Weekly recap, with Holly and Wendy:

  • Monday: Wanted to test the knee and it was mostly OK. I went a smidgen more than a mile. Could I have gone further? Probably, but thought it wise not to push it. Non stop rain this week and this being the knee I had surgery on years ago is a bad combination even before Saturday’s fall, so I’m not worried.
  • Tuesday: tried to run, but knee wasn’t having it. Was regretting not wearing my brace earlier. I decided to try my old friend the Lateral X as it did me well in January’s injury window. I was pleasantly surprised that the knee was fine-the side to side wasn’t the issue so much as the jarring impact on the treadmill. Also, my right arm was OK on the arms although I’d initially planned to hold the stationary handles.Ā  I remember it feeling super hard in January, but 1.55 miles in 25 minutes was very manageable and felt like a good workout. I tried to row, but my arm (somewhat) and busted middle and pinkie fingers (mostly) made it impossible. Surprisingly, the arm cycle/upper body erg had a different grip and I tried that. Wow, that’s an insane workout.
  • Wednesday: still raining. Needed a day off from the gym to give the knee a break so I walked home via my favorite mural. An unexpected upside of making the gym a major routine is it has forced me to leave the office at more reasonable times than had otherwise been my habit. Without that impetus? I was there until 7:30.
  • Thursday: I’d signed up for this 5K a few weeks ago when I finally registered for the Retro. I was bummed to miss it last year, but even before the fall I wasn’t as excited about this race as I expected to be. There was a thought toward racing this, which went 90% out the window when I fell and 100% nope when the weather ended up as mid 80s with 65% humidity. Yuck. I initially thought I’d miss the office run group, but the time worked out such that I could do half of their lap (stupid watch not behaving!) before heading up to the start. The 5K course was weird, W. 91st to E. 102nd via 72nd. Odd to have a course that isn’t a loop in some form, but there really is no 5K course in Central Park. I didn’t even make it from 72nd up to the start before deciding to walk because I just was not feeling the West Side Rollers.

Uncharacteristically for me, I sat on the curb in the corral and didn’t stretch but instead tried to talk myself up. I was tired, hot, and did not want to run. A text from a friend hatched a plan for us both to walk it, but we couldn’t find one another in the corrals so I figured I’d just see how I felt before turning left on 72nd Street because I ultimately needed to head back south to get my bag.

What happened after my oh so wonderful staggered start? I went out way too quickly with a 10:00/10:08 first mile. Even downhill/rolling that was ridiculous for the humidity and I paid for it in mile two, which had Cat Hill and a water stop. I sort of picked it back up in mile three, but not really. Strava says 36.06 and 3.28 for 10:58, NYRR says 36.06 for 3.1 (LOL!) for 11:37, RunKeeper says 36.06 and 3.29 for 10:59. It’s an NYRR 5K PR and a course PR. Do I care that it’s 3m off the Frozen Penguin? Not really. I went from not racing this to not running a smart race and it was what it was. Amusing that I was wearing my Run 4 the Warriors shirt as I felt somewhat the same as that race. Not great, but could have been worse if not for some self inflicted wounds. I had a popsicle at the end, enjoyed Central Park in twilight/dusk and headed to the office to freshen up before heading home to mom’s for a long weekend.

  • Friday: company coming so wanted to get in a quick run before they did. I was insanely sore from the bus’ over air conditioning and not having properly stretched after the 5K and it was already 90% humidity at 8:15. I wanted no part of the trail so I headed out along the riverside road for a stretch and meander. It felt good to get it done, even if it was pokey pokey. The rest of Friday and Saturday was spent with my godson and his little sister as well as their parents. Kid wrangling should definitely be a sport. The Norwalk Aquarium was a ton of fun!

MLB History

  • Sunday: I took the long way home. For years since the Brush Staircase re-opened and again when the High Bridge followed, I’ve talked about walking the Bronx/Upper Manhattan portion of New York baseball history. Today, it finally happened. My friends were going to the Yankees game and although I wasn’t joining them, I rode with them to the stadium where the plan was to catch the 4 train home. When the day dawned beautiful and lacking the expected humidity, I decided to walk across Macombs Dam Bridge and then decide how I wanted to get home.

About halfway across, I remembered the baseball history idea and decided to hit Brush Staircase at the minimum. As I was navigating my way around construction on W. 155th and the Polo Grounds Towers to get up to the base of the stairs (“up” to the base, yes. Sea level to Coogan’s Bluff is 175 feet!) I remembered there was supposedly a marker for the approximate location of the Polo Grounds’ home plate. Luckily my phone wasn’t totally dead so I made use of the PoloGrounds’ entry on Ballpark Chasers and the Historical Markers database and still proceeded to walk past it twice before figuring out what I thought was the route. The stairs gave me a brief respite between the second and final tries to decide whether I really wanted to pursue this. In the end, I decided to because I still needed to get home in some form.

When I walked out of the complex, I laughed because I realized it was almost exactly a straight line back from the 155th St. Station on the B/D line. Oh well, I got a lot of steps and baseball memories in the process. It was absolutely worth the time to find it. The Towers’ complex is relatively busy, but the top of the stairs is on a quiet, residential street and you can just sit there and listen to the ghosts. Such a magical piece of New York’s sports history! If you want some great photos of the old stadium, DeadBaseball has you covered.

This stretch from High Bridge Park to home is brutal and boring and my bag was getting heavy so I got the M2 bus home. Still debating whether I’m going for a run today, three hours after I sat down “just to charge my watch!”. Story of my life. At least my running clothes are on. Overall, a good if not great week. Feel recovered from the fall & think PF flare is gone.

 

Plan for this week:

I don’t have one, oops!Ā  I thought my 7M run was Saturday, but it’s Sunday. I hope it’s cooler. I’m probably not ready as I’ve not done more than 5 miles since the end of June, but it is what it is.Ā  Plan at the moment is to run either Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday/Sunday or Monday/Wednesday/Thursday/Sunday. Since it looks like this is going to be a gym week due to rain, I’m hoping to do the check out run to see how my July speed training went. August has a lot of travel and I think I need to focus on planning those runs vs. my haphazard summer schedule. Also, where did July go? We’ll see if today’s run happens and go from there. ETA: I ran. I PRed. More later this week

Upcoming races:

Linking up with Deb:

pretty much the same as last month, but I did add the New Balance 10 Miler so I get automatic registration for the NYC Half next year via the Four of Six program. I don’t love the Half course, but I had major FOMO this year when I cheered it, so decided to get the guaranteed entry and decide when registration opens if I want to do it. I think so. I have the Fort Lauderdale Half booked again for Feb 2019 but I’m torn on whether I’ll repeat Lebow or do Shape (same course) in April. Decisions, decisions.

26 thoughts on “Walking through MLB history and listening to my body, week of 7.23

  1. Deborah Brooks

    I’ve also been disappointed w a few of the cuts of shirts I have ordered. Sometimes you can exchange them. We all have weeks that are a struggle for us-tomorrow is a new one though šŸ™‚

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Yep! Hope I set the tone by getting up and going for a run to get it right

      Reply
  2. Coco

    I am reluctant to buy things on-line because I never know how they will fit, and I always agonize over what size race shirt to order — although a free races will let you swap sizes. Kid-wrangling is a workout for sure — sounds like a busy weekend!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Oh yeah, I’ve all but given up on race shirts this summer. Luckily they’ve also been mostly tanks, which I don’t prefer anyway, because it’s like Goldilocks. Someone who was at the Chicago festivities last week posted a great shot of port-a-potties doing double duty as “fitting rooms” at the Expo, such a smart idea.
      a 2 and 6 year old on the heels of a 3.5 and six month old last weekend. There’s a reason I don’t have kids. I can’t cope

      Reply
  3. Kimberly Hatting

    Your historical MLB walk sounds interesting! That sounds like something I’d be up for…taking my time exploring instead of hurrying home.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I love to meander. To me the long way home is the best. It’s part of why I’ve chosen to remain living in walking distance to work, because sometimes I need that time/space to decompress.

      Although from where I ended to home is only 4 miles and having done it once, cannot bear to do it again because it’s just so boring vs. the Hudson side where the green way is done.

      And yes, something about sports history

      Reply
  4. HoHo Runs

    I hope your knee is doing much better! I was an ambassador for SMDS. Her sizes varied greatly but she was usually good about disclosing that in the description — at least back then. Many of her items ran large, in my opinion. Anyway, I hope you can exchange it! Where did July go? And I’m afraid I’ll be saying the same thing about August! Thanks for linking!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I haven’t heard back, but I hope I can too.
      Thank you – knee seems to be settling I hope. I wore the brace for Thursday’s run for the hills, but not on any others. Icing it up tonight to h opefully get the last of the swelling gone so it can stabilize. And no doubt on July – especially for me as I have two full weeks of vacation booked.

      Reply
  5. Wendy

    Sounds like taking the long way home was a win for you! It always is for me (;p)! I hope your knee calms down.

    Where did July go indeed!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Always for me too. Much more fun and memorable, especially on a gorgeous day.
      This summer has gone so quickly

      Reply
  6. Liz Dexter

    I’m so glad you’re recovering well from your fall. You do continue to find weird hurty bits for a while after one. And your walking sounds brilliant: we used to love to walk in London, as you can get to some surprising places more quickly and directly than you think when underground. Great sudden racing, and onwards and upwards for next week. Oh, you can bash out 7 with the strength you’ve got and being up to 5 regularly – all will be fine. I’ll have to plan out our run soon! But first there’s the matter of getting out of nightclothes and into running clothes for my long attempt this morning …

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Oops, thought my response posted.
      Lingering odd soreness and super humid + old injury is a recipe for my post-run soreness today even though the exertion wasn’t itself at the level of causing soreness.

      If I could, I’d walk everywhere. It’s easier, faster and sometimes cooler. One of the first things I”ve been sorting out for London is a walking tour and a run one if I can find one that isn’t on summer holiday itself.

      Thanks re: 7 optimism, I hope so. If the weather is cool-ish it should be run. I’ve never run nor raced that distance so it’s a guaranteed PR šŸ˜€

      Reply
  7. Lacey@fairytalesandfitness

    Why not try to return the shirt and get a different size? Sorry to hear that your knee has been bothering you, but rest is definitely better than trying to push yourself.

    Reply
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  9. Debbie @ Deb Runs

    Ugh, I hear you on the shirt. It seems like at every race the shirt sizes run differently, even the same race from year to year. šŸ™

    Thanks for linking up!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Seriously. Or same organizer and therefore theoretically brand. Luckily I heard back and she’ll do an exchange.

      Reply
  10. Shathiso @thegaboronerunner.com

    I really loved your Sunday walk – what a brilliant idea and an awesome way to get some steps in without it being an official workout. Well done on getting that race done even though you weren’t feeling yourself. (Plus you still got a course PR!)

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Thank you! I could happily walk all over Manhattan. Years before running I did a project called #GreatManhattanLoop wherein I walked the circumference of Manhattan over a couple of springs. Now I love re-visiting some pieces of it, like the Brush stairs.
      And whee, yes. Course PR for sure. Glad to have some rebound runs this week

      Reply
  11. Darlene

    I so wanted to be in NYC to run this race. I know exactly how you feel. I’ve started out thinking about DNs, then walking and wind up running the race.

    I’m hopefully running Governor’s Island 5k on Aug 11. The logistics will be crazy getting to the race. I need to have my friend pick up my bib since I will get in late Fri eve.

    I would have preferred the old NYC Half course just because of the hassle to get back to Brooklyn from NYC or vice versa. If I get in, I will probably run it in 2019.

    Congrats on the PR. Sure it counts.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I’m iffy on Governors Island as I’m not sure I can do bib pickup as I’m out of town during it. Shame because I really wanted to. You’re in town the following weekdays right?
      Ditto re: NYC Half, but I think if we managed for Brooklyn in the rain, I can do this one.

      Reply
      1. Darlene

        My friend has to pick up mine. Iā€™m sure she can do yours. I come back to town on Mon. There until fri

        Reply
        1. cari Post author

          Thanks! If GI doesn’t work, we’ll definitely do Central Park Mon, Tues, or Weds.

          Reply
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