running – travellingcari.com

March 22, 2020

Food, medicine and exercise

I won’t lie. I’m selfishly glad that the New York lockdown specifically permits exercise. I think we all need it to stay healthy, and solo running is no different to other necessary activities. I’m oh so grateful I found running three years ago so I have an outlet.

As Jen & Lin-Manuel said it best: the world turned upside down

Stay safe everyone.

Mom dug this out while looking through some of grandma’s old photos. If there were any questions as to whether I was an 80s child, that decor settles it.

One odd thing I noticed about my personal eating habits this week. Normally at the weekend when I sit with my coffee at my laptop, I find myself grazing on cheerios. This week, when I’ve made a concerted effort to go out and get coffee (7/11’s creamer is better), I don’t have the mindless munchy hunger and can make it until a proper lunch. Conclusion: bodies are weird.

Weekly run down with Deborah and Kim:

never miss a Monday: I woke in the morning and it was too dark and cold, so I punted my run until after work. Unclear which is going to be better for me so long as work from home lasts, so I’m going to play it by ear. This run felt good. It was brisk out with the wind blowing the storm in. But I’m happy with four miles aka the really long way to a Walgreens four blocks away. I maybe could have gotten in six if I’d left a little earlier, but four > none.

Tuesday: really, really working on that PT space, which I’ve talked about for weeks. It’s crucial since the gym closed. I have most of what I need to do at home, save for a wall. Deborah’s stability ball post reminded me I need to get one as there’s a lot I can do even without the wall. I’m still trying not to run two days in a row, so today’s “exercise” was walking to get coffee and my lunch. Grateful for my MealPal subscription’s two remaining meals to give me some lunch variety until my Peapod delivery came. Got in a walk to a colleague’s apartment for some sanity.

Wednesday plan was a morning run, but this being able to sleep in a little has been nice and with no event conflicts after work, it has been hard to get up early to run. Luckily I finished work in time to get in a pre-dark run in Central Park. Selfies still doable with social distancing!

I have too many mugs, but still almost bought this

Thursday: Target run after work for a pyrex bowl for the cooking that is happening. Yes, I lack basics. Even though those in-block signs are super common, this pairing just made me laugh. Pizza is prehab, right?

Mother Nature enforced social distancing

Friday: 70s. Chance of rain after work so I got out early in the fog for my new favorite four mile loop. It wasn’t crowded at all, with Mother Nature enforcing some social distancing between the island. The rain held out and I got in a walk after work too.

Saturday: temperatures returned to normal March, which meant I could run to meet a friend for a socially distanced walk through the flowers (Facebook, Instagram). Yes, I took too many pictures, but the flowers are so comforting. We remember running through the cherry blossoms and figure this is around our meetup anniversary, which made the catch up even better. Central Park is truly the best place for self care and social distancing. Rest of the day was spent trying to knock the apartment into shape for continued WFH and PT. I really, really want to reclaim my futon for fun vs. work, so we’ll see how that goes. I really want to read over this hibernation, and that’s not going to happen if futon is also a desk.

Sunday: working from a desk! Well blogging, not actual work at my laptop. It’s not perfect, and I need to find a riser and a chair, but it works. I love apartment life, and have frequently wondered why I’d move – I don’t need more space, but it’s not generally for full time living. Not to worry, I do have a suburban escape if I need it. Continued cleaning, purging and hopefully a run. Normally I’d never run three days in a row, but yesterday’s was only a mile and a half to meet my friend, so that was kind of a rest day. We’ll see when I get out.

How are you holding up? Any WFH or other advice? Read any good books yet?

No plan for the week, because who knows at this point. Just keep swimming err running.

March 15, 2020March 15, 2020

What a week

like all of us, Coronavirus dominated my world. Not to say it’s anything like Hiroshima, but the blossoms there always reminded me of resiliency, and them blooming here this week gives me hope.

Lots to say, but nothing to add to the conversation beyond: Stay safe everyone. And for those of you newly working from home, Liz has some great advice and wardrobe suggestions.

As I wrote some of this on Friday night I had to look at Strava because I had no recollection of workouts. Not that I was doing any specific workouts as I recovered from my knee anyway, but running now is just a little bit of therapy amid the uncertain world.

Weekly Run Down with birthday girl Kim and Deborah:

Monday: knew in advance this Monday would be missed. Was at the opening of Edge, NYC’s newest observation deck. As Darlene can attest from our lighthouse escapades in Bermuda, I don’t do heights well so I didn’t fully explore it to its maximum capacity. It was a stunning view though.
Tuesday: reality hit that the week was going to be a doozy. Luckily I packed my light vest and was able to run commute home. Short is better than nothing. Apparently I had a walk too, which I literally did not remember until I looked at instagram.
Wednesday: fitting that on the last “normal” day, I crammed in a press preview for Asia Week and the Brooklyn Museum’s amazing Studio 54 exhibit.
Thursday: happy third raceversary to me! Day was anything but “happy” as Coronavirus came to play in New York City. But this is a resilient city.
Friday: plan was to run before I worked from home, but I woke to driving ran. It eased by 8:30 giving me time to go on a literal coffee run before work. Ended up longer than planned as first 7/11 had only boring creamer, which was my reason for buying coffee. After a long work day I hit Central Park for some much needed zen. Tried to find the beauty in the early spring blooms.

Social distancing with a side of silliness

Saturday: a beautiful day. A friend and I who I’d spent time with all week decided if one of us was exposed we’d already exposed the other and the risk of a walk in the park was worth it. With such a huge space, Central Park is probably one of the easiest places for New Yorkers to social distance. Crocuses and cherry blossoms at the same time is so weird, but then again this was a bizarre winter. Side note: I really, really love that run commute backpack. Not just for its intended purchase, but also helpful for stashing stuff for errands and gym visit after. Alas, toilet paper didn’t fit and I still needed to buy a bag.
Sunday: continuing the apartment organizing to better work from home. Hi, early spring cleaning. Maybe gym for the PT exercises I can’t do at home. Maybe walk.

Plan for the week: who knows. Trying to run before work three/four days to keep off the stir crazy. Signed up for the ZOOMA Fitter, Stronger, Faster challenge if I need home workout tips if it comes to that. You should too, it’s free thanks to the amazing ZOOMA team. We’ll see what life & covid19 bring us. Stay safe everyone.

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020

3rd Raceversary

Three years ago tomorrow I finished my first race. I was officially a Frozen Penguin.

I missed my three year runversary because I was injured and cranky. I missed the First Race prompt a few weeks ago on Tuesday Topics because I am the worst with the weekday linkups. Today I’m joining Debbie, Deborah, Rachel, Lisa, Jen and Smitha for the new Wednesday “Runners’ Roundup” to talk about three years of racing.

Book plate! “Believe and achieve!” meeting Deena Kastor at the 2018 Cherry Blossom Expo

Since that first penguin, which I’ve now run 4x (twice as a 5K, twice as a 10K), I’ve run approximately:

10 5Ks
countless 4 and 5 mile races. Literally, I ran out of fingers and gave up even after looking at my race calendar.
7 10ks
3 15Ks
2 10 Milers
8 Half Marathons
the New York City marathon

It’s safe to say absolutely none of that was on my radar three years ago, and I wouldn’t change a single step. Having some fun with prompts I’ve seen on other running memory lane posts.

Favorite race?

Throwing out my beloved Frozen Penguin (first is always your baby) and the New York City marathon, I’d have to say I can go with a top three:

Fred Lebow. It’s an evil, evil half marathon, but it’s the one that made me a half marathoner. Plus it’s Fred and he is NYC running.
Ted Corbitt – I just really love the 15K distance. It seems to be my sweet spot. I get well & truly warmed up, but it doesn’t have that last slog of a Half Marathon.
Damon Runyon 5K – I actually hate the race itself with the stairs and the concrete, but something about running on the warning track of Yankee Stadium is just awesome.

Race I’d recommend everyone do once?

Again, throwing out the New York City marathon because duh!, I’d have to go with Cherry Blossom 10 miler. It’s gorgeous, even if it doesn’t align with peak. Washington D.C. is one of my favorite cities and it makes for a wonderful weekend

Honorable mention to the Brooklyn Half. You finish on the boardwalk at Coney Island. I had horrible weather, but I still loved it. I rarely get to run it as a conference typically has me out of town, but I do want to do it again.

Race I have a piece of advice for?

I don’t even know where to start with that one. #HillsForBreakfast I guess is solid advice, even though it’s really only the NYC Marathon, Bermuda and Lebow where they’re super hilly.

On second thought, take off the watch if you run Runyon or another stadium race. GPS doesn’t work, and fun runs like that shouldn’t be about your pace. Just run and appreciate the place you’re running.

Bucket list race?

Not really. I loved running around London when I was there and spectating Marine Corps was awesome, but I have no immediate interest in a second marathon. There are other races I’m interested in, but they don’t quite rise to the level of Bucket List as they’re mostly a question of schedule whereas a bucket list feels like it needs a lottery element or something to put it out of reach. Do you have a race I should put on my bucket list? Anything less than marathon distance.

Favorite race city?

Can’t say anything but New York. We’re all biased toward home and greatest city in the world is way more than a song lyric.

Favorite race photo?

Impossible. Every time I go to click one, I think of another. So many good memories.

Favorite race memory?

Taylor Swift Bad Blood and Rachel Platten Fight Song nearing the finish of my first Half. Eurythmics Sweet Dreams blaring in Times Square during last year’s NYC Half. Coming back into Central Park at Columbus Circle and realizing I was going to be a marathoner. All equally and bizarrely vivid.

***

I originally wanted to do a giveaway for my runniversary, and I couldn’t and still can’t think of one. If I think of something really cool, I reserve the right to think of this as an anniversary year 🙂

How many years have you been running/racing?
Do you have any answers to these questions?

March 8, 2020

WordPress needs a time out

ERROR: please fill the required fields (name, email).

That has been the story of my life. At first, just on my laptop in Firefox. Then at work too in Chrome. Bizarrely I have no idea what broke as I removed the only new plugin I’d tried recently. So I’m either logged out and commenting with name / email, or logged in and writing. ~~I think it’s fixed now, alas I lost my sidebars and don’t love the theme, but I’ll settle for functionality until I have time to fix it~~ Nope, still can’t reply outside of troubleshooting mode. Grumble.

This week was another one with lots of art: Gerhard Richter at Met Breuer, EFA VIP Reception, Fotografiska and the Armory Show. I love Armory Week.

Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim:

never miss a Monday: was back again with five pre-work miles with Elizabeth. It was a gorgeous morning after the weekend’s cold spell and the knee behaved to facilitate two reservoir laps before I headed home to change for work. Luckily I was only mid-PT and pre dressing when I spilled my coffee all over the floor. Note to self: foam roller’s end isn’t steady. Luckily, Breuer is close to my apartment and I was one of the first into the Gerhard Richter show. I wasn’t super familiar with the breadth of his work, but really walked away impressed. I brought my gym bag to work expecting to only “stop by” the EFA Studios event, but you know how that is when you get to chatting. This was one of those weeks where I was grateful for the morning runs.
Tuesday: off, dinner with friends.
Wednesday: quick run along the East River before work. I only realized when I finished that it was the same route I took when my knee went berserk. It was chirping on this run, but not worse and I made sure to get to the gym after work for a full set of PT.
Thursday: Fotografiska with someone new to NYC who I met through my grad school professor. Still so weird to me to be in that “mentor/advisor” role. Thrilled to do so, but don’t necessarily feel like an adult at times, if that makes sense. Fotografiska is in an amazing landmarked building, and I’m glad I got there as I was away when it opened. In funny timing, it’s almost a year since I realized where it was going to be. Darlene and I passed it on our post-NYC Half Expo wanderings. My personal favorites were Anastasia Taylor Lind’s project about the interconnections between the women of NYC-especially who cares for the children of nannies and other caregivers while they’re working with other families and Ellen von Unwerth’s Devotion! (some slightly NSFW)
Friday: tried to run on the treadmill but knee was NOT HAVING IT so I settled for a load of PT.

Ena Swansea, Hudson River snow. 2020. Ben Brown Fine Arts

Jose Alvarez (D.O.P.A) Journey to Ixtlan. Gavlak

Saturday: The Armory Show has been at the Piers for a number of years. Earlier this week it announced it would move from March to September and from the Piers to Javits Center, so it was time to make one last trip. No formal exercise, but lots of steps between a morning coffee date, the piers, and a return to midtown. With all the concerns about Coronavirus, the fresh air felt good. I’m not a huge modern & contemporary art person, but liked the vibrant colors.

Sunday: NYRR 5M shakeout run. ~~Plan is to run to and from to make nine-ish. We’ll see with the lost hour.~~ Nope. Knew they’d start late and didn’t want to get warm & cold after last week so I took the train to and met a friend for brunch after. Life is more than the mileage plan.

Plan for the Week:

Monday: off, after work event and not running two days in a row. May walk to work or from event because it will be in the 60s.
Tuesday: run
Wednesday: run?
Thursday: volunteer NYC Half Expo
Friday: off
Saturday: long run
Sunday: cheer at the NYC Half

February 23, 2020

Running and Social Anxiety

If two bloggers meet and we forget to take a photo, did it really happen?

Coco and I had a wonderful catch up over some delicious guacamole and chips on Wednesday evening. When she messaged me realizing we hadn’t taken a photo I said it just meant we needed to see one another again soon.

I’ve talked about my social anxiety here. It’s a challenge, but it’s manageable. I do well in twos and threes, or with a buddy when going into a new place with a larger group. While I have been excited about meeting everyone, I’ve also been a little skittish as the moment approached. New people are scary. I just want to say that I’ve been amazingly lucky to meet four of you within this last month and yeah, it feels like it wasn’t even really “meeting” but rather seeing friends. There were (virtually) no butterflies. Can I just say I love you all, and I hope all of our paths cross soon.

Speaking of people and runners. Did you see Strava’s Why We Run piece? Nothing earth shattering, but I really like how it was presented.

“Be an ambassador for reading with our new sticker”

I loved this fundraising email from NYPL which said, in part:

Do you remember the first book that made you love reading? Maybe it was something you read as a child, or a gift that you received at exactly the right time.

No matter where, when, or how you came across your first favorite, having even one book that you truly love makes you the best possible ambassador for reading. That’s why we’d like you to be a part of celebrating 125 years of The New York Public Library’s commitment to serving book lovers everywhere.

I don’t really “get” ambassadorships and am generally not the best with social media promotion, but this is one I could will get behind. I am the person after all who bought book dedications as holiday gifts. I read three books while In Bermuda. I was a happy Cari.

I realized in looking at my Athlinks profile for my Half times for the Bermuda recap that I ran three half marathons in 2018, 4 in 2019 and may only have one or two in 2020. I’m going to take some time to train properly for Cherry Blossom and after that I’ll do some thinking about a Half. I really, really love the distance, but I want to do it properly.

Speaking of doing it properly, Cherry Blossom lottery selection comes with Runcoach training, and while I need another app like I need a hole in the head, giving it a go since Runkeeper’s training module keeps getting mad at me because I don’t follow it to the letter. I am not a very good student at times. I think because for me personally, if running had too many rules I’d rebel against doing it. It’s like books I don’t want to read because they’re assigned.

***

Sort of a two-week Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah, but there wasn’t a lot of running the first week, and I already talked about the exciting running.

Week of 2/10:

Monday: off, tickets to see an Off Broadway show
Tuesday: off, worked super late
Wednesday: off, travel to Bermuda

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A post shared by @travellingcari on Feb 13, 2020 at 8:48am PST

Thursday: five mile run/walk, mostly walk, exploring Southampton and trying to find flat terrain on which to run. Spoiler: it doesn’t exist.

Still looking for flat terrain. Photo (c) Darlene

I think I can, I think I can. (c) Darlene

Friday: a mile and a half shakeout so we wouldn’t have a week off running before the Half marathon. We ended up in the parking lot since the golf course was too hilly
Saturday: lighthouse “run”.

Celebrating a Half Marathon. Photo (c) Marcia

Sunday: 13.1 miles around Bermuda.

Week of 2/17: Deborah’s post came at the perfect time as I thought about my return to running after the hilly Half. This is the first Half my legs didn’t feel trashed after, which was a pleasant surprise.

Monday: off, travel home from Bermuda
Tuesday: off. Vague gym plans but forgot my exercise bands so did PT at home
Wednesday: due to some scheduling, I was able to finally run to PT. It was nearly a naked run as I got out the door only to realize my Garmin was off (and I can’t remember how to turn it on without plugging it in) and my iPod had offloaded the music app for space. Oops. Luckily I ran with my phone to PT to show him the jumpie and could track the run in Strava. I don’t trust the pace. I haven’t seen that in some time and the GPS was jumpie. but it was a two mile warm up. PT started with a long conversation while he worked on my hip/knee to talk about what the next steps are. It hurts way less than when I started, but I’m not yet pain free. He gave me some hip work to do in the morning to loosen up as that’s my stiffest time. And then when I runfessed to forgetting to plank on the beach and failing a jumpie? He made me pay. Hurts so good. but it helps.
Thursday: office run group. We’re sticking with the 3/3.5 ish mile loop for now as we’re not ready for mid-week medium longs. It’s so nice to have it not yet be full dark when we head out.
Friday: gym PT. Originally supposed to have my last appointment, but he wants to get in a few more approved visits by going weekly, so we’ll see. I’d hoped to graduate pain free. I don’t think that will happen, but it’s so much better than it was.

Thanks, Shadow, for making me look so tall

haven’t done this run in daylight in a while

the distance was intentional, the time/pace was not. And yes, I actually matched

and in the latest installation of runners not running, Mardi Gras party!

Saturday: my shadow and I went out for the first long run of Cherry Blossom training. That route was my summer/fall mid-week medium run and ugh, six miles was hard. Not on the lungs, but on the hip/knee. I stopped a few times to stretch, including this nifty hip semi circle he taught me Wednesday as way to counter morning IT stiffness. I’ve missed the East River run-it’s nice and chill, and flat. I always love that Triboro marker even though the internet is generally confused on its origin. Here’s a take from Ephemeral New York and A Great Big City. Six seemed to be a good place to re-start training, and we’ll see how it goes.

Never went to a Mardi Gras party before. Not a huge thing here/in my circle, but these friends met in New Orleans and it’s her family tradition and it was such a fun evening. My phone was in my purse/away, so no photos of the amazing jambalaya, etouffee or corn & crab bisque. Trust me, they were delish.

Sunday: off. Mani/Pedi. Straighten the apartment. Chill.

Plan for the Week:

Monday: morning run before work
Tuesday: PT/cross
Wednesday: run to PT
Thursday: office run group
Friday: off/cross/PT
Saturday: 7/8 miles
Sunday: off

February 2, 2020February 3, 2020

2020 PT Week 3/4: Return to Racing

Previous post topics when I thought I’d get this posted sooner:

I’m taking my talents to South Florida

Yep, that made the rounds after the NFC/AFC Conference Championship Games with the Super Bowl in Miami. I can’t believe Lebron’s decision was ten years ago this summer. Where did the last ten years go?

While it wasn’t Miami, the cold snap had me looking very much forward to a long weekend in Florida. To be honest, deferring the Half didn’t bother me at all. It’s not a dream or bucket list race, and I’ll be back stronger in 2021.

and

Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie

was on Wednesday 1/22 at PT and can’t say how true that was. So many of the exercises focus on the hip. I swear I need glue to hold mine in alignment.

The PT is really helping to the extent I was able to run back to back days twice. That’s something I typically don’t to and probably shouldn’t generally, but I was able to. The PT student I was working with just graduated & finished her internship, and I will miss her. The one she was working under is the same one I saw this time last year, so I know he’s wonderful, I’ll just miss the one on one focus on how bad my coordination is.

This year’s candidate for dead bug‘s I Can In No Way, Shape or Form Do This status is this shift into running stance from Stork. Nope, one too many steps.

and finally

Hamming with Palm Trees, for reasons you’ll see later.

Pleased to learn that I was selected again as a Skirt Sports ambassador this year. Among the many things I learned from this wonderful run/blog group is how running clothes need pockets as much as dresses do. As I said to Elizabeth when we ran, it was nice to have on my windbreaker for all the pockets, but Skirt spoils me. I was home a few weeks ago and the random leggings that live at mom’s don’t have pockets. I can run without my phone (and honestly usually do) – but I didn’t have where to put a key.

In the odd event you don’t already have a Skirt Sports ambassador you shop with and/or aren’t one yourself, use SS15Car75 to shop with me.

Skirts for Florida and NYC running. Pleased to return in 2020 as a #SkirtAmbassador. use SS15Car75 to shop with me Click To Tweet

Linking up with Deborah and Kim for an abbreviated two week Weekly Run Down:

never miss a Monday: office closed due to MLK, but the day started off with PT. One of the many ways running has changed me. In the past I’d have rescheduled this and slept in. Instead I was there at 8a for a fun session of single leg squats and other oh so fun things. Hurts so good! I opted out of running there due to a frigid wind chill and after coffee with a friend who’d recently moved back, I headed to the gym. I saw a really awesome speed workout that Birchwood Pie did and knew I needed to try it. I warmed up for a mile at 5.5 and then alternated 5.2, 5.8 for 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 with two minutes easy between. The end was a little crunched as I a ) lost track and b) had the start of a blister. Still it was a good nearly 5 miles. I think those sneakers are getting binned though – they’re also the ones I’m blaming for the IT Band issues.
Tuesday: worked late. Nothing else to speak of.
Wednesday: PT. Lots of work trying to keep my hips in alignment. Run commute home as I worked from home before my flight. I love the backpack, although it’s going to force some minimalism in what I haul around. My shoulder thinks that’s a good thing.

Thursday: one of those back to back runs. Couldn’t resist a beach visit before we went to Manatee Lagoon.
Friday: no running, but a wonderful visit to the Morikami Museum & Gardens.

Saturday: wanted to try six, and I got six running along A1A to Atlantic and back. I like Delray, but one reason I prefer Lauderdale is the beach side isn’t built up and there’s a better breeze. Run felt good. We followed it with a visit to Flamingo Gardens, which was amazing.

Sunday: it was “chilly” which is actually perfect beach weather for me because I don’t get too warm. Perfect Florida farewell. I didn’t run because I wanted to run to PT Monday and knew running three days in a row would be Bad.

Week of 1/27:

Monday: spoiler, I didn’t run to PT. I didn’t even get to the gym because of two end of day meetings. PT means I didn’t miss a Monday though.
Tuesday: some fun Lunar New Year art to and from a meeting. Gym after work for PT, yoga.
Wednesday: I don’t remember. Oops. Probably worked late.
Thursday: return of the office run group. We’ve done this route seventeen times. This was probably our slowest as we’re both in PT for various injuries. It was a cold but manageable evening.

Friday: yoga ball taming! AKA, PT and yoga and bib pickup for Saturday’s Frozen Penguin

Saturday: my fourth Frozen Penguin, and first with Elizabeth. It was so (relatively) warm & foggy it was nuts. More on this Tuesday. It was great.

Sunday: Super Bowl Runday! My Garmin had a bit too much beer, but it was a lovely day to be in Central Park. More on both of these races Tuesday.

Plan for the week:

Monday, Thursday: PT
Run when I can, rest & PT when I can’t
Sunday: Manhattan 7 Miler. Nervous about Harlem Hills, although I had no issue with Cat Hill this week.

GoTheDist

I meant what I said. No goals for January or even 2020 as I focused on healing.But I did track my numbers because it has just become habit:

400,508 steps
175.31 miles run/walked
43.78 miles run

I didn’t even think about daily step goal other than Friday, January 31 as my spreadsheet told me that if I hit goal that day I’d get 400K for the month. Not chasing pointless steps was a smart move.

12 gym visits; 49 for September – February cycle. Whee. On track.

No goals for February. Just continuing PT/prehab/yoga and running when I can. Bermuda is going to be amazing whether I run or walk the Half, or some combo thereof.

January 19, 2020January 19, 2020

PT 2020 Week 2: Runners are the Best People

subtitle prior to Saturday: making time for all the things, which is also true.

A few weeks ago, Deborah mentioned that she’d be in New York and I had a bad feeling that I wouldn’t be — while Darlene and I almost always catch up when she’s here, I’ve missed blogger visits all too often when I’m out of town myself. The stars aligned this time and we met for drinks on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

We had such an amazing time. I’m pretty sure we didn’t shut up once and would still be nibbling on popcorn if we didn’t need to get to other evening plans. Runners really are the best people. While I always do better in very small groups or one on one, I never even got nervous thinking about this-mainly because I felt like I already knew Deborah from nearly two years of reading each other’s blogs and social media. Yep, Cherry Blossom marks two years of starting to meet most of you. WOW.

As an aside, while we did manage to run together last week, Darlene and I have not run together way more than we’ve run together lately. #RunnersNotRunning really is or should be a thing. This is also pretty much why I’d default to Friends v. Running Friends. We all may have met through running, but there are so many amazing people here that I dare say we’d be friends no matter what we were doing.

This was making the rounds in some of the running Facebook groups and I had to laugh. Here’s my board

There was a runner who had a game and BINGO was her name-o

I guess I could claim a DNF in my DNSes, but to me that’s different. Of the ones I didn’t get I’d say it’s a mix of possible: costume, DNF, lose a key and an impossible/not likely: stroller, dog, Disney, Boston, winning age group, streaking. And let’s just say I hope I never poop my pants, but I wouldn’t be the first or the last runner to do so.

Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah:

never miss a Monday: while I was eager to run to PT with my knew running backpack, I was not about to run three days in a row. PT was a mix of balance and strength training. The balance work really needs to be an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos, but my main PT swears I’m getting better. I definitely feel like the strength training is helping. I went to the gym after work to get in some of the stretches and other exercises that there just isn’t time for during a one hour session, especially when some time is spent working on my IT band.

Tuesday: well technically another chapter of running friends, although it wasn’t the ducks. I was just fascinated by them all sleeping in a near straight line. I had a late start to work due to an exhibit preview in Queens (go see Kubrick at Moving Image!) so Elizabeth and I met up to run the reservoir. We were too tired & forgot to take a photo, but the run and miles happened. I swear 😀
Wednesday: one of the days that lead to this post’s original subtitles. PT, a luncheon, some training, a metric ton of email. A good chunk of the PT session was her working on the hip/knee/tendon as it was tender to the touch putting on leggings and a little swollen. Her work helped and walking wasn’t sore the rest of the day – which was good because I had a meeting in a location where the trains didn’t really help. You can do many things in Manhattan – going diagonal isn’t easy.

Thursday: had all the things to run outside after work, but the temperatures were dropping and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be a good workout, so after stopping by NYRR to get Darlene’s Lebow bib and checking out the spring “fashion”, I headed to the gym. Knee was feeling better, but the treadmill pounding wasn’t, so I headed to the elliptical for 25m. I really really love that evil workout. Followed this with a full set of PT.
Friday: another late night at the office. But I got through the inbox ahead of the weekend. No step goal. No gym. Although there are always days like these, it overall feels good to be active again. The two weeks of running combined with the general sedentary element of the suburbs were hard.

Saturday: snowy snowy Saturday. I’d take the hit for it, but it was already snowing when I opted to wear the wonderful Brooks shirt. I had a late start due to a real feel of 16F and headed to the gym. The original thought was a semi-long run, but the reality was two miles of speed work since I wanted to be sure I had time to do my stretches to keep the hip from tightening up. I alternated 5.5 and 5.8 for .2 / .1 / .15 intervals and it felt good overall. Hard, because I’ve done no speed in a month, but a good hard. The time felt familiar and it was about twenty seconds faster than my July time trial. On the down side, treadmill is more climate controlled, but on the plus side, I’ve done virtually no speed work since the marathon and coming off injury. So it’s neither an improvement nor a fall off. Nice to see I can hit these paces when the runs of late have deliberately been jogs to heal. I forgot to tell Runkeeper I deferred. Not to worry, it told me.

Not running it, but silly fun still mandatory

Sunday: Elizabeth and I cheered on Darlene and the other Lebow runners. I love having the chance to do this and still be a part of my favorite race. It was a beautiful January day. Followed it with PT and some overdue sushi

Plan for the week:

Monday: office closed; run to and from PT?
Tuesday: off/cross
Wednesday: run to PT before my flight?
Thursday – Sunday: fun in the sun. No race, but there will be some beach runs. I already sent my foam roller on ahead with mom’s husband who drove down and am packing my bands to keep up the PT.

January 12, 2020January 12, 2020

PT 2020 Week 1: “I Like Hard”

This week marked my third running anniversary. With it falling on a weekday and my not running that day due to PT, I didn’t mark it in any special way. I will… just haven’t decided the form it will take. I’m the worst at doing things on the actual day anyway.

I officially deferred Fort Lauderdale. The deadline to do so was January 15 and I figured rushing back up and/or doing this undertrained was a recipe for further issues. I’m completely fine with this decision and am on to Bermuda. In the interim I look forward to the Frozen Penguin (! yay, my favorite) and Gridiron on Super Bowl weekend.

With morning PT appointments again, I look forward to run commuting there as a warmup. Yes, somehow in the last year I’ve become a morning person. I look forward to building back sustainably. Because I’m giving up Lauderdale, I’m pretty sure I’m going to do Cherry Blossom. Yes, the Amtrak 40% coupon helped with that.

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for a Weekly Run Down with more running than in the last few weeks:

never miss a Monday was back, with my PT intake appointment. I love Greg, Spear and the PT student who was working with him to assess me. There were no surprises. I have some tightness and imbalances, but my flexibility is better than it was a year ago. This is part of why I wanted to go back to the same one – he knew my normal. Even better, they gave me the all clear to run if it doesn’t hurt, and she’s determined to get me into a Prayer Squat, which I haven’t been able to do since I caught softball in high school. This was followed by a wonderful dinner with Darlene and Elizabeth.
Tuesday: PT encouraged me to run and who am I to disagree with my PT? A gorgeous East River runrise that felt really good.
Wednesday: first full PT session, and the inspiration for this post title. Wall sits and single legged squats are a bitch, but I want to be stronger, not just fix the pain. My glute at one point was wiggling with fatigue. Ever grateful for Skirt hiding that from general view.

we must do what the JackRabbit sign says!

Thursday: in an anti-preview for what was to come at the weekend, it was FREEZING. Neither this nor our respective injuries kept Darlene and I from run/walking the lower loop in Central Park. First use of my light vest in a while and was pleasantly surprised how well the batteries held out. Post-run was some retail therapy. Shoes for her, the beautifully ugly Brooks Run Merry ugly shirt for me.
Friday: off. Headed to Mom’s after work.

Saturday: not much time for running since I slept in a little (7), but there was no way I was missing out 60s in January. A quick two mile shakeout before a quick trip to Albany to see my niece for her 2nd birthday. I focused hard on my PT so I didn’t tighten up due to four hours in the car and an hour on the train, and while I was a little stiff it wasn’t bad.

Sunday: 66 degrees + January = Central Park. I headed to the reservoir for the relatively flat terrain, but did some wiggling. I didn’t have an exact mileage plan, just to see how it felt. Ended up about 5.5 miles and I was happy with that. Early on I had to pause some to stretch, but knee never felt worse. And no, I wasn’t remotely cold in the Skirt and tee, even walking home after coffee. And yes, I was wearing a buff and hat in the same park on Thursday. Could I have gone longer? Sure. Was it smart to stop? I think so. No reason to exacerbate this.

Plan for the Week:

Monday: PT
Tuesday: run
Wednesday: PT
Thursday: run?
Friday: off
Saturday: run? Mischief with friends
Sunday: run? depending on Saturday.

December 22, 2019

Dashing through December with Jingle Bells

Where on earth did this month go? How is it already Christmas week? Apologies for a comments blitz of late. I’m trying desperately to catch up. One of these days I’ll either put email on my phone or figure out how to blog. Not gonna happen.

It’s not even technically winter yet as I type this on Wednesday, but I’m already smelling spring as I got into the Cherry Blossom 10M. I ran this in 2018 and this was when I first “met” some of you when Coco found my recap. While I’m not sure I can actually go in April due to some travel on either side.

First I need to get my cranky IT band back to 100%. Baby steps.

If you celebrate something this time of year, enjoy it.

Race recap: Delray Jingle Bell Jog.

I eyed this race last year when I was in Fort Lauderdale but I decided it was too far for a 5K. Hmm, sounds like the reason I haven’t done Brooklyn’s. This year I was actually staying in Delray and the calendar worked, so I signed up. Rather than a tee shirt, this race provides you with a Santa suit. I’m 5’2 and it’s sized to fit someone a foot taller and wider, so it never was practical. Luckily Delray has all the chains and I hit up TJ Maxx, Ross, Stein Mart, two running stores and Target to find a red shirt to run in. Spoiler, I should have just gone to Target first.

The race begins (and ends) in Anchor Park so I had a nice two mile run from the condo to the start. I left a little later than planned, because 6:30 is early and as a result I hit Delray “traffic” aka the drawbridge. As we waited, I met another runner out for a morning run and we got to chatting. While Delray isn’t a particularly small town, the running community felt it — everyone chatted or waved. Due to the bridge and generally late start, I got to the start just before we set off and I lined up with all the other Santas, elves and winter holiday finery.

We set out at the sound of a loud jingle bell and were off, up Casuarina and onto AIA where we ran for a mile and change before turning around and coming back to Anchor Park. The lead / escort vehicle was a surfing Santa in a red sports car. Awesome! There was one water station that served the out and back and really, is there a better combination than palm trees and Santas?

When we got back to Anchor Park there were medals – I won’t lie, the main reason I did this race – beer and ice cream. Not typically a breakfast beer person, but this was cold and refreshing. I also won an OrangeTheory water bottle. Once I’d cooled down, I didn’t want to start running again so I walked back to the condo via a delicious breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe.

I’d do this race again if I was in Delray that weekend, but it’s not (nor is it meant to be) a destination race. However, it has multiple locations and I’d certainly try another location too if that worked. A fun, local fun run.

Double Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah:

Week of 12/9:

I missed a Monday, but I knew I would with the gala. It went well.

Tuesday: I had full blessing from my boss to sleep in and show up when I wanted to given the long hours/late night for the gala. Not only could I not fall asleep, but I was wide awake at 5:30. Luckily I have a dear friend who is also a morning person and was happy to go out with me. We walked, ran and forgot to pause the Garmin while we chit-chatted on a beautiful December morning in Central Park.
Wednesday: bupkus. Much delayed flight to Florida.

Thursday: new location, old running habits. Had to find the shortest route to the beach that didn’t involve running on US1. Check!
Friday: lots of walking errands to try and find a red shirt for the Jingle Bell Jog as the Santa suit was way too big.

Saturday: Delray Jingle Bell Jog. So much silly fun that started off with a gorgeous sunrise over the intracoastal and ended up with ~1200 Santas. This should have been a longer run with the beginning of half marathon training, but determined not to get injured again.’

Sunday: would have been a beautiful morning to run, but my Achilles were feeling the hills and not enough (OK, any) stretching, rolling or PT so I walked to the beach and sat there four a couple of hours before watching Eli Manning’s amazing swan song.

Week of 12/16:

never miss a Monday: one last Florida run with some crazy birds before a return to reality.
Tuesday: aforementioned icy rain reality. Digging out of my inbox and a lovely evening catching up with a friend over sushi.

Wednesday: beautiful winter morning and the last day before it turns to the teens so I scooted out for four wake up miles. Knee cranky after standing during holiday party and more no stretching so I hit the gym after for some PT.
Thursday: holiday lights, long foam roll.
Friday: time to start shopping
Saturday: long foam roll
Sunday: tried to run, knee wasn’t great but walking was better than it had been so taking that as good sign.

Plan for the week: run if I can, foam roll a lot.

December 8, 2019

Ted Corbitt 2019

Original post title: Trying not to run on caffeine and sugar.

That was before this became a pointless weekly run down due to a wonderfully crazy work week. My office has our annual gala on Monday and I wear a lot of hats for that. On the plus side, I made relatively good decisions for real food and not venti sugar bombs and as a result, I slept except for some Monday night insomnia. I’ll touch on what little running actually happened after my Ted Corbitt recap, but first…

What I said last week about only two things for Black Friday was true, and then Cyber Monday hit. Still on the running theme, I got:

Project Repat T-Shirt Quilt. I’ve been dithering on this since Kim mentioned a quilt she had made a few years ago. The 55% off gift card made me pull the trigger.
JackRabbit sale and coupon on sale for my 1080s. I hate the new ones, so glad to stash a pair of the v9s especially as my “new” ones are already 100+ as I ended up wearing them for the marathon. Oddly the ones I bought were the runners up in August.

Ted Corbitt 15K recap:

At one point, I wasn’t going to run Ted. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel a month out from the marathon – the rest one day for every mile run adage can be confusing for a first time marathoner. And then as I got further into training and wasn’t trashed after 20 miles, I realized I’d be able to run 15K just fine and I signed up.

Ted is one of my favorite races (2017, 2018 recaps) and running it in his centennial year just seemed right. The giveaway was a pair of gloves, which I like. As someone who is forever losing her gloves, can never have too many.

I’m not a huge weather stalker – but found myself peering at it this week. It looked like it was going to be a downright balmy 20/30s. Sold. I didn’t get a good Flat Cari as I’m still using my stepstool as a staging post. That’s the 2017 shirt, which remains one of my favorites. It’s a vivid blue. I layered the NYC Half long-sleeve tee under it. Bottoms were my favorite LBCs, Black Winterland. It was so nice not to need all the layers. I was partially still marathon Cari with my Run NYC hat and marathon gloves.

I left between 7:45 and 8 to run to the start. I saw a message on NYRR’s Facebook Friday night that mentioned the new start. I’m glad I saw that otherwise I totally would have run to 102. This was somewhere I’ve never seen an NYRR race start so there was some zig zagging to find the start line. While I don’t like rushing-and getting a bit of pedestrian rage – it had the added benefit of not having to wait at the start and not cooling down.

Just shy of mile two, I was lapped by the eventual winner who was passing mile seven. A fellow runner and I just looked at one another and said WOW. .There really is no other reaction possible. I feel badly for the local runners who might otherwise have won without a sponsored athlete going sub 5 minute miles.

Me? I finished ahead of 400, not 4000 others. I had so much fun. I really like the new course and one amazing benefit of marathon training is that Cat Hill or the first round of Three Sisters didn’t faze me. Second set did, but that was more tired legs 11 miles in.

I didn’t look at my prior times before this week, so I really had no idea how I was running vs. prior years. I need to find the switch from long run to race, but this wasn’t really the run to figure it out. That I had enough in the tank to kick it up a notch in the final mile means I could have gone faster, but PR chasing wasn’t a goal.

As I turned onto the 72nd St. transverse for the last tenth or so, I hear someone calling me and see this maroon blur streak in. It was so good to see Amy, one of the Rogue coaches coming off their Saturday run. Was glad to find her after the finish for a hug and hello. It was short as we were both freezing when we stopped moving.

It’s pretty safe to say that Ted is one of my favorites that I’ll return to every December. It’s a nice year-end since I’ve never done the Midnight Run. I was also reminded of why I truly love the half marathon distance and I’m excited to properly train for one.

Weekly run down with Kim and Deborah:

Monday: planned missed Monday due to Winter’s Eve with two of my favorite people. Too cold & raw even to walk to the bus at 79th, so no step goal.
Tuesday: couldn’t sleep, so after trying to fall back to sleep from 4-5, I headed to the gym to kickoff half marathon training with a treadmill lactate threshold workout since it was still snowing. 3x 10m at 5.4mph and 2m recovery at 5.0.
Thursday: I at least made it to the gym for some PT before it closed.
Saturday: Ted Corbitt 15K
Sunday: 25m row; yoga and PT.

Plan for this week:

Monday: off; gala
Tuesday: run?
Wednesday: run?/fly
Thursday: run? packet pickup
Friday: off
Saturday: Delray Jingle Bell Jog
Sunday: morning walk to the beach?

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