Running achievements

By | April 28, 2019

NYRR at a glance

 

I logged into the new NYRR site to check on something and was welcomed with the above. WOW. 25 NYRR races in two and a bit years of running. 170 NYRR race miles. To say I didn’t see this when I first set the treadmill to 4.0 is an understatement. So glad I did, so glad I met all of you.

off pace, but I’ll get there

speaking of achievements, I hit this during Saturday’s run. Three years in and I finally learned how to make a custom bib.

Because I haven’t updated this in ages, thought it worth listing some upcoming races in case anyone is around for them. No, not taking all of July & August off, just haven’t planned enough vacation to plan racing calendar:

May

  • Newport Fiesta 5K – new to me and new to NYRR. It’s on the Jersey City waterfront and Cinco de Mayo-ish. I just decided to do this since realizing that my beloved Great Saunter is not a smart thing to do on a better but not perfect Achilles.

June

  • June 2, Italy Run – I did this last year. I am cutting down in June, but couldn’t skip one with a heritage tie. Since I don’t like cheese I regularly am asked if I am really Italian. LOL
  • June 5, 1 for You, 1 for Youth 5K for Global Running Day – I mentioned this briefly a few weeks ago. Glad to do a pre-work race because I did not enjoy last summer’s post-work 5K and always good to run for a good cause.
  • June 8, Women’s Mini 10K. Oops. Clearly did not look at the dates of these three and have three in a week. Cutback? I love/hate this run and the medal doesn’t appeal as much as it first did (I’d prefer a cheaper 10K without a medal or a la carte like Cherry Blossom), but it’s become a bit of a tradition. Prepare for a cranky recap.
  • June 29, Front Runners’ LGBT Pride Run. Ahh yes, there’s the breather that comes from passing on the Queens 10K and Achilles 4M. Loved this last year and can’t not do it during the year-long celebration of Stonewall and our hosting of World Pride.

September

  • September 15, NYC Marathon Training Series 18M. I jumped on this one as soon as I decided to do the marathon because I’m going to need company on this long of a long run.

Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim:

  • Monday: Cross train, some near running on the elliptical. A funny thing about that – always thought I couldn’t do it. And then the LateralX was taken and I had to. It can even be kind of fun.
  • Tuesday: short window, pre- and post-work events due to spring silly season. Got in a 10m row and 10m arc trainer at a different than my normal branch. The Arc Trainer is an interesting machine.

post-work gallery hopping is a great reason to move a run to morning. Also, Jackie O!

  • Wednesday: in keeping with the achievement theme, something I touched on in my Instagram post. I’ve almost always been Team: Sleep in Until Noon. The only time that really changed was when I was doing Saturday morning Weight Watchers’ meetings. And while I still love my lazy weekend mornings with coffee, it’s usually not sleeping in. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I enjoy waking an hour earlier than necessary to run, I don’t mind it and have mostly made good use of that former PT slot. Today’s use was ~2.5 miles along the East River. It was also an absolutely gorgeous spring day so I was able to walk to and home from an evening event.
  • Thursday: what a difference a day makes! I really wanted to run outside despite office run group cancelling due to schedules, but it was monsooning. What happens when you’re chased inside? Complete inability to stay on any machine. I bounced from LateralX to rower to elliptical before giving up and just doing my PT.
  • Friday: what a difference a day makes, redux! Knew I’d be inside due to weather and 30m on the elliptical went by like 5. Followed with some weights and PT work. It was a dream. Oh the mental games.
  • Saturday: what a day, threedux. Didn’t think I’d get to take advantage of a beautiful day due to plans, but I made it back on time for an eight mile Central Park runset. My longest by far since January 1, other than the three Halfs. I didn’t worry about pace or distance, just time. Mile 7 was lights and dead legs, but overall the run felt good. Achilles wasn’t silent, but nothing out of the ordinary. A couple stretches when I stopped at water fountains. Oh spring!

Flat Cari

Sand castle at the finish

  • Sunday: 9/11 Memorial 5K Run/Walk. Cool and rainy. I’d normally have worn the event tee for this since we’re a sponsor and it’s just a 5K fun run, but wet cotton is not fun. In hind sight, only drizzled so would have been fun. On the plus side, since I went long Saturday I could (and did) take the train home via NYRR Run Center for bib pickup and not feel at all guilty.
    There isn’t a ton to say about this. 9/11 is just so powerful a driver and great to see a large turnout. A few photos, but overall just people watched. The turnaround at Point Thank You actually brought tears to my eyes. This wasn’t a race, this was a remembrance.

Plan for the Week:

  • Monday: cross train, or maybe off depending on legs.
  • Tuesday: run
  • Wednesday: cross?
  • Thursday: office run group
  • Friday: off
  • Saturday: Cinco de Mayo 5K. It’s in NJ so I’m not sure about warmup. Will find extra miles somewhere as it’s an evening run.
  • Sunday: TBD based on Saturday

Where were you on 9/11?
Have you visited the Memorial or Museum?
Did you realize Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is gone 25 years this May?

32 thoughts on “Running achievements

  1. Chocolaterunsjudy

    We have not visited the memorial or the museum, although it’s on our very long list of things to do in NYC. We were both oddly at home (Mr. Judy had a meeting later in the day close to home, so he hadn’t gone into work). My trainer (at the time I had one) called & told me to turn on the tv. I have very vivid memories of that entire week — we’ve always lived close to an airport everywhere we’ve lived, and the silence was truly eerie. We also had a trip planned that had to be canceled.

    Did my 17 mile run all by my lonsome. would have loved company but nobody bit.Obviously I survived & luckily I didn’t have to go longer! Also don’t really see how people get in those really long long runs in the city.

    “My longest by far since January 1, other than the three Halfs.” LOL, other than three halfs. Just three halfs . . .

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I never lived in close proximity to the airport, but my apartment in Osaka where I was living on 9/11 was right near Osaka Business Park and its twin towers which was eerie in the early hours especially as no one really knew what the targets were.

      I hear you re: long runs in the city. Especially on the east side where I am, it’s all fragmented. On the West Side it’s easier as you can go from Battery Park up to Ft. Washington (or Inwood Hill if you really, really like hills) and/or cross at 155th and go into the Bronx for a good long run. But really it’s traffic and lack of closed roads. I want to do a long run during Summer Streets where they close Park Ave. if I’m home.

      LOL re: just three Halfs, but I think you know what I meant. NO actual training once my achilles kicked in and probably no business doing two of the three. Stubborn runners? Never!

      Reply
  2. Wendy

    Congrats on your milestone achievements! Isn’t it wonderful to see all the great things running brings into your life?

    On 9/11, I was home with my 2 boys. It was my day off and theirs too (from day care). One of my friends called me to turn on the TV and I saw the second plane crash into the tower. I saw it collapse. It was surreal. Later that morning, I took the boys to the grocery store and no one was there. It was eerie. We were all so scared after that. I hated to leave my boys at the day care, which was across the street from a mosque. What if someone went after that? Thankfully, we all settled into our new “normal”. That really woke us all up.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Your story – thank you for sharing it- sounds a lot like my dear friend’s experience with OKC. They’d just been reassigned to Tinker and she was home with her eldest who was ~ day care age. THey heard the boom but no idea what it was until someone called to tell her to turn on the TV & asked if her husband was OK. New normal is such a great way of putting it . Life can really be segmented by pre and post 9.11

      Reply
  3. Kimberly Hatting

    I remember Jackie O’s passing, I was very pregnant with our first daughter and an emotional wreck. As for 9/11 – I was on the phone with a friend, and my hubby beeped in to tell me to turn on the tv)…and we all witnessed the second plane hit the second tower. I think I stood there a good 30 minutes, unable to move…and kept thinking it was a movie and not real life. Coincidentally, that week for Show & Tell, the kids in our oldest daughter’s 2nd glade class were asked to bring in a baby pic…her “share” day was Friday, and I found a pic of her and me, in front of the WTC when she was four months old. #fullcircle

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Jackie O was the first celebrity death to really hit me I think. We did a number of trips to the Cape and would pass the turnoff to the Kennedy compound and I always remembered mom’s stories of the JFK assassination. Although mid 60s was “old” when I was 15, it’s sad how incredibly young she died yet a long, hard life.
      Movie & not real life was exactly how it hit me too. I was living in Japan and got home from work just shy of midnight. We turned on the TV as was normal and I first thought it was a movie, then realized it was the NYC skyline. That is an awesome full circle.

      Reply
  4. Zenaida Arroyo

    On 9/11 I was on my way to work with my sister. We didn’t know what had happened until I got into work. I remember we were told to go home early and many streets were empty. My mother was at home and we just kept watching the news.

    I do not remember when Jackie O died. But 25 years? Wow!

    You don’t like cheese? 🙂

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I don’t really, I’ll eat it if it’s part of a salad or something but I don’t like cheesy pasta and will usually scrape it off pizza. Part of why I love buffalo chicken pizza when it’s cheese less

      Reply
  5. Deborah Brooks

    I really wanted to visit the 9/11 memorial when we were in NY recently but we did not have the time to devote to it. A good excuse to go back. I was in DC so we had that drama that day as well w the Pentagon and I could not get in touch w my hubs for hours. I could live on cheese and carbs-so basically pizza 🙂

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      For sure. I really needs time. I went back recently with a visiting friend and although we’re not “read all the things”, it still took about an hour or so. Plus the lines. If you can next time, buy your ticket in advance. Means only one line (security) and not admission and security.
      Had to be frightening not to be able to reach your husband. I couldn’t reach mom & dad for a while and remember wiating with friends on instant messenger for word from their parents

      Reply
  6. Laurie

    Congrats on all the milestones. You have a full racing schedule coming up! That 9/11 Memorial race sounds like quite an experience. We visited the memorial last year with some friends and didn’t really allow enough time. I want to go back with just hubby and take my time to see the entire exhibit. I still remember that day so vividly!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      You definitely should come back. I always say allow a day for the museum – not because it takes that long but because you’re not going to want to rush to something else but rather have time to think about what you saw

      Reply
  7. kookyrunner

    I like the new NYRR website! Sadly I don’t do a ton of their races anymore (it’s just such a pain to get there on the train from CT, especially the really early races) but I appreciate that they offer so many different types of races and distances. There really is something for everyone.

    I haven’t visited the 9/11 Memorial or Museum yet – it’s just too much for me. I worked in that area a few years after the attacks and just seeing all the destruction everyday took its toll.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I feel you – a friend ran a Half up by you -ish earlier this month and while he loved it, he wouldn’t repeat it due to travel time. Only reason I did NJ was because it was afternoon

      Reply
  8. Coco

    I love what you said, not a race, a remembrance. On 9/11 I was at home, had just dropped my kids off at school and bought a new “devotional” Bible at Wal-Mart. At first I thought the radio DJ was joking. Then I spent the rest of the day bouncing between the news on TC and that new Bible. My husband was on lock-down because he works for the Dept. of Defense. I left my kids at school knowing they would NOT share the news. I didn’t personally know anyone killed at the Pentagon, but friends-of-friends were impacted. 🙁

    Anyway, cool to see those NYRR stats. Your virtual bib is cool.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I was really cranky about some people today who were pushing past others and being very precious about whether it’s certified course. On the former, either wait for it to widen, or say excuse me. There are no winners and even if there were you weren’t in wave one so you’re not and on the latter: no, no it’s not. It’s not even three miles. What are you worried about, this is a fun run. That drives me crazy with fun run/fundraisers in general, but also one so somber. And really, it’s not timed so why would you think it’s certified? There were no less than three runs in the city today, if you need a qualifying run, 9/11 isn’t the one
      Glad your husband was OK. Amazing timing in the bible purchase, such that anything could bring comfort on a day like that

      Reply
  9. Rabbit Food Runner

    Wow 25 races and 170 race miles is a lot to be grateful for! Congratulations!
    I was in middle school and remember my choir director putting it on after our morning practice, but then the admin apparently told all the teachers to turn it off or not mention it because they didn’t want the kids to all worry – but by the time lunch rolled around we all knew what was happening. News spread like wildfire even before we all had cell phones.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Interesting that you & Coco mention schools being “safe” places as far as shielding the students from news. Never would have thought about that. The major news items that I remember during school hours were Challenger and the OJ Verdict and in both cases they were points of class conversation. Challenger was probably not age appropriate for elementary school, but one of the astronauts was a teacher so I think conversation became mandatory in some senses. Of course none of these had the magnitude of 9/11
      Thank you!

      Reply
  10. Shathiso @thegaboronerunner.com

    I was packing and organising all my stuff as I was to start university overseas the following week. I remember switching on the TV and being completely horrified. Just stunned. My mum was in hospital after having broken her neck. She actually changed channels thinking it was one of those “sci-fi” movies she doesn’t like. So when we visited her later that day she was completely shocked. That’s how unreal it was.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I can totally identify with your mom’s reaction, it didn’t seem like anything that could happen. Especially for me watching it on TV in a language I didn’t understand dubbed into a nother I didn’t

      Reply
  11. runswithpugs

    You’re amazing and you have so many great things coming up! I confess, I’m a little interested in your cranky race report: I hope it’s not too bad!

    9/11. I was driving to work, and leaving 95 for the 826 in Miami. I was listening to Y100 when the reports began. Everyone, including the DJs, thought it was just some small prop plane not commercial jets. By the time I got to my office, all my coworkers were watching the footage, and we were all sent home. My family still lived in NJ and outside of DC (my uncle worked in the Pentagon but wasn’t there that day), and it took hours before I could get in touch with anyone. To this day, seeing the altered skyline breaks my heart, and I still cannot bring myself to go to Ground Zero.

    Reply
  12. Darlene

    Congrats on all your achievements. Isn’t it amazing all the surprises running begins to our lives…esp. the people we meet.

    I was working and turned on the TV after the first plane hit and watched the second. My close friend’s daughter’s boyfriend died in WTC that day.

    That January,,the hubby & I went to NYC (because the hotel rates were so cheap) and the city still smelled of smoke.

    I have visited the memorial but not the museum. It is still eerie every time, I go down that way.

    I actually took students to the top of the WTC and saved the ticket.

    My parents & I idolized the Kennedys. I loved Jackie. I hope I can get to that exhibit.

    Reply
  13. Renée

    congrats on all your NYRR achievements! whoo hoo for making a bib too! 😀

    Lots of running events coming up for you. I have often ended up with more than I really needed in a week or two weeks’ time but c’est la vie, right? I also used to be Team: Sleep Until Noon or Team: Stay up Way Too Late or Team: Keep my pajamas on until 5pm but running changed that for me too! Kind of amazing.

    I remember exactly where I was on 9/11. I was working at Prologis, an American company with international offices and I was located in an office near Amsterdam airport. It was early in the afternoon and I don’t know how or who saw it first but we were all immediately called into the conference room where CNN was being projected on the screen for us. Everyone was absolutely shocked. The Americans amongst us could hardly speak. I remember immediately trying to call my best friend Kelley, who worked very close to WTC and would have been on her way to work at that time. There was a sick feeling in my stomach. And I couldn’t reach her for a little over a week. I am grateful of course that I was finally able to get in touch with her but the sick feeling stayed for a long time. In fact, it’s still there. I can’t watch the images. I just can’t. I haven’t been to the memorial or museum yet. I wanted to last time I was there, but I still am hesitant.

    I didn’t realise it was 25 years since Jackie O died!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      25 years since Jackie O — and OJ. I had no idea they were the same year. It’s a weird time warp.
      The late nights for work are killing me way more than they used to with all the early mornings. But I still find myself early. As it also means more weekend awake time, I can roll with it

      Reply
  14. Lisa @ TechChick Adventures

    Do tell – what brand is that skirt?? I love it! The one thing I remember about 9/11 was how super odd it was to have silence in the skies. It was just so weird not to see a plane overhead, because we live close to a local airport. So sad. I was working and we turned on the TVs and just stayed glued to them all morning.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      It’s SkirtSports Lotta Breeze Capri.One of my favorites in terms of length & fit Unfortunately I have no idea the pattern
      I can’t imagine now living so close to Laguardia how weird it would be to have silent skies

      Reply
  15. Liz Dexter

    All those races! That’s probably as many as I’ve done in 2 decades of running! You’re so strong and doing so well. I love the ones you have booked, too. There’s a lovely run in London organised by the Frontrunners, not sure if you have them there, they’re a loose organisation of LGBTQ running clubs around the country (our own Swifts have their own name and kit but do this race with them). You get a rainbow medal and there is much fun and I want to go down one year and do it in massive ally support mode.

    9/11 I was at work at a New Deal for Communities organisation locally. We got the newsflash of the first hit somehow and to my eternal regret I was watching streaming news online as the second one went: that’s burnt on my memory forever. I then went home and had to shut my bedroom and study curtains as their windows faced Canary Wharf and there was a rumour about the tower there being targeted. Good fact to come out of this: Matthew, who worked in Canary Wharf, was evacuated and I couldn’t get in touch with him. We spoke for 3 hours or so that evening and I realised we were more than just friends, and we got together soon after.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Ooph, I missed a bunch of these.
      Front Runners is here too — they co-organize the Pride Run in partnership with NYRR and man some wonderful water stations at the Fort Lauderdale Half I love. Such a great organization. The NYC Pride Run hasn’t had a medal in the past but may well as it’s World Pride and the 50th this year so they’re an official NYC Pride event as well as an annual treasure
      Aww that’s sweet with you & Matthew

      Reply
  16. Debbie @ Deb Runs

    You’ve got some great stats there, Cari! Congrats! I hope your Women’s Mini 10K is more fun than you anticipate and your recap surprises us all! 🙂

    We visited the 9/11 Memorial when we were in NYC in September, but did not have time to go into the museum. It’s on our list for a future visit. Speaking of future visits, we’re on our way up now for tomorrow’s bike ride. A high of 60° and raining all day is not what I envisioned when signing up for this ride. 🙁 Let’s hope the weather forecast is completely wrong this time.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      The Women’s Mini was definitely a pleasant surprise
      Let me know when you’re next here with time, I can help on the museum front.

      Reply
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