weekly run down – travellingcari.com

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020

Adulting in the time of COVID19

some of this was scrapped from last week. Things I’m proud of so far, quite random and in no particular order and definitely about a 0.5 on a 0-10 of Covid19 preparedness:

- - my apartment is finally settling in, only 7.5 years later
  - I’m washing dishes daily and not eating out of tupperware
    - except when it’s the last portion and then why dirty a bowl?
    - coffee mugs solved by using disposable, oops
  - Bought a Brita and keeping up my water intake
    - no soda before 6, no coffee after 2

Some times it’s the little things.

Also, please meet crockpot buffalo chicken pasta with feta. I did that Things you learned about yourself while social distancing Facebook thing and cooking is definitely at the top of the list. As I said to Deborah in a comment somewhere, maybe by the time this is all over I’ll manage one of her Meatless Monday posts.

March was A MONTH, as it has for everyone. March 10th we had a Keep Exploring campaign, and by March 12th the museums had begun to close. COVID19 quickly went from an issue impacting inbound tourism from China to something impacting everyone’s daily life. I really need to re-find that meme about March coming in like a TRex. I’d say I’m glad to see March in the rear view, but I’m not sure April is going to be any better.

My only goal for the month? Consistency, which I touched on Wednesday. Navigating this is all about the little things, and that’s one thing still in my control at the moment.

Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim:

never miss a Monday: because I try not to run every day, I seem to miss a Monday every other week. LOL. This was a planned Monday Runday before work as I tried to sync up with Elizabeth to run past one another to see her on her 60th birthday. Our timing didn’t work, but it was still a lush Central Park after two days of rain. I did not have time to do my PT between the run, shower and starting my work day, so this kicked off a trend of PT during (no video) conference calls. I even got official Coach Marcia approval in the Zooma facebook group. After work I went to my first ever Zoom birthday party. I’d lie and say I dressed up, but I really just added Mardi Gras beads.

Tuesday: I realized after Monday’s run that I was .09 away from topping last March. That could not stand, so my morning coffee walk turned into a run. I don’t really count <1 mile as breaking a rule against running three days in a row, but probably won’t make a habit out of it. I had calls at 6:30 and 8:30 so I went for a quick walk before the 6:30

Wednesday: one of the things I found on Tuesday’s walk? Cucumbers! I’ve really been missing salads as that’s a work lunch staple, so I was glad to find one to accompany my lunch. I also got in a 4+ mile run through Central Park to start the month off right and get in my Uncanceled Project 5K. That’s going to be all about 5 and 10Ks for me, as I cannot wrap my head around double digit runs, and don’t think it’s healthy (personally – zero judgement to anyone else) to push myself for no reason.

Thursday: hello Beachbody. I’ve had a Beachbody on Demand subscription for nearly a year and didn’t really use it aside from yoga. I decided that if I wasn’t getting out for more than a coffee walk, I had to do something. Enter 21 Day Fix. I don’t have enough hand weights, but was glad to find these in a corner of my bedroom – really thought I’d donated them. Since one of the books I picked up at the Little Free Library was Camino Winds, I realized I needed to read Camino Island. Luckily the library had 100+ ebook copies. The other book is The Lady Gang’s Act Like a Lady. Whoever maintains this Little Free Library is in publishing as there are so many wonderful ARCs.

Friday: oh, hi DOMS. Beachbody is definitely a “real” workout. I skipped ahead to Day 3, upper body FIX as I knew I wanted to run Saturday and I was so sore from Thursday. The Easter Bunny sent me a baby frying pan, and I was oh so happy to make scrambled eggs for dinner. Like I said, it’s the little things.

Saturday: probably the best day of the week. A late start due to finishing Camino Island, a solid 10Kish run with Central Park in peak bloom, the virtual coffee happy hour with so many of you, a FaceTime date with a friend and phone calls with two others. It was much warmer out than I expected, and I totally could have gone with short sleeves or even a skirt. I really love the Cool It top though and wish I’d have bought another before they were discontinued. I did take advantage of the flash sale and grab a new Lioness Capri (rad plaid, which I love but is too big. Yay!) and Lotta Breeze Skirt for $20 apiece. Had a store credit, so only paying shipping is winning. My first online clothes shopping since this all began – changing my closets last weekend told me I have more than enough spring/summer clothes. While running I listened to Mario’s latest Ask Me Anything episode on the Morning Shakeout. I needed a break from my running playlist, music wise. One of the random Strava challenges was via Ladder and when I completed it, I had a choice of 30% off or a free sample pack. I went with the plant Vanilla, and mixed it with almond milk and PB2. I’m a fan, also impressed with how quickly they got it out.

Sunday: I am so sore. My left hamstring, my abs. Hurts so good but OW. My nose is quite enjoying this week’s lunch as it cooks in my crockpot. Chicken, ranch seasoning, au jus and pepperoncini. What am I eating it with? No idea. I thought I was done with the store yesterday, but I need a side. Preferably a green one.

GoTheDist :

Steps went down the tube in March, despite running being up. Gee, I wonder why. I like having the year on year, so including it all here. Not hitting step goal hasn’t bothered me — I have to start remembering to sync my Fitbit more regularly though.

March:

362,730 steps
161.54 miles run/walked
56.02 miles run

Hey – it’s an easy opportunity to beat the total come March 2021.

Q1 2020:

1,220,353 steps
539.85 miles run/walked
166.27 miles run

Way off last year, except for running. March was a monster month last year, so again, no surprise.

March 1, 2020March 1, 2020

Leaping into March

I know February is the shortest month and all that jazz, but wow, I blinked and missed it.

it’s not too late to save! LEAP50 for half off including new styles

I actually LEAPED into the sale as soon as they announced it. Spring should be for skirt shopping, but I couldn’t pass up the Lotta Breeze Capri in fuschia/black. How can I resist pink? More on the run and the outfit below. Did you buy anything with the sale? Today is the last chance. I won’t lie, I wish I was still in Bermuda. Too many layers.

Who else got sucked into the Trials on Saturday afternoon? Once I turned them on, I was glued to the couch throughout. So many great stories but my personal favorites were Abdirahman at 43! and Molly Seidel (Go Irish!) in her first ever marathon. I won’t lie, I want one of Tuliamuk’s beanies. And it was awesome to track Lauren Floris aka The Foodie Runner. So cool to “know” someone running the trials.

In other news, I had a kind of anticlimactic graduation from PT. I found out over the weekend that my insurance didn’t approve any more visits, so my PT asked if I was OK going DIY or whether I wanted to self pay. As I mentioned before Bermuda, I think I’m ready. He’s given me the tools & the app is invaluable for reminding me how to do the exercises. When I was first injured & diagnosed I noted that I wasn’t worried-I have a great orthopedist and insurance and if I need to go back to PT, I will, but I’d love for my IT Band to be quiet for a while.

not a new exhibit, but an old favorite adjacent to the new British Galleries at the Met

In work news, it was a week full of museum field trips aka an active Instagram. I can’t remember the last time I was local and posted 3x/week. This week involved: the Met, MoMA, Cooper Hewitt and New-York Historical Society. Amazing rush of exhibits opening ahead of Armory Week.

Stunning Oscar de la Renta piece for Cooper Hewitt’s Contemporary Muslim Fashions

Women’s March at New-York Historical Society

Oh right, this is a running blog not a museum blog. *Giggle* on to the weekly run down with Kim and Deborah, which I realized is celebrating it’s one year anniversary! Happy birthday “new” LinkUp:

never miss a Monday: I’d actually missed a few of late with travel, PT and other schedule issues, but it’s great to start the week off moving. Elizabeth and I met at 7:30 for a reservoir loop on the last nice day of the week. With running to and from, it’s about four miles. I’ve never done a watch face before because I only wear my Garmin for running, but I couldn’t resist this one.
Tuesday: Donald Judd and Dorothea Lange at MoMA. Had plans to go to the gym after work, but ended up with a meeting near my apartment, and we know how that always ends. Was nice to be home at a reasonable hour.
Wednesday: one of those late nights at work.
Thursday: museums before work and the gym after. In whichever order, that makes for a good day. I had layers and could have run outside, but the wind was atrocious and physically uncomfortable. After a half mile warm up, I did a mile of 300m repeats and 100m recovery. I love that workout, but the knee wasn’t having it, so I called it after a mile. Post cooldown, I did the full set of PT exercises.
Friday: gym was a possibility. Getting home at a reasonable hour was a better one.

Saturday: I didn’t have plans for this run. At one point I was seriously contemplating moving the long run to Sunday and just doing the mile and a half I needed for 60 miles on the month. But then I remembered it was Leap Day and life’s too short to be boring. The last twenty mile run took us past Wegmans the week before it opened and I planned to run there as a marathon recovery/Ted Corbitt training run. Well life, injury and everything else happened and I hadn’t done it – suddenly I knew my long run for the day. When I do this again I’d leave earlier in the day as the road by the Navy Yard is seriously rutted and wasn’t fun without good light. The headwind on Kent was just ferocious, although the views made it worth it. Wegmans? The end of a run is the wrong time to want to explore. I could have had dinner there but wasn’t yet hungry, and had my heart set on sushi. I need to go back — maybe I’ll train there and run home. I love Wegmans, but to me it’s a Rochester thing. I’ve only been to the one near-ish mom’s once since it opened. Maybe if I was more of a grocery shopper. But I still love that there’s one here. Nice to know too I live 7.96 miles as the shoes run from the nearest Wegmans. The walk to the subway after? Brutal in the cold wind. Tried to run to get it over with, but they were cold/sore. Speaking of cold, sore. Dressing for a wind chill in the 20s is *hard* LBC, two shirts was fine. I knew the New Balance jacket wasn’t great for running as it traps sweat, but I thought it would be OK since it was so cold. It probably was until I “warmed up” in Wegmans. It was a clammy ride home. I sized down in the LBCs (yay!), and was pleased that they fit perfectly.
Sunday: gym for PT when I get off the couch. Saturday night I was super sore, but I think that was because I sat on the train coming back and then at the sushi bar. Today seems less bad.

Plan for the Week:

Monday: morning run?
Tuesday: off?
Wednesday: run
Thursday: off
Friday: off?
Saturday/Sunday: 9 miles? There’s a NYRR group run Sunday for 5m, so may run to and from it.

GoTheDist February

457,115 steps
203 miles run/walked (my first ever round number total!?)
66.47 miles run

The decision to stop obsessing about steps and heal has been great. This is by far the most I’ve run since marathon month and I’d be happy with 60-70 mile months as a base. It was also a huge increase on February 2019, and not just because it was Leap Year. Although I’ve graduated from PT, I’m going to continue not focusing on steps and just go by feel. I want to fully heal. I’m still thinking on my goal, but have set a soft one. I’m actually surprised I’ve run twelve miles more than last year YTD, with one fewer half marathon.

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 9, 2020

PT Week 5: PT is Like Dieting

I’ve come to the realization that PT is like a diet. You may lose 5 lbs or have the sore muscle stop hurting, but there’s lots of long term adjustments. I don’t say that to knock PT. I love my PT, but one of the changes in PT as an adult is I realize it’s a lifelong thing. A good PT (which Greg absolutely is) teaches that these are long time changes. I am determined to keep the exercises up, and graduate with a better running form and less propensity for frustrating injuries.

Speaking of graduating, I’m actually not going to PT this coming week due to my schedule and that of my PT, but I feel confident that I can do the exercises and am hoping the week “off” will tell us whether I’m close to graduating or not. I’ve packed a set of my bands and have Deborah’s wonderful post as my “to-do” list around sightseeing and running in Bermuda. I have not packed anything but bands and the sunscreen I just bought. Oops. This week was a wonderful kind of crazy, which is also why I got nowhere near done with my race recaps for last weekend. Maybe time to add in the Manhattan 7.

I can safely say I’m not running the NYC Marathon in 2020. It was tempting for half a second. I have guaranteed entry via 9+1 and the idea of running the 50th intrigued me — but I don’t feel it in my heart and marathon training was hard enough when I was excited for my first. This was confirmed when I spent Wednesday at the NYRR Charity Managers Forum. Marathon mania was all around and I love their anniversary campaign, but I’m content to spectate it and help “my” runners with their marathon journey.

Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim:

Mickey, sporting MIckey. What, you didn’t sport a grunge Care Bear look at 20?

never miss a Monday: surprisingly after two days running five+ miles apiece I wasn’t too sore. The knee was tender, but no worse than any other morning. After PT on the other hand? It’s unnerving to watch the quad shake as it works. And it worked. Split Squats. Banded semi circles. Stork. Balance Board. Step ups on a Bosu. OUCH. But definitely hurts so good. Today would have been Dad’s 81st birthday. Like too many, gone way too young. I had fun chasing my step goal home in the form of finding Dots, his favorite candy. Miss you, Dad.
Tuesday: ridiculously warm for February so I headed into the Park after work for our “office run group” route. I didn’t have my vest with me as I hadn’t planned to run outside, so used my lighted slap bracelet to be sure I was visible. The run felt good.
Wednesday: I spent the day at the Harmonie Club, a fascinating space. I wasn’t there for the architecture though, but to learn the best practices for managing a team of charity runners for the marathon. I have a great job and I love what I do, but I have a feeling this is going to be one of my favorite projects. I expected to be out of place with my legal steno pad, but yay, the giveaway was a new notebook. The day culminated in a “group run”. Yeah, I couldn’t keep up, but I enjoyed getting to know some of the other charity managers and learn about their teams. All great causes, but the “winner” in my book was Guiding Eyes who brought two puppies under training.
Thursday: evening PT, which was just weird for my routine. A lot of the same exercises as Monday with Greg giving me leeway to suggest ones I wanted to work on. Side plank clamshells will never be a favorite.
Friday: I wanted to run commute home when it cleared, but it was a long day at the office. Great long day, but way too late to run or walk home.
Saturday: much needed mental health day off. Just to the gym for PT and some errands and a haircut.

Sunday: a cold, but beautiful day in Central Park and a real test for Bermuda. Between the race’s seven miles and the 1.5+ to the start, I ran nearly nine. The race itself was a run/walk due to the hills and wanting to spend it with a dear running buddy, and I felt strong. I’m not going to drop to the 10K – the cushion is such that I shouldn’t be swept. And if I am? Well that’s a great story to tell. I’m not sure a race recap for this will happen given vacation and general busy-ness so for now I’ll just say I’d run it again, and February > original August date.

Plan for the week:

I don’t have one. Get in my PT exercises and running. Enjoy Bermuda. Finish smiling. See some caves. Take lots of pics. Life is good.

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.

January 5, 2020

Physical Therapy 2020: Week 0

I was working on a post to closeout 2019 and share my 2020 goals, when a wonderful thing happened. I realized I could run a little!

Linking up with Deborah and Kim to share this week.

Had an amazing weekend in the Rochester area with my college roommate and her kids. We share an obsession with all things buffalo so the food to accompany endless board games were: buffalo chicken dip, a keto BLT dip that was my hands-down favorite and dessert was a Keto cookie dough dip. The latter was much better the next day once we doctored it a bit with more cream cheese – the called for sweetener was way too much.

I brought my PT bands and a small roller ball to Rochester. Having a large space (aka house in the suburbs sized living room) to do the four pages of knee/hip exercises was wonderful. My college roommate’s kitchen counter was the perfect height for the calf stretches that go back to my Achilles PT. By week’s end it was starting to feel better and I was curious whether that was seven days of PT exercises, or generally walking way less (and way fewer stairs) than when at home.

Those two and an aerial view of the marathon route were my welcome home. Although my knee was sore from sitting (you don’t sit much when spending time with an eight and three year old), the commute back from the airport on Thursday wasn’t bad. I noticed on Friday that my leg/hip was tightening up as I sat at work all day. While I got out briefly for lunch, I didn’t go far so made the decision to walk to the gym after work.

As I was in the middle of an amazing book – seriously, loved Scott Fauble & Ben Rosario’s writing about Fauble’s 2018 NYC Marathon training – I was curious to see if I could cycle without pain. Victory! I followed that with the full complement of PT exercises including the ever indecent ball squeeze.

face of someone happy that running wasn’t too painful

I had a slow start on Saturday as I was tired and much as I wanted to run, I was afraid it was going to hurt. I finally got out the door around one and decided to run in the direction of the gym as I wanted to do PT anyway and this route had buses if it went pear shaped. I mixed walking and running as up/down hills felt worse, but it was overall OK. After most of the PT (didn’t bring band for clamshells as there’s a limit to Skirt pockets) and a short cycle, I ran back home. It was a busier road so I had many light breaks, but no walks. This felt great, mentally.

Sunday I expected the knee to be sore, and it was, but nowhere near as bad as it had been before the PT exercises. I had some errands, including Urban Athletics’ going out of business sale, and then went back to the gym for the PT. Yes, gym is the easiest place for PT as I just do not have the room at home (bucket list, Deborah’s in-home yoga space and the space for one!) It felt so good to purposefully walk at a speed that felt closer to exercise, even if I didn’t get step goal. Baby steps!

Plan for the week:

PT consult Monday. Run when I can, strength train when I can’t.

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?

November 24, 2019November 24, 2019

This is 40

That 2019/2009 meme. Still and always smiling

can I just whine for a second? I’m a big country fan and I had the perfect “anthem” when I turned 30. Tim McGraw’s My Next Thirty Years.

I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

It was great. It was on the heels of two songs I loved in my 20s: Martina McBride This One’s for the Girls and Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway. They spoke to me. They were the optimism of our age. I still love them fifteen years later.

So many on 40-quotes and lyrics are depressing. I’m not sad about hitting 40. I love it. My 30s were better than my 20s and I have no doubt my 40s will be even better. I can’t find anything else that resonates the same way, although I love Garth’s Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old. So I’m going to keep a hold on Tim McGraw for another decade. There’s something to be hopeful for in his last verse

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I’m doing here
In my next thirty years

Anyway…

Usually due to the holidays I end up with a birthweek. Sometimes it turns into a birthmonth. This year with Thanksgiving late, it was more contained – although part of me feels like I kicked off BIRTHDAY on November 3. Had an amazing week celebrating with colleagues, family and friends.

Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah:

never miss a Monday: has become a wonderful habit. It was rainy, raw & gross and not outdoor weather. I hit the gym and went back to one of my favorite Rogue workouts: 300m repeats. A little “ish” on the treadmill as it was just mentally easy to do .19/.06 than .186. It was during this run, although I didn’t realize it until later, that I hit 800 miles run on the year. That was my yearly goal and it was great to hit it ~ 5 weeks early. The workout felt great.

Tuesday: colleague’s birthday drinks. Quick gym visit for some rowing, PT and strength training after and a Target run with this great view.
Wednesday: speaking of Wendy’s excellent post on meeting other runners, spent a fabulous evening with my dear friends and Skirt Sisters, Darlene and Elizabeth. Running really has brought the best people into my life. Not just running friends. FRIENDS
Thursday: return of the office run group. I realized when I looked at Strava I realized we’ve done this loop 15x. And it wasn’t even our original loop. Nice tradition we had going.
Friday: post-work birthday drinks with friends and colleagues.

Saturday: Where have I spent every Saturday morning since June? It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and why would my birthday be any different? I knew I didn’t have time to do the eight miles on the schedule so I brought them donut holes and we set off. I paused the watch at 4 for a celebratory 4.0 birthday miles that included a photo stop with Fred, because how could I not? I then ran to Starbucks for my bday drink for a respectable 10K on the day. Amazing how that feels short/acceptable after marathon training. After a stop home to shower and change, I met Mom & Bob for A Christmas Carol and then drinks at Bookmarks Lounge and dinner at Hudson Malone for a wonderful birthday.
Sunday: Race to Deliver. I DNSed. Raw, cold and miserable. I woke up to the heavy rain and went back to sleep after a brief moment of I still have time to get there if I leave now. No shame. I made a donation. Best part of off season is no have to run. There was no way I’d have enjoyed this. It was worse than Lebow. I also had runs on tap for Monday and Tuesday and there’s no way I could run four days in a row.

Plan for the Week:

Monday: run with Elizabeth
Tuesday: office run group
Wednesday: off
Thursday: off, drive to Albany so will miss trots here & there
Friday: run?
Saturday: run with friends? So weird not to type Rogue
Sunday: off.

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