Update

I guess it's taken me 10 days to get over running Philadelphia!

Amazingly, my legs didn't suffer a whole lot after the fact. They killed me on Sunday afternoon and Monday but I was back to normal by Wednesday. Still, I'm not doing anything that crazy again.

Since I last posted we had a lovely Thanksgiving where Brian & I played host to his family. All of our dishes were a success and I'm happy to report that my gravy (with helpful input from my Mom) was "the best I've ever had". Secret tips: add carrots and celery to some water in the bottom of the roasting pan for added flavor & color, pour off most of the drippings but keep some in the roasting pan and then add flour directly to the pan to create a roux, this prevents greasy gravy (worked like a charm), and lastly use a mix of chicken broth and the broth made from simmering the giblits and some carrots, celery, and onion on the stove.

We skipped both a Turkey Trot and a Jingle Bell run over the holiday weekend but we did take ourselves out for a relaxed 5 mile run walk. We need to get it in gear soon to stay in shape for PF Chang in Arizona.

I'm looking into joining a gym to keep fit over the winter and to add some strength training to my workouts. I have been neglecting this for far too long and it's only because I'm too intimidated to learn how to use machines and weights. I need to get over that. I'm also just beginning to consider getting over my swim phobia so I can eventually do a triathlon.

I spoke to a woman at the expo for Philadelphia who was promoting the Philadelphia Women's Triathlon in July. I mentioned my swim issues and she encouraged me to take some lessons over the winter and then join a gym with a pool and I'd be ready by July. I think she's right and it bugs me that the only reason that I can't do a tri is because I am too wimpy/chicken to learn how to swim properly. That's not a very good excuse.

And then today I got an e-mail to buy Christmas gifts from the LiveStrong store. I went there and saw the Lance Armstrong Foundation Manifesto. It's much longer than this but I really liked the first paragraph:

We believe in life.
Your life.
We believe in living every minute of it with every ounce of your being.
And that you must not let cancer take control of it. [so I don't have cancer, let's change that word to fear]
We believe in energy: channeled and fierce.
We believe in focus: getting smart and living strong.
Unity is strength. Knowledge is power. Attitude is everything.

So I need to remember that I should be fierce and live life to the fullest and maybe for me that means learning how to swim like a grown-up in 2007. Maybe.

Speaking of Lance. You know how he said he'd never run another marathon after New York? he's already changed his mind and announced he's running New York again in 2007. This time he's going to train. I wonder how badly he'll smash his PR?

I'm a little bit crazy!

Brian and my sister were planning to run the Philadelphia marathon on Saturday. Since it was so close the New York Marathon I thought I'd run the new half marathon and the hang around to cheer them in for the full marathon.

When I got to the expo, the half marathon was sold out. When faced with the decision to run an 8K or a full marathon, I went for the full 26.2 because:

1) nice t-shirt
2) nice medal
3) I was going to be downtown the whole time anyway
4) I am a crazy person

So on Sunday I did my 2nd marathon in 14 days. Amazingly, my time was better than Delaware and very close to my time in New York.

I survived, and I mostly had fun, but I have to say that this is a pretty bad idea overall!

New York Marathon 2006 - random details

Expo: Amazing! It ran like clockwork and I didn't wait in a single line to get my chip or goodies. My bus pass was not printed on my bib and a very nice volunteer led me directly to the place where it could be fixed. I couldn't have been happier. It was very congested at the Nike section but the rest of the place wasn't too bad.

Expo highlight: Accidentally stumbling upon Grete Weitz autographing posters. (see photo). She was super nice and I mentioned that my last star autograph (Deena Kastor) coincided with a PR race and Grete said she hoped her signature would shave a few minutes off my time. Looks like it worked!

Money spent:

• Donation to Sponge Bob for markers, signs and a Sponge Bob sponge. I have no idea what the donation actually went towards.
• Cool souvenier t-shirt with description of the course in words
• Red shoelaces from Saucony - donation to their new foundation to fight childhood obesity.
• Marathon pin. I always buy one of these.
• Saucony running shirt: it says Triumph NYC 2006. I couldn't resist this since I wear Triumph sneakers. The new model is awesome metallic green. I hope they feel as good as the model I wear now.
  

Lessons Learned:

• Pasta party: lame, lame, lame! Even amoug pasta parties which are typically lame. Despite the organization of NYRR, we were misdirected on the way into the party and the way out. As a result we didn't get our dessert/goodie bag and were forced to return to the party via an exit and ask a bouncer guy to fetch the bags for us. Why? Because I can't stand not getting free stuff. Contents of goodie bags obtained from bouncer guy: apple, wheat crackers, cookies, snazzy Barilla pasta timer, italian water ice. Goodies others had that we didn't get from bouncer guy: full boxes of Barilla Plus pasta shapes. Contents of goodie bags found abandoned along the walkway near Tavern on the Green: Same as bouncer bags plus 10 bags of mini carrots. Very odd indeed!


• Being a paranoid rule follower, I got to the NY Public Library bus stop very close to 5 am. I was at Ft. Wadsworth by 6:15. It was FREEZING and BORING over there. Next time, I'm taking a later bus even though the runner guide tells you to be at the busses by 5 am

General Observations:

• A guy waiting at the Fort with inflatable lazy boy chair, lots of people in sleeping bags.
• A guy hopping out of the race at Marcus Garvey Park to buy a hot dog and hopping back in while still eating it.
• Mile 10.2 - Nike folks in yellow handing out whistles and seeing yellow chalk messages all over the street
• The cool neighborhood in Brooklyn with the "High Five Station" with signs ahead of it letting you know that it was coming.
• The area around mile 5 or so that was blaring YMCA and had people dressed up as the Village People (at least the Indian Chief with the long feathered headdress)
• The Soldier running in fatigues and pack and carrying his flag.
• The Save the Rhino guys running in rhino costumes!
• The folks in the Bronx doing the electric slide
• The people who had tamborines along the way. What a great spectator accessory!

New York Marathon: Best Day Ever!

Wow! All I can say is Wow! The marathon lived up to absolutely every bit of the hype and I loved every single (painful) second of it! My legs are still sore today and every time I stand up or sit down and my quads scream I remember that race and I get a big, fat grin on my face.

I seriously can not wait to do it again. It was that good.

I started out with the five hour pace group and hung with them until just before the half-way point when they seemed to have fallen slightly off the pace and I kept going try to keep up my momentum. They caught up to me at about the mid-piont of the Queensborough bridge and I stuck with them until 1st Avenue but then they just left me in the dust. I guess it was a combination of them speeding up just a smidge to make up for the time they had lost and me tiring out and slowing down but I could never catch them. I'm still thrilled with my performance though and I made it through the first 16 miles with no walk breaks except at the water stations. That's a first for me and I'm really happy about that.

Of course, once the walk breaks started they were hard to stop. I kept pushing as best I could through the end of the race but you can see how my time just dropped. I think I was a lot more consistant than in past races and I know that I ran more than in past races and I'm certain that I gave my very best effort.




Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 11:05
Mile 2: 10:40
Mile 3: 11:37
Mile 4: 11:26
Mile 5: 11:22
Mile 6: 11:38
Mile 7: 11:25
Mile 8: 11:48
Mile 9: 11:35
Mile 10: 11:23
Mile 11: 11:50
Mile 12: 11:23
Mile 13: 11:28
Mile 14: 11:18
Mile 15: 12:10
Mile 16: 11:48
Mile 17: 11:09
Mile 18: 11:27
Mile 19: 12:24
Mile 20: 12:19
Mile 21: 12:30
Mile 22: 12:12
Mile 23: 11:49
Mile 24: 12:35
Mile 25: 12:20
Mile 26: 12:12
last .2: 2:27

It's time for me to do some work now, but I will write more later and post some more pictures.




Total Time: 5:07:27