Belated Report: Lehigh Valley Half Marathon

That's me wearing the magical Quadrathon shirt that powered me to a big PR at the half marathon. It's kind of a miracle that it happened since I spent the week leading up to the race in Jamaica. I landed in Philadelphia at about 6:30 on Saturday night and at that poitn I didn't even know what time the race started on Sunday morning!

Anyway, we drove up to Allentown and checked into our hotel where I had the worst night of sleep ever. It had nothing to do with the hotel -- except the change from King bed on vacation to double bed at this hotel really did not work for me. Brian on the other hand, had a great night of sleep and had his very own great race on Sunday morning.

Weather was ideal for racing: slightly overcast, light breeze, mid-50 temps. We had no problem at all picking up our stuff pre-race (nice long sleeved tech shirt and free teddy bear (?) and best of all Goldenberg's Peanut Chews!) and we checked our stuff before heading to the start line.

At this point I discovered that my Nike+ had died. My iPod had been acting funny in Jamaica, freezing up at times, but I determined that was due to wild fluctuations in humidity. This was something different altogether. After I tried to start my workout and the lady says "walk around to activate your sensor" nothing happened. Try as I might, I couldn't get it to link. I tried to reset it a few times but no go -- I had to just run without it. I did manage to time my race with the iPod stopwatch (which even has lap features but I am not sure how to do that) and that was good since I wasn't wearing a watch. Of course, even if I did know how to work the lap counter, I couldn't have used it since I saw almost no mile markers all day long. I was the only one to miss them, so I must have been in some kind of zone.

I positioned myself between the 2:20 and 2:30 pacers and my plan was not to get in front of the 2:20 pacer until the very end. This turned out to be an ideal plan because I started slowish and then caught 2:20 lady but didn't pass her. She dropped me at about mile 8 when we hit a pretty big hill but then I caught up again and passed her.

I felt really good through most of the race (until that hill) and those last few miles are hillier than the beginning portion of the race and I found myself walking on hills and running the rest. I just listened to my body until the final mile and then tried to push as best as I could. I still walked a bit towards the end of the final mile because the race finishes on a high school track with lots of spectators and I did NOT want to walk during that segment. Instead, I walked a bit on the lead up (and the nasty Marine Corps Marathon-esque hill into the stadium) and then ran as fast as I could to the finish. I even tried to nab the inside lane but I didn't quite get there.

Post race food was really good (soup, vegetarian sausage, muffin tops, bananas, and water) and we even got mylar blankets which felt great because the wind was kicking up and it got kind of cold waiting for everybody to finish.

I really enjoyed the race and can't wait to do it again next year. The course is pleasant too, mostly through a park. Some people did not care for the gravel path that a large portion of the race is run on but that didn't bother me since it's my typical running surface.

Broad Street Run: good, bad, and ugly

The good: beautiful day, good race, another PR

The bad: we were late, the race felt almost as awful as a marathon

The ugly: we were late, which caused me to be in a HUGE snit, and made us at least 5 minutes late to the start, and now there is a glitch in the results reporting so my 1:43 PR is showing up as a 1:51 Personal Worst.

Still, this is a good race, and I'm happy with my (unofficial) time of 1:43:44. I figured I'd run 1:45 and considering how much I struggled, I'm thrilled with 1:43.

I'm going to have to do a lot of training for the Goofy Challenge because this race was way too hard after yesterday's Urban Dare.

Urban Dare Philadelphia - Super Fun!

I'm pretty sure we came in 6th place yesterday at the Urban Dare. I was sort of in a daze as it finished so I'm going to have to re-check with the race director to be sure.

Pictures, clues and story to follow soon.

Trying something new! (If I don't chicken out)

I signed up for the duathlon event at the Philadelphia Women's Triathlon. I'm fascinated by triathlon but I really can't swim well enough to even consider doing a tri this summer. The duathlon distances are certainly in my realm though, even with my lame granny bike, and I think concentraing on the 2 and 3.1 distances required for the run will help me stick to some speed training that will help me overall to get ready for my fall marathon. (I can't wait until they pick the lottery in New York. It's driving me crazy not being able to make a plan for fall.)

This reminds me that I'm considering registering for Marine Corps on May 9 figuring that I can just defer until 2008 if I get into New York. If Brian gets into New York, and I don't, I think I want to run Baltimore in October so I can get the crab medal and avoid the hassle of back to back out of town races.

Decisions, Decisions!

Lehigh Valley Half Marathon - Great Race and a PR

I ran without a watch, without my Nike+ (it's been acting crazy since I left for Jamaica), and somehow I managed to set a PR. By quite a lot!

I ran 2:19:24 on Sunday in a really fun race, on a nice course, in perfect weather. It was a great ending to a week of vacation!

More details later on both the trip and the race.

Super Cute Medal

I know I have two other races to do on this weekend, but isn't this the cutest medal ever???

I think this might have to go on the list for next year. This and the new Tower of Terror run with the glow in the dark shirts.

Who is the Sole Survivor? I AM!

By some sort of miracle, I managed to beat Stevo152 by a measly .43 miles to become the winner of the Nike+ Survivor Challenge. I am a little embarassed about how happy I am about winning.

Running, Nike Survivor, and the Bachelor

I've been logging a lot of miles but they haven't all been running. In fact, most of them have NOT been running. I've been meeting Brian for walks after work and while I'm not getting my hill workout at VF I'm having a lot of fun just unwinding and talking for an hour outside after work. It's nice and I'm not quite ready to give that up in favor of slogging over those hills. I probably should though.

I had a hard but good workout on Saturday, about 11 miles, broken up into a couple of different legs to satisfy my Nike+ challenges. It was overall pretty good but strange. I started slow, walking with Brian but then got really too fast for myself (because of the music I was listening to I think) and I never really got into a good rhythm. The strange part is that overall it was a fast workout even though I had to stop for walking more than usual.

This week I'm trying to win the Survivor challenge on Nike+. That took me out for a walk on Sunday at a set of nearby trails that we've never explored before. Monday I couldn't log anything but last night I did the VF loop and tonight I plan to hit the treadmill for a more focused running workout. It'll be really fun if I win!

We watched the Bachelor last night and Brian commented that Andy has the "biggest lower chest I've ever seen". That's a strange comment and yet it's true! He looks very strange with his shirt off -- it's like he's got unusually large muscles over his ribs and then a tiny waist. It's also totally bugging me that they all say tri-ath-a-lon. I thought that was a huge pet peeve of the tri-folk. I thought it should be called tri-athlon. Even Andy says it and who am I to argue with a 6 time Ironman?

I'm not sure who he's going to pick but right now I like Tessa best. She's cute, a triathlete, and finds the whole concept of the show upsetting and bizarre, which is the only normal seeming attitude one could have about that dumb show.

The Gym

I finally joined a gym. This means that I will be able to run in inclement weather and in the dark. No more excuses.

It also means that I might start to do strength training. I've been saying I was going to start strength training since I started planning my wedding -- I've been married for 3 years and I still haven't started! I am the Queen of Procrastination!

I hope this will help me win the Survivor challenge. I am one of the top dogs remaining (gotta love a challenge slanted in favor of the mid-pack runners!) after the merge so I've got to kick it into high gear this week. I'm the only girl left so that makes me want to win just a tiny bit more than before.

Unfortunately, I also have a pesky calf injury so I might have to run even slower than usual or walk to get in the miles. I guess they all count though in the Nike world.

Unexpected Long Run

I think I'm going to run 15 miles with my sister tomorrow. The weather looks great, and I want to show her a new trail connection.

Who would have thought that there would ever be a day when I would run 15 miles just for fun?

My boss overheard me talking about it and she thought I was doing a race -- you should have seen her face when she realized that I wasn't.

In other news, I joined LA Fitness (with my sister). I have an appointment on Monday at 4:30 with the trainer guy to work out my "fitness plan". That should be interesting!

Photo from MORE

I look better than I feel! They took all the pictures on the UPHILL sections!

Totally Unfair!

MORE half marathon in NYC

I ran the MORE half marathon with two of my sisters on Sunday. It was my 13th half-marathon and my 3rd of 2007. I finished in 2:27 and change -- and that includes a pit stop early in the race since the pre-race porta-potty set up was horrendous. Much worse than in previous years.

As usual, the Central Park hills kill me -- especially on the 2nd loop of the park. I tried to push as hard as I could on the downhills and flats but was pretty wimpy going uphill on the second lap. Even the first lap was bothering me, enough that I popped some 8-hour and considered the possibility of quitting at the half-way point. Luckily that thought had left me by the time I actually ran through the finish area.

I'm curious how I'd do on this course if it wasn't my 2nd race in 2 weeks and my legs were fresher?

In any event, this is my #2 time of 2007. Caesar Rodney is still my PR but this was a course record for me at MORE.

Caesar Rodney Half Marathon

I had a great run! The weather was awesome and I finally got to have some of the awesome post-race food so it was a great day. I was still really at the way back of the pack but I'm really happy with my race -- that's was like a 4 minute PR I think! You gotta love the downhill!

An Update on my November Update

In case anybody comes here from ALOTTFMA (a totally awesome blog) I thought I'd post some thrilling updates to life since the Philadelphia marathon:

1) I won my office football pool and used the proceeds to buy a totally awesome 4G red nano and a Nike+ sport kit. I am totally in love with it.

2) I used my snazzy Nike+ sport kit to start an Amazing Race themed running challenge where actual runners are paired with TAR teams. I hope to win my challenge since I have managed to get paired with Romber -- a thing that can only help since I haven't been running much.

3) I ran a half marathon in Pheonix in January on the coldest day in Ariziona in the last 16 years. Seriously -- it was 21 degrees! I had a great day though and the best part was collecting an inflatable Southwest airlines jet hat. I'll have to post of picture of that soon since it totally rocks.

4) I guess I don't actually have four new things to post!

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

I'm getting very excited

Marine Corps Marathon 10K

Yesterday I ran the first ever Marine Corps Marathon 10K. I had a pretty good race (especially since it was just a training run for next week) and I love the medal. The t-shirt is very nice too. The logistics of the race were crazy and I hope they improve in the future.

Logistical problems:

• Confusion at the start: 10K runners were in the wrong place since there were no pre-race instructions for us. We were lined up on both sides of a grass median behind the marathon runners when we should have all been on one side. They told us this after the marathoners had started running so many 10K people (myself included) had to hop over a couple of guardrails to get where we needed to be.
• All of us were facing the wrong way. We lined up ready to run in the same direction as the marathon but since the 10K runs in the opposite direction of the marathon we couldn't line up in the right spot until the marathon runners cleared the area. Loudspeakers instructed us to move beyond the red starting arch and then turn around and "face the sun". It was crazy. Nobody really undsterstood what was going on and people were wedged in like sardines and couldn't really do anything as the marines were yelling "turn to face the sun!". People on the wrong side of the timing mats so they kept telling us to back up while the loudspeaker kept reminding us the race had to start in 5 minutes (or whatever I forget) and that it couldn't be delayed. All of the confusion resulted in the slowest runners (who had been lurking at the back of the pack) being closest to the starting line and the fastest people were at the back of the pack. As an added bonus, they also thought it would be a good idea to drive a set of school busses through the pack of runners prior to the start. I have no idea why they did that.
• The reverse of the fast/slow runners made for a pretty chaotic start as runners were dodging slow people and the fast people tried to get to the front as quickly as possible. There is an element of this in every race but it was particularly bad yesterday. I might be exaggerating since I was really worried about having a mishap and falling/twisting an ankle or something that would screw up my race next weekend but it seemed very bad.
• Midway through the 10K the wheelchair marathon racers came up on the runners and this caused a huge problem! The 10K folks were totally in their way and were, unfortunately, very oblivious despite the screams of "ON YOUR LEFT" and "WHEELCHAIRS COMING" that were coming from the runners, the wheelchair athletes, and a bunch of marines.
• The race started late enough that there were still pretty many slow 10K people out on the course as the marathon winner came into the finishers chute. I don't think that was supposed to happen.

My time & splits:

Total: 1:07:50

M1: 10:53

M2: 10:51

M3: 10:32

M4: 11:24 (wheelchairs arrived and I stopped to walk and yell at people to get out of their way)

M5:10:41

M6.2: 13:26

I had time to finish my race, eat some food and then head over to mile 16 to catch up with Brian and my sister who were running the marathon.

More later...