Mixed Emotions

Yesterday I ran the NYC Half Marathon, around Central Park and down the West Side Highway to South Street Seaport. Oh the mixed emotions I have about this.

FIRST, I'M SUPER HAPPY... with my time and feel almost like I don't deserve it. How did that happen???? Usually in the days before a race, I have a plan and eat well and hydrate, etc. But I knew we'd be spending the weekend sight seeing and eating delicious treats in NYC, so I really didn't have a plan. Then the night before the race, I didn't sleep well, and was literally yawning when the race director said GO and blew the horn.

Well, maybe that should be my new plan, because I nailed it;

1:39:29 -- 2153/15,331 finishers, 135/1893 for my age, and 464/7880 women.
5k split: 24:40
10k: 48:30 (23:50 5k)
15k: 71:29 (22:59 5k -- a PR, during a half marathon??)
20K: 94:35 (23:06 5k)
Overall pace: 7:36

A BIG THING I'VE LEARNED....is to stop and walk through the water stations. Otherwise you spill water all over yourself, maybe get some up your nose, and barely manage to get any into your body. I don't like walking, but I do like getting a drink.

A MAJOR OBSTACLE...is adding distance through weaving in and out of people. You've obviously gotta get around them somehow, but my Garmin measured 13.4 at the finish (and 26.5 after the marathon instead of 26.2). Don't know how much the watch is off? It did tell me at one point that I ran a 5:30 mile through Times Square, though when I watched the time by the race markers, I was still on pace with the 7:30 miles. So maybe my watch is just crazy.

THE MOST SURPRISING THING...was the absolutely terrible course support! People lined Central Park and watched us run by, in silence. They lined the sidewalks of 6th Avenue through Times Square, and watched us run by, in silence. They lined the West Side Highway and watched us run by, in silence. I even ran past a station set up by NYRR that was supposed to have music, but the band just sat there, and watched us run by, in silence. Seriously it was like racing through a funeral. Some runners were chiding the spectators for sucking so much and I resisted the urge the join them. Really??!! The spectators at the Marine Corps Marathon were so amazing that they brought tears to my eyes. How do you watch a race with 15,000 people and not cheer????

I JUDGE races on three things: water stops, port-o-potty availability, and t-shirts that fit. The water stops were plentiful and excellent. The port-o-potties were actually brilliantly organized in each set of corrals. I thought MCM did it right but this was impressive.

However, no t-shirt for me. If I pay a ridiculous entry fee, I expect to receive a shirt that fits. Instead I got stuck with a medium that is probably even too big for Jon. This happened last year at Redhook, both times at the Doyle's 5 miler, and at the Newburyport Homecoming 5k. Really people. How many L & XL runners do you think there are??? Buy some additional smalls.

A BIG QUESTION MARK was the race policy on when to get to the race. It started at 7:30am, but you had to be lined up according to bib number (aka anticipated finish time) by 7am, otherwise you got sent to the back. I stood in my corral with bibs 6000-6999, from 6:55am until the gun went off at 7:30, and watched the 4 volunteers stand at my corral entrance and turn late-comers away for the last 30 minutes. These poor runners-- all the volunteers needed to do was turn a blind eye, have an Eskimo pie, or something-- and just let them in. But they sent them to the back, basically saying "Shame on you."

Now, this rule also forces you to stand still for 30 minutes in 40 degree weather, with no room to stretch or warm up, etc. Most people probably don't "warm up" for a 13 mile race. But looking at my race splits, I probably would have benefited from a little warm up. Whatever stretches I did at 6:55am I'm sure did me no good when we started running at 7:30. Weird.

ONE THING I BOYCOTTED was the option to have texts sent to family who want to track your progress, for an extra 99 cents. Most races who offer tracking do this for free. I already paid $135 to enter the race. If 15,000 people pay an extra 99 cents... well, that's a lot of cents! So I boycotted, and found my mom and Jon just fine at the finish. Boom.

SO... cost, no shirt, and oddly depressing course support would keep me from doing this race again.

But the results have me very excited for Boston! 28 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy running!!

The Lucky 18

I always get so worked up going into a long run, even though underneath I'm genuinely excited. I love the anticipation of that feeling at the end where you know that you just worked really hard, and that your previous hard work has paid off. Few things in life, in my experience, offer such immediate & consistent rewards.

Today I was antsy going into the run because I'd gotten a later start than I meant to due to silly daylight savings time, and an intense game of Scrabble with the husband last night-- how old are we? But I finally got on my way. A couple of miles into the run, I realized--

Hey! You haven't worried about your knee at ALL!

The realization that I'd finally come to trust that my knee was not going to cause trouble brought SUCH a sense of relief. All my other runs for the last few months have been plagued with constant, "Does it hurt yet? Does it hurt? Is that the tape pulling, or my knee hurting? What was that? Is the tape coming undone? Does it hurt?"

Bottom line is, I really liked that I was able to get mentally wrapped up in some other problem, like the fact that I'd gotten a late start. And I thought, "Boy, am I lucky."

• I'm lucky to have great knee doctors, who told me without question that we could fix this. And they were right.
• I'm lucky to have supportive and understanding husband, parents, and friends who love me in spite of my incessant chatter about running and its daily ups and downs.
• I'm lucky to have this great opportunity to run the Boston Marathon via GBTC.
• I'm lucky to be able to set goals and follow through on them, which really requires a lot of predictability and stability in life. When I was in grad school, I used to think about how I couldn't wait to be done so I could JUST RUN instead of having to read 2039853257 pages and write an equally long paper. Grad school is done, and I am loving being able to JUST RUN.
• I am lucky that it has been such a mild winter (even though this might mean the world is ending.) What a great year it has been to train for Boston.
• I am lucky that the Minuteman Rail Trail, from Bedford to Cambridge, is so close to home. It is AMAZING. There are always so many people out who are just so happy to be outside -- Cyclists (the elite, the tandem, and the training wheels), walkers, strollers, dogs, roller bladers, and of course, many other runners. There's never a dull moment. Today, I saw a man who I swear was Chuck Norris, as well as a 3 year old who was confidently leading his parents and younger brother on a walk, explaining (loudly) what they'd be going and what they'd be seeing. Also there were about 500 dogs around Fresh Pond, sans leash, many of which had gone for a happy swim. I want one.

Click here for a map of the Minuteman Rail Trail.  I usually park in Lexington and run into Cambridge.

The run was great. 18.3 in 2:42, and only 1 pack of Gu! Hooray glycogen efficiency. 5 weeks until Boston. Can it be?? NYC Half next weekend!

Happy running!

Rededication

If there's one GREAT thing that came out of all this knee-nonsense, it's realizing how important running has become to me, and how much I previously took it for granted.


A CHANGE IN PHILOSOPHY
After the injury on January 28, I didn't run for a week. My knee was really sore, now we know, from my patella having been tracking sideways and slamming into my fat pads for 12 miles. After that, I spent 3 weeks running 3-4 miles 2 days, and followed by a day off. 3-4 miles really didn't even scratch the intensely burning ITCH for a good run. I did my foam rolling, I went to Pilates, I started to take steps towards recovery, but in the back of my mind, I'd really given up on Boston.

When two great doctors said without question that I'd make it to race day, I knew I'd have to take a new outlook on training and commit to the LENGTHY stretching/ strengthening exercises they'd assigned. I am NOT going to get a DNF in the marathon and have any question that I did everything in my power to recover and prepare.

THE NEW SCHEDULE
Running was initially so appealing because it is so efficient. You can get in a perfectly sufficient workout in an hour and be done with it. Well, now we've added another hour of stretching, doubling the workout time. Honestly I don't mind the hour- I'm enjoying making progress towards new goals- but losing that hour in the afternoon is tough. If I come straight home from school and change and do all the running and stretching, I'm not done until at least 6pm. Most days it's fine, but let's be honest. Some days it takes a toll.

What the H is she stretching for an hour, you ask? Here's the daily list. The most important ones are *ed.

1. Plank, 3 x 30 sec; 2. Side planks, each side, 3 x 30 sec; 3. Supermans, 3 x 12-15; 4. Windshield wipers (the death of me), 3 x 10-15; **5. Quad stretches (none like I'd ever seen), each side 3 x 30 sec; 6. Hip flexor stretches, each side 3 x 30 sec; 7. Side leg raises, each side 3 x 30 sec; 8. Single leg raises, each side 3 x 30 sec; **9. Hamstrings, each side 3 x 30 sec; **10. Foam rolling, each side 10-15; **11. IT band stretch, each side 3 x 30 sec; AND NOW PT ADDED 3 MORE -- 12. step down, each side 3 x 10; **13. side steps, each side 3 x 10; **14. hip abductors, 3 x 12-15.

The other change to the schedule includes not running two consecutive days to allow for ample recovery time. This means more cross training, like the elliptical, HOT YOGA, and maybe some occasional spinning. Let me say how much I love that the doc has given me an excuse to do hot yoga regularly. I love it.

PROGRESS... ALREADY?!
In a week, I can already feel changes. I used a technique called Mcconnell taping on my knee on Sunday, and banged out an excellent 12 mile run, pain free! HOORAY. Today I taped my knee with crappy tape, which came undone after like.. a mile. I proceeded to run 5.5 miles, hard, sans tape, and had no pain! woooohoooooo. Good tape is on its way from Amazon, crucial for my 16 miler this Sunday.

(Side note. While running aforementioned 5.5 miles on treadmill today, a guy came who reeeeeeked of cigarettes, and took the treadmill two down from me. Like for real. Did he just smoke and then come in for his workout? Also nearly ALL the other treadmills were open, so why did he have to take that one?? Anyway, as I'm thinking about how much he reeks, up walks his stinky friend to take the treadmill directly next to mine. I'm not judging. Ok I'm judging a little bit. But the smell was so strong that I was gagging. I wound up switching treadmills.)

ENDORPHIN ADDICTION
For years, studies have shown that exercise releases happy, feel-good hormones called endorphins. They contribute to what's called "runner's high." Not being able to really run for several weeks was a little bit like putting a crack addict into rehab.

It was not pretty. In that time, I felt more low, listless, and anxious than I'd ever have thought. Truly it was unattractive. Endorphin withdrawals + Type A personality losing control over knee (before seeing doc) = my husband is a saint. ^2.

And now, time for a few hip abductors before bed.

HAPPY RUNNING.