NYCM Birthday Weekend (Oh, and a Workout)

Sunday AM: 3 mile w/u + strides
Target: 4-5x3k @11:00 or faster (5:52 pace) w/2 min. jog/rest
Actual: 11:18 (into wind), 10:55, 10:57, 10:53
1 mile c/d
Total: 12 miles
Sunday AM #2: ~4 miles to/from/around marathon course
Daily total: 16 miles

Wow, what a weekend! It's hard to summarize it all into one cohesive blog post, but since I'm far too lazy to write a handful of separate entries I'm going to attempt just that.

So, let's go back to the beginning. Except I don't really know where the beginning is. Technically, this trip started on Wednesday morning as Jordan and I loaded up and headed out for the rest of the week on the road. NYC was our ultimate destination for Friday meetings at the Runner's World international editors summit and marathon weekend shenanigans, but we had several stops along the way. Wednesday night found us in Princeton, NJ and an impromptu hosting from newly relocated Esther Erb. Fresh off her recent top three finish at the US Marathon Champs, she led us on a great Thursday morning run in an amazing soft surface park next to her new digs before we continued southbound to Philly. On Thursday night, Karhu sponsored a Halloween-themed Urban Scramble with Philadelphia Runner, which basically meant that I sprinted through the downtown Philly streets with a heavily perspiring Karhu bear (and yes, I did count those two miles). We had great company yet again for my birthday morning run, as former D2 standout and soon-to-be Philadelphia Marathoner Tina Muir showed us around her favorite local training grounds in Wissahickon Park. And then, finally, we set off on the final leg of our journey into Manhattan. Marathon weekend was upon us!

The Karhu Bear and his new Philly Runner buddies

Friday afternoon until Sunday morning was all a blur of reunions with friends, industry colleagues, and elite marathoners and coaches past and present. My workout was originally slated for Saturday morning, but after a little bit too much fun Friday night at the Runner's World party it seemed a bit unrealistic. Instead, Jordan and I decided to see how long we could stretch out a 10-mile run (answer: about five hours) by meandering our way around various marathon-related activities. First we jogged up to Columbus Circle and met Sarah and Jay to cheer on Molly, Esther and other elites in the NYRR Dash to the Finish 5k. In desperate need of coffee and lured by the buttery aroma of freshly baked croissants, we swung by Fika before making our way over to the Hilton on Avenue of the Americas for a quick work meeting. If you've never experienced this hotel during marathon weekend, it's really something else. Besides being the official host hotel for the event and its athletes, it is also the unofficial hub for the elite race and everything it entails. Within its massive lobby and bar area, you're likely to be surrounded at any given time by dozens of elite marathoners, coaches, agents, team--ahem--doctors, media and pretty much anyone else that is associated with the race in any capacity. It's hard to make it through the lobby to the elevators without bumping into a handful of people that you know, which of course is what happened and somehow resulted in us abandoning my workout plans in favor of a pre-race shakeout with Kim, Amy, Katie DiCamillo and Diane Nukuri-Johnson, whom I'd never met before in person but upon first glance quickly confirmed that, as suspected, her legs were twice as long and half as fat as mine.

Posing for the paparazzi on Friday night with Huub, the Karhu CEO. He would go on to run 3:50 on Sunday.

The run was easy, relaxed and fun, but at the same time infused with a distinct undercurrent of nervous energy. As we entered Central Park, I'm sure each of the girls visualized what it would be like the next day when their race-weary feet would pound the same section of pavement on the finishing stretch. The park is always bursting with energy the day before the marathon, as eager runners criss-cross the paths and snatches of conversation in every imaginable language can be heard in passing. The girls stopped for drills and I continued on with Jordan, jogging under the finish line banner to soak in the atmosphere even though we knew it would be an absolute cluster. We continued south on the West Side Highway, our run now approaching a total of eight miles and approximately three hours, before deciding to stop at the Javits Center and poke around the expo for a bit. Finally, just past 1pm, we returned to our hotel to relax before another run and a birthday dinner with friends. Since Heidi was in town and she turned 31 just a few days before me, it was only natural to make this a joint celebration. Naturally, with a group comprising all runners, we were full and happy and buzzed and soundly tucked away in bed before 11pm.

Pre-dinner Sardinia reunion at the Hilton with the incomparable Marcello Magnani. His two elite athletes, Valeria Straneo and Daniele Meucci, would crack the top 10 in the elite race the following mroning.

Race morning! But first, my stupid workout. Delaying it by a day sure sounded like a better idea 24 hours prior, but at this point I was out of options. Time to get it done. The first few steps out the door confirmed that the weather had indeed turned overnight--the first two days of November had found me incredulously running in only a sports bra--and now it was cold, overcast and quite breezy. Actually, "gale force winds" might have been a more appropriate way to describe the gusts that blasted us in the face as we hit the West Side Highway, but I tried not to dwell on it. As unpleasant as it would be for the first part of my workout, the marathoners would face it for the majority of their run. If they could handle it, so could I.

That optimism lasted approximately five minutes into my first 3k interval, which we were unfortunately forced to run northbound into the wind so that the rest of the workout didn't send me south all the way to the Statue of Liberty. Jordan and I consciously decided to relax and not force the pace for this one; there was simply no point. But my struggle would be rewarded with the wind at my back for the remainder, which enabled me to run strong and relaxed and totally comfortable at the target pace. Hell, with as much action packed into this weekend, I consider simply completing a workout to be an accomplishment in itself! There was no time to revel in my self-satisfaction, however, as we started jogging back to the hotel immediately after the final interval so we could rinse off, layer up and then head uptown to meet the crew for some race spectating. We hoofed it over to First Ave to see the elite women at 17, and I was pumped to see Kim holding strong in seventh place. From there we dashed to the park and planted ourselves squarely at the 24-mile marker, eager to see the final stages of the race unfold in front of us. We screamed like crazy for Kim (who finished sixth!) and Amy and Diane (who still managed to look like a model over two hours into a marathon) and then the elite men who followed shortly thereafter. I've never spectated from this particular location before but I'd definitely recommend it--not too crowded and with a fantastic vantage point.

Eagerly waiting at mile 24...

...for Kimberley to come flying by!

By the time I made it back to the hotel, checked out, said goodbye to Jordan as he departed for a friend's house, and met Sarah back at NYAC for some post-race fun, it was time to hit the train station and head home. I boarded the car and settled in alongside Huub and our other coworker ST--both of whom had just crushed the four-hour barrier in the marathon and then hustled down to Penn Station--and was almost immediately struck by the letdown, the carefully measured mix of exhaustion and sadness and almost instantaneous nostalgia that always sets in at the end of this sort of weekend. People ask me all the time if I plan to run NYC, and I always honestly respond that I'm not sure. It's a deceptively tough course with mercurial weather, and I would be lying if I didn't say that I witnessed some carnage out there today. But without question, I know I'll return next year and years to come just to be part of this amazing experience.

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Week in Review

96 miles
4 doubles
1 giant check
5 AFDs

Though I wouldn't call this a "down" week, it did end up falling a bit short of my typical weekly mileage due to several factors, mainly work- and head cold-related. Nevertheless, it included many highlights, such as my Saturday morning giant check and a weekend spent in Providence with friends. Today was the CVS 5k, which also doubles as the US 5k Championships, which gave us an opportunity to cheer on Karhu athlete Joe Moore and make ourselves at home as per usual with Kim and Pat. This time around her parents were also visiting from New Zealand, so it was a full and quite jovial house. After watching Molly defend her title and Joe crack the top 10 on Sunday morning, we all headed out to the bike path for Kim and Amy's tempo workout. I jogged easy with Jon and Joe (who was completing his approximately seventh run of the day, including the race) and then tried to conceal my mixture of awe and despair as Jordan paced Kim and Amy to a 5-mile tempo at a clip faster than my one-mile PR. Talk about a totally different level...

Speaking of races, now is a good time to mention I've officially decided to "only" run the half at Hartford in a few weeks. While my fitness is coming around, I'm almost certainly not in shape to win the full marathon and definitely not primed to attain the coveted sub-2:37 A-standard, so frankly what's the point. Instead I'll continue to plug away, race my little heart out in the half-marathon division of the New England's Finest program, and set my sights firmly on the Cal International Marathon in December. It will be hard over the upcoming weeks and months watching my speedy friends race to fast new PRs while I keep training quietly on the sidelines, but I trust the process and am confident it will all be worthwhile come December 8th. 

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First Legit Long Run (and Week in Review)

104 miles
5 doubles
20-mile long run
2 runs in Maine

On Saturday afternoon, Jordan and I were working an in-store event at Maine Running Company in Portland. We'd been there since the previous day and were planning to head home later that evening. Around 3pm, I received a beseeching--one could say desperate--text from Kim essentially asking if I could drop everything and hop in the car to Providence for a long run. Now, aside from the logistical impossibility of that actually taking place immediately (Portland being the exact opposite direction from Providence), I had also been tentatively planning to support some friends and race the inaugural Level Renner 10k the following morning. Admittedly, having done no recent speedwork and being a little low on my weekly mileage, a Sunday long run would actually make better sense if Kim could postpone her ambitions until the next morning. Still, making the drive down 95 was going to take a little convincing...

What can I say, she knows how to lure me in.

Flash forward to 9am on Sunday, and Kim and I were downing our homemade lattes and loading up her car to head to the Lincoln bike path. We planned to park there, run an hour or so warmup along the flat out-and-back path, then jog over to Lincoln Woods for a few rolling loops in the hilly state park. After that we'd run back to the car, assess our progress and then decide how much (if any) to add on at the bike path again. Though the sun shone brightly and temps were already creeping into the upper 70s, the humidity was ridiculously low (I think the dew point was in the 40s) and we had plenty of drinks and gels stashed at the car. Though I hadn't attempted a 20-miler since Philly, I was excited to give it a go.

The run started out tentatively, with our first few miles well over eight minutes apiece (yup, we're 30) but then the pace began to naturally progress. By the time we reached the undulating rollers of Lincoln Woods we decided to continue pressing. (Hey, if you're already dying from charging up and down the relentless hills, might as well keep the pace honest and make the terrain go by quicker!) When we returned to the car we'd already eclipsed 17 miles and probably would've been content to stop there, but when Kim suggested we push through to 20 I reluctantly agreed. To be honest, I actually felt quite good until the final 10 minutes, when my legs suddenly realized they hadn't been moving at a decent clip for this long in quite some time. I was thrilled to stop the moment we reached 20 miles, but satisfied with how strong I'd felt for most of the run. Maybe my fitness isn't so abysmal after all!

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Week in Review

90 miles
11 runs
1 trail race victory
3 runs in PVD
12 avocados

Still not quite the triple digits I was hoping for, but overall I'm pleased with this week especially in light of the recent heat wave that has relentlessly gripped all of New England. Having spent plenty of summers on the precipice of hell in Atlanta, Charlotte and East Texas, I can honestly say this ranks right up there with the sweatiest of them, and with no sign of breaking for the next week.

It probably didn't help that my running companion for the weekend, Kim, detests getting up early on principle. Honestly, though, with weather like this there's really no "good" time to be outside so you might as well enjoy a few extra hours of sleep when you can. Our A-team group of myself, Jordan, Pat and Kim didn't make it out the door for our Sunday 12-miler until close to noon. By that point, even the shaded trails we sought out didn't do much to shield us from the elements. We survived, but it wasn't pretty.

That said, it was all worth it for a fun weekend in Providence spent running, eating, lounging, watching Le Tour (and reruns of Honey Boo Boo in the afternoon when Kim and I were alone) and frying things. For Saturday dinner the boys grilled burgers outside while Kim and I slaved over a hot fry-o-lator (gifted to the two lovebirds by Molly for their nuptials) preparing homemade tortilla chips and, by far the highlight of the evening, fried pickles. No EPO needed, folks; the secret sauce of the Providence Olympic contingent is a little batter, a little canola oil and a lot of salt. Mmmm, delicious perfection.

Step 1: Spend $8 on ridiculous couture Whole Foods pickles

Step 2: Batter, fry, repeat

Step 3: Enjoy a tasty golden-brown treat!

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(Down) Week(s) in Review

4/29 - 5/5:
68 miles
14-15 mile long run
1 day off
3 days sick

5/6 - 5/12
45 miles
14-mile long run
3 days off
5 days sick 
5 days with pinkeye

As the above stats indicate, the past few weeks have been pretty disastrous as pertains to my health, fitness and overall state of well-being. I caught the cold and/or virus from hell shortly after returning from my amazing trip and felt so terrible on Friday that I actually took my first day off from running since Nemo in early February. I salvaged a few decent runs on the weekend, including a hard solo 20k around the Neck on a picture perfect Saturday afternoon and a fun 1:45 with Carly in Cambridge on Sunday, but by Monday morning I'd coughed myself hoarse and was reduced to pantomiming or acting out most of my sentences. It didn't help that this was the busiest week at work in quite some time, with 10+ hour planning sessions each day, so when I woke up with my left eye swollen shut on Wednesday I just assumed my illness was invading more innocent body parts. That notion was dispelled 36 hours later when my bosses all but pushed me out the door to the minute clinic, where I discovered that I had somehow managed to contract conjunctivitis (i.e., pinkeye) in both of my eyes. Was this related to being sick? No, the nurse practitioner told me as she failed to mask her revulsion at my monstrous visage, just a delightful bacterial coincidence. 

Oh, and did I mention that something is going on with my shin? Apparently I've got some burgeoning soleus issue that has reduced me to limping down the stairs and uncomfortably shuffling (even more than usual) through morning runs. I was certain that three days off earlier this week would nip this in the bud--the irony that I'm on the verge of celebrating one year of injury-free running is not lost on me--but unfortunately it still remains an increasingly major inconvenience. If I didn't have the US Half-Marathon Championships looming on the relatively near horizon I would shut things down for a full week, but that's a luxury I simply don't have right now. Instead I'm strengthening and sticking and epsom salting and compression socking and doing just about everything I can think of to manage the issue. As it stands, I've done nothing faster than a jog since my race in Italy, so I need to get this under control enough to attempt a workout or two next week. Fingers (and toes) crossed for a return to good health sooner than later!

To my left, Marblehead harbor view from the causeway leading to the Neck. No filter!

To my right, ocean view. If you look closely you can see the Boston skyline in the background.

If there's one silver lining to this shitstorm of a week, it was the opportunity to cheer on the three fastest ladies I know at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet on Saturday evening. Abbey D'Agostino, my NCAA champ training buddy from earlier this winter, crushed the women's 800, while Kim Smith and Molly Huddle mixed it up with the boys (and beat a good number of them) in the 5k and 3k respectively. It was great to catch up with each of them on their cooldown jogs and then to enjoy a highly meat-intensive dinner with Kim and Molly after the meet. Hoping some of their speed will rub off on me (as opposed to, you know, my pinkeye infecting them). If nothing else, their performances have definitively motivated me to put my life back together and get in shape!

Kim on her way to a 15:02 world-leading 5k

Molly tucked in with the boys en route to an 8:57 3k

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(Second Triple Digit) Week in Review

100-101 miles
12 runs
17-mile long run
2 days in PVD
3 Frappuccinos

If my first 100-mile week was all midgets and sunshine, this second one felt more like ogres and a wicked sunburn. Yes, that might officially be the most abysmally crafted metaphor of all time, but it's only fitting for a week when my daily slogs felt anything but eloquent. It seems I sailed blissfully through the first high-mileage week with my body being none the wiser. I was, to belabor my figurative point, like the proverbial frog brought slowly to a boil completely unawares. This week, however, I was decidedly awares. From the first few steps out the door on Monday morning, my triumph turned to the sober realization that this week would not be quite the same frolicky fun as the week prior. Monday and Tuesday weren't too terrible, but the real low point came on the 4th of July. Enjoying our day off just as the founding fathers envisioned, we slept in until well past 8am, not heading out for our medium long 14-miler until at least 10. It was hot, it was humid, and I was hurting. There are some days when I am supremely grateful to not own a Garmin, and this was certainly one of them.

Fortunately, the tides slowly began to turn toward the end of the week. I enjoyed an unexpectedly chipper uptempo run with the Wicked group on Thursday night, then treated myself (in the masochistic sense of the word) to a deep-tissue massage on Friday before heading down to Providence for the weekend to spend time with our favorite Olympian, Kim, and her betrothed, Pat. Having been recently gifted a fryolator by our other favorite newly-minted Olympian, Molly, the plan for dinner was simple: fry everything in the house. Turns out this is the diet secret kept under wraps by the world's best runners. After a delightfully battered evening during which I ate various and sundry flour-masked vegetables including, but certainly not limited to, a stalk of "tempura" broccoli the approximate size and shape of a sequoia tree, one would think I might feel a bit sluggish on my Saturday run--not ideal when trying to keep pace with Kim and Molly. Fortunately the former had dragged Jordan through a 22-miler the day before and the latter had also worked out on Friday, so the pace for their easy recovery jaunt was "quite slow" (Kim's words). The relaxing weekend continued while Kim and I alternated between shopping, eating, trolling the twitterfeeds and lolling about in a state of general laziness for the remainder of Saturday. Up and early Sunday morning, Jordan and I hit the road back to Salem--but not without a quick stop in Natick to run long with Brett and her husband Matt. As an added bonus, we somehow walked out of their house the recipients of a good half dozen bottles of wine which they collected over the past three years and we will probably consume within the next three weeks. Gotta stay hydrated, right?

And so, my second 100-mile week is in the books, albeit wearily. I'm hoping week three will find my body somewhat normalized and, dare I say, accustomed to this daily toil I'm forcing upon it. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to indulge in a Frappuccino (with whip!) almost daily.  

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