Perfection!

The weather, that is. Low 70s, no humidity, sunny, with a nice breeze. Today made up for the last 4 weeks of grossness. If only every summer day was like this!

I felt like I had to have a good run today in appreciation of the awesome weather. I wanted to take advantage of the lack of humidity to push myself a little harder on the trail. It paid off! My overall pace for 10.11 miles today was 10:49/mile. That's the first time I've dipped below 11 min/mile on the trail! Check out these splits!

Except for my warm-up mile and 2 mile with a lot of climbing, all my miles were under 11. LOVE that. Like I've said before, the more time I can spend in the 10s will make up for the end of the marathon where I'm pushing 12s (and even 13s). The trail is good training for me because there is so much uphill and that's all I hear about NYC -- the bridge climbs and the rolling hills of Central Park that even the elite runners are wary of. I know I say all the time how much I miss running in West Haven but I know that if I were training I'd pick the flattest route possible so it's probably a good thing that I don't have that option.

That's 3 great runs so far this week. Tomorrow could be a total washout and I won't even care. I know that I'm getting more consistent with my pace and even if I have a really bad run tomorrow I'll be able to pick it up next week and move on from there.

Now off to enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day!

I'm really in!

Look what came today!

I was psyched to see this. It made things real for me -- I'm in a database of people accepted to run the NYC marathon! I wonder what the official handbook will be like! It's coming in September, apparently. This is all very exciting! We're 99 days out from the marathon now! I have a feeling this time will go by pretty quickly.

Also today NSAL emailed me to ask permission to share my email address with other members on the team. I'm psyched about that too because I have no idea how many people are running for NSAL and what kind of support NSAL will give us on race day, like a meet-up area or something. It will be neat to see where people are coming from for the team, etc. I keep checking FB to see if there is a team page but so far there hasn't been anything.

10 miles tomorrow and then Book Barn in Niantic. The weather is supposed to be perfect, I hope I have a good run!

Major milestone

I have been keeping track of my mileage since the first of the year. Even before NYC entered my mind I wanted to see if I could possibly run 1000 miles in 2010. That averages out to a little over 19 miles a week and in the beginning of the year I was lucky if I was doing 12. I knew it was a lofty goal but I thought it would be fun to keep track anyway just to see how many miles I could cover in a year. As of today I passed the halfway mark and hit 503.17. That's. Pretty. Awesome. If my training contines to go well I should make the 1000 miles and maybe a little more. Back in January, I wasn't even sure I'd get halfway. What a difference 6 months makes.

Today's run was great, I felt strong and never really struggled. My overall pace for the 5.67 miles was 10:34, a 12-second/mile improvement from a week ago for this workout. I know not every week will be faster pace and some weeks I'll have setbacks but it's been nice to see some solid improvements my last few runs.

Yesterday I started up the Shock Training System again for strength work. I did this program in the spring and really liked it and got good results. It's 3.5 months with 2 recovery weeks built in between phases. My training program allows for 2 days of cross training and I've been lax about it lately, to be honest. With my work schedule so unpredictable sometimes my main focus is to make sure I get in all my runs and the cross training days have been a lower priority. I'm going to work on that. I like strength training a lot so it's not like I'm struggling to add something that I don't enjoy. It's just been a matter of prioritization and time.

Today I'm happy that I got both my weekday runs in and it looks like I'll get both my cross training days in as long as I workout tomorrow. Saturday I plan to do 10 on the trail, Sunday I'll shoot for 5.

Everything is coming up Kelly

Had a GREAT run this morning. I slept until almost 7 and felt rested when I woke up. That makes such a difference, I'm learning. I can make myself do a lot of things without enough sleep but running in the morning just isn't one of them. Tuesday is hill day. I always dread this training run. But I was blessed with a humidity-free morning and a mild temp so that gave me hope that I could pull it off.

The first mile always sucks. Always. I could train for the rest of my life and get in peak physical condition and the first mile will still always suck. The first mile of my hill course is pretty much all uphill and that makes it suck even more. Even with the nice cool morning I was hating life trudging up that hill. A lot of bad thoughts passed through my mind on that first mile: Why did I sign up to do this? How bad would it look if I quit? Why wasn't I genetically blessed where I could not exercise and still be in good shape? It's a lot of internal whining on that first mile and it takes as much mental strength as it does physical to get up that first hill.

But! It turned around. Spectucularly, I must say. Here's my splits for the run:

Check out that 4th mile! That's what I'm talking about! I'm happy with my splits for the rest of the run too but I like seeing anything in the 9s. It shows me that I'm getting stronger and a little faster. My overall pace for today was 10:23/mile, a 17-second improvement from last week. I'm still shooting for an overall 11 min/mile pace for the marathon and the more time I can spend in the 10s now will help even out the end of the race when I'm back up in the 12s. It's going to happen, I'm realistic about that. 26.2 miles is a looooong way to go.

I finally got an accurate visual of this loop, the sun must have been in the right spot today because usually the GPS gets a little wonky on this route. It may not look severe but trust me, that's a lot of freaking hillwork to cover in a short run.

When I have a run like this before I start my work day I feel fantastic. I feel like I really accomplished something and that it's going to be a good day. I feel like everything is coming up Kelly! :)

Observations from the trail

I did my long run today. I was tired and the air was like soup. And it was hot. So very hot. This was a taper week on the schedule so I turned off my watch, turned off my running app, and just made the best out of the morning. It was actually one of my nicer runs, to be honest. Without the pressure I usually put on myself to beat last week's time I just did my thing. I did a little over 8 miles today and that was just fine. This coming week is a higher mileage week so I enjoyed today's 8 for what it was worth.

I've been running on the Airline Trail for about 4 months now. I started doing it because it was flat (it's not, just the first mile is -- once I got past that I realized it's a mountain) and because it wasn't on a main road. I miss West Haven in that you could run almost anywhere because there were shoulders on the main roads and sidewalks on the rest. We don't have either here and the roads are hilly and windy. I'm not looking to get taken out by a car so I look for places that are more runner-friendly.

Now that I'm a regular on the trail I've made some observations that amuse me (if no one else) about the people I usually encounter:

• Mountain bikers will never give you the little hand motion of acknowledgement. It's a subtle move, the hand motion, I was introduced to it years ago when my friend had a motorcycle and we'd go riding and he would raise his left fingers in a half wave (without the actual wave) when a biker would pass us in the opposite direction. He had a racing bike so I learned quickly that only other guys on racing bikes got the wave of acknowledgement and only other guys on racing bikes gave them. Harley guys never gave them to racing bike guys although my friend would give one to everyone on a bike. It's the same with mountain bikers and runners. Not only do they never acknowledge you they would rather run up your back and do a jump off of you than move over on the trail. They are come in 2 varieties: the younger shirtless kind or the older Under Armor wearing kind. When I see mountain bikers coming toward me I just move way over and let them do their thing.
• Runners almost always give the hand motion ofacknowledgement. The ones training for something -- and can tell that you're training for something -- usually are the ones that give you a little recognition. It's a little nod to say "Hey, look at us, we're out here in this heat because we're serious runners." Guys almost always give me the hand motion of acknowledgement. Today a guy gave me a thumbs up today even before I could raise my 4 fingers (because you keep your hand clenched the whole time, you don't smile, you don't move your hand -- it's very subtle), that was a new one. Women are about 50/50. You know us girls, we're catty, even while we're pouring sweat and supposed to be focused on our training. I find that that super serious women runners -- the ones who are 90 lbs and are doing 7-minute miles -- can't be bothered. Recreational women runners usually give the acknowledgement after giving you a once over probably because they're happy to see someone else who isn't 90 lbs and doing 7-minute miles. Me, I give it to all runners, I don't discriminate.
• Walkers are generally good for a little wave. Older people, especially couples, always smile, they'll even say "Good Morning" as you pass them. I love seeing old people on the trail, they make me happy. And families love people like me. You can't be too careful these days, which is a shame, but when they see someone like me they smile and wave. Like me, they've probably just done an ocular patdown (TM Mac from Sunny) of my risk and have determined I'm not a threat. I've seen plenty of sketchy people on the trail and I'm sure they have too so families like when I run by. It reassures them that if a single female runner feels safe then they should too.
• I love dogs on the trail. I realized today that their owners probably hate me though because when I run by I say "Hi, cutie!" in the same voice I use for my own dogs and if their owner is trying to pull them in me riling them up doesn't help. I know what it's like to walk 2 unruly dogs (my fault, not theirs, I got the dogs I raised) and if someone was running by which would automatically get their attention started cooing at them, I'd be annoyed too. Still, I love seeing dogs on the trail. When they wag their tail it reminds me what I'm doing this for.

Starting next week my long runs won't dip below 10 miles so I'm going to have a LOT of time to think about nonsense stuff like this.

Since I wasn't running for pace today I took the time to take a few pictures of the beauty that I get to see every week. I lamented not being able to run along the water in West Haven for a long time but when I see these pictures I realize I have something very special up here too.

Luxuriating and hidden treasures

It was nice to sleep until 7 this morning, I'm not going to lie. It won't be a habit any time soon since the next 6 days will be insanely early starts with long, long days. I'm glad I got my 2nd run in yesterday. I felt refreshed this morning because I got to spend a few extra minutes luxuriating in bed. Nice.

Today would have been a nice day to run though. It's the first day I can remember in at least the last month where it was cool and dry this morning. By the time Sunday comes and I'm back outside I'm sure it will be 9 million degrees again with 99% humidity. It's just going to make me stronger in the end, that's what I keep telling myself. I'm not the only one who holds tight to that belief -- I was reading some posts on the NYC Marathon FB page and so many people said they're out running in the heat and humidity because it will all be worth it on that nice cool November morning. I hope for everyone's sake that that's true. I hope the day is as idyllic as everyone pictures a November Sunday morning to be.

I was in the basement this morning before work since I had a few extra minutes and I was looking for a box that had my old work stuff in it to start transferring to my new office. I have some reference books and other stuff that would be nice to have. While I was looking for the box I stumbled upon 3 books that I didn't even know I had: Marathon: You Can Do It (Jeff Galloway), The Idiot's Guide to Marathons, and A Guide to the New York City Marathon. For a second, it was a rough reminder of where I had gotten to with running in 2003-2004 and how far I subsequently fell. As far as I remember, I had no plans at the time to run NYC -- the one I was training for was in Vermont. So it was an unexpected gift to find these books in my basement. I flipped through the Idiot's guide and it really is an idiot's guide but I'll still skim it.

The Jeff Galloway book is a good one except his plan is so different than what I'm following. He's a huge advocate of walk/run, which I do to some extent because I take timed water breaks. Drinking while running is a talent that I simply don't have. Besides, for the time it takes me to drink it provides just enough relief to my heart, lungs, and legs that I am refreshed to keep going. Also, as a side note, my uncle ran NYC and he told me that at one point the water he was taking in wasn't emptying out of his stomach so he felt like crap the last 7 miles. He threw up at the finish line and immediately felt better. That's why I like to drink while I'm walking because the few times I've tried it while running I feel like I take in more air than water. Back to Galloway, his program is more like run 2 minutes, walk 30 seconds. That's too much math for me, to be honest. Many, many people successfully follow his program. I've been behind armies of them in bigger races and trust me, when someone's watch goes off for their 30-second walk break, they take it whether you're right behind them or not. Since they seem to travel in packs it just makes a huge wall that I've crashed into plenty of times. I could be biased but I have never seen a Gallowalker (that's what they're referred to in running circles) look behind them, move to the right, and THEN walk. Rant over.

The other thing about Galloway's marathon program is that he has you doing a 26-miler as your long run -- even as a beginner. I don't know of any other expert that advocates that. In fact, I just read an article on runnersworld.com discussing if slower runners (ie, me) should split up their long runs because the body is at risk for injury after 2.5 hours. The article was interesting but I could never split up my long run. If I stop, I'm done. I just want to get it over with. But anyway, I have no intention of doing a 26-miler before the marathon. So I'll glean what I can from his book and see what I can incorporate into my own training.

I only glanced at the NYC book but I think there will probably be a total of 6 pages that will be helpful, and those concern the best way to get to the start line and away from the finish line. I have my entry, I have my hotel room, I have a training program so I can skip those parts. There's an article on the NYC marathon website which I'll be posting excerpts from in the coming weeks that details the course borough by borough. It's a scary read, let me tell you. The writer makes no bones about the difficulty of the course. This book may get into stuff like that but the article I already read was so thorough.

By the way, my hair -- that I switched today's run to yesterday for -- came out great. This whole experience of the marathon is priceless but, on a shallow note, so is having a good hair day.

Juggling act

Second weekday run done. Barely. Some days you have it, some days you don't. I had 3 great runs in a row, it was bound to happen. I just had no energy at all this morning. I stuck it out though. And really, what a lousy run is now was a pretty decent one a few months ago. It's all good. Miles are miles.

I can't breathe a sigh of relief yet though. Normally I'd be thrilled to have both my weekday runs done and look forward to the weekend but this weekend is going to be tough. I'll be in NYC Friday and Saturday so I'm switching my long run to Sunday and doing a shorter run on Saturday. But to do that I'm going to have to get up around 5 because I need to be down at the meeting by 7 at the latest. I'm not looking forward to that.

The short runs on the schedule were 3, 4, and 3. Since I did 4 yesterday and 4 today I'm not going to try to be hero and do more on Saturday. I'll be lucky to have the time to do the 3. It's a taper week on the training schedule anyway, total mileage for the week is back down to 15 because next week it goes up again. I'll still be ahead if I get a decent long run in on Sunday but I know I'll be tired from the meeting. I'll probably do 8 and go back up to 10 next week. Next week is going to be rough too because I have to go to NJ twice because, of course, we can't have two meetings in the same day there, they need to be on different days. One meeting I can understand because it will be at least a half-day but the other one is only an hour. So pretty much 7 hours of travel for 1 meeting. Whatever. I'll manage somehow. I think a big part of marathon training is learning how to keep a lot of balls in the air and not drop too many.

What goes up must come down

This morning was my first pre-work run in over a week. Even though I got up early on vacation there wasn't the same kind of pressure to get it done within a fixed time frame in order to be to work on time. I had set my alarm but Daisy threw up this morning about 45 minutes before it went off so by the time I was reassured that she was okay I was completely awake. I think I'm going to try to do that from now on, get up earlier than I plan to run. I think part of the reason I hate running early so much is because I wake up and I don't give myself any time to adjust from sleep to doing an intense cardiovascular activity. I actually felt ready by the time I started this morning.

Today I decided to brave the outdoors. I ran outside last week in the heat on vacation, I figured it was time to do it at home. The only thing is that the loop near my house is just horrendous with hills. I mean, ridiculously hard. There's a running program online, I'll have to remember which one it is, where you can see the percent incline or decline and it's graded from green (flat) to red (super crazy incline). Before I got back into running I mapped out the route near my house and I saw a lot of red. That's probably what discouraged me from getting started for another couple of months. For as well as my running is going this route will never not be hard. Frankly, I dread it. I don't get rattled by my 10-milers on the weekend but this one really gets to me. However, if it's that hard and causes me that much agony then it's got to be a good thing to do, right? That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.

So I did it. I even tacked on a little mileage in the middle because I wanted to be over 4 miles and the loop, as it is, is only 3.2 miles or something like that. Not that it doesn't feel like twice that because of the hills but I'm trying to keep my mileage up. Maybe it's because it wasn't a million degrees this morning but it ended up being my best outside run yet -- hills and all. My pace was 10:57 which is definitely the best I've ever done on that route. I tried to get an elevation graph but there's something funky about the last hill that doesn't register. It shows how insanely steep it is in the beginning when I start but it doesn't bring me back to the same elevation when I finish. What goes down must come up, right? I do have my splits and, again, the change in feet is definitely wrong but the pace is correct.

I swear, getting in a run like this before work gives me more of a sense of accomplishment than my long runs at this point. I feel such relief when I follow through and do it before work. Now I just have to do tomorrow... Normally I'd do it on Thursday but I'm getting a keratin treatment tomorrow night and I won't be able to pull my hair back or wash it for 2 days. I'm dedicated to my training but you know, it's a hair thing. My battles with my hair are epic, this is almost a neccesity. ;)

Week 2 in the books

Vacation was great but there's nothing worse than that realization that after the laundry gets done it's back to regular life. I've successfully put work out of my mind until later today when I get my clothes ready for tomorrow. It's going to be a crappy week -- I have a meeting in NYC Friday and Saturday so I'm going to have to do my long run on Sunday which I hate doing. I like getting it over with on Saturday. Plus I'll be tired from the meeting. I can't dwell on that now though. I still have a beautiful Sunday ahead of me.

It was a good weekend for running. Yesterday I did 10.04 miles on the trail. My pace was a few seconds faster than my 8-miler last week so that's good. I love looking at a visual of my run, especially that altitude. There's times when I'm running and I feel like I'm running up a mountain but it's more like a speed bump. This really is a mountain! My pace (the blue) looks like an EKG. Those spikes are my timed water breaks.

I like looking at my splits too, I'm liking what I see from miles 4-8. I'm improving. I'll never be fast but I'm okay with that.

Today I did the treadmill for an hour and did pretty well, I got in 5.57 miles at a 10:40 pace. That sounds about right since the treadmill is easier than running outside so I should be a little faster. It's all building blocks anyway. A faster treadmill workout might help my outside pace by a few seconds -- a faster outside run will make me stronger on the treadmill.

My total mileage for the week was 24.81. Official training called for 16 so I'm happy with that. Hopefully I'll stay ahead of the schedule for another 4 weeks but after that I'll just be happy to keep up.

This heat wave needs to end. It's seriously too much.

Perfect end to a perfect vacation

Today is our last day on vacation, we go home tomorrow after breakfast. It's been a great vacation. It went by way too fast, of course, but it was relaxing and fun. I did some great shopping, had some great meals at the hotel, we went Sonic twice (although I guess I really didn't need to because happily one is open in CT as of yesterday and I loves me my tots and cherry limeade chiller), had a lot of laughs with the family, spent some quality time with my nephew, and had some nice afternoons reading in a big leather chair in the lobby.

I got in my last run I needed to do down here -- 4.39 miles. To be honest, I was grumpy when I got up this morning. It's just so counter-intuitive (for me, anyway, but I'm as lazy as they come) to get up early on vacation to go run in the disgusting humidity. But since it is counter-intuitive to me, it's even more important that I did it because I've been on plenty of vacations where it was the beginning of a long slide into bad habits. So I'm glad I did it, glad I went a little above the 3 miles the official training called for (I think it goes up to 4 next week), but I'm glad to be going back home and running in home territory. Saturday I plan to do 10, Sunday I hope to do 5.

This afternoon I had one of the best massages I've ever had. I would put this one second only to one I had in Panama where they came to my room with the massage table and I had 2 ladies working on me for 90 minutes (which I think cost all of $40). Today's massage was phenomenal. I love when you start out on your back because by the time you flip over and they work on your back everything else is already totally relaxed. She got right into some areas that have been a little sore, especially my feet. Exceptional. The perfect way to end an awesome vacation.

Oof

I got up this morning for vacation run #2. Oof. Apparently 3 martinis the night before isn't the best pre-run nutrition. Add that to some outrageous humidity and the vapors from the hotel repaving the parking lot -- not pleasant. I did it though. 4.81 miles. Up hills, down hills, leaping over roadkill, I think I covered it all this morning. I wasn't very happy when I was doing it but I'm glad I got it done. Official training called for 3 today and the thought occurred to me to just stop at 3 and be done with it but I thought that would be going too easy on myself. I'm glad I pushed a little harder. I'm eating like I'm on vacation so for that fact alone I should go the extra mile. But that's what vacations are for.

Tomorrow would normally be a strength day but that was my deal with myself, I'd take off a few days this week on vacation as long as I got my runs in. The fitness center is tiny anyway. No free weights and I did a set of all the upper body exercises on their universal machine the first day and I didn't like it. I enjoy free weights so much better.

Today we're going to the candle factory and a few other places. I'm reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and I must be the only person in the world who doesn't think it's the greatest book. I'm not that far into it but it's just not grabbing me. I hope it picks up because at this point I'm just reading it because everyone else is.

Week 1 in the bag

17 weeks to go...

Overall, it was a good week. My before work runs have come down in pace. My long run, although shorter than the last 2 weeks, was really strong. Today -- ON VACATION -- I got up at 7 and ran around the hotel property. It was boring because I did the same loop 3 times for a total of 4.3 miles but at least I did it. It was important that I get it in and finish my first official training week on a good note and I feel like I did. It's super hot and very humid. I went through 16 ounces of water in 4 miles and I can usually make 12 ounces last 10 miles. I felt winded but I think that's the air quality getting to me. My total mileage for the week was 22.48 and that's where I'd like to be for a lower mileage week. Next week's official mileage is 17 and I'd like to hit 24ish. Stay strong, that's the goal.

After my run I enjoyed a great vacation day -- the candy and pretzel factories, SONIC, the mall, and a nice swim. The nice thing about getting the run out of the way in the morning was I could enjoy my day guilt free. Tomorrow is my rest day (yay!) and I'll hit it again on Tuesday.

Kohl's Saves the Day (Again)

My warm weather running gear problem has been solved. I picked up some awesome Nike lightweight capri-length tights and they were on CLEARANCE for $18 plus I had a coupon (because, really, when do you NOT have a coupon for Kohl's?) so I think the final price was around $16. They are perfect in every way -- lightweight, moisture-wicking, mesh inserts behind the knees, stylish, perfect length hitting right below my knee, and even a little zip pocket in the back for a car key or ipod. AND -- they had 3 pairs in my size on the clearance rack. That's unheard of! I bought all 3 pairs. I love them so much I will even handwash them and not throw them in the dryer like I do with all my other workout stuff. I haven't even tried on the pair I got from Roadrunner Sports because I can already tell I love these way more. Hallelujah. Problem solved. They're so awesome they deserve a picture.

I did my long run today instead of tomorrow because we're leaving for vacation this weekend. Since I did 10 miles 2 weeks in a row I had decided to cut back to 8 this week, go back up to 10 next week, and go for 12 the following week. Official training only had me at 6 this week so I'm good as far as that goes. It was super hot, although not as hot as it has been, and I felt every freaking inch of the incline on the trail. My GPS got all wacky on me today but I'm pretty sure it's a little over a 300 foot climb over 4 miles. But what goes up must come down and that's what I kept telling myself on the first half of the run. Even with the heat I had a really good run, my pace for 8 miles was 11:09/mile. I'll have to check but I think that's my best pace so far for a trail run and given this heat (it was 85 when I finished) I think that's pretty awesome. It just goes to show you that some times you have a real crappy run like last week and then it gets balanced out with a good one like today. My pace is trending downward, even with last week's disappointment, and that's all I can ask for. Also, staggering the length of my long runs is proving to be effective -- by doing 10 hard miles the last 2 weeks my 8 miles this week was stronger than it's ever been. That's the way the program is designed, you go up on distance for your long run for 2 weeks in a row, then cut back, then move up again. It really does make you a stronger runner in the end and just having that mental break of weeks with a shorter long run helps so much.

I'll be on vacation next week but the runs will get done. They need to, next week is already week 2 of the training!

OOH-RAH!!!

Yesterday I talked about the good pressure I have to do this race because all my family and friends know about it. Today, the pressure heated up a little more because I got a call from HARVEY WALDEN!

A few months ago he had posted on his FB page that he was willing to coach people online in their fitness and weight loss goals. It was 50 bucks for the year and I thought, why not? I've always enjoyed watching him and I respect his discipline and attitude. A got a few emails from him which thrilled me to no end and then today -- PHONE CALL!

He was super nice and gave me a lot of good advice about running in general and the marathon. We talked for about 15 minutes and he said we'll be talking again soon. I was a little giggly talking with him but, for the most part, it was a really natural conversation! I am so honored that he called me. He said "we'll get the mission accomplished" and he told me not to worry, that I'm going to finish the marathon like it was nothing.

How awesome is that?! How often does a celebrity trainer call you at home?

If I thought I felt pressure before to get this done, imagine how I feel now? Harvey-freaking-Walden is expecting me to finish and finish strong. I am so pumped up! I'm going to get the danged thing done!

Well, consider me honored!

My blog is about 2 months old and my friend Sarah has bestowed upon me the Sugar Doll award! Isn't that cool?

So, in order to fulfill my award status, I need to do the following:

• Thank the person who awarded me: Thank you, girl! I'm a faithful reader and you always inspire me. We've known each other a long time even though we've never met and it never ceases to amaze me how parallel our journeys have been.
• Link to Sarah's blog: go check it out!
• Share 10 things about myself: since this is a NYC marathon blog I'm going to make my 10 about the race.

1. This will be my first marathon but it's not my first time at the rodeo. I unsuccessfully trained for a marathon in 2004. I got as far as getting in two 20-milers in and decided the week of the race to not do it. We had found out that week that my husband had a heart condition (which has now been fixed, thank goodness) and I used that as an excuse not to go but to be honest, if I felt better prepared emotionally and physically nothing would have stopped me from doing that race. I look back and it's one of my biggest regrets but that experience I think is helping me this time around. I am following the beginner program for a reason -- the two 20-milers (and I had a 3rd scheduled) was way too much for me. If the race had been 2 weeks after my first 20-miler, which went awesome, I would have been fine. The wear and tear on my body getting the 2nd in put me in a bad place. Doing NYC will be my redemption and I will hopefully finally erase that feeling of failure that I've carried all these years.


2. Yes, I did get the idea to do this for the North Shore Animal League from Beth Ostrosky Stern when she did it a few years ago. I listened to Howard daily and heard a lot of the details of her training. What can I say? She inspired me. The day of the marathon I went online to see what her finishing time was and I was happy for her. When I didn't get into the regular lottery for NYC this year I went to the NSAL website and saw that they were accepting applications to run the marathon I jumped on it. I had to wait about 2 weeks before I knew I was accepted and I was so nervous. I don't think I've ever wanted anything worse since I was a kid. When I got the email notifying me of my acceptance on the team I cried. There are other charities I could have run for, there's still some taking runners, but if I was going to go this distance and do it for a charity it had to be for animals.


3. My least favorite day of the year is when we move the clocks ahead. Conversely, my favorite day of the year is when we set them back. This year we set the clocks back the night before the marathon. I'm seeing that as a very good sign. Not that I'll get any sleep anyway but when I get up at 4 am that morning it will really be like 5 am. Love that.


4. I already know that I have absolutely no idea what I'm in for -- not the training, but the race itself. It has been described as a race like no other and the people I know who have done it all agree. I have no idea what it's going to be like to be part of a crowd of 40,000 (my largest race was the Disney 1/2 marathon and that was only 15,000) and to run through the 5 boroughs of New York City. I've run lots of races in other states, even other countries, and as long as the course is marked and there are people to follow, not knowing the route or the area never bothered me. Somehow, I feel like this is going to be way different. It's amazing and terrifying at the same time.


5. I always run with music but when I get to the really long run stage of my training I'm going to try to do what I did last time and run for at least the first hour without it. It's agonizing the first mile but -- if it works like it did the last time -- I can usually clear my mind and just run like a machine and the time goes by incredibly fast. When I do add music it's like starting a whole new run. I plan on putting together a great playlist for the marathon with lots of NY-themed songs in it, especially Empire State of Mind, from which this blog was named.


6. I don't have any tattoos but I always said that if I ever ran a full marathon that I'd get one. I'm not sure that I'll follow through but my plan all these years was to get a small star on the bottom of my foot with "26.2" in the center. The irony would be, of course, if my foot got horribly infected from the tattoo and I'd never be able to run again but I won't think about that for now. I may decide after the race that the memories and the medal are enough but, yeah, I think the only event ever worth immortalizing on my body would be finishing a marathon.


7. My husband is my greatest supporter. He knows how much this means to me and his belief that I can do this means the world. I'm not sure if he knows what he's in for -- by the end of my training I'll be cranky, tired, and completely focused on myself and the race -- but I know that he'll be there for me. When I cross that finish line my victory will be mine and for the animals my fundraising will help but his love and support will be what got me there.


8. I am vain and I will be pissed if my race photos do not come out well. They usually never do, so it wouldn't be a surprise, but I feel like I'm owed a good picture for once. My race photos usually fall into 3 categories: I look like I'm about to kill someone, my tongue is sticking out, or I look fat. When I run, I usually am happy so I don't know why I always look so angry. I honestly NEVER am aware that my tongue is sticking out but I have photo after photo documenting that I do. As far as looking fat, I've taken pictures before a race and after a race and I always look so much bigger in the official photos. Bad angle? I don't know. But, for once, I would like a frame-worthy photo.


9. I am using this race as an excuse to get monthly (and, by the end, bi-weekly) massages. I'm justifying it under "injury prevention" but truthfully I just want them. Why should the elite runners get all the fun?


10. I am terrified I will fail. I am actually relieved to have the added pressure of not letting my fundraising supporters down because I don't want them to feel I duped them into giving money to a charity and not following through on my part. Because I failed once before, this fear is all too forefront in my mind. Having friends and family to account to is a big motivator. I'm used to letting myself down, I've done it my whole life, but I don't like to let other people down, especially ones who have believed in me enough to fork over their hard-earned dollars for this cause. I will crawl to the finish line if I have to. If I screw up on my training I will still line up with the 40,000 other starters and do what I have to do to get through it. I've made excuses before, gone too easy on myself before, but I don't have that option this time around. And I'm glad.

And the 18 week countdown begins...

This is it! I'm now in the 18-week countdown for the marathon. Some training programs are 15 weeks, some are 26, but the one I chose is an 18-week one and now I'm actually in it. I am following this program with one modification: he suggests running Tues, Wed, and Thurs with a cross-training day on Sunday. I'm doing 2 weekday runs and replacing the cross-training day on Sunday with a run. I figure it's the same thing -- the idea is to run on tired legs whether it's 3 in a row or coming after a long run. It's just easier for me to get in that 4th run on Sunday rather than try to get another one in on a weekday.

Toward the end of the training I'm going to have to make some allowances for those longer mid-week runs, like the ones 8 and over, but I'll find a way to do it. If I come in an hour late to work I'll just work through lunch or stay late. Everyone seems reasonable at my job and it's not a permanent thing, this will all be done by November.

Today I got in my run before work. For now, every time I do it I'm pretty amazed with myself. I'm hoping it becomes something more natural and not something I am shocked by. Official program called for 3, I got in 4.58. I don't really see the need to back off on my weekday runs if I'm already used to doing that mileage. The increased mileage will hit me soon enough so I'm going to enjoy just doing what I've been doing without really having to think too much about how much harder it's going to be.

My pace this morning was better than last week: 10:55/mile. I was miserable the first 20 minutes but I felt pretty normal the last half of the run. Eventually I'll push a little harder on pace but for now just getting through these early AM runs are an accomplishment. I thank God for air conditioning though...there was no way I would have been able to do my run outside today, even at 6:30. My basement isn't air conditioned and it's kind of humid down there but it's nothing compared to what it would have been like outside so I am very appreciative of a cool house and a treadmill.

Oh, and running shorts are not my friend. I bought some to run in at home since it's so hot and while I thought they looked pretty good I just don't know how they stay in place on anyone. I was pulling on them the whole time. They weren't horrible to run in but I think I prefer capris. I just ordered some lightweight ones that looked cute, hopefully they'll work out.

What a difference a day makes

Today was a MUCH better run -- no headache! I planned to only do 50 minutes but at the 30-minute mark I was feeling exceptional so I did the full 60: 5.58 miles, 10:45/mile pace. I am really happy how well my Sunday runs are going coming on the heels of my Saturday long runs. I would think that I'd be sore and sluggish but my best runs have been coming on Sundays. I seem to be stronger and faster.

It ended up being a really good week: 25.55 miles. Tomorrow starts the 18-week countdown! Right now I'm about where I'll be at the end of Week 6. If I was following a more aggressive training program I'd be heading into some really long runs right off the bat but I'm sticking with the beginner program. Hopefully that will allow me to work on pace and endurance at the same time without pushing myself too hard. I have no time for injuries or burnout. I think this is the right way to go.

I got in 6 workouts this week: 4 runs and 2 strength workouts. I enjoy the weeks where I can get in all 6. With my new job that's not always going to be the case and it requires 4 of my workouts to be pre-work ones. That's going to take a lot of discipline on my part. This week I already know it will be 5 workouts because I have my day in Stamford and then we leave for vacation this weekend. For vacation I'm only putting pressure on myself to get my runs in and I'll take the week off from strength. It seems like a fair compromise. I have a feeling I'm going to be making a lot of deals with myself over the next 18 weeks...

Kicking it old school

I've finally accepted that there is no cute solution to keeping my hair out of my face when I'm running. I've tried pigtails, My hair is layered so a ponytail won't work, so lately I've been doing the ponytail and a thin elastic headband. I end up fighting with the headband the whole time because it's too thin to stay in place but when I've tried thicker elastic ones they're uncomfortable. I don't want to do a hat because my head gets too hot as it is and I wouldn't be caught dead in a visor. So what's a girl to do besides shave my head (which I've thought about on many a sweaty run).

My solution? I'm bringing back the old-school John McEnroe-style terrycloth sweatband. Yes. It's come to that. It may not be my best look but I did not mess with my hair once today. Now that I'm making it my thing I'm going to look for some real old school ones, like those rainbow striped ones from the 70s. Might as well own the look.

Today's run started out excellent. I was feeling strong and doing well about mile 7. Then, out of nowhere, I felt blackout tired. I'm used to having waves of fatigue but they usually pass. This was different. Then I realized that the unthinkable was happening -- I was getting a migraine. I haven't had one in over a year but the signs for me are unmistakable: the feeling I'm about to drop, the circles in my vision, and the tightness in my chest. It's horrible. I realized that I had been looking down while I was running and since it was a super sunny day all the patches of sunlight on the ground coming through the trees was too much on my eyes and sending me quickly into migraine territory. That was a first for me, I've never had that happen on a run before. I didn't even know how my legs were still moving because my head felt completely disconnected from my body.

I was in a remote part of the trail and I kept telling myself to get to a more traveled part in case I needed help. It never occurred to me that if I was really in trouble I had my phone but my brain was shutting down. I decided to walk for a little thinking that if my heart rate came down maybe that would help relieve the pressure in my head. It seemed to work, after 5 or 6 minutes I felt okay. As soon as I started running the lights on the ground were moving faster and I felt just as bad.

On the trail I have to look down because there's so many rocks that could take my ankle out and dips from water runoff. I had to force myself to keep my eyes on the horizon but I was worried that I'd trip on something. I was upset that a potentially awesome run got completely derailed but even though the last 3 miles were agonizing my overall pace was around 11:47 for 10.12 miles. A month ago that would have been a great pace for me so if there's something good to take away from today, it's that I am making progress on my pace.

I don't know what to do next time. I really don't want to wear sunglasses. I finally solved the hair problem (unless it was my John McEnroe headband that caused my migraine by squeezing my brain) so having yet one more accessory to fall off, slip around, and be a giant pain in the butt is not something I am looking to take on. As it is, I fight with my headphones the whole time and I have the ones that hook over the ears. I already run with a pack for my phone, license, iphone, and sport beans. I have to run with a water bottle (which was also a disaster today, I ran out of water 2 miles before I finished and it was freaking HOT). How much other crap am I supposed to carry? I'll just have to hope that most of my runs are overcast. Ugh.

All and all, a good long run. Next week I'll go 8 since I did 10 for 2 weeks in a row, then I'll try to push it up to 11 or 12. I'm still 6 weeks ahead the training schedule for the long run. It's going to catch up FAST in August though.

Here's me in my McEnroe sweatband and a migraine after my 10 miles in the sun. I think I'm rocking the look! HAHA!

Kelly: 2, Sleeping in: 0

I did it! I got up and ran again today getting my 2nd weekday run in. I think today was harder than yesterday, maybe because I knew what to expect. I had already decided that today would be the shorter of my weekday runs. I wasn't quite ready to do the hill course from hell so I opted for the treadmill for 50 minutes. I felt kind of crummy the whole time but I managed to get in 4.46 miles. Again, a little slower than I'd like but hopefully that will balance out in time once I acclimate to running in the morning.

Last night this book came in the mail. I was so excited to get it! I was going to start reading it on vacation next week but I think I might hold off until I get closer to the marathon. It sounds so inspiring and hopefully gets into the nitty gritty of the course. I think if I read it now I might psyche myself out a little. I think I'll wait until my training gets to the grueling stage and I need a boost.

I plan on doing 8-10 miles on Saturday, depending on how I feel, and 4-5 on Sunday. I'm still way ahead of the curve for the training schedule and I should end up with a good mileage week.