NYC on my mind.

I'm not sure what it is, but this morning, I'm yearning for NYC. Perhaps it's the much needed rest week allowing my body and mind to return from being close to the breaking point in training, or the newly adopted 'clean and healthy' diet for the next 5 weeks making me a bit cray-cray, but this morning, I can't get NYC out of my mind.

I miss my closet-sized bedroom.
I miss the satisfaction of climbing 4-floors with my bike to get to my front door.
I miss the view and sounds out of my window.
I miss sunrise park rides.
I miss the bridle path, water fountains, and bathrooms in Central Park.
I miss the pizza place around the corner.
I miss really good Indian food being delivered in 10 minutes.
I even miss the M15 bus.

I love DC. I love the friends I've made, the guy by my side, and being able to spend 7 blissful days at the beach with my family. But some days, NYC pulls at my heart.

Inspiration

After a craptastic, freezing morning run, the streets of NYC provide a daily dose of inspiration.

Weekend in Pictures

This weekend is best told through pictures.

After my last long brick on Saturday, I finally was able to use a gift certificate for a massage I have been saving up. While it was heaven, and I plan to go back Wednesday before hopping on a plane down to Tampa, I'm not sure she believed me when I told her I had sensitive skin...


After laying around for a bit , I motivated to do me some baking. Cake Balls for the boy. Sounds easy, right?



Well, I would not say these were a TOTAL disaster, but they were close (as you can maybe tell from the finished product). I learned a few lessons:

1. If a recipe calls for 1 box of cake mix + 1 can of frosting, eating chunks of said cake will mess up the ratio.

2. Cake Balls should be bite size. I got about 30 balls, when I was supposed to make 50+. I guess my bite-size is larger than most?

3. Too large cake balls (see #2), result in longer than necessary cooling time prior to the chocolate dip.

So I ended up with about 12 'usable' Cake Balls after an utter disaster of a dipping process. And even the ones that were presentable weren't the tasty treats I was hoping. I think I will just need to play with the amount of frosting to perfect this recipe, and learn to be more patient (however, I've been working on that for 27 years).

Sunday called for one last run and then some major cheering, celebrating and overall loving of NYC on Marathon Sunday.

Daily (walking to work) Inspiration

Marathon Maddness

The electricity of marathon week is officially in town. From the finish line bleachers under construction at 6am this morning, to the groups of international runners taking group photos at the Reservoir yesterday morning - it's the best time of year in the park. There is an energy that you can feel and carries you through your runs.

Although I have missed the training over the past few months, I have no regrets to not be participating in this year - for the first time ever I actually get to be a spectator and am REALLY excited. My first two years living in NYC I was out of town for work marathon weekend, and I ran the past two years, so I am really looking forward to taking my camera and parking my butt somewhere on 5th or behind the Met and cheering on the masses.

My favorite sign I have seen so far :

On the training front, for the first time in a while, I actually feel like I'm training again with my head in the game. I'm in the water every day this week and my swim feels great, and I hit some 800s at a pace I didn't know was in me this morning, so things are looking up. Now I just need to get out of the freezing, dark mornings and to the Florida sun!!

"If I didn't live in NYC..."

I love this city I have called home for almost the past 5 years, but there are just some days I find myself daydreaming about all the things I could/would do if I didn't live in this damned city.

Yes, the obvious things, such as car/house/yard/dog all pop into mind, but it's the little things that I find myself longing for more often:

1. A Kitchen Aide Mixer. I love to bake. Almost no one knows this about me, because we have about 1.23 inches of counter space in our lovely kitchen.

via

2. Pretty non-practical shoes. My daily commute, WHICH I LOVE, includes roughly 2 miles of walking *unless the bus comes or it's raining or I ran 10 miles that morning*, but it doesn't lend itself to cute shoes: of the heeled or flat, non-supportive variety.

via - um hello, these are CROCS!?

via

3. A grill. A monster one. If I had a grill, I think I would do a majority of my cooking outdoors.

via

4. A TRUNK! Now, this may seem silly, but to a multisport athlete trying to fit multiple workouts in during the day all over the city, you end up carrying your life around in a bag.

What I wouldn't give sometimes for a trunk, or backseat, just throw all the extra stuff: the running shoes, the bike shoes, that extra pair of googles, my make up bag, etc etc, the list goes on. Too many mornings I am left with one sock,two left shoes, and no googles.

OK, maybe I am channeling my 'dream car' want into this item, as well :)

NYC Love

The first two buildings I lived in in New York had coin laundry in the building. Finding time and change to do a few loads a week was never a problem.

With my most recent move, I am now in a building sans laundry. The first few months, I was good about keeping up with a once-weekly laundromat visit - there is one only about a block and a half away. But, I'm lazy. And busy. And really, the last thing I want to do on the weekend is spend a few hours in the laundry mat. So I finally caved recently and began to do the 'drop-off'.

I'm not sure if this exists anywhere else in the world, but in New York, there are about 2-4 cleaners on each block that you can pay, per pound, to wash and fold your clothes. I was a bit skeptical at first, however once I learned the 'system' I am a total believer - and it actually ends up not being that much more $$ than the laundromat.

The tricks:

1. Pick one cleaner, get to know them. They will remember and recognize you - it makes a difference.
2. Use your own detergent. I bought a good smelling and trusted detergent and keep it at the cleaners, and now that they know me (see #1), they use my detergent, so my laundry comes back to me smelling lavender-fields fresh.
3. They don't have to dry everything. This was my major hang up about someone else doing my laundry- I don't dry my delicates and most of my workout gear. So I figured I would have to keep going to the laundromat to do these pieces. NOPE! I just put them in a separate bag and when I pick my stuff up, my workout gear, bras and sweaters are on hangers, waiting for me.

But the BEST part about this system??? How lovely and wonderfully perfect your clothes are folded- even your socks and underwears :)

NYC Madness.

It's craziness like this that makes me wonder if I could ever live anywhere else....


Saw this live, in person yesterday about 4pm:

via

And last night's storm, starting around 10ish, was seriously the most intense thunder/lightning I have ever heard in my life. I guess it moved up the Hudson, which is about 800 meters from my window. It caused the most tree damage in Central Park in 30 years, blocking some of the roads/trials. It's a good thing I slept through my alarm :)

via- taken about 10 blocks from my apartment.

Ch-ch-changes...

I have officially made a rash and not-thought-out decision, subletted my apartment for a year and will be moving across town. With all the travel on my schedule in the coming months, I could no longer justify the space and amount of my rent. I also just needed a change of scenery.

Nothing to make you feel like a black sheep like moving in with two speedy chicas who have qualified for Kona...

Something to be happy about!

February 25, 2009

Congratulations SARAH!

You're eligible for guaranteed entry to the most spectacular marathon in the world, the ING New York City Marathon 2009, on Sunday, November 1. To claim your guaranteed entry, you must apply.

So excited to kick my own 2008's ass!

What's with my street?

Walked out my door at 8am this morning to a group of maybe 20 cops, standing around, shooting the proverbial shit.

What was going on? I wondered... Looked around and no one, neither cops nor my neighbors, seemed to be very worried.


But then I saw Detectives Benson and Stabler and realized everyone was in safe hands and things were obviously under control.



I LOVE Law and Order: SVU. I could watch it all day long. In fact, I am sure I have watched it all day long, probably on TNT or TBS on some holiday with my father.

I'm not sure what is up with my street. I did read an article about how some TV/Movie Execs live in the building on the corner, so they have some 'pull' about shooting [why you would want to 'pull' shooting to your street, making street parking impossible and blocking traffic, I am not sure]. But in the past year or so, the following has been shot on my street:

Baby Mama
Gossip Girl
Lipstick Jungle
SVU

The truth is, Law and Order is really shot all over the city, so it's no surprise to see them show up. I asked a 'cop' what they were shooting this morning, and his response was


"I'm not exactly sure, but it's a murder scene and apparently this street has GREAT dark alleys."

Good to know.

NYC Marathon 2008- Very much Fun.

Mile 21 - 10:23
Mile 22/23 - 10:43 (3rd Gu I think)

Back into Manhattan and onto 5th Avenue. It's funny, during my training run on the end of the course, I figured climbing back up 5th with the park in the distance would be the hardest part of my day. Little did I know, it would turn out to the best! I picked up the pace, which became amazingly simple as soon as I got out of my own head. I felt completely comfortable and probably could have picked it up more, but I figured at this point, I just wanted to enjoy the rest of my day. I even started to pass people. I cheered greetings to the South Africans I passed in Zulu and Xhosa, and realized that THIS was what the day was about.

In my pity party, I had not taken a Gu, so I took a Gu around Mile 22 I think. I had started to drink Gatorade during my walks, so I was worried how it may react with the Gu, as I usually stay away from the sweet drinks on my long runs, but it turned out fine.

Around this time as well, the 4:15 pace group passed me. I briefly considered trying to hang with them until the end, trying to make up the minutes spent chatting it up and feeling sorry for myself on 1st. But I reminded myself that not only did I NOT have a time goal, I had told myself before the race started, that if I wasn't going to break 4 hours, there was no difference between a 4:03, a 4:14 or a 4:20. If 4 hours wasn't in the cards, then I was going to enjoy my day, stop on 1st, visit with my friends, and soak it all up. Ok, so fine, maybe that IS having a time goal, but it's sort of having one, without having one, right??

At 110th, I knew I was only 1 mile from the park. I knew I was going to see my friends again, and I knew I was going to make it. This picture, between miles 23 and 24 and one of my new favorites, sums up how I was feeling at that moment (thanks to Bob for his amazing pictures, as always!).

Mile 24 - 10:41

Mile 25 - 10:12

Mile 26 - 10:14

I knew once I was in the park I was going to be fine. My crazy friends were hours into their Mimosas, hanging out behind the MET, and I am not sure if they have ever been so happy to see me. I am also not sure if they had the tambourines out when I saw them on 1st, but they were not to be missed in the Park!! I think they were a little insulted I didn't stop, but I was on a mission.

I was a bit worried about the downhill at Cat Hill and how my hip would take it, but at that point, I actually don't think I could feel my legs at all. I was running on pure emotion and adrenaline. Running under the mile 25 banner was the most amazing feeling ever (although it did come with the always present smell of horse sh!t at that corner in Central Park. You think they could do something about that on Marathon weekend, no?)


I missed seeing my best friend from college on Central Park South, and resisted the urge to speed up at the end. There was no need at this point- I wanted to take it all in (however, looking at my splits, I guess I DID speed up). I knew there was a final little climb to the finish, but best of all my friends who had seats in the finish area spotted me and yelled like crazy and I saw them! I knew they had VIP seats, but didn't think I was going to be able to see them.

My non-human friend who just finished KONA a few weeks ago, and is insane, also ran NYC (and a 10 minute PR, crazy lady) and was able to make it back to the finish area to cheer me across the finish. It meant so much to see her.

I honestly don't remember much about crossing the line, just a complete rush of emotion and the incredible urge to sob. Not out of happiness or sadness, just out of pure emotion. I resisted, as I figured that may have been quite embarrassing, and then focused my attention on the new task at hand: How to get from the finish area to beer as quickly as possible.:

Mission accomplished.

Pics around mile 19.

Able to put together some pretty convincing smiles and waves at about mile 19.5

And this is my friend telling me there are 6 miles left, at Mile 18.  Pure joy before I realize her mistake.

NYC Marathon 2008- Not so Fun

Mile 11/12 - 19:09 (9:35 pace, 2nd Gu)

Mile 13 - 9:43

Mile 14 - 10:19

Mile 15 - 10:59 Queensboro Bridge

This is where the melt down began, and became complete.  I am racking my brain to remember, but I have no idea what happened between miles 12 and 13.  I was still feeling fine physically.  I was actually excited- at 20k, I knew I was right on pace for a 1:57/1:58ish half and was elated at how little effort it had taken.  However, something happened between 20 and 21k.

I just don't remember WHAT.

My hip hurt, but it has been hurting all day. I just got a similar feeling to my last half marathon- I just wanted to stop.  Then I got down on myself for wanting to stop.  Then I started thinking about excuses for stopping.  Then I got more angry with myself.  And my pace began to slow.

I made a deal with myself around mile 14.  I would run to my friends, who were planning on cheering at mile 15, right before the turn onto the Queensboro Bridge.  I would let myself stop and chat with them, stretch a bit and regroup before the bridge.  It was a great deal.  Until I didn't see them.  Apparently, they saw me, but I didn't see them, and I think this is where the mental breakdown was  just about complete and took over my body.  I knew the rest of my friends were waiting between miles 18-19, but that seemed to be an eternity away.

The Queensboro Bridge was the longest, loneliest and most painful mile of my life (wow, that sounds dramatic, but I've only been running for 4 years, so I think it's actually possible).  The climb seemed to go on forever, it was so quiet and I began to talk myself into quitting.  I told myself I would run until I saw my friends at 78th Street, then I would stop.  I looked forward to the crest of the bridge so I could use the downhill as a little break.  Yea, right.  The downhill of the Queensboro Bridge hurt my hip more than anything all day, and I had to settle for a hobble/ walk down the bridge into Manhattan.  I was totally out of it.  This was supposed to be the best part of the day, making the turn into Manhattan and running up First Ave.  And all I wanted to do was stop.  So I did....

Mile 16 - 11:07

Mile 17 - 11:04 

Mile 18 - 11:31

Mile 19 - 11:42

Mile 20 - 11:30

...At the Medical Tent located right after the Bridge, on 59th street I think.  I asked for Tylenol (I had a friend waiting with Tylenol at Mile 19.  In retrospect, I should have carried my own and taken it right when the breakdown started, if not before).  The medic gave me ONE Tylenol.  Said I could only have one.  I responded 

"How do I quit this thing?"

He informed me that there were buses right at 60th that would transport me to the finish.  I told him, no, I wanted to quit around 80th street, were there buses there?  He laughed and sent me on my way.

I knew I had 1 mile to my friends.  At 78th Street I didn't see them.  There was a water stop, porta potties, but no friends.  I didn't need water, I didn't need to go to the bathroom- I needed to see my friends, and they weren't there.  I almost totally lost it.  One group of friends were between 79th and 80th- They screamed my name and I have never been so relieved.  I could now quit.  Ha.

Not so much.  I couldn't even look at them without tears welling up (as they do now).  I was so disappointed in myself (which is CRAZY bc I at this point I really hadn't even slowed down that much!  so amazing how mental this as well, looking back).  They reminded me of the hard work I had put  in,  and that it was supposed to hurt.  They said I was doing so well (ha b/c the athlete alert was delayed and they were still getting my sub 9 splits, bless their hearts!) 

Another group of friends were about a half block north.  This is my friend who I went down to MCM last weekend with.  I cried more.  She offered me a mimosa.  I declined.  They all looked SO happy to see me and SO excited for me, and all I felt was that I was disappointing them.  And there was a barrier between the sidewalk and the street, and I couldn't get out.  So I kept on running.

More friends at 92nd.  I stopped and chatted.  This was around Mile 18.  One friend shouted "You've only got 6 left!"  This made me think for a moment I could still get under 4 hours.  Then I wanted to kill her.  She apologized later, even though I had forgotten :)

More friends around 100th.  I stopped and walked at this point and took two more Tylenol.  At this point I think I finally realized I was going to finish.   

At Mile 20, you cross the Willis Ave Bridge (or something like that), and are in the Bronx for about a mile.  On the end of the bridge, while I was still busy feeling sorry for myself and not focusing on running, I tripped and almost face planted.  I scared the shit out of myself and caught my fall with my bad leg.  This FREAKED me out and I had to stop and take a few deep breaths.  I was worried I may have hurt my leg.  But this almost seemed to snap me out of my funk, as well.  

I realized "What the hell am I doing?!"   I was missing it.  All this time, all this training, and I was MISSING IT.  For the next mile I talked myself into running the rest of the miles, only walking at water stops.  I found a comfortable pace, with no need to push it at this point, and focused on finishing mile 20, getting back into Manhattan and into Central Park.

Love it.

Official Time

5K Time

10K Time

15K Time

20K Time

1/2 Mar. Time

25K Time

30K Time

35K Time

40K Time

Pace/ Mile

4:22:05

0:27:06

0:54:46

1:23:30

1:52:57

1:59:37

2:25:56

3:01:31

3:35:36

4:08:06

0:10:00

Probably close to the ugliest way to get exactly a 10 min/mile pace :)  Very proud.

I was happy, comfortable and having fun through 20k, would have gone through half in about 1:57 to give me a bit of a cushion to get under 4, and I honestly can't figure out what happened right at 20k.  I just lost it mentally.  

I probably spent at least 5 minutes on First Ave talking with friends, as the convinced to me keep going.   

Gathered myself around 30-35k and was able to enjoy the last hour and finish strong and with a smile.

After I digest, will write a more detailed report of the day.  It's hard to be SO SO HAPPY and a bit disappointed at the same time.  Just trying to wrap my head around and understand what happened.

Quickly.

Because I smell and really need to shower. Then go back to the bar.

It was fun. More fun than not fun, so fun wins. The first hour and 50 minutes were great. The last hour was fun, too.

Not sure what happened between 13-20. I guess my wall came a little earlier than most people? I am proud to say that even though there was lots of walking, some crying, I didn't quit, as I had planned. I even asked the med tent at mile 15 "How do I quit this thing?" He gave me ONE Tylenol and told me to keep going....yea buddy, that's really gonna help :)

My hip hurt the entire way. The downhills KILLED it.

Am elated to have finished, sorta bummed that I cracked mentally and took that it took me so long to get it back together, especially bc I was in the worst of it on 1st, where I should have had the most fun. But hey, it was my first try, right?


More later, when we can laugh together at my splits, with color commentary, of course!

Hands Down: The best weekend in NYC.

It's official. Picked up my number, spent way too much at the Expo, got my dad a t-shirt: this means I have to finish. How else can I wear my new snazzy, sparkly 'I run this city 2008' T-shirt??

The official T-shirt is quite appropriate. The front reads:

"What does it take? HEART POUNDING DEDICATION"


The weather is supposed to be perfect (knock on wood): 51 and partly cloudy. As of now, I am wearing shorts and a long sleeve. Oh, and zebra stripe gloves until I warm up. I have throw-away sweats for the loooonnnnng wait in the corrals before the start.

I'm as ready as I can be. My biggest fear? I am going to cry through the entire thing. Not from pain (well, maybe from pain in the last miles), but from pure emotion.


The buzz in the city has started. All over, you see people carrying their expo bags with the excitement written on their face. Riding home on the subway from the expo last night I spent the entire ride talking with other runners who are either running this year or have run in the past. The number one piece of advice- don't get so caught up you don't enjoy the experience. DONE!

It's funny, marathon weekend, in my opinion, is always the best weekend in the city. Especially last year when we got to watch the Men's Olympic Trials the day before. However, actually running makes it all the more special and you see so much more.

This afternoon, I am skipping out of work early and going to see "Run for your Life" It is a movie about Fred Lebow, the 'father' of the NYC Marathon, and the creation of the marathon into what it is today. It is playing in special release in the city and was released on DVD as well for the expo. I will probably cry through this, as well.



I FINALLY had a good run on Wednesday, did the 2nd mile under 8 minutes (whoops). Legs feel almost 100%- this running-taper thing is CRAZY! Hip is still nagging a bit, but it is what it is.


And let's be honest- did you really think I wasn't going to wear my watch!? :)

Home Sweet NYC

My I-pod shuffle chose to stay in Durban.  With this view, I don't blame it.

After an incident free two weeks in South Africa, it only took 5 minutes in a NYC Cab to get into a car accident.  And have the driver blame me.  And then have him bitch when I refused to tip him for trying to give me whiplash.  Home sweet NYC.

But a music-free, car-free, perfect weather marathon pace run in the park welcomed me back with open arms- especially after 10 days on the treadmill.  That machine messes with my mind and confidence, but I'm ready.  Excited for the half in two weeks, and getting there with the marathon.

Excuse me while I find anything else to do to fight the urge to go to sleep.  I could unpack, but that is just WAY too obvious.

The noise from above.

I have no right to complain. I live in a huge, rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. Sure, my rent is still more than my parent's mortgage and could probably buy me a nice little house most places in the world. But my rent is about half of the market value for the size of my apartment. Yes, I'm a lucky sonofabitch, and my friends remind me often.

However...

Over the time I have lived there (about a year and half now), there have been progressively loud noises coming from above. No...not THOSE kind of noises (I hear those on a regular basis from the lady who lives across the alley). The noise above comes in the form of: footsteps (if the person who lived above me was BIGFOOT wearing cowboys boots), furniture moving, drilling, vacuuming, dropping books (no lie)....etc. Pretty much anything loud and annoying you could think of to occur on hardwood floor above you....they had it covered. I really wouldn't care if this noise occurred during the day, or even in the evenings. But, of course, these noises really only happen between 8pm and 7am. Needless to say, I often times have an incredibly hard time falling, and staying asleep.

I almost got fed up before my trip in the spring. But I decided that I was going to be away from 7 weeks, so maybe it would get better when I was gone. No dice. It is literally so bad sometimes I move to the couch and sleep there. That is just plain silly.
So over the past few months, I have tried to go upstairs to introduce myself to my upstairs neighbor. Maybe if I put a face to the person living below, they would maybe feel bad? After three attempts, with LOUD knocking, NO RESPONSE. However, they obviously heard me, as the noise seemed to dissipate enough those nights. Hmmmmmm

But yesterday I had enough. They woke me up at 5am yesterday morning with the banging/walking in cowboy boots/vacuuming (who VACUUMS at 5am?). And when I got home from work, it was still INSANE. So I wrote a note. A nice note.

This morning, I found this in my door:

REJOICE! This is the most amazing thing ever. I am going to go up tonight and introduce myself so she doesn't think I'm a psycho-bitch who lives downstairs. But I am so so happy to hopefully start going to bed when I want to!!!