Happy October folks!

This is my favorite month. I’ll tell you about some of the great things planned.

Local races: I’m running 2 very special events this month that I’ve been doing for many years now.

Rock ‘N’ Roll New York 10k (in Brooklyn, NY)

I’ve been running the Rock ‘n’ Roll New York 10K since the inaugural event in 2011 where I PR’ed with a 59:55. It was a bit unorganized the first year but last year they figured their sh#t out and it was much more organized—I on the other hand was not as organized. I forgot one key pre-race checklist item–to check my shoelaces. I stopped twice to tie my shoes and finished with a 1:01:55, exactly 2 minutes slower. I don’t think I would have beat my PR but I def could have shaved a minute had those laces been tied. I’m super excited to run it again this year on Saturday 10/12! I know the course really well and I might just try to set a new PR. But there’s only one caveat…

Staten Island Half Marathon (Staten Island, NY)

…The second special event is actually the day after the RnR 10k this year on Sunday 10/13. It’s the Staten Island Half Marathon in my home town. And it has also become my last (and longest) training run for my fall marathons (NYC in 2011, Philly in 2012 and this year NYC again!). I log 7 miles before the start to end up with a good solid 20 miler for the day. So if I choose to push hard the day before to try for a PR, I might not have enough energy to get through 20 miles. HMMMM. I’m going to continue to mull over my plan for this. While the S.I. half has never been my fastest, it’s one of my favorites. It was my first ever half marathon back in 2007 where I finished in 2:36 and since then my times have ranged between 2:24 and 2:54. I get to drive to the start without hassle because I live so close to the start. I pick my bib and shirt up the morning of, and I’ve even been able to “christen” the porta johns because I’m there so early. AHHHH! Nothing like being the FIRST person to use a porta john.

And a big bonus is that I get to run these events with some of my Center of the Nation running peeps!

Autumn: This time of year here in the North East is so awesome. After suffering through 80 and 90 degree sticky, humid days, it’s a pleasure to finally have cooler and crisper temps in the 60s and 70s. The leaves on the trees turn all sorts of amazing colors and I love to crunch them as I run. Plus, Autumn is apple picking season! I LOVE to go apple picking and then I bake 2 apple crisps and eat them both myself in a weekend. (true story!). And I enjoy decorating my front porch with a cute li’l orange pumpkin (and a doodle).

My birthday: And this year on October 25th I’ll be turning 40! Woah! Crazy right? I don’t look act a day older than 12. =) Last year I got to celebrate twice and had 2 cakes. The one on the right was homemade by my amazing friend Butter

Halloween: While I don’t really dress up in costume anymore, I get a kick out of making Duncan suffer through some rather embarrasing looks.

Sherrif on the left and referee on the right

So there you have it. October is going to be a great month!

Question: What’s your favorite month? What’s your favorite season? 

Well hello there e’ryone!

It’s a little after 12pm and I’m resting comfortably after a busy morning.  I hadn’t planned on meeting my “peeps” this weekend to run but when I remembered that it’s the start of Summer Streets here in NYC I didn’t want to miss out. Basically there are 7 miles of streets in the city that are closed to traffic and lots of fun free stuff to do like rock climbing and zip lining. But best of all lots of runners and bikers come to just enjoy streets with no cars. Lisa’s friend Stacey was joining us for the first time. She’s running her first marathon this fall at the NYC Marathon. She asked me questions and I answered like a seasoned pro runner who also ran NYC as my first marathon. Her big question was how to handle inclines. Gee, after 7 years I still can’t handle them. LOL!

Boys and Girls meet Stacey…Lisa’s coworker who ALSO expressed interest in running. =)

We started at 6:30am in Brooklyn and within 2 miles we had run across the Brooklyn Bridge. I went photo crazy. I love random beauty in the city. And I’m starting to realize I have an unhealthy obsession with bridges (read this post and this post).

Locks of Love.

If you Google: locks on bridges, you’ll learn all about what I learned today. This Wikipedia link sums it up.

random owl sticker.

This one is my fave of the day

Once we crossed into Manhattan from Brooklyn, we met up with Cindy. We passed a really beautiful firehouse on the Lower East Side.Then we got to where the rock climbing wall was. And passing through Chinatown early in the morning is not exactly fragrant…

Engine 39 lookin fine. actually it’s Engine 31 but that doesn’t rhyme with fine. LOL.

Cindy and I Holding our noses on a stinky street corner and NOT because of Lisa. She just didn’t hear my last minute request for the nose pinching pose. Want to go rock climbing wall in SoHo anyone?.

Summer Streets goes for 3 weekends. So we’ll be doing this again next week. Today’s run totaled 10 miles. We stopped a whole lot for pictures and pottie breaks and kept our pace slow but the miles were logged. After my nice hard effort tempo in the rain on Thursday I enjoyed this relaxed run.

The NYC Marathon is just 3 months away! Today was a reminder to myself how important it is to really take in the sights when you’re running. It’s part of the joy of running outside for me and the reason treadmills aren’t my thing. Whether it’s a race or a training run. Don’t come home thinking only about the miles. On November 3rd I’ll be really trying to take in all the sights of the crowds and the crazy signs that people hold up. Hmmm, maybe I need to get a GoPro camera to video the whole thing?!

Question: Do you take pictures when running in races? Do you remember the funniest sign held by a spectator at any of your running events?

Part 3: the miles continue….first with the driving miles.

We checked out of our cute hotel at Pismo Beach in the late morning and had a 3+ hour drive to Los Angeles. As we approached lunchtime, we were in the Ventura, CA area. We took a leap of faith, exited and found a nifty restaurant (attached to an inn) called the Vagabond. After reading a framed news article hanging on the wall, we realized the establishment had been in business for over 45 years and owned by the same woman. Seriously, the décor was probably original to the grand opening. But the food was so good! I had the best B. A. (avocado) L. T. ever!

Don’t let the 45 year old décor fool ya!

After a few million hundred more miles, we had finally arrived in swanky LA! We checked into the Kimpton Palomar hotel on Wilshire Blvd. They had lots of nice touches, including games to play in the lobby (Jenga anyone?!), free wine and sangria from 5-6pm each evening in the lobby as well, and they are also pet-friendly which made my lobby sangria sipping even more lovely. I was missing Duncan so I enjoyed the dynamic doggie duo sitting across from me.

Lobby fun!

I knew this place was a perfect fit when I saw they had a jogging map in each room for their guests.

They know me so well!

I used the map loosely but didn’t follow any of their suggested routes exactly. I noticed that U.C.L.A. was just up the block. So the next morning I made that my destination. I was also on the hunt for a Starbucks or some other place that Lisa and I could grab some breakfast on the cheap. (We ended up splurging for $22 pancakes with the hotel room service the next day and it was awful). That’s another great thing about running on vacation: It’s a practical way to scope out the area. Especially in LA where parking can be pricey and traffic can be brutal. And yes, my mission was accomplished. My idea that a college campus and large medical center would surely have a Starbucks or supermarket nearby was a smart one. So that’s my W.O.W. here. Save gas and aggravation and scope out your destination by foot first. I ran about 2 miles before having to stop to take a quick phone call. It was important. Once the call was over I ran an extra mile (forgot to document it with my Garmin 🙁 #fail!) Then walked back to the Starbucks with Lisa for breakfast. I’m guessing it was 4 miles in total.

I hadn’t planned on running for the duration of the trip but on the last day (especially when I thought about all those hours I’d be sitting on the plane) I decided to try and squeeze in another 3 or 4 miles. I ventured in the opposite direction from my previous run and toured the local residential streets off of Wilshire Blvd. I kept thinking of the 90s TV show Melrose Place. Before I knew it I ran past the Beverly Hills Country Club and made a decision to turn back at the famed Beverly Hilton (RIP Whitney!). It was in the mid 70s but felt so hot because of the strong sun I suppose. And while I wasn’t expecting it, the route ended up quite hilly. I was impressed with all the curb appeal. Beautiful landscaping and flowers. Only 2 problems with that. One was that there was a certain type of tree or bloom that had a foul smell (think NYC subway in the middle of August). It was quite stinky and sort of ruined the whole “I’m on vacation and running in beautiful Los Angeles” feeling. The other was that all of these glamorous landscape were in the midst of being coiffed by the landscapers. I learned that they are SERIOUS about their work there and don’t stop what they are doing for silly little vacationing runners like me. Before you know it i had leaf blower schmutz all over my sweaty self. I was sandblasted with soil and grass clippings. I got over that quick when I returned to my beloved hotel where there was strawberry infused water waiting for me in the lobby.

notice the leaf blower shmutz on me

Vacation had come to a close. I shoved my sweaty running gear into my suitcase and off we went to the airport to head back to the East Coast. My first day home I decided to sleep in and skip running. But yesterday I felt it was time to get back to hot humid running since i’m now officially training for the NYC Marathon in November and will be logging many icky sticky miles. I started off super speedy….I think I was still on a high from my travels, but the dew point caught up to me. It was 70. I recently learned from this article that a dew point of 70 and above is uncomfortable and you should expect your pace to suffer greatly. So after 2 speedy miles, I plummeted for the last mile. Next up is a 15 mile training run through Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn tomorrow. I’m only scheduled to run a long run of about 7 miles but my running peeps will be there and I REALLY miss them. So I’ll take it easy and slow and shoot for all the miles knowing I might bail early if I feel like I’m about to die. I’ll be sure to post about our run before the weekend is out.

Happy Friday! Question: While running, have you ever been leaf blower schmutz’ed? Have you ever been splashed by a puddle as a car sped through? 

16 miles

Today could have very well been a 5,6 or maybe even 7 mile run. I’m currently in between my marathon training and decided i’d just run when I wanted and however many miles I wanted for these weeks. (FYI: I officially start NYC Marathon training in 3 weeks).

But a bunch of my running peeps are training for a very crazy event. It’s called Center of the Nation 555 series. 5 marathons (or half marathons) in 5 states, in 5 days! I’m actually joining the “crazy” but only doing halfs for either 3 or perhaps all 5 days. We’ll be running in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska in mid September. So the gang is trying to get back to back double digit runs in now so that by August they’ll be closer to getting 5 consecutive double digit days.

Anyway, this morning, my 2 Brooklyn peeps Lisa and Mike came out to MY island (Staten Island) to run. I mapped out a 15 mile course (which ended up to be just over 16.2….oopsie, my bad=) that was mostly along the beach. We had a easy great run! While it was quite flat and the temps were below 70, there was no shade to speak of. We started out keeping a 10ish minute pace….but after our photo op/short break at the base of the Verrazano Bridge we were hovering more at an 11 minute pace.

Yay! Group photo at the Verrazano Bridge….Oops forgot to get the bridge in this shot.

Mike-Lisa/Lisa-Sally and BRIDGE! Perty!

And by mile 13 I fell back and stayed at a 12 minute pace! But knowing it was just a few miles until we were done I knew Lisa and Mike only had to wait 4-6 minutes for me. And tomorrow I rest while they do an 18 miler!!!!!

Best mile of the run was when I got to vent about my water heater fiasco. That mile FLEW by!

So there’s my wisdom tidbit for today. Take the frustrations and anger that life can bring and use it to fuel yourself in a positive way.