Well, it might have taken me almost 2 weeks, but I’m so excited about this post because I love to reflect back on all the fun stuff! As a matter of fact I just might not even mention a thing about my injuries in this post because we all know they were a far cry from a highlight =)
We sure had one very cold and very snowy winter and it was great to have a half marathon to run in the new year while everyone else was home in their PJs watching TV and staying warm. It was 17 degrees that day. I always feel like running in inclement or extreme weather gives you honorary rock star status.
Enjoying some frozen Gatorade
My friend Carey was the only other brave peep with me that day and we ran together from start to finish. She’s such a consistently paced runner and I enjoyed letting her keep us nice and steady.
Carey and me braving the cold for 13.1 miles in Central Park
After a busy day Saturday I was in bed by 10:30 with the alarm set for 4:30 yesterday morning. I sprung right up though, because I was so giddy to be running a race. I know I mentioned last week but I’ve really missed running (and crossing my favorite bridge)!
VZ Bridge
I drove into Brooklyn, scooped up Lisa and Mike and then we drove into Queens, parked and walked to the start. Lots of runners took public transportation but one of the subways that we would have had to take wasn’t running which would have made the trip more than double the driving time, so we went with convenience. It was $10 to park which isn’t great but isn’t terrible either. By the time we walked from the parking lot to the start area we had about 20 minutes before the corals closed so I forced them to take pictures…
We tried to get closer but there was a globe in the way
Lisa and Mike both ran 20 miles yesterday so by the end of today’s race they literally had marathon weekends.
Even made them take a sneaker selfie…
shoe power!
The race started just a minute or so after 8am and by the time we crossed the start mats I’d say it was 8:05 or so. Not too crowded at all (there were just over 8,000 runners). I ran this course last year so I knew it was sort of boring at first. (You basically run alongside the highway for the first mile or so.) But eventually we ran past the Queens Museum, Citi Field (where the NY Mets play) and then just before the finish we ran around the iconic World’s Fair Uni-sphere, which I think is the highlight of this 10K (at least for me). There were plenty of well staffed water stops (THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!) and a “cool down stations” otherwise known as hoses spraying a mist of water.
On a personal note, I started out running about a 10 minute pace. Not smart! Within the first mile I felt some pain in my ankle and had a little freak out. All I could think was A) OMG I have 5 more miles to go and if I just re-injured myself I’m F#cked -and- B) I am going to have the whole world say “I told you so” when I tell them I should have listened to the doctor and held off running for a bit longer.
I immediately walked when I felt the pain and after a few minutes I was good to go (thank god!) and I settled in to my 12ish minute per mile “shuffle pace”. I stopped a bunch to take pictures but I didn’t walk again for the rest of the race after that first “incident” so my overall pace was a bit faster for this weeks 10K. I’m guessing that my tendon needed to warm up a bit more at a slower pace….I had no business trying to run my normal 10k pace. Duh!
Last week I finished in 1:18:53 and this week 1:15:09. This course is MUCH FLATTER than last week’s Oakley Mini 10k
We got medals this year which was awesome. NYRR holds a 5 borough series each year with races in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. Last year they only gave medals at 2 of those races and the runners voiced their opinions all over Facebook. Needless to say, this year all 5 races will have medals. I missed Brooklyn due to my foot and I’m not going to be able to run the Bronx but I did Manhattan and Queens and I’ll be running Staten Island in October which will be a half marathon.
They distributed some food and water at the end of the race. I got this wishbone banana.
and then on our walk back to the car I noticed some heart shaped leaves
Love Leaves — arranged on the pavement so beautifully by Lisa
When I got home I took this obligatory medal shot…
But I had to crop in really tight because someone insisted on sleeping this way…
And now I will spend the next 8 days cross training and keeping up with my physical therapy appointments twice a week and hopefully come July 1st I’ll be starting that 4 week marathon training plan that I told you about yesterday.
Here are a couple of funny pics…first we have the “caught mid-wave” wave
And this is at the very start of the race (that’s lisa to my left!) when I was trying to get my music/earbuds/iPod going….so serious…
Well hope you all have a good week!
Anyone have anything fun to share about your weekend?
It’s raining yet again here in NYC. Duncan is still less than thrilled.
Yesterday I was able to squeeze in a 30 minute cross-training sweat sesh at the gym on my lunch break.
I hit the rowing machine for 10 minutes and the bike for 20. I pushed myself on the bike with random intervals of intense resistance at slower speeds and less resistance but more speed. I had compression socks and my ankle brace on but paired with capris meaning i was a far cry from a fashion plate. It’s ok though because I was actually feeling mismatched and un-pretty on the inside too. 🙁 Running really has helped my self-esteem in leaps and bounds….without it I’m starting to feel that esteem dissipating.
Saw the foot doc this morning.
Appointment started out great. She pushed in a bunch of spots and asked if I felt pain. Nope. No pain there. None there either. Then she went on to say how lucky I was. And so I thought I was going to get good news….but then she dropped the bomb…
“I recommend no running for the rest of the month. Keep biking. You don’t want a setback. Then come July you can try a mile or two. See how you feel the next day. If you have no discomfort then keep increasing your mileage.”
That sounds reasonable to most I’m sure. I took it better than expected but was already plotting ideas in my head. I then asked her if I had any limits on walking and she said no. I also inquired about going back to PT which helped me so much last time and she agreed. So I’ve got a script and now just waiting on a referral for insurance purposes, but by next week I will at least start getting some massage, ultrasound, strengthening and balance work and hopefully acupuncture too.
So here’s my plan (and this is a decision I’ve made for myself and don’t ever take my advice because i’m nothing but a blogger). I AM going to participate in the two 10ks that I have signed up for, The Oakley Mini 10k this Saturday and The Queens 10k next Sunday). Based on course time limits i’ll need to keep a 14 minute per mile pace so that means I can walk most of the race and just pick up the pace here and there to get me across the finish in time. And I won’t do any other running for the month of June. I’ll continue to build mileage on the bike and shoot for 30-40 miles over the next few weeks (I’m at 21 so far).
That’s as good of a compromise as I am willing to make. =)
As for July. I will ease into a running schedule that will get me back into the swing of things but with only 4 weeks before the San Francisco marathon it looks like I have no choice but to drop back to the half which I am really bummed about. But seriously. My friend’s mom was just diagnosed with ALS. (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I have no right to complain. Speaking of….Duncan and I will be participating in the Walk to Defeat ALS in support of the ALS foundation on June 21st and have started a little fundraising effort. If you would like to donate here is the link. I have had cancer hit my close circle of friends so much that I never even imagined a second horrible illness would invade. A month or so after my husband passed away I joined a support group for young widows. There was a woman whose husband died from ALS. Her stories were some of the most heart wrenching stories I’ve ever heard. There’s also that amazing husband wife duo of Chris Benyo and Denise DiMarzo who ran the NJ Marathon just 6 days after the Boston Marathon.
That’s them right behind me. So inspiring. Please ignore the heel strike. #fail
I’ve been holding back tears much of the day today. It’s so embarrasing that I get this emotional about not being cleared to run. I am smart enough to know this is only a minor blip in life but I wear my heart on my sleeve and can’t seem to suppress those emotions. I miss it. I really really miss running! My eyes get really green when I cry.
green eyes and ham
I remember the day my hubby came to my office to surprise me with the “good news” that he was officially on disability. To him, that meant a vacation of sorts but when I looked at the paperwork it said “REASON: Stage IV Melanoma. I knew stage IV was the last stage and it hit me in that moment that he might die. I started to cry and he just said “wow, your eyes are so green right now”. He couldn’t “go there”. His denial was probably the coping mechanism that kept him going. I’m rambling now. But hey, why not. It’s my blog and I’ll ramble if I want.
OK, on to funner things….They opened a new Urban Outfitters right across from my office. I took a peek and ended up leaving with this cute iPhone case.
And how great is this?
I just use a timer camera app called Timer Camera (genius name right?) but this would be a cool alternative.
And then I used a gift card that still had money on it from my birthday to get a caramel latte at Dunkin Donuts. MUCH BETTER!
This is officially the longest I’ve been sidelined with an injury. What’s the longest you’ve been sidelined?
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