After the Staten Island Half last Sunday I had 2 sore spots that bothered me for a few days after. My left hamstring—all the way up the back of my thigh toward my a$$ (what I call the “THASS”) and my right achilles was also a little tight. I couldn’t really walk normally until Wednesday so running wasn’t even on my radar until yesterday. The weather was phenomenal and I also had the entire day all to myself with no obligations whatsoever (just a little freelance work to complete) and I figured I would give it a whirl.
Dear feet: Let’s see if we’re ready.
I giggled at first when I realized how heavy my legs were. But after a mile I felt ok…..until I didn’t. Those 2 sore spots started to bother me around mile 2 and just after I reached 3 miles I decided to just walk home. No sense in really injuring myself.
Home from 3 miles of running and an additional mile walking home.
So now I will spend the rest of the year focusing on foam rolling and strength training (seriously, really I mean it this time….i think) to start my next training cycle healthy!
rollin’….rollin’….rollin’
In the meantime I spent a whole lot of quality time with Duncan all week and weekend.
I love this dog!
every single workday looks something like this
Really? I can’t even pee without company. My fault for not shutting the door i suppose.
Gorgeous day…..sun roof open….doggie kisses in the parking lot
Saturday morning walk
So excited to sniff in a different park
Dude knows how to relax in the car
The look I got while trying to eat my dinner
Saturday night couch surfing
And in a few hours I’m headed to New Jersey to go pumpkin picking with Mr. SOTSS and his family. We take our picking seriously which is why apple picking had its own day a few weeks ago.
Today is JUST for pumpkins 🙂 Oh and I found this online. I’m totally doing this to my pumpkin….
Just keep swimming!!!!!
How many days do you take off from running after a race?
Do you decorate pumpkins for Halloween? Paint them or cut them like a Jack-o-Lantern?
I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon this past Sunday. It felt more like a Tough Mudder thanks to the mud, rain and wind and enormous puddles. LOL!
A decent (and FREE) race photo!
It was the 10th consecutive year I’ve run it. It was my very first half marathon back in 2007 and I haven’t missed a year since. Here’s a link to last year’s recap and my 2014 recap and how my day went in 2013 too!
some years were better than others….2011 was the first time I ran 20 miles (did 7 before the race started) and you can see that reflected on my face!
And now, the Staten Island Half Marathon Recap 2016
Sunday’s race was not exactly the smoothest for a bunch of reasons. But there were still so many good things about the day too.
Let’s start with the day before the race: I was dealing with some stomach issues and barely ate. I was in the bathroom more than usual and didn’t really have a full meal until dinner. Not exactly how you want to feel the day before running a half marathon. Mr. Sweat Out the Small Stuff and I went for a hike with the dogs in the early part of the day but I just felt so crappy that I asked if we could cut it short. I felt like I might pass out.
I found myself struggling to keep up…
Chester getting his muddy paws wiped
Later in the afternoon he was limping. He said he went out for a short “shakeout” run earlier that morning and rolled his foot on the curb and the hike must have exacerbated the issue. So I forced him to ice it on and off for the rest of the day and take ibuprofen. We were feeling better about running the race by nightfall. His foot was feeling better thanks to the ice and ibuprofen (gold star for me!) and my stomach was feeling better. But then we noticed that the the weather forecast changed. On Friday it had been looking good for race day but now it said rain and wind were to be expected along with temps in the high 50s.WTF?!!!
Race day morning: We were up and out the door at 6:30 a.m. The race starts at 8:30am but we needed to pick up our race numbers an hour before. (New for this year they had us get our shirts after the race). We took the train since I live on Staten Island, and were at the start area (The Staten Island Yankees ball stadium) by 7:15 a.m. Normally you’d get a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline but since it was raining and foggy the views weren’t happening. Getting our race numbers was a breeze. The old New York Road Runners system had you stand in line based on your last name and the volunteer would have to go through a bin of bibs to find yours. The new system requires you to present your QR code on your phone or a printout of email the sent a few days before. That gets scanned and assigns you a number and corral on the spot. It worked out to be much faster. Next up was gear check. We checked bags that had a rain coat and dry clothes for after the race.) We had about 30 minutes before it was time to walk to the start and get in the corrals so we just hung out under the ball stadium.
keeping dry with ponchos
My friend Lisa texted me that she and two other of our running friends who had traveled in from Brooklyn would be in the corrals in 30 minutes too. So we met up. Lisa and Mike had run the RockNRoll Brooklyn Half the day before. I did that last year with them but this year I just wasn’t up to the whole back-2-back half weekend thing.
Lisa was the only one brave enough to get her phone wet for a pre-race selfie in the corral
The race itself: This race has become fairly large (over 10,000 runners) and they now have a wave start. Mr. SOTSS was a few waves earlier than me and was planning on staying around a 9 minute per mile pace because he didn’t want to push it with his foot. While the course has changed slightly over the years, I know it, and the area well enough so I had a specific plan based on that knowledge. I knew I wasn’t going to race hard but I wanted to push my pace for the first 7-8 miles which are mostly either flat miles or slight rolling hills. With my comfortable running pace around 11 minutes per mile I pushed to stay about a minute faster and was happy that my first 3 miles were almost exactly 10 minute splits. The rain wasn’t really bothering me at first. I wore my poncho (the same one that I wore back in March of 2014 when I PR’ed at the Love Run in the pouring rain) and by mile 3 I tossed it as I started to get warm. Once I reached mile 4, the course is out and back for the next few miles more or less, so I kept myself distracted looking to my left to try and find Mr. SOTSS. Just at the last minute before I would have missed him, he came rounding the corner and I waved him down with both arms like an air traffic controller. I was SO relieved. He was past the halfway point and looking good so I knew his foot would be ok and that he’d finish the race. And I was also happy to get that smile in return. His smile is better than anything. I zipped through those miles also in the 10 minute per mile range. The wind didn’t appear until we were out by the water. And boy did it appear! Along with the big hills that I knew about around mile 8 1/2 to mile 9. This is where the race became my challenge. But a welcome challenge. I was proud of myself for sticking to my plan and now all I wanted to do was get up the 2 hills without walking and I did it. I kept my steps short and pumped my arms and before I knew it I was done with the hills. I did also take my phone out of the plastic baggie it was in so I could snap a couple of pictures at this point.
the second hill
Mile 9 and still smiling
The wind for the last 4 miles was crazy (20 mile sustained but much higher gusts) but mile 11 in particular was just absurd. I literally watched as full cups of Gatorade were blown off the table about 10 feet. They were hitting us like water balloons. I’d feel the cup hit my leg and the liquid spill down. I was actually laughing. The cold rain was being whipped in our faces and everyone was holding their hats. (Maybe even some sleet?) As if this all wasn’t wild enough we came to a spot in the course where the puddles had turned into ponds and there was no way to avoid them. We were all slogging through like a Tough Mudder event. And then, at mile 13 you enter the field of the baseball stadium which was a complete mudfest. There were chunks of sod missing and all I wanted to do was slide into the finish line for a fun photo but was afraid i’d injure myself.
I ran the New Jersey half marathon this past May and while it wasn’t raining at the start it started raining mid-run and by the time I finished i was crying and felt absolutely horrible. I was successful this time around to keep my chin up and make the best of the conditions. I really kept that smile on my face and felt so proud of myself for not going own the hole….that is until I realized that there were long lines at the gear check to retrieve your checked baggage. Oh my god. It took 30 minutes (standing in the pouring rain after running for 2 hours and 21 minutes) to get my dry clothes. I kept marching in place to prevent hypothermia. But I saw big burly guys with chattering teeth. One guy looked like he was about to cry.
New York Road Runners posted this the day after the race.
Mr. SOTSS finished in 1:57 right at his predicted time. And I finished in 2:21 which is actually better than I had anticipated. My 2nd fastest of the 10 years. (My fastest was in 2014 at 2:15:39 and my slowest was 2008 at 2:54:55)
After running 35+ half marathons I am always amazed at the profound moments that stick with me. I spent all of mile 11 thinking about some people I know who are battling ALS. Their bodies are failing them. They can’t run. They can’t even walk. I may have been pelted with rain and Gatorade but I was in control of my body. I ran that race….it didn’t run me. And that is my biggest take away from the day. Running teaches me so much.
Eventually Mr. SOTSS and I were able to get our gear bags and change into dry clothes, take the train home, shower and refuel. The rest of the day was spent on the couch…
I just can’t nap like they can. Oh well. I killed an hour sipping coffee and Facebooking
ok maybe I can nap afterall
Despite the inclement weather, mud and long wait for dry clothes, I really liked the course changes for this year, the shirt and medal and the fact that I ran a smart race with a nice balance of effort, mental toughness and appreciation for it all. It was awesome to see my friends Lisa, JD and Mike at the start and to see Mr. SOTSS during the race. And because this is the race where my distance running all began I’ll always have a special fondness of it and will most likely make it 11 years running next year. Of course it usually ends up being on the same day as the Chicago Marathon (which it was this year) so if I ever run Chicago I’ll have to break my Staten Island Half streaking. 🙂
Anyone run Chicago this weekend? Anyone run anything else? Have a local race you run each year?
Happy October—my favorite month of the year! My birthday is in 3 weeks and I spent my first day home from vacation yesterday with Mr. Sweat Out the Small Stuff and his girls apple picking…..can’t get any more October than that!
Today I got in an 8 miler as my last long run before the Staten Island Half Marathon next weekend. Another reason I love October. And Mr. SOTSS will be running too. #winwin
after running and showering i put on my new souvenir shirt 🙂
I’m happy to say after 8 days of togetherness, we’re still a thing. LOL. It was easy for the most part although there were a few moments that we had to work a little harder than others and of course nothing was my fault because this is my blog right? 🙂 Since we started dating almost 2 and a half years ago, the most consecutive days we’d spent together was around 5 or 6 so this was a big deal.
We visited Seattle, Vancouver and Jasper and Banff National Parks in the Canadian Rockies all in a week. We packed in so much that we literally were on the go the entire trip.
Here’s PART 1 of my recap!
Day 1-Travel Day: Started off with Duncan banging his leg and limping a few hours before we were headed to the airport so I bailed on my long run and quickly took him to the vet. Xrays revealed just a soft tissue injury and no broken bones thank god! And so my sister-in-law got Duncan along with his pain meds and anti-inflammatory meds. She ended up being sick all week so they both rested together. We discovered our flight was delayed a few hours meaning we’d miss our connection in Minneapolis but we were able to re-book to a direct flight that would get us to Seattle only an hour after we would have arrived. This was so awesome because I was able to squeeze in a run. It wasn’t the 10 miler I had originally planned. It was a 2.5 miler on my sister-in-law’s treadmill.
Borrowed my niece’s workout gear, and already had the compression sleeves for the plane
But it made me feel better and Duncan was able to lay on the couch beside me. And since Mr. SOTSS ran 12 miles that morning he was tired so he sat on the couch and watched some college football for the 30 minutes I ran.
The flight was long and I tried my best to amuse myself since Mr. SOTSS was either watching a movie or napping.
yeah, see you in 5 hours pal.
Loved that Ashely Graham’s cover shot showed her cellulite/stretchmarks on her thighs. YAY for real women! And YAY for Starbucks in-flight
I’m not a good traveler. I get antsy and uncomfortable within the first hour. We arrived in Seattle about 8pm and took the Light Link Rail to our hotel and just crashed.
Day 2-Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Bainbridge Island and the Washington State Fair: We started with a walk down to get breakfast at this cool joint called Biscuit Bitch. So delicious and I highly recommend if you ever visit Seattle. Just go early because it gets crowded. Then we strolled around the waterfront and Pike Place Market before hopping on a ferry to Bainbridge Island in the afternoon.
Seattle Wheel
Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Island
Pike Place Market
This gum wall was both disgusting and beautiful
Seattle has some beautiful graffiti and “grunge”. Makes me feel right at home.
Then it was time to rent our car and drive about 40 minutes south of Seattle to Puyallup Washington for the Washington State Fair.
on the drive to the fair we spotted Mt. Ranier
The reason for this is because the band Train was playing and Mr. SOTSS bought tickets for me as an early birthday present. The fair was fun. We ate fair food and played fair games. He even won me this cute pig. He won this little turtle too. I named him Sheldon. But within a few minutes of taking the pic Sheldon fell out of his back pocket and we’re hoping a kid found him and gave him a good home. The Train concert was AWESOME!
Day 3-Space Needle and EMP Museum: We actually popped back over to Pike Place to try and actually enter the original Starbucks but it was just as crowded as it was the day before so we took a picture of the outside and walked over to the Space Needle and the EMP Museum which are right next to each other.
The original
I was getting cranky about something or another and saw a 7-Eleven and insisted we stop because I knew a slurpee would snap me out of my crank.
Slurpee and Space Needle
Wouldn’t ya know the flavor I wanted shot out all watery?! It was sort of funny actually.
Mr. SOTSS looking up
I really enjoyed the design of the exhibit that you walk through before entering the elevator to take you to the top of the Space Needle. It was beautifully designed and interesting to learn about how the structure was built.
view from the top of the needle
And the EMP Museum also had some beautifully designed exhibits. I’m a graphic designer and get really giddy over design treatments and typography…especially the exhibit about horror movies.
The EMP Museum
Mr. SOTSS and I as monsters
so true!
We made our way to the train station and hopped on the Amtrak to Vancouver. After breezing through customs we hopped in a cab for a 10 minute ride to our hotel.
I was trying to complete this post all morning but was glued to the real-time televised unfolding of the capture of the bomb suspect here in NYC/NJ. I’ve been struggling to focus and feeling awkward about sharing my “silly running” stories. So let me start by saying that I’m impressed by the swift work of law enforcement and that the bomb suspect was caught but I’m not relieved. I’ll never be relieved. The world is a different place now….especially since 9/11. I will continue to live my life but will always be alert and aware that anything can happen right here in my neighborhood. I AM “potentially” in harm’s way every day.
__________________
OK, now onto my “silly running” post…
It had been WAY too long since I traveled into Brooklyn (or Manhattan) to run with my running friends. But yesterday I finally had both a free schedule and the same mileage (12 miles) on my training “plan” so it worked out.
I traveled over the Verrazano Bridge and into Brooklyn around 9am.
We started at 10am. Starting late morning already made things easier for me. I hate running before I’ve had the chance to really wake up. So this was great. I brought a handheld water bottle and drank it all and also refilled it about 6 miles in but clearly I wasn’t hydrated enough because somewhere around mile 9 or 10 I stopped sweating and got cold. It was 80 degrees and the humidity was super high. The dew point was at 70 which can be interpreted as “super uncomfortable”. Anyway, the last couple of miles we sort of walked a block, ran a block, crawled, shuffled etc. And as soon as my Runkeeper app said 12 we stopped. I forgot to wear my Garmin GPS watch. But really, with Runkeeper and an iPhone with a decent battery who needs the watch.
Halfway through view of Manhattan from Long Island City (Queens)
halfway through view of Long Island City (Queens)
Exactly 12 miles and not a tenth of a mile more. We stopped a lot waiting for street lights…the only drawback to running in a busy city neighborhood vs a path with no cars.
After the run I got a drink and a cherry freeze pop which was heaven….
So refreshing!
until I tried to pour the melted cherry liquid down by tipping my head all the way back. The liquid came too fast and choked me and I ended up laughing and choking simultaneously for a good minute—losing some of the deliciousness to the sidewalk. And Lisa, once she knew I wasn’t in danger anymore, snapped this pic.
I’m holding two water bottles and a phone leaving me with just 2 fingers to keep hold of the attack freeze pop.
The good news is that the first 6 miles were very comfortable so at least I’m “10K-ready”…and in 3 weeks I’m hoping I’ll be half marathon ready :). I enjoyed chatting away with Lisa and Mike. Our friend Liz joined us in Long Island City and then we ran back toward Brooklyn together. Major blog photo fail because I didn’t take a group running selfie of us.
What is your favorite post run refresher? I love a good 7-eleven slurpee but the freeze pop was a good runner up.
Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi? I always go for Coke Zero. I’m slightly addicted.
Have you ever choked?
How do you handle seeing grave current events on TV or online?Are you calm or do you freak out?
Today is JUST for pumpkins 🙂 Oh and I found this online. I’m totally doing this to my pumpkin….
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