HIATUS OVER!

Ok, wow, sorry for the big long break there. Lots of things happening... which I know everyone says, but I'm serious. So, as you probably figured, I went on my Arizona/Utah trip, but what you probably didn't figure is... I came back engaged! So basically every waking moment from then until now has been tied up with looking for venues and getting all girly-excited about dresses and colors and flowers. Not to mention classes are coming to a close, and I have to figure out what I'm writing about for my final paper.

Back to running!

Since I hadn't ran in a good three weeks - *cringe*, I know, but you have to remember I was hiking 8-12 miles a day at altitudes of over 6,000 feet, so it wasn't like I was sitting on my butt here, people! - I definitely wanted to start out all easy-like. I set my mind on the "small loop," as it's now called, which goes up across the 97th St. transverse and comes back down right past the reservoir. It's a little over 3 miles, plus some 1.6 miles warm up and cool down total.

I started running with my friend Y who lives pretty close to me and is training for the NYRR Queens Half Marathon in late July. The first time we went it was mutually beneficial, because I showed her some of the trails and paths I'd learned in Central Park (which I quite deserve knowing, I think, based on how many times I got lost in the snow in there!) and she provided some company and kept me on pace to go a little further. It ended well; we felt good and I was glad I could jump right back into it.

Until the next day, when I went by myself, and I got a cramp so bad I had to stop halfway through and walk back, O the humiliation! I blame it on the Chipotle, which was eaten about 3 hours before the run, so I thought it would be okay, but alas! Chipotle is definitely not a runner's food. Never again... at least on a day I plan on exercising.

That completely bashed my motivation into a tiny bloody pulp, so I didn't go the rest of that whole week. Catching up on work, going back to class and learning that our abstract was due the next week, taking a trip up to Connecticut that lasted from 5:20am to 11:30pm to look at venues and going a little stir-crazy in the car... that was that week.

Then Y suggested running on Monday again, and we went, and it was good. We did the same small loop and I felt a little better. I went on Wednesday in the muggy rain with a hoodie and my Formula 1 baseball cap (to try and goad my legs into going faster through association?) and that was only ok again. I'm seeing a pattern here. Run with Y, feel good. Run by myself, feel ick. I'm pretty sure she's controlling my pace so I don't burn out halfway through at this point. So when class lets out early yesterday and I see a message from Y to go running at around 7pm, we go. I suggest stretching the distance a little bit this time, which means from the 72nd St. transverse to the 97th St. one. She suggests running in the opposite direction, "to work out my right leg more this time" because the road is tilted to the side to drain away rainwater. We set off, and it's like merging into I-84 traffic - there are literally thousands of people running.

Something like this. Totally insane!

We see about 10 groups of 20 people running those chain drills, where the last person runs to the front of the line, and the next person runs to the front, etc, and a ton of other individual people dodging them. Herds of serious-looking bikers hurtle by with barely an inch between their wheels. Where have all these people been?? I can't believe they were running inside on treadmills - even New York doesn't have that many to compensate for them. Maybe the nice weather turns an exercise switch on. Anyway, we're going, and feeling pretty good - nay for the near-collisions we almost encounter with people going the other way with death grimaces on their faces... they are NOT going to move aside for you, so if you value your life, you'd better move out. of. the. WAY! - until on the other side of the park Y somehow cuts her nose with her finger mid-tissue blow and we have a mini- (or, probably in her opinion, major-) nosebleed crisis. It took a while to get it under control, and we almost head back but she mans up, plugs it with some tissue and we run the short distance back. So proud of her! Her running jersey now has battle scars.

I didn't time it, and it probably would have been inaccurate anyway because of that long stop on the west side, but in my vastly knowledgeable experience it was probably around a 9:00-9:15 minute/mile pace, at around 5 miles distance (not counting the warm up and cool down). That's pretty good, for both of us! I got back at around 8:45 and, upon discovering the glaring lack of food in the apartment, broke down and ordered pizza, which I quickly demolished. Then I passed out on the couch. Attractive, yes, I know.

This morning I'm still kind of tired, despite sleeping like a rock, and my legs are a little sore, but I'm taking all these as good signs because I was up and active. The relay is rapidly approaching and I definitely do not have time to sit around now!

Some new running partners, new routes and timed runs are all coming soon.

Also, Y has a rocking blog called Awesome in New York which offers tidbits and tips about great places to eat or visit in the city and has a bunch of amazing giveaways! Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area or plan on visiting.

"The will to win is worthless, without the will to prepare."

Hiking trip!

Hiking trip time! It doesn't really count as training for a run, but it will definitely get the legs into good shape.

After focusing on international trips for a while (Germany, Costa Rica, all of which were amazing), we decided to keep it domestic and see what the US has to offer. This trend was sparked by two short visits to San Francisco, both of which consisted of the city serving as a homebase for a Yosemite trip and a Mount Tamalpais day hike. Oregon and Washington State are on the list, as is Maine (Acadia!), but both of those destinations are somewhat unpleasant for March weather. This timing for the southwest, on the other hand, is perfect: right when the campgrounds and lodges open and right before the mandatory shuttle buses start, so we can drive to trailheads and experience hikes with the minimum amount of foot traffic.

Some highlights:

Grand Canyon, obviously.

We are hiking from the rim down to the floor and back up again. This concept is already very backwards in my head, because every hike I've been on either consists of walking up and then back down a mountain or along a trail that goes up and down in elevation through a range. I wonder how my legs will do with the uphill coming later in the day... may even be better, since downhill definitely hurts the feet more.

Bryce Canyon:

The whole point of this place is to feel like you're a bee in a honeycomb. Looks totally crazy, and there are real warnings to not go onto (or into?) certain trails without a park guide because you will get lost. Technically it's not a canyon but an ampitheater. Those pointy things are called "hoodoos," formed out of the lakebed by erosion. This place is much higher in elevation than Zion National Park, with the ampitheater's rim at a whopping 8,000-9,000ft above sea level.

Zion National Park:

Angel's Landing. Yep. Thousand feet drop on both sides, about a foot wide in some places, and a handy little chain to keep you there. This is definitely a highlight. There are apparently mountain lions all over this place, and things like this are not reassuring, especially since we're going to be camping in a teensy little thin-walled tent:

Monument Valley:

This is less of a hike and more of a drive, but it still is going to be amazing. Recognize this from Forrest Gump, Stagecoach and Back to the Future III? Just so pretty!

Arches National Park:

Another day hike for this one. According to Wikipedia, it is the home of over 2000 natural sandstone arches, formed when a giant sea evaporated, leaving a layer of salt beneath the ever-increasing weight of additional dirt and rock above it. When the weight became too great, the salt liquified, and thrust up layers of rock into big domes, which were then eaten away by the elements in various shapes.

Antelope Canyon:

There are really no words to describe this. Caused by water eroding the sandstone, this slot canyon's rock flows like a river itself. Light begins to enter through the top of the canyon starting March 15 (phew, we'll just make it!) and goes away every year on October 7. The only thing a little bit scary about this is that flash flooding does still occur, and eleven people were killed in a flood in 1997, which occurred when a thunderstorm dumped lots of water at the canyon basin seven miles away the day before. The only person to get out was the guide, who had already had "swiftwater training." The rescue ladders and nets were swept away... but now they're bolted on, and let's cross our fingers!

Natural Bridges National Monument:

We are going to be here in the evening, and it's a good thing, too, because Natural Bridges has the only night sky monitored by the NPS Night Sky Team that rates a Class 2 on the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, giving it the darkest sky ever assessed. That there is the Milky Way, kiddies. Ahhhh, we're tipping!

We are alternating camping nights with hotel nights and renting a car to drive the very long hours between these places. We'll end up at Salt Lake City to fly back to New York a week after we get out there, and here's to hoping it's an amazing trip!

This might actually be working!

Last night I ran 5.35 miles in 45:49 (8:34 pace). This was all up and through the park, so there were hills like a normal road instead of the flatness of the sidewalks. This was a major accomplishment so far because of a few things:

1) The fact that I didn't have to stop upon pain of death by asphyxiation! I've run the hill at the north end of the park 4 times now, and it's always been a struggle between my mind and my body that my body always seems to lose. In fact, I would start breathing harder before the trail even started to go up - panic attack? Oh God, oh God, I shouldn't have come this way? I had to stop at the top and walk it off every time, at least for a few steps, so that I could catch my breath -- but not this time! My technique was to really concentrate on my breathing and I ended up robotically counting them as I tried to breathe in and out through my  nose and stretch out my stomach muscles so I wouldn't get a stitch. Just FYI, I took only 67 breaths coming down the hill, but over 200 on the way back up. I lost count because I was getting distracted by my legs falling off. However, at the top, I just kind of leaned back and breathed deep and the next thing I knew I was down the small rise and still going!

2) The distance itself. Technically, the total amount that I ran yesterday was more like 6.5 miles, because of the distance to and from the park that I wasn't timing. The previous times that I've run ~5 miles have ended up with my feet going numb or something else hurting just from the repetition. This time felt wonderful, though; I actually ran right past the normal cutover point at ~84th street (which is usually the part that I barely make it to, feeling like it's my last dying action to get my butt up to the crosswalk...) and continued down to the 72nd street cutover. Well, at least it felt wonderful until I stopped and stretched and walked it out. Then it hurt. Like really hurt. I iced when I got back to the apartment but still looked like an old woman hobbling around. Speaking of which, the knees are still fine! Looks like appropriate shoes do a world of good.

3) Ok, ok, fine! I'll do a warmup and stretch before starting the actual run. *Grumble* Adam was right. The times that I run right through the first mile without stopping to shake out the legs are the times that I have to stop right in the middle because my shins are so tight I can't extend my toes. What a difference between Sunday (no warmup stretch, had to stop twice, was really, really trying not to puke on the people passing me) and last night (warmup stretch, never had to stop, was really, really trying not to laugh like a maniac as I passed people).

4) This isn't a real "accomplishment", but I just think it's funny because I NEVER thought I'd have to have a music collection to listen to that was longer than an entire cd to last a whole run. Yeah... 45 minutes is a long time! Btw, last night was Big D and Less than Jake and some Goldfinger. Gotta love the out-of-sync trumpets and power chords as you're triumphantly topping the hill.

5) Did you know they are ticketing bicyclists who are running red lights in the park, even after dark with no one in sight? That's a desperate city trying to rake in the dough.

"Many people shy away from hills. They make it easy on themselves, but that limits their improvement. The more you repeat something, the stronger you get."
- Joe Catalano

100 days til relay day!

Cool Running and The Course!

Here's an article about the New England Relay on the Cool Running website: The New England Relay - Running 220 Miles in Six States in 24 Hours by Skip Cleaver.

I believe this was written last year, as the test run for this event was in June 2009. In any case, there are some route descriptions, pictures and insights that the New England Relay site doesn't necessarily have.

Here are some pictures nabbed from Google Maps of the general areas around the course, in the order that it's run:

Lake Aldersgate, Glocester, RI

Cedar Pond, Sturbridge, MA

Weeping Willow Barn, Westhampton, MA

Stepals, Brattleboro, VT - Oop... starting to get Up North!

Island Pond, Stoddard, NH - There will actually be times like this with people out running... it's nonstop, so we get to enjoy a beautiful sunset AND sunrise!

Rockingham Recreational Trail, Manchester, NH - Quite possibly one of my favorite pictures... love the trees! Definitely checking out this trail for future hikes.

Squamscot River, Newfields, NH

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Castle, NH - Once we hit the ocean, we're almost there! Turn north and head up the coast.

York Harbor Beach, York Harbor, ME - This isn't the official finish line, but it will look something like this.

Time to jazz it up.

Friday was gorgeous, and I got the better part of the afternoon off from work. It climbed to 64 degrees and the sun was out, so every runner in the park had on shorts and a t-shirt as they ran past the melting snowbanks. Since I usually put my iPod in the inside pocket of whatever outerwear I'm wearing to protect myself against frostbite, and my shorts don't have pockets, I procured an armband for the iPod which worked out relatively well. It felt like it was cutting off circulation a little at first, but I ceased to notice it once I really got going... and by "got going", I mean set out on what eventually turned into a 5 mile run with a big hill involved.

I also discovered that I've been accidentally shortchanging myself! When I thought I was doing this:

... I was actually doing this:

... which changes the total miles from 3.44 to about 4.15. I didn't know this until Friday, when my thought process was as follows: since I've been cutting over at the first left, I'll lengthen my run to cut over at the second left. So I'm following the road... and it starts turning and going downhill... and I realize that I am now running the entire upper loop because I can see the north end of the park!

That is what ended up happening. Those of you unfamiliar with the north side of the park may not realize that the path on the east, when heading north, goes down quite a large hill... and that the corresponding west side goes right back up it. I am now privy to that information, having unwittingly played into the path's clutches. I couldn't help gasping like a landed fish and stopping briefly at the top of the hill... but I was still glad that I did it, because who knows how many hills are going to be on the actual course? Good to get used to them now instead of avoiding them. Friday's distance and time amounted to 5.01 miles at a 8:17 pace (so it took me a little over 40 minutes to do the full from-the-apartment-and-back loop, not shown here).

Saturday was a rest day, because it was already busy: I got up before dawn to get royally b-slapped by the Connecticut DMV, procured banana bread, macaroni and cheese and lasagna to cart back home, went to work for a little bit and had a haircut appointment.

Sunday was a different beast entirely.
What should we do to mix it up a little bit? What could possibly help train us better than big, long-distance runs? How about... intervals!
Defined as: "a type of physical training that involves bursts of high intensity work. This high intensity work is alternated with periods of rest or low activity."
Basic translation: Hell on earth.

What you do is this: jog lightly for one lamppost distance, for example. At the second lamppost, open your stride up so that you're running, not jogging... and at the third lamppost, SPRINT to the fourth. And keep doing it. Don't walk... you can jog as slow as you want, but the slower you jog, the faster you're supposed to push it on the strides and sprints. We did our intervals for maybe 1.5miles at a total distances of 3.5 miles (counting to and from the apartment, and a slow jog from the east to the west side as a rest).

This is how you feel afterwards (or, in my case, after the second sprint):

It's good for building up speed, because eventually you get used to running faster and your baseline jogs/strides get faster, which translates to a better time during the actual event. Lungs burning, throat dry, ribcage muscles spasming... and totally awesome when you're doing your sprint on pace with the bicyclist next to you. It's very rare that you really open up like that, and it feels great (as you're doing it, not after... unfortunately). This is definitely going down as an effective short workout for the future.

Two short new things.

1. Baked yam chips are irresistable. "I'll make some and eat half now, save half for later ... *tries one*... Oh, f- that, I'm eating them all RIGHT NOW."

2. My at-rest heart rate on 1/29/2011 was 82bpm. I measured it today, 2/15/2011, at 66bpm. Not bad, eh? Now I just have to get a cheap blood pressure cuff to keep track of that.

Indigestion, The Weekend and Park Attempt #2

The end of last week was kind of a bummer because I had some digestion problems that manifested themselves in unproductive ways. I can deal with feeling gassy or crampy, but what I cannot deal with is the sudden, immediate and mind-consuming need to use the restroom. At work it's fine (usually), and at home there's a plethora of bathrooms to choose from, but imagine you're two and a half miles away from your apartment, running, and wham! Call of Nature. I guess there's always employee restrooms you can semi-illegally barge into, which has definitely happened in the past, but it's still a pain in the butt. Pun intended.
Anyway, so I narrowed it down to the noticeable increase in soda intake for that week. We'd gotten a case of that "throwback Pepsi", aka they make it with real sugar (gasp!), and I had had one a day for maybe 3 days in a row when I started noticing it. Being the good scientist that I am, I stopped for one day, noted a positive change, then had another soda on Friday... an action which proved my theory but caused me to be moderately incapacitated that afternoon, as far as exercise goes. As to the soda: not really sure why that was causing it. I don't generally have soda that often (maybe 2-3 times a month?) so maybe bubbles, sugar or pH change was getting to me. Either way, my run on Friday was cut short at a mile and I suffered some stomach pain that seemed severe at the time but in hindsight was just annoying due to the fact I had to scoot a half mile back to my apartment while doing some serious mental cartwheels to ignore the fact that I might vomit all over unsuspecting passersby. Which I didn't, thankfully, but it was still unpleasant.
Saturday passed quickly as we did a whole bunch of fun things, including an early breakfast at The Silver Spurs, getting myself some real running shoes, as the other ones I've been using are actually crosstrainers, going to this sort-of-secret watch sale where they didn't let you get in without checking coats and bags and showing your ID, then going to a wine and chocolate-paired tasting and THEN a visit to the new dumpling place down the street called Mahjong Dumpling which was fantastic! Now that I think about it... Saturday was really busy!
Sunday was more relaxed, with a walk in the park with Chewie:

I ran afterwards, the 3.2 mile loop, but I started out too fast and I hadn't really gone in three days, so it was difficult. I had to stop a couple of times. Sad face.
I made up for it today by heading into Central Park again. I was shooting for distance, not necessarily speed, so I chugged my way to the 85th street entrance, up the main road to the 97th street transverse, and down the west side... to... what I thought was another transverse to take me back to where I started? Bah! Foiled again! Signs saying "W 72 St" are, while helpful, not appreciated. This time I turned around right when I realized it, because I really didn't want to run the loop all the way down to the south end of the park and back. I saw some movement heading across the park towards the east side and followed the people, until I realized that it was a couple and I was following them up to the "Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater"... which is a bit too creepy, even for me. There was even a sign saying something like "Magical Puppet House!" Ahem. I took a different path a little to the north, which put me on the round-ish thing around the great lawn, of which I was gratefully familiar. I made it to the other side and, when I couldn't find a path to the main road, forged my own across the ice and really, really wet mud. Yuck. But I made it, and kept running north, until I saw a sign saying "E 90 St" - which meant I STILL didn't know where I was going. I escaped at this point and just ran back on the streets. It ended up being around 4.29 miles, and minus all the couple-puppet-stalking and getting-stuck-in-the-mud, I rounded it off to about 40 minutes, which translates to a 9:21 pace. All in all, eventful.