Header

<1 Week!

April 10th, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (11 Comments)

It’s race week! And oh goodness, what a relaxing weekend will do. This sounds silly, but I haven’t woken up well-rested, without an alarm, or without some semblance of a hangover both weekend mornings in …a long time. Between working or traveling on weekends, rising early for long runs, and going out late, it just hasn’t happened. A week before the marathon is enough time to reset and refresh, right? Right.

Sunday Easter brunch & Central Park walk w/ Mom: The key to happiness!

This week I’m focusing on sleep, sleep, and …more sleep. By nature of my job, I’m ‘on’ and connected to social media all day long and find it hard to disconnect at night and fall asleep. Not complaining, just how it is. I’m trying to make a concerted effort to focus on work but shut down a bit earlier. Some things can wait until the next day. This week, sleep cannot.

But more important than sleep, I’ve been working to mentally prepare myself for next Monday. I touched on this last week, but given the successful training cycle I’ve had, I kinda expect to show up in Boston and break 3:00. I really have no right to be so cocky, so I’m trying to shake that mindset because I know it’s going to be hard as hell and I’m going to have to earn it. Marathons are extremely humbling and if I don’t prepare myself for it, I’m going to fall apart.

I wrote about this in my third Boston.com post yesterday, but at this point it’s really all mental. Grinding out a fast pace over 26.2 miles is hard and there’s going to be highs and lows. Each low point is going to wear down that mental layer bit by bit. I need to be sure I’m equipped with strategies to overcome those trying times and keep everything in tact and push through.

Last Thursday was a good time to practice staying strong mentally. We did a continuous 6 miles: 2 at marathon pace, 2 at half-marathon pace, and 2 back at marathon pace. For a final workout with the majority of it at marathon pace, this probably should have felt easier, but I was right on mentally. Yeah, our paces were a little faster than they should have been, and I think my watch was off a bit from Alex’s, but it’s interesting to see my heart rate didn’t drop back down much once we transitioned back down to marathon pace. Figure this will be similar to the final miles in the race…oof.

While this weekend is a busy one between work events, I’ll make sure to find a way to keep my head above water and rest up. Oh, and don’t worry. I’ve got the carboloading part down pat.

I’ll be nibbling on this all week. This speedy bunny surely has transformative properties. Right? Thought so.

Best mental strategies to prepare for a race? Anything else I should be doing to prep this week? Help! Advice! 

, , , , , , ,

50+ miles, Hot Chocolate & Super Bowl Dip

February 6th, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (12 Comments)

Happy Monday! Looks like I’m getting on a weekly posting schedule…though I’d like to write more frequently, I’ll start by recapping this past week. It was a pretty awesome one largely because it felt like spring for the majority of it. Any week in late January/early February I can wear a dress without stockings, have a work meeting outside in Bryant Park and run in shorts most days makes me happy. It’s the little things.

And, I finally cracked 50 miles for the first time this training cycle with a pretty solid workout, too. Exciting…

  • M: 7.5 in Riverside, easy (~8:15 pace)
  • T: 8 miles on Bridle, felt good (~7:44 pace)
  • W: 6 around reservoir/bridle (~7:39 pace)
  • R: Solo workout: 3 warmup, 2 cooldown, 7 mile tempo (4+ lower loops) in 46:30. (6:50, 6:49, 6:50, 6:39, 6:33, 6:21, 6:25)
  • F: OFF
  • S: Hot Chocolate run! 15 total (10 through WSH/Riverside/CP ~7:15 pace, 5 easy down WSH to City Bakery)
  • S: 3 miles easy around Riverside to Whole Foods

Total: 51.5 miles

Thursday’s workout was a bit of a confidence booster. I’ve professed my love for doing solo workouts on the lower loops before. I set out to do a little over 4 loops to hit 7 miles, starting out easy and bringing it down at the end.

Workout, 2/2

Kept it around goal marathon pace the first three miles and felt pretty relaxed. Around the 5th mile, I got into a groove and felt confident to push the pace a bit under 6:30. The last mile was pretty tough and uncomfortable though, yikes.

I did this exact workout on September 15th in 47:11. I thought it was a pretty great effort and strong fitness indicator before NYC. Well, Thursday’s workout was almost 45 seconds faster, and while I definitely pushed much harder in the last miles than September, I still felt strong. While there’s still a lot of work to be done between now and April 16th, maybe Boston won’t be so bad after all.

The weekend was plenty of fun, too! Enjoyed a delicious Restaurant Week dinner at The Hurricane Club, with fiery drinks (meant to share between 4, but easily polished off between 2). And then we were wasted, good work team.

Woke up on Saturday morning without tooooo much trouble to hit the roads for 10 miles before meeting up with the New York Rogue Runners (yes, Rogue) to run another 5 miles down the West Side Highway to City Bakery for the annual Hot Chocolate Run. While I anticipated taking the first 10 miles pretty easy, suddenly we found ourselves around 7:10-7:15 pace…oops? The weather was nice and I felt good and once again, I had some great company to pass the miles :)

I was so excited to finish the last 5 miles with the group and spend some QT on the roads and sippin’ delish hot chocolate with the Sweat Squad contingent of Ali, Megan, Susan and Meggie. Definitely a great Saturday morning/afternoon. Thanks for organizing, Baker!

This is our 'look intimidating' pose. Nice.

Delicious food

Nothing says refueling like Banana Peel hot chocolate, caramelized french toast, mac and cheese, and fruit. I was more than happy to get my long run out of the way, and spend some time catching up with great friends. And just check out that marshmallow!

I’m not a huge football person, so I was mostly excited to get to whip up some delicious food to eat while watching the game last night. On the menu, buffalo chicken dip and spinach artichoke dip complete with veggie dippers and chips. Oh, and of course beer & two pints of Ben & Jerry’s. Both the dips were super easy & tasty, and we totally polished off the buffalo chicken dip. And now I’ll be eating spinach artichoke dip for lunch this week…yum.

I made this spread...go, Lindsay!

The ‘not-so-secret’ ingredient in both the dips is Chobani. Should come as no surprise because 1- I despise sour cream & it makes an excellent sub, and 2- Even though they may pay my salary, it’s awesome and I’d spend my hard earned dolla bills on it any day.

What was the best part of your weekend? Best run of the week?

, , , , , ,

Welcome to Sub-Elite, #287

November 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (16 Comments)

About a month ago, I applied for the ‘local competitive’ corral for the marathon. This is open to marathoners with a time of 3:16 or faster, and since I did it last year, I figured I’d do it again. I was assigned bib #504 and all was good. Then I found out there was another section, the sub-elite, for marathoners with a time of 3:05 or faster. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this sooner? I emailed the NYRR a few weeks ago and they let me know that unfortunately, the section was closed. No disappointment- local competitive was still a great option.

Yesterday at work, I got a call from NYRR, informing me that a few spots in sub-elite had opened up due to last-minute cancellations. Did I want to be switched? Ummmm, YES please!

Within a few hours, my registration card was updated to Bib #287.

singlet1

Needless to say, I’m so excited! Sub-elite athletes get a dedicated bus that leaves midtown at 6:30 a.m. and goes straight to the staging area with a special bag check, portapotties (most important!), refreshments, massages, and a clear starting position in the orange corral. Since I started on the lower level in green last year, I am probably most excited to start on the upper deck so I can actually see all the fanfare. And get to feel like a pro for a morning ;) I feel extremely lucky to be a part of this experience.

This afternoon I took a break from working at home (seriously, I love working from home! so much productivity without the commute) and ran the 3.5 miles from my apartment down to the expo. Nice way to multitask and get in my run for the day.

expo1

I spent about 45 minutes or so walking around the expo, checking out the free samples and stocking up on some gear.

shirts

A short sleeve gray shirt, a soft longsleeve blue half-zip (showing the back with the marathon type), and a red Brooks longsleeve: ‘Run Happy’. I love that one!

The expo really made me feel like the marathon is here. I’ve had a hard time wrapping my head around the reality that I’m racing 26.2 miles on Sunday, and needed the energy of thousands of others to get me in the mood. I don’t know when it’ll actually hit me, but I’m getting closer. Promise.

I worked a bit more when I got home, and then decided to make a nice, healthy dinner. Another perk of working from home: being able to cook from my own fridge, whenever I want, instead of depending on whatever I brought to the office that day and waiting to eat a ‘real’ dinner until I get home at 8! And the best perk: working in my sweaty running clothes in bed and showering 5 hours later. Mmmhmm.

salmon1

Baked salmon with TJ’s Island Soyaki sauce, over a bed of quinoa, edamame and cucumbers, also mixed with soyaki sauce.

I’m trying to increase my carbohydrate intake this week, to amp up my stores and fuel for the race. I don’t do the typical pasta binge the night before, as my stomach isn’t used to that and I’d probably get sick. And, it’s a bit too late to ‘stock up’ the night before. Instead, I’ve been focusing on having more healthy carbs all this week like bananas, oatmeal and cereal for breakfast, more pretzels and crackers for snacks, and bases of grains like quinoa when eating healthy proteins.

Since I’ve been running less this week, my appetite hasn’t been quite as ravenous. That means I’ve had to make a more conscious effort to eat every few hours, since I know my body needs the fuel. I don’t weigh myself too often, or get too preoccupied with it, but today I noticed I’ve lost about 3 pounds from about 2 weeks ago. For me right now, this is not a good thing! I need to hang on to all the muscle, power and water I can get to get me through the race. I will probably focus on getting back to a lower weight post-race. (Yes, I tend to gain around 5 or so pounds marathon training. I like to think it’s muscle, but it’s more likely a result of my monster appetite).

I’ll be back again tomorrow or Saturday with a pre-race post. Until then, send good marathon thoughts my way and tell me where you’re cheering!

What’s your favorite part of race expos? What’s your carbo-loading strategy? If you’re cheering WHERE WILL YOU BE?!?! I want to know where to look for everyone.

, , , , , , ,

Taper Time: It’s all downhill from here…

October 22nd, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Uncategorized - (13 Comments)

I survived the first week of the taper! Sunday’s Half-Marathon marked 3 weeks to race day, and the beginning of the gradual decline in intensity and mileage.

After many, many hard weeks of training, I’m a bit relieved. The end is near. My goal is (finally) in reach. November 6th used to feel so far away- especially through all those humid, sweaty runs in July and August- and it was hard to visualize race day. September rolled around, the fall air began to hit, and upping my long runs helped draw the marathon a bit closer. And now, we’re suddenly nearing the end of October and it’s in sight. How did that happen? I’ve logged three 20-mile runs, pushed through weekly workouts at half-marathon and marathon pace, reached a new highest weekly mileage, and I feel ready. Well, most of the time.

The great part is… all the really hard work is behind me. But that’s also the scary part. I second guess myself. Did I do enough? Were my runs long enough? Was my pace fast enough? I’m out of time to put in the hard work. These few weeks of tapering will be about getting my legs fresh, staying healthy, resting up, and mentally preparing. While these things are all a very important part of race preparation, it’s difficult not to question how you could have done more during training. Stretched more, iced more, ran longer, ran faster, slept more, ate cleaner, took iron more, lifted more, worked on my core strength more.

I think this is totally natural. No matter your ability, there is always room to doubt yourself. No matter your training, there is always the question if you could have done more. It’s like that in all areas of life: did I study enough for that test? Did I prepare enough for my big client presentation? Did I spend enough time with my family? Did I do enough to show my friends I care?

I need to focus on looking back at all I’ve accomplished over the last 3 months, and trust in that. I feel confident that I’ve done the best I could in my training given the time and energy I was able to dedicate. I am thankful to have stayed healthy and injury-free this entire training cycle. I have woken up earlier than the sun, run faster and farther than comfort, and am ready. Sub-3:00 is no longer a lofty goal, it’s in reach. The preparation is done. It’s all up to feeling good, running smart, staying strong, and digging deep on race day.

Hopefully, crossing the finish line as happy (and satisfied) as last year! This time, a few minutes faster.

62039-22805-033f

This week, I hit 49.5 miles.

  • Sun: 13.1 miles- Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco: 1:32:09
  • Mon: Off
  • Tues: Flew back from CA on redeye. 4 miles easy after landing before work.
  • Weds: 4.5 miles in CP
  • Thurs: 2 warmup, 5.16 tempo (6:44 average pace), 2.5 cooldown
  • Fri: 2 miles shakeout
  • Sat: 16.5 miles total, including last 10 miles of the marathon course (!)

Next week, I’ll probably hit around 35-38 miles, and then only around 22-25 miles the week before the marathon. Hooray!

To rest, I’ll be keeping it pretty low key these next two weekends. Last night, I went to the Meatball Shop with Dan for dinner. The wait was less than an hour, surprising for 7 p.m. on a Friday. Like last time I went, I decided to get the sliders again so I could choose multiple ball/sauce varieties. I chose the spicy pork with spicy meat sauce, veggie with parmesan cream sauce, and the special ball- chicken cordon bleu with mushroom sauce! With a side of carrot and chive risotto, steamed spinach and the market salad with arugula, pomegranate seeds and persimmon. Yum!

IMAG0320

And of course, no dinner is complete without dessert. Special apple cinnamon ice cream with special oatmeal cherry cookies. Amazing.

IMAG0321

No, these hairy arms are not mine.

This morning, I met a few of my CPTC teammates on 59th and 1st to run the last 10 miles of the marathon course. I ran about 4.5 miles through the park to meet, and 2 miles easy after we finished to run back to my apartment. Afterwards, I refueled with a giant mug of Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice coffee, and steel cut oatmeal mixed with pumpkin and protein powder. Now that it’s finally feeling like fall, I’m in the mood for warm, flavorful food. MMM.

IMG_1200

I have to run a few errands this afternoon before fun evening plans. I can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow!

How do you stay confident during a taper? Tips to trust in your training? Any fun weekend plans?

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NYRR Marathon Tune-Up recap, fueled by cactus and meatballs

September 25th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts | Race Recaps - (20 Comments)

Sometimes, like this weekend, I question my sanity. I’m pretty sure running has turned me into a crazy person.

All the endorphins have gone to my head, blocking any sense of rationality, making me think I enjoy things that sound absurd and a weird form of torture to most. Like signing up for the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge…yep, 2 marathons within 2 weeks of each other. Next April is going to be a blast.

Also like willingly paying $18 to run not one, not two, but three counter-clockwise loops of Central Park at 7 a.m. this morning.

It's 6 a.m. I'm ready to go.

18 miles of fun

Most days, you can’t even get me to do one full outer loop. I like variety, the soft bridle path, new scenery…and despise Harlem Hill. I can run 18 miles (for free) any day I want to, at whatever time I want to, on whatever course I want to. So why, despite an awful, awful experience at last year’s NYRR Marathon Tune-Up Training Run, did I still eagerly sign up again?

Sometimes I have a weird way of rationalizing how doing difficult, inconvenient things are actually a good thing for me. Like how I used to trek from the UWS to USQ (yep, 2 subways) just go to to Trader Joe’s. I like that about myself. Keeps me challenged. I could have slept in this weekend and ran an easy long run alone, but decided this race run would be a nice challenge for just one long run.

  • I had to get in 20 miles this weekend, regardless. Signing up reduced the chances I’d skip out or cut it short.
  • 3 loops is boring, yes, but great to build mental toughness for the marathon
  • My friend Alex was running it too. We both ran 3:04 in NYC last year and are both gunning to break 3:00 this year. I wouldn’t have to run it alone!
  • Central Park is hilly. Hills are good to build strength for training.
  • Water stations, Gus, and crowd support. Hooray!

See? Not so bad. Okay, maybe a little crazy. I ran 2 miles over to and around the park before the 18 started to ensure I hit 20 for the day. My first 20 of this training cycle.

It was a bit humid, especially earlier on, though it could have been worse. I was still a sweaty mess at the end! The first mile started out pretty slow with the crowds, but once we got into a groove it was great! The first two loops felt pretty effortless as we chatted the miles away. The third loop was a bit of a struggle mostly due to the fact we were lapping people and had to either weave through the thick crowds or keep to the outer edge of the road. Apparently not so great for tangents, as the total distance was 18.21. I am especially happy we were able to drop the pace on the last few miles, going sub-7.

Weird form of torture? Maybe. But I would not have hit those splits alone so I’m glad I did it. Doing hard, unpleasant things are often the best things. My confidence is boosted a bit from this solid effort, though I’m still very unsure how I’ll feel trying to hit sub-3:00 pace (6:50/mile) on race day. Bring it on!

—-

This weekend was also full of good eats and good friends! Despite the rain, I trekked over to the UES to MXCO to meet Susan, Shannon and Christine for dinner. I have a hard time saying ‘no’ to margaritas.

Susan, Shannon, and Gatsby

Christine, Me and Gatsby

And, we ate cactus. Just had to try it since it was on the menu! It was surprisingly tasty, though the delicious sauce on the top helped.

Cactus

On Saturday, I watched the 5th Avenue Mile, a premiere event in road racing. I ran to NYRR to pick up my bib for the tune-up and met Terence and Erin to watch the elite and pro races. My friend and old Villanova teammate, Nicole, won the NYRR Local Elite Championship race in 4:38. Woohoo!

Thanks for the pic, NYRR

Later that evening, I got to see Susan and Shannon again, joined by Kelly and Shannon’s sister at the Meatball Shop! I had been dying to try the spot and eagerly suggested we check it out. Luckily, these ladies <3 balls just as much as I.

I couldn’t decide on just one type of meatball, so I opted for the sliders to sample a few varieties. I chose the classic beef with tomato sauce, veggie with mushroom sauce, and the special ball of the day: buffalo chicken with blue cheese sauce. The side of special carrots with walnut, mint and prunes. It was hard to pick a favorite!

However, it was not hard to pick dessert. Mint ice cream sandwiched in between gingersnap and brownie cookies.

Well worth the hour wait, and certainly served as fuel for this morning’s run. Can’t wait for more balls! (That’s what she said?)

What was the best part of your weekend? Favorite type of meatball? Ever do inconvenient or difficult things because you rationalize that they’re good ideas? Once I decided it was a great idea to purchase a large floor rug at Ikea and lug it on the ferry and subway all by myself, because I really wanted it and didn’t want to wait another few weeks until going to Ikea with a car. Thankfully today’s 18 miler turned out to be a much better idea, though perhaps equally as tiring.

, , , , , , , , , ,

On Body Confidence

July 8th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (11 Comments)

After spending the large majority of 4th of July weekend in a bathing suit, inevitably the topic of body confidence crossed my mind quite a few times.

I am not a very confident person, in all aspects of life. But, I wouldn’t say I suffer from low self confidence either. I tend to fall in the middle: some great days, some not-so-great. Body confidence in particular is not a huge issue to me, because I try to take a pretty laid back approach. Sure, I care about how I look and typically want to look my best, but stressing out over whether or not my arms look flabby or if my thighs are touching can be so mind-consuming and exhausting, so I try my best to avoid it or stop myself if I go down that path.

Instead, I like to focus on what my body can do versus how my body looks. Running helps immensely in this area!

These bulky thighs? They can run upwards of 60 miles a week.

These muscular calves? They powered me to a 3:04 marathon.

These big arms? I can (almost) do real pushups! :)

I might not have a 6-pack, or be able to fit into my skinny jeans, but I just ran a MARATHON!

See what I mean? When you start to focus on all the things your body is capable of, the little extra chub or crunches you wish you did become a bit less significant than those goals your body allows you to achieve via running. Or swimming or biking or yoga or dancing or whatever it is you love to do!

Time for some more honesty.

I currently weigh about 5 pounds more than I did during college. On my 5’4 frame, I think it shows..particularly when comparing pictures. I contribute this to largely to sitting at a desk for 8-10 hours a day, rather than walking miles around campus to and from class and activities. I’m still running the same (if not more), and eating pretty well. Part of me thinks I should work on getting back down to that weight, but I still feel good now. I am running well, I am enjoying life, and 95% of days I feel good with how I look. I have bad days where I feel like a zillion pounds. But I try to think big picture: Will 5 pounds of weight loss really make a difference in my confidence? Not if I have to deprive myself and go crazy to get there.

I remember a point in high school where I struggled really badly with body confidence. Wasn’t everyone super emo then anyway? I remember planning my meals all day to avoid eating certain foods and having my mom prepare separate foods for me. Or coming home one day after track practice and doing the elliptical because I wanted to work a little harder. I was also obsessed with what other people thought about how I looked, despite wearing a size 0. How miserable! And guess what….my running wasn’t so hot and I subsequently landed two back-to-back stress fractures.

See what I mean? Why place all this stress and worry on how you look, when you’re just fine how you are. I found that once I cut the negative self talk and got healthy, I started improving my running times and my confidence (about my body and my life) skyrocketed. I was a much happier person inside, and much more fun to be around. I wish I could take back those years where I spent all that energy feeling bad about myself and applied it elsewhere.

I see so many people (many, many friends!) stress out about how they look or losing those last five pounds. I am all for doing what makes you feel best about yourself, but at the end of the day…are you happy? Or are you driving yourself crazy? How else can you drive self-confidence in ways beyond your weight? What does your body as it currently stands allow you to do? This is why I am always encouraging my friends to take up running or a new athletic hobby…it’s the endorphins or something.

Everyone knows you take note of so much more about yourself than others do. What did your boss wear to work today? I can’t recall, but I can sure list out my own outfits this whole week! :)

I’m not perfect, I have good days and bad days with body confidence…but I feel like the bad days come a lot more rarely when I remember the idea that what your body can do is so much more important for your life and well-being than the miniscule aspects of your weight and how you look. It might not seem that way when you’re standing in a bikini in front of dozens of people, but remember that!

What are your thoughts on body confidence? Do you feel better at a certain weight? Do you judge your body confidence on athletic achievements?

, ,