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Here We Go…

November 5th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (12 Comments)

It’s here! Tomorrow is the big day. I can’t believe that tomorrow I will be waking up and running the NYC Marathon.

I remember when I first wrote down that I wanted to break 3:00 in the marathon. It was just about a week after last year’s marathon, once I had a chance to reflect and regain my ability to walk. I admitted this was a lofty goal, but attainable with hard work. I’ve now put in a full year of hard work since that point and it’s time to see if it paid off.

Goals & Positive Thinking

You all know my goal time. It’s about all I’ve focused on the past few months. Running under 3:00 has been the thought in the back of my mind during every workout and long run, pushing me to work harder and stay strong.

As the race drew closer, I started to get so caught up with the fear of failing, that I started to lose sight of why I am doing this marathon. I run because I love it. Because it’s for me. Running allows me to better myself. To focus. To constantly grow and challenge myself. I’m not saying my time doesn’t matter to me, because it does. A lot. But it’s not the only thing that matters.

As my BFF Deena Kastor says (more on this later), “A joyful runner is a faster runner.”

Do I still want to run under 2:59:59.99? You bet. But I’ve had to get my head on straight and remind myself that as long as I PR and enjoy the experience, that’s still a win! I will continually remind myself to stay positive and not let “pace noise” throw off my game. My worst fear is seeing that I’m off pace and there is no way I will break 3:00, and falling apart. I won’t let that happen. I am going to run with a smile on my face (okay, at least through mile 23…) and give everything I have to at least PR. And most importantly, I will enjoy the ride.

And if I don’t PR? Well, expect a race recap with a very different tone soon ;)

Race Prep

Yesterday morning, courtesy of Emilia and Asics, Kelly, Meggie, Susan and I were invited to attend a very special breakfast at the Empire Hotel with running pros Deena Kastor (my BFF above) and Ryan Hall. Hearing the pro runners share advice really pumped me up!

Ryan’s advice? “It’s easier to slow down than speed up.” Seeing as I positive split by 5 minutes last year, I guess I follow a similar race strategy :)

Emilia, Kelly, Me, Deena, Deena's Hubby/Coach Andrew, Meggie, Susan

I spent the rest of the day working from Starbucks and laying low, and woke up this morning to do my traditional 20 minute shakeout run. It’s what we always did the day before a race in college, and haven’t changed it up since. As I finished, I got super excited (and nervous) to think the next time I step out for a run, it’ll be over the Verrazano bridge!

I headed down to Lululemon in Union Square at 9 a.m. for a run design focus group I was invited to. A few of their product development folks came down from Canada and wanted to hear from a small group of runners what we love in our running clothes (Lululemon or not!) to help shape their designs and styles. I’ve accumulated a ton of running clothes over the past 10 years, 85% of which seems to be Nike. I like Lululemon’s clothing, but the price point is a major barrier for me when I can barely even fit my current running collection into my drawers. And I am a poor working girl.

Nonetheless, the discussion was really interesting! And, we got a gift card for our time, so I used it to buy a pair of black run: speed shorts that I will wear during the marathon tomorrow. I have these shorts in another color and gradually found myself wearing them for most long runs because they feel light as air and have pockets for my gels. It was a last minute decision to switch to these shorts as I’ve always raced in Nike spandex shorts, but I love the run: speed shorts and have a feeling they’ll be great tomorrow. They’re called the speed shorts, so that’s a good sign…right?

Tomorrow

And now we’re here. One more sleep and I’ll be running a marathon through the greatest city in the world. Friends, I can not begin to express how much your support means to me. Last year, I didn’t really know anyone else racing and it was very much a solo experience. This year I feel like I’ll know so many familiar faces running out there with me, spectating from the sidelines, or cheering from afar.

THANK YOU for every last comment, tweet, Facebook post, email, story, call, fro-yo trip, drink, EVERYTHING that we’ve shared over the last few months. I will think of all of you rooting for me to draw in positive energy and strength, especially in those final miles. If tomorrow is my day to break 3:00, I will feel on top of the world. And if it’s not, I’ll be back here and working hard until I do!

To track me, log onto http://ingnycmarathon.com tomorrow or download the app and track me via Bib#287. If you’re watching, here’s what I’m wearing!

Good luck to all the other runners out there. Catch ya after 26.2! 

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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A Fresh Start

October 31st, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (18 Comments)

Today was my last day at my former job, Emanate PR. Tomorrow, I start a new job at a very exciting company and came home to a super fun delivery with new work toys to get me all set up!

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I’ll keep you in suspense for the job announcement below. Since it’s marathon week (!!), running is on the brain first.

Sunday’s run was one for the books (or blog?). Normally I don’t feel the need to post about each and every run, as most are just…average. But I want to remember this one. It was special.

Despite the ice, snow and reports that Central Park was closed on Sunday, it most definitely was not. It was actually very crowded as all the tourists were out and about! At around 10:30am, I decided to do one counter-clockwise loop of the park to hit 8 miles. I wore my Garmin, but didn’t look at my pace until around halfway through.

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I felt like I was just keeping a comfortable pace, and was shocked to see I was well under 7:20. Most of my training runs in this cycle have been between 7:40-8:00, especially as my mileage increased. 7:30 was hard to come by, let alone a 7:15. But I felt good, fresh, and confident. As I cruised down the hill near the ice skating rink, I saw a 6:51. What? I decided to keep the pace steady and controlled up Harlem Hill, only to find myself hitting a 6:54 once I came down the other side. As I headed out of the park back to my apartment, adding on an extra .25 miles to hit the even 8, I still found myself under 7:00.

It was perfect. It felt like I was keeping a decent clip, but I wasn’t struggling. It wasn’t the easiest, most effortless run, but I felt better pushing hard than I have in a while. The sun was shining and melting the snow as I finished on Riverside Drive. As I walked the block back to my apartment and stretched, I felt rejuvenated. Back to my old self. Ready to take on the race. While my goal of 6:50 pace might feel a bit tougher this Sunday than last, especially for 26.2 miles, I am up for the challenge.

After a rough last week, I needed that run. Much more than I thought.

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As I mentioned, tomorrow I start a new job! One I am very excited about.

I’m starting as Community Coordinator at Chobani (!!!!) I’ll be responsible for many of their communications, social media, and PR efforts, particularly for the Chobani brand and CHOmobile, a mobile van appearing at festivals and events across the US. Chobani is a really fun, unique brand, and has a very entrepreneurial, start-up feel.

After 2.5 years at a PR agency, I enjoyed the work, my clients, and my teams. I felt challenged and happy but always wondered what it would be like to work for a brand I am super passionate about. You know, those ‘dream companies‘. For me, that was Chobani. I’ve followed the brand not only as a consumer (seriously addicted to the yogurt!), but from a communications perspective as well. I loved seeing everything from their ad campaigns, social media strategy, blogger efforts, and experiential activities….I’ve always thought they were really on top of the trends in the communications and marketing world.

The company is setting up shop here in NYC, and I’m very excited for a new professional challenge. It’ll be a welcome change of pace. My goal is to have the work not feel like work, and I think I’ll find that here.

For now, goodnight! Resting up before the big day….tomorrow and Sunday!

What was the best-feeling run you’ve had lately? What is your dream company to work for?

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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.

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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!

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

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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.

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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?

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Soul Crushing Hills. Alternative title: Nike Women’s Half-Marathon Recap

October 18th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts | Race Recaps - (32 Comments)

That title pretty much sums it up. Going into the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon, I had two goals.

  1. Have fun and enjoy the ‘vacation race’!
  2. Practice marathon pace for the first 10K, then work on gradually bringing down the pace.

Welp, I only met one of these, but at least it was the more important one :) My time was actually new PW- personal worst-but I had a blast doing it! In fact, it was about 7.5 minutes slower than my half-marathon PR, and about 2.5 minutes slower than the first half-marathon I ever ran. Yowza.IMG_1180

I finished in 1:32:09. I was 24th out of 16,423 half-marathon finishers, and 6th in my age group. Pretty cool!

Let’s rewind. I landed late on Friday night and my sister picked me up from the airport and took me to her house to stay for the weekend. We headed to the expo in Union Square on Saturday, but the crowds were kinda intense, so we pretty much just picked up my bib and walked around before going to a few shops in the area.

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My aunt and uncle also live near San Francisco in a suburb south of the city, so they came in and took us out to dinner on Saturday night at a restaurant called Spork. It was soooo good, we shared a few appetizers and I had the seared scallops with coconut rice for dinner, along with a sampling of just about every dessert on the menu. Sweets=great race fuel!

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Luckily because of the time zone change, I had no problem falling asleep very early on Saturday night. We awoke bright and early and my sister dropped me off near the starting line. It was a madhouse. The bag check buses were so disorganized and it took me about 20 minutes, squeezed against dozens of others, just to get my bag on the bus. I then realized I should have just left my bag with my sister to hand to me at the finish. Durrr.

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Because of all the time I spent and the massive crowds, I couldn’t even find the starting area. I finally weaved my way through people and found myself in the 9:30/mile pace group. There was literally no way to get any closer. I missed the NYRR corral system. I wanted to be near the front. I was surrounded by people who were clearly going to be walking or jogging, and I wanted to set out at 6:50 pace. Seriously?! The gun went off. I panicked. My Garmin wasn’t getting any signal. We were barely moving. It took me just about 4 minutes just to cross the line. As soon as I saw a clear path, I darted. I was running on the sidewalk, weaving, being ‘that’ rude runner doing anything to get people out of my way! I didn’t even see the 1 mile marker. I was getting really angry, annoyed and frustrated. It was not good.

Finally, around the 2-mile mark, I looked down and saw my time. My pace was fine (fast, almost). The crowds were easing up and I could get into my rhythm. My legs weren’t feeling so hot, but they weren’t awful, either. I finally shifted my focus to the positive. I was running in a gorgeous city, on a fun course, amongst thousands of other women, and I was going to enjoy it. Plus, it was only a half-marathon. After three 20-milers, this was going to be a breeze.

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A breeze? Not so much. The course was probably the hardest I have ever run. I knew San Francisco was hilly, and I studied the elevation profile, but nothing could have prepared me for the massive, continuous, steep, never ending inclines. In general, hills are not my strength. I always lose my stride up hills, and I always fall off the group a bit whenever we hit hills in workouts or races. Always been this way. So, this course felt especially cruel, preying on my weaknesses.

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Seriously? Look at that elevation profile. Those aren’t nice, normal hills. Those are straight inclines.

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My splits don’t really make a ton of sense given I missed some markers and my Garmin didn’t pick up satellite for quite some time. Split 1 is really miles 1 and 2 combined, pretty quick given the crowded start so I think my anger fueled the (too fast) splits as I wasted a lot of energy. Split 6 (mile 6-7) was all uphill. Mile 7-8 was about half uphill. Mile 11-12 was a long, slow incline. Up and up and up! I also didn’t see the 13 mile marker, so the last split is really 1.1, meaning at least I finished strong.

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But the views. Oh, the views. In the middle of the race, as we were up in the Presidio, we had breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge and bay. It was a bit of a foggy, warm morning, which made the scene quite serene. The climbs were 110% worth the views. I remembered why I was doing this race (for fun!), threw my pride out the window majorly (seriously, thought I had a shot at being top 10 given previous years’ results), and tried to run in the moment.

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Before I knew it, I was powering down along the Pacific Ocean towards the red carpet finish line.

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My cheering squad, Aunt Deenie and my sister, Marly!

Honestly, as much as I enjoyed the race (and I did, I really did!), I am a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to practice my race pace/negative splitting and use this as a gauge of fitness for the marathon. Had I really known how hard this course was, I definitely may not have had that plan or expectation. All things considered, I still gave a hard effort, and the experience was even better.

After the race, we headed home to shower and rest up a bit before heading to lunch at Umami Burger, LA’s ‘trendy burger spot’ that just opened in San Francisco. I was starving, and the signature Umami Burger hit the spot.

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And, what would a celebratory meal be without frozen yogurt? One of my sister’s roommates suggested Yogorino, which has super light/fluffy/creamy plain frozen yogurt. Delicious!

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We spent the rest of the weekend walking around the city, eating, and relaxing. I flew back home last night on the red eye, landed, ran 4 easy shake out miles (oh.my.god.im.sore), and went to work. Which means, I’m just about ready to pass out now. Luckily, this week is week 1 of the taper. After weeks and weeks of hard effort, bring it on!

What was the highlight of your weekend? Are you a good hill runner? Hardest course you’ve ever run or raced? Ever done the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon or Marathon?

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Marathon Monday

September 12th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (16 Comments)

Marathon Monday is synonymous with the Boston Marathon.

Turns out, Marathon Monday now isn’t just about the actual running of the race, but simply registering for the race itself.

This morning at 10 a.m. EST, the first round of registration opened for runners who have met the Boston Qualifying standards by 20 minutes or faster. Over the next few days, the registration system will open up for runners who have met the Boston Qualifying standards by 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and so on. Do I think this is a fair system that will work? I’m not sure. In my eyes, a 2:39 marathoner and a 3:39 marathoner equally deserve to run this race.  Dropping the qualifying standards may be the next best way to avoid shutting out those who run the times, but then the 3:40 standard that has become universal with a ‘BQ’ for so many people for so long will change.

There is really no one fair way, and I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to have run a fast enough time to be able to register today without stress, knowing that after verification of my time, I will be running the streets of Boston on April 16, 2012. Others will have to wait nervously to see if they’re even afforded the opportunity to register before the race is maxed out. Thoughts and fingers crossed for you, friends!

I’m having some doubts about signing up for yet another marathon right now, especially given my training for NYC isn’t going as well as I want it to. Why would I want to put my body through this, just mere months later? In the winter, nonetheless. Fun? …or crazy? or stupid? I always knew Boston is like the mother of all marathons, the ultimate goal for many. It’s an exclusive club. I figured it’d be nice to run it at some point in time. I didn’t realize how much I really wanted to do it until today. I woke up and did an easy 3 mile shakeout in preparation for an evening run. My mind was consumed with pros and cons of registering this morning. The more I ran, the more excited I became. I felt a bit reinvigorated and my feet took on a life of their own. I knew then I was ready for the challenge. It’s not a dream goal anymore, it’s a real goal.

Another reason I want to do Boston is because I’m registered for the Big Sur Marathon, and I want to do the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge.

April 16: Boston

April 29: Big Sur

Hopefully I’ll be able to walk (or waddle) afterward. Go big or go home, right? I’ll be turning 25 on March 20th, and this challenge is a gift to myself. I’ve been making a more conscious effort to spend more time discovering more about who I am and what I’m capable of.  Sometimes I’m really unsure. Running, I’ve found, helps me become a bit more introspective in this journey. In a way, I want to challenge myself to complete Boston 2 Big Sur to show myself that I’m capable of anything, and I know I’ll be happy and proud of myself upon completing the journey. So while I still plan on celebrating the big 2-5 like a normal person with booze, cake and friends, April will mark the real celebration of myself, as crazy as that sounds.

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On a completely unrelated note, I’m newly obsessed with figs. I’m not sure why I’ve never really tried them before, we just never had them in our house growing up and they seemed like a foreign food when I passed them in the store. I didn’t really know how to prepare them, or what to make. After reading how others enjoy them so easily, I decided to take the plunge. SO DELICIOUS.

I’ve been enjoying them simply sliced up over greek yogurt:

In salads with sliced peaches and feta (thanks for the salad tumbler, Megan!):

And mashed up to create a jelly-like spread, grilled on Ezekiel toast with a slice of swiss cheese. Mmmm, melty sweet and savory goodness.

Tell me: Thoughts on Boston registration? Did you register or are you planning to register if you’re able? What’s your favorite use for figs?

 

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