Central Park 4M Recap

Another PR in the books!  Though I wasn’t feeling great and it was hot as heck out, I still banged out a decent race.  This also marked the first race that I ran for Prospect Park Track Club.

First mile was uneventful…the usual crowding but that helped in not taking Cat Hill too quickly.
Second mile I finally found my groove and space after the crowd thinned.  I also felt really hot.  Not quite ready for summer running.
Third mile was hilly.  Ugh.  Everyone struggled with this mile, so at least I wasn’t alone.  Hilly and hot.  I also passed a lot of PPTC people cheering so that helped.
Fourth mile was a bit better but I felt like I was going to throw up and my whole body was heavy.  Too damn hot.

Overall it was a great race despite feeling like I didn’t give it my all.  Found Steve, Judy, and Frank after to compare race notes and find brunch.  You’d be surprised how many places don’t serve brunch at 9 am…  We stumbled upon Cafe Ronda and fatty awesome breakfast was found.  I don’t eat eggs, but French toast is *always* an exception.

SunTrust National Marathon recap

Well this is days overdue. I’ve been calling this the DC Marathon because that’s much easier and an exact location, but the title is the official name. It was everywhere. Also, this post in true Mir-fashion is hasty and poorly written. It’s either post now, or wait another week and I’m impatient. Here’s a link to the photo album.

Miss Laurie picked me up at Union Station and we headed straight to the expo so we could stock up before they packed up. And stock up we did! Aside from the goody bag that included our shirt, number, and sponsor gifts, I bought a Garmin Forerunner 405 and Laurie bought a Spibelt. We caught Muscle Milk as they were breaking down their post and the literally handed us armfuls of bottles in assorted flavors. I’ve never had it but I know that Mal lives off it so if its gross, at least it has a home and won’t go to waste. Aside from our bounty, the expo left something to be desired. Not as many vendors as expected and there weren’t as many informative booths as I’m used to seeing at race expos.

We carb loaded in Georgetown with Jen, Hillary, and Amy then Jen drove us around as we searched for a whole wheat bagel at 9:30 pm. Note to self, this happened in Philly as well. BYOB – Bring Your Own Bagel. Victory was had at Dunkin Donuts and I think I confused the cashier when I asked her to slice it, don’t toast, no butter, no anything. She was certain I was wrong.

Surprisingly Laurie and I managed to be under the covers by 10:30 pm, but I certainly didn’t sleep well. WHen I finally did fall asleep, I woke up in the middle of the night repeatedly. 4:45 am arrived way too soon but we groggily hopped out of bed and gathered our things.

Our cab was late. Then we waited about 15 minutes for the metro. My eyes burned. EVERYONE got out at The Armory and the escalators were broken which caused a massive bottle neck and it probably look us longer to leave the metro station than our entire trip to get there. When we emerged from the underground, JM was playing on the stereo. Of course he was, because that is my life.

The start area was total chaos and the race was to begin about 5 minutes after we arrived (along with a few thousand other runners) and we still had to check our bag, go to the restroom, and stretch. Bag check was actually painless and efficient. The bathroom lines were long, but not out of control. At this point I think everyone understood “pee and flee”. While in line, Laurie realized she forgot her anvil and conveniently the woman in front of us had a baggie of about 15 pills. Laurie asked if she could have one. “I’d rather you didn’t.” Wicked! I understand if she had one, but she had enough for every mile!! Whatevs, Laurie ended up passing her and was fairly pain-free during and after the race.

We were able to wiggle our way into the parade of people heading to the start and managed to cross the line about 5 minutes after the gun went off. The race was a blur, so below are some highlights.

Miles 1-3
People people everywhere! Hazy morning past the monuments. A runner was taking pics during the race… Mile markers were hidden. I was so tired.

Miles 4-7
Um, this course isn’t flat. Crowd support was crazy, especially when the race started at 7 am. Starting to get tired and I still have about 20 miles to go, eeeek.

Mile 8
Someone was handing out beer.

Mile 9
My knee is beginning to really hurt. Every step resonated pain.

Mile 10
Beyond painful, I keep on trucking hoping to just run it out. I try to focus on everything else like when I’d take gels, music, the crowds, picking people off, everything. Boy, the sun is BRIGHT today.

Mile 11
I contemplate just finishing the half marathon since the pain is getting worse. I’m pretty sure I’m limping at this point. I start contemplating how I’ll tuck into the halters since we have different colored bibs.

Mile 13
What the hell, they’re separating us! Full marathoners have to go AROUND the stadium…there’s no slipping away from this. There are A LOT of people running the half, and not that many people running the full.

Mile 13.1
There’s a water station for the fulls which also looked like a graveyard. Race day was the first really nice day and many don’t look prepared. Plus, the first have was HILLY! Runners hung around the fluid station and stretched, walked, and weeped. Time to keep trucking.

Mile 15
Saw a woman with a sign that read “I’m chubby and lazy but YOU are awesome for running a marathon!”. Loved it!

Mile 16
ONLY TEN MORE MILES TO GO!! I’m really tired at this point. And it’s REALLY lonely out there. Barely any runners. 90% of the people at the start probably ran the half. Assholes.

Mile 17
I’m being passed by old ladies. I have no idea where we are but it’s near a major road and it smells like exhaust, also, there isn’t many people cheering along the road. There are quite a number of people in cars quite upset that they cannot drive down their planned route. There is still a lot of race left.

Mile 18
I saw a woman with a hot dog hat and two kids dressed up at ketchup and mustard.

Mile 19
WTF IS THIS BRIDGE?!?! I start to walk, F this. I was convinced that I didn’t have a kneecap or tendons any more. Serves me right for being stubborn. I walked with another wounded warrior. until the top of the bridge then I left him and soared to the fluid station. You know what I want right now? A bag of ice.

Mile 20
6.2 is still a long way to go. It’s still lonely but at least it’s a straight away so I can see other runners ahead.

Mile 20-23
This is a very boring course. I want to die with each step but at least this area is grassy. I hop off the course road and run in the grass since there’s less impact and it hurts just slightly less. I turned around at one point and saw that a few others followed my lead. Misery loves company. Springsteen’s “Born to Run” came on around then and I smiled through the pain. I wanted to scream and sing along, but I did not. That would waste energy. The 4:00 pace group passes me at this point. What? I honestly thought I was running much slower than that. I would be content with anything under 5 hours. Again, I wasn’t really “racing this” since I screwed up training, more like considering this as a long run for the NJ Marathon. Regardless, 26.2 is nothing to mess with whether it’s a training run or a goal race for a PR. 26.2 is a fucking bitch. I’ve walked a bit during this part. I don’t care, my legs were like lead.

Mile 24
This is the longest race ever and now we are running through the undesirable part of town. A woman next to me is crying and the cop manning the course yells at her like a drill sergeant. Not sure how it made her feel but his yelling sure made me pick up the pace. And there was a long gradual hill practically slapping us in the face. I start to cry a little. I’m just TIRED. This isn’t fun anymore. My knee aches. I’m done, I’m absolutely wiped out.

Mile 25
HOORAY!! Last Mile Party!! The volunteers working the fluid station knew what was up. Longest mile ever. And it was on a stretch of highway that was never-ending. I ran with a guy who had bloody nips. I tried to pick it up, but my legs simply did not want to go. It took every once of effort to lift them and propel forward.

Mile 26
The last .2 were uphill. Jerks. The finish line cheers were amazing and I was delirious. I cried a little at the end too, just an emotional run, I was spent, it was quite the mental race.

4:25:39, I’m actually surprised at that time, much better than I thought it would be!!

As soon as I stopped running I could feel my knee screaming at me. Coincidently I found Laurie at the finish and I told her I’d meet her at the end of the sectioned off area I was currently holed up in. I went immediately to the medical tent and got ice. I couldn’t speak properly and I’m pretty sure I may have been crying and drooling.

Ice packs in hand, I grabbed post race water, power ade, a banana, and the best motherfucking chocolate chip cookie i’ve ever eaten in my life. No joke, it was soft and massive and gooey and delicious. I had my arms full and couldn’t walk anymore so I stood in my space cape clutching my cookie looking for Laurie like a lost little girl. I just wanted to whimper and sit.

I found Hillary first (yay!) followed by Brit and Laurie. Brit and Hil didn’t run, they just came for moral support. We found some grass on and exchanged battle stories from during the race and Brit’s driving adventure from Baltimore.

While in the bag pickup area I ran into a girl from my gym, small world. We hobbled to the metro to make our way to brunch. The escalators were still not working and stairs are a bitch after 26.2.

Brunch was the second best part of the morning, the first being the cookie. I totally housed chocolate chip pancakes and home fries with no regrets. Went back to our hotel to nap and then rallied at the bars.

Aside from my knee I was feeling fine following the race. The next day I was minimally sore and wasn’t wiped out like I was after Philly. Though the marathon was a struggle, I didn’t hesitate to walk when I needed to, which probably helped with the lack of soreness. Next up, NJ Marathon on May 2nd. Time to make these next few weeks count!

Gridiron 4 miler and how I froze my face off

The DC Marathon is 41 days away, ohhhh crap!

I really need to get my long runs in. I’ve been doing 10-13 on Sundays for the past few weeks, but I need to step it up to 16-22 soon. I ran the New York Road Runners Gridiron Classic 4 Miler this morning and decided to run to the start (1.5 miles), run the race, then do about a loop and a half in the park for 15 miles.

When I left my apartment at 8:15 am, it was 14 degrees, but the “real feel” was 1 degree. The air simply HURT my lungs, it was so cold. Other than my filled face, everything else was fine. I wore Under Armor tights, a short sleeved tech shirt, a long sleeved tech shirt, and my Nike lightweight running jacket. I love Nike’s running clothes, they think of EVERYTHING. I’ve had the jacket for over a year and I still find fun stuff on it. Not only do they have helpful reflectors, and stealth pockets, and iPod headphone holder thingies so the cord doesn’t flap, but it has a hand hoods!!! I’m sure it has a real name, but HAND HOODS!!! There’s a little flappy on the inside of the cuff that you can tuck your freezing hands into. Even though I had gloves on, this extra layer of support helped suppress my hypothermia. Also, Smart Wool running socks are heavenly.

Lots of people came out for the sold out race, and everyone was equally bundled and freezing. Despite the inclines and moderate wind, I ended up PRing this race. I didn’t expect it since I definitely didn’t go all out, but it was a nice surprise. Especially since after the 102nd Street transverse, I couldn’t feel my face.

Afterwards, I think I passed someone who shit themselves. Or they fell in mud. Since the person (I couldn’t tell if it was a guy or girl due to the bundling) was small and super thin, they could have been really fast and placed in this points race so IF they did have to go to the bathroom, there may not have been time for that. They had on tights, so there is no hiding that. Or it could have been sudden. Who knows, but that sucks and I stared because even if it was mud, it looked like poop.

So I set out for my loop and a half and didn’t make a full loop. I was honestly SO COLD. Not only was my face absolutely numb, but I was shivering from the cold while running. I called it in after I reached the west side of 96th (still about 5 miles) and ran to Whole Foods. I took the bus across town back to my apartment and after unloading, I immediately went to the gym to finish up the miles.

I have a little guilt in not finishing everything outside, but I just couldn’t. I was miserable and my body was not being as productive as it could have been. I’m done with winter and apparently we’re supposed to get substantial snow on Wednesday. This does NOT fit into my schedule!!

Philly Marathon RECAP

So here’s my best attempt at a marathon recap:

I woke up at 4:40 am after a few hours of sleep, but surprisingly felt rested. Ate a massive breakfast so I wouldn’t get hungry during the run and set off for the Eakins Circle, with Wawa coffee in hand notch, while it was still dark out. Got there early enough to stretch out and wake up. Randomly saw Marissa, Laura, and Dave, so that was a pleasant surprise. Everything at the start area was well organized, clearly marked, and there were plenty of bathrooms… all of which are a rarity in smaller races!

They had a wave start, which helped with congestion. I fell into a great rhythm the first few miles and felt awake, energetic, and happy to finally be running the marathon. Around mile 2 I had to go to the bathroom again, but figured I’d wait until further down the course where hopefully the lines weren’t as long (which I never did and remembered around mile 25…). I gave Gumby a high five around mile 3.

I loved running through the city in the beginning of the race, especially down South St. where the crowd support was thick and I breezed past my former usual haunts. Aw. Miles 0-7 were a breeze. I had a gel at mile 5 and planned on taking a gel every 5ish miles so I wouldn’t be hungry or feel lagging. CB’s tip helped.

Miles 8-12 were lonely through the park and it wasn’t as flat as I expected it to be. I was running a bit faster than I thought I would be, but still felt completely fine and I had plenty of gas left in me. Though I was being conservative with speed, I was pushing it enough to have minutes in the bank if I faltered later, but also slow enough where I wasn’t going all out.

Then around mile 12 my problematic right ankle started hurting but i shook it off. Though it has been in a constant state of pain for the past few weeks while running, I figured 14 more wouldn’t cause any more harm than was already done and just kept moving and trying to keep on even pavement. I was a little sad when others who were running the half approached their finish line and I realized I still had 13+ miles to go, but at least the runners thinned out immensely. Miles 13-14.5 were rolling and I talked a bit with an older guy who had kept with me since the beginning.

Miles 15-19 were along the Schuylkill and were desolate and quiet. There was beer around mile 19 and I happily obliged. And a brownie a mile later. I was tired. I wasn’t out of breathe, my legs were heavy and slightly angry at me. Crowds happened again at Manayunk, as did the slight inclines. Mile 20 was a nice welcome, especially since that was at a turn around and the last 6 were in a fairly straight line.

Right around mile 22 I felt a sharp, shooting pain in my right knee. I’ve never felt pain like that before, it seemed unprovoked as I didn’t have nagging knee pain, and it was so intense it made me nauseous. I couldn’t bend it. Well, I could bend it, but when I did I felt lightning bolts to my toes. This was not good at all. But I trucked on. I had to make it to the finish, I was just in a state of shock because I literally couldn’t bend my right knee. I hobbled and fought back tears. Luckily I was running strong and was almost to the finish, I could do this. If there was a medic tent, I would have stopped and iced for a few minutes, but there wasn’t. I was on my own. I ran, though very slowly. Every step was excruciating and I was so confused. I stopped once during the race – I grabbed some gatorade and went to the side to stretch for a few seconds and make sure there was no swelling.

Once I limped to mile 24 I sped up a bit. The 4:00 pace group was near me so I figured I wasn’t too far off from my pace, just a bit discouraged that I may have badly injured myself. I figured in less than 20 minutes I’ll be done and can sit and ice and sleep. Then I passed mile 25 and figured in less than 9 miles, I’ll be DONE. So I ran like a freaking banshee. BP saw me from the side and jumped out into the course screaming my name. It was exactly what I needed to list my spirits, time to hustle.

I got a little teary eyed as I crossed the finish – I did it!! I also think that I was beaming the whole race aside from when I was hurting towards the end, it was such a great experience and I couldn’t believe it was over. 4:01:13, whew. I got my space blanket, food bag, then found my mom and we went to get waffles and ice cream. I was in a slight state of panic because I couldn’t bend my knee, but so relieved that the journey was over. I’m extremely grateful to have had the constant support of my friends and family during training and the actual race, and especially the tips from T, DK, and CB. To be honest, it wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be, just seemed like another long run…with crowds. But 26.2 is definitely a beast to be reckoned with and a distance to be respected.

But not completely over… I signed up for the DC Marathon on March 20! Eeeeek! Mostly it’s an excuse to hang out with friends and run a race in the middle of the weekend.

Here are some photos: http://gallery.me.com/mirandahafford#100467

Staten Island Half Marathon race report

Well, only one more race left: Philadelphia Marathon.

Today was the Staten Island Half Marathon, the last in the five borough series. And I ran all five, yay! What a fun way to see all of NYC…

I met Traci at 6:30 am at the 86th St subway station. The only people awake during my walk there were other runners, people in scrubs, and the guy I passed peeing in the street. We picked up Michelle at 42nd Street and met Sam at the ferry with minutes to spare before the ferry left.

I wasn’t going for time today since I’ve been feeling sickly and have barely ran this week and ran a great last half marathon. I just wanted to complete it to tally the miles, not really push myself aside from just trying to cross the finish line.

Surprisingly I felt pretty good. Not great, but not crowded and strong. And oddly enough, my mind was clear. Usually I think about current woes and predicaments but I think I was simply just too tired to analyze anything while I running the streets of SI. There was no mile marker for mile one, but for the first 4 miles, I saw that I was running a faster pace then I expected and I wasn’t winded. Nice.

Traci and Sam warned about the extreme downhill followed by the extreme downhill, so at least that wasn’t unexpected. Miles 6-8 passed each other in different directions so I saw Sam as I was approaching mile 6 and he was gearing up for the hill then I later passed Traci as I was preparing for the hill and she was coming up on the other side. Strength in numbers!

Once I hit the 10 mile mark, I realized that I was running way faster than I wanted to, but then I figured it’s only 3 more miles, so I hauled ass and totally had a last mile party. I crossed the finish barely sweating and barely panting, though my legs felt really heavy.

I set a personal record of 1:53:21! Yay!! That beats my previous PR by over a minute and a half! My confidence for the marathon has totally boosted. Sam and Michelle also PR-ed and Traci did extremely well for just coming off a calf injury.

I felt fine after the race, but now, hours later, my knee is killing me, I have a wicked headache, and I have no appetite. I really want a banana bag, it would make me feel better.

And for some stupid reason, I can edit my damn iPod nano. This is the exact reason that I don’t use my iPhone when I run. I couldn’t run to “Empire State of Mind”!!! I WAS WITHOUT JAY-Z. Sadness.

“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothing you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
the lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York New York”

Fifth Avenue Mile results…

6:53!!  :) (see post below this if you are confused…)

And check it out! I’m quoted in the latest issue of New York Runner… They took a photo of Traci and I and talked to us for about 10 minutes after we ran in the scorching heat very early in the morning. I don’t remember saying that, but I also could have been delusional… (i think if you click it, it gets bigger, the next size up cut off :-/)

Queens Half Marathon recap

Four out of the five borough half marathons complete! Yay.

A recap of today’s race…

* I woke up at 3:45 am…after a few hours of barely sleep, sigh. Let me repeat: 3:45 am.
* On the way to the NYRR busses, I passed many people still out from the night before.
* It is very cold at 4:30 am.
* I was a bit warmer after I spilled my HOT COFFEE all down my shirt and shorts. Fail.

* We got to the park around 5:20 am, race started at 7:00 am. So I took a nap on the slide.
* Oh yeah, I forgot my phone at home, whoops. I felt completely naked. Thankfully there were lots of landmarks in the playground near the start and finish so finding everyone wasn’t as problematic as it could have been.

* I felt good despite sleeping for 3 hours and not having my coffee.
* The course was sucky. It was through Queens neighborhoods, narrow roads, lots of ups and downs.
* Aside from the first 3 miles of running shoulder to shoulder with people, they were quick. For most of the race, I was hitting 8ish minute miles, I felt fast but it felt ok.
*Then hills happened at mile 7. And I was sad.
* Saw some hookers probably still on the prowl from Saturday night.
* And my right knee started hurting, but nothing I couldn’t run on.
* Had a slow 10th mile, I was tired.
* AND MILE 13 WAS UPHILL. AND STEEP.
* I said “oh fuck” out loud and the people around me laughed.

* Finished in 1:58:50

Not a GREAT race, but I’ll take it. The weather was PERFECT aside from freezing my butt off at 5 am. Though my struggle with the steep inclinations in the last few miles really proves that I need to up my mileage on my long runs. It’s boot camp time, especially if I want to run a sub 4 hour marathon in Philly in two months…

And this is me after the race to prove that I really was a goon and spilled my coffee all over me. I’m a winner!

Fitness Magazine 4 miler

It’s unofficial! I’m running the 2010 NYC Marathon!!! I’m a member of New York Road Runners and you are automatically entered into the marathon if: you are a member, run 9 NYRR races the year before the goal marathon, and volunteer at one race. This morning’s Fitness Magazine race was my ninth of 2009 and I already filled my volunteer obligation. Woooo! Granted, I’m not stopping at 9, I have two halves coming up in the next month and will probably do the 15K in December just for kicks. But now, onto the race recap…

I didn’t sleep well at ALL last night. Aurora stayed over since she is working nearby so we stayed up a bit talking and despite a few Tylenol PMs, I could not fall asleep. When I did, I had odd dreams about waterslides. I’ve never been on a water slide… Then I woke up at 6 am, two hours before my alarm, and couldn’t fall back asleep.

I normally just make a smoothie before a race (ice, soy milk, protein powder, banana, strawberries), but since I had beer for dinner last night at the YV show I had peanut butter toast as well. And of course coffee. Got to the race early, stretched, no line for the bathroom (yay!) and lined up. I wasn’t feeling great since I was tired, but 4 miles seems like a breeze.

Mile 1 started right below Cat Hill, I hate Cat Hill. Hate. It’s a slow, gradual hill that seems neverending. There are worse hills in CP, I just don’t like that hill. Perhaps it’s because of the panther on the rock mocking you. I had a super fast 2nd mile, around 7:50ish based on the mile clocks. The 3rd mile was brutal. Hilly, and I felt the toast in my stomach just NOT wanting to be there. I honestly thought that if the race was longer than 4 miles, I’d totally hurl. Note to self: eat dinner and don’t eat the toast. I definitely struggled that mile. Last mile was fine, fairly flat and lots of spectators.

I finished in 33:42 and averaged 8:25 a mile. Yay! 20 seconds per mile faster than my last 4 mile average and I definitely didn’t feel perfect. My marathon pace is 9:09 (goal), Boston Qualifier is 8:43 per mile…. so that’s in the back of my head though I’m 90% positive I can’t run that for 26.2 miles without wheels.

Overall I felt good, not great, but only really did it to gauge my fitness and finish my 9th race. Afterwards I met up with Marissa who was also running and we caught up on training plans and life while warming our cold, wet bodies with Starbucks. She is running the Philly half that runs with the marathon. I’m so happy we’re going to have such a strong showing on Nov 22! The marathon is full, but there’s still spots in the half if anyone wants to join us…!

I took off my shoes when I came home and looky there, another bloody sock. SIGH.

weekend recap and half marathon wrap up

So…..the half marathon didn’t go as well as I hoped. If you’ve seen my facebook, you know the story, if not:
I ran well the first half, in hilly central park. I felt hydrated and strong and took those hills and passed people all along the way. Then after mile 7, we turned out of the park and down 7th Ave. The crowds and flatness were very welcomed. I took a gel at the mile 8 marker and accidentally snorted water, which burned. Barrelled through the next mile, then as I was approaching mile 9, I had trouble breathing and kept coughing from the exhaust from the cars driving and idling next to us. The last quarter of the race seemed so long. The air was heavy and I was drenched from sweat and humidity, I hit a wall. Not enough miles logged before this race, I just wasn’t prepared. Judging by the first half, I could have PRed, but definitely not with the second half. And I lost a toenail.

I was fine at the end, not exhausted…just done. 2:05 finish, my worst half, but I honestly don’t think I could have ran any better, my feet just weren’t having it. Now I know I have a lot of miles to run before Nov 22.

Ryan Hall placed third, his feet also weren’t having it. One of the things I like about running is that its you against you. Everyone runs the same race, but you are really competing against yourself.

Other than the race, I had an enjoyable weekend. I met up with my Canadian twin Lana for drinks and rock on Friday night and what was going to be a sober an early evening turned into a late night fueled by many glasses of cabernet. We made fun of hussies and finally enjoyed some down time with the brits. Good night all around.

Walked ALLLLLL around Manhattan on Saturday and finished the day with a fantastic dinner in Little Italy. A few pictures of our random travels below… when I post a regular photo, wordpress distorts it, so if you click the thumbnail, it goes to the larger photo in this so-called gallery I have.