From 2013 -> 2014, Looking Ahead

It's been a long time!  Partly because life has been... well, life, with all of the unexpected that comes along with it, but mostly because I have been temporarily derailed from running !  I am still not quite recovered from NY, which was a month ago at this point.  Muscles and everything recovered quickly, much to my surprise, but my knee pain was very severe after the race.

A quick back story.  About 3 weeks before NYC I sprained something around the left knee area.  Never had an MRI or such, tried to keep running on it for a few days.  As it got worse and worse, I went (out of desperation, I have a deep disdain for going to the doctor) to a chiropractic/sports doctor.  This is where I got the sprain diagnosis, and for the 10 days prior to my marathon I did not run.  NOT ONE STEP!  Talk about building up your nerves.. the last thing anyone wants after so much training is to be on the bench.  I went to the doctor's every day for the week before the race, doing stretches, getting 'adjusted', active resistance stuff, etc.

Up until the day of the race, I really didn't know what would happened when I tried to run.  My last prior run had been a 10 miler, with stabbing feelings of pain.  Can't do that for 26 miles!   As one of my running buddies suggested though, the adrenaline completely took over.  I felt pain in my knee for the first 3 or 4 miles - after that, the rush of excitement made it go away.  And after that, the pain in the rest of my body masked it :).

As soon as I stopped running though, the rush of pain came back.  It literally took me over an hour to get from the finish line to the family reunion point, because I had to take such tiny and crippled steps.  (But at that point you're so happy you don't really care, so not too much complaint here!)  The next few days I really couldn't walk.  Pain in my knee and pain in my hip, which is a more chronic point of injury for me.

So fast forward ahead, we're now on the 4th of December.  A month and a day after NY, and I've finally stopped feeling pain while doing everyday activities.  Well, except running, which I would love to be an everyday activity again.  Last I tried running, it still hurt.  I'm going to try again tomorrow, with a much less ambitious goal of a few miles.  As soon as pain starts though, I'm done.  I'm tired of 'testing and regressing.'

What have I been doing during my recovery, you may ask?  A few things.  First, lots of yoga.  I have taken that up as a method of self healing, and it seems to be doing quite a good job.  A bit of biking.  Swimming (ok, only twice).  And LOTS and LOTS of race planning!  I HAVE to believe that I'll be better soon, because that's what keeps me motivated to get through all of these less-than-fantastic workouts.

After much debate, I've decided that I'm going all in for the Rock 'n Roll tour pass for 2014!  Also, attempting my first ultramarathon and trail race, and setting a yearly goal of 3000 miles.  Why would I ever do that after getting injured?  It seems kind of backward. 

My reasons are both physical and mental.  Physically, I hurt myself when I push.  I need to learn how to do well in a race and still maintain good form, stay injury free, and listen to my body.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that this knee injury came from attempting my first trail race 4 weeks out, and then hitting a 1/2 marathon hard 3 weeks out, from NY.   Lots and lots of pounding on my joints, I need to work on running lighter on my feet.

Mentally, it's all about pressure.  Races are great, they have excitement, fun, and friends!  But they also have pressure, and I suck at dealing with pressure.  I'm pretty sure my best marathon has been completed on a long training run - well, 24-25/26 miles of it anyway.  That's because I'm nice and relaxed, I don't push the pace if I feel I'm dragging, and I just take the day as it comes.  With races every month, I intend to do just that.  No single race is so important to get stressed out over it, and a bad day is just that.  Most of my races will be training runs, and if I feel great that day I may just PR.  Who knows.

So here's the lineup as I see it so far (only major players included).

January : Rock n Roll Arizona
February : Rock n Roll New Orleans
March: Rock n Roll DC
April: Boston (if I'm lucky enough to get in!) or Rock n Roll Raleigh
May: Reach the Beach MA (if I can find a team!!)
June: Rock n Roll San Diego or Seattle
July: Rock n Roll Chicago Half
August: Falmouth Road Race
September: Reach the Beach NH & Rock n Roll Montreal
October: Ghost Train Trail Race 100m
November: NY (slim chance, but hey, I'm in the lottery again!) / Rock n Roll Las Vegas
December: Rock n Roll San Antonio

Ambitious, sure.  But as called out above, they won't all be races.  They will all be amazing experiences and loads of fun I'm sure.. and that's what it's all about in the end, right?

NY... From Staten Island to Manhattan!

Wave 2. Green corral #35.  Out of, I don't know, 36?  Waaaaay in the back!  If you haven't checked out my previous post, read about my adventures leading up to the start of the NY marathon.  

Running the Verrazano

The Verrazano-Narrows bridge is a site to behold.  From the lower area where the corrals are, looking up onto the bridge and seeing the first wave of runners take off, I was filled with a sense of pride and excitement.  Proud to be part of something so BIG, so grand, surrounded by runners coming from all parts of the world united for the love of running.

As we walked onto the bridge, you could feel the excitement.  My new buddy and I made our way up to the very front of wave number 2, squeezing our way through the crowd and winding our way through runners, tossed aside garments, porta potty lines, you name it.  But by the time we were ready to walk up onto the bridge we were pretty much front and center.  Everyone around started wondering how long until the gun went off, and slowly, people started to shed to their race attire.    I tossed my sweatshirt and was ready to go.  Not 2 minutes too early - there actually ended up only being about 22 minutes between wave 1 and 2, we went a bit early!

As soon as the gun went off, it was as if a huge amount of tension was gone.  Time to GO!  The first mile of the race is as uphill incline, up to the center of the bridge, but I doubt anyone really felt the rise.  That first mile was the most exhilarating mile I've run. Ever.  We were on the bottom deck of the bridge, I can't even imagine what it was like on the top.  We had beautiful fresh gusts of wind pushing across the bridge, powerful enough to be thrilling but gentle enough to leave us with a sense of optimism.  On the side of the bridge, right near the crest of the hill, was a helicopter taking pictures.  I remember putting my hands up and waving frantically as I ran by - we pretty much all did - hoping to be one of the lucky ones to get this candid shot.

Once the top of the bridge was reached, it is difficult to maintain pace.  All of a sudden there is this wonderful gradual downhill for a whole mile, so tempting to let lose and just go.  But I was warned, thanks to my coach, to relax and enjoy the view.  That's exactly what I did for the next mile, all the way down into Brooklyn.

Joining Waves

Coming down off of the bridge, coming back down to earth, we entered Brooklyn.  I remember a few small hills at the beginning, but also a new source of inspiration.  Since we were at the beginning of the wave, we soon ran into those who were in the later part of wave 1, including many runners who had one handicap or another.  I saw one woman running who had a prosthetic leg, and she was running so strongly and so determined.  Makes you realize that everyone has come here to NY with their own story, their own struggles and their own goals.  It's not a race against each other, or even a race against the clock, but a race for each of us against our own hurdles.

Somewhere around this time, our green wave met up with one of the other colors.  My memories are too hazy at this point to remember if it was the orange or the blue,  but I remember approaching an intersection and all of a sudden being in a large mass of runners.  We were pretty spread out up until this point, so now it really felt like the huge race that NYC is.  We joined in from the right, and continued straight for a few miles of REALLY LOUD cheering and support.  Brooklyn fans are the best!

Everybody Loves Kristen

I just liked that heading :).  I decided the night before the race to write my name on my singlet.  It's an idea I got from watching numerous road races, and realizing that I could only cheer for those whose names I knew - or read off of their shirts.  As I ran through Brooklyn, I didn't go two steps without hearing 'go Kristen!!'.  I think those runners around me must have been confused.  That, or thought that I must have grown up here in the city.  Nah, I just live for the applause!  It's hard to give up or slow down when people are constantly screaming your name, that is for sure.  If you ever run a road race, I would highly recommend!

Cultures Abound

Somewhere around mile 8, we finally joined the 3rd wave of runners.  We also came to Williamsburg, which is a small section of the race which sticks in my mind.  After the crowds, cheering, music, of the first few miles, the relative quiet stretch through Williamsburg was quite a contrast.  There were still many people cheering, but also an ever-present influence of the surrounding Hasidic Jewish community.  I recall running while people went about their everyday business, crossing the road in front of runners, some acknowledging that the race was going on but some not.  To some people in NYC, this was just an average Sunday.  Imagine that!

Pushing Through to Queens

My coach told me that the second big hill happened at mile 15, the Queensboro bridge.  It is at this point that the runners who go out too fast start to suffer.  You want to be passing people on that bridge, not be passed!  So, that was my mentality and that was my goal.  For the first 15 miles of the race, I kept telling myself to take it easy so that I was still relatively fresh by mile 15.

That philosophy kind of worked.  There is this bridge at mile 13 though that had me fooled for a short while.  Coming up to it I thought that this couldnt possibly be the second big bridge - it was small-ish - and we were only at mile 12/13.  However, the happy and high on adrenaline part of me thought that I was just doing that awesome.  Somehow, I was further than I thought.  Nope.  The real Queensboro bridge did come at mile 15.  And I was ready for it - both passing people and being passed.  That was a very long bridge,  I tried to maintain speed on the way up but I know that this is when I began to slow down my pace.

It is also at this point that I think we got a bit of rain.  As we go later in the miles, things become hazy :).

THE WALL

Coming down off this second bridge, I was all optimistic.  Right on pace for my goal race time, feeling great, the knee injury not complaining at all.  And I had made it through that 15 mile hurdle.

But then, entering Queens, reality set in.  The next 3 miles was ok, some slight up and downs, but nothing major.  Around mile 18, thats when I hit my wall.  It's supposed to happen at 20, I'm not sure why mine decided to come early.  I think maybe it was the long slow uphill that was sneaking up on us.  Supposedly you can't even tell, but I can tell if a road is one degree above flat!  Especially at mile 17.

My fueling strategy up until that point had been spot on as well.  I took a Powergel at mile 5, 10, and 15.  But miles 17 and 18 were tough.  I felt myself slowly rolling to the point of a stop, and my mentality starting to change.  It's amazing how before a race, even for months before a race, you can be so amped up to RACE, to run a best time, to run FAST.  But during the race, the comfort and pleasure of slowing down is such a temptress, it often overcomes a weakened mind.  My mind started thinking of how nice a day it was, and how it would be lovely to just slow down and enjoy the crowd, enjoy NY.  It doesn't really matter if I finish fast anyway right?  I say 'my mind' started thinking because, come on, thats not what I wanted!!  But just as our muscles physically become weak, our mental strength and our ability to keep pushing in the face of discomfort become weakened as well.  It just seems less and less worth it.

Thats why I decided to stop.  At mile 19, I actually stopped at the water stop and took my last gel early.  I walked, for only about 10-20 seconds, but that is what I needed for a mental break.  Instead of rolling slower and slower, I wanted to get back at it again.  And it worked, to a degree.  I never got back to my 7:40 pace of the first half of the race, but I was able to stay aroud 9:30 for the rest of the race.  That's quite a bit slower, but in the past I've been known to pull some 11 or 12s at the end of the race :).

At Long Last.... Central Park.. and more Central Park...

Having made it through my mile 18/19 wall, I ran slowly and steadily through 20... 21... 22.  And honestly, I don't remember much.  Long roads, a whole lot of fans, and a constant voice that just said 'keep going, keep going.'  At every mile I was tempted to stop, at every mile I convinced myself that I would stop at the NEXT mile.  Having an internal debate in my mind, with both sides being very tired and confused.

I think around mile 23 I noticed that I was in Central Park.  And there is a CRAZY hill around this point.  Probably not that steep for a morning run, but very very steep for a mile 23 hill.  I did slow down, just worrying about right foot in front of left foot for awhile.  I am pretty sure that this was my slowest mile.  And being in central park, you can't help but expect the finish line to be right around the corner.  Even though I knew that I had 3 miles to go, it is hard to imagine that I'll be running for 3 whole miles around a park.

But indeed, that's exactly what happens.  Those last 3 miles were long. So long.  I'll admit that I started counting, a trick that my mom uses to pass the miles.  It goes something like this : I have a mile to run.  I can run a mile in about 500 seconds.  Let me count to 500 and worry about the counting, and I'll be at the next mile mark before I realize it.  I got from 24 to 25 in 475 counts.  Undoubtedly counting much slower that 1 per second.  

One more mile!  Count to 475 again right?  Well, at 500 I was still at the '1/2 mile left' mark.  I guess I slowed down some more.  But what's really cool, if you're still conscious at this point, is that there are so many markers in the last 1/4 mile.  Last 1k.  Last 400 meters.  Last 400 yards.  Last 300 yards.  Enjoy every second of it, because THIS IS IT!!

The Finish

I crossed the line at 4:00:57.  Having started in wave 2, I knew that put me around 3:35.  Qualifying time for Boston for my age is 3:35...... so close!!  I wouldn't find out my time until hours later when I finally found my family, but ended up with a 3:38.  If only we'd actually started 25 minutes behind wave 1 :).

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was greeted by a wall of runners and volunteers.  The runners struggling to 'keep walking' and the volunteers encouraging them to 'keep walking.'  Instantly, my legs cramped up in their entirety.  My hip flexors just stopped working, my knee pain came rushing back.. you name it, it hurt.  At least from the waist down.

I owe a huge thank you to the awesome volunteers at the race that day.  After about 5 asks, I finally admitted that maybe the med tent was a good place for me.  One of the volunteers helped me over to the tent, and it was nice and warm inside!  She helped me to a bed - there were rows and rows of beds, runners getting stretch, massage, some even getting emergency care as they were dehydrated or injured.  My pain was minor compared to others, but a student therapist gave me some nice massage that loosened up my hips enough to walk again.  I am eternally grateful, or else I may just have been stuck in Central Park forever.

After the med tent, I kept walking.  It was cold, so cold.  And walking, and walking, and walking... Probably slower than a snail, as each step was so painful.  I had no bag to pick up, so I can only imagine how long I would have had to walk if I'd had a bag to pick up first.  Somewhere along the treck we were handed bright orange ponchos.  Orange, with amazing blue furry warm stuff on the inside.  I love my NY poncho.  I don't know where I'll ever have the opportunity to wear it again, but it is a keeper.  That poncho helped me make it through mile 27 of my marathon.

Finally, I met up with my family at the family reunion spot.  I found out my time at this point, hugs all around, and lots of stories to tell.  A much shorter, condensed, and tired version of what you got to hear :).

I love NY.  Take a chance, and enter the lottery.  I will be doing so each and every year, knowing full well that if I get in I won't be able to turn it down.  The excitement, the fun, and the joy of running in such a vibrant city makes all the pain worth it :).

From Boston to New York

Note :

I learned a valuable lesson today about blogging on the actual website. If I don't save and close a browser I lose everything :). For that reason we'll have to do the second half of the story tomorrow!

Let's Hear it for NY!

The ING NYC marathon was run this year in honor of the victims of the tragic occurrence at the Boston marathon earlier this year. Having been at the race in April and lived in Boston for the past 8 years, it was an honor to be down in NYC to run this amazing race. No, I didn't qualify. And no, I didn't raise a super amount of money to run as part of a charity team. This is something that I would like to do in the future as so much money is raised for great causes. But this time around, I was just one of the incredibly lucky lottery winners. And wow, do I consider myself lucky. The race may be over, but I have some great memories, new friends, and lots of motivation that I got from the NYC marathon.

Pre-Race - Fan Zone

Most of my memories come not from the race itself, but from the 5 hours BEFORE the race even started. I suppose that logically this makes sense, given that I was running for just under 4 hours. But prior to the race all I thought about was my running strategy, pace, water stops... I never gave a second thought to the time that would be spent in the starting villages on Staten Island. I would advise anyone that goes to NY in the future, definitely take this time into consideration!

What should you plan for?

Well, first, avoid the 'Fan Zone'. About 2 weeks prior to the race, I received an email saying that I was the perfect candidate to be on WABC the morning of the race, since I was in Wave 2 and the green corral. All I had to do was reply to the email with some basic personal information and my reason for wanting to be on the live broadcast. Thinking I had no chance, I dashed off a quick 'I'm coming from Boston back to my home state, am a morning person and will bring lots of energy to the show!' Well, I guess this was good enough for whoever was reading the emails! I received another email a few days later saying that I was in.

I was very excited! I was not only going to go run the biggest marathon in the US, but I was going to be on TV the morning of! Perhaps I would get to see them interview some of the predicted winners, celebrities running the race, etc. And I was going to be in a VIP tent, not outside, which would be great if it was going to be cold. They even advertised 'hot dunkin donuts coffee.' I don't do coffee, but some of the others said that that was a huge draw!

Reality, nothing like that. I boarded a bus in Midtown Manhattan at 5 am, a whole hour earlier than the earliest 'normal' bus. We arrived at the villages at Staten Island, and found our tent. Admittedly, it was a bit warmer inside than outside and definitely kept the wind away. But there wasn't anything special about the 'VIP' tent. Anyone and everyone could go in, and anyone and everyone DID go in once the busses started arriving. As for as the food and 'hot coffee'... food came too late for most of us who had carefully planned our eating schedule, I am very glad that I brought my own bagel. And no sight of coffee, ever. The actual broadcast was disappointing as well, as we were asked to stand behind a rope about 15 feet behind the broadcast stage. Couldn't hear anything as the tv announcers were speaking, and you really couldn't see us anyway. I think a few lucky signs that were positioned between the speakers' heads were seen on tv. I was there grandma, and everyone else watching from home, I promise, just beyond the frame of the camera....

Tips for the Start

So, what to think about for the starting villages?

1. Bring LOTS of warm clothes.  As in, 2 sweatshirts and 2 pairs of pants lots.  As well as socks, hats, gloves.  The no baggage option is pretty neat, and you can get some pretty cheap throwaway stuff that will be donated to goodwill when you run off.

2. Bring something to sit on!  You'll be sitting on the grass, its cold and possibly even wet!

3.  Plan your own nutrition for the morning, and stick to it!  I saw a large number of people eating what was probably too much because they were sitting around for a long time before the race.  It was tough to turn down those muffins that they had, but don't eat anything that you're not used to! Different gels and powerbars included.

4. Get a good night's sleep the night before.. you won't be sleeping !  I made the mistake of thinking I'd at least sleep on the  bus - way too many cool people and excitement for that.

5. Enjoy!  The vendors are neat, the excitement is great, the energy is flowing!  You may as well make some friends and have some fun, you do have at least 3 hours after all.

6.   Let them take your pre-race picture!  You'll want it after you're done :).  'Proof' that I was there!

Friendships at the Start

Needless to say, most of us ditched the 'be on tv' effort in favor of staying warm and rested. Despite the let down of the 'fan zone' gig, I'm happy for exactly the way that my pre-race experience turned out. I made a few friends early on in the morning, and we stuck together all the way to the start line. Crowded, sitting on trash bags, inside our tent, I met one man who was coming all the way from Israel to run the race. Another from Las Vegas – both so far from my home (Boston or NY, either way!) It's amazing how people that live across the world can meet and instantaneously have so much to talk about. Fueling, race strategies, past races, training, you name it.. stuff that would bore 90% of the population. It's like instant friends, must be because of the common passion, I'd even say common love (or, arguably, common craziness). I learned about a grain called Teff that is popular in Israel. I learned that some people who are crazier than me run 20+ races a year! And of course, since our brains are crazy like that, now I want to run that many! Haha... I found others who have exactly the same pre-race fueling strategy as me. Thank you Powerbar mushy fruit stuff! I even made a new friend who was positioned in exactly the same wave and corral as me, and stuck with me right until the start line!

In short, there's no better place to meet people.  Those that you're lucky enough to spend those crucial hours with before a race are likely to come out better friends than anyone else you've only know for a few hours!

Off to the Race!

Speaking of the start. Wave 2, Corral 35... huh? Well, imagine a long fence with doors in it about every 30 feet. When your corral is starting to line up, you go to the door that has your number on it. When the corrals 'open', you are permitted to go through the door to the other side of the 'fence'. Here you are met with a crowd of people, all in your wave. A somewhat organized linear crowd, but a crowd nonetheless. We were also lucky enough to have the porta potties right in the middle of our portion of the crowd. Once we got through the door, me in all of my naivety thought, 'well, whats preventing me from moving forward?' Nothing! So, dragging aforementioned friend with me, I started slowly maneuvering my way up the crowd. And guess what, we made it all the way to the front! Not the FRONT front of the race, we were in wave 2, but the front of the green wave 2. That in itself is pretty awesome. When the gun went off, there was less than 10 seconds until I crossed the start line. Onto the Verrazano bridge with nothing but open road....

Eat, Run, Love

Well, I missed the 'this is my first blog post' train that left a few years back.  But hey, better late than never right?  My train just arrived, all aboard :).

Over the course of the past few years I have discovered not only one, but two, things which have added joy, strength, and so much spice to life! So much so that I feel the urge to spread my happiness - to reach out and draw in as many people as I can.

The first of these is running.  I love to run - solo as time for reflection and dreaming, in groups for fun times and good conversation, and at races for the physical and mental challenge, as well as the opportunity to meet so many awesome (crazy?) people.  I have just completed my fourth marathon, the ING NYC marathon this past weekend.  Prior to this I have run in DC, Cape Cod, and Providence, all wonderful and unique experiences.  Add in there some half marathons, 5/10ks, a Reach the Beach, and there are so many stories to tell!  In myrunnershi, I want to share some of my experiences with YOU, take you through my next racing journey to begin in 2014, and of course become a part of the large online running community out there!

The second thing you'll hear me talk about (in excess, I predict already) is food!  What runner isn't also obsessed with food right?  Nutrition is a very important part of training, but eating is also so much fun!  I follow a vegan diet which I find to be both challenging and rewarding, as well as delicious.  Due to the nature of my food/recipe posts, I've created a second blog (eatforspeed.blogspot.com) where you can go to be inspired by recipes, pictures, and new ideas!  I wouldn't want to bore any non-foodies (is that possible?) with details of my kitchen :).

After running NY this past weekend, and subsequently gorging on every indulgence in the food department, I've decided that enough is enough.  I have been vegan for over a year now, but vegan doesn't necessarily mean healthy.  It's time to step it up to giving my body good fuel.  For that reason, I am going to be very diligent about posting to eatforspeed with recipes and suggestions - for your perusal and enjoyment as well as for my own accountability.  Take a look for my first post to a find a recipe for vegan peanut butter veggie soup and a review of Sophie's Vegan Calamari!

That's all for today, I'll consider this a warm up.  Come back tomorrow to hear about the NY marathon from the point of view of your average wave 2 green corral runner :).