Magic Marathon Numbers and Cool NYC Events

Hi guys! Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

I was staffed to a deal on Tuesday that picked up over the week (like, really picked up -- I billed 14 hours on Thursday!), so I spent most of the weekend working. But I still had time for a fun dinner at Madison Square Eats with Sourabh on Friday night, brunch and a New York Junior League scavenger hunt on Saturday, and a yoga class Sunday night.

Madison Square Eats is a cool outdoor market where restaurants and food trucks have carts serving their specialties. Sourabh and I shared dishes from several carts while sitting in Madison Square Park, and it was one of the most fun "date night dinners" we've had in a while! Hit it up before it gets too cold.

No weekly recap of workouts today because my workouts consisted of 20 minutes of upper body weights Saturday night and a yoga class Sunday night. I wasn't able to get as much sleep as I would have liked last week because of work, so I wanted to take it very easy on my body post-marathon.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to running since my hamstring ached a bit when I jogged to yoga last night. I'm hoping that a few more days without running should get things close to 100%, but I'm here to run for the long haul, so if healing my hamstring means another week without running, that's what I'll do!


More Marathon Details

Clearly I'm having a hard time letting go of the Chicago Marathon. Or I'm just incapable of remembering everything I want to talk about at one time! (If you missed my recap and my thoughts on the mental aspects of racing, I posted them Monday and Wednesday).

Here are some photos from over marathon weekend that I forgot to share:

The marathon route at the expo! As you can see, it involves what are essentially five half loops. I should have memorized the course but I definitely didn't, and so that second time you head on a loop east from the center of Chicago I was thinking, "wait, what?" But I was having such a good time that it didn't get to me, thankfully. However, if I hadn't been having a good race day, not knowing what was coming definitely would have affected me mentally.

13 is my lucky number (along with 4 and 36). Good luck sign that the marathon was on the 13th in 2013? OH I just realized, 10 + 13 + 13 = 36! Two favorite numbers! Clearly the numbers foretold a great marathon for me. Or it was just a coincidence, but let's say it was the numbers.

I'm not sure why I was doing a finish line pose at the start line photo center, but just go with it.

How cute are my mom and my uncle and family? These were the signs they made me to cheer (minus the green one -- Katie made that to be as noticeable as possible, and she succeeded!). My favorite was a tie: HYFR Jen (look it up) and "Run like zombies are chasing you!" My favorite book I've read in 2013 has been World War Z so I appreciated that one.

(Not to nerd rant, but the movie is nothing like the book, and while I've heard the movie is quite mindlessly entertaining, the book is brilliant and should be on everyone's must-read list).


NYC Events

For those living in NYC, here are some great events in the next few weeks!

JackRabbit Sports is hosting a number of great looking free seminars leading up to the New York City Marathon:

• Injury Prevention with Gretchen Stover - Gretchen Stover, DPT will talk about injuries, injury prevention, and overall body maintenance as we approach marathon time. There will also be a question and answer period, so bring your questions! Thursday, October 24, 7pm - Park Slope
• Foam rolling clinic with Finish Line PT - It's almost here - marathon day! You've survived training, and now you're in the final stages of the taper. Even if you feel ready for race day, chances are good that you have those last-minute questions about how best to prepare in this final week. Michael Conlon, owner of Finish Line Physical Therapy and a marathon coach for Team in Training, will be on-hand to offer tips and answer questions on how to stay loose and treat your body right leading up to the marathon. He'll also demonstrate a few effective foam rolling techniques to incorporate into your pre-race routine. Monday, October 28, 7pm - Union Square
• Stretching and Strength Workshop - Are you looking to get stronger and faster but are not sure how to use strength training to get there? Join us as Robert Troch from Fusion Fitness TV talks about the importance of strength training and how to do it effectively to improve your running. Be sure to wear your running gear and come prepared to try out some of the exercises! Monday, October 28, 7pm - Park Slope

Then, over at the wonderful Uplift Studios, there will be an awesome sounding, recess-inspired bootcamp class, with exercises like hop scotch and jump rope, to support She’s the First.

She's the First scholars

100% of proceeds will go to the organization, which sponsors girls’ education in developing nations, giving them the chance to become the first in their families to graduate from secondary school.

Instructor Emily Cook Harris making working out look fun

Who: New Yorkers looking to work hard, but play harder

What: RECESS Bootcamp class

Where: Uplift Studios, 24 W 23rd St (between 5th and 6th Ave)

When: October 30, 2013 – 7:30 p.m.

Why: 100% of proceeds benefit non-profit She’s the First to sponsor girls’ education


If you've run a marathon before, how long did it take you to recover? Do you like market-style eating? What's your favorite book of 2013?

Race Recap: 2013 Chicago Marathon

I'M A MARATHONER!!!

So, with that out of the way...

I didn't take a lot of photos yesterday. Katie managed to snag two of me on the course, which provide a delightful illustration of mile 2 versus mile 21, and we took pictures after the race. But before the race, I was just totally keyed in and for once didn't feel the need to take any picture. I just wanted to start... and was also totally scared of starting. (I may or may not have said "oh f-ck, oh f-ck, oh f-ck" as we got within sight of the start line. May or may not have.)

But once we crossed the start line, I felt ready. I just started in at a roughly 10:15 pace... 15 seconds faster than I'd thought I was going to when I chatted with Jess. We'd decided I'd start at a comfortable pace for the first 10 miles, then shift gears for 10-20, and then see how I felt for the last six. I suggested 10:30 as an optimal pace, based on my injury and my A goal -- that I thought was out of reach, post-hamstring strain -- had been an average 10:00 pace.

My legs didn't actually feel great. My calves were tight and my right piriformis was loudly proclaiming its displeasure with moving. Yet somehow, mentally, I felt fantastic. I started a podcast that I only half-listened to, just using it as conversation to listen to while paying attention to the crowds.

Crowd Support
Oh man, the CROWDS! Chicago deserves a million high fives for the fantastic crowd support. There were maybe three miles in total that didn't have people lining the sides cheering, handing out water, bananas, and even beer.

I'd written my name on my charity team singlet (Lurie Children's Hospital! WOO!), so people kept cheering me on, which was awesome. And I kept yelling "thank you!" with a giant smile on my face. I was running a marathon!

The Amazing Course

2012 map, but don't think it changed (source)

In addition to the fantastic crowd support, the course is just wonderful. It's essentially three large out-and-backs, on different roads, with extra curves. That means spectators can see you at multiple points -- I got to see Sourabh, Katie, my mom, and my aunt six times! (They split up at the end so they could see me multiple times) They were AMAZING. Seeing their faces helped me so much each time.

It was great to be able to split up the course in terms of seeing my cheer squad. I knew I'd see them at miles 2, 13, 17, 21, and 25, and possibly at mile 9/10 as well. Leticia was visiting Chicago and cheering, and I knew she'd be around miles 8-9. I'd start looking out for them for a half mile before the planned area, which was a great distraction. It was so nice to break the marathon into mini chunks, so I just had to get through a few miles before seeing my loved ones. And seriously, I love these people. At mile 21, I shouted "I LOVE YOU GUYS!" at Katie and Sourabh. 21 was my toughest mile, and seeing them then helped so much. I may have been a tad bit emotional.

Fueling
Additionally, I had my miles broken down further by fueling -- 4, 8, 12, 16, and 21. I couldn't find any place that sold Vega gels near me, which I'd used early on for fueling and liked, so I stuck with Honey Stingers, another more natural fueling method. I took four chews at mile 4, five at mile 8, half a Honey Stinger waffle at mile 12, half at mile 16, and a Honey Stinger gel at mile 21.

I also kept Nuun in my handheld and used that for electrolyte replacement, taking roughly a swig or two every mile. Oh, and in the craziest news, I didn't actually stop running the entire time. I ran through the water stops. Jess said I could make a game-time decision based on how I felt, and I somehow just... didn't want to stop running? I can't explain it, but running through the water stops just felt right, so I went with it!


Mile Breakdown
Miles 1-9: Like I said earlier, I didn't feel fantastic legs-wise, but somehow I just tuned that out and focused on the amazing things, like the fact that I was running a marathon. In August 2012, I couldn't run a mile straight. And here I was running a marathon. I smiled at the crowds and enjoyed the loop through Lincoln Park. I had thought I would aim for 10:30 as my comfortable pace, but 10:15ish felt right, so I stuck around that pace.

I'm running a marathon! I'm so happy!

Splits - (1) 8:54 - messed up because of tunnel, not accurate! may be the reason my Garmin was so off on distance, (2) 9:24, (3) 10:39, (4) 10:14, (5) 10:04, (6) 10:16, (7) 10:13, (8) 10:12, (9) 10:15

Miles 10-20: Jess had said to check in with my body and see how I felt at mile 10. If I was up to it, I could bump the pace 20-30 seconds. If I wasn't feeling good, I should lower the pace, since my goal was to have a celebration marathon -- rejoicing in everything that has happened this year (graduation, starting work, taking the bar, running my first marathon).

I still didn't feel great in my legs, but everything else felt good, and I thought I could bump it up a notch, so I increased my pace to the 9:30s-9:40s, and ended up never looking back!

In fact, I missed my family at the 13 mile mark because I'd sped up so much! Before the marathon, I told them I'd definitely be running over 10:00/mile paces, so something like four miles would be 43-44 minutes. As I increased my pace, I didn't even think about the fact that I was speeding up so much that they might miss me! Thankfully, they calculated my splits and realized I was going faster, so they adjusted accordingly for the rest of the planned cheer spots.

At mile 16, I switched from slightly distracting podcasts to loud, bouncy music to give me a boost for the rest of the race. I started with "Lake Shore Drive," by Skip Haynes, about the highway that runs along Lake Michigan and gives you a gorgeous view of the Chicago skyline. It's my favorite song about Chicago, and it made me smile even wider for the next few miles.

Splits - (10) 10:02, (11) 9:37, (12) 9:39, (13) 9:34, (14) 9:35, (15) 9:44, (16) 9:53, (17) 9:46, (18) 9:49, (19) 9:34, (20) 9:49

Miles 21-26.2: Ow. I'm so happy that I didn't hit the wall until mile 21, because even then, telling myself it was only 5.2 miles left, less than 50 minutes at the paces I was running, I had a hard time continuing my pace. My legs really started hurting -- not just my piriformis, but my knees, my left quad, my right hamstring, my left hip. Basically everything below my waist was unhappy with me for running a ridiculous distance.

I swear I was smiling and waving at them...

Mile 21 was the slowest of my second half splits, but when I saw Katie and Sourabh near the end of mile 21, it gave me a boost and I picked it up through the end.

I wanted to push for that final 5K, but honestly I just didn't have anything left to go faster. I was able to keep up my pace, but doing so felt like I was actually pushing faster. The final 2 mile straightaway hurt so much, but I knew I was about to finish a marathon. At that point, though, I was more excited to finish than to be a marathoner.

I saw Sourabh and Katie again at mile 25, blew them a kiss, then powered through to the end. Oh, by the way, the biggest hill of the entire course is RIGHT at the end, in the last 1/4 mile leading to the finish line. You go up a ramp then turn left to the finish. OW that hurt.

Because I was running for a charity, my mom and aunt got special wristbands that allowed them to sit in the bleachers by the finish line, so I got to see them right before I crossed the finish.

Splits - (21) 9:57, (22) 9:42, (23) 9:28, (24) 9:34, (25) 9:48, (26) 9:40, (.57) 8:41 pace

Final time -- 4:20:17 <--- data-blogger-escaped-br="" data-blogger-escaped-in="" data-blogger-escaped-shock="" data-blogger-escaped-still=""> The Finish!

Thank you so much to my family, Katie and Sourabh.

And a huge thank you to all the incredible people who I knew were following me online via tracking and Twitter. Every time I passed a trackpad, I got excited thinking of all my friends who I knew would be rooting for me to keep up my pace. It was an additional boost in a race that was already extraordinary. Thank you!!!!!

Birthday Weekend in Chicago

I had so much fun in Chicago this past weekend! Despite being attached to my phone to get updates from Sourabh about how recruiting was going ("How did your interviews go? What callbacks have you gotten? Are you eating enough?"), I spent plenty of time with my Uncle John's family and Katie.

This was sort of my "birthday weekend celebration," although my birthday is actually today. Yep, I'm a lucky 13th birthday celebrator!

My Thursday morning flight was unfortunately extremely bumpy, so it was wonderful to finally land and see my Uncle John waiting for me! I grabbed an iced tea to try to soothe my nausea and we headed to his house. I hadn't seen his family in over three years, we realized, and it was so nice to catch up. I can't believe how big my cousins have gotten!

I even got to see my youngest cousin, Hazel, perform in her day camp's adaptation of Mamma Mia. She was great! I was pretty impressed at the snazzy dance moves she threw down.

I was planning on doing speed work in the afternoon, but I had a bad stomach ache (which unfortunately continued for much of the weekend) so I decided to postpone the speed work to Friday. Instead, I helped my aunt and uncle make a delicious dinner of baked salmon, wheatberry salad, corn on the cob, and roasted sweet potato wedges.

Friday morning I got out and ran in the Sculpture Park first thing. It was pretty neat because each half mile was a block, so I had a visual endpoint for my 800 repeats. The Sculpture Park has a ton of sculptures along the paths, so it was a nice distraction to the pain of speed work.

Katie picked me up around noon on Friday and we headed to Wicker Park for some killer tacos at Antique Taco. I'm always a Mexican fan, so I had to have some Mexican in Chicago, where they excel at good Mexican food. And seriously, these tacos were good.

I got the mushroom tacos. I wish I knew how they made the mushrooms, because they tasted like carnitas (my pre-pescetarianism favorite taco).

We walked around Wicker Park for a bit, then headed to Lake Michigan for some lakeside rambling, before killing another hour trying on ridiculous shoes at DSW. Okay, maybe I was the only one trying on ridiculous shoes... but how can you not try on a pair of animal print and striped seven inch heels? Katie tried to take a picture of me in them but couldn't even fit my whole body in the photo. Because with 7 inch heels on, I am 6'4". 

We were killing time because Katie had made reservations for her birthday dinner at Balena, and I got to attend her family birthday dinner! It was a truly lovely evening -- the food was fantastic and I got to meet one of her aunts and catch up with her brother and parents.

I spent both Friday and Saturday nights at Katie's house on the South Side of Chicago. Katie had planned a weekend full of food for me, so Saturday we headed to The Bristol for brunch. I had a tasty salmon dish and she had some incredible looking pork chilaquiles. I realized that Chicago is less pescetarian friendly than NYC, which makes sense since NYC is on the ocean and Chicago only has easy access to a fresh water lake. 

We spent the rest of Saturday lounging around her house, finalizing our road trip plans (more details on that in another post -- I have an epic road trip coming up!!), and grilling in her backyard. Grilling might sound normal to most, but living in NYC, getting the chance to grill was fun! We made some tasty salmon, grilled vegetables, and a light potato salad. 

On Sunday, my last full day in the city, Katie and I ate lunch at The Gage, where we split an enormous coffee cake. To say the size of the coffee cake was unexpected is an understatement.

After lunch, we visited Chicago's Art Institute to see the Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity exhibit. I've always liked impressionism (my favorites are Renoir and Lautrec), but hadn't realized the extent of the impact fashion had on the artists. My favorite part of the exhibit was that they brought in clothes from the time period so you were able to see the actual dresses and suits then turn and see how the artists interpreted them. Sadly, no photography was allowed in that particular exhibit so I couldn't snap pictures to share, but if you're in Chicago, make sure you go see it!

The Art Institute is smaller than the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but I think that makes it more manageable, and there's no shortage of fantastic art. My favorite artist is Marc Chagall, whose windows hang in the Art Institute. When I went with my uncle a few years ago, they were renovating the museum so I couldn't see them, but I got to check them out this time and they were incredible.

My uncle picked me up after the artistic outing. Finally, it was time for my long run! My aunt was sweet enough to keep me company by biking alongside me on the lakefront path through downtown Chicago. Although it started pouring rain partway through the run, she stuck with me! It was a lot of fun to catch up and get to know her better. I see my relatives so rarely that it's really special to have quality time like that.

We came home soaked and exhausted, but thankfully an Indian takeout feast awaited us! My uncle had a giant spread of Indian food ready, and the night was capped with some blueberry pie that my aunt had baked. Can they please move to NYC and make me all the food all the time?

It was a wonderful weekend, and it left me so excited to return in just two months to run the Chicago Marathon! 

Have you been to Chicago? What's your favorite art museum? 

Workout Recap and Weekly Goals: Preview of Chicago

Hi all!

I spent this weekend in Chicago with family and friends. It was a great weekend, full of running and food, that I'll be recapping tomorrow.

For today, I'm going to concentrate on the training. I'll be back to Chicago in two months to run 26.2, so it was amazing to get a chance to run around the city that I'll be racing so soon!

Chicago Marathon Training Recap: Week 8

Here were my assigned workouts for this week:
~ 2 strength training workouts (1 Refine Method class, 1 mini workout)
√ 1 easy run (6 miles)
√ 1 speed work session (2 mi w/u, 6x800, 2 mi c/d)
√ 1 long run (16 miles)
x 1 yoga class

Monday: Rest day. Physical therapy appointment at Finish Line Physical Therapy. Focused on hip mobility and loosening my calves and hamstrings, which were crazy tight.


Tuesday: 60 min. Refine Method class with Abby.

Class used suspension straps, wall pulleys, and kettle bells. Partway through the warm-up, I started feeling a slight pain in my left inner thigh. During the first weighted squats, it started hurting a lot more, so I modified the rest of class. That meant a ton of dead lifts and extra butt lifts (the technical term for them). I also favored my right leg which made my right leg and glutes sooooore the next few days.


Wednesday: 6 mile easy run (1:07:46) in Riverside Park with Fiona.

I hadn't seen Fiona in ages so it was great to catch up. She was also sweet enough not to mind an extra slow pace and stretch breaks every mile. I wanted to get in the mileage but was adamant that I wouldn't jeopardize my health, so I kept our pace in the 11's and gently stretched out my sore legs every mile.


Thursday: Rest day. Planned to do speed work but my flight to Chicago was extremely turbulent, leaving me nauseous for hours and with a stomach ache all day.


Friday: 2 mi w/u, 6x800's, 2 mi c/d (1:11) in Chicago's Sculpture Park.

I was kind of dreading this workout since I'd never done 800's before and thought they'd be really difficult. 1/2 mile at a fast pace? Ahh! However, they ended up being a fun way to push myself. Sculpture Park in Chicago has stop lights every 1/2 mile, so I always had a visual endpoint, which really helped me push through the final .1 mile.

w/u - 11:09, 11:04 (1) 4:06, (2) 4:01, (3) 3:59, (4) 4:01, (5) 3:59, (6) 3:58 c/d - 11:49, 12:47 

I got a terrible stitch and had to keep stopping to stretch my side. I chugged a bottle of cold water after I finished the speed work, which was not a good idea. Ouch. Finished with 1 min plank, 15 bird dogs on each side, 1 min R side plank, 1 min L side plank, and 25 push-ups.


Saturday: Almost all weekend, I had a nasty stomach ache, so instead of a full-on strength workout, I did 15 minutes of core and upper body work (push-ups, planks, R and L side planks, and other pilates exercises) and stretched. I couldn't get to a yoga class, so I just tried to stretch at Katie's before bed. 


Sunday: 14 mile long run (3:01:49) along Lake Michigan.

Despite stomach pain and a rain storm for half the run, this was a great long run. My aunt biked alongside me so we got to catch up and chat for three hours. It was so nice of her to keep me company! She acted as my "sherpa," keeping water and fuel in her bike basket. I ran along Lake Michigan, giving me some gorgeous skyline views and allowing for plenty of people watching. It was a fun change of pace from my normal New York routes.

Unfortunately, I was dealing with stomach pain for much of the run, so "easy pace" was a bit slower than usual, and it intensified as the run went on. But by the last mile, I was so excited to hit that personal distance record that I picked up the pace a lot. My body felt really strong throughout this run, so if not for the stomach pain, it would have been a really strong long run.

Splits!
(1) 10:50, (2) 11:10, (3) 10:53, (4) 10:43, (5) 11:02, (6) 10:54, (7) 11:14, (8) 11:12, (9) 10:58, (10) 11:33, (11) 12:15, (12) 12:12, (13) 11:53, (14) 12:00, (15) 12:12, (16) 10:46


This Week's Training Schedule:

My training this week might be switched around a bit due to some unexpected travel, so we'll see how it goes, but I'm committed to getting it all in, despite stomach aches and pains!

• 1 yoga class
• 1 tempo run (60 minutes)
• 1 easy timed run
• 2 strength workouts (1 Uplift class, 1 TBA depending on where I am)
• 1 long run (18 miles!)


How was your weekend? What are your training/fitness goals for this week?