"keep off the pole."

good news this week people! i went to see the doctor because the weekend before last i had both a long run AND a pole dancing lesson in the same day, and the next day there was a pesky pain in my shin that neither went away right away nor bruised up. being slightly paranoid, i make a doctor's appointment just to be safe. i kept running, but carefully. on tuesday i ran into coach lisa right before the big hill, and we were reminiscing of the time i switched to the 1/2 and then the afternoon before the race i switched to the full and ran in record time (you can read about that miracle run here if you are so inclined). she also chatted me up the big hill which of course was a very welcome distraction.

my doctor asked what was wrong and i prefaced my tale of shin pain and stripper poles that i knew it sounded silly but i really didn't know if the pain was serious or not. the laughed, made me hop around a bit, sat me on the table, pressed around, moved my foot this way and that (all no pain) and sent me on my way with the sage advise to "keep off the pole". she explained if i didn't have pain while running i was probably okay and if i felt any of that i should just call and we'll go straight to bone scan. sounds good to me.

the next morning i ran again. it was hot and pollen-y and i felt kinda heavy in the legs. oh and there was coach lisa again! that was about the extent of the excitement for the run.

so then this weekend my bff from college was coming to visit, and i planned to do my long run, but then her husband also came, who is *also* one of my good friends from college, and really between friday pm and sunday afternoon when they left there was no time between the eating and walking and socializing. (we did walk a lot though!)

on sunday when i dropped those friends off, i picked up my hs friend mel, her husband and daughter near penn station and walked and walked and ate and played in the park. around 3:30 i was unable to resist the urge to have a beer and by the time i got back to brooklyn it was 6:00 so no run for me on sunday.

i got up this morning and intended to run for 1.5 hours. i had checked out the schedule and next week everyone is running shorter (for 1.5 hours) and so figured i'd just flip flop the runs and run short this weekend. i headed out towards the brooklyn bridge planning to do a wide loop, but about 2 and a half miles in suddenly started getting terrible cramps. ug. i tried to run through, but to no avail. at smith and 9th i made the decision to jump on the train and call it a day. i was a bit bummed but if i haven't learned by now that one run doesn't make or break you, i've learned nothing at all :)

tuesday's run: 4.4 miles
thursdays's run: 3.9 miles
today's run:4.0 miles
season mileage to date:101.4
up next:another 4-ish miles tomorrow

red hook runnin'

another eh week in the running. not in the feeling but in the amount.

after last week's run i had a bachelorette party. it was good times, but the item of note was that we started off with a pole dancing class, complete with spinning around and hanging off the pole. i noticed when i got home i had a variety of bruises and aches, but there was one spot that was troublesome, very achy, tender and bruised feeling right around the spot i had had the stress fracture. fall out from a pole dancing or broken leg. awesome. i opted to make a doc's appointment just in case, and got some time with her on wednesday.

sunday i was too hungover to run - i am getting "old" and cannot deal with the hangovers like i used to be able to - and monday and tuesday were pretty much torrential rains in nyc, so it was wednesday before i got out again.

wednesday was amazingly pretty though. it wasn't really sunny, but with all the rain having just passed by, the flowers and trees had started to bloom overnight. the birds were going crazy, all twitterpated. it was a lovely run.

wednesday night i felt ill and that lasted into thursday morning, so there was that day out, and friday morning is not a good day for the running since we're supposed to rest before the long run so there was another week gone. boo.

i ran with the team this morning, meeting them at the park at 8:15. it was a little chilly but i opted for no jacket, which turned out to be a smart choice. we were running for two hours - to red hook, back through carroll gardens, up to the park again, and finishing off whatever time we needed to.

i loved running through red hook. there is a really cool park down behind the ikea that is really cool, especially in the morning with no one out there! i caught up with coach lisa, told her i was going to hit the docs next week and she agreed that it was a smart thing, and better safe than sorry.

anyway, our delicious city run took us out by the water and the water always makes me feel reflective and peaceful and lucky. then back up to smith street, and up third which is both industrial near the lovely gowanus and also one of the most picturesque streets in park slope - wide, leafy, and lined with classic brooklyn stoops. up the hill, and up and up into the park. i had about another 40ish minutes so i figured i'd do a loop and change until my time was up.

the park was a breeze. so many people out, but not so many that it was annoying. and the grass was so GREEN, the vibrant lovely green only new spring grass can be. my only complaint was that the damn water fountains were not yet on! come on parks department! its waaaarm.

anyway, i finshed up by running a bit past our meeting point and back and thus landed just shy of 11 miles. i'm consistently running about 11 minute miles, which i think is a bit too fast, so i need to take a measured effort to slow it down next week. i have to go to boston again tomorrow afternoon so i'm going to try to run in the morning before i leave...lest it get to wednesday and i find i haven't run again.

wednesday's run: 4.4 miles
today's run: 10.8 miles
season mileage to date:89.1
up next:3 miles EZ

April Training Schedule

running in the jungle

cold? who says its cold!? i love this weather for running.

okay, it is way colder than it has been. when i left the ny1 thermometer was rocking a whopping 29 degrees. i wore my gloves but forwent the hat, which i regretted for the first 10 minutes.

but wait - let me back up for a recap to the week...it won't take long.

sunday instead of running, the boy and i biked around the brooklyn and ended up riding about 15 miles, which is pretty much the equivalent of a 3-4 mile run (they say 4-5 bike miles "equals" 1 run mile). monday i had to travel to boston for the day which made that day pretty much a wash, and my plan was to run tuesday morning. but we got stuck in boston for HOURS and thus i did not get home until 1am monday night. i tried to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 to run but it simply wasn't happening. thursday morning i ran but had to cut my 4.4 miles short due to terrible stomach pains. blah.

so back to today. the team is running a race in the city tomorrow and i have a friend's bachelorette party tonight which meant i was on my own for the run. i am tired of the park for the long runs, and the flat flat route to coney island bores me to tears so i opted to hit the brooklyn bridge.

once i warmed up it was perfect out there. the first few miles as always were a little "clunky" as i worked out the kinks, but once i got to the bridge i felt a bit smoother. the tourist contingent wasn't too terrible yet, although why people feel the need to walk 7 PEOPLE ACROSS is beyond me. i crossed the bridge, turned around almost at the end, and headed back. i had my first gel of the season as i left the bridge (mmm double latte!), crossed paths with my coach from last season, jim, and waved hello, and suddenly noticed the REAL cruising had set in. that moment when you're running where you are just going...your don't notice your legs, or your breathing, you are just going and i smiled wide. it was the first run this season that i've gotten to that place and this made me very very happy.

i kept up the pace down 3rd avenue and the city scape on that avenue - construction, housing projects, garages, the gowanus canal - starkly contrasted the softness of the park. the sidewalk narrowed so i moved into the bike lane, running with the cars zooming by, and i felt a bit bad ass. my only regret was that i was ipod-less, for surely i would have been blasting welcome to the jungle, and only that could have made the run more perfect.

thursday's run: 3.7 miles
today's run: 9.1 miles
season mileage to date:73.9
up next:3 miles EZ

running non-stop, literally & figuratively

i've been quiet for the last two weeks, i know. i've been trying to keep my head on straight and run and work and find moments of oh you know, just living, which have been harder and harder to come by.

i am very happy this week though that i went back to making time for running even if it is in the morning. i am a totally stress case these days, a temperament that does not suit me well and i shudder to think what mental state i would be in without the running. running in the morning really helps set a certain tone for the day, a little clear head space before work madness sets in.

since we were last here, i had one bad week of running. i ran on monday and then with travel and the torrential raining i didn't run for the remainder of the week. this made me feel pretty shitty both physically and emotionally. i pulled myself out of my pity party and jumped back in on monday morning early...6:15am early. maybe this is not THAT early for you early birds but for me, it's damn early. and with the spring forward it was dark.

since i hadn't run my 7 miles that weekend i decided to increase my short runs to help make up for it. so monday and thursday i ran almost 4 and a half miles each day (vs the typical short run 3 or 30 minutes). i had to work late wednesday and so unfortunately had to miss practice. we're starting hill training which is great training because it makes you very strong...although i am a bit afraid of the hills given last season's injury.

since the weather has turned nice, on friday i rode to and from work for the first time from this apartment. was a tad stressful - the ride through downtown brooklyn - but once i was on the brooklyn bridge it was worth it. beautiful morning, not too crowded and infinitely better than being packed into a subway like a can of sardines. its a little over 6 miles each way so adding that to my routine a few times a week i think will be great cross-training. (side note: i will NEVER take the brooklyn bridge home as weaving through the tourists not looking where they are going and wandering into the bike lane made me crazy!)

finally, practice yesterday was going to run to the connection to the cause event that happens each season. i was not going to be able to attend so i ran in the park on my own. the crew had to run 90 minutes (i almost said 90 miles, ha!) and if they got to the event great, if not they would subway it the rest of the way.

since i had only run 6 the weekend before, i wasn't sure if i should go for 8, but figured if i had been with the team i'd run by time, so i'd just do that anyway and see how many miles that resulted in. it was almost HOT out at moments but then others the gorgeous spring breeze would kick in. i ran to the park, two loops and then back to my apt, zig zagging about until the 90 minutes was done. lo and behold i had run 8.2 miles and felt very good about it.

today i think we have an EZ 30 minutes on the schedule and i'll hit that a bit later as today is a brunching day! enjoy the rest of this lovely spring weekend and i'll see you in the park.

miles run since last post: 20 miles
season mileage to date:61.1
up next:3 miles EZ