last night was more warm than not, and i took the opportunity to run over the williamsburg bridge. if you're going to do a run at night in the dark, its a good spot because it is well trafficked and well lit. the most dangerous part of running there (in my opinion) is the chance of getting clocked by someone that doesn't know how to control their fixed gear on the downhills. fixed gears do not usually have hand breaks - riders break in a similar fashion to the bikes we had when we were younger, controling the pedals and pulling/pedaling backwards. on the downhill, the rider has to have good strong legs to keep in control of the bike, lest they speed up too fast, leaving them careening downhill at the mercy of their luck.
swede lives right around the corner and i had clocked the run at about 3 miles, which while shorter would still be a good challenge because the williamsburg is quite the arch, and the first part is the longest hill. i was a little concerned with my shin splint, i could feel it all day a i was walking around despite ample stretching, but i thought it would be a good test.
i was worried it would be colder on the bridge, but not so. the incline on the first 1/2 did tighten my calves up a good deal - tight calves are what actually cause shin splints -when the calf muscles taking more of the impact and subsequenly bruise-line pains. it hurt, but not so much to merit stopping, and i took it nice and easy on the downhill, stopping to stretch out when i got to the far side. after that i felt like i had a new pair of legs, turned around and headed back.
i finished feeling strong, rosy and happy. training has been going quite well this week, i must say.
yesterday's mileage: 3.0
season mileage to date: 124.5
Friday, February 08, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
back to the hills
last night was my first tuesday night practice since i had been diagnosed with my little quad strain. the team is in week 3 of hills. i wasn't worried about missing something technique-wise, because i am pretty much a hill master but i was nervous to see how my quad was going to feel during and after.
ironically, after we ran up the hill to the park, it wasn't my quad that was bothering me but my right shin. the lower inside spot felt like a big bruise coming on. damn the shin splints - there was no way i was getting those again. during warm up i spend some extra time on my calves to try to loosen them up and just hoped i wouldn't be feeling it the whole work out.
we ran a little less than a mile over to where we would be hill-repeating. the purpose of the practice was to get used to cresting a hill using the same effort level. basically when you reach that last little incline, as it turns flat, your stride can open up a bit more without you spending any more energy.
libby and i ran together and we passed the time chatting (when we weren't out of breath). we repeated the little hill 12 times (yeah 12) and were pretty good and tired when we finally got done. i could definitely feel my shin at first, but it loosened up a good deal during the run and i made sure that i stretched it well (and kept stretching it throughout the night). the good news was my quad seemed to be doing fine. yay.
then it was time to go home and watch the super tuesday results trickle in while i did yoga moves and rolled out my quads and calves. fun times ;)
my goal moving forward is to plan out my work outs better as well as try eating better too...i finally got a nutrition for marathoners guide, which i don't expect to be any huge revelations, but you never know. so i'm thinking for the week...
wed - off, or yoga
thursday - 4 to 5 miles (in the evening)
friday - cross-train (in the morning)
saturday - rest and stretch
sunday - bronx 1/2 marathon
lets see how that goes.
ironically, after we ran up the hill to the park, it wasn't my quad that was bothering me but my right shin. the lower inside spot felt like a big bruise coming on. damn the shin splints - there was no way i was getting those again. during warm up i spend some extra time on my calves to try to loosen them up and just hoped i wouldn't be feeling it the whole work out.
we ran a little less than a mile over to where we would be hill-repeating. the purpose of the practice was to get used to cresting a hill using the same effort level. basically when you reach that last little incline, as it turns flat, your stride can open up a bit more without you spending any more energy.
libby and i ran together and we passed the time chatting (when we weren't out of breath). we repeated the little hill 12 times (yeah 12) and were pretty good and tired when we finally got done. i could definitely feel my shin at first, but it loosened up a good deal during the run and i made sure that i stretched it well (and kept stretching it throughout the night). the good news was my quad seemed to be doing fine. yay.
then it was time to go home and watch the super tuesday results trickle in while i did yoga moves and rolled out my quads and calves. fun times ;)
my goal moving forward is to plan out my work outs better as well as try eating better too...i finally got a nutrition for marathoners guide, which i don't expect to be any huge revelations, but you never know. so i'm thinking for the week...
wed - off, or yoga
thursday - 4 to 5 miles (in the evening)
friday - cross-train (in the morning)
saturday - rest and stretch
sunday - bronx 1/2 marathon
lets see how that goes.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
not-so-exciting cross training
the interwebs are officially down at my house, so bare with my lack of posts until we fix our router.
i was feeling a little sore yesterday, and we got an email from lisa over the weekend on the importance of cross training, so rather than battle the treadmill, i opted for a cross training program on the elliptical.
it was not a bad time. i didn't start until after 8 so there was prime time tv to distract me and the program actually had me pedaling backwards as well as forwards, which after i got over getting a little dizzy, felt like a very good work out.
4 miles later i was sweaty and done.
tonight i get to go back to hill training - michael said if i can survive a 1/2 marathon, i can survive hills, so wish me luck.
yesterday's mileage: 4.0
season mileage to date: 114.5
i was feeling a little sore yesterday, and we got an email from lisa over the weekend on the importance of cross training, so rather than battle the treadmill, i opted for a cross training program on the elliptical.
it was not a bad time. i didn't start until after 8 so there was prime time tv to distract me and the program actually had me pedaling backwards as well as forwards, which after i got over getting a little dizzy, felt like a very good work out.
4 miles later i was sweaty and done.
tonight i get to go back to hill training - michael said if i can survive a 1/2 marathon, i can survive hills, so wish me luck.
yesterday's mileage: 4.0
season mileage to date: 114.5
Monday, February 04, 2008
Off Topic - For New York
super tuesday is tomorrow. get out there. if you don't know where you're supposed to go, look it up here: http://gis.nyc.gov/vote/ps/index.htm.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
reach the beach - the local edition
(note: this was meant to post yesterday, however due to a crappy internet connection at my apartment, the post was lost and i had to re-write today.)
sorry for the lack of posting this week. it was a less than stellar week for the running, and in general. i'll explain later but i'm not quite ready to address it at the moment.
things looked up with yesterday's run though. we were told we were leaving the park, but we didn't know where we would be off too. we met at prospect at our usual time, and learned we would be running to coney island and back (depending on your mileage). since i had done the 1/2 last weekend, i figured i would do 13 - 14, depending on how i was feeling. 13 would mean turning around at the boardwalk, 14 would be a little longer of a jaunt down the boardwalk to coney island ave.
being highly irresponsible i have still negelcted to get one of those lovely water belts, and instead planned on carrying a poland springs bottle with me. luckily, i ended up running with my friend libby - someone i had met during my first tnt season - and she graciously offered to share the bottles on her fuel belt with me so i was able to ditch the water bottle.
it was a pretty nice day out, despite the breeze. it was one a hot-cold kind of a run, we'd be chilly in the shade and a little warm in the sun. the coaches were having us run to coney to give us a break from the hills of the park - a little recovery run for our joints. the only hills we would encounter would be leaving and entering the park, and the inclines on the overpass to get to ocean parkway, which is completely straight and flat.
it was a good change of scenery, even though the road seems to stretch in front of you forever. i had ridden the route a bunch of times on bike, and had run from coney to the park as part of the brooklyn 1/2 last year, but hadn't done a down and back. chatting with libby made the first half of the run go by pretty quickly, there was good people watching - the theme of the morning seemed to be "adorable children".
when we got to the boardwalk i was instantly wistful for my camera. the stillness of the beach in the winter is really lovely, i think. the coney island boardwalk is never at a loss for characters, even off-season - there were plenty of locals strolling in their winter finery. after we turned around, we made a pitstop in the bathroom which was surprisingly clean, and headed on back.
mentally, the run back is more annoying in a way because the street signs are now facing you and you know you have a long way to go, for example, when you are still on avenue v. (the ave's run alphabetically from coney back up to prospect park.) at avenue p we stopped for a drink, some goo, and checked the turn sheet to see how far we had to go, and we were pleasantly surprised to find it was only 4 miles - we had already gone 10. that perked us up a great deal, and despite being in the lower 1/2 of the alphabet the remaining distance didn't seem quite as daunting.
the last mile or so was a little less than fun. i was definitely tired, but not horribly so. however, the last mile included a long winding hill - my least favorite in all of the park. blech. i think libby put it quite well when she muttered under her breath "good lord". we laughed because we felt a little like old people strugging up the hill. lisa was on bike, and chatted us up the last bit, which was quite a good distraction, and once we hit the top, we were practically there and finished pretty strong.
14 miles done. and i'm feeling pretty good.
yesterday's mileage: 14.0
season mileage to date: 110.8
sorry for the lack of posting this week. it was a less than stellar week for the running, and in general. i'll explain later but i'm not quite ready to address it at the moment.
things looked up with yesterday's run though. we were told we were leaving the park, but we didn't know where we would be off too. we met at prospect at our usual time, and learned we would be running to coney island and back (depending on your mileage). since i had done the 1/2 last weekend, i figured i would do 13 - 14, depending on how i was feeling. 13 would mean turning around at the boardwalk, 14 would be a little longer of a jaunt down the boardwalk to coney island ave.
being highly irresponsible i have still negelcted to get one of those lovely water belts, and instead planned on carrying a poland springs bottle with me. luckily, i ended up running with my friend libby - someone i had met during my first tnt season - and she graciously offered to share the bottles on her fuel belt with me so i was able to ditch the water bottle.
it was a pretty nice day out, despite the breeze. it was one a hot-cold kind of a run, we'd be chilly in the shade and a little warm in the sun. the coaches were having us run to coney to give us a break from the hills of the park - a little recovery run for our joints. the only hills we would encounter would be leaving and entering the park, and the inclines on the overpass to get to ocean parkway, which is completely straight and flat.
it was a good change of scenery, even though the road seems to stretch in front of you forever. i had ridden the route a bunch of times on bike, and had run from coney to the park as part of the brooklyn 1/2 last year, but hadn't done a down and back. chatting with libby made the first half of the run go by pretty quickly, there was good people watching - the theme of the morning seemed to be "adorable children".
when we got to the boardwalk i was instantly wistful for my camera. the stillness of the beach in the winter is really lovely, i think. the coney island boardwalk is never at a loss for characters, even off-season - there were plenty of locals strolling in their winter finery. after we turned around, we made a pitstop in the bathroom which was surprisingly clean, and headed on back.
mentally, the run back is more annoying in a way because the street signs are now facing you and you know you have a long way to go, for example, when you are still on avenue v. (the ave's run alphabetically from coney back up to prospect park.) at avenue p we stopped for a drink, some goo, and checked the turn sheet to see how far we had to go, and we were pleasantly surprised to find it was only 4 miles - we had already gone 10. that perked us up a great deal, and despite being in the lower 1/2 of the alphabet the remaining distance didn't seem quite as daunting.
the last mile or so was a little less than fun. i was definitely tired, but not horribly so. however, the last mile included a long winding hill - my least favorite in all of the park. blech. i think libby put it quite well when she muttered under her breath "good lord". we laughed because we felt a little like old people strugging up the hill. lisa was on bike, and chatted us up the last bit, which was quite a good distraction, and once we hit the top, we were practically there and finished pretty strong.
14 miles done. and i'm feeling pretty good.
yesterday's mileage: 14.0
season mileage to date: 110.8
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