an ambitious goal and a barrier falls

I am not a fan of winter unless there is snow on the ground. However, once there is snow on the ground I only want it to stick around long enough for me to appreciate it. It gets dark way too early. With Dori and I both trying to get out to run, we have to coordinate who goes when. It is way too cold to pack Aidan up in the jog stroller so we can go together. So currently Dori goes out in the mornings and I get my miles in during the late evening.

With all the reflective gear and cold weather gear I tend to look like a space age baked potato when I am out there. But I am still out there. I am out there every other day, and on the exercise bike or eliptical on the days I am not.

The progress report. I am down twenty five pounds from when I came out of retirement in March 2009. I no longer live on a diet of fast food and soda. I finished my first 5k back in June with a time of 36:45. Last night I did a 3.1 out and back from the house in 29:35. The 30 minute barrier that I had been struggling with all summer has been smashed. Or at least beaten.

Ten years ago my running hobby came to an abrupt end when I shredded my MCL at MCB Quantico. At the time I was attending OCS and getting ready to run the Marine Corps Marathon. A decade of laziness and desk bound jobs followed.

I have always found that I need a challenge in order to motivate myself. I need to have that voice in my ear telling me that I need to go that extra mile. So , I have decided to throw my hat in the ring and attempt to finish what I was training for back when I hurt myself ten years ago. I am going to run a marathon by the end of this year.

I have submitted my application to run the 2010 NYC Marathon. I will find out in March whether or not I get in. If I get in I plan on running the Hampton's Half in October to gauge where I stand. If I don't get in then I am going to make the marathon attempt a little earlier than planned and run the full Hampton's Marathon instead.

The goal was deferred for ten years. I think it is time.

I have to get better at updating this blog

Health issues conspired to keep me off the road for the bulk of the time since my last update. Luckily I am back on my feet again and feeling better than I have in a long time. Even so, I was considering sitting out the Blue Point Smiles Change Lives Turkey Trot. Having run about five miles since the Republic Airport 5K I knew I was going to be in for a bad day.

Thanksgiving morning I rolled out of bed and decided that I would regret not getting out there. Dori and I dropped Aidan off with Pappa and Grandma for the morning and we got lost on our way to Cory Beach.

My goal continues to be the sub thirty minute 5k. Having not been out on the road I knew that the chances of me doing it on Thanksgiving morning were slim to none. But I told myself that today was the day. I lined up in in the middle of the pack at the starting line. I learned later that there were over seven hundred people running the race. Based upon how packed in we all were I think that may be a low number.

Long story short. The Thirty minute barrier remains. I crossed the finish line in 32:11.

Upcoming Events:

12/5 - Sayville Running Company’s 4th Annual Toys for Tots Prediction Run

Back into the swing of things.

Let me start off by saying I am in love with my Nike + Ipod. The tracking of my runs and times keeps me honest, and the training program tends to keep me on track. Unless it is a torrential downpour outside. Then I am staying inside.

I am always looking for running opportunities that are a bit different from the standard Saturday morning mob scene. On Friday, October 16 I ran in the Republic Airport Not So Midnight 5k. The race started at 10pm. The day of the race all the weather reports stated that it would be cold and raining. Well, it wasn't raining. It was cold though. I lined up at the starting line with Kevin and told myself that I was going to break the thirty minute barrier. The airhorn went off and a pack of about 100 runners start moving along the dark airport roads.

I practically grew up at that airport. My father worked for Fairchild Republic before it became a shopping mall. I know the access roads around that airport pretty well. That being said, once you take daylight out of the equation, it is a whole different place.

I hit my first mile in 9:38. This was right where I wanted to be. The pack of glow-stick wearing runners had thinned out along the out and back. I hit my second mile in 21:15. I didn't realize my pace had dropped off as much as it had. If i was going to break thirty I was going to have to really push the last mile and finish with a split that was pretty close to my first one.

Sadly, the thirty minute barrier remains. I crossed the line in 31:58. I placed sixth in my age group. I am hopeful there were at least seven people in my group.

Congrats go out to Kevin for finishing in 23:22. Good enough to get third in his age group. Have I mentioned that I hate Kevin.

Upcoming Events:

10/24 - 12th Annual Run for Ridley 5k. Running in Riverhead with Dori and Marc to raise money for a turtle.

11/7 - Veteran's Day 4k XC Race - held at the VA Medical Center in Northport. RACE PROCEEDS GO TO THE VA VOLUNTARY SERVICES FOR HOSPITALIZED VETERANS

11/26 - Smiles Change Lives Turkey Trot - put in a quick 5k before going on a Thanksgiving binge.

And we now return to our regular scheduled programming

Wow. Almost two months since I last wrote something. In that time quite a bit has happened. Sadly for the purposes of this blog, very little of it is running related.

Trips to Sesame Place and to Florida as well as a series of bouts with chest colds, flu and whatever else have conspired to keep me from getting out on the road and putting in any significant amount of miles.

On September 12, 2009 I ran in the Connetquot 5K Run For The Bus. This is a small race that benefits the Connetquot Cross Country Team Booster Club. I had been fighting a nice cough and cold for a few days leading up to the race. To be honest I was leaning towards just going as a spectator to watch Dori and Marc run. However, peer pressure and my own stupid pride won out and the morning of the race I decided to run. In addition I decided to push Aidan in his jog stroller as well. Both turned out to be bad ideas.

The race started and I had hardly gone more than a half mile before the first coughing fit shocked Aidan out of his car counting daze. It only got worse from there. I did not keep track but I most likely walked about two out of the 3.1 miles. My wind was somewhere aside from my lungs.

Marc and Dori were well ahead as Aidan and I walked along. I was paying no attention to my time as a young girl at the water station called out 16:30. For a moment I almost thought she was calling out my split at mile two. In reality, she was shouting out my split for mile one. Yes, it was that bad.

A serious gut check was required as I passed the turn off where the 1.5 mile fun runners and walkers turned back towards the finish line. Again peer pressure and stupid pride made me continue on my hacking, wheezing way. Besides I had paid for the 5k and I hate to waste money.

Aidan was having a blast pointing out the colors of the cars we passed. For the record he was mistaken most of the time. We even stopped for a few minutes so he could check out the firetrucks parked in front of the fire department. I figured if I was going to die doing this run the kid might as well get to have some fun.

Eventually we got back onto the grounds of the high school and shuffled our way to the finish line. I finished in 38:36. I question the accuracy of that because the official result for Dori was 38:15. There is no way that she was only 21 seconds ahead of me. She had me by at least four minutes. So I am pretty sure I finished closer to 42 minutes. Horrible.

The week of September 20th Dori, Aidan and I flew down to Florida to visit some family. Aidan managed to puke twice on the way to Kennedy. That does not inspire confidence for a plane ride. But the little guy was great on the plane. Once we were in the air he vegged out in front of his DVD player and watched Thomas the Tank Engine over and over.

We rented a house on the beach in Ponte Verda. Dori motivated me to drag myself out early in the morning to go running with her down A1A. You are really taking your life into your hands by running down that road. If the cars don't kill you the bicyclists will.

In the weeks since I have been fighting the same damn chest cold. I finally gave in on Tuesday and went to see the Doctor. Now with a prescription for the nuclear bomb of antibiotics I am confident that I will be able to get back out there and run on a regular basis.

How has my unwillingness to see a Doctor earlier harmed my running goals? Without a doubt I say yes. RunAmuck has come and gone and I was unable to make it. The Asbury Relay Marathon is around the corner and to the relief of my teammates we are going to have to wait until next year to try it. My goal of running the Austin Half Marathon in February has been thrown into question since I have basically lost two months of training.

Upcoming Events.

10/16 - Republic Airport "Not so Midnight" 5k. What is not to love about running through an airport in the dark with drinks to follow? Now all we need is a babysitter.

11/7 - Veteran's Day 4k XC Race - held at the VA Medical Center in Northport. RACE PROCEEDS GO TO THE VA VOLUNTARY SERVICES FOR HOSPITALIZED VETERANS

11/26 - Smiles Change Lives Turkey Trot - put in a quick 5k before going on a Thanksgiving binge.

Wednesday Night at Eisenhower Park

The 12th saw my return to running at Eisenhower Park. The Long Island Road Runners Club does a series of Wednesday night 5k's over the summer. I never ran in one of these events before, but I have had the opportunity to run through Eisenhower Park many times in the past.

When I was getting ready to go to Officer Candidate School back in 2000 my Officer Selection Officer was stationed at Garden City. I would roll out of bed at 5:30 in the morning three days a week so I could meet with the other Officer Candidates waiting for the Winter Class in Quantico to begin. We would all gather at Eisenhower and do a three mile run consisting of four laps around the softball fields and then endure whatever other activities the recruiting staff had lined up for us.

I don't know what a perfect score on a Marine Corps PFT is these days, but back then you needed to do 20 chin ups, 100 crunches in two minutes and a three mile run in 18:00. While I never scored a perfect I managed to come close on my last PFT.

These days all of the above are lofty goals.

The 5k at Eisenhower was a small and very fast field. The bulk of the runners were high school or college level XC runners or club runners. Taking this into account I decided that lining up toward the back of the pack was the greatest courtesy I would be able to give.

Before the race started I noticed a group of Poolees running that same old lap around the softball field with their recruiter. They were calling out cadence as they slogged along. The Corps goes on and on.

Back to the actual race. My friend Kevin joined me on this one. I thought Kevin was in worse shape than I was. I was soon to be proven wrong.

I told myself that I was gunning to finish in under 30 minutes. I went out after the horn sounded and ran what I thought was probably a ten minute even pace. Crossing the first mile marker I realized I had gone out too fast when I saw 8:55 on the clock. While it is nice to know that I have a sub nine minute mile left in me, I knew I did not have a sub nine minute mile plus 2.1 more miles in me.

Sure enough my pace dropped like a rock. I did not even bother to check my split at mile two. I wound up finishing at 32:10.

This entire race I had been occasionally checking over my shoulder to see where Kevin was. I had not seen him since about a half mile into the run. Imagine my surprise as I cross the finish line and I see Kevin waiting beside the chute for me. I was still mentally unwilling to accept the fact that he had finished before me and I clung to the slim hope that he had gotten a cramp and dropped out somewhere along the way.

Sadly for my ego this was not the case. Kevin finished in 23 and change placing 64 in the field. I represented at 144. I am reasonably certain there were at least 145 people who ran this race, so it was not last place. Congrats to Kevin on a great race.

Status:

26.1 miles into my goal of running 50 miles by the 17th. Maybe I will reset the goal for thirty miles. Then I am all good.

Upcoming Races:

10/3 - RunAmuck - as fun as this one seems I can't pull road trips for running events multiple times a month. So slogging through mud and rivers may have to wait until next year since the relay marathon in Asbury is higher on my list of things to do.

10/18 - Asbury Park Relay Marathon - team members thus far - Dori; Chewbecker; Kevin; Me. team name - undecided.

2/14 - Austin Half Marathon (?)

Sayville Summerfest 4 miler

It has been a while since my last post. A busy few weeks at work have translated into a lack of free time. Of course it has also translated into a lack of time spent out on the roads.

"The hardest part of running a race is lining up at the start. That requires guts. The actual running is all about being too stupid to slow down."

On August 1st I ran the Sayville Summer Fest 4 miler with Dori and my brother Marc.

The race started at Sayville Running Company on Montauk Highway, down Main Street in Sayville, down to the ferry, along the water and back up to Main Street. Running down Main Street was a kick since the crowd had already started to gather for Summerfest and was very vocal in cheering every runner on.

I did the first mile in about 10:25. I hit mile two at around 21 and change. I have to apologize for Andrea for not recognizing her at the ferry terminal water station. Still not used to her being a brunette I guess. I wish could remember what my split for mile three was, but I was more focused on running through the shower of water spraying out of the fire truck than looking at the timer. Crossing the finish at 44:20 was a great feeling. I had hoped to be close to 10:30 splits, but I will happily take an 11:05 pace on this one.

Very proud of Dori for kicking butt and finishing in 51:40. Marc finished in 49:00 flat.

Later that day we brought Aidan to the carnival at Gillette Park. He saw a Ladybug ride and seemed like he wanted to go on it.

I buy a few tickets and hand one to Aidan. I tell him to hand it to the carnie as he walks through the gate and he does. Dori and I strap him in and step away. He seems okay, possibly even excited. Then the ride starts to move. He screams a scream I have never heard before. Each time he passes by Dori and I he puts his hands out as if to say "get me the hell off this thing." The carnie stops the ride to take him off and hands his ticket back to him. This has filled me with confidence for our upcoming trip to Sesame Place.

Status:

22.5 miles into my goal of running 50 miles by the 17th. Really need to put some serious miles in over the next few days. This may call for the treadmill.

Upcoming Races:

10/3 - RunAmuck - 5k obstacle course and giant mud pit.

10/18 - Asbury Park Relay Marathon - eight loops around Asbury Park, up to eight members per team. Sweet.

2/14 - Austin Half Marathon (?) - before I got hurt and stopped running ten years ago I was getting ready to run the Marine Corps Marathon. I am nowhere near ready to put myself out there for 26.2, but I think I am ready to punish myself with 13.1. Run a half marathon and get in a visit with the folks, my sister and nephew in one shot. I am just that efficient.

Guerrilla racing

Last night I ran in the State Park Summer Run Series 5k at Bethpage State Park. I went straight to the park from work. By the time I arrived I was informed that they were no longer taking day of race registrations. What the hell? I drive here, want to pay to run and am being told that I can not.

I play by the rules for the most part, but I am not going to sit in the bleachers or on the grass while other people run and wait for the parking lot to open back up so I can leave. So I do what any self respecting quasi anarchist would do. I run the damn race guerrilla style. You don't want to take my money and give me a number? Fine. I will run your race without a number and keep my fifteen bucks.

I decide that I am going to push myself and line up just a bit ahead of the ten minute milers at the starting line. I was worried that my lack of number and shoe tag would be easily noticed, but it seems like there were quite a few folks in the field running sans number.

The horn goes off and the herd starts to move towards the line. The field was so tight that it probably took me about a minute to get from where I was lined up to the actual starting line. In order to control this problem the race organizers limit the number of entries. However inconsiderate people like me show up and run anyway, clogging the field. Sorry.

There were so many people that it was like running in a rush hour A train. It was bad enough on the road for the first half mile, but once we all had to file onto the bike paths it got to the point where you could hardly breath.

I hit mile one in 10:28. Slower than I wanted to be but with such a dense field I think everyone not in the leaders pack was having the same issue. After the first mile the course gets back out onto the road and the field starts to break up. The next portion of the course is gradual uphill. My pace drops a bit and I hit the second mile at 21:30. Most of mile three is rolling hills over the golf cart path on the golf course. Some steep downhills are a lifesaver and helped me to build up some momentum to go up the next hill. As we round the polo fields and head toward the finish chute I pull off to the side and finish the race next to the finish line. Since there is a limit to how inconsiderate I am I decided not to cross the line and be screw up any official results.

I finished in 31:40. My goal for last night was to break 30:00. With the dense field of runners and the series of rolling hills leading up to mile three I am not surprised that I did not make it to the line as fast as I wanted.

Status:

14.75 miles into my goal of running 50 miles by August 17.

Upcoming races:

8/1 - Sayville Summerfest 4 Miler 9am

Doing my best to avoid upsetting the Golf Ranger

I live right off a golf course. The third green is practically in my front yard. We have been in our condo for about four years now. I have actually gotten up and played golf on this course twice. I have been telling myself that I really need to take more advantage of this nice little feature of the community.

So yesterday morning I decided to tempt fate and risk the wrath of the course ranger by taking my morning run onto the golf course. I know that at 6 in the morning I am not likely to get brained by a golf ball. I charted out a nice little 1.3 mile loop with a series of rolling hills and flats. Any golfers out there who may be pissed or scandalized by reading this please rest assured that I stayed clear of the fairways and the greens. It took me 17:30 to finish the loop, but that is with stopping every so often to fish a golf ball out of the rough.

Was it my best work out ever? Not by a long shot. Was it a welcome distraction from the same old loop that is now haunting my nightmares? Yes it was.

Status:

7.38 miles into my goal of running 50 miles in thirty days. I am going to need to run a half marathon before 8/17 if I hope to make it.

Of Mondays and shin splints

It has been a few days since my last post. First things first, I did not get to run the 5k in Westhampton on Saturday. Having a kid who is on the verge of turning two makes it a bad idea to pre-register for these type of events. Aidan had a fitful night of sleep going into Saturday morning and rather than wake him up early to go to the race Dori and I decided to let him sleep in and buy ourselves a day free of tantrums and meltdowns.

My brother Marc did manage to get to the starting line in time for the gun. In his first 5k Marc crossed the finish line in 33 and some change. Congrats to Marc for taking his run off the treadmill and onto the pavement.

With absolutely no running taking place on Saturday Dori and I headed to the local high school on Sunday to put some laps in. The bonus of running at the track is that we can bring a bucket, shovel and some other toys for Aidan to play with in the long jump pit. Don't judge me. He loves it.

Imagine our disappointment when we rolled up to the track and discovered that it looked like a construction site. Our track work turned into yet another nice loop around the neighboorhood. I did the mile and a half loop in 16:30.

I am getting very sick of this mile and a half loop. So this morning when I rolled out of bed can you guess what I ran? Yup. I felt like complete hell as my shins are really starting to bother me. I am not even going to bother posting how long it took me. It was bad news all around.

I know I need to take more time to stretch before I get out and go. Ignoring fudamentals in order to grab an extra few minutes sleep has not paid off. The alarm clock is going to be set a half hour earlier from now on to accomodate some decent stretching.

Upcoming races.

Monday, July 27 2009 - Bethpage State Park - 5k - 7pm

Saturday, August 1, 2009 - Sayville Summerfest - 4 miler - 9am

Status:

6 miles into my goal of running 50 miles in thirty days. Have to put in 44 more by 8/17. I really need to start running longer.

50 miles in 30 days

I wish I could say that the length of time between my first post and this one is based upon being too busy to blog about my training and other events. The honest answer is I have not been out for a run in about a week. So to motivate myself I am setting a goal of putting in 50 miles over the next 30 days.

With such a goal in mind I probably should have put in a longer workout this morning. After a short warm up I did a quick loop around the neighborhood, approx 1.52 miles, in 16:04. This works out to a 10:34 per mile pace. The route is all flat and on paved roads. A Bouncing Souls playlist provided the soundtrack and if there is a better song to run to than "Here We Go" I have not heard it.

Still anticipating doing a 5k out in Westhampton on Saturday.

Just took a decade or so off

Back in the winter of 2000 I ran my best three miler. At 18:40 it was much better than any time I ever managed to put up while running XC in high school. I think part of the motivation was the cadre of Platoon Sergeants and Sergeant Instructors offering their unique brand of encouragement along the way.

This high water point of my running career was short lived. A few days later I took a tumble during a boots and utes run through the scenic Virginia countryside. I tried to stand up and a practical demonstration of gravity showed me that I could not put any weight on my left leg. I pulled up my pant leg and saw that my kneecap was already the size of a cantaloupe and turning a nice shade of purple. The culture regarding injuries at Officer Candidate School is one of "ice it and suck it up" so imagine my surprise when my Platoon Sergeant takes a look at my knee and proceeds to fireman carry me to the corpsman. The resulting injury took me out of commission and led to the end of my Quantico adventures.

In the years since I fell off the running wagon. Desk bound jobs and going to law school full time led to me gaining more than 80 pounds. I would make attempts to get on some type of work out / fitness plan, but laziness would win out.

Back in April my wife approached me with the idea of running a 5K. Dori attacked this goal with determination and zeal. During the week we would hit the local roads and on weekends we would put Aidan in the jog stroller and try to put some miles in before doing errands.

I was a bit lost at first because any training program that I might have used in the past took a certain base level of fitness for granted. Sadly I did not possess that base level of fitness. To be honest I could not even put together two full laps around the track at first. The first few weeks were discouraging because I just didn't have the wind in me to do anything other than shuffle. I stumbled upon the Couch to 5k running plan and framed my workouts around it.

I can not lie. As a former competitive runner this training program was a major blow to my ego. Doing road workouts where I walked more than I ran was hard to accept at first, but as I stuck with the program I saw the improvement.

On June 20, 2009 Dori and I ran in the Shwachman-Diamond Dash for a Cure 5k in Sayville. I can not express how proud I was of Dori for setting a goal for herself and seeing it through. She finished her first 5k and is hooked on jogging.

I crossed the line in 36:45. Not the competitive pace of days gone by, but to be honest I was just thrilled to have been in the pack. A twelve minute mile average is better than what I expected going into the race.

On July 6, 2009 I returned to the State Park Summer Run Series and ran in the Hempstead Lake Park 4k. I crossed the line in 26:12, and on my first mile I hit 10:00 on the nose.

I am happy to be able to say that I am a runner again. A slow runner, but I am not too concerned about that. Dori and I are planning on doing our next 5k out in Westhampton on the 18th of July. We haven't decided whether we are going to push Aidan along for this one. He might wind up staying with grandpa that morning.