Happy Birthday To Me!
So this weekend I turned the big 2-5 and instead of celebrating with normal birthday fare on my big day, I went to bed at 10 pm and woke up at 5am the next morning to run the Inaugural NYC Half Marathon as Kim mentioned below. That's right. I exchanged a wild night out partying for carb loading, Asics and Gu gel!
I ended up running the race with three other TNTers - Jess, Maggie and Natalie - all of whom are also signed up for San Francisco. We started in Central Park and did one 6 mile loop (we all know that one well by now) and then headed downtown on 7th Avenue where we actually got to run straight down the middle of Times Square. For the last 4 miles we ran down the West Side Highway and finished in Battery City Park. So basically it went Harlem at 5 miles, Cup of Noodles Billboard at 8 miles and Statue of Liberty (or at least the ferry to it!) at 13.1 miles.
My goal time for the 13.1 miles was 2:10 and I came in just under that at 2:08!! My dad who came into town for my birthday ran too, and I hate to admit it, but Pops, who is exactly twice my age, beat me with a time of 2:01.
A few of my favorite things about the race: Watching our coach Ramon dance and cheer from the highest points he could find all around the City, free Nike stuff (oh yeah!), having it start pouring freezing cold rain as we turned out of Central Park, seeing Natalie's and Jess' families along the course, speeding up for the last mile, meeting my Dad at the finish line and last but not least, wearing the purple TNT singlet and all that comes with it - our mission, the teammates, the coaches and everyone else who recognizes us and cheers Team in Training on.
Aww, looks like I am getting sentimental in my old age :)!
- Lindsay
TNT girls at the start of the race (L to R: Natalie, Jill, Lytle, Maggie, Jess, Lindsay)
My dad and I at the start of the race.
Run, Lindsay, Run
HUGE congratulations to Lindsay for completing the first annual NYC Nike Half-Marathon!
The weather was icky and, at one point, started pouring down rain but she finished! YAY!
(and if co-worker Kelly is reading this, congratulations to you, too!)
I, on the other hand, wasn't in the city this past weekend....went to visit a friend in Westchester...so I was able to sleep in on Saturday morning and get a run in on the treadmill at her house. Can I just tell you...I hate treadmills! 1 mile feels like 5 miles. You're just running in place and feeling like you're not getting anywhere. Ick. So...at least I ran. I even did some crunches after the run so now my abs are sore.
Then we ate a lot of chocolate that night (it was just a bunch of girls!) so I probably cancelled out most of my workout. Oh well! I counted it as vacation. :-)
How come every time you come around....
Training is starting to wear on me. It's been four months, and there are still 2 more to go. It's been forever since I've been to a Tuesday practice, mostly because I've been so tired after work. Tuesdays are especially bad since I have to be in the office at 8:15 and am there until 6 (with practice immediately afterwards). I'll admit I've been slacking. I just feel like we've been training FOREVER!
Last Thursday, I was in the running mood (and felt guilty for not going to Tuesday's practice) so after a few errands after work, I went to the park for a short 4 mile run.
Saturday was supposed to be the big run across the George Washington Bridge. All the way uptown. In the morning. An hour commute (bus across town, then 2 different trains uptown from 86th street to 178th street). That's not even Manhattan anymore!
Needless to say, I did manage to get out of bed but never made it up to the Bridge. (signature.) Instead, I walked past the bus stop and kept going, towards the Park. I only did 6 miles, again, but you try running that long by yourself! I didn't even have my ipod with me since I wouldn't have been allowed to use it at the bridge. So, it was a quiet (boring) run, which is why I stopped at 6. Lindsay did go to the bridge run, and I'm sure it was somewhere near 12-14 miles.
This weekend is the
NYC half-marathon. The first one ever. A bunch of people from TNT, including Lindsay, are running that so I'll be there bright and early to cheer them on! That also means I'll be on my own again to train this weekend since there will be no group practice on Saturday.
Last week was TNT Recommitment for us -- that means that we are officially registered for the marathon/half-marathon, flights and hotels booked, and fully committed to MEETING OUR FUNDRAISING GOALS!
In related news, we are waiting for official word on Mom's condition. I'll be sending another email update soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
ice, ice, baby...
both lindsay and i made saturday an easy day. she wasn't feeling too well and i had a very long week at work, so we did the lower end of mileage for our respective training levels.
kim: 6 miles
lindsay: 10 miles
the knee is a little funky today, so i'm icing it right now as we speak...
TIRED
I needed the whole weekend to recover from Saturday's run. My feet also still kind of hurt today. Did I mention that Lindsay has switched from half-marathon to full? Our training schedules are different because of this, so she's running twice as much as me now. I truly believe that all marathon runners are nuts.
Kim: 7 miles
Lindsay: 12 miles
....Our practices have moved from 8:30am to 8am on Saturdays to accomodate the longer mileage. It's pretty much 2 straight hours of running every Saturday morning. Nothing but running. Is it October yet?
