NYC Marathon Part I: The Expo

Well, folks. It’s over. I officially ran the ING New York City Marathon this past weekend. My review will come in a few parts, mostly because pictures are on three different cameras. I’ll review the expo, the race itself, and post-race happenings, which may or may not include me walking around NYC dressed as a small homeless person. You’ll just have to read to find out.

I’ll also give an update on how much money I raised for the CPSVP on my last post. I’m still collecting money so I can’t total it yet.

Let’s begin on Saturday. Matt and I met my parents on Staten Island early Saturday morning. In order to get a cheaper hotel room and limit my pre-race day stress, we opted to stay out of Manhattan and close to the start of the race.

Once we got settled, we head to the Staten Island ferry terminal to catch the free ferry over to Manhattan. The SI ferry was great. It cost nothing and offered great views of the city. On our way over I got a glimpse of the bridge that I was least looking forward to running over, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Yeah. Jennifer doesn’t like bridges. The smile above is fake.

After stressing over the bridge for about 10 minutes, my family and I walked to the front of the boat and were greeted by beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty and New York City.

After the ferry ride, we navigated our way to the expo hall.

The expo was okay. The room it was held in seemed really small for such a large race. However, while there was also a lack of freebies and small-sized shirts, the entire event was expertly run. There were no real long lines or angry runners; it felt like I was going through customs trying to get my bib and race packet.

We spent an unnecessary amount of time there for one reason: RYAN HALL! Yep. My family was gracious enough to hang around the super crowded expo hall so I could finally meet my elite running idol. He holds the American record at the Boston Marathon with 2:08:41 and he writes a blog that I read regularly.

Oh, what was that Ryan Hall? The secret to being awesome??

Sorry, can’t share the secret. But I will share that we shook hands, pictures were taken, and he signed a program for me. He’s such an inspirational runner that it was so great to see that he’s just as nice in person. Well worth the hour-long expo experience.

After the expo we ventured to Little Italy and ate some good ol’ New York style pizza, which was amazing. Even if the waitress did kind of yell at me for asking about vegetables on my pizza. Guess that’s not cool in the NYC?

When we got back to the hotel for the night, I laid out my race-day clothes and accessories so I could get up and go in the morning. I had a 6 am wake-up call and didn’t want to forget anything!

My next post will be about the marathon itself. I have to wait until I get pictures from Matt and my parents. Here’s a little sneak preview: the Verrazano Bridge wasn’t all that bad, the course was rolling hills the entire time, and I set a new marathon personal record for myself!

Wicked 10k…DONE!

And we sparkled the entire way.

Full race review and more pictures to come!

Official time: 1:25:43

Mystery Memorial Revealed

Tuesday: 5 miles; not timed

It was beautious when I ran last night. It was cool-ish and the leaves were all orange and maroon! It was cloudy, but that just meant that I could run without my annoying cheap-o sunglasses. Since it was cloudy, I didn’t feel like waiting around for my Garmin to hook up so I ran without it.

Yesterday my friend Caroline sent me information on the memorial I couldn’t name near the Pentagon. Thanks, Caroline!

I took the following information from Wikipedia, because Wikipedia knows everything. Picture source.

The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its predecessors. The Memorial is located in Arlington, Virginia, on the grounds of Fort Myer near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, at the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed (known for the design of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) with the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners for the United States Air Force Memorial Foundation.

The three memorial spires range from 201 feet (61 m) to 270 feet (82 m) high and appear to be soaring; its array of stainless steel arcs against the sky evoke the image of “contrails of the Air Force Thunderbirds as they peel back in a precision ‘bomb burst’ maneuver.” Only three of the four contrails are depicted, at 120 degrees from each other, as the absent fourth suggests the missing man formation traditionally used at Air Force funeral fly-overs.

Race Review: Army 10 Miler

This past weekend I ran the Army 10 Miler in Washington, DC. I love this race. I ran it last year and made sure to sign up right away when registration opened for 2010 because it typically sells out within 3 days.

I didn’t take many pictures because my camera wouldn’t fit in my belt pocket with my cell phone, and I figured if I got lost and couldn’t find my way to the finish the cell phone would come in more handy than a camera. So the cell phone won and I took pictures with it.

I went to the race with my dad and his neighbor. We were all in different starting corrals because we can’t all keep up with my dad since he runs like a machine all are on different yet respectable running levels. We all got to our corrals at around 7:15 and waited around for the 8:00 start.

This is the view of the Pentagon from where I was waiting. Isn’t the sky pretty?

This is a memorial of sorts. Sadly, I don’t know what it’s for. I’m not good on DC memorials. Ask Matt.

A parachuter came down at around 7:40. There were supposed to be more, but my dad said air traffic control stopped the others from falling due to aircraft in the area. Last year there were about 5 parachuters all twirling and landing exactly where they’re supposed to land. Very professional.

The run itself was great. You start at the Pentagon and run across the Memorial Bridge where you can see the Lincoln Memorial ahead of you. Then you turn and run alongside the Potomac and by the Kennedy Center. From there you run along the National Mall and in front of the Capital Building, which my dad did not see (told you, he’s a machine). The last few miles are along the Mall again, across another bridge, and up a highway where you finish right back where you started, at the Pentagon.

I finished within 30 seconds of my time from last year, which is great considering I had no goals for the run. I didn’t really push myself, but I didn’t hold back either. I just ran.

Official time: 1:38:44; 9:52 pace

And Now We Taper

Thursday: 5.5 miles; not timed
Friday: rest
Saturday: 20 miles; 3:44:17
Sunday: 3 mile walk with Scout

Saturday’s 20 miles was hard due to strong wind gusts. There were times where my legs were moving but it felt like I was going nowhere. Quitting at 5 miles crossed my mind but I didn’t let it stop me. Because after 5 miles was complete, I only had 15 more to go. Easy peasy. In all seriousness, though, the winds were rough and I only got through them because I talked myself into keep going. Looking back now I’m really grateful for the wind. It would have been easy to stop and walk home, but I didn’t. Knowing I can talk myself into running 20 miles in strong wind makes me confident that I can talk myself over any wall I may hit on November 7.

When I got home I stretched out the floor and then curled up in a little ball. Bending my legs felt so good! It wasn’t until I realized my teeth were clattering and I was shivering that I got up to take a hot shower. Then I made myself pancakes about 2 hours later when I finally felt hungry.

Not getting sick on Saturday was also a plus because the last time I used that pancake batter was after my 20 miler last year. Apparently I don’t eat a lot of pancakes and pancake batter doesn’t go bad after a year. Go Target brand! But I probably should buy some more before I run 20 miles again next year. If I choose to do so. Just sayin’.

Now that I’m tapering I have time to psych myself up for New York. I probably couldn’t run a marathon next weekend, but I will definitely run a marathon on November 7. It’s all mental at this point. I’ve done all I can do to my body to prepare for the mileage. Now I just have to convince myself that I can go the extra 6.2 miles and finish my second marathon.

Tapering this year also includes two awesome races before the big day! This weekend is my second running of the Army 10 Miler in Washington, DC. The following Saturday is the Wicked 10k down in Virginia Beach. Here are my lofty race goals:

• Army 10 Miler: don’t trip and injure yourself
• Wicked 10k: don’t trip and injure yourself…and find candy corn and eat lots of chocolate candy…but not to the point of nausea…and look ’80s fab…and sparkly

Easy, right? I think I can handle those goals.

Exciting!

Wednesday: 10 miles; 1:45:something

I had a nice and easy 10 mile run yesterday. It finally felt like October again with chilly temperatures. I have 5 miles scheduled for this evening after work.

Here are some exciting things that happened this past week:

• I got new shoes that will carry me through the marathon.
• Matt has successfully found a way to stalk me on Google Maps so he can track me during the race.
• I received my bib number and starting line placement for race day! I’m in the second out of three waves, which means I’m not last!!
• I’m running on the lower level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which is good since I’m scared of bridges and won’t be able to see how high I am.
• I read that the bridge sways with 90,000 feet running across it since it’s a suspension bridge. Cue vomiting…now.
• My official start time is 10:10 am. A little late as far as races go, but I’ll deal.
• I found out Bobby Flay is running NYC this year. Add another celeb to the list I want to see. So far I have Edward Norton, Jared from Subway (for Erin!), and Bobby Flay.

I have a few product reviews I want to write about in the next few days. AudioFuel sent me more samples and I’ve yet to write them the review they deserve. Also, Erin and I ordered Sparkle Skirts for our 10k on Halloween weekend. I MUST review these skirts because they’re super cute and homemade.

Be happy…it’s almost the weekend!

Quickie!

Tuesday: 5 miles; 48:59 minutes

My run last night was glorious. Glorious! It was chilly out and I got to wear shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. My favorite running combo!

I was, however, barked at upon my return. Scout wasn’t very happy that I didn’t take him running with me; he’s been mad at me for a couple of days about this issue. Yesterday he retaliated by running around with a box of Ziploc bags and then opening his food container so he could stick his head in and eat at will. He also got me up at 4 am pretending to have to go the bathroom while he really just wanted to run around in the back yard.

This morning he ate a chopstick.

You see, Scout had big boy dog surgery last week and can’t exercise for another week. It’s going to be a long one…

Hi, Friends and Family!

I’m still here!

Okay, so here’s the deal. My updating has been non-existent this past week do to work. I know, I’ve said this before but let me explain. I work for a smallish (about 75 people) non-profit association. In other words, I work for our members. Everyday I strive to make their lives happy by designing pretty logos and fancy brochures in the creative services department. But that’s not all. I also kind of work in the marketing department doing random marketing projects, one of which is an 8-week marketing online course that started last week. I love what I do, but it’s hard because we’ve been short-staffed since major layoffs December 2008. Thus, I do the work of 2.5 people. Why 2.5? Well my department is the only department without administrative help, which led to lots of fights with the copy machine last weekend.

I’m telling you all this because it’s the reason why I haven’t been writing here. Today is the first day in a while where I haven’t had someone jumping in my office right at 8 o’clock. And since I spend all day at work on my computer, it’s the last piece of machinery I want to play with at home in the evenings. I’d rather play with a very loveable pup who currently runs around the house with a cone around his neck.

But no worries! I’m going to try really hard to find time for myself at work to calm down and write more. In fact, I vowed to Matt that October would be a recharging month because the marathon is 33 days away and I cannot run well if I’m stressed out. I have two cool races coming up at the end of the month, too. The Army 10 Miler and the Wicked 10k. It’s time to get back in action!

While I was not writing, some cool things happened…

• My aunt and uncle had a beautiful baby girl, Ella. A new little cousin! She’s really cute. Like there’s cute, and then there’s Ella. ‘Nough said.
• I’ve entered the paranoid stage of my training. People are dropping off like flies at work and I’m poppin’ vitamin C drops likes it’s in my job description. My hands are getting raw from too much Purell. I CANNOT get sick now. It’s not allowed.
• I ran 18 miles last Saturday in gorgeous, chilly fall weather. I took 3 GUs and felt positively great the last two miles. I really wanted to get home and averaged a 9:35 pace for miles 17 and 18.
• I visited the Newseum in Washington, DC on Sunday. By far, it was one of the best museums I’ve ever been to. There were some pretty heavy exhibits displayed, like coverage on Katrina and 9/11; two displays mentioned April 16. The Newseum did such a great job of showing how people and communities really come together after tragedy and how important and influential communication really is in this world. Besides being super crazy hungry (due to the 18 miles) and being kicked out at 5 pm, Matt, our friend Hunter, and I could have spent hours upon hours in there. So much information in one building. I highly recommend visiting the Newseum if you’re ever in DC.

Anywho…the 18 miles on Saturday really boosted my marathoner ego because last year they were completed on an elliptical machine due to a knee injury. I must be doing something right because my body feels great this year. I have a low mileage week this week before my 20 miler in 2 weeks. That’s my last long run before tapering for the marathon!

I promise to write back shortly. Have a great Tuesday!

September. Heat. Is. Lame.

Wednesday: 3 miles untimed with Scout
Thursday: 3.1 miles; 30:11 + 5 miles; 52:23 = 8.1 miles
Friday: rest day!

It’s been a hot week here in Maryland. It’s been in the high 80s for the past two days and it might get up past 90 degrees today. I don’t take walk breaks during my weekday runs, but this week was an exception. My body got used to the cooler weather in the few fall-like days we had a week ago.

On Wednesday I meant to do 8 miles but I had somewhere to be at 7:30 and didn’t want to show up smelly, gross, and famished so I held back and went on an easy run with Scout. He was excited, at first. After the halfway mark he stopped three times to let me know he was done. Each time we walked for a bit and then shuffled home. Three mile runs don’t really tire him out anymore, but he was pooped Wednesday evening.

Yesterday, due to the heat, I split my long run into two manageable runs. I ran 3.1 miles during lunch at work and 5 miles when I got home. I’m not going to sugar-coat it folks: I was disgusting. I got caught sneaking back into my office by some coworkers who wanted to chat about my “healthy activity”. I was hot, miserably wet, and just wanted my power shower wipes. Last night was even worse because the gnats were out in full force. I ran through clusters of them and felt them hit my face like little pellets. I even felt them in my throat and couldn’t stop coughing toward the end of my run. When I got home, I looked in the mirror and I had little black specs ALL over me. My face, neck, arms, legs, and shirt were covered in gnats that I wiped off with a paper towel.

And, of course, when Matt ran at 7 all the gnats had magically gone home. Typical.

During my 5 mile run I finally got a chance to listen to AudioFuel. I really enjoyed it and will post a full review of Run Free 1 tomorrow. It deserves its own post.

Happy Friday!

New Music!

Monday: multiple walks with Scout
Tuesday: 3.11 miles; 30:01

Yesterday I listened to a grand total of 3 different songs on my 30 minute run. And one song was a pity song that I felt like I had to listen to because I had already repeated the other songs multiple times. What can I say? I binge on songs. Better than binging on oatmeal animal crackers. OH WAIT! I binged on those as well last night. ooops.

Whatever. They were organic.

The two songs I binged on were by Jackson Browne, surprise surprise. His music is good for short runs. The songs were “Of Missing Persons” and “I’m Alive”. One song is about the death of a friend and the other is about a bad breakup. There’s no good reason why I should have run so well to these songs since the lyrics are so melancholy. But Jackson has a way of putting vibrant beats behind tough times that really (if you’re going through a low point) would help you get going again.

In other words, these songs are sad but make you want to movie jump during the chorus.

Anywho…onto something more interesting. A few days ago I was contacted by a very nice person at AudioFuel.

AudioFuel is custom written for running. Our music is custom composed for you to run to the beat. AudioFuel matches and drives your stride and pace when you run. The vibe and lyrics of every track are designed to increase your performance and make your running easier. Most music’s tempo is too slow to run to the beat. And AudioFuel delivers because the music sounds good… unlike a lot of ‘exercise music’. Only the best artists compose AudioFuel.

My contact read that I’ve been listening to music on the go lately and offered to send me a few samples of their running music. I received:

• Pyramid 180 Max – Mid Intensity Interval Training (22 minutes)
• Run Free 1 – Mid Intensity Long Runs (1 hour)

The music is set to specific beats that your legs can run to. And there’s coaching thrown in to keep you going. As an American this is very exciting because the voice has a British accent. FUN!

I haven’t run to these, yet, but I plan on running my weekly 8 miler to Run Free 1 either today or tomorrow. I’m excited to see how my running compares as to when I listen to Dave Matthews, my usual long run friend.