Making the runs count

Fort Tryon Park, late April 2010

As I mentioned in my 15K race recap, I have made the transition to running only twice a week and swimming 4x a week in order to train for the Great Bay 4.4mi Swim in June. I needed to find a way to get in a long swim on Sunday which meant my day off would now be Tuesday. I have been doing speedwork with the Inwood Hill Runners on Tuesday nights through the winter, so it's been a hard habit to break. This Tuesday I couldn't quite take a day off because I'd been sick the previous week and missed 3 days of training, so I did some P90X workouts and called it a night. I was sore from those plyometrics until Friday morning.

I did manage to make my two runs this past week really count as good training runs which makes me happy and confident that I can maintain my running while swim training. Thursday night our group run takes us on a hilly loop through Inwood, Washington Heights and Fort Tryon park and this week was no exception. We had a special guest this week though, Steve from NYCRUNS.COM joined us at the top of Manhattan for a run. The group was in good spirits as we caught up with a friend we hadn't seen in weeks and we introduced ourselves to a new member. It turns out the new girl has the exact same name as one of our current members, first and last! Bizarro. We ran a solid 4 mile loop on top of the 1.5 miles it takes for LW and I to get to the meeting spot. In honor of our guest, we had some post run food and drinks at an Inwood favorite cafe. That was a lot of fun.

The other run I'm keeping in my schedule is the Saturday morning long run with the Inwood crew. This Saturday I ran to meet the group (go to Inwoodhillrunners.org to find out where/when we meet!) and we decided on an adventure run to and over the George Washington Bridge.
It was a beautiful day yesterday with very little breeze and nice, warm sunshine. The air felt cool and crisp, but there was a haze around the city so white and thick that we could only make out the outline of the downtown skyline as we ran across the bridge. As we reached the bridge one of our members who also cycles gave everyone a little refresher course on bridge etiquitte because there were many more cyclists out than we anticipated. We lined up single file and started across the bridge, I was somewhere in the middle of the 7 person line until Charlie started moving away at the front. I felt like we were moving a little slowly for how flat the bridge is, so I looked to make sure there were no bikes coming and I charged up to catch Charlie. We kept a solid pace up and chatted briefly between flying bikes as we made our way over to NJ. After touching the rocks on the mainland and gathering all of our troops we ran back to NJ at the same quick pace, Charlie and I laughed at all of the cyclists waving their hands behind them to signal that we were oncoming, it sure looked a lot like they'd farted and were waving the smell away. Haha. I guess you had to be there. As we reached Manhattan again we headed back up towards Inwood via Fort Tryon Park and I turned around at the top of the big hill to head back home. The park is on the verge of lots of spring blossoms and there were bagpipers leading a small procession through the park for the annual Shearing of the Heather. (Fort Tryon park has one of the largest heather gardens on the East Coast.) It is a tradition I always sort of "bump into" every year, but never actually participate in. It's almost become the official start of Spring for me, so I smiled to myself as I ran past the folks with their giant garden shears. Bring on the blossoms!!! I finished up the run just shy of 10 miles and felt a bit tight in my left ITB, but satisfied with another perfect Saturday morning run. I can't believe that everyone doesn't start out their weekends this way.

A run down Memory Lane

I'm nearing my 5 year NYC anniversary and my 2 year anniversary of graduation from my Doctorate program at Columbia. Perhaps it was the droves of graduates swathed in Columbia Blue that I saw on Monday, perhaps its the hints of summer in the air, but something has triggered memories of the last 5 yrs in NYC.

Last night's running route seemed like coincidence at the time, but now I'm pretty sure it wasn't. I headed out for a tempo run with the plan of running 5x8" intervals. My running hasn't been feeling spectacular lately, its tough to share my precious running time with swimming/biking.

I started out along Fort Washington Ave, heading south along the route that I walked twice a day in grad school to the CU medical center. Immediately I began to feel a sense of nostalgia as I passed the park and its rowdy teens at 174th, the hustle and bustle of the medical center engulfed me around 170th and spit me out on 165th where I noticed they finished the new Cardiac center (it's beautiful). As a trampled down the hill on 165th I smiled, even as I passed the smelly garbage garage. I've had so many fun runs along this route with so many different friends, at so many different points in my NY life. Sigh.

As I began my first interval, I smiled at a giant St Bernard in the dog park that was curled up with a tiny pug. My first interval was downhill for much of the first half, but I insisted to myself that I wouldn't go out at a pace I couldn't sustain, so I settled around 7:45. The second interval took me along the 125th st Viaduct bridge which has great views of the river, Grant's tomb and it overlooks fairway. Memories surfaced of winter morning runs with my friends Nancy and Jen where we all wimpered about one frozen side of our faces from the wind. Smile. It was perfect weather tonight. As I ran along past Grant's tomb I took a swig of water in Sakura Park which is very beautiful in the spring because of its cherry blossoms. I take my kid's team here for relays, lots of silly memories there. I took a turn up Broadway and made my way to 125th st. I love running in Harlem, its so diverse and exciting. I find that a lot of people don't run there because its "Harlem" and "sketchy" but I love it there and I'm happy to run there, even alone. I made my way back towards the river, this time underneath the Viaduct bridge which is truly spectacular from underneath. It is a pretty amazing piece of work with its swooping arches and massive, grey steel beams. They've really put a lot of work into the greenway path in Harlem, and it looks beautiful. I cruised (7:20's pace now!) past the wastewater treatment plant near Fairway and thought "Matt had better bring my Dump Runners Club headband to VT next month. If you're not familiar with DRC, check it out here, you get a DRC headband for sending Matt your photo near a dump or similar facility. I took my photo this past winter, brrrr it was a nasty day. I again relished in the soft, mid 60's breeze.

As I hit the stretch along the base of Riverbank State Park I remembered the time I was finishing a 16 miler and a good-looking guy on a bike rode past and gave me a big smile, it made me smile and helped me pick up my head for the rest of the run home. I headed up Riverside park at 145th St and began to worry about my stomach, it wasn't feeling too hot on my 2:00 recovery, but it felt better when I was running fast. The stretch of RSP from 145th to the GWB is so familiar to me that I could run it with my eyes closed. I cruised along, thinking about my many evening runs here during PT school that were lively and fun because of the thousands of families picnicing. We sure do love our parks in NYC. As I finished off my 4th interval, I began to really worry about my stomach... I stopped for a minute and then managed to walk a little and finally jog the rest of the way to the bathroom at 165th, whew- thank you Parks Dept. It was open, clean and well stocked- a rarity in NYC parks.

My final interval would take me home from the low-lying Riverside Park under the gorgeous GWB all the way up to home, the highest natural point in Manhattan. It was a series of 6 or 7 steep hills punctuated by short flats, but all so familiar that they felt like home. I was thrilled with the effort, 7.54 mi in 1:03 with intervals at 7:30 pace! I'm pumped for Saturday (though I have no plans to really race) at the Brooklyn Half Mary. Any thoughts of a previous running funk melted away on the streets of Harlem. Welcome back legs, welcome back.

Coogan's 5K Wrap Up

Every year there is one race I really look forward to- the Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K in Washington Heights. I love it because its on my home turf which means I get to sleep in a little and the journey home is nice and quick! In the past few years Coogan's has been FREEZING and the quick jog home was appreciated. 2010 was a whole new experience however, with 37 degrees at the start, very little wind and bright, glorious sunshine! There was definitely excitement in the air at the prospect of spring being just around the proverbial corner.

I had a goal time of 21:00 for this year, which would have been a 30 sec PR from last June and the whole goal time got me a bit frazzled and nervous both SAt night and Sun morning. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to race hard, and I was excited but still jittery. I had a few kids from my running team meeting me at the start so I headed down early, warming up with a nice 3/4mi jog which helped calm the nerves. An encouraging morning text from EG helped as well. :) Once the first of my 5 kids arrived, the rest of my jitters melted away and her bubbly chatter made me smile. All of the kids arrived on time, I pinned on their bibs, clipped on the D-tags and wished them all a great race (they run with parents or other coaches, etc).

Once in my corral I hardly had time to get nervous again before the horn went off. In my head I had worked out what I needed my pace to be for each mile in order to hit my goal, but as usual I forgot about the 0.1 and ...well, I've never been that good at math and I goofed.

I had a really strong race, I cruised up those hills like they weren't even there and felt powerful and free. Was it the sunshine, the bands along the way, the knowledge that my hubby was waiting near the top of the first hill and the last hill? It was all of the above.

Here are the numbers:

Mi 1: 7:08 (i held back thinking I'd make it up. This was the weak point in my plan.)

Mi 2: 6:56 (felt awesome)

Mi 3: 6:41 (ran hard!)

0.1: 6:22 pace

3.1 mi, 21:39, 6:59 avg pace. (My bib pace will change now! used to be 7:10)

me!

NYRR says I was 101st female, 40th in my age group and 765 overall out of 5631. Oddly, I just double checked and now it says I was #102 female, 41 in my age group. Weird. Anyway, as bummed as I was for a whole 10 mins that I didn't PR, I felt like I raced smart, strong and felt great.

What came after my race was the truly awesome part of the day... as I stood shivering at the finish line waiting for my kids to cross, I was expecting to see 2 of my 3rd graders come in first until out of nowhere, one of my 2nd graders (7 yrs old!) came FLYING across at 31:53 with a HUGE grin on his face! He clocked a 10:17 pace after doing his last two races at a 14:40 pace!! Wow. I had to catch up to him after the finish because he'd run too fast for his mom to keep up. He was chattering uncontrollably about how awesome that was and how he flew past his mom and his teammates in mile 2! Man, that kid made everything I do so worth it. What a kid. His mom told me he's SO proud of himself and that he can't wait for the next race. He came to practice today with that smile still all over his face and pride beaming off of him like sunrays. I think I hooked one. Awesome. I'm the proudest coach in town today.

After the kids were finished, I headed back uptown to meet my hubby, MJ and SCL for a little brunch in our hood. We had a nice meal (pancakes, yum) and then took a stroll over to see the GWB in all of its glory. What a beautiful day on the Hudson.

Snowy Day Run

The Arches of Fort Tryon Park along the WSH

I wasn't the only one excited to get out for a snowy run yesterday, twitter was a flurry of excitement (no pun intended) about running in the snow! We lucky NY'ers were able to sleep in a bit and get out for a run after the parks dept and neighborhood supers were done cleaning the sidewalks and plowing the paths. What a bright and sunny and beautifully crisp day it was along the Hudson River! I took a run from the GWB down to 145th St at Riverbank State Park and then turned around heading north to Dyckman St along the greenway. On the way down to 145th I was flying along at an easy 7:35 pace thinking to myself "why does this feel so easy?" Once I turned around I realized why it felt easy...the crazy wind was at my back the whole way and was going to give me a run for my money on the way back north!! Whew!! Luckily it was sunny and the path was mostly cleared. I saw lots of people out walking, sledding, and even XC skiing! So much fun, I felt like I was back in NH. The trek home through Fort Tryon park was a bit tough because the giant hill at the north end of the park wasn't cleared and neither were most of the paths! Whew, tough going.

Well here are the pictures I managed to get along the way.

Ol' George standing tall against the Palisades

The little red lighthouse and the great grey bridge

So pretty in the snow..

View of downtown and the sparkling Hudson

New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tryon Park

The Greenway north of 181st...clear here

Suddenly not so clear!

The Pumpkin house smiling out over the Hudson

Sparkling Fort Tryon Park

The Little Red Lighthouse Festival

Saturday was the annual Little Red Lighthouse Festival in Fort Washington Park (also known as Riverside park under the GWB). We wandered down around 2pm and enjoyed a delicious Belgian waffle, visited the many tents and sat in the grass to enjoy the musical stylings of John Oliver and the Distinguished. There was a book reading of the children's book "The little red lighthouse and the great grey bridge" as well as tons of other stuff for the kiddies to do. I thought it was a lot of fun and saw plenty of familiar faces. If you have kids it was definitely THE place to be.

The festival was set up near the "165th St" ramp to Riverside park and was jamming up the greenway which definitely ticked off a number of cyclists out for a ride. We saw one collision on the big hill leading up to 181st by a less than courteous cyclist who thought it was better to try to fight her way up the hill and through the crowds ON the bike. I found that I had no sympathy for her when she fell over (she was fine)... its just common sense to get off and walk the bike up a steep hill like that when there are crowds of families. But I digress.... here are the pictures!

Weary

Note to self: Carry camera more often when wandering the hood. I always have my blackberry which has an okay camera (the pictures of the talk show filming were with the 'berry), but I see fun stuff all of the time that I need my real camera in order to fully capture. The problem is that most of my adventures in the hood are while running and I definitely don't carry it then! I'll try to get better at it when I'm wandering around at slower speeds.

The cats are snoring and I'm zonked from a run down the greenway to 145th to use the track at Riverbank State Park for a workout and then running home back along the greenway to my cozy abode. I don't have the mental capacity to figure out how far I ran, but any run that ends with me scrambling up those hills from the GWB to home is a tough one. Definitely time for bed!

Just a little picture from the hood from a day that I actually remembered my camera. It was taken along Fort Washington Ave around 190th St.

Sunset on the Hudson

After a quick trip to the grocery store I came out and noticed that the sun was heading down so I wandered over to Chittenden Ave at 187th and WOW! What a great sunset. I also took a shot of a charming little building with the greatest of old windows. These must have been all over the hood in the old days. They are the same type of windows found in Hudson View Gardenswhere all of the people have to put their AC's sideways to fit the skinny windows.

As I strolled around tonight in the cool, gorgeous evening I was reminded once again how much I love this area. And then I remembered I bought ice cream and it was still in my bag so I had to scurry home. Enjoy!

What a great view from this place! Chittenden Ave is really full of little gems.