The Streak

Last time I posted I was in the early days of the Runner's World holiday run streak (#RWRunStreak for those following the tweets) and then I got so busy with running and holiday travel that I never had a chance to write again. Here's what went down:
I ran for 41 days straight, at least one mile per day from Thanksgiving morning until Jan 6th. On the 7th, a Wednesday last week, I hit the stopping point. It came naturally, I didn't plan it nor did I mourn when it happened. Wednesday was always going to be my toughest day, but I'd been on vacation for a few Wednesdays (Christmas and New Year's Day both fell on Wed) and last week I had returned to my usual long, busy Wed and without running on the treadmill before work, I was stuck. It was single digit wind chill outside and my cold-induced asthma lungs and I weren't risking it. So that was that. I had already hit 107 miles by Jan 1st,the original end point, so the rest was just gravy. I'm not even sure what the final tally was.
What I am sure of is how much I enjoyed the streak and what I learned from it. I always fancied myself to be a runner who needed plenty of recovery days, either swimming or on the bike or yoga, I wasn't running more than 4 days a week. I always assumed I'd self destruct if I tried running 6 or 7 days a week, but those fears were probably based on A. Nothing or B. My old, weaker self. Now that I've been strength training hard 2x a week (vs my old wimpy attempts 1x a week) I'm much stronger and able to handle the stress of more training. Yippee! This is excellent news for the upcoming triathlon season which will include not 1, but 2 half ironman races this year. As those guys on the TV show say, this myth has been busted, I can run way more than I gave myself credit for.
The second big thing I learned was that I have plenty of pockets of time in my week to get in an extra workout since this is the "off-season". I've always known that even a quick run gives me more energy and clears my head, we all know that, but it was really fun to get out and trot around the neighborhood on a random Monday evening and get in some crisp, cool air instead of sitting inside. I got to see the Hudson River sparkling on clear nights, crazy clouds on other nights, then fresh snow in a quiet park and so much more. I also really learned to appreciate the treadmill during the icy weather before Christmas and the single digit temps in early January. I normally never run inside, it's just too darn hot and I'm sweating all over everyone around me... It's not a good scene, but on days when the forecast called for icy drizzle or high of 12 degrees F in the evening, I got my ass up and ran at the gym before work, after work, in the evening, whenever. By the end of the streak I'd even done more than my minimal mile (usually a 15 min total between warm up, mile and "please god, let me stop sweating so much cool down), I even did a 6mi speed and hill run one evening when I knew group speed work was out of the question. The scary part is, I actually enjoyed it. No one was within sweat flying distance and I was able to hit my marks without worrying about tripping because it was dark or icy. I haven't been back on the treadmill since the streak ended, but the weather has been more cooperative, but I know it's there if I need it and it won't be too awful.
I'm looking forward to the Jackrabbit indoor tri series, I'm doing one on Feb 2nd and I'm excited to go back and try to repeat my performance from last year and get to the Championships again. I am also looking at a half marathon in late March, and with the streak under my belt I feel like I have a really solid base to start training. There's a big year ahead.

posted from Bloggeroid

Another day, another 15K.

Less than 6 days after I toed the line at my last 15K, I found myself or my way to another one this Saturday morning. The Ted Corbitt 15K, formerly known as the Hot Chocolate 15K, is usually a freezing cold race with icy water stops, but that was not the case this year. The weather was colder than it has been all season (I think I heard it was the coldest day since March) but temps still hovered in the middle 30's and it felt even warm in the sun.
My same running buddy from last weekend, Charlie, drove me down this time in his toasty car. Seat warmers, people, they're life changing after a race.
I had no real race plan for this one, I knew my knee and ankle were sore so I had no plans to race or shoot for a PR, so I just went out and let the race unfold. The first mile was so crowded that I ran a full minute slower than my second mile. It was okay though, I was happy to warm up slowly. From the first turn I could feel my soleus in each leg start to burn. Ouch, what is up with that? I need to get to the bottom of that pain because it lasted the ENTIRE RACE. Somewhere around mile 6 or 7 I was really hurting in my lower legs and slowed down quite a bit, ~7:50 compared to my earlier miles which averaged around 7:30-7:35. I guess the GU kicked in shortly after and I stopped whining to myself and pushed myself to pick it up a bit. I don't remember where it came from, but I got 1:10 in my head as a sort of unofficial goal (my PR is 1:08) but as many runners know, math doesn't come easy when oxygen deprived. I finished with a strong push, running the final mile in the 7:30's (ouch, my legs still hate me) and the final 0.4 at a 7:03 pace. Yow.
I finished in 1:12 and was happy with the effort. I'll aim for a PR in the spring, but right now is just about seeing where I am and where I need to improve. I definitely need to get back to strength training for my lower extremities and to be more consistent with core work in order to bring myself back to racing shape. We're heading to Canada this week for the holidays and I know it's going to be COLD, but as long as it isn't icy I should be able to get in a handful of good runs at altitude and keep my fitness up. I've been thinking about looking for a yoga studio or a pool while I'm there too, but I don't know if I'll be able to swing either of those, running is so much easier when traveling.
Have a great holiday, whatever you celebrate, and look for my Year in Review post soon. I also need to get myself in gear and put together a 2012 race schedule, there are some exciting events coming up next year!

posted from Bloggeroid

Snow day extravaganza

View of the Cloisters

Entrance to a snowy paradise

The text came later than I expected on Wednesday morning, but it finally popped into my inbox, bringing its joyful little message "NYL PRESCHOOLS ARE. CLOSED TODAY." I had a little 5:30am celebration and went back to sleep for a while. When I couldn't stand the excitement any longer, I flew to the front windows to see the snow. It was beautiful, the world was white and the sun was coming up. It was a perfect day: public school was OPEN, my work was closed (many of our kids are medically fragile) and 9 inches of powder lay like a blanket, waiting to be explored.

I pulled on my new Yaktrax, put a load of laundry in the wash only 187th st and took off towards the park. Fort Tryon park was breathtaking, all of the trees heavy with snow and the sun streaming in. I trotted up to the highest part of the park by the flagpole and frolicked around, buzzing around looking at the view from all sides. The snow was shin deep in many places, but the yaktrax did their job well. I looped around the Cloisters, by the river (windy!) and frolicked as much as possible. I was fluttering all over, arms circling to help me move through the deeper snow. I probably looked like a southerner seeing snow for the first time, just dressed like a ninja. I remembered my sunglasses and was glad as the yellow rays bounced off of the snow into my face. Running during daylight is such a treat at this time of year.
Sadly my run came to an end as I checked my watch and saw that the laundry would be done soon, so I ran back down the snowy street since the sidewalks were already cleared by this point.

I spent the rest of my snowday exactly the way I planned it: I took out my snowshoes and tackled the hills and untouched paths of Fort Tryon park on my way to and from the big sledding hill. I spent a few hours sledding which is a really good hill workout in the end. I flew down on my snowdisc sled and charged back up to the top about 100x before my feet started to get cold and my tummy began to rumble. I shared the hill with a few other families and their children, but since public schools were open, it was fairly quiet. What a perfect day.

I'm feeling the effects of all of my efforts today though.... Whew am I sore in all sorts of new places. I remember one missed landing off of the snow ramp we built where I landed on my right asscheek, how could I forget when it hurts each time I sit down?

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