Exciting news!

Well I don't know why I waited until today to post about the exciting news I got this week, I guess things were just busy. Anyway, I got the awesome news yesterday that I've been called up to join the Green Mountain Relay team of fellow NYC runner and tweeter, TK (more commonly known as Pigtails Flying). For a while now I've been standing by as one of the alternates, secretly hoping someone would drop out so I could take over!

I'm totally psyched for the relay, I only know one other team member so far, and only through Twitter and his podcast, The Dump Runners Club and that is Matt. I hope to meet a few more folks at the happy hour this week. Our team name is "Slow White and the Eleven Dwarves". Judging by the emails that have been going around for the last month or so between team members, I think its going to be a hoot.

Here's what I've gathered so far about the relay-

-Its 200 miles from the town of Jeffersonville to the town of Bennington

-There are 36 legs which includes 7 covered bridges (ooh i love those)

-Each person on a competitive 12-member team runs three legs of the race in rotation, with legs averaging 5.6 miles in distance

-It's beautiful (I love New England in the springtime, I lived in NH for 4 years and miss the open skies and clean air, I can't wait!)

- It is in 126 days

- TK has done it twice and lived to blog about it here and here

-You're not allowed to wear headphones or pee in anyones yard

-According to Running into the Sun there may be some Ben&Jerry's involved

- It's going to take my usual hill runs to a new level!! Check out the elevation profile :)

and the aftermath of a storm...

Tonight's run was going to be dicey no matter how you looked at it, the snow that blanketed the city showed no signs of budging in today's chilly temps and I always find that snow is most slippery after being shoveled/plowed.

Well the Greenway did not disappoint! I checked the Greenway on my way up through Fort Tryon Park to see if it had been cleared and it looked like it had (I peered over the promenade wall to see) so the group ventured down to see what we could see. Well I'll tell you what, I'd avoid the Greenway north of 181st for a few more days if I were you! We slipped and shrieked our way along that 1.5mi or so stretch, giggling each time one of us yelped or "woooooah"ed. We somehow survived the ice skating rink formerly known as the Greenway and made it out without anyone taking a digger. I predicted mild soreness for tomorrow from the tense running and many slips, so we'll see. It wasn't a fast run because of the conditions, but I picked up some speed on my way home through the park (I wanted to check on our snowmen) and cruised up the hill at the north end of the park and felt amazing! The cold, crisp air filling my lungs was so refreshing, wow. I decided to loop around the park before heading home to get in my full 6 miles and as I turned to loop around the Cloisters, I saw a man a ways ahead of me running along looking like he needed to be passed. I saw what I thought was an old Boston jacket on his back and I went for it, I pranced up that hill and caught him at the top without skipping a beat. I gave him a breathy "hey" as I passed by and kept that surge for the rest of the way home. Thanks dude, I needed a little something to rev me up and you did the trick. I sped home with my breath frosty in front of my face and my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I had to stay alert and not take any risks with the snow, but I felt so GOOD when I got home tonight. I'm zonked now and need to rest up for a good swim tomorrow. Tomorrow starts 8 days of vacation for me (mostly, I still have to coach) and I can't wait for some sunny, daytime runs!

6 miles in 58 mins, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Sometimes the numbers are meaningless.

zzz.

Snowy Day Fun in Fort Tryon Park

Our snowmen from behind, waving at the world

Yesterday was my day to be a kid again- it was a snow day!! The schools were closed, they were predicting "Blizzard conditions" and I had most of the day to do whatever I desired. On snow days in my mom's house there was always lots of sledding and always broccoli soup. I didn't manage the sledding this time (no sled, very sad.) but I rocked that soup! I was so proud of myself for making it just the way mom does, yum. After a little soup teaser (tiny bowls) and each of us working a bit from home, my obliging husband and I wandered out into the snow just before dark. Normally at that time of day there's a beautiful sunset over the Hudson, but we couldn't even SEE the Hudson so we ventured up to Fort Tryon Park, a gorgeous, hilly and serene little chunk of land just north of 190th St at the northern end of Fort Washington Avenue. Even though it was nearly dark, there were TONS of people walking in the park, it was like a summer evening! We threw lots of snowballs at each other (oooh thats why my shoulder hurts today, damn finally figured it out!) and wandered around in awe of nature's amazing canvas. It was just stunning, the branches of all of the leaves heavy with the fluffy snow, draping down over the walkways, the snowdrifts in the garden that blooms so pretty in the springtime, covering the flowerbeds and bushes in a blanket of white. Its hard to describe the vibe that was in that park last night, snowballs flying and people laughing and chasing each other around, a snow day really does make those stuffy adults into kids again, even if just for a day. Here are a few shots from last night, including the snowpeople we made. I packed baby carrots in my pockets for the occasion (or in case we ran into Santa and his reindeer). The snow angel I made was still there tonight when I went by on my run. :)

New Leaf Cafe

The Heather Garden under a blanket of white

Everyone out for a stroll on the promenade

A beautiful snowy tree

Hubby made a scruffy snowman who needs a shave

My snowman was the cutest, obv.

My snow angel, so much fun!

A winter version of my usual blog title photo, I love this old Subway sign

and I hope they never get rid of it. I'll track it down if they do! It's my new header

for the winter, I'll go back to the usual one in the spring..maybe I'll catch a bird on it!

A two-a-day Thursday

In my quest to get to the pool at least two times a week, I scheduled myself a "Twofer", a morning swim and an evening run all in the same day. It didn't really hit me until the night before when I was packing up my bag for the swim and I made sure to throw in some more snacks. I take my Thursday night group run as a "given" so I never give it a second thought when planning my week.

Wednesday was a day off, there was no way I was even going to attempt to run after Tuesday's torture so I took it easy and made dinner plans with a friend. The dinner plans didn't happen thanks to my blackberry crapping out, but the rest day definitely happened. Man, I was sore.

Thursday morning came more quickly than I would have liked, but I managed to get up and out of the house without a hitch. I had planned to just pop in my headphones and zone out on the subway, but I ran into my swimming buddy and good friend SF on the train so we chatted on the way to the pool. The first few laps I felt tight and sore, I bet you didn't realize that you use your ass and hamstrings during a flip turn! Yow. I loosened up a bit and settled into the swim. We agreed on a smaller ladder than the usual 500, 400,300,200,100 because we were feeling a little sluggish and we decided on a ladder up to 300 and back down again. It felt pretty good, but I had to hop out a little before we were done in order to get to work on time. Bummer. There was some excitement during the swim though when Sally recognized Isaac Mizrahi in the lane next to us and chatted him up. I was blinded by his neon orange pedicure. It was a star-studded swim for me as my friend Sally, author of Swimming the Channel is also kind of a big deal in her own right. At least to me she is :) At one point my very own swim buddy held the women's record for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim at 7:01:02.

After the swim, the day cruised by at its usual speed and before I knew it, I walked in the door after work and coaching and had about 15mins to change and get back out the door to meet the crew for a run. We had a nice 6.04 mi run in 55:12 (9:08 pace, Elevation gain of 1,200ft). I brought along my Metrocard in case I was too sore to run home, but I didn't have to use it! I convinced myself to run home, just take it easy and under no circumstances was I going to take the stairs at 187th St up to Fort Washington Ave. I took the subway elevator and felt no guilt whatsoever. It was a strong run, I stretched a little and then proceeded to eat everything in sight and sleep like a baby.

I survived my two-a-day without a scratch and even headed back to the pool on Friday for another swim with Sally. We somehow made it through 2,500 yds in a way-too-warm-at-one-end pool. No celebs this time, just a cranky old man in the next lane complaining that it was too cold. I napped hard on Friday when I finally got home, wow. It was a long, challenging week and I was going to need my strength for the weekend runs.

*Matisse says "read the book, seriously, do it."

The Envelope Please..

It's the most wonderful time of the year... no, its not Christmas again, it's OSCAR time!! Around here we really like movies, so we get pretty excited when the nominees are announced! I am hereby announcing my Oscar picks based on the movies I've seen so far. We planned to see Crazy Heart this weekend, but it didn't happen. Hopefully we'll get in a few more nominated films before the big night, but I'm too excited about it to wait any longer! Here we go..

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air” I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was anything spectacular for Clooney
• *Colin Firth in “A Single Man” a stunning film by Tom Ford, Colin plays a heartbreaking role with grace and ease.
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (didn't see it)
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” Great movie and nice job by JR, but not my #1

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus” (again, didnt see it)
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (didn't see it)
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (hope to see it before Oscar night)
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (couldnt bring myself to see this one)
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (didnt see this either!) wow, missed all of these..

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (hope to see)
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (wonderful, a close 2nd to Precious)
• *Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious” I honestly don't know how she came off of the street and played this role, it was gut wrenching and amazingly deep.
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (very fun and great movie, loved Meryl, just not enough)

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (she was great, but not award winning)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (very funny and she played that role well, probably 2nd)
• *Mo’Nique in “Precious” Do I even need to explain this choice? She killed it with this one, seriously. Just an amazing performance.

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick (fantastic film, a very close 2nd)
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson (didnt see it) :(
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements (I don't think I'll be seeing this one)
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore (no clue)
• *“Up” Pete Docter Talking DOGS for pete sake! Such a clever and adorable film.

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair (Let's face it, if there's art in the title, Avatar will and should win)
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray (I hope you win!!)

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore (yes, beautiful as well)
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel (didnt see)
• *“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd (I thought the camerawork really made the movie, it was very tense and beautifully done)
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson (sadly, didnt see)
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger (want to see!)

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• *“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell (Stunning, hands down winner, even though I didnt see the others. I thought it should win about 5 mins into the movie though)

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• *“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow (I think she really did a wonderful job with this film, thats all) and I hope she beats her ex on this one- beat it James Cameron!
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers (beautiful film, shitty story)
• “The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers (haven't seen, but would like to)
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers (didnt see, hubby says no way it should be nominated)
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers (wonderful movie, my #3)
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers (my #4)
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer (my #5)
• *“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers (MY #2!!)
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

I still can't believe so many films are nominated this year. It's disappointing to have SO many nominees. I feel like it takes away from the category, but oh well. There are a lot of good choices. Here are the 5 I think SHOULD have been nominated in order from #1 to #5:


Precious
A Serious Man
An Education
Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds (purely through reviews and here-say)

There you have it, my choices. Some educated and some not! I guess we'll see how I did in a few weeks.

Tuesday night speed

I did it to myself again.. I subjected myself to one of "SpeedySasquatch"'s speed workouts last night. The last time I did that was the week before the half when he was kind of nice to us, we did 4x1 mile repeats which were speedy but lovely. I recovered from that in day or so. I'm certain that when you talk to me tomorrow, I won't be recovered from last night!

to start it off we did 2x15 walking lunges and 2x20 sumo squats (if you don't know what that is, just imagine the most painful squats you can). The point of this was to do the workout "dead-legged". Well after those lunges and squats, I was already hurting! Lunges get me every time. Yow. We ran a nice easy 1 mile warm-up on the ever-familiar lower loop of the park before we hit "Cat Hill"which normally barely registers with me as a hill when I run in the park. For a point of reference, most of the other, bigger hills on that list in the Cat Hill link are in my neighborhood and I run them every week. We ran Cat Hill 6x, doing 10 pushups between each rep.

The hills felt good but tough, mainly because I feared my legs were going to cramp at any moment when I stopped moving for the pushups! Deadlegs hills hurt, there's no denying that. I do most of my runs in my 'hood and often have big hills at the end so I feel like in a way, I do a lot of deadlegs runs! Lunges are a different beast though.

Well here are the numbers I got:

Total mileage 6.25 miles

Warmup 9:58

Random 0.64mi 10:02 pace

1- 1:49

2- 1:48

3- (missed this one)oops

4- 1:48

5- 1:52 (stopped it late, this was a quicker one for me)

6-1:48

Cool-down 10:05

Heading back to the gym 9:33 pace until we started walking :)

Yay for consistency! I'm not so good with using the Garmin for speedwork, I need to work on my timing and the like. I'll get it down eventually.

All in all it was a good workout and I'm sore as can be. I actually poked myself in the piriformis this morning while I was sleeping (it hurt! ow) and started to blame my husband until I realized he was fast asleep and it was MY hand on my ass. Awesome. It could have been the cat walking on me, but he was curled up under my chin so I think I'm the culprit. I took a nice rest day today and will foam roll before bed, even though I know its going to burn.

Sure enough, I'll be back out there next week for more pain and torture, all for the promise of a spring PR!

Playing catch-up

Last week ended up being a bit of a wash post-half marathon. Monday I came down with a cold and was just whole-body exhausted and needed to rest. I even skipped a dinner at Max Brenners with two of my best friends. I had no intentions of heading to CP on Tuesday for speedwork with the twitter Team Sasquatch crew because my knee was feeling tricky and I was still a bit sore from the Half+Soccer Sunday. I took an "easy" 3.82mi run with an elevation gain of 1,500 ft! I goofed up the Garmin at some point and missed a mile. There's no such thing as an easy run in my hood. It felt nice to loosen up and I felt great by the end. Wednesday I took a nice relaxed and sort of goofy mile swim. I splashed around and didn't push it too hard until the end. I really love swimming, its similar to running in that its a solitary sport and it gives you lots of time alone in your own head. Its you, the water and your breaths. Ahh its so relaxing and I always feel good afterwards.

The usual Thursday night Inwood Hill Runners group run was fun because we had one friend join us who doesn't usually come on Thursdays. A lil spice (and testosterone) added to the usual ladies night run. I goofed up my Garmin (again!) and didn't track the final 2 miles home, damn. They were very hilly miles so I tracked them on mapmyrun for the extra few hundred feet of elevation. We took the stairs home - 120 stairs at the end of my run, whew! Thursday totals: 6.71mi

Saturday I was not thrilled with the temps dipping down to 13 in the morning, but I layered up and headed uptown to meet the group. My hubby had told me the night before that he anticipated a tiny group on Saturday morning (he's not a runner- what does he know about the crazy runners?) but I was a little shocked when 10 of us showed up for the run! Wow. We had one new guy, 2 new-ish guys from the previous week and a runner turned cyclist who "can't stand her bike" right now. Haha. We headed up to Riverdale again for a gorgeous hilly, brisk, sunny partly trail run that ended in Van Cortlandt Park. Normally we do the southern hills of the 5K loop in VCP and then hit the flats, but someone had the *brilliant* idea to hit the back hills for an extra mile. Damn!! I was struggling at that point for some reason, I felt heavy and tired and I was ready to head home. Whew, those last few hills chewed me up and spit me out. Ouch. In the back of my mind I was also thinking about my soccer game later that day.

Sat total: 8.8mi in 1:20, avg pace 9:09 I think the elevation count was way off because last time I did this run I had over 3,000 ft and this time it only registered 900+. Hmm. Maybe a Garmin is like a boat, its bad luck to not have a name for it.

Sunday was supposed to be a long run day, but I just had no mojo so I had a nice relaxed day with my hubby and hit the gym before bed. I did my first treadmill miles (1 to warmup, 1 to cool down) and 12 miles on the bike. It was tough but I felt great afterwards!

I swam on Friday, it was probably just a mile.. thats my minimum, but I can't remember anything exciting about it. I remember thinking it was nice to be swimming in the sunshine.

Weekly total: 35.85 miles (swim, bike and run)

Looking back, I guess it wasn't a complete wasted week. I just felt icky and stuffy through most of it.