Staten Island

I can't help it, when I think of Staten Island I get this song in my head every time:

Fortunately, the Staten Island half marathon was early in the day so all of the "staten island girls" were just getting to bed as we arrived.

Pre-race I managed to sneak in a quick 1.25 mile warmup with Elyssa in hopes of loosening up my knee and actually warming up because it was chilly on the waterfront. Despite the warmup and stretching that I did before the horn went off, my knee complained for the first few miles and periodically throughout the race. The first couple of miles were relatively flat and we were able to quickly settle into a nice pace (8:13, 8:01,8:14) because the SI half is not that crowded of a race. The goal for the day was to hit marathon pace and hold it to help train my legs what to expect in a few weeks on marathon Sunday. Mile 5 had a nice hill near Fort Wadsworth and we then made a turn and weaved our way down Bay St which we dubbed "the cute part of SI". At about mile 6 we ran downhill as the race leaders were making their way up on the other side of the street. The race continued with runners on either side of the street for the next few miles which made the miles fly by. I was entertained just watching everyone go by as we headed out and after we made the turn and took on the mile 8 hill I kept my eyes on the runners coming down in hopes of spotting two friends from Inwood Hill Runners. I couldn't believe it when I saw the mile 9 marker- the race was nearly over?! I was feeling so good and comfortable at the 8:11 or so pace that mile markers 10 and 11 came really quickly. By this time my knee was feeling alright, we were back under the Verrazano bridge and had run by the very familiar School Road outside Fort Wadsworth where we'll be spending some quality time pre-marathon on Nov 7th. I liked seeing all of the marathon reminders during the race, it made it feel even more like a tune-up for the big day. As we approached miles 12 and 13 we began to pick up the pace just to train the legs to work hard when they're getting tired and we finished it off with an 8:05 and a 7:47. I was more than happy with the effort and the overall feel. I think this race got me really excited for the marathon and what could happen on Nov 7th.

Final time: 1:48:02

Now the question remains... can I turn that into a 3:40 or below in 3 weeks?

I really enjoyed the course for this race, I think the NYRR did a great job of laying it out in such a way that makes it interesting and varied for the majority of the 13 miles. While it is technically an out and back course, it really felt more like a loop which I prefer. The rolling hills made it challenging and just more exciting than a flat course could have been. I loved the various views of the bridge and running along the waterfront. The starting area was so easy to get to (I drove there with friends but took the ferry back and both were very easy) and everything was well organized. The weather last Sunday was crisp, clear and breezy and that certainly helped make it even more enjoyable. I wont be going to Staten Island to hang out anytime soon, but I'm sure that I'll be back again for this race. I completed 4 of the 5 boros this year and SI was my favorite by a long shot. Someday I'll do the Bronx half, but from what I gather- it will be no competition for SI.

SI Half Preview

The views of the Verrazano were really something

I haven't had the time yet to sit down and write up a race report for the Staten Island half, but here is a preview of the splits from the 1.25mi warmup and the 13.1 that followed. It was a nice, steady marathon pace run with a strong finish despite more knee pain than I'd like to admit. Things feel okay now, but I'm working my ass off to keep the knee from getting any worse. PT again tomorrow... now I remember why people call it Pain&Torture. Surely I'm not that cruel to my patients (ok, I hope not- they're 2-5 years old).

Inwood Hill Runners New Site!!

Well I've been waiting forever for the okay to release the link to our brand new website, created by fellow runner and team "captain" T.E. - I'm SO happy to announce the launch of Inwood Hill Runners OWN website. Check it out and explore here: http://inwoodhillrunners.org/ihr/Home.html

She did an amazing job with the routes, photos and history of the group! Thanks for all of your hard work T! Spread the word if you know any runners in the Northern Manhattan area looking for company!!

Bridges, Boobies and more.

I recently set up my tripod along the banks of the Hudson (via Castle Village) and caught a few shots of the George Washington Bridge all dressed up for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I've decided to incorporate this photo from that night to join the effort. As I'm sure many of you also have, I know plenty of women who have been or are currently affected by Breast Cancer. I even have a young runner friend from college who has been battling Breast Cancer over and over again for the last 5 years since college. Even as runners, we are not immune, not invincible. I hope to never forget that.

In other news, I went to PT this week for my evaluation and first session. I discovered a few things about my daily activities and my areas of weakness that I hadn't noticed on my own. As a PT, especially a Pediatric PT you tend to spend a lot more time on the floor that most folks. During my session I was doing some trigger point release of my quad on the floor and when I went to stand up, the PT noticed that my technique was putting a lot of strain on my knee. I mentioned that I get up from the floor A LOT so we worked on a safer method that would prevent further strain and damage to my knee. I have to really focus on it during the workday, but hopefully it will become second nature because a I get up from the floor probably more than 50x a day, often while holding a small child. The PT put me on a regimen of self torture to try to loosen up the extra tight muscles in my left thigh as well as my ITB which should start the process of keeping my femur from rotating internally and rubbing my knee the wrong way. I loved the PT facility, it was quiet and clean and I was the only patient being seen by my PT at the time. That is really important to me because some places work like factories with PT's seeing up to 3 patients at a time. While I understand that helps them with their bottom line, it decreases the quality of the care you receive. Also, this place has an Alter-G treadmill, I don't need it, but that is SO COOL. Paula Radcliffe has one at her house! My PT has run the NYC marathon twice as well as some triathlons, so she understands the demands of training and wants to help get me to that starting line on Nov 7th healthy and strong!

I feel like I have my running mojo back after a bit of a slump with the cranky knee and SI... I am ready to rock.

Up next- Staten Island half marathon on Sunday! Good Luck to everyone running Chicago this weekend- stay cool!!!

Little of this, little of that

I haven't felt as though I have any material for big blog posts lately, so I figured I'd just post a few things that are floating through my mind. I suppose it could end up being similar to the "Ellipses" posts made by my friend TK over at PigtailsFlying every so often.

*Biggest news of all- today I registered for the inaugural Pocono Mountains 70.3 Half Ironman that takes place next Oct 2nd. I only have a year to train, better get started. :) It is a big step for me, someone who has never ridden further than 40 miles in a day. I'll be tackling the 1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike and 13.1mi run next fall and I am really, really looking forward to the training and of course the race itself.

*I recently gave up online training logs. I never really was able to keep a good online log of my workouts on any of the various sites like Daily Mile or Training Peaks because they required consistent login and upload, things that were just not working for me. I often go for up to a week without actually sitting down at the iMac to use the internet, which meant that I was often up to a week behind. I finally decided that I need to simplify the little things in my life that cause frustration so I began by switching back to my trusted RW pen and paper running log. I couldn't be happier with my decision. I can keep track of all of my various activities all in one place, however I want.

*As the NYCM approaches, I can't help but think ahead to the future. After a year of constant training I am ready for a break after Nov 7th. By "break" I mostly mean a break from structured running training. I have dreams of swimming 4 or 5 days a week and running and playing soccer a few other days along with working on establishing a solid core again. Oh and yoga, I'd like to do more of it. It sounds fantastic. The plan for the spring includes a long distance swim in open water somewhere, I'm not sure where just yet because I've only begun to look for races, but I'm hoping to do something around 5-6miles.

*Our 1 yr wedding anniversary is this month and it might seem a bit cutesy, but I'm super excited to celebrate with my wonderful hubby. We've had a great year with lots of time with amazing friends and family, exciting travels, great food and lots of laughs. I've never been happier.

*Life is good, real good and I'm grateful every day that running, swimming and fitness are a part of it.

It is about time...

...for an update! I realized yesterday that I never updated after the Philly Half Marathon, mainly because we left for Germany a few days later and this week has been mostly recovery from that. I can't believe so much has happened in the last 11 days. The Philly half was tough and we didn't hit our goal of sub 1:40, but Elyssa and I were both fine with that. It wasn't meant to be, we have bigger fish to fry in 5 weeks! (NYC Marathon looms...) Check out her blog post for the scoop if you haven't already here. It is too far gone for me to post a race report.

The Thursday after Philly my hubby and I flew over to Munich for the wedding weekend of a dear, dear friend of mine. I optimistically packed some running clothes (including gloves!) and trail shoes with thoughts of a mountain trail run in the back of my mind. Sadly, my knee gave me trouble on the ride over and throughout the weekend so that and the packed schedule kept me from running from Thursday through Monday. Eek. Despite my jetlag and head cold, as soon as I got home on Tuesday I put on my shoes and hit the streets. I didn't have time for a long run, but I needed to do this as a test for my knee anyway so I snuck in 2.77 very hilly miles in Fort Tryon Park in about 23mins. It took nearly 1.5mi for my knee to stop hurting, but the important thing is that it DID stop hurting. Whew. While I still have pain in my knee every morning when leaving the apt and walking to the train. The approximately 90 steps to leave my apt and 15 more in the subway station leave me cringing in pain each morning. It sucks, this is a repeat of what happened to me 2 years ago after NYCM. Damn.

In addition to the knee pain, I started having some pain in my SI joint- the sacroiliac joint is the point at which your spine connects to your pelvis. If you think about it, it is probably one of THE most important joints in your body, and it isn't even technically a real joint, its more of a "connection" between two bone surfaces by very thick ligaments. I knew right away that the low back pain I was having was the result of some friction in my SI joint because it has a unique burning/searing type of pain that spreads down to my hip and up to my ribs. Normally I've been able to take care of the discomfort in my SI myself, but it began interfering with my work these last 2 weeks. I may be stubborn, but I know better than to mess with my back and pelvis considering my line of work. One bad twist or slip and I could be out of work for weeks or months! So... I did the adult thing today- I made an appointment to see a PT. I know boatloads of PT's in the city, but I took the advice of my Orthopedic Doc and went with a well known sports PT practice in Chelsea. I'll update after next Wednesday's first visit.

In the meantime, I'm still cautiously playing soccer and running, swimming and doing CORE work. I know I need to step up the CORE and upper body work, so I hope to get back into the routine tomorrow after my swim. Things are changing...and hopefully for the better. I'm sick of being injured or on the verge of injured.

Heading to Philly!

I'm headed to Philly this weekend for my first (and probably last) in the Rock 'n Roll half marathon series. I say that because it is very expensive, there are no bands in the lineup that I've EVER even heard of and they charge $5 for athlete tracking (which no one I know will be using!) and I think that these things are enough to keep me away in the future. That said, I'm still looking forward to having a good time and a great race on the flat course with excellent fall weather. It certainly doesn't hurt that my host for the weekend (and best friend!) lives just steps from the starting line. Woot!

I've been having obnoxious knee pain for months (years actually) which intensified this Tuesday when I gave it a good whack on the sorest spot at work. The pain was so awful because it is an already very uncomfortable spot to even touch, so I spent the rest of the week icing and resting it. I guess you could say I tapered for the half. I've been pretty consistent with my knee rehab which consists of lots of hip strengthening, but I still have pain on and off and I also have some irritating nerve pain in my right SI joint (where your sacrum attaches to your pelvis) which needs tending to. At this point I'm going to do maintenance work on all of these things but after the marathon I need to address them fully so that they don't come back again. Ever. I may even go see my favorite PT for another round of torture because some things aren't self-treatable.

I hope you have a great weekend, enjoy the beautiful weather and have a good run, swim, bike, hike, walk, or whatever tickles your fancy.