Week 2 - NYC Marathon Training

Living in NYC, you see a lot of crazy. I’m hyper-sensitive to other people in the summertime, because the subways and streets seem even more crowded than usual. I’ve observed a few things recently that annoy me and I would like to get them off my chest.

Several times recently, I’ve seen people get on an elevator, walk to the back of it, and then just as the door is about to close say, “Can you press 4?” Even if you’re distracted, what is the first thing you do when you walk into an elevator? Do you not to immediately press the button of what floor you’re going to? Are these people just lazy? You should be in control of your own schedule. I am not going to be at your disposal in every other transportation mode you take throughout the day. Riding an elevator should be the easiest part of your day.

Also, I find it really annoying when people ask me the address for a place. JUST. GOOGLE. IT. I don’t understand. Not only will you have a better sense of where the address is if you look it up, but it will also avoid all follow-up questions that are likely to ensue (What is it on the corner of? How do I get there?). Maybe people just really trust my judgment, or they are old school and don’t automatically go to Google for their everyday questions. Either way, trust me when I say that asking for the address of a place is a waste of both of our times. (Please note that this anger brews almost entirely at work. Mom and Dad, still feel free to ask me for an address anytime you like. You are both the exception to this rule because you are very sweet and nice).

LOOK AT ALL THIS INFO GOOGLE GIVES YOU.

Sorry to unload all that on you first thing. It’s just that the NYC summer heat can cause irrational behavior that I am very sensitive to. And I am perhaps a victim of.

On a high note, Week 2 was a good week!

Monday: 3 Miles

I did a slow, easy run after work. My joints have been a little achey, I think from going to running 4 days a week. My body is still adjusting to marathon training, so I’m taking it nice and easy.

Tuesday: 2 Miles

I was supposed to do 4, but cut it short because my muscles were still achey. I took the less is more approach because it is so early in training, and figured I would make up the miles later in the week.

Wednesday: Rest

I watched a lot of Orange is the new Black and knitted.

Thursday: 3 Miles

I did these miles in the gym – I started off with 10 minutes of the stair stepper to warm up, and then switched to the treadmill. It was great to get a true warm-up in, because my muscles were ready to go by the time I got on the treadmill.

Friday: Rest

I went home for the weekend, and got some shopping and TLC in on Friday. Can I just express my immense love for malls in the suburbs? I do a lot of my shopping online now, because I just can’t stand the lines and crowds at stores in the city. But I went to the mall by my house and I had so much room to peruse! No lines for the waiting room, no one bumping into me in the sales section. It was just me and my credit card.

Needed approval from my sister that this was cute.

My mall got fancy with an Apple store while I've been in NYC.
And I only see two people. So nice.

Which is real?

Saturday: 7 Miles

I was out the door early for 7 miles on my favorite path at home. It was so peaceful, and I smiled the entire way. My dad joined me with his bike for the last half, which always makes the run go by in a flash.

My happy place.

This is my absolute favorite place to run. I used to play soccer here as a kid, and I usually climb and jump over the fence, and run diagonally across the field. It almost takes me back to soccer and Capri Suns.

I went to the beach after the run, which I had been looking forward to all summer. I got some freckles, read my book, and got a healthy dosage of jersey shore trash crazies.

Sunday: 2 Miles

I made up those miles! I told you I would. Slow and steady.

I got back to Brooklyn mid-day, went for my quick run, got some groceries, and then went gang-busters in my apartment. I have a few storage bins that I keep random “essentials” in (Christmas decorations, my Spanglish DVD). I’ve been meaning to go through them, as well as re-arrange my bookshelf. There were far too many books on my shelf, but I think “cool” bookshelves are supposed to have a mix of books you haven’t read and cool trinkets.

It was a success! I went through all my books and made some tough decisions. I put aside a bunch to donate, kept the ones I want to read on my bookshelf, and placed the rest back in a bin (I just can’t part with all of the books I read in college. They make me feel scholarly). I cleaned and re-arranged my bookshelf, my crowning jewel in my apartment.

Do you see all my trinkets?

All in all, a pretty perfect weekend. My legs were definitely sore Sunday afternoon, but I’ve rarely done 5 days of running in one week during training. I’m continuing to take my own advice of taking my increasing my mileage and pace slowly, and I'm really looking forward to each run. 

Never Say Never

Hi friends! It’s been awhile (again). Let’s catch up.

Since the Join the Voices 5M that I ran in early December, my running hasn't exactly been happening. Afterwards, I couldn't run for more than a minute without my IT band hurting, so I laid off. It was frustrating at times, but I came to love strength training instead. I can proudly say that I increased my push-up max from 12 to 25 (maybe 30 if you had a prize for me), and I can do about 6 pull-ups (on that pull-up assistance machine, not by myself. Let’s be real). I can feel myself getting stronger, and I’ve noticed small, but good changes in my body as a result.

I also focused my attention on friends and family, and in attempt not to bore you, I will recap you on the past two months as quickly as I can. A story in photos, if you will.

Failed attempt at cooking flan. It was one of my 2012 resolutions.
Hence, the reason why I didn't make any in 2013.

Meggie was competing in the 3rd Annual Mustache & Beard Competition in Brooklyn.
She competed in the women's division with a marshmallow beard. Need I say more?

Christmas Eve with my sis! I will probably be just as excited about
Christmas when I'm 65 as I was at 5.

New Year's Eve! Champagne and tequila in Brooklyn,
par for the course.

Jillian put together an awesome BYOB Painting class!
Pinot Grigio + Craftiness = Great afternoon

One of my favorite restaurants in Greenpoint hosts a Chili Cook-off every year. Keith
and I were finally around this year to go, and it was awesome. Plus, I won a
$25 gift certificate to the restaurant in a raffle! I was a happy gal.

To put it simply, it’s been a good winter so far. I haven’t had a specific fitness goal in mind, but I've been really enjoying that.

But now that spring is a couple months away, I've recently been deciding between a few different races. This is the short version of what my thought process has been:

Spring Marathon: Um, no.

Spring Half-Marathon: Perhaps. But I have a busy spring, with a wedding and my boyfriend’s scholarly law school graduation in the mix. And I’m not sure I really want to start hardcore running just yet.

Triathlon: Why not?

I have definitely said to friends (and on this blog) before that I would never do a triathlon. I am not a strong swimmer, and it sort of scares me. I like to swim doggy paddle, I like to bike, and I love to run, but I’m not sure all three would go together that well. But here I am, taking it all back.

Meggie signed up to do the NYC Triathlon in July with Team in Training, an organization that supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). She asked if I wanted to join her, and my initial thought was YES. Don’t ask me why. But it sounded so much more appealing to me to try something super scary like a triathlon, raising money for a good cause with a group of great people, than to train for a half-marathon by myself and for myself.

I know that running is a selfish sport, at least for me. I think the positive-selfish part of it (getting fit, relieving stress, reaching a goal) outweighs the negative (putting your training needs ahead of others’ schedules, talking about it endlessly to anyone with two ears). But it is a solitary sport, and the only person who really benefits from my crossing that finish line at a random race is me. I wanted to change that.

Me! Me! Look at me!

There were definitely a few things that made me hesitant about signing up, though. For one, I have virtually no swimming or biking gear. Or a good race bike for that matter. I have two bikes at home that I could use to train with, but one is heavy and has few gears, and the other is my mountain bike from years ago that I may have grown out of with my 5’7” build. I also had to think about bringing said bike up my 4^th floor walk-up. I’ve done it before, and it’s no fun. And beyond that, do I need to buy a new bike? I know those things ain’t cheap.

My other big concern was the fundraising. To be a part of Team in Training, you have to raise a minimum to pay for parts of your training and coaching, as well as to give back to LLS. This is New York people, and spreading your paycheck between rent, taxis, and cocktails is about as far as most people can afford to do.

So while those two things are genuine concerns, I didn’t want to turn down what could possibly be a life-changing experience because of them. I wanted to do something that scared me, and would force me to go out of my comfort zone both physically and personally.

Here’s to a scary, fun-filled six months.