I’m coming at you this Wednesday with my Disneyland Half Marathon race recap, including my opinion on the race course, thoughts on how it compared to the Disney World Half Marathon, and everything I ate in Disneyland when runger struck after! If you need to catch up before diving in:
It’s hard to believe, but another month has come to an end and we are officially halfway through 2015! June hasn’t been as eventful for me as May. I’ve been occupied with things that are rather mundane but are pointing toward much loftier ends come July and beyond. Sandwiched between the month when I graduated law school and the month when I will take the bar exam (and also turn 24, which is just unbelievable because I can’t figure out for the life of me how time has flown so quickly), I’ve been in run-eat-repeat mode for most of the month. But I’ve managed to squeeze in some potentially exciting (and tasty!) stuff nonetheless.
Happy Monday to one and all, and hope your weekends were sufficiently summery and filled with family, friends, fun, and food. Mine certainly was, from my volunteer shift at New York Road Runners on Friday afternoon, through my Saturday morning NYRR 5-Mile Pride Run race and a relaxing dinner with family back in Connecticut. But first, a recap of my weekly workouts!
Harlem Meer on my long run day
Monday: Rest day (much needed after last week’s mileage)
Tuesday: 7 miles
Wednesday: 30 minutes of yoga + 5 mile walk (I typically mention walking as a workout only when it’s a dedicated walk like this, since I walk so much)
Thursday: 9 miles
Friday: Rest day – NYRR Volunteer Shift
Saturday: 7 miles (5M race + 1 mile jog to and from)
Sunday: 4 miles
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your weekends were awesome. Mine kicked off Saturday morning, so I’ll start with my Oakley Mini 10K Race Recap and fill you in on the bits and bobs afterwards. The Oakley is an all-women’s race and was actually the first such race in the nation when it was first run in 1972.
Friday evening, I made a delicious gluten-free return to Pizza Beach with my friend Abby, where I feasted on a shaved asparagus, Parmesan, and feta pizza with squash ribbons on the side to fuel up for Saturday morning. We left feeling quite satisfied, but of course I had to end with ice cream for it to truly feel like the perfect dinner.
Returning to Pizza Beach for a gluten-free asparagus, feta and Parmesan pizza fest!
Although Saturday morning was a bit grayer than I’d like, the sun came out to play in the afternoon and fortuitously kept on shining through Sunday morning, when I raced the NYRR Retro 4-Miler in Central Park for #4 in my 9+1 quest. Coming off the past week I felt pretty good going in, and since I wasn’t aiming to PR I just enjoyed myself with four easy miles.
The weekend kicked off Friday evening, when I went to Amber Sushi with my closest friend from law school. I had a toro chives roll with brown rice and some octopus and squid sashimi, and it was all delicious as usual. It was nice to catch up, especially since we are both in the thick of studying for the bar and it’s tough for other people to understand the weirdly consuming nature of this time.
This Wednesday, June 3rd, is National Running Day. So I am kicking off this week with a linkup with some other fun runner bloggers to share our running stories through a Q&A!
1. Why do you run? I run for health and happiness. I started running because I wanted to get back in shape and have a physically active outlet for my energy after my childhood ballet and gymnastics days were over, but fell in love with it because of the way it contributed to my mental well-being and overall outlook on life.
2. How do you plan to celebrate National Running Day? I plan to celebrate by going for a long run in the sun (I hope!) and maybe stopping by some of the New York Road Runners events.
3. How many miles have you run so far this year? Just over 500 as of today! Averaging 100 miles/month, which works out to 20-25/week. March was a little less and May a little more but it all evens out in the end.
Happy Saturday! I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend. Mine has been lovely thus far in spite of the bar exam prep that looms in the back of my mind no matter what I’m doing… In fact, I’ll have to attend to that later today. But only because I’ve been having such fun, going from dinner at a new restaurant in my neighborhood last night to a 10K in the park this morning. Pizza Beach and a 10K in the park is a pretty great start to the weekend!
I can’t believe that the New York City Half Marathon has come and gone. 3/15/15 was a big day in more ways than one. I marked several running milestones as I raced through Central Park and down the streets of lower Manhattan:
Ready to pin!
So much has changed since the fateful day when I realized I could run. It took me months to build up from running 3 or 4 miles to running 6, and to get to my very first race, a 10K that was as exciting to me as a marathon. And believe it or not, it was even longer before I felt like I was allowed to call myself a runner. Going to the Expo took me back to the first time around, when I wandered around the cavernous pavilion with my eyes wide open in wonder. I’d never seen most of the running gear and tech on display, and I was definitely intimidated by the other people milling around, tossing around terms like fuel and fartlek.
Since then, I’ve reached my running equilibrium. I’ve picked up a few of the terms, and learned the hard way that some of them are not really optional (by that, I mean fuel – it is a NECESSITY!) Not all running shoes are created equal, but I’ve found my favorites through trial and error. I’ve adapted to running in all conditions, although I was certainly happy that the New York cold snap subsided in time for this Sunday. Running in shorts was a welcome change from last year’s double layer of fleece and frozen fingers! (I wore shorts because I tend to get heated quickly, which was paradoxically a better choice here than in Florida in January at the Disney Half Marathon – but at the end, my little legs were freezing!) I still run for myself, and not for any particular time, or to beat or impress anyone else. It would be nice to be faster, I guess, but slow and steady wins the race in my opinion – I’d rather be able to run a half marathon and finish strong than sprint a 5k, because the long runs are what I really love. Running is not a competition for me, it’s a way of life (even though I sometimes feel a little pressure to keep up when I’m around my November Project tribe, I know that getting another injury isn’t worth pushing myself past my limits!)
The Expo entrance was set up like a flight – it is the United Airlines Half, after all.
This morning, lining up in my corral in Wave 2, moving around a bit to stay limber and feeling the adrenaline start to pump, I knew without a doubt that I am a runner. I didn’t need to look to anyone else to copy what they were doing, or worry that my own warm-up method was somehow inferior. Do what works for you and what’s tried and true, and don’t try anything new on race day – sage words of wisdom for all the runners out there!
Starting in Wave 2, you line up on the 72nd street path that crosses Central Park, perpendicular to the start, so I knew roughly when the starting line was getting close. I crossed at 7:57am, and the first few miles up East Drive were slow and steady as expected. I hit a bit of a rough patch after rounding 110th Street and heading up Harlem Hill – I felt a pull in my calf muscle, and decided to walk for a few minutes to shake it off. I usually don’t run up this hill anyway, as it aggravates my right side (due to my ankle, knee, and hip injuries!) It ended up being okay, as I also had a little tummy trouble around this time between Miles 3 and 4. My 5k splits were 10:02/mile and 10k splits were 10:57, reflecting that. But I came down the western side of the park and out at 59th Street feeling better, and running down Seventh Avenue through Times Square, I flashed a big smile at the JumboTron!
Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center
Around Mile 7, runners took a right and went down 42nd Street, hitting the West Side Highway at Mile 8. The four miles down the highway elicit mixed feelings – there’s a very slight downward incline the whole way, so it’s actually the physically easiest part of the course, but it’s also the time when a lot of runners hit a half-marathon wall, and where there are the fewest fans cheering runners on. For me, this stretch definitely flew by faster than last year. I actually made up ground here, with a 15k split of 9:58 and a 20k split of 9:54. I just felt good here, and it was really cool to see the Freedom Tower in the distance and as we got closer. It’s a wonderful symbol for my home city and for America, and after all these years with a gap in the skyline, it’s a pretty awesome sight to behold.
At the finish line – it’s not sweat I’m covered in, it’s pixie dust!
Running through the Battery Park Tunnel, I really kicked into gear for the last mile. I don’t like running in dark, enclosed, subterranean spaces (I’m more of a high-in-the-sky adventurer) so both momentum and the motivation to get back outside kept me going. My last mile was at a 9:21 pace, and I finished strong in 2:13:13 with overall splits of 10:10. I was tired, sore, and chilly. Luckily, I met my parents and my puppy at the finish, and we were able to get on the subway quickly. Since I hadn’t really taken in fuel during the race, I downed my water bottle and NY State McIntosh apple fast! (My parents also brought me a pack of Kay’s Naturals Protein Pretzel Sticks, since the pretzels in the recovery bag provided are definitely not GF.)
Once home, I had a welcome hot shower, and some delicious breakfast – a PB&J Oatmeal Cake, some yogurt and berries, and a few spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar! And I was perfectly content, in more ways than one. Today was more than just a race for me. It was a reminder that running is something I do for health and fitness, sure – but even more importantly, for happiness. Running opened me up to a whole new outlook on life, and that’s something I will always be grateful for.
My new mantra!
Greek yogurt with peanut butter, blueberries, and a crumbled Banana-Maple-Oat Muffin
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