What do you do in Central Park?

Last night I walked across Central Park to meet some friends for drinks on the Upper East Side. I had some time to kill so instead of my usual walk from point A to point B as fast as humanly possible, I strolled along and took in the sights. 

Its incredible to see all the different activities going on in the park at the same time. Sure everyone know that there are hundreds of people walking, running, and cycling, but did you know what else people are doing? Take a look and see:

Rowing as the sun is beginning to set. 

Pristine water as the lone rowboat heads back toward The Boathouse. 

Tightrope Walkers! I kid you not. These guys were practicing just off the 72nd Street Transverse. 

Most of them were quite good. It's certainly something I couldn't do!

Yoga by the Bethesda Fountain. I was a few seconds to late to capture the two women and their coach boxing just behind the yoga class. 

Hula Dancing! You truly can do anything in Central Park. You go girls! 

Weekly Recap

A little late but I'm still pretty proud of last week. Check out my dailymile summary below. Dailymile even called it "Gnarly!"

My week started strong with three 4 milers in a row. I know it looks like I ran 9 on Monday but for some reason it isn't letting me move my 4.5 miler to Tuesday. Sometimes technology and I don't get along...

Thursday was a tricky one for me. I've always kept my midweek runs to 6 miles or less because I don't often have the time. This Thursday was no different but I decided to make my run a priority. Besides would an extra 10 minutes ruin my day? Absolutely not. I set my alarm for 20 mins early and hit the treadmill determined to make it happen. Much to my surprise the extra mile flew by and I was able to get on with my day just the same. I find it mentally tough when the treadmill turns itself off after 6 miles but I made that last mile a little game by picking up my pace to 7 mph and dropping it back .2 mph every two minutes. Sometimes silly distractions work and a little speed at the end never hurt anyone. 

Friday was just another run. I hit the treadmill right after work a 3 because I had pretty exciting plans. My cousin got engaged the night before so C and I were meeting her and her new fiance at 6 for celebratory drinks downtown. I chatted with her via text my entire run and was actually surprised when the treadmill beeped alerting me it was slowing down. I didn't even realize I'd been running for an hour. 

Saturday's run was incredible and I should probably write an entire post on it. I joined Nike Run Club for their first "elevated" run of the 2013 Marathon Training Season. They came up with a great route that brought out almost a hundred runners. We met at the Nike Flatiron store where they had a mobile bag check, divided us into pace groups, and stretched us out. I was a little intimidated at first as it seemed like everyone was there with other people. My fears dissolved the moment we started moving! The pacers were fantastic and the group was friendly. Everyone was excited about the marathon and we chatted about past races and about expectations for the first timers. 

Nike plans on doing one elevated run in each of the five boroughs this training season and I must say, I'm pretty excited about it. This run took us from  from 20th and 5th across the East River and down to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal where they had a van with ice cold bottles of water for us. We took a group picture in front of the terminal and headed inside to wait for the ferry. Our timing worked out great as the ferry pulled up in less than ten minutes and we were on our way to Staten Island. 

Once everyone was off the boat, we regrouped by pace and took off for a 3.5 mile trip to Fort Wadsworth, the start village for the NYC Marathon. We ran under the Verrazano Bridge and got to show the first timers the start of the marathon as well as the incredible view of Manhattan. The city looks so far away from here! It's hard to believe 48,000 people will run all the way to the heart of Manhattan from there but I can't wait to be one of them again. Another van met us for a water stop in Fort Wadsworth before me ran our final 3 miles back to the ferry. 

As we rounded the last turn we saw the Nike Run NYC vans and knew we were down. What we didn't know was that in addition to the ice cold water and Kind Bars Nike had the Cool Haus truck there serving up delicious ice cream sandwiches as a special treat. What a great way to end an amazing run. 

Thanks Nike for making me feel strong about my training, having amazing pacers who kept us going on this hot day, and for making us feel extra special at the end. Keep an eye on the RUN NYC facebook group for news about Run Club and about their next elevated run. I, for one, can't wait!

Photo from Run NYC

I Can, And I Will!

Sometimes we all need a motto or mantra to help us through a tough run or just a tough day. This morning I set out on what I knew was a challenging route. There are hundreds of people who run this particular route every day but its out of the ordinary for me. On the rare occasions I have run it, it has been incredibly hard. I guess you could say that when I usually end up on this particular path I've already run 23 miles so of course it would be hard.

My route this morning included the final 3 and half miles of the nyc marathon route. I've run nyc twice and just get telling myself to get to central park. The problem with that is central park is no cake walk. There are quite a few hills that don't exactly treat your tired legs well. For this reason, I've made a goal to run this route, in this direction at least once a week until the big day. They way muscle memory will take over and I'll be able to cruise across the finish line instead of struggling mentally and needing walk breaks. 

In addition to becoming familiar with this route, I also need to build mental toughness. I give up on myself during almost every run and I hate it. I rarely push as hard as I should and its simply because of that horrible little voice in my head. 

Let's hope that voice will still be asleep as I tackle my first midweek longish run tomorrow morning. Nothing like 7 or 8 miles to start my Thursday right! Bring it Central Park!

Queens 10k

There's nothing quite like taking the train to Queens at 6am. Lucky for me the 2 pulled into the station just as I was walking down the stairs and the same thing happened as I stumbled onto the 7 platform. Only downside was that I'd planned on it taking a hour and half, thanks hopstop. What's a girl to do with an hour to kill in Flushing Meadows Corona Park at 7am on a Sunday? Watch one of the 10 or 12 soccer games of course!

Who knew people woke up at the crack of dawn to do anything other than run! These games were no joke. The game I watched involved players getting yellow cards and some incredible athletic talent. Thanks for keeping me entertained red team! 

But I didn't travel all the way out to Queens just to watch a soccer game. No, I was here to run! Well in the incredible heat and humidity it ended up being more of a jog. 

I made my way to the corrals at 7:50 to find that they were beyond packed. We could have used at least another 10 feet per corral with the number of people crowding the edges trying to get in. It was pretty crazy trying to shuffle to the start line with everyone pushing in but we made it and it was time to go! 

I've never been to this park before so I truly enjoyed the tour of all the major attractions. The Museum. the unisphere, citifield, arther ashe stadium, mirror lake, and all the great sculptures were a great distraction from the humidity. If only there was a way to block out the highway we ran beside it would have been perfect. 

I was impressed with the number of runners who decided to tackle the challenge given the weather and even more impressed watching some of the slower runners run around the unishpere after I finished. It takes pure determination to stick with it in this weather and I was proud of each and every one of them. 

This certainly wasn't my best race but it was fun. I jogged at a comfortable pace and walked each water stop to ensure I didn't end up like the two runners I saw being treated by EMS. I also knew I'd be doubling up and running again mid-afternoon and then heading to Nike's version of Kick the Can that night so I didn't want to over do it. 

Overall a good experience but I don't think I'll be making the trek out to Queens next year when there are so many great Central Park races that are literally right outside my front door. 

Holy Hot

When will this heat wave end?! Don't get me wrong, I love the heat...just not when I'm running. If I were back home in Maine, sitting on the dock with my heat in the water, I'd be in heaven. But, I'm not. Instead I'm in nyc, pounding the payment of Central Park during my first official week of marathon training. While it's only been two day, I'm pretty excited to say its going extremely well. 

My first training run for the 2013 ING NYC Marathon this past Monday

4 miles on the Treadmill

Overall pace: 9:35 min/mi

Mile 1: 6.0mph or 10 min/mi

Mile 2: 6.0mph or 10 min/mi

Mile 3: 6.0mph or 10 min/mi

Mile 4: 7.0mph or 8:34 min/mi
The last mile was awesome! I felt strong and probably could have pushed for another mile but I didn't. One of my goals this year is to not over do it. I was to train the right way which will include sticking to the plan, not running more than scheduled, and taking rest days. 

Day 2: Tuesday
4 Miles on the Treadmill
Overall pace: 9:15 per mile
This time I started with my first two miles at 6.3, took the third down to 6.0 and then picked it up for the final mile. 

I used to always stick with once pace when on the treadmill. If I started at 6.0, I'd finish at 6.0 but I must say, I'm loving my new tactic of taking it up a notch on the final mile. I think it will really help me in races and hope that it might even translate into faster running overall. 

Twitter has been quite entertaining in regard to the heat this week. (Follow me at @annierunsnyc) Although most are complaining about it, some are offering words of wisdom. Here are a few:

Elizabeth Maiuolo @emaiuolo

Any distance, at ANY pace this morning, call it a victory. It's just hotter than hell this week, be smart and lower your expectations.

@INGNYCMarathon posted a great questions today to kick off marathon training. "What are you doing to prepare now that it's OFFICALLY 16 weeks until the marathon?"
My answer is simple: I offically start training today!
Others had some great responses:

• @jmac82 said he's training through this heat wave and using it to (his) advantage.
• @edmGatorGirl said she's "training both body and mind!!!"

17 Weeks

I made it!

NYC Marathon training officially starts next week! I've pretty much taken the last 6 weeks off so I'm excited to get back into the routine. I need a plan otherwise I skip workouts or quit halfway through. This week will be a base week. I'm not worried about building up mileage as I accidentally ran a 14 mile sight seeing run last week in San Francisco and didn't die. I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of bed the next day but surprisingly I only ever felt a minor twinge in my back toward the end but no soreness during, after, or the next day! Go me!

So instead of a base mileage week, this will be a base routine week. I need to transition back to morning runs so this week I'm focusing on just getting up and doing a 20-30 min morning run followed by my new favorite thing, the 7 minute workout. I will still knock out a few miles after work but this will just help me get used to getting up and out the door first thing. Next week I'll be ready to hit my workouts and focus on my runs.

I also want to join a running group. A nice gentleman ran up beside me during my epic San Fran run and we chatted and ran together for about an hour. I've never really run with people. Sure I've run alongside people but usually I'm so nervous about keeping up or how crazy I look that I don't really talk. I told this guys upfront that I probably wouldn't make it too far as I was just getting back into it. He asked where I wanted to go and I told him the Golden Gate Bridge. That angel of a man guided me right to the bridge without letting me walk up even the steepest hills. I was so glad he kept me going and think I'll really benefit from a group.

Plan for tonight: hit up the Nike Training Club for a workout and to see about their run club.

National Running Day

Did you run today?

I celebrated by taking a relaxing 4 mile run through Central Park at sunset. Not too shabby!

Along the way I stopped by NYRR to pick up my race bib for Saturday's Oakley Mini 10k. I love women's only races. The feel is more social, women's cut tank tops and lower bib numbers! It's a nice little boast to the ego to get a number is in the 2000s instead of in the 6000s!

Brooklyn Half 2013

The morning started off pretty early with a 4:45 wake up to catch a train at 5:10. I wasn't sure how strict nyrr was going to be with their baggage and corral closing times so with an hour train ride ahead of me I didn't want to take any chances. 

Luckily I got there in plenty of time. They said they were closing the baggage trucks as I walked up but they were still accepting bags at least ten minutes later. 

As someone who has lived in Manhattan for almost 9 years, I'm embarrassed to say I've only ever been to Brooklyn on three other occasions. Once for last year's Brooklyn Half and twice during the ING NYC Marathon. The marathon doesn't really count since I just ran through but hey I want still technically in Brooklyn. 

The course for the Brooklyn take runners on quite an impressive tour of the borough. You start by the Brooklyn Museum, run past Gran Army Plaza, the zoo, The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, through Prospect Park and on down to Coney Island. Take all that plus the Pre Race Party under the BrooklynBridge  and you've covered most of the borough! 

The Brooklyn Museum

Runners taking advantage of the stairs

Blurry Start Line, sorry 

The view from corral 19. We were the last corral in the first wave but actually started only 5 minutes after the gun. The people facing left and waiting for the bathroom. NYRR placed portapotties in each corral which allowed runners to focus on getting to the corrals on time. The only downside was the horrible smell in each corral. 

The Blue Brother! They started in my corral and I actually ran with them for most the race. 

The view from out corral. So many people!

The stage. Runners made a left in front of the stage and crossed the start line just around the corner. The second wave was lined up on the other side on the stage facing us. 

The lead pack! We were about a half mile in as they can flying up the other side almost to their mile 3 and about to enter Prospect Park.

I wish I had taken more pictures along the course but I was focused on my run. I was determined to race the Brooklyn Half which sounds like an obvious thing but to me is pretty novel. You see, I tend to just jog every race and have never really had my head in the game. Not this time! I'm proud to say I staid focused and accomplished so much during this race. I showed myself what I'm capable of and gave myself a glimpse of what I could do if I put the effort in. 

After leaving Prospect Park we took the ramp onto Ocean Parkway. We were halfway there and I was feeling strong.

The view behind me. 

The wasn't much to see between mile 7 and mile 12.5. We ran a long, straight, flat 5.5 miles along Ocean Parkway until we reached Coney Island. There were a few spectators along the way but for the most part we just ran. I did enjoy the toddler chanting, " Go Dad, Go!" Oh and who could forget the man in the patriotic speedo with the sign, "You look better than I do!" Classic.

Post Finish. The boardwalk is cool but every so often I seemed to step on a loose board. While I know it is perfectly safe, it still makes me nervous. At least it was less that a quarter mile!

Amazing photo From @fitnessjenna. The view of runners making the turn onto the Boardwalk from the F train. 

Overall it was a great race! I just wish it didn't take me an hour and a half to get home after. 

On My Way

There's nothing quite like the energy of a couple hundred runners waiting for the train at 5:15am on a Saturday.

Popular topics include whether to wait for the express or take the local train, if they'll enforce the corral closing times, and how crazy security is going to be.

Nervous runners read an reread the race booklet while seasoned runners enjoy a banana, clif bar, and some water while complaining about the latest subway services changes.

It's the greatest mix of people you'll ever find. All here for the same purpose an all saying good morning an good luck to one another. Where else will you find a happier bunch awake at 5am on a Saturday?

I love the energy. This is why we all wake up at ridiculous hours on weekend morning when everyone else we know is sleeping until noon.

Wish us luck as we take on the Brooklyn Half!

Scenes from the Brooklyn Half Pre Race Party

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Good Morning,

Its a dreary day in nyc. I woke up this morning to an emergency alert on my phone warning of flash flooding in the area so I knew from the moment I opened my eyes that this ways going to be a gross day.

On my way to work. Despite the fact that I was soaked after only walking
two blocks, this made me smile. Who doesn't love little kids with umbrellas. 

There was half an inch on water on the sidewalk, ugh!

It's funny how quickly things change over night. Last night was one of those nights that I just had zero motivation. I finished up a meeting at a venue near Bryant Park and decided to walk home from work. Halfway home I called my bf and told him I was bored. I'm not sure what I expected him to do about it but he just laughed and asked if I wanted him to meet me halfway and walk with me. Isn't he good!

When we finally bumped into each other on Central Park West, I noticed something odd. He was wearing running clothes...and he's not a runner. He decided he was going to go for a run after he walked me home. Who is this guy?!

We got to talking about dinner and that's when I knew I was in trouble. I just wanted to pick something up on the way home while he suggested that I go home, change into my running stuff, and head out the door for my usual loop of the park. He said that by the time he finished his run, he'd head to the grocery store on the way home to pick up some veggies, head home and make dinner which should be ready by the time I got home. Now this would normally be a flawless plan! One that would make me jump up an down as I've been trying to get him to eat more healthy and to try running for years now but not today. I just had no desire to run myself. He did everything I asked him to do a few weeks ago. He reminded me of my upcoming Brooklyn Half and pointed out that summer was right around the corner so even a short run would be better than nothing. I just didn't want to hear it.

We parted ways as he entered the park for his run and I knew that I just couldn't must the energy to follow though with my end of the plan. Instead, he came back from his run 30 minutes later to find me sitting on the couch watching tv. Who am I? I actually had time to run while the weather was nice and I wanted no part of it.

After dinner I suggested we go for a walk to look for a picnic basket and maybe treat ourselves to some ice cream. He was game for a walk so he tagged along. Halfway to the store he suggested we pick up some fresh fruit for dessert instead of ice cream and I just about died! Now this is definitely not the same guy. Usually he suggested dessert every night and I'm the one who occasionally suggests a healthier swap.

We picked up some fruit and he had another errand to run as I headed home. The breeze had died down and the weather was absolutely perfect. Combine that with all the runners exiting the park, just finishing up their run and I was hit. I desperately wanted to run.I was jealous of these runners and by the time the bf got home I was already dressed and had my sneakers on. He just laughed and wished me a good run.

The run itself was also unique. I ran using just the stopwatch instead of the screen with my distance and pace. I couldn't believe how incredibly freeing it was. I ran an usual loop taking some of the paths instead of the road so when I ended up back at home all I knew was that I had run a continuous 39 minutes and 33 seconds. I was curious to know the total distance as at time I felt like I was crawling up Cat Hill but in the end it turns out I ran 4.2 miles which means I was able to maintain a pace under 10 minutes per mile. Go me!

It's funny how sometimes you switch roles in a relationship and everything you've been preaching is turned around and aimed back at you. It was precisely what I needed last night and I am so thankful to have someone who knows just what I need.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our walk this past Saturday. With today's raining weather it sure feels like this was weeks ago!

It's Friday

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Beautiful Day in the Park

There is nothing like a warm day in nyc. 67 degrees brings everyone out to Central Park. Most will picnic or lay in the sun but for those of use who choose to run, walk, or bike, the park becomes the perfect place to people watch.

It was the perfect day to rent a rowboat or lay on the grass. 

It doesn't get any better than this!

I swear I say, "Only in New York" ten times every week and yesterday was no different. About a mile into my run I saw a guy in his early 30s riding his bike with a yorkie in a baby carrier on his back. Really?!

Not a half a mile later, I saw a very large, probably 6'5" or taller, very muscular man jogging towards me with nothing but white linen pants on. Now this is odd but not odd enough to stand out in nyc. What got me to do a double take was his face mask. It was part gas mask part mask similar to bain from batman. Not only did he have to mask on but it connected to a small plastic tube that wrapped around his body and ended in his pocket. Here's the thing, his pants were tight enough that there is absolutely no way there was anything in his pocket for the mask to connect to. All I can say is, "why?"

People are funny but they just add to my entertainment in the park. There is no place on earth I'd rather run than Central Park.

Perfection