lets play catch-up.

Somehow I got off track on these posts (several weeks off track!) so here I’m going to post highlights…

WEEK 4 – my long run (9 miles) was upstate near Millbrook, NY, and it was gorgeous. A hot, sunny, early start to the day: 7am run. My first shot of Gu (Vanilla) and I loved it. My first attempt with the Camelback, which managed to tear my left shoulder up, letting me know that I need to wear Vaseline or Body Glide with unfamiliar fabrics! The run itself was super hilly, which I guess was good practice considering I couldn’t make the TFK team run up and over the Verazano Bridge (sad!) but this was pretty spectacular: cows, fields, farms, lakes… very picturesque.

If I recall correctly, our team run this week was doing speed-repeats around the track up near 103rd street. Definitely not something I would do myself, definitely fun (in the end). Keep those fast twitch muscles moving…

WEEK 5 – this week, I finally was able to participate in a long run with my Team, although it kind of sucked… I schleped up to Central Park for 7am, ran with my pace group for the first 6 miles or so, and then managed to loose everyone. This week was 10 miles, so it would have been helpful to be with other people setting the pace and keeping me engaged. Alas. The bonus was Gatorade halfway through; the negative was (a) loosing people, (b) having to run around the bridal path—especially as it was narrowed for a race on the upper portion, and (c) the schlep to central park, all for naught. Maybe its not the long runs that are the best part, but the running with someone else – in which case, the next time I get on a long run with the team, I should loop up with my normal running buddies (whose names, of course, I forget…).

The team run this week was a timed 5k, in the rain… Pretty awesome. I managed to hit 25.47 (I think?) which was about an 8.40 pace – happy with the time!

WEEK 6, DAY 1
Tuesday: I’m alone in the house, ate a ton of bbq last night, and hit the 3 miles with my ipod. The weather is cooler, runs more comfortable in the morning. Still, pretty sweaty when I come back.

WEEK 6, DAY 2
Wednesday team run with TFK! Today’s run is awesome, although you wouldn’t expect it… We head over to Cat Hill after our stretches and have the choice of running up & down it 4, 6, or 8 times. Although 4 seems too few and 6 feels ok, we all go for 8 – and its amazing. We kept pushing each other up, and then down, and I feel like I was really teaching my body how to plow up, short steps, leaning in, pumping arms, and then how to run down, stretch legs long, catch breath, reinvigorate. Why not do 8, right, when the hills during the marathon are non-negotiable? Sweaty walk afterwards to meet dad for dinner on the UWS. I do find that after these runs, I get chill very quickly – probably using a lot of energy, coupled with the nights cooling down recently.

WEEK 6, DAY 3
This one is fine – nothing too remarkable; I run uptown to 23rd and then back on the water. There are guys already starting their fishing for the day. Home, good stretch, and then encounter a sister-meltdown on my couch. Good thing I already went on my run before chaos descended.

WEEK 6, DAY 4
Technically, I only need to do 7 miles today, scaling it back before ramping it up for the next week. But, I cant really justify scaling back because I feel fine, and have been oddly guilted into running 13 to keep up with my team’s miles. Friday night there was a party in our house in Orient for one of our housemate’s birthdays, which was a lot of fun, but predictably it meant eating foods that don’t necessarily fuel runs (steak, corn, birthday cake), drinking (wine), and a little bit of smoking as well. Still, I knew I had no way around it on Saturday morning, so although I got a late start, I was up and out by 8.20am. First, I went east on Route 25 for about 2 miles, until Narrow Creek Road. I circled up around and through the little town of Orient, and then ran back past our house, and west on 25 down to about Greenport. This time, I tried espresso flavored “Gu”, which was pretty tasty and fine – no upset stomach (although admittedly, I wish I had been able to go to the bathroom more sufficiently before the run). I took most of it at mile 6, and then saved a little for mile 10. Camelback was perfect – used just about all the water I had. All in all, felt fine afterwards, albeit ravenous. I still cant believe that on a random Saturday morning, I was able to take on a half marathon. Wow. Time wasn’t race-time, but still decent – 2.05! If I can keep that up for the marathon, I’d be super happy.

The rest of the day was pretty active as well – some biking, swimming, and walking. I felt like I had my own mini-triathalon! Sunday was technically my “day off” but it was rainy and I figured I might as well do something; early in the afternoon, I did some cross training – squats, one-legged squats, plank, leg lifts, side plank, and bridges. Oh – and a couple of pushups for good measure. (Today I am definitely feeling it…) Then, when the rain let up a little in the evening, I went for a bike ride up to Driftwood Farms (potential wedding venue?) and back, looped around town on the same loop from my run the day before. All in all, about 45 minutes of biking, not bad. I somehow think the biking from last week is what helped my right hip fix itself these past few days, like it got it back into alignment, although I’m sure it has less to do with that, and more to do with the fact that I stopped carrying heavy bags on my right shoulder to avoid agitating the hip with extra weight.