Isn't she lovely?!

My adorable niece sporting her big brother's shoes.

photo courtesy of auntie ise

And that's a wrap

I like nothing more than a good mix of planned stuff and days of no plans for the weekend. It allows for socializing and also plenty of down time & relaxation. This weekend was just that. I took advantage of the last of my Friday summer hours by meeting up with Steph & Mike at Blind Tiger for some tasty beers and then continuing on to Pearl Oyster Bar for an overflowing lobster roll. YUM!!!

On Saturday I got out for a nice 7.6 miles on the bridle path of CP including a couple loops around the reservoir and then Jason & I headed to Princeton for a friend's end-of-summer party. We sat outside, enjoyed the country-like atmosphere and took in the tunes of Eddie Elliot. Except for being eaten alive by mosquitoes, it was a very enjoyable night.

Sunday was all about relaxing, hydrating and getting myself ready for the 20K in New Haven. I got out for 4 miles with 8 x 100 strides to loosen up the legs and get myself in a GO! position for the next morning.

Wanting to treat New Haven like a mini-Chicago marathon, I woke around 4:00 a.m. and prepped myself for the race and travels to CT. I ate a couple pieces of toast with bananas and drizzled honey, packed my bag and headed off for Grand Central. A few hours later and I was jogging around, stretching and prepping for the start. Bob and I met up in the green and were searching around for Trevor when we decided we'd better line up - we could find Trev afterwards. Definitely lined up too far back as the congestion was a little too irritating for me and forced a lot of dodging and grumbling. Got into the groove after that first mile but realized pretty much immediately that I'd have to find a porta-potty in the next mile or two. I'm 99.9% sure the culprit was some nasty water that I'd consumed both the day before and that morning, coming from a disposable water bottle refilled one too many times. I even knew something was funky tasting while drinking it but I feared the dreaded D word. Dehydration. Dang it! Anywho, here's what went down along the course:

mi 1: 8:31 (I definitely started too far back, ugh)
mi 2: 8:01
mi 3: 7:50
mi 4: 8:42 (first porta-potty stop )
mi 5: 8:05
mi 6: 8:36 (damn! gi distress is creeping up again)
mi 7: 9:08 (second porta-potty stop)
mi 8: 8:41
mi 9: 8:35
mi 10: 8:54 (got way too chatty here with Emmy*)
mi 11: 8:08
mi 12: 8:01
mi .54: 4:02

1:45:16 (8:28/mi) finish time

*Emmy is an unbelievably swift runner and personal heroine of mine. She's 50 and smokes up both road races and ultra marathons. She'd raced the 5K (20:23) that morning and was running the 20K course to get some extra miles in. We'd run together at Meredith's ultra earlier this summer and found one another somewhere in mile 9.

So no PR but I still felt I got a lot out of the race. I felt very strong despite the digestive track issues and I experienced zero mental hiccups. I took in a gel sometime around mile 6 and think that gave me a nice lift for the later miles. Overall, a positive experience on the road to Chicago. Next up in less than two weeks, Reach the Beach!

Such Great Heights

Along with Iron & Wine's cover from the movie Garden State, this version performed by Ben Folds is right up there! Check out that mad piano playing.

I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes like
Puzzle pieces from the clay

Great Friday-leaving-work-at-2:00p.m.-song.

By the Power of Grayskull

...I got those 17 done.

So maybe it wasn't Grayskull but I gave myself a talking to, dug deep, turned my dread into motivation and got outside.  Of course, not before the universe tried to derail me...

• "train traffic" (sorry Alexis, they're necessary) caused a longer trip home from the office than usual.  I use the quotes b/c I really doubt any such thing existed, I waited for my subway for a bit - there was nothing in front of it. 
• I attempted to purchase a handful of new songs to spice up a playlist when iTunes flipped out giving me a erroneous credit-to-my-account error when attempting to make my purchases.  
• my Garmin decided to pitch a fit and wouldn't gain a satellite signal.   I guess it was all those crazy white fluffy things in the sky getting in the way.  

After much ado I was on my way, keeping a slow & easy pace as prescribed by my running guru buds, Tim & Tom.   The reason I was doing my LR tonight as opposed to on Saturday morning is b/c I have the New Haven 20K on Monday and I'd like to shoot for a PR there.  It'll look a lot like one of my long tempo runs if all goes well.  So I needed to get the 17 done in plenty of time to recover and have some fresh legs for Monday.

As I got to ticking away the miles my thoughts turned to why I should be happy to have the ability to run at all.   My mind went immediately to Erika dealing with a sore shin and possible IT band issue just a couple weeks before her goal HM, to Jen who is not running at all right now b/c of recurring back and leg issues and to Jason who hobbles around after every soccer game with a likely torn meniscus.  And that's just my immediate family. 

I am lucky, I am strong, I will do this.

Further in I get to thinking a bit deeper.   The BIL of my sister Jen's best friend is in a fight for his life right now.  All within two weeks time he found out he has lung cancer (having never been a smoker), is probably stage 4 and is starting chemo.   Here is a guy my age, a son, a brother, a soon-to-be-uncle, an athlete!!!  And although I've only met him once, last year just as I finished the San Francisco HM (segment I) and he started the same race segment II, I'm struggling with what he must be going through.   What it feels like to not know.   This strengthens my resolve, quickens my feet and has me thinking of what can be offered to the universe, to the higher powers, to the earth to let him go on.   To provide him the positive energy to get through this.   

I decide my offering will be this run.  I will stay positive, I will cherish the two legs that carry me, the two lungs that keep me breathing and the heavy heart that makes it all possible.  I will pick up the pace, finish strong and satisfied.

I hope it's enough, Daihi.

I'm not gonna lie...

I really don't feel like running 17 miles tonight. Cripes!

Smiles along a run

There's this gorgeous slice of a community garden at the northern-most point of Battery Park City and every time I pass it I smile. The little signage throughout cracks me up and makes me feel all warm & fuzzy - at the same time. I've been meaning to capture the images there for awhile now but I never seem to remember to bring my camera or phone with me on a run. Tonight seemed like a good opportunity; packed up my iPhone in the ole SPI belt and I was off. 11 solid and smooth miles in 1:37 with a quick stop in the garden just northwest of the World Financial Center.

As you can see, there are some rules but they're pretty simple to follow. What I'm dying to know is if The Bionical Bed possesses some super powers??? LOL

5 x 600 Part Deux

After just about two weeks Pfitz brought this guy back. Same VO2 max workout: 8 miles with 5 x 600 @5K pace and 90 sec. recoveries. I started my warm-up on the TM at the gym so I could deal with any urgent bathroom issues (ugh!) before I headed outside towards the track. Legs weren't as peppy as the last time I ran this workout but nonetheless it ended up looking pretty much identical to the previous effort.

Goal pace for 600m = 2:37 (7:04/mile)

4.5 miles as warm-up in 38:18
600m: 2:26
600m: 2:23
600m: 2:22
600m: 2:24
600m: 2:23
1.75 miles as a cool down in 15:26

I was pleased! Total mileage ended up around 8.75 miles. Pfitz brings this same session back two more times, I'm hoping to drop the pace a bit more with each session.

On a non-running front, the Olympics are over (insert sad face emoticon here) but I'm getting to bed earlier (insert bright eyed bushy tailed emotion here)