manhattan half-marathon... check.

2:19:36. not so bad for a VERY HILLY half-marathon that i practically half-assed. i barely trained, my runs were short and few, and this past week i did nothing but lay around and feel crappy. plus, two loops of central park just plain sucks. harlem hills, i LOATHE you. and on saturday, i loathed those hills.. twice. ugh.

so yea, i did my traditional chicken parm and pasta saturday night, watched "the pregnancy pact" on lifetime with sunim (absurd movie about an even absurder true story.. massachusetts is full of crazies, i tell you), and got to bed pretty early.

it actually wasn't all that difficult to wake up sunday morning. rina and i took a cab down closer to the start line and seeing as though we live really close to begin with, i was able to sleep past 7.. pretty sweet for a race that began at 8am. getting to the half-marathons in the other boroughs has the potential to suck royally. i might have to finagle my way into some peoples apartments who i knowww live in or in close proximity to other boroughs (ahem, you know who you are.. be prepared to be asked and be prepared to say yes).

but anyways, the run was pretty good. i felt pretty crappy for the first 6 miles but after a much needed potty break, i was able to zone out for a few miles and really get into a comfortable rhythm. agatha and some others were around mile 7 which was nice.. good location to see some familiar faces. the hills around mile 9 were brutal and i really started to feel some pain in my hip-flexor and my calves. i was able to get a good open sprint towards the end when i saw the finish line, finishing in under 2:20 and way surpassing my expectations for the run.

immediately following the race, the rents picked me up and we headed back to the island for the baby's christening. good: lots of food to eat. bad: minimal movement. my muscles and joints locked up and i've been incredibly sore all day. i went to the gym to get a good stretch and all in before my class tonight but that really only helped minimally. i need a legit massage.. any takers? you know you wanna...

ooo and i get to make a nyc half-marathon training schedule for nancy! nancy = complete awesomeness. i'm so excited.

okay i'm gonna go eat my emotions.. its a good thing i'm a "person who runs" and all this emotional eating probably won't make my pantalones tight.

pantalones.. good word.

50 in january? i'll take it.

this past saturday, it was 50 degrees. that's right, people. 50. in january. AWESOME.

i took advantage of the warm, sunny weather and went for a "long" run along the hudson. hands down, that is my favorite run in all of manhattan. i love running past all the piers, the intrepid, etc. i havent been able to run there in a while as it's been so damn cold and windy by the water so it was refreshing to get a solid 10 miles in on what is quite possibly my favorite stretch of land in this city.

as i was running, i started to think about how much kudzma would love the upper west side in the spring/summer. it really is absolutely beautiful and there's so much to do. i feel like i didnt take advantage of it as much as i should have last summer and i'm looking forward to really enjoying it this time around. i've definitely gotta get her down here in the upcoming months. it'll only be fair as i'm going up to boston and crashing with her in two weeks :-)

when i hit about 30th street on saturday, i heard a familiar voice through my headphones. i looked to see who was passing me, and sure enough, it was one of my students on a bike. her immediate reaction was "oh no, ms. barraco." oh no, ms barraco?!?! haha. another one of my students came up from behind and commented about how i was crazy for running all the way down to chelsea and then all the way back uptown.. oh and also that she was embarrassed to see me outside of school. it's so funny seeing students outside of school. they completely freeze up as if they could never imagine how you exist outside of your classroom.

i'm really hoping that next sunday we have good weather for the Grand Prix Half-Marathon: Manhattan. and i really hope that i finish with a good time as well.. not because i'm running for a time.. but because the faster i finish, the more time i'll have to get ready for baby Andrew's christening back on the island later that afternoon. he really is too cute. can't get enough :-)

i went up to the gym this morning to work off the beer that tomas made me drink last night (i'm sensing a pattern here), did some tutoring, started a new book.. not a bad day off.. however, this week truly has the potential to SUCK. tomorrow = faculty meeting. wednesday = after school. thursday = tutor and class. FML. hopefully i can get a few good short runs in there before next weekends half.

bleh. gonna be a longggggg semester :-/

wanted: inspiration.

this winter is most definitely KILLING my "training" for the first Grand Prix half marathon next week. after work,my mentality the past two weeks has been "ah well, it's cold and i'm tired, no big deal, i'll run another day." so yea, i definitely don't feel as prepared for next week as i would have liked to be by now. the thing with training for a half-marathon after having run a full is that the distance no longer seems all that long. the distance itself seems a bit of a joke actually. in my head it's like, well, i used to run half-marathons or more every weekend, i don't need to train for this.

for the record, this mentality = bad. while i do have a good base right now, it is most definitely not the base i had when training for the marathon back in the fall. i think it's rather naive of me to undermine the half-marathon distance.. that being said, it's been hard to overcome the thought that this half-marathon will be a piece of cake. i'm sure, come january 25th, i'll be cursing myself for being so darn lazy the past month and a half..

so last night i went on a 6 mile run with mr. martini in central park. it was a really nice night, not so cold, nice breeze. seeing as though mark runs approximately 483902483209 miles an hour, he had to slow down a lot and i had to speed up a bit so that we were running in close proximity. it was definitely what i needed after a long day (and week.. okay okay, two weeks) of work.

i really think that running in the winter requires some sort of running buddy or some other source of inspiration or accountability. yesterday afternoon, i did NOT want to go for a run. i actually complained to seth that i had agreed to go for a run with mark because all i wanted to do was go home, shower, and sit on my couch. had it not been for mark, i probably would have done just that. so yea, for all of you out there who swore you'd get in better shape this year but are already going to the gym less than that first week in january, let's go for a run. it'll be good for you.. and me :-)

plus running in new york city is awesome. i cannot believe i live here.

okay back to work..

p.s. nyc half-marathon 3.21.10 - this girl is IN :-)

photo: beckermanphoto.com -- this guy has some really cool black and white nyc photos. check em out.

a frozen weekend.

so it's been an awesome weekend. friday, myself and the pops headed up to boston for frozen fenway. before the game, we went to boston beer works with some bc people to eat and drink and whatnot. i, of course, took the time to layer myself in the bathroom before we headed out to the ballpark. i would compare myself to the lil nerdy kid from the little giants (you know the one).. but hey, at least i was nice and warm the entire time.

seeing fenway covered in snow was pretty damn cool. unfortunately, bc hockey didn't show up until the 3rd period and we lost 3-2.. but it was fun hanging out, dancing around, and behaving like a college kid again.

afterwards, harry picked me up and we went out to dorchester. even hours after the game, my body was still recovering. i dont think i stopped shivering until i got back to the hotel and took a shower.

so yea, we left saturday morning and i was back in the city by early afternoon. i pretty much slept all day yesterday and was still in bed pretty early last night. i did, however, stay awake with sunim to watch the last episode of jersey shore because i missed it last week. gotta have my priorities straight! haha.

so yea, with all the excitement, i hadn't gotten any sort of workout in since thursday. i was feeling rather lazy this morning so i decided i'd go over to central park to get my run in. i figured if i went over to central park to run the loop, i was committing myself to at least 6 miles. it was beautiful and sunny and i ended up doing roughly 7 miles before i got back here.

i love getting my run in early so that i can watch football the rest of the day. i'm way too excited that the ravens demolished the pats :-)

on my run, i started to think about how much has changed in the past week.. and how much i am okay with it.. and a lot of that has to do with this weekend. perhaps ill have to go back up to boston sometime soon.. harass kudz to see if she'd mind a visit from bucket #1 sometime later this month..

buckets 1 and 2 reunited again? can boston handle it? idk..

random runner survey.

so i haven't posted in a while but mainly that's because my running hasn't been all that interesting the past week and a half. it's been absurdly cold and windy and the majority of my runs were done on a treadmill in my basement. not fun, not fun at all.

anyways i ran across this survey on facebook and figured i'd fill it out as to not make it so long between posts. here goes..

Runner Survey from Facebook

1. Number of marathons you have run
Just one.. but it was NYC.. so it was the best one.

2. Where was your first marathon?
New York City :-)

3. Favorite Marathon course:
Well I've only run NYC.. but I figure it'd be nice to have a flatter course..

4. Most memorable race:
2009 ING NYC Marathon

5. PRs?
5k- hmm never ran a 5krace.. only the 5k "race" with my third grader a few weeks ago.
4miler- 41:15 - Run for Central Park 2009
5 miler - 47:39.20 - GC Turkey Trot 2009
10k-1:00:47 - Joe Kleinerman 10K 2009
10 miler- haven't done a 10 mile race yet..
1/2 marathon- 2:15:01 - LI Half Marathon 2009
Marathon- 4:49:40 - NYC Marathon 2009
50k- 31 miles? oh dear no way.
45 miler - what? people DO this? voluntarily?!?
50 mile- oh sh*t that's not happening
100k- uhh yea not happening either.
100 mile- people who would do this should be in therapy cuz they're nuts..

6. Ever run in a costume?
Nope not yet.. had i come into the city to run the Midnight Run on New Years perhaps I would have..

7. The only running shoes for me:
New Balance 700 series.

8. Ever injured?
Strained my hip flexor during a short 10 mile run in August. Was out for a few weeks, took lots of anti-inflammatories, and iced A LOT. It still bugs me from time to time.. gotta watch out for it.

9. Hot or cold weather runner?
definitely hot.. this cold weather is killing my running this winter..

10. Morning or evening runs?
it's nice to get it over with in the morning.. but i don't mind sleeping in just a bit and getting an early afternoon run in either.

11. What is your motivation?
umm a feeling of accomplishment.. and being able to eat whatever i want without stressing about weight.

12. Ever DNF?
nope.. and i hope to never get one.

13. Race I'd like to forget:
I guess I could say the Joe Kleinerman 10k cuz i was hungover.. but it did have it's benefits because it pushed me to run slightly faster so that I would finish quicker lol.

14. Favorite post race nosh:
A chicken and cheese calzone and some diet pepsi.

15. Galloway or Higdon?
am i supposed to know what/who these are?

16. Flat course or hills:
flat or allllllll downhill.. damn harlem hills in central park, i looooooathe you.

17. Back, Middle, or Front of the pack?
in the middle. i like seeing people in front and in back.

18. Run alone or with a partner:
i like running with a partner.. it makes the time go by faster and it's an extra push to keep going. on a 12 mile run in a very rainy and muddy central park, i wouldnt have gotten past 6 miles had it not been for adriana.

19. Ever win your age group?
haha nope and prob never will.

20. One part of your body that has never seen Body Glide:
never used body glide.. guess that makes me NOT A RUNNER muahahhaha.

21. Best part of running:
showering, eating, and napping afterwards.

22. If I didn't run I_______________.
would be fatter.. but my arms would be stronger because i'd have more time to lift.

23. I can't run without______________________.
a sports bra.

23. Ever lose a toenail?
nope.. but i've gotten some bruised toenails and blisters. gross.

24. Gatorade or Cytomax?
gatorade.

25. Favorite gel flavor?
gels gross me out. i use the gu chomps.. strawberry or the blueberry pomegranate.

26. How many days after a marathon do you usually start running again?
5 days later i did an easy 2-3 miles.

27. I run, therefore I ________________________.
am a person who runs.

28. Pre-race routines? (night before or morning of)
night before: pasta and chicken parm while laying on the couch watching tv and movies.
morning of: peanut butter on bread.

29. What is your typical night before the big race meal?
like i said, pasta and chicken parm :-)

30. Would you run a marathon again?
first sunday in november, 2010.

31. If you could run with anyone, who would that person be?
i'm ignoring this question for the time being.

alright people, that's that. hopefully this week i'll get a couple good runs in and be ready for the potential 9 miler this weekend.

boston on friday to watch bc-bu hockey at fenway dee de deee.