after 3 hours, 3 cat hills, and 3 harlem hills, my last 18-miler of the season is complete.

with 6 weeks to the marathon, i am making a vow not to run up cat hill or the harlem hills until after the marathon and until after i've forgotten how much those hills make me want to punch myself in the face.

during sundays 18-miler in central park, which was actually a nyrr race (18 mile tune-up), i kept asking myself what kind of sadistic person thought it'd be a good idea to have people run counter-clockwise around central park three times.  at one point, i was cursing the sadistic person who designed central park and those damned hills (i was about halfway up the harlem hills, second time around when i thought this).

but then it dawned on me- three times around central park counter-clockwise, with three times up cat hill, and three times up the harlem hills... is a hell of a lot more difficult than the marathon itself.  perhaps nyrr was doing all of us a favor because in theory, the marathon should be easier than this devil of a training course.

all in all, i'm pretty happy with how i ran.  it was hot and sticky and i probably should've opted for shorts instead of my capri running pants... but when you wake up and leave your apartment before the sun rises, you don't realize that it won't be that chilly for long.

i started with meg, cindy, and lisa but lost all of them pretty early on.  i was definitely glad that i had thought to bring my ipod along with me or i would've been in pretty bad shape. my pace was pretty consistent throughout the run, ranging from a 10:20 to a 10:58 throughout all 18 miles, besides the last mile when i went all out. in the beginning, i felt good and wanted to run faster but i knew that running faster would probably be a bad idea with the difficult course and the number of miles i had ahead of me.  i kept looking down at my watch and telling myself to "go slower, you have 18 miles to run."

i did every mile in under 11 minutes.. which is a really big deal, especially since the course is essentially uphill the entire way, with the two hills of death. honestly, even the downhills and flats felt like uphills.  it was just rough altogether.

i finished with an average pace of 10:48 min/mile, overall time of 3:14:07.  if i run this pace the day of the marathon, i will PR by about 7 minutes.

put that in your pipe and smoke it.

runners world, i love you.

don't know what to wear during a run? plug in the weather on this site and it tells you.

that's right, people... it TELLS YOU WHAT TO WEAR.

today is a good day. (link)

yup, i'm cheap and lazy.

so i have a bunch of sports bras that zip up in the front.  i LOVE these.  when i come home all gross and sweaty, i don't have to peel them off me and slide them over my face. instead, i just unzip and remove.  it's a beautiful thing, especially in the summer.

anyways, i've also got some other sports bras that zip up in the front, they're just not as nice and expensive as the above nike one.  a few months ago they started to bug me on longer runs (and by "bug me" i mean they chafe me and i end up with little red scabs on my chest up near my neck), so now i only wear them on short runs or when i go to the gym to cross-train.  

now let me tell you, these sports bras are over 4 years old.  i have an entire drawer full of sports bras.  there's no reason to keep them if they bother me (and ya know, tear off skin),  but i do... and here's why:

• it's annoying to have to do laundry because i need clean sports bras when i have enough other clothes to wear for another week or more.  i'd rather just have more sports bras and have to do less laundry.

that's right, i'm lazy.  what makes this so unbelievably lazy, you ask?

• i don't even do my laundry.  instead, i put it in an enormous bag, carry it to my car, and drive it to long island where i have a magical laundry genie who washes it, folds it, and places it back in the bag.  

in my defense, laundry in nyc is ridiculous if you don't have a washer/dryer in your building... which i dont.  

anywho, the other night i did a tempo 10k run (which i consider a short run during these marathon months) and when i got back, my sports bra had chafed and i was left with a bright red chest.  wtf?! now you chafe me on short runs too?!

i got in the shower where it stung like a biatch and made the decision that i will no longer take the abuse of my cheapo sports bras.  no more, my friends, no more.  

christoph niemann to "live-draw" the nyc marathon.

there's a new york times cartoonist who plans to document his nyc marathon experience by drawing throughout the entire race.  his plan is to run 1.5 miles, then walk and draw for the next 1/2 mile.  in the end, it'll be cool to have cartoons that show what one goes through during those 26.2 miles... but man oh man, he better not get in my way.

"the big challenge is to do this without getting on everybody's nerves. i know runners take this very seriously...i want to make sure I'm not going to be beaten up." -Neimann.

you're never too old to run a marathon: 26.2 miles at 101 years.

except this year, i'm going fast.

apparently nyrr has made their "start information" system this year idiot-proof.

so, like i wrote yesterday, i was all disheveled because my marathon registration card doesn't have any start information like it did last year.  also, my registration card has me starting at 9:40am with the professional and elite athletes.

ummm did i miss something?

anywho, i complained to a fellow runner/blogger and he sent me a link to a page on the nyrr website where it has the start information organized by bib number.  well, i'm an idiot.

or am i?

why did nyrr decide not to put this information on the registration card as they have in previous years?  why didn't nyrr let people know that they need to look at a chart to figure out all their start info?  why isn't there a damn link to this chart in plain site??!  why can i still NOT find this page on my own?!

anywho, i clicked on the link he sent me, and lo and behold, i DO have start information.

crisis averted.

and now, ladies and gents, i am officially wave 3, orange bib, coral 55.  helloooo 10-11 minute milers, it's so nice to join you.

nyrr, you are giving me anxiety.

so i got all excited yesterday because nyrr released start information.  i signed onto my marathon profile, downloaded my registration card only to find that my card has NO START INFORMATION.

wtf, nyrr?  i've done this twice before.  i KNOW that where it says "start information" it's supposed to have my bib color, my wave number, and my corral number.  also, my start time should be around 10:40 based on my pace for the past two years.

last year, my registration card looked like this:

this year, instead of all this lovely information, i get this (without my commentary, obviously):

seriously, i opened the registration card up and panicked- i know i'm accepted, it says "accepted" on my profile page!  they wouldn't have a registration card for me if i wasn't accepted to run, right?! i even have an "i'm in!" badge!  NYRR, WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME ANXIETY?!?!

please, nyrr, give me a color.  and a wave number.  and a corral.  and a start time where i won't be passed by freakazoids running 6 minute miles.

thank you.

college football is the 2nd best part about early saturday long runs...

college football? awesome.
sitting on your bum? awesome.
eating whatever you want? awesome.
drinking whatever you want? awesome.
not feeling guilty about doing any of the above 3 because you ran an absurd number of miles that morning?  super awesome in a way that only someone who has trained for a marathon can even comprehend. 

so here ya go... my two college football highlights from this weekend:

1) Boston College vs UCF

yes, i know BC lost. yes, i know BC lost really badly... but UCF fans did something so unbelievably incredible that it just warms my heart:

don't know the whole welles crowther story? watch it here

2) Notre Dame vs Michigan

i knew i wanted to watch this game somewhere besides my living room so we headed over to a new bar/beer garden near my apartment.  first of all, this place was great. i'm so excited it opened up near me and so annoyed that i didn't get there sooner than this past weekend.  

anywho, we met meghan at the bar and got ourselves great seats at a table in front of the massive tv screen. you could tell that the stadium was louder than ever and i found myself super jealous that my brother had flown back to see this game live.  the teams were sporting throwback uniforms and the refs were wearing old school hats... all for the first night-game ever in michigan's big house.

fast forward 3 quarters and 13 minutes... best two minutes of football i've seen in a while. absolutely unbelievable.  michigan scores to go up for the first time in the game with 2 minutes left.  ND scores with 30 seconds left.  michigan scores with 7 seconds left.  

come onnn... michigan couldn't have asked for a better ending.  according to my brother, the stadium and campus were crazier than ever and recruits who were at the game signed with michigan the very next day.  can you blame them?

oh yes, and the best part about early saturday long runs, if you didnt already know, is carb-loading.  obviously.

new marathon goal: win nyc marathon.

so this past weekend was my first 18 miler of the season... also the longest run since last years' nyc marathon (that's two weeks in a row that i ran my longest run since last november!).  i wasn't as nervous about this run as i was about last weeks' 16- probably because i felt good after 16 and knew that if i had to (or wanted to, for that matter) run another 2 miles last weekend, i definitely could have.

friday night, i met meghan and lisa out at a restaurant on the uws for a hearty pasta dinner.  i usually sit home alone on a friday night and carb-load by myself... WHY didn't we think of this idea of eating together sooner?  absolute silliness.  anywho, it was glorious.  i love me some pasta. nom nom nom.

saturday morning, i get woken up by the sound of my bbm.  who could it be at this ungodly hour? probably lisa telling me she's not coming because she decided to have fun the night before.  i check.. i'm right.  ohh lisa. silly lady.

okay, maybe these weren't her EXACT words...

so i get all my stuff together and head out the door to meet meghan in central park for 8am.  i love that the weather isn't absurdly hot and humid anymore and we can actual sleep a little bit in the mornings.  i meet up with meg and we set out to run 18 miles.  i was feeling pretty good but unfortunately, meg was having an off-day and had to cut it short so she left me around mile 10.  one thing i've learned from running these past few years is that some days you just don't have it in you.  sometimes 2 miles can feel like 10 and sometimes 10 miles can feel like 2.  you just do the best you can, train and prepare yourself as much as possible, and pray that come race day, you're having an "on" day.

for me, saturday was definitely an "on" day. meg and i completed the first 10 miles ranging between an 11 and 11:30min/mi pace. below are my times for the following 8 miles:

so yea, needless to say, i felt really good about myself.  i KNOW i can PR this november. i'm reworking my marathon goal now.  i e-mailed coach vinny this morning for some advice on my pacing and asking for some help with setting a realistic goal for the marathon.  i want to come up with a plan and figure out the pace i could be running for the first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, and the last 10k come november 6th.  i WILL get  a PR.  i WILL get a PR.  i WILL get a PR.

found my red bandanna for this weekend! watch why i'll be wearing it:

damn straight.

true story:

i hate treadmills.

remind me next time i say i'm going to do my run on the treadmill, that i'd rather run in a monsoon than step foot on the most boring piece of equipment in the world (i'm looking at you, office friends).

nevertheless, 6 miles complete.

16 miles of awesomeness.

so this past saturday, i completed my longest run since last years' nyc marathon: 16 miles.  i was a little nervous, not gonna lie.  yes, i know i've ran 16 miles before.  and yes, i knew i'd be able to do it.  my real worry was that i was going to set out to run 16 miles, feel like crap and want to quit earlier.

i mean, there hasn't been a reason for me to run anything more than 13.1 miles over the past 10 months.  the training schedule i created had me jumping from a long run of 13 miles to a long run of 16 miles in one week.  yes, this is possible.  yes, there is a reason i did this.  and yes, this was probably not a good idea for me mentally.  i think i would have been a little less anxious had i completed a run of 14-15 miles before going out to run 16 all at once.

before going to bed on friday night, i looked back at my post from the nyc marathon to see what i was thinking and how i was feeling for the first 16 miles.  below, i've made a few comments on that post.  if you'd like, you can read the entire post here.

i felt better once i saw that i was still feeling good (and better than the chilean miner) by mile 16 last november.  i was definitely less anxious about my "jump" from 13 to 16.

but whatever, it all worked out because i felt GREAT during the run and actually had a negative split! that's right people, a NEGATIVE SPLIT TIME!  for those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it means that i ran the last 8 miles faster than i ran the first 8 miles.  this, my friends, is a really, really big deal.  especially for me.

not to brag or anything (okay, totally to brag), but my last 3 miles were actually my fastest miles.  now, maybe i ran those last 3 miles faster because by that time meghan had already left to go home and all i wanted to do was be done - but who cares!  the point is, people, that i finished stronger than i started.

needless to say, i felt totally good about myself.  also, i finally used my crockpot (my easter present) and made the boy and myself some awesome pulled pork sliders.  it was so easy because i prepped everything on friday night and then saturday before i left, i just turned the crockpot on.  by 4pm, everything was done and smelling glorious.  i also made some homemade french fries that turned out to be, quite possibly, the best things i've ever made.  seriously, unbelievable. SUCH a good post-run meal.  might have to find another crockpot recipe to make for after this saturday's 18-miler!

okay, so maybe food photography isn't in my future - but oh man was this scrumptious.

stay tuned - training is picking up and that means lots of running and lots of food!  it's the most wonderful time of the year (i hope you just sang that, either out loud or in your head, because i did.)

my goal of 1000 miles in 2011 - an update.

last night, i finished august 2011 with a solid 118 miles.  this brought my 2011 total mileage to 552.  seeing as though i've only got 4 months left to run 450 miles, i panicked a little... UNTIL i looked at my training schedule and did some quick calculations.

IF:

• i stay on track with my training schedule and do the intended mileage for each week
• i continue to add mileage to my schedule the way i have been the past few months (i found that i've been adding approximately 4-10 miles a week to my training)

THEN:

• at approximately 3pm on november 6, i will have logged more than 900 miles in 2011.

that would give me 2 full months to log less than 100 miles.  also, i'm already signed up for the las vegas half-marathon on december 4, so reaching my goal, my friends, is very easily attainable.  

just in case you need a visual, here's a look at what 1,000 miles looks like: 

that's right... be impressed.