Heart Rate

I'm trying to remember to wear my HR monitor more often these days. I wore it today, and it's quite interesting to see the improvement.

In April 2005, when I ran my first 1/2 marathon, I wore a HR monitor. At the time, I had been training with the monitor and I knew that when my heart rate was about 177, my pace was about a 10 minute mile. I wore the monitor for the race, kept my heart rate at 177, and finished in 2:10. Pretty accurate, huh?

Today, I ran four miles which included a 30 minute tempo run. My heart rate NEVER went above 170, even at the end of the 30 minutes when I hit my fastest pace of 7:50 which came at the end of a hill climb. Now that's a pretty dramatic improvement.

P.S. Ignore the % of Max HR data. My Garmin refuses to believe me when I tell it my max is 189.

What's My Time Worth to YOU?

First things first: I ran three miles kind of fast.

Ok. Now the real important stuff. We haven't had a working TV since Wednesday. No TV on Thanksgiving. How'd the football fans survive? They discovered Trivial Pursuit. Does reading through the stack of trivia cards count as SAT practice? I DON'T THINK SO.

Direct TV was supposed to send a technician today between 8-12. I was given the option of three time slots: 8-12, 12-4, or 4-8. They all sucked, in my opinion. But I chose 8-12 to get it over with. I was going to go to spinning at 12 and take my son to the orthodontist at 2:45. I only had to cancel a morning appointment.

At 7:30 this morning, I get a call from Direct TV. The technician will be a few minutes late. "What does that mean?" I ask. He will be there between 12-1. "Wait. He's supposed to be here between 8-12. You mean he will be a few hours late." No. Minutes. "How is that minutes?" (I'm beginning to think I'm talking to someone where time is calculated differently than here on earth). Well, he's running late at his first job. BUT HIS FIRST JOB HASN'T STARTED YET -- IT'S ONLY 7:30!!! Apparently, he has three jobs before me and they all take 30 minutes.

Is it just me, but 3 jobs x 30 minutes per job = 90 minutes. NOT FOUR HOURS.

Ok, it's 12:45 and my phone just rang. It's Direct TV.

DirectTV: "Has my technician called to say when he'd be there?"
Me: "No. He called at 7:30 this morning to say he'd be a few minutes late."
DirectTV: "So, he'll be there between 1:30-2:30?"
Me: "He was supposed to be here between 8-12 and it's now 12:45. If you can explain to me how 1:30-2:30 is a few minutes late, I'd be interested in hearing the explanation."

Maybe I should go back to cable.

Random Running Thoughts

I ran a slow and easy 8 miles today. I think I have the achilles problem figured out. I've discovered that I always have intense achilles pain whenever I wear the Brooks Glycerins. They have less than 200 miles on them (193.73) but I'm going to retire them. They squeak like crazy anyway, so wearing them is embarrassing unless I'm wearing my ipod. It's a little disappointing because they are my first pair of non-Pearl Izumis I've worn in two years. The last non-Pearls I had were the Asics Gel Kinseis, which set me back $165, and I got a calf sprain that kept me off the roads for two weeks when wearing those. I only race in the PI Shines these days anyway. They're my Good Luck shoes now as I've PRd in them every time.
______

I saw an interesting Nativity Scene on today's run. To make the manger, they used the Little Tikes Log Cabin and took off the front wall. Imagine Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus hanging out in here:

_____________

I'm feeling a little conflicted about our Democratic candidates for the presidential primary. As a "progressive" (read "liberal") woman democrat, I feel somewhat guilty that I'm not on board the Hillary or Obama train. Instead, I find myself supporting John Edwards. Of course, it's great to have three (viable) candidates to choose from, but shouldn't I be backing the woman or the minority? Why don't I see Hillary Clinton as a woman who could win the race for president? I actually see Obama more as a winner than I do her. And yet, here I am backing the rich, white guy.

PR x 9 x 12

Yawn -- another PR. Sorry to be a bore, but

HAPPY THANKGIVING TO ME!

Those who have followed my travails of 2006-07 know that my goal for my 44th birthday was to PR at every distance I raced before I turned 45. Not only have I met my goal in the 9 races I've run in the last 12 months, but I have PRd my PRs!

My previous 10k PR on July 4th was 56:56. My goal then was 55:xx. My goal for today's Thanksgiving Day Race (10k) was under 55:00.

I lined up between the 8/9 minute pace -- whatever that means, because the walkers and strollers lined up there too. But, I meant to give myself every advantage. This is a popular annual event in Cincinnati with over 10,000 registered participants this year. It took me almost three minutes to cross the start line.

The course is tricky with lots of people, turns, and three bridges. If you've run the Flying Pig, after two miles run in Downtown Cincy, the course follows the first four miles of the Pig.
I kept my pace strong and under 9. I only held back what I felt I needed to keep even splits and finish strong. I tried to run the tangents (thanks Scott C!) which was a little easier because of my familiarity with the course.

I picked up the pace the last mile then gave it a big kick for the last .2.
Here's the tale of the Garmin:

Mile 1: 8:46
Mile 2: 8:28
Mile 3: 8:47
Mile 4: 8:53
Mile 5: 8:47
Mile 6: 8:23
.29 7:55

Finish Time: 54:25. I'm thrilled and looking forward to another healthy year of strong racing. Happy Thanksgiving!

Slacker

I just took a look at my running log and it looks like someone has been slacking this week. Me??? Slack???

Truthfully, I'm feeling a little bit of a letdown to not be specifically training for a BIG EVENT. It's kind of nice though -- if it wasn't for the in-between-training-cycle-pounds that are starting to creep on. I still want to eat like I'm running 50 miles this week, when the running log down there and to your left tells a completely different story. I have run ZERO miles this week. Huh? Yes, it's true. Z-E-R-O.

Tomorrow, I intend to rectify the situation by running the 10k Thanksgiving Day Race. I even have a goal: under 55 minutes. Seriously, I should be able to smoke that time. Just pray the rain stops for an hour between 9 and 10. Running in the cold rain is never fun and my shoes don't like being wet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Walnut Hills High School

Two posts in one day -- what a loser!

Watch this: It's a video of my kids' school, Walnut Hills High School. We all think it's a very cool school too.

Walnut Hills is a Cool School!

Busy, busy, busy

Well, it's back to being crazy workout girl. 2 mile "warmup" on the treadmill which included 1.25 miles of slow running (11:15 pace). Then an hour of upper body to rival the lower body workout I did on Tuesday. Pushups w/ one leg extended (8/8 x 4), unilateral bicep curls (10 lb dbs) 15x4, military presses (5 lb dbs) 15x4, front & lateral raise (5 lb db) 4x25, deadlifts w/ 10 lb db 4x20, dumbell rows and kickbacks. Then to top it all off, I went outside (it's freezing!!) and ran four miles. It just so happens that it was the fastest four miles I've ever done on this particular route! 37:12 or avg. 9:17 mile. Pretty cool. The elevation is basically 2 miles downhill then 2 miles uphill. I'm very pleased.

This is one of those days where you think, as a mom, you'll never get through it. Everybody has to be at a million different things and everybody's time overlaps. Plus, when I finally get done, I'm going to a play (Altar Boyz) tonight. I'm not looking forward to putting on real clothes. I'm very comfortable in my sweats thankyouverymuch!

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, but I may look for a spinning class since I'm still feeling a little guilty over skipping yesterday's run.

Ow!

I'm so sore today I must have run a marathon yesterday. Oh, yeah... That was nearly ten days ago! I've been feeling great. The running has been going great. I've added in some spinning. But then... but then... I went back to the gym. A full day of legs -- leg presses, hamstring curls, reverse lunges off the bosu, squats on the bosu, single leg deadlifts -- I can barely move today, much less run! Yow!!!

I did have some fun this morning figuring out my Half Marathon training plan for the More Half on April 6th. I'm going to use Hal Higdon's Advanced training plan for the half-marathon. The cool thing is that I feel like I'm totally up to the challange. In fact, it doesn't seem all that challanging! I was initially going to use a Ryan Hall type plan that was published in Runners' World not too long ago, but I'm used to the Hal Higdon plans and have been successful with them for the marathon so I'll give this a shot. I'm looking to take three minutes off my half-marathon PR. I PRd on a hilly course while training for the NYC Marathon, so I should be able to meet my goal. The only thing is that the More is crowded and the path is very narrow. Last year I did alot of bobbing and weaving. The only thing I have to nail down is the partner/roommate situation. Always a challange.

Oh! I almost forgot! I was in the Girls on the Run newsletter for Greater Cincinnati. Here's the part about me, including my quote:

Spinning my Wheels

I think my running is becoming so routine that I don't feel compelled to write about it anymore. It's become as much a part of me as any other part of me. For a while, if it wasn't for this blog, I might have slacked on my training. Now, I'm lucky if I remember to tell you about it. I keep the log up to date though.

Yesterday's "long" run was less than six miles. It was on the park trail, so it was slow. Everybody and their dog was there too. With Starbucks. Now, I know for certain there is not a Starbucks in the park, nor is there one close by. So, it was weird that I saw at least three different couples walking in the park, with their dogs, and clutching their red holiday cups from Starbucks. Obviously, they weren't putting in the same effort that I was or they would have been carrying water. Well, maybe the dogs were working up a sweat.

Today I tried another spin class. I went to one on Sunday that was great. An interval class as was the one today, but I disagreed fundamentally with what the instructor was teaching. She kept talking about "active recovery" and "not letting your heartrate come down" during the recovery interval. BS like that. Oh, and she said we should be able to carry on a conversation with our neighbor while working in the 80-90% zone. WTF? Where did she get her information? So, this all made for a distracting workout because I was so busy arguing with her in my mind and trying to do the intervals on my own. Too much stress! Oh, and she was late to class. That, I hate more than anything. C'mon! Be early -- you're the instructor for crying out loud! Maybe this is why I enjoy running. It's all on me. But, I want to spread my wings, and I think this will make me a better runner too. So, I'll give it another shot. I'll figure out which instructors I like and only go to their classes.

If this is "Zero Week" what is "Zero +1"???

I made a promise to myself that I would add more spinning classes to my schedule. Gotta get my money's worth out of my two gym memberships! Scott and I decided to go to class together this morning. Isn't that sweet? I'm trying to get him to the gym more regularly. Oh, did I mention that my training recovery schedule said to run a 30 minute tempo today also?

It was an interval spin class, taught by the owner of the gym, who also happens to be an ironman too. 45 minutes of pushing it hard. I was a dripping puddle of smelly bacteria at the end of class. No time for a shower though. The other folks would just have to hold their noses when they saw me, a real athlete, hit the treadmill.

I managed 20 minutes at a 10 minute pace, which, once upon a time last year, would have got my heartrate up to 177, but today, even after spinning, it only got as high as 161. That's alot of improvement! At 20 minutes I had a bathroom issue, so I decided to call it a day.

Good workout!

Zero Week

Tea says it is time to change the music on my ipod. After all, the NYC Marathon is yesterday's news. I've basked in the glow of my 8 minute PR long enough.



She's right, of course, but the truth is, I can't seem to motivate myself to write anything down anymore. Since it's "zero week" I don't have any immediate goals. I'm going to run in the Thanksgiving Day Race this month (guess when it is) and I want to beat 55 minutes. Last year was a PW (personal worst) for that race at 1:02. But that was the beginning of my Natalie Gets Her Butt in Kick Ass Shape year. After that, the next big race I train for will be the More Half Marathon in Central Park. My goal is 2:00. That will be a biggie, because I tend to think of 2:00 as a breakthrough time for a half marathon. But that's not until April.



I won't be training for a spring marathon because I'll be chaperoning for March of the Living. I'm feeling a little wistful about The Flying Pig. It's the 10th anniversary and I still have some revenge to take on that one. Plus, you can't beat the hometown marathon!

But, in honor of Tea, and a training year that's almost come full-circle. I give you a new song.

I Heart NY

On a whim, in February, I entered the lottery for the New York City Marathon. It was only ten bucks and I didn't expect to get in. I was going for my big PR in Columbus. Columbus is flat, close to home, and I could drag the kids along. I started a blog detailing my training for Columbus. When Vivian Adkins sent me a message indicating that I got into NY, I was surprised and I actually felt like had won a lottery! So, now my goal marathon had changed, but my time goal had not. What to do?

Ok, enough of an introduction. Here's the scoop on the most awesome marathon in the world. In honor of all things New York, you better go grab a cocktail and put on a CD of Frank Sinatra or showtunes, put your feet up and get comfy. I have a feeling this is going to be long.

Marathon weekend in New York City is one of the busiest weekends of the year. The locals know this and try to stay away; the hotels know this and raise their rates. If you have any intention of running NY next year, make your hotel reservation NOW. You can always cancel it if you don't get in. Or, you can do what we did and rent an apartment on VRBO.com and live like a New Yorker for a weekend. You might want to make sure the apartment has an elevator though. Ours was a 4th floor walkup. 49 old and winding steps. Imagine how that felt after running 26.2 miles! But, oh how cool!

On Friday evening we had a great time with some old friends who live in Tribeca. We didn't get to bed until almost 2 AM so when 7 AM rolled around and I thought about rolling out of bed to walk a couple of blocks to Central Park to watch the olympic trials, I just rolled right back over and went back to sleep.

We took the free shuttle to the expo on Saturday. When I entered the lottery in February, I had to answer a question that would predict my finish time. There must have been date parameters because for some reason, I entered my personal worst marathon finish time: 5:09 from The Flying Pig Marathon 2006. My corral and race number were based on this and I was assigned number 34877 which projects a 5:15 finish time. If you've followed my blog, you know that I have made dramatic improvements this year and my training goal, and McMillan predicted finish time was approximately 4:20 (or less). The NYCM website indicated if this was the case, then to go to the help desk and they would help you correct the problem. I was told here that the website was wrong and I should just "work my way up." Ha. Ha. Anyway, other than that, the expo was alot of fun. The official shirt is a long sleeve technical tee. If you are an average height woman, like me, the sleeves will come down past your fingertips but it's a nice shirt. There was still plenty of asics branded logo wear available in most sizes and I was able to get the $160 jacket at the markdown price of $100. I also picked up a free Livestrong tech tee at the Nike store by showing my race number. It's now the best-fitting shirt I own. Thanks Lance! Oh, and great job yesterday!

Saturday night we had a great time meeting V-Teamers at a dinner arranged by Colleen. We met Mr. and Mrs. Mark(Carol), Julio, Jeff Burch, Bob Kujakowski, Vivian and Brian Adkins, Dave (Lobo) Wolfe, and the venerable Hal Higdon. Pictures, of course, will follow! My husband, Scott, was there too, but I still feel like I'm forgetting someone. Jess, we missed you! Julio, Jeff, and I made plans to meet at the Staten Island Ferry the next morning.

Vivian, Brian, Colleen, Hal, Carol (Mrs. Mark)

Mr. & Mrs. Mark, Julio

Race Day: Staten Island

I slept well on Saturday night and appreciated the extra hour of sleep. I caught the downtown subway and rode with hundreds of other marathoners to the Staten Island ferry. There I met Julio and we took the ferry together. I can't speak for the midtown bus, but the ferry is a superb way to get to Staten Island. Julio and I got to sit down by the windows on the Lady Liberty side of the boat. We got to Staten Island and we got off the ferry in a sea of humanity -- all marathoners waiting to board a shuttle to Fort Wadsworth. Once there, we walked until we located our blue corral. Then we had to locate the baggage drop. Being a "W" (for Wolf) my baggage was assigned to Truck #71. This is one of only two collosal screw ups in an otherwise amazingly organized race. I told Julio that I would meet him back at a tree after I checked my bag, but Truck #71 was located about a foot away from a high chain link fence with about 10 feet on the other side for participants to both enter the corrals and enter the baggage area from both directions. We were jam packed like sardines in a can going nowhere. Some people tried to climb over UPS trucks and climb the fence to get out until the park rangers and coast guard reprimanded them. I was just trying to get rid of my baggage! I finally managed to check my bag and escape, but I was actually sweating from being locked into the crowd for so long.

Thinking about checking my baggage


Once in the corral, I looked for the 4:30 pacer, knowing that there was no 4:20 group. I tried to be as inconspicuous as I could since the 4:30 group corresponded to numbers 26,000-28,000 and everyone around me seemed to be abiding by the numbers. I didn't see any race marshals though, so knowing what I know now, I would have definitely moved up even further in the corral. At about 10:10 I heard the vague sound of what must have been a start canon, but we didn't go anywhere. In fact, our corral slowly, in fits and starts, started walking toward the starting line at the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. Around a corner, time for a pit stop, back in the line (same place, LOL), and we kept going. As I looked around at the throngs of people, heard the many different languages being spoken, laughed at the costumed runners, noticed all the runners with cameras in hand, I started tearing up for the first of many emotional moments to come.

Finally! The bridge and the strains of "New York, New York." As Marilena said, it was easy to get on pace immediately. The three corral starts made for a deceptively easy first eight miles. Up and down the biggest hill of the course and we were in

Brooklyn

If you are going to run the New York City Marathon, you've got to wear an "I Love NY" t-shirt. The spectators in Brooklyn were amazing -- they LOVE New York! Instead of screaming my name they screamed "We love you too!" or (the best one) "I love you too, Babe!" I wore my Girls on the Run tiara which I had decorated with my name and heard "Go Natalie" and "Go Natalia!" I high-fived kids. I love Brooklyn! My pace was great and my energy was high. Between mile 8 and 9 the three corrals converged and things became more complicated and confusing. I immediately found myself running with a 4:00 pace group only to realize that it was a green corral pace group. There were about thirty in the group and they muscled me out of their way with a "Pace group coming through" shout. What's up with that???? At times, with the converged corrals and the narrow roads, I found it difficult and at times impossible to keep on pace. I grew frustrated. I didn't want to give up my goal so quickly, but I couldn't figure out a way to pick up my pace without expending too much energy weaving through the crowd. In the meantime, I enjoyed the diversity of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It seemed there was a band on every block and they were playing all of my favorite songs from my playlist from "Vaseline" by The Flaming Lips, to "Low Rider" by War, to the Rocky theme song. Pretty soon, we were on a downhill stretch facing a sign that said "Slow Down: Sharp Turn Ahead" and we were in

Queens

Queens was a mecca of shopping and little restaurants. The crowds were enthusiastic and I kept thinking, "where's the 59th Street Bridge?" We went over a bridge, but it wasn't the Queensborough -- it was steep, but it was short. Then I saw it. I knew that coming off the bridge would be a highlight of the race. We had driven over it by taxi. I had seen it lit up at night. The Queensborough/59th Street Bridge is long. I think it's a mile long, as I noticed that it appeared to be marked in .10 mile increments when we were on it. You run on the lower level of the bridge -- the upper level is for trains. I was wearing my sunglasses, and initially, I felt like I was blind in the dark. My eyes needed to adjust to the lack of light. I hated running on this bridge. Runners were slow. They stopped. They took pictures. They walked on the incline. Again, I was frustrated. Finally, we descended to the deafening roar of the crowds in

Manhattan

I chose this moment to run into a porto-potty under the bridge that had no line. At that particular moment, the crowds in the street on 1st Avenue decided to cheer "Go!Go!Go!Go!" Fortunately, I was able to comply. ;) As I started up the long, incline that was 1st Avenue, I looked ahead and all I could see was thousands of runners ahead of me and the streets lined with thousands of cheering people. For the second time, I thought about what I was doing, here in New York, running a marathon right through the streets of Manhattan and my eyes welled up with tears.

Runners coming up 1st Avenue, Manhattan

(I have to say something here about best laid plans. And I am a planner. I had Scott's itinerary for the day completely planned out. I had printed out his subway route. He had a pace band to match mind. He had maps. He was wearing a special, lime green, t-shirt. When I got off the bridge in Brooklyn I realized we had forgotten one thing. A very important thing. Which side of the street would he be on? Once I hit 1st Avenue, I knew it would take a miracle to every spot him).

1st Avenue is a gradual uphill climb for about 4 miles. Yes, I said four miles. The grade is so minimal that if it wasn't four miles you might not even notice it. But I managed to keep going and stay on about a 10:00-10:15 pace. I didn't drink at every water stop in hopes of making up time, but each stopped caused me to slow down anyway because of the vast amounts of debris and spilled gatorade on the road. I know there must have been entertainment in this part of Manhattan, but the longer I ran, the less aware I became of my external surroundings and the more internal became my focus. Somewhere around 100th street, the 4:30 pace group became my pace group and I realized that I would probably finish around 4:30. At the crest of the hill, we crossed a bridge and we were in

the Bronx

We were only in the Bronx for one mile, but what a mile! The people of the Bronx really supported the runners with "Welcome to the Bronx" signs and banners. I was no longer running uphill and I became aware of D.J.s and bands. Before I knew it we were in

Harlem

and there was only 10k to go. Harlem is beautiful. The brownstones are lovely. It's very picturesque. I wondered if Bill Clinton was watching from his office -- maybe he would hand out orange slices? I realized that I was going to have my best final 10k of any marathon I'd run. I could feel that there was going to be no wall today. I wanted to go faster. I felt like I could pick it up. I just couldn't find an opening. At one point, in Harlem, I heard honking and sirens and the Brightroom video camera cart came through the middle of the road at a snails pace. No one could pass the truck. I was really pissed. I'd already said goodbye to 4:20 and now the truck was between me and the 4:30 pacer. This marathon is like rush hour in L.A.!!! Why couldn't I join the carpool lane???

With 4 miles to go we were back in Manhattan going downhill on 5th Avenue (runs parallel to 1st Ave.). I knew I could do it. I love to run 4 miles. I looked for Scott as he was supposed to be at mile 23 just before we entered Central Park. The crowds were so inspiring! I was ok with not seeing my husband. Just before Mile 24 we turned into Central Park. I've run here before. I know it's hilly, but it's beautiful. The crowds were in a frenzy. Then I hear it behind me in my left ear, "GO HONEY!!!" and I see a glimpse of lime green. It can't be! This wasn't one of our planned viewing spots! But there he was, running beside me (against the rules, I know), but I was thrilled to finally see him. When I saw the 24 mile sign, my body was ready to quit, but my brain was actually saying, "slow down -- you don't want it to end." Fortunately, I listened to the other part of my brain that said don't slow down -- finish strong. So I told myself (outloud) to dig harder. With 800 meters to go, a young guy passed me and shouted "C'mon Wolf, let's go!" (back of my shirt said "I Am The Big Bad Wolf"), but I couldn't quite keep up with him. A quick jaunt onto Central Park South, then back in the Park and uphill to the finish! I smiled for the camera, hit my watch, and looked for Colleen. She placed the medal around my neck and gave me a big hug, which I desperately needed.

Post Race

I hit my watch at 4:31:15 (official time 4:31:12 -- had to smile for the camera). I gave the NYCM everything I had. I ran with my body and my mind. I crossed the finish line with nothing left over. We were handed a heat sheet and someone stuck a piece of tape on it to keep it closed (nice touch), an apple, a water, and a heavy bag filled with a bottle of gatorade, water, another apple, and a recovery bar. Then we were funnelled down the road toward the UPS trucks. Once again sardines. Only this time it was a dangerous situation. I felt sick. Other people felt worse. We couldn't move. Every few minutes there was a call for a medic. "Runner down" became a familiar refrain. Being a "W" I had to walk uphill another mile to Truck #71 for my baggage and then exit the park at 85th Street. I must have looked scary, because no less than half a dozen medics asked me if I was ok. I could barely walk, my lips were blue, and I was crying. My fingers turned white from the cold and I stopped in the medical tent for a pair of surgical gloves. I don't know why I was so emotional. When I finally got out of the park and saw Scott on Central Park West, the tears really came. I can only speculate that I have been so focused on this race, that when I realized that it was over, I was completely overcome with emotion.

Our friend Charlie meets us at the "W" on Central Park West (Bet you thought he was that tourist!)

Being a marathon finisher in New York City makes you a celebrity for a day. A tourist wanted to take my picture. Then he wanted to pose for a picture with me in it. Then we got on a crosstown bus and I wasn't allowed to swipe my metro card.

I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!!