Central Park Biathlon

Yesterday I did nothing except work.  Not overly happy about this, but I can't go back in time and get up earlier and go running before work, so I'm over it.  I always knew that this time would be rough with work and I can't stretch myself too thin otherwise I'll never make it through with my sanity in check, so I'm doing the best I can for now.

Today Drew and I had signed up for the 26th Annual Central Park Biathlon.  Just to be clear, I did not ski or shoot.  I would have classified what I did as a duathlon, consisting of running and biking, but I didn't title this race, and I think it's a bit confusing.  Unfortunately, I ended up having to do the race by myself since Drew had to be on a plane to D.C. this morning and couldn't do the race as well.

This morning was a bit cooler than it has been recently, so I wore tri shorts, a long-sleeved shirt and my Terrier bike vest to keep myself warm on the bike.  As soon as I got on my bike to ride to the Park, I felt pretty cold, but knew I'd warm up as time went on.  I got to the race site and racked my bike and then went to check in.  Funnily enough, the person checking me was Krista!  Both her and her husband were volunteering at the race. I only got to say a quick hello since there were other people waiting to get their race numbers also.

I put my number on my bike and on my race belt and still had plenty of time to kill before the race started, so I decided to go for a quick warm-up run.  I decided that I'd run for 8 minutes out and then run back.  It actually worked out perfectly, because right when I got back, the race director had just started giving out instructions about the race and the race course.  He also mentioned that if anyone was seen using headphones, they'd be disqualified.  This fact was also in the official rules listed on the website.

As we were lining up for the start, I saw my friend Lisa.  We chatted for a couple minutes before the gun went off.  It was definitely nice to see a friendly face.  The race started pretty much on time, which was nice.  The running course was from the Central Park Boathouse up to 96th Street and back again.  Pretty uneventful.

Of course, I ended up seeing two people wearing headphones.  Both people only had one earbud in their ears, but I don't really think that makes a difference.  I told both people that they were breaking the rules and if they didn't take them out, they would be disqualified.  Even if that meant that I had to tell an official myself.  Maybe that's mean of me, but it was in the rules and the race director had told us about 10 minutes before that it was against the rules.  I don't think I was out of line.  Especially since everyone else was following the rules.  I don't think they should get a free pass.

I had told Drew yesterday that my only goal was to finish this race in under two hours.  Even with my normal slow pace, that was more than doable, so I wasn't in any sort of rush on the run.  I was a little bit warm with the biking vest on while I was running, but I knew it'd be good to have on the bike.

When I got back to transition, I changed shoes and grabbed my bike and headed out.  The course was to do two loops of the Park.  I have to say, I would have been happier only doing one loop, but of course I did both.  During the first loop, I had a near accident with a guy walking his dogs.  I actually was a bit upset with both the guy (for not looking) and the volunteer who was standing next to him (for not saying anything).  I know the volunteers have a hard job, but it was really close call!

The second loop wasn't quite as eventful.  I was really glad the whole time that I was wearing the biking vest.  Every time there was a big gust of wind, it was really nice to have on.  There was a girl in front of me on a mountain bike and was wearing tennis shoes.  I was bound and determined not to let her beat me in on the bike.  Even though I only came in about 1 second before her, somehow that made me feel better.  When I went into the second transition, I took off my bike vest for the second run. 

When I was on the bike, I noticed that the run course was a bit longer than a mile.  I even came home and checked Gmap Pedometer, and it also says that the run course was long, so I actually feel pretty awesome about my run times now.  It turned out to be a good thing because as I was finishing, Lisa and her other Asphalt Green teammates were cheering for me, but they had mixed emotions about cheering for someone wearing Terrier gear, which I wasn't wearing when they were cheering for me!  I have to say that it was really, really nice to have someone cheering for me at the finish!

After the race, I chatted with Lisa for a few minutes, grabbed half a bagel and an orange slice and headed home.  I had to work again today, which was probably the only reason that I actually got dressed in real clothes today!  Otherwise I would have been quite content to stay in pajamas.  I also had been thinking that perhaps I would be able to get a few more running miles in before heading to work, but it wasn't in the cards for today.  All I can say is that tomorrow is a new week and I'm going to start fresh then. 

Running (pre-race)
Time: 15:54
Distance: 1.60 miles
Pace: 9:56/mile
Calories: 138
Maximum HR: 175 (83%)
Average HR: 163 (77%)

Biathlon
Run 1: 21:30
T1: 1:10
Bike: 51:05
T2: 2:26
Run 2: 21:34
Total Time:1:36:31
Calories: 894
Maximum HR: 191 (90%)
Average HR:170 (80%)

I measured the runs as 2.25 miles each and the bike as 12.18 miles.  That gives me a total of 6.10 miles running for the day. 


Saturday, Day 13: Wore jeans,  black v-neck sweater and gray Converse.  We thought that the cat needed a redeeming photo after her alien eyes from before, so she's making an appearance again.  Not that you can see it, but I started out wearing a silver necklace and ended up changing it in the evening for dinner to a new one.  I'll be wearing the new one again, so will take a photo later.

Sunday, Day 14: Wore jeans and green turtleneck with gray Converse.  Jewelry consists of pearl stud earrings from my grandma.  My grandma didn't have pierced ears, so I actually had the earrings changed from clip-ons to studs.

I Think There Are Hills In Philly

This morning I really didn't feel like getting out of bed and going for a run, but Drew thought that it was a bad idea for me to stay in bed and kept pestering me, so finally I got up and at 'em.  I'm actually really glad he did, though, because I seem to have gotten past my bad run and back onto the good run track.

I figured I should probably do some of those hill repeats that I skipped out on Wednesday.  I mean, it looks like there are hills in Philadelphia, see:

I have to say that I'm pretty glad that the second half of the race looks relatively flat.  I'm not sure why they want to kill our legs right from the get-go, though!  

So, today, I ran from our apartment to Cat Hill and then did 6 Cat Hill repeats (each up and down is 0.50 miles), so it was 3 miles in total of hills.  Oddly enough, I didn't even hate it.  Although, it's funny because for the first 4, I was feeling great.  By the 5th one, I could tell I was tired and I was so glad that time wasn't permitting me to do any more than 6 today! 

My favorite part of doing these hill repeats is to see how many times I can pass walkers going up or down the hill while I'm running.  Silly, I know, but I'll take whatever motivates me at this point.  I know I need to throw in some more hill workouts in the upcoming weeks, but I'm glad I got this one under my belt.  After the hill repeats, I ran home and after begging Drew to make a smoothie immediately, I hopped in the shower.

Normally the smoothie wouldn't be such a big deal, but in an effort to get in the longest run possible today, I skipped eating anything before going running.  I know a lot of people out there don't eat before these shorter runs, but I tend to wake up hungry and while I felt okay during my run today, I think I would have felt better with a bite or two of something in my tummy.  To each his own, right?  I just know that being slightly more fueled makes me feel better. 

Running
Time: 1:02:20
Distance: 6.00 miles
Pace: 10:23/mile

Today's Wardrobe Challenge is a repeat of the shirt I wore on Wednesday.  But I only wore it for about 2 hours to go to the dentist, so I don't really think it was dirty.  Although I plan on doing laundry this weekend, so don't worry too much about my cleanliness.  Drew's in the pictures again.  He made us take some funny ones and I couldn't figure out how to not cut his head off ...

I'm wearing the gray short-sleeved skirt and gray skirt.  Today's jewelry was picked by Drew:

Those earrings are actually the first jewelry that Drew gave me and the bracelet is an Elephant Hair bracelet from his parents.  (Although, it's not real hair, but I do have some earrings that are, I'll try to wear them soon).  Today's shoes are really two pairs.  Flats that I actually wore to work and then the heels are the shoes I'm wearing at work.  Complicated business when you walk a mile to and from work each day! 

Dressing The Part

Last night on our way home from dinner, there was a guy in the elevator who was dressed in some workout gear and carrying an iPod. I asked him if he was heading out for a run and he said that he was, but that he was going to the gym and wasn't going to run outside in the dark. I then made some sort of comment about feeling like a badass because I do run in the dark. Not all the time, not every day, but I do in fact run while it's still dark outside quite often. I think I'm often quite smart about where I run while it's dark and this is New York City! You're never alone here!

I have to say that once we got off the elevator I felt bad for making my comment to that guy. Drew said I basically called him a wimp. So, sorry guy! But, in fairness, he was wearing a cotton t-shirt and I just couldn't take him very seriously as a real runner.

This morning I got up and headed off to the Terrier run (in the dark, I might add). I knew before I got there that today's run was going to be hill repeats, which I figure can't be the worst thing for me for San Francisco training. We did our normal strides (about 0.50 miles) and then instead of having us just run right over to the hill, which is maybe 0.1 mile away from where we do our strides, Spencer had us run a small warm-up of 0.75 miles around to the hill.

And then we did 40 minutes of hill repeats. I have to say that I actually felt pretty good about the 40 minutes part, mainly because that was the half-Ironman workout. I guess I'm officially in that group now! Eek! I did 4 miles in my 40 minutes, which was not easy. By the end of it, my calves were screaming out to me to give them a break!

I did walk for just about 2 minutes after finishing the hill repeats and then jogged the rest of the way home. When I was leaving the Park, I saw three girls all decked out in running gear, but they were carrying Starbucks cups - the plastic kind where you can clearly see that they all had gotten whipped cream drinks. They were walking along the path very leisurely. I guess that just goes to show that you can dress the part of a runner, but you can't always be the part. I'm guessing the guy in the cotton t-shirt was a bit more of a runner that the Starbucks girls. Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover.

I went home and showered as quickly as possible since I was dying to put on my compression sleeves on my calves. They were definitely needing some special attention after five straight days of biking and a nice long run today!

Run to Park
Time: 12:06
Distance: 1.30 miles
Pace: 9:18/mile
Calories: 125
Maximum HR: 173
Average HR: 163

Running (Cat Hill Repeats)
Time: 45:43
Distance: 4.75 miles
Pace: 9:37/mile
Calories: 563
Maximum HR: 188
Average HR: 178

Run Home
Time: 14:25
Distance: 1.35 miles
Pace: 10:40/mile
Calories: 159
Maximum HR: 180
Average HR: 168

Total Running, including strides: 7.90 miles

The Experimental Runner

I have a couple of confessions to make. I've been staying up way too late to get up at the proper time in the morning in order to workout before work. That meant that this morning, I skipped the Terrier workout. I really tried to get up, even with Drew's prodding, but my body just said no. My other confession is that I'm anemic. Last year, my doctor prescribed me iron pills, which I took for several months, before giving up because even with the pills, I was still anemic. I think I was just so frustrated that the pills weren't really helping that I just gave up. Even though at my physical last month she told me that I'm still anemic, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Today I decided that perhaps it's not just the fact that I've been staying up late that is causing me to be so fatigued, so I bought myself some over-the-counter iron pills to try and give them a shot to see what happens. I'm hoping that a combination of going to bed a little earlier along with the pills will help out.

Last night after work, I went to buy replacement shoes. My old running shoes have seen their last mile. The frustrating part for me was that the style of my old shoes were discontinued and I guessed that I could probably just use the new Mizunos (Wave Inspire 6), but I wanted to go to the store to see what they thought. They confirmed my suspicions and I ended up with these bad boys:


So, they're really not that bad (there are two color choices - yellow and pink - and luckily they didn't have the pink!). They look a lot better from the side than they do when I look down at them. That yellow sure is a bright color! I also got some new speed laces for my new shoes. I realize that it's a little bit silly to buy myself a new pair of laces every time, as I don't think they really go bad, but it's only $4 and I figure, why not?

Today's Terrier workout was Cat Hill repeats in the Park. I definitely know that I need the hill practice, so I figured that I'd do the same thing today after work. Today's actual workout was supposed to be 6 miles / 2 x [2:00, 3:00, 4:00] AI (as a side note, I totally made up this week myself because I wanted to do 12 miles this weekend before the race). I figured that the runs up the hill would count as the intervals.

So, I strapped on my new shoes and headed off to the park. Running to the park was pretty slow. I felt like I got stopped at every red light and was dodging all sorts of pedestrian traffic as well. When I first get new shoes, it takes me a while to get the laces tightened properly. It's really hard to know how they'll be until I start running, so I stopped when I got to the park and adjusted slightly.

I ran up to Cat Hill and started my repeats. I could tell that the shoes were slightly different from my old model. I wasn't quite sure what to do about it, so I ran the first two miles of hill repeats in 20:00 exactly. I have to tell you that I was really, really happy to see that after feeling like I'd been getting slower. It was nice to see 10 minute miles, especially while running up and down hill. After two miles of hill repeats, I decided that my feet weren't all that comfortable. They were okay, but something was a little off.

Before I go any further, I realize that I should put in a disclaimer: I'm currently reading Born To Run and at lunch today, I started reading the part about barefoot running and how running shoes and orthotics are ruining the feet of Americans and our ability to run. Before I started reading the book, I will admit that I was interested in the whole barefoot running movement, but now I'm even more curious about the whole thing. However, I won't be trying anything for a while, I think, since I've got some big races to do and I'll be wearing shoes during those races. Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking about my shoes and my orthotics.

So, after two miles of hills, I stopped and took out my orthotics. (I can hear Laura cringing right now). I knew I didn't have that much more to run and I figured that running one mile without them wouldn't seriously injure me and it was worth it to figure out if these new shoes were better or not. Turns out that my foot overall felt better. There was a lot more room in the shoe and my foot felt like it could breathe. Except that after running about a mile, I felt like my heel might have a small twinge of pain, so I stopped again to try something else.

So, I put my orthotics back into my shoes and took out the liners of the shoes. I realize that I'm probably the only person who used to wear both my shoe liners and orthotics, but I'm wondering now if this new model of shoe has a little less room in the foot area and that's why they both don't fit as well as they used to. I ran my last hill mile in record time (9:19), so I'm hoping that this combination for the shoes will be the winner overall. I'm going to give this combination another shot on Thursday when I run next (although I'm going to take the liners just in case I need them again).

All in all, I think that today was a really great run for me. I'm glad that even though there were a couple of things about the shoes that I need to work out, it felt really good to not want to cry about running two miles like I did last week on the treadmill. I also think that the hill runs today gave me a lot more confidence about the hills in the half-marathon. There were a ton of people out running in the park today (it was almost like being at a NYRR race, it was that many people) and lots of them were doing hill repeats. I have to say that it was nice to beat some people up the hill, even if I also got passed quite a bit. The run home was just about as slow as the run to the park. I think I hit one less light on the way home, which was the only reason that it was a little bit faster. I don't think that I was any faster.

My goals for the rest of the month are to try to stick to the plan as closely as possible, especially the week before the race when I'll need to be tapering and not trying to squeeze in any last long runs. I'm also hoping to finish my half-marathon running and smiling when I get to the end. I'm trying not to have any time goals, as I'm really more concerned with the mental aspect of that race and knowing that I can do a half-marathon (I think it'll be really important at Timberman). I'm also going to try to do some cross training on my off days, but I'm not going to make it a requirement for myself. I also need to figure out my half-Ironman triathlon training plan, so look for that in the coming weeks!

Run To Park
Time: 16:02
Distance: 1.50 miles
Pace: 10:42/mile
Calories: 178
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 161

Hill Repeats
Time: 39:19
Distance: 4.00 miles
Pace: 9:49/mile
Calories: 518
Maximum HR: 189
Average HR: 178

Run Home
Time: 15:53
Distance: 1.50 miles
Pace: 10:35/mile
Calories: 198
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 172