26.2 mile line

I could freak out about the weather, the crowds, my legs, and my training. But I'm trying to trust myself, my body, my heart, and my endurance. It WILL be an exciting event and a marvelous marathon. My mind will carry the courage from family and friends and other folks.

22907

To track me while running the NYC marathon tomorrow, go to: http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/Results.htm

I will be #22907!

I'm carbo loading and have gotten plenty of sleep for the past several days. My body feels good and my mind's ready to race in New York :)

Expo

I took the train into Manhattan and managed to get myself through the hustle and bustle to the Marathon Expo at the Javits Convention Center. There, I got my race bib (#22907 in the Blue starting village) and timing chip-tag, as well as the official blue long sleeved race shirt. I snagged some samples of powerbars and gus. I also spent awhile browsing through the Asics race clothing and accessories (and ended up purchasing a cool gray long sleeved shirt-jacket with the world's softest fleeciest lining!).

Afterwards, I treated myself to a pretzel from a NY street vendor, and it was a delicious way to kick off my carbo loading :P When I wake up tomorrow morning, I'll be two days away from race day, so it's time to get excited....very excited!!

In my bag

After waking up my legs with a nice track workout of 3 X 400 (at sub 1:46!), I finished packing for the flight east. Yes, I've packed my running clothes and shoes, water belt (thanks, Jess!), hat, gloves, extra sweats for the waiting on Staten Island, socks, Garmalade, and the race information booklet. Of course, I'm also bringing my laptop and study materials....If only I could stow away Kara Goucher's abs AND speediness ;)

Whether or not

I could have also titled this post as weather or not. Ha! This refers to my obsessive spiral into weather-checking every hour or so. I have multiple sources: weather.com, accuweather, and a NYC news station. The forecasts are still unaligned and unstable. Sigh......

I also can't decide if I want to start packing yet. And, usually, we don't pack for trips till the night before or even the morning of. But the concept of flying across the country with my marathon gear is making me want to get my ducks in a row. A very tidy row. Sigh.....

And, yes, the race has gotten to close to write about the time that remains. Sigh.....

*I'm sure some of this angst will pass over me at some point!

Saturday

It was a gorgeous Saturday, and I ran 8 miles up to Piedmont and then down and around Lake Merritt! My body felt relatively good, though oddly tired. I suppose that's due to not running enough this week ;)

I did some professional grade chillaxing with Jenica at a Korean Spa in SF....There's something so heavenly and healing about time in the hot tub, cold plunge, sauna. I tried to imagine the water and sweat removing toxins from my muscles.

Finally, I worked on the marathon training plan for the Avenue race in May. As crazy as it sounds, I feel better when planning my next marathon than thinking about the one that's just around the corner!!

10 days

T minus 10 days...Taper madness is rearing its head. In other words, I'm noticing aches in strange parts of my body and simultaneously feel over and under trained OR over and under rested. Go figure. My new favorite hobby is checking the weather in NYC---even though the 10 day forecast is ridiculously unreliable.

For pre-marathon therapy, J and I are going out for burgers and drinks tonight. But the only drug that really, really treats taper madness is running, like 26.2 miles of running. Cheers!!

Vivo tempo

Even though Lake Merritt was replete with gunk in the water and birds galore, this morning's tempo run was splendidly lively. I wanted my pace to be sub 8:19, and I managed 8:16/8:11/7:50!! My legs felt good on the tempo portion, giving me a teensy bit of confidence that sub-4 could be my pace in NYC :)

* Vivo- lively & fast (according to Wikipedia)

Into the taper

Yeah, I'm tapering. That means I have more time on my hands for things like studying, cleaning the kitchen, and shopping :) It also means that I should lay off the Trader Joe's cookies :(

More importantly, I've been checking the NYC weather race day forecast (thanks to accuweather.com's 15 day forecast) and planning out what to wear before, during, and after the race! I keep reminding myself that the whole point of running less during these two weeks is so I can run faster on November 1....

Fall

I noticed an abundance of leaves--of various hues--on the ground this morning, and it even smelled like fall! I really appreciate the way that running gives me the opportunity to experience the seasons and the shifts in weather, its sights and smells.

The SF marathon was my summer marathon, and I devoted the spring and summer to training. And now the NYC marathon will be my fall marathon, and it's terrific to feel the season rolling toward fall. Of course, there is a decent chance that the race day will feel a bit wintery again; getting to run through New York in the fall, winter, spring, or summer weather will rock :)

Before I get verklempt

With 17 days till the NYC Marathon, I want to thank some awesome people who help make the 26.2 mile journey much, much easier...

Thanks to my hubby for putting up with the alarm going off way too early on the weekend for long runs and the abundance of sweaty running gear in our bedroom AND my insistence to eat boring pasta.

Thanks to J for motivating me during track workouts, checking on my training plan, and reminding me to treat myself.

Thanks to all my lady runnin' friends, and someday we should ALL run a marathon together (yes, I'm talking to you, Katie & Mia & Jess...)! And yeah, it would pretty much be the bestest thing ever.

Thanks to my parents for driving me to cross country and track practice and meets way back in high school.

Thanks to Sue and Arnie for running gear and deep support.

Thanks to grad school friends for reminding me how nutty I am to do marathon training AND qualifying exam studying this fall.

Watch this

Free fallin'

Every rose has its thorn, and every training cycle has its fall. Maybe it's because your body gets SO used to running that it's on autopilot mode OR maybe it's cumulative exhaustion from weeks and weeks of training :)

Regardless, about five minutes into today's mellow 50 minute run (mainly to burn off some nervous energy related to the multiple uncertainties and stresses of the day ahead), I tripped on the sidewalk on Lakeshore (near the Gap) and fell down. I have small scrapes on my hands and a long patch of sidewalk burn/road rash on one of my thighs. But, all in all, I'm no worse for the wear!

Runnin' on water

Now I understand why people get gym memberships. Or own a treadmill.

I ran in the torrential ran this morning. My rain jacket kept me fairly comfortable but after a few miles I was soaked.

From rainy day run

Drenched. And puddle hopping for 7 miles. I admit it's a little crazy to run in the rain; it's also very freeing.

Two words

Twenty two!

With 22 days till the NYC marathon, I survived the longest run of this training cycle. I even managed to do 6 miles at around GMP and felt strong running them sub 8:55, even finishing with an 8:40 mile (definitely speedier than my 8:58 goal pace)!

It was fantastic running weather today, and I noticed lots of the folks who I crossed paths with were smiling as they biked, ran, or walked by. I'm pretty sure I was smiling, too and getting into my new ipod playlist :)

Almost there

Just checking in on Friday of monster week to report that so far, so good! Today's tempo run felt great, and I was in the speedy portion of my tempo-zone; that should give me a bit more confidence that 3:55 is within reach.

Tomorrow's 22 miler is a big long run, for sure. But I'm making a pancake dinner tonight to load lots of easy-to-digest carbs into my system :P And I'm giving myself permission to ease myself into the long run and trust the totality of my training. With just over three weeks till New York, it's time to reassure myself that the race WILL go wonderfully & be a BLAST!!

A poem

Love the track

All out

Dig deep
Drive your arms
Eek it out

Run hard, repeat, rest

Booyahh for nailing today's 4-8-12-4-8-12-8-4 'ladder' workout :)

Monster week is here

Officially, this is my peak week. But--with Halloween fast approaching--I think it's more appropriate to call it a monster week!! My training plan includes the ghoulish combination of a medium long run, 4/8/12 track workout, tempo run, and a 22 miler with pace miles (or should I call them trick miles?!). I'm figuring out what my treats will be for completing these intense workouts :P

Monster week is here!

Officially, it's my peak week

Tummer

It's time for me to write about my tummy.

No, not because I'm planning on developing Kara Goucher-esque fabulous abs :) It would take a moderate-miracle for me to develop a 6-pack rather than drinking 6-packs (I heart Anchor Steam, Hefeweizen, and, well, Budweiser)!

Instead, I'll talk about the far more appealing nature of my digestive tract....

I tend to have a very strong stomach and eat just about anything (except papaya). But I've had some not-so-fun tummy issues during the past few weeks of running. It could be the noxious combination of heat, not eating well enough, hormones, and stress :( Whatever it was, it didn't help my training. I took a step last night by eating a super simple (and easy to digest) dinner- buttered pasta noodles with some grated cheese (plus M & Ms for dessert). I abandoned my traditional tomato sauce and salad, and my stomach felt terrific on this morning's 15 miler. No heartburn or bathroom issues. In fact, I'm recording it as my easiest 15 miler; a nice run around Alameda on a nice early fall morning.

Shout outs

Yeah, I'm starting to feel famous....

Marathon Mama said---"Onto the next comment from the lovely Sarah.

Blog reader Sarah asked the other day how I’m approaching my taper, and I’m just so excited that anyone cares about my tapering that I’m going to post about it. As a coach-in-progress, I might not have the race times to claim my racing record is my best qualification, but I am very good at tapering. I excel at slacking off, so I can bring some authority to the notion of tapering."

Also, thank you to Runner's Rambles for commenting on my blog. BUT, much more importantly, g'luck to this East Bay runner who will be rocking the Sacramento Cowtown marathon this weekend :>

Hello, October!

I welcomed in the month of October with a fantastic steady state run around Lake Merritt. When I stepped outside, I got goosebumps because it was finally chilly--a definite relief for runner-me :) The 40 minutes at steady state pace were sub 8:30--yeehaw!

I also really think my legs benefited from the day of rest, and I'm feeling MUCH more positive about the final push through this training cycle--bring it on, big apple!

One month!

It's totally unbelievable that the marathon is only a month away, and that the major part of my training is done! This article explains what's going on for me right about now.

I let my leggies rest again but have a 40 min. steady state run tomorrow. I think it'll be a blast to run in the morning chilliness :)