It’s hard to believe that it was 80 degrees on Tuesday September 17th when i ran my half marathon in South Dakota and just yesterday they were slammed with over 3 feet of snow! Talk about a complete 180 in just 2 weeks!
I didn’t run today. I started my day volunteering at an Autism Speaks fundraising walk. I took photos.
Then I relaxed and did a whole lot of nothing for a couple of hours. My schedule gets crazy for the next 5 weeks and I just wanted to shut off and do nothing for a bit. But then I got the doodle’s “you’re putty in my paws” look and I took him for a walk through the woods and around our local park. I was hoping the Autumn colors would be emerging but it’s hit or miss here and the area we went today was still pretty green. So I wore a colorful shirt to compensate:
I thought the leaves are supposed to be changing ma?
dramatic
After dinner I took a quick trip to Target for some grocery items. I ended up grabbing a halloween costume for Duncan too! (I bought both but am leaning toward the tuxedo).
Tomorrow the plan is to be out the door about 6:30am to get to my running spot at sunrise. I’m planning on running 14 miles along the boardwalk and underneath the Verrazano Bridge. It’s time to get excited and start visualizing the start of the NYC Marathon.
Hope you are all having a nice weekend. I’m off to bed.
Question: Which costume should I make Duncan wear? Tuxedo? Pirate?
Yesterday’s meltdown is a thing of the past. Today, I rocked my run!
Well, let’s clarify. I didn’t stick to a 10:50 pace. I decided after a mile to see what my pace was and whatever it was that would be the pace I would shoot to maintain for the remainder.
I mapped out an 8ish mile route that would pass by my parents’ house so that I could get some water. (One of the sad things about summer being over is that most of the parks have shut off their water fountains for the season). After filling up my water bottle I took a few minutes to sit on their porch and rock in a rocking chair….Ha! Get it? This is why I “rocked” my run. And I give all the credit for the pun to Valerie, a loyal reader/runner/friend.
Rocking my run!
I did a decent job of maintaining all my splits around 11:30s and that was fine. (mile 5 I walked a bit to fuel and the last mile I was emailing with work!
Even though It’s October and there were some sights of fall…
autumnal road signs and happy feet
There were also signs that spring and summer haven’t totally left. I always manage to find those rebel honeysuckles that refuse to die! I love them!
rebel honeysuckles and some pretty colored berries
When I got home, I wiped my sweaty face with a paper towel and then next thing you know this happened:
After all that running and then another mile and a half walking the dog, I was starving. I looked in the freezer and saw this big bag of corn my dad gave me. He has a garden in his backyard and grows his own corn! I decided I’d try making corn fritters. I probably needed a little more flour but they came out pretty good.
corn fritters!
I’m really getting excited for the NYC Marathon! It’s in exactly one month. Time to start obsessing about the weather and what I plan on wearing…
Question: Are corn fritters and hush puppies the same thing? How do you strategize your water on a long run?
I was a hot mess this afternoon during my short 4 (that should have been 5) miles.
I had a dentist appointment this morning at 9am. I’m in the middle of getting a crown re-done. Lots of novacaine numbing and drilling going on. When I wrapped up at the dentist I quickly managed to squeeze in a few errands and deal with a few work related emails (i took today as a sick day but didn’t want to leave people hanging). By noon I finally realized I better get to steppin running because it was already 80 degrees. And off I went on what was to be a casual 5 miler. Oh, but casual this was not. NO it was a mess with a dress singlet and capris. First the sweat started to pour into my eyes because I opted for no hat or visor #FAIL!. I did however have sunglasses on but that just made the sweat pool up faster and sting my eyes even more. By mile two I was wiping and rubbing my eyes so much that I couldn’t even see. Combine that with a fingernail and BAM I left a nice big bleeding cut above my eyebrow. At this point I was flat out PISSED! I just wanted to get home. My mouth was half numb still but the throbbing from the tooth that was drilled started to get worse.
I cut the run down to 4 and went home only to dribble my entire bottle of water down my shirt as I couldn’t feel my lip. It’s actually kind of funny now.
Then I read this girl’s post and was so relieved that someone else was having a craptastic day.
Luckily I was able to hijack a friend to go to my favorite tex-mex restaurant. Because chips and salsa work wonders for the soul.
So there you have it folks! I better re-think the name of my blog. Because today the sweat only made the small stuff even more annoying. Tomorrow I have a 9 miler on tap. Gonna try and keep it to 10:50 pace for all 9 miles. We’ll see. Happy humpday! I’m off to walk the dog in the hopes I don’t scratch myself anymore today.
Question: Do you agree chips and salsa cure all or am I not a wise runner?
This is my favorite month. I’ll tell you about some of the great things planned.
Local races: I’m running 2 very special events this month that I’ve been doing for many years now.
Rock ‘N’ Roll New York 10k (in Brooklyn, NY)
I’ve been running the Rock ‘n’ Roll New York 10K since the inaugural event in 2011 where I PR’ed with a 59:55. It was a bit unorganized the first year but last year they figured their sh#t out and it was much more organized—I on the other hand was not as organized. I forgot one key pre-race checklist item–to check my shoelaces. I stopped twice to tie my shoes and finished with a 1:01:55, exactly 2 minutes slower. I don’t think I would have beat my PR but I def could have shaved a minute had those laces been tied. I’m super excited to run it again this year on Saturday 10/12! I know the course really well and I might just try to set a new PR. But there’s only one caveat…
Staten Island Half Marathon (Staten Island, NY)
…The second special event is actually the day after the RnR 10k this year on Sunday 10/13. It’s the Staten Island Half Marathon in my home town. And it has also become my last (and longest) training run for my fall marathons (NYC in 2011, Philly in 2012 and this year NYC again!). I log 7 miles before the start to end up with a good solid 20 miler for the day. So if I choose to push hard the day before to try for a PR, I might not have enough energy to get through 20 miles. HMMMM. I’m going to continue to mull over my plan for this. While the S.I. half has never been my fastest, it’s one of my favorites. It was my first ever half marathon back in 2007 where I finished in 2:36 and since then my times have ranged between 2:24 and 2:54. I get to drive to the start without hassle because I live so close to the start. I pick my bib and shirt up the morning of, and I’ve even been able to “christen” the porta johns because I’m there so early. AHHHH! Nothing like being the FIRST person to use a porta john.
And a big bonus is that I get to run these events with some of my Center of the Nation running peeps!
Autumn: This time of year here in the North East is so awesome. After suffering through 80 and 90 degree sticky, humid days, it’s a pleasure to finally have cooler and crisper temps in the 60s and 70s. The leaves on the trees turn all sorts of amazing colors and I love to crunch them as I run. Plus, Autumn is apple picking season! I LOVE to go apple picking and then I bake 2 apple crisps and eat them both myself in a weekend. (true story!). And I enjoy decorating my front porch with a cute li’l orange pumpkin (and a doodle).
My birthday: And this year on October 25th I’ll be turning 40! Woah! Crazy right? I don’t look act a day older than 12. =) Last year I got to celebrate twice and had 2 cakes. The one on the right was homemade by my amazing friend Butter
Halloween:While I don’t really dress up in costume anymore, I get a kick out of making Duncan suffer through some rather embarrasing looks.
Sherrif on the left and referee on the right
So there you have it. October is going to be a great month!
Question: What’s your favorite month? What’s your favorite season?
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