Summer in the city

Annnnnd I'm back. After a month long sabbatical from "Couch to Comrades," steel yourself for weekly blog spam. The radio silence doesn't indicate a lack of running, I promise. Last weekend Kim and I ran the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon (recap to come in a second!) and I've been plugging around 30 miles a week for the past month in preparation for the start of marathon training in July. But to be honest, my ongoing premature quarter-life crisis has left me with little motivation to write about the same old, same old runs.

As most recent graduates will admit, this time in our lives is an exciting, promising, debaucherous chapter but still quite full of uncertainty. Friends move in and out of your life, apartments change seemingly every month, and five year plans rarely pan out as we envisioned. And for the first time, we're left without an obvious next goal to work towards. High school and college rolled by in a blur of standardized exams, college applications, club elections, job hunts, and theses, but now the next step is less clear and pursuing our true passions can often feel difficult, if not downright impossible.

Amidst this continual change, running serves as a much needed constant for me - not just a daily challenge but also a way to connect with friends no matter how much distance time puts between us. This fall, Christine, Mike, Tom, Kim, Greg, and I will be running marathons across the country, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be on the sidelines at every race cheering them on. As I've mentioned before, what better excuse for a reunion than a life-changing race!

Last Saturday, the Brooklyn Half reminded me why I adore running and why I've committed to running the Marine Corps Marathon this fall and Comrades next year. The conditions were perfect for a long race, the crowd support throughout the course was inspiring, and running with one of your closest friends makes the miles fly by. After a month of less than inspiring 6 mile runs, the half marathon was definitely the perfect antidote to my stuck-in-a-rut blues. Also amazing was seeing Maddie, who was visiting her friend Anna (who totally rocked the half) for the weekend! After the race finished, we all met up to grab some post-run carbs courtesy of Dunkin' Donuts (no way we could stomach Nathan's hot dogs), and sat around on the Coney Island boardwalk noshing and catching up. Always wonderful to see old friends and compare running war stories. With two marathons already under her belt, Maddie's definitely an old hand at this long distance running thing and has been a bit of a running inspiration for me :)

Upcoming races: Before listing my running ambitions for the summer, I shall caveat to hell that I am not built for hot, humid weather. It doesn't matter that I've lived on the swampy East Coast for the majority of my life; I've never acclimated. So forewarning that there may be a few too many whiny posts about horrendous racing conditions and skipped long runs. Yes, I am a wimp. The Wall Street 3M on June 24 is up next, followed by NYRR Splash n'Dash 10K in the beginning of July. Kim will be headed up to the city later in the summer for some lovely training runs and the Bronx Half Marathon. Call me crazy but I'm actually looking forward to 15+ mile runs every weekend!

Pepita says time for a RACE RECAP!

Okay, sorry for the obnoxious inside joke title but had to give a shout out to Team Pepita (aka Kim, Tim, Mike, and I) for the great hustle at Sunday's Broad Street 10 Mile in Philly! Despite horrendously hot and humid weather, the race was fantastic and the perfect excuse for a Georgetown reunion. After fetching my hungover self from the Boltbus station on Saturday afternoon, Kim took me on my first real tour of Philly, making sure that we hit up all the important cultural and culinary sites. Mmmm Amish apple dumplings are definitely my new favorite way to carboload!

After loading up on food, Kim and I headed over to Lincoln Financial Field to pick up our bibs and packets from the race expo. Luckily by the time we arrived, most of the runners had already come through so we were able to grab our packets without a hitch and then spent a little time wandering around the expo searching for free schwag. Not much in the way of free goodies, but Kim and I did come out with our AWESOME NEW HYDRATION BELTS. These will be a much needed running accessory as we delve into marathon training this summer. Obviously we got them in matching colors, although we did restrain ourselves from purchasing them in highlighter pink. The ridiculously good looking photos of us modeling the belts will be posted shortly...

In order to get us PSYCHED for the race, Tim brought Without Limits, the 1997 cult classic that documents the short, but amazing life of famed American long distance runner Steve Prefontaine. Our viewing session on Saturday evening was cut a bit short due to exhaustion, but watching some of Pre's record-breaking runs definitely put us in the mood to dominate the race the next day! Scope it out for yourself:



As for the actual race, well, for what was supposed to be an "easy" ten miler, the Broad Street run turned into one of the most painful (albeit fun) runs I can remember. To put it mildly, I was woefully unprepared for the realities of running in 80degree, disgustingly humid weather. Yes, I am being a whining wimp but seriously, who actually enjoys running when the air has the consistency of pea soup?! No matter, Philly put on a great show for the race with spectators cheering us on along the entire length of the course, fire hydrants spraying down the runners, and, of course, the Rocky soundtrack blasting from more than one apartment window. While our times may not have been exactly what we hoped for, Team Pepita survived and managed to go enjoy the CcTC post-race tent party and keg. Win!

Which running conditions do you prefer - freezing snowpocalypse or humid hot mess?

Up next: NYRR Brooklyn 1/2 Marathon on May 22. Kim's heading back to the city to brave another NYRR race, this time on the opposite end of the weather spectrum. She, being an intelligent non-procrastinating individual, actually registered for this race. I, being total fail, missed the sign up. Minor details. So I'll be ghost running (i.e. sneaking) into the race. Sadly I won't get credit as part of the 9+1 to auto-qualify for 2011 NYC Marathon, but since I've already checked off six of the nine races, I'm not too concerned. Keep your fingers crossed it's an abnormally cool day!