Spring is in the air!

And I've fallen in love with New York City all over again. Something about hyacinths and outdoor runs in shorts and a tank top restores my faith in humanity.

On Friday, I took the day off from work (!!!) to take care of some long overdue errands / get my life in a semblance of working order. Mission moderately accomplished; however, the 70 degree weather distracted me from getting a new passport. After two hours in the DMV line, the prospect of another encounter with bureaucracy at its worst was unimaginable. Instead, I was lured over to the East River Park to do some of serious speed work. Did two miles warm-up at half-marathon pace (9:20) then did 6 x 400m at 5k pace (8:45) with 200m recovery. Followed that up with a one mile cool down along the East River.

All in all, didn't feel horrible, which isn't saying much considering I haven't done any serious intervals for a few weeks. Last week, I limited my runs to a few short, slow 4-5 milers. Not very fun, but practical considering the state of my knees. However, with this weekend's 15K rapidly approaching I wanted to gauge where my pace was at and also decide if I needed to sit this race out. As much as I've been looking forward to running a race that ISN'T during a snowpocalypse, can't justify blowing out my knee due to stubbornly ignoring my pain. My (overly?) ambitious goals of running my first marathon this fall and the Comrades in 2011 are just slightly dependent on having functioning joints.

What are your running/exercise goals for 2010?

Running was the last thing on my mind Saturday as I nursed the hangover from hell, but by Sunday I was hydrated, rested, and ready to go! Set out in the afternoon over to the East River and ran up past Stuytown and Peter Cooper to tack on an extra mile then turned around to head down to the Battery. I think all of NYC was out for a run/walk/bike/etc yesterday afternoon, including 5 million tourists who would NOT GET OUT OF MY WAY. Angstangst. Headed uptown along the Westside Highway for a few miles than cut across town on Houston St. to head back to my apartment. Used the stop and go of running city blocks as a chance to throw in some intervals. Ran at 5K pace until I hit a stop light - definitely took some effort since my legs were pretty tired by that point. Ended up running a skotch over 10 miles at ~9:50. Nothing spectacular in terms of time, which was fine since it was supposed to be a long slow run. Major victory that my knees didn't hurt too badly the next day thanks to icing and dosing with Mortin like a semi-responsible person.

After yesterday's long run, I'm feeling pretty solid that I'll be able to finish the 15K without screwing up my knees further (knock on wood). However, I'm going to have to wave goodbye to my goal of running the race at a ~8:50 pace. Sadly that will have to be left for another day, perhaps the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May!

Run Tracking

One of the most important parts of running is tracking your runs - how else do you know if you're on target for your goals, burning enough calories, or having enough fun?

Monica has always been completely old-school about this, keeping detailed notes in a journal like the 12-year-old girl she is at heart. I, being the tremendous geek I am, have always been looking for a techy, geeky way.

We both tried the Nike+ SportBand. For me, it has worked flawlessly for the past two months, and I've managed to track almost every out-door run I've done with it. However, it was a complete non-starter for Monica - never tracking accurately, stopping tracking in the middle of runs, and such. So I'd say, at best, it's hit-or-miss. The other downside of the service is that, whilst the user website is pretty, it's pretty-damn useless unless you want to do the 5 things they prescribe you to do. Your data is locked up inside it - you can't export it to another format (excel, xml) you can't get RSS feeds of activity to load into other website; basically you can't touch YOUR data outside of THEIR site.

Thus, I've been on the look-out, for a while, for something a little better. Today, after forgetting my sportband at home, I decided to try RunKeeper - an iPhone app. In a word, it is incredible. It was far more accurate than the sportband (as long as you get good GPS signal) allows you to own, extract and share your own data; and spiffily shows all of your runs automatically overlaid on Google Maps like such:



And the really great thing - they're currently testing a feature to give live updating of your runs on the web, so whilst you're out doing that marathon, your friends can check in on your progress.

Currently the only downside I can see is that having GPS on REALLY drains your battery, so it's probably no good for runs over an hour long, unless you've got a Mophie JuicePack.

If you already have an iPhone, this is a no-brainer. It's the best $10 I've spent all week - aside from my first  St. Patty's day pitcher tonight, of course!

Running Music Mixes

Every runner has their  audio entertainment preference when running. It probably changes from run to run, day to day, and what type of training you're doing. There are few things that can kill your desire to run more than boredom - hence the reason treadmills and winter are my anti-Christ. Music, or some other audio entertainment (recordings of people feeding tigers) is essential to keep your spirits up, and also importantly, keeping you running at the right pace.

So, what are my personal choices here? On the long, standard training runs, medium pace, I am in constant need of geeky, nerdy, downright pornographically pocket-protecting tech talk. Rather than keeping my mind focused on breathing and pace, it keeps my mind OFF of the fact that it's having to be idle for an hour or two. Luckily, great talk shows (in categories as varied as you can imagine - and yes Monica, there are "adult" categories) are extremely easy to locate, by way of the Podcasts section in iTunes. It hosts literally hundreds of thousands of free shows. One click to subscribe, and the new episodes are downloaded automatically to you iPod as soon as they're available. Careful, it's an addiction that can be hard to break (like peeps - topical time of year social reference!)

A few of my favourites:

• You look nice today - comedy
• This week in Tech - geekery
• MacBreak Weekly - Mac geekery
• Security Now - serious propeller-hat stuff
• The Skeptic's guide to the Universe - science (with an anti-pseudoscience edge)
• Stuff you should know, from HowStuffWorks.com - damn interesting
• The Disciplined Investor - finance

Falling into this "spoken-word" category are also audio books, and here there really is no other source than Audible.com. They have a fantastic collection (in categories as varied as you can imagine - and yes Monica, there are "adult" categories) My current recommended book is definitely Richard Wiseman's - 59 Seconds

But sometimes you're doing a faster run, trying for a specific time, or just want to turn your brain off for a while. Then, music is always a good choice. For me, the more euro-trashy the better. In this arena, you have a couple of options:

• The iPod shuffle (dangerous if you happen to have Kylie Minogue in your collection because of the summer of 2000 when you were obsessed with the way she smiled in the middle of the video to "Spinning Around"; penned by Paula Abdul, the second single from her triple platinum busting album "Light Years", posted below for your enjoyment)
  
• You can make your own playlists - if you have an inordinate amount of time on your hands
• You can hunt down pre-mixed sessions. I haven't yet found a good central repository of these, but there are a few good options:
• Sinanation - a turkish DJ in NY who generally lets you download his mixes - his latest, Apres-Ski is great:
  Après-ski by sbastas
• Running Music Mix - has pre-made mixes for pay, but also categorizes songs by BPM and style, useful if you want to put a bunch of songs together for a certain pace
• Nike+ mixes - Also for pay, but generally great stuff

Any other ideas for places to get great running music?

Shout out!

To Tom Vargas! Who's jumped on the marathoning bandwagon and started his own running blog to catalog his adventures (clearly I'm a gchat stalker). Tom and his friend Julia have committed to running a marathon in 5 months - very impressive.

Tom's comments on only halfheartedly committing to running in the past very much struck home for me. I was definitely a running commitment-phobe during college, going through spurts of running multiple times a week then wimping out for the next few months. I mean who wouldn't want to go for a run when spring and cherry blossoms are in the air or as the foliage changes to red and gold along the C&O Canal? However life, theses, extracurriculars, and The Tombs frequently interfered with any grandiose running plans I had while at Georgetown. Let's not even talk about the number of Army Ten Milers I signed up for and didn't run... Shame spiral. In retrospect, I don't necessarily regret taking so long to discover my passion for running since any serious training may have impeded my ability to take part in Monday Night Flip Cup, 80s Night, crazy MUN trips, and so many other activities that were fundamental parts of my college experience. But with so many of my friends getting into running or bumping it up to long distance these days (Emi, Kim, Tom, Christine, Christina, and more!!), have to say it would have been super fun for us all to have done a race together at Georgetown. And go daydrinking after. Oh well, just means we'll have to coordinate training/race schedules now!

Anyways, check out Tom's blog and cheer him on at Brooks Men's Switch 3! And Tom, watch out buddy, I just may show up in DC and force you to go running with me :)

Getting back on the horse

After taking the last week and a half off from running in a futile attempt to nurse my knee back to health, I AM BACK. Well to blogging that is. The first run back last night was rather frustrating as 1. it was NOT very springlike out aka far too cold/windy/rainy/nasty to be running in shorts and t-shirt outside and, more importantly, 2. my knee started flaring up literally half a mile down the Westside Highway. I carried on and did around four miles, not nearly as far as I would have liked to go but I didn't want to overdue it and miss out on gorgeous outdoor runs later this week. It's going to be 68 degrees on Thursday!!! This fact warrants many many exclamation points.

What are you looking forward to as the weather finally starts to warm up?

Either way, I think it's time I bite the bullet and go see a sports therapist to get my knee checked out. It feels like cotton balls are being pulled apart under my knee cap - that's not normal right? Clearly proved that I'm capable of running through the pain but it's not exactly an ideal or sustainable situation. In the meanwhile, I'll limit my running to only 2 times a week (super sadface) and continue crosstraining. Unfortunately, my forays into non-running workouts over the past week have by and large left me unsatisfied and longing to lace up my shoes and go for a jog around Tompkins Square Park. I've tried to focus on activities that will maintain my aerobic fitness while targeting key muscles that need to be rebalanced. In other words, loosen up my calves and hamstrings.

Here's the rundown:

1. Power Vinyasa Yoga: Brushed off my very under-used yoga mat and trotted up St. Mark's to Yoga to the People a few times last week. Tip to anyone who lives in the area - this place is AWESOME (albeit pretty intense). The studio offers free yoga classes with just a $2 mat rental fee and a suggested donation of whatever you can afford. I have yet to be a class that wasn't jam packed so be sure to show up at least 15 minutes before class begins. Luckily they have a ton of sessions even a 9pm one for us late working banker girls. Vinyasa is one of the most aerobic types of yoga, which is perfect for me since I am not well suited to sit around and say 'Ohm' for an hour. ADD, whaaat? And although the YTTP studio isn't heated, with so many people it definitely gets ridiculously hot Bikram style and you work up a mad sweat.
Overall: A- for a good aerobic workout and much needed stretching out of my hamstrings. Slight drawback of utterly embarrassing myself in the camel asana.

2. Elliptical: Ugh. Okay, I know that ellipticals are good for knee injuries since you can closely mimic the motion of running with no pressure on your joints. Fine. But does it have to be so boring? Also, the elliptical basically exercise the same muscles used in running thus failing to strengthen my quads in order to balance out the posterior thigh muscles. Fail.
Overall: C- for being really boring, not strengthening underused muscles, and making me feel like a Jane Hoya at Yates.

3. Stationary Bike: While the bike maybe equally boring, at least I can get a solid workout when the resistance is ramped up. And, more importantly, the bike is the perfect way to target lateral and medial quad muscles with minimal strain on my knee. Might try my first spin class this week to mix things up.
Overall: B for offering a decent workout and meeting most of my crosstraining goals. Still find myself staring jealously at the runners after the first 20 minutes of biking...

Up next: NYRR Colon Cancer Challenge 15K in Central Park on March 28! Sadly the race has already reached it's cap, but Smithies and I would definitely be happy to see some of y'all at the finish line! Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I'm good to go in two weeks...

Double trouble

Citi: 3, Monica: 0. Was held hostage in my cubicle (see: shamble photo) again yesterday and forced to skip out on my planned 7 mile run. Angstangstangst. I probably could have hustled down to the gym at one point in the afternoon, but was way too paranoid that my boss would call halfway through my run and then I'd have to sprint up to a meeting nice and sweaty. Not so professional. What spandex isn't appropriate office attire? Lies.

Oh well, I made up for it today by sneaking in two runs. Mwuahahaa. Straggled back to the office this morning before 7am to pound out some work and, more importantly in my opinion, a few miles at the gym (lovely photo below). Logged six miles at what felt like a turtle's pace (9:50 - 10:00) compared to all the speedwork I've been doing the past month. However, it was a chance to check my form and see what I could do to ease this reoccurring knee pain. Not much, apparently, but I did discover that my stride is actually a lot faster than I thought. Endurance running is all about being as efficient as possible, so it's important to minimize over-striding (i.e. covering too much ground in each stripe). Elite/legit runners usually have a turnover rate of 178 to 184 a minute. If you're interested/as nerdy as I am, Runner's World had a really interesting article on how run faster by making your stride more efficient. Anyways, I counted out my stride and it turns out it's consistently between 170 to 172 - way better than I thought. Could obviously still use some tweaking but always nice to have empirical evidence of improvement.

Second run of the day was a smidge more intense... One of the "nice" things about running doubles is that your legs are more fatigued for the second run so it helps the body get accustomed to how the latter miles of a long race feel. Or least that's what I kept telling myself when I thought my quads were on fire. Started off with a warm-up mile at 9:20 to get the blood moving and then ran intervals 4 x 800 at 5K pace (~ 8:20) with 400m recovery at 10K pace (~9:05) followed by an easy mile to cool down. 11 miles total for the day - take that Citi! Can't let the man get you down. The knee held up okay but I think I'll stop behaving like an idiot and let it rest up for 48 hours. Ice ice, baby.

A few pointers on dipping your toes into the realm of running doubles. Multiple runs in a day may sound crazy, but if you're short on time to do a long run in one fell swoop or really looking to up your training, there are definitely some benefits. But first, start off slow! Don't do doubles multiple days in a row and you may even want to ease into it by running for the first workout and then doing cross-training later in the day. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time (at least 5 to 6 hours) between workouts and fuel up. I devoured Greek yogurt and granola post run then leftover Vietnamese from last night for lunch. Mmmmm pho to face.

Question of the day: What's your favorite cross-training workout? I need a little (read: a lot) of inspiration since I'll have to stick to non running workouts as I rest/ice/chop off my knee for the next day or two. Boooo. There are few things worse than the cyclebike...

Weekly revelation: Missed runs equal cranky Monica

Apologizes for being a total slacker at posting over the past week. A manic week at work devoured all free time and any motivation to even look at a computer at night after living in front of one at the office. Promise to inundate y'all with my word vomit at least a few times this week.

So. About that running. Forced myself to take last Monday and Tuesday off after the back-to-back races. My knee has been acting up a bit the past couple weeks so I figured it was best to give it a little rest before throwing myself back into training. 4 weeks till the 15K and given my recent times I think it's totally possible to hit a sub-8:45 pace if I stick with the training plan. Oh and don't blow out my knee. Last thing I need is a case of ITB syndrome. Unfortunately, speaking of injuries, Smithies was taking it easy last week and sat out Sunday's 4 mile race in Prospect Park as it's looking more and more like he's got a bad case of planters fasciitis, which does not bode well for his running mission. Hopefully with a little more R&R he'll be back out on the road! I don't know how he's holding up - literally two days sans running had me going bat shit psycho. More so than usual.

Fast forward to Sunday, which was the NYRR Al Gordon 4 miler in Prospect Park. Great turn-out with over 9,000 runners braving the cold and icy paths. Luckily no falling tree branches (several people were killed in Central Park this week...) but the sidewalk and asphalt were definitely slick with black ice. The race route followed the same loop from last weekend's 10 miler, but rather than starting on a slight downhill, the 4 miler threw us smack onto the steepest incline for the first mile. Didn't mind getting it out of the way early on, but probably started out a bit fast, especially for uphill, clocking ~8:10 for at the first mile marker. Mile two was a series of undulating hills and by that point my right knee was being pretty vocal that I need to start doing freaking FLAT RACES. No more of this hilly crap - Comrades, what? Pretty much straight downhill for the third mile and then climbed a long gradual hill to the finish line. Finished in ~35 minutes at a bit over a 8:45 minute pace. Not too shabby and my best race finish yet for a 4 miler!

After the race, my legs were feeling pretty fresh so I decided to go on a scenic tour through Brooklyn and run home. Not that I exactly knew where I was going or anything as is pretty clear from the meandering route on the map... Only intended to run 7 to 8 miles back, but I got slightly detoured on Vanderbilt Avenue so the long run came out closer to 10 miles. Oops? Had fun exploring Prospect Heights though and discovered some super yummy looking restaurants that need to be tested (Le Gamin anyone?). Of course by this point, everything looked tasty because I was STARVING. Really should have eaten more of the post-race bagel since I was definitely not fueled up enough to run 10 miles. Minor details. It was my first time running across the Manhattan Bridge - lovely view up the river of Manhattan and luckily the bridge wasn't too swarmed with touristas since it was still pretty early in the morning. Once back on the island, just popped over to my standard running path along the East River, waved goodbye to Brooklyn and pushed the last couple of miles up to 10K pace (~9:00mm). All in all, almost 14 miles for the day so more than made up for the missed runs during the week!

Later in the day, I definitely made up for the lack of food with two lunches and then the Taste of 7th Street, where I snagged some arepas, a porchetta sandwich, lobster roll, two cupcakes, and a few beers for just $18. Amazing! If you haven't explored the ethnic culinary greatness of E7th St between Ave A and 1st Ave, do so immediately! It is a foodie's dream. And apparently a great place to get your eat on after long runs.

Up next: no races this weekend! Will do a long run on Saturday or Sunday and a few tempo runs this week to keep whittling away at my times. I have no doubt that work will give me plenty of frustration to pound out on a fast treadmill run...