In it for the long haul

Clad in spandex and armed only with $20, a Metro card, iPod, and an energy gel, I ventured out into the quiet pre-dawn New York streets to take on the 20 mile run, the heart of marathon training. It's been a long time since I've felt this nervous about a race or run, but the 20 miler is an entirely different physical and, more importantly, mental beast than your typical long run. This is the farthest distance that most recreational marathoners will run before the actual race, and in some ways is even more difficult than a marathon as you lack the crowd support and adrenaline to spur you onwards. However, I'm very happy to report that my run went fantastic and has left me feeling much more confident in my ability to cross the finish line on October 31.

Unlike my usual waterfront runs, this morning I spent half of my route trotting up Lexington and Park Avenues and through Central Park. Streets that are normally crammed with tourists and hustling New Yorkers were eerily quiet at 5am; it was almost as though I was alone in the city. As I climbed up a hilly section of Park Avenue, I watched the sun rise above the UES - absolutely beautiful and about as close as I've ever come to a spiritual experience. Today's run reminded me why I love the sport so much; running offers you the chance to really appreciate the sacred in the profane and get intimately acquainted with your home turf. The miles literally just melted away as I was too preoccupied in admiring Grand Central sans tourists, taking in the Met's architecture, or chasing pigeons across the trail.

Alright enough romanticizing, as soon as my runner's high wears off I will not be reminiscing so poetically about this morning. Here are a few of my useful takeaways from today's run:

1. Plan ahead. There's a reason distance running appeals to so many Type A, OCD individuals... Running for hours on end requires a strategy! And organization! YAY. Preparation is critical for a successful 20 miler. Map your route ahead of time, lay out your clothes and gear the night before, think about the timing of fuel intake, etc. If you take care of these tasks before you hit the road, you'll free yourself up to focus on quality running!
   
   
2. Experiment. One of the cardinal rules of marathons is DON'T TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY. The last thing you want to do at the marathon is mess around with new shoes, food, pacing, etc. So take advantage of your weekly long runs to experiment with everything from your morning pre-run routine to the best blister-preventing socks.
   
   After a lot of trial and error, I think I've finally found a solid food/hydration plan for my long runs. While most energy gels make my stomach upset (and taste ridiculously gross), slowly eating a Clif Shot over the course of a mile or two is gentle enough for me to handle and provides a good supply of simple carbohydrates to keep my legs going after I burn through my breakfast. I follow up the gel with a huge Gatorade courtesy of the nearest bodega, which I'll nurse for the second half of the run. Remember - if you're running for longer than 75 minutes, always start consuming calories after the first 30-60 minutes. You'll set yourself up for a bonked run if you wait till your legs are already dead. Not even a Gatorade mainline will save you then.
   
   
3. Refuel. Most runners are pretty good about carbing up before a long run or race, but it's equally important to replenish your body's depleted glycogen stores within 15-60 minutes post-run. Look for drinks (or make your own!) with a good mix of protein and carbohydrates. Doing so will drastically cut down on fatigue over the next 24 hours and help rebuild muscle fibers. My personal fave is a big glass of chocolate milk, which studies have shown is actually one of the best recovery drinks. Yum! Runner's World also has some great tips for general post-run recovery that I definitely recommend checking out.
   
   
   
   
4. Restraint. One of the most common mistakes among first-time marathoners is running too fast during their long run. Long runs should be taken a minute or so slower than your planned marathon pace, or 1 1/2 - 2 minutes slower than your best 10K time. Running slowly minimizes your chances of injury (obviously a valid concern when running crazy length distances), and is an opportunity to get your body accustomed to moving for 3+ straight hours, a benefit that cannot be overestimated on race day. Save your sprinting flats and rage runs for tempo/track work days - there it's totally acceptable!

Happy running this weekend, y'all!

Coping with rage hunger

It's official: my stomach has taken control of my body. Obviously that's a slight overstatement (errr not really), but in all seriousness, my hunger has reached new levels often times leaving me bonking halfway through a run or rage hungering at all my friends. Sorry!

This week has been case in point. Since Saturday's 18 mile run (!!!), I have literally been constantly hungry. Embarrassingly so. I highly doubt it's professional to be downing your lunch during a 10am meeting, but desperate times call for desperate measures? Obviously my high mileage has forced my body to burn calories like never before, but the issue has also been exacerbated by less than great eating habits for the past couple of months. I most likely haven't been getting as much fiber/protein as I should since Seamless provides at least two of my meals a day, leaving me at the nutritional whim of Tribeca's restaurants. Less than ideal. Besides being fun and wonderfully destressing, cooking is the best way to ensure you get the proper nutritional mix to maximize your training.

So last night, I took advantage of an early exit from the office to swing by the Union Square Greenmarket to scope out the vestiges of summer's produce. Snagged a few pints of shiny yellow and red cherry tomatoes, a couple shallots, and a bundle of fresh basil, which I decided to combine with some pasta and spicy Italian sausage. Perfect combination of carbs, MEAT, and fresh veggies for a hungry runner. I wanted to whip up one of my mum's standard summer pasta dishes, but of course I couldn't find the recipe and was way too lazy to fill out the form for Cook's Illustrated free online trial. So I winged it!

Homage to end of summer tomatoes
(Loosely adapted from the vague memory of a Cook's Illustrated recipe)
2 1/2 pints cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (1/4 inch slice)
4 large shallots (sliced in rings)
3/4 lb spicy Italian sausage
2 tbsp olive oil
red pepper (to taste)
kosher salt
pepper
basil
farfalle or orecchiette pasta
arugula (optional)
pecorino or some other hard cheese, preferably with a little bite

Preheat oven to 300F. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and place whole cherry tomatoes on sheet along with sliced garlic and shallots. It's okay to leave the shallot rings intact rather than separating as it will help prevent them from burning. Toss vegetables with 2 tbsp olive oil and salt pepper to taste. Slow roast in oven for ~30-40 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes.

While the tomatoes are doing their thing, heat a dash of oil in a frying pan and quickly sear the outside of the sausages on high heat (3-4 minutes). Turn heat down and cook the sausages almost through for another 10 minutes. Drain fat from the pan and then allow meat to rest/cool for a few minutes before chopping into bite-sized pieces.

Stir the sausage into tomato mixture and put back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to burst. While you're waiting for your tomato sausage mixture to finish up, boil water and cook your pasta of choice - I prefer farfalle or orecchiette. After the tomatoes have burst and the onions look nice and caramelized, remove from oven and mix with pasta and arugula if you want some extra veggie lovin'. Garnish with basil and shaved pecorino cheese. Last step, put food to face.
I got a little overzealous in my cooking binge last night, so I also tried my hand at this fantastic recipe for goat cheese and caramelized onion cornbread from Smitten Kitchen! If you like corn, cheese, bread, or really just happiness, then you should definitely bake this immediately. Clearly I had to sample a smidge before getting around to photographing it.

Coming up: tackling the formidable 20 mile run, energy gel reviews, my running bucket list, and more NYRR races!

Broad Street 10 Mile!

So turns out after all I AM signed up for the Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Mile race this Sunday! Confirmation was lacking until this morning when Kim found my bib number on their website (thanks, dear). Like many other long distance races, the Broad Street 10 miler sold out for the first time in its 30 year history. Online registration closed earlier than expected in March so I was forced to snail mail in my application and wait for written confirmation that I had a spot. Radio silence. However, according to their website I got in and am all set for Sunday! Lesson learned that I shouldn't procrastinate race reg in the future so all this confusion can be avoided, especially since more and more races are filling up faster than ever.

Really looking forward to this race as first and foremost it'll be a lovely Hoya reunion to run with Kimi-chan, Mike, and Tim! This is the second of many races Kim and I will be running together in preparation for this fall's Marine Corps Marathon. Woot! Also this is my first trip to Philly (I know, total East Coast fail) so Kim and I will do a little exploring on Saturday. Perhaps we'll even run into a veryvery drunk Greg who's skipping out on this race to go to his friend's 4 day bar-hopping bachelor party. His liver may never be the same again.

Anyways, if any of y'all live or find yourself in Philly this weekend, we'd love to see you at the finish line!

We are always running for the thrill of it

"You're running HOW far? At WHAT time?' Unsurprisingly this was my parents' reaction when I casually dropped that I planned on running 11 to 12 miles at the god awful hour of 7am on Sunday morning. I intended to head up to Ronald Reagan Airport then loop back to my house, a distance that my stepdad would literally have had to bribe me to BIKE with him when I was younger. While I've kept my parents abreast of all the races from the past few months, I suppose that seeing truly is believing, especially when it comes to their formerly commitmentphobe runner daughter.

Speaking of which, I finally discussed my Comrades ambitions with my parents. Obviously I have no qualms broadcasting this goal and its progress over the internet to my friends and friendly stalkers, but something about vocalizing it to my parents carries so much more weight. In many aspects of my life, I frequently delay telling the rents about major developments, be it a new apartment, the end to an ongoing break-up, or even my class schedule, preferring to wait until things are utterly finalized.

While my parents have always been incredibly supportive of anything I set my mind to, I suppose part of my reluctance stems from my fear of disappointing them if I don't go through with endeavors, coupled with a small desire to avoid fielding questions about things/people/places who's 15 seconds of my fame in my life have already passed. However, at this point I can firmly say that I am committed to running Comrades (body allowing) so it's important to loop in my family on my next big life goal. My parents' reaction to the Comrades discussion was slight skepticism (which is COMPLETELY understandable), but mainly support and encouragement for which I am very very grateful. Looking forward to many copies of Born to Run for my birthday. Always need the relevant research material!

What inspires you to get out there? Totally tangential but has anyone read Born to Run - thoughts?

I DID follow through with my 7am long-run on Sunday morning, getting up before even my mother. First time for everything. Fueled up with my standard pre-race/long run meal of a slice of whole grain bread topped with peanut butter, sliced banana, and honey. Perfect mix of quick acting carbs and protein. The goal for Sunday's long run was more for time than distance. It'd been over two months since I'd ran for longer than an hour and a half(ish), and with marathon training looming on the horizon in 3 months (SO SOON!) I figured it was time to start bringing back the lengthy long runs. So I decided to go out at a comfortable pace, run for two hours for the endurance/psychological challenge, and not really worry about distance. Running from my house to the airport and back turned out to be about 12.7 miles, which I finished in around 2hours! Even better, legs and knees felt totally fine afterward, thankyouholymotherofchrist. Returned home just in time for a super tasty brunch of challah french toast, bacon, and fruit salad. After snarfing that down, I was obviously hungry a few hours later, but luckily had lots of spring veggie risotto to chomp down on for dinner. Mmmmmm, carbs. All in all, a fantastic weekend home!

Up next: Wednesday is marathon day of judgment! The results of the 2010 ING New York City Marathon lottery will be announced. It's only a 1:8 chance that I got in so pretty please keep your fingers crossed for me! Otherwise, it's off to DC on October 31st to run the Marine Corps Marathon with Kim!

Home is where the Diet Coke is

As you can see from the lovely tree in our front yard, spring is in full bloom here in the pseudo-South. I tore myself away from the city for the weekend and am back in Alexandria to catch up with my family. And raid their cupboards.

Although it may only be the beginning of April, it certainly felt like freaking summer on my run yesterday. I fueled up with a tasty whole grain salad from the Whole Foods salad bar (Paul, I now understand how it is your crack) then set off on a nice 6 mile run down the GW parkway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. The weather definitely impacted my speed a bit since I'm not used to running in 80degree weather yet. Give me a snowpocalypse any day! Well, maybe not. Wished I had brought a water bottle with me around mile 3, but luckily the park service has turned the water fountains back on along the trail. That is one thing I definitely miss when running in NYC. For long runs, you're practically forced to carry a water bottle since fountains are few and far between. I'll have to pull off some logistical feats to stay hydrated and fed once I start racking up 15+ mile runs this summer.

What's your favorite time of the year to go running?

Only a short post for now, my nieces are shouting up the stairs for "Auntie Monica." That makes me feel awfully old... Going to sneak in a 12 mile long run this afternoon or tomorrow. Perfect way to enjoy the weather!

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!

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...

Is it spring yet?

DC, I am sorry to say this, but you suck. Or rather, your weather and ability to shovel sidewalks leaves something to be desired. I had a delightful 12 mile run planned for Monday, a straight shot down the George Washington Parkway towards Mount Vernon then loop back to my house. This was not meant to be. Mountains of snow covered chunks of the trail and 4 inch thick ice rendered it impossible for me to cross sections of the riverside path. I made it four miles down the trail before I was forced to turn around.

However, my long run was not to be so easily defeated. After making it back to my starting point, I decided to check out the northern half of the trail, which by and large was equally impassable. Luckily, the nearby Dyke Marsh Trail was comparatively lacking in ice (aka slightly less chance that I'd break my neck) so I finished off the last four miles with a little trail running. Very beautiful in the marsh and absolutely dead silent - just imagine this lovely photo with a solid 4 to 5 inches of snow on everything. And despite the weather forecasters' doomsday predictions, the sleet managed to hold off until the last mile of my run, thank goodness.

In better weather, I definitely recommend that anyone in or visiting the DC area to check out the Mount Vernon trail. The trail is a scenic running/biking path that follows the Potomac River for 18 miles and is definitely better paved then the pot-holed path along the East River in NYC. If you're looking for a longer run, at the northern end of the Mount Vernon trail it's simple to hook up to the W&OD Path, which runs for 45 miles throughout Northern Virgina.

Coming up this weekend: double races! Saturday is the 4 mile Run for Haiti - sign up now if you haven't. Not only do all race fees go to New York City's Haitian Relief Fund, but NYRR just announced that this race will count as a double qualifier credit for members trying to complete their 9+1 in order to auto qualify for the 2011 New York Marathon. Exciting! Then on Sunday, Smithies and I are running the Cherry Tree 10 miler in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I don't plan on racing the 10 miler, but instead will treat it as a tempo/training run for March's 15K. Either way, should be a lot of fun and our first time running in Brooklyn. Keep your fingers crossed the weather is good!

Paying my dues on the dreadmill...

The best laid plans of mice and men are often COMPLETELY waylaid by alcohol overconsumption and impending snow storms. Waking up at 7am on Saturday morning to meet Greg for our 11 mile run, I was met with the painful realization that I was still entirely drunk and in no way fit to brave the bitter cold without dying. I convinced myself that I'd go for a shorter run in the afternoon when it'd warmed up and I no longer had the bed spins. False. Knowing that the rest of the weekend was guaranteed to be equally shambolic, I rainchecked my long run till Monday.

Well I paid for my inebriation induced laziness last night when I had to run 10 miles on the treadmill. There are few things more mind-numbing than doing a long run inside, in my opinion. I completely acknowledge that the treadmill can be a great tool for shorter tempo runs, interval training, and of course hill work. The ability to maintain a consistent speed or adjust hill gradations is very helpful for completing specific workouts. But running over 5 miles at a turtle's pace? No thank you. However, be it weather or time constraints, at some point every runner has been forced to resort to the dreadmill to get in those important miles during training.

In order to avoid watching the clock tick down every minute of a 2 hour run, I have to find new ways to trick myself into gutting it out every long treadmill run. Awesome iPod playlists are a must; shuffling between Paul's Eurotrash dance mix, angry white girl music, and Lady Gaga definitely makes the miles go by faster. Inside runs are now a chance for me to catch up on reading the Economist or study for Arabic class. Anything to keep my mind distracted...

What gets you through those long dreadmill runs when outside isn't an option?