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!

MCM history lesson courtesy of Kim!

So as Monica announced, the two of us are now officially committed to running the 35th Marine Corps Marathon on Halloween in Arlington and Washington, DC. I’ve been set on running it since about December, and am super excited that Monica will be joining (I can’t say I expect to be able to keep up with her…I have no desire to do anything but finish, and maybe not be picked up by the stragglers’ bus at mile 20). I’ve been marginally involved with the MCM for the past two years through running the MC10K, which is held at the same time as the marathon, and ends up at Iwo Jima a couple hours before the first marathon finishers cross the line.

The MCM bills itself as “the People’s Marathon,” primarily because it doesn’t do anything to try to attract professional runners—there is no prize money, and no appearance fees paid to the professionals who boost the standing of some other marathons which will remain unnamed in case I ever decide to run them. As a result, I think the MCM is about as unintimidating as you can get for marathons (you know, one you get over the fact that it’s a marathon and all).

Despite the lack of big names and prize money, the MCM is one of the biggest marathons in the country, with about 20,000 finishers (at least according to Wikipedia). This year, it sold out in less than 6 DAYS, which means there are 30,000 people set to start training. The marathon is always run on the last Sunday of October, and that weekend in DC, it’s pretty easy to pick out at least a few dozen people in town for the marathon (not including the thousands flocking to the convention center or armory, which normally host race packet pickups, and which have now successfully motivated me to make the jump from the 10K to the marathon).

The MCM manages to hit a ridiculous amount of DC landmarks on a loop around the Mall and Capitol, at least two bridge crossings (I think there’s more, but the last time I watched the 4+ minute video just tracing the course, I started getting tired, so let’s avoid that for now—the video is actually being updated, so no links available). I’m looking forward to the loop around the reservoir and through M Street, personally.

The MCM will be set up at the expo for the Broad Street Run, so as Mon put it, “we can be sketchy and excited super early and take tons of pictures for the blog!” It’ll be nice to get an early dose of enthusiasm, too.

Registration for the Marines Corps 10K opens on May 5th. Everyone who isn’t quite ready for a marathon, but looking for a great race should sign up!

In any case, I’ll be needing some serious encouragement through this process, and hope that I’ll see you all at the finish line!

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!

Running mojo

Totally nosegaming responsibility for my lacking of posting over the past two weeks to earnings season. That and a bad case of spring fever that has left me totally unwilling to touch a computie after walking (read: SPRINTING) out the office every evening. Very excited to report that my knees have finally stopped bothering me and my running mojo has returned after two months of icing, knee straps, and MOTRIN. So happy.

Last week's runs included:

1. Tempo Run: 2 miles warm-up at 9:45mm, 4 miles at 8:45mm, and 1 mile cool-down at 9:30 for a total of 7 miles
   
2. Speedwork: 2 miles warm-up at 9:30mm, 7 x 900 at 7:45 pace with 1 minute jogs at 9:20mm, 1 mile cooldown
   
3. Long Run: slow 10 miles at 10:00mm. Circled downtown Manhattan per usual and enjoyed the GORGEOUS weather on Saturday.
4. Recovery Run: Chill 5 miler at a comfortable, untimed pace. What? Not every run has to be aiming for a new PB.
   

Now that it's spring (and sometimes warm), running attire etiquette is definitely a topic on my mind/in my field of vision... In the winter, it's no big deal - everyone piles on layer after layer of fleece and spandex to stay warm. Well except for this NYRR runner, who bares it all no matter how cold it is. However as soon as the temp inches past 60degrees, many runners drop their clothing like it's hot. The Runners World jury was divided on if it's ever okay to run without a shirt. Let's be honest, if a guy's in great shape I'm probably not going to complain if he nixes the shirt. But generally those aren't the runners who've decided to bare it all from the waist up, and so I'm often left with retinal scarring. Sadly I'm resigned to the fact that this phenomenon will only increase as we enter the brutally hot and humid NYC summer.

Thoughts - yay or nay to shirtless running (or sports bra for the ladies)?

Stay tuned for a recap of Dasha's and my adventures in the NYC Scavenger Hunt (!!) and how running actually makes you good at life/helps you win free food. Mwuahaha!

Live and learn

After a week off the blogging train in order to pay a little attention to life/work/drinking (my liver was feeling a little too healthy), I'm back with running updates that are: a.) fun, b.) interesting, c.) intellectually stimulating, d.) psychotic or e.) all of the above. I'll leave it to y'all to decide.

1. After over a month of responsible running, knee straps, ice packs, and an obscene amount of ibuprofen, my knees no longer drive me to long for amputation on every run. Victory! Knock on wood they stay this way. I'm restraining the urge to ramp back up to running 6 days, however. Until I'm forced to log killer mileage during Comrades training, I will be sticking to running a mere four times a week with crosstraining/yoga on the other 3 days.
   
   
2. As you can see (or probably not given the suboptimal quality of a BlackBerry camera), I busted out the old graph paper and charted my training plan for the next 9 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love the Runner's World Smart Coach training plans, but since my schedule is so wonky and I have some traveling coming up in the next couple of months (Italy!!), it's often difficult to put together a plan that I can consistently execute. My new schedule sticks to the aforementioned 4 runs a week, focusing on quality miles over quantity. Each week includes a tempo run, speedwork, long run, and one recovery run. Mileage increases every week by 10% then drops back in the third week to allow for additional recovery or to accommodate a race. The goal for the next 3 months is to maintain a base mileage of around 30 miles/week, AVOID injury, and incorporate some good fast running to keep my times down and sanity in check.
   
   
3. Marathon training starts in earnest on July 12th!
   
   
4. "Running in Marathons: Facebook Made me Do It" - what is Facebook, the new excuse for every good/poor life decision? Possibly. Stumbled upon this article last week during my daily morning blog/newspaper run through. Although a bit simplistic in its analysis, the article raised some interesting points on the intersection of the Internet, social networking, and running. Little old blogging me is clearly in no position to judge. At least I haven't created a Facebook fanpage for this blog. Yet...
   
   
5. Oh. Umm. Lastly. About that race and long run this past weekend. First and foremost, I'd like to place full responsibility on Shaun Gregory Smithies for the massive consumption of hefeweizen that occurred on Saturday, April 10th. There generally is no way that 7 hours of daydrinking will bode well for athletic performance. Case in point, Sunday's Run as One 4 miler in Central Park. Despite massive hydration the morning of, I was clearly still in a tipsy/hungover state upon pitching up at the ungodly hour of 8am. Minor details. The course started off on the east side of 72nd Street and proceeded immediately up Cougar Hill in the first mile. After assessing my subprime running condition, I made the intelligent call to run conservatively the first two miles at a 9:30 pace then speed up a bit on the downhills for the final two miles if I was feeling up to it.
   
   Per usual intelligence was short lived. I bounded up Cougar Hill in the first mile, sprinted along rolling hills and passed the second mile marker in under 16 minutes. Against my better judgment, however, I grabbed a water cup at the aid station before mile three to take a tiny sip in order to soothe my parched mouth. Quite possibly the worst call ever. As soon as that ice cold water hit my injured, battered stomach, I thought there was no way I would survive, let alone finish that race. Enter boot and rally - very clearly not my classiest moment. Nonetheless, pulled myself together and finished the race in a skotch over 36 minutes (~9:15 pace). Not as great of a time as I'd hoped for, but the fact that I even crossed the finish line was enough of a victory for me and a legit excuse to skip my planned 8 mile run home. Win some, lose some?
   

Live(ish) blogging the NYC marathon lottery

12:31pm Sadface. Wasn't accepted into the NYC marathon. But will be running the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon with Kim!!

"Dear Monica K. Munn,

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY REGISTERED FOR THE 35th MARINE CORPS MARATHON! Your registration confirmation includes any items purchased. For your convenience we have included the waiver you consented to during registration. "

12:22pm As for the elites field, Mary just announced that Deena Kastor, one of the all-time greatest female marathoners, will be competing at the 2010 NYC marathon. Equally exciting will be an appearance from Meb Keflezghi, the male winner of the 2009 NYC marathon and the first American winner since Alberto Salazar in 1982.

12:18pm 9th and final name from NYC is Lenn Burman (sp?)! I have no idea who you are, but I'm jealous you're in!

12:15pm Called the first three runners from the States to get the marathon, representing Oregon, Detroit, and Dallas so far. Just a small slice of the diversity that is the NYC Marathon.

12:11pm Win! Finally got the live stream to load. However, Mary Wittenberg, the CEO of NYRR, is speaking in slow-mo and sounds like a robot thanks to the crappy quality and overwhelmed site. Minor details.

12:04pm Okay, NYRR site, it's time for your video streaming to start working. Reality check is that I will probably have to wait till 12:30 to find out if I made the marathon as that's the time runners can check their online profiles to confirm status. Boo.

11:52am Less than 10 minutes now and the video link is active! Woooo!!

11:24am Speaking of lotteries, NYT had an interesting article a few weeks ago about the rising popularity of endurance racing events, which has forced many marathon organizers to adopt lottery systems to select participants.

11:00am ONE. HOUR.

10:14am Paul's insightful BBM commentary on my foray into live blogging - "What is this liveblogging crap? 'I got it' or 'I didn't get it.' Riveting." Thanks, friend, see if I let you GUEST BLOG at any point in the future.

9:56am For your reading/procrastination/personal edification, here are some random facts about the NYC marathon:

1. Over 2 million spectators line the bridges/streets/parks of NYC to cheer on runners. That's roughly the population of Namibia!
   
2. An 8-year old ran the marathon in 3 hours! WTF. Apparently a pint sized runner from MO finished the marathon in 3:00:37 back in the late '70s. Feeling grossly inadequate now.
3. Only 55 runners finished (out of 127) the first NYC marathon in 1970. Compare that with the over 40,000 runners who completed 2009's race. Crazy CAGR whaaaaaaat?
4. P Diddy ran the New York Marathon in 4:14:54 and raised over $2 million dollars for charity, setting a ridiculously high bar for charity runners everywhere.
   

9:30am Oh, p.s., you can watch the lottery LIVE here. Gotta love technology.

9:02am I am officially spazzing out. In less than 3 hours, the results of the 2010 ING NYC Marathon lottery will be posted online, making thousands of runners incredibly giddy and countless more despondent. Regardless if you're in or out, NYRR is hosting lottery parties at bars across the city to celebrate/drown your sorrows. LOVE IT.

As I clearly will get negative work accomplished this morning, expect a semi-constant stream of word vomit, a close cousin of live-blogging, about the marathon, random trivia, and general excitement.