Running Dork

For the record, those are not longhorns. That's rock 'n' roll, baby.

Run Forrest Run

On Sunday I ran the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Francisco for the 2nd year in a row (well, the third, if you count that I did it in 2006 as the first half of the FULL marathon!). Last year, I PR'd on this course, which is insanely hard. Obviously I hadn't been pushing hard enough during easier (read: flatter) races. Anyhoo, I went out yesterday just 3 weeks after Berlin and not having run more than a few miles since then. I started out all gung-ho (with the 9:44 pace group, natch) and at about mile 3 my legs firmly indicated that they were having none of it. About halfway through, up yet another ginormous hill, I decided to relax and enjoy the race, which meant taking the uphills easy, pushing a bit on the downhills, and smiling a lot. And also not trying to beat last year's 2:12 finish, which I think was an excellent decision, especially given how sore my calves were this morning anyway.

I finished in 2:19 and I had fun doing it. After the race, we spent about 2 hours cheering the full-marathoners until we were hoarse. We met new friends (hi Lin!) for lunch in Mountain View, then went home and drank wine and ordered pizza (because we were really and truly too tired to move - there was almost a fight over who would answer the doorbell when the delivery arrived) and caught up on True Blood. It was kind of perfect.

After the race, with my favourite cheerleader:The deets for you running nerds:
Time: 2:19:37.430
Pace (Min/Mi): 10:39
Overall Rank: 2935
Female Rank: 2704
F30-34 Rank: 472
Splits:
5k 0:32:47.420 10:33
10k 1:05:06.320 10:28
15k 1:41:34.370 10:53

The Grey Shorts Incentive

This weekend I'm running the NYC Half Marathon. It's on Sunday. At 7 a.m. That's right, I'm going to start running 13.1 miles (that's 21.1 km for all you metric-lovahs) at 7 in the MORNING, and hopefully be finished before you wake up. In fact, if I'm quiet, I can slide right back into bed without you even noticing I was gone. I promise to shower first.

The half marathon also marks the halfway point in my training (holy smokes!) AND, with your help, I'll be well over halfway to my goal of raising $4500 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

If you've been thinking about donating but then also thought, "What's in it for me?" well, friend, wonder no more. A few weeks ago I purchased a pair of grey shorts. At the time I wondered to myself, "Self, why don't I have any grey shorts? Only black. Weird, I think I'll go for it!" So I did. Then I ran 8 miles in them. Then I remembered why I don't have any grey shorts, and it has to do with sweat. Unflattering sweat. Still unclear? OK, it's unflattering CROTCH sweat.

If my fundraising tally hits $2500 before Sunday, I will run in grey shorts, AND post a post-race picture. It may not be quite as appealing as other fundraising ploys I've seen, but trust me that it's hilarious, and will likely cause me embarrassment. And aren't hilarity and embarrassment the two key tenets of the internets? Oh, and porn.

Donate here. Or here.

And here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/nikesf08/gilliang.

NYC Marathon 2007

The morning started out with subway, ferry and bus rides to get me from Brooklyn to the race staging area at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island. I didn't really know what to expect except a lot of waiting. Over my race clothes I wore sweat pants and 3 long-sleeved shirts, one of which I planned to start running in and dispose of on the course (all the clothing discarded by runners at the race start is donated to various charities). I couldn't get in touch with my fellow TNTers (um, guys?) and so I mostly killed time by observing my fellow runners in various states of race preparation (for example, applying band-aids to their nipples). I was in the Green start (I guess the race organizers didn't hear about my special relationship with orange) and lined up according to my race number - 33488, and right near the back of the pack. After the gun went off at 10:10, it took me approx. 45 minutes to even cross the start line! The first 2 miles were over the Verrazzano Bridge and the views were amazing - many people stopped to take pictures. I was mostly trying not to go out too fast, which is something I often do and knew would be a big challenge with the energy of the crowds in Brooklyn.

A friend who's run NYC twice had told me that for the first 8 miles you don't even notice you're running, and he was totally right. By the time I got to Park Slope (my old 'hood), I just felt like I was at some awesome party that had been thrown in my honour and was attended by 40,000 of my closest friends. I barely glanced at my watch for the first 10 miles.

As I'd practiced in training, I kept scanning my body to see how I was feeling. And to my great surprise, I kept feeling good! I passed my head cheerleaders just before Mile 14 (and about a mile before the Queensborough Bridge, which is also the biggest hill on the course), and while I'd planned to stop and chat with them for a few minutes, I felt so good that I smiled and waved, grabbed my Gu, and kept right on running. (Insert Forrest Gump jokes here.)

The biggest surprise on the course came in crossing the dreaded bridge at Mile 16. I'd run it twice in practice and both times had felt completely whiny about it. On Sunday when I started that climb, I honest-to-god did NOT know that I was even on THE bridge. I even heard other people saying, "Oh, we're on THE bridge" and I remember thinking, "Suckas, this isn't THE bridge - save it." Then - I was in Manhattan! And I was like, hey! That was THE bridge! Good times.

First Avenue was indescribable - imagine 4 usually-busy lanes of a NYC street, closed to only runners, and cheering crowds at least 4 people deep on either side. It was incredible. I kept realizing that I was smiling and happy, and in the few moments I felt bad I remember thinking, "Holy crap! I'm running the NYC Marathon!" and when I was tempted to walk I'd add, "There's no walking in marathons!"

I'm SO grateful to everyone who came out to cheer, especially Bob, Joel, Andrea, Justin, Leslie (& Kerner), Dog, Sparkly D (who extra-rocks for flying from Toronto for the occasion), Bri, and the extra-special straight-from-Waterloo AS A SURPRISE Sweet Sirrah! herself, of whom I am entirely proud not only for an uncharacteristic show of spontaneity but for buying a ticket ON THE INTERNET. Thanks also to everyone who was hitting their browsers' refresh buttons to find out where I was on the course. (Technology rules.)

A few months ago I talked to another runner who'd run a few marathons, and she claimed there's nothing like the feeling you get when you cross your first marathon finish line. I think I'd add to that, there's nothing like the feeling you get when you cross your first NYC Marathon finish line.

More photos to come... I'm sure I've missed stuff that's interesting so post questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them (come on, someone ask me about the nipple band-aids!).

Marathon Photos

Just how many blog entries can I milk from running a marathon?

I promise a recap, then onto other fun things, including but not limited to belly-dancing classes and making my own sourdough starter.

Today, though, the photos are up, and they are so great that I'm entirely tempted to spend $95 for the CD of all of them!

A few faves:

Optical Illusion

My legs are just not that ripped.

I Choose Hope

The speaker at last night's Team in Training pasta party was Amy Bartlett, a cancer survivor. She was funny, charming, and inspirational, and she has a blog: I Choose Hope. Check it out. And if you're feeling generous, head on over to my fundraising page.

2:12!

I PR'd this morning! (For all you non-runners, PR == personal record. Hardcore, eh?) That means I won. For me. The course was *hard*, and while I remembered the suck hill at mile 6, I forgot about the one at mile 8. It was tough, but I worked it, and I really wanted that PR. I pushed through and finished one minute faster than my previous best-time for a half.

My final time was 2:12:01, which is 10:04 minute miles. W00t! Afterwards, I spent 2+ hours cheering for TNT marathoners, and this afternoon got drunk from a single glass of white wine. Good times.

Splits:

Mile 1: 10:45 [crowded start - probably good for my pacing]
Mile 2: 10:16
Mile 3: 10:04
Mile 4: 10:36
Mile 5: 9:53
Mile 6: 9:34
Mile 7: 11:20 [GIANT uphill]
Mile 8: 9:04
Mile 9: 10:43 [another big hill]
Mile 10: 10:20
Mile 11: 9:24
Mile 12: 10:19 [gradual uphill in Golden Gate Park]
Mile 13: 9:40

San Francisco Take 2

Aw Yeah
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

I'm back in SF for the Nike Women's Marathon (this year just the half, since NYC is only 2 weeks away). I arrived last night, the weather is perfect, and I have the most luxurious of accomodations. A bunch of incredible women with whom I've been training and fundraising for the past 5 months are going to kick 26.2 miles' worth of ass tomorrow, and I couldn't be more proud and inspired.

Go Team!

T-Minus 60 Days and Counting!

Last night I decided to trek to Central Park to join the TNT group there. I am SO GLAD that I did. For one, I didn't have to run the same loop around Prospect Park for the upteenth time. I also found a running partner who was slightly faster than me, and managed to stay with her for the 6 mile loop, which resulted in my fastest 6 miles EVER with a pace of 9:25/mile! (Since the first mile was a warm-up and took me 10 minutes, I averaged 9:19 for the 5 mile tempo run!) I went to practice feeling tired and a bit under the weather and came home feeling like I could have run another 6 miles. Good times indeed.

The NYC Marathon is just 60 days away. This last 2 months is where all the training will really count. In addition to my weekly TNT group runs, my training schedule includes:

The NYC Marathon Long Training Run (18-20 Miles)

The NYC Marathon Tune-Up (18 Miles)

2 Half-Marathons (Grete's Great Gallop and the Nike Women's Half-Marathon) (I love that half-marathons are part of my training schedule for something else!)

+ Some other 20 mile run (hopefully a trail run with TNT)

It's time for me to buckle down with eating properly and drinking less. The acquisition of a new kitchen was well-timed!

Don't Make Me SPAM You

It's already July (how did that happen?), and in less than 4 months, I'll run the NYC Marathon. A few weeks before that, I'll be in SF to run the half at the Nike Women's Marathon (the very race at which I popped my 26.2 cherry last year).

And now, as I mentioned back in April, it's time for me to raise some fundage for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Loyal UFF readers, I implore you: Surely if I can run a combined total of 39.3 miles in two races for this excellent organization, you can throw a little money at the cause? Just think, the more generously you give, the less guilty you will have to feel when you think of me running around Brooklyn on Saturday mornings.

Give here. Or here. Give early and often. Maybe, just maybe, I'll post sweaty post-workout pictures.

Only if you ask nicely, though.

Goals: Week 3

OK, so this goals stuff isn't going so well. However, I feel like I got a lot done this week, so maybe I just need to be smarter about what I'm writing down!

Training Update:

At least training is going well! I ran 4 days this week for a total of 15 miles (including one run to work!).

Goals for Week of May 21:

1. FINISH THAT DAMN CD!

2. Run 15 miles.

3. Do yoga at least once.

4. Bring lunch to work at least 3 days.

5. Write a letter.

6. Clean the bathroom of the BP.

7. Start weight-loss regime (separate post about this to follow).

8. Write at least one more meaningful, less what-I-had-for-lunch blog post.

Goals: Week 2

The results are in - I completed 4 of last week's 10 goals, and partially completed 2 others (I brought lunch to work twice, and ran 8 miles).

Training Update:

Our first Group Training Session (GTS) was yesterday morning. I stuck with the intermediate/advanced group, and we ran about 4 miles with a few stops for cross training (things like squats & lunges) along the way. This morning I ran the New York Junior League's Mother's Day 4M, and finished in 41:18 (a 10:19 mile) - not bad considering how out-of-shape I feel! This evening my muscles are satisfyingly sore, and I'm excited that training has resumed.

Goals for Week of May 14:

NOT DONE 1. Finish mix CD for Bri & Ali.

DONE 2. Brush Memphis.

DONE 3. Run 10 miles.

NOT DONE 4. Write a letter.

NOT DONE 5. Do not spend money on food for at least 3 days.

NOT DONE 6. Do yoga at least once.

NOT DONE 7. Clean the bathroom of the BP.

It's That Time Again...

I kind of feel like it's pledge week on NPR (and let me tell you, I HATE pledge week on NPR).

I'm about to start training for the NYC Marathon in November, and before that, the half-marathon at the Nike Women's Marathon in SF. And I'm not doing all this running for the good of my health... Actually, I *am* running for the good of my health. More importantly though, I'm running for the health of people affected by blood (and other) cancers, and their families and friends who benefit from the services provided by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My fundraising site is all set up, ready for your generous dontaion. And I do mean generous.

This year, I'm fundraising for a half-marathon AND a full marathon. That's 39.3 miles, or 63.2 km! That is a lot of running, my friends. All you have to do to help the cause is click here and make a donation.

In the meantime, I'll try to keep the incessant nagging about donating to a minimum. Until we start those long runs in September, of course. Then you're going to hear about it.

Photographic Evidence

Around Mile 5 (near Ghiradelli Square)



Rounding the bend out of Golden Gate Park



Still smiling!



Where's my necklace?


More pictures on Flickr.