New York State of Mind

Quickie update to my workouts since my last post:

Wednesday, 10/26 – 4.5-miles
I woke up too early and had time for some extra mileage before meeting my friend at stupid-thirty.

Thursday, 10/27 – 3 miles

Friday, 10/28 – Rest

Saturday, 10/29 – 6 miles
Last "long run" before NYC! I had a great run with my WF peeps and enjoyed girl talk over coffee afterwards.

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! We carved pumpkins and went to a couple of Halloween parties with the kids, then took them out trick or treating on Monday – fun times!

Holy cow, just a few more days ‘til NYC!!!

In honor of the upcoming trip to NYC, I give you NYC-inspired music:



There are things people don’t tell you when you are training for a marathon. Things I had forgotten since running my last marathon FIVE YEARS AGO!

Phantom Pains
Things like phantom pains. In fact, I even blogged about it here before I ran Chicago in 2006. Yep, last week I did P90X Ab Ripper X and the very next day I started to notice hip pain at the top of my right hip. It wasn’t excrutiating, but it was annoying. It was so strange, because I've done this workout hundreds of times and never had any issues (other than sore abs!). When I ran my 6-miler on Saturday, I noticed the pain afterwards and it got more intense as the day went on. Finally, I took an Aleve and that seemed to help. I still feel it today, along with some unusual aches in my lower back on the same side.

Phantom pains?

Who knows? But what I have noticed that during race week of any big race is that I tend to feel unusual aches and pains. I don’t know if these feelings are amplified because of the anticipation, stress, or adrenaline..or if it’s just paranoia. Whatever. I am taking Aleve and will try not to think about it too much. Needless to say, I will not be doing any moreP90X until after NYC!

Weather Obsession
Another thing that I had forgotten was the obsession with the weather. I am being much better about it this time around, though. I’ve decided that I’ve made it through this hot as hell summer (including a 20-miler in less than ideal conditions), so I can pretty much handle whatever Mother Nature throws at me on race day. Although, I was a little freaked out to see snow in NYC over the weekend. Whatever. I have only looked at the forecast 2x in the past week, when normally I would be checking it daily. Here’s the deal – I will bring an outfit for effing cold weather and one for warmer weather. End of story. Right now, it looks like the temps will be in the low 40’s in the morning and the mid-50’s by noon with increasing cloud cover throughout the day…I’m thinking running skirt and short sleeves will be perfect.

Taper Madness
One other thing I forgot about is the taper madness. One of two things tend to happen to me during taper – I either lose motivation and don’t wanna run –or- I feel like such a slug for only running about 10 miles during the week and running single digit runs on Saturday. This year, I am feeling like a slug, especially since I axed the ab workouts. Thankfully, I only have a few more days of feeling like a slug.

I am a total type A personality - I have created a checklist for packing, a list of cupcake places to check out (with addresses, phone numbers and recommended flavors to try), I have a couple of groupons for restaurants to try, tickets for the Met, MoMa and the Guggenheim and a list of other things to see this time around. :-) Can't wait!!!!

Happy Feet, um Toe

More decisions…Well, we’ve decided to nix Disney in January. The hubby has decided to shoot for an Olympic distance tri in September and is joining a tri training program to prepare for that (read $). Between entry fees ($) and other tri-related costs ($$$) (not to mention NYC ($), birthdays ($) and Christmas($)), Disney and the Goofy Challenge will just have to wait! Plus, I felt a little guilty about leaving the kids at home in November for NYC and then heading out of town again in January, especially with the fall recruiting trips for work mixed in. And, we’re looking at a family vacation in December 2012 ($), so Disney 2013 is probably out as well. Oh well, such is life. We’ll do the Goofy Challenge eventually, right? Oh, and since I'm not doing Goofy, I am toying with the idea of switching my Houston entry from the 1/2 to the full....we'll see.

This week operation “Happy Feet” (or foot) is underway. After much frustration about the still-painful-supposed-to- be-healed broken toe, I told the Hubby last week that I was not planning to do any workouts that make the toe hurt for the next week. Well, after my Saturday bike ride, that is. So, this week the workouts have been different –

Monday – P90X-Ab Ripper X
Tuesday- P90X – Shoulders and Arms
Wednesday – P90X – Stretch X (figured this would be good for the pesky tendonitis issue)
Thursday – still undecided…probably another P90X workout combined with Ab Ripper X
Friday – It’s July dammit…I will attempt a short run just to test the toe.

Overall, the toe feels better than ever this week. It does hurt if I tense up my foot and I couldn’t do the planks in the Stretch X routine, but no major pain while walking. I’ve worn regular shoes to work all week – flats, not heels – so that’s a step in the right direction. I am worried that every day I don’t run at this point is jeopardizing my chance for a PR in NYC.

Must.run.soon.

I am joining Out Rival Racing’s marathon training program ($) that begins on July 18, so hopefully by then I will be ready to go and get some inspiration from the speedy folks in the group!

SURPRISE!

I like (most) surprises. Most as in - surprise flowers - yes, surprise visit from the inlaws - no, surprise cupcakes - yes, surprise car repairs - no. Friday, I received a pretty good suprise.

I don't think I've officially announced this, but I am running the NYC Marathon in November. Last year, I decided to enter the lotto for the race and in June. Much to my surprise, I was selected! However, after being laid off for 2 1/2 months and just starting a new job, I didn't feel like I was in the best position to 1) spend lots of time training, 2) ask for days off from work and 3) spend a lot on money on a trip. So I deferred. This year, I WILL be running! Back when I ran this race in 2003, I had the most awesome time and I promised myself I would be running again to celebrate my 40th birthday...that birthday will be in January (yikes!).

Last week, I went out to the NYC Marathon website to check out some information and noticed that the 2010 shirts and gear were still posted. Nothing was out there for 2011. So...imagine my surprise when I received this in the mail:

At first, I thought the Hubby had ordered it as a surprise (I did the same thing for him with an Austin shirt). But no, he admitted that he hadn't even given the race much thought with our Disney vacation just a week away. So, I don't know if everyone who is already in received one...or if I have a little marathon gift elf out there or what. I mean, the lotto for NYC hasn't even taken place yet. So to the NYC Marathon (or my marathon gift elf) I send a big THANK YOU! I love it!!!!!!

Now to start planning the trip!!!