Saturday, June 25, 2011

Upping the ante



First of all, let me start off with how proud I am of my home state of New York and the legalization of same-sex marriage - It's about damn time! I am so disappointed I didn't get in on the NYRR Pride Run this morning. I can't imagine the excitement there, just hours after the legislature made it's decision!


After 3 weeks of training (and 18 more to go) I am learning more about the challenges of distance running. I've done a few 8-mi plus runs now and a few issues I have run into:


1. FATIGUE! Not during, but after. I haven't been particularly sore nor do my runs feel terribly difficult (I usually feel positively HIGH by mile 5) but boy oh boy do I need more sleep. Marathon expert Hal Higdon emphasizes the importance of recovery in training and my body is giving me that message loud and clear.


2. Chafing. Oh dear. Sorry if this is TMI. After a 8  miler out in my hometown last weekend it looked like someone took sandpaper to my inner thighs. I assume some of this will go away as I lose weight (it's almost effortless so long as I keep up my training schedule) but thank god I discovered this:

I also invested in a pair of compression capri pants so that of course will help too. This venture is more costly than I thought!

3. Scheduling. This week has been crazy. An unexpected wake. A sudden meeting with the coop board at my future apartment. I can't squeeze these 5 mi + training runs in at my lunch break anymore...
Eventually I am going to start having to get up and do the dreaded "before work" run. But until then, I will do my best to make time around these events! Sometimes it's a decision between run or eat or run or sleep...I just have to make them in the moment!

4. Cross Training. This really deserves another post. But let's just say that I need to do more than run to be in top shape. 

I finally chose a really great pair of sneakers too. Let's show them off:

(Saucony's for those who care)

Tomorrow morning is my first official NYRR run in central park - the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5 miler. I am excited!

And as always, a plug for the real reason I am running this marathon - for the FABULOUS Lower East Side Girls Club. PLEASE VISIT MY DONATION PAGE HERE

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Inspiration - my DAD

 Dad finishing New York Marathon, 1981


There are many reasons I am inspired to run the New York City Marathon but the biggest reason, without question, without doubt is my DAD. I just finished an 8 mile training run in my hometown which is, incidentally, my dad's as well. Neither of us live here anymore. To me, my dad is THE runner. For father's day, I think a post dedicated to my dad is more than appropriate. Many memories of my dad as a child are of him running. We would go watch him in races or he'd be off with his best friend on weekend mornings, running 12-15 miles like it was no big deal. We had hundreds, and I mean HUNDREDS of race t-shirts that my brother and I would wear for pajamas.

My dad was running before running was cool. He started as a young teenager in the 1960s, commuting from Long Island into Queens for school. He said at the time running was "very popular in NYC. Not as big on LI. People thought a 14 year old running 10 miles was nuts. Especially one commuting 2 1/2 hours a day to HS in NYC." Until now I thought his love of running was natural, but not so. The only reason he joined the track team was because he was (in his words) "not good enough for baseball/basketball." Ha!

Back in the 60s, they didn't have the gear we'd have now. My dad scoffed recently when I mentioned I was thinking of getting a heart monitor. His idea of marathon training is to get out there and just RUN (This attitude extends to many other areas of his life. A trait I seem to have inherited, for better or for worse - "pros play hurt" is a classic line). As I struggle to find the perfect pair of sneakers to train in, my dad told me about the options back then - "Canvas and rubber flats. Spikes for outdoor track. Adidas, Puma and Onitsuka/Tiger big. No Nike/Asics etc."

I never knew what my dad's best moment running was. I knew he had run several marathons and recently had to give running up altogether because of tendinitis (he went down fighting, spending several weeks in a cast just to immobilize his Achilles). He's biking now though. But dad's greatest moment was in college, where he ran track, playing hurt (keeping out his name here) -- 

1972- We finished 1-2-3 in the indoor 1,000 yard run at the NYC college championship to turn things around. Inspired team to win meet despite poor first day showing/being underdogs. I finished 3rd of the three guys from my school running with a stress fracture. Great victory lap for the three of us. Very exciting. The whole team went nuts!

Later in my life my dad did quite a lot of work with a fantastic charity organization in NYC that helped children in need. I learned to help others from him too. 

Dad, you are quite an inspiration to me as well. You been dedicated to running, even when hurt, since you were a kid. Now you are living your dream on the other side of the world, making a move that most people would be terrified to do. I am proud to be your daughter. You inspire me to challenge myself, pursue my dreams and always help others in the process.


Feel free to donate to the Lower East Side Girls Club in honor of my dad here


(also, Dad, you have not donated yet!)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Friday donation push!


It has been a personal goal to run the NYC Marathon and the to do it and support my FAVORITE organization is a dream come true! DONATE HERE
Please help me in supporting the Lower East Side Girls Club! The organization is so wonderful, my words cannot do it justice...just click on the links to read more. You can also follow my progress on twitter @Kerryrunsnyc

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Lower Eastside Girls Club’s 'Charity Buzz' Auction is Open!



The Lower Eastside Girls Club’s 'Charity Buzz' Auction is Open!
 
Proceeds support this summer's “Couture Camp” - a behind the scenes career training program for Lower Eastside Girls Club members interested in the fashion industry.  
 
BID ONLINE NOW to experience:
 
- A Day in the Life of a Harper's BAZAAR Editor

- A Private Shoot with Famed Fashion Photographer Pamela Hanson
 
- An Exclusive Christie’s Pre-Sale Viewing of Impressionist and Modern and Post War and Contemporary Art for 15 Guests

- A Tom Otterness Studio Visit Led by the Artist
 
- Private Tour of Diane Von Furstenberg's Studio/Headquarters
 
- Professional Quality Ping Pong Table Spraypainted by Legendary "Wild Style" Street Artist Lee Quinones
 
- A One Day Internship with Teen Vogue and Fashion Closet Raid

Jimmy Fallon Live and a behind the scenes tour of SNL
 
- And more!

Music for Running



I have a confession. Running is my time to bust out all the guilty pleasures on my ipod. Most of them aren't really that guilty - Abba, Yaz, Rihanna, Jay-Z the occasional Lady Gaga. Like everyone, I think I have impeccable taste in music. I'll listen to just about anything with the exception of reggae and pop-country.


I am facing a dilemma though. I am TIRED of all my music. There is only so much you can listen to when you're out there for 90+ minutes before you are sick of it all. I got some XLR8R  and FACT podcasts last night and am looking for more exceptions or, even better, mixes...






The advantage of running with the iphone is that I can log in to Pandora so at least a decent mix comes up. Right now I am a big fan of the Salt-n-Pepa station. What can I say? It reminds me of high school in a good way! Oh and how good was this song?




At the gym there are TV's attached to the treadmills where you can choose videos. Say what you will, but Rihanna's video for "Only Girl in the World" is so aesthetically pleasing I just have to listen to it every time. It's that wonderful techno fauxcoco (yes I made that up) Juicy Couture meets Pipilotti Rist aesthetic without all the horrible things that are Juicy Couture. The art direction is impeccable. I'd put every shot of it up if I could. It has backward fireworks.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

This Week's Training Schedule

WEEK 3: 18 Mi
TueJun 14Easy RunDist: 3 Mi @12:34
ThuJun 16Tempo RunDist: 5 Mi, inc Warm; 3 Mi @ 10:55; Cool
SunJun 19Long RunDist: 10 Mi @12:34


I can't believe I am about to say this but 12:34 miles are TOO easy for me? I am still pretty wiped out from Sunday's 10 miler.

Right now this week's obsession is finding the right pair of shoes. I went to Jackrabbit last week and learned that I have an over pronation, which explains my constant I.T. pain. Everyone has some sort of balance issue and the good news is you can get run of the mill training sneakers that adjust to this.

Of course I can't make a decision so I have ordered several pairs online and will do short treadmill tests until I find "the one." When you're running 26.2 miles, you want to be comfortable. But really, it's not the race, it's the 100s of miles before then that I need to worry about!

Monday, June 13, 2011

My first marathon

This year I finally bit the bullet and decided to run the NYC marathon. I grew up with a dad who was/is a hardcore runner, he has several marathons under his belt and I often joined him in the easier races. My years at Wellesley allowed me to gain a real soft spot for the runners of the Boston Marathon, as the school is the halfway point of the race and the students get out there and CHEER all day (it's a lot more fun than it sounds).  They call it the scream tunnel and it's so well known there are ads about it:






I had entered NY several times in the famed lottery only to never get a spot. This time, however, the stars aligned and my favorite organization, The Lower East Side Girls Club, decided to get some volunteers to raise $100,000 for their new Club Center for Community, slated to open in 2012. 
YOU CAN DONATE BY CLICKING HERE
They have stated their goal far more articulately than I ever could:




The Lower Eastside Girls Club provides a place where girls and young women 8-23 can grow, learn, have fun, and develop confidence in themselves and their ability to make a difference in the world. By delivering strong arts, literacy, science, health and leadership programs we provide girls with the vision to plan – and the tools to build – their future. All of our programs develop environmentalentrepreneurial and ethical leadership in the girls we serve. The Girls Club is in the final stages of a capital campaign to build New York City’s first and only Girls Club facility- a LEED Gold state of the art ‘green’ building that will serve hundreds of economically disadvantaged girls and their families. The new Girls Club Center for Community will open in 2012.


So in honor of this awesome opportunity I am going to blog about my training experience as well as highlight why this club is just so dang awesome.


Let's start with where I am now...exhausted. I did my first 10 miler yesterday. It was only supposed to be 9 but I made a wrong turn and went about a half mile too far and had to do that back. It took me about 1 hour and 40 minutes, which ain't bad. The world record for the women's marathon is current 2h 15, to give you an idea how how the elites do it.  My basic route was meandering through Forest Park, Queens. Despite that I have lived less than 2 miles away from it for a year, I had never even HEARD of it until recently. It's actually quite beautiful and has trails, you name it.


I am shocked that I am not sore, achey or particularly hungry...just really really tired. I have a 3 mi "easy" run scheduled for tomorrow and I am actually looking forward to it. I never thought I'd get to a point where 3 mi was easy!