It was also the furthest I have ever run before. I was up by 6:30 am and out the door 15 minutes later. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and by 7:00 a.m. we were on the road heading to Queens .
The Final Destination: Forest Hills Park
To my surprise , many people came out to the practice . I would say about 50 , which makes the run a little easier to know that so many people are all doing 11 miles. We split up into groups and I , of course , stayed with my group of 9:00 to 10:00 minute miles and with my favorite coach Sid. I don’t think I have referred to Sid before but , like Brian, he is also an accomplished runner, and he is also 70 years old. Yes you read correctly. He is 70 and still running and competing in races and winning! As you can see, TFK has some of the very best coaches, so I have so many influential people in my running circle.
My friend Melissa was there and we usually stick together for the runs, so today was no different. Before we started we made a pack ... no matter how hard the run would be we would not walk!
The Race: Mission Accomplished!
We ran for a mile to get to the park and then it started! We hit the first hill and it was a killer. It was very steep and seemed to go on forever. We had to do the same course 4 times over, so yes , I had to encounter that hill another three times. On my 4th trip around on the hill I yelled out a profanity so loud, because I thought I would not be able to make it to the top. Once we hit the top it was such an awesome feeling. The best part was trying to avoid the horse that at one point seemed to have a B-line right for us, mind you he was going full speed ahead. This was a great run and I felt so awesome after we accomplished our goal. On our way back to the train Melissa and I decided to stop for a bagel because we were starving. It was so delicious!! Of course this time I had a full bagel flat with the Lox Cream cheese. YUM YUM YUM! The train ride back seemed to go on forever but I finally made it home.
Next Saturday we will be running 14 miles in Central Park, which means that I will be encountering my dear friend…..Harlem Hill ... twice!
Until then…MM
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
5:20 A.M. ARGGHHHH
My alarm goes off at 5:20 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday as those are my "cross training days". Its always a 50/50 chance that I wake up or I go back to sleep for another hour…. Its amazing what an extra hour can do for you.
Today was one of those days when I didn't need the hour and I got up. I knew that I had to go to the gym to do 3 to 5 miles of running and work on my knee, but sometimes my bed has this hold on me and its so hard to get out of. My real motivator for getting up? I knew that once I got to work I would have half of a wheat bagel with Lox cream cheese and tomatoes on it… Really, it's the little things that seem to make me happy. :)
And, sure enough, I got there at 5:40 a.m., caught up on the news and the headlines and ran for 3.5 miles, I now officially dislike running on a treadmill. After my 3.5 mile run I worked on my knee, which now feels great. I have learned that I have to keep icing it after every run and keep working it out. If I don’t my Physical Therapist, Danielle Napolitano, would be so upset.
FYI, if anyone needs an awesome PT check out www.finishlinept.com the staff is great and I love both Michael and Danielle. Andre is pretty awesome, too.
Question: Did anyone in New York City notice how humid it was yesterday ? Our workout started, as they always do, with our warm up and stretching and then the fun part started as we were explained the course.
Here is our workout description:
Begin with a half mile warm-up, then complete the pickup/jog routine below. To be clear a Pickup is when you run at about a 80% effort.
2:00 pickup followed by a 1:00 jog
2:00 pickup followed by a 1:00 jog
3:00 pickup follow by a 1:00 jog
2:00 pickup follow by a 1:00jog.
This is one cycle, you will complete two of these pickup/jog cycles.
This workout was a lot better than last week's speed workout and I enjoyed it so much more. The best part of our training was that we worked out with our new coach, Brian. Now Brian is an exceptional coach….. well, maybe not exceptional. More like CRAZY!! His goal is to run a marathon in all 50 states so far he has done 16 in 3 years. Can you see why I call him crazy?! Also, did I forget to mention that he finishes a marathon in a little under 3 hours??? That's 26.2 miles in 3 hours!! Oh, and another important fact…he is also taking pictures as he runs the marathon. Can we say AH-MAZING?!
All in all, Monday and Wednesday's workouts were great and now I have Saturday to look forward to. 11 miles at 8:00 a.m. in Queens. This should be fun/interesting. I am also going to start bringing my camera because my phone is just not cutting it. Next post there will be pictures of us before and after.
I am not quite up to Brian's level….YET!
MM
Today was one of those days when I didn't need the hour and I got up. I knew that I had to go to the gym to do 3 to 5 miles of running and work on my knee, but sometimes my bed has this hold on me and its so hard to get out of. My real motivator for getting up? I knew that once I got to work I would have half of a wheat bagel with Lox cream cheese and tomatoes on it… Really, it's the little things that seem to make me happy. :)
And, sure enough, I got there at 5:40 a.m., caught up on the news and the headlines and ran for 3.5 miles, I now officially dislike running on a treadmill. After my 3.5 mile run I worked on my knee, which now feels great. I have learned that I have to keep icing it after every run and keep working it out. If I don’t my Physical Therapist, Danielle Napolitano, would be so upset.
FYI, if anyone needs an awesome PT check out www.finishlinept.com the staff is great and I love both Michael and Danielle. Andre is pretty awesome, too.
Question: Did anyone in New York City notice how humid it was yesterday ? Our workout started, as they always do, with our warm up and stretching and then the fun part started as we were explained the course.
Here is our workout description:
Begin with a half mile warm-up, then complete the pickup/jog routine below. To be clear a Pickup is when you run at about a 80% effort.
2:00 pickup followed by a 1:00 jog
2:00 pickup followed by a 1:00 jog
3:00 pickup follow by a 1:00 jog
2:00 pickup follow by a 1:00jog.
This is one cycle, you will complete two of these pickup/jog cycles.
This workout was a lot better than last week's speed workout and I enjoyed it so much more. The best part of our training was that we worked out with our new coach, Brian. Now Brian is an exceptional coach….. well, maybe not exceptional. More like CRAZY!! His goal is to run a marathon in all 50 states so far he has done 16 in 3 years. Can you see why I call him crazy?! Also, did I forget to mention that he finishes a marathon in a little under 3 hours??? That's 26.2 miles in 3 hours!! Oh, and another important fact…he is also taking pictures as he runs the marathon. Can we say AH-MAZING?!
All in all, Monday and Wednesday's workouts were great and now I have Saturday to look forward to. 11 miles at 8:00 a.m. in Queens. This should be fun/interesting. I am also going to start bringing my camera because my phone is just not cutting it. Next post there will be pictures of us before and after.
I am not quite up to Brian's level….YET!
MM
Monday, July 20, 2009
What a Rebel!
I am such a rebel!
This past Saturday we had the option to do one of two things:
1.) A run with our group, Team For Kids (TFK), in Central Park Race an easy 4 mile run
or
2.) A 6 or 7 mile run with the rest of our team.
If I went with the "TFK plan" I would have to get up at 6:30am on a Saturday, which I was actually planning to do, but then I was out with my roommate Alicia, and a couple of her friends and I was having a lot of fun. So right then and there at Revel in the Meatpacking Mecca I decided NO, I would not be waking up that early to do 6 or 7 miles. I sent my friend Katie a text telling her I would not be joining her and that I would be running along the West Side Highway at 10:00am for the other team run, if she wanted to join me, which she did.
Now, did anyone realize how hot it was on Saturday? As we started our run I realized this would be harder and maybe I should have gotten up and gone with the TFK team. The later in the day the hotter it became, but…. WE DID IT!
We ran from my house to 23rd and the West Side Highway and back with a casual stop to do a little free kayaking. In total we did a little over 6 miles which was great!
The rest of my weekend was a lot of fun. We laid out on Saturday and then went to a wonderful dinner to celebrate Katie's birthday. Have you been to Alta lately? I highly recommend it. Some of the best tapas I have ever had.
On Sunday, Alicia, Katie and I headed to Long Beach on the 8:45am train and laid out all day then headed back into the city for a kickball game.
Overall it was a wonderful weekend but now this week is going to be a little harder. Today we will be running 5.5 miles, Wednesday will do our famous "Speed Workouts/Fast Runs" and Saturday is the big day….11 miles! By the way did I mention that I have to run/workout on my off days. Wish me luck!
Ok till my next post which will include pictures. Thanks for reading…. :)
This past Saturday we had the option to do one of two things:
1.) A run with our group, Team For Kids (TFK), in Central Park Race an easy 4 mile run
or
2.) A 6 or 7 mile run with the rest of our team.
If I went with the "TFK plan" I would have to get up at 6:30am on a Saturday, which I was actually planning to do, but then I was out with my roommate Alicia, and a couple of her friends and I was having a lot of fun. So right then and there at Revel in the Meatpacking Mecca I decided NO, I would not be waking up that early to do 6 or 7 miles. I sent my friend Katie a text telling her I would not be joining her and that I would be running along the West Side Highway at 10:00am for the other team run, if she wanted to join me, which she did.
Now, did anyone realize how hot it was on Saturday? As we started our run I realized this would be harder and maybe I should have gotten up and gone with the TFK team. The later in the day the hotter it became, but…. WE DID IT!
We ran from my house to 23rd and the West Side Highway and back with a casual stop to do a little free kayaking. In total we did a little over 6 miles which was great!
The rest of my weekend was a lot of fun. We laid out on Saturday and then went to a wonderful dinner to celebrate Katie's birthday. Have you been to Alta lately? I highly recommend it. Some of the best tapas I have ever had.
On Sunday, Alicia, Katie and I headed to Long Beach on the 8:45am train and laid out all day then headed back into the city for a kickball game.
Overall it was a wonderful weekend but now this week is going to be a little harder. Today we will be running 5.5 miles, Wednesday will do our famous "Speed Workouts/Fast Runs" and Saturday is the big day….11 miles! By the way did I mention that I have to run/workout on my off days. Wish me luck!
Ok till my next post which will include pictures. Thanks for reading…. :)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Yesterday's Run
Yesterday's run was good we did our first "fast runs". What are Fast Run's you ask? Let me explain..we all (61 of us) meet at our usual spot on 81st on the West side then ran to 103rd to a track. Once we got there we warmed up and then….it started. The plan was to break off into five different running groups, I of course put myself in the 9:30 to 10:30 range because at my slowest I run a 10 minute mile and at last week's 9 miler I was running 9:40 I thought it would be a good place. So we started on a track that was 350 meters, we did 4 laps going as fast as possible (may sound easy, but its not!!) and then after every fast lap we did a recovery run at a nice slow speed. Well after two fast laps I thought I was going to die! I could not even do the third I was out of breath and felt so out of shape. I thought haven't I been training for this? What has the past month and half gotten me? I cant even run this dumb course. I was upset but then I thought I am going to finish strong and I did. I kept up and did the recovery run. On our way home I THANKFULLY remembered that I had a granola bar with me, which I shared with my roommate because we were both starving. By the time I got home I was so tired, dirty and I still had to do laundry! Annoyed I took off my running clothes so that they could be washed and as I took off my socks I was so grossed out…I had a ring of dirt. My feet were so white while the bottom part of my ankle was black..not from my tanning but from the dirt. So before I even took my clothes up to the laundry room I jumped in the shower to wash off all the dirt. With that shower I felt like a million bucks.
Keep reading to find out what else I am doing and of course if you haven't donated please make sure you do!! I need to hit the $3000 mark. More stories to come…sneak peak... on the 25th I am running 11 miles so there will be a story there too. :)
Keep reading to find out what else I am doing and of course if you haven't donated please make sure you do!! I need to hit the $3000 mark. More stories to come…sneak peak... on the 25th I am running 11 miles so there will be a story there too. :)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
First Post!
Hey everyone!
My training is underway and I'm beyond excited to share this experience with you! It has not been an easy journey, but I know that the end result will be extremely rewarding.
Keep checking back here to see how my training is going and to be highly entertained by all my awesome stories!
Keepin' it real!
Jackie
My training is underway and I'm beyond excited to share this experience with you! It has not been an easy journey, but I know that the end result will be extremely rewarding.
Keep checking back here to see how my training is going and to be highly entertained by all my awesome stories!
Keepin' it real!
Jackie
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