It seems longer than 13.1....

The new course map was recently posted for the NYC Half Marathon - I realize all half marathons are 13.1 miles but this course map seems WAY longer than that!  Take a look here: course map.  The issue I'm having is that if you wanted to get from Central Park to Wall Street on any given day it would take you forever - either by subway or a cab which might cost you $40 to go "that far".  But when you break it down - the island of Manhattan is just not that big (as my sister keeps pointing out).  I just go back to the days when I had an actual job and had to commute all day long on the subway - I worked in the World Trade Center and to get anywhere took at least 45 minutes by subway.  It seems impossible that it is really only about 6 miles to get to the southern most tip of Manhattan from the outside of Central Park.  But this is just all clutter in my head to keep me from the real issue: Shit, now I actually have to run 13.1 miles at one time???????  Why on earth did I sign up for such a thing?  Well just one more thing to be terrified of for the year and then I can get back on track for triathlon training and put this big, huge, frightening event behind me - one more medal to hang in the training room!!!


51 days and counting until I can say, "I'm a half-marathoner". Not that I'm counting.


And just in case you wanted to donate to The Fresh Air Fund - I'm soooo close to the goal!

DONATE - FRESH AIR FUND

Two Men & a triathlete

My beloved (left) - Coach Extraordinaire (right)

They say It Takes A Village To Raise A Child - well it also takes a small village to make a non-athletic stay-at-home-mom into a triathlete and there are the two men that make it happen for me.  Meet my one and only, sweet as can be NonLesbianLifePartner, Kevin, and my world-class, amazing coach, Justin.  Without them I'm not sure where I'd be in life let alone in the crazy world of triathlon.

Kevin has been making my life more amazing for almost 5 years.  He brings light and joy to everyone that knows and meets him.  I always tell people he is an amazing human being - I think that sums him up. The greatest part of Kevin is that he makes you believe you can do anything.  He just sees the good in everyone and has made me realize things are possible for me.  Things I would have never once even considered let alone tried.  I used to be a firm, firm believer in "I'd rather quit than fail" philosophy in life.  He has made me see that even when you fail it's really a win.  Since meeting him I try many things I am terrified to do but I always give it my best try and so far they've all been amazing experiences.  I could go on and on and on about how great Kevin is but if you know him, you already know that and if you don't know him - you should.

Justin - well he writes my programs and all that coaching stuff that just about anyone could do that. It's the cheerleading/mental health part where he shines.  It's Justin's fun filled job to talk me off the ledge at least twice a week.  I usually call him with the intention of quitting. Yet, somehow, at the end every call I'm working on a race of a  longer distance than I originally started with!  Or I call him bc so-and-so told me that I needed to start running a 5:00/mile for 400 miles each week to train. I put myself in a panic and call him to "fix" my training plan.  He then once again, talks me off the ledge, calms me down and makes me see how all things are possible for me - all I need to do is believe that he knows what he's doing and most importantly BELIEVE IN MYSELF.

Every person needs these 2 egoless men to support them in their lives.  I hope you are all as lucky as me.  If not, you can at least hire Justin - sweet Kevin is not for sale, sorry.

Only ONCE...I promise!

As of December 31, 2011,  running was my least favorite thing to do but since I publicly announced that 2012 was the Year of the Run - I've had to rethink that feeling.  Now running is no longer my least favorite thing to do - at least that's what I keep telling myself over and over as I keep on running.  But to really prove to myself that I was committed to the Year of the Run, I registered for the NYC 13.1. As many of you know, it's nearly impossible to get into this damn race the "regular" way so I had to go an alternative route: charity entry.  That means I'm once again asking you for some cash - I know times are tough and you do not need to donate or even make an excuse.  I hate asking for money and I hate even more when people ask me for money but what can a girl-trying-to-be-a-runner do?

So here it is - my one and only time to ask you for a donation (unless you get this blog in a few different spots) - not only for my run but for my all-time, favorite charity on the planet:  The Fresh Air Fund.  My ghetto fabulous self went to sleep away camp for 3 weeks for the summer after 5th grade with just this amazing organization.  I'm sure you all know how great the Fresh Air Fund is so I won't go on and on but please click the link below to send some other lovely, underprivileged kids to camp AND help me on my journey to be a RUNNER!!

Won't you help send a girl (YES, that is me and I AM A GIRL!) to camp!!

DONATE HERE!!!

70.3 done...well, almost.

Who knew a Virtual Race would light a fire under my rear end.  Last night when I looked at my spreadsheet, I realized I had to swim 1200 yards and bike 16 miles today in order to finish before the deadline.  It took quite a bit of juggling kids, the damn aquacize class (don't get me started on the amount of time and room the aquacize class takes up) but I did it!  I finished a 70.3 race....ok, well not really since I did it over the course of 11 days.  The good news is that since this is the Year of the Run - I went over in the run miles but 8.43 MILES!!!  I was completely shocked that on the last day I needed to swim and bike and I was thinking I'd have to run 12.1 miles on the last day.  Go me =)

I want to send out a huge birthday wish to Karen and an even bigger Thank You for pushing me to commit and complete something I said I would.  I was determined to make this happen and I am also determined to work my ass off this year to make my racing goals a reality.

      FINAL DISTANCES:

SWIM 2200yards

BIKE 56.00miles

RUN 21.53miles

Jenni bought me this hat and I vowed to never wear this hat until I completed a 70.3 race...do you think I can wear it now??

NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10k

Wendy, my beloved sister in her NYC Marathon shirt!, at the start.

Today marked my very first 10K race ever and more importantly, the first 10k in the Year of the Run.  I've completed 2 other 10K distances but both were part of a triathlon and both were Ugly (with a capital U) -thank goodness for a new year.  I was beyond nervous about this race today - I hate running with people I know bc I'm just so slow.  I find it condescending when the people you started with are waiting for you at the finish line or God forbid, they come BACK to run with you.  I realize this is something I need to work on in therapy and that no one is judging me - just me judging me but that's a few years and many therapy sessions away from today.  Today was supposed to be a run with my sister (who did run), Pamela and Jenni but the last 2 had family obligations and had to back out at the last minute.  It went from a Girls Party 10k to just Wendy and me which took quite a bit of pressure off of me - albeit, self induced pressure.  I thought I would finish in 1:28 and was hoping beyond hope for a 1:15 finish.


We got to the park and I felt as ready as I could feel to run but still nervous.  I decided not to set my watch - I was originally going to run 6:00/walk 2:00.  Figured might as well just go and see what happens.  The first mile was way slow and mostly bc of the amount of people and not me.  The race was packed and it takes while to thin out to be able to actually move so I was pretty happy to go slow and walk up some of the first hills.  But then I got into my groove and sort of never got out of it.  That has NEVER happened to me.  My only complaint was that I forgot my gloves and while it was unseasonable warm in NYC today, it was still chilly enough that my hands were freezing the entire race.  On a sidenote: I own ONE, yes just one, shirt without thumbholes and I just happened to have picked that shirt to wear today.  Just my luck.  The course inside of Central Park is quite hilly but I didn't really notice.  I had no iPod and was alone the entire race.  I was able to listen to the gossip of those around me which might be one of my all time favorite things to do - got some tips on the course, heard about this one girls night out and a few other random things.  I walked very infrequently - mostly at the water stations and even when I walked it was never for that long.  I was never in any real pain and sort of felt like I could keep on going.  At the 4.5 mile mark, I saw Kevin and he jumped in to run with me for a mile.  It was so great to see him but for the first time ever in any race, I didn't need him or anyone.  I am normally desperately looking for someone I know to help get me to the finish line or say something inspirational - anything to help but today I was so fine on my own.  It's always great to see him but I didn't need it which was an amazing feeling!!!  Just kept trucking along on my run - he dropped off at mile 5.5 and then I kicked it up a notch.  I wanted to leave it all out there and give it every single thing I had left so I did except I made that decision a smidge too early!  Got to the 6 mile marker and thought I might not make the remaining .2 miles but just kept on going.  

Yours truly at the finish line!

I crossed the finish line and immediately stopped my watch - it said 1:08!  ONE HOUR & EIGHT MINUTES!  If I died right there I'd have died a happy person - I never thought I could run that "fast" - my Garmin put me at a 10:58/mile pace (the NYRR website has a slower pace so I'm going with my Garmin bc I can!).  What a great race, beautiful weather and a simply amazing way to kick off The Year of the Run - perhaps I could actually complete a 13.1....but for today I'm just going to bask in the glow of my speed =)

PS - please notice the negative splits - another HUGE first!

First World Problems

Sweet Kevin, Matty Reed & yours truly @ Rev3 Knoxville 2011 - my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon

Recently, I found this website about First World Problems and the more I read it, the more I realize how ridiculous my "problems" really are in the grand scheme of life.  My most recent drama, is that I can't "afford" to go to San Juan to do the 70.3.  The thing no one tells you about triathlon when you first start is that it's EXPENSIVE, very, very EXPENSIVE.  Now that I own all the gear, I was hoping the expense would start getting less but then comes the price of travel to the race and more importantly: the race entry fee!  (Still having trouble believing that I pay someone that much money to be in a triathlon but that's a whole other ball of wax).  Aside from 2012 being the Year of the Run - it's now also the Year of the Local Race - or at least a race we can drive to and mooch of friends while there.  At first, I was pretty bummed by this revelation that going to the race would really be a financial strain and then when I realized that this is really my biggest problem in life.  I really am pretty lucky - that also means I get more time to train for Rev3 Knoxville in May and hopefully a warm winter will allow lots of running outside to prep for it.  I wish everyone in the world had my "problems".

1st Day 5K

Started off 2012 wearing my new favorite shirt!  Jenni (pictured below), her daughter Kate, my homegirl Pamela and of course my beloved, Sweet Kev (there is a whole entry being dedicated just to him but not today) went out to run the 1st Day 5K this morning.  This morning was my fastest 5K ever - a great way to start off The Year of the Run!  Six more days until my first 10k - yikes, that's horrifying.