Taper.......

Less than a week to the big race. Oddly enough I feel calm going into it. My new sneakers arrived yesterday and I'll do all of my running this week in them to break them in. They are the same exact pair I've been wearing so it's just a matter of breaking them in a little. Shouldn't be a problem.

I spent a good part of the afternoon taking more photos. I've been looking through a few photo books, but the only way to really learn is to get out there and take tons of pictures. The nice thing about the digital camera is you can go wild. Yesterday I took ~200 photos. I didn't even realize it. Today I took ~120. I also purchased a 1TB external hard drive to store the photos on. The photos I take are large in file size and I don't want to eat up my system's hard drive. Wynn has been giving me some good feedback on my pictures. I have a lot to learn, but at least I have this month to practice. I can't wait until spring when there are more colors available in nature. Right now everything is covered in dirty snow.

Wingman and I got a nice deal today on a TV for the basement. I'll be picking it up tomorrow. Once we get that setup, we'll have to contact our training buddies (Wynn, Teresa, Ian, Joan) to setup a 'trainerpalooza' session after we get back from the marathon. I need to visit this website next so we all stay comfortable down there.

And on a final note, I did a successful upgrade last night of my Mac OS. I went from 'Tiger' to 'Snow Leopard' and was able to upgrade to iLife '09. Now my HD camcorder will work easier on the Mac. There was no Mac software for it and the previous version of iLife did not recognize the camera. I had to run Parallels so I could run Windows so I could run the camera's software. Not anymore. Boo Windows.

Running & Riding With Rachel

So even though this weekend appeared to be a bust because of the snow, thanks to Crazy Mark I still got my last long run in. On Friday we all made plans to run together Saturday morning. Wynn, Teresa and Mark were up for helping us along with our last run. We set a time and place after we saw Avatar Friday night.

Saturday morning at 6:30a my alarm goes off. Wingman tells me my phone chirped that there was a message waiting. He also informed me that it had snowed and was windy. I checked my text msg and Wynn wanted to know what we were going to do. I looked out the window, thought it out, and decided to bail on the run because I was worried about the roads and my footing. I texted Wynn back and told him it was no go. He called me to say he could not get a hold of Mark. We figured we would get out later in the day to run or perhaps on Sunday. I hung up and crawled back into my warm bed. No more than 5 minutes later the phone rings again. It was Wynn telling me that Crazy Mark showed up and was ready to run. What did I want to do. They were ready, willing, and able to run with me. Argh. I told them I would be over by 8a. I hung up again and spoke to Wingman. I asked him if he wanted to come out to run with us and he looked at me like I was crazy. So, I was heading out alone.

I made it to Wynn's and found out what it takes to cancel a run. Basically it is a category 5 storm. Today's snow doesn't even come close. Teresa and I headed out on our route. The guys would be starting out 5 minutes behind us. On the way out we were trying to find ways of hiding until the guys passed us and then doubling back to the house. But we knew they would be watching our footsteps in the snow. We had to run. Finally around the 3 mile mark the guys caught up to us. I brought my little camera with me and we snapped a photo of the crew:

This is what 4 Warriors-In-Training look like

We had a blast out there. The footing was a little tricky, but it was so worth it. You don't get many opportunities to get out there with friends and have one of those 'epic' workouts. Wynn didn't escape unscathed. He wiped out on the way back. His feet came up and down he went on his back. But in true triathlete fashion, he stopped his Garmin watch so it wouldn't mess up his workout averages!

Part of our route (you can see our steps)

When I got back home I told Wingman all about the run. He was still OK with the fact that he did not go.

We were supposed to go to my cousin's on Sunday but her kids were sick and with a marathon in a week, I didn't want to get sick. So we rescheduled out visit. We made the best of it when Wynn and Teresa invited us over for "Trainerpalooza." Ian was coming as well. 5 of us setup our bike trainers in their garage and watched a DVD. We kept the workout short (1 hour), but it was fun. We started out in gloves, long sleeves, hats and in no time we peeled the layers off.

The happy cyclists (Rachel is on the right) - Photo courtesy of Wynn

After the ride, Joan came over, Wynn made us lunch and we had some great conversations. I brought the dessert over (triple chocolate mousse cake) that I had made to bring to my cousin's. Hmm, something tells me that had something to do with our being invited over ;-)  Next time, Ian promised to bring his tandem bike and Joan will ride with us.

Wynn showed me some cool photos he's taken over the years and some things you can do with Photoshop. I am just getting started with my photography hobby so it was nice to see some stuff I can do down the line. We also talked about triathlon training plans for 2010. Wynn has a big race planned and was telling us about a book he's been reading about race planning. There are 3 plans in there based on your race experience. There's one for "Novice Nick", "Kona Ken', and "Runner Rachel". Guess which one seems to fit Wynn's experience? That's right, Runner Rachel. So from now own, we're calling him Rachel.

One week from today and I will be done with my marathon. Part of me is looking forward to getting it done and moving on to more training that involves all 3 sports. Today's group ride got me eager to get back on the bike. And now that Wingman and I have some great training partners, I think it will be a good year!!

Planning out 2010

Wow, the end of the season is almost here for me. It's a little later than usual, but it's almost over. I'm trying to plan out my 2010 season. Mark my words, it will end much earlier next year than it did this year! My spring semester in school will be a crazy one. I have 6 classes I am enrolled in. Plus I will be working weekends and volunteering in the gait analysis research lab. That means my spring racing schedule will be an easy one. The races will be on the short side. My summer clinical dates are June 7th-July 30th. So far this is what I am thinking about:

February
3x2 mile Trail Relay

March (all weather permitting)
Xterra Trail 5k - Syosset
Xterra Trail 5k - Bethpage

April
Xterra Trail 5k - Stony Brook

May
LI Festival of Races 10k

June
Great South Bay Tri

July
Montauk Open Water Swim Race
Montauk Sprint Triathlon

August
Amagansett Open Water Swim Race
West Point Triathlon (unless Wingman wants to go back to NH for the Timberman Sprint)

September
Patriot's Half Williamsburg, VA
Warrior Dash

October
Entenmann's 10k
Run for the Ridley (if it does not conflict with the new Army 10 Miler date)
Army 10 Miler

November/December
Blazing Trails 4 Autism (the race shirt is a hooded sweatshirt!!)
HoHoHo Holiday run?
Just keep it fun with easy races

I am still thinking about an Olympic distance tri for the end of July or August. Just haven't found it yet. Wingman and I plan on doing some riding with Wynn this summer as he prepares for his big race in September. I also need to commit to starting my swim training much earlier and be diligent about going. Lots to do and so little time.................

Sunday morning run

OK, first let me get this out of the way:

"I am a horrible person. I made the Wingman get up super early on his day

off two days in a row. And I did not make him a 'trial' birthday cake."

Now we got that out of the way, let's get onto the reason we got up early. We went down to Hecksher Park to do the "GLIRC December Trail Run." Wynn and Teresa had been asking me if I was going down. I was nervous about it because it would mean possibly losing study time. But I got in a lot of good studying on Saturday and Wingman helped me out Friday by being a patient for my ortho practical so I felt like I could take a few hours away from school work to run. Teresa was kind enough to offer to run with me as I plodded along.

The run was a point to point run from Hecksher Park to Vets Highway along the greenbelt trail. Wingman and I got to the park at the perfect time. The park guy was unlocking the bathrooms. Whoo hoo. What can I say, I enjoy the simple pleasures. I did a short warmup run and then went back to the parking field to meet up with Wynn and Teresa for the start. I wished Wingman luck on his run and off we went.

The first part of the run is through the park on the roads and then onto the trails. Thank goodness we had people to follow because we never would have found our way. The path to the trail was not easy to find if you are alone. Plus, once you are on it, good luck staying on it. When you have to cross some roadways, it's not easy to spot the next entrance. The funniest crossing is the one across Sunrise Highway. Holy cow, you have to run along the river on a narrow path and then cross under a bridge on steel grating while in a half squat. As you get closer to the end of this you have to squat deeper to get under a pipe. I told Teresa this was excellent preparation for the Warrior Dash that we are doing next September. We made our way into Connetquot Park and I kept saying "I think we're almost there." Not quite. I forget how long after we got into the park that Wynn came back to find us. He ran with us a bit, but we asked him to go ahead and get a ride back to Hecksher and come back and pick us up.

When we finally got close to the highway, you would have thought I had been wandering around in the desert. I was pointing wildly saying "Look, I can see cars. Over there - cars!!!" Wingman came out shortly after us. He found himself a running partner. I was thrilled that he had someone to run with. She was 70 years old and the finisher of 60 marathon/ultramarathons. She recently won her age group at the Marine Corp Marathon. Here's the best part - she only started running when she was 51!!! Amazing.

We all piled into a minivan to get a ride back to our cars. The driver was a little scary. The u-turn was almost on two wheels. Zoinks!! Obviously since I am sitting here writing this you know we made it back in one piece. We changed clothes and went on to the most important part of the run - the post run breakfast! The four of us went over to a diner and enjoyed a great breakfast. We chatted some more and later on Jen stopped by to join us.

It started raining while we were inside so we were lucky with the weather. It held out just long enough. A huge thanks to Wynn, Teresa and Jen for getting us out to run. And a bigger thanks to Teresa for running with me and helping to pass the time. We'll have to get out and run again soon.

And just in case you forgot:

"I am a horrible person. I made the Wingman get up super early on his day

off two days in a row. And I did not make him a 'trial' birthday cake."

I hope he has forgiven me by now. Don't tell him, but we have to get up early next Saturday for a 5K race.

I didn't fail.....

I merely deferred success.

So I went down to Blue Point for the 5K Turkey Trot. The goodie bag was neat. The race is for a dental charity so in the bag was a toothbrush, a big tube of Crest ProHealth toothpaste, and candy. I guess the dentist is trying to ensure business. It was quite a turnout. ~800 people came down for the race. I like the turkey day races because it gives me the illusion that I worked out and don't feel guilty about having some pumpkin pie for dessert.

Even before getting to the starting line, I knew it would not be a PR day. The weather was perfect, but I just felt really stiff in the hips from the half marathon. So I figured I would just go out there and enjoy the run. When the gun went off, it was hard to get through the crowd. I stepped on a few feet and apologized a million times. Finally I got into some clear space. The course is nice and flat so no hills to worry about. It seemed to take forever to get to the one mile marker. I wore my Garmin so I could watch my pace. I was still hoping to put together a good race so pacing would be important. In the first mile I was all over the place (or the Garmin was flaking out). I was anywhere from 8:35-9:55 min/mile. That's a pretty wide swing and I'm not sure I was that varied in my pace. So I tried to settle in at 9:40. By the time I got to the first mile marker, I was on my pace. Phew.

After that I just ran and didn't look at the watch. I knew I was slowing down but I was trying to focus on enjoying the run. For the last few runs I've been on, I really haven't enjoyed running. I'm in a funk and I'm trying to break out of it. So I decided after that 1st mile, I was going to forget a PR attempt, and just run. The rest of the race was uneventful for me. I made it to the finish. No PR this time around but I hope that perhaps I have renewed my running focus. My next scheduled race is the HoHoHo Holiday run in December.

But the big excitement of the day was Wingman coming home from Florida. He's been gone for ~ a week and a half. Before he left we talked about cycling over the winter and what workouts we can do. So, when I went to the bike shop last week while he was away, I picked up this for him.

When we got home from the airport we went down to the basement where his new ride was waiting. He was excited to see it. I figured we would head out this weekend to go for a ride. But he surprised me by asking if I wanted to go for a ride now. Sure!! We changed, packed the bikes in the Element and went over to one of the trails. The loop we rode was 8.5 miles. It was so much fun to get out there together. About half way through we made a quick stop and I could see the smile on his face. He was enjoying the ride. We resumed the ride and made our way back out. The last mile was rough. I was pooped out and ready to rest. Wingman really enjoyed the ride. He confessed that when we made the rest stop, he was briefly flirting with the idea of a 2nd loop. Yikes!! I've created a monster!

We spent Thanksgiving with my family and had a great time. My cousin's wife and I defended our "Taboo" victory for the last 2 years. I believe we are now the 3x defending champions. People try to take us down, but they just can't match our intensity. Every year the other team's shuffle the players to find the right combo, but so far no one has really threatened our dynamic duo or as we call ourselves "Team S&M" (get your minds out of the gutter, it's our initials.....)

We're thinking about wearing these next year when we come back to defend our titles:

Clubber Lang says it best

And that ladies and gentlemen, sums up my race today in Philly in a nutshell. I actually sat in my car Saturday morning and debated not going. Wingman is down in Florida and I would be going solo to Philly. I haven't been feeling all that well over the last ~2 months since I got my first cold the end of September. It seems like every run I've been on the last few weeks have been a chore. Do I really want to drive over 3 hours and feel like crap to run? I just figured it might motivate me to get the mileage in.

So fast forward to 5am this morning. The alarm goes off and I attempt to get out of bed. I wasn't feeling so hot and sat on the edge of the bed contemplating sitting this one out. No way. I didn't drive all the way to not do this race. So I got ready and started the walk down to the race. It was a little cold out this morning but nothing like last year. This year I wore a long sleeve running short with shorts. Last year I had to wear a jacket, gloves, and tights.

The gun went off and I started out. I wore my garmin GPS so I could keep track of my pace. My goal here was to get the mileage in. I had no time goal in mind. I found a nice rhythm early and tried to keep my pace in check. Right around mile 2 was a downhill section and I let it rip. In my head I was thinking ahead in the race to the cobblestone portion. I mean, who plans a marathon/half marathon course and has a street in there that is cobblestone? But my head/stomach brought me back the present. I was starting to taste the shot blocks I ate at the race start. I was also running behind this guy in a 'custom' shirt. It said "Jesus ran my race for me. This is just the victory lap." Huh? I tried to focus on anything other than my stomach. Nothing doing. I finally saw a port-a-john and made a pit stop.

I came out and there was an aid station. Grabbed some water and gatorade and continued on. Mile 4-8 were a blur for me. I just remember hoping that a lightening bolt would come down out of the sky and take me out. I actually debated bailing on the race and going back to my hotel. I wasn't too far from it. But I wasn't sure I could pull the plug on this one. I didn't think I could live with myself it I had a DNF. I mean, if I really had a medical issue I would certainly drop out and not lose sleep over it. But today I knew if I quit, it would eat away at me for a long time. I am not sure I could get to the marathon with the DNF cloud over my head. Every training run would remind me that I was a failure. So I had to dig down deep and do some serious HTFU!! For pete's sake, I was wearing my HTFU visor. Gotta live up to the words on my visor.

So by mile 8 I tried to pull it together. I was giving myself a pep talk. In my head, not out loud. Don't want people to think I am totally nuts. I got to mile 10 and thought, hey, only 3 more to go! Ugh, only 3 more to go. The good news is once you get into the park after the uphill at mile 9, the rest is downhill and flat. I kept plodding along, just wanted to keep my feet moving.

The race organizers changed the course up a little this year. The finish area is waaaaay too confusing. You have to run through a traffic circle and then down to the finish line (which is basically the starting line). Problem is, you have to follow signs because the marathon runners continue on course via the inner lane and the half marathon goes through the outer lane. Last year it was the opposite. Some marathon folks were darting in and out of the human traffic. I just wanted to get to the finish line safely. My time was ~3 minutes faster than last year. I think if I felt better during the race I could have shaved off ~6- minutes from last year, but it was not meant to be. The race shirt last year was cool. It was a long sleeve black dri-fit jersey that said "Kicked Asphalt". This year was lame - burgundy long sleeve dri-fit that said "Running Means..." Wow, what brainchild came up with that?

Once I crossed the line I got my medal and some food. I was feeling much better at this point but I was glad to not have to run anymore. I skipped the mylar blanket because I did not want to walk back to the hotel wearing it. I made the 1 mile walk of shame back to the hotel. I really didn't want to admit to people anything about this race. I had to ride the elevator with some woman from an english teacher's conference at the hotel. I was so dejected from my performance and now I was forced to relive it again. All I could think was "why didn't I take off my race number at the finish line?"

I got back to my room and just fell flat, face down on the bed. I was thinking about how I wanted to take a shower but couldn't muster the energy to get up. I called and left a message for Wingman. I did some easy range of motion on my legs so they would not tighten up on me. Took my shower, finished packing my bags and got the hell out of dodge!!

I made really good time coming home. There was no traffic on the roads. I actually got back in time to make a brief appearance at my cousin's baby shower. Almost makes it sound like I lead a busy life ;-)

When I get my pictures transferred, I will write up my visit to the Reading Terminal Market. Saw some scary things over there. I'll leave you with two words.....Turkey Scrapple.

How does he do that?

I think Wingman is a witch. I mean no offense, but sometimes he can do some weird things. Yesterday I went to the bike shop to pick up my order of Shot Blocks. They called Tuesday and I told them I would be down Thursday afternoon. I didn't mention it to the Wingman. Now a trip to the bike shop for me can be dangerous. I get all caught up in the bikes, wheels, clothing, etc and sometimes have trouble getting out of there unscathed. So before I went in yesterday, I sat in the car and had my usual pep talk. "You can do this. Just walk in, keep your head down, pay for the shot blocks, and get out. Ice water running through your veins. You can do this. Be strong." I went in and stuck to the plan. Well, sort of. Darren asked if I got the email with the sale items. I could feel my legs getting weak. Sweat beads forming on my brow. We start to discuss Zipp 808 wheels. Mmmmm, new wheels. Be strong, be strong. Then, my phone rang. It was the Wingman calling from Florida. How the heck did he know that I was looking at an expensive item that I didn't need right now?

Tonight, I went to Target to buy new pillows. I am like Conan the Destroyer when it comes to pillows. They don't last long for me. After I picked two out, I walked around the rest of the store. I was over in electronics playing with a Garmin GPS unit. Mind you I don't need a GPS unit, but it was a nice toy. As I went through the various screens, my phone rang. It was the Wingman again. How the heck did he know? How does he know that I am looking at toys that I don't need! He must be some kind of witch. Maybe he has a spy? Hmmm......

One week to Philly

Just got back from the airport. Dropped the Wingman off for his flight. He sent me a text message that his flight is delayed and he has the added bonus of a screaming child on his flight. I am soooooo jealous. NOT. I told him it could be worse. This could be his screaming child. Oh boy, you know John Lennon had to be under the influence of drugs when he was with her.

Last night we went to the Devils game in New Jersey. The old stadium was so easy to get to. It was right off the turnpike. Now, it's not as simple. And to make matters worse, it was raining and drivers tend to get stupid when it rains. This usually brings out my "vehicular induced Tourettes". We made it there ~14 minutes before face-off. Grabbed a bite to eat and made our way down to our seats. While all this was going on, I was mid-text with Wynn about running with his crew on Sunday morning. Turns out they were running the hills of Port Jeff and I wasn't ready for those hills. Since I am not doing a taper before Philly, I don't want to add hills to my long run to fatigue me even more. I expressed my disdain to Wynn about the idiot sitting next to me (not the Wingman). This guy was carrying on with the guy behind me about his hockey knowledge. Please, get a room you two. It was so bad that I told the Wingman we had to move after the 1st period or I was going to hit this guy. Wynn suggested that I take photos of myself in cuffs for the blog. Sorry, Wynn, no pics to post. We found two seats two rows down and sat there in peace. Devils played a great game. They won 5-2.

So next Sunday is the Philly half marathon. I'm using it as a training run so basically that means I have no expectations of finishing times, just finishing 'fast'. Again, if you know me and how I run, fast is a term that is used loosely. Wingman will not be making the race as he is out of town, so I will be going solo. Weather right now is ~60 degrees and possible showers. It'll be a little warm, but I'm hoping that at 8a, it's comfortable. When I did the race last year, it was freezing. By mile 10 the aid stations iced over and I had to jump up onto the grass to get through it. This year I'll be in shorts and a t-shirt compared to running tights, under armour top, cycling vest, and a beanie hat last year.

New toy on the way

The other night I ran through the parking garage at school to get to my car. The temperature was cool and comfortable. I felt really good running. I swear I was this close to going "Forrest Gump" and just go running. Problem was it was dark and I wouldn't be able to see well and cars may not see me. Now that it is getting darker earlier, it really doesn't bode well for running outdoors. Where I live, street lights are rare. It's pitch black out here. I dread having to run on the treadmill for most of my weekday runs. So I combed the web and bought one of these:

So now I am ready to run outdoors when I get home. It's a Petzl Tikka XP 60 lumen light that has an adjustable lens so you can use it as a spot light or an area light, depending on your needs. I'll be more visible to the cars around me as well. And when I am not running, I can go find a coal mine and go mining ;-) It should be in early this week so I'll get to use it right away!

On tap tomorrow is a 13 mile run. I might channel my inner Forrest Gump and just go out and run 13 miles out and have Wingman pick me up. We'll see what happens in the morning when I wake up. I'm not sure what is on his running schedule for tomorrow.