Running On Empty

I headed out yesterday around 7:30am for my one hour forty-five minute run.  We were having a barbecue at the house in the afternoon and still had a lot of preparations to take care of, so I decided to stay close to home.

I ran to Lakeview Avenue and took that across to Malverne.  Instead of heading north, I went south through Lynbrook on Broadway.  This was a nice stretch, not too commercial.  Eventually, I made it down to East Rockaway Avenue in Hewlett Harbor.  The road is pretty narrow on this stretch.  There are some pretty homes.  I think Pete's childhood buddy lives close by.  I made a cautious left on Atlantic Avenue.  I knew I had to take Atlantic, but I could have sworn East Rockaway Ave turned into it.  I just hoped for the best at this point.  I was pretty tired.  I hadn't slept well (again) and also didn't eat for the occasion.  I seriously need to get carbs back into my life.  My bones felt achy and eighty-five year oldy (if you read it in print on my blog, of course it's a word!).  I regretted leaving my cell phone at home.  What if I get seriously lost and wind up running miles out of my way?  Will I be lost forever?  How would I get in touch with my family?  What will I eat?  Where will I sleep?  Will a pack of wild wolves take me in as one of their own or will they eat me alive?  Oh wait -- are those the train tracks on Sunrise Highway? Yay and phew!  Rather than go back through Malverne, I decided to take the path and sidewalk along Sunrise back to my neighborhood.  At some point Sunrise and Merrick Road cross.  When this happens, there's no sidewalk.  Sunrise is a major thoroughfare.  It got tricky, but I survived.  I made it back to my house in exactly 1:45.  I wound up doing twelve miles at an 8:43 pace.  Slow going, but considering I was running on empty, I'll take it.

May Race Is On

My regular 5 mile route this morning.  It was overcast, but definitely warmer than the last couple of days.

I am signed up for the Long Beach City Manager's 10 Mile Trophy Run on Sunday, May 26th.!  Yay!  I don't think I'm going to be as fast as last year, but I'm psyched to be there with my buddy, "The Nun".  Whoo hoo!

Before Hurricane Sandy, the boardwalk in Long Beach looked like this:

After the hurricane, it looked like this:

Back in February, the Long Beach Snowflake 4 Mile run was diverted from the boardwalk because it was still in disrepair.  I'm not sure of the condition today.  4 miles of the 10 mile race is usually on the boardwalk.  I hope it's back up for the sake of the residents.  Beach season is upon us and I would hate to see the town and the local businesses suffer yet another loss.  

Lions And Seagulls And Bears, Oh My!

6.4 miles yesterday and 5 this morning.  It's been chilly for mid-May at 9am, cold enough for pants and long sleeve shirts.

Now that May's race didn't happen, or should I say, happened without me, I need to find an alternative.  At the end of the month (Actually, the beginning of next month) I am due to run a 15k.  There is one Saturday of Memorial Day weekend in Lenox, Massachusetts.  It's a trail run in the Berkshires which sounds fun, right?  I figure since I'll be among 300 other runners, the chances of me getting eaten by a black bear decrease dramatically.  It is true that I have a fear of getting mauled by wild (and/or domesticated) animals, depending on what part of the country I'm running in (Florida = alligators, South Carolina = alligators and/or squirrels, Berkshires = bears, Long Island = bats, squirrels, and/or wild pit bulls, etc.)   I want to clarify that I am an animal advocate and lover.  Loving an animal does not also mean I am willing to be its lunch.  Anyway, participating in this event would require a weekend away.   Lenox is very close to our friend's camp where we usually stay, however there may not be any room that weekend.  The complicated logistics of a destination race need to be worked out.

The other choice is the Long Beach City Manager's 10 Mile Trophy Run which is the Sunday before Memorial Day.  I ran this race last year.  Even though it down poured for the first six miles, I was able to finish in 1:20:21, an 8:02 pace.  I was very pleased with this time.  It's a flat and easy course.  It's also only 15 minutes from home.  Easy peasy.  My biggest draw is that my buddy, "The Nun" will be in town that weekend and might possibly do it with me!  What's better than that?  (No bears in Long Beach, just a number of insolent seagulls.  Last I checked, seagulls don't eat people.  Just their lunches.  Sometimes right out of their hands.  Like my tuna fish sandwich in West Palm Beach.  Never.  Forget.)

Mother's Day 10K in Prospect Park

I didn't sleep well last night because of some annoying post-nasal drip crap going on in my head.  I reluctantly got up at 6:30 this morning.  I dressed 3 out of the 4 kids while Pete got coffee and bagels for the road.  It started raining at 7am so I grabbed my rain vest.

We took the Belt Parkway to Ocean Parkway and then made our way north to Prospect Park.  Even on a Sunday morning, there's traffic and poorly timed traffic lights.  I wanted to get there by 8:35 because the 10k start time was 8:50.  We made it to the park entrance at Ocean Avenue & Lincoln Avenue at exactly 8:30.  Pete dropped me off while he went looking for a parking space.  I ran over to the race staging area.   I saw a big finish line, but no start.  Hmmm...  It must be around a corner somewhere.  I asked someone where packet pickup was.  He led me to a suspiciously empty table with just one woman working behind it.  I told her I was picking up my 10k number.  Guess what!  They changed the start times.  I missed it.  Didn't I get the email?  Uh...no...that's why I'm standing here.  Of course, this turn of events was not the least bit surprising to me.  It is well documented that if there is a way to screw up race details of any kind, I'm your woman!  They apologized and gave me not one, but two very large race shirts (Size smalls are always the first to go).  I also can get a free entry into one of their fall races.  Okay, I'll take that.  I called Pete who still had not found a parking space.  He picked me up where he left me off.

Now what?  Well, we're in Brooklyn.  I decided I was going to run the perimeter of the park.  I've never done that before.  It should be around six miles.  Pete took off with the kids and I started my run.  After ten minutes, I found out long sleeves was not such a good idea.  I was uncomfortable, but it was manageable.  I ran on the sidewalks right outside the gates of the park.  I'm not a big fan of sidewalks.  I could hear my bones groaning, "Thud!  Thud!  Thud!" as I plodded along.  I realized after 23 minutes that my run was going to be closer to four miles than six.  Oh well.

I met up with Pete and the kids again.  My son was so psyched to be in Brooklyn for some reason.  He was doubly psyched because when I packed him into the car this morning while he was half asleep, I forgot to also throw his shoes in there.  He thought being Shoeless Joe in NYC was just about the coolest thing in the world.  We grabbed my grande decaf skinny mocha at the Park Slope Starbucks.  Everything turned out okay, after all.

Hope it was a happy Mother's Day for everyone else!

"Oops.  Did I forget something...?"

Shop Amnesia

I went to the high school track yesterday at around 6pm.  There was a father and son hitting baseballs on the field and a woman walking laps.  Pretty empty, but I wasn't complaining.  I did my 8 x 400s (8 laps at a 5-10k pace and 8 jogging laps) totaling 4 miles.

I was able to catch up on some much needed sleep.  My wonderful son made me breakfast in bed today because tomorrow we'll be rushing out the door at 7:30am for the Brooklyn 10k.  Afterwards, Pete and I did a short loop of the Sketchy Park trail at noon.  I noticed the construction crew that was cutting down trees on the north end of the trail did leave a bat house in tact on one of the last standing trees.  Yay bats!

I needed to get my eldest daughter some bathing suits for summer camp.  I went to TJ Maxx in Oceanside.  On the way to the girls' department, I "happened upon" the women's active wear.  They had some pretty good deals.  It would be a sin to pass them up.  Really.

Pretty much everything was 9.99 or 12.99.  Much better deals than Dick's and better selection than Modells.  

There weren't a lot of suits in my daughter's size (Oh yeah!  That's why I was there!) that she would be caught dead wearing, but I was able to find a cute red one-piece Speedo.  Perfect if she decides to join the swim team.  So on my outing to buy my daughter clothes, I wound up getting myself a new summer running wardrobe and her...one suit.  Bad mommy!  I'll try Marshalls tomorrow.  Hopefully, I won't have to pass the women's active wear on the way to the girls' department.

Where do you get your running apparel?

Glass Totally Empty

I got my 5 miles in yesterday morning a little after 7.  It was humid and gray, but I avoided any precipitation.  I did my 6.4 route this morning at 9.  Same weather as yesterday.

I keep track of my runs on Map My Run.  They changed their site once again, adding even more annoying advertisments.  I guess it's the price I pay for not actually paying the price.  If I upgrade their service for a fee, I can avoid the obnoxious advertisements.  It doesn't make sense for me to upgrade, though.  I map out new routes for mileage and keep a daily log on their site for free.  I really see no reason to pay for extras.  I appreciate the free service.  Making the free service so much of a nuisance, people buy memberships out of frustration, is douchebaggery (Sadly, you will not find this fine word in the dictionary) at its best.

On a more negative note, I am not feeling a PR for this Sunday's race.  I'm ill prepared for the 10k race distance.  Not enough 6+ mile runs.  I don't think the one 10+ mile run a week is sufficient for a PR.

On an even more negative note, I heard on the news today that more teenagers are dying from car crashes caused by texting than drunk driving.  Runners beware.

Tomorrow, Wendy...

Well, life happened this afternoon, instead of my run.  Pete got home from work early enough, but he was tired and napped, the neighborhood kids were playing in our backyard, Santos had his first t-ball game and practice early which meant dinner needed to be cooked and eaten earlier, blah, blah, blah no run.  On the plus side, I signed up for the Mother's Day 10k in Prospect Park and I went to see Iron Man 3 with Santos and an old friend.  Fun movie!!

Rain showers and a morning event in my 3 year old's school which means an early run tomorrow.  I have to get it in or I'll miss out again.  Can't forfeit two consecutive scheduled running days.  All work and no run makes Mama unhappy (and Jack dull).

A Perfect Mother's Day Gift

I took yesterday off.  Apparently, I was so tired from the 10+ miler (and two Communion parties) the day before, I actually passed out and napped in the car during my eldest's soccer game that evening.

I did an easy, slow 5 miles this morning at 9.  It was in the mid 50s.  The temperature has been downright chilly the past few days.  Tomorrow is speed work.  I have plans to see a friend in the evening, so I have to either find a track in the middle of the day or do a little schedule juggling.

According to my Hal Higdon Half Marathon plan, I am supposed to run a 10k race on Sunday.  I found only two in the area.  One is the New York Road Runners' Healthy Kidney 10k in Central Park on Saturday.  It sounds like fun, but getting to and from the park on a travel soccer Saturday is too stressful and unrealistic.  The other 10k is in Prospect Park on Sunday, Mother's Day at 8:50am.  This race is one of the many events at the park that morning, including a duathlon, a 5k, and some other sporty things I can't remember off the top of my head.  Santos has a soccer game around 11am.  I think I could swing this.  The entrance fee is $35.00 which is a little pricey.  I will discuss it with Pete.  Despite his recent unfortunate and relentless bout with PMS, he may be okay with watching his kids for a couple of hours that morning since it is Mother's Day.  If they ask me what I want for the occasion, I'll say, "A 10k."  Interesting gift, but I'll take it.

Sands Point

I went up to the north shore for my 90 minute run at noon.  It was around 67 degrees and sunny.  I decided to venture into Sands Point from my mother's house.  Running on Plandome Road into Port Washington becomes a little tricky because the road narrows.  I did a lot of sidewalk running.  The Port Washington dock overlooking Manhasset Bay is always a pretty sight.  I get nostalgic remembering my teenage years hanging out along the water here. Sands Point is a beautiful run because of all the gorgeous mansions (not so much when you have to go to the bathroom...sigh).  I took Port Washington Boulevard and Stonytown Road back to my mom's.  There were definitely some hills throughout the route.  I wound up doing 10.89 miles in 92 minutes and change, an 8:30 pace.  I'm very happy to have checked that off my weekend to-do list.

The Port Washington dock

Am I A Minimalist?

Quiet (No music) 5 mile run.  I took a different route today.  Sometimes a change of scenery is necessary.

I have two pairs of sneakers that I use regularly.  My Adidas Supernova Glide 5s I wear most days, then I switch them out for my Boston AdiZeroes for my long runs.  I'm due to replace the Supernovas, as much as I looooove them.  Under Armor posted a picture of Michael Phelps (Actually, just his feet) wearing a pair of minimalist running sneakers.  I kind of liked them.  I went on the website and saw the women's version.  I think I have to try a pair on.  I've never really considered getting minimalist sneakers in the past.   I see the shoes with toes and they just look strange.  I'm reminded of monkey feet or hand-feet (whatever that is), for some reason.  Not only do I have small, dainty feet (Two physical assets I feel comfortable boasting about.  The rest are not worth mentioning, unfortunately), but I also have short toes.  They would never fit into the hand-feet shoe-gloves.  Two races ago, also known as, two months ago, I got a 20% off coupon from the local running store in my goodie bag.  Maybe next week, I'll check out the Under Armors.  Hopefully, the coupon is still valid.

Women's Under Armor Micro g Toxic Six Running Shoe

Do you wear minimalist running shoes?  What are your thoughts about them?