Surf City, Here We (Don’t) Come!

So, I felt a stab of sadness when this email arrived in my inbox yesterday.

Yeah, I’m still signed up for this race, since I already canceled my entry and deferred LAST YEAR (due to, as mentioned in previous posts, a family member’s hospitalization.)  Surf City was awesome to let me defer for one year, but I didn’t want to push my luck a second year.  So if anyone is interested in running in my place, it’s all paid for and stuff.  You even get a sweet medal, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.   (Check out this post from one of my favorite blogs if you want to read about the argument for and against medals.  I never even knew such an argument existed!)

The medal that, for the second year in a row, eludes me. Sniff Sniff.

Anyhow… yesterday, I got straight up pi$$ed.  Like, so pi$$ed, I had to go into the bathroom at work and calm myself down because I really wanted to throw things and punch things.  For those of you who don’t know me, this is not normal Katie behavior.  I am generally pretty chill.  But my foot was hurting and I could not, for the life of me, figure out WHYYYYYY.  I haven’t run in nearly 3 weeks.  I hadn’t even done any exercise at all since I ellipticalled it up on Friday evening.  I was wearing comfy, low-heeled boots with arch-supporting inserts.  I WAS DOING MY EXERCISES.  SLEEPING IN MY BOOT.  All that nonsense.

I informed my PT about my aching foot and my general frustration yesterday evening.  (I used the word “frustrated,” because “straight up pi$$ed and wanting to punch things” makes me sound slightly psychotic– but then again, I’m posting it here on the Internet for all the world to see, so I’m not sure why I bothered editing myself.)  Anyhow, he said that sometimes the stretching and stuff can activate the issue and thus, cause a flare-up.  And that the road to recovery isn’t a smooth, continual upswing, but more of a bumpy road.  This was a relief to hear.  I also asked him if he had seen other runners with this issue fully recover and go back to running like they did before.  He said that he had, and that the runners who have an issue recovering are the ones that refuse to stop running.  To which I replied I thought I should get lots of points for actually stopping running, when it was the last thing I wanted to do!

So… that’s the latest on the foot.  I have a date in my head that I’d like to be running by:  March 13.  That is the day that the spring session of the NYRR class that I took for a year and a half straight begins.  I had to drop out in the middle of the fall session (which wrapped up in mid-Dec) and bow out of the winter session that is currently going on.  And I have really missed that Tuesday night class.  I’m a bit of a sucker for routines and I feel a bit adrift not having the class to attend each week.  Anyhow, March 13th will also be MORE THAN 3 MONTHS since I got the PF diagnosis and for Pete’s sake, that’s a long-a$$ time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night after PT, I did something new:  I went to Flywheel!  My very good friend Cookie has been going for a while and talked me into attending a class with her.  Prior to last night, my only experience with spinning had been at my un-fancy gym.  So I never really understood why people raved about what a great and intense workout spinning was.  The runner-snob in me kind of internally snubbed my nose at them, thinking, “What.Ever.  Spinning is not a workout like running is a workout.”

But WOW.  That is not the case at ALL at Flywheel!  The hour-long class was tough and intense and I was dripping sweat by the time it ended.  I LOVED IT.  I mean, my first love will always be running, but while running is breaking my heart, spinning is an OK second choice!  I was a bit intimidated by Flywheel, since it’s fancy and kinda expensive, ($30/session) but everyone was super nice and helpful.  I’m definitely going to lose a lot of money on this, but at least it will be money well spent!  Last night, T commented that he hadn’t seen me so upbeat in, well, a very long time.

What’s up with you guys?  What are thoughts on spinning?  Ever tried Flywheel?  Or Soulcycle?  What are other good studios?  I have a Groupon for 3 classes at The Studio that I’ve been putting off using been hoarding away had for a while, and now I’m kinda looking forward to giving this place a “spin.”  (Har har har.)

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Farewell, 2011! Bring it, 2012!

Oh, hi.  It’s New Years Eve-Eve, and all I can think about is my not-even-half-packed-up studio on the Upper East Side and the fact that my movers are coming at 9 AM sharp tomorrow to cart ALL MY SH*T to Astoria.

I’m stressed.

And while I am stoked to be living in sin with T, I would be lying if I said I was stoked to leave the UES, which is where I have lived for the past 7.5 years.  (Good Lord, I am old.)

Honestly, my anxiety about leaving the UES has very little/zero to do with outer borough snobbery.  I LOVE Astoria.  There are awesome restaurants and bars there, it’s basically a hop-skip-and-jump from Manhattan, (really!  it is!  come VISITTTTT!) and several of my NYC besties live there already.  Plus there’s the whole palatial-apartment-for-a-fraction-of-Manhattan-rent thing.

But I am going to miss the accessibility to the park.  It’s now going to be a real effort to get there.  Iwill say I have run over the Q’boro Bridge from Queens to Manhattan countless times in the past year and a half.  And it’s a nice run.

Fantastic view from Qboro bridge one morning before work

But from T’s place (now my place!) just to the base of the park, it’s already close to 4 miles.   I am going to have to get used to running with a backpack and showering and getting ready at the office, a notion that I do not relish.  But I can and will make it work.  I’m also going to allow myself cabs to the park from time to time, seeing as how I’ll be saving a bundle on rent.

Oh, dear reservoir, I will so miss your proximity...

At least the move stuff is keeping me distracted from my true current angst, which is:

Yeah.  It’s still there.  It still hurts.

I went to a spinning class on Wednesday morning before work, after a week of sloth and cookie-inhalation .  Ho hum.  Yesterday, I just couldn’t bear the thought of going to the gym again.  And while it was cold out, I actually love running in cold (I prefer to think of it as brisk!) weather.  So I suited up and went for a little run.

I'm obviously really good at self-portraits. Also, my apartment is a mess. I'm moving! Give me a break!

Anyhow, I know I’m not supposed to run, but I put my inserts in my running shoes and I spent a good amount of time rolling out the arch of my foot with a frozen water bottle before AND after the run.  And– dare I say it?– the pain wasn’t quite as bad as it has been!  This could quite possibly be wishful thinking…

Anyhow, thus far the grand total mileage for my week is a little over 4 miles.  Wow.

But let’s talk about pleasant things, shall we?  Like my year in running!  This year marked my 10th (and 11th) marathons and my two fastest times, including one BQ.  I prefer not to split hairs on this topic, so yes I do consider my 3:38:52 in Columbus a BQ.  It’s not my fault that Boston was already filled for 2012 by the time I qualified.  Also not my fault that they made the qualifying times tighter for 2013 and now I have to get a 3:35 (or more like a 3:30 to ensure entry– the field is getting tougher and tougher!) in order to qualify!  Yay, fast women!

So yeah.  One of the highest points of my life was on October 16, 2011

And though it was a pretty f**king tough fight, I am proud of how I fared in the NYC marathon, a mere 3 weeks later.  3:45:35, and while I know that’s not impressive for a lot of folks, it was better than I expected.

I was pretty miserable at keeping good track of my mileage, but from what I do have, my mileage for the year was 1406.  I definitely didn’t record everything, but that number averages out to 27 miles a week, which isn’t horrible!  I don’t really make New Years resolutions (why set myself up for failure?) but I really DO want to do better at recording mileage this year.  I signed up for Daily Mile yesterday and thus far have a whopping 4 miles recorded in there.  But I’m hoping that will help me keep better track of my miles in 2012!  And I’m hoping those miles are many!

As for races in 2011, here’s my New York Road Runners summary and proof that I qualified for NYCM 2012!  Holla!

Yeah, my paces are all over the damn place.

I ran a few additional races, including the Boilermaker in Utica, which I definitely want to do again this summer.  That race is a hilly little b*tch, but in general any event that combines my two favorite things– beer and running?  Sign me up indefinitely!

Saranac Brewery, thank you for kindly (further de)hydrating me post-race. You make a delicious beverage.

What other races will I do in 2012?  Well, I hope to run at least one other marathon because I would really like to run a 3:30 and I do not want to have a time goal for NYCM.  That race is just too damn stressful withOUT having a goal; I can’t fathom running it WITH one.

So yes, I would love to run a 3:30 in 2012 and thus, qualify for Boston in 2013.  I am wary of saying this publicly, though, because 3:30 is a lofty goal for me.  It involves shaving nearly 9 minutes off of my PR.  Some days I think this is  definitely a possibility; others I think definitely not.

Oh yeah, and there’s that whole PF thing that I think I’ve mentioned a few times before… kind of a factor…

I am NOT running Surf City.  I need to be nice to my foot so I can run many, many more miles in the future.  That race is cursed for me anyway.  Second damn year in a row I signed up for it and am not able to run it.  Harumpf.

I AM running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler!  I’m excited for this.  I love DC and I’ve never been at cherry blossom time.

I AM signed up for the Manhattan Half, which is scarily soon.  Not sure if my li’l foot will be up to snuff by then…

If and when my foot gets better, I will run many, many more races, ’cause I love races and stuff.

I’m really losing focus here…

Anyhow, one final good thing that happened this year was that I discovered running blogs and started reading them obsessively.  Then I started this li’l blog.  And while most times I feel it is boring as hell, I have had fun with it!

So, thanks for being, all-in-all, a pretty sweet year, 2011!  Happy New Year, everyone!  Bring it on, 2012!

This thing is gonna get decorated to the MAX in 2012!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Yep, I know I’m ripping off the title from a Clint Eastwood movie.  I’ve never seen it, but I will say he was a stone-cold fox back in the day.

Oh heyyyy, blue eyes. You're smokin'! (Literally! Hahaha I'm hilarious)

Ahem.  Anyhow.

So, I’ve got a few things to report and will do so in the order of the movie title.

THE GOOD

I had to be at work at 7 AM this morning for a meeting.  (Hear me out– this is obviously not the good part.)  I got up at 4:45 and ran a pretty good 6-miler AND made it to work on time.  Holla!  I’m really paranoid that I’m losing all the speed I gained training for Columbus/NYCM, especially since I’ve now blown off my running class 3 weeks in a row (not good.)  So I made myself toss in a faster mile, (for me) just to make sure I’m still somewhat of a runner.  The entire run averaged something like 8:20ish miles, but mile 5 was 7:20ish.  Solid effort.

THE BAD

Sooo… turns out T has to work and thus cannot accompany me to California for marathon #12.  This sucks a lot, because we had tickets booked and everything.  Consider me very sad.  I am completely unsure of what I am going to do.  But I have this bad feeling that this race is cursed for me.  I was supposed to run it last year, but had to pull out due to a family member being hospitalized.   You may be thinking, “But Katie, why don’t you just go run it with a different companion?”  Excellent question!  That brings us to…

THE UGLY

I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just say, check out my sexy new footgear for bed.

Say hello to Das Boot, as T calls it

Yep.  I have to wear this sucker to bed from here until… uh, not really sure when.  Remember how I mentioned that I had a foot issue and saw a doc the day after NYCM?  That issue never really went away, but it was bearable enough that I could sorta kinda ignore it.  But then last week when I ramped up to 48 miles, my dog was barkin’.  Kelly recommended her sports med dude and he got me in for an appointment quickly.  He also did not make me wait 2+ hours in the waiting room (what a concept.)  He also x-rayed my foot and showed it to me.

That’s not my foot, but that is basically what it looked like.  That li’l heel spur is the telltale sign of the dreaded plantar fasciitis.

So, there we have it:  the real reason my right foot has been a little b*tch for the past month and a half or so.

So the doc gave me the sexy boot to wear to bed, which I’ve been doing.  He told me to stretch a lot, which I’ve been doing.  He told me to roll out the bottom of my foot with a frozen water bottle, which I’ve been doing.  And he said to try not to be barefoot ever and to always try and be wearing shoes with support.  Mostly doing this  — though it’s hard, ’cause it’s been raining and I’ve been wearing rainboots to commute.  And I can’t wear sneakers at work.  But I have been wearing my sneaks around my apartment, rather than going barefoot.

He also said that I should cut back on running and basically implied that I shouldn’t do the marathon in Feb.  I hope I don’t regret having shared this, because I just don’t know what I’m going to do.  But there it is.

I don’t really know what else to say.  The boot and rolling out my foot have already made my foot feel better.  But it’s still not normal.  And I want it to be.  And I don’t want to cut back on running!  Though I know I should!  I’m going in circles here…

That’s all I’ve got for now.  If anyone has any PF stories, I’d LOVE to hear ‘em!

A 48 Mile Week, But More Importantly, AN AWESOME BURGER

So my blog post titles are not all that creative, but at least they are to the point!

I am fairly pleased with myself for having run 48 miles last week, after not running very much at all since NYCM.  My paces were not fast, but I got the miles done.  However, I feel kind of “meh” about running these days.  Yesterday was a day when I was running just because it’s what I do…

I’ve always thought it’s very easy to get caught up in the running madness in the summer and fall when everyone is training for a fall marathon.  The blogs are a-buzz with pre-marathon excitement and training details.  The park is crawling with individual runners and different running groups at all hours of the day and night.  You can’t escape the excitement and the energy.

But post NYCM… it slows down a LOT.  So not only am I worn out from having run those 2 marathons, but it’s tough to get motivated when the buzz just isn’t buzzing like it was. (Very poetic.)

So, although I have this sunny li’l race to look forward to, I’ve been dealing with some serious motivation issues.  And other than enlisting some buddies to join me (Thank you, Erica!  Thank you, Jane!) I just tell myself, “You’re going to do this, ’cause running is what you do.  You’re a runner.”

It usually works.  As I’ve stated previously, I like my job and am lucky to have it, but in no way do I identify myself by it. I tend to identify myself first and foremost as A Runner.  So if I don’t do that, (run) then who/what am I?

OK, I really don’t intend to get too philosophical here, so here’s the breakdown from last week:

Mon:  nada

Tues: skipped running class; nada

Weds:  6 miles, including Q’boro Bridge @ 8:30ish pace

Thurs: 13.5 miles w/ Erica @ 9:00ish pace

Fri:  6.5 miles w/ Jane @ 9:30ish pace (stomach ache slowed me up)

Sat: 6 miles in park (w/ some pathetic strides) @ 8:40ish pace

Sun:  16 miles partially w/ Jane @ 8:55ish pace

Total: 48 miles

This week Pfitzinger calls for 43 miles, which seems do-able.  I should probably start doing some speedwork again. (Blah.)  I should also probably attend class for the first time in 3 weeks tomorrow.

As for the weekend, I had some delicious food with some nice friends.  Fri. night, T and I went to Edo Sushi with Ben (my best guy friend from HS.)  It was really delicious!  Not to mention beautiful!

this is just *some* of the sushi we ate

Then, we went out for a few brews and called it an early-ish night.  Saturday, we basically slept all day, which was shameful, ’cause it was a beautiful day.  I think my body was still pissed at me from the 4:30 AM wakeup call on Thurs.  I did manage to squeeze in 6 miles in the park.  But more importantly, we caught this on television.  I think it’s safe to say we resembled this by the time the program was over:

So I looked at him and said what we were both thinking:  “We are totally going there tonight.”

Which is exactly what we did.

I have to say that I freaking LOVE the fact that I live in a city where I can see a restaurant on TV and then I can go to said restaurant.  And let it be said here and now that the burger at the Brindle Room is just magical.  Though I should also say that I don’t believe it is on the regular menu; only the brunch menu.  But since we asked nicely, (and our waitress was super sweet and awesome) they made us the burger anyway.  IT IS GOOD AND YOU SHOULD GO THERE NOW.

And finally, I just put my name in for the NYC Half.  I’ve never run this race before, or even applied.  But I figured why not!?

Cold. Lazy.

So, apparently I am incapable of getting out of bed and running anything more than 4.5 miles at a time any more.  Coming from someone who once got out of bed at 4:30 AM in order to run 18 miles before work… let’s just say this is a bit of a disappointment.

Last week I ran three 4-milers and decided to be content with that.  It was, after all, the first week in FOREVER that I didn’t have Pfitz dictating what my mileage should be.  And I thought maybe I should take, oh, a tiny break after running 2 marathons in 3 weeks.

This week, I told myself I’d up the mileage again.  But… wah, it’s dark and cold in the mornings and my bed feels soooo coooozzyyyyy…

I ran about 4.5 miles at class on Tues night, 4 miles on Weds morning, 4.5 miles yesterday, and 4 this morning.  Not really “upping” the mileage here…

I’m signed up for yet another marathon in 11 weeks and I told myself I would take a little break and then would jump back into a Pfitzinger plan and nail a 3:30 at Surf City  so I can run Boston, damn it…

(photo credit: Surf City Marathon site) This is the cool medal I will get at Surf City, even if my time sucks (which is entirely possible.)

But I keep looking at those lofty MsPW and wondering how on earth I was able to nail them over the summer.  Then I realize “Oh yeah, it was SUMMER.  It was warm and bright and it felt like everyone in NYC was out running and training for a marathon.”  Now, the park feels cold and lonely and dark and WAHHHHHHHH.

(This is my not-so-subtle plea for someone to  run with me and motivate me to stop being a big baby.)

Anyhow, the jury is out on my Surf City goals as of now, but I may just do it for fun and aim to BQ in the fall when I always run better marathons anyway.  Also, if when I run Surf City,  it will be the first winter marathon I’ve signed up for and actually run.  (Not interesting) FACT:  the past 2 years, I’ve signed up for a February marathon that I have not run for various reasons.

I plan to run a few miles tomorrow (distance and pace undetermined) and then Sunday I am volunteering at the Race to Deliver, where I look forward to seeing Ali and Lori.  I’m a “Post Race Food and Fluid Attendant.”  Last year when I volunteered for a race, it was also in the winter.  It was in Prospect Park and I decided to run home after my volunteering was done, so I was dressed to run and NOT to stand around in the cold forevahhhhh.  Lesson learned, and will wear many layers on Sunday!  I do plan to run after this volunteering gig, too, though again– distance and pace undetermined.

Sorry this is boring.  I’ll do better next time.  Good luck to Celia and Kristy and anyone else running Philly this weekend!