My NYCM Recap

Alright, so I lied.  I didn’t run in the New York City Marathon and I don’t have a recap.  Instead on Sunday I drove, well I didn’t drive I was the FRONT passenger–sitting the back makes me nauseous, 26.2 miles and tasted wine along the North Fork of Long Island.  I did plan on checking in on the marathon numerous times throughout my adventures BUT unfortunately I only did this twice because umm the wine kinda took over… woops.

Wine + Nicole + Me = Best friends

Sunday started out a little slow because as usual, I thought I knew exactly where we were going when in actuality I never do and just think everything looks familiar. hehe. So my friends and I finally arrived at Pindar, my favorite.  We had a great time and before I knew it I was drunk.  Yes I know pathetic.  This is what happens when you don’t drink for 7 months due to training/running.  You see I’m THAT dedicated that I would risk my tolerance to alcohol for running.  We left and headed towards Duckwalk.  I think we ended up staying here for a lot longer than we planned but whatever it was FUN.  Did you know if you tell people it’s your birthday they give you massive amounts of FREE wine, yes FREE.  At this point,  I was telling my friends to call me Bella Swan and I wanted to talk in a British accent.  Embarrassing I know.  Apparently I’ve been watching too much Twilight for my own good. SIDENOTE: I’ve finally got my boyfriend into Twilight–SCORE.  Next on our list, well  I guess my list b/c apparently I’m demanding of mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and cheese fries when I’m drunk.  Training say what?  So we headed to the only place the would have all that– The Harbour Front deli in Greenport. YUMMY. I ate so much that I sobered up… Just a little. We left and our DD, Jenna, was the one that fell.  The word “fell” is even being nice, she ate shit.  I couldn’t stop laughing my cheekbones hurt so bad.  Two little old ladies luckily were there and grabbed each side of her and lifted her up.  SORRY JENNA. I wish I had a picture of it, if you were wondering she was a trooper and survived with no bruises. Next we headed to the Carousel ride.  Yup, I’m 23 years old and wanted to ride on the Carousel– mainly because A. I was drunk and B. If you catch the golden ring you get a free ride.  Apparently the Carousel gods didn’t know my  I didn’t get a golden ring. Darn. We must have made the ticket seller’s day because she asked if I could bring all my friends back.  ALL my friends? Didn’t she know they were all there with me… LOL After running around, literally I have a thing with racing people everywhere now that I’m a RUNNER, we left and jammed out to great music.  First on the playlist was Leather and Lace– which was played approximately 30 times followed by some of my 10th grade favorites, Glass Jaw, The Early November, At the Drive In, Underoath, and Finch. Good times. We all sang along and I made up words as I went along– what can I say I’m a natural born free-styler.   All in all, 23 you’ve been good to me.  I had a great day and even better friends.  I’m so thankful for them.  It’s crazy how just in one year so many things can change.  I’m looking forward to 2012 and all the PR’s it will bring me 😉

Since I’m not an early riser I get to do all my runs at night. I love running at night it’s the best feeling.  Tonight, I will be doing a much needed speed work out.  I feel like I’ve lost all my speed from training for the half marathon- I know I’m being dramatic but seriously when I go out for a few miles I feel so sluggish.  I just want to be fast damn it!  For my cool down, my good friend Ashley will be joining me! I’ve recruiting her to becoming a runner 🙂 I’m looking forward to having someone with me!

DEAR LONG ISLAND, I need more running friends! Love, Me

See Ashley? The girl second from the left? She's going to become a runner today.

Some last running accomplishment’s I’d like to achieve are:

1. Run another half marathon in under 2:15

2. Volunteer at a local race– runners are so inspiring.

3. Run a mile in 6:45– I know this migh

t be a tough one.

4. Redeem myself in a 5K- 31 minutes is not going to cut it anymore

5. Suck it up and run at one of the local runs Sayville Running Company hosts. I don’t know why I have such anxiety over this.  I think I’m still in the mindset of I’m not a runner and will be in the back straggling by myself. See what 22 years of not running can do to a person 😉

What are your last-minute 2011 fitness goals? I want to hear it!

Did I just run a half marathon?

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I’m back!

Sorry for the ridiculously long-span of time between this post and the last. If it was between getting a long run in or blogging… my decision was running–sorry guys!

So for a little recap:

1. I finished my first 5k on August 14th! Although it was nowhere near my time goal I still finished which was an accomplishment in itself. The weather was absolutely horrible, torrential downpouring streets were flooding, oh and we were waiting at the start line for a half hour freezing because they couldn’t get the clocks to work. Needless to say, I was so mentally checked out that by mile 1 I was DONE. But whatever, it was an experience and to say the least it does not surprise me one bit that the weather was like that on my first race– I just seem to have that luck 🙂

2. Right after my 5k I decided to sign up for a half marathon. I know that is a huge jump in mileage, but prior to my 5k I was doing long runs at 10 miles– and if you haven’t gotten this vibe from me already–I’m very determined and I LOVE testing my limits. I decided to sign up with my friend Rebecca who I went to FIT with. Although we haven’t talked since graduation in May 2010, she contacted me after reading my blog! ( See what running and blogging does to people?) And shortly after that, we decided we were going to sign up for the Diva’s Half Marathon. I know, I know, such an FIT graduate thing to do.

3. I got my ass kicked in training. Shortly after signing up for the half, I rejoined my gym. I figured Hey I need to do some strength training. My whole goal during training was yes of course to be ready for 13 miles but to also become a lean running machine. My brother wrote out a training plan, I’m sure he loved every minute of it knowing that I was about to get my ass kicked, and next thing I knew I had 3 solid weeks before my run! The first week went AMAZING. I felt so good and healthy, my long runs I was doing at an 8:30 pace which I normally was at 10:30 and I was doing tempo runs at an 8:00 pace which used to be unheard of for me. Also, I totally was killing it at speed work outs. But then during the second week of training my neck started bothering me. Dun, Dun, Dun. I of course ignored this and kept running because why would I want to take a day of! This was crunch time! Next thing you know, I can’t turn my head and I’m waking up in the middle of the night because my hands are numb. GREAT. Now, I couldn’t ignore this dull pain in my neck anymore. So I decided to talk to my Acupuncturist friend. Thankfully it ended up not being a pinched nerve, but I must have pulled a muscle in my back and the were inflamed and contorted my back which was putting pressure on a nerve in my neck– hence the hand numbness. She treated me twice which helped A LOT , but I was still in some pain which was now in my mid-back. I felt like I was sitting with one side of my body higher than the other! Next thing I knew, it was week 3— which means Brianna goes crazy. I am of course freaking out because A. I didn’t get good runs in due to my stupid neck problem in week 2. B. I didn’t get the mileage in I wanted. and C. WHAT ONLY ONE MORE WEEK TILL THE RUN?? So the whole week I was driving myself, and everyone around me including my poor boyfriend, crazy. I will write more about the half later in this post.

And… 4. I learned that I am a runner and I CAN run 13.1 miles. Prior to the half marathon I always doubted considering myself a runner. I dont know why, maybe it’s because I was never EVER an athlete growing up– or maybe it’s because I’m constantly comparing my mileage & times to my running prodigy brother, but whatever the reasoning was after I crossed that finish line something in me said ” Hey, your a runner you just freaking ran 13.1 miles- not everyone can do that!”. So now I am Brianna, a runner who now feels completely confident buying Nike shirts with running sayings on them and may possibly purchase a few 13.1 memorabilia items.

Now it’s time for the Race Weekend Recap!

Saturday Rebecca drove down! She got in around 3:30 and after some hugs and I missed yous we headed to the ” Boutique” to pick up our BIBS! We talked and talked about running and caught up on a bunch of things in our lives. Isn’t it so great when you cannot see someone in over a year and they go back to the way they used to be? I love that! So we arrived at the boutique around 5 which was completed dolled up with pink boas, tiaras, blinged out medals, free Luna bars ( can I get a hell ya??!), and little shops filled w/ 13.1 decor. I fell in love with some many cute 13.1 themed items BUT Rebecca and I decided to not buy anything until after our race– we didn’t want to jinx ourselves and felt pretty lame buying them before we actually accomplished it! Side note: They were not selling ANY 13.1 themed itmes after the race. What the hell? We were pretty pissed. After the boutique, we headed to my favorite Italian restaurant for some much-needed pasta. It was delicious. Since I had been trying to become this lean running machine I forgot what it was like to actually have regular dressing on my salad, buttery garlic knots, oh and pink cream sauce. We indulged, went home, ate Clif bars, drank some Gatorade and then anxiously set our alarm clocks to 5 am. YIKES. If you know me, I am NOT a morning person. This was the hardest thing I had to do.

Race Day.

After waking up– which I don’t think I should call waking up since I was basically awake the whole night- I know I’m nuts right?. We got changed, grabbed our bags, and headed out! Right before we left my stomach started bothering me– oh no I thought. I played it off on my nerves. We stopped and grabbed coffee and bagels then headed for our 45 minute drive to our much-anticipated race. I barely pulled into the parking lot before I literally had to run to the bathroom. Sorry I should put a TMI warn-er here. IDK what the hell happened but I was SO sick and of course freaking out– How am I sick on race day? What the hell am I going to tell Rebecca? How am I going to race if I’m this sick! After a few runs back and forth the bathroom- I’m sure Rebecca caught on at this point- It was time for our warm up. Yup during the warm up as you could probably have guessed I was so dehydrated. I tried downing Gatorade in my final minutes of warming up but my stomach was just not having it. GREAT. We left and met up with my family and wonderful boyfriend at the starting line which made all my nerves go away– until my lovely little bro-ham says ” you call that stretching” THANKS BRO’. I knew of course I was skimpin’ out on stretching but I was so nervous, especially since I was so dehydrated and wondering how I would finish 13 miles like this, that I couldn’t focus on stretching. I took his advice and then took of with Rebecca to the start line. Before I knew it we were off. OMG- I was running a half marathon. What a rush. Mile 1- 9:18. What Brianna? Slow down crazy! This is what I’m yelling to myself because my planned time was 10:30 for the first 10 miles then kill it at the end. Clearly this wasn’t going to happen. Mile 2- 19:30. Okay, slowed down a little but only because I feel like I have cotton mouth. WTF it’s only mile 2 and I’m dehydrated. Then I see my boyfriend waving and my brother crouched down taking pictures–pose Brianna look like a runner, yup not happening– I was winded all ready but put a smile on my face. I lost Rebecca around this point but I knew it was for the best I didn’t want to hold her back since I was feeling crappy. The rest is a blur to be honest I was grabbing water like crazy at all of the water stations but I still was dehydrated. Then I got to mile 6. Alright I was on pace for my 2:15 goal but now I have a huge stitch in my side. DEHYDRATION. what a wonderful thing. I knew from previous experiences, don’t push yourself if your dehydrated ( I’ve have two heat stokes and I was not making it a 3rd). So, I slowed down and at times walked for :30 seconds just to try to stretch out the cramp. Nothing worked and I was still thirsty. Then at mile 8 my hands go numb. Awesome. At this point my goal was to just cross that finish line– I let go of my 2:15 goal and said Brianna just finish you can do this. The rest of the miles I don’t really remember until mile 12 because that’s when we got our boas and tiaras– this was a diva half marathon after all! My clumsy ass of course drops my tiara and breaks it. Whatever. I wasn’t going back to crab another. I shoved it in my massive amount of hair and held the boa in my hand. I couldn’t fathom attempting to put this on I felt so nasty. After feeling like this was the longest mile of my life– last stretch was in sight. All of a sudden I had all of this energy and sprinted, I had been working on my kick after all. I passed a bunch of people and then when I saw my brother I went for it and passed the last woman. Hell ya. I was done, I was going to puke, but I was done. It was so great to see Rebecca at the finish line! My time was 2:42. Very far off of my goal time but whatever with everything going on I was happy to be finished. Rebecca and I ended our day with taking pictures with the shirtless firemen– yes this was at the finish line for all the ladies. I’ll attach a picture of this. I felt so awkward. We were rewarded with this crazy blinged out medal, champagne, and a rose.

Rebecca and I were so happy and then it hit us. We were tired. After congratulating ourselves we drove home in silence and apologized for this since we were bot like zombies. Shortly after she left to go home and I fell into my bed. I slept for a few hour then had a craving for icecream from my favorite place- TCBY. I grabbed my phone- saw all the wonderful text messages which I couldn’t even read after the race THANK YOU FRIENDS I LOVE YOU- and texted my boyfriend claiming I needed icecream. Shortly after he picked me up and treated me to my favorite thing- a parfait consisted of wet walnuts, m & ms, white chocolate mousse and french vanilla. YUM. After finishing our icecream we parted ways and fell asleep. We were both tired after all he did get up at 5 am to watch his favorite girl run her heart out 🙂

Things I learned

1. Do not eat pasta in a cream sauce the night before a half marathon. You will die.

2. Keep in touch with Rebecca she is AWESOME.

3. I can run 13.1 miles.

I would also like to thank all of my wonderful running friends from twitter who congratulated me and asked how my race went. You are the BEST!

My questions for you

1. What are your favorite experiences from a race?

2. What are you food rituals for a half- marathon?

3. Has running brought you closer to friends?

Until next time,

Race on.

My toes are supposed to feel like this?

And my training for my first 5k continues…

Although the thought of even running more than 2 miles used to scare me I am now trying to mentally prepare myself for my 10 mile long run in the trails. I drank a lot of water throughout the day because that’s my biggest downfall, I am always dehydrated! I also tried to eat well, I had a salad with tuna, croutons, and fresh mozzarella. YUM!!

With all my built up anxiety, I needed to start my run when I get home from work. Surprisingly, my long awaited 10 miler went by fast and easy, but not too easy it was 10 miles after all! About every 3 miles I had to stop for a water break but other than that my head stayed clear of mile counting and my form stayed strong, who knew? of course somehow my course consisted of running up the steepest hill 6 times, but whatever why not integrate a hill work out as well? I averaged a 10:30 pace which is an accomplishment since that was my long run pace on the streets!

I may have said it was an easy run, but as you can guess ten miles is no easy task. The toes on my left foot was NUMB for about 20 minutes. Obviously I freaked out because who would think this was normal! After being told to suck it up and stop complaining, I crawled up the stairs, showered, and then indulged in a much needed girls Mexican night with endless chips guacamole and skinnygirl margarita, I am on the 5k diet yanno? 😉

A real recovery

After an intimidating hill work out yesterday on task for today was 3 miles. Although I could have taken the easy way out and ran on the street I opted for the trails. The first mile I pushed myself and felt more tired than usual. Luckily I had my phone with me, which has my training schedule written in it. Alas, today was 3 easy miles. No wonder I felt so tired. I know in previous posts I wrote how on easy days I still felt good so I pushed myself, but not today! I think I finally understand why my brother tells me you need a recovery day. The last 2 miles I finished slowly and filled my thoughts with my 10 mile trail run tomorrow, AH!!

Running with my trainer

Luckily, I didn’t drink too much last night so I’m feeling good this morning!  On the agenda today, I have 4 miles at an 8:30 pace!  I started today off with my family at the beach.  I know I’m going to sound crazy, but all day I was thinking ” Crap. Am I going to be too tired for my run today, will I be able to keep that pace”.  Running is ALWAYS on my mind!

When I got home, I showered and then took off for my run with my brother in tow.  Although I was a bit nervous about having him there, I knew it was for the best since his Garmin watch can keep track of how many miles we run and the pace that we’re at.  After a quick warm up, we hit the trails yet again. I was paranoid at being on pace since I knew HE knew how fast I was going.  After mile 2, he took me around different trails to show my around, this was his turf yanno’.  We BSed for a little bit, when I say a little bit I mean it he can be a hardass, and he answered my zillion questions running through my head about running.  Running has been a great bonding experience for us, we’ve always been close but now we can actually do something together.

Yet again, the four miles came and went.  I can’t believe how the miles just fly by! I would have NEVER thought this could happen 5 months ago when a half mile was dreadful.  I have to admit, I was nervous to find out how fast I was going, but  I figured since he wasn’t yelling at me during the run to keep up that I must have been doing okay or that he was pitying me.  ::drum roll please:: I was on pace the WHOLE entire time.  I couldn’t believe it!!!  The funny thing is,  my brother actually broke a sweat too.  Maybe it was because of the 95 degree heat…. either way I felt good! I’ve never held that pace for more than 2 miles AND I was in the trails which is so much harder than the street.

My legs feel like cinderblocks writing this entry, but I know when the time comes it will be all worth it.  Tomorrow is an easy day which is all that I can look forward to right now!

Hills, Hills, Hills

Ahhhhh.  The day has come, the dreaded hill repeats.  I don’t know why but I always get that crazy butterfly feeling in my stomach before I’m about to head out, kind of like how I used to get before my dance competitions.  Luckily, my boyfriend kept me company today.  It was nice to be able to run together.

I started out with 3 long hill repeats.  My brother told me to stop at the sign on  top, but he managed to leave out how freakin’ far away the sign was from the bottom.  I literally felt like death on my first one.  I could be from my amazing choice to have greasy garlic knots stuffed with roasted red pepper ricotta from Whole Foods.  Yes awesome idea Brianna I told myself.  I guess you live and learn.  So besides the awkward garlic-y burps that I tried to silently hide on my jogs back down, it went pretty well.  Next on my training list was another 3 short hill repeats, it was like little bursts of sprinting energy I had to push out.  Surprisingly these were pretty easy considering the hell I felt like I put my body through 5 minutes prior.  Funny thing is, during my second week of running my brother took me up this same hill and it killed me.  Fast forward 5 months and I spring up this thing!  Feels pretty good.

A funny scenario to leave you with, after I jogged back down after my first short hill repeat I decided to take a few seconds to catch my breath, even though knowing if my brother was here he would be yelling at me to get back up.  Next thing I know, it was like he was there, the sprinklers turn towards me and get me soaked leaving me no other option than to sprint back up the damn hill.

Funny how things work out huh?

Perfect Timing

It just so happens that my day off lands on the day of the Britney Spears concert.  I promise this wasn’t planned at all… must have just been meant to be.  All I know is I have been waiting to see her since I was 16!!  The concert was beyond amazing, I wish I could watch it over and over again.  And Yes she did sing.

 

Do you think the amount of jumping and singing I did could equate to an easy day run?

 

 

Rain, Thunder, Lightning, Run??

I was itching to run all day today.  I felt like I just needed to get it out of me.  Unfortunately right before I was leaving work dark skies started to set in. I was praying for the storm to hold off until I got my run out, it was only two miles after all!  I drove up to the trails and ran in.  I know it was supposed to be a recovery day, but I just can’t seem to slow down.  It’s almost harder for me to slow down!! My legs were super sore from yesterday, but I think the fact that the sky was rumbling and started to light up I couldn’t let my run my interruptted.  This was MY run after all.  I finished in record time, yippee!, but I knew it I should have made it a lighter day the second I got back to my car.  My legs were s-h-o-t.  The second I got home I turned on the AC, I know I know diva, and stretched for a half hour all while watching The Secret Life of an American Teenager, at least that’s what I think it’s called.  The show totally wrapped me in and before I knew it my stretching was done and my legs felt connected to my body once again! Tomorrow, I have the day off. From running that is.  How much runners guilt do you think I’ll have?

Day 4- Early Morning Run

So I decided to get up at 7:30, which is early for me!, to get my run in before leaving for the city, it was friends 21st woo-hoo!  I attempted to stay in my development for my 6 mile run, but after the first mile I knew that wasn’t happening.  Since I’ve been running in my development for so long, I know where the tough spots are and where I normally get tired which to say the least, can be so mentally hard.  Before I even get to the hills I find myself slowing down and becoming out of breath because I know back when I started running, these were my troubles spots.  I keep trying to tell myself I shouldn’t be doing this, but I constantly find myself analyzing every little thing and counting the miles, which you know can’t be good.  So, at mile 3 I ran home hopped in my car and drove to some trails.

By this point the day was already heating up, I was kicking myself for hitting the snooze on my 6am alarm, I knew these last 3 miles weren’t going to be easy but I hit the trails with confidence anyway.  I remembered to bring my arm band, thankfully, stuck my iPhone in there and blasted Nirvana radio on Pandora, did you ever realize you work out better when you have angry music on?  I took off jamming out to some great music and woke the woods up with the raspy grungy voice of Kurt Cobain.  It was so beautiful to be in the trails in the morning,although I must have been the first one on the trails so I ran through all the spiderwebs first hand… ew.  Three miles came and went before I knew it.  I even stopped a few times to just take it all in, I felt like my friend Patty.  She does the same while shes on her bike rides.  It felt so nice and peaceful to just be there and breathe in fresh air.

Hopefully tonight I’ll stay true to my “5k” diet and don’t drink to much.  Gotta look and feel good for the race!

Day 3- 3 miles “easy”

After yesterday, I think I’m addicted to running in the trails.  Or basically anywhere but the route I’ve been taking.  I can’t believe how making a change in scenery can really improve my running.  I had been doing my runs in the same area for about 3 months now, which as you can imagine, became more mentally challenging the physically when I had to do my long runs.

So today, I decided to hit the trails for my 3 mile run.  According to my training plan, these were supposed to be at an easy pace.  I don’t know why, but I couldn’t hold back.  Maybe it was because I was on a new trail or I was just having a good day, but I just couldn’t run at an easy pace.  I ended up running at more of a tempo speed, which is running at a speed  in-between sprinting and a normal pace.  Needless to say, I was SWEATING.  On the agenda for the tomorrow is…. 6 miles! Should be fun 🙂