Week 11 - Central Park & NYC Half Marathon

Could there be a better weather weekend in mid-March? I certainly think not! Running in Central Park was sheer joy on Saturday morning. Nathan didn't have any meetings for work until 10 am, so we got to sleep in a bit and then we grabbed NY bagels (yum) before parting ways - he to the basement meeting rooms in the Javits Center and me to the loop in sunny Central Park - guess who was really looking forward to his/her activity? I entered the park on the south side at the main entrance and the place was already filled with people. As I jumped into the sea of people, generally heading counterclockwise around the loop, I joined hundreds upon hundreds of fellow runners, nearly as many cyclists, a few pedicabs and the obligatory horses and carriages too. And there were even a few odd modes of transportation - I saw two wheelchair trainers (I've seen these plenty of times in races, but never just out and about on a training run), quite a few scooters and one guy on what looked to be cross-country ski trainers for when there is no snow - they were short skis that looked sort of like rollerblades, but with only two wheels and he had poles too, so it was just like the cross-country skiing motion. And then there were folks not traveling around the loop, but still enjoying the sunshine - pick-up games of softball and soccer, a fencer, a group doing yoga and, even though it was in the 60s, an ice hockey game on the north side's rink! Seriously - taking in the human life around me plus the very beginning evidence of buds on the trees and the purple & white crocuses and yellow daffodils, I don't think that you could be anywhere else and experience such vibrancy of life!

Highlight of the week - Other than everything I just detailed above, the NYC half marathon was on Sunday morning (actually sorta glad that I didn't know ahead of time, b/c I would have wanted to run it, but that would have put a damper on Saturday night's activities) so I got to cheer the runners on

Difficult part of the week - We won't even mention it here

Spring has Sprung!

This week was exciting for me as I opened my shorts drawers for the first time in months. It was a weird feeling and I definitely felt bad for any passersby that might have been blinded by all my pale skin, but it was a delight! And so much easier than the layers I have been wearing. My track workout this week was nothing stellar, but I was happy to be able to run on a non-snow covered track for the first time in a while

This week was also a good week for the cross training segment of training. On Monday,I went to free hot yoga in Shadyside (only one free week left...) and Wednesday I bribed my sister into going to our first Zumba class. ah, the joys of exercising while feeling like a fool! It was definitely fun (basic line dancing with a Latin flair) and had A LOT of hip shaking. We were both laughing since we had thought that we should bring our men sometime...Geoff would probably actually have a good time, but all the regular women might not be happy about a male presence.

As mentioned below by Megan, our long run was not plagued by cold temps and snow, but by sheeting rain that just wouldn't stop. After we called our run early, I had a yummy brunch at Square Cafe and spent the afternoon stalking radar maps to attempt to avoid getting drenched on Part II. After not having rain all afternoon, even with the radar maps being bright green solidly over my house, I set out for my second nine miles around four pm. Part way through my Short Beechwood Loop, it started to sprinkle and eventually got a bit harder. It didn't compare to the morning rain but I did get a bit wet since I was in the rain for another 45 minutes. Just knowing that I had only four miles remaining vs. fourteen, made the miserable weather tolerable. I am happy to be done with the long run for the weekend, although it looks like today is going to be dry, albeit gloomy.

As I write, there are 48 days, 21 hours until the start of the marathon. It seems like that is too soon! But we've put in some solid runs, I'm not taking several vacations to hinder the long runs, and I know the course so well that I just have to get up early that morning and perform!

The new goal will be to stay and marathon shape all year and find some summer/fall marathons to do.

Week 10 - Above Freezing!

I finally get to report that all of my runs this week were performed in above freezing temperatures! Though I must admit that I'd take dry-and-35 (Tuesday morning) over rainy-and-48 any day, which we encountered today. The plan was to do a course similar to last week, with Lisa doing 18 and me making sure I beat Lisa back to the cars since I'm only doing 16. I checked the weather and saw the forecast of rain, but I tried to use my optimistic meterologist skills to justify that it wouldn't rain during our run. It was dry when we started and not five minutes into it as we were crossing the 16th Street Bridge, I said, "I think it might be raining, but its hard to tell." Shortly thereafter it became more evident and soon enough it was clear that it was most definitely raining. We hopped, skipped and leaped over puddles all the way to hand dryers at Station Square and Lisa attempted to dry out her shirt. (They ARE really powerful hand dryers, but it was really a lost cause.) At this point I suggested that maybe we call it (we were seven miles in and it would be 2-ish [maybe?] miles back to the cars). Probably a good decision as we were soaked to the bone and though the rain stopped as soon as we made our decision, there was no way we would dry out over the course of the remainder of the run and the wind was a little chilly. Hope to get in some more miles tomorrow to make up for what I missed today.

Highlight of the week - The runner (under cover and out of the rain at PNC Park) who clapped for us

Difficult part of the week - I was actually pretty sore after last week's long run, but that encouraged me to do a short little run with Fresca the next day and then some good stretching.

Week 9 - Not the Weather in Milan

This morning (finally getting around to posting this nearly a week later) I woke up to do a speed workout and, as usual, checked my Weather Channel app to see what would greet me when I opened the door. (This app has occasionally allowed me to ditch a run before even climbing out of bed. Probably not good, but, hey...) I hadn't necessarily looked at the weather forecast, but heard rumors of 50 degree weather over the weekend (I've since checked; that rumor is false). I was surprised that the temperature was 45 degrees, feels like 41, but thought, "Awesome! Should I wear shorts?" I decided to still dress conservatively and wore my thinnest pair of leggings, my Crazy Daisies long-sleeved shirt so I could use the hand warmers rather than wear gloves, a light jacket and a hat.

I should have known as soon as I walked out the door that it was not 45 degrees. A) It did not feel warm at all. If you haven't seen the thermometer north of 40 in as long as you can remember, 45 degrees should feel like summer to you. It did not. B) The cars were frosty. Gee - how can the cars be frosty if it is 45 degrees out? I headed down the hill to drop off an envelope at the church and then as I was heading into Emsworth, it dawned on me that the last time I checked the weather app was when I was checking the weather in Milan, Italy, where Nathan is traveling this week!

Oh well. I survived. Actual temperature in Pittsburgh on 3/4 at 5:30 am - 22 degrees.

Long run with Lisa was super fun (I did 15, she did 17) - Lisa mapped out a course that was pretty much exclusive marathon course. The uphill on Forbes wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. I don't think I have actually ever run that stretch before. I've run down on the parallel Fifth, but never up on Forbes. It was a chilly start to the morning, but the sun was out by the end and what a gorgeous day it was on Saturday. We did our good deed for the day by dragging a huge branch out of an intersection on the Northside and my run finished with a recovery brunch of a Mancini's pepperoni roll - um, yum!

Highlight of the week - A really successful 15 miles - felt like the good ole days

Difficult part of the week - figuring out what to eat on long runs; I've about had it with Gu (or the like); I tried eating some rice cakes on the run, which were okay, but I don't know how much they really helped en route

Week 8 - Xtraining with Olympicfest

I must admit, I don't think I've gotten any cross-training in during this season's training. Biking, swimming, tennis, etc. just don't seem desirable during the winter months at all. I could totally be convinced to do cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, but just can't seem to find the time...or the equipment. But THIS week was Olympicfest, so that meant I got to do CurlToss, Derby Combined, Super G and...ah...what was Emily's event called - Eat a Snowball?

Here are some pics from the afternoon:

This week was a scaled back week for me, so my long run was ten miles. Sounds easy, but for some reason I was really slow and it just felt like a tough run. Hoping that next week's 15 with Lisa will be better.

Highlight of the week - Meeting the Race Director of the Pittsburgh Marathon! She was at a networking event that I attended and so glad I got to meet her; super nice lady! I also met a spunky Irish lady training for her first marathon - she was a ball of energy.

Difficult part of the week - Still...finding time to fit everything in. I've just got to realize I'm not going to accomplish it all and just go with what I can do. When I leave in the morning at 6:30 am and get home at 9:30 pm, that just really doesn't leave time for much else...speaking of which, I think its bedtime.