12/22/07

According to marathon lore, if you can run 18 - 20 miles during training you will be able to finish the marathon.

After almost a month of dwindling confidence, I’m overjoyed to report that I ran 18 miles yesterday!! It was getting pretty hard to believe that I was actually going to get through this training with my body rebelling against my two previous attempts towards 18 miles. And man, could I stop the embarassing waterworks! It was like I had Beaches playing in my head all day. Alright with the crying already! I really thought I had pushed my body to its final limit. The more my confidence dwindled, the more I didn’t want to train on the “non-running” days. I mean what for? Then last Thursday, I forced myself to go to the gym after feeling guilty for skipping practice the night before. I don’t know what it was – maybe it was all the days I took off that made my body fresh, but I had a great run! If you’re a runner, you’ll understand what I mean when I say my running opened up – it’s really just the adrenaline coursing through your veins – my stride lengthened and I felt like a gazelle kicking off. Finally! A running experience that didn’t suck! More importantly, a little inspiration for my upcoming long run.

I decided to forego team practice this Saturday and run along the west side path so my course was flat. The conditions were great. It wasn’t too cold, over ten degrees warmer than last week, and it was a nice cloudy sky. I ran farther on the path than I ever have almost reaching the GWB Bridge.

With the impending holidays, it was nice to have some time alone to my thoughts. (I did have 4 hours after all.) Along the way I had some interesting revelations. Disturbing ones – like how NYC is turning into Miami with its ever growing fleet of condominiums. Or some great ones – like there are still New Yorkers who still smile and say hello when you cross paths. And the mightiest of all revelations – if you beat them to the punch, saying hello to construction workers first will refrain any disgusting comments about your stretchy pants.

I wish you and everyone you love a very happy and healthy holiday.




Deliriously happy from my run. At least I'm not crying...









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12/15/07

Painting by Sybil - a real crazy person who had multiple personality disorder, played by Sally Field in the made for TV movie Sybil.

I had a terrible run today. And last week too, which culminated into one of those memorable moments that you never want to remember again. Last weekend I was so exhausted that I barely finished 11 miles. I know that most people have bad training days, so I chalked it up to that and took advantage of the chill pill for the rest of the week. I even got a sarcastic (but not really) reprimand from a coach for my chilaxing at Wednesday’s workout. So I geared up for today’s run. I downloaded $20 bucks worth of new wave hits, I laid out my 3 layers for the wintry conditions, filled the necessary water bottles, packed the not-so-delicious-anymore energy gels and I was ready to rock(y) this training run.

The next morning I woke up early, had my coffee and was off. The second I entered the train station I realized one very important thing. I forgot to put on my outer layer – an important element for this morning’s 27 degrees, not to mention that it held my water/bagel $ and my freshly downloaded ipod full of soft cell and dexy’s midnight runners. So I hemmed and hawed until the train got there. Besides, it’s not such a crazy sight to see someone walking alone cursing to themselves on the train platform.

I finally entered the park and started hoofing my way to 18 miles. Without my outer layer I was really cold and my toes were numb. I was lucky enough to start running w/ a teammate and happily substituted my DJ Rob Base & EZ Rock with a discussion on our dream careers. Mine had to do with the eating, discussing and writing about food. Unfortunately, I started getting some terrible pain in both ankles that I couldn’t ignore any longer and we separated. That’s when the real fun started. A sharp pain started in my hip and my arches began to feel like they were ripping from my bones. And so began about an hour and a half of stop, stretch, walk, run, stop, stretch, walk, run…Again the pain just couldn’t be ignored I was forced to walk. The cold and odor of horse manure didn’t help either. I began to seriously contemplate quitting, but didn’t want last week to happen again. After all, I was about to finish 14 miles. And did I mention that we really only have 1 training run left? (The last two weeks are for taper.) So…how could I possibly get to race day having only accomplished 15 miles? And how about all the donors who I promised to run 26.2 miles for? I would be a fraud!!
The pain and emotional whip lashing became so severe that I made myself cry. So this was my second time today walking around like a crazy person – crying and cursing. Then I came to a crossroads. If I made a left I would reach bag watch and go home, or I could make a right and pain through for another hour. I made a left.
I arrived at bagwatch and before I could say anything Coach Steve remarked on how miserable I looked. When I’m mad I look the same as I did at 5 years old after a tantrum. Before I could start my story I looked at him and started to cry (again). Thankfully, he took me aside away from the others…(the others who completed their run today! rrhhh!) At that exact moment Head Coach Ramon came over. Concerned seeing one of his runners in distress, he talked me down from a ledge and asked me to trust him. He went on to tell me a myriad of expert coaching advice, but most importantly regardless of what happened this morning I could finish this race. Beyond being supremely embarrassed for the waterworks, I was so honored by his advice and understanding of my suffering that I was rendered silent and intently listening.

Feeling humiliated, and humbled by the realization of how truly difficult what I am undertaking actually is, I limped back over to the train. This time much better behaved.

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Ode To My Coaches

I apologize in advance for my Oscar speech tone. I just wanted to take this opportunity to give props to my amazing coaches. First, my personal favorite Jay. He’s not just my favorite coach because, well he’s my boyfriend, but because his encouragement during this whole training period has really been the backbone to my motivation. First of all, he’s been incredibly understanding and supportive about the reasons why I want to do this marathon. That in itself makes me very lucky. Second, he has never, at least not to my face, taken my doubts as complaining, but has used every opportunity to motivate and reassure me that everything that I do in my training will help me cross the finish line. I am extremely terrified of race day and there have been many times that I’ve thought I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Jay has been so great about helping me to realize that simply because I am attempting to do something that pushes me to my limit I have already accomplished something great.

My TNT coaches, Ramon, Christine, Steve, Sandy and Debbie are an amazing network of support whose running experience is humbling and impressive. They coach hundreds of participants at once, and are always generous with their time. It’s a remarkable feat to turn someone like me, knee-deep in remote controls and take-out menus, to become a marathoner.

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12/1/07

15 miles hurts. My god. I was in so much pain afterwards that I had to forego my tickets to the Opera. So sad. So I ate a lot of cookies that night. My favorite part of the run today: I forgot that I actually did download the rocky theme and when it came on I started laughing so hard that I started choking. What's better than picturing yourself in gray sweats running through the streets of Philly like the pied piper with dozens of street kids after you? I just don't know.

http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/Kristine