Epicurious Runner

Being Injured Sucks Balls

Hello!

I have a deal for you guys! If you want some NUUN (who doesn’t?!), use the code “bloggerslovenuun” to receive 15% off!!! I can’t wait to try more flavors myself, I heard there’s even a banana flavor!

It’s been an official 2 weeks since that 13 mile run that was just too much for my lower back. Good news is that there has been huge improvement since I spoke with you guys last. Bad news is that I still can’t run…wah!

Okay, so honestly, I know I don’t have it bad. I feel confident that though this is taking a while to subside completely, it’s a minor injury. I’ve been stretching like a mofo and I went and got it checked out. I went to see this lady Shelley, who is possibly a physical therapist? I’ve seen her a few times and she comes highly recommended and I know it’s weird that I don’t know what her title is, but honestly I don’t care. She knows muscles and the body very well and I trust her. And she does not require insurance, which is a huge plus!

She massaged me, stretched me, and gave me 2 exercises to do. I felt great the following day! After this 2nd week of no running, I can walk normally, and I can easily get up and down without any twinge of pain. I decided to go for a test run today on the treadmill. I ran 0.15 miles and it was no bueno. It wasn’t excruciating pain, but it was there. It only hurt while I was running, so I got off the ‘mill and jumped on the arc trainer and the the bike and then continued to streeeeeetch.

I took my anger out on the arc trainer while listening to this:

Total 180 right there.

Although, being injured sucks balls, I know it could be way worse. I’m crossing my fingers I can run SOON…like maybe this weekend? I have a 4 mile NYRR race this Sunday and I would prefer to not skip it, if possible.

I just want to RUUUUUNNNNN! I will give it another 2 weeks (if I have to) before I really start to freak out.

I’m glad I can at least do other forms of exercise, but you know, it’s not the same

How do you mentally deal with injuries?

Happy Saturday!

After a rough week (minus the HOOD TO COAST announcement) I am feeling a thousand times better today! My mind was not in a good place all week, so let’s hope today is the start of getting back to normal.

Derek and I had plans to wake up today and grab a juice for breakfast. We have been eating very poorly recently and we are on our way to cleansing our systems. We had a few errands to do first, including stopping at the gym so I could test out my lower back/butt and how it would feel on a bike. I am attending my very first SoulCycle class tomorrow and I DO NOT want to miss it. Luckily, I couldn’t feel any pain and if anything, being on a bike made me feel better! I figured it was just the impact that was making my lower back hurt, but I wanted to be sure.

Anyway, it’s been a full week since injuring my back and even though it’s still sore, I feel like I am finally making progress. I admit, I didn’t really do any stretching or much of anything to try and help it all week. The pain was very up and down and I couldn’t figure out if it was actually getting better or not. The pain initially started in my lower back and has now settled into my glutes and I am convinced they are super tight and that’s why I hurt. I read something that said tight glutes cause lower back pain, so it’s definitely starting to makes sense.

And after having an awesome glue stretching session at the gym, I can already feel a difference. So while I still can’t run just yet, I am going to focus on stretching the heck out of my butt all week. I also have plans to run 11 miles next Sunday with my friend Jeremy, so I better be able to run!

It felt so good to work up a sweat after a whole week of doing nothing. I promise to not be lazy this week! I biked, lifted some weights, and stretched a whole bunch. PUMPED for SOULCYCLE tomorrow!

  

Hope y’all have a good rest of your weekend!

I Am Running Hood To Coast with Nuun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m still in shock that I actually got picked to run for the Nuun Hood To Coast relay team!

Ahhhhh!!!!! I am so freaking excited, I wanted this so badly and I am stoked to be a part of the team. So many other awesome ladies got chosen as well and I can tell some great friendships will come out of this. What’s even more exciting is that this is my very 1st relay! Yep, my first one will be the mother of all relays, Hood To Coast. Awesome.

Come 2:30 yesterday, I could not focus on anything! I was just waiting and waiting for the minutes to tick by until 3pm hit. I of course freaked out once I saw my name! I had to quadruple check just to make sure I was reading it right I legitimately had a dream the night before that I had made it and I had found out in the middle of the night and woke Derek up to tell him. I know it’s corny, but dreams do come true.

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but it’s a huge deal in my opinion. I am running Hood to Coast representing Nuun!!! Sounds amazing!!!!! Sorry, I know I am yelling a lot and freaking out, but seriously this is going to be some pretty epic shit. I cannot wait for August 24th! Seattle, here I come!!!

I am forever grateful and appreciative, so thank you Nuun, I am unbelievably excited to have this opportunity!!!!

Also, today was the ING NYC Marathon opening day! Anyone get picked? I’m already IN since I did the 9 +1 last year for guaranteed entry. I know it’s super hard to get picked through the lottery, so I am wondering who actually go in?

It sure is going to be a fantastic year of running!

Now only if I my back would hurry up and get better so I can do some run-celebrating.

13 Miles to Spanish Food

Ugh! I just wrote this post and it got deleted by Ecto, my blogging software. So here goes again…

It’s been an intense week! Work is suddenly busy, I have a lot of side projects going on, Derek’s birthday was on Thursday and I’ve had an unexpected good week of running.

I met up with Jocelyn, Katie, Laura, Carla, and Alanna yesterday for a 14 mile run. We started on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge and headed toward Prospect Park. We ran the first half of the Brooklyn half course and finished the rest of the miles inside the park.

Salchipapa and Chicken Pio

Maduras

More/Fitness Women’s Half 2012 Race Recap

I don’t know what my expectations were for this race, but I did not expect to run my SLOWEST half marathon ever!

I had been sort of dreading this race all week, I feel a bit burnt out on racing long distances and 2 loops of Central Park never sounds appealing. I did also drink throughout the week so I’m sure that didn’t help, but honestly, I don’t think that had much to do with it.

I arrived at 7:30, dropped off my bag and found Adriana, who was not feeling the race either. I also could not help but notice how many people were overdressed! This is one of my pet peeves and I couldn’t believe how many people had on long pants and long sleeved shirts. I was sweating just looking at them. Sorry, moving on.

It rained for like 5 minutes before we started and once the gun went off, the sun started to break through. My body felt very heavy in the beginning, but I still managed to keep a pretty steady 9 min/mi. pace. I also wasn’t freaking out if I started running slower than that, I knew it was going to be somewhat unrealistic to PR, so I was just trying to have a good time and stay strong.

I survived Harlem Hill and actually managed to pass a few people. Miles 1 – 5 were very up and down, I had a few lows that were super low and a few highs where I thought I could actually PR. By mile 6, I hated the race and I seriously considered quitting. I was not feeling it, at all. My pace was still okay, so it wasn’t a disaster yet.

At mile 7 or 8, I saw Jocelyn, so I picked up the pace a bit so I could catch up to her. At about the same time, she saw her friend Amanda, so we all stuck together for maybe a half a mile. I talked to Jocelyn for a bit before I lost her at around mile 9. She was running 22 miles for the day and was probably at mile 15 or so and was still doing great! I was impressed and I could not even keep up at that point. Thanks Jocelyn for getting me through those tough couple of miles, it was definitely a great help.

I still managed an 8:55 mile for mile 9, but after that, the 2nd round of Harlem Hell Hill came around, that’s when it went all downhill. I trudged up that hill, alternating running and walking. By the time I made it to mile 11, I was so done! The last 2 miles of that race were so freaking long. I could not stop looking at my watch hoping to see mile 13 pop up.

My body, my mind, everything was absolutely spent by the end of the race. I was starting to get angry in the last mile. I can’t wait to see my pictures, if there are any, because I probably look like I was going to murder somebody.

The last 3 miles were incredibly brutal! It was hot, humid and my legs were going to scream at me if they had to run another hill.

Splits:

Official Time: 2:05:57

Slowest Half Marathon Ever!!!

It was nice to see that I at least made it to mile 10 before dying!

Ugh, I didn’t expect do this poorly. I don’t think I would’ve been so upset if I had felt strong at the end, but I gave this sucker every single thing that I had. I think a lot of people had a hard time today, the weather was not good, despite what many would think. 60 degrees with 70% humidity is not ideal in my opinion.

Whatever though, I’m over it and I know every race cannot be amazing. I’m glad I had low expectations anyway going into this race.

This is my last long race for a while! I am going to try to keep my endurance up and continue running long-ish runs on the weekend, but it’s nice that there will be no pressure.

Nuun’s Hood To Coast Relay Team Application

Today is the deadline to enter the Nuun’s Hood To Coast relay team.

I have no idea what my chances are, but I like to stay positive and think that I will make it! I am so glad I entered! I learned about last year’s relay through a few different blogs I read and I have been keeping my eye out, so I wouldn’t miss it this year.

I was struggling for ideas at first, but eventually came up with this with the assistance of my husband. If you haven’t seen Wet Hot American Summer, go watch it NOW! Seriously. It’s nothing short of hilarious.

I knew I would regret not applying to this. It’s an amazing opportunity and looks like a crazy amount of fun. I’ve also been wanting to run a relay for the last 2 years and just the fact that Hood To Coast could be my first one, is amazing!

Wish me luck!

Colon Cancer Challenge 15K Race Recap

This has been quite the busy week! I ran this race a week ago and haven’t had time to sit down and write anything all week.

I love racing 15K’s, this was my 3rd one and I felt pretty confident about getting a PR at this.

I enjoyed the late start of 10:15 am and while I got there with plenty of time, my race buddy Adriana didn’t arrive till about 10. She was understandably super stressed when she got there. I picked up all her race stuff for her, so all she had to do was pin her bib and drop her bag.

My goal for this race was to run all of my miles under 9 minutes. My PR was an average of 9:07 and with the 2 half marathons that I just ran, I knew it was a realistic goal.

I started out strong and happy to be back racing in Central Park. I got a bit burnt out on racing there, but it was nice to be back after a couple months and it helped to be so familiar with the course. I broke up the run according to the hills and was able to power through all of them.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 8:51

Mile 2: 8:41

Mile 3: 8:57

Mile 4: 8:43

Mile 5: 8:52

Mile 6: 8:54

Mile 7: 8:41

Mile 8: 8:59

Mile 9: 8:40

Mile .36 2:51

Official Time: 1:22:15 with an average pace of 8:50

A PR by 2 1/2 minutes, yay!!!

I felt great after this race and I was surprised by how much I missed running in Central Park. I know, I know, I act like I haven’t run there in years, but I was starting to get sick of all the CP races I was doing, so a few months apart was just what I needed.

After the race, I headed up to Fort Tryon Park with my husband and a couple of friends to shoot my Nuun/Hood To Coast application. The shoot went very well and I am very happy with how it all came out! It was an exhausting day and I really appreciate all of the the help from my friends. The final applications are due by tomorrow and I will be sending mine in tonight. We have been working on it all week and I can’t wait to finally have it done. Wish me luck!

The New Plan

(Click to enlarge)

It was time to make a new schedule. I thought I would be able to survive just working out freely without any specific plan, but I can see now that that’s not going to work. Besides the More/Fitness Women’s half in 2 weeks, I don’t have anymore long races coming up for quite a while.

I am going to focus on getting my ass into good shape! After not PR-ing, I’ve decided that I need to do more strength training. In the past, it has helped me a lot and I know it makes a difference in my running. Most weeks I will be doing it twice a week and focusing on the quality of the workout to make sure I get the most out of it.

I’ve also upped my Tempo speeds since my runs are going to be shorter overall. I’m planning on maintaining a 10 mile long run, so that by the time July rolls around and NYC Marathon training begins, I will already have a good base under my belt.

This starts on Monday!

I’m racing the Colon Cancer Challenge 15K on Sunday and I’m so excited to be upgraded to a new number and color for my corral! This was thanks to my 4 mile PR at the Gridiron Classic in February. It’s had to believe that was my last NYRR race.

Yay, for being a 3!

New York 13.1 Half Marathon Recap

I woke up tired on Saturday morning, I wasn’t in the mood to run 13 miles, but of course I forced myself out of bed and out of my tired funk. I left my house around 7:15 and go to Flushing Meadows park around 8. I didn’t expect to be there so early, but the time passed quickly as I dropped my bag, hit the bathroom, and headed to the start line. I spent the next 30 minutes trying to stay warm and planning my race strategy.

The horn went off at 9 and we were off! I was pretty close to the beginning, so it was only a minute or so before I crossed. As you can see from the pictures, it was a beautiful day! In the 50′s with a slight breeze and a hazy sky.

My goal going into this race was to start off running 8:55 miles and I did a pretty good job holding onto that pace and not getting eager to run faster.

Ugh. I was way more bummed and upset after this race than at the Rock N Roll USA Half last weekend. I have never truly been upset after a race before, but this one destroyed my emotions. I mean, looking back, I can see so many reasons why I didn’t PR for both races, but I WANTED it so badly this week. It was supposed to be my redemption race and I blew it.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 8:53

Mile 2: 8:54

Mile 3: 8:50

Mile 4: 8:53

Mile 5: 8:48

Mile 6: 8:59

Mile 7: 8:54

Mile 8: 8:48

Mile 9: 8:56

Mile 10: 9:21

Mile 11: 9:34

Mile 12: 9:47

Mile 13: 9:55

Mile .1: (8:50) pace

Other than my performance, I totally enjoyed this race and I would definitely do it again next year. Though the course was a bit repetitive, which was expected, it was a nice course. It was rather flat and there were a ton of spectators! I obviously loved the shirt they gave us and they had a fun after party, which I did not partake in. The course may not be for everyone, but I liked it and enjoyed all the different twists and turns.

As you can see from my splits, I was on course to run at least a 1:57, but my legs just weren’t having it. This was my 2nd half marathon in a week, so I’m sure that has a lot to do with it, but I felt so positive that I had it and then it was suddenly ripped right out of my hands.

I crossed the finish line and was pissed. I grabbed my food, my medal and plopped on the grass to reflect. I could’ve hung around and attempted to meet some bloggers who were there, but I was in such a sad mood that I basically left right away. I ate a piece of Naan (which was awesomely provided), and headed back to the subway.

Fake Smile.

I want that PR more than ever now. I am running the More/Fitness Women’s half in 3 weeks, but that is 2 loops of Central Park and we all know that won’t be easy, so I can’t expect too much.

I want to be a better runner, a faster runner, a stronger runner. It takes time and I know I will get there, and as I continue on this PR journey, I truly hope it comes sooner than later. Until next time.