Tag Archive | nyrr

Central Park WINTER Water Fountains

Nov28

So, you might know, it gets cold in NYC in the winter, and so, the park closes the water fountains because the water will freeze and that will make the pipes burst. Or something like that.

There is usually 3 water fountains that stay open throughout the winter, aka NOW. 

Side note: bathrooms start opening at different times through the park, some at 6 am, some at 7 am, some at 8 am. If in dire thirst, you can always go to a bathroom and drink from the sink. It seems gross. Sometimes it looks/is gross. But the water is safe. Or at least, I haven’t suffered any special side effects.

I just want to point out my new gorgeous adidas kit. The trefoil monogram track jacket and the striped shorts are the cutest and so comfy. I am loving all this new adidas gear and I wear them all the time, not just for running, ooooops! 

Here are the details to find the water fountains.

The first one is always trustworthy and my favorite. It always works, ALWAYS.

She is not easy to find at first but then you’ll always see her. 

We’ll call her East 102. 

When you are running in Central Park, on the East Drive, you’ll see the E0002 lamppost (that means East 102th street so look for the lamposts/streets to get there). 

Right there is also a set of traffic lights right 101th street. That is the spot. 

Go east (towards Fifth Avenue) on the path right under the traffic lights and you’ll see the water fountain on your left.  She is about 20 meters East of the East Drive and 101th street, but she’s right off the E102 lamppost so we’ll go with 102 for her official name. These are her coordinates if that is easier for you: 40°47’29.9″N 73°57’19.7″W

Next!

Then there is the ResLoop/Tennis Court fountains (there’s two)

The good thing about this one is that you can easily access from the West side of Central Park (about 400 meters from the West Drive), but also from the bridal path and the reservoir loop.

The easiest way to find her is to know where the Bridge #28 is. 

Bridge #28 is in front of the tennis court. The bridge intersects with the reservoir track, and right there are the fountains. You have to get (on the bridge towards) the reservoir path.

This one is harder to get to sometimes when it’s early or late (as it’ll be dark) or snowy (snow!) or raining (because mud, etc). But it’s very convenient sometimes, plus usually the bathrooms in the tennis courts are open after 6 am, so it can be a good spot for other things. 

There’s two fountains, yesterday one wasn’t working but they’re usually trustworthy.

And you get a great view for pictures too if you’re in the mood after the drink!

Their coordinates: 40°47’19.7″N 73°57’42.7″W

Next!

No name, let’s call her 61st? better ideas?

There is one more, that is usually open. WAY trickier to describe and find but very useful sometimes. It was NOT working yesterday, but I’ll update you. I did take pics anyway so you can find it if you need to. If you look at the map, this is hard to describe, but just look for the crosswalk, the traffic light. 

The traffic light across the street read W60X but it was hard to read, so around W6something.

The water fountain is on the south side of the road, a bit moved in towards Central Park south. But again, let’s hope it’s working again. Just use this:  40°46’01.8″N 73°58’37.9″W

Hope this helps! Questions? Let me know!

February Recap (with two halfs!)

Mar5

Heeeeey peeps! Napoleon February -short and wild! I did TWO half marathons, which is insane, two weeks apart and both were awesome.

To start with, we went to Florida on the first weekend to run the Daytona Half, which was a blast. I totally planned to put together a post, and haven’t but who knows, maybe I will, but also keep breaking post promises! On the other hand, I got a cute little video. Not only it was fun, but I was also quite fast AND I came in as the 2nd Woman, which is insane for a half. Both things were very impressive -for me, but I am impressed early with my own achievements just get yourself some really low expectations!).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Also, then, after that, or because of it, or whatever else I can add at the beginning of a random sentence, I run the Central Park Half Marathon. Holy sweaty headband Batman, what a doozy. The course is insane. I had run the exact same course in December and thought it was INSANE. Then I signed up again of course. ’cause torture, am I right? I actually felt tired and like I was pacing it poorly, and wanted to quit and not kill my legs for the next few week’s worths of workouts. I ended up running a very decent second half and a whole minute faster than the same race/course in December. Whaaaaaaat. Also, 3rd in my AG but a 1:39:04 half in that EFFING-AWFUL hard course is a win. Again, low expectations! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Now, in between the little tapers and the recoveries, my monthly mileage and amount of quality workouts were meh, but what can you do? Let’s jump right into it, should we?

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 148… pretty lame
  • Downs: tapering and recovering TWICE
  • Ups: running on vacation AND running with my husband AND placing 2nd woman and doing two great halves back to back
  • Balance: Yeah, HAPPY.

January

was like a dream. Awesome and gone too soon. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what happened before my amazing 2 weeks and 3 days in Buenos Aires, so let me go look it up, I really can’t remember.

Well, turns out, maybe nothing interesting happened in those 10 days because all I have left if my phone are pictures of my niece… she is really cute. Who knows what had happened, also, who cares?

According to my log, I run. And I remember that on the day that I was leaving it was like 70 degrees (in January, yes, a huge shocker) so YEY for garmin global warming! Ah, yeah, speaking of that, I got a new running watch, the garmin venu, pretty cute and awesome. It was a liiiitle sensitive topic for a bit because it was a gift from my husband, and I HATE gifts… so as much as didn’t want it, I also didn’t want to be an a**hole, so I kept it. And I ended up liking it… I am crazy, I KNOW. He also knows.

So, best part… OMG I RUN EVERYWHERE IN BUENOS AIRES and it was THE BEST. I wonder if I should put together a separate post, because I am sure enough ppl will fall on it, but I am lazy so I won’t. Here is a recap: it was so amazing. OK, maybe I will put a separate post together cause I am too lazy to write it all here… I can’t win.

The other thing that happened that I am now remembering is that my cutesy-hubsy starting running with me and my group. Given he has fallen off the training wagon and is in VERY poor shape, he can run at our pace. Good????? well, I love it. Also loved having him around for all those amazing runs in Argentina… 

DATA DOWNLOAD

 

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 186… I always end up with decent mileage in January in general… not sure why.
  • Downs: NONE
  • Ups: running on vacation AND running with my husband.
  • Balance: OMG Fucking AWESOME!!! Bring it on, 2020!

New York City Half Marathon Tips, Course Strategy and Logistics

Feb21

updated 11/28/23

You know the “don’t wear anything new on race day” and all the basics… now, let’s do the United NYC Half Marathon as well as we can. I have done this race 12 times so far -since 2006, its first year, to last year, 2023 and I keep running into people who haven’t raced it and have lots of questions (post in the comments section below if you have any questions not covered here!).

 

If you just want to see RACE STRATEGY scroll through to the section in green.

And in case you want to see photos and/or read my race reports, here is the 2019 race report, the 2019 race video, the 2017 race report, the 2016 race report, 2015 NYC Half report, here is 2014 NYC Half and 2013 NYC Half.

PRE RACE LOGISTICS

Make a race prep list of what you’ll need a week or two before and sort it all by stages, here is a Marathon Packing List to start with. Whether you’re traveling or not, get everything in the list ready as soon as possible. Start prepping 2 weeks out.

Plan your nutrition waaaay ahead. You can buy gels at the expo if necessary, but get bagels/oatmeal/bananas and whatever you need for race day the day before as there will not be a lot of delis open at 4, 5, or 6 am. Some may be, but not a lot.

If you need any last-minute things, you can buy most stuff at the expo/bib pickup (don’t forget to bring your photo ID, and your NYRR account QR code, or here is an organized list with all the running stores by area.

I promise you this look is totally normal at the start!!!!

Prep some cheap or throwaway clothes for the start. Find a mylar blanket from your last half or marathon (and don’t throw away the one you’ll get at the finish here!). You will need them until the last minute in the corral (I wear one as pants with tape and one as a cape). I wear my throwaway cardigan or a sweater (cut in the front for easy peeling, kept it in place with a safety pin!) during the first mile too! Go to the dollar store and get knee-high socks, cut the foot part and you’ll have throwaway arm warmers! I keep half of it on until I warm up, it can be windy and cold at the start!

Gear/What to wear… the weather can be anything from 50s to 30s so prepare (aka, train in) a few options and decide the day before. Or that morning. Be smart, and make sure you can peel off layers comfortably. If you don’t want to carry your phone, at least carry a $20 bill, a metrocard, and an ID with you, just in case. My rule is if it’s over 42 degrees, I do just singlet and shorts. PS that garmin+apple pay works on subways and buses!

This is what the weather looked like the last few years:

  • 2023: 30 DEGREES, 30% HUMIDITY, WIND 9 MPH (GUSTS OF UP TO 20 MPH). (what I wore) unusually FREEZING!!
  • 2022: 54 DEGREES, 59% HUMIDITY, WIND 6 MPH. (what I wore) unusually hot!!
  • 2019: 34 DEGREES, 46% HUMIDITY, WIND 6 MPH. (what I wore)
  • 2018: 28 DEGREES, 31% HUMIDITY, WIND 9 MPH NW
  • 2017: 34 DEGREES, 70% HUMIDITY, WIND 18 MPH (what I wore)
  • 2016: 34 DEGREES, 35% HUMIDITY, WIND 14 MPH (what I wore)
  • 2015: 42 DEGREES, 60% HUMIDITY, WIND 10-18 MPH (what I wore)
  • 2014: 31 DEGREES, 40% HUMIDITY, WIND 18 MPH (what I wore)
  • 2013: 30 DEGREES, 64% HUMIDITY, WIND W 7 MPH (what I wore)
  • 2012: 47 DEGREES, 90% HUMIDITY, WIND 3 MPH.
  • 2011: 37 DEGREES, 41% HUMIDITY, SUNNY
  • 2010: 53 DEGREES, 55% HUMIDITY, SUNNY
  • the ones before that, 2006 to 2009 were in the summer, so weather was SO HOT.

The temperature has been preeeetty consistent… but, you should assume it’ll feel 10 degrees under that temperature (hey wind!). So, depending on the wind/humidity/lack of sleep/whatever, you can add a hat, arm sleeves, leg warmers, etc. Always add things you can get rid of easily and won’t miss. If you’re not sure about a layer, keep in mind that once you leave Prospect Park and get to the Manhattan Bridge or the FDR, it can get a little windy there. Also, check the wind direction in the morning!

Headphones or not? If you are used to racing with headphones, bring them. I sometimes leave them on my ears (with the music off), and turn them on only when necessary. Make sure you can still hear everything around you though, that is key. I just wear one on low and have the other ear ready for anything!

If you need a short run before the race, go to Central Park. You’ll see many of your race buddies and get to enjoy the best place in the world for runners.

Find a mantra, or two, you might really need them. I write them in my hand where I am sure I will see it.

RACE LOGISTICS

Memorize your Start Schedule (or write in your hand like I do).  2023 version as example, this will be updated once available.

Screenshot 2023-03-08 at 5.43.44 PM

Getting to the start/Baggage Check. The easiest way to get there is to take the train.

Also, check the Start Map carefully. 2023 version as example, this will be updated once available.Screenshot 2023-03-08 at 5.46.24 PM

Give yourself ample time (as this is a weekend schedule) and check MTA for weekend alerts, or try any subway app: make sure your train is running! Avoid a last-minute mad rush: NO RACE BEFORE THE RACE. Also, if you are not sure where to go, I am 100% confident that if you just head over to the closest train stop, you’ll see someone you could follow to the race start.

During the race, please please be careful, stay alert, and keep the music down or off. If you need to stop for a walk or move sideways for water, please please please signal with your arms, and look around behind you before you make any moves, dO NOT just stop or go sideways. Be considerate of your fellow runners who could trip! The good side of having all these people around is you’ll always have someone to run with, pace off, or follow when you’re tired. Pick them up when you feel strong, encourage them when they need it, and keep your eyes peeled for anyone who might need help!!

There will be water/electrolytes around every mile or so, so if you miss one, don’t stress. Don’t go for the first table as everyone will do that. There are many tables: go to the last one. You’ll find the portapotties where the water is, so keep an eye out and don’t just dart sideways!

Think about joining an official pacer from the NYRR Pace Team, they’ll be wearing a blue and white striped singlet and will run even splits through all 13.1 miles of the United Airlines NYC Half.

RACE STRATEGY

The easiest way to tackle this race is to divide it into three parts:

  1. start comfy and relaxed -the first 3 miles are a roller coaster of a warm-up.

  2. at mile 5.4 pick the shit up

  3. at 54th St, hit the gas, and light the torch

Because this is not your typical half, where you can actually pick it up and finish fast, you have to pick your battles and do the best you can. I would race part 1 at 70% effort (or heart rate), part 2 at 80%, and part 3 at 95% and up. Obviously, adjust as you please.

Here is the course profile elevation. yeah.

Screenshot 2023-03-08 at 5.49.08 PM

 

Quick look at the course map too!

Screenshot 2023-03-08 at 5.48.03 PM

PART 1

Now we start on the side of Prospect Park: it will be SUPER crowded and downhill for the first hundred meters so please be careful.

Also, ppl won’t be ready and still looking for GPS signal and discarding layers, a recipe for disaster, look out and keep your ears attuned.

Stay to the right and once you turn, HELLO FIRST CLIMB.  You’ll be doing an out-and-back on Flatbush so relax and look at the runners on the other side. Those out-and-backs always get me super psyched. Keep yourself in a hard check. 

At around Mile two you are starting the climb onto Battle Pass Hill. You will feel this one, it’s early in the race but at least you had two miles to warm up the legs. Don’t be scared, but don’t be a fool to try to race up the hill.

Then we have a nice run by Grand Army Plaza and there is the straightaway on Flatbush for a couple of miles towards the bridge. From 2.5 to about 4.6 you have the easiest stretch of the race. Downhill, spacious, and the best time to relax and enjoy the race.

We are heading straight towards the Manhattan bridge thru Flatbush, which is, quite, and literally, easy.

Mile four will go SOOOO quickly with the excitement of the bridge coming towards you, that you won’t even notice the climb that starts at 4.6 It’s uphill for about a mile, 4.7 to 5.5, pretty up/long but so amazing and worth it. I can’t even tell you how insanely scenic Mile five is. AH ❤ 

WOOOOOOOW THAT WAS SUCH A RUSH!!!!!! VIEWS ON BOTH SIDES!!! SO EXHILARATING… HELP.

WOOOOOOOW THAT WAS SUCH A RUSH!!!!!! VIEWS ON BOTH SIDES!!! SO EXHILARATING… HELP.

The top of the bridge actually happens at about 5.6, and you start dropping quickly. Into Manhattan. That’s when we come face-first into the second part of our plan.

PART 2

Let’s

GO

This is when we pick things up. HARD. Mile five, the downhill from the bridge is going to feel like SO amazing, ride it hard. There is going to be a very hard right turn off the bridge right before Mile 6, brace yourself, but also, take it and keep your eye out for gels, they’re right there, along with some AMAZING views of the bridge and Chinatown you don’t want to miss out on.

Beautiful, right? But FOCUS.

This is when you can bang out some really fast miles on the FDR. Miles 7 and 8 all the way to 9.6 are flat, use them up, you’re going to miss them later.

You might get bored. Find someone 20 meters (yards?) ahead and chase them down.

Focus on the United Nations Building ahead, because that is where we turn left. That is also, ehem, where we start climbing again, at mile 9.7. There is a ramp you’ll hate. This is when things will start getting tough. Hold the pace. Stay right there, same effort. Mile 10 at 42nd and Lex will start feeling hard, but enjoy the views and the crowds. It’s quite special.

Also, it might feel windy here, there can be a wind tunnel from the east river to the Hudson (remember I told you earlier to check the direction of the wind?) so tuck between people if you can and stay in your rhythm.

At 7th Avenue, we turn right onto… TIMES SQUARE. A few blocks over, it’s Mile 11, and now you’re just really really really close.

and what happens now…?

PART 3

At 54th St, we MOVE. Why 54th? Well… it’s a combo of reasons, there’s a downhill and we are close enough to take into account the bumps along the road and the amount of time we have left. This will obviously depend on how much gas you have left in you. But if you paced yourself properly, this is the moment you waited for, so go for it. In 2019 I had my friend Whitney waiting there to signal the start of the end: 

We turn onto right Central Park South for a couple of blocks before entering the park and there’s Mile 12. 

A left onto the park, more rolling hills all the way to the 72nd transverse and IF YOU TRAIN IN CENTRAL PARK, I’D RECOMMEND YOU RAN THIS BIT ONCE OR TWICE BEFORE THE RACE. I promise it will make a huge difference to know exactly how it will feel (HARD, shocking, right?). The transverse is also an uphill until the middle, it will be (also) hard and I want you to be mentally prepared for it. 

And then, right there on W 67th Street, is the finish line! 

Get your medal obviously.

and walk. You have to walk to Columbus Circle to exit, that’s 59th St, so just keep moving.

Check the website for a map of the finish area. Then brunch, shower, ice bath, rest, eat more, sleeeeeep, all the stuff, you know!

For more, definitely check out the 2019 race report, and the 2019 race video.

Questions?? Anything to add? Anything you want to go over? Lmk in the comments below!

—-Comment happily: you won’t be asked to create an account!

Hey 2020! January Recap

Feb3

January was like a dream. Awesome and gone too soon. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what happened before my amazing 2 weeks and 3 days in Buenos Aires, so let me go look it up, I really can’t remember.

Well, turns out, maybe nothing interesting happened in those 10 days because all I have left if my phone are pictures of my niece… she is really cute. Who knows what had happened, also, who cares?

According to my log, I run. And I remember that on the day that I was leaving it was like 70 degrees (in January, yes, a huge shocker) so YEY for garmin global warming! Ah, yeah, speaking of that, I got a new running watch, the garmin venu, pretty cute and awesome. It was a liiiitle sensitive topic for a bit because it was a gift from my husband, and I HATE gifts… so as much as didn’t want it, I also didn’t want to be an a**hole, so I kept it. And I ended up liking it… I am crazy, I KNOW. He also knows.

So, best part… OMG I RUN EVERYWHERE IN BUENOS AIRES and it was THE BEST. I wonder if I should put together a separate post, because I am sure enough ppl will fall on it, but I am lazy so I won’t. Here is a recap: it was so amazing. OK, maybe I will put a separate post together cause I am too lazy to write it all here… I can’t win.

The other thing that happened that I am now remembering is that my cutesy-hubsy starting running with me and my group. Given he has fallen off the training wagon and is in VERY poor shape, he can run at our pace. Good????? well, I love it. Also loved having him around for all those amazing runs in Argentina… 

DATA DOWNLOAD

 

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 186… I always end up with decent mileage in January in general… not sure why.
  • Downs: NONE
  • Ups: running on vacation AND running with my husband.
  • Balance: OMG Fucking AWESOME!!! Bring it on, 2020!

December 2019 – closing out the double doors.

Jan2

was not like any recovery month… There was no “jumping into a training plan” right away but I got to squeeze some really good runs and workouts!

I managed some good weeks and also reached my yearly goal of 1800 miles by December 19! 

Also, I raced a half marathon.

Correction: a very HARD half marathon.

The start was fun. Senator Schumer was there

The Big Apple Half is 2.5 loops of Central Park, that includes 2 Harlem Hills and 3 Cat Hills. Hello. It was actually super fun. Not super crowded, the weather was I and I know the park like the back of my hand. 

It was pretty cold and I was the only person wearing a sleeveless shirt. Probably stooopid.

Also, I had Juan cheering in both loops which was so awesome.

For some reason, I got rid of my arm warmers and was even colder… I was frozen but it’s so hard to race with so many layers.

Also, about half the field passed me on the first mile. 

Of course I passed them all back in the last 4 miles… PEOPLE!! how do you think it’s smart to go all out in Central Park?? no matter how cold you are! Anyway, I did a faster half the one I did in October, and that one was flat, wooooo. Also, placed third in my AG! Wohooo! Getting an award!

Besides that there many fun workouts but nothing tops the Holiday Lights Run we do every december. Awesome video here. Love this run so much!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 145. not bad… with the cold weather and a half marathon…!
  • Downs: it was very cold a few days. Also, I had a little procedure and then I hemorrhaged a few days so I had to skip a bunch of runs… booooo
  • Ups: feeling fit this early in the season. Or is it “late”?
  • Balance: 2019 was a blast, December included!

November

The month started all around the New York City Marathon… There was a run and fun times with my best Judys Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn a couple of days before…no big deal you know, we’re all team New Balance…

That was pretty cool… Then we got to the NYC Marathon expo, to get bibs and one million other things that we totally need will make my nyc apartment feel claustrophobic. 

 

Then, the big dance happened. The NYC Marathon report is here. And the crazy video of that morning is here. It was amazing. I rested for a week. I also got a cold so I was barely running for two weeks. I then got a little surgery so I stopped for a few days. Then… Thanksgiving.. a month full of things but little running… and it shows in the numbers!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 121. Lowest month this year. Nothing bad with that.
  • Downs: not being able to run after the marathon. I got a stoooopid cold and I felt miserable. also, it is frrrrrreeeezing
  • Ups: the marathon!!!!!!!!! 
  • Balance: meh. I need to adjust to this cold weather. I am not INTO this.

October

was a kick in the face, LITERALLY

Runs were good, did a half marathon -the Brooklyn Half, here is the race report, plus here is the video, did a couple of weekend “last ten miles of the marathon” runs, all good, but, of course, I had to fall again. WTF SERIOUSLY ELIZABETH, YOU JUST NEED ALL THE ATTENTION DON’T YOU?

This fall was bad. Once I hit the ground I knew it. I felt all the blood all over my face instantly and I feared for my nose so hard. I didn’t even think I could have gotten a gash on my face or broken teeth or my lip, nope, I sat and touched my nose bones everywhere… IT WAS FINE THANK YOU OMG. I could still feel all the blood pouring down from my face, not sure where from so I assumed I had a hole somewhere in my face WHOCARESMYNOSEISFINE!! This was during speedwork so about 20 of my friends showed up 4 minutes later and they all looked at me so scared, I knew something was wrong…

On the first picture you can see all the blood that dripped from my face. My knees and elbow were badly scratched. I’d find out about two weeks later that I had a thin fracture in my nose and a bruised bone, the right knee. 

I WAS PISSED. I had fallen literally a month before in Bruges, WHY THE HELL DO I KEEP FALLING? anyway, I know why, it’s fine. that was on a Tuesday, I couldn’t really run so I took a few days off. I was doing the Brooklyn Half that Saturday so I showed up to the start line unsure if I could run, and super traumatized about the fall… The half, actually, went fine. Again, here is the race report, plus here is the video, and I didn’t win anything but also didn’t crawl… Glad I showed up!

So, you know I was recruited by New Balance to run the NYC Marathon, right? well, that’s old news now but here are a few shots of that prep!

A few “last ten” runs, one last speedwork… and the marathon was around the corner, but you’ll have to wait for that report… 

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 155 NOT bad, given I had a bad fall…>!
  • Downs: Training is done… we just now heal from this stooopid fall and taper, UGH. The taper felt more abrupt given the fall.. I was doing a lot less than I wanted to.
  • Ups: Felt good during the half.
  • Balance: only time will tell!

September

Heeeey October, what’s up? I am SO READY for this… but let me get to the recap first!

We started the month in Nice ->my husband was competing in the Half Ironman World Championships. Running in Nice was EVERYTHING -so amazing- and here are some pics! I truly enjoyed it. My runs were slow crap but the scenery was top notch -also, it was quite hilly. The food was RIDICULOUS. Love. The highlight was a 5K organized by Ironman, where I did horribly. My legs were crap all week. The next week I did a run in Brugge, in Belgium, where I… emmm… hit the pavement a bit and got scratched up a bit… it was no fun… I started hyperventilating and almost crying. Luckily Juan was with me and helped me relax… so scary, but the run was gorgeous. 

Then we went to Paris for a week and it was also amazing… I run about 4 or 5 days but my runs were still slow. Maybe it was all the food, maybe it was my vacation mindset, maybe it was PMS (or all 3!). Again, and of course, Paris is amazing. 

Anyway, the first half of the month was unbeatable… then I came back to NYC (yeah, nothing to sneeze at) and had two weekends to complete the month. Weekend 1 I did a 22 miler with 6 loops of the top loop (Harlem Hill) which is NO joke, oh, and a rabid pace. It an insane confidence booster.

Weekend 2 I run the Bronx 10 Miler -ha, in the Bronx!- and I PRed HARD. It was a bit shocking given my PR was from a flat 10M in nice weather but it happened. My pacing was ridiculous. These are my last 6 miles:

And it was so much fun… see the proof:

Anyway, it was awesome! time for the:

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147 ha. Vacation in France. what else need I say?
  • Downs: more croissants please!
  • Ups: it was gorgeous over there, FAST over here.
  • Balance: time to catch up. that was fun but there is work to do now.

August

Full of PRs!

I have no idea how this happened. Yes, I have been training like a beast since December and yes, I always surprised when things turn well (to me, the key to being happy is always having low expectations!!!) but omg how did I run the highest mileage I ever did without intending or noticing? I did 216 miles. That is insane!  Also, there was a little racing to be done… The month started with SUMMER STREETS!!!!!! Summer Streets is my favorite. I did all 3. It is the BEST.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The first summer streets I did 10 miles because/but I had the Manhattan 7 Mile race the next day, OOOPS… SOMEHOW, I PRed, but that’s only because 7 miles is such an odd distance and because I was sick last year when I did it. My pace was actually good enough for top 20 (out 2435 women) and 2nd in my AG (out of 357) which is quite shocking! My expectations were so slow and I had so much fun that it’s shocking that I did well..

Then I did about 19.5 in summer streets, speedwork, many great workouts….

and did a 5K, another one of the PPTC Al Goldstein Summer Series which was actually decent! I came in 1st in my AG and 20 SECONDS FORM A PR. WTF! ALL I DO MAKES NO SENSE!

More workouts, more summer streets, more miles, the highest week ever in my life and then I did a half in the Rockaways with Andrea and Elizabeth. It wasn’t particularly good but a decent effort. Overall, a month I didn’t plan and couldn’t have foreseen!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the MOST ever ever. woooot. didn’t even know this was happening while it was happening. blame summer streets?
  • Downs: that it’s over????
  • Ups: HOLY CRAP I AM STILL HIGH FROM ALL THIS RUNNING!!!!
  • Balance: MORE more more more please.

July

You’re so predictable, hot weather and all, but so so great. I love summer, have I told you that before? You’ll never hear me complain about the heat, unless I don’t want to wash my hair that day and it’s getting to be a sweaty mess, ever. The tiny layers, the sweatiness, the sprinklers, the sun, the colorful runners, the never-ending weekend morning runs that always come down to a sweat puddle in a brunch situation… omg the finest things in life….

so, July, I went to see a preview of this movie which was a blast and a true story about a girl who decides to run the NYC Marathon. It has very funny running moments. If you’ve seen it, let me know your thoughts!

On July 3rd I run a 5K, which was burning hell a bit balmy. I did ok. I started slow, you know, to warm up a bit more up the hill and the hammered down to get 1st in my AG. YEAH. Then I almost melted.

There was a LOT of running actually in July, fun runs, speedwork, tempos, long runs, always with the most amazing friends and all over the city! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the most so far this year, so yeah, GOOD, and a even few miles ahead of he 1800 yearly miles goal.
  • Downs: there was a bunch of rain… like flash flooding. Two of my 5Ks got cancelled because of rain..
  • Ups: ALL OF IT! I LOVE SUMMER RUNNING!
  • Balance: MORE please.

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

 

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

 

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

November was a WIN

Dec6

The month started all around the New York City Marathon… There was a run and fun times with my best Judys Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn a couple of days before…no big deal you know, we’re all team New Balance…

That was pretty cool… Then we got to the NYC Marathon expo, to get bibs and one million other things that we totally need will make my nyc apartment feel claustrophobic. 

 

Then, the big dance happened. The NYC Marathon report is here. And the crazy video of that morning is here. It was amazing. I rested for a week. I also got a cold so I was barely running for two weeks. I then got a little surgery so I stopped for a few days. Then… Thanksgiving.. a month full of things but little running… and it shows in the numbers!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 121. Lowest month this year. Nothing bad with that.
  • Downs: not being able to run after the marathon. I got a stoooopid cold and I felt miserable. also, it is frrrrrreeeezing
  • Ups: the marathon!!!!!!!!! 
  • Balance: meh. I need to adjust to this cold weather. I am not INTO this.

October

was a kick in the face, LITERALLY

Runs were good, did a half marathon -the Brooklyn Half, here is the race report, plus here is the video, did a couple of weekend “last ten miles of the marathon” runs, all good, but, of course, I had to fall again. WTF SERIOUSLY ELIZABETH, YOU JUST NEED ALL THE ATTENTION DON’T YOU?

This fall was bad. Once I hit the ground I knew it. I felt all the blood all over my face instantly and I feared for my nose so hard. I didn’t even think I could have gotten a gash on my face or broken teeth or my lip, nope, I sat and touched my nose bones everywhere… IT WAS FINE THANK YOU OMG. I could still feel all the blood pouring down from my face, not sure where from so I assumed I had a hole somewhere in my face WHOCARESMYNOSEISFINE!! This was during speedwork so about 20 of my friends showed up 4 minutes later and they all looked at me so scared, I knew something was wrong…

On the first picture you can see all the blood that dripped from my face. My knees and elbow were badly scratched. I’d find out about two weeks later that I had a thin fracture in my nose and a bruised bone, the right knee. 

I WAS PISSED. I had fallen literally a month before in Bruges, WHY THE HELL DO I KEEP FALLING? anyway, I know why, it’s fine. that was on a Tuesday, I couldn’t really run so I took a few days off. I was doing the Brooklyn Half that Saturday so I showed up to the start line unsure if I could run, and super traumatized about the fall… The half, actually, went fine. Again, here is the race report, plus here is the video, and I didn’t win anything but also didn’t crawl… Glad I showed up!

So, you know I was recruited by New Balance to run the NYC Marathon, right? well, that’s old news now but here are a few shots of that prep!

A few “last ten” runs, one last speedwork… and the marathon was around the corner, but you’ll have to wait for that report… 

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 155 NOT bad, given I had a bad fall…>!
  • Downs: Training is done… we just now heal from this stooopid fall and taper, UGH. The taper felt more abrupt given the fall.. I was doing a lot less than I wanted to.
  • Ups: Felt good during the half.
  • Balance: only time will tell!

September

Heeeey October, what’s up? I am SO READY for this… but let me get to the recap first!

We started the month in Nice ->my husband was competing in the Half Ironman World Championships. Running in Nice was EVERYTHING -so amazing- and here are some pics! I truly enjoyed it. My runs were slow crap but the scenery was top notch -also, it was quite hilly. The food was RIDICULOUS. Love. The highlight was a 5K organized by Ironman, where I did horribly. My legs were crap all week. The next week I did a run in Brugge, in Belgium, where I… emmm… hit the pavement a bit and got scratched up a bit… it was no fun… I started hyperventilating and almost crying. Luckily Juan was with me and helped me relax… so scary, but the run was gorgeous. 

Then we went to Paris for a week and it was also amazing… I run about 4 or 5 days but my runs were still slow. Maybe it was all the food, maybe it was my vacation mindset, maybe it was PMS (or all 3!). Again, and of course, Paris is amazing. 

Anyway, the first half of the month was unbeatable… then I came back to NYC (yeah, nothing to sneeze at) and had two weekends to complete the month. Weekend 1 I did a 22 miler with 6 loops of the top loop (Harlem Hill) which is NO joke, oh, and a rabid pace. It an insane confidence booster.

Weekend 2 I run the Bronx 10 Miler -ha, in the Bronx!- and I PRed HARD. It was a bit shocking given my PR was from a flat 10M in nice weather but it happened. My pacing was ridiculous. These are my last 6 miles:

And it was so much fun… see the proof:

Anyway, it was awesome! time for the:

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147 ha. Vacation in France. what else need I say?
  • Downs: more croissants please!
  • Ups: it was gorgeous over there, FAST over here.
  • Balance: time to catch up. that was fun but there is work to do now.

August

Full of PRs!

I have no idea how this happened. Yes, I have been training like a beast since December and yes, I always surprised when things turn well (to me, the key to being happy is always having low expectations!!!) but omg how did I run the highest mileage I ever did without intending or noticing? I did 216 miles. That is insane!  Also, there was a little racing to be done… The month started with SUMMER STREETS!!!!!! Summer Streets is my favorite. I did all 3. It is the BEST.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The first summer streets I did 10 miles because/but I had the Manhattan 7 Mile race the next day, OOOPS… SOMEHOW, I PRed, but that’s only because 7 miles is such an odd distance and because I was sick last year when I did it. My pace was actually good enough for top 20 (out 2435 women) and 2nd in my AG (out of 357) which is quite shocking! My expectations were so slow and I had so much fun that it’s shocking that I did well..

Then I did about 19.5 in summer streets, speedwork, many great workouts….

and did a 5K, another one of the PPTC Al Goldstein Summer Series which was actually decent! I came in 1st in my AG and 20 SECONDS FORM A PR. WTF! ALL I DO MAKES NO SENSE!

More workouts, more summer streets, more miles, the highest week ever in my life and then I did a half in the Rockaways with Andrea and Elizabeth. It wasn’t particularly good but a decent effort. Overall, a month I didn’t plan and couldn’t have foreseen!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the MOST ever ever. woooot. didn’t even know this was happening while it was happening. blame summer streets?
  • Downs: that it’s over????
  • Ups: HOLY CRAP I AM STILL HIGH FROM ALL THIS RUNNING!!!!
  • Balance: MORE more more more please.

July

You’re so predictable, hot weather and all, but so so great. I love summer, have I told you that before? You’ll never hear me complain about the heat, unless I don’t want to wash my hair that day and it’s getting to be a sweaty mess, ever. The tiny layers, the sweatiness, the sprinklers, the sun, the colorful runners, the never-ending weekend morning runs that always come down to a sweat puddle in a brunch situation… omg the finest things in life….

so, July, I went to see a preview of this movie which was a blast and a true story about a girl who decides to run the NYC Marathon. It has very funny running moments. If you’ve seen it, let me know your thoughts!

On July 3rd I run a 5K, which was burning hell a bit balmy. I did ok. I started slow, you know, to warm up a bit more up the hill and the hammered down to get 1st in my AG. YEAH. Then I almost melted.

There was a LOT of running actually in July, fun runs, speedwork, tempos, long runs, always with the most amazing friends and all over the city! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the most so far this year, so yeah, GOOD, and a even few miles ahead of he 1800 yearly miles goal.
  • Downs: there was a bunch of rain… like flash flooding. Two of my 5Ks got cancelled because of rain..
  • Ups: ALL OF IT! I LOVE SUMMER RUNNING!
  • Balance: MORE please.

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

 

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

 

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

October OMG WHAT

Nov11

October was a kick in the face, LITERALLY

Runs were good, did a half marathon -the Brooklyn Half, here is the race report, plus here is the video, did a couple of weekend “last ten miles of the marathon” runs, all good, but, of course, I had to fall again. WTF SERIOUSLY ELIZABETH, YOU JUST NEED ALL THE ATTENTION DON’T YOU?

This fall was bad. Once I hit the ground I knew it. I felt all the blood all over my face instantly and I feared for my nose so hard. I didn’t even think I could have gotten a gash on my face or broken teeth or my lip, nope, I sat and touched my nose bones everywhere… IT WAS FINE THANK YOU OMG. I could still feel all the blood pouring down from my face, not sure where from so I assumed I had a hole somewhere in my face WHOCARESMYNOSEISFINE!! This was during speedwork so about 20 of my friends showed up 4 minutes later and they all looked at me so scared, I knew something was wrong…

On the first picture you can see all the blood that dripped from my face. My knees and elbow were badly scratched. I’d find out about two weeks later that I had a thin fracture in my nose and a bruised bone, the right knee. 

I WAS PISSED. I had fallen literally a month before in Bruges, WHY THE HELL DO I KEEP FALLING? anyway, I know why, it’s fine. that was on a Tuesday, I couldn’t really run so I took a few days off. I was doing the Brooklyn Half that Saturday so I showed up to the start line unsure if I could run, and super traumatized about the fall… The half, actually, went fine. Again, here is the race report, plus here is the video, and I didn’t win anything but also didn’t crawl… Glad I showed up!

So, you know I was recruited by New Balance to run the NYC Marathon, right? well, that’s old news now but here are a few shots of that prep!

A few “last ten” runs, one last speedwork… and the marathon was around the corner, but you’ll have to wait for that report… 

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 155 NOT bad, given I had a bad fall…>!
  • Downs: Training is done… we just now heal from this stooopid fall and taper, UGH. The taper felt more abrupt given the fall.. I was doing a lot less than I wanted to.
  • Ups: Felt good during the half.
  • Balance: only time will tell!

September

Heeeey October, what’s up? I am SO READY for this… but let me get to the recap first!

We started the month in Nice ->my husband was competing in the Half Ironman World Championships. Running in Nice was EVERYTHING -so amazing- and here are some pics! I truly enjoyed it. My runs were slow crap but the scenery was top notch -also, it was quite hilly. The food was RIDICULOUS. Love. The highlight was a 5K organized by Ironman, where I did horribly. My legs were crap all week. The next week I did a run in Brugge, in Belgium, where I… emmm… hit the pavement a bit and got scratched up a bit… it was no fun… I started hyperventilating and almost crying. Luckily Juan was with me and helped me relax… so scary, but the run was gorgeous. 

Then we went to Paris for a week and it was also amazing… I run about 4 or 5 days but my runs were still slow. Maybe it was all the food, maybe it was my vacation mindset, maybe it was PMS (or all 3!). Again, and of course, Paris is amazing. 

Anyway, the first half of the month was unbeatable… then I came back to NYC (yeah, nothing to sneeze at) and had two weekends to complete the month. Weekend 1 I did a 22 miler with 6 loops of the top loop (Harlem Hill) which is NO joke, oh, and a rabid pace. It an insane confidence booster.

Weekend 2 I run the Bronx 10 Miler -ha, in the Bronx!- and I PRed HARD. It was a bit shocking given my PR was from a flat 10M in nice weather but it happened. My pacing was ridiculous. These are my last 6 miles:

And it was so much fun… see the proof:

Anyway, it was awesome! time for the:

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147 ha. Vacation in France. what else need I say?
  • Downs: more croissants please!
  • Ups: it was gorgeous over there, FAST over here.
  • Balance: time to catch up. that was fun but there is work to do now.

August

Full of PRs!

I have no idea how this happened. Yes, I have been training like a beast since December and yes, I always surprised when things turn well (to me, the key to being happy is always having low expectations!!!) but omg how did I run the highest mileage I ever did without intending or noticing? I did 216 miles. That is insane!  Also, there was a little racing to be done… The month started with SUMMER STREETS!!!!!! Summer Streets is my favorite. I did all 3. It is the BEST.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The first summer streets I did 10 miles because/but I had the Manhattan 7 Mile race the next day, OOOPS… SOMEHOW, I PRed, but that’s only because 7 miles is such an odd distance and because I was sick last year when I did it. My pace was actually good enough for top 20 (out 2435 women) and 2nd in my AG (out of 357) which is quite shocking! My expectations were so slow and I had so much fun that it’s shocking that I did well..

Then I did about 19.5 in summer streets, speedwork, many great workouts….

and did a 5K, another one of the PPTC Al Goldstein Summer Series which was actually decent! I came in 1st in my AG and 20 SECONDS FORM A PR. WTF! ALL I DO MAKES NO SENSE!

More workouts, more summer streets, more miles, the highest week ever in my life and then I did a half in the Rockaways with Andrea and Elizabeth. It wasn’t particularly good but a decent effort. Overall, a month I didn’t plan and couldn’t have foreseen!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the MOST ever ever. woooot. didn’t even know this was happening while it was happening. blame summer streets?
  • Downs: that it’s over????
  • Ups: HOLY CRAP I AM STILL HIGH FROM ALL THIS RUNNING!!!!
  • Balance: MORE more more more please.

July

You’re so predictable, hot weather and all, but so so great. I love summer, have I told you that before? You’ll never hear me complain about the heat, unless I don’t want to wash my hair that day and it’s getting to be a sweaty mess, ever. The tiny layers, the sweatiness, the sprinklers, the sun, the colorful runners, the never-ending weekend morning runs that always come down to a sweat puddle in a brunch situation… omg the finest things in life….

so, July, I went to see a preview of this movie which was a blast and a true story about a girl who decides to run the NYC Marathon. It has very funny running moments. If you’ve seen it, let me know your thoughts!

On July 3rd I run a 5K, which was burning hell a bit balmy. I did ok. I started slow, you know, to warm up a bit more up the hill and the hammered down to get 1st in my AG. YEAH. Then I almost melted.

There was a LOT of running actually in July, fun runs, speedwork, tempos, long runs, always with the most amazing friends and all over the city! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the most so far this year, so yeah, GOOD, and a even few miles ahead of he 1800 yearly miles goal.
  • Downs: there was a bunch of rain… like flash flooding. Two of my 5Ks got cancelled because of rain..
  • Ups: ALL OF IT! I LOVE SUMMER RUNNING!
  • Balance: MORE please.

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

 

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

 

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

September is always a good time

Oct10

Heeeey October, what’s up? I am SO READY for this… but let me get to the recap first!

We started the month in Nice ->my husband was competing in the Half Ironman World Championships. Running in Nice was EVERYTHING -so amazing- and here are some pics! I truly enjoyed it. My runs were slow crap but the scenery was top notch -also, it was quite hilly. The food was RIDICULOUS. Love. The highlight was a 5K organized by Ironman, where I did horribly. My legs were crap all week. The next week I did a run in Brugge, in Belgium, where I… emmm… hit the pavement a bit and got scratched up a bit… it was no fun… I started hyperventilating and almost crying. Luckily Juan was with me and helped me relax… so scary, but the run was gorgeous. 

Then we went to Paris for a week and it was also amazing… I run about 4 or 5 days but my runs were still slow. Maybe it was all the food, maybe it was my vacation mindset, maybe it was PMS (or all 3!). Again, and of course, Paris is amazing. 

Anyway, the first half of the month was unbeatable… then I came back to NYC (yeah, nothing to sneeze at) and had two weekends to complete the month. Weekend 1 I did a 22 miler with 6 loops of the top loop (Harlem Hill) which is NO joke, oh, and a rabid pace. It an insane confidence booster.

Weekend 2 I run the Bronx 10 Miler -ha, in the Bronx!- and I PRed HARD. It was a bit shocking given my PR was from a flat 10M in nice weather but it happened. My pacing was ridiculous. These are my last 6 miles:

And it was so much fun… see the proof:

Anyway, it was awesome! time for the:

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147 ha. Vacation in France. what else need I say?
  • Downs: more croissants please!
  • Ups: it was gorgeous over there, FAST over here.
  • Balance: time to catch up. that was fun but there is work to do now.

August

Full of PRs!

I have no idea how this happened. Yes, I have been training like a beast since December and yes, I always surprised when things turn well (to me, the key to being happy is always having low expectations!!!) but omg how did I run the highest mileage I ever did without intending or noticing? I did 216 miles. That is insane!  Also, there was a little racing to be done… The month started with SUMMER STREETS!!!!!! Summer Streets is my favorite. I did all 3. It is the BEST.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The first summer streets I did 10 miles because/but I had the Manhattan 7 Mile race the next day, OOOPS… SOMEHOW, I PRed, but that’s only because 7 miles is such an odd distance and because I was sick last year when I did it. My pace was actually good enough for top 20 (out 2435 women) and 2nd in my AG (out of 357) which is quite shocking! My expectations were so slow and I had so much fun that it’s shocking that I did well..

Then I did about 19.5 in summer streets, speedwork, many great workouts….

and did a 5K, another one of the PPTC Al Goldstein Summer Series which was actually decent! I came in 1st in my AG and 20 SECONDS FORM A PR. WTF! ALL I DO MAKES NO SENSE!

More workouts, more summer streets, more miles, the highest week ever in my life and then I did a half in the Rockaways with Andrea and Elizabeth. It wasn’t particularly good but a decent effort. Overall, a month I didn’t plan and couldn’t have foreseen!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the MOST ever ever. woooot. didn’t even know this was happening while it was happening. blame summer streets?
  • Downs: that it’s over????
  • Ups: HOLY CRAP I AM STILL HIGH FROM ALL THIS RUNNING!!!!
  • Balance: MORE more more more please.

July

You’re so predictable, hot weather and all, but so so great. I love summer, have I told you that before? You’ll never hear me complain about the heat, unless I don’t want to wash my hair that day and it’s getting to be a sweaty mess, ever. The tiny layers, the sweatiness, the sprinklers, the sun, the colorful runners, the never-ending weekend morning runs that always come down to a sweat puddle in a brunch situation… omg the finest things in life….

so, July, I went to see a preview of this movie which was a blast and a true story about a girl who decides to run the NYC Marathon. It has very funny running moments. If you’ve seen it, let me know your thoughts!

On July 3rd I run a 5K, which was burning hell a bit balmy. I did ok. I started slow, you know, to warm up a bit more up the hill and the hammered down to get 1st in my AG. YEAH. Then I almost melted.

There was a LOT of running actually in July, fun runs, speedwork, tempos, long runs, always with the most amazing friends and all over the city! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the most so far this year, so yeah, GOOD, and a even few miles ahead of he 1800 yearly miles goal.
  • Downs: there was a bunch of rain… like flash flooding. Two of my 5Ks got cancelled because of rain..
  • Ups: ALL OF IT! I LOVE SUMMER RUNNING!
  • Balance: MORE please.

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

 

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

 

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

August full of PRs! WTF?

Sep2

I have no idea how this happened. Yes, I have been training like a beast since December and yes, I always surprised when things turn well (to me, the key to being happy is always having low expectations!!!) but omg how did I run the highest mileage I ever did without intending or noticing? I did 216 miles. That is insane!  Also, there was a little racing to be done… The month started with SUMMER STREETS!!!!!! Summer Streets is my favorite. I did all 3. It is the BEST.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The first summer streets I did 10 miles because/but I had the Manhattan 7 Mile race the next day, OOOPS… SOMEHOW, I PRed, but that’s only because 7 miles is such an odd distance and because I was sick last year when I did it. My pace was actually good enough for top 20 (out 2435 women) and 2nd in my AG (out of 357) which is quite shocking! My expectations were so slow and I had so much fun that it’s shocking that I did well..

 

Then I did about 19.5 in summer streets, speedwork, many great workouts….

and did a 5K, another one of the PPTC Al Goldstein Summer Series which was actually decent! I came in 1st in my AG and 20 SECONDS FORM A PR. WTF! ALL I DO MAKES NO SENSE!

More workouts, more summer streets, more miles, the highest week ever in my life and then I did a half in the Rockaways with Andrea and Elizabeth. It wasn’t particularly good but a decent effort. Overall, a month I didn’t plan and couldn’t have foreseen!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the MOST ever ever. woooot. didn’t even know this was happening while it was happening. blame summer streets?
  • Downs: that it’s over????
  • Ups: HOLY CRAP I AM STILL HIGH FROM ALL THIS RUNNING!!!!
  • Balance: MORE more more more please.

July

You’re so predictable, hot weather and all, but so so great. I love summer, have I told you that before? You’ll never hear me complain about the heat, unless I don’t want to wash my hair that day and it’s getting to be a sweaty mess, ever. The tiny layers, the sweatiness, the sprinklers, the sun, the colorful runners, the never-ending weekend morning runs that always come down to a sweat puddle in a brunch situation… omg the finest things in life….

so, July, I went to see a preview of this movie which was a blast and a true story about a girl who decides to run the NYC Marathon. It has very funny running moments. If you’ve seen it, let me know your thoughts!

On July 3rd I run a 5K, which was burning hell a bit balmy. I did ok. I started slow, you know, to warm up a bit more up the hill and the hammered down to get 1st in my AG. YEAH. Then I almost melted.

There was a LOT of running actually in July, fun runs, speedwork, tempos, long runs, always with the most amazing friends and all over the city! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the most so far this year, so yeah, GOOD, and a even few miles ahead of he 1800 yearly miles goal.
  • Downs: there was a bunch of rain… like flash flooding. Two of my 5Ks got cancelled because of rain..
  • Ups: ALL OF IT! I LOVE SUMMER RUNNING!
  • Balance: MORE please.

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

 

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

 

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

July

Aug6

ah you’re so predictable, hot weather and all, but so so great. I love summer, have I told you that before? You’ll never hear me complain about the heat, unless I don’t want to wash my hair that day and it’s getting to be a sweaty mess, ever. The tiny layers, the sweatiness, the sprinklers, the sun, the colorful runners, the never-ending weekend morning runs that always come down to a sweat puddle in a brunch situation… omg the finest things in life….

so, July, I went to see a preview of this movie which was a blast and a true story about a girl who decides to run the NYC Marathon. It has very funny running moments. If you’ve seen it, let me know your thoughts!

On July 3rd I run a 5K, which was burning hell a bit balmy. I did ok. I started slow, you know, to warm up a bit more up the hill and the hammered down to get 1st in my AG. YEAH. Then I almost melted.

There was a LOT of running actually in July, fun runs, speedwork, tempos, long runs, always with the most amazing friends and all over the city! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: the most so far this year, so yeah, GOOD, and a even few miles ahead of he 1800 yearly miles goal.
  • Downs: there was a bunch of rain… like flash flooding. Two of my 5Ks got cancelled because of rain..
  • Ups: ALL OF IT! I LOVE SUMMER RUNNING!
  • Balance: MORE please.

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

 

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

 

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

June, where did you go?

Jul21

June

was awesome and QUICK…?

It started with the Italy Run, a 5 miler in Central Park that was fun. I run it with a few friends and we had a blast. The next weekend, I raced the Mini10K, hot as always but also a blast, so how could I miss it? The next weekend I raced the Queens 10K, also always hot but totally manageable this year. Then the next weekend I raced the Front Runners NY Pride Run. Yes, a race every weekend. A little insane on the racing side but that is how I like my summers… There were also some amazing runs sprinkled in. Like, for example, that midweek run where we went up Riverside to see the goats munching on poison ivy…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 157. Racing that much kills the mileage.
  • Downs: NOT ONE!
  • Ups: Racing! Love seeing all my friends at the races!!!!
  • Balance: July, here we come!!!!

 

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

HEY!!! May 2019 Recap

Jun11

May

was a quick one… It bothers me a bit that mileage goes down as soon as the weather gets nicer BUT that is only because I race much more and hey quality over quantity (plus mini tapers…!). You just can’t do it all -or do it all well, correct? So, I’ve been replacing my tempos by races this past month, I only got in a tempo or two, I just can’t do that many hard miles a week. But I always get my intervals in!

Early May I run the Sharon 5 Miler, which was super horribly hill fun! 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I REALLY need to get out of NYC more… I always say that and I then I get so lazy. Anyway, that was a super fun weekend out of town with friends. Then we had the Brooklyn Half, which was also awesome!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 134, I am getting behind on my 1800 goal!
  • Downs: just the mileage.
  • Ups: all the races and the runs and the friends. Life and running is GOOD.
  • Balance: I am in a good, GREAT, place. see below…

I have come to terms with WHERE I AM. For 3 years I haven’t PRed and I was pouting about it. I had a few PRs this year, yes, but it’s because it’s at distances I hadn’t bothered with before, it’s like they almost don’t count. A few months ago, I’d get a 1:40 half and I’d point it was about 4 minutes off my 1:36 PR. Now I KNOW that 1:40 is where I am. I am training hard, I am doing all that I should be doing, and HEY, I am older, THIS IS MY BEST. And it’s fine. I am happy with it. Not sure how to explain what changed in my perspective. I am not sure I can say that I will never get closer to 1:36 again -because the truth is not only I am not sure I can get there at all but if I could it is a very remote possibility I am not willing to chase. This, this right here today, is my best. And it sort of reset my goals and status quo of what I can and want to do. Hard RESET. Let’s go.

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

April 2019 Recap

May8

April

Just like that, we are back to RACING!!!! I started the month with a race I had heard SO much about, the Washington DC Cherry Tree Blossom 10 Miler, an epic run through a very scenic and historic course. The race was truly beautiful, joyful and fast. The race report is here and the video recap is there as well. There was a taper before, a recovery after and then I race the Hot Chocolate 15K in Brooklyn. Also Fun. Did pretty well and the speed is coming back (slowly). Training is good for the soul. And the race results ;-). Oh and I almost forgot: I did a relay marathon in a 200-meter track. That was fun and brutal and insane and fun. More here.

Of course, there were many other fun runs, speedwork sessions, group intervals and what not. See pictures below for more:

I ate everything with melted chocolate dip and washed it down with chocolate

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 127, CRAP. Three races really bring down the total with the taper and the recovery…
  • Downs: legs were sore
  • Ups: All the fast miles!!!
  • Balance: Good month overall. Hard work is starting to pay off!

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

March 2019 Recap

Apr9

March

was momentous!! On December 10 I started a training program (that I wrote obviously) that would take me through the NYC Half on March 17. It took 527 miles, 14 weeks, 101 miles at goal pace, 6 training partners, two continents as training grounds, and a lot of sweat to get there. The United NYC Half popped up and it was glorious. My race recap is here, and the race video recap is here if you are curious. It was not a PR or a particularly fast race but I felt strong and did amazing. I was able to crush the distance and come out happy. I love halfs. This one is super scenic and that helps.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The other BIG thing is that I was in Buenos Aires for a week and the running was AMAZING!!!! I will post a video soon. Or maybe a “where to run” type post but for now, here are a few pictures for now:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Running in Palermo was a total blast. Can’t wait to go back. I really will work on a post. 100%!

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 159, still ok, the taper and the post half recovery slowed me down! Though I am still somehow 31 miles ahead of the 1800 miles goal for 2019.
  • Downs: not one!
  • Ups: I had an insane 5-mile tempo that will inspire me all year. Running in Palermo. Finally managing to do speed by myself when I don’t have an option. This month was above the charts!
  • Balance: TOO GOOD

February

was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

February 2019 Recap

Mar1

February was cold and FAST. Did I tell you I have been training HARD?? I started mid-December, this is week 12 of 14. First race is the NYC Half in two weeks. Training is going amazing. The hardest part was the first 2-3 weeks… when I still didn’t think I could do it. It had been so long since I had a written-down-formal-training-program that I was a bit scared. But if my runners do it, why wouldn’t I? They inspired me. They ask for it, they pay for it, they’re not afraid… what am I waiting for??? So I did it to myself!!!!

So… it was aggressive. So far in these 12 weeks, I’ve run 83 miles under 7:30 pace. Which is what I think should be around my half marathon pace (though who knows?); that’d be around a 1:38 half, not a PR but I don’t think I am in PR shape. We shall see in the next few months… stay tuned.

February had a little snow, some cold days, some brutally cold days, lots of friends and runs, no races, and I don’t remember what else. It was chill, fun, and rewarding.

2019-02-09 14.30.47 (2)
2019-02-22 06.27.56
2019-02-14 18.34.36
2019-02-12 07.14.43 (2)
2019-02-03 11.33.14
2019-02-13 06.44.49
2019-02-20 06.45.36
2019-02-19 07.10.19
2019-02-09 09.13.53
2019-02-17 14.46.55
2019-02-03 09.23.13
2019-02-05 07.44.06
2019-02-23 08.40.54
2019-02-02 09.47.00
2019-02-02 08.08.31

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 170. not bad. at all. for a short month
  • Downs: by the end of the month I was getting sick of the cold… as usual.
  • Ups: Training is going amazing!
  • Balance: Excited for warm weather and less laundry soon!

January

was something: it started REALLY HOT (the first day of the year I did speedwork in a sports bra!) and then it was record-breaking COLD. Running in the cold is so tricky… if you’re underdressed you’ll be miserable (and prone to injure stiff muscles), but if you’re overdressed you’ll also be miserable (and prone to not finish a workout either). Not only I spend way more time layering up but leveling each layer’s materials is a science I work at perfecting every day. Plus, add the wind-chill, the humidity, the area you’ll be running around, and the specific workout to the variables and it could literally cripple you in distress before you even start running… WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF, HUH?

ANYWAY… so it was hot, then cold, then freezing, then back to cold that felt warm because after freezing cold is nothing. I am, somehow, still sticking to my crazy exhausting training plan, and it’s actually going great (some days better than others!). It’s mostly 4 hard workouts a week, but I built them slooooow, so it’s all safe. Painfully horrible BUT SAFE. It’s going well. Plus, I’ve had a few good friends jump in to help in, to pace, to train with, or just distract me from my thoughts of jumping into the reservoir. They are ALL faster than me. I swear. No joke, it’s super humiliating humbling, every week. My main pacer, Pamela Hunt, just won Runner of the Year at the NYRR Club Night. And there I am, trying my best, huffing and puffing, week after week. Why? Because I a not ready to give up. Not yet.

January was a challenging month on the personal side, most of you know. It was heartbreaking but also full of joy. I am trying to navigate all those super strong emotions. We learn something every day if we keep our eyes and hearts open. I am mostly thankful to get to go through this, and to know the people in my life are super strong and we hold each other up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DATA DOWNLOAD

Overall Small Recap

  • Total Miles: 147. Not bad! IF I am shooting for 1,800 miles in 2019, the monthly average should be around 158, so I need to up it up a bit. I think it’s hard to put on a lot of miles when I am training because I am currently doing 4 hard workouts a week, so I need more rest than usual…
  • Downs: just the world-record-breaking really really really cold temps
  • Ups: I have managed to stick to my training even in this cold weather!
  • Balance: starting the year STRONG! Let’s go!

December 2018 – ok, bye!

Dec31

was a happy running month. I ended running so much and in so many different places and with so many different friends… it is great to close out the year like that! The yearly review is coming up right after this so I am just gonna stick to December now. I completed my 1700 miles yearly goal, even though at some point in November I was about 50 miles behind… eeeek!

December saw me complete the 26th race of the year, which is a PR amount of races per year (the previous PR was 21 races) and insane if you consider that I had only run two races until May. Race #25 was the Jingle Bell Jog 5K, super fun as always, on December 1st, in Brooklyn. Time was shitty as expected and my good friend David dared say to me “cause you don’t push hard“. I got pissed for about a third of a second and then I agreed, of course. I don’t. I enjoy it too much. But that sorta started a fire on my butt and the next week, when I raced #26, the Ted Corbitt 15K, I had more than 3 miles faster than the 5K a week before. Is there anything better than a friend who tells you the truth, even when it’s yucky? I don’t think so. I also wrote myself a training program that started midway thru December. On Fire.

There were tons of fun runs, usually in the dark, mostly cold, two really warm ones, a few out of Central Park, and too many amazing sunrises. The year is ending with a BANG.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I can’t think what else happened in December, because it went way too fast. The Holidays were a blast. Now it’s time to keep up with the training and the speedwork through the cold winter, I am ready!

LAST DATA DOWNLOAD of the year!

  • Total Miles: 175, biggest month this year!
  • Downs: not much, other than remembering I don’t do well outside under 10 degrees!
  • Ups: all the miles with friends, and the really fast miles with friends!
  • Balance: really great.

November

was something… I ended up with the most mileage and tons of great runs… It started with the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, a hilly 5K through many NYC touristic attractions like the United Nations, Grand Central Station, the NY Public library, Central Park, etc, all the way to the NYC Marathon finish line. I made a little video if you want to see what it looks like. It’s quite fun.

The next day, of course, was the marathon… I started the day early with a 12 mile run before spectating. It was a gorgeous day.

The Argentinian flag by the finish line!

We started the cheering around 10:30, when some of the wheelchair athletes were still going through First Avenue. We saw the pros and a LOT of friends, a LOT.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We then moved the cheering party to Fifth Avenue for a few hours. I had little voice left but we managed to yell and cheer for a few more hours.

After a quick lunch and regroup we headed to the finish line to cheer on the last finishers. That is the biggest party!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

November has a lot of races and amazing runs… because the leaves change, it’s just magical out.  Here is one example:

I run a bit of the 60K to keep Michael company, that was fun:

The next day, I was signed up for two races. I know people who have done this but I never had. First, a 4 Miler in Central Park, at 8 am:

That went fine. Then some caffeine and up on the 1 train to Van Cortland Park for a trail 5K at 11:30 am.

That was intense… Legs were stiff right at the start of the 2nd race (it was a bit cold) but once we got moving it was fine. Happy it was a short race or I would have gotten hungry.. it was noon and all!

A few days later was Thanksgiving and spent it with family!

I am also lucky that I have a friend who lives close to my family and took me out for a 7-mile trail run, post-Turkey.

Looks sunny but don’t be fooled: it was freezing!!

That weekend we also did an exploratory long run into Queens and the neighborhoods that would be affected by Amazon’s takeover of the area. The LIC QNS waterfront has been evolving a lot in the last few years and it looks amazing. For now at least.

Told you it was a LOT!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 173, that IS GOOOOOD!
  • Downs: Not one.
  • Ups: All the fun fall folliage runs… Running can be quite epic in November, when there is daylight to see it! Also, finally caught up with my yearly mileage!
  • Balance: ALL so good. Hey December, TOP THIS!

October

Don’t call it a comeback, but I wish it was! In October, my legs finally felt good to go again, after about 3-4 months of some twinge, strain or whatever it was. I should have stopped running and I would have been fine in a month or two, BUT I was not going to miss Summer Streets… that really messed it all up. And I was managing it properly so I didn’t have to stop running but it took waaay too long because I didn’t really take the time to fix it. Anyway, I did the Bronx 10 miler (here is the report and here is a short video of the race),

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

and a week later I did the Divas Half Marathon in Long Island -a tough race for me as I was all alone after mile 4 (how do the elites do it??). Here is a video of the race.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Then, I took a last-minute flash trip to Argentina to see the family, especially my pregnant sister and I had some amazing runs. I did a long run from Palermo to Vicente Lopez and back, and a few more runs around Palermo and inside El Rosedal. It was epic. Here is a little video I put together.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When I came back home, there were many great runs, as it was the few weeks before the TCS New York City Marathon and there are really waaaay too many events. Which is a great thing if you can clone yourself. Otherwise, it’s FOMO all day long as it’s impossible to go to everything. Take your picks and don’t look back!

The last weekend of the month, and the week before the marathon, I do the Polland Spring 5 Miler. It was a great run with Michael, we chatted the whole way and it was my 21st race this year, a PR. Not a really a PR but I’ll take it! I am behind on mileage and still really really slow so that’s all I have these days…! Good enough for me!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Closing up the month with a visit to the marathon expo to pick up my bib for the Abbott Dash 5K, will report on that soon!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 140, oh well. SO behind my goals this year
  • Downs: NONE
  • Ups: running in Buenos Aires was literally epic. I can’t get over how fun that was!
  • Balance: ALL thumbs up!

September

hello Friends!

September was more work and socials and running… Is that a good thing? emmmm. You can decide (and keep it to yourself, as I like to say). There were some epic runs and some crappy runs. Mileage was pathetic not impressive. Some runs made it all worth it. We did a run to the Little Red Lighthouse, which was awesome.

I had no pain and I felt strong. The next long run was awful. The day after was AWESOME. Get the jist? A run to the Bronx and back last week was great. I was a bit all over the place (meaning: not just in Central Park) but I really like that. Had a few long runs with Kettia and Khris (as you can see I have a favorite pair of Oakleys).

2018-09-15 08.57.22
2018-09-22 09.06.52

The run to the Bronx was awesome but I got no pictures. I get distracted sometimes, I AM truly sorry!

Ah the sad part: Juan was ready and all packed to leave to China for his half Ironman and the RACE GOT CANCELLED…

2018-09-16 13.23.41
2018-09-17 13.24.04

Sad. Now we’re BOTH going to another one in November… in China also. It’s about 33 hours door to door, exciting! Gotta learn some Mandarin, help please!

and then I started feeling better. It was instantaneous. The little itch I had in the back of my leg went away last Thursday and voila… there goes 4 months of what the hell is this? but I am back! 

And Sunday was the New Balance Bronx 10 Miler, ohoooo. I’ll refer you to the official post, but it was fun. Slow as F but fun. Oh well, here comes the time to pick back up the speed. yeeeeeey.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 116, ooops, went from the biggest month to a very small one. OK.
  • Downs: my knee had a weird twitch and I was getting very tired of it. Had to skip the Newport Half to make sure I was giving it the rest and time it needed.
  • Ups: I finally felt ok in the last week: strong and ready to push back. 
  • Balance: Good now. I feel I am back to normal. Slow but normal.

August

is always a good month because of SUMMER STREETS, literally, I should be hired by the Summer Streets People because I feel like a community evangelizer. That is all I talk about to anyone all year long. You know it. Anyway, to recap: I like Summer Streets. A bit. If you just met me or this is the first time you read this blog, Summer Streets happens 3 weekends in August, on Saturdays: they close traffic on Park Avenue in the Upper East Side all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge, for 5 hours. It’s MAGIC.

If you missed it, shame on you (and, how are we friends???). If you never heard of it, pen it in for next year and don’t make vacation plans or don’t say yes to weddings. If you don’t live in NYC, get tickets now. 

So, Summer Streets was awesome, even though it RAINED ALL THREE SATURDAYS as you can see in the pictures (ugh) and we have to chop one run short because there was lightning, thunderstorm and flash flooding (but mostly because with all that water I couldn’t keep my contacts inside my eyes…!). It was still awesome. 

The day after the first Summer Streets, July something, a Sunday, I run the NYRR Manhattan Mile, a new race and a distance I’ve never run. So, automatic PR you say? Meh I don’t count those, but I WILL COUNT THE NEXT TIME I RUN THIS DISTANCE because I run it as slow AF. So, here we go: I have a bum knee. It’s not chondromalacia patellae, it’s not ITBS, I’ve ruled out a lot of things but it’s just weird because it hurts VERY randomly. AND, if I take time off, it hurts more. Go figure that one out. Good luck. Anyway, that day my knee was hurting so I struggled to finish. It was also like one hundred million degrees celsius/fahrenheit. 

Luckily I had Jackie, Michael and Brian to not only keep me company but throw power boosts at me during the last mile where they all decided to pick it up and I was just not into it. Aw, friends that throw stuff at you while you want to curl and cry are the BEST! ❤ I guess.

HA.

The next weekend was another combo of Summer Streets and a race. This time I attempted to do two races on Sunday and it didn’t work out AT ALL. I wanted to do the France Run, a 5 miler in Central Park at 8, and then scoot out to Williamsburg (in Brooklyn, for all my international readers! This Wsburg is in BK, not Colonial Pennsylvania, as I had to be told a few times in my first years in NYC coming from Philly!!!) (where was I?) then scoot out to Williamsburg to race the Brooklyn Mile. My heat was at 9:30 am. Possible?? Not really. What was I thinking? Not only David and I run France Run as slow as we possibly could without bursting into a walk spider-crawl, BUT we then proceeded to be extra stooopid fun after we finished and pretend talk in French and rename everything. We then also decided, while it rained, to taste and eat all the French things they had… chocolate, financiers, it was good… oooops, it’s 9:30! CRAP. And the truth is, I wasn’t in any shape to race a mile. My knee agreed (probably).

The last weekend of August (am I missing one???) it was a doubleheader. I did the Percy Sutton 5K in Harlem on Saturday and the Henry Isola 4 Mile XC in Van Cortlandt, Bronx, on Sunday. Who knew I could handle it? The knee was stoopid all week so I run to the 5K with Kettia and David SUPER slow, like 11 pace and was thinking to maybe cheer. I felt 100% pain-free so I decided to race. It was slow (23:06 It think, 7:24 pace) well, yes, I haven’t done anything hard in 2 months so I couldn’t expect much more but I felt good and that is all I cared about. Plus it was fun. We met lots of people, Frankie run me in, we had an hour-long stop on the run back… it was all shit and giggles, the way a race morning should be (to me, don’t judge!).

We run back. I ended up with like 10 miles… then… the next day, cause I felt ok… (who feels ok the day after a 5k?) I decided to run to the Bronx to run the Henry Isola 4 miler. It’s in the trails and it’s cross country. Ummmmmmm I was an XC virgin and had NO IDEA what I was doing. I didn’t even know why my age and gender was on my bib! Or how we all run on the grass and not the path…? it was all so weird. So, I’ve done trail races, like ultras, or like Bear Mountain 50K, or stuff like that. But this was SOOO DIFFERENT. Fast but also trails, crazy. Anyway, I run to the Bronx, got there at 8 am, race was starting at 9 and it was SO BURNING HOT already… I started feeling all the heatnessticity before we even started. It’s a smaller race than the typical NYRR race, like a LOT smaller. 40% of it were we out of the trails and in THE SUN. The last loop was hard and I won’t admit this to myself but there’s a chance I didn’t negative split this race. It was still great though (if can call walking up Cemetery Hill twice because your legs can’t run up, then yes it was great).

I think you can tell how HOT it was. Maybe by the sun situation, or my sweat situation, or maybe becase my hair is fried. I didn’t run back home. At all. I tried. But no.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 157, biggest mileage month so far this year. Just checked and my biggest month was 187 miles in October 2016. 
  • Races: Four. Two were miserable/slow. One was ok, one was awesome.
  • Ups: UM, HELLO, SUMMER STREETS. Did you forget already??? Also, that’s the most miles I run in a month this year. Catching up.
  • Downs: THIS STOOOOPID KNEE. Sorry, sorry, I still need love you knee, please don’t hurt me, anymore, prettyplease?
  • Balance: I wanna feel un-pain again and run hard, and do speedwork and I hate this crap. 

July

I barely remember July already and it was just now. My parents were still visiting so we kept touristing around and we had an amazing Fourth of July with all the official NYC fireworks on the East River. Epic. I did two races, with meh performances. The first one was the NYRR

hair working hard for the picture, post-Retro 4 Miler

 Retro 4 Miler, and I was really lame to not dress up, or back?  I seriously will wear any costume but just like happens every single Thanksgiving Halloween, I don’t care enough to remember more than 1 minute ahead of time. Every year I tell myself I am totally going to dress up next year and then I forget. Then every year, when the costumey event happens, I tell myself I am gonna set a reminder in the calendar for a month BEFORE Halloween/race/etc so I can plan ahead… but I am a snooze-hitter with things I don’t really want to bother with (NOT the alarm, you KNOW I wake up before the alarm even goes off!), and I use my go-to motto: if I didn’t bother doing it so far, no chance in hell this is gonna get done ever. Just like with the emails at the bottom of my inbox. If it’s been 2-3 days, there’s a high chance they won’t get opened/read/replied to… AAAANYWAY, I didn’t wear a costume for the Retro Run because I am lame. But people do, and it’s SUPER fun and I really really really always wish I did. mooooving on. Ah, so, the race. Wasn’t feeling it. I met with Courtney to do about 4 or 5 miles before and I kept wanting to go home. I was THIS close. Does that ever happen to you?

Then, I also did the NYRR R U N 5K in Central Park last week. Also wasn’t fast or anything special. It was a bit like hell hot so I decided to hold it in a bit. I managed to not kill myself. It was meh, but I love that course, it’s pretty fast with just one hill. Saw like a million people I knew, which was fun as always to catch up and chit chat and all those things with lots of chs in them. cha cha cha.

If anything else exciting, fun, amazing happened, I either don’t remember or it’s totally private or NSFW! HAAA, got you thinking!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

exciting huh? I am behind on my mileage… been behind since,… January??? I am lazy or having too much fun, you decide.

  • Total Miles: 152, not bad, not bad… not amazing but the most this year. July is a good month to run!
  • Races: 2. LAME!!!! Last month I had 6… so… AH THAT’S WHY MY MILEAGE IS UP!!!
  • Ups: I heart running in the summer. LOVE IT. JULY NEEDS TO BE 325 DAYS PLEASE.
  • Downs: omg my hair in the weather. HELP. Send the firemen or the paramedics or Paolo Puttanesca asap.
  • Balance: I have no idea. ALL I CARE ABOUT RIGHT NOW IS SUMMER STREETS. SUMMER STREETS STARTS IN TWO DAYS. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. SUMMER STREETS HERE I COME. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. DID I TELL YOU I LOVE SUMMER STREETS?

can you tell I am melting?

June

was a great month. Let me break it down before I forget it all (photos and a super organized calendar really do help!). I often wondered if I should do these weekly… there is so much to say but then I forget. Anyway, JUNE was BUSY, My parents came to visit from Argentina, which is awesome, they come every other year, for about a month and it was amazing. We did everything, we went everywhere, I got myself them so tired every single day…. it was awesome and rough at the same time. We literally did it all in a month. We even went to Miami for a few days of untamable hair and sticky skin. I forgot how insanely hot Miami is in the summer. #protip, don’t effing go to Miami in the summer, ever. or really, at any other time but definitely NO in the summer.

Anyway, the month started with the Italy Run NYC, a 5-mile race in Central Park, sponsored by Ferrero where I proceeded to smear Nutella all over me post-race, best celebration possible, correct? Before you ask, there are no pictures of that because it’s a LIE. Race was good; my performance… meh (actually, I don’t remember anymore!).

italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (3)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (2)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (1)

Literally 3 days later, I did another race, the Summer Series 5K in Prospect Park. It’s on Wednesdays at 7 pm, which REALLY messes up my sleep AND my Thursday morning run with my Flyers friends, BUT…I kinda love showing up because:

  1. I see lots of friends I don’t see every day in Central Park
  2. I cherish (and also hate) racing in a different course than the ones I did one million times in CP (though it’s also harder)
  3. Love the small race ambiance

Also, don’t remember much I think (given there is a picture of my holding a medal, duh) that I placed and I got a medal. Oh, and I totally remember I got something like 71% AG. YEAH, nbd.

And… 3 days right after this one, I had the 3rd race in 6 days… can you imagine how that one is gonna go???? So, Saturday morning was a Mini10K, which is a mega party, so I wasn’t going to miss it. BUT, I also wasn’t going to miss the other mega party Friday night… So come Saturday morning I was a MESS… my feet hurt (from the heels or dancing, who knows!) and I was sleeeeeeepy, SO SLEEEEEPY. I have no idea why, NOT ONLY I SHOWED UP TO THE RACE, BUT I also met Elizabeth (she is real, I promise) to do 4 miles before the race. MENTAL.

But, it was all worth it. I run it, EASY, with 3 friends, and it was a frigging BLAST. I regret nothing. #noregerts.

Told you it was FUN! Yeah, I was physically miserable but no one remembers that… smh. So then my parents arrived and we started the daily tour of all the food and all the things we don’t tell the tourists about. AND the World Cup. June was literally mental. Somehow I managed to get to Queens the next weekend, early, to run the Queens 10K. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the trek because Argentina was playing at 9 am against Iceland and I’d miss the first half, but so happy I went… Not only I had tons of fun at the race, I SOMEHOW (…miraculously) managed to do OK. Noooo, not a PR or even close but I got up to 69% AG, I was just one minute off from my PR, which is from frigggggging 2013! Does that even count anymore? I say NO.

Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (1)
I am a sucker for high-fives!
I am a sucker for high-fives!
Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (2)

Then, wait for this because the madness doesn’t stop there…. I did TWO races the next weekend!!!! YEAH, again, NBD! Crazy, right? I agree. It’s good that I am a biomechanics coach and I know what I am doing because otherwise my leggies would have fallen off by then… Saturday was the Pride Run and OMG I WAS NOT GONNA MISS THAT. I always race the Achilles Hope and Possibility race (which was going to the next day), so I decided to take the Pride Run easy and save my legs for Sunday. Only… I didn’t quite do that. I ended up with a lot of fun AND 12 miles… oooops. #mischiefmanaged (for you all PotterHeads!)

Jackie, Mary, Michael and I run the whole thing chatting from start to end. And the outfits were ON POINT.

Sunday I woke up to do a few miles before the Achilles Hope and Possibility race and I was wishing I had raced the day before… It was muggy, humid, gross and I was tired. You do what you can.

2018-06-24 09.09.59-1
2018-06-24 09.35.33
2018-06-24 16.30.27

David and Patricia (and corrals B,C,D,E and F) smoked me but I was happy. My parents had come to spectate and it was AWESOME. They came both days. They LOVED IT. Those two races and really something. REALLY REALLY something.

The next weekend was a wash because I was out of town, and back just on July 1st to watch the husband race the NYC TRI, with the parents and my cheering crew along. TRIATHLETES ARE CRAZY, just saying. But he’s so cute, it evens out.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 139, eeeeeek. too much racing makes the mileage go puff!
  • Races: SIX. 6 races in month. That’s probably maybe a PR, at least this year… ha, I have 12 races this year, 6 in ONE MONTH. 
  • Ups: All the fun things I did with the parents…!!! The Nutella at the Italy Run was HEAVEN. The Mini10K was SO FUN. Queens was a MEGA REVELATION. Pride and Achilles get me teary every time…
  • Downs: Mileage was yuk and I am behind my yearly goal. Tapering before races and how sore I am sometimes after…
  • Balance: ALL AWESOME!!!! I can’t believe I did all those races with all the other stuff I had going on…!

May

May was a whirlwind!! So much happened, and so many races also! I remember I started the month with something we had planned since September last year: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Call me a Potterhead, That was awesome! Twelve hours later, I was up early for the Newport 10K, just over the Hudson, one of my favourite 10Ks, because 1, it’s flat, 2, the finish line bagels (and I don’t really like bagels!). The race was a blast as usual: I’ve run it a few times and it always delivers! It’s usually hot but I love the vibe and the views!

Of course, as usual, there were many runs and stairs workouts sprinkled through the month:

And then there was the Japan Run. I remembered being tired from something but then, at the start, I met with Brian and Nick and Jackie, and we all decided to run together and pace Jackie. Those are my favorite types of races!

Way too much fun was had!! The next weekend, just so I wouldn’t fall off the wagon, I run the NYPD Memorial Run 5K. It was HOT and humid but I rallied and for the first time in months, I did OK. I measure my race performances by AG and I feel I do ok when I get close or over the 70% AG mark. Lately, I had been around 64% to 69%, and in this race I went back up to 70% wohoooo. Also, it was super fun to run on the West Side Highway. I really like how wide it is there.

Then, three days later, after a brutal stairs workout and speedwork, we raced the Prospect Park Summer Series 5K: no biggie. The course was slower (as there is a hill in Prospect Park) but I managed very similar results! Just like 10 or 20 seconds off. I find it so weird to race at night (well, 7 pm), that I find it quite amusing to try to figure out what to eat, how much, when, etc. Of course, then I slept like crap after because I was so wired!

That was a lot of racing…!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

 

  • Total Miles: 147, coming back up, but it’s hard with those short races because I feel like I need a good taper before and then my legs are thrashed for a few days…
  • Races: FOUR, here we go. Racing season is upon us!
  • Ups: the NYPD and the Summer Series 5K were definitely a surprise! I wasn’t expecting to do so well (NOT IN PR SHAPE YET THOUGH, ok?) and even though I don’t feel as strong as I used to, feeling in control of the situation really helps! One more thing: Central Park blossoming is the BEST!
  • Downs: how tired my legs feel two days after any short race! YUK
  • Balance: VERY HAPPY

So, I need to race more. Even if I am not in fighting shape or without any kind of expectations, I really enjoy it. The fewer expectations I have, the more fun I have, and so I go out there controlled and just let the race happen. I’ve actually started measuring races and performance by the amount of time it takes me to get back home, aka “how much fun I have”. For example, the NYPD Memorial Run was at 9 am and I got home at 4 pm: THAT is a successful race in my eyes now. The truth is I am not always (or ever again!) be as fast as I used to be or as I would like to be or as I would expect to be, so what should I do? Stay home until I feel I am in shape? HECK NO. To me, races are not a test of my fitness or “what I get from the work I put in” but a chance to enjoy with the community of friends who like to get out and enjoy the park with one foot in front of another trying to stay healthy. Yes, I’ll push hard here and there, but if one day I don’t feel like it or I decide to stick with a friend, it’ll be no different: it just HAS to be fun. 

April

We started the month in Argentina, which was great because it was WARM and hey, it was vacations. Got to see the fam and a few touristy things of course, and yeah, a few runs with Juan. Oh and of course I ate my face away. Lots of asado and steaks but also a lot of nikkei, my favourite non-native cuisine while in Argentina (my favourite non-native in the US is Japanese and French, you always gotta know where to get what!). I got back, I did a 4 miler in Central Park, the Run as One… it was so long ago, I can barely remember, or maybe it’s because I’ve been racing a lot the last two months! Oh yeah, I remember I got really hot (I was overdressed) and started way too fast or something, here is one picture!

I obviously spent some time running around, exhibit A:

or working:

or with Juan, usually eating crap:

and/or usually with friends, running or not!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 119. Ooops. That’s low. I really vacationed in Argentina… IT HAPPENS, OKAY?
  • Races: just one but it was more like a tempo, wasn’t expecting to go all out.
  • Ups: the fun runs!
  • Downs: didn’t get a lot done!
  • Balance: it was good -> lots of blossoming happening all over NYC made it amazingly beautiful!

March

March is always a good month because it is my birthday!!! HA. I started the month with a race, the NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K (there is a post there), which wasn’t great time wise but it was fun. See proof here:

There was a lot of running, maybe not tons of miles, because it was still cold as hell Alaska? ok Alaska, but it got done. 

And the United NYC Half happened. I saw so many of you there. That was an intense week and I was REALLY just a bit jealous of everyone running the new course. I got to run parts of it last year and was on one of the Pro lead trucks on race day and it looked amazing!! and everyone looked SO happy at the finish line… Really jelly So happy for you all!!!

We then went to San Antonio for a few quiet days of pulled pork and warmer weather. For my bday. We ate a LOT.  We run a bunch too:

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 151, it’s starting to pick up
  • Races: one. and I was so not wanting to race!
  • Ups: I did a lot of really great runs
  • Downs: still not feeling my best.
  • Balance: not letting it get to me. Let’s hope the nicer weather brings better running!

Also, one more thing I forgot to report on this whole year. A few friends and I have been doing monthly challenges. January was squats, February was pushups, March was planks. We usually just grab one from popsugar.com. Basically it tells you how many to do every day and each day is a bit more. It’s interesting. Maybe you’d want to try it with a few friends? we all text each other to make sure we’re all doing them EVERY DAY… Protip: it works better with a reward at the end of the month!!!!!!!!!!

February

was weird. I happened so quick I barely noticed. Instead of ice-fest, we had a few meltdowns (all kinds of meltdowns!) and even one day in the 70s… OH OH what are people going to use now to discredit “””global warming“””? I feel so bad for those polar bears, and hey, we won’t be moving to Venice anytime soon. Glad I live in a 2nd floor too, but I digress… Anyway, my body decided also to have a meltdown and I had a couple of stooopid issues (my hormones have decided they need more attention than any Kardashian!) and even some very very easy runs where my heart rate was about 50 over the usual… anyway, I was signed up for the NYRR Al Gordon Brooklyn 4M, and I was literally too tired to get up. Of course, I ended up running 11 miles in Central Park instead but my pace was 10:00 and my heart rate was at 82%. Insane. You just can’t win them all, can you? About two weeks ago, I spent the husband and I spent two hours shopping for half marathons for me… I came up with not a lot. If you have any ideas, let me know. Also, my running is so up and down I’ve started questioning if I should try to take some weeks/months off so my body doesn’t feel pressured and maybe that would help?

ha, I was just kidding! I’d be super hyper and way too annoying after just two days and waaaaay unhappy. So, let me just slow down, do it when my body is ok with it, and just enjoy it with no pressure. Deal?

So, I had a few awesome runs, still.

 

Plus it was Valentine’s Day and who thinks we’d let any reason to celebrate pass by? any excuse works!

Also, I got to spend some quality time at work (at NYRR) with some people you might know… Meb and Jenny. Do you even need last names? Don’t think so! Meb is now a Team for Kids Ambassador and Jenny is a Rising NYRR Ambassador and both were in town to run the Virtual For the Kids 5K race. If you haven’t check NYRR’s Virtual Races, you should.

 

2018-02-13 15.59.59-1
2018-02-13 16.01.30-1
2018-02-15 09.16.43
2018-02-15 09.21.01
2018-02-16 08.50.26

Anyway, it all went waaay too fast!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 124, emmm, got lazy a bit!
  • Races: big old zero for the year
  • Ups: weather got surprisingly “hot”. 40s and some 50s even.
  • Downs: not feeling my best.
  • Balance: i am getting a bit frustrated. cause, wtf.

January

was really cold. The first two weeks we set cold weather records. It was awful. Running was awful. I started the year working at the midnight run and it was really really cold. I wore everything and it was still crazy cold. But it’s a super fun race!

It was so cold that the races on the second weekend of January got canceled. I managed to run both Saturday and Sunday but it was insanely cold. Everyone kept asking me what I was training for, as most people assumed I had to get the miles in for some marathon or something. I am not really training for anything, just trying to not let the winter win. I can’t say I loved it, but I got out there.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As you can see there was a couple of blizzards in there, snow, ice, and all the layers. Luckily we had planned a trip to Mexico for mid-January to escape the cold. The vacation part was uneventful but we had a few epic runs with Juan (the husband!).

First night in the hotel, a guy who worked there came up to talk to Juan as he was wearing his 2017 TCS New York City Marathon shirt, to ask him if he had run the marathon. Turned out that Armando, our new friend at the hotel, was a runner too and invited us to his team’s workout the next morning. So, at 6:30 am we went out to meet up the Red Runners, who were having a special run as one of their teammates had passed that week. There was a half an hour of a warm-up, everyone in a circle, probably around 130 people, and the coach had a microphone and big speakers. Before we headed out, we all got one white rose to carry for the memorial. We all run together to a gorgeous lighthouse I never would have seen, we got there with the sunrise, there were speeches, even a triathlete pastor, there were prayers, and we run back with the boombox in tow. Everyone was together. It was very moving. And everyone was so welcome to this stranger. It was very special.

 

When I travel, to me, the best thing EVER is to hang with the locals. Nothing could have beat that run.

Juan and I did have a few osom runs. The day after the run with Red Runners, there was a race in town, which we didn’t sign up for because registration was miles and miles away but we run to the start and finish to cheer/spectate. Funnest part: Kukulcan road (the main drag) had no traffic for the race. Quite FUN!

 

The next few days we did great. We did a tempo together and we run back to the lighthouse so Juan could see it. We managed to get the sunrise too.

 

And like that, we were back and the month was over!

DATA DOWNLOAD!

  • Total Miles: 140
  • Races: not even one. But we spectated at one..!
  • Ups: the runs in Mexico!
  • Downs: running in the sub 10 temperatures (which is like minus 20 in Celsius). NOT FUN. WITH WIND!
  • Balance: can it be June now? I really miss racing a LOT.

November 2018 – the year is almost over!

Dec3

November was something… I ended up with the most mileage and tons of great runs… It started with the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, a hilly 5K through many NYC touristic attractions like the United Nations, Grand Central Station, the NY Public library, Central Park, etc, all the way to the NYC Marathon finish line. I made a little video if you want to see what it looks like. It’s quite fun.

The next day, of course, was the marathon… I started the day early with a 12 mile run before spectating. It was a gorgeous day.

The Argentinian flag by the finish line!

We started the cheering around 10:30, when some of the wheelchair athletes were still going through First Avenue. We saw the pros and a LOT of friends, a LOT.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We then moved the cheering party to Fifth Avenue for a few hours. I had little voice left but we managed to yell and cheer for a few more hours.

After a quick lunch and regroup we headed to the finish line to cheer on the last finishers. That is the biggest party!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

November has a lot of races and amazing runs… because the leaves change, it’s just magical out.  Here is one example:

I run a bit of the 60K to keep Michael company, that was fun:

The next day, I was signed up for two races. I know people who have done this but I never had. First, a 4 Miler in Central Park, at 8 am:

That went fine. Then some caffeine and up on the 1 train to Van Cortland Park for a trail 5K at 11:30 am.

That was intense… Legs were stiff right at the start of the 2nd race (it was a bit cold) but once we got moving it was fine. Happy it was a short race or I would have gotten hungry.. it was noon and all!

A few days later was Thanksgiving and spent it with family!

I am also lucky that I have a friend who lives close to my family and took me out for a 7-mile trail run, post-Turkey.

Looks sunny but don’t be fooled: it was freezing!!

That weekend we also did an exploratory long run into Queens and the neighborhoods that would be affected by Amazon’s takeover of the area. The LIC QNS waterfront has been evolving a lot in the last few years and it looks amazing. For now at least.

Told you it was a LOT!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 173, that IS GOOOOOD!
  • Downs: Not one.
  • Ups: All the fun fall folliage runs… Running can be quite epic in November, when there is daylight to see it! Also, finally caught up with my yearly mileage!
  • Balance: ALL so good. Hey December, TOP THIS!

October

Don’t call it a comeback, but I wish it was! In October, my legs finally felt good to go again, after about 3-4 months of some twinge, strain or whatever it was. I should have stopped running and I would have been fine in a month or two, BUT I was not going to miss Summer Streets… that really messed it all up. And I was managing it properly so I didn’t have to stop running but it took waaay too long because I didn’t really take the time to fix it. Anyway, I did the Bronx 10 miler (here is the report and here is a short video of the race),

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

and a week later I did the Divas Half Marathon in Long Island -a tough race for me as I was all alone after mile 4 (how do the elites do it??). Here is a video of the race.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Then, I took a last-minute flash trip to Argentina to see the family, especially my pregnant sister and I had some amazing runs. I did a long run from Palermo to Vicente Lopez and back, and a few more runs around Palermo and inside El Rosedal. It was epic. Here is a little video I put together.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When I came back home, there were many great runs, as it was the few weeks before the TCS New York City Marathon and there are really waaaay too many events. Which is a great thing if you can clone yourself. Otherwise, it’s FOMO all day long as it’s impossible to go to everything. Take your picks and don’t look back!

The last weekend of the month, and the week before the marathon, I do the Polland Spring 5 Miler. It was a great run with Michael, we chatted the whole way and it was my 21st race this year, a PR. Not a really a PR but I’ll take it! I am behind on mileage and still really really slow so that’s all I have these days…! Good enough for me!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Closing up the month with a visit to the marathon expo to pick up my bib for the Abbott Dash 5K, will report on that soon!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 140, oh well. SO behind my goals this year
  • Downs: NONE
  • Ups: running in Buenos Aires was literally epic. I can’t get over how fun that was!
  • Balance: ALL thumbs up!

September

hello Friends!

September was more work and socials and running… Is that a good thing? emmmm. You can decide (and keep it to yourself, as I like to say). There were some epic runs and some crappy runs. Mileage was pathetic not impressive. Some runs made it all worth it. We did a run to the Little Red Lighthouse, which was awesome.

I had no pain and I felt strong. The next long run was awful. The day after was AWESOME. Get the jist? A run to the Bronx and back last week was great. I was a bit all over the place (meaning: not just in Central Park) but I really like that. Had a few long runs with Kettia and Khris (as you can see I have a favorite pair of Oakleys).

2018-09-15 08.57.22
2018-09-22 09.06.52

The run to the Bronx was awesome but I got no pictures. I get distracted sometimes, I AM truly sorry!

Ah the sad part: Juan was ready and all packed to leave to China for his half Ironman and the RACE GOT CANCELLED…

2018-09-16 13.23.41
2018-09-17 13.24.04

Sad. Now we’re BOTH going to another one in November… in China also. It’s about 33 hours door to door, exciting! Gotta learn some Mandarin, help please!

and then I started feeling better. It was instantaneous. The little itch I had in the back of my leg went away last Thursday and voila… there goes 4 months of what the hell is this? but I am back! 

And Sunday was the New Balance Bronx 10 Miler, ohoooo. I’ll refer you to the official post, but it was fun. Slow as F but fun. Oh well, here comes the time to pick back up the speed. yeeeeeey.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 116, ooops, went from the biggest month to a very small one. OK.
  • Downs: my knee had a weird twitch and I was getting very tired of it. Had to skip the Newport Half to make sure I was giving it the rest and time it needed.
  • Ups: I finally felt ok in the last week: strong and ready to push back. 
  • Balance: Good now. I feel I am back to normal. Slow but normal.

August

is always a good month because of SUMMER STREETS, literally, I should be hired by the Summer Streets People because I feel like a community evangelizer. That is all I talk about to anyone all year long. You know it. Anyway, to recap: I like Summer Streets. A bit. If you just met me or this is the first time you read this blog, Summer Streets happens 3 weekends in August, on Saturdays: they close traffic on Park Avenue in the Upper East Side all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge, for 5 hours. It’s MAGIC.

If you missed it, shame on you (and, how are we friends???). If you never heard of it, pen it in for next year and don’t make vacation plans or don’t say yes to weddings. If you don’t live in NYC, get tickets now. 

So, Summer Streets was awesome, even though it RAINED ALL THREE SATURDAYS as you can see in the pictures (ugh) and we have to chop one run short because there was lightning, thunderstorm and flash flooding (but mostly because with all that water I couldn’t keep my contacts inside my eyes…!). It was still awesome. 

The day after the first Summer Streets, July something, a Sunday, I run the NYRR Manhattan Mile, a new race and a distance I’ve never run. So, automatic PR you say? Meh I don’t count those, but I WILL COUNT THE NEXT TIME I RUN THIS DISTANCE because I run it as slow AF. So, here we go: I have a bum knee. It’s not chondromalacia patellae, it’s not ITBS, I’ve ruled out a lot of things but it’s just weird because it hurts VERY randomly. AND, if I take time off, it hurts more. Go figure that one out. Good luck. Anyway, that day my knee was hurting so I struggled to finish. It was also like one hundred million degrees celsius/fahrenheit. 

Luckily I had Jackie, Michael and Brian to not only keep me company but throw power boosts at me during the last mile where they all decided to pick it up and I was just not into it. Aw, friends that throw stuff at you while you want to curl and cry are the BEST! ❤ I guess.

HA.

The next weekend was another combo of Summer Streets and a race. This time I attempted to do two races on Sunday and it didn’t work out AT ALL. I wanted to do the France Run, a 5 miler in Central Park at 8, and then scoot out to Williamsburg (in Brooklyn, for all my international readers! This Wsburg is in BK, not Colonial Pennsylvania, as I had to be told a few times in my first years in NYC coming from Philly!!!) (where was I?) then scoot out to Williamsburg to race the Brooklyn Mile. My heat was at 9:30 am. Possible?? Not really. What was I thinking? Not only David and I run France Run as slow as we possibly could without bursting into a walk spider-crawl, BUT we then proceeded to be extra stooopid fun after we finished and pretend talk in French and rename everything. We then also decided, while it rained, to taste and eat all the French things they had… chocolate, financiers, it was good… oooops, it’s 9:30! CRAP. And the truth is, I wasn’t in any shape to race a mile. My knee agreed (probably).

The last weekend of August (am I missing one???) it was a doubleheader. I did the Percy Sutton 5K in Harlem on Saturday and the Henry Isola 4 Mile XC in Van Cortlandt, Bronx, on Sunday. Who knew I could handle it? The knee was stoopid all week so I run to the 5K with Kettia and David SUPER slow, like 11 pace and was thinking to maybe cheer. I felt 100% pain-free so I decided to race. It was slow (23:06 It think, 7:24 pace) well, yes, I haven’t done anything hard in 2 months so I couldn’t expect much more but I felt good and that is all I cared about. Plus it was fun. We met lots of people, Frankie run me in, we had an hour-long stop on the run back… it was all shit and giggles, the way a race morning should be (to me, don’t judge!).

We run back. I ended up with like 10 miles… then… the next day, cause I felt ok… (who feels ok the day after a 5k?) I decided to run to the Bronx to run the Henry Isola 4 miler. It’s in the trails and it’s cross country. Ummmmmmm I was an XC virgin and had NO IDEA what I was doing. I didn’t even know why my age and gender was on my bib! Or how we all run on the grass and not the path…? it was all so weird. So, I’ve done trail races, like ultras, or like Bear Mountain 50K, or stuff like that. But this was SOOO DIFFERENT. Fast but also trails, crazy. Anyway, I run to the Bronx, got there at 8 am, race was starting at 9 and it was SO BURNING HOT already… I started feeling all the heatnessticity before we even started. It’s a smaller race than the typical NYRR race, like a LOT smaller. 40% of it were we out of the trails and in THE SUN. The last loop was hard and I won’t admit this to myself but there’s a chance I didn’t negative split this race. It was still great though (if can call walking up Cemetery Hill twice because your legs can’t run up, then yes it was great).

I think you can tell how HOT it was. Maybe by the sun situation, or my sweat situation, or maybe becase my hair is fried. I didn’t run back home. At all. I tried. But no.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 157, biggest mileage month so far this year. Just checked and my biggest month was 187 miles in October 2016. 
  • Races: Four. Two were miserable/slow. One was ok, one was awesome.
  • Ups: UM, HELLO, SUMMER STREETS. Did you forget already??? Also, that’s the most miles I run in a month this year. Catching up.
  • Downs: THIS STOOOOPID KNEE. Sorry, sorry, I still need love you knee, please don’t hurt me, anymore, prettyplease?
  • Balance: I wanna feel un-pain again and run hard, and do speedwork and I hate this crap. 

July

I barely remember July already and it was just now. My parents were still visiting so we kept touristing around and we had an amazing Fourth of July with all the official NYC fireworks on the East River. Epic. I did two races, with meh performances. The first one was the NYRR

hair working hard for the picture, post-Retro 4 Miler

 Retro 4 Miler, and I was really lame to not dress up, or back?  I seriously will wear any costume but just like happens every single Thanksgiving Halloween, I don’t care enough to remember more than 1 minute ahead of time. Every year I tell myself I am totally going to dress up next year and then I forget. Then every year, when the costumey event happens, I tell myself I am gonna set a reminder in the calendar for a month BEFORE Halloween/race/etc so I can plan ahead… but I am a snooze-hitter with things I don’t really want to bother with (NOT the alarm, you KNOW I wake up before the alarm even goes off!), and I use my go-to motto: if I didn’t bother doing it so far, no chance in hell this is gonna get done ever. Just like with the emails at the bottom of my inbox. If it’s been 2-3 days, there’s a high chance they won’t get opened/read/replied to… AAAANYWAY, I didn’t wear a costume for the Retro Run because I am lame. But people do, and it’s SUPER fun and I really really really always wish I did. mooooving on. Ah, so, the race. Wasn’t feeling it. I met with Courtney to do about 4 or 5 miles before and I kept wanting to go home. I was THIS close. Does that ever happen to you?

Then, I also did the NYRR R U N 5K in Central Park last week. Also wasn’t fast or anything special. It was a bit like hell hot so I decided to hold it in a bit. I managed to not kill myself. It was meh, but I love that course, it’s pretty fast with just one hill. Saw like a million people I knew, which was fun as always to catch up and chit chat and all those things with lots of chs in them. cha cha cha.

If anything else exciting, fun, amazing happened, I either don’t remember or it’s totally private or NSFW! HAAA, got you thinking!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

exciting huh? I am behind on my mileage… been behind since,… January??? I am lazy or having too much fun, you decide.

  • Total Miles: 152, not bad, not bad… not amazing but the most this year. July is a good month to run!
  • Races: 2. LAME!!!! Last month I had 6… so… AH THAT’S WHY MY MILEAGE IS UP!!!
  • Ups: I heart running in the summer. LOVE IT. JULY NEEDS TO BE 325 DAYS PLEASE.
  • Downs: omg my hair in the weather. HELP. Send the firemen or the paramedics or Paolo Puttanesca asap.
  • Balance: I have no idea. ALL I CARE ABOUT RIGHT NOW IS SUMMER STREETS. SUMMER STREETS STARTS IN TWO DAYS. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. SUMMER STREETS HERE I COME. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. DID I TELL YOU I LOVE SUMMER STREETS?

can you tell I am melting?

June

was a great month. Let me break it down before I forget it all (photos and a super organized calendar really do help!). I often wondered if I should do these weekly… there is so much to say but then I forget. Anyway, JUNE was BUSY, My parents came to visit from Argentina, which is awesome, they come every other year, for about a month and it was amazing. We did everything, we went everywhere, I got myself them so tired every single day…. it was awesome and rough at the same time. We literally did it all in a month. We even went to Miami for a few days of untamable hair and sticky skin. I forgot how insanely hot Miami is in the summer. #protip, don’t effing go to Miami in the summer, ever. or really, at any other time but definitely NO in the summer.

Anyway, the month started with the Italy Run NYC, a 5-mile race in Central Park, sponsored by Ferrero where I proceeded to smear Nutella all over me post-race, best celebration possible, correct? Before you ask, there are no pictures of that because it’s a LIE. Race was good; my performance… meh (actually, I don’t remember anymore!).

italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (3)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (2)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (1)

Literally 3 days later, I did another race, the Summer Series 5K in Prospect Park. It’s on Wednesdays at 7 pm, which REALLY messes up my sleep AND my Thursday morning run with my Flyers friends, BUT…I kinda love showing up because:

  1. I see lots of friends I don’t see every day in Central Park
  2. I cherish (and also hate) racing in a different course than the ones I did one million times in CP (though it’s also harder)
  3. Love the small race ambiance

Also, don’t remember much I think (given there is a picture of my holding a medal, duh) that I placed and I got a medal. Oh, and I totally remember I got something like 71% AG. YEAH, nbd.

And… 3 days right after this one, I had the 3rd race in 6 days… can you imagine how that one is gonna go???? So, Saturday morning was a Mini10K, which is a mega party, so I wasn’t going to miss it. BUT, I also wasn’t going to miss the other mega party Friday night… So come Saturday morning I was a MESS… my feet hurt (from the heels or dancing, who knows!) and I was sleeeeeeepy, SO SLEEEEEPY. I have no idea why, NOT ONLY I SHOWED UP TO THE RACE, BUT I also met Elizabeth (she is real, I promise) to do 4 miles before the race. MENTAL.

But, it was all worth it. I run it, EASY, with 3 friends, and it was a frigging BLAST. I regret nothing. #noregerts.

Told you it was FUN! Yeah, I was physically miserable but no one remembers that… smh. So then my parents arrived and we started the daily tour of all the food and all the things we don’t tell the tourists about. AND the World Cup. June was literally mental. Somehow I managed to get to Queens the next weekend, early, to run the Queens 10K. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the trek because Argentina was playing at 9 am against Iceland and I’d miss the first half, but so happy I went… Not only I had tons of fun at the race, I SOMEHOW (…miraculously) managed to do OK. Noooo, not a PR or even close but I got up to 69% AG, I was just one minute off from my PR, which is from frigggggging 2013! Does that even count anymore? I say NO.

Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (1)
I am a sucker for high-fives!
I am a sucker for high-fives!
Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (2)

Then, wait for this because the madness doesn’t stop there…. I did TWO races the next weekend!!!! YEAH, again, NBD! Crazy, right? I agree. It’s good that I am a biomechanics coach and I know what I am doing because otherwise my leggies would have fallen off by then… Saturday was the Pride Run and OMG I WAS NOT GONNA MISS THAT. I always race the Achilles Hope and Possibility race (which was going to the next day), so I decided to take the Pride Run easy and save my legs for Sunday. Only… I didn’t quite do that. I ended up with a lot of fun AND 12 miles… oooops. #mischiefmanaged (for you all PotterHeads!)

Jackie, Mary, Michael and I run the whole thing chatting from start to end. And the outfits were ON POINT.

Sunday I woke up to do a few miles before the Achilles Hope and Possibility race and I was wishing I had raced the day before… It was muggy, humid, gross and I was tired. You do what you can.

2018-06-24 09.09.59-1
2018-06-24 09.35.33
2018-06-24 16.30.27

David and Patricia (and corrals B,C,D,E and F) smoked me but I was happy. My parents had come to spectate and it was AWESOME. They came both days. They LOVED IT. Those two races and really something. REALLY REALLY something.

The next weekend was a wash because I was out of town, and back just on July 1st to watch the husband race the NYC TRI, with the parents and my cheering crew along. TRIATHLETES ARE CRAZY, just saying. But he’s so cute, it evens out.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 139, eeeeeek. too much racing makes the mileage go puff!
  • Races: SIX. 6 races in month. That’s probably maybe a PR, at least this year… ha, I have 12 races this year, 6 in ONE MONTH. 
  • Ups: All the fun things I did with the parents…!!! The Nutella at the Italy Run was HEAVEN. The Mini10K was SO FUN. Queens was a MEGA REVELATION. Pride and Achilles get me teary every time…
  • Downs: Mileage was yuk and I am behind my yearly goal. Tapering before races and how sore I am sometimes after…
  • Balance: ALL AWESOME!!!! I can’t believe I did all those races with all the other stuff I had going on…!

May

May was a whirlwind!! So much happened, and so many races also! I remember I started the month with something we had planned since September last year: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Call me a Potterhead, That was awesome! Twelve hours later, I was up early for the Newport 10K, just over the Hudson, one of my favourite 10Ks, because 1, it’s flat, 2, the finish line bagels (and I don’t really like bagels!). The race was a blast as usual: I’ve run it a few times and it always delivers! It’s usually hot but I love the vibe and the views!

Of course, as usual, there were many runs and stairs workouts sprinkled through the month:

And then there was the Japan Run. I remembered being tired from something but then, at the start, I met with Brian and Nick and Jackie, and we all decided to run together and pace Jackie. Those are my favorite types of races!

Way too much fun was had!! The next weekend, just so I wouldn’t fall off the wagon, I run the NYPD Memorial Run 5K. It was HOT and humid but I rallied and for the first time in months, I did OK. I measure my race performances by AG and I feel I do ok when I get close or over the 70% AG mark. Lately, I had been around 64% to 69%, and in this race I went back up to 70% wohoooo. Also, it was super fun to run on the West Side Highway. I really like how wide it is there.

Then, three days later, after a brutal stairs workout and speedwork, we raced the Prospect Park Summer Series 5K: no biggie. The course was slower (as there is a hill in Prospect Park) but I managed very similar results! Just like 10 or 20 seconds off. I find it so weird to race at night (well, 7 pm), that I find it quite amusing to try to figure out what to eat, how much, when, etc. Of course, then I slept like crap after because I was so wired!

That was a lot of racing…!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

 

  • Total Miles: 147, coming back up, but it’s hard with those short races because I feel like I need a good taper before and then my legs are thrashed for a few days…
  • Races: FOUR, here we go. Racing season is upon us!
  • Ups: the NYPD and the Summer Series 5K were definitely a surprise! I wasn’t expecting to do so well (NOT IN PR SHAPE YET THOUGH, ok?) and even though I don’t feel as strong as I used to, feeling in control of the situation really helps! One more thing: Central Park blossoming is the BEST!
  • Downs: how tired my legs feel two days after any short race! YUK
  • Balance: VERY HAPPY

So, I need to race more. Even if I am not in fighting shape or without any kind of expectations, I really enjoy it. The fewer expectations I have, the more fun I have, and so I go out there controlled and just let the race happen. I’ve actually started measuring races and performance by the amount of time it takes me to get back home, aka “how much fun I have”. For example, the NYPD Memorial Run was at 9 am and I got home at 4 pm: THAT is a successful race in my eyes now. The truth is I am not always (or ever again!) be as fast as I used to be or as I would like to be or as I would expect to be, so what should I do? Stay home until I feel I am in shape? HECK NO. To me, races are not a test of my fitness or “what I get from the work I put in” but a chance to enjoy with the community of friends who like to get out and enjoy the park with one foot in front of another trying to stay healthy. Yes, I’ll push hard here and there, but if one day I don’t feel like it or I decide to stick with a friend, it’ll be no different: it just HAS to be fun. 

April

We started the month in Argentina, which was great because it was WARM and hey, it was vacations. Got to see the fam and a few touristy things of course, and yeah, a few runs with Juan. Oh and of course I ate my face away. Lots of asado and steaks but also a lot of nikkei, my favourite non-native cuisine while in Argentina (my favourite non-native in the US is Japanese and French, you always gotta know where to get what!). I got back, I did a 4 miler in Central Park, the Run as One… it was so long ago, I can barely remember, or maybe it’s because I’ve been racing a lot the last two months! Oh yeah, I remember I got really hot (I was overdressed) and started way too fast or something, here is one picture!

I obviously spent some time running around, exhibit A:

or working:

or with Juan, usually eating crap:

and/or usually with friends, running or not!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 119. Ooops. That’s low. I really vacationed in Argentina… IT HAPPENS, OKAY?
  • Races: just one but it was more like a tempo, wasn’t expecting to go all out.
  • Ups: the fun runs!
  • Downs: didn’t get a lot done!
  • Balance: it was good -> lots of blossoming happening all over NYC made it amazingly beautiful!

March

March is always a good month because it is my birthday!!! HA. I started the month with a race, the NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K (there is a post there), which wasn’t great time wise but it was fun. See proof here:

There was a lot of running, maybe not tons of miles, because it was still cold as hell Alaska? ok Alaska, but it got done. 

And the United NYC Half happened. I saw so many of you there. That was an intense week and I was REALLY just a bit jealous of everyone running the new course. I got to run parts of it last year and was on one of the Pro lead trucks on race day and it looked amazing!! and everyone looked SO happy at the finish line… Really jelly So happy for you all!!!

We then went to San Antonio for a few quiet days of pulled pork and warmer weather. For my bday. We ate a LOT.  We run a bunch too:

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 151, it’s starting to pick up
  • Races: one. and I was so not wanting to race!
  • Ups: I did a lot of really great runs
  • Downs: still not feeling my best.
  • Balance: not letting it get to me. Let’s hope the nicer weather brings better running!

Also, one more thing I forgot to report on this whole year. A few friends and I have been doing monthly challenges. January was squats, February was pushups, March was planks. We usually just grab one from popsugar.com. Basically it tells you how many to do every day and each day is a bit more. It’s interesting. Maybe you’d want to try it with a few friends? we all text each other to make sure we’re all doing them EVERY DAY… Protip: it works better with a reward at the end of the month!!!!!!!!!!

February

was weird. I happened so quick I barely noticed. Instead of ice-fest, we had a few meltdowns (all kinds of meltdowns!) and even one day in the 70s… OH OH what are people going to use now to discredit “””global warming“””? I feel so bad for those polar bears, and hey, we won’t be moving to Venice anytime soon. Glad I live in a 2nd floor too, but I digress… Anyway, my body decided also to have a meltdown and I had a couple of stooopid issues (my hormones have decided they need more attention than any Kardashian!) and even some very very easy runs where my heart rate was about 50 over the usual… anyway, I was signed up for the NYRR Al Gordon Brooklyn 4M, and I was literally too tired to get up. Of course, I ended up running 11 miles in Central Park instead but my pace was 10:00 and my heart rate was at 82%. Insane. You just can’t win them all, can you? About two weeks ago, I spent the husband and I spent two hours shopping for half marathons for me… I came up with not a lot. If you have any ideas, let me know. Also, my running is so up and down I’ve started questioning if I should try to take some weeks/months off so my body doesn’t feel pressured and maybe that would help?

ha, I was just kidding! I’d be super hyper and way too annoying after just two days and waaaaay unhappy. So, let me just slow down, do it when my body is ok with it, and just enjoy it with no pressure. Deal?

So, I had a few awesome runs, still.

 

Plus it was Valentine’s Day and who thinks we’d let any reason to celebrate pass by? any excuse works!

Also, I got to spend some quality time at work (at NYRR) with some people you might know… Meb and Jenny. Do you even need last names? Don’t think so! Meb is now a Team for Kids Ambassador and Jenny is a Rising NYRR Ambassador and both were in town to run the Virtual For the Kids 5K race. If you haven’t check NYRR’s Virtual Races, you should.

 

2018-02-13 15.59.59-1
2018-02-13 16.01.30-1
2018-02-15 09.16.43
2018-02-15 09.21.01
2018-02-16 08.50.26

Anyway, it all went waaay too fast!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 124, emmm, got lazy a bit!
  • Races: big old zero for the year
  • Ups: weather got surprisingly “hot”. 40s and some 50s even.
  • Downs: not feeling my best.
  • Balance: i am getting a bit frustrated. cause, wtf.

January

was really cold. The first two weeks we set cold weather records. It was awful. Running was awful. I started the year working at the midnight run and it was really really cold. I wore everything and it was still crazy cold. But it’s a super fun race!

It was so cold that the races on the second weekend of January got canceled. I managed to run both Saturday and Sunday but it was insanely cold. Everyone kept asking me what I was training for, as most people assumed I had to get the miles in for some marathon or something. I am not really training for anything, just trying to not let the winter win. I can’t say I loved it, but I got out there.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As you can see there was a couple of blizzards in there, snow, ice, and all the layers. Luckily we had planned a trip to Mexico for mid-January to escape the cold. The vacation part was uneventful but we had a few epic runs with Juan (the husband!).

First night in the hotel, a guy who worked there came up to talk to Juan as he was wearing his 2017 TCS New York City Marathon shirt, to ask him if he had run the marathon. Turned out that Armando, our new friend at the hotel, was a runner too and invited us to his team’s workout the next morning. So, at 6:30 am we went out to meet up the Red Runners, who were having a special run as one of their teammates had passed that week. There was a half an hour of a warm-up, everyone in a circle, probably around 130 people, and the coach had a microphone and big speakers. Before we headed out, we all got one white rose to carry for the memorial. We all run together to a gorgeous lighthouse I never would have seen, we got there with the sunrise, there were speeches, even a triathlete pastor, there were prayers, and we run back with the boombox in tow. Everyone was together. It was very moving. And everyone was so welcome to this stranger. It was very special.

 

When I travel, to me, the best thing EVER is to hang with the locals. Nothing could have beat that run.

Juan and I did have a few osom runs. The day after the run with Red Runners, there was a race in town, which we didn’t sign up for because registration was miles and miles away but we run to the start and finish to cheer/spectate. Funnest part: Kukulcan road (the main drag) had no traffic for the race. Quite FUN!

 

The next few days we did great. We did a tempo together and we run back to the lighthouse so Juan could see it. We managed to get the sunrise too.

 

And like that, we were back and the month was over!

DATA DOWNLOAD!

  • Total Miles: 140
  • Races: not even one. But we spectated at one..!
  • Ups: the runs in Mexico!
  • Downs: running in the sub 10 temperatures (which is like minus 20 in Celsius). NOT FUN. WITH WIND!
  • Balance: can it be June now? I really miss racing a LOT.

October 2018 – Don’t call it a comeback!

Nov11

Don’t call it a comeback, but I wish it was! In October, my legs finally felt good to go again, after about 3-4 months of some twinge, strain or whatever it was. I should have stopped running and I would have been fine in a month or two, BUT I was not going to miss Summer Streets… that really messed it all up. And I was managing it properly so I didn’t have to stop running but it took waaay too long because I didn’t really take the time to fix it. Anyway, I did the Bronx 10 miler (here is the report and here is a short video of the race),

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

and a week later I did the Divas Half Marathon in Long Island -a tough race for me as I was all alone after mile 4 (how do the elites do it??). Here is a video of the race.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Then, I took a last-minute flash trip to Argentina to see the family, especially my pregnant sister and I had some amazing runs. I did a long run from Palermo to Vicente Lopez and back, and a few more runs around Palermo and inside El Rosedal. It was epic. Here is a little video I put together.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When I came back home, there were many great runs, as it was the few weeks before the TCS New York City Marathon and there are really waaaay too many events. Which is a great thing if you can clone yourself. Otherwise, it’s FOMO all day long as it’s impossible to go to everything. Take your picks and don’t look back!

The last weekend of the month, and the week before the marathon, I do the Polland Spring 5 Miler. It was a great run with Michael, we chatted the whole way and it was my 21st race this year, a PR. Not a really a PR but I’ll take it! I am behind on mileage and still really really slow so that’s all I have these days…! Good enough for me!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Closing up the month with a visit to the marathon expo to pick up my bib for the Abbott Dash 5K, will report on that soon!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 140, oh well. SO behind my goals this year
  • Downs: NONE
  • Ups: running in Buenos Aires was literally epic. I can’t get over how fun that was!
  • Balance: ALL thumbs up!

September

hello Friends!

September was more work and socials and running… Is that a good thing? emmmm. You can decide (and keep it to yourself, as I like to say). There were some epic runs and some crappy runs. Mileage was pathetic not impressive. Some runs made it all worth it. We did a run to the Little Red Lighthouse, which was awesome.

I had no pain and I felt strong. The next long run was awful. The day after was AWESOME. Get the jist? A run to the Bronx and back last week was great. I was a bit all over the place (meaning: not just in Central Park) but I really like that. Had a few long runs with Kettia and Khris (as you can see I have a favorite pair of Oakleys).

2018-09-15 08.57.22
2018-09-22 09.06.52

The run to the Bronx was awesome but I got no pictures. I get distracted sometimes, I AM truly sorry!

Ah the sad part: Juan was ready and all packed to leave to China for his half Ironman and the RACE GOT CANCELLED…

2018-09-16 13.23.41
2018-09-17 13.24.04

Sad. Now we’re BOTH going to another one in November… in China also. It’s about 33 hours door to door, exciting! Gotta learn some Mandarin, help please!

and then I started feeling better. It was instantaneous. The little itch I had in the back of my leg went away last Thursday and voila… there goes 4 months of what the hell is this? but I am back! 

And Sunday was the New Balance Bronx 10 Miler, ohoooo. I’ll refer you to the official post, but it was fun. Slow as F but fun. Oh well, here comes the time to pick back up the speed. yeeeeeey.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 116, ooops, went from the biggest month to a very small one. OK.
  • Downs: my knee had a weird twitch and I was getting very tired of it. Had to skip the Newport Half to make sure I was giving it the rest and time it needed.
  • Ups: I finally felt ok in the last week: strong and ready to push back. 
  • Balance: Good now. I feel I am back to normal. Slow but normal.

August

is always a good month because of SUMMER STREETS, literally, I should be hired by the Summer Streets People because I feel like a community evangelizer. That is all I talk about to anyone all year long. You know it. Anyway, to recap: I like Summer Streets. A bit. If you just met me or this is the first time you read this blog, Summer Streets happens 3 weekends in August, on Saturdays: they close traffic on Park Avenue in the Upper East Side all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge, for 5 hours. It’s MAGIC.

If you missed it, shame on you (and, how are we friends???). If you never heard of it, pen it in for next year and don’t make vacation plans or don’t say yes to weddings. If you don’t live in NYC, get tickets now. 

So, Summer Streets was awesome, even though it RAINED ALL THREE SATURDAYS as you can see in the pictures (ugh) and we have to chop one run short because there was lightning, thunderstorm and flash flooding (but mostly because with all that water I couldn’t keep my contacts inside my eyes…!). It was still awesome. 

The day after the first Summer Streets, July something, a Sunday, I run the NYRR Manhattan Mile, a new race and a distance I’ve never run. So, automatic PR you say? Meh I don’t count those, but I WILL COUNT THE NEXT TIME I RUN THIS DISTANCE because I run it as slow AF. So, here we go: I have a bum knee. It’s not chondromalacia patellae, it’s not ITBS, I’ve ruled out a lot of things but it’s just weird because it hurts VERY randomly. AND, if I take time off, it hurts more. Go figure that one out. Good luck. Anyway, that day my knee was hurting so I struggled to finish. It was also like one hundred million degrees celsius/fahrenheit. 

Luckily I had Jackie, Michael and Brian to not only keep me company but throw power boosts at me during the last mile where they all decided to pick it up and I was just not into it. Aw, friends that throw stuff at you while you want to curl and cry are the BEST! ❤ I guess.

HA.

The next weekend was another combo of Summer Streets and a race. This time I attempted to do two races on Sunday and it didn’t work out AT ALL. I wanted to do the France Run, a 5 miler in Central Park at 8, and then scoot out to Williamsburg (in Brooklyn, for all my international readers! This Wsburg is in BK, not Colonial Pennsylvania, as I had to be told a few times in my first years in NYC coming from Philly!!!) (where was I?) then scoot out to Williamsburg to race the Brooklyn Mile. My heat was at 9:30 am. Possible?? Not really. What was I thinking? Not only David and I run France Run as slow as we possibly could without bursting into a walk spider-crawl, BUT we then proceeded to be extra stooopid fun after we finished and pretend talk in French and rename everything. We then also decided, while it rained, to taste and eat all the French things they had… chocolate, financiers, it was good… oooops, it’s 9:30! CRAP. And the truth is, I wasn’t in any shape to race a mile. My knee agreed (probably).

The last weekend of August (am I missing one???) it was a doubleheader. I did the Percy Sutton 5K in Harlem on Saturday and the Henry Isola 4 Mile XC in Van Cortlandt, Bronx, on Sunday. Who knew I could handle it? The knee was stoopid all week so I run to the 5K with Kettia and David SUPER slow, like 11 pace and was thinking to maybe cheer. I felt 100% pain-free so I decided to race. It was slow (23:06 It think, 7:24 pace) well, yes, I haven’t done anything hard in 2 months so I couldn’t expect much more but I felt good and that is all I cared about. Plus it was fun. We met lots of people, Frankie run me in, we had an hour-long stop on the run back… it was all shit and giggles, the way a race morning should be (to me, don’t judge!).

We run back. I ended up with like 10 miles… then… the next day, cause I felt ok… (who feels ok the day after a 5k?) I decided to run to the Bronx to run the Henry Isola 4 miler. It’s in the trails and it’s cross country. Ummmmmmm I was an XC virgin and had NO IDEA what I was doing. I didn’t even know why my age and gender was on my bib! Or how we all run on the grass and not the path…? it was all so weird. So, I’ve done trail races, like ultras, or like Bear Mountain 50K, or stuff like that. But this was SOOO DIFFERENT. Fast but also trails, crazy. Anyway, I run to the Bronx, got there at 8 am, race was starting at 9 and it was SO BURNING HOT already… I started feeling all the heatnessticity before we even started. It’s a smaller race than the typical NYRR race, like a LOT smaller. 40% of it were we out of the trails and in THE SUN. The last loop was hard and I won’t admit this to myself but there’s a chance I didn’t negative split this race. It was still great though (if can call walking up Cemetery Hill twice because your legs can’t run up, then yes it was great).

I think you can tell how HOT it was. Maybe by the sun situation, or my sweat situation, or maybe becase my hair is fried. I didn’t run back home. At all. I tried. But no.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 157, biggest mileage month so far this year. Just checked and my biggest month was 187 miles in October 2016. 
  • Races: Four. Two were miserable/slow. One was ok, one was awesome.
  • Ups: UM, HELLO, SUMMER STREETS. Did you forget already??? Also, that’s the most miles I run in a month this year. Catching up.
  • Downs: THIS STOOOOPID KNEE. Sorry, sorry, I still need love you knee, please don’t hurt me, anymore, prettyplease?
  • Balance: I wanna feel un-pain again and run hard, and do speedwork and I hate this crap. 

July

I barely remember July already and it was just now. My parents were still visiting so we kept touristing around and we had an amazing Fourth of July with all the official NYC fireworks on the East River. Epic. I did two races, with meh performances. The first one was the NYRR

hair working hard for the picture, post-Retro 4 Miler

 Retro 4 Miler, and I was really lame to not dress up, or back?  I seriously will wear any costume but just like happens every single Thanksgiving Halloween, I don’t care enough to remember more than 1 minute ahead of time. Every year I tell myself I am totally going to dress up next year and then I forget. Then every year, when the costumey event happens, I tell myself I am gonna set a reminder in the calendar for a month BEFORE Halloween/race/etc so I can plan ahead… but I am a snooze-hitter with things I don’t really want to bother with (NOT the alarm, you KNOW I wake up before the alarm even goes off!), and I use my go-to motto: if I didn’t bother doing it so far, no chance in hell this is gonna get done ever. Just like with the emails at the bottom of my inbox. If it’s been 2-3 days, there’s a high chance they won’t get opened/read/replied to… AAAANYWAY, I didn’t wear a costume for the Retro Run because I am lame. But people do, and it’s SUPER fun and I really really really always wish I did. mooooving on. Ah, so, the race. Wasn’t feeling it. I met with Courtney to do about 4 or 5 miles before and I kept wanting to go home. I was THIS close. Does that ever happen to you?

Then, I also did the NYRR R U N 5K in Central Park last week. Also wasn’t fast or anything special. It was a bit like hell hot so I decided to hold it in a bit. I managed to not kill myself. It was meh, but I love that course, it’s pretty fast with just one hill. Saw like a million people I knew, which was fun as always to catch up and chit chat and all those things with lots of chs in them. cha cha cha.

If anything else exciting, fun, amazing happened, I either don’t remember or it’s totally private or NSFW! HAAA, got you thinking!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

exciting huh? I am behind on my mileage… been behind since,… January??? I am lazy or having too much fun, you decide.

  • Total Miles: 152, not bad, not bad… not amazing but the most this year. July is a good month to run!
  • Races: 2. LAME!!!! Last month I had 6… so… AH THAT’S WHY MY MILEAGE IS UP!!!
  • Ups: I heart running in the summer. LOVE IT. JULY NEEDS TO BE 325 DAYS PLEASE.
  • Downs: omg my hair in the weather. HELP. Send the firemen or the paramedics or Paolo Puttanesca asap.
  • Balance: I have no idea. ALL I CARE ABOUT RIGHT NOW IS SUMMER STREETS. SUMMER STREETS STARTS IN TWO DAYS. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. SUMMER STREETS HERE I COME. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. DID I TELL YOU I LOVE SUMMER STREETS?

can you tell I am melting?

June

was a great month. Let me break it down before I forget it all (photos and a super organized calendar really do help!). I often wondered if I should do these weekly… there is so much to say but then I forget. Anyway, JUNE was BUSY, My parents came to visit from Argentina, which is awesome, they come every other year, for about a month and it was amazing. We did everything, we went everywhere, I got myself them so tired every single day…. it was awesome and rough at the same time. We literally did it all in a month. We even went to Miami for a few days of untamable hair and sticky skin. I forgot how insanely hot Miami is in the summer. #protip, don’t effing go to Miami in the summer, ever. or really, at any other time but definitely NO in the summer.

Anyway, the month started with the Italy Run NYC, a 5-mile race in Central Park, sponsored by Ferrero where I proceeded to smear Nutella all over me post-race, best celebration possible, correct? Before you ask, there are no pictures of that because it’s a LIE. Race was good; my performance… meh (actually, I don’t remember anymore!).

italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (3)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (2)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (1)

Literally 3 days later, I did another race, the Summer Series 5K in Prospect Park. It’s on Wednesdays at 7 pm, which REALLY messes up my sleep AND my Thursday morning run with my Flyers friends, BUT…I kinda love showing up because:

  1. I see lots of friends I don’t see every day in Central Park
  2. I cherish (and also hate) racing in a different course than the ones I did one million times in CP (though it’s also harder)
  3. Love the small race ambiance

Also, don’t remember much I think (given there is a picture of my holding a medal, duh) that I placed and I got a medal. Oh, and I totally remember I got something like 71% AG. YEAH, nbd.

And… 3 days right after this one, I had the 3rd race in 6 days… can you imagine how that one is gonna go???? So, Saturday morning was a Mini10K, which is a mega party, so I wasn’t going to miss it. BUT, I also wasn’t going to miss the other mega party Friday night… So come Saturday morning I was a MESS… my feet hurt (from the heels or dancing, who knows!) and I was sleeeeeeepy, SO SLEEEEEPY. I have no idea why, NOT ONLY I SHOWED UP TO THE RACE, BUT I also met Elizabeth (she is real, I promise) to do 4 miles before the race. MENTAL.

But, it was all worth it. I run it, EASY, with 3 friends, and it was a frigging BLAST. I regret nothing. #noregerts.

Told you it was FUN! Yeah, I was physically miserable but no one remembers that… smh. So then my parents arrived and we started the daily tour of all the food and all the things we don’t tell the tourists about. AND the World Cup. June was literally mental. Somehow I managed to get to Queens the next weekend, early, to run the Queens 10K. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the trek because Argentina was playing at 9 am against Iceland and I’d miss the first half, but so happy I went… Not only I had tons of fun at the race, I SOMEHOW (…miraculously) managed to do OK. Noooo, not a PR or even close but I got up to 69% AG, I was just one minute off from my PR, which is from frigggggging 2013! Does that even count anymore? I say NO.

Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (1)
I am a sucker for high-fives!
I am a sucker for high-fives!
Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (2)

Then, wait for this because the madness doesn’t stop there…. I did TWO races the next weekend!!!! YEAH, again, NBD! Crazy, right? I agree. It’s good that I am a biomechanics coach and I know what I am doing because otherwise my leggies would have fallen off by then… Saturday was the Pride Run and OMG I WAS NOT GONNA MISS THAT. I always race the Achilles Hope and Possibility race (which was going to the next day), so I decided to take the Pride Run easy and save my legs for Sunday. Only… I didn’t quite do that. I ended up with a lot of fun AND 12 miles… oooops. #mischiefmanaged (for you all PotterHeads!)

Jackie, Mary, Michael and I run the whole thing chatting from start to end. And the outfits were ON POINT.

Sunday I woke up to do a few miles before the Achilles Hope and Possibility race and I was wishing I had raced the day before… It was muggy, humid, gross and I was tired. You do what you can.

2018-06-24 09.09.59-1
2018-06-24 09.35.33
2018-06-24 16.30.27

David and Patricia (and corrals B,C,D,E and F) smoked me but I was happy. My parents had come to spectate and it was AWESOME. They came both days. They LOVED IT. Those two races and really something. REALLY REALLY something.

The next weekend was a wash because I was out of town, and back just on July 1st to watch the husband race the NYC TRI, with the parents and my cheering crew along. TRIATHLETES ARE CRAZY, just saying. But he’s so cute, it evens out.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 139, eeeeeek. too much racing makes the mileage go puff!
  • Races: SIX. 6 races in month. That’s probably maybe a PR, at least this year… ha, I have 12 races this year, 6 in ONE MONTH. 
  • Ups: All the fun things I did with the parents…!!! The Nutella at the Italy Run was HEAVEN. The Mini10K was SO FUN. Queens was a MEGA REVELATION. Pride and Achilles get me teary every time…
  • Downs: Mileage was yuk and I am behind my yearly goal. Tapering before races and how sore I am sometimes after…
  • Balance: ALL AWESOME!!!! I can’t believe I did all those races with all the other stuff I had going on…!

May

May was a whirlwind!! So much happened, and so many races also! I remember I started the month with something we had planned since September last year: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Call me a Potterhead, That was awesome! Twelve hours later, I was up early for the Newport 10K, just over the Hudson, one of my favourite 10Ks, because 1, it’s flat, 2, the finish line bagels (and I don’t really like bagels!). The race was a blast as usual: I’ve run it a few times and it always delivers! It’s usually hot but I love the vibe and the views!

Of course, as usual, there were many runs and stairs workouts sprinkled through the month:

And then there was the Japan Run. I remembered being tired from something but then, at the start, I met with Brian and Nick and Jackie, and we all decided to run together and pace Jackie. Those are my favorite types of races!

Way too much fun was had!! The next weekend, just so I wouldn’t fall off the wagon, I run the NYPD Memorial Run 5K. It was HOT and humid but I rallied and for the first time in months, I did OK. I measure my race performances by AG and I feel I do ok when I get close or over the 70% AG mark. Lately, I had been around 64% to 69%, and in this race I went back up to 70% wohoooo. Also, it was super fun to run on the West Side Highway. I really like how wide it is there.

Then, three days later, after a brutal stairs workout and speedwork, we raced the Prospect Park Summer Series 5K: no biggie. The course was slower (as there is a hill in Prospect Park) but I managed very similar results! Just like 10 or 20 seconds off. I find it so weird to race at night (well, 7 pm), that I find it quite amusing to try to figure out what to eat, how much, when, etc. Of course, then I slept like crap after because I was so wired!

That was a lot of racing…!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

 

  • Total Miles: 147, coming back up, but it’s hard with those short races because I feel like I need a good taper before and then my legs are thrashed for a few days…
  • Races: FOUR, here we go. Racing season is upon us!
  • Ups: the NYPD and the Summer Series 5K were definitely a surprise! I wasn’t expecting to do so well (NOT IN PR SHAPE YET THOUGH, ok?) and even though I don’t feel as strong as I used to, feeling in control of the situation really helps! One more thing: Central Park blossoming is the BEST!
  • Downs: how tired my legs feel two days after any short race! YUK
  • Balance: VERY HAPPY

So, I need to race more. Even if I am not in fighting shape or without any kind of expectations, I really enjoy it. The fewer expectations I have, the more fun I have, and so I go out there controlled and just let the race happen. I’ve actually started measuring races and performance by the amount of time it takes me to get back home, aka “how much fun I have”. For example, the NYPD Memorial Run was at 9 am and I got home at 4 pm: THAT is a successful race in my eyes now. The truth is I am not always (or ever again!) be as fast as I used to be or as I would like to be or as I would expect to be, so what should I do? Stay home until I feel I am in shape? HECK NO. To me, races are not a test of my fitness or “what I get from the work I put in” but a chance to enjoy with the community of friends who like to get out and enjoy the park with one foot in front of another trying to stay healthy. Yes, I’ll push hard here and there, but if one day I don’t feel like it or I decide to stick with a friend, it’ll be no different: it just HAS to be fun. 

April

We started the month in Argentina, which was great because it was WARM and hey, it was vacations. Got to see the fam and a few touristy things of course, and yeah, a few runs with Juan. Oh and of course I ate my face away. Lots of asado and steaks but also a lot of nikkei, my favourite non-native cuisine while in Argentina (my favourite non-native in the US is Japanese and French, you always gotta know where to get what!). I got back, I did a 4 miler in Central Park, the Run as One… it was so long ago, I can barely remember, or maybe it’s because I’ve been racing a lot the last two months! Oh yeah, I remember I got really hot (I was overdressed) and started way too fast or something, here is one picture!

I obviously spent some time running around, exhibit A:

or working:

or with Juan, usually eating crap:

and/or usually with friends, running or not!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 119. Ooops. That’s low. I really vacationed in Argentina… IT HAPPENS, OKAY?
  • Races: just one but it was more like a tempo, wasn’t expecting to go all out.
  • Ups: the fun runs!
  • Downs: didn’t get a lot done!
  • Balance: it was good -> lots of blossoming happening all over NYC made it amazingly beautiful!

March

March is always a good month because it is my birthday!!! HA. I started the month with a race, the NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K (there is a post there), which wasn’t great time wise but it was fun. See proof here:

There was a lot of running, maybe not tons of miles, because it was still cold as hell Alaska? ok Alaska, but it got done. 

And the United NYC Half happened. I saw so many of you there. That was an intense week and I was REALLY just a bit jealous of everyone running the new course. I got to run parts of it last year and was on one of the Pro lead trucks on race day and it looked amazing!! and everyone looked SO happy at the finish line… Really jelly So happy for you all!!!

We then went to San Antonio for a few quiet days of pulled pork and warmer weather. For my bday. We ate a LOT.  We run a bunch too:

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 151, it’s starting to pick up
  • Races: one. and I was so not wanting to race!
  • Ups: I did a lot of really great runs
  • Downs: still not feeling my best.
  • Balance: not letting it get to me. Let’s hope the nicer weather brings better running!

Also, one more thing I forgot to report on this whole year. A few friends and I have been doing monthly challenges. January was squats, February was pushups, March was planks. We usually just grab one from popsugar.com. Basically it tells you how many to do every day and each day is a bit more. It’s interesting. Maybe you’d want to try it with a few friends? we all text each other to make sure we’re all doing them EVERY DAY… Protip: it works better with a reward at the end of the month!!!!!!!!!!

February

was weird. I happened so quick I barely noticed. Instead of ice-fest, we had a few meltdowns (all kinds of meltdowns!) and even one day in the 70s… OH OH what are people going to use now to discredit “””global warming“””? I feel so bad for those polar bears, and hey, we won’t be moving to Venice anytime soon. Glad I live in a 2nd floor too, but I digress… Anyway, my body decided also to have a meltdown and I had a couple of stooopid issues (my hormones have decided they need more attention than any Kardashian!) and even some very very easy runs where my heart rate was about 50 over the usual… anyway, I was signed up for the NYRR Al Gordon Brooklyn 4M, and I was literally too tired to get up. Of course, I ended up running 11 miles in Central Park instead but my pace was 10:00 and my heart rate was at 82%. Insane. You just can’t win them all, can you? About two weeks ago, I spent the husband and I spent two hours shopping for half marathons for me… I came up with not a lot. If you have any ideas, let me know. Also, my running is so up and down I’ve started questioning if I should try to take some weeks/months off so my body doesn’t feel pressured and maybe that would help?

ha, I was just kidding! I’d be super hyper and way too annoying after just two days and waaaaay unhappy. So, let me just slow down, do it when my body is ok with it, and just enjoy it with no pressure. Deal?

So, I had a few awesome runs, still.

 

Plus it was Valentine’s Day and who thinks we’d let any reason to celebrate pass by? any excuse works!

Also, I got to spend some quality time at work (at NYRR) with some people you might know… Meb and Jenny. Do you even need last names? Don’t think so! Meb is now a Team for Kids Ambassador and Jenny is a Rising NYRR Ambassador and both were in town to run the Virtual For the Kids 5K race. If you haven’t check NYRR’s Virtual Races, you should.

 

2018-02-13 15.59.59-1
2018-02-13 16.01.30-1
2018-02-15 09.16.43
2018-02-15 09.21.01
2018-02-16 08.50.26

Anyway, it all went waaay too fast!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 124, emmm, got lazy a bit!
  • Races: big old zero for the year
  • Ups: weather got surprisingly “hot”. 40s and some 50s even.
  • Downs: not feeling my best.
  • Balance: i am getting a bit frustrated. cause, wtf.

January

was really cold. The first two weeks we set cold weather records. It was awful. Running was awful. I started the year working at the midnight run and it was really really cold. I wore everything and it was still crazy cold. But it’s a super fun race!

It was so cold that the races on the second weekend of January got canceled. I managed to run both Saturday and Sunday but it was insanely cold. Everyone kept asking me what I was training for, as most people assumed I had to get the miles in for some marathon or something. I am not really training for anything, just trying to not let the winter win. I can’t say I loved it, but I got out there.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As you can see there was a couple of blizzards in there, snow, ice, and all the layers. Luckily we had planned a trip to Mexico for mid-January to escape the cold. The vacation part was uneventful but we had a few epic runs with Juan (the husband!).

First night in the hotel, a guy who worked there came up to talk to Juan as he was wearing his 2017 TCS New York City Marathon shirt, to ask him if he had run the marathon. Turned out that Armando, our new friend at the hotel, was a runner too and invited us to his team’s workout the next morning. So, at 6:30 am we went out to meet up the Red Runners, who were having a special run as one of their teammates had passed that week. There was a half an hour of a warm-up, everyone in a circle, probably around 130 people, and the coach had a microphone and big speakers. Before we headed out, we all got one white rose to carry for the memorial. We all run together to a gorgeous lighthouse I never would have seen, we got there with the sunrise, there were speeches, even a triathlete pastor, there were prayers, and we run back with the boombox in tow. Everyone was together. It was very moving. And everyone was so welcome to this stranger. It was very special.

 

When I travel, to me, the best thing EVER is to hang with the locals. Nothing could have beat that run.

Juan and I did have a few osom runs. The day after the run with Red Runners, there was a race in town, which we didn’t sign up for because registration was miles and miles away but we run to the start and finish to cheer/spectate. Funnest part: Kukulcan road (the main drag) had no traffic for the race. Quite FUN!

 

The next few days we did great. We did a tempo together and we run back to the lighthouse so Juan could see it. We managed to get the sunrise too.

 

And like that, we were back and the month was over!

DATA DOWNLOAD!

  • Total Miles: 140
  • Races: not even one. But we spectated at one..!
  • Ups: the runs in Mexico!
  • Downs: running in the sub 10 temperatures (which is like minus 20 in Celsius). NOT FUN. WITH WIND!
  • Balance: can it be June now? I really miss racing a LOT.

September 2018 – YES YES YES

Oct6

hello Friends!

September was more work and socials and running… Is that a good thing? emmmm. You can decide (and keep it to yourself, as I like to say). There were some epic runs and some crappy runs. Mileage was pathetic not impressive. Some runs made it all worth it. We did a run to the Little Red Lighthouse, which was awesome.

I had no pain and I felt strong. The next long run was awful. The day after was AWESOME. Get the jist? A run to the Bronx and back last week was great. I was a bit all over the place (meaning: not just in Central Park) but I really like that. Had a few long runs with Kettia and Khris (as you can see I have a favorite pair of Oakleys).

2018-09-15 08.57.22
2018-09-22 09.06.52

The run to the Bronx was awesome but I got no pictures. I get distracted sometimes, I AM truly sorry!

Ah the sad part: Juan was ready and all packed to leave to China for his half Ironman and the RACE GOT CANCELLED…

2018-09-16 13.23.41
2018-09-17 13.24.04

Sad. Now we’re BOTH going to another one in November… in China also. It’s about 33 hours door to door, exciting! Gotta learn some Mandarin, help please!

and then I started feeling better. It was instantaneous. The little itch I had in the back of my leg went away last Thursday and voila… there goes 4 months of what the hell is this? but I am back! 

And Sunday was the New Balance Bronx 10 Miler, ohoooo. I’ll refer you to the official post, but it was fun. Slow as F but fun. Oh well, here comes the time to pick back up the speed. yeeeeeey.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 116, ooops, went from the biggest month to a very small one. OK.
  • Downs: my knee had a weird twitch and I was getting very tired of it. Had to skip the Newport Half to make sure I was giving it the rest and time it needed.
  • Ups: I finally felt ok in the last week: strong and ready to push back. 
  • Balance: Good now. I feel I am back to normal. Slow but normal.

August

is always a good month because of SUMMER STREETS, literally, I should be hired by the Summer Streets People because I feel like a community evangelizer. That is all I talk about to anyone all year long. You know it. Anyway, to recap: I like Summer Streets. A bit. If you just met me or this is the first time you read this blog, Summer Streets happens 3 weekends in August, on Saturdays: they close traffic on Park Avenue in the Upper East Side all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge, for 5 hours. It’s MAGIC.

If you missed it, shame on you (and, how are we friends???). If you never heard of it, pen it in for next year and don’t make vacation plans or don’t say yes to weddings. If you don’t live in NYC, get tickets now. 

So, Summer Streets was awesome, even though it RAINED ALL THREE SATURDAYS as you can see in the pictures (ugh) and we have to chop one run short because there was lightning, thunderstorm and flash flooding (but mostly because with all that water I couldn’t keep my contacts inside my eyes…!). It was still awesome. 

The day after the first Summer Streets, July something, a Sunday, I run the NYRR Manhattan Mile, a new race and a distance I’ve never run. So, automatic PR you say? Meh I don’t count those, but I WILL COUNT THE NEXT TIME I RUN THIS DISTANCE because I run it as slow AF. So, here we go: I have a bum knee. It’s not chondromalacia patellae, it’s not ITBS, I’ve ruled out a lot of things but it’s just weird because it hurts VERY randomly. AND, if I take time off, it hurts more. Go figure that one out. Good luck. Anyway, that day my knee was hurting so I struggled to finish. It was also like one hundred million degrees celsius/fahrenheit. 

Luckily I had Jackie, Michael and Brian to not only keep me company but throw power boosts at me during the last mile where they all decided to pick it up and I was just not into it. Aw, friends that throw stuff at you while you want to curl and cry are the BEST! ❤ I guess.

HA.

The next weekend was another combo of Summer Streets and a race. This time I attempted to do two races on Sunday and it didn’t work out AT ALL. I wanted to do the France Run, a 5 miler in Central Park at 8, and then scoot out to Williamsburg (in Brooklyn, for all my international readers! This Wsburg is in BK, not Colonial Pennsylvania, as I had to be told a few times in my first years in NYC coming from Philly!!!) (where was I?) then scoot out to Williamsburg to race the Brooklyn Mile. My heat was at 9:30 am. Possible?? Not really. What was I thinking? Not only David and I run France Run as slow as we possibly could without bursting into a walk spider-crawl, BUT we then proceeded to be extra stooopid fun after we finished and pretend talk in French and rename everything. We then also decided, while it rained, to taste and eat all the French things they had… chocolate, financiers, it was good… oooops, it’s 9:30! CRAP. And the truth is, I wasn’t in any shape to race a mile. My knee agreed (probably).

The last weekend of August (am I missing one???) it was a doubleheader. I did the Percy Sutton 5K in Harlem on Saturday and the Henry Isola 4 Mile XC in Van Cortlandt, Bronx, on Sunday. Who knew I could handle it? The knee was stoopid all week so I run to the 5K with Kettia and David SUPER slow, like 11 pace and was thinking to maybe cheer. I felt 100% pain-free so I decided to race. It was slow (23:06 It think, 7:24 pace) well, yes, I haven’t done anything hard in 2 months so I couldn’t expect much more but I felt good and that is all I cared about. Plus it was fun. We met lots of people, Frankie run me in, we had an hour-long stop on the run back… it was all shit and giggles, the way a race morning should be (to me, don’t judge!).

We run back. I ended up with like 10 miles… then… the next day, cause I felt ok… (who feels ok the day after a 5k?) I decided to run to the Bronx to run the Henry Isola 4 miler. It’s in the trails and it’s cross country. Ummmmmmm I was an XC virgin and had NO IDEA what I was doing. I didn’t even know why my age and gender was on my bib! Or how we all run on the grass and not the path…? it was all so weird. So, I’ve done trail races, like ultras, or like Bear Mountain 50K, or stuff like that. But this was SOOO DIFFERENT. Fast but also trails, crazy. Anyway, I run to the Bronx, got there at 8 am, race was starting at 9 and it was SO BURNING HOT already… I started feeling all the heatnessticity before we even started. It’s a smaller race than the typical NYRR race, like a LOT smaller. 40% of it were we out of the trails and in THE SUN. The last loop was hard and I won’t admit this to myself but there’s a chance I didn’t negative split this race. It was still great though (if can call walking up Cemetery Hill twice because your legs can’t run up, then yes it was great).

I think you can tell how HOT it was. Maybe by the sun situation, or my sweat situation, or maybe becase my hair is fried. I didn’t run back home. At all. I tried. But no.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 157, biggest mileage month so far this year. Just checked and my biggest month was 187 miles in October 2016. 
  • Races: Four. Two were miserable/slow. One was ok, one was awesome.
  • Ups: UM, HELLO, SUMMER STREETS. Did you forget already??? Also, that’s the most miles I run in a month this year. Catching up.
  • Downs: THIS STOOOOPID KNEE. Sorry, sorry, I still need love you knee, please don’t hurt me, anymore, prettyplease?
  • Balance: I wanna feel un-pain again and run hard, and do speedwork and I hate this crap. 

July

I barely remember July already and it was just now. My parents were still visiting so we kept touristing around and we had an amazing Fourth of July with all the official NYC fireworks on the East River. Epic. I did two races, with meh performances. The first one was the NYRR

hair working hard for the picture, post-Retro 4 Miler

 Retro 4 Miler, and I was really lame to not dress up, or back?  I seriously will wear any costume but just like happens every single Thanksgiving Halloween, I don’t care enough to remember more than 1 minute ahead of time. Every year I tell myself I am totally going to dress up next year and then I forget. Then every year, when the costumey event happens, I tell myself I am gonna set a reminder in the calendar for a month BEFORE Halloween/race/etc so I can plan ahead… but I am a snooze-hitter with things I don’t really want to bother with (NOT the alarm, you KNOW I wake up before the alarm even goes off!), and I use my go-to motto: if I didn’t bother doing it so far, no chance in hell this is gonna get done ever. Just like with the emails at the bottom of my inbox. If it’s been 2-3 days, there’s a high chance they won’t get opened/read/replied to… AAAANYWAY, I didn’t wear a costume for the Retro Run because I am lame. But people do, and it’s SUPER fun and I really really really always wish I did. mooooving on. Ah, so, the race. Wasn’t feeling it. I met with Courtney to do about 4 or 5 miles before and I kept wanting to go home. I was THIS close. Does that ever happen to you?

Then, I also did the NYRR R U N 5K in Central Park last week. Also wasn’t fast or anything special. It was a bit like hell hot so I decided to hold it in a bit. I managed to not kill myself. It was meh, but I love that course, it’s pretty fast with just one hill. Saw like a million people I knew, which was fun as always to catch up and chit chat and all those things with lots of chs in them. cha cha cha.

If anything else exciting, fun, amazing happened, I either don’t remember or it’s totally private or NSFW! HAAA, got you thinking!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD

exciting huh? I am behind on my mileage… been behind since,… January??? I am lazy or having too much fun, you decide.

  • Total Miles: 152, not bad, not bad… not amazing but the most this year. July is a good month to run!
  • Races: 2. LAME!!!! Last month I had 6… so… AH THAT’S WHY MY MILEAGE IS UP!!!
  • Ups: I heart running in the summer. LOVE IT. JULY NEEDS TO BE 325 DAYS PLEASE.
  • Downs: omg my hair in the weather. HELP. Send the firemen or the paramedics or Paolo Puttanesca asap.
  • Balance: I have no idea. ALL I CARE ABOUT RIGHT NOW IS SUMMER STREETS. SUMMER STREETS STARTS IN TWO DAYS. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. SUMMER STREETS HERE I COME. SUMMER STREETS IS THE BEST. DID I TELL YOU I LOVE SUMMER STREETS?

can you tell I am melting?

June

was a great month. Let me break it down before I forget it all (photos and a super organized calendar really do help!). I often wondered if I should do these weekly… there is so much to say but then I forget. Anyway, JUNE was BUSY, My parents came to visit from Argentina, which is awesome, they come every other year, for about a month and it was amazing. We did everything, we went everywhere, I got myself them so tired every single day…. it was awesome and rough at the same time. We literally did it all in a month. We even went to Miami for a few days of untamable hair and sticky skin. I forgot how insanely hot Miami is in the summer. #protip, don’t effing go to Miami in the summer, ever. or really, at any other time but definitely NO in the summer.

Anyway, the month started with the Italy Run NYC, a 5-mile race in Central Park, sponsored by Ferrero where I proceeded to smear Nutella all over me post-race, best celebration possible, correct? Before you ask, there are no pictures of that because it’s a LIE. Race was good; my performance… meh (actually, I don’t remember anymore!).

italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (3)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (2)
italy run nyc 2018 ferrero nyrr central park (1)

Literally 3 days later, I did another race, the Summer Series 5K in Prospect Park. It’s on Wednesdays at 7 pm, which REALLY messes up my sleep AND my Thursday morning run with my Flyers friends, BUT…I kinda love showing up because:

  1. I see lots of friends I don’t see every day in Central Park
  2. I cherish (and also hate) racing in a different course than the ones I did one million times in CP (though it’s also harder)
  3. Love the small race ambiance

Also, don’t remember much I think (given there is a picture of my holding a medal, duh) that I placed and I got a medal. Oh, and I totally remember I got something like 71% AG. YEAH, nbd.

And… 3 days right after this one, I had the 3rd race in 6 days… can you imagine how that one is gonna go???? So, Saturday morning was a Mini10K, which is a mega party, so I wasn’t going to miss it. BUT, I also wasn’t going to miss the other mega party Friday night… So come Saturday morning I was a MESS… my feet hurt (from the heels or dancing, who knows!) and I was sleeeeeeepy, SO SLEEEEEPY. I have no idea why, NOT ONLY I SHOWED UP TO THE RACE, BUT I also met Elizabeth (she is real, I promise) to do 4 miles before the race. MENTAL.

But, it was all worth it. I run it, EASY, with 3 friends, and it was a frigging BLAST. I regret nothing. #noregerts.

Told you it was FUN! Yeah, I was physically miserable but no one remembers that… smh. So then my parents arrived and we started the daily tour of all the food and all the things we don’t tell the tourists about. AND the World Cup. June was literally mental. Somehow I managed to get to Queens the next weekend, early, to run the Queens 10K. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the trek because Argentina was playing at 9 am against Iceland and I’d miss the first half, but so happy I went… Not only I had tons of fun at the race, I SOMEHOW (…miraculously) managed to do OK. Noooo, not a PR or even close but I got up to 69% AG, I was just one minute off from my PR, which is from frigggggging 2013! Does that even count anymore? I say NO.

Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (1)
I am a sucker for high-fives!
I am a sucker for high-fives!
Queens 10K NYRR 2018 pictures results (2)

Then, wait for this because the madness doesn’t stop there…. I did TWO races the next weekend!!!! YEAH, again, NBD! Crazy, right? I agree. It’s good that I am a biomechanics coach and I know what I am doing because otherwise my leggies would have fallen off by then… Saturday was the Pride Run and OMG I WAS NOT GONNA MISS THAT. I always race the Achilles Hope and Possibility race (which was going to the next day), so I decided to take the Pride Run easy and save my legs for Sunday. Only… I didn’t quite do that. I ended up with a lot of fun AND 12 miles… oooops. #mischiefmanaged (for you all PotterHeads!)

Jackie, Mary, Michael and I run the whole thing chatting from start to end. And the outfits were ON POINT.

Sunday I woke up to do a few miles before the Achilles Hope and Possibility race and I was wishing I had raced the day before… It was muggy, humid, gross and I was tired. You do what you can.

2018-06-24 09.09.59-1
2018-06-24 09.35.33
2018-06-24 16.30.27

David and Patricia (and corrals B,C,D,E and F) smoked me but I was happy. My parents had come to spectate and it was AWESOME. They came both days. They LOVED IT. Those two races and really something. REALLY REALLY something.

The next weekend was a wash because I was out of town, and back just on July 1st to watch the husband race the NYC TRI, with the parents and my cheering crew along. TRIATHLETES ARE CRAZY, just saying. But he’s so cute, it evens out.

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 139, eeeeeek. too much racing makes the mileage go puff!
  • Races: SIX. 6 races in month. That’s probably maybe a PR, at least this year… ha, I have 12 races this year, 6 in ONE MONTH. 
  • Ups: All the fun things I did with the parents…!!! The Nutella at the Italy Run was HEAVEN. The Mini10K was SO FUN. Queens was a MEGA REVELATION. Pride and Achilles get me teary every time…
  • Downs: Mileage was yuk and I am behind my yearly goal. Tapering before races and how sore I am sometimes after…
  • Balance: ALL AWESOME!!!! I can’t believe I did all those races with all the other stuff I had going on…!

May

May was a whirlwind!! So much happened, and so many races also! I remember I started the month with something we had planned since September last year: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Call me a Potterhead, That was awesome! Twelve hours later, I was up early for the Newport 10K, just over the Hudson, one of my favourite 10Ks, because 1, it’s flat, 2, the finish line bagels (and I don’t really like bagels!). The race was a blast as usual: I’ve run it a few times and it always delivers! It’s usually hot but I love the vibe and the views!

Of course, as usual, there were many runs and stairs workouts sprinkled through the month:

And then there was the Japan Run. I remembered being tired from something but then, at the start, I met with Brian and Nick and Jackie, and we all decided to run together and pace Jackie. Those are my favorite types of races!

Way too much fun was had!! The next weekend, just so I wouldn’t fall off the wagon, I run the NYPD Memorial Run 5K. It was HOT and humid but I rallied and for the first time in months, I did OK. I measure my race performances by AG and I feel I do ok when I get close or over the 70% AG mark. Lately, I had been around 64% to 69%, and in this race I went back up to 70% wohoooo. Also, it was super fun to run on the West Side Highway. I really like how wide it is there.

Then, three days later, after a brutal stairs workout and speedwork, we raced the Prospect Park Summer Series 5K: no biggie. The course was slower (as there is a hill in Prospect Park) but I managed very similar results! Just like 10 or 20 seconds off. I find it so weird to race at night (well, 7 pm), that I find it quite amusing to try to figure out what to eat, how much, when, etc. Of course, then I slept like crap after because I was so wired!

That was a lot of racing…!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

 

  • Total Miles: 147, coming back up, but it’s hard with those short races because I feel like I need a good taper before and then my legs are thrashed for a few days…
  • Races: FOUR, here we go. Racing season is upon us!
  • Ups: the NYPD and the Summer Series 5K were definitely a surprise! I wasn’t expecting to do so well (NOT IN PR SHAPE YET THOUGH, ok?) and even though I don’t feel as strong as I used to, feeling in control of the situation really helps! One more thing: Central Park blossoming is the BEST!
  • Downs: how tired my legs feel two days after any short race! YUK
  • Balance: VERY HAPPY

So, I need to race more. Even if I am not in fighting shape or without any kind of expectations, I really enjoy it. The fewer expectations I have, the more fun I have, and so I go out there controlled and just let the race happen. I’ve actually started measuring races and performance by the amount of time it takes me to get back home, aka “how much fun I have”. For example, the NYPD Memorial Run was at 9 am and I got home at 4 pm: THAT is a successful race in my eyes now. The truth is I am not always (or ever again!) be as fast as I used to be or as I would like to be or as I would expect to be, so what should I do? Stay home until I feel I am in shape? HECK NO. To me, races are not a test of my fitness or “what I get from the work I put in” but a chance to enjoy with the community of friends who like to get out and enjoy the park with one foot in front of another trying to stay healthy. Yes, I’ll push hard here and there, but if one day I don’t feel like it or I decide to stick with a friend, it’ll be no different: it just HAS to be fun. 

April

We started the month in Argentina, which was great because it was WARM and hey, it was vacations. Got to see the fam and a few touristy things of course, and yeah, a few runs with Juan. Oh and of course I ate my face away. Lots of asado and steaks but also a lot of nikkei, my favourite non-native cuisine while in Argentina (my favourite non-native in the US is Japanese and French, you always gotta know where to get what!). I got back, I did a 4 miler in Central Park, the Run as One… it was so long ago, I can barely remember, or maybe it’s because I’ve been racing a lot the last two months! Oh yeah, I remember I got really hot (I was overdressed) and started way too fast or something, here is one picture!

I obviously spent some time running around, exhibit A:

or working:

or with Juan, usually eating crap:

and/or usually with friends, running or not!!!

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 119. Ooops. That’s low. I really vacationed in Argentina… IT HAPPENS, OKAY?
  • Races: just one but it was more like a tempo, wasn’t expecting to go all out.
  • Ups: the fun runs!
  • Downs: didn’t get a lot done!
  • Balance: it was good -> lots of blossoming happening all over NYC made it amazingly beautiful!

March

March is always a good month because it is my birthday!!! HA. I started the month with a race, the NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K (there is a post there), which wasn’t great time wise but it was fun. See proof here:

There was a lot of running, maybe not tons of miles, because it was still cold as hell Alaska? ok Alaska, but it got done. 

And the United NYC Half happened. I saw so many of you there. That was an intense week and I was REALLY just a bit jealous of everyone running the new course. I got to run parts of it last year and was on one of the Pro lead trucks on race day and it looked amazing!! and everyone looked SO happy at the finish line… Really jelly So happy for you all!!!

We then went to San Antonio for a few quiet days of pulled pork and warmer weather. For my bday. We ate a LOT.  We run a bunch too:

DATA DOWNLOAD:

  • Total Miles: 151, it’s starting to pick up
  • Races: one. and I was so not wanting to race!
  • Ups: I did a lot of really great runs
  • Downs: still not feeling my best.
  • Balance: not letting it get to me. Let’s hope the nicer weather brings better running!

Also, one more thing I forgot to report on this whole year. A few friends and I have been doing monthly challenges. January was squats, February was pushups, March was planks. We usually just grab one from popsugar.com. Basically it tells you how many to do every day and each day is a bit more. It’s interesting. Maybe you’d want to try it with a few friends? we all text each other to make sure we’re all doing them EVERY DAY… Protip: it works better with a reward at the end of the month!!!!!!!!!!

February

was weird. I happened so quick I barely noticed. Instead of ice-fest, we had a few meltdowns (all kinds of meltdowns!) and even one day in the 70s… OH OH what are people going to use now to discredit “””global warming“””? I feel so bad for those polar bears, and hey, we won’t be moving to Venice anytime soon. Glad I live in a 2nd floor too, but I digress… Anyway, my body decided also to have a meltdown and I had a couple of stooopid issues (my hormones have decided they need more attention than any Kardashian!) and even some very very easy runs where my heart rate was about 50 over the usual… anyway, I was signed up for the NYRR Al Gordon Brooklyn 4M, and I was literally too tired to get up. Of course, I ended up running 11 miles in Central Park instead but my pace was 10:00 and my heart rate was at 82%. Insane. You just can’t win them all, can you? About two weeks ago, I spent the husband and I spent two hours shopping for half marathons for me… I came up with not a lot. If you have any ideas, let me know. Also, my running is so up and down I’ve started questioning if I should try to take some weeks/months off so my body doesn’t feel pressured and maybe that would help?

ha, I was just kidding! I’d be super hyper and way too annoying after just two days and waaaaay unhappy. So, let me just slow down, do it when my body is ok with it, and just enjoy it with no pressure. Deal?

So, I had a few awesome runs, still.

 

Plus it was Valentine’s Day and who thinks we’d let any reason to celebrate pass by? any excuse works!

Also, I got to spend some quality time at work (at NYRR) with some people you might know… Meb and Jenny. Do you even need last names? Don’t think so! Meb is now a Team for Kids Ambassador and Jenny is a Rising NYRR Ambassador and both were in town to run the Virtual For the Kids 5K race. If you haven’t check NYRR’s Virtual Races, you should.

 

2018-02-13 15.59.59-1
2018-02-13 16.01.30-1
2018-02-15 09.16.43
2018-02-15 09.21.01
2018-02-16 08.50.26

Anyway, it all went waaay too fast!

DATA DOWNLOAD

  • Total Miles: 124, emmm, got lazy a bit!
  • Races: big old zero for the year
  • Ups: weather got surprisingly “hot”. 40s and some 50s even.
  • Downs: not feeling my best.
  • Balance: i am getting a bit frustrated. cause, wtf.

January

was really cold. The first two weeks we set cold weather records. It was awful. Running was awful. I started the year working at the midnight run and it was really really cold. I wore everything and it was still crazy cold. But it’s a super fun race!

It was so cold that the races on the second weekend of January got canceled. I managed to run both Saturday and Sunday but it was insanely cold. Everyone kept asking me what I was training for, as most people assumed I had to get the miles in for some marathon or something. I am not really training for anything, just trying to not let the winter win. I can’t say I loved it, but I got out there.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As you can see there was a couple of blizzards in there, snow, ice, and all the layers. Luckily we had planned a trip to Mexico for mid-January to escape the cold. The vacation part was uneventful but we had a few epic runs with Juan (the husband!).

First night in the hotel, a guy who worked there came up to talk to Juan as he was wearing his 2017 TCS New York City Marathon shirt, to ask him if he had run the marathon. Turned out that Armando, our new friend at the hotel, was a runner too and invited us to his team’s workout the next morning. So, at 6:30 am we went out to meet up the Red Runners, who were having a special run as one of their teammates had passed that week. There was a half an hour of a warm-up, everyone in a circle, probably around 130 people, and the coach had a microphone and big speakers. Before we headed out, we all got one white rose to carry for the memorial. We all run together to a gorgeous lighthouse I never would have seen, we got there with the sunrise, there were speeches, even a triathlete pastor, there were prayers, and we run back with the boombox in tow. Everyone was together. It was very moving. And everyone was so welcome to this stranger. It was very special.

 

When I travel, to me, the best thing EVER is to hang with the locals. Nothing could have beat that run.

Juan and I did have a few osom runs. The day after the run with Red Runners, there was a race in town, which we didn’t sign up for because registration was miles and miles away but we run to the start and finish to cheer/spectate. Funnest part: Kukulcan road (the main drag) had no traffic for the race. Quite FUN!

 

The next few days we did great. We did a tempo together and we run back to the lighthouse so Juan could see it. We managed to get the sunrise too.

 

And like that, we were back and the month was over!

DATA DOWNLOAD!

  • Total Miles: 140
  • Races: not even one. But we spectated at one..!
  • Ups: the runs in Mexico!
  • Downs: running in the sub 10 temperatures (which is like minus 20 in Celsius). NOT FUN. WITH WIND!
  • Balance: can it be June now? I really miss racing a LOT.