All Aboard!

Where will you be at 4:45am the morning of November 2, 2008? If you are planning to join the other 40,000 some people running the 2008 New York City Marathon tomorrow morning, you'll most likely be getting ready to hit the road to get on over to Staten Island.

And if you're planning to make your way to Staten Island via the Staten Island Ferry, you may just see my bright and smiley face at the ferry terminal. I've signed up to volunteer tomorrow to help as an escort and "unloading marshal". I'm not certain at this point if I'll be actually on the ferry or just at the terminal (Staten Island side), but I'm pumped to help out in any way I can!

Hope to see you there!



Best of luck to all our NYC 2008 runners!

PS: Remember to turn your clocks back tonight!

Birthdays... How Exciting!

It's not every day that one of the most beautiful bridges in the country turns 125yrs old. Hopefully you know how I feel about the Brooklyn Bridge by this point

...words just can't describe!

Just be sure to be there on May 21st and be ready to celebrate! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKLYN BRIDGE!

Central Park in the Snow

My run tonight was excellent!! I didn't care much for the route the group did tonight (on map to the left: three counter clockwise lower loops -the light blue loop crossing at 72nd St ) but the scenery was enough to keep me going happily in circles. The snow was a bit hard on my hamstring injury since it didn't provide for much traction and on the east side the snow was blowing furiously (and somewhat painfully) into my face, but it was all worth it. From every angle, the view looked like it belonged in a picture frame. There was hardly any one out and the city hadn't started to even plow the roads, so it was quiet and peaceful.

It's extremely difficult to map out loops on www,mapmyrun.com, so I'm just posting a map of CP and you'll have to take my word for it that it ended up being close to 6mi with the run back/forth to Niketown (home base).

** Click on the map for a clearer view. The lower loop is about 1.7 and the run to/from Niketown is about a .5 mile.

Let it Snow.... Finally!

Just when I thought it wasn't EVER going to snow in NYC again, all this wet flaky white stuff started to fall from the sky.

Well, it's RUNNYC night and I'm not going to let a few flakes and a slippery surface stop me from my weekly date with Central Park. I'll post my run later tonight. Wish me luck!

City Coach - It's Almost Time to TRI

So, as I mentioned I headed off to meet with Coach Jonathan Cane at his City Coach Studio in Brooklyn. Shockingly it took me about 10mins to walk over to the studio from my apartment. How I didn't realize that the City Coach studio was so close to my hood, I don't really know.

When I got there the 12pm indoor cycling session was just wrapping up. It was great to see a training group in action working on what looked like on heck of a 24mile ride! I watched for awhile and then went to the back to find Coach Cane. We started to chat about my goals as far as running this winter/spring and how that works in with getting started with biathlons and triathlons. This whole experience is exciting and nerve racking since I'm not quite sure what I'm getting into. I know that I'll be able to do this, but the "how well?" is yet to be determined.

So here's the meat of it....

Goals for Winter/Spring:

Feb '08
Start cycling (rental) - work on getting a bike
Work on swimming form - get feedback

March '08
Coogans Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5k - March 2nd
Observe the March Madness Biathlon in Central Park - March 30th

April '08
Brooklyn Biathlon - April 13th

May '08
Broad Street Run - May 5th
Queens Biathlon - May 18th

And that's all I have for now. It's a good start, I think!

As for the gear I have to purchase for this new sport... Well, let's just say it' s going to be a lot different than simply strapping on my shoes and heading out the door. Here's the basics I'll need to purchase in the next few weeks/month (some things sooner than others):
Helmet
Gloves
Shoes
Shorts (padded)
Jersey
Tool kit
Arobars
...and of course, a new bike

Coach Cane helped break things down into what I'd need immediately and on what items we can spend some time looking around for deals. I greatly appreciate him taking the time to go through the specifics with me and help me break down what I need to do in the next few months. I'm definitely less intimidated by the whole endeavor having talked things through with Coach Cane. This has been a goal of mine for some time and I'm excited that things actually seem to be getting off the ground. It's going to surely be an investment of time, money and commitment, but I'm really excited for this new adventure.

I Heart "I LOVE NY" runs!

So, I wasn't going to bring this up, but I just can't help myself. I had a SERIOUS pity party yesterday. It was really unnecessary, so I'm not going to dwell on it for long. It's just been particularly busy at work this week and by the end of the day all I wanted to do was go home and pour myself a generous glass of wine and play online while watching mindless TV! And.. I didn't want to write about it yesterday, because I pretty much was still in denial. And I couldn't have my wine because I gave it up (which made me even more pissy). I hadn't planned to take off from training yesterday, but I couldn't help it. I let the man get me down! Damn the man!

So, tonight I'm meeting up with a dear friend for the revitalization of our "I LOVE NY" runs. It's just what I need to help myself climb out of this self loathing pit I've fallen into.

These runs started just this past fall during my training for the NYC marathon. My friend, who has boundless energy and enthusiasm (i love it!), wasn't even training for the marathon but decided to jump in every Thursday for my longer-mid week effort. Basically, the I love NY runs would be 8-10 miles with some sort of effort either in the middle or at the end. We would throw in a run ladder or some 1,2 or 3min intervals in the last few miles of the run. They were some tough a*s workouts, but we had great conversation at one heck of a beautiful landscape to keep us rollin'.

Tonight's run: From Greenwich village down to city hall, over the brooklyn bridge through Brooklyn Heights and then through downtown Brooklyn, back to Manahattan over the Manhattan Bridge, through Chinatown and back to base. Total: 6.5 miles. Can't wait! :)

RUNNYC - RUN CLUB

Since Tuesday nights are typically my RUNNYC - RUN CLUB night, I thought I'd send a reminder that for all of February Run Club is giving away a free gift too all new runners (and not just those in NYC).

I've made so many fabulous friends through RUNNYC and the fantastic part about it is that we are all at different levels of running. Some might (and do) call my group of friends "the clique" but it just because we've banched off into so many other areas of interest (ex: wet-n-wild wednesdays, game nights, happy hours in the city, dinner and dance parties, etc...).

I'm not even someone who typically likes "group running", but the benefits of the support of fellow runners and experienced coaches are immeasurable. I got hooked early on after moving to the city since RUNNYC hosts phenomenial runs/parties around the city. It was an excellent way for me to run parts of the city that I would have never even thought to visit.

Overall the group attracts such a wide range of runners but there is always someone at/around your level to run with... and you just can't beat the bag check and post run-free food!

Check out locations in your area or hit up a group run even if/when you're in town for a visit.
It's always free!

So, what are you waiting for? Come Run With Us!

NYC Bridge Runners

The NYC Bridge Runners, a source of spirit and inspiration to the runner who's heart and soul just might be more fierce than their mile splits. A running group with a mission. Combining a love for all things connecting mind, body and spirit and motivating all who "come run with us" to reach further and expand their horizons. This group is a pleasure to share 4-8 miles with whether on weekly runs or "elevated" events around the city.

You'd be surprised what you'd learn say on a run to the "boogie down Bronx" or over the east river on a bridge that took 14 years to build.

The image above is from one of their "elevated" runs celebrating the 124th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge this past spring. It was one of my favorites for so many reasons and this particular image is just one of them.

Give it up for the Bridge Runners, keepin’ this city real!!
http://blog.nycbridgerunners.com/