The subway today... not so nice. We got a ton of rain yesterday, and the station was flooded. Hooray! I had to do a crazy sideways leap to avoid this puddle. I'm glad I was in running shoes and not heels.
It's crazy. The things that are most challenging about this whole process is not the actual running. It's all the other things that go with it. Trying to figure out how much water to drink before running (and when to drink it) is something I haven't totally sorted out yet. For shorter distances, I didn't really think about it. Now it is an issue. I have been trying to drink 16oz. or so of water before I go out for a run. But I have to drink it long before I leave my apartment, or I have to pee when the run starts. That is not fun.
Cassie (AKA Hot Mama) you ask, and you shall receive! Here are some lovely fuel belt photos. Pretty cool, huh?
Today, our coaches told us that we were running outside the park today. Now, in some ways I was really happy about this. A change of pace is good for boredom. We would be running somewhere I had never been. But here is the bad part: there are no bathrooms where we were going to be running. The bathroom in the area of the park where we meet was locked (again!). It is supposed to be open at 8am, but obviously I cannot rely on that anymore. I guess I need to stop drinking about 2 hours before the run. Then I will drink during the run.
During our group stretches, our coach Lisa mentioned that there is a bathroom at Commerce Bank right where we leave the park. Hallelujah! Sarah and I were very happy to hear this! As soon as we go out of the park, we made a detour, and so did about 15 other runners from our group. The actual customers of the bank looked kind of confused about what we were all doing there. We're all dressed in running tights, fuel belts, etc. We look kind of funny. I felt sooo much better about starting the run after the little pit stop.
The run was long and flat, and I ran it with Elizabeth and Sarah. The conversations you have while running are so random. I feel like we are in a pinball machine bouncing from topic to topic. Here are a few things I remember that we discussed:
• Running Technique.
• Sarah's boyfriend's ER visit the night before because of his allergic reaction to nuts.
• Running nutrition gels & fuel belts, and our opinions on them.
• Dating.
• An article in the New Yorker about ICU death rates and how a check list developed by a doctor has reduced them.
• Coney Island and its possible re-development in the coming years.
• The fact that EVERY woman we saw in the neighborhood we were running through was wearing high heels.
These conversations are the thing that makes running these distances possible for me. I get distracted by it, and the time really flies by.
Our coaches gave us a little cheat sheet so that we could remember where we should turn back. There are half-marathoners, beginners, intermediates, and advanced runners. Each group is doing a different mileage. The intermediates and advanced runners ran to Coney Island. I would have loved to see the ocean, but I was afraid of pushing the mileage too high. That is how you get injured. I've already been nursing a pain in my upper calf behind my knee that appears after few miles, and I don't want it to get worse. It's better since I got new shoes, and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to heal.
As usual, I felt like I had Gumby's legs when I got back from the run. We grabbed our stuff at the park, and Elizabeth and I got some doughnuts again. Those donuts are really yummy. This time I got some for Rick too. Last time I bragged about the yummy doughnuts I had, but I didn't bring any back for him. Maybe that wasn't so nice...
1 comment:
Thanks for the picture of you wearing the fuel belt, it's VERY sexy! And I'm glad you were pointing to it, otherwise I would have thought it was on your head :)
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