NYRR Gridiron Classic

This being my first NYRR race after the Chicago Marathon I was a bit nervous to say the least. I am working hard on getting my fitness back after being a bit of a loaf for the last few months. I realize that unless I have races to look forward to, it is really hard to motivate myself to get out and run.

This is the beginning of my training for the More Half-Marathon April 25th, 2010. I had a nice filling dinner of whole wheat pasta last night and thankfully got to bed around 10:30pm. This morning I was dropping my dog off at Doggy Daycare (since I’m about to drive to Providence for the day to see a show of my friends) so I didn’t know really how cold it was.

It was freezing. I couldn’t feel my legs, or feet, or well face for the matter and any kind of jumping up and down pre-race was just not helping the situation. Looking at the freezing folks around me I had a moment of zen…”why do we do this to ourselves?” Well, we do it because it keeps us moving…gets us off our butts at 9am to push ourselves. In this case the goal was to get a solid run in before the Superbowl this evening.

To be honest I haven’t been running much. I started out strong, flew up Cat Hill and hit mile 1 running a 9:30. Cold weather always makes me fly in the beginning. Mile 2 I was at a solid 10 and pretty happy with myself considering that I was a bit out of shape.

I made a bad choice and stopped for water. Sadly at that point I also started feeling like I couldn’t breathe. The cold weather hit me hard in mile 3 so I stopped a few times which was a bummed since 4 felt fantastic! In the end I ran it at 11:09 which is about the same as last year (when I had just run a Half-Marathon).

It was cold but I’m so happy I ran the race! Next race is the Run For Haiti Goal for that race is to push myself a bit more and work to start getting my time down.

I’m back! Go Saints! (note that they also won the challenge today when runners got to choose their team at the 102 transverse)

Distance: 4.0 Miles, 6.4 Kilometers
Date/Time: Feb. 7, 2010, 9:00 a.m.
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 17 Degrees, 50% Humidity, Wind 9 MPH, Clear.
Comments: Results from “Who will you root for?” split – SAINTS: 66% COLTS: 34%

Back to Running….New Goal NYC 2010!

I have been MIA for a while. I didn’t really feel like blogging due to the fact that after attempting to run after my marathon, I decided to take a break. This break included another trip to Chicago, a couple to Arizona and a wedding in Mexico. I drank and ate my weight in food and was super lazy…oops.

Right after the new year I decided to join a new gym, to focus on getting a bit more lean before my next big run. I am happy with my cardiovascular fitness but still am looking to drop a few pounds…

The exciting thing is that I now am back in the saddle when it comes to running. I have signed up for the 2010 NYC Marathon and am scared but really excited to be taking on another challenge. I also am going to slog through the More Half-Marathon again.

I’ve missed NYRR races! Even though its cold its great to have it back as part of a healthy weekend routine! I know that it is going to be a hard few months to get back into running form but I’m excited, sort of feel like 2010 is going to be a great year.