A rather long update...

It's been a busy week! Here's a quick summary of my training and fundraising progress...

Tuesday: Hill workout- 'pushing the hill' (4 reps, 4 miles). In this workout we were asked to run up the hill at near maximum effort (E4), to help us strengthen our muscles and improve our running form. It was impossible to talk on the uphill portion of the run, and for a fair part of the downhill recovery!

Wednesday: Getting my paint on! I have a rather large pile of blank canvas stacked up in my apt and there are now less that 2 weeks until my fundraiser at the Brooklyn Indie Market (come see me there on September 12th), so this evening was spent working on a hot chocolate rose. Here it is!

Thursday AM: Tempo run (about 4 miles). After sleeping through 2 alarms I finally made it up and out of the apt, and headed over to the park to work on my speed. I used the ~1 mile over there as a warm up period and then ran the lower loop at a fast (for me!) but maintainable pace. It felt good to move a bit quicker than usual, but my shins still aren't appreciating the speed!

Thursday PM: Fundraiser at Banshee Pub! I only have a month left to reach my goal of raising $3,900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and what better way to do it than to guest bar tend?! My teammate Megan and I were behind the bar for 3 hours pouring drinks. We also held a 50/50 raffle, with the winner generously donating his half back to the cause! Thank you to everyone who came out to support us! It was so great to see all of our friends and teammates who made it out!

Friday: REST DAY- possibly my favorite! :)

Saturday: George Washington Bridge run- 12 miles. The team met at the base of the GW bridge run path and headed across the bridge in the single file- a long line of purple people! The views from the bridge were absolutely stunning, ruined only slightly by the cyclists screaming at us to 'keep right' on our way over! After crossing the bridge we ran on to Palisades State Park, with amazing views over the water, and even more amazing hills! Luckily we had a fantastic story teller (and birthday girl!) in our running group to keep us motivated up those hills and entertain us over the long haul! We rewarded ourselves and celebrated K's birthday after the run with brunch at Kitchenette. I thought I'd share a photo of my 'Lumberjane' (eggs, sausage and french toast with strawberry butter) with you...

Sunday: Yoga.  Every Sunday, lululemon holds a free yoga class at their 66th St store from 9:30-10:30- a great chance to stretch out after a long run!  Despite the stretching, my legs are still a bit sore today.  I think it will take a while to recover from those hills!

LONGEST RUN EVER!

On Saturday morning we met waaaaay downtown for our long run, but seeing as it started at 8 we actually got a lie in! The long run took advantage of the last Summer Streets of the year- where some of the busiest streets are closed off to traffic, and various activities including dumpster swimming occur. Sadly we ran straight past the dumpsters. We started off by running across to the East side and over Brooklyn Bridge, before heading back over the Manhattan Bridge, through China Town, up Park Avenue, back to the West Side and all the way back down the West Side Highway to Urban Athletics for stretching and a running shoe sale! The view of the skylines on both of the bridges were amazing, so the first few miles of the run went by really quickly. The constant stopping and starting to let traffic pass along Park Avenue and back across to the West side were frustrating, as it's hard to maintain a steady pace, but at least it gave us time to hydrate, gu and stretch a bit. Overall it was a great run, and I was surprised at how good I felt afterward! Maybe the mini muffin basket at brunch after helped speed my recovery... This Saturday we'll be running over the George Washington bridge to New Jersey and back.



On Sunday, Pure Yoga held a free community class for Team in Training. The yoga studio itself was amazing, and the class lead by Scott, which was directed specifically at athletes, hit all the right spots. It was the first time that I had done hot (or maybe it was just 'heated') yoga and it felt good to sweat it out, even if it did make some of the poses hard to stay put in!

Back to the hills

Tonight I ran my first real hill workout for 3 weeks, 3 repeats of Cat Hill.  The hill was a bit of a challenge, hence why I only made it up 3 times, but it felt good to pick up my speed towards the end of the workout.  Hopefully these hills will pay off in San Fran!

Half way there!

Today I ran my second half marathon- the Bronx half.  The course was a lot hillier than I'd expected, but luckily the weather was cooperating and stayed cloudy all morning.  The humidity was quite a shock having just returned from the dry heat of Colorado, but at least it was a lot easier to breathe in the Bronx than in the mountains!  I'm pretty sore now.  Here's a look at my run and a photo of my mentor Jessie, my teammate Megan and I after the 13.1 miles!

I also missed out on posting my Chicago long run.  Luckily for Paul, I was able to do last weekends 11 miler with the Illinois chapter of TNT, so he didn't have to keep me company!  It was a beautiful run along the lakefront, and a nice break from the hills of Central Park.  I enjoyed my post-run ice bath in the form of lake Michigan- it's that cold!  Here's my Chicago run:

Double Digits!

Yesterday's long run was a big one- double digits!  This was the third time ever that I've run 10 miles or longer.  The hills were a little bit of a struggle, as my knees weren't too pleased to be climbing up them again, but my running buddy and I had enough left in us for a strong finish in the last mile, which was encouraging and felt great!  I'm feeling a bit stiff today, but hopefully yoga will help to loosen everything up.  Now it's time to pack for Chicago and Colorado... I'd best get back to it!