Week 4 & 5: Two Updates in One!

Sorry guys I got caught up in the holiday weekend...but I'm back! You'll hear limited complaints from me in this update (FYI limited is the key word here) because I've met so many inspirational people through my week 4 & 5 training events

June 27th: An Inspiring Run

We switched up our routine this weekend and instead of doing our usual training in the park on Saturday, we participated in the Achilles Hope & Possibility race in Central Park. Yes, no matter how hard I try to avoid that place I keep ending up there (urgh!). I didn't mind going to the park on Sunday because the Achilles race brings together athletes with disabilities and able-bodied athletes in a celebration of running. I'm a blessed with good health, the only thing I had to complain about on Sunday morning was getting up in time to make it to CP by 7:45. However, some of the people who participated in the race had no legs, did the race in wheelchairs or even walkers. It really helped put things into perspective and motivated me to give 120% to the race. But of course this is me we're talking about so you know I have a story to go along with the inspiration.

We've already established that I'm not a morning person so you can already guess that I woke up late, had to skip the train and take a cab to the park. For the New Yorkers reading this, have you ever been in a cab with a maniac cab driver and you were half way scared for your life and half way happy about their driving because you're running late? Well that was that was scene for me on Sunday morning. The man made it from Brooklyn Heights to Central Park West in 10 minutes! I made it to the park in one piece and met up with the rest of the TNT group. While I was excited about the race, I was slightly nervous. You've heard the tales of my 3 mile attempts and this was 5 miles!

We made our way to the starting line (or cattle corral as I like to call it) and soon enough I was off. In case you haven't noticed this pattern yet, the first mile is always cool, mile 2 it where it gets dicey, and by mile 3 I'm a complete disaster! But hey it's only week 4 of 17 so God willing I can only go up from here. The TNT coaches, were camped out along the race route. So of course as soon as I stopped to walk a group of coaches were there cheering me on. I'm not really a sappy person, but I must say it warmed my heart and made me push through.

The best portion of a race is know that more of the course is behind you than in front of you. When I hit the 3 mile mark it was great feeling to know I only had two more left. Those last two miles weren't easy, just when I felt like I couldn't take it anymore someone with a prosthetic leg would come by and I would feel terrible. Here I was with both of my legs and I was giving up. I was so inspired by the disabled participants. It was such a lesson in will to win. Talk about the eye of the tiger! Despite their physical obstacles these people had it in their minds that they would not only participate but finish the race.

This race was a turning point for me to understand that the mental aspect of running a marathon is just as important as the physical. Your mind can motivate your body, but it doesn't work the other way around.

What Did I Learn About Running That Day

1) If your mind aint in it your body won't win it!

2) Cheering isn't just for saps it motivates the Marlenas of the world as well

3) This could be premature but I think I'm starting to like this running thing

June 29th: No iPhone 4 and I Got My Butt Kicked In Training...What a Day

I'm going to move away from running for a second and just talk about my life on June 29th. Now let me start by saying that I am not a tech-savvy person, but every now and then I get caught up on the latest gadget, which is currently the iPhone 4. Luckily my best friend Joy is a techy and for the last year she has been keeping me abreast of the iPhone 4 release date. Yeah she told me to pre order the phone on the first day, of course I didn't, and by the second day the pre orders were over. So I decided no worries, I'll just go to the AT&T store on the 29th when it opens and pick one up....Terrible idea! I underestimated the tech community. I got to the AT&T store (which opened at 7)at 6:30am and the line was around the corner! I waited for an hour and a half and the line barely moved! So sadly I went to work without my iPhone which was such a disappointment.

Ok back to running, that day for training all the teams (Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens) came together for Connection day. We had cancer survivors come and speak to us about their journey to recovery and how LLS helped them. This did help me feel connected to the cause and better understand how the money I raise will help others (For more information on LLS or to donate to the cause please click on the icons to the right).

I don't know why I had it in my head that this would be a light training. I thought we would listen to everyones story, walk away inspired and go home...WRONG! After the speeches we went into a full on boot camp! First we did a "warm up" which could have passed for a full work out. Then we broke out by event (i.e. San Fran, NYC, Chicago, Hamptons, Dublin marathons) for three circuits: legs, abs & arms, and of course running. Let me set the scene, it was in a school court yard that had a slightl shawshank feel to it. You know how NYC schools are, gates over the windows and such.

Luckily my friend Nicaila , who's training for the half marathon with TNT Manhattan, was there with me so we got through it together. In the first circuit we did squats, various lunges, caf raises, and some other stuff that required us to jump around. Then after that (legs are feeling like jello at this point FYI) we ran. I'm not even going to discuss the run because my performance was pitiful. Finally we did the worst part abs and arms. Planks, side planks, side plank raises, push ups, crunches....I can keep going. When it was over Nicaila and I could

barely make it through the stretches. Long story short I left inspired and tired!

What Did I Learn About Running That Day?

1) Ab and arm exercises are the worst

2) Trying to run after do lower body strength training is simply a bad idea (I don't care what the coaches think)

3) I need to stop under estimating my Tuesday night trainings, they are just as hard as the Saturday long runs



July 6th: Finally got my iPhone 4!...but am I really about to train in 101 degree weather?

I spent the fourth of July weekend in the Hamptons with some of my friends and therefore missed my Saturday training. Nicaila was with me and everyday we said we were going to run and everyday we didn't...When the decision is between running and laying out at the beach 99.9% of the time I'm going to choose laying out at the beach.

Real quick let's take a break from running. I finally got my iPhone 4! This isn't just good news for me folks, this is good news for you. The video and camera is amazing, so my blog will be a lot more colorful in the coming weeks! Now back to running.

I got back to the city just in time for a terrible heat wave. On Tuesday the temperature reached 101! Running in the heat makes me nervous, I've actually dedicated a few posts on how much I loathe running in the heat. We received and email from our coach in the morning to drink water all day and a sports drink towards the end of the day. I still wasn't convinced so I texted one of my friends to ask if he thought I should go to training. He replied with an enthusiastic "yes". I thought surely he's been in air conditioning all day and isn't aware of how hot it is outside. But he told me to go and do what I could, so I thought alright I'll give it a shot...then I walked outside and discovered that this alleged friend had given me bad advice, I could barely breathe!

Once I got to the Park I had adjusted to the hot air. I just knew the coaches would take it easy on us in the heat...WRONG AGAIN! The focus of the work out was adjusting effort levels and understanding recovery. In lay mans terms we would sprint for the equivalent of a city block and then recover for the same distance. By the way part of this was up hill and you know how I feel about hills.

At first I was counting how many time we alternated between sprints and recovery, but we did so many that I lost count. I would say we repeated the cycle for about a solid 30 - 40 minutes. At first it was painful but then I got use to it and realized that this was actually a really good exercise. It helped me understand what it feels like when my body is maxed out and what it means to recover. I asked one of the coaches if it was ok that my chest hurt after the sprints. He said that breathing should be difficult after a sprint because you're really pushing yourself to the limit, but by the end of recovery your breathing should be normal (hence the term recovery). I must say I felt great after the work out and I'm happy I went despite the heat.

What Did I learn About Running That Day

1) Understanding your body's limits and properly recovering makes a huge difference in your run
2) I finally have the hang of properly hydrating
3) There's hope for me to conquer hills!