A Rough Start

My sweet boy gave me the most wonderful birthday present....

A GARMIN! And not just any Garmin, but the best one they make- the Forerunner 610. It's a touchscreen and probably fancier than my computer. Which made little Garmy and I get off to a rough start. It wouldn't pick up a signal, and was saying I was running an insane pace (like slower than walking). I think it had something to do with being in midtown Manhattan and the cloudy weather, because once I got into Central Park it worked like a charm. I poked around on some blogs, and it looks like I need to update some software... which is terrifying to me since I'm always afraid I'm going to mess something up! Fingers crossed it works. Eeek!

What's really cool about the Garmin is all the stats it gives you:

Mile 1 and half of mile 2 were in midtown Manhattan, as was Mile 8. Fishy, right? But in the park I was cruising ;)

Now off to tackle the software update....

Run stats: Saturday: Central Park, 9.04 miles, 1:25:36/9:28 pace; Run on Thursday: 5.64 miles, 52:47/9:22 pace

Why I'll never lose weight from running

Exhibit A:

Yes, that would be a coke and a bagel... with cream cheese and an extra slab of bacon. For some reason, I always crave a coke after a run. Not diet coke, it has to be a regular coke. And it definitely can't be pepsi, yuck!

And this afternoon I'm going to be baking whoopie pies and making scalloped potatoes (with a little bacon addition, duh) for an early Thanksgiving Feast.

So I guess I'll have to keep running. Balance, it's all about balance. 

And big news.... I GOT INTO THE PHILLY MARATHON! Turns out, the kind folks in the city of brotherly love took every would-be-New-Yorker into their marathon. I was so excited yesterday after finding out I could barely sit still. But I'm also nervous- it will be over a month since my 20 miler, and since I had been tapering for the NY marathon (and Sandy wrecked running that week), I hadn't been running as much as I would have if Philly was my original marathon. 

I decided to run 14 today to calm my nerves and get over the half-way hump. It didn't start out so great, but I felt pretty decent at the end. I ended up running 15.85... to my favorite bagel place, which ended up being closed. Boo! Luckily, this is NY so there are hundreds of bagel places within walking distance... we'll see how this one stacks up.

Off to test the new bagel and enjoy my coke! Do you crave anything weird after you run?

Run Stats: Out the door at 9:30, 2 Loops In Central Park, 15.85 miles, 2:31:54, 9:35 pace

Speedy!

I think the cold is making me faster! Woke up tired and not really wanting to run, but convinced myself to roll out the bed and put on running clothes. I find that if I put on clothes as soon as I wake up, before walking out of the room, the chance that I actually get out the door drastically improves. Plus, it's Friday!

Finally found my running tights, which was a good thing because it was cold cold cold today. I can't wait to see what this winter brings! I've always shied away from exercise in the cold, but I'm determined to keep going.

I ran the small loop around Central Park and then came back to my apartment, in what is probably the fastest run I've had in a year. I've never been a particularly fast runner, but I've definitely slowed down over the past few years. When I moved to NY in 2009, I took a running class to meet people and improve my speed. I didn't really meet anyone because holy moly those runs were tough! But effective- I whittled my way down to 7:45/min miles, which for me is the speed of lightning. And then I hurt myself, and didn't really run for a while.

I foolishly thought this year (3 years later!) that when I started training for a half-marathon in March that it would just 'come back.' I didn't stick to a training plan, and didn't really put in enough time. I ended up getting sick at the finish line of the race, and felt like hell running. I was also running closer to 9:30/min miles. I upped the training a bit, and ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May, and improved my time slightly to around 9:20/min mile.

But then I started training for the marathon, and I couldn't run anything faster than a 10:00/min mile. Talk about frustration- I was running more than ever but I was getting slower and slower. It really took a toll on me mentally, and it took me a long time to accept that the time didn't really matter, it was just putting the miles in. I'll probably never run 7:45s again, but with hard work and consistency, maybe when I do run a marathon (please Philly please!), it will be closer to 9 minutes than 10.

Run Stats: Out the door at 7:40, Central Park, 47:38, 5.36 miles. Either something is wrong with my watch, or I was speedy speedy today! That's a pace of 8:58!!!!