Category Archives: Marathons

September 19, 2014 · 8:11 am

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 18

Sunday 9/14

4 mi @ ~9/mi

A nice shake out run after yesterday. It’s amazing how good you feel the day after when your weekend long run is 12 miles 🙂

Monday 9/15

rest

Tuesday 9/16

3 mi @ 8:22/mi — a great feeling evening run 🙂 Taper = love.

Wednesday 9/17

Rest

Thursday 9/18

4 mi @ 8:08/mi
Dr. Trot made an embarrassing, bad, rookie mistake tonight 😦 The noises echoing inside of her head as she started off on her little, easy, 4 mi, 5th-to-last training run sounded something like this…

“Man, the legs feel fresh tonight! Yes, yes they do, what a great feeling! And it’s so nice and cool out! Yeah, this is the best running weather ever! Feeling great and perfect weather is a rare combo to come by, but you can run so fast when it happens! I wonder how quickly I could do this little 4 mile run. I know that I’m not supposed to run hard these last few weeks, I really don’t want to injure myself for the marathon. But come on, I’ve been doing this for so long…and it’s just 4 miles…and it’s such a nice night…and I SO feel like running fast…

And so we were off…running <8 min miles like an idiot for the first two miles. And then, upon slowing at the turn around point — BAMB!!

All of a sudden there was this strange, stabby pain at the inside-top of my left knee. DAMN IT!!

The conversation in my head continued again at this point, but very little to zero of that content is approprate for this family-friendly blog so I will leave it up to you to fill in the blanks.

It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t run, but it wasn’t normal. And that in itself is bad just over one week before a marathon. Anyway, I turned around, and hobbled home at a much more reasonable pace, taking little stretch + curse-myself-out breaks along the way.

Lesson learned.

Friday 9/19

rest

The knee is still sore. Dr. Trot is an idiot.

Also, PhD defense day for my buddy Dr. First! Congrats!

Congats Dr. First!

Saturday 9/20

8 mi @ 9:40 /mi (with Dr. T2)

It was a pefect, cool, beautiful morning for a run with my newest running buddy. Unfortuntely, I woke up feeling like I’d been eating sand paper all night and like the temperature was fluxtuatingn +/- 5F every 10 min or so. Great, just great. First, I go and run too hard a week before the marathon like a big rookie idiot and eff up the knee that I kind of need for the race, and then I come down with a cold/virus two days later!!!

P.S. By “great” I mean VERY NOT COOL!! 😦

Now, I wasn’t feeling bed-bound horrible so it was out the door for our 8 mi at 8 am in the beautiful fall day. I had high hopes that the workout and the elevated body temperature would actually help me head off whatever this is. (Not totally unreasonable…right…?) The good news is that the knee feels essentially back to normal. Yay! Thank god! The bad news however, is that I felt no better after the run and proceeded to deteriorate through out the day 😦

Something has been going around at work and with my friends — a pesky little two day bug that makes you eat sand paper and enjoy irradic environmental conditions. Hopefully this little pest is all that I’m dealing with here too! Either way, operation “GET BETTER NOW” has been initiated — lots of RnR, water, citrus, soup and hot tea with brandy, lemon and honey. And finger crossing.

Total: 19 miles

So. Yeah. A bad week.^2

1. Dumbass Thursday.

2. Sickward Saturday.

That being said, lets focus on the positive for now. 🙂 Which is: I’m SUPER excited about next weekend 🙂

The first out of town team member gets into town on Wed. night, which means I have effectively a 3 day week! (Don’t tell my boss 😉 We will leave for Long Island on Friday morning/afternoon to try and make it out to the Hamptons at a reasonable time and meet up with the rest of the team. Hopefully Friday night won’t be too much of a scramble to get everything pulled together for Saturday morning. I’m actually quite interested to see how I’ll feel about this Saturday (vs. Sunday) marathon business.

Then yeah, the run is first thing on Saturday morning and then the recovery party is planned for Saturday afternoon – Sunday! 🙂 We’ll all depart Sunday afternoon, but (like the good post-doc that I am) I’ll be playing hookey on Mon and Tues, going on a post-run, 2-day, Long Island adventure with teammate M before heading back to reality. 🙂

So, I have one week to not make any more bonehead decisions and to kick this sandpaper throat.

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September 18, 2014 · 4:25 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 17

Sunday 9/7

6 mi @ 9:45ish
Another great early morning run with Dr. T2. In SUCH different weather though! Not that I’m complaining (no, no, not at all) but sooo much cooler and practically no humidity!! Where were you yesterday?!?! Also, it’s incredible what a difference it makes to have a buddy waiting for you to get your ass up and out the door on tired legs. I can only imagine how infinitely many more times I would have hit the snooze button if I had to get out and get the miles in alone. Thanks for making this morning happen Dr. T2!

Monday 9/8

Yummy!

Much needed (and deserved…IMHO 😉 rest
+ equally important kitty cat cookie baking…

Tuesday 9/9

4.75 mi @ 8:50/mi
It’s crazy how good a <5mi run in low humidity feels 🙂 I’ll take it! Any day.

Wednesday 9/10

rest…see above 🙂
+ working late at home to the dismay of Princess Pheona…

Thursday 9/11

6 mi @ 8:49/mi
Again, such a “short” run in cool temps and dry air felt fantastic! Just call me Dr. Broken Record…

Friday 9/12

rest

Saturday 9/13

12 mi @ ~9:45ish/mi
Just to be consistent with the broken record theme…this was another fantastic cool, early morning, team-effort, stimulating-conversation-filled run with Dr. T2. It was a perfect way to start the weekend and taper!!

As I mentioned last week, you best stay tuned for the many great things to come during the adventures of Dr.T^2. I am going to ~~uncharacteristically~~ stick to my word by sharing Wait But Why with you just one short week later. By the back-end of our run Dr. T2 and I had managed to blabber ourselves into a political conversation, dissecting what’s going on in the world right now (yes, we already know that we are super cool…but thanks for the reminder:) and Dr. T2 off-handedly mentioned “this great blog…but not a blog that I like to read…they post one really well researched/written article every Tuesday-ish on a wide variety of different topics…you should read the one from this week, it was on ISIS!!” From Muhammad to ISIS: Iraq’s Full Story is the story, and it is really good! Well research and objectively written, it really helped clarify my hazy understanding of what’s going on and why in the Middle East right now. In the (not-unlikely) case that you have a better understanding of these topics than the lives-under-a-chemical-engineering-rock-sometimes-Dr.T, check out some of the other articles that are included in the archives or the shed. Like I said, the articles are well written and the topics are super broad — there is sure to be something there for you ~~to kill time reading at work~~ 🙂 You’re welcome!

Total: 28.75 miles

~~As usual~~ I have very little to report ~~that you will find even remotely interesting.~~ Running felt good all week thanks to the weather and Dr. T2! As The Hampton’s Marathon gets closer I’m getting more and more excited for the race and our little runner’s club weekend reunion! I’m just keeping the fingers crossed that this continues for the next two short weeks!! 🙂

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September 17, 2014 · 8:35 am

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 16

Sunday 8/30

18.5 mi @ high nines + a birthday brunch at Cafe 44 and a 7 mi birthday hike at Baldplate Mountain Perserve!

Even though I got an early start it was a rough one. SOOOO humid! We survived though, with visions of omelets and pancakes and coffee dancing in our heads…

If you’re even in the Pton area and hungry, Cafe 44 is an absolute top choice place to hit!

So, after a grueling 18.5 miles and a proper face stuffing, why not go get in another 7 mile hike at Baldplate Mountain Preserve? This is actually the second time I’ve been here and while it’s not the most serious hiking terrain I’ve ever seen, it is a really pleasant place to go for an interesting, yet manageable, walk. And just to make sure things were interesting, the sky decided to open up on us ~0.5 miles from the car!

Soaked #1! (P.S. Why are we smiling?!?!)

The torrential downpour pulled a lot of the humidity out of the air, which was nice, but it it’d efficiently deposited the majority of it right on us, which was NOT nice! (…especially with zero towels in the car and slimy leather seats for the 30 min drive home…)

Monday 9/1

rest

Tuesday 9/2

7 evening (read: “dark”) mi @ 9:23/mi

Evening but still hotter than hell and HUMID. My clothes were totally soaked through by mile 3 and I don’t think I’ve had leg-sweat like that all summer — and at 8 pm!!

I totally didn’t need a mirror to do inventory when I got back as going up the stairs I ran into my neighbor and:

Dr. T: Hello!

Dr. T neighbor: Wow! Did you just get back from the pool?

Dr. T: silence

**In both of our heads I’m absolutely convinced the following reply was playing “You idiot! We live above a Papa John’s! We don’t even have a laundromat, never mind anything even loosely resembling a swimming pool for miles!!”

Dr. T neighbor: Actually, never mind. Don’t fall.

(Now this raises an interesting question. Does something about me just scream that I fall a lot, even with no immediate falling threats? Or, was I really that sweaty that Mr. Neighbor was concerned that I might slip on myself and fall down the stairs?)

Soaked #2!

Wednesday 9/3

rest

Thursday 9/4

8.34 mi @ 8:43/mi

Friday 9/5

rest

Saturday 9/6

22 mi @ 9:50ish/mi with my new awesome running buddy/mathematician Dr. T2!! 😀 We started off before 6 and soaked (again) through our clothes before the sun was up.

P.S Pre-sunrise start times is a great excuse to dress head to toe like a fluorescent highlighter 🙂

Safety (and style) first 🙂

East Coast humidity can be WICKED. I brought the camel back mostly full, re-filled it at just over the half point and then emptied it again by the time I was home. Having great conversation for 3 hrs first thing on a Saturday morning while getting the longest run of the training season out-of-the-way before 10 am is a wonderful way to start the weekend!

Stay tuned as I’m sure there will be plenty more to come regarding the adventures of Drs. T^2!

Total: 55.5 miles

Today was a good week! 🙂 Last Sunday was solid, the week went well, and the long run on Saturday was the best (and the LONGEST), although challenging, all season! Let’s hope this keeps up for the last 3 weeks of Hampton’s Marathon prep!

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September 3, 2014 · 6:31 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 14

Sunday 8/17

(An actually scheduled) rest (and packing) day!!

P.S. Pheona and I are moving!! 🙂

Monday 8/18

rest

Tuesday 8/19

5 mi…post beer brewery tour…in massive August NJ heat. Yup, this is how we do things here…

Wednesday 8/20

rest
And hanging out with my adorable Buddy at work…

My Buddy!

Shhhh….don’t tell!

Thursday 8/21

MOVING DAY!!

i.e. The 9 mi my calender tells me that I was scheduled to do + a total body lifting day. (All in more massive NJ heat and humidity)

The good news is that we are all moved in without any casualties 🙂

All moved in!! (And already using the countertops as a launching pad for the fire escape window…)

The bad news are (yes, plural) that a) we still have to clean at the old place and that may take the better part of our natural lives (although we only have until midnight on Saturday :-/) and b) we have no electricity here until Monday (although this does a good job motivating a….)!! 😮

Friday 8/22

rest

Everything hurts….

Moving is hard.

Saturday 8/23

a most nasty 17.6 mi @ 9:50/mi

So apparently Thursday took as much / more out of me than I realized and this morning was rough. You know that feeling at the end of a long run where each part of your body is independently ready to mutiny and then (as luck would have it) the strength of the sum of the parts is greater than each part individually? Weeellllll, someone felt that from sep #1 today all the way through the bitter end of the 17.6 miles. It was cool and overcast and kind of clammy out (thank god) and I had a very patient, kind, considerate running buddy to help me endure (thank god) but MY. GOD. was it a rough one!

AND THEN, it was off to the old apt to clean!! 😦 I’m absolutely sure that I was moving at a geriatric pace as the old roomie offered to help clean more than his share after witnessing my futile attempts at the scuzzy freezer and microwave. Thank the lord for empathy/pity!!

Then finally, home for a nap to recharge for rooftop Spanish tapas and sangria to wrap up a most exhausting week!

Total: 22.6 miles

So not the most miles for week #14 (not even really a respectable number of miles for week #14 but…) but considering the move and the cutback week (no run scheduled on Sunday) I’m not going to get my undies in a bunch about it (if I could find my undies in all of these boxes I’m still surrounded by, but never mind…) The 17.6 were ugly but they got done, this is the most important part. Nothing major hurts now (I guess that is probably the most important part) and barring catastrophe I’ll be able to both start and finish the marathon later this month. So, another low mileage week = not good. BUT, getting the long run in during an extra busy-life week and nothing hurting in an unreasonable way = very good. 🙂

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September 2, 2014 · 3:54 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 13

Sunday 8/10
15.5 evening mi @9:50

Although this really should have been done on Saturday, the miles got in and I have to be happy about that. Overall it felt good. Another warm day, but we set out late afternoon/early evening (late enough for it to get pretty dark for the last 3 mi or so :-/), Camelbak’ed it and lived to tell the story 🙂

Monday 8/11
Rest

Tuesday 8/12
6 mi @ 9:25

Warm but it felt good to turn the legs over after Sunday.

Wednesday 8/13
Rest

Thursday 8/14
7 mi @ 9:08

Cool and wonderful evening miles. It’s incredible what a few degrees will do to your legs and lungs and everything else!

Friday 8/15
Rest

Saturday 8/16
12.5 mi @ 8:53

I don’t know what the hell I was thinking! Well, wait, I kind of do. It was early and cool and beautiful out and I decided to see what stupid fast cutback run I could crank out. And there you have it. Never mind that I proceeded to shuffle around the rest of the day like an elderly person wondering when my decision-making privileges were going to be officially revoked.

Total: 41 miles
Thank god! My first “normal” week in ages! And for the most part I didn’t feel terrible. 🙂 Ironically this is supposed to be a cutback week, but I’ve supplemented in enough of those over the last month that it’s a damn good this week did have some reasonable numbers up next to it. Now the trick will be to build on this for the final few long weeks!

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August 27, 2014 · 8:36 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 12

Sunday 8/3
7 early miles (and 2 shy of what should have been 9

Lunch:

Followed by a final push to get this fellowship out in some sort of form that has a reasonable (at or above the 5% payline…) chance of being accepted

Monday 8/4
F32 marathon…

Tuesday 8/5
6 (HOT…but never mind) celebratory miles after handing all F32 documents over to MaryBeth (at 3:30 am…but again, never mind…)

Wednesday 8/6
R & R 🙂

Thursday 8/7
A busy day…life stuff…working stuff..being a twin stuff…

…but not running stuff 😦

Friday 8/8
BBQ picnic dinner with friends — that counts for something on this, right?

Saturday 8/9
9 miles

Today was the perfect day to get out and to the long run, but it didn’t happen. It just did not happen. No one’s fault but my own, and obviously a dumb decision from the get-go, but that’s what happened. I didn’t get moving until mid morning (last night’s BBQ … or rather the adult beverages served at last night’s BBQ … may or may not have had something to do with this) and by then it was warm. Really warm, too warm to run 15 miles. So, by mid-afternoon I was able to guilt myself into doing 9. Better than nothing, and a lesson learned! Hopefully…

Total: 22 miles
Yikes! Is someone training for a marathon? Because it sure doesn’t look like it!! After the tune I sung last week! 😦 We are now coming up to the critical weeks where one way or another runs just have to get done and recovery days have to be spaced in there correctly to avoid injury. If I don’t change something…and fast…I’m afraid I’m going to be paying for it!!

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August 26, 2014 · 8:33 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 11

Sunday 7/27
Rest and recovery from what was a fantastic party 🙂

And get back home way too late considering the amount of writing left to do on the F32 fellowship resubmission

But not without some flashy new stitches…

Thanks Dr. A 🙂

Monday 7/28
Writing and more writing and Dr. Pantelis’ PhD defense!

Tuesday 7/29
A repeat of the above. The week is not getting off to a great start 😦

Wednesday 7/30
5 mi (@ god knows what pace) crammed in to the day by the hairs on my chin…or something like that…

Thursday 7/31
8 mi break from writing — a nice change of pace from just sitting on the ass and writing (although I’m again, not quite sure what it actually was

Friday 8/1
rest (and write)

Saturday 8/2
An early 15 miles to get it out of the way and get on with the day. Not the best I’ve ever felt but there are too many other things going on right now to really have time to care (namely the F32 fellowship resubmission :-/)

Total: 28 miles
Ouch! Bad Dr. Trot! Unfortunately, this has become more and more the theme for this training cycle! Reflecting back on my first marathon, I was running 5 days a week instead of 4 and I missed only 3 training runs all season, all season! I also spent quite a bit of time (i.e. my two off days each week) at (my wonderful) chiropractor as well, so I don’t know that this is 100% a good thing, but it makes me feel increasingly shitty as I miss run after run this season Next week Dr. Trot…next week…

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August 12, 2014 · 9:47 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 10

Sunday 7/20
8 miles @ 9:40/mi

Monday 7/21
rest

Tuesday 7/22
5 miles @ 8:40/mi

Wednesday 7/23
rest 🙂

Thursday 7/24
8 miles @ 8:56/mi

Friday 7/25
Princeton to Boston miles for the KrakSmad wedding of the summer!

We wear fancy tshirts to fancy weddings.

Saturday 7/26
14 beautiful Boston morning miles @ 9:01/mile

The Commons

+ Brunch…

Hmmmmm 🙂

+ Newbury Street Shopping
+ Wedding festivities of ~~the summer~~ forever at the Boston Public Library…

Outside

Inside

with my hottest wedding dates…

Date Dr. Annebelle

Date A x

Ok, not my dates exactly, but they had to be included...

And only one mysterious injury…

No idea. None.

Total: 35 miles
Not such a bad week. Miles felt good overall and don’t mind me patting my own back for getting the old ass out of bed at 6 am on vacation Saturday for a solo 14 mile run. Never mind that it was through The Commons, Cambridge, and along the river (complete with a google map on the cell phone that displayed public water fountains!!! on a beautiful morning and just join in the patting…

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July 24, 2014 · 6:26 am

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 9

Sunday 7/13

6.7 mi @ 9:13/mi

Another HOT day and late start 😦 The goal was 7 today but I elected to err on the side of staying alive and cut it short by 0.3. The good news is that aside from being generally irritated and a little dehydrated, everything (shins, knees, etc…) felt more or less ok.

Monday 7/14

rest 🙂

This was needed.

Tuesday 7/15

rest

Ohoh! So I know that I can’t let myself fall into the “but I’m so busy today and it’s not that nice out…I’ll just get the miles in tomorrow instead” mindset, bbbuuuttt… I was just so busy today and it wasn’t that nice outside, so I will just get the miles in tomorrow instead.

Wednesday 7/16

5.4 mi @8:24/mile

This actually felt really good. I went out ~~a little~~ faster than I had any business going out, but what’s a girl to do when it’s finally <500F and 500% humidity outside? Never mind that I was going downhill! ( What smarter thing to do than start a run going quickly downhill ?!?!:-) 70F, 50% humidity and a modest decline never felt so good! Positive splits be damned.

Thursday 7/17

7 mi @ 8:38/mile

This also felt reasonably good, considering 1) yesterday’s “speedy” run and 2) the fact that the temperature and humidity are again joining forces and engaging in operation Drown Dr. Trot.

Friday 7/18

8 mi @ 9:05/mile

With big weekend plans on the horizon I decided one of the two 8 mile weekend runs had to be done today. So, off we went after work…

Considering that this was the third run in a row on legs that haven’t been subject to that kind of “abuse” in a while, all went very well. The heat, humidity and hills all tried to get the best of me, but I wouldn’t have any of it. Well, maybe just a little…

Saturday 7/19

cross training and refueling…

…in DC with Dr. Allison and Sir Jack!

Today’s regime included:

Walking through old town Alexandria
Shopping

Anthropology’s absolute finest.

Ice cream eating
Swimming in a two-story pool with a current!
Pho 🙂

Total: 27 miles

Overall this week felt good although I definitely needed the cut back. Now I don’t like needing this so early in the season, but as long as it does the trick and the next weeks go well, I’m not going to think too much of it.

Considering that work is insane, it’s hot and humid outside and each weekend somehow gets overbooked before I know it, over the next few weeks I really have to be good about making a point to:

Get the miles in — oddly, I wedding dances and mall-walking don’t seem to count
Eat/drink right — ice cream and beer are apparently not the same as veggies and water 😮
Stay off my feet for more than the 4 hrs (not a type-o…and a perfectly valid excuse for being grouchy at basically whoever I want to be grouchy at) I’ve been sleeping each night

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July 21, 2014 · 9:54 pm

Hamptons Marathon Training – Week 8

Sunday 7/6
7 early WARM miles @ 9:08/mile
followed by a belated but wonderful 4th of July Weekend Picnic…

A patriotic picnic 🙂

and less wonderful 4th of July Weekend Picnic burn lines…

Ouch! 😦

Monday 7/7
rest

Tuesday 7/8
5 miles

Wednesday 7/9
rest 🙂

Thursday 7/10
7 miles

Friday 7/11
A ~~drunken~~ celebratory evening in honor of Dr. Marvin being back in Somerville (aka Little Manhattan — per one delusional, yet entertaining, little cab driver) and all of us not being “there”…

Two and a half gophers and a photobomber!

Due to the unfortunate timing of this picture (or the unfortunate timing of the numerous glasses of whiskey prior to this picture) our t-shirts are unreadable 😦 For your information “I may live in New Jersey, but I’m always in Minnesota Country.”

Saturday 7/12
13 messy miles @ 9:25/mile (see above)
This is what one gets when there is:
a) Too. Much. Whiskey.
b) Not. Enough. Sleep.
c) 80F by 8 am
d) Time sensitive work to do on the weekend
e) Locks on the G damn building that perpetually change/do/do not work with our assigned keys/group mates that are always at work but have apparently started going to yoga from 9:30-11:30 every Saturday

Let’s just say that I was glad to be done, alive and optimistic that people had occupied themselves with alternative sources of entertainment for the morning.

Total: 32 miles
Aside from making a few ~~questionable~~ delicious decisions and the oppressive NJ heat/humidity, the week wasn’t half bad. This just needs to continue for another 10 weeks or so…with massive milage increases…no pressure!