Still Sulking

Listen, people. I know I am being ridiculous. Running, while important to me, is a hobby – nothing more. There is no reason I should be upset or in near tears when I think about the NYC Marathon. Anyone want to give me a deadline on the sulking period?

Apparently, I wasn't upset here (yet). You know why? Because I saw Ali, Lauren, and Emily all reppin' the sweat squad.

[Seriously, huge thank you Ali, Emily, and Lauren and all the other cheerleaders I saw - Jaime, Jackie, Kimmie, Jess, Courtney, etc - and my virtutal cheereleaders, too many to name]

Mile 18 or so pick me up. HUGE THANKS!

So, yes, my whole crying on the way to work this morning thinking “all of my hard work went to waste” is quite ridiculous. At the moment, it’s the way I feel and I feel somewhat stupid now making my marathon goal 3:35, then putting that out there, and then failing miserably. I have a hard time thinking “oh, it was that IT band thing,” because I’m sure someone out there has PR’ed in a marathon on a bum IT band.

And then I saw this cute puppy on my way to work, which made me instantly feel better. I feel weird calling it "work," considering I don't get paid. Oh well, it's fun, regardless.

Or maybe I’m just slightly psychotic. Someone had the office told me “I’m sorry you’re injured,” and I was like “oh this IT band isn’t an injury, its just an annoyance.” I’m very rational right now, obviously. Like when I almost threw my running shoes out the window this morning – very mature.

Someone at work did validate me by telling me she has similar marathon experiences in not being 100% content with her time. She made me feel so much better and I’m convinced we’re the same person although separated by 6 years in age(we have similar test scores and everything). She told me to not let it ruin the whole experience for me because, at the end of the day, the NYC marathon is a very cool experience.

Anyways, if you know me and how I follow gymnastics obsessively, you would know that I, course, know the slogan of the gym that produced the last two Olympic All-Around champions, WOGA (World Olympics Gymnastics Academy). In true Russian fashion, the motto of the gym is “Train Hard Or Go Home” and “Hard Work Never Disappears.”

I want to raise my kids in Dallas just so they can be good gymnasts...

I like to think the latter one is especially true. Sure, I worked hard for 3-4 months and it didn’t pay off on the big day.

However, I don’t think it’s particularly healthy to judge anything by just one day. I don’t think a surgeon would judge his or her career based on one case.

Similarly, although I spent 3-4 months training for the NYC Marathon, I had a lot of little successes and breakthroughs along the way. I learned how to get rid of negative thoughts at the Boilermaker, I learned that humidity does actually suck the life out of you in New Haven, I learned that focusing on enjoying yourself can lead to big PRs when you least expect it, and I learned how to, finally, appreciate tempo runs. I learned that the physical often follows the mental (ie Believe I Am), that you don’t have to do crazy long runs really early in a marathon training cycle (thank you, RC), and that the whole “training for a marathon” thing can actually be pretty enjoyable, at least in my book.

I still die for the Boilermaker.

[P.S. I have to give a big virtual shout out, hug, and high five to Steph (the RC). She is awesome. She gets a thumbs up from Meggie. And a pointer finger. Although I don't think she reads this blog. Irregardless, she's cool.]

Look at the RC go...she is so fast.

I haven’t found the actual marathon to be enjoyable, yet. It’s kind of a lot of eggs in one basket for me, for a race. But, I figure, that’s kind of how I felt about running for a long time — I thought it was pretty miserable. I figure as long as I have the desire to do a marathon, I’ll keep trying.

So, yep, I think this post actual ends sulking period. Meggie isn’t a quitter, last time I checked. I have some really things going on at my unpaid work, have more time to scheme ways to raise money for Cookies For Kids’ Cancer, and can start planning my marathon revenge.

Also, PS – everyone I have ever met from Oregon or who has lived there at some point is super tiny. I want to know what on earth is in the water there that is making them all so skinny. I want some of that. Or a mild bout of a tapeworm or something. It can’t be just all that running and stuff they do over there, right?

TELL ME: Your comeback stories, your revenge stories, your war stories, your glory days, your successes, how a sport has once been terrible to you and then you loved it again…I need to be inspired. 

Before I go, I ‘ll give you one of mine which has been helpful to me in my sulking period. My junior year of college, I think I won two matches all of the fall season, culminating in a particularly terrible match that I called my “waterloo.” That fall, I felt like I couldn’t hit the side of a barn if I tried. I thought very seriously about quitting tennis that winter, because I just didn’t enjoy it anymore. That spring, I took all pressure off of myself and focused on very basic things. I got all conference that season in both singles and doubles (first team doubles, second team singles, in case you were actually curious.) So, I guess things can turn around.

One of the only pics I have of me playing tennis...I'm sure there are more somewhere....

Until next time…

P.S. Did you buy picky bars, yet?

Dear Self…

That’s right, I wrote a letter to myself. I can’t take credit for the idea. I stole it from former UCLA gymnast and 2011 World Team Gold Medalist, Anna Li. Here’s one of her floor routines, just so you can know who I’m talking about.

Anyways, I remember reading that Anna Li wrote a letter to herself before her senior season at UCLA, writing to herself how she hoped she would feel at the end of her collegiate career. I’m not exactly sure why she did it, but I thought it be a good, umm, writing exercise?

I wrote a first letter to myself a few weeks ago, before the whole IT band thing happened and my main focus, at the time, was achieving my time goal. It helped me focus myself on what I wanted to feel like at each part of the race and how, ideally, I would like the whole thing to play out. It was actually the first time I used the lined, journal side of my amazing Believe I Am Training Journal, which I still insist that each and everyone of you reading this buys (for the guys, its ok, pink is totally in for guys, too).

The back cover - can we call this super hero "Super Taper?" Yes?

However, I’m thinking I need to write a new letter to myself. For a few reasons…

First, to be honest, I’m very overwhelmed by this whole marathon thing. I’m not exactly sure why, either. In past years (when I have not been running it), I thought the energy was awesome and was jealous of people who were getting to run it. Now that its me running it, all the runners descending upon the city, ads, events, etc, make me anxious. Suffice it to say that even though I haven’t been running much, my heart rate has definitely had some spikes in zones it would only see while running. So, I think writing another letter to myself would help me refocus myself on what I actually want to get out of this whole experience and will help, umm, un-overwhelm me.

If I mention heart rates, I obviously have to show a picture of an EKG.

Second, one would reason that I need to change my expectations slightly considering I’ve run 3 times in the past 2 weeks. Of course, because I am very competitive and pretty stubborn, my A goal hasn’t changed. But, I guess my level 0 goal is to finish, considering I may have that knife in the knee happen during the marathon at which point I most likely wouldn’t be able to run the pace I would need to achieve my A goal. Plus, as all of you all reminded me, there are so many variables in a 26 mile race that it’s best to have multiple goals so there isn’t one “do or die” goal you have to hit.

I’m pretty stubborn and know my competitive self a little too well. I will probably be slightly disappointed if I don’t achieve my A goal. I’ve dreamed of it since August. It’s hard for me to let it go.

I will be enormously disappointed if I don’t finish. Yet, with my IT band thing, it is a very real possibility. I need to come to terms with the fact that I might have to readjust my goals depending on how my leg handles the race.

In my first letter to myself (which is a lot of rambling, fyi), my over-arching theme (or recurring thought, I guess) was that I wanted to walk away from the experience with a smile on my face. This may be the only time I get to run the NYC marathon and I don’t want to take it for granted or be ungrateful for the experience.

I don’t think disappointed and smiling really go together. So, clearly, I need some sort of attitude adjustment. One of the reasons I like writing blog posts is that it helps me process things in my life by turning it into a cohesive (well, not always) post. I find writing therapeutic and cathartic at times. So, I will probably be writing a little letter to myself in the very near future about how I want to feel come Sunday evening. You best believe it will also be in my Believe I Am Training Log.

Maybe I should print this and pin it to my bib or something...

Emotionally, I’m excited, terrified, anxious, scared, uncertain, yet thrilled to be taking part. Although I’m sure I seem like an ungrateful, competitive whiner, I truly am excited that I get to run in one of the greatest marathons in the world (and possibly the largest, I think). It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Physically, I feel very well rested, but with a lot of pent up energy.

Leg-sically, I ran today for 20 min. Its better, but its not perfect. I can definitely feel some friction, but its much better then previous runs last week and its not too painful. I’m hoping adrenaline will provide some analgesia on Sunday and I won’t notice a thing. I also plan on icing and taking ibuprofen (until Saturday when I will switch to Tylenol because it doesn’t affect your kidneys like NSAIDs do, just an fyi)

A nephron, which is the "workhorse" of the kidney! If you want an explanation of why you should take Tylenol before and during a marathon, I can tell you. And It has to do with this little guy.

Mentally, I have to take it one day at a time. I’ll have to take it one mile at a time on Sunday and keep reassessing my situation as I run, I guess.

So, that’s where I’m at people.

Oh guess what I also did – I’m pretty sure I freaked out a real life Kenyan runner. I saw Sally Kipyego, who was with the RC and, of course, I recognized her and screamed, “OMG!!! I LOVED YOUR INTERVIEW ON FLOTRACK! YOU ARE AMAZING! CONGRATULATIONS!”

I’m sure she thought I was a real life Buddy the Elf.

I wanted to ask her to give me all of her secrets, besides being Kenyan. Missed opportunity.

TELL ME: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WRITING A LETTER TO YOURSELF? EVER GET OVERWHELMED BY A RACE? MOVIE RECS FOR WHEN I BEGIN HIBERNATION PERIOD?

Until next time…

P.S. Aqua jogging gets old very fast.

Time Is Of The Essence

I’m sure my last few posts have you thinking I need to be prescribed Xanax for the month before big races, right? When re-reading them myself, I sound like some time-obsessed, over-achieving, fear of failure freak. While I may be some of those things, I think an explanation of why I feel so pressed to achieve my big running goals ASAP is warranted.

Me, in a few years...

You see the girl hunched over writing something? I imagine she is an OB/GYN resident, which is what I will be in a few years. Just an fyi for those who don’t know, people in the short coats are med students, while long coats signify your have an MD. A med student’s white coat pockets will typically be stuffed with various guides (“the red book” which is now green, Maxwells, picky bars for emergency hunger in my case) and papers with their notes for H and Ps, presentations, etc. The more senior you are, the less there is in your white coat pockets.

Me eating a picky bar after a long run last year. The really red face is totally normal for me - not to worry.

As a resident, you work a lot. The technical maximum cap on weekly work hours is 80 hours per week. I do know residents who have worked more than this. With such work hours, I surmise that my ability to train for a marathon, and train well at that, might suffer. I do know residents that have run a lot and even have done marathons and, in one case, an Ironman(I won’t be doing that, sorry). So, while I do plan on keeping up the ol’ running habit in residency, I have my doubts about being to train well for a big race.

Being able to train like I do right now is really a luxury for me. Its why I’m trying to take advantage of it while I can and its why I want NYC and any other races I do this year to go well for me.

Would this freak you out if you saw me like this in a recovery room?

That’s Meggie the sickly med student above. I ran my last marathon (New Jersey) during my surgery rotation. About a week and a half after the marathon, I came down with a evil virus, probably from immune suppression from marathon + little sleep + subsisting on graham crackers and OJ all day. In fact, the attending I was assisting (read: retracting for) asked me if they needed to put a pulse oximeter on me or if I needed to have my nose suctioned under my mask. In between cases I would huddle in blankets as the ORs were so cold. I know – its a really good look for me.

But, speaking of med school – LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL POSTER!!!

Gloss is boss. Definitely get the gloss finish if you ever make a poster.

My real goal and reason for my “year off” is to get some quality research in and, hopefully, a publication or two. I’m here in Orlando because of this little baby I worked on last spring. Big shout of to Dr. Licciardi and Dr. Knopman for helping this little med student out big time.

Getting my abstract accepted as a poster has afforded me the opportunity to attend ASRM (American Society of Reproductive Medicine)’s annual meeting, which has been an unbelievable opportunity for which I am extremely grateful to NYU. Not only have I heard lectures on the most cutting edge research in the field, but have been reassured by my interest in the research that OB/GYN is the perfect field for me.

ASRM forgot to include a Harry Potter outing.

Unfortunately, the ASRM planners FORGOT to include a Harry Potter outing. I mean, hello, don’t you think Professor Snape could whip up a fertility potion? YES.

TELL ME: How do you fit in running with your long work hours? What is your job now and what is your career interest?

Until next time…

Inherently Lazy

First things first, I have been wearing the BIC band all afternoon and it has not moved once inch. I will report back after I run in it if the “not slipping off my head” verdict still holds true.

Said band has not moved from my head, yet.

I know some of you out there struggle with rest days or recovery or whatever you want to call it.

I may not be so hot at some aspects of running – tempo runs, my whole mental running saga, freaking out over timing devices attached to one’s wrist – but I’ll tell you one part I am fabulous at – rest days and recovery runs.

I, for one, love rest days. In fact, I have not moved from my perch in my bed the last hour and it has been fantastic. I plan on only moving again to eat dinner. Otherwise, I’m parked here watching that adorable child sing “Super Bass” over and over again.

Seriously, those girls are so freaking adorable. Who wants to dress up like this with me for Halloween? Any takers?

I’m going to audition to be one her of her back up dancers.

Anyways, yes, I take two rest days per week. I don’t like taking more, as I get ancy, and I don’t like taking less, as I get tired. I’m very stuck in my ways, I guess.

I pretty much only run. I’m impressed with all of you that can run, yoga-cize, pilate it up, spin, bust your butt at boot camp…whatever it is you do, I tip my hat to you. I thought about going to yoga today, but just the thought of walking there was tiring and catching up on The Rachel Zoe Project seemed so much more enticing. (Below is a Rachel Zoe spoof, fyi, but its hysterical.)

Since I pretty much only run, I toyed with the idea of only taking one rest day per week, thinking it’d make me a more baller runner if I ran 6 days a week rather than 5. I tried it for a bit (ok, maybe only like two weeks in July/August). I mainly noticed the energy I was putting into that sixth run was drawing energy away from the other 5, which I felt was unproductive to my overall training, so I stopped the whole 6th day of running thing.

Maybe I’m a whiner. Maybe I’m lazy. Or maybe 5 days is just right for me.

Also, whenever I say “just right,” a lot of times it reminds me of Goldilocks and the porridge – too hot, too cold, just right.

PS - who actually eats porridge? Raise your hand if you've had it, because I have never seen it.

I guess I love my rest days as I kind of see it like this – I only have a limited supply of energy in my running energy well, so I have to spend it wisely. I go pretty hard on my workout or long run days (2-3 days out of the 5), use the other days for my sanity/social running/to shake out lactic acid/etc, and I refill my well on my rest days.

And, I know this is nuts, but sometimes I’m worried those other things would detract from my running. Like part of the reason I didn’t go to yoga today is because, seeing as I don’t go to yoga that often, I was worried I’d be sore, and I want to do well in my long run on Saturday and soreness may detract from that.

I know, not nuts at all.

Normally, I’m not like that – I’ll go to Flybarre or whatever – and risk soreness detracting from a run. But, I guess, since the marathon is getting close, I’d rather not have any runs blow up in my face between now and Nov 6th that would bring my confidence down. I guess my running confidence is very fragile at the moment and its protected by my fluffy duvet, which is why watching TV in bed is way more enticing than yoga lately.

Moral of the story, yet again: My running confidence is unstable. What else is new.

However, if you want to learn how to enjoy your rest days or run ridiculously slow on a recovery run, I’m your girl.

TELL ME: How many rest days do you take/week in whatever sport you do? Do you think I’m crazy for not wanting to do other things right now that I fear would make me sore and detract from my running?

For the record, I’ve not always been good at taking rest days. In high school, I played tennis 7 days/week, sometimes I did take one day off (usually Fridays). Maybe I’ve just tired by myself out by 25 years old.

Also, I plan to take two solid weeks off after the marathon and eat chocolate and peanut butter puffins for dinner during that time because I can.

Until next time…

Its Not About Boston

Well, at least for me…but I’ll be getting there.

Yesterday my twitter feed was blowing up about people registering for Boston. I’m interested to see how fast it closes out this year – its like an experiment to me although I have no hand in the design nor outcome.

And, let me remind all of you that there was an equally big sporting event yesterday – the US OPEN MEN’S FINAL. Fitting that Djokovic won the day before National Celiac Disease Awareness Day, which is today. I don’t think Djokovic has celiac disease, but he gave up gluten last year after discovering he had an allergy to it (not sure if he’s just intolerant or has celiac sprue). I’d say giving up gluten worked out pretty well for him. Maybe I should try it…

Djokovic wore an FDNY hat -- I loved that. I also wanted to find him and give him a picky bar since they are gluten free, but, alas, I didn't. Next Year.

And Rafa still gives the classiest interviews. Serena needs to take lessons from Rafa on interviewing after losing.

Ok, seriously, I understand that Boston is a big deal and for those of you who got to register — CONGRATULATIONS! You are baller status in my book. Well, any qualifier is a baller to me, but if you qualified by >20 min, I want you to give me your secrets.

If you’ve read my thinks before and know my marathon goal is 3:35, which is the BQ standard for my age, you’re probably thinking I’m a total liar with the title of my post. Qualifying for Boston – sure that’s a goal for me. Will I be thrilled if I ever qualify and probably cry? Yes. Will I be super stoked if I ever get to run it? You betcha. But, is my life going to go on if I never run the Boston Marathon? Definitely.

Speaking of liars, "Liar Liar" - fantastic movie, don't you agree?

You see, if you’d asked me 3 years ago what “Marathon Monday” was, I’d probably I’ve responded to you, “which TV show are you talking about?” If you’d told me it meant running 26.2 to qualify to get to run another 26.2 miles, I would’ve said “people PAY to do that?!?” In fact, when I heard that Lance Armstrong said running a marathon was really hard, I’d said I’d never do one as “its obviously not natural if a 7 time tour de France winner says its hard.”

I swore that if Lance Armstrong said a marathon was hard, there was no way I was attempting one. Famous last words.

Something changed in Meggie land and now I’m one of those crazy people paying good money to go run for a very long time. My running enthusiasm hasn’t slowed down since I started running 2.5 years ago and I’m just gonna keep riding the wave until it stops. Right now, its fun for me to chase big goals.

Speaking of riding the wave, I don’t know what it is, but the running confidence has been on the upswing lately. Instead of talking myself down from it, I’ve decided to ride the wave. Katie and I did 6 x 800 last night. I am a FAN of that. Why? Because just when it starts to feel uncomfortable, you get to stop – its perfect!

I love track workouts, but probably because I spend most of the time staring at the lines and triangles wondering what they mean -- good distraction.

My 800s were supposed to be at 10K pace. Unfortunately, my brain has still not learned to interpret any pace the RC writes down as “as fast as possible.” I tried to control myself, especially on the 3rd-5th ones and just find a nice rhythm. They were 3:38, 3:33, 3:40,  3:36, 3:38, 3:34. Considering they didn’t feel awful, I’m giving this a thumbs up. In fact, in my awesome journal I wrote an “up” arrow next to yesterday to denote confidence up.

I still think all you techy excel people should give this a shot. I am lit-erally obsessed (make sure you said that like Rachel Zoe).

Anyways, back to Boston. So, why is 3:35 for my goal for NYC?

To me, its about pushing myself to be a better runner. The Boston standard gives me that benchmark to strive for, the carrot to hang in front of my face, the gold medal that Olympic level athletes dream of. For me its about setting a high goal, working hard to achieve, and seeing where it takes you.

I guess I just like setting a really hard goal that kind of scares me and seeing what comes of it. And, that’s what the Boston standard does for me. It scares me a little bit to think I actually might be able to run that fast for 26.2 miles. Its a fun scary though.

Now, if I ever do qualify, will I be on cloud 9 for a good month after? Yes. Will I tell everyone I know? Yes. Will I tell everyone I don’t know? Yes. Will I be trying to register? Most definitely.

Maybe I’ll go watch it this year, to see what it’s all about, catch the bug, if you will.

Also, because I know myself too well, if I don’t get my goal at NYC will I be upset? Yes. I’ve been living with my competitive self long enough to know, I’ll be disappointed. Its just my nature.

So, my feelings on Boston are mixed – its a fun goal to chase and I sincerely hope I get to be there someday, but I guess I just don’t get “it,” yet. 

Anyways, that’s where I stand on Boston. Also, for the record, if you qualify that’s still great to me, even if you don’t get to run it, considering the new “rolling application” system.

Also, you should go congratulate Kristy on qualifying the other day!

Now, I need to get back to stalking target.com for Missoni for Target stuff.

TELL ME: Is Boston your goal? If so, why? Did you buy any Missoni for Target stuff today? I personally went out of control. Also, I was serious about the marathon secrets.

Until next time…

Emotionally Stable Person/Emotionally Unstable Runner

First, can we discuss how cute Rafa is? Every time he gives a post- match interview, my heart melts. Also, the Serena vs Woz match was disappointing. I wanted a knock down, drag out fight. Serena dominated. Although Serena isn’t my favorite player, I’m happy for her considering what she went through last year (pulmonary embolism, which is no joke).

Rafa can play the final like this --- fine by me.

Second of all, I feel it would be remiss to not mention the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I wasn’t living in NYC at the time (I was in the 10th grade in 2001), but after living here for the past 7 years, I feel quite connected to the city and a sense of sadness for those affected. Even though I don’t know anyone personally affected, the enormity of what New Yorkers went through is somewhat palpable to me as so much of my life is here now, I know if something like this were to happen today, I probably would know someone affected (although I would pray and hope not). The city seems much more somber and quiet today as opposed to other 9/11s I’ve been here for. Its also the most worried I’ve seen people for another attack.

Anyways, if you met me in real life or actually know me in real life, I’m a pretty happy person, pretty even-keel — albeit a little high strung and exacting. Sure, I cry in E.T. (that little alien having to leave Elliot to go back home is always devastating) and get upset when I run out of chocolate, but on the whole, I’d say I’m pretty stable and happy.

When ET points to Elliot's heart and says, "I'll be right here," I lose it. Every time.

This all goes out the window when it applies to a sport.

For instance, when I think about that marathon I’m supposedly running in November (I’m still in denial phase), I jump between the following:

• TERRIFIED - “Holy crap! 26 miles is far! Too far! Its not natural! Why did I think this was a good idea?!?”
• EXCITED - “New York will be so fun! I’ll know so many people running! The leaves in Central Park will be so pretty! I can sleep in my own the night before! I will force people to come cheer for me! This is a great idea!”
• FRUSTRATED - “I want my goal so badly (3:35, in case you missed that), too much, but I can’t envision it actually happening. Why?!? I hate all those people who have natural belief in themselves. Woe is me.”
• BLASE - “I don’t even care anymore. I’m just going to run it for fun and then go eat a giant slab of chocolate cake because I can.”
• MOTIVATED - “I improved from my 1st to 2nd marathon by 21 min. I am a baller. I can totally do it. I’m like Serena – ready to attack. Let’s go box or something.” (fyi: I’ve never actually boxed).
• SCARED - “3:35 is kind of fast, maybe too fast, ummm Mommy? Help!”
• MAD AT SELF - “You are such a whiny baby! If you don’t think you can do it, who will? Get it together.”
• QUESTIONING - “Am I working hard to achieve my goal or can I work harder?”
• CALM - “I’m doing everything I can, putting in the work, that’s all I can do, and whatever happens happens. All I can ask is to do the best that I can do, whether thats 3:33 or 4:33. I’m a hard worker, a good competitor, I will be fine.”

And, that’s just 15 min or so of thinking.

And, feel glad you are not the RC – this is the basis of the crazy emails I send her, eg: “RC [ok I use her real name], am I working hard enough?!? RC, is my goal delusional? RC, why am I crazy?”

I’m working hard to try to take the emotions out of it all and to really hone in on the last one, the calm version of Meggie. The calm version of myself is reassured and confident in the work she’s put in, doesn’t question what she could or should of done, and is happy giving her best rather than focusing on a singular time goal.

This brings me to another point about why my new training log is awesome.

Its super-Meggie! No? Ok. Well, its super-someone because she has a cape and, therefore, is a super hero.

 

I forgot to mention that is has probably 50 or so blank pages in the back for you to write notes. What I need to record as much as the physical stuff is the mental stuff, which is what that space provides. I tend to write a lot, so I will probably be filling it with stickies and scrap paper to make more room! Does Excel provide you that? I think not! (Although I’m no excel wizard, I just learned the sort function this year, which was life changing).

And, fyi – they (the Believe I Am peeps) aren’t paying me to say this and I don’t actually know them in real life. I just am that enthusiastic about it. Also, I want them to make little temp tattoos of the logo so then I can wear it when I run. I’m sure they’ll take my opinion into account.

So, yes, running apparently makes me a crazy person. But, I’m still crazy for running.

I can’t believe I said that – my former self would have no idea who new, running self is.

Anyways, people tell me, does running or a sport make any of you people nutzo, too? Or is it just me…

And, if not, then maybe I should seek running therapy…

Until next time…

All Notebooks Should Have Pink Spirals

Grace asked on my last post, “What is BelieveIAm? If you’re endorsing, I believe it MUST be awesome, but seriously, what is it?” Well, Grace, thank you for believing in my things-you-will-love spotting abilities. As I tend to be a long-winded writer, I decided instead of leaving her a novel of a comment, I’d just write a post.

Two doctors and a tennis player beanie baby approve of use of this journal, as do 4 out of 5 dentists.

Before I go on, can we talk about how amazing lime tortilla chips are and how upset I am over John Isner losing because I love John Isner? Ok, no.

Anyways, Believe I Am is a company started by two baller professional runners, Lauren Fleshman and Ro McGettigan. Trust me, they are ballers – Ro went to the Olympics in 2008 and Lauren just competed in the World Championships. If you didn’t think being a professional runner was enough of a job, these two are also artists, psychologists, and entrepreneurs. And that’s just their day job. I’m sure they moonlight as fairy godmothers or something, too.

{Lauren also started Picky Bars with her husband and “the RC,” and Picky Bars is how I found the RC, just in case you were wondering. [Susan asked me this question today.] The RC has a real name, too, which is Stephanie, but I like referring to her in this forum as “the RC.” Catchy, don’t you think?}

Also, the RC is a baller runner and want you all to go tweet good luck to @stephazona because she is running a race next week and I WANT HER TO WIN. Why? Because she’s very nice and tolerates my crazy questions.

I’ve already blogged about how I loved the shirts from Believe I Am. In fact, I had to wear my “Joy” one after my race on Monday so I didn’t get in a bad mood. It worked. [Side note: Apparently it was 93% humidity that day - who knew? Oh wait, my legs.] But, truth be told, I’m into that sort of thing. I mean, I have “good luck test clothes,” “good studying clothes,” and “good luck” tennis outfits. Ok, that’s slightly embarassing.

This is the "Joy" shirt. I wore it before the Boilermaker and I had a really fantastic, breakthrough race. Therefore, this shirt is good luck and I guess I will have to wear it before every race now.

This is the tag, which you can place somewhere as a reminder to yourself. Mine is in my planner, obviously.

The training journal has been a long awaited object of desire in my world and, luckily for you all who are busier than I, I have stalked the website frequently to see when it was available. I am happy to report to you all that it, too, can be yours for $19.99.

Now, you may be thinking, why would I a training journal for $20 when I could write it down in a notebook. Well, I will tell you as a Believe I Am running log user for the past two days, I am telling you it is worth it. Here’s why:

• Its not just for recording your training. Sure, it has space for that. Pretty space. With flowers. However…

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Ro and Lo write poetry, too. I feel so uncreative now. I can draw good stars?

• It has you check in with your goals, which is a genius idea. I don’t know why I never thought of that. *Personal experience – when I wrote down my goal (3:35 26.2 at NYC) and how I was doing with that goal, it became apparent to me that I wasn’t doing so hot on the mental game right now, which is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. By having me check in with my goal now, rather than right before the race, I can find ways to change things so, hopefully, by November I can believe I am ready to run a 3:35 marathon.* It gives you a space to do that while concurrently recording your training.
• It helps you frame your goals in the context of why you want them. It provides a pretty space for that, too. In fact, the whole thing is pretty. Well, I guess if you like pink, flowers, and butterflies, which I happen to. I never thought about why I wanted to run a marathon and a 3:35 one at that. It made this typically verbose girl pause and think.
• It has a place for race reviews. When I played tennis, I found it helpful after each match to think of 3 things I did well and 3 things I could improve upon. This is similar. I actually went back and put the Boilermaker in retrospectively as I want to capture whatever happened in that race and bottle it.

I tend to write a lot -- as if you didn't already know that.

• It has a place to record things OTHER than your training. Do you cross train? There’s a space for that. Pump iron? Yep, for that too. Have regular (or irregular) periods? Indeed. Get your iron levels monitored? Yesiree, it does. I love it and I don’t keep track of any of that, but maybe I should.
• This journal makes you think. It makes you think about why you want the goals you’ve set, what you’re going do to achieve them, how you’re doing on your journey there, and has you check in after.

Its perfect and it comes with a pink spiral to boot. And, it is unbeknownst to me why Mead or Staples has not introduced pink spirals.

So, here is what I suggest you do. You go to the believeIam.com and you buy yourself a shirt and the training log. Then, you run on over to Oiselle and get yourself some shorts. Then, wear the believeIam shirt + Oiselle shorts and you will exude the essence of girl power. You will be more girl power than all 5 Spice Girls combined.

If that still doesn’t make you believe in yourself, then watch this video:

So, people, do tell me: How do you keep up with your training/running? What do you keep track of? How often do you look back at it?

Spill it.

Until next time…

Confessions of a Non-Garmin Obsessed Garmin Owner

A few months back I asked one baller runner, Lauren Fleshman, if I really needed a GPS watch to be a better runner. You can read her response here. Also, while you’re over there, you should go give her a virtual high five (ie a comment) for her ballerness at Worlds this year.

I still love Sarbi, the official Daegu mascot. I wanted to remind you of that.

I was still reticent because I’ve seen solid improvement without obsessing over ever mile split and mile logged. I’m so detailed oriented in most areas of my life that I thought a Garmin might push me from happy runnerd to running-for-nice-splits-only runnerd. I didn’t want that. However, I decided to take the plunge at Ali‘s Run for the Rabbit event. I got a Garmin watch seeing as a percentage of my proceeds would go to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of American. I figured that was a good time to purchase.

I like having a GPS watch, but I don’t love it. I hate waiting for the satellites to load. I hate it when it beeps at me. I don’t like that it tells me I run over 10 min per mile most of the time on my warm-ups and cool-downs (if you want to learn to milk the warm up for all its worth, I can teach you, but I’ve stopped wearing it on easy runs/wu/cd, as you’ll see below).

Stop beeping at me watch! Stop staring at me swan!

I do like having it for long runs so I can make up my route as go. I do like having it for workouts and such to know how far I should go (eg: those 2 x 2 mile tempo run things – I can do those wherever I want) and I like getting the feedback of my pace and such.

So, I’m still a happy runnerd about a month after this purchase. You know why? Because I make the Garmin work for me (ie see 1:12 – 1:20 of the following video).

So, yes, the Garmin IS WORKING FOR ME. I bought it, I own it, and, therefore, its only going to make me happy and feel like I badass because I did not spend $200 to have it make me hate running.

Here’s how I make the Garmin work for me:

1. I do NOT wear it on recovery runs. And most of the time I don’t wear it for easy runs. I don’t see why I need to know how fast I’m going if that run is for recovery.
2. If the “RC” says easy for a long run, I do not pay attention to pace.  If the RC said “easy,” then I think she had a reason to say that. I run most of those runs by feel. If I feel good, I speed up. If I don’t, I stay where I am. If my Garmin says I’m running “fast” for me, I get excited about it. If it doesn’t, then I don’t let it upset me.
3. I often don’t use it for warm-ups or cool-downs. For the same reason as number 1.
4. If the satellites aren’t loading and I’m with a friend, I do not wait for the satellites to load. If I run my first mile or half mile without it being recorded, that is fine by me.

I’m hard enough on myself most days and I don’t need a watch exacerbating that. So, I created those above Garmin rules for myself and it seems to be working well for me.

NOW, PEOPLE, I NEED YOUR INPUT:

I am running a race on Monday (20K). To wear the fancy watch or to not wear the fancy watch, that is the question.

Normally, I wouldn’t for a race. However, since this one is kind of long, I am kind of curious to know how fast each mile as I think this race will be a good assessment of my fitness 2 months out from the marathon (is it 2 months? Yes? 8 weeks? 9 weeks? I should figure that out). So, I think that “data,” so to speak, would be helpful.

I really just don’t want it beeping at me each mile. I don’t know why that bothers me.

Your thoughts? To race or not to race in said Garmin fancy watch?

ALSO – you have until Tues to enter my Oiselle giveaway. FYI – you do not need to do all 3 things I listed to be entered, I realized that was confusing. Just one is bueno.

Now, I’m off to meet up with the fam – my brother is playing a tennis tournament in New Haven (CT) which is why I’m running this race (its also in New Haven, how convenient!).

Have a great long weekend Labor Day!

Until next time ….

Disaster Preparedness Plan

If you haven’t heard, NYC is being hit by the apocalypse Hurricane Irene. SO MY PLANS FOR 5K GLORY WERE RUINED!

Its ok, I’ll get over it. I have the whole weekend inside to plan.

They evacuated the hospital today, but, for some reason, I’m only in a “mildly flooding” zone just across First Avenue and don’t have to evacuate (yet). Yes, I believe that extra 10 feet is really going to protect me.

NYU Hospital is conveniently in a flooding zone, as is their student housing - AWESOME.

Don’t worry I have two evacuation plans set and will be judging which one to take in the am – one is to a friend’s place in the “white zone” (no flooding) and the other is to Pennsylvania.

Also, during my grocery store trip with 100 of my best friends, it occurred to me that I may be taking two days off running (Sat and Sun) and barely ran today (3 miles). Of course, during my hour long wait in line (its “in line” tri-state area folks, no “on line”)I determined that this was going to be detrimental. I am going to get way out of shape, lose everything I’ve gained, my speed will be zapped, and Irene is just messing everything up not only for my 5K plans of glory, but also of marathon ballerness.

I then talked myself down from the ledge and determined that: 1) This will be a nice little break and I will be refreshed with equally fresh legs come Monday; 2) Two days is not detrimental; 3) I can eat my chocolate cake tonight without feeling guilty that I have a race tomorrow.

Also, for those of you following the saga of the tempo run, I had SUCCESS (that’s right) this week with those 2 x 2 miles at tempo pace – OBSERVE:

First two - deliberately holding self back.

2nd 2 - and I did not feel like death at all. It was even kind of "fast-relaxed." Or so I tell myself.

Two days off will not be detrimental, right?

Anyways, so during my grocery store trip with my 100 closest Murray Hill friends, I picked up the essentials for a hurricane weekend even though I probably won’t be spending it here. Besides peanut butter, bread, water, and picky bars(what more do I really need?), here’s what I deemed necessary:

1. CEREAL:

Definitely needed 3 boxes -- what if I change my mind as to what kind I want and I can't go outside?

2. DISPOSABLE UTENSILS/ETC

I use all disposable stuff anyways, but I got more. I know, I'm killing the earth. My first step away from disposable-ness may be to buy a water bottle, but I feel like you can never get those things clean without a dishwasher...

Also, the red Solo cups may come in handy if you want to throw a hurricane party.

3. BARBECUE SAUCE

What would I do without my favorite condiment? The thought was too much to bear, so I had to make sure I had some on hand for the hurricane.

4. CHOCOLATE (enough to feed a small village)

You can see I have a problem...

5. BAND AIDS

In case Irene cuts me.

6. ESSENTIAL READING MATERIALS

I need to know how the Kardashians spent all $10 million of those dollars on a wedding before the hurricane hits.

Definitely all the essentials.

My mom did instruct me to go get a bicycle helmet. After the hail storms/tornados (tornadoes?) that ripped through the South this year, my mom made sure we have 5 bicycle helmets on hand in the house in case heavy winds start up and knock in our windows leaving threatening trees, branches, etc to attack us. She saw some kid lived through a tornado due to his bicycle helmet. So, if you want to know what my family is doing during huge storms, it is this:

My sister is ready for the worst. No storms causing us traumatic brain injuries.

I’m sorry, Mom, I did not get a bicycle helmet. I do have flashlight, batteries, matches, candles, and 35 bottles of water.

One person I’m sad to see evacuate for TWO years is Erika of causing my running addiction fame. Look out, Harvard Business School, Ms. Olson is pretty awesome!

Sexy, post-run, at a bar look.

I am sad to see her go. Its been a good 7 years, Erika. I’m coming to Boston soon!

TELL ME PEOPLE:

1. IS NOT RUNNING FOR A BIT GOING TO BE DETRIMENTAL? Better safe than sorry, right?

2. WHAT ESSENTIALS DID YOU GET FOR IRENE? WHICH ZONE ARE YOU IN?

3. DO YOU THINK ALL THE WINDOWS ARE GOING TO BLOW IN, THE CITY IS GOING TO FLOOD, AND THIS US OPEN DELAYED?

US Open — starts next week!

So, spill it. I gotta go eat my chocolate cake now.

Until next time… (and STAY SAFE anyone in NYC!)

Like A Bat Out Of Hell

I have zero running self control.

If the RC writes “easy” run or fails to indicate that I should try to run fast, which I therefore interpret as an “easy” run, I exhibit zero self discipline to speed up at all and run at a pace far slower than I care to admit. (Side note: For those of you who struggle to embrace a recovery or easy run, I am happy to show you and will NOT be bringing along my Garmin or watch, for that matter.)

How I spend a lot of my easy runs...thinking about what I'm going to eat next.

When the RC writes something as a specific pace, it immediately is translated into my brain is “as fast as you can go without dying for that distance.” I’m sure that’s what she means, right?

Tempo, 10K pace, 5K pace, marathon pace, half marathon pace  - it all goes out the window for me, apparently.

Case in point, #1 – Tuesday’s “tempo run.” First mile 7:38. 2nd mile 8:55. Ideally, I think my tempo pace should be about 8 min/mile. Way to go, genius.

Case in point, #2 – Today’s 6 x 200m at “mile/5K” pace. I ran them all around 44-46 seconds, which is about 6:15-6:20ish pace (I think).

Last I checked, I can’t run a 5K at that pace. Pretty sure the same thing for a mile.

The whole run before the 200s, Little Megs (my name for my “good” brain that keeps me in check) kept repeating, “You will NOT start sprinting, you will run controlled. You will NOT start sprinting, you will run controlled.”

Anyone else remember this episode of Full House with Good Michelle and Bad Michelle -- that's how I feel most days running.

It was controlled, I guess. I didn’t feel like throwing up, dying, or curling up in the fetal position. I mean 200 m is not that far, I don’t think you could feel those things anyways, which is why I was able to clearly stick to a pace far faster than I have any business running.

To build my defense to Little Megs, I was not on my toes and, therefore, not sprinting. HAH.

See -- on toes -- sprinting. I was not on my toes. Person in this picture, flower in your hair = nice touch. Aggressive chic.

And, it was even kind of fun. I felt like a “real runner.”

But, still, can’t I at least follow directions?!?

I was actually supposed to do 6 – 8 200s (I always aim for the higher), but by the 6th my legs were starting to feel lactic acidy and little Megs laid down the law saying “You are done, that’s it, go home, you cannot follow directions, you have a long run tomorrow — stupid.”

Of course, I’m thrilled that I can run fast-ish and thought for a hot sec that I could totally run a mile in less than 7 min. But, seriously, who am I kidding. Not happening anytime soon.

The reason Little Megs is mad at me is because I think to be a good runner you need to understand the objective behind all of your training runs.

Clearly, the objective of every workout is not to run as fast you can for that distance and you shouldn’t be wanting to shoot yourself at the end of the first interval of a workout. *Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m no running expert.*

Further, a lot of my starting any interval/tempo run/wtv like a bat out of hell is, I believe, based in insecurity that I won’t make “it,” with it being whatever time or pace that is prescribed. So, I feel the need to “make up” time in the beginning as I don’t have to confidence to believe I can sustain whatever prescribed pace RC or my psycho side sets forth.

Finally, I sometimes can’t give up my “run faster than you should” because I have this theory that if you keep pushing your threshold of fast-ness (ie running to near death pace every workout), your old fast will seem easy. I think that’s true, to a point, but I also think for something like a marathon you need to practice running at or near that pace. I don’t think I’ll be running any marathons at 6:28 pace, unless I am provided a scooter.

I could definitely rock a sub-3:35 marathon on this steel train.

A vast majority of the time, while I might understand the objective, I don’t execute it. I continue taking off far too fast, dying, and then trying to hold on for dear life.

I think if I want to achieve my goals, I’m probably going to have to change my ways.

Luckily for me, I GET TO DO THAT AWESOME 2 x 2 MILES WORKOUT AGAIN NEXT WEEK  - YES!

Please, note, that is sarcasm above.

So, I’ll report back who triumphs next week – Little Rational Megs or Crazy Megs.

That’s all I have to say.

Your thoughts, appreciated, as usual.

Until next time…