The Third Day in a Row of Hills

and having my only chance to eat lunch at 10:00am made yesterday seem particularly difficult.

Fighting with my mind and with my body. My lungs actually physcially hurt yesterday, as if I had done speedwork the day before and really opened them up, which I hadn't.

Right after trying to persuade undergraduates that they really don't know anything at all, or, if they do, it certainly isn't because it's a justified true belief, I laced up and headed out. I knew I had limited time before having to go to get another meeting.

Fought through the students down to 54th (school's back in session!) and went over to the West Side Highway. Just past 79th, I took the (now optional) route going up to the 101st street park. Instead of dipping back onto the West Side, I continued down Riverside Drive. Friday had given me enough of the top part of the ocean path.

Why the designers of running paths never actually seem to consult runners astounds me. The path narrows considerably up past 100th st. The way that the designers have it set up, there are bikers going both directions on one side and then a path for runners on the other. So far so good. But the path for the runners is right next to the water. Which is where the designers decided to put in all the camber for water drainage. And the path is narrow enough, with enough bike traffic, that runners really need to stay in the running lane in order to be both courteous and, more importantly, safe. Which leads to the ouchy knee situation of Friday and Saturday. No thank you.

So I took my chances on the cobblestones. Going up to 130th (I think: I made it to the bridge, started going over, then just decided to turn around), I saw about 300 children, 100 nannies and groups of Columbia Freshmen getting oriented.

Every time I run up there, I am convinced that the way uptown is almost completely uphill, and that the way back will be a leg and lung-saving downhill slope. And every time I return to Midtown on this route, I realize how wrong I am. It's true that the largest uphills are on the way uptown. But there's a reason why the hills in Harlem are called 'rolling'. Sheesh.

Tried to push the pace a bit past 100th and then back to my office. Both because I thought I should and because I was afraid of being late to my next meeting. Was semi-successful. Don't know if I was going fast at all but my lungs burned and my calves started twitching.

Best moment: the glorious view of the pregnant women waddling in and out of the hospital on 58th and 10th. Done. Number of times I almost turned around during the run: about 17. Number of miles: about 9. Amount of food inhaled when I could finally eat: let's just say I had about 2 dinners last night.

Worried a bit about Mondays and Wednesdays. Middle-of-the-afternoon runs are not my forte. Hills are not my forte (although they ought to be my friends!). Not eating and then going running is not my forte.

Although conquering obstacles is supposed to be good for you, right?

Beautiful Day!

And (knock on wood) a pain-free knee!

Last night, after coming home late from the office, I made sure to use the rolling pin on my IT bands. I only screamed at my cat once during the process but that was due to self-restraint. Boy that made it clear that I really should have taken my roller on all my trips! I also iced and ibuprofen-ed and all those other good things.

Still, I was nervous this morning as I headed out to meet the Dancer. My legs felt tired and I was worried about my knee.

All that work, and stopping a bit early yesterday because of the pain, must have worked! The knee felt fine for the whole run! I mean, I've got 'you've gotten heavier and you want me to do what?!' pain in both my knees but that's manageable with icy hot afterwards. The IT pain was not there.

I hope it lost my address!

Beautiful morning. Sunny, with a slight breeze. Amazing weather for running in the city. Met her at GAP, where we proceeded to run down Union, over to Court and over the Brooklyn Bridge.

I must not have been on the Bridge on Sundays recently. Even on the way back, it wasn't that crowded. The tourists were totally manageable! Normally, as we all know, that bridge is to be avoided after about 8:00am. Not the case today!

After the Bridge, we ran down Lafayette and over to Broadway. Cut back to Center at Canal and then took that up to Delancey to go over the Williamsburg Bridge. So glad that we were going over the hard way first: I don't think I could have managed, pyschologically, to go over the hard way second today. Going over to Brooklyn, there's those two long hills and then the downhill is so steep its hard to run, too. At least, going back to Manhattan, you have a brief period of intense glute pain, and then its easy riding (or running, as the case may be).

Back down Lafayette to the Brooklyn Bridge. By now, it was getting hotter. Still totally in my weather zone but the Dancer was getting a bit out of her zone, temperature-wise. Instead of going to the stairs, we went down the rest of the bridge and then over to Atlantic, where I dropped her off at the bus stop on 5th and I ran up to Bergen. According to the map I did afterwards, about 14 - although I'm not sure I should trust my mapping skills, after some of my mapping recently!

All in all, a great run. The air quality was pretty bad, so both of us were having chest problems, but we were going at a relaxed pace so it didn't matter too much. The slight breeze I felt coming out of my house stayed with us the whole time. And the sun was glorious.

Two days in a row, doing Brooklyn's equivalent of hills! Not bad!

Occasions to Use Pepper

a.k.a. 26(a) in Friday's puzzle.......



Riots.


Hah!

Thank goodness Friday was back to its usual 15-year-old girl self: difficult but charming. Last week, it was same 15-year-old girl strung out on meth: very difficult and not at all charming.

More funny clues in one Friday puzzle than I've seen in a while. Maybe it was atoning for its bad behavior last week.

Another really funny one was 43(d) Types a little to the left

Pinkos.

There was one sign of the Apocolypse, to use Sports Illustrated's quote heading.

The NYT actually used 'sext' in a puzzle. As in 56(d) send explicite messages by phone, or something similar.

Really?! I thought you were better than that, Will Shortz!

Saturday's puzzle is usually a bit of a bully. The bully must have had its nap this week, though, because it was almost pleasant.

Not as funny as Friday's, but still occasional smiles:

45(d) Not the most stimulating work

McJob

and 47(d) Has a list

Tilts.
Heh.

Carry on.

Bagel Hole!

Ah. My long-lost lover, back near me. How I missed you on those overnight plane rides, when they tonged up bread-in-a-circle to accompany my sugar-added orange juice.

But first, the run. Trapeze Girl met up with me to jog to GAP. I haven't seen her in so long! That was a super bonus. There was an unusually pliable group there today - a lot of new people, who don't like to rock the boat - so I was able to railroad everyone into doing one of my runs. Yay!

The run I chose always seems so easy on the way there. Down Prospect Park West first. Was 'running' with Ivy League in that he was about 40 feet away in the bike lane. Had a repeat of 'Feed the Tree' stuck in my head. Wished for my headphones, which I didn't bring (gasp!). Was trying to keep up with him when a woman stepped right in front of me at the circle and asked me where Ocean Ave. was. I ignored her: Ivy League had gone through the center and I had foolishly taken the left part of the loop. The Photographer was right behind me and, apparently, the lady kept staring at me with a very unpleasant expression on her face after I passed her.

Don't ask someone who is clearly running for directions when there are 3-4 people around you who are not so doing.

Down to the cemetery and around. Ivy League was in front of us but the Photographer and I had a nice chat while we ran down to 5th Ave. Felt tired on the hill up to 40th but then got to play 'video game' with all the obstacles on 5th Avenue and 67th came up in no time at all. Took a right on 67th and went down to Owl's Head Park. Up and around to see the gorgeous view of the water from between the trees.

The Vivacious Redhead said "this is the whole reason we do this run - the view. Otherwise, it's pretty ugly."

I can see her point but I really enjoy seeing the people doing their Saturday business in neighborhoods that I never get to otherwise. My inner voyeur wonders where they are going and what they are thinking and who they are meeting.

Plus, I got to see all of the amazing icing on those cakes in the bakeries in Sunset Park. MMMMMMMMMM.

The way back was when it got difficult for me. Thank goodness Gorgeous nicely slowed down for me. I was tired from yesterday's run and the way back is mostly uphill. Likely the reason why the way there felt so nice!

Even better, she forced me to do the cemetery hills on the way back. My left knee was hurting again, like yesterday but it felt better on the hills because a) I got to run in the middle of the street and b) everything else hurt so much going up the hills that the knee felt better in comparison. The old 'if your head hurts hit your thumb with a hammer' trick really works!

Then we got to go to the Bagel Hole! Yay. Gorgeous shamed me into running just past Union then I stopped for coffee at Ozzie's.

Standing in line, I thought "Wow. Someone must have stepped in something because it smells really bad."

It was me. Oops! I stood by myself on the train back home.

Against All Medical Advice

Were I to have solicited any. Which I didn't. I knew full well what my mother and brother would say. "Are you crazy? Do you want your illness to get worse?!"

But I was so frustrated and down about this week, both running and work and social-wise, that I had to make the effort.

At least, that's how I justified the very stupid thing I did this morning to myself.

I was feeling better, though! And I did plan the route so that I could bail at many places.

Left my house about 6:40am with my backpack for work and started to run to GAP. Ran down Union to Court and over the Brooklyn Bridge. Still felt good. Had some water and some Margherita (sp.?) shot blocks.

(Verdict: blocks are nastier than gel because they stick around your mouth longer. Literally. And the Margherita ones are especially nasty. If gus and other sports energy supplements in general are in Aleph-Null, these are in Aleph-One set of nastiness. There is an infinitude of difference in how nasty these are. Saying. )

First bail-out point passed. Crossed over to the West Side Highway and started up towards the numbers. There were some other people in front of me at that point who looked like they were running really slow. I refused to admit that I, too, must have been running pretty slow. Instead, I started passing them.

Second and third bail-out points passed. More water and a block - all I could choke down. Still pretty amped to be out running. I was wearing my Garmin and it had me doing miles between 7:51 and 8:20. More proof positive that I cannot actually keep a steady pace. This is slower than I'm supposed to be running but (a)I couldn't get out of bed for most of the day before and (b) I was wearing a backpack. That's the story I'm selling myself, anyway!

One of the hardest points was passing the turn-off for work. When I do runs up the West Side, or down the West Side, I'm either at work - in which case, I run from Midtown up to Harlem - or I'm running to or from work - in which case, I'm running to or from Midtown. Knowing that I still had a lot more to go and knowing that I could just turn off then made it really tempting to call it a day there. But I kept going.

Ran the flatter West Side Highway route instead of running up to Riverside. Used the watery scenery and the backpack as the reasons to make that decision. I love that it is all connected now! Ran out to 135th and over to 12th, then back down to the cross-over at Midtown and over to work.

I didn't get particularly out of breath during any part of the run. My legs started feeling it at about 13 and my knee wasn't feeling so hot at the end - the slope on the running part is fairly noticeable in the higher numbers and there were a lot of bikes. But I'm happy I did it, especially after this week.

Technology and me do not peacefully co-exist. Prior to the run, I had mapped out what I had thought would be just shy of 20 miles, which had me going to 135th and coming back. Something was wrong with this map - I think I had doubled back on myself once - because the pace I was going and the time that I did the run in, and the re-mapping I did later did not corroborate this.

However, I was wearing my Garmin. And here's where I don't know what to believe. The Garmin had all of my miles - except for two suspect ones - between 7:51 and 8:20, with most between 7:51 and 8:10. Both times I ran under the overpass up to the part in the 70s, however, it was claiming that I was running between 10:30 and 13:40 miles for at least half a mile both times. Now, I know I don't keep a good, steady pace but I hadn't started walking! And these paces were incorporated into my overall pace for the run, which makes me think that the Garmin didn't compute those miles correctly. This is one of the many things that frustrates me about this very expensive piece of equipment!

Who knows. I re-mapped the route on MapMyRun, making sure that I didn't double back on myself. It had the route at 18.72. My Garmin had it at 18.3. So I ran anywhere from 18.3 to 18.7 today, with who-knows-what pace.

I'm now not feeling great but hope I can bounce back for tomorrow's group run. I want to have some company!

It Started Out So Well!

Sigh.

Sunday, I couldn't sleep after being on an all-night flight - probably over-tiredness again - so I thought I'd meet whoever showed up at 9:00am for a run. Also, figured that I should run some, as I was bummed that I missed the Battle of Brooklyn race. My flight actually got in on time but kankles, 1 hour of sleep and a 4+ hour bus ride plus a 10 hour plane ride does not a race make.

Roll Call was surprised to see me, as I had said I wouldn't be able to make it out by 9:00am. I wasn't expecting anyone to show up, honestly, given the rain, the Summer Streets the day before, and the race that morning.

Really glad that I had company. I would not run nearly as far had he not been there. Met up at GAP, then went to Greenwood Cemetery, around clockwise and then back past GAP down Flatbush to Atlantic Terminal.

Guests were coming: a new air mattress was in order!

This run actually felt pretty good, considering. We weren't quite going an 8:00/mile pace. When the rain started, it made the run that much better. If you are going to be covered in water anyway, much better that it is salt-free! Went about 8 1/2: not the 10 on my schedule but better than my sleep-deprived self imagined.

Monday, I ran out to meet Story Finder. Her first time ever running with someone else! What a blast! It had finally stopped raining by the time that we went. I ran up counter-clockwise to 110th, met her, then ran back around to the 72nd transverse before crossing over to exit at Columbus Circle. The run went so fast! Amazing how that happens when you've got lots to talk about. 9 miles!

So tired! Rapier moved Monday night and there was little sleep for me. No running on Tuesday. Here's where the week started turning ugly, in many ways.

So frantic about school on Wednesday that I kept changing projects, getting little done. Focus, woman! Then very excited to see the Speedy Blonde for a run! Packed my backpack and everything, so that I could run back up to EH with her, to indulge in some dinner and conversation with her and Badwater. Meanwhile, had started feeling worse and worse all day.

An infection had set in. One that was bad enough that I had to make her stop running after and easy 5 miles, from Columbus Circle around to 110th, over to 116th and 1st, and then down to the cross-over to the Island. We had been trying for about 9: I felt like a failure and that I was holding her back - we were only doing a pace slightly under 9:00! She was a sport about it, however, and made light of the early termination. After a conversation-filled dinner, the Speedy Blonde nicely walked me back to the subway, as I've never been to the subway stop there and didn't feel well.

Pain, Pain, and More Pain! Started taking anitbiotics and they kicked in by mid-afternoon, thank goodness. All my books were at school! Gnawing my fingers as I imagined the work I could be doing was the theme of Thursday.

So few miles! Especially after Brazil, where I was able to get in so few. I'm worried that New York isn't going to happen. "New York, it's different." I remember the Speedy Blonde saying last year when she deferred. "In some other marathon, or in some other race, I'd go in and do whatever I could. But I know so many people, and so many people know our club and will be cheering. I can't run New York in the time that I would get and be happy about it."

I'm starting to feel the same way. There aren't so many weeks left.

More Sand

"I think it is excreble that Philosophers still read their talks and don't give people the talk as a handout!"

Great. That's exactly what I was going to be doing tomorrow. Public speaking is nerve-wracking for me.

I spent my run obsessing over my talk when I should have been obsessing over the sand and the cute surfers.

The run was easier today. No calf soreness or anything. I just couldn't go further than I did yesterday. My mind was too cluttered. The run helped to ease some of the cluttered-ness but then more came to take the absent clutter's place. I imagine that the inside of my head looked like one of those hoarder's houses.

Suave saved me with Power Point! To the rescue! Now I'm tempted to go out and get some extra miles. Or maybe I'll just save them for next week. 3 days of running does not a good training schedule make. I'll make sure not to make this a habit.

Sand

When I was about 16, I walked from Friends School down to Cherry Hill and then back up to the Inner Harbor in about 2 1/2 feet of snow. Breaking through that snow, over and over again, felt like I was walking through the top of a wedding cake. 4 hours and a sunburn later, my friend and I wore ourselves out. Muscles were cramping for at least a day.

At around age 17, another friend and I walked from the Jersey part of the shore all the way down to Ocean City on the sand. Several hours and a sunburn later, our calves were on fire. We took the bus back up.


Today was the first time I ever ran on the beach. I ran out to one side of Mariesas beach and back, then ran out to the other side. Running in the sand, on a slant in parts, is really difficult! I could feel my arms and stomach ?muscles? (or what would be muscles if I ever worked on them) compensating for the sliding around. Everywhere were signs shouting "Danger!" in Portuguese. No way will I wander out into the water: I'll watch the surfers from afar, as I trundle down the beach, safely away from the riptide.

And 'trundle' really is an appropriate word to use. Expended a lot of effort to go as slow as I did. When I would get to parts of the beach that were really hard-packed, however, I felt like I was Paula Radcliff, racing down some magic piece of concrete that appeared out of nowhere. The amount of energy different between running partly uphill in sliding sand and running on a flat, hard-packed surface is quite large. By the time I finished, my legs were exhausted. And I was feeling good prior to the run. It was the sort of feeling good that usually means I can run about 2 1/2 hours or so with no problem. I made it for 45 today.

Amazing views all the way around. I like Brazil in the winter. Might try an hour or an hour and fifteen tomorrow. All is not lost, even with the all-you-can-eat buffet included in the conference for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Still working on my conference paper, which means I'm also catching up on my crosswords. 5:02 for Monday's!

When Life Intervenes

you don't get in the miles you are supposed to.

Missed out on Sunday and Monday runs, due to life. Managed to finally see the Speedy Blonde, though, on Tuesday, and get in 8 and some much-needed social interaction before flying off to my conference. We ran Central Park and then continued over to the 72nd transverse and did some trails. The first several miles were hard for me. Sleep - and a lot of it - needs to happen soon. I could feel it in my legs, which is bad because I hadn't run for the two days previous. When we got off onto the trails for the last mile, though, I was finally feeling better. Changes of scenery in that park are essential.


Conclusions so far concerning my conference: me and overnight flights, followed by a long stint at the airport and then a 4-hour bus ride do not mix so well.

Plus side: will work my mental muscles, anyway. And I'll likely get to run on the beach, as there is no where else that seems safe to run. And the bus was rather like a roller coaster ride - up and down curving mountain roads. Quite a bit of excitement!

I am already predicting, however, that my miles will drop dramatically this week. Next week I'd better be good!

How bad is that for my training? I'd like to know. I think the vacation eating and lack of long runs won't be particularly beneficial. And I'm supposed to do my first 20-miler. I'll have to switch to next week. Why is it that, when I don't hit my miles for the week in question, I feel like I've failed? After all, what would I have failed in the first place? There's nothing to fail!

Lack of sleep.....

I also now know what bronzer is for. I had never known previously. Interesting......The lessons one learns at Sephora.

With classes starting next week, I can feel reality breathing down my neck. It's morning breath leaves something to be desired.

Rockstar!

At least, I felt like one. Powered out of bed on too little sleep because I had to miss Summer Streets last Saturday and I'll miss it again next week because of work.

After a hard run yesterday, although not super fast (8:02/mile average), I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hang on to see enough of the city streets. Hooked up with Superman, the Dancer, Orange and the Photographer, though, from the beginning. As we were running an easy pace, I felt pretty good the whole time.

My house to GAP, over the Brooklyn Bridge, up Lafayette to Park Ave, all the way up to 72nd street and back down and over to Columbus Circle. Legs felt tired on the bridge, and in the first part of Manhattan. But then, there were portable water fountains and the thrill of running down what is usually one of the busiest streets in Manhattan. When we were approaching Grand Central, I couldn't believe we were already there! The distance flew by. Superman and Orange turned around on Canal, choosing to run home and still get in by their self-imposed deadlines. The rest of us went all the way up.

Dumpster pools (which are really shipping container pools, I think) are awesome. So is running under Grand Central Station. I love that part. Having traffic stopped for us was fabulous!

I left the Photographer and the Dancer at 59th, continuing on to Columbus Circle while they went down to 14th street. Ended the run with a smoothie and coffee with the Vivacious Redhead. Wished Gorgeous could have been on the run. She would have appreciated the sights and the smoothie! About 11.6 miles, not bad for how my legs felt. Of course, we were enjoying the scenery and not pushing ourselves. However, it made me enjoy running, which was not happening yesterday!

Next week is supposed to be a higher miles week. I'm nervous as to how this will work out, given that I'm going to be on the coast of Brazil for a conference. I hope that I'll find a way to get the miles in. Given how slow I am now, I cannot derail my training.

Time Flies

When you are in a place that has no windows and no clocks!

I let posting get away from me when I was in Nevada. But, I am proud to say, I did get some runs in between the pool and hanging out with The Intellectual Rapier and Party Girl.

Note to those out there: bring a lot of water when you are running in Nevada. The first run I took, I left with the other two but set out on my own, going down a road that paralleled the Strip. Within a mile, my lips were parched and my mouth was dry. But I did not have a single bead of sweat on me. I managed about 5 1/2 before deciding that running between 10:30 and noon was NOT the best idea. It's really fun to see all the lights on the strip, though. Also got in some stair workouts, as you have to cross most of the roads via overhead bridges.

Seeing all the tourists - who were mainly Americans, as far as I could tell - made me realize anew how very unattractive we Americans are. If I never see another pair of too-tight cargo shorts, I will be very happy.

Next day, I went much earlier. Ran on the strip the whole time, marveling in the lights and come-ons even that early. The lights and the newness of it all made the run go by really quickly. Either that or the fact that I was semi-coherent, having slept about four (poor) hours the night before. Went about five that day.

No sleep plus vacation = really hard run when you get back to reality. Went with Ivy League out to Central Park on Friday. Started out counter-clockwise on 72nd for one full loop, then clock-wise for the 5-mile loop that cuts over on the 102nd street transverse. Then, counter-clockwise again for the 4-mile loop that cuts over on both transverses. I planned poorly for this run, mainly because I hadn't thought to ask how far we were going. No gu, no water bottles. Luckily, Ivy League had an extra gu that he gave to me. I'll bet he wished he hadn't when we got to the last loop. Even before the last loop, I was having a hard time. My breathing was fine but my legs were shot.
"If I make it to the end of the second loop, I'll just walk around and cool down while he does the last loop" I promised myself.

But, I had to take the train home with him and knew that he'd make fun of me the whole time if I gave up before the end of the run, so I crossed onto the 72nd street transverse for the last loop. One of the harder things I've done running. Psychologically, loops are my weakness. I'm kind of lazy, so I have a major temptation, even on the best of running days, to stop after I get to the finishing point of one loop. And yesterday was not one of my better running days.

Ivy League and I hit glycogen deficit at the same time, right before the 102nd street transverse. He had enough to keep going the same pace or slightly faster. I did not. I hobbled along until the very end, using my Ipod to help me out. My brain shut down a bit on the last part, leading to weird free associations not unlike when you are about to fall asleep. That's when I remembered that I never ate dinner Thursday night, not the smartest thing if you are going on at 15-mile run the next day!

Two lessons reinforced: 1. Avoid those guys (and they are almost always guys) who try to race you or pass you when they are clearly not going as fast as you. We had one for most of one of the loops and it was super annoying. We could hear him loudly stomping and breathing at a gasp right behind us. Better to just speed up a bit more, I think. 2. Have another song besides "Billy Jean" stuck in your head. It's probably my all-time favorite song but it doesn't give the right cadence for a run but you just cannot get it out of your brain! Plus, you want to shout 'ooh!' every so often, which seems a bit weird to other runners.

I had to catch up on crosswords on the plane ride back and on Friday afternoon. The earlier-in-the-week ones were kind of boring. Friday's, though, had a really funny clue. Was a joint tenant = did time. Hah!

New day, New State, New Challenges

Forced myself out of bed and away from Tiny's immense gravitational pull. Only a quick outside loop of the park: didn't manage to get myself up early enough for more than 6.7. The early morning light was beautiful, though. I had more than enough to occupy myself with and was amazed when I pulled myself out of my thoughts long enough to see the end of Flatbush rising at me.
Off to Nevada. New challenge: when to run in August in the middle of a desert? I need to keep on my training schedule. Will the dreaded treadmill make an appearance? What could make it more palatable?
Did you know, by the way, that being decimated is not all that bad? There's still 90 percent remaining, after all. If you want more of the story behind the word, just ask.
Now, to resolve the other challenges in my life.

4 Days, 3 States, 3 Runs

Helping Suave move to some amazing, if initially filthy, digs in Cambridge, I was quite the jet-setting runner this week. Thursday, before we got the truck, I managed to squeeze in a run in Philadelphia. Just before 8:00am and already at 80 degrees, with about 90 percent humidity.

Wow. Ran up Spruce to Schulkyll and up to to boat houses. Sweated so badly I redeposited all my sweat back onto myself, given the slight breeze and the spray of salt water coming off of me. Reminisced about other morning runs in Philly, looking again at the architecture and at the ghost of a delicious meal here, a wicked card game there.

Instead of running on Friday, I did stair repeats. With weights. At least, I counted the stacks of books and the furniture weights! Suave's new digs are swanky but they are also on the third floor, with a curving staircase. Whew! I was still trying to finish up in time for the team championships but that was not to be. Too much moving, too much traffic, not enough trains. Besides, how good would my legs have been given all the stairs I climbed?

That was not a rhetorical question! I found out on Saturday, when I went out with my ultra fit, ultra-fast little brother, who also has a stride that the Speedy Blonde would be jealous of. Goes with the 36 inseam, I suppose. According to my schedule, I was slated for 18 but I knew that wasn't going to happen. After the first mile or two with my little bro, I was worried that I wouldn't even be able to do 10. Even though I had pounded water the day before, I was so dehydrated that I got the pasty mouth within the first two miles. Not a good sign. And my legs were not responding to commands.

But the day was beautiful and the company refreshing. Plus, it's bad enough my little brother is faster and better than me at almost everything! Wouldn't do to wimp out on top of that!

So I held on. We were clearly going slower than my brother usually goes, and than the pace we usually go when we run together. It was interesting: my legs felt like blocks but my breathing continued easy and unlabored the whole run. A strange feeling.

All the way around the Charles. Got to see neighborhoods I had never seen. I left him at 13 and did a bit more, finishing with 15 1/2.

By the way, all those people who claim that gummy bears work as well as gu are lying. There is no salt in gummy bears! Held on for a bit under 8:00/mile pace.

Mechanical difficulties. Again. Didn't get back to Brooklyn until 11:00pm. Got up for the group run and then realized that no one would likely show, givenvthat the club championships were yesterday. Did work, daydreamed, and persuaded Ivy League to run with me at 12:30pm. Ran almost 4 before I met him, then we did trails. I could still feel the stairs, especially when we went up hills. Tiring! Got in about 8 miles, though, I think.

As I always love to do, finished the run with some good eating at Cheryl's. I got a boost I needed, given how tired I've been and how I've felt like I've been struggling with my running. Ivy League told me that, even though I'm still not totally back ( which is obvious) I already seem much stronger than I did two weeks ago. Sometimes it's hard to see when you are the one evaluating yourself.

Getting better at facing the idea of a lot of solo runs and solo times in the near future. Not this week, though! Off to spend quality time with some great people.

Like a Whitesnake Refrain

I was running solo. Taking a version of the route the Chestershire Cat and I used to take on Mondays. A nostalgic route, good for what ailed me.

A couple of times on the run, self-pity forced me to stop. Thinking about how many friends have moved or will move in what, to me, seems like a short amount of time is not good for ones breathing when one is going up Cemetery hill!

But I got it together. The heat got to me a bit, so I only did 9-some. Then rushed over to the pharmacy to get iron pills. For the first time in my life, I am apparently anemic. Might explain some of these lackluster runs I've been having!

Brownsville

Did you know that the 3 becomes an elevated? Didn't know myself until this very afternoon.

Exploring and dipping into various different streets that caught our eye, Ivy League and I wended through Crown Heights, into Brownsville and East New York.

Some groups of kids thought about saying some choice words to us but stopped themselves. I guess we just looked too tough.

Or too weird. I outdid myself today on the outfit. "soccer mom meets the Jetsons" was Ivy League's pronouncement.

Took the train back. Some neat things to see way up that high.

First time in a long time that I've run four days in a row. Happy to be putting one in front of the other, then repeat.

My watch messed up again but I think I did at least seven miles. Happy to be able to walk to the PPTC monthly meeting in this gorgeous weather. And then a nice send-off for Suave with all-you-can-eat tacos. Yum.

Getting Schooled!

Saturday, we ran into the Guru, who invited me to run at 5:00am on Sunday. After talking it over with the Vivacious Redhead, I had decided not to go-too much distance for me in four days, given my lack of conditioning.

Plus, I'm a weenie when I can be, and I don't have to wake up that early to run right now.

But, it was still a first invitation, and those are ones that you should always take unless the circumstances really dictate otherwise. So I was thinking about my decision with some consternation as I ran up to GAP at the more leisurely hour of 9:00am.

Guess who I ran into? Himself! That was really cool. The Vivacious Redhead and I ran with a new guy for a counter-clockwise loop of the park, with the Guru meeting up with us for the last half. Just being able to listen to him talk about running was a pleasure.

And then he suggested another loop. The Vivacious Redhead and the new guy were game for running to the Tennis Pavilion, at a slower pace. He gave us a head start. And then flew by me before I passed Third. He would slow for a little and then take off. Running easily, not breathing hard. I was having my first tempo run post-injury, with no breakfast! I got the sense he was trying to push me a bit. I kept him in sight the whole time, which is something I'm proud of, given how slow I've been running. I watched his back become microscopic and disappear, all in the time it took for me to shout, "have a great rest of your run!".

I don't know if he even heard me.

By the time I met back up with the others, I was so happy to tone down the pace to a jog.

But the coffee and conversation with the Vivacious Redhead was a treat. I love it when we get to go to Milk Bar! After over eight miles, iced coffee tastes delicious sliding smoothly down the throat.