Aversion

Static Stats: 

Running: easy 3

Yoga: not until 1:00

Weather: beautiful fall day

Happy Harvest Season!  It feels like fall here in the NE.  I love love love the fall.  Running in NYC this time of year is exciting.  Everyone is preparing for either the nyc marathon or another fall race.  The park is crowed with running groups and the leaves will be changing soon.   There were even a few runners wearing long sleeve shirts today.  

During the past few months prior to signing up for Philly, I had been having an aversion to running.  I was still running, but during every run all I wanted was for the run to be over.  I've figured out what it was.   I've been running in Central Park for almost 8 years.  Central Park is amazing, without it I would not survive this big city.  That being said there is a limit to how many different routes one can run in the park, most of which are loops (thus the name of this blog).  In training for two prior marathons I exclusively ran in the park.  The easy solution to this is www.mapmyrun.com.  Its my newest addiction.  Check it out its great!

Aversion list:

Running in circles

Cucumbers

Now that's serious talent!

Yesterday's static stats:
Running: 1 hour 10 minutes- approx. 8mi. (amazingly hot!)
Yoga: the hardest class I've ever been to in my life
Cupcake consumption: 1

Here I am back at the running thing. I should say "structured running thing." Now that I have my yoga discount card aka: student i.d., I am commited to going to yoga 2x a week when possible. I love yoga. The mind connecting to movement is the perfect formula of meditation and thoughtfulness that my mind and body craves. If you've experienced it then you know what I mean, if you haven't then you should try it out. If you do try it out, it takes time to get there. Its very similar to a runner's high. A runner's high takes a certain amount of training for most before it can be acheived. The same is true with yoga. I've been practicing on and off for the past 7 years. My initial thought regarding yoga were: I'd be bored, I would pull a hamstring, I would laugh, fart or otherwise embarrass myself. I've done all of those...except farting...at least at the audible level however not at the olfactory level. Yesterday I had my very first laughing experience. My yoga instructor announced at the beginning of class that she is four months pregnant. Well, this superstar instructor is the superstar of them all. Maybe she wasn't a superstar instructor, but a superstar yogini herself. I've been to many a yoga class that was over my head, but I made do. This one was ridiculous. Seriously the hardest thing ever. At one point in class she did a cirque du' soleia style move as she instructed us to do the same. The instruction was given as if she had asked us to lie down in savasana (corpse pose). I laughed out loud and then couldn't stop. I had to bury my head. The worst part was that my dear friend A was practicing on the mat beside me. I hope the instructor wasn't too annoyed. She kept saying while looking our direction, "your in the right class. This is a level one and two class. I'll make suggestions and you can do them or not." Clearly not the right class, but seriously sister you've got talent!

Do you see what I see?

That's right!  Look at my list of races.  I've signed up for the Philly marathon. 10 weeks from today.  I know C-R-A-Z-Y.  You can count on hearing all about my preparation here.  Can't wait to share this experience with you.  My goals are BIG for this one.

Off to yoga class.  Its the best supplement to marathon training.

Loving kindness

Static Stats:

Running: very little all week (bad cold)

Weather: amazing

Behavior: not so good

Well kids, I've done it again.  You may recall earlier in the year that I uttered the unutterable at a person from the parks department who was wearing a uniform.  Well, I am once again ashamed of my mouth.  

What you non-new yorkers don't understand is that every day in NYC is like being stuck in afternoon traffic.  People are annoying, people cut you off, run into your "bumper" without saying a simple "excuse me", people talk on their phones/type on their blackberry without paying attention to anything else, you actually get cut off by cars making left turns while you have the walk sign, pushing occurs, other people's body odor infuses your nostrils, your stuck inhaling cigarette smoke because construction on a street has you walking in line where there is no room to pass and sometimes other people's bodily fluids end up on you.  Don't even get me started on the influx of tourists, the horse drawn carriages, the bikes for rent and the pedicabs.  (can you tell I live in mid town?)  Believe it or not I have left something out.  

In the above rant, I failed to mention the film crews and their egotistical belief that the streets of NYC belong to them.  Two weeks ago L and I were headed to the MET to see the Super Heroes fashion exhibit.  On our walk we saw a film crew across the street.  In unusual fashion we slowed to see what it was.  We were rudely yelled at by some film crew guy who had the important job of moving pedestrians away so they couldn't see what was happening.  There was no crowd around, no one seemed to care so it wasn't a very big job.  I guess he just needed to feel like he was moving along.  The first time he yelled at us we simply glanced across the street as we were walking.  After he yelled, I decided to pause.  He immediately yelled "if your not waiting for the bus you must move." What the ????.  Its NYC dude, chill.  I have news, He nor his film crew own Central Park East.

That's the back story to today's lashing out.  Today after fighting all of the previously mentioned grievances above I made it to Columbus Circle.  Only two more streets to cross and I would be free to run.  I was looking ahead at the walk sign to cross the street when someone stopped me.  It was yet another film crew.  Some commercial.  Who freakin cares?   I need to cross the street and the light says walk so what's the big deal let me cross.  I don't want to be in your commercial and if for some reason my back side ends up on the film, can't you edit me out?  Anyhow, that's when it happened.  I said the same word I said to the nice park ranger lady.  The difference is that this guy was kinder than the usual "film guarder."  After I said the words I refuse to type, he kindly put his hand on my back and showed me that I could in fact cross the street.

This leads me to how the week started, Monday night yoga class.  The teacher has us set our intentions for class (the meditative part of the practice).  My mantra was loving kindness.  Hmm... not so loving, not so kind.  Maybe I'll try that one again next week.  

Power month ahead: 80 circles for the month of August

Static Stats:

Cycling: an easy slow, 18 miles

Yoga: with old lovable roomie

weather: low humidity (love it)

Okay, so I put it out there 80 circles for the month of August.  I am not allowed to ride around the  lower loop in CP during bike rides to get these circles posted.  I just need to bump it up a notch.  I mean seriously I should be in the 500's by now.  

Please note, non circle running and riding days are not accounted for in these statistics.

If it wasn't for NYC (yes I'm pointing fingers)

Static Stats:

Running: 9 miles

Weather: crappy (t-storms)

Preparation isn't everything.  I woke up promptly at 4:45 this morning.  Planned to leave at 5:30 to get to the start corral.  They closed at 6:30.  At 5:30 there was serious lightening and thunder. Being as I was walking to the start (2 miles) things weren't looking so good.  I gave myself the deadline of 5:50 for the storms to clear and get there on time.  It didn't happen.  If I didn't live in this silly city it wouldn't have been a big deal.  I would have hopped in my car driven over to the race and sat there waiting for the storm to pass.  If the race wasn't in nyc, its likely that the corrals wouldn't have closed at 6:30 for a 7am race.  By 7:00 the storm had passed. 

So here's the question.  Was I just being a wimp?  The race stats say that over 10,000 people still ran today.  That means that 4,000 did not.  

Severe Thunderstorms looks like, I'll miss the race.

According to the nyrr the race is still on.  Obviously I am still sitting at home.  I am suppose to be in my corral at 89th and 5th by 6:30.  I would need to leave now to make it there on time.  Am I missing this?  I'm not going out in the 45mph wind with thunder and lightening.

Hopefully this will pass over very very soon, but I doubt it.  Sorry race fans.