Although there has been a lack of blogging about my NYC Marathon training, that doesn't mean I haven't been working my butt off (literally) with the team! This season has shown incredible progress and confidence boosting for everyone involved. My training runs with Team in Training have often been the highlights of my weeks - from hill workouts, to exploring new terrain on long runs, to exciting early morning races, to enjoying a sweaty, after practice drink and carb fest with my friends.
There is no denying that the beginning of the summer was brutal weatherwise. We stomached some intense heat, and I think that made us stronger now. Pair that with early hill workouts to build strength and high mileage to build confidence, and our season is as strong as I've ever seen team in training! It feels REALLY good to see improvement in my running and strength in general. I haven't seen PRs in races in over a year- and being able to obtain them effortlessly not only feels incredible, but natural.
I have run two races with New York Road Runners (and team in training) in the past month: The "Run for Central Park" 4-miler on July 17th (which I ran with an 8:16 min/mile pace- not bad for the beginning of the season), and the "Bronx Half Marathon" on August 15th. Lately, I have been questioning my love for endurance running. I really love running fast and hard, and you can't really do that during a marathon. Why do I run marathons then? For the mental aspect. The feeling of accomplishment in running a long distance or finishing an endurance event with confidence does so much for your mind and soul. As I've mentioned before in this blog: "Marathoning is a microcosm of your life- the strength and effort you use to push through this achievement is the same willpower used to fight through hard situations in life." The amount of struggle and speed doesn't reaallly matter so much- the point is that the person who begins a marathon is NOT the same person who ends one. Without fail.
That being said, it is a bit more fun when the run is easy. For the first time in a year and a half, I PR'd (PR=personal record) in a half marathon. I ran the Bronx in 1:55:15, which is an 8:45 min/mile pace and a 7 1/2 minute PR from the last Bronx half marathon in February of 2009. I think that is an impressive improvement, but it is even more impressive when you look at the time of my most recent half marathon: the Staten Island Half Marathon in October of 2009: 3:09:36, with a 14.28 min/mile pace. Wow.
Yes, it is nice to see improvement. However, I kind of just want to run fast all the time. We have been focusing our Tuesday night workouts on hills for the past month and a half. I cannot begin to express the joy I feel running REALLY HARD up a hill for a short amount of time. Running fast is fun and satisfying! It is impossible to run a half marathon or marathon at a sprint, or anywhere close to a sprint. I hope to get my marathon and half marathon times faster, but I don't expect to ever get that out of control "being chased by a wild animal" feeling when running an endurance event. Maybe for the last half mile (which is definitely fun!), but not throughout the race.
Which is why I would like to start focusing on adding some shorter races to my race diet. I signed up for the "5th Avenue Mile" on September 25th. That race is known for vomit inducing fast times, and I'm nervous and excited to see how much I can push my body! Sprinting is hard- and a mile is NOT a short distance to sprint.
I will also be running the Fitness Games 4-miler on September 11th- I am using it as a "test" - to see how much I can push my body at the end of a long run (I will be running do a 12-14 mile "long slow distance" previous to the 10AM race).
It is fun pushing my body. I am excited to see where this adventure takes me!
Showing posts with label hill repeats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hill repeats. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Friday, August 21, 2009
Heat Wave in NYC
Happy Friday!
I have taken great pride in not turning on my air conditioning all summer. Some may call me crazy, but I have managed to survive up to this point in my fifth floor walk up in Washington Heights without hiking up my utilities bill with "unnecessary" air conditioning. (okay, fine: the reason for not turning on the air is less of a money saving endeavor as it is pure laziness. I can't fit the plug behind my bed and I'm too lazy to find a solution).
New York City has been brutal for the past week. The weather has been hoovering in the 90s all day and all night, and suddenly, that lack of air conditioning has become brutally apparent. (Don't worry- I do have fans. AND I'm still alive. I think I'm going to stick it out until next summer).
What is more scary than the thought of trying to sleep in the sweltering heat, is trying to RUN in the sweltering heat. I was very nervous for the half marathon on Sunday; people were dropping like flies. Seriously. Stretchers were everywhere. Luckily, the race was early enough and there were enough water/gatorade stations for me to feel okay. Tuesday night practice was a different story. We got this email from Ramon on Monday night:
NOTE: DUE TO THE EXPECTED WEATHER, I AM MAKING A COUPLE OF CHANGES TO THIS WEEK'S WORKOUT
(you see, I do have a soft side and do have a heart )
MEETING SPOT: URBAN ATHLETICS AT 6:35 PM
WE will have 2 Workout options, you make you own decision which one you want to attend:
OPTION 1: Meet at 90th street at benches (inside park) for a 5-6 Miles EASY Hot/sweaty/sucky run !!
OPTION 2: Meet at 97th street off 5th (inside the park) for a Cross Training Killing Workout + Running !!
You decide which of the workouts/options you want to do, just go to the proper location.
NOTE: KEEP in mind that if the weather gets better, the coaches could/may change the workout at the last minute.
I was verrry relieved. Plus, I LOVE cross training workouts! After this marathon, I'm going to take a nice, long break from running and devote myself to strength training and yoga. I want to be toned!
Tuesday night was very very hot. We were sweating profusely by the end of our warm up to the edge of Harlem Hill at 108th. I was very grateful that Ramon was going easy on us by making us hold 90 degree squats for minutes at a time (right). Unfortunately, Ramon took advantage of his authority to change the workout at the last minute (in his note at the bottom of his email). Yes, we were going to do lots of cross training (in the form of squats), but we were going to break up the monotony of the squats by running Harlem Hill! and he meant push it. I wasn't feeling all that great, so I didn't go to my limit. But it was still HARD. We did 4 sets of hills/squats, called it a day and jogged back to Urban Athletics. Oh, we didn't even stretch. It was too hot out :-)
Exciting news: I bought new sneakers on Tuesday! After the half marathon on Sunday, I noticed that my sneakers were a little worn in. It was time for change. I went down to Jack Rabbit Sports on 14th and 6th and tried on a few different pairs. I love Jack Rabbit. They are awesome because they pick out some shoes based on what you need (for me, I need a good stability shoe. I run outward too much) and then you get to try them on the treadmill while a camera videotapes you! My last three pairs have been Saucony brand (2 of them being the Hurricane). I love Saucony, they are great for stability, however, I've been feeling that they've been a little "mushy" around the ankles. This time, I opted for the Brooks Adrenaline brand- they were snugger around the ankles, and loser at the toe of the shoe. I wish they had a size 8 1/4- I seemed to need one of those "in-between" sizes- but it is better to go bigger than smaller. Here's the shoe:
So, I've been breaking these shoes in. Will let you know my full report when they've been beaten up enough.
I have recently starting seeing a nutrition counselor. This is mainly for digestive reasons; making me feel better about the foods I eat and giving me more energy for daily life and my workouts. Some of the most important things I've learned and have tried to incorporate are 1) eating light to heavy throughout the day and 2) food combining.
There are many misconceptions about eating a big meal at the beginning of the day. The truth is, digestion is a lot of hard work for the body, and the less work your body has to do, the more energy you will have. This doesn't mean it's good to starve yourself all day (very bad actually!). I am just trying to eat lighter and simpler meals for breakfast and lunch, and save dinner to really satisfy myself and signal that the day is over!
Food combining is a simple concept: Foods from different food groups (protein, starch, nuts, and fruits) digest at different rates, and therefore eating them together slows down and clogs digestion, making the body work harder. Vegetables are neutral, so you can eat them with anything. I have been trying to avoid combining the 2 biggest groups, proteins and starches. This simple change has made a huge difference in how I feel. I really notice when I miscombine now, especially before a hard run.
On Thursday, I not only ate a huge meal of Indian food early in the day, but I also ate my proteins with my starches. I had planned on doing hill repeats a few hours later. Not a good combintation. After my hour and a half food-coma induced nap, I begrudgingly pulled on my running clothes and dragged myself to do some Cat Hill repeats. I am very impressed that I was able to get a workout when I kept wanting to vomit everytime I pushed myself up the hill (sorry, too much information). I guess this is how you learn! And I will continue to work on the light-heavy concept and food combining, no matter how good Indian food sounds at 1PM. I'm going to blame my roommate Brian for being a bad influence :-)
Tomorrows's workout- the last Saturday of Summer Streets. I am scheduled for a 16 miler at 7AM. Woohoo!
PS- Recently became obsessed with young thai coconuts and the raw, unpasturized water inside. Yum. Natural electrolytes! This is truly nature's candy.
I have taken great pride in not turning on my air conditioning all summer. Some may call me crazy, but I have managed to survive up to this point in my fifth floor walk up in Washington Heights without hiking up my utilities bill with "unnecessary" air conditioning. (okay, fine: the reason for not turning on the air is less of a money saving endeavor as it is pure laziness. I can't fit the plug behind my bed and I'm too lazy to find a solution).
New York City has been brutal for the past week. The weather has been hoovering in the 90s all day and all night, and suddenly, that lack of air conditioning has become brutally apparent. (Don't worry- I do have fans. AND I'm still alive. I think I'm going to stick it out until next summer).
What is more scary than the thought of trying to sleep in the sweltering heat, is trying to RUN in the sweltering heat. I was very nervous for the half marathon on Sunday; people were dropping like flies. Seriously. Stretchers were everywhere. Luckily, the race was early enough and there were enough water/gatorade stations for me to feel okay. Tuesday night practice was a different story. We got this email from Ramon on Monday night:
NOTE: DUE TO THE EXPECTED WEATHER, I AM MAKING A COUPLE OF CHANGES TO THIS WEEK'S WORKOUT
(you see, I do have a soft side and do have a heart )
MEETING SPOT: URBAN ATHLETICS AT 6:35 PM
WE will have 2 Workout options, you make you own decision which one you want to attend:
OPTION 1: Meet at 90th street at benches (inside park) for a 5-6 Miles EASY Hot/sweaty/sucky run !!
OPTION 2: Meet at 97th street off 5th (inside the park) for a Cross Training Killing Workout + Running !!
You decide which of the workouts/options you want to do, just go to the proper location.
NOTE: KEEP in mind that if the weather gets better, the coaches could/may change the workout at the last minute.
I was verrry relieved. Plus, I LOVE cross training workouts! After this marathon, I'm going to take a nice, long break from running and devote myself to strength training and yoga. I want to be toned!
Tuesday night was very very hot. We were sweating profusely by the end of our warm up to the edge of Harlem Hill at 108th. I was very grateful that Ramon was going easy on us by making us hold 90 degree squats for minutes at a time (right). Unfortunately, Ramon took advantage of his authority to change the workout at the last minute (in his note at the bottom of his email). Yes, we were going to do lots of cross training (in the form of squats), but we were going to break up the monotony of the squats by running Harlem Hill! and he meant push it. I wasn't feeling all that great, so I didn't go to my limit. But it was still HARD. We did 4 sets of hills/squats, called it a day and jogged back to Urban Athletics. Oh, we didn't even stretch. It was too hot out :-)
Exciting news: I bought new sneakers on Tuesday! After the half marathon on Sunday, I noticed that my sneakers were a little worn in. It was time for change. I went down to Jack Rabbit Sports on 14th and 6th and tried on a few different pairs. I love Jack Rabbit. They are awesome because they pick out some shoes based on what you need (for me, I need a good stability shoe. I run outward too much) and then you get to try them on the treadmill while a camera videotapes you! My last three pairs have been Saucony brand (2 of them being the Hurricane). I love Saucony, they are great for stability, however, I've been feeling that they've been a little "mushy" around the ankles. This time, I opted for the Brooks Adrenaline brand- they were snugger around the ankles, and loser at the toe of the shoe. I wish they had a size 8 1/4- I seemed to need one of those "in-between" sizes- but it is better to go bigger than smaller. Here's the shoe:
So, I've been breaking these shoes in. Will let you know my full report when they've been beaten up enough.
I have recently starting seeing a nutrition counselor. This is mainly for digestive reasons; making me feel better about the foods I eat and giving me more energy for daily life and my workouts. Some of the most important things I've learned and have tried to incorporate are 1) eating light to heavy throughout the day and 2) food combining.
There are many misconceptions about eating a big meal at the beginning of the day. The truth is, digestion is a lot of hard work for the body, and the less work your body has to do, the more energy you will have. This doesn't mean it's good to starve yourself all day (very bad actually!). I am just trying to eat lighter and simpler meals for breakfast and lunch, and save dinner to really satisfy myself and signal that the day is over!
Food combining is a simple concept: Foods from different food groups (protein, starch, nuts, and fruits) digest at different rates, and therefore eating them together slows down and clogs digestion, making the body work harder. Vegetables are neutral, so you can eat them with anything. I have been trying to avoid combining the 2 biggest groups, proteins and starches. This simple change has made a huge difference in how I feel. I really notice when I miscombine now, especially before a hard run.
On Thursday, I not only ate a huge meal of Indian food early in the day, but I also ate my proteins with my starches. I had planned on doing hill repeats a few hours later. Not a good combintation. After my hour and a half food-coma induced nap, I begrudgingly pulled on my running clothes and dragged myself to do some Cat Hill repeats. I am very impressed that I was able to get a workout when I kept wanting to vomit everytime I pushed myself up the hill (sorry, too much information). I guess this is how you learn! And I will continue to work on the light-heavy concept and food combining, no matter how good Indian food sounds at 1PM. I'm going to blame my roommate Brian for being a bad influence :-)
Tomorrows's workout- the last Saturday of Summer Streets. I am scheduled for a 16 miler at 7AM. Woohoo!
PS- Recently became obsessed with young thai coconuts and the raw, unpasturized water inside. Yum. Natural electrolytes! This is truly nature's candy.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
hills in the heat
Coach Ramon's Email about tonight's workout:
ADVANCE WORKOUT
Course: hmmmm..... you are doing the Harlem Hill !! lucky you !!
The workout: simple, up and down Harlem hill for as long as the coaches want to keep you there.
Goal of the workout: pure strengthening workout. No much to cover here.
Push the way up, recover the way down. This will strengthen your calf, hip, quad muscles as it will give your aerobic system a good push therefore making your fitter !!
This is a long uphill, concentrate on effort not speed, don't think or focus on keeping speed, focus on putting effort, your breathing is challenging pretty much from the get go, the goal is to build the lactic acid kind of early and continue to push thru it, so the body will be force to flush it.
Yes, it is a hard workout, go ahead, try to enjoy it.
There is nothing like a hill repeat workout that will make you feel like you are really accomplishing something! and make you sleep REALLLLY well.
Yesterday I tried the "Core Fusion Sport" class at the Exhale Spa on Central Park South. This is the description from the website: Our newest proprietary class, Core Fusion Sport, is a total body workout that is designed to help you improve your performance in sports while reducing your risk of sports related injuries. Using a combination of lateral and twisting movements, this barreless one-hour class will chisel and firm your arms, shoulders, legs and butt while focusing on your core ¬ the center of your strength. This calorie-burning class works with resistance bands, core balls and mat abdominals with periodic jump backs for cardio and stamina benefits. Balanced flexibility exercises at the end will cool you down and increase your range of movement for sports. We will do this class in a slightly elevated temp room with motivating music, so be prepared to sweat and work out with a passion!
I was excited to sweat, and sweat I did (then again, I am a sweater. I will sweat after a very small amount of exertion). The first 40 minutes of the class was the hard part (strength training alternated with cardio without much break) and was very reminiscent of what I would have done with one of my trainers- without the one on one attention. It was hard, but I had to do the exercises right to get the full benefits- which meant I had to concentrate on form (my weakness). The prop we used for most of the class was a medicine ball with 2 handles- we used it for pushups, plank, extended weight lifting, etc. The end of the class got a little easier, and by the end I was not sweating anymore. I had planned to go running on the treadmill later that evening to get my cardio in, however, around 7PM exhaustion hit me. Pure exhaustion. Like, I need a nap exhaustion. I love getting this feeling after strength training. It means I'm really working out new muscles and I WILL see results. Turns out, I did not make it to the gym that night....
I will definitely try it again. With the student rate, it is $20 per walk in class. This may seem expensive, but compared to the regular price (I think that's in the $30s) and compared to what a personal training session would cost, I am saving a lot of money.
Off to go run some hills in the heat! Stay hydrated.
ADVANCE WORKOUT
Course: hmmmm..... you are doing the Harlem Hill !! lucky you !!
The workout: simple, up and down Harlem hill for as long as the coaches want to keep you there.
Goal of the workout: pure strengthening workout. No much to cover here.
Push the way up, recover the way down. This will strengthen your calf, hip, quad muscles as it will give your aerobic system a good push therefore making your fitter !!
This is a long uphill, concentrate on effort not speed, don't think or focus on keeping speed, focus on putting effort, your breathing is challenging pretty much from the get go, the goal is to build the lactic acid kind of early and continue to push thru it, so the body will be force to flush it.
Yes, it is a hard workout, go ahead, try to enjoy it.
There is nothing like a hill repeat workout that will make you feel like you are really accomplishing something! and make you sleep REALLLLY well.
Yesterday I tried the "Core Fusion Sport" class at the Exhale Spa on Central Park South. This is the description from the website: Our newest proprietary class, Core Fusion Sport, is a total body workout that is designed to help you improve your performance in sports while reducing your risk of sports related injuries. Using a combination of lateral and twisting movements, this barreless one-hour class will chisel and firm your arms, shoulders, legs and butt while focusing on your core ¬ the center of your strength. This calorie-burning class works with resistance bands, core balls and mat abdominals with periodic jump backs for cardio and stamina benefits. Balanced flexibility exercises at the end will cool you down and increase your range of movement for sports. We will do this class in a slightly elevated temp room with motivating music, so be prepared to sweat and work out with a passion!
I was excited to sweat, and sweat I did (then again, I am a sweater. I will sweat after a very small amount of exertion). The first 40 minutes of the class was the hard part (strength training alternated with cardio without much break) and was very reminiscent of what I would have done with one of my trainers- without the one on one attention. It was hard, but I had to do the exercises right to get the full benefits- which meant I had to concentrate on form (my weakness). The prop we used for most of the class was a medicine ball with 2 handles- we used it for pushups, plank, extended weight lifting, etc. The end of the class got a little easier, and by the end I was not sweating anymore. I had planned to go running on the treadmill later that evening to get my cardio in, however, around 7PM exhaustion hit me. Pure exhaustion. Like, I need a nap exhaustion. I love getting this feeling after strength training. It means I'm really working out new muscles and I WILL see results. Turns out, I did not make it to the gym that night....
I will definitely try it again. With the student rate, it is $20 per walk in class. This may seem expensive, but compared to the regular price (I think that's in the $30s) and compared to what a personal training session would cost, I am saving a lot of money.
Off to go run some hills in the heat! Stay hydrated.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Salty Sweating!
After having rain nearly every day for the month of June, it was very refreshing to have a clear, beautiful Fourth of July weekend. I have been feeling a bit under the weather since last Tuesday (running in the rain may have had something to do with it...). In fact, for the first time in 2 years of working out, I took 2 days in a row off. Mentally, that was pretty hard for me to do. But since I live in New York and spend a lot of time on my feet, that is okay right?
I was saving up enough energy for my Saturday morning run with Team in Training. The scheduled run was a little different than usual. Usually, we base our distances on mileage, not time, but this time, we broke off into groups of 80 min, 100 min, and 120 min runs. I chose to run for 120 minutes (because I'm crazy and sick! I had to make up for a few days!). Unfortunately, our pace coach misunderstood the workout, because we ended up doing a much shorter workout. According to a running partner's Garmin, we only ended up running about 9 miles (which is fine. I probably shouldn't have been pushing myself too hard anyway).
Instead of running in Central Park like usual, we broke the monotony and headed and headed over to the path by the westside highway! It was a beautiful run, we were right by the water and the course was nice and FLAT. There were also a ton of cops out getting the course ready for the fireworks that evening. As we ran, a few of my running buddies pointed out their apartments across the river in Jersey, in prime locations for the fireworks. Although I didn't get as central a view of the fireworks, I had a great time at the BBQ I attended :-)
I also learned from Saturday's run that I am a very salty sweater! I never sweat like this in cooler weather. I could have done a lot of face-exfoliating with all the salt residue covering my skin. This means I need to take a lot of extra electrolytes. I like using the Emergen-C packets you add to water (usually use these for bikram yoga) , and I love the Zico coconut waters as a natural form of electrolytes. Adding extra salt to my diet doesn't hurt either. It is VERY important especially in this hot weather to take in these extra electrolytes. During the Disney Marathon, we even did multiple "salt shots" the day before and on race day (we would steal salt packets from the cafeteria and swallow them with water. not tequila). This helps us to retain the water we drink and stay hydrated during and after runs.
Speaking of Bikram Yoga: I have been practicing it on and off for 2 years. My friends have always thought I was crazy; to submit myself to a 110 degree room for 90 minutes. Recently, I have encouraged some of my girlfriends to try it and see what all the fuss is about. I could never have imagined the response I got from them! They LOVE it!! Mind you, I do enjoy it. I love the feeling of the release of toxins and pushing my body to the next level. My flexibility and balance have improved, and I think I have a little more control of my mind. Not to mention it is an AWESOME and easy hangover cure :-) But I would never predict the obsession my friends have developed! Maybe everyone should try it! Anway, I have been practicing bikram about twice a week recently, and I feel it complements my running well, especially when I need recovery. After a particularly brutal 20 miler towards the end of last marathon season, I started my one week of unlimited classes at the Bikram studio on 145th st. It really quicked my recovery, and I still felt lke I was getting a good workout.
Our workout Tuesday was brutal! It was a beautiful evening, perfect for a run in the park. The advanced was scheduled for our first hill workout (post-poned from the week before when we were rained out). We ran on the trails within the park this time, from around 73rd street to 86th street. This strip consisted of 2 hills, a smaller one to "warm up" with, and then a big one to really use our energy on. When we got to the reservoir at 86th street, we'd recover down both hills and then start again! Aren't hill repeats fun....
The approach to the workout was to conserve energy- really go for it, but save enough energy on the first hill so we could really perform on the second (and Ramon was right there at the beginning of the 2nd hill to make sure we didn't cheat).
Ramon gave us a length speech at the beginning of the workout making it clear that this is the time in our training where we need to build strength. We are allowed to experiment, and maybe push it a little too hard at times, because that is how we learn what our body can handle and build strength and speed in the process. The endurance will come later. We need to get our bodies used to producing lactic acid in large amounts so that the body can get used to removing it quickly. (Lactic acid is produced during cardio activity, and when the activity gets too strenuous, the body has a hard time removing that lactic acid at a quick rate, which results in that sluggish/unmoveable feeling in the legs). This is the time in the season where we have to train that lactic acid to have a faster turnover of the lactic acid. Basically, we just have to try and run through the pain.
Sounds fun, right?
After our intense hill practice, I met my mentor buddy Tammy and a few of her mentees for a drink, ran over to Patsy's and slammed a few slices of pizza with a group of TNTers, showered, changed, and headed out for a night with the girls! We went to this beautiful wine bar, called "Wine and Roses" on Columbus between 73rd and 74th. The owner happened to be at the table next to us and thought we were precious, so she took our picture with promises that she would add it to the website. I'll keep you posted on our celebrity status when the pictures go up!
I was saving up enough energy for my Saturday morning run with Team in Training. The scheduled run was a little different than usual. Usually, we base our distances on mileage, not time, but this time, we broke off into groups of 80 min, 100 min, and 120 min runs. I chose to run for 120 minutes (because I'm crazy and sick! I had to make up for a few days!). Unfortunately, our pace coach misunderstood the workout, because we ended up doing a much shorter workout. According to a running partner's Garmin, we only ended up running about 9 miles (which is fine. I probably shouldn't have been pushing myself too hard anyway).
Instead of running in Central Park like usual, we broke the monotony and headed and headed over to the path by the westside highway! It was a beautiful run, we were right by the water and the course was nice and FLAT. There were also a ton of cops out getting the course ready for the fireworks that evening. As we ran, a few of my running buddies pointed out their apartments across the river in Jersey, in prime locations for the fireworks. Although I didn't get as central a view of the fireworks, I had a great time at the BBQ I attended :-)
I also learned from Saturday's run that I am a very salty sweater! I never sweat like this in cooler weather. I could have done a lot of face-exfoliating with all the salt residue covering my skin. This means I need to take a lot of extra electrolytes. I like using the Emergen-C packets you add to water (usually use these for bikram yoga) , and I love the Zico coconut waters as a natural form of electrolytes. Adding extra salt to my diet doesn't hurt either. It is VERY important especially in this hot weather to take in these extra electrolytes. During the Disney Marathon, we even did multiple "salt shots" the day before and on race day (we would steal salt packets from the cafeteria and swallow them with water. not tequila). This helps us to retain the water we drink and stay hydrated during and after runs.
Speaking of Bikram Yoga: I have been practicing it on and off for 2 years. My friends have always thought I was crazy; to submit myself to a 110 degree room for 90 minutes. Recently, I have encouraged some of my girlfriends to try it and see what all the fuss is about. I could never have imagined the response I got from them! They LOVE it!! Mind you, I do enjoy it. I love the feeling of the release of toxins and pushing my body to the next level. My flexibility and balance have improved, and I think I have a little more control of my mind. Not to mention it is an AWESOME and easy hangover cure :-) But I would never predict the obsession my friends have developed! Maybe everyone should try it! Anway, I have been practicing bikram about twice a week recently, and I feel it complements my running well, especially when I need recovery. After a particularly brutal 20 miler towards the end of last marathon season, I started my one week of unlimited classes at the Bikram studio on 145th st. It really quicked my recovery, and I still felt lke I was getting a good workout.
Our workout Tuesday was brutal! It was a beautiful evening, perfect for a run in the park. The advanced was scheduled for our first hill workout (post-poned from the week before when we were rained out). We ran on the trails within the park this time, from around 73rd street to 86th street. This strip consisted of 2 hills, a smaller one to "warm up" with, and then a big one to really use our energy on. When we got to the reservoir at 86th street, we'd recover down both hills and then start again! Aren't hill repeats fun....
The approach to the workout was to conserve energy- really go for it, but save enough energy on the first hill so we could really perform on the second (and Ramon was right there at the beginning of the 2nd hill to make sure we didn't cheat).
Ramon gave us a length speech at the beginning of the workout making it clear that this is the time in our training where we need to build strength. We are allowed to experiment, and maybe push it a little too hard at times, because that is how we learn what our body can handle and build strength and speed in the process. The endurance will come later. We need to get our bodies used to producing lactic acid in large amounts so that the body can get used to removing it quickly. (Lactic acid is produced during cardio activity, and when the activity gets too strenuous, the body has a hard time removing that lactic acid at a quick rate, which results in that sluggish/unmoveable feeling in the legs). This is the time in the season where we have to train that lactic acid to have a faster turnover of the lactic acid. Basically, we just have to try and run through the pain.
Sounds fun, right?
After our intense hill practice, I met my mentor buddy Tammy and a few of her mentees for a drink, ran over to Patsy's and slammed a few slices of pizza with a group of TNTers, showered, changed, and headed out for a night with the girls! We went to this beautiful wine bar, called "Wine and Roses" on Columbus between 73rd and 74th. The owner happened to be at the table next to us and thought we were precious, so she took our picture with promises that she would add it to the website. I'll keep you posted on our celebrity status when the pictures go up!
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