2013 Brooklyn Half Partaaaaay!

I'm back!  The last few months of wedding planning overwhelmed me quite a bit.   I had trouble making time for many things, including blogging.  I now have a ton of material from races and other activities over the past few months to keep me going for quite some time.

I'll come back to that later though.  I wasn't going to start the blog back up until next week.  Then I went to the Brooklyn Half Pre-Party to pick up my packet for tomorrow's race.  This is not the same race it was in 2011!

The Brooklyn Half was my first half marathon so it will always hold a special place in my heart.  When I ran in 2011 there wasn't much fanfare around the race. NYRR pushed it as a celebrate Brooklyn event with a Coney Island party after the race.  Other than that, it wasn't so different from any other NYRR race.  Packet pick-up was at the NYRR HQ, there was one wave for the race start, and no finisher medal.

For 2013, NYRR has pulled out all of the stops!  Packet pick-up is taking place at the Tobacco Warehouse in Dumbo.  We stopped by on Wednesday night.  The setup was very cool.  For those of you not familiar the Tobacco Warehouse is an unroofed 1 story brick structure with large open "windows" near the waterfront in Brooklyn.  It is open to the public as a part of Brooklyn Bridge Park and is usually empty except when hosting events.  NYRR gave it a transparent roof, had a DJ, and plenty of decorations to make the space feel completely different and well themed for Brooklyn Running.  Even if you're not running the race you can stop by to check it out.  The party continues today from 10 am until 9 pm.

T-shirt pickup area

New Balance was there selling Goods.  These treadmills belonged to JackRabbit Sports, who also had representatives and goods for sale.

What more could you want?

At the information counter, Alek and I donated money toward Hurricane Sandy relief and received a Brooklyn Half poster as well as a few temporary running tattoos with quips including "Run your meatballs off" and "Outrun the Subway".  I plan to sport one of the tattoos for the race tomorrow; photo coming on Monday!

Poster for a donation

race shirt with reflective NB on sleeve

Outside the Tobacco Warehouse the tattoo phrases were projected onto the wall above food trucks.  We had plans after the party so we didn't eat food truck food while there.

There will be two start waves for the race.  I'm in the first wave, which needs to be in the corral by 6:30 AM.  The second wave, where my new husband will start, needs to be in the corral by 7:05.  I'm not much faster than Alek, so I'll have about a half hour to cheer at the finish.

Based on the pre-race experience, the race itself will have to be more fun than it was 2 years ago.  Maybe simply because of additional excitement from the build up but I also expect more effort to have been put into on-course entertainment.

Race Recap: Disney Family Fun 5k

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past week - we just got back from an exhausting Disney trip and I didn't find time to post while there.  Now that I'm home, I have lots to share about the Run Disney events that I participated in over the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend!  I'll start with the Family 5K since that was our first event of the weekend.

On Friday January 11, the Walt Disney World Fun Run 5K started at 6:30 AM.  This meant getting up at 4:00 to catch a bus over to Epcot from the Coronado Springs Resort.  My parents entered the race with us.  Unfortunately, my mom has a torn tendon in her foot so we just walked the 5k.  This did give us time to stop of for many character photos on the race course through Epcot Center.  I'll post some of the character photos later, once they're uploaded!

It was nice to take the race at a slow pace this year.  Last year we tried to run, but got caught up by large crowds of people.  It was a bit frustrating at the time.  This year it took us an hour and a half to finish, but it was more fun to take character photos.

The 2013 shirt and medal were better than those from 2012.  They featured Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto! Overall it was a fun event, despite our sleep depravation!

Race bib, medal, and shirt

How to Buy Ski Boots

Skiing isn't strictly related to running, but I do use it as a form of winter cross training.  So I'm going talk about my boot buying experiences because I think its important for anyone considering a boot purchase to read!

In the fall of 2010, I decided that I was finished renting every time I went on a ski trip!  I went to a ski shop near where my parents live.  With the help of a sales person, I tried on a few pairs of boots.  He told me that the boots should be very tight but didn't give any other description of how my boots should fit.  I walked out excited for the season to start with my very own boot, ski, and pole set.  I settled on the Dalbello Aspire 67 boot.

Alek and I didn't ski a lot in the 2010-2011 season.  Every time we did ski, the boots hurt my shins and the top of my foot.  I thought that they must still be breaking in, so I stuck with them for another season.  During the 2011-2012 season, we went on one ski trip.  The boot fit was worse than I remembered, this time I felt like my calf was also being pinched.

At the start of the current season, we planned several trips.  During the first trip, I noticed that my boots were cutting off circulation to my toes.  The calf and shin issues were still plaguing me.  While I hadn't skiied much in the previous two seasons, the boots should definitely have been broken in by now.

This past weekend we had our second ski trip of the season.  Knowing that every trip would be miserable in the boots, I did some investigation to find the best place for boot fitting near Killington.  Several forums highly recommended Northern Ski Works.  Before skiing on Saturday, we stopped in.

Once inside, I was directed to the boot fitting area.  After waiting for my turn, I met Hal, a bootfitter,  and explained how my old boots were wrong.  He had me take off my shoes and then he flexed my foot at the ankle to determine my range of motion.  He mentioned that my ankles don't want to bend beyond 90 degrees and with my good musculature (read huge calf muscles from running), my calf muscles actually push against the ski boot.  Since my ankles don't want to bend very far, this lifts my heel out of the boot causing all sorts of issues because my leg is being pushed too far forward.

Hal fit me with the Nordica Cruise 85w ski boot.  It has a more straight stance than most boots, accommodating my ankle stiffness.  The boots are also highly adjustable.  Hal was able to adjust the top of the cuff near my calf so that it would fold out more giving my calf some space.  He adjusted the "canting" or the left to right tilt of the boot so that the tongue wouldn't bother my shin bone.  As I mentioned pressure points, he pushed the padding of the liner down.  Hal said that some of the pressure points would have naturally gone away as I broke the boots in, but he helped me get comfortable nonetheless.  He also put a lift in the boot liner so that my heel would touch the bottom of the boot even when my ankle didn't want to flex.  Finally, I was having some rubbing at my left ankle.  Hal took a look at my ankles and said that mine isn't located where ankles typically are located, but he heated the boot and molded the plastic to make space for my ankle.

My boot purchasing experience at Northern Ski Works was amazing.  After the visit, I had the best day of skiing for quite some time.  I had much more control and my feet and legs were comfortable even at the end of the day.  I strongly recommend going somewhere with a full time boot fitter if you're thinking of purchasing your own set!

Taper?

With just one week remaining until I run the Goofy Challenge, I'm officially in taper mode.  I happen to be including quite a bit of skiing in my taper but I think its ok. Skiing definitely gets me squatting and exercises different muscles than running.

I'll see how all of this skiing affects the races next week!  Until then, I'll spend this weekend skiing and get back to some short runs on Monday.

2013: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger!

Happy New Year!

2012 was a successful running year for me.  However, the sheer number of races (one half marathon each month and 9 NYRR races) caused a hectic schedule.  For 2013, I want to focus on being harder, better, faster, and stronger!

Harder: Run more difficult races.  This will start next weekend with the Goofy's Marathon and a Half Challenge.  I'll be running a half marathon on Saturday followed by a full marathon on Sunday.

Better: This aspect describes my training plans for the year.  I plan to include much more speed work and strength training so that I can become faster without the injuries that plagued me at the end of last year.

Faster:  My main speed goal is to run a half marathon in under 2 hours.  I'm planning to do this for the NYC Half in March!  I'd also like to break my full marathon PR of 4:36, by shaving 7 minutes off my time, I can finish in under 4:30.  I'll have two chances this year to break my marathon record.  One will come next week and the other will be with the NYC Marathon in November.

Stronger: After the Goofy Challenge I'm planning to include P90X into my training regimen.  This will help prepare me for the Spartan Sprint Alek and I are planning to run in July!

What fitness goals do you have for 2013?

Running for a Cause: NYC Half

I've wanted to run the NYC Half ever since I learned about it but so far have been unable to win the lottery  When the results for 2013 came in and I learned that Alek would be in the race while I was denied, I was excited for him but not sure what I wanted to do.  I was hoping that the Sleepy Hollow Half or the Allstate New York Half would be held on the same weekend so I could also run a race.  Sadly both of those will take place on March 23 and I've already got plans!

I noticed that fundraising spots were still open for the New York City half, so I decided that was the way I would enter the race!  I've decided to join the American Cancer Society's DetermiNation  team to help with cancer research and prevention.

After 2012, its pretty clear that a half marathon is no challenge for me.  I want my supporters to feel like they're helping to push me through something challenging, so I'm going to train to run the NYC half in less than 2 hours.  I've never before been able to do this, but with some dedicated training it will be possible.

If you'd like to help end cancer and support me in my sub 2 hour NYC Half, you can donate at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/sadpony.  Remember, every dollar helps!

2012 Year End Summary

I did it!  My 2012 resolutions were to run 1 race of at least half marathon length each month and also to qualify for the 2013 New York Marathon through the NYRR 9+1 program.

I ran 11 half marathons and 1 full marathon.  I also managed to get faster through the year.  Check out all of those medals! (There are only 11 because Grete's Great Gallop didn't have a finisher medal. So disappointing.).

I ran 9 NYRR races, and was able to transfer my registration for the cancelled Dash to the Finish Line to a different race for next year.  I'll be running NYC in 2013!

Stay tuned for my 2013 plans!  Merry Christmas!