On I went, out of the wood, passing the man leading without knowing I was going to do so. Flip-flap, flip-flap, jog-trot, jog-trot, curnchslap-crunchslap, across the middle of a broad field again, rhythmically running in my greyhound effortless fashion, knowing I had won the race though it wasn't half over, won it if I wanted it, could go on for ten or fifteen or twenty miles if I had to and drop dead at the finish of it, which would be the same, in the end, as living an honest life like the governor wanted me to. -Alan Sillitoe, "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"

Friday, July 22, 2011

A few things...

First off, The Brooklyn Marathon.

Eight laps of Prospect Park.

A much needed marathon in the city's most populated borough, or a crazy, crazy exercise in running in circles? I would kind of lean toward the latter.

The deets: 20 November, in Brooklyn. Only 250 spots, and it was 25% full yesterday. Why anyone would ever want leave Manhattan for a race, I don't know. I'd be there, but I'm going to be running another race in Nashville that day, hopefully. Of course, the super hardcore will be doing 9 laps of Central Park that weekend for the NYRR's lone ultra, the Knickerbocker 60k (last year's link). I will do that race some day. Mark my words.


Secondly, Foot Locker/Runner's World is having their Run Club again this year. Those of you with creepy good memories might remember that I did this program last year and liked it. I'm definitely doing it again this year. (I actually got really squealy and excited when I read their email about it.) If you're curious about my thoughts from last year, you can read them here.

I'm not cool enough to know how to make it that you can click on the picture for a link, so click HERE instead
The deets: every Monday and Wednesday from 25 July (that's three days from now, heads' up) through 14 September. Meets at Columbus Circle at 6:30pm. I'll be there. So will my friend Kate. What more do you need to know?

In case anyone is curious, next week I'll share some of my thoughts on the Jack Rabbit program I've been doing for the past eight weeks and how it compared to this program. If I make it through the weekend, that is.


Thirdly, the NYRR long training run that I'll be doing tomorrow has been scaled back. Originally it was to be a 20m run with paces up through 11 minute miles, meaning that the slowest group would be out running for nearly 4 hours. They're asking the pace groups to back off by 30 seconds per mile and closing the run off at 3 hours, which thanks to the logistics of the run (it's a multi-loop course) could be as little as 11 miles.

I'm cool with that. As I write this, it's 11:30pm and the temperature is 90 with a heat index of 100. I'm no hero. I'll scale back.

But I have a question and I need advice: I have a miserable, miserable cold (I know; nothing more fun than a summer cold!).  Any tips on running with a cold? On knowing when it's okay and not okay?
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8 comments:

  1. jenntuitionFri Jul 22, 08:31:00 AM EDT

    I haven't received anything about the change for tomorrow - how did you hear about it?

    Running with a cold? In extreme heat? I'm sure I'm not alone in advising you to scale WAY back and the second you feel woozy, STOP. If you have a stuffy nose, a Breathe-Rite strip will help your breathing, though it'll be tough to keep it in place in the humidity :(

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  2. TFri Jul 22, 08:36:00 AM EDT

    Thanks, Jenny! That's exactly the sort of thing I was wondering. I'm going back and forth between "it's only in my head; I'm totally fine" and "OMG I feel miserable!" Lots of fluids today and rest are in my future.

    I *hate* the thought of not having a good long run tomorrow. HATE IT. But this is, like, god conspiring against me...

    Also, I read it on the NYRR facebook page with a confirmation of it on the RWOL forums. I think officially the NYRR is saying "check your email this afternoon."

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  3. DawnFri Jul 22, 10:12:00 AM EDT

    On the Brooklyn Marathon: 8 laps is WAY too many. Marathons feel long enough as it is. I think if I was running the exact same loop that many times I would be really, really bored and unhappy about it by the end. But that's just me.

    On the cold: conventional wisdom is the whole above/below the neck thing (i.e., if your symptoms are all above your neck - no sore throat, no chest congestion or cough - then you're good to run). Personally, I go by energy level since even with above-neck symptoms only colds just sap my energy like nothing else. I've discovered that if I'm feeling totally zonked, it's best if I just sleep it off for a few days. Three or four days of total rest is far better than nine or ten days of struggling through a cold that won't go away.

    If I were you, I'd just skip that run tomorrow, especially with the weather. Give your body a chance to rest and really fight off the cold and then get back into it when you're feeling better. It's a pisser to skip out on a long run, but you'll be just fine.

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  4. TFri Jul 22, 10:21:00 AM EDT

    Thanks, Dawn, that's EXACTLY what I'm thinking. I'm thinking right now that I'll wake up and run 2m to the start and play it by ear. If I feel okay running, I'll go with it until I don't feel okay. If I feel craptastic, I'll get on a bus and go home. I really, really need a good long run - and if it was just the head cold or just the insane heat, I might push myself. Given both? Eh, not so much.

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  5. iliketorunandcookFri Jul 22, 11:29:00 AM EDT

    lol at NYRR slowing down the groups by 30 seconds...I went out early today and I was running some 13 min miles, that's like 2 minutes slower for me...I forgot to get back to you about the next time I'd be in the city, the underwear run is filled up so I have to skip that, but I will probably be doing the labor day run in September. I'd love to come up and do the palisades or another route when its cooler as well. Feel better.

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  6. UnknownFri Jul 22, 09:25:00 PM EDT

    Feel better! Skip the LTR. Too hot, plus sick? No way. Go to the beach.

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  7. BridgetSat Jul 23, 02:56:00 PM EDT

    Ugh! Running sick and in this heat equals double the misery. Hope it went well this a.m. and you feel better soon.

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  8. TSat Jul 23, 03:43:00 PM EDT

    Thanks, Bridget! I managed 11m this morning, somehow. Not sure how. It was rough.

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