Cow Harbor 10k

My friend Jeannette and I did the Cow Harbor 10k yesterday in Northport, LI. This is one of the most difficult and competitive courses in the area and a race I've done every year since 2006. I decided to treat it as a training run this time because I'm focusing on the marathon and I knew with all the longer runs I've been doing, I probably wouldn't be as fast as I was last year when I finished in 41:45. Also, the knee is still an issue and I'm getting over a cold that just won't give up.

The first mile includes a very steep climb, so I told myself to just start easy and find my pace. Training run, remember? Sounds like a good plan but in a race, it's so easy to get carried away. My first mile was a 6:37. What happened to training run? Eh, you know what? The weather's perfect, I haven't raced since June and I'm feeling pretty good. Maybe I can do this, I thought. But my mind kept going back and forth with every mile. I went from wanting to give it all I have to remembering that I'm dealing with a knee problem, a cold, and that I have the marathon to think about, which is exactly 5 weeks from today. I also found myself being more cautious than usual on the downhills because I didn't trust my knee as much as I normally do, but I also felt stronger on the climbs than I thought I would.

Then I started passing other women and wondering if I could place top three in my age group. Cow Harbor is one of those races everyone knows, even non-runners, and it draws a large field of national talent. As an example, Ryan Hall broke the course record and won in 2006 in 28:55. This year, the female winner was Katie McGregor in 33:12. At this race, I think I'll always be an age grouper! I was 10th in my age group in '06, 5th in '07 and 7th in '08. Despite finishing 54 seconds slower than I did last year, I placed 3rd yesterday!

I was pretty excited to finally receive a Cow Harbor award. I hung out, patiently waiting for them to get through all the top-10 awards and a raffle drawing that went on forever. And then everyone just starts leaving! Turns out they just mail out the age group awards because they "don't have time" to hand them out in person. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait just a little longer. What a bummer!

Stronger

Biking around Central Park this morning, I happen to be keeping pace with a guy I don't know. As I pass him, he says, "you're lighter, more aerodynamic." I've heard this one a million times and with what I've been through this summer, I'm not havin' it. "Is that your excuse?" I ask. "This is my third time on the bike since July 4th, when I broke my wrist." he looks over at me, "Okay, you're stronger..." Heh, heh. That's right, mother f-er.

Please knee, not now...

Yesterday's 10-mile tempo run went as planned, but today I'm feeling a strange pain in my right knee. It hurts when I step forward and if I give a bit of a kick, it hurts more. I hope it's nothing serious and it goes away on its own very soon. Maybe it's from walking around so damn much in flip flops.

Today is a crosstraining day. I'm planning an easy bike ride in Central Park and then some strength training later on -- if my knee cooperates, that is. I'd love to ride over the GW bridge, like old times, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Besides, I'm afraid once I do it, I'll fall in love with it again and be back to my once-a-week 5-hour rides. I really don't need that before November 1 -- MARATHON DAY. I need to stay focused on my running (and not getting injured).

I felt like everyone I know raced a tri this weekend except me. This is really hard to deal with emotionally and now that I'm feeling pretty good physically, it's even harder. I'm so glad I have the marathon as my goal. It's definitely keeping me in check.

My Life After Lehman

I can't believe a year has gone by since I walked away from my job at Lehman Brothers, having been part of the mass layoff that happened just days before the firm ceased to exist. It's crazy to think of all the ways my life has changed since then. Next week, I start co-leading a beginner cycling program for women here in NYC. And in January, I'll be the lead coach for Team Lipstick's first half ironman training program. I've never felt this proud or passionate about anything I've done before. I love the direction my life has taken. I'm even okay with the missteps and disappointments I've had along the way. My stubborn personality is what makes it necessary for me to learn the hard way sometimes but it's also why I'm able to pick myself up and keep working toward my goals.

I'm also keeping busy as I continue training for the NYC marathon. I'm surprised at how well my body has taken to all this running and even more surprised by how little bike fitness I seem to have lost over the past 9 weeks. I've only gotten out for two relatively short rides since the accident, today being the second, but I feel great out there and my strength and speed seem to have suffered very little. I think it's because of all the running and the fact I barely stopped strength training following my surgery.

I still go to the hand therapist 9-10 hours per week, too. I'm at a point where a lot of the exercises have become too easy but they find ways to make them more challenging. There's this one where I clip big plastic clothespins of varying degrees of tension onto a metal rod. When the hardest became too easy, they started adding rubber bands to the ends. That's starting to get too easy now, too, but I'm sure they have other tricks up their sleeves.