All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

25 Feb

 

Check out that fully packed duffle bag. Sneakers, extra layers, even a poncho! The night before, I got to bed early, carb loaded, drank a ton of water and felt really good about the Half. I had also trained properly for the first time for a race, so I was feeling damn good. What happened? Let’s just say I was mega thrown off as I shuffled over to my window, half asleep. I swung open my curtain, looked out the window and made this face :-/ and then I made this face >:-(

Snow! I love snow, but really? Today? Whyyyy.. It’s been the lamest winter ever. bla. So, I checked the report on the NYRR (http://nyrr.org) website and the race had turned into a “fun run” or whatever. Not so fun. Participants were allowed to run, but no time would be kept. I wasn’t too keen on an hour commute to run loops and loops of Central Park with the possibility of slipping and breaking my face. I went back to bed.

I still haven’t run a race yet this year, but the first one will be next week. Coogan’s Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K. It’s all about hills and more hills. I did this race last year and even though it was raining, I had a really great time. It’s nice to get out of Central Park or it’s twin, Prospect Park.

 

Tags:

Let the Games Begin

19 Jan

Manhattan Half!

Hey look at that! My Manhattan Half Marathon bib. I picked that baby up today. Man, I can’t wait to run around in circles in Central Park for 13.1 miles in the freezing cold this weekend. It’s going to rock. But seriously…I’m freaked out. I’ve done a half marathon before, but it was in the spring in nice weather. I was wearing shorts.

I’ve been training quite a bit and I really feel ready for this even though the weather conditions look pretty bad. Day, night, weekday, weekend…run run… Below are some street shots from my recent training runs around Greenpoint.

Urban Art

This is way up there in Greenpoint. It’s basically at the “point” it’s so far north.

The wilderness

This is at the tip of Greenpoint. It’s part of my regular route when the sun is out. As you can see, it’s not a great spot in the dark. I love the industrial feel of Greenpoint.

Greenpoint

I absolutely love this place. If it had more windows and a real front door, I’d live here.

Water Tower

Typical Brooklyn.

All American

The non-American playground was across the street.

Winter visits Brooklyn

2 Jan

Lightening Bug Ninja

Well, there I am in my full on winter running gear. I call this outfit the “Lightning Bug Ninja”. There’s a lot of spandex and tech gear involved and I’m pretty sure I’ve blinded a few people with this jacket. It’s the first night of running in actual winter weather, since it’s been unusually warm recently. I’m one of those odd folks who prefers to run in the winter versus the summer.

Little Hotties

I love these things. Little Hotties! The name is pretty great too. I’ve been using these for years while snowboarding, but started using them last year while running in the freezing months. I have terrible circulation and my hands and feet are always cold. These little guys help a whole lot. I stuff the hot packs inside my Mizuno gloves which I recently purchased. I gotta say that my hands got pretty darn hot tonight with this combo but I’d rather my fingers be too hot than freezing.

Williamsburg Bridge

And here’s an action shot (blurry) picture from my run over the Williamsburg Bridge tonight with some NBR kids. I ♥ this bridge big time.

Tags: , , ,

Happy New Year!

1 Jan

Team Champs 2011

Hello, hello! So, here we are. January 1st and it’s my first post about one of my favorite sports. Running! The focus of my blog is not based on a fad New Year’s resolution, but rather a way to keep me responsible for my very ambitious year of running races. I’ve got big plans on my plate this year, including running the NYC Marathon for the first time, as well as 5 half marathons and a few other shorter races.

This is exciting and I’m ready to rock this! Now…off for my first run of the year (in the rain of course). Here we gooooo…

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.