Running Topics: Running Topics: Why are you grateful for this photo? Who and what are you grateful for in the photo?

Preface:

After running (pun intended) this blog for a few years, sometimes it is a bit tough to come up with topics to write about. Fortunately for me, Sara Kurth has published a massive list of potential blog topics that focuses on running (check out her blog here, ***).

Updated Preface:

Since there has not been anything too interesting going on in my running life, I thought that I would write some blog posts based on these running topics. Hopefully, my running life will become more interesting once I begin Richmond Marathon training next month.

Open your phone and find a photo you like. Why are you grateful for this photo? Who and what are you grateful for in the photo?

This photo was taken a couple of hours before my first (and what I thought was going to be my last) NYC Marathon back in 2013. Although I lived in NYC for about 11 years before running my first NYC Marathon, I never really considered actually running it. It's kind of funny because of the massive amount of street closures, I kind of "hated" NYC Marathon. During NYC Marathon Sundays, if I left my apt, I would hang out somewhere downtown (e.g., E. or W. Village or Alphabet City) since the marathon route did not go through mid and lower Manhattan, my life would be largely unaffected.

So what changed?

When one of my coworkers (during my postdoc years) found out that I had taken up running, she informed me about New York Road Runners' (NYRR) 9+1 Program. A program that allows folks to obtain a guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon if they ran nine specific races and volunteered for one race. I guess that I'm grateful for that coworker who introduced me to NYRR. From 2010 to about 2015, I lived on Roosevelt Island (the red circle on the map below), which is right in the middle of the East River.

During NYC Marathon Sundays, my activities were affected because the tram that takes you from Roosevelt Island to the (lower) Upper East Side would drop you off near where the marathon runners would enter Manhattan for the first time after running across the Queensboro Bridge. Also, on some Sundays, I would have to go to lab for a couple of hours to complete some work that probably should have completed during the week. If I went to lab during the marathon, which was ALL day, I would have to walk more or less 20 blocks out of my way to get to work. So, I guess beginning to run NYC Marathons was kind of like if you can beat them, join them. ;)

I am grateful the photo above for a few reasons:

1. The calm before the storm: Although I was not smiling in this picture (then again, I rarely smile in pictures), I was in an high state of euphoria. It was "exam day" for me, and I "knew" that I would be successful from all of those months of training. I went for the low hanging fruit and gave myself a goal of just finishing the marathon.

2. New opportunities: Prior to participating in NYRR's 9+1 plan, I had no idea that there were road races all around NYC. Ok, maybe I knew of road races in the city, but they did not really interest me at the time. This allowed me to do something a bit more productive during a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Also, it gave me an opportunity to enter new social circles and meet new people outside of biomedicine.

3. Planning and doing something: Having completed a Ph.D. program, I was no stranger to planning and completing something. Training for this marathon was a bit of a paradigm shift for me because I dedicated five months to train for an optional event in my life. Back then, most of my planning involved figuring which restaurant to have bottomless mimosa brunch.

4. A smaller KOS, Jr.: Sometimes, looking at this old photos makes me a little sad because these pictures show the amount of weight that I have put on over the past decade. I have been working on slimming down for the past few months. But, pictures like this show that I still have a lot of work to do. The funny thing: Back then, I thought I was huge compared to my college (pre NYC) weight.

5. Supportive friends: I was a bit surprised that several of my friends were so supportive of me running this marathon. Also, I was so happy that folks wanted to hang out for dinner and drinks after I finished the marathon. Since I never really heard my friends talk about NYC Marathon, I did not expect them to come out and support during and after the marathon.

NYC Marathon Training Wk 15

AIN’T NOTHING GOING ON BUT THE RENT

Over the weekend, I wanted to run 20 miles for my “last” long run for this marathon training season, but that did not happen *insert frowny face*. However, I did make it to about 15 miles so that’s something. I’m going to try again to hit 20 miles this weekend. If it happens, GREAT. If not, oh well. I really hope to make the 20 miles because that will give me a bit more confidence in completing NYC’s Marathon. You know, if I can run 20 miles then I can run 26.2 miles.

NERVES KICKING IN:

A couple of days ago, we received our wave, corral, and bib info.

At first, I was a bit disappointed to learn that I’ll be in a green wave because the green wave is the only wave that does not run on the upper level of the Verrazano Bridge at the start of the marathon. Now that I’ve gotten over the shock, I think it will be fine. One of my friends is running NYC, so I think I’ll try to figure out if I can start in her blue wave since her corral is higher than mine. I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that greens could not move to blue and orange waves unless you move to a later wave.

All of that said, I am fine if I cannot change wave colors. In fact, I’m so fine with the wave color that I even bought a new pair of GREEN shoes.

Before anyone flips out over me buying brand-new shoes a couple of weeks before a marathon, this pair is the same brand and model that I have been training in. Joe’s New Balance Outlet says that I should get them by Friday. Hopefully, I can put a few miles in them before 11/06, which should not be a problem. Going forward, I think that I will continue to buy my shoes from Joe’s Outlet. Since I require a wide toe box for my right foot, I tend to have very limited options for “fun” running shoes. It actually has gotten to the point where I always prepare myself to expect ugly colors before going shoe shopping. Looks like this will not be a problem, now that I have found Joe's NB Outlet.

Side shoe rant: While I ordered these shoes online, I like to shop in brick-and-mortar stores for these types of things. Actually, I cannot remember the last time I purchased a pair of shoes online. It must have been at least 10 years ago. Anywho, I stopped by a local shoe store, and the salesperson had such a nasty, know it all attitude. I pretty much told him that I was interested in one type of shoe because of the upcoming marathon. I’m not really sure why he was telling me everything that was wrong with my current shoes and made recommendations of things that I did not want.

1. This is my 6th or 7th marathon. While I’m nowhere near elite runner status, I have a pretty decent idea of what works for me.

2. There is no way in hell I’m going to try something different regarding my footwear three weeks out from a marathon.

3. Isn’t the customer always right? I was like Sheree from Real Housewives of Atlanta.

RUNNING A MARATHON WITH SOMEONE:

If you have been following this blog for a bit, most know that I’m a fairly independent runner even if I try attending group runs. However, one of my friends wants to run NYC Marathon together. However, I’m a little nervous about doing this because she is a way better athlete than I. Also, she has been taking her marathon training quite seriously, while I have not. On top of that, she has been training in Colorado so I’m sure her cardio fitness is pretty top-notch compared to my training at sea level. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that I will not keep up with her, but I do not want to slow her down. Like I mentioned in a previous update, my plan pretty much is to alternate between running 2 miles and walking 0.2 miles for the entire marathon. It would be great to have someone to chat with (and boy can she chat), but I’m not sure that I want to chat with anyone for an entire marathon. I’m pretty much a blast my music through my earpods kind of runner.

AVOID POST-NYC MARATHON TRAINING BLUES:

During November and December, I’m going to reattempt The November Project VB’s RUNGO. Hopefully, I’ll stick with this and meet other runners in the area.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Finalize my NYC Marathon Playlist. I think that I’m off to a good start.

-Make a checklist of all the things that I need to pack for the trip.

-Resume first thing in the morning and nightly stretching.

-Start making plans for NYC shenanigans. Word on the street is that the crown of the Statue of Liberty has been reopened.

Long Run Playlist:

NYC Marathon Training Wk 11

Planned Miles: Who knows?

Completed Miles: Who cares?

Adding more crap to the sh*tstorm

Last week, I mentioned that I am pretty close to my breaking point since moving to Virginia. I guess the universe was like let's add some more BS to KOS's plate. Sunday night, the husband woke me to inform me that the ceiling was leaking from the evening's storm. Ugh, and I was having a good post-bottle of Chardonnay nap.

So on top of all of everything, I now have to deal with a leaky roof. On Monday, the roof guy gave me a quick assessment of what might be going on since he repaired the roof (and kept very detailed notes). After giving his assessment, he highly recommended that I put a bucket into the crawl space to collect any additional water that might continue to drip from the roof to the second floor's ceiling because Wednesday was the earliest that he could return to repair the roof. I did as he instructed and did not find a leaky roof, BUT I found this instead.

It seems that the central air unit, not the roof, was the problem. Water has been accumulating in the unit's reservoir for god knows how long considering the amount of rust inside of it. Also, it looks like the person who installed the unit (about six years) ago forgot to take his empty cans of beer with him.

When I thought it was the roof issue, I had a few choices to make:

1. Have a meltdown of epic proportions

2. Drink a bunch of booze

3. Go for a run

Random fact, it is 3,755 miles from the Waterside District (Norfolk, VA) to Norfolk County, England.

I think that the run went well because I was too exhausted to worry about the roof for a few hours. I guess at the end of it all, I worried about the wrong thing.

I think that the run went well because I was too exhausted to worry about the roof for a few hours. I guess at the end of it all, I worried about the wrong thing.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Get the damn central air unit fixed.

-Do a 15-mile long run.

-Look into adult swimming lessons. Yes, I know how to swim but I would like to learn how to properly do all four strokes. Well . . . technically, I have the front stroke down, but I would love to learn how to do flip turns.

Long Run Playlist:

NYC Marathon Training Wk 10

Planned Miles: 23

Completed Miles: 12

Getting back into the saddle

We're in a new month so that means there are new goals to screw up. ;) At this point, it looks like I will not conquer my 2022km in 2022 resolution.

Trying to kick out some negativity during my Core De Force Workout

While I hardly did anything this past week for marathon training, I managed to squeeze in a 10mi long run. Unfortunately, I was supposed to do a 17mi long run. However, I thought it would be best to reduce my long run distance since I have skipped the last three long runs.

On Wednesday, November Project VB did a combined run with the Big Ugly Running Posse (BURP). I wanted to check it out because I would know (or recognize) people from November Project VB participating in this group's weekly run. On a few occasions, I've discussed my frustrations with visiting and engaging with a new running group for the first time. So yeah, that plan did not work out so well. November Project VB's IG said the running group was going to start at the Big Ugly Brewery at 6:30 pm. I arrived at the brewery about 9 minutes late and did not see anyone. I was like Dang, this group really starts their runs on time. I was thinking there would be at least a few minutes of announcements before the run. After seeing a couple of folks at the bar, I asked if the run had started. They responded that there was some confusion because the run was going to start at some park nearby and end at the brewery. All was not lost because I had the opportunity to have a nice chat with the other confused November Project VB folks while waiting for the other folks to finish the run. Also, there was beer. :)

While RUNGO officially ended on Monday, I think that I'm going to keep visiting other running groups in the area. I need to make more friends. ;)

LOL: I joked with one of my friends by saying the suburbs are weird because I drove about 13 miles to the meetup to run only 5 miles, which did not even happen.

Long Run Chronicles:

On Sunday, I had to drop the hubby off at work in downtown Norfolk so I decided to do my long run in that part of town. Fortunately, Strava hooked me up with a nice 10mi loop. While it was pretty warm outside, I thought it was a nice run that took me through my birth city of Norfolk. I saw it all - the chic Waterside District, sections of historical Norfolk, a taste of bougie Ghent, and a few less desirable sections of the area.

Random fact, it is 3,755 miles from the Waterside District (Norfolk, VA) to Norfolk County, England.

A LOL moment:

Since I had an issue with the City of Norfolk's parking app, I decided to park in a parking garage. I was very annoyed when I found out it would cost $10 to park. I guess I was paying $10 to run 10 miles. After my run, I was glad that I parked in the garage because the water in the Nalgene bottle that I left in the car was not 3,000 degrees like it normally is when I park outside in direct sunlight. Oh, there was another slight meltdown getting out of the parking garage. For whatever reason, the parking garage's machine was not accepting any of my credit or debit cards. Of course, this upset the folks in the cars that were lining up behind me, which was frustrating me. I had to call the assistance hotline at least 5 TIMES. After the 6th time, she finally open the gate and let me pass without paying.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Try to go for a daily 2-3 mile walk. Since moving to VA and having to drive everywhere, I noticed that I have been walking way less here than in NYC.

-Learning how not to sweat the small things . . . I already have enough grey hair. ;)

-I think that I want to start a plank and crunch challenge this month.

-Since NYC is more of a walking/taking public transportation town; whereas as my part of Va is more of a drive everywhere kind of place, I would like to add daily 1 – 3 mile walks to earn some passive miles for my 2022 km in 2022 challenge.

Long Run Playlist: