I Will Run this Marathon - Yes I Will

I just realized that I have not posted since May when I wrote about getting yelled at at Soul Cycle. I was floored by all the comments I received, both on the blog and off-line. People felt very strongly, whether they were for or against the 'newbie in the front row' concept. Anyhow, loved reading all the comments!

But back to why I have been MIA. I do feel bad. I tried out a ton of great classes over the last few months, and went to a few fitness events but have not gotten around to writing about them. I will over the next few weeks but today I want to write about the three new developments in my life that have been all-consuming.

1. New Job:
In June I went back to work. Granted it's only for the summer (I still have a semester of grad school left) but I am working which means not a lot of free time galavanting around time trying fitness classes. This job is different from anything I have done before and was a little out of my comfort zone when I first started. But I'm already a few weeks into it and I'm loving it. The learning curve has been steep, the people have been amazing and it's a reminder that it's never too late to make a switch in one's career. Having said that, I am now a working mom and it is tiring. Which brings me to development number two.

2. My Child is a Toddler:
My son is now 18-months old. This means that he is constantly "discovering" things. This has involved turning on our stove, rummaging through the cleaning supply closet, or attempting to lock himself in our walk-in closet. We have survived one instance of a partial hand burn when he immersed his hand into a boiling hot cup of coffee, as well as a more recent trip to the ER after he caught his hand between the elevator door and the adjoining wall. Every day is an adventure! The weekends are a constant quest to keep him entertained. Which also means that I am exhausted. And finally...

3. The NYC Marathon:
For those of you that do not know, I will be running the marathon this Fall. I caught the running bug three years ago and decided that I really wanted to run the NYC marathon once in my life. I applied for the lottery that year and was rejected. The next year I attempted the New York road runners 9+1 program, which guarantees automatic entry for the following year. However, I got pregnant and since I was not running regularly decided to hold off it for a while. Last year I ran my 9 races, volunteered for one and now I'm in. Which is great. Except that my life is completely different now than when it was three years ago. Career, child, family-there are too many variables and I cannot plan things in advance the way I used to. Which can make training for this race challenging. I contemplated deferring it or just bowing out. But what if I regret it? A switch went off in my head and I decided that I was going to do this. I bought the Nike sportswatch to keep track of my miles and pace, an armband for my Ipod. Now all I needed was a plan. I did not want to invest time running 4-5 days/week. I love Physique 57, Refine Method and Flywheel Sports and really want the option to be able to mix them into my training plan. Dori, a blogger and runner I admire a great deal was kind enough to share her marathon training plan from which consisted of three runs a week. Works for me.

I completed week 2 of training today. It hasn't been easy. I tried setting my alarm for 530am so that I can get a run in before work and also before it gets too hot. The snooze button and I have become way too familiar and so runs have been pushed to after-work when it's a little cooler. I ran 10 miles yesterday, the most I have ever run. After 7 miles an overwhelming sense of fatigue came over me. My feet began to hurt, my calves started to cramp and my head started to pound. I remembered a tweet I read from Katherine earlier in the day: 


                                              "If it was easy everyone would do it"


And so I pushed on. Thank you, Katherine! I walked a good portion of the last mile but I did it and collapsed in a heap by the time I got home.

NYC 2012, it's on!

Question: If you have run a marathon or even a half, I would love to hear your number one training tip for first-time marathoners, be it fueling, pacing, speed training.

Edging Closer to the 2012 NYC Marathon: The Fifth Avenue Mile

The past two weeks have been a blur of activity. With grad school and the never-ending amount of reading I have to do, spending time with the hubby and little guy and finding time to catch up with friends, this blog has been suffering from some serious neglect.

I am slowly finding my groove and shall return to writing more regular posts very soon, so please do stick around! I have been trying some new fitness classes also so stay tuned for the reviews in the next few weeks.

This weekend I ran the Fifth Avenue Mile. Fifth Avenue was blocked from 80th Street all the way down to 59th Street so that runners could get a chance to run their fastest mile. Central Park on your right, stunning townhouses and pre-war buildings to your left-this really is a special race. This race is also a NYC Marathon qualifier so it's an easy way to make up the requirement of nine New York Road Runner (NYRR) races in order to be eligible for the following year's NYC marathon. I have been trying to complete the nine NYRR races for the past few years with not much success. But hopefully this will be the year!

Source

The Fifth Avenue Mile was my seventh race this year-so only two races left till this wannabe future marathoner can officially call herself a future marathoner!

The race was a lot of fun despite the crazy amount of humidity! It being only one mile meant a lot of ladies were trying to PR and so were pretty aggressive about pushing ahead! Yup, I actually got pushed. I, on the other hand, was a little more relaxed with my goals, aiming to run the mile under 9 minutes so I was quite chuffed to realize I ran it at 7:42! Was nice bumping into Jess and Erica also!

As part of the NYRR NYC Marathon eligibility program there is also a volunteer requirement. In order to complete that I woke up bright and early at 4am today so that I could get to the NYRR office by 515am to distribute race bibs for this morning's 18-mile Marathon Tune-up. Waking up at 4am on a Sunday is beyond brutal, especially with the kind of schedule I have been having. But luckily I only had to stay right till the race began (which was at 7am today) so by 730am I was back home. I wore my " I <3 Sweat" t-shirt which was quite the conversation starter. For those of you who don't know this t-shirt is in support of Ali who ran the Hamptons Marathon yesterday (Congrats, Ali!) to raise money for the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America.

So seven races down and one volunteer requirement fulfilled. NYC Marathon 2012, here I come!

My Running Mojo is Back!

Okay, I probably just jinxed myself with that title but I can't help it!

This Saturday I ran the Central Park Conservancy Run for Central Park 4-miler. Although it was a gorgeous day, for the purpose of running it became very hot very soon. Luckily there were plenty of water stations dotted along the race course, along with a rather popular misting station where us runners were sprayed with jets of cold water. Despite these ameliorations I decided I was going to listen to my body and not push myself too hard in this weather. To my surprise, for the first time this year (since having my baby) I ran a sub-10:00 pace! My official time for the 4 miles was 38:28 at an average pace of 9:37/mile. I really should invest in a Garmin so that I can record my splits but I was thrilled nonetheless! I still need some work in order to get back to my former pace but for the time being I am happy. I won't lie, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get any faster. Hopefully this is an indication that, yes, we are moving along the right track!

The next day I met up with some of my favorite food and fitness bloggers! Jess, Ali, Melissa, Sofia, Leslie and I had a delightful brunch in the Great Lawn at Central Park. After telling everyone we would be meeting in the northeast corner of the lawn, I proceeded to park my picnic blanket in the northwest corner and wait for everyone to come and find me. I am so directionally challenged. Sorry, bloggy friends. Thankfully we all found each other without too much ado!

Check out the lovely spread!

And the even lovelier dessert!

We are a happy, well-fed bunch of bloggers!

Yes, we are!

A weekend of Pride: Pride Run 2011 and a Flybarre class

This past Friday marked an historic occasion in New York - the passing of the same-sex marriage bill. Unrelated to this, I had signed up to run the Front Runners New York Lesbian and Gay Pride Run a month ago.

Source: NYTimes

Some of you may know of my recent running-related injury. I was diagnosed with ilitotibial band syndrome and asked to refrain from running and undergo physical therapy once a week.

I bought a foam roller. I tried to be diligent about stretching regularly. And most importantly, I refrained from running. I (along with my physical therapist) decided that four weeks is a decent amount of time to allow my knee to recuperate. The next race would be the Pride Run and, despite not knowing how my knee would fare at that time, I signed up for it.

So glad that I did! Because of the bill there has been an air of jubilation this weekend in New York city, with the passing of the bill this Friday, the Pride Run on Saturday and the annual Pride parade earlier this afternoon on Sunday. I knew the race would be extra special this year because of the heightened spirits so I was really excited to be a part of it.

Look at the sea of people in the corrals!

The race was sold out, and you could tell as much as you entered Central Park on 102nd street on the east side. There were so many people, and there was so much visible color. It seemed as if everyone had donned their brightest t-shirts. I myself was wearing hot pink! I saw quite a few people in rainbow-colored socks and leg warmers. There were a few women festively head-dressed in mini wedding veils. One man was wearing simply a pair of shorts and had colored streamers hanging off his wrists! I'm kicking myself for not having taken a picture!

I opted not to race this run, especially since it was my first run since completing my course of physical therapy. I started off slowly and began to pick up my pace after the first mile. It was then when the humidity hit me and I developed a side cramp, which often happens when I am dehydrated. Crap. I tried to re-hydrate frequently but also ended up taking a few brief stops to walk. My time for the 5-mile race was 51:46, which corresponded to a pace of 10:22/mile. Nothing stellar, but nonetheless, I was excited to be part of the race and glad I was there. Best part? My knee behaved! Physical therapy works! Who knew? ;-)

I did lots of this! Source: Foamroller.org.uk

I don't want to jinx it as it's possible that my knee may misbehave at my next race. But I was happy that I was able to run the 5 miles without irritating it.

This morning I woke up with sore legs but I had committed to take the free Flybarre class that Melissa had organized at Flywheel Sports. The annual Pride parade was taking place at that same time in Flywheel Sports' vicinity and luckliy I gave myself enough time to navigate through the crowds to reach my destination on time.

Pride parade 2011, Source: NYTimes

Flybarre is an awesome barre class that I have written about before. This was my second time taking the class and even with a different instructor (Kolina), I loved it. There are a lot of short and fast movements, especially involving the arms. The 'dynamic' arm series was killer. Lots of short punching and jabbing movements holding 3lb hand weights, and such intricate choreography.

Source: Wellandgoodnyc.com

This class uses a resistance band looped around the barre for concurrent abdominal and arm work. One move involved us lying on the floor, head facing the barre with our arms holding onto the ends of the resistance band. We then had to raise our hips up and tap the barre with our toes while pulling the resistance band and then lower our legs to our point of control and then repeat! Wow! Holy sore abs! I love using the resistance band and I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy this class so much. The music was pretty amazing also. A mash-up of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" and Blink 182's "All The Small Things"? You wouldn't think it would work, but it does! Loved this class.

I also loved seeing the other bloggers who were in attendance including Cameo, Sara, Kristene and Ashley. I'm so glad to have been able to meet so many NYC bloggers in the past few months. They are such a wonderful group of smart, funny, and talented women and I feel so proud to be part of this awesome community.

Thanks, Melissa and Flywheel Sports! I hope to be back!

Question:
Does your city have parades? What is your favorite annual city parade? Mine would have to be the Village Halloween parade!

Not The Bee's Knees: My Running-related Injury

It's official. I have my first sports-related injury. Before I go any further, I want to preface this post with the following: While I am a physician who is licensed to practice in the state of New York, please do not use my comments in this post to make an attempt to diagnose or treat any knee pain you may be experiencing. Nothing can replace the value of a good clinical history and physical examination so please see your family physician, physiatrist, or physical therapist in order to be accurately evaluated.

Now that a disclaimer has been placed, back to me. Last week I wrote about the knee pain I experienced at the most recent race I ran, the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k. This was the fourth race I ran since taking a year off from running, and also corresponded with my fourth episode of sharp left-sided knee pain. In the previous three races, my pain started vaguely, around mile 2, and progressively became worse, especially when downhill segments of the race course were encountered. The pain resolved over the next 24 hours as I limited physical activity, iced my knee and intermittently wore a knee brace. Rapid flexion or extension of the knee, as occurs upon getting up to stand from a seated position, or vice versa, caused excruciating pain. It was all very debilitating, as you can imagine.

At the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k, pushing through, "I will complete this race. I will complete this race!"

At my last race, the pain started much sooner, within the first few minutes, in the early part of mile 1. Alarm bells started to ring, but the competitor in me wanted to complete the race. Although I did run/walk/limp the 6.2 miles to completion I decided that I could not keep doing this anymore, especially if I wanted to run the 9 New York road runner races to guarantee NYC Marathon eligibility for 2012, and so I made an appointment to see a physiatrist.

When you decide to go to a teaching hospital, as I did, you should be prepared to repeat your clinical history twice, and sometimes even three times, before you will be seen by your actual doctor. I was first seen by a nurse, then a resident (physician-in-training) with a medical student in tow, and finally by the physiatrist.

While some may find this system this annoying, I don't mind it. I have been on the other end, as both a medical student and a resident; nervous that the patient will see through my cool physician facade and realize that I am, in fact, merely, in-training; anxious about blanking out when quizzed about the diagnosis by the attending, and just overall apprehensive of making a fool of myself. The system serves a purpose, and that is to teach the residents and medical students the ability to autonomously and confidently make a diagnosis, and thus pass the threshold into becoming a real doctor.

The resident asked me many questions, which I answered as thoughtfully and accurately as I could. She then examined me. This did not yield much as my painful episode had subsided by this point. She just had to go by my description of where the pain was located, how bad it was on a scale of 1/10, and so on and so forth. Afterwards, she rubbed the side of her forehead and said "I really don't know what it could be..."

I knew she had to go and report her clinical impression to the physiatrist so I decided to cut her some slack and say, "I think its iliotibial band syndrome." (I had researched my symptoms beforehand and had a pretty good idea of what was going on with my knee). Her face lit up and she nodded, "Yes, that's probably what it is," and left the room, promising to return with the physiatrist.

When they returned, I repeated my story to the physiatrist. After he finished examining my knee, he turned to the resident, beaming, and said, "I completely agree with your diagnosis of iliotibial band syndrome."

I tried to catch the resident's eye to give her a conspiratorial wink but she did not look me. Well, at least she will always know how to diagnose an iliotibial band syndrome!

Source: www.sportsmd.com

Iliotibial band syndrome is a common cause of knee pain in runners. In this condtion, the iliotibial band, a thick band of fibrous tissue connecting the hip and knee joints (see above), for a variety of reasons, becomes inflamed, causing pain on the outside of the knee. The cause, in my case, was increasing my mileage too quickly. After taking a year off, I resumed running in the beginning of March, running short distances, never taking it beyond one or two miles. Since I ran regularly before the hiatus, I felt invincible enough to tackle a 10k in April, with no proper training. Bad idea apparently. So the take-home lesson is: Always train for your races! It is not worth getting injured.

Crossing the finish line (far, right, in the green t-shirt)

I start my 4-week treatment plan with a physical therapist this week. It is a bit disheartening not to be able to run especially now that the weather is getting nice. But hopefully I should be back, hitting the Central Park concrete, in July. Until then I shall live vicariously through the race recaps of all my favorite bloggers!

Have you ever had a running-related injury? Or dealt with iliotibial band syndrome?

My weekend: UAE Healthy Kidney 10K race + Cupcakes at Sprinkles

It never ceases to amaze me how far the UAE has come. When I was growing up on the tiny island, in its capital city of Abu Dhabi, the population of the entire country totaled less than 1 million, and we lived in relative anonymity from the rest of the world. When visiting foreign countries, the phrase, "I am from Abu Dhabi" evoked quizzical looks and shrugs each time I was asked where I was from . "...In the UAE...., " I would further venture. More shrugs. "It's a country in the Middle East," I would finally concede. Nods would follow but I hated having to constantly explain it that way. "The Middle East" always conjured up images of Scheherezade, women in veils, political unrest, and that was so not what my life was like. "I am just like you!" I wanted to scream. I loved Punky Brewster. I listened to Madonna. Judy Blume's books lined my bookshelf. LA Gear sneakers were strewn across my bedroom floor. Note: I was 9 at that time. My tastes have since become a touch more sophisticated. Although Madonna is still awesome.

Abu Dhabi

Nowadays, the UAE is not as obscure as it once was, its signs everywhere. From the "Jumeirah Essex House" sign seen on Central Park South (Jumeirah is a neighbourhood in Dubai, and also the name of a Dubai-based company dealing with luxury hotels and residences), to Emirates (the official airline of Dubai) being an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup in 2010 in South Africa, having its logo emblazoned on the stadium sidelines, to yesterday's race, the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K run in Central Park, sponsored by The Embassy of the UAE. This popular race (I was one of 8000 runners participating) benefitted the National Kidney Foundation, to honor American excellence in the field of kidney transplantation. Sheikh Zayed, the country's founder and late ruler dealt with American physicians first-hand when he underwent his kidney transplant. The first place prize this year was $25,000, the highest of any 10K race in the world, with an additional $20,000 being awarded if the winner broke the record held by the previous record-holder. This happened yesterday and Leonard Patrick Komon of Kenya left $45,000 richer after speedily completing the race in 27:35!!

It's always fun poring over the goodies that runners get prior to the races and this race was no exception. Dri-FIT t-shirts are always a plus and this one had the colors of the UAE's flag (red, white and green), which was also printed in the middle of our bibs.

I like running 10Ks, as they are a great test of endurance. This one started out well but a few minutes into the race I noted a sharp pain in the outside of my left knee. This pain has occurred in each of the three races I have run this year, and usually happens after about two miles. In this race, unfortunately, it started sooner than that, in the early part of my first mile. My heart sank. I had hoped to try and complete the race in under an hour, like I did in my first 10K, the Mini 10K race two years ago.  Not wanting to suffer an irreversible injury, I slowed down my pace and ran steadily for three miles. The Harlem Hills were no match for my debilitated knee at that point and from then onwards till the end of the race I stopped to walk (read limp) every few minutes. I sped up when I saw the "800 feet left" sign and bounded once the finish line was in sight. I completed the race in 1:06:57, my longest 10K, slightly disappointed but I immediately lit up on seeing the chocolate chip bagels being distributed to the runners! For some reason I always end up getting the plain (read boring) bagel at the end of these races so this was a nice surprise!

Anyhow, I have decided to hold off the running for a while and have my knee checked out. I have been procrastinating this because I know I will be asked to cut back on working out but the fact that the pain occurred earlier in a race really jolted me. And writing about it on the blog will make me more accountable about taking care of myself!

After the race, I came home and negated the effect of the race by inhaling the cupcakes my darling husband waited in line for 20 minutes for. Yes, people, only in New York do we wait in line for cupcakes! Sprinkles Cupcakes opened a block from my house this past Friday and the lines have been snaking around Lexington Avenue since with people who cannot wait to get their sugar fix!

The scene from the line outside Sprinkles

He got a whole box but unfortunately only two cakes survived long enough to be photographed by me! Here's the strawberry cupcake and the coconut cupcake...

Before

And then...

After

So what's my verdict? While the cupcakes are smaller in size than their counterparts at Magnolia Bakery or Buttercup Bakeshop, the selection is large with interesting flavors such as strawberry, banana and lemon coconut,and as the picture above is testament, they are unbelievably yummy!

The remainder of the weekend has been spent icing my knee- hope you all had a good one!

Personal Bests and Firsts: Japan Day Run and Mother's Day

Yesterday I ran a 4-mile race in Central Park commemorating Japan Day. This race is special to me because it was the first race I ran when I started running New York Road Runner races two years ago. At the time, I set two goals for myself. First, I wanted to run the entire four miles without stopping and second, I did not want to go any slower than a pace of a 10-minute mile. I remember being really nervous the day before the race as I was really feeling the pressure of my pre-set goals. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous that day. As feared, I did not get a side cramp, my knee did not act up, and not only did I run the 4 miles without even stopping for water, I ran at a pace of 9:06 which is still my personal best.

The race yesterday was different. Things have changed over the last year. I have had a baby and have pretty much stopped running, or at least have not been running as regularly as I used to. As you can imagine, I am quite out-of-shape as far as running goes. The difference is evident when the pace/mile in the pre-2011 races is compared to that in the 2011 races (See Below)

So anyhow, I have reconciled with the fact that I need to become a stronger runner and so for this race my goal was to try and run without any stops and overall, just have fun, which I did. The hills on the east side of Central Park at the race start are always tough for me but once that hurdle was passed I kept a slow and steady pace and really enjoyed myself.  My pace did end up being one of my slowest but right now it's about getting the endurance back. Speed will come later. Baby steps!

After my four mile run, my husband took me and our little baby to Norma's to celebrate my first mother's day. If you have never heard of Norma's then know this, it is a New York city landmark known for its fabulous brunch and its $1000 omelette! We opted to savor more modest but equally decadent fare such as Chunks of Lobster Swimming in Cheesy Macaroni...

and the Super Moist French Toast with an Orange Infused Honey Drizzle..

Not to mention the free shot of their smoothie-of-the-day which was some guava-strawberry concoction.  De-lish! I was in a food coma for the rest of the day but it was so worth it!

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

To Run or Not To Run

I have a love/hate relationship with running. I am one of those people that loves to work out. I plan my workouts at the beginning of the week and constantly mix things up with Physique 57, spin classes, sports conditioning classes and running. Admittedly, I am least excited on the days that I schedule a run. Why do I do this to myself, you may ask? A reasonable question, sure. Each time I commence a run I am constantly cursing myself out for having enforced this upon myself but after a few miles, suddenly, a shift occurs. The pain and anger turn into cool sense of euphoria. The adrenaline pumps through my body and I actually start to enjoy myself, and upon completing the run I feel absolutely phenomenal. It's as if I have conquered mind over matter-I had a goal and I persevered to achieve that goal. It is precisely that feeling that keeps me running. So much so that two years ago, I decided that I would like to run the New York City marathon once in my lifetime. 

Me (in the green) at the finish line of last week's 4-miler. Though this picture begs to differ, I promise I was feeling euphoric!

The New York Road Runners has a program where if you run 9 races with them as a NYRR member and volunteer at one race during one calendar year, you will be eligible to run the NYC marathon the following year. I have been trying to complete my 9 races for the past 2 years to no avail. Last year, I became pregnant and chose to stop running since I was not doing it regularly prior to my pregnancy. And the year before that I just got lazy. So hopefully this will be the year where I shall complete my 9 races. Last month, I enthusiastically signed up for most of the NYRR races in April and May. I ran the Scotland Run 10k two weeks ago and then  the Run for the Parks 4-miler last week. I was signed up for the NYRR 4-miler today but upon waking up bright and early this morning (much earlier than planned since baby boy is a very early morning person!) and seeing the gloomy and wet weather, I started a little "pros and cons of doing the run" in my mind. Pro: I have never run in the rain before and it will be an adventure. Con: It is cold and rainy. Pro: It will train me to be resilient and hence make be a better runner. Con: It is cold and rainy. I did this for about a half hour before the cons prevailed and I retreated back under the covers of my warm bed. Oh well, there will be other races!

My t-shirt and race number from today's race