And we're back!

Well, just got home from Coney Island, and it was desolate, but safe, so all is well!

Actually, I think I may have found one of my new favorite spots in NYC, especially to run. It's barren, retro, a bit depressing, but totally beautiful. Granted you're running on a boardwalk, which somehow I feel wood planks aren't the best surface to run on, but you have a great view (one side is the ocean, the other side the pier and the people) and it's a nice path to do a decent size run on.

And the best part? MY LEG IS OK!!! Yay! It really hurt around .80 mile and 1.1 mile, but I ran through it, and it subsided. I also did more of an interval type run, which I think helped. It made me slower overall on pace, but it got me farther without feeling pain or feeling tired at the end. Here is what I did...

Every 1o minute mark, I would power walk for 3 minutes (so run until 10 minutes, walk to 13, run to 20, walk to 23, run to 30, walk to 33) and I did this all the way up to the 1 hour point, and then I just ran the rest of my workout, which wasn't far at all. In the next few long runs I'm going to slowly decrease to walking for 2 minutes instead of 3, and then walking 1 minute, and then try to space them out farther as I go along. I think this is a nice way to soften the shock of running again on my body, especially on my screwy shin.

I also noticed my stride more, and watched my posture while I was running, so I'm working slowly on improving my technique. Here are the final stats for my first "long run" of 1/2 training:

4 Miles in 1 hour 8 minutes and 3 seconds
Average Pace was 16:59 min/mi (damn you 3 minute walking pace cramping my style!)
Calories: 821

I'm also really stretching a lot more in general, and starting a plan to work on my core, since the weight I'm loosing is coming off in odd places (belly be gone, cmon!) and a tighter core helps you run better.

So yeah, I'm stepping my game up in a sense. I spent yesterday and tonight I'll finish combing through some old Runners World and some other books, and I'm really making a more detailed training plan. Higdon has a good base for training, but I've got to do more to really improve. I've got three months to get ready for the 1/2, four months to get in better shape for being in a wedding (oh boy, bridesmaid dress), and then October is the next big date!

Feeling good, feeling confident, and glad to be back in the groove of running :)

-Lisa

PS I submitted an application to volunteer in April at the Boston marathon! I figure if I'm still living out in NYC at that point, I'll take the bus up to Boston, and help out! I'd love to actually be a spectator instead of running in a race, and so I put in my bid (although I'm hoping I'll have to decline and hopefully be back in Chicago). I picked my first choice as being a mile marker. Haha. How awesome would that be? The description says I stand with a mile marker sign for on the side of the road for the racers to see. So I can cheer them on. Yay!

If I don't return to blogging...

Um, call the police? Haha. I'm going for an adventure for my first "long run" of training. Heading out to Coney Island to run on the pier, since my "long run" is a very short 4 miles.

So yeah, time to adventure to run in a place I've never been that may or may not be sketchy? We'll see! Good times, good times...

I'll update when I get home later with the beautiful sites of Coney Island, and with a brand new addition to revamp my training plan!!!

-Lisa