a return, or: i love you, two feet!
2009 was kind of a bust in the running life of the crumbs.
wonderful living of wonderful life made it kind of hard to take time out of wonderful days and nights to strap on the asics and hit the streets, and wonderful sleep with wonderful companion made it especially hard to get up early on weekends and choose solitude in the streets. and when i did get up and out, of course i overdid it and wrecked my feet and knees again. i also blame foolish shoes worn while working a job that is far, far from seated or sedentary.
my own comfy snugness and workplace fashion foolishness basically robbed me of a year of racing.
well, that's over.
mostly b/c of several things* converging back upon my consciousness at roughly the same time, the fire is stoking again, and the sneakers are back on.
thank you, in part, to my cozy companion's parents, who helped motivate me into a new pair of shoes which will hopefully work better with my feet. thank you, in another part, to an old, favorite author, who wrote something warm and gentle and yet so full of spark that i couldn't help but ignite a little bit all over again. and thank you, as always, to my feet, which always seem to want to keep moving anyway. i appreciate you, feet!
so this past weekend was the Run for Haiti, which I registered for as soon as i saw it listed on the nyrr website.
i, and nearly 10,000 other registrants, showed up in central park on one of the most beautiful february mornings in recent history-- sunny, crisp, and, amazingly, not too cold or windy.
did you catch that, though? NEARLY 10,000 REGISTRANTS.
i have never, ever, evereverever, seen a winter race that packed! a couple of the people packed tight around me in my starting section (no formal corrals-- just informal, honor-system, by-your-mile-split flags) were moaning about how this many people meant a slow race, lots of walkers, what a pain, etc. i had two thoughts for them: 1. 10,000 registrants at $40 a pop = so much money for haiti! that is awesome! shut up! 2. you're in the 10-mpm section. if you're really a 10mpm runner, you're not going to be stepping over THAT many people from the 9, 8, 7 & 6mpm sections, even on your best day. relax.
my own race went fine-- it was slow, as expected, but for me this race was about feeling it out again-- putting my arches and ankles and knees and calves and quads and heart and lungs and brain (that brain!) back into race mode (if not top speed throughout, top speed at testing intervals-- read: hills), and i was pleased. my watch is broken and i haven't fixed or replaced it yet, so i was running a little more blindly than i like to, but i'm trying to believe that the best gauge of pace is your body anyway. so. final average pace per minute was hardly stellar, but not embarrassing, either, and i think my cautious approach to the return to training and racing has been worthwhile-- my feet and legs felt okay yesterday, and feel fine today. i feel like it was a good starting point for the rest of my racing year. also, for whatever reason, there is a rash of 4-mile races in nyc over the next few months, so i have many opportunities to test my much hoped-for improvement in that distance as i continue to build endurance toward my first official half, which is a thing by itself for another day.
following the race, i rushed to the Y where i showered, changed and then darted downtown and back over to jersey city, where i was picked up by jon & aggie, and headed onward to a chinese new year dinner dim-sum w/ other friends.
i know i haven't gotten to HALF the things i wanted to get to this winter and especially this week (some of which are important and still must happen! must!), but i feel good about running right now, i feel good about racing, and i feel good about the year of the tiger. it's a start.
chuc mung nam moi! to everyone! to my mom! to my feet!
* partial list: a conversation with my body, first and foremost, which also included a conversation ABOUT my body, my age, and my time. the chapter of the conversation that had to do with the goings-on of my uterus and fertility (this was a hard and strange chapter). a reading of that haruki murakami book, which i recommend to just about anyone who loves doing something they started when they were younger and hope to keep doing when they're older. january 29th, of course. haiti, and those fortunate and unfortunate on all sides of this disaster, and where i fit in the picture. broad street and fundraising. the parent group's scholarship fund at my school, which is in danger of falling apart. a resurgence of thoughts about my old, vanished friend, john, who disappeared himself from my actual life, but whom i hope is still running and pedalling himself weary. the 92y, and how there are things like this and others that make themselves available to me and which i should enjoy. central park, prospect park, & a great gratitude to all things olmsted and arborial (why not run and enjoy beneath these boughs that bend...). and so on.
wonderful living of wonderful life made it kind of hard to take time out of wonderful days and nights to strap on the asics and hit the streets, and wonderful sleep with wonderful companion made it especially hard to get up early on weekends and choose solitude in the streets. and when i did get up and out, of course i overdid it and wrecked my feet and knees again. i also blame foolish shoes worn while working a job that is far, far from seated or sedentary.
my own comfy snugness and workplace fashion foolishness basically robbed me of a year of racing.
well, that's over.
mostly b/c of several things* converging back upon my consciousness at roughly the same time, the fire is stoking again, and the sneakers are back on.
thank you, in part, to my cozy companion's parents, who helped motivate me into a new pair of shoes which will hopefully work better with my feet. thank you, in another part, to an old, favorite author, who wrote something warm and gentle and yet so full of spark that i couldn't help but ignite a little bit all over again. and thank you, as always, to my feet, which always seem to want to keep moving anyway. i appreciate you, feet!
so this past weekend was the Run for Haiti, which I registered for as soon as i saw it listed on the nyrr website.
i, and nearly 10,000 other registrants, showed up in central park on one of the most beautiful february mornings in recent history-- sunny, crisp, and, amazingly, not too cold or windy.
did you catch that, though? NEARLY 10,000 REGISTRANTS.
i have never, ever, evereverever, seen a winter race that packed! a couple of the people packed tight around me in my starting section (no formal corrals-- just informal, honor-system, by-your-mile-split flags) were moaning about how this many people meant a slow race, lots of walkers, what a pain, etc. i had two thoughts for them: 1. 10,000 registrants at $40 a pop = so much money for haiti! that is awesome! shut up! 2. you're in the 10-mpm section. if you're really a 10mpm runner, you're not going to be stepping over THAT many people from the 9, 8, 7 & 6mpm sections, even on your best day. relax.
my own race went fine-- it was slow, as expected, but for me this race was about feeling it out again-- putting my arches and ankles and knees and calves and quads and heart and lungs and brain (that brain!) back into race mode (if not top speed throughout, top speed at testing intervals-- read: hills), and i was pleased. my watch is broken and i haven't fixed or replaced it yet, so i was running a little more blindly than i like to, but i'm trying to believe that the best gauge of pace is your body anyway. so. final average pace per minute was hardly stellar, but not embarrassing, either, and i think my cautious approach to the return to training and racing has been worthwhile-- my feet and legs felt okay yesterday, and feel fine today. i feel like it was a good starting point for the rest of my racing year. also, for whatever reason, there is a rash of 4-mile races in nyc over the next few months, so i have many opportunities to test my much hoped-for improvement in that distance as i continue to build endurance toward my first official half, which is a thing by itself for another day.
following the race, i rushed to the Y where i showered, changed and then darted downtown and back over to jersey city, where i was picked up by jon & aggie, and headed onward to a chinese new year dinner dim-sum w/ other friends.
i know i haven't gotten to HALF the things i wanted to get to this winter and especially this week (some of which are important and still must happen! must!), but i feel good about running right now, i feel good about racing, and i feel good about the year of the tiger. it's a start.
chuc mung nam moi! to everyone! to my mom! to my feet!
* partial list: a conversation with my body, first and foremost, which also included a conversation ABOUT my body, my age, and my time. the chapter of the conversation that had to do with the goings-on of my uterus and fertility (this was a hard and strange chapter). a reading of that haruki murakami book, which i recommend to just about anyone who loves doing something they started when they were younger and hope to keep doing when they're older. january 29th, of course. haiti, and those fortunate and unfortunate on all sides of this disaster, and where i fit in the picture. broad street and fundraising. the parent group's scholarship fund at my school, which is in danger of falling apart. a resurgence of thoughts about my old, vanished friend, john, who disappeared himself from my actual life, but whom i hope is still running and pedalling himself weary. the 92y, and how there are things like this and others that make themselves available to me and which i should enjoy. central park, prospect park, & a great gratitude to all things olmsted and arborial (why not run and enjoy beneath these boughs that bend...). and so on.
posted by raritan at 4:43 PM
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