Long Beach Half Marathon

Okay, I confess.  Here's the real reason why I'm updating my blog right now: I ran the Long Beach Half Marathon this morning and I'm recovering on the couch.  Normally, my Sunday would involve baking or sewing, but my legs are stiff and I need to stay off my feet.  My Sundays have almost always involved running for at least the past year, but rarely do I run 13.1 miles.  

My friend Andy has been running with a running group every Sunday for the past couple months or so.  She heard about it from her friend, and I heard about it from her, and I've been joining them for the past month.  We meet at a designated place that rotates around the area every Sunday at 7am.  It's early, but since it's long run day, it's nice to get it out of the way in the morning.  Sometimes it's hard to muster the motivation to run on long run days.  Anyway, the group is a lot of fun and the people are very nice.  Running is an individual sport, but at the same time, it's not.  Running with other people makes me feel like part of a community and it's a great motivator.  About half a dozen of us ran the half or full marathon today, and it was great to meet up with everyone before the race and hang out while we waited for race time.

I wanted to break 2 and a half hours today, but I had to revise my goal when it turned out to be warmer than I'd anticipated and when I got a side stitch around mile 9.  I finished in 2:35, which is still a personal record (PR).  Not bad, and I'll take it.  I just checked my stats, and I was pretty much in the middle of the pack among all racers, among just the women, and among my age group.  As someone who still gets self conscious about my pace (I think I'm slow), I was proud to see that I'm actually a middle of the pack runner.  

I love races- the energy, the excitement, the jitters.  Humanity is at its best at races.  Strangers cheer for strangers, strangers high five strangers, and strangers shout out your name in encouragement.  The best sign I saw said "I'm a stranger, but I'm so PROUD of you."  If I could, I would have given that guy a hug, but I was on the side of the road opposite him.  Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that we still rock even though we're a bit slow and have no chance of winning.  It's nice to be reminded that simply just running the race is an accomplishment and what's important.      

The race course was nice and scenic, and flat (which might be of more importance).  I tried my best to take in all the sights, but at around mile 8, I got kind of bored and then tired, and then I had to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other.  Of course, Drew got a photo of me approaching the finish line.     

And post race.

 

I don't know what this says about my adviser or her students, but many of us are distance runners.  I believe that an overwhelming majority of her students have completed marathons, half marathons, or triathlons (perhaps not under her tenure, but at least at some point in their life).  Today, three of us ran the half marathon and one ran the full.  (And of course, I've already emailed her this photo.  She is beyond proud of us and does not hesitate to show her support, which is one of many reasons we love her.)

After completely a half and full marathon in the past year, I wasn't sure what to expect today.  It wasn't nearly as easy as the first half of the OC Marathon, but that makes sense, as I was overtrained for a half and trained for the full.  Today's race was tough; I got bored around mile 8, and the last 3.1 miles were quite a challenge.  In contrast to the past two races, for this one, I was better trained- physically and mentally.  When I ran the half last January, I remember various body parts beginning to hurt around mile 8, and I could barely walk after the race.  When I ran the full, the race was mentally challenging, and the last 10 miles were physically challenging.  This time, even though I'm stiff and a bit sore, I don't feel as bad as I'd felt after the half.  And even though it got tough at the end, I didn't get frustrated or beat down, and I knew I'd finish.  Next up is the Surf City Half in February, and already, I can't wait.   

New York, New York

I've been slacking on the blogging the past few months (or year is probably more precise), but I have some good reasons.  You may not know this, but I've struggled with neck and shoulder pain pretty much throughout all of grad school due to the amount of time I spend on my laptop and my non-ergonomically correct work space.  In an attempt not to make things worse, I try to stay off my laptop as much as possible when I'm at home, which is when I would blog.  In an effort to alleviate the pain, I (along with my friend and officemate) converted my office desk into a standing desk using cinderblocks.  Standing while I work has done wonders for my productivity; I'm certainly not going to waste time on the internet if I'm standing up (not that blogging is wasting time, but you know what I mean).  And finally, Drew and I got a tablet about a month ago, which has also done wonders for my productivity.  Now I associate my laptop with work and the tablet with leisure stuff, like reading blogs and searching for recipes.  What does this have to do with blogging?  Well, I'm certainly not going to tap out a blog post on the tablet.  

A couple weeks ago, Drew and I went to New York to visit his family and attend his niece's wedding.  It was my first time meeting his dad's side of the family and his remaining siblings.  The week was a whirlwind, but a good one.  I ate a lot, paying a visit to the family's favorite bakery just a mile down the street nearly every day.

Drew's family lives in Long Island, but we had to pay a couple visits to the city.  On the day we went to Brooklyn and Queens to see where Drew's parents grew up, we ended the day with Coney Island.        

Of course, Drew and I couldn't not ride the Cylcone, a wooden roller coaster which I believe might be among the oldest in the United States.

  

On another day, Drew and I went in to the city to visit my old stomping grounds.  During the 2001-2002 school year, I thought I wanted to be a photographer and so I enrolled in the School of Visual Arts.  Below, the Flatiron building, which was just a few blocks from where I lived.

Frank's pizza was on the corner below my dorm, and even thought I ate there only a couple times, I was glad to still see it there.  Whenever I walked home, the smells of pizza were simply intoxicating.   

 I lived here, the George Washington (G-Dub for short), on the third floor. 

 SVA's main building.

Pick-A-Bagel was just a couple blocks away, and I probably ate there about once a week.  Usually I would eat an egg and cheese sandwich on an everything bagel.  This was before I drank coffee, so I ate it with a Snapple.  Sometimes I'd mix it up and get an everything bagel with cream cheese, but that was rare (and not really much of a change I realize).  Pick-A-Bagel was my first experience with Black and White cookies, a New York institution.  My friend, who came to visit a couple times, even made up a song about Pick-A-Bagel with one of his friends.  It went something like "Pick a bagel, any bagel.  All the colors, of the rainbow."

Even though Drew and I had just split a slice of cheese pizza from Frank's only minutes before, I dragged him into Pick-A-Bagel for- you guessed it- egg and cheese on an everything bagel.  And coffee instead of Snapple.  

 

After splitting pizza and a bagel sandwich, we had to walk it off.  We headed in the direction of the Empire State Building.

We hopped on the subway and headed to Brooklyn, where I worked in an art gallery.  The Rotunda Gallery was a small gallery in Brooklyn Heights, the first stop in Brooklyn.  I had a lot of fun working in the gallery, and I learned a lot.  We had a quick look around, and as everything we'd done, it brought back a lot of good memories.  We walked around the neighborhood and then to the Brooklyn promenade, which has a great view of Manhattan's skyline.

 And a pretty good view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The next trip to the city, we went with Chris, Drew's brother.  We went to the 2nd Ave Deli for lunch, which was supposed to be one of the best places to get a pastrami sandwich, a New York specialty.  It did not disappoint. 

Next, we went to Times Square. 

And then to the Marriott.  My friends and I used to go to Times Square just to walk around and have a look about once a week or once every other week.  (this is a bit strange to me now, as Times Square doesn't really change so much that you need to check it out once a week, but it was free and we liked to walk around, so that was probably a big appeal)  Anyway, one of the things we'd do is go to the Marriott and ride the elevator to the top (it's 48 floors, and we were able to get to the 45th) and then look over the edge of the balcony.   

So naturally, I dragged Drew and Chris to the top.  They were good sports.  We went up to the 48th floor to the lounge and had a drink.  The lounge rotates, and it boasts some nice views of the city. 

 

We ended the day with a Yankees game, and Drew's other siblings joined us.  It was a great game, and the  ball park was really nice, naturally.

On our last day in the city, Drew and I headed out to Central Park and walked around.

And then we headed home!