Birthday 50k!

Every June, I have a birthday. I find birthdays built up with hype, expectations, worry about getting older. Screw that.

Last year, I started a birthday tradition that I hope to be an annual affair. I'll run 50k around Manhattan. It's a fun way to get a good run in in my favorite city.

We met at 5am on 42nd and 1st Avenue in front of a playground. I was pretty excited, but also nervous to see how my foot helpd up - and it did. I encouraged people to wear pink, so we had a bunch of pink (three BRC 50k shirts!) shirts.

We ran south around Manhattan, picking up Cortney at the Williamsburg Bridge and Beth on the west side in Tribecca. We ran north, laughing. I learned about the Kardashians (apparently, there is a lot to learn!), joked about upcoming races, and basically, hung out while running.

Slowly, people peeled off, to head to work, and towards the end, it was just me, Rich, and Karen. We sat at Twin Donut, relaxing for a few minutes before heading downtown.

Karen had to go to work, then Rich had a business call, and I was running alone. It began to rain suddenly, misting, then a bit harder, and I ran with Julia for a mile or two.

I thought about getting older. I thought about 36 and what it should be. I thought about was I doing the right thing with my life. As I was finishing alone, instead of heading over to the 7 train, where I figured I'd be cold and wet on the subway, I headed towards the 59th Street Bridge, and ran home.

Getting older doesn't have the answers. Answers just kind of figure themselves out after a while. I'm going to keep on living in the way I love, running and finding myself out in that way, and keeping open to the options.

36, let's be a better year than 35!!!!

35th Birthday 50k!

                I always love the idea that your birthday should be your perfect day. Too bad that was not my day this year, but it was still a lot of fun.

                I woke up at 4a.m. and quickly got dressed and ate. Wayne insisted upon giving me a present before I left, and I kissed him goodbye as I headed out on a run.

                I decided to organize a 50k around Manhattan. I had done various sections of doing long runs, even as long as 26 miles last year. I posted it on FB in a few groups that I’m a part of, and on a Meet-up Group for Trail Running and Ultrarunning in New York. I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate my birthday.

                The forecast called for rain, lots of it, and we were not denied. Mary and I ran over the Pulaski in our tutus and took the 7 to 42^nd Street, where we met a bunch of people under scaffolding. I dreaded the rain, and hoped it wouldn’t make things too miserable. Some were good friends, some were running friends, and some were new friends. We all had a lot of fun.

                The plan was to run around Manhattan south, going clockwise around Manhattan. We’d OF COURSE stop at Twin Donut as tradition demands (NYC Ultrarunners always stop at Twin Donut.) and wait for each other and try to keep together as much as we could the entire time.

                I was really excited to see Menachem at the start, who was training for his first ultra (Really, his first race!) of the Burning Man 50k. Everyone chatted and worried about the weather, and we left at 10 after five.

                The idea was to run around a 10 minute pace, but we mostly ran faster. We stopped every few miles – so people could get water, so people could go to the bathroom. Beth joined us by the Staten Island ferry and gave me a very decorated Hammer Gel. Fun.

                Sometime between 14^th Street and 50^th Street, my phone, despite being in a Ziploc bag, got wet and died. This turned out to be the source of my hell – I lost all my photos, including a bunch of photos for a series of articles I had planned on writing. It was stressful and I lost 12 birthday text messages (So whoever you are, whatever you wrote, THANK YOU!) and ended up spending an hour and a half at the Verizon Store in Greenpoint, where they were nice enough to help  me and give me a loaner phone.

                Steven met up with us in the late 30s/early 40s, and had way more energy than us. Everyone took turns running with others, chatting, catching up. It was really fun.

                We made the course a little wrong turn and ran some extra miles, but I just did what Wayne likes to say, “When you see a fork in the road, take it.” (He’s more thinking of food, hahah.)

                We stopped to use the bathroom and a parks worker was cleaning the women’s bathroom. We used the filthy men’s bathroom, where a pair of discarded underwear served as the butt of our jokes. It was a relief to use the bathroom because we were all completely soaked and there’s just something difficult about running in completely soaking wet clothes when you have to pee. We joked with the parks worker, and when she found out it was my birthday, she sang “Happy Birthday” to me and make me plié and dance. I couldn’t stop laughing.

                When running alongside the West Side Highway at one point, we saw cars hitting a giant puddle, causing a tsunami that covered the entire path. There was a deep puddle covering our path, and we were forced to walk on a high curb next to the puddle on the highway, so cars splashed us as we found ourselves stepping in the giant gross puddle. We screamed and laughed and it sounds awful, but it really wasn’t as bad as one would think.

                We headed north and ran through Inwood Park. That part was a little bit tricky, but Rich led us the right way. The park was nice, and a little tricky to navigate. We exited the park on 218^th Street, and everyone cheered at Twin Donut.

Donut time!

                I don’t even like donuts – well, I like them, but they usually make me feel ill after. I got a coconut donut and ate half and it was delicious. Others ate eggs and homefries and toast, and we hung out there a bit too long as we grew cold and dripped large puddles underneath our seats. I fiddled with my phone and fretted over it.

                When we all left, we were shivering and it took us a while to warm up. We entered Harlem River Drive Park, and it was just so nice to be running together.  Then we were on the streets for a long time, which was pretty fun. We stopped so Rich could get a “Tropical Fantasy” drink (I would not call it juice – drink is more like it.) and stretched and laughed. We posed in front of the “Crack is Wack” mural and saw another side of the mural you normally can’t see from the highway.

                As the street numbers grew smaller and smaller, we got excited. We finished on 42^nd and 1^st, cheering in front of the UN!

                It was great to see clean Tommy Pyon and have Skype join us; I had fun running with Chris Solarz and Emi and Mary and Beth and Menachem and Kim and Steve and Rich and Mike and Miguel and it was totally awesome, a wonderful birthday present.

                The rest of the birthday was a little different. I ate, did laundry, showered, fixed my cakes, went out to dinner with my family and Wayne, and then drank champagne and ate lots of cake with my friends.

                Thank you, all. As much as I hate the ageing process (Funny how you couldn’t wait to be older when you were much younger.), I had a beautiful day. 35 does feel different, and I guess I need to focus more on enjoying each and every day instead of thinking of what I could have done. I need to just do it!

               

DIRECTIONS FOR 35^th Birthday 50k:

·         Start at 42^nd St and 1^st Ave

·         Run south down 1^st Avenue until 34^th St; make a left on 34^th St. When you get to the water, go right to run along the water in the East River Park.

·         Run along the water, going around the bottom of Manhattan (Battery Park City) and keep running along the West Side Highway in the park next to the river.

·         When you get very far north (you’ll run around 19.5 miles – this is 1.5 miles past the GWB), go straight on Staff St. Cross over Dyckman and head into the park, going north. Run around the park (it loops around the top of Manhattan), making a right onto W 218^th St.

·         Stop at Twin Donuts. Even if you don’t like donuts, you need to stop. This is where we use the bathroom, eat donuts, & buy beverages.

·         Make a right onto 10^th Avenue.

·         Take 10^th Avenue into Harlem River Park (enter where Dyckman and 10^th meet up)  and run on the bike path through the park.

·         Exit the park at 155^th St. You may need to make a quick left or just go straight (depending on the bath) to run down St. Nicholas Place.

·         St. Nicholas Place merges and becomes St. Nicholas Avenue.

·         Run through St. Nicholas Park 141-128 Streets.

·         Exit the park running down Manhattan Avenue.

·         Make a left on 120^th St.

·         When you get to the water, make a right and run along the East River Parth.

·         Exit the park at 60^th street. Run straight until 1^st Avenue. On 1^st Avenue, make a left.

·         You are done when you hit 42^nd St. YAY!

We plan on running around 10 minute miles, so at any point, try to calculate the mileage and time. See a map here with all of the mile markers: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6324851

50 Miles of Birthday Fun: Race Report of the North Face DC 50 Miler!

I set out to run my heart out, and I fully did that. Even if I didn't go as fast as I wanted, I ran fast, I ran with my heart, and I ran through the mud.


This was my way of celebrating my birthday.


Mary and Erin agreed to run their first 50 miler, and Iliana of course couldn't resist signing up too. The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler in DC would be fun!


The course was full of ups and downs, and stream crossings, and an absurd amount of mud. Unfortunately for me, it was also full of nine bathroom stops. 


I started out as fast as I could, running below 9:30 pace. It felt good. I felt great. I ran, smiling, felt alive. There was a bunch of mud, I plowed through it.


Ups, downs, along the river - "Is this the Potomac?" "Yes." So pretty! What - this hill, the mud, I'm slipping - I'm sliding, AUGH!


Then I got to the 15 mile ish mark, where I would then do 3 7 mile ish loops, and then run back the 15 ish miles. Wayne was there, and I requested a 5 hour energy shot to be purchased for mile 40. He was all hyper, for some reason. He also asked me, "Is it muddy?" I simply stared, not sure why he couldn't see the mud on my shoes, legs, skirt, shirt, face, arms, and hands. "Yes."


The 7 mile loop was nice. Not too much mud, and I smiled, really enjoying it. The second loop was fun, and I saw Tennessee, who was running her first 50k. I got a giant hug, which lifted my spirits. I felt good, strong.


Oh, but I neglected to mention my tummy troubles. I kept stopping...to go. I stopped a total of nine times during the race. UGH. Why??? I ate everything "right." Who knows why I became the Poop Queen. Oh well.


The third loop, Wayne decided to pace me. He turned his ankle twice. Then he limped back to the aid station after only four or five miles. 

The funniest thing about Wayne pacing me was when a woman with two dogs off leash (not sure why she had two dogs off leash in a national park with lots of hikers and runners?) couldn't control her dogs when they began chasing me. "Wayne, do something," I said, pushing ahead. I'm afraid of dogs, especially strange ones that could bite me. Wayne bent over and began barking like a dog, out of control. It was pretty hilarious. Later, he wondered if the ankle turning was karma for barking at the dogs, but I told him it couldn't be.


I ran on. Through the mud and the streams and the pit stops and my hamstring was sore and oh god, the pad of my food and I ran on.


And then I saw something that made me quite angry. I kept seeing this man doing what he could to avoid running through the mud (which was hard - there was mud EVERYWHERE!) and the stream crossings. (At one point, he crossed a stream barefoot, shoes in hand, then sat on the bank, dried off his feet with a towel he carried, and put his shoes back on!) He spent so much time avoiding the mud and wet - but then he'd get all annoyed and want to pass me and I kept having to pull aside to let him pass. Well, I looked up at one point, and we were all struggling and could not run b/c it was so muddy and slippery and we were struggling to stay upright - when he was on a parallel paved path. I was so angry, I called him out on it. "You're not on the course. That's not fair! You're cutting the course!" He sweetly smiled, "Have a great race."


What a complete jerk.

But I pushed on. I ran my heart out, as usual.


I finished, tears in my eyes. It was my birthday present to myself. Through the mud and nine pit stops, all by myself (not counting the 5 miles where Wayne was running ahead and having his own fun in the woods, which I don't really consider pacing), I did it. Not my fastest, or second fastest, but third fastest. Still, pretty respectable. So happy - I'm getting back to the runner I used to be, the runner with so much heart.


I rinsed off and waited for Mary and Erin. They came in, side by side, spacey but so happy, followed soon by Iliana. I was so proud of all of them, so happy for all of us.


It was a wonderful birthday present.

North Face DC 50 Miler!

I set out to run my heart out, and I fully did that. Even if I didn't go as fast as I wanted, I ran fast, I ran with my heart, and I ran through the mud.


This was my way of celebrating my birthday.


Mary and Erin agreed to run their first 50 miler, and Iliana of course couldn't resist signing up too. The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler in DC would be fun!


The course was full of ups and downs, and stream crossings, and an absurd amount of mud. Unfortunately for me, it was also full of nine bathroom stops. 


I started out as fast as I could, running below 9:30 pace. It felt good. I felt great. I ran, smiling, felt alive. There was a bunch of mud, I plowed through it.