View from a Run

This is Jennifer. I convinced her to run a 10K with me in a couple weeks. She was out of the running habit and has diligently trained for the race. Last Saturday she asked if I'd go with her on her 5.2 mile training run. I happily said yes, as I love the new found concept of running with a friend. We started at my house and headed across the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan.



Once in Manhattan we ran through part of Chinatown. Here we're crossing over Canal Street, the main drag through Chinatown. Although this picture makes Chinatown look calm on a Saturday morning (and it kind of was) it gets a little crowded on the sidewalks, so next time I will take a side street.


We ran over the Manhattan Bridge to head back into Brooklyn. This is the entrance to the bridge. Having run this loop once before I knew we were heading toward quite a hill.


View from the top of the aforementioned hill. I love running on bridges because there is allotted space for runners (unlike on the sidewalks or roads in NYC). Plus I can pretend to race the subway as it flies by.


Ah! After running that big-a$$ hill, we took a quick picture break. There's the Brooklyn Bridge and beyond is NY Harbor. We ended our run in Jennifer's hood, Cobble Hill, just beyond downtown Brooklyn. Afterward, I enjoyed a nice cool down walk of a mile or so to the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. I love running through my borough. So much to see. Thanks so much Jen for the invite!!! Let's do it again!

My next goal is to zig zag all three bridges...start at my house, run over the Williamsburg, down through Chinatown again to the Manhattan Bridge, run back in to Brooklyn, then run south through DUMBO to the Brooklyn Bridge, run back over into lower Manhattan, then run north back to Williamsburg and over to my house. That's probably a 10 mile run? I'll have to plot it out.

The amazing thing is that when I started really trying to run last November, I was on the Williamsburg Bridge looking at the Manhattan Bridge in the distance and thinking "what if I could run from here to there and back home? That would be amazing!" I figured it was a some-day goal. Some-day wasn't that far away. In January I went for it and did that 8 mile loop. It was a huge breakthrough for me and I gained so much confidence in my ability to actually run. I had never run more than 6 miles at that point and I wasn't sure I could do it. But then I did and I haven't been the same since.

Fear & Bathroom Cleaning

A confession: I'm scared I can't run 26.2 & scared I can't raise $2620 for Team for Kids.

My fundraising page is up!

Buy a mile for $100 & I'll hand embroider your name on my race-day shirt: you'll have a presence and be with me on one of the most famous race courses. PLUS, I'll pray for you while running "your" mile AND I'll mail you organic homemade goodness (raspberry chocolate sauce) OR clean your bathroom with a toothbrush.

Jam on it

Being a beginning runner, I am not totally certain what I should be eating. Well, I know I shouldn't be eating crap, but of the good whole foods I am not sure what's what quite yet. Team for Kids training will lend a hand in this area for sure. So I thought I'd post a little about food and eating here once a week, as I learn and try new things.

Last week I finally got around to making freezer jam for the first time. I am astounded at just how easy it is (and cheap!). It took me less than 10 minutes. I had Ball brand quilted freezer jars left over from last fall's foray into canning, but you don't even need them. You can use smaller throw away Gladware-type containers...just something with a lid that's freezer safe (Ball also makes BPA-free plastic freezer jars).

Basically, you need the equivalent of 4 cups of fruit. I used 2.5 plastic containers of strawberries from my local grocery (what are those-pints?) + a package of pectin (could be labeled as "freezer jam pectin" or just as "pectin"--basically it's a thickening agent that's found naturally in fruits and veggies that your puree needs to be more jam-like), and 1.5 cups of refined sugar, or in my case 1 to 1.5 cups of agave (I'm such a sugar addict that I've been trying to move away from good ol' white sugar toward a greater consumption of agave, which has a low glycemic index so you don't get that sudden high and then that long drawn out sleepy feeling afterwards).

Puree your fruit either with your food processor or a potato smasher-thingy. Mix in the package of pectin and the sugar or agave. Let sit on the counter and thicken for about 30 mins. Then pop one in your fridge and the rest in the freezer. The one in the fridge will last 3 weeks (though ours lasted just one because we ate it up so quickly). The others will last in the freezer until you eat them up or give them away. They make perfect little gifts.

I have to add that this was the best tasting strawberry jam I'd ever had. It tasted totally different than store bought jam...super fresh and super strawberry-eee. I've eaten so much processed food in my life that eating the real deal is often so surprising. And I really feel great feeding it to my daughter, knowing that there's nothing funky in it.

A smear of agave sweetened freezer jam on whole grain bread (instead of this) is a great pre-run snack. I found the following quote in an article on whole grains in Runner's World:

"Before a long race or run, you want to take in carbs such as whole grains and whole fruits because they will offer slow-burning energy. "It's almost like you're running with an IV slowly dripping sugar into your blood stream," says Dr. Agatston. "If you have Frosted Flakes for breakfast before a long run instead of unprocessed oatmeal, your blood sugar shoots up, then down, and you don't have a reservoir of energy."

Check out the Ball website for more freezer jam recipes.

Oh, the difference a friend makes...

Report from the Brooklyn 1/2 marathon:


Wow. Can I throw down the word "blessing" for a second? That's basically what having a friend along for the Brooklyn 1/2 amounts to. Gretchen came up from TN with her husband Jon to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Part of her celebration was running the 1/2 with me (sorry Jon). Because I didn't really train properly for this race I am not sure I would have made it from mile 10 to 13.1 without someone distracting me with questions & conversation and saying, "you got this" ever quarter mile or so.

The icing on the cake was that we ran into Kathy, an old friend I hadn't seen in a while, around mile 2. She ran and chatted with us until a port-a-potty appeared around mile 10.

I've not been a big talker while I run because I've been doubtful that I could actually do both at the same time. But what an excellent way to get to the finish.


Look! Gretchen and I even made the NYRR website's post race slide show!

Thank you Gretchen (and Kathy) for making time fly even when I wasn't!

Deciding to Jump

IMG_1140.jpg, originally uploaded by cloverlandfarm.

Friends,
Having been a New Yorker since 1995, I've watched many New York City Marathons, often through awe and some tears. Who cannot be utterly inspired by throngs of runners (all ages, all shapes & sizes), the wheelchair entrants or the Achilles runners?

The last few years I've stood on Bedford Ave in our beloved Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn to watch the Elite runners blaze by in flames of glory and lingered, only to head home voiceless from having cheered so loud and so long. Watching the marathon is a moving experience. It's my favorite day of the year in New York City.

Until recently I never seriously considered that I could be one of the 40,000+ runners. Since last fall I've been trying to develop a healthy addiction to running, except essentially, I am a non-runner. Well, having done two 1/2 marathons in the last month or so, maybe I'm not quite a non-runner, but, truth be told, I am a lazy, sporadic, slow, half-assed runner. That's no way to develop a healthy addiction. I love the feelings of accomplishment and pride that I've gained in my journey from couch to 5k to 10k to 15k to 10 miler to 1/2 marathon. But I experience serious procrastination once I'm back on the couch. That said, I've signed up for as many local New York Road Runners (NYRR) races possible in an effort to hold myself accountable. Accountability. Geez, I wish I could get by on less of that stuff.

Anyway, I entered the lottery for the 2011 NYC marathon. I was not chosen. So given I will run 9 NYRR races and volunteer at 1 this year, I could wait to run via guaranteed entry in 2012. But what if I'm not in to running any more by then? Healthy addiction abandoned. Soooo, after some hemmin-n-hawin I went to an info session with Team for Kids, the NYRR charity that basically holds your hand all the way from the first practice on June 4 to the finish line in November. In exchange for some pretty amazing coaching, I must raise $2620 to secure my place at the start. Lordy, lordy, how am I going to do that? I'm self-employed part-time with no co-workers to tap. Although the recession seems to be over for Wall Street, it's not quite finished for the rest of us, so who wants to give to another charity? And, seriously. I cannot imagine running 13.1 and then adding another 13.1 to it. How am I going to do that?

So I'm jumping. Jumping Zora Neale Hurston style. I may not reach the sun, but I'll get off the ground, especially with Team for Kids accountability and $help$ from my friends. I won't beg you to buy a mile yet, but soon enough you'll see me on my knees because, otherwise, come October, my Amex bill will have $2620 waiting to be paid in full. Yikes!