Adventures in Urban Cycling

The Queensboro Bridge. I'll be running over it in just 98 days.

The plan for June and July was simple: 10-12 mile run on Saturday, then long bike ride (50+ miles) on Sunday. Add a few short workouts during the week and I’d be all set—ready to ride 190 miles in the PMC and start my long marathon training runs in August. The problem with the plan: I didn’t realize how exhausting 7 weeks of back-to-back intense workouts would be.

The problem with this schedule, I realized, is that I never got a chance to sleep in. Every single morning for 7 weeks, I had to get up and be somewhere, either work or a work out. Many of these workouts occurred on mornings after I had been traveling or at an event and I didn’t necessarily get 8 hours of sleep. After an abnormally hot weather long run and a hilly 80-mile ride last weekend, I was dying for a morning to lay in my bed, sip my coffee leisurely, and just relax.

So I cancelled my 50 mile ride today in Northern Jersey today and decided instead for an afternoon “tourist ride.” Though there are bike paths along the entire circumference of Manhattan, I’ve never actually ridden the loop. The paths are relatively flat, and you can’t go very fast due to the number of casual riders and runners on them. It would be a perfect route for a relaxing pre-PMC ride.

The Freedom Tower.

It started off well. I entered the West Side Highway bike path around 91^st street and headed south. On the west side, the lanes are wide and well marked. The weather was cloudy and a bit rainy at times, which made the crowds slightly thinner. As I headed into Lower Manhattan, I got a nice view of the new Freedom Tower, which I had never seen in its full glory previously.

Battery Park was a mess—construction meant that I had to ride in the road, which was rather congested. I followed a rider with a bell through the traffic and soon found myself on the East River path. This was not so pleasant. The path is narrow in many parts and a bit ugly (some stretches are under overpasses). It stops completely at 37^th street because the UN building is in its path, and one has to ride streets up to 63^rd.  Somewhere in the 80s, it stops completely again, and one has to climb a staircase to the overpass where it continues. Throughout lower Harlem, the “path” is made of tiles, which make for a rather bumpy ride on a road bike.

Though the path is named the “Manhattan Waterfront Greenway,” it actually leaves the waterfront at 120^th street and one has to head inland across Harlem to catch it again. I enjoyed seeing the beautiful old brownstones of Harlem for a bit, but when I got to upper Harlem, I couldn’t find the entrance to the trail. The bike path signs pointed down a hill, and a bike lane went down the hill a few blocks and then just stopped at an entrance ramp to the Harlem River Parkway.. I stared at the fork for a good 5 minutes and finally realized that there was a small break in a cement barrier that lead to a sidewalk. I followed that and it put me back on the trail.

Bottom of the GW bridge.

I had to take another street detour when the trail ended at Dyckman Street. Again I had an issue with a lack of signage to where the trail picked up again on the Hudson River at the GW bridge, but I found my way fairly quickly. The upper part of the Hudson was beautiful—lush greenery, wide lanes, and lovely views of the river. I enjoyed seeing how many people actually use the green space, and in particular, smelling delicious bbq they were cooking.  I quickly made my way south back to my starting point and headed home.

It was just the workout I needed for today—time in the bike seat without being too physically challenging. Though it wasn’t the nicest ride ever from a serious rider perspective, it’s pretty awesome when you think about how much green space Manhattan has given the number of people and the value of that space.  This space is used by an amazingly diverse set of people for a number of purposes, and it made me feel good about NYC to be a part of that.

With this, I will declare my PMC training officially done and take it easy this week. Next stop: Sturbridge!  

My Journey to 26.2: The Challenges of Desert Training

My Vegas bike. Don't tell my New York bike about her.

My first week of official marathon training offered an easily doable set of workouts (short run, a few short bike rides, and only 10 miles on the long run) but rather daunting weather conditions: temperatures in the 110s while I was in Vegas for the holiday weekend.

I have been struggling with training in Vegas for the past year and a half, since I started dating a wonderful man who lived there.  The situation poses a number of unique challenges.

First is jet lag. It’s not just that Vegas is 3 hours behind New York—the Vegas lifestyle causes bedtime to be about 9 hours behind New York. Staying up late the night I get to Vegas results in my body being completely confused about when to sleep, which in turn causes me to lack energy for the long run.  My body similarly gets confused about when it is supposed to eat and how much.  I hate getting up early when I’m in Vegas because it puts me on the complete opposite schedule of Dave (who works nights). But on many days, early is the only time it’s cool enough to work out outside.

Which leads to the second challenge, climate.  June and July are unbearably hot in Vegas, and even in the other months when it’s a bit cooler, there are few trees to prevent the sun from completely baking you. At all times of year, the air is extremely dry, which is hard on your lungs if you are used to humidity, and even harder from a hydration perspective.  There are few public water fountains in the neighborhood where I run and no carts selling water like there are in New York.  Last weekend, the temperature did not dip below 100, which meant that there was no point of the day when I felt it was safe to run outside. 

The third challenge is finding a place to work out. Dave lives in the middle of a hill, which means that somehow whichever way I go when I head out his door, I end up doing the first few miles of my run uphill. I belong to Equinox, which doesn’t have a branch in Vegas, and the boutique gym trend (where one can pay for things like spin and pilates by the class) has yet to really hit Vegas. Much of my athletic equipment (bike, bike trainer, foam roller, yoga mat) doesn’t fit neatly into a carry-on suitcase.  I broke down and bought a bike in Vegas a few months ago, but finding a place to ride has been difficult, because to get to Red Rock Canyon, where most cyclists in Vegas hang out, I have to ride 8 miles uphill.

Obstacle course race in Vegas in May.

So how am I overcoming these challenges? I’m trying as hard as I can to schedule my longest runs for weekends when I am in New York. I’m not wild about running in the humidity either, but at least in New York, it’s easy to get water on the run. When I do have to do long runs in Vegas, I’ll either do 5-mile long loops around the house or have Dave create water stops for me so I can refill my water bottle at regular intervals. I’ve been experimenting with various forms of hydration. For running, I need water in the bottle I carry to wash down my Gus, but I drink electrolyte drink at the water stops (I’ve come to prefer Nuun over Gatorade because it has less sugar). For cycling, I invested in a Camelback insulated water bottle, which really does work to keep my water fairly cool despite the sun.

I also broke down and joined a local Vegas gym. I spent a long time looking for day passes and pay-by-class gyms so I would only have to pay for what I used, but I figure out that these options cost more than the monthly membership at the Las Vegas Athletic Club. The gym is not fancy (I have to bring my own towel) but it serves its purpose.  And, it has an indoor track that is rather nice—no incline, and about half of it is framed by floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the desert.  I got a little dizzy after 2 miles of loops, but I was able to alternate 2 miles on the track and 2 on the treadmill to get in 10 miles last weekend.

I’ve yet to figure out a good solution on the jet lag other than just powering through to the best of my ability.  I’m opting for fewer, longer trips to Vegas this fall instead of frequent short ones, which I hope will let me adjust better to the time changes on both ends.

Now, if I could just figure out how to run in New York’s insane humidity.

My Journey to 26.2: Here We Go Again

Monday, July 1. For two months this date has been highlighted on my calendar: start of NYC Marathon training.  As today, I am committed to 16 weeks of early morning runs, a pasta and gu diet, blisters, and no excuses.

To be honest, I am a bit scared. Training for the Boston Marathon two years ago was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  I woke up at 5:30am every day, I rarely hung out with people unless they were willing to run with me, I left parties at 10pm because I was too tired, and I went on exactly zero dates. I went 112 days without missing a workout, and the only reason I broke the streak was that keeping up the streak caused me to get bronchitis.  I loved the challenge of pushing my body to new levels every weekend, but I hated the stress and exhaustion that came from balancing an intense workout schedule with my job. Though I knew I had guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon, I spent most of the beginning of the year making excuses as to why I couldn’t run: the timing wasn’t right, I travel too much, it would be too hard to balance the training against my long distance relationship.

Then the Boston Marathon bombings happened. On the night of April 15, all I wanted to do was run 26.2 miles. I began doing some longer runs as part of training for the Covered Bridges Half Marathon on June 2, and suddenly I felt incredibly grateful for two working legs and the chance to push myself through running. Four thousand people were denied the opportunity to finish the Boston Marathon because of terrorism. Fifty thousand people were denied the opportunity to run NYC because of Hurricane Sandy last year. I had the required mileage base from training for CBHM. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

Having made a decision, I’m going to need a few things to help me through the training:

1) Training Plan: the amazing Kelly Cassidy, who took a girl who struggled through 11-minute miles and turned her into a marathon runner, kindly agreed to create a training plan for me. The concept will be the same as last time (alternating weeks of intensity and recovery) but the running mileage will be more. I did a lot of cross-training for Boston because my body wasn’t quite ready to absorb the impact of intense running. I’m a more mature runner now and ready to push myself a bit more on mileage.  

2) Outfit: Looking good is key to any successful training plan, and most of my running gear was for cold weather since the winter I trained for Boston was so brutal. Lucky for me, Lululemon’s spring color happens to be my favorite color as well: purple.  (Thanks also to Natalia for my awesome purple “I don’t sweat, I sparkle” shirt).

3) Training Music:  I have to recycle songs for longer runs, but for short ones, I created a nice playlist to spice things up. Fun.’s Carry On really speaks to me right now (good recovery after hills song), and I downloaded a few hits from the Biggest Loser soundtrack to motivate me.   

4) Ground Rules: A few guiding principles to help me do this right:

·      No flip flops. I love the ease of slipping them on, but the movement of using your toes to keep your shoes on kills your feet. My two favorite pairs are going in the trash today.

·      Flexibility is a good thing. I did a lot of classes the first time around, which meant that I was committed to the same schedule every week. This time, I want to allow myself to move workouts around so that I can have more of a social life—and in particular, accommodate my relationship. I’m looking forward to the flexible cross-training days that Kelly has built into my schedule.

·      Don’t be afraid to take an extra day off. As long as I get in my long runs, I’ll make it through 26.2. If I’m not feeling well, or jet leg is killing me, I’ll be better off in the long run if I take an extra day off during the week.

·      Don’t skip the stretching. Avoiding injury is crucial. I’ll be taking another session of an awesome yoga workshop, JackRabbit’s Yoga for Athletes, starting August 14, and will be committed to this and foam rolling after all long runs.

Though I’m nervous, I’m also excited. Running Boston made me a stronger and better person—and that’s why I took what happened on April 15 so personally.  I can’t wait to see what joys come from going through the 26.2 experience a second time.