TAPER!!

OK, well I have been informed it's been a while since I've blogged (hang my head in shame). SO here is an update!! And iiiiiits official!! I'm tapering!! OK for those of you who dont speak my language, tapering is when you ease off on mileage before a race. In marathon training, the first two months are mostly building up mileage. The third gets intense and holds the longest runs. The longest run of your training should be the last day of the third month. Then the fourth month is all taper! So I've done the longest run of my training and between now and Marathon Sunday I only have three runs over 8 miles, the longest of which is only 14 miles! (HA I never thought I'd be referring to 14 as ONLY, but after 23 it sure does seem like it!). I will keep my pace up though, and even try and pick it up a little during the next month. Fewer miles does not equal slower miles.

On Thursday I went up to Ithaca to get my bike for the MS Ride. Since the ride was on Sunday, I switched my long run to Friday so I'd still have a day to rest. So on Friday morning I set out in Ithaca (a refreshingly new but at the same time familiar setting) to do my scheduled 22-23 miles, hoping and praying that the frivolities of the night before (beer and pizza) would not come back to haunt me. Luckily, they did not! I went out the road to Taughannock Falls and back. SO pretty! I was reminded of what it was like to visit Ithaca for the first time when I was still a Junior in high school. Man oh man does that seem like forever ago now! Anyway, there were a few hills to be reckoned with - one in particular that when I was running down it (over half a mile!) on the way out I was sweating bullets at the thought of having to run back up it again in a few miles. But, surprisingly they weren't so bad. The good thing about running (and biking) on highways is that the law limits how steep they can get! This run was really the only thing I did in ithaca funny enough, since I got in at 11:30pm Thursday night, went out for a few beers (a beer and a cider to be exact), got up and went for a run at 11, and was in the car back to nyc by 4:00. HA!

So yesterday I did the NYC MS Ride and it was... so... fun. Especially since the last time I was on a bike was in the beautiful natural surroundings of Alaska! Quite the contrast. We did a lap around Manhattan, went through the Lincoln Tunnel, through the Palisades, through Nyack and New City, back down and across the George Washington Bridge, and finished on the West Side Highway at 52nd Street. I did get lost around mile 50, and quite frustrated, but in the process I made a friend!! We had pretty much the same pace, so it was great to ride the rest of the way together. Anyway, it was lots of fun - my first century ride, and hopefully the first of many. A great break from running! Here's a map of where we rode:

October 2

Time: 3:40'29"

Pace: 9:35 min/mi

Distance: 23.01 mi

*YEah. 'nuff said.

September 29

Time: 53'54"

Pace: 8:58 min/mi

Distance: 6.01 mi

* I heart literally running errands! Ran down to pick up my race packet for the MS Ride!

September 27

Time: 1:13'49"

Pace: 9:12 min/mi

Distance: 8.01 mi

September 26

Time: 9'26"

Distance: 9:57 min/mi

Distance: 0.95 mi

*OK, I dont know what's up with this. I don't remember running just one mile, so I'm guessing my ipod died?

September 25

PART 1:

Time: 20'01"

Pace: 9:26 min/mi

Distance: 2.11 mi

PART 2:

Time: 19'11"

Pace: 8:36 min/mi

Distance: 2.23 mi

*two parts? Not sure what this is... my memory is failing! I must be 23...

September 24

Time: 1:17'17"

Pace: 9:39 min/mi

Distance: 8.01 mi

*so this was after skipping THREE runs in a row!! ugh... no wonder I'm always so out of shape by the end of every semester... Cornell is bad for your health. This is proof. But I wont let it get the best of me!! Just keep running just keep running running running running running...

*my friend took pictures of me running for a project. Thought I'd pass it along as proof : )